Nomad and Native

Cultural intersections, displacement, and identity

We explore the music of migration, memory, and belonging. Gabriela Lena Frank’s Elegía Andina honors her Andean roots with vibrant colors and lyricism. Prokofiev’s lyrical second violin concerto, written during his years abroad, reflects on Russia—old and new—through the lens of Western Europe. And Falla’s El Amor Brujo fuses flamenco, folklore, and ritual into a dramatic portrait of haunted love and release.

PROGRAM

Gabriela Lena Frank: Elegía Andina

Sergei Prokofiev: Violin Concerto No. 2
Sunmi Chang, violin soloist

Manuel de Falla: El Amor Brujo
Agnes Vojtko, mezzo-soprano
Martita Santiago, flamenco dancer

ABOUT THE SOLOISTS

Sunmi Chang, Violin

As the laureate of the 2007 International Markneukirchen Violin Competition, and the 2007 Sion-Valais International Violin Competition, Sunmi Chang has performed widely and to acclaim throughout North America and Europe as a solo artist and chamber musician. In 2008, she was the soloist of the Asian Tour to Seoul, Beijing, and Shanghai with the Yale Philharmonia, performing the Beethoven Violin Concerto. 

 She started playing the violin at the age of seven with Professor Nam-Yun Kim in South Korea. Before starting her studies at the Yehudi Menuhin School in England in 1995, she had already won several national competitions including the Wol-Gan Music Competition, 20th Junior Korean Newspaper Competition, and Cho-Sun Daily Newspaper Competition.

While studying at the Yehudi Mehuhin School in England, she performed regularly in concerts at Wigmore Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Royal Albert Hall, and Purcell Room. In 1998 and 1999, she toured with the Yehudi Menuhin School orchestra playing Bach Double Concerto for two violins conducted by Lord Menuhin at the UNESCO Headquarter in Paris, Guilford Cathedral etc. After graduating from the YMS she went to Germany to continue pursuing a musical career and to study at the Hanns Eisler Musikhochschule in Berlin with Professor Eberhard Feltz. She has taken part in various summer festivals and master classes with Mauricio Fuks, Maya Glezarova, Felix Andrievsky, Zakhar Bron, Robert Masters, Zvi Zeitlin, Rainer Kussmaul, Boris Kuschnir, Igor Ozim, Midori, and Lord Menuhin. 

As a chamber musician, Sunmi won the first prize at Plowman Chamber Music Competition and has collaborated with renowned artists including Kim Kashkashian, Donald Weilerstein, Atar Arad, Steven Taylor, Marcy Rosen, Edward Arron, Wu Han, and David Finckel. In 2006 and 2007, she was invited to take part in the Rising Stars Series at the Caramoor Chamber Music Festival, and in 2009 she was one of eleven international program artists for Music@Menlo, an internationally acclaimed chamber music festival and institute in the San Francisco Bay Area. 

​She completed her studies with Peter Oundjian and Ani Kavafian earning the Artist Diploma and the Master of Music degree at Yale University, where she won the School of Music Woolsey Hall Concerto Competition in 2006 performing the Bartok Violin Concerto No.2 with the Yale Philharmonia. She won a position in the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra in 2009, which is the only full-time chamber orchestra in the United States. She was a full time tenured member of the orchestra from 2009 until 2015.

​As well as being an active performer she is a dedicated teacher educating the next generation of young musicians. She has maintained an active teaching studio for over twenty years, teaching all levels of students. She was a faculty member at the Chamber Music Institute Program at Music@Menlo for many years and was also a board member and a judge of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra Youth Chamber Music Competition. In 2020, Sunmi completed a Doctor of Musical Arts in Violin Performance from the University of Michigan. 

She plays on a Giulio Degani violin made in Venice in 1903.

“Hailed as an “earnest and grounded” (San Francisco Classical Voice) with a “heart-touching and plush sound” (Bay Area Reporter), Hungarian mezzo-soprano, Ágnes Vojtkó is known for her masterful presentation of early music repertoire. As a versatile and authentic artist equally at home on both the operatic and concert stage, Ágnes is excited to make her Carnegie Hall debut in Händel’s Messiah, her Eugene Opera debut as Flora in La Traviata and to return to American Bach Soloists for Bach’s St John Passion. 

Recent appearances include Bach’s Mass in B Minor and St Matthew Passion with American Bach Soloists, Mozart’s Requiem with Connecticut Early Music Festival, Händel’s Messiah, and Bach’s Mass in B Minor with Music Worcester and Concora.

An avid Bach interpreter, Ágnes has performed Bach’s Christmas Oratorio

with American Bach Soloists, Mass in B Minor, St Matthew Passion and St John Passion with Dallas Bach Society. Other notable solo concert performances include Rossini’s Petite messe solennelle with Concora, Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde (Schoenberg- Riehn) at US Davis and Copland’s In the Beginning with Musica Sacra in Boston. Also, an accomplished ensemble singer, Ágnes has performed with Concora, Alchemy, Tactus and was a member of Schola Cantorum at the Cathedral of Saint Joseph in Hartford, CT.

On the operatic stage Ágnes sang with Austin Lyric Opera, Opera in the Heights (Houston), Ars Classica Chamber Opera and Budapest Chamber Opera. 

Ágnes has earned recognition at some of the most prestigious vocal competitions, including the Nyiregyhazi International Music Competition in Takasaki, Japan, the S. Mercadante International Singing Competition in Italy, the International Händel Competition in Hungary, the Händel Singing Competition in England, the Dallas Opera Guild, and the W. Stenhammar International Vocal Competition in Sweden. Her experience in Sweden led her to one of the highlights of her career, to sing on a Gala concert at the Cairo Opera House.

Ágnes brings a diversity of perspectives and experience from her international upbringing. Introduced to music through piano and the Kodály Method at an early age in her hometown of Siófok, Hungary, Ágnes went on to earn her BM at Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest. As a recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship, she moved to the US and now holds an MM and DMA in Voice from the University of Texas at Austin. Ágnes served on the voice faculty of Collin College and Southwestern University, TX.

Martita Santiago is the founder and artistic director of Flamenco Chico, a visionary performer whose life has been steeped in the rhythms and spirit of Spanish dance. Born and raised in the vibrant heart of Spanish Harlