About this Event
Geneva Lewis, violin
New Zealand-born violinist Geneva Lewis has forged a reputation as a musician of consummate artistry whose performances speak from and to the heart. Hailed by conductor Nic McGegan as “a name to watch,” Geneva is the recipient of a 2021 Avery Fisher Career Grant and Grand Prize winner of the 2020 Concert Artists Guild Competition. Other recent accolades include Kronberg Academy’s Prince of Hesse Prize and being named a Finalist at the 2018 Naumburg Competition, a Performance Today Young Artist in Residence, and Musical America’s New Artist of the Month.
After her solo debut at age 11 with the Pasadena Symphony, Geneva has gone on to perform with orchestras around the world, including recent and forthcoming appearances with Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Auckland Philharmonia, Sarasota Orchestra, Pensacola Symphony, Augusta Symphony, and Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra. She has worked with a number of notable conductors, including Nic McGegan, Edwin Outwater, and Michael Feinstein, and looks forward to collaborations with Giordano Bellincampi, Sameer Patel, Peter Rubardt, and Dirk Meyer. In recital, recent and upcoming highlights include performances at Wigmore Hall, the Concertgebouw, Tippet Rise, Emory University, Purdue Convocations, Kravis Center, and Myra Hess, among others.
While Geneva’s claim to chamber music fame came early on as a member of the renowned Lewis Family Trio with her siblings Nathan (piano) and Rochelle (cello), she has since established the Callisto Trio, Artist-in-Residence at the Da Camera Society in Los Angeles. Callisto received the Bronze Medal at the Fischoff Competition as the youngest group to ever compete in the senior division finals. They were recently invited on the Masters on Tour series of the International Holland Music Sessions and performed at the celebrated Het Concertgebouw Amsterdam.
Deeply passionate about collaboration, Geneva has had the pleasure of performing with such prominent musicians as Atar Arad, Efe Baltacigil, Glenn Dicterow, Miriam Fried, Ilya Kaler, Michael Kannen, Kim Kashkashian, Ida Kavafian, Marcy Rosen, Mitsuko Uchida, and the Borromeo String Quartet, among others.
An advocate of community engagement and music education, Geneva was selected for the New England Conservatory’s Community Performances and Partnerships Program’s Ensemble Fellowship, through which her string quartet created interactive educational programs for audiences throughout Boston. Her quartet was also chosen for the Virginia Arts Festival Residency, during which they performed and presented masterclasses in elementary, middle, and high schools.
Geneva is currently in the Artist Diploma program as the recipient of the Charlotte F. Rabb Presidential Scholarship at the New England Conservatory studying with Miriam Fried. Past summers have taken her to the Marlboro Music Festival, Ravinia Steans Institute, Perlman Music Program’s Chamber Workshop, International Holland Music Sessions, Taos School of Music and the Heifetz International Music Institute.
Geneva is currently performing on the “Joachim-Ma” Stradivarius, c. 1714, on generous loan from the New England Conservatory.
Gabriel Martins, cello
Cellist Gabriel Martins (b. 1998) is the winner of the 2020 Concert Artists Guild (CAG) - Young Classical Artists Trust (YCAT) Grand Prize, the 2020 Sphinx Competition, the 2020 Schadt String Competition, the 2018 Orford Music Award, and the 2013 David Popper International Cello Competition. Additionally, he won the second prize in the 2014 International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians and the Czech Music Fund prize in the 2018 Prague Spring International Music Competition. He has performed as a soloist and chamber musician in venues such as Carnegie Zankel Hall, the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, Maison Symphonique in Montréal, Teatro Gran Rex in Buenos Aires, and Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. According to esteemed cellist Ralph Kirshbaum, he has "revealed heart, passion, intellect, and a finely-nuanced palette of colors in a compelling manner worthy of a seasoned artist."
Martins’ upcoming debuts include Wigmore Hall in London, Merkin Hall in New York City, and the Allentown, Arkansas, Elgin, Pacific, and Phoenix Symphony Orchestras. He has appeared in concerto performances with the Aspen Conducting Academy Orchestra, Fukuda Ensemble (São Paulo), Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Memphis Symphony, Modesto Symphony Orchestra, New Russia State Symphony Orchestra, Sphinx Symphony Orchestra, USC Thornton Symphony, and has given solo recitals on the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts and IU Summer Music series. His performances have aired on National Public Radio's From the Top, New York's WQXR, and Chicago's WFMT. From 2017-2019, he was a member of the critically-acclaimed SAKURA Cello Quintet. In 2019, Martins toured with Miriam Fried and Musicians from Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute, giving concerts in Boston, Chicago, New York City and elsewhere. 2021 saw the debut of his first complete Bach Cycle, in collaboration with the Kaufman Center and the Alphadyne Foundation, where he played all Six Cello Suites back to back in New York City. In the spring of 2022 he will debut his first complete Beethoven Cycle, in collaboration with pianist Kati Gleiser and the Lakes Area Music Festival, performing and recording all of the works for Cello and Piano.
Born of American and Brazilian heritage, Martins grew up in Bloomington, Indiana. He began playing the cello when he was five, studying with Susan Moses at the Indiana University String Academy. He later served as a teaching assistant at the Academy's summer program. His festival appearances have included the Piatigorsky International Cello Festival, Ravinia Steans Music Institute, Yellow Barn Music Festival, Orford Music Academy, Four Seasons Festival Winter Workshop, and Aspen Music Festival and School, where he won the Low Strings Concerto Competition. He received his B.M. as a Presidential Scholar at the USC Thornton School of Music with Ralph Kirshbaum. In his freshman year at USC, he won the school's concerto competition as well as its Bach competition. He received his M.M. at the New England Conservatory of Music.
In addition to his commitment to the great classics of the cello repertoire, Martins composes his own works and arranges many others. His "Songs of Solitude" received their World Premiere in the spring of 2021 in collaboration with the Brooklyn Public Library, and his new cello arrangements of Bach's Solo Violin Sonatas and Partitas have received high acclaim and a feature in The Strad Magazine. He is also a passionate educator, teaching privately and giving a number of masterclasses. His students have gone on to achieve major success in competitions and performances around the world. He also runs an educational series on Youtube, Cello Tips, which has garnered thousands of viewers worldwide. Martins currently plays on a composite Francesco Ruggieri cello made in Cremona, c. 1690 and a François Nicolas Voirin bow made in Paris, c. 1880.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Miami Beach Community Church, 1620 Drexel Ave,, Miami Beach, United States
USD 0.00 to USD 25.00