Kevin Park
Artistic Director
DATE
Fri. November 17 - 7:30 PM
South Delta Baptist Church, Delta
Sun. November 19 - 3:00 PM
Kay Meek Arts Cetre, West Vancouver
Mon. November 20 - 1:00 PM
Anvil Centre, New Westminster
PROGRAM
MATINEE PROGRAM
*Our matinee series consists of one-hour performances with a program separate from the evening concerts.
TBA
FULL PROGRAM
TBA
ABOUT
NATHAN CHAN
Cellist Nathan Chan discovered his talent for music at an early age through conducting. Before he was two, he could emulate the styles of conductors he saw on music videos such as Seiji Ozawa, Herbert von Karajan and Leonard Bernstein, using a chopstick as a baton. As a toddler, his imitations were so intuitively musical that he caught the attention of San Francisco Opera Assistant Conductor Sara Jobin. Under her eye, he made his debut as a conductor at age three, leading the San Jose Chamber Orchestra in a set of Mozart variations, despite not yet being able to read music. This was followed by a guest appearance with the Palo Alto Philharmonic a year later, conducting the first movement of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. Initially drawn to the sounds of low strings, he began formal music lessons with cellist Irene Sharp at age five. He later studied with Sieun Lin at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
Nathan Chan has performed as a soloist with the San Francisco Symphony, the Royal Philharmonic, Albany Symphony, Reno Philharmonic, and Hong Kong Chamber Orchestra, working with conductors such as Leonard Slatkin, James Gaffigan, Alexander Prior, Benjamin Simon, Donato Cabrera, Alasdair Neale, Edwin Outwater, Laura Jackson, and David Allen Miller, among others. He also participated in the Emmy-award-winning NPR program From The Top and NPR's Performance Today with Fred Child. In 2009, he was featured in The World’s Greatest Musical Prodigies, a three-part British series documenting a global search for talented musicians, in which Nathan and three other performers gave the world premiere of the Velesslavista Quadruple Concerto, composed by Alexander Prior. Nathan Chan has performed benefit concerts for the American Alzheimer's Association and the Friends of Children with Special Needs, among others. For his contributions to the community, he won the Peninsula Arts Council’s Ray Lorenzato Diamond Arts Award in 2007. In 2006, Nathan Chan appeared in The Music in Me, a documentary that aired on HBO and won the Peabody Award. This program led to a performance in Carnegie Hall and caught the attention of the legendary soul singer Roberta Flack, who invited Nathan to collaborate on her project of Beatles songs for Sony Records.
Nathan Chan was named a 2012 Davidson Fellow for his project entitled, "The Importance of Passion” and was awarded a $25,000 scholarship as part of this prestigious honor. While in New York City, he made his debut in Avery Fisher Hall (now David Geffen Hall) playing Haydn's Cello Concerto in C Major and with the Juilliard Orchestra performing Strauss' Don Quixote as the winner of the 2013 Juilliard Cello Concerto Competition, led by Maestro Leonard Slatkin. In 2015, Mr. Chan was chosen to participate in Classe d'Excellence du Violoncelle with world-renowned cellist Gautier Capuçon in association with Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris, France. Nathan won the 2015 Aspen Low Strings Concerto Competition playing Haydn’s Cello Concerto in D Major and was a recipient of the 2016 Samuel Mayes Memorial Cello Award at Tanglewood.
Nathan is a strong proponent of using technology and social media to attract others into the classical world and is committed to his fast growing Internet presence; to date, he has over 25 million views on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok. (@nathanchancello) During the COVID Pandemic, Nathan ran a fundraising campaign called “Nathan Chan Chats for Change”, raising funds for charities for social justice change, COVID relief and the Seattle Symphony. Nathan recently released his first NFT, collaborating with AI Artist Lia Coleman, combining classical music with machine learning art. Nathan’s 2022-2023 season includes a performance of Elgar’s Cello Concerto with the California Symphony, Tabakova’s Concerto for Cello and Strings with the Olympia Symphony, Shostakovich Cello Concerto with the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber Orchestra as well as a return to the Marlboro Music Festival as a 2021 participant.
