Music for Horns, Piano and Strings
Featuring Matthew Oliphant and Rachel Velvikis
Program
Sextet in E-flat major, Op.81b…… Ludwig van Beethoven (1774–1839)
- Allegro con brio
- Adagio
- Rondo: Allegro
Leyendas: An Andean Walkabout…… Gabriela Lena Frank (b. 1972)
- Toyos
- Tarqueada
- Himno de Zampoñas
- Chasqui
- Canto de Velorio
- Coqueteos
–– INTERMISSION ––
Horn Trio in E-flat major, Op. 40…… Johannes Brahms (1833–1897)
- Andante
- Scherzo (Allegro)
- Adagio mesto
- Allegro con brio
Guest Artists
Matthew Oliphant, horn
Rachel Velvikis, horn
Eleanor Bartsch, violin
Eric Pidluski, violin
Sara Sitzer, cello
Rebecca Taylor Swan, viola
Liang-yu Wang, piano
Many thanks to New England Congregational Church, First Congregational Church of Elgin and Woodstock Opera House for welcoming us into their beautiful spaces this season!
Thank you to our Concert Sponsors: Ed and Karen Schock
Chamber Music on the Fox Season 11 is presented by Mark and Robin Seigle
Program Notes
(click title below to read)
Beethoven is well-known for his symphonic works, but his chamber orchestral repertoire is an outstanding body of work as well. This sextet, written in the mid-1790’s, is written in a concertante style, with the horns serving as musical centerpieces. The virtuosic demands of the horn players make it an ideal piece for celebrating the abilities of this instrument, and suggests that Beethoven wrote this piece with specific musicians in mind who could demonstrate the dexterity needed for the piece. In the first movement, the horns must play quickly and nimbly to give justice to the energy and exuberance of the music. Beethoven then treats the listener to the lyrical, lush sounds for which the French horn is known in the Adagio second movement. The piece culminates with a dance-like Rondo, serving as a pure celebration of the harmonious sounds these instruments make together.
Leyendas: An Andean Walkabout was written in 2001. According to Frank, the piece draws from the idea of “mestizaje” as envisioned by the Peruvian writer José María Arguedas, where “cultures can coexist without the subjugation of one by the other” (Frank). Thus, this piece draws from both western classical and Andean musical traditions. Each movement is written specifically to draw the audience into the mood and tone of a traditional Andean sound: a toyo, or large panpipe in the first movement, a heavy wooden flute called a tarqueda in the second. The third movement draws from the sound of a panpipe ensemble that invokes overtones, played with a technique of splitting the melody known as hocketing. The fourth movement depicts Chasqui, a legendary runner that delivered messages between villages in the Andes. “Canto de Velorio” portrays another well-known Andean personality, a professional crying woman known as the llorona. They would be hired to render funeral rituals even sadder, and Frank blends these mournful sounds of the strings with the western Dies Irae set of notes. The piece closes with “Coquetos,” an ode to gallant romancers who sing against the backdrop of guitars.
Composed in 1865, this trio was originally written to commemorate the death of Brahms’ mother, and is considered to be one of the standout chamber pieces featuring the horn. With Brahms’ signature lush harmonies, the Trio is layered meticulously to reveal the beauty of each musical line, changing the instrument at the forefront quite often. It was originally scored for natural horn, as opposed to valved horn (which is typically what is used today). The timbre of the natural horn can be heard as more somber and perhaps it was this that Brahms was trying to evoke in his scoring of the work, given its dedication to his mother. He specified that the part could be played by a cello, and later in life he re-scored it for viola, but it is the horn that has stood out as the most widely selected instrument for this line. It is the horn that comes through with a haunting musical line, as the trio plays a moving Adagio before culminating in the brilliant Allegro con brio final movement. It is a piece that truly takes the listener on a journey that is at times moving and exhilarating, melancholy and uplifting – perhaps reflecting the journey on the love and loss of a mother.
Guest Artist Biography
(click each title below to read)
Matthew Oliphant

Hornist Matthew Oliphant is a new music and chamber music specialist living in Chicago, IL. As solo hornist with Ensemble Dal Niente, he performs the music of our time by established and emerging composers, as well as classics of the new music repertoire. Oliphant is also a member of the Grossman Ensemble, part of the Chicago Center for Contemporary Composition (CCCC). In residence at the University of Chicago, the ensemble presents 12 world premiers a year, including pieces by luminaries like Shulamit Ran, David Rakowski, Tania León, and Kate Soper.
