Kevin Lee Sun, piano & Friends

Look to This Day

Kevin Lee Sun, piano
Hyo-shin Na, composer
Daniel De Togni, composer & shakuhachi
Wallis Lucas, soprano 

Daniel De Togni Death Poems (2025) for shakuhachi and piano West Coast Premiere
Hyo-shin Na Rain Study (1999) for piano solo
Hyo-shin Na Autumn Study (2023) for piano solo
Daniel De Togni Songs of Becoming (2024) for soprano and piano West Coast Premiere

Kevin Lee Sun is Assistant Professor of Piano at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh. In 2021, he was the sole pianist to be named Finalist of that year’s Berlin Prize for Young Artists in Germany. A native of Sacramento and an alumnus of Stanford and SFCM, Sun returns to California for this concert.

Sun’s program Look to This Day presents music by two living composers—Hyo-shin Na and Daniel De Togni—who will be in attendance. The program is centered around the difficulty, ephemerality, and cherishment of life. “Lord let me suffer much / and then die / Let me walk through silence / and leave nothing behind not even fear.” So begins a Polish poem by Anna Kamieńska that inspired Hyo-shin Na to compose her Autumn Study. Na’s other piece on the program, Rain Study, was inspired by a Korean folk song: “The sun that sets will rise again tomorrow. A life that passes will never return.”

Complementing Hyo-shin Na’s music are the West Coast Premieres of two duo works by Daniel De Togni. Death Poems for shakuhachi (Japanese bamboo flute) and piano was inspired by Japanese haikus that act as momento mori. The composer himself will perform on the shakuhachi. For the program’s second half, Pittsburgh-based soprano Wallis Lucas joins Sun for Songs of Becoming, a 30-minute song cycle that sets De Togni’s original text and an ancient Sanskrit poem. Partially in response to his experiences and feelings while living in San Francisco, De Togni’s six songs explore themes of personal growth, dreaming, homelessness, depression, and the preciousness of each day.

Noël Wan, harp

Les fleurs du mal

Sergei Rachmaninoff, transcr. Wan Lilacs, Op. 21, No. 5
Gabriel Jenks Stalk (2008)
Gabriel Fauré Une chatelaine en sa tour …, Op. 110
Clifton Callender Arches and Strings (2024-26)
Giacomo Puccini, transcr. Katz/Wan Crisantemi (Chrysanthemums)
Per Nørgård Consolazione: Flos ut rosa (2002)
Richard Wagner, transcr. Blassel Isoldes Liebestod 

“Did you spring out of heaven or hell, O Beauty?” (Baudelaire) 

One of classical harp’s most distinctive emerging soloists, Noël Wan brings together her unique artistic voice and intellectual imagination in an all-new solo program, Les fleurs du mal. Pairing pieces by beloved late Romantic composers with exquisite twenty-first century works, she and her harp conjure a tangled, efflorescent world of decadence, perversion, and beauty.

Lauded as “a huge talent with hidden power and amazing maturity” (Bart van Oort) and “not [a harpist] to be slept on” (The Globe and Mail), Taiwanese-Canadian-American Noël Wan 萬依慈 commands a remarkably fresh creative voice, bridging charismatic artistry and intellect in her work as an international prize-winning solo harpist and interdisciplinary scholar.

Unparalleled in her musical versatility and technical virtuosity, Noël has garnered top prizes at major competitions, including the Astral Artists National Competition, USA International Harp Competition, Prix Orford Musique, and World Harp Competition. Her solo work spans classical repertoire to jazz transcriptions to experimental improvisation and has been supported by the Chimei Arts Foundation, Ontario Arts Council, Canada Council for the Arts, and Florida State University.

