Nordic Chamber Music: Finland, Ballard First Lutheran Church, Seattle, 3 December 2023

Finnish Flute
About this Event
Finnish Flute

Award-winning musicians Cassie Lear, flute and Alex Fang, piano will bring to life long-neglected works by Finnish women in a program especially curated for Nordic Chamber Music drawing on Cassie's Doctoral work at the University of Washington. Experience music by Kaija Saariaho, Laura Netzel, and more -- with a little holiday tinsel mixed in.

Featuring:

Cassie Lear, flute
Alex Fang, piano

On the program:

Music for flute and piano by Finnish women including Laura Netzel, Kaija Saariaho, and more. Selections TBA.

Season Tickets Available Here.

More info at nordicchambermusic.org

Artist Bios

Flautist Cassie Lear enjoys performing chamber music, working with living composers, and the opportunities music gives her to meet people and explore the world. She released her first album, Resilience, with pianist/composer Steven Luksan in 2019 and her second short EP, The Last Rose of Summer: A Quarantine Project in 2020. Her arrangements for the latter was published by ALRY Publications. Cassie is on the faculty of the Music Center of the Northwest and Pierce College, on the board of the Seattle Flute Society, the Music Advisory Panel of the Seattle Young Artists Festival, directs the SFS Horsfall Competition, and has performed with Orquestra Northwest, the SoundEdge Orchestra, Philharmonia Northwest, Seattle Metropolitan Chamber Orchestra, the Windsong Trio, among others. She is a first place winner of the Seattle Flute Society Young Artist Competition, the Maverick Flute Competition, second place winner at the Mid-South Young Artist Competition and the Kentucky Flute Society Chamber Competition, an alternate winner of the Francis Walton Solo Competition and her performance of Eli Fieldsteel’s Aerophoneme won an Audience Choice award at the LaTex Electronic Music Festival. Cassie has also performed at the National Flute Association Annual Conference, the International Computer Music Conference, the Oregon Bach Festival, the International Lyric Academy in Italy, nief-norf Summer Festival, and has been featured on the soundtrack of two short films, several plays, and one feature-length horror film. Cassie holds a Bachelor of Music cum laude from the University of Oregon and a Master of Music from the University of North Texas, and is completing coursework towards her Doctor of Musical Arts in Flute at the University of Washington.

Alex Fang, pianist, is dedicated to sharing music and creating personal connections with his audience members, collaborators, and students. He is currently pursuing his doctorate under the guidance of Craig Sheppard at the University of Washington, where he is also a Teaching Assistant for the Modern Music Ensemble, directed by Cristina Valdés. He received his masters from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music under Sharon Mann and Yoshikazu Nagai, and his bachelors from Northwestern University under Alan Chow and James Giles, where he additionally completed a combined bachelors/masters in computer science. His studies have included pedagogy training under Marcia Bosits and Iris Hsu Shiotsuki. Notable performances include Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Orchestra as the 2022 winner of the piano concerto competition, chamber performances alongside faculty members at Icicle Creek Chamber Music Festival in Leavenworth, and a 2023 world premiere of a double harpsichord concerto with Harmonia.

Alex’s approach to music and teaching offers a holistic combination of the mind and the heart. Through music, he strives to inspire a lifelong joy in learning and respect for the arts. He enjoys helping students analyze and understand the musical language in order to develop their independence and artistic individuality. Since 2015, he has engaged with a wide range of students through private teaching as well as after-school programs, including Bridge to Arts and Music at Third Baptist Church in San Francisco and Academy of Music and Arts for Special Education at Northwestern University. Locally, Alex is active as a soloist, orchestral keyboardist, teacher at Cascade Piano Studio, and collaborative pianist for the Seattle Jewish Chorale.