In demand as a chamber musician, Matthew is a member of the Chicago Wind Project, and has performed with Fulcrum Point New Music Project, Access Contemporary Music, Present Music, Axiom Brass, Quintet Attaca, and on the Rush Hour concert series. Also an orchestra player he regularly plays with the Lyric Opera (Chicago), Grant Park Orchestra, Chicago Philharmonic, Promusica Chamber Orchestra, and has served as guest principal horn of the St Paul Chamber Orchestra, The Florida Orchestra, the Chicago Chamber Orchestra.
Far from being constrained by the classical tradition, Matthew regularly performs with experimental ensemble a.pe.ri.od.ic, has performed with jazz greats such as Ken Vandermark and Matt Ulery, and performed as a member of the free jazz/classical/improv hybrid ensemble the Tomorrow Music Orchestra.
Rachel Velvikis

The vast myriad of musical encounters Rachel Velvikis, horn, has accumulated in her almost twenty years as a professional musician validates the reason she chose the profession at the age of ten: music is enormously much bigger than herself; every opportunity to spread its message is a joyous occasion!
As a member of the critically acclaimed female brass quintet, Seraph Brass, Ms. Velvikis has toured the United States, Finland, and Mexico. Members of Seraph Brass have performed with pop icon Adele, and Seraph was the featured ensemble at the 2017 Women’s Brass Conference. They have performed at the Forum Cultural Guanajuato in Mexico, and were guest artists at the 2017 Lieksa Brass Week in Finland. The group returned to Finland the summer of 2018 to give an album release concert as well as two more performances. Seraph Brass recorded their debut album in beautiful Finland, and Summit Records released the album, Asteria, in January 2018.
Upon graduating from the Mannes School of Music where she studied with David Jolley, Rachel was a contracted core member with the Richmond Symphony from the 2008-2011 seasons, one of which saw Rachel as Acting Principal. She has been a permanent member of the Williamsburg Symphony since 2010. Other symphonic appearances include the Virginia Symphony, the Virginia Opera, the Richmond Ballet, the Haddonfield Symphony, the New World Symphony, and the Milwaukee Symphony.
Other notable chamber groups with whom she has worked include the Atlantic Chamber Ensemble, the Eckhart Ensemble, grammy-nominated A Far Cry Chamber Orchestra, the Richmond Symphony Brass Quintet, and the Richmond Symphony Woodwind Quintet.
She has a thriving private studio both online and around the Richmond, VA area. Since 2011, Rachel has held the position of adjunct faculty at the University of Richmond.
Ms. Velvikis has recorded in several studios which include Space Bomb, Montrose Studios, Red Amp, and Sound Check Studios. Other recordings featuring Ms. Velvikis have been captured in studios across the five boroughs of New York City; Bergin, New Jersey; Raleigh, North Carolina; Nurmes, Finland; and her hometown of Kenosha, WI. She can also be heard on the 2013 Mahler 2 recording with the Virginia Symphony.
Some of her favorite pop orchestral memories include touring with Mannheim Steamroller, playing with Amy Grant, the Indigo Girls, Natalie Merchant, and playing with tribute bands for The Beatles, Pink Floyd, and the Rolling Stones. Unique concerts include Video Games Live, Bugs Bunny Live, Harry Potter in Concert, and playing in The Legend of Zelda Live orchestra. She will likewise not shy away from blasting improvised jazz licks as a regular with one of her favorite bands, the Space Monkey Odyssey.
Memorable freelance experiences in New York during her college years include playing with Olivia Newton-John, performing on live television at the Daytime Emmy Awards, playing in the world debut South African version of “Carmen,” and winning second and principal horn of the New York Youth Symphony for two seasons, respectively.
Eleanor Bartsch

Praised for her “clarion tone and technical aplomb” (Chicago Classical Review), violinist Eleanor Bartsch enjoys a dynamic career as a chamber musician, orchestral musician, concertmaster, soloist, educator and entrepreneur. Bartsch was appointed to the first violin section of the Chicago Lyric Opera orchestra in 2024 by Maestro Enrique Mazzola. She is additionally first violinist of the critically acclaimed Kontras Quartet, with whom she has toured the US and Europe, appeared as a regular guest on 98.7 Chicago Classical WFMT radio, recorded two albums and held residencies at many US higher learning institutions. Bartsch is Professor of Violin and Head of Strings at Elmhurst University and is a performing member and frequent principal player of the Chicago Philharmonic Orchestra where she also serves on the board of directors.
The Kontras Quartet is a beloved Chicago-based ensemble known for its vibrant and nuanced performances, accessible audience relations and diverse repertoire spanning centuries, genres and continents. In addition to a robust national and international touring schedule, Kontras enjoys exploring genre-bending collaborations including a unique and ongoing partnership with the folk/bluegrass ensemble, the Kruger Brothers. The Kontras-Kruger pairing regularly tours together and has championed and recorded a wide array of classical/bluegrass crossover chamber works.
Bartsch has appeared as a soloist with many regional midwest orchestras including the Chicago Philharmonic, Elgin Symphony, Dubuque Symphony, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Minnesota Sinfonia and many others. Other recent solo highlights include Piazzolla’s “Four Seasons of Buenos Aires” with the Elmhurst University Orchestra (2024), Bruch’s “Scottish Fantasy” with the Middleton Community Orchestra (2022) and the world premiere of Laura Schwendinger’s “Nightingales” for two violins and orchestra with violinist Ariana Kim, the Dubuque Symphony Orchestra and UW-Madison Symphony Orchestra (2022)- a project she brought to life by bringing together organizations and artists important to her.
Bartsch co-founded Madison, Wisconsin’s Willy Street Chamber Players, an award-winning ensemble and summer festival with an emphasis on creating community through classical music. Willy Street’s “Community Connect” initiative brings free high-quality concerts to hundreds of community members and young summer camp attendees each year. Equally committed to contemporary and time-honored works, Bartsch continues to expand the repertoire through participation in numerous world premieres and creative concert curation. She is a frequent guest at chamber series and festivals nationwide.
A sought-after orchestral performer and leader, previous to her appointment at the Chicago Lyric, Bartsch was Concertmaster of the Dubuque Symphony from 2016-2023 and was appointed Associate Concertmaster of the Elgin Symphony in 2015. She has addionally led the Chicago Philharmonic, Joffrey Ballet Orchestra, Chicago Opera Theater Orchestra, and many others. She has appeared as a regular guest with many of the nation’s premiere orchestras including the Minnesota Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, Nashville Symphony, Grant Park Orchestra, Music of the Baroque and the Knights. Bartsch was a member of the Madison Symphony Orchestra and the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra for eight seasons and five seasons, respectively.
A passionate music educator and advocate, Bartsch was appointed Professor of Violin and Head of Strings at Elmhurst University in 2023. Previously, she was Artist in Residence and chamber music coach at Western Michigan University. She has given masterclasses and clinics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of Chicago (school of music and Booth School of Business), University of California-San Diego, University of Oregon School of Music and Dance and Western Michigan University. Additionally, she has taught and mentored hundreds of music learners of all ages through private lessons, orchestral and chamber coaching, pre-concert lectures and involvement in many meaningful community engagement initiatives.
Born into a family of professional musicians and music educators, Bartsch began violin lessons at the age of 4 in her hometown of St. Paul, MN. She received her master’s degree in violin performance with a certificate in business entrepreneurship from the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music studying violin with David Perry as a Paul Collins Distinguished Graduate Fellow. Bartsch also received her bachelor’s degree from UW-Madison with Perry. During that time, she was a recipient of the Kato Perlman chamber music fellowship and spent three summers at the Aspen Music Festival studying with renowned pedagogue Paul Kantor. Her previous teachers were Ellen Kim and Young-Nam Kim.
Eric Pidluski, violin

Eric Pidluski is a native of Fairfield, CT, where he began playing the violin at age 9. He is currently a member of the first violin sections of Elgin and Rockford Symphonies. In recent seasons, he has performed with Lyric Opera of Chicago, Chicago Opera Theater, Chamber Opera Chicago, Chicago Sinfonietta, Lake Forest Symphony, and Ensemble Dal Niente. He can be heard on the Grammy Award-winning album, Coloring Book, by Chance the Rapper. He attended the DePaul University School of Music, where he received a bachelor’s degree, a master’s degree, and a certificate in violin performance.