Recent seasons include debut solo recitals in Chicago, Auckland, Hong Kong, China (Fuzhou, Wuxi), and Atlantic Canada; performances of Pull No More, Liliya Ugay’s award-winning solo electroacoustic harp work, at the Chicago Electro-Acoustic Festival, Seoul International Computer Music Festival, and CAMPGround Festival; and the premiere of The Angel of Death, an electroacoustic harp-sculpture designed by installation artist Tra Bouscaren. In July 2026, she will make her Elora Festival recital debut and give the world premiere of Jovian and Telluric, op. 54, Caroline Lizotte’s new work for flute and electroacoustic harp at One Harp World in Toronto.

An alumna of the University of Illinois (BM, DMA) and the Yale School of Music (MM), Noël is currently the Assistant Professor of Harp and Entrepreneurship at Florida State University and harp faculty at the Curtis Institute of Music.

Atom String Quartet

Dawid Lubowicz, violin
Mateusz Smoczyński, violin
Michał Zaborski, viola
Krzysztof Lenczowski, cello

Project co-financed by the Ministry Culture and National Heritage

Atom String Quartet is one of the most original chamber ensembles in the world, and we’re happy to have them perform on our stage the day after their appearance at the Monterey Jazz Festival. It combines the tremendous skills of a classical string quartet with broadly understood improvisation, inspired by Polish folklore, world music, as well as contemporary and classical music. In its repertoire the group constantly blazes new paths, looking for their own sound and formal solutions that escape any classification. All graduates of the Warsaw Chopin University of Music, they all also compose and successfully lead their own solo projects. Since winning the Grand Prix at the 13th Bielska Zadymka Jazzowa in 2011, the ensemble has been regularly performing on the most important Polish and international music stages.

The musicians of Atom String Quartet are regularly invited to recording sessions and collaborate with leading Polish and international artists and orchestras. Their musical partners include artists and bands such as: Branford Marsalis, Bobby McFerrin, Gil Goldstein, Vladislav Adzik Sendecki, Mino Cinelu, Paolo Fresu, Leszek Możdżer, Lars Danielsson, Zohar Fresco, Jerzy Maksymiuk, André Ochodlo, Urszula Dudziak, Anna Maria Jopek, Marek Moś, Natalia Kukulska, Kayah, Aga Zaryan, Adam Sztaba, Grzech Piotrowski, Krzysztof Herdzin, Andrzej Smolik, Orkiestra AUKSO, NFM, Orkiestra Symfoniczna Filharmonii Szczecińskiej, Orkiestra NFM Leopoldinum, Sinfonia Varsovia, Sinfonietta Cracovia, Sinfonia Iuventus.

In the 2017/2018 season, Atom String Quartet was artist-in-residence at the Mieczysław Karłowicz Philharmonic in Szczecin. In March 2021, Atom String Quartet, together with pianist Hania Rani, performed Max Richter’s piece Testament. Commissioned by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, the composition was written and dedicated to the artists as a tribute to Krzysztof Penderecki, who passed away in 2020. The premiere performance was recorded by TVP Kultura.

Kloetzel Chapman Duo
The Women of Note Project

Jennifer Kloetzel, cello
Allegra Chapman, piano

Works by Hélène Liebmann, Luise Le Beau, Mel Bonis, and Leokadiya Kashperova

Women of Note is a multi-season project celebrating cello and piano repertoire by women. Through concerts, educational performances, and recordings, Jennifer Kloetzel and Allegra Chapman bring to life works that have been forgotten or overlooked. Thoughtfully curated programs demonstrate that this music belongs at the center of the cello and piano repertoire, not at its margins. Currently, the project spans almost 250 years from the early 1800s through today.

The duo came together in 2023 to record a new cello sonata composed for Kloetzel by Richard Aldag. They quickly found a shared mission: to bring to light the rich and largely overlooked repertoire of works for cello and piano written by women composers. That mission now drives their ongoing project, Women of Note, through which they are committed to performing and recording these deserving works for audiences who have rarely, if ever, had the chance to hear them.

Recently, the Kloetzel Chapman Duo has performed for Berkeley Chamber Performances, Noontime Concerts in San Francisco, and Point Reyes Chamber Concerts, and has been featured on KALW Radio’s On the Arts and KWMR Radio. Kloetzel and Chapman are both graduates of The Juilliard School.

Praised for her “ceaseless musicianship” (BBC Music Magazine) and “impressively passionate performances” (The Strad), cellist Jennifer Kloetzel has performed as soloist and chamber musician at Lincoln Center, the Ravinia Festival and San Francisco Performances. Her international credits include Harpa Concert Hall (Reykjavik), Izumi Hall (Osaka) and the Eroica-Saal (Vienna). Jennifer’s engaging programs offer audiences a surprising mix of repertoire by Shostakovich, Mel Bonis, Frank Bridge, John Williams, and Philippe Hersant. She has premiered over 80 solo and chamber works, including five concerti written specifically for her.

Fascinated with performance projects that create community, Jennifer’s Mission:Bach—A Pilgrimage of Sound tour has included nearly 60 concerts at all 21 California Missions, performing Bach’s Cello Suites and commissioned companion pieces. These concerts with conversation explore local history and musical connections across centuries. Her Inspired By America project brought a multi-media collaboration to large concert halls, exploring what it means to be an American through live chamber music combined with film.

Jennifer’s Beethoven: The Conquering Hero, (the complete works for cello and piano with Robert Koenig), was chosen as “Recording of the Month” by BBC Music Magazine in March 2022. Other highlights include recording Elena Ruehr’s Cello Concerto ‘Cloud Atlas’ with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, as well as the entire cycle of Beethoven’s quartets and Brahms’ sextets. Jennifer has been featured regularly in both concerto and chamber performances on National Public Radio’s Performance Today. Among her 38 CDs, many have been broadcast on radio stations in South Africa, Romania, Brazil, Germany and Australia.

A Fulbright scholar, Jennifer holds two degrees from The Juilliard School, winning the institution’s top award at graduation. A founding member of the Cypress String Quartet, she now performs with Quartet ES and the jazz quintet Bow & Mallet. Jennifer serves as Professor of Cello and Head of the String Area at the University of California Santa Barbara, and she regularly offers masterclasses and workshops along with her mainstage performances.

Acclaimed by the San Francisco Chronicle for her “fervid but impeccably controlled” performances, pianist Allegra Chapman is driven by her passion for connecting audiences with historically overlooked and living composers. Allegra is a member of Left Coast Chamber Ensemble, San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, and the award-winning Chordless duo with soprano Sara LeMesh. She has performed internationally at venues including Cal Performances, Alice Tully Hall, San Francisco Jazz Center, and Xi’an Concert Hall.

A graduate of the Bard Conservatory of Music and The Juilliard School, Allegra is Artistic Director of Point Reyes Chamber Concerts and a Contributing Writer for the San Francisco Symphony. She is on faculty at Pre-College of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and makes her home in San Francisco with her family and over 1000 books.

 We recognize the challenges that we still face: the slow return of live audiences after the pandemic, a shift in the funding landscape by major Foundations, and the economic uncertainties brought about by inflation, conflict and climate change. When you give to Old First Concerts, you invest in the local arts community and stand with us as we overcome these challenges together! 

 Your donation to Old First Concerts:  

• Helps keep our prices incredibly affordable – you might have to pay twice as much to hear the same artists at another venue. We also provide $5 tickets for low-income seniors and students to nearly every concert. 
• Supports local musicians and keeps them in our community. Our series has hosted many first post-pandemic performances. 
• Ensures a safe space for music by women and Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) composers. Performers of this music seek out Old First Concerts as the venue of choice for this programming.   

 This year, we hope you would consider of gift of $125 or another amount that feels right to you. We deeply appreciate all gifts and acknowledge them in our printed programs and on our website.

If you would prefer to mail a check, please send it to:
Old First Concerts
1751 Sacramento Street
San Francisco, CA 94109

Old First Concerts is a registered 501(c)3 Charitable Organization (Tax ID#:94-2898233).