Nathan received his Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics at Columbia University and his Masters of Music with Richard Aaron at The Juilliard School. He is Seattle Symphony’s Assistant Principal Cello. Visit him online at nathanchan.com
VANCOUVER CELLO QUARTET
Lee Duckles
Cellist
Luke Kim
Cellist
Cristian Márkos
Cellist
Kevin Park
Cellist
Formed in 2012, The Vancouver Cello Quartet is comprised of four dedicated professionals who perform original works and arrangements for cellos.
This ensemble of classically trained players celebrates the unequaled sound of four cellos. Since their acclaimed debut, the Quartet has quickly won the hearts of music lovers through their performances of staples of the classical music repertoire as well as contemporary and popular works, all of which showcase the limitless possibilities of the instrument they love.
The mission of the Vancouver Cello Quartet is to create an eclectic mix of repertoire for every concert, shaping the program according to each venue’s interests while maintaining our commitment to musical diversity.
Formerly the Principal Cellist with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Lee received his early training in the San Francisco Bay Area and a degree in performance from the University of Illinois. An active soloist and chamber musician, he has performed in festivals in BC, Ontario, Alaska, Washington, California, Colorado, and South Korea. For the past 35 summers, he has been the Principal Cellist of the Cabrillo Music Festival of Contemporary Music in California. In Vancouver, Mr. Duckles has enjoyed an association with the Vancouver Academy of Music, The University of British Columbia, the Vancouver New Music Society – (a founding director and performer), the Masterpiece Music Series, and The Vancouver Chamber Players. He has recorded for the CBC, both as a performer and arranger, the Musical Heritage Society of America, Heliodor, Polydor, and Skylark Records. He is currently the Co-Director of the Vancouver Chamber Players and President of the Vancouver Cello Club.
Originally from South Korea, Luke Wook-Young Kim has been a member of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra since 2015. He completed his undergraduate studies at UBC, where he received the Catherine-Cooke Topping Memorial Medal for musical excellence. Then, he finished his Master of Music degree as a full scholarship student at UCLA. His teachers include Antonio Lysy, Joseph Elworthy, Eric Wilson, John Friesen, and Kenneth Friedman. Luke participated in masterclasses with Lynn Harrell, Janos Starker, Aldo Parisot, Raphael Wallfisch, Paul Katz, and Desmond Hoebig. He also participated in summer music festivals such as the Aspen Music Festival, the Early Music Vancouver Programme, and the Incontri in Terra di Siena Music Festival. Luke has appeared in various concert series, such as the Dilijan Chamber Music Series (Los Angeles), the West Vancouver Community Arts Council, the Vancouver Chamber Music Society, and the UBC’s Wednesday Noon Hours Series. He has performed as a soloist with various orchestras such as the West Coast Symphony (Vancouver), the Seoul Symphony Orchestra, the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, the Vancouver Metropolitan Orchestra, the Polish Czestochowa Philharmonic Orchestra, the Busan Metropolitan Pops Orchestra, and the Busan Neo Philharmonic (Korea).
Romanian-Canadian cellist Cristian Márkos earned his B.Mus in Music Performance from the Music Academy in Bucharest, Romania. He went on to the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee for post-graduate studies with Mr. Wolfgang Laufer, late cellist of the renowned Fine Arts Quartet. For the 2012-2013 concert season, Cristian joined the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra as Associate Principal Cellist . As an accomplished symphony and chamber musician, he has toured with the Mont Blanc Symphony Orchestra under the baton of the late Maestro/cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, and as a soloist Cristian has performed on stages in Romania, France, Germany, Austria, Greece, Italy, United States, and Canada.
Kevin’s musical training began in Seoul, South Korea. In 2002 he was given a full scholarship to pursue his performance degree at the University of North Texas. Kevin was invited to perform in the final rounds of many prestigious competitions and festivals and won first prize in the WRR 101.1 Chamber Music International Competition in 2005. In 2006, he was invited to the Prague Conservatory of Music and the Janacek Academy in the Czech Republic for series of recitals. He has been principal cellist of the British Columbia Music Educators Association Orchestra (BCMEA), the University of North Texas Symphony & Chamber Orchestra, the Winspear Opera Orchestra, and the Pilgrim Orchestra. In addition to his career as a recitalist and chamber musician, Kevin currently serves as an Artistic Director of the Vancouver Chamber Music Society. Kevin is a dedicated teacher and is a faculty member of several learning centres in the lower mainland, including the Pacific Coast School of Music. Since 2010 Kevin has been based in New Westminster.