Sara Sitzer

Sara Sitzer, whose playing has been described as “rich” and “lustrous” by the Chicago Classical Review, leads a varied life as an orchestral, chamber, and solo cellist, as well as entrepreneur, administrator, and music writer. She has performed recitals all over the world, from Frank Gehry’s New World Center in Miami Beach to the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Her performing career has taken her to Israel, Japan, England, Australia, as well as throughout the United States
Ms. Sitzer’s dedication to connecting with communities through live chamber music performance led her to found both the Gesher Music Festival in St. Louis, Missouri (2011), as well as Chamber Music on the Fox in Elgin, Illinois (2014). She presently serves as founding Executive and Artistic Director for Chamber Music on the Fox. Additionally, as a writer, she has been published in the St. Louis Beacon and NewMusicBox (the blog of New Music USA).
Ms. Sitzer is a member of the Elgin Symphony Orchestra and regularly performs with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and Chicago Opera Theater, among other ensembles. Ms. Sitzer has had the opportunity to perform alongside the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Cleveland Orchestra, as well as with the YouTube Symphony Orchestra in Sydney, Australia. Additionally, she travels to the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia each summer to perform and to serve as cello and chamber music faculty at the Wintergreen Summer Music Festival. Other festivals she has attended include Tanglewood Music Center, Pacific Music Festival, and the Aspen Music Festival.
A champion of chamber music and new music in Chicago, Ms. Sitzer is a former member of Chicago Q Ensemble, with whom she recorded two albums, gave a TEDx presentation, and was presented by organizations including the Chicago Loop Alliance, Frequency Series, (Un)Familiar Music Series, Chicago Home Theater Festival, City of Chicago, and American Music Project.
Ms. Sitzer holds a Master of Music Degree from the University of Wisconsin, where she attended on a Collins Fellowship. She received her Bachelor of Music degree from Boston University as a Trustee Scholar. She also completed a 3-year fellowship with the New World Symphony in Miami under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas.
Rebecca Swan

Violist Rebecca Swan received her Bachelor of Music from The Juilliard School, where she studied with Heidi Castleman and Misha Amory. She is a member of the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra and is principal violist with Chicago Sinfonietta, Elgin Symphony, Rockford Symphony Orchestra, and Illinois Philharmonic. She has a vibrant freelance career playing with many orchestra groups in the Chicago area, including Chicago Symphony, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Music of the Baroque, Chicago Philharmonic, Chicago Jazz Philharmonic, and Camerata Chicago. In 2019, she performed Brandenburg Concerto no. 6 with Camerata Chicago. A lover of chamber music, Rebecca was thrilled to play with Corky Siegel’s Chamber Blues on a live WFMT broad-cast and is a founding member of the Ivy Lane String Quartet.
Before moving to the Chicago area in 2018, Rebecca freelanced for nearly 15 years in Charlotte, North Carolina, where she served as principal violist in Charlotte’s Broadway Series and regularly subbed with the Charlotte Symphony.
Rebecca has played with Iris Chamber Orchestra under Michael Stern, New World Symphony with Michael Tilson Thomas, and The Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Costa Rica in San Jose, Costa Rica. She was also the youngest member ever to be accepted into the Civic Orchestra of Chicago under Daniel Barenboim when she was 16. Rebecca loves the variety that a freelance career has brought her, and some of her favorite gigs have been playing in the stage orchestra for Josh Groban, Stevie Wonder, and Andrea Bocelli. Festivals include Aspen Music Festival, the Perlman Program with Itzhak Perlman, Musicorda, the Quartet Program, Madeline Island, and Credo.
Distinctions include first place in the ASTA Biennial Solo Competition and first place in the Stanger Young Artist Concerto Competition, where she had the opportunity to solo with the Elmhurst Symphony. She was also prizewinner in the Chicago Viola Society competition (Junior Division) and Hudson Valley String Competition.
When she’s not playing viola, Rebecca enjoys training for marathons (4 completed!), home improvement projects, and spending time with her husband and three children.
Liang-yu Wang

Praised by The Herald Times as a pianist who “strokes and strikes the keyboard pristinely and with elegance” Taiwanese Liang-yu Wang has performed in major concert halls across four continents as well as several unconventional performance venues such as the Woodbourne Correctional Facility, NY. In the summer of 2016, Ms. Wang was featured as an artist in residence at Cité internationale des Arts in Paris, France. Her performances are frequently broadcast on WFMT and the Violin Channel.
Ms. Wang is currently based in Chicago, As an enthusiastic chamber musician, she has been featured as guest artist with notable chamber music organizations, including The First Song Series at the Morgan Library & Museum, Lev Aronson Legacy Festival, Sonoran Chamber Music Series, Chamber Music on the Fox, Red Rocks Music Festival, Cedar Valley Chamber Music Festival, Burlington Lunchtime Chamber Music Series, Resonant Bodies Festival at Banff Centre, and Downtown Chamber Series. Other festival appearances include Music Academy of the West, Banff Arts Centre, Schlern International Music Festival, and Académie Musicale Internationale “Barbara Krakauer”.
Ms.. Wang and cellist Thomas Landschoot released their debut CD “Balabille: Cello Sonatas by Debussy, Poulenc & Chopin” on ArchiMusic, which was nominated by the Golden Melody Awards in Taiwan as “The Best Classical Music Album”. Her recent recording with violinist Katherine Wolfe on works by Stravinsky, Poulenc, Messiaen and Korngold, will be published in the near future.
In addition to her expertise in classical chamber music repertoire, Ms. Wang is also an enthusiastic advocate of music by living composers. She has premiered several new music works for both piano solo and chamber music, and has been featured frequently on WIU New Music Festival. Among all her endeavors in promoting new music, one of the most exciting highlights has been her collaboration with the celebrated Belgian composer Frank Nuyts, which started from a piano sonata Mr. Nuyts wrote for her back in 2015. Ms. Wang later on recorded the sonata for the Belgian label “HardScore”, following the world premiere she gave in Paris in summer 2016, The collaboration between the two has continued to grow ever since. Earlier this year, Ms. Wang premiered 2 of Mr. Nuyts’ new compositions, written for her and the ensemble Beat Love Oracle. This innovative setting that features marimba, saxophone, electric guitar, drum set, and piano, is designed to push all boundaries. The upcoming concert tours and recording project with BLO will bring enormous excitements In 2022 and 2023.
Previously served as Visiting Assistant Professor (Collaborative Piano/String) at the Indiana University-Bloomington, and also on faculty at Western Illinois University School of Music, Ms. Wang currently serves as the Collaborative Pianist at the Northwestern University Bienen Scchool of Music. During the summers, she is a collaborative pianist at the prestige summer program, Meadowmount School of Music.
Ms. Wang holds a Diploma in Piano Performance from Indiana University-Bloomington, and received her M.M. and D.M.A. in Collaborative Piano from the Arizona State University. She was on staff with the Eastern Music Festival and the Banff Arts Centre in the past summers and was a recipient of the Collaborative Piano Fellowship from the Bard Conservatory of Music, where she worked closely with renowned soprano Dawn Upshaw, the artistic director of the Graduate Vocal Arts Program at Bard.
Upcoming Concerts & Events
American Stories
Featuring the Zodiac Trio
Sunday, February 23, 2025 – 2:30pm
New England Congregational Church, 406 W. Galena Blvd., Aurora, IL
$25 / $15 Students
Monday, February 24, 2025 – 7:30pm
First Congregational Church of Dundee, 900 S. 8th St., West Dundee, IL
$25 / $15 Students
Woodstock Opera House
February 22, 2025 – 2:00 PM
121 Van Buren Street, Woodstock, IL
$30 A Seats / $25 B Seats
(Woodstock Opera House is not included with CMOTF Season Subscription)
Capriccio
featuring Liang-yu Wang, piano
Mark Fisher, conductor
Sunday, March 23, 2025 – 2:30pm
New England Congregational Church, 406 W. Galena Blvd., Aurora, IL
$25 / $15 Students
Monday, March 24, 2025 – 7:30pm
First Congregational Church of Dundee, 900 S. 8th St., West Dundee, IL
$25 / $15 Students
Woodstock Opera House
March 16, 2025 – 2:00 PM
121 Van Buren Street, Woodstock, IL
$30 A Seats / $25 B Seats
(Woodstock Opera House is not included with CMOTF Season Subscription)
Moonshine Sonata
featuring Kruger Brothers and the Kontras Quartet
Sunday, May 18, 2025 – 2:30pm
The Venue, 21 S. Broadway Ave., Aurora, IL
$45 / $25 Students
Monday, May 19, 2025 – 7:30pm
The Haight, 166 Symphony Way, Elgin, IL
$45 / $25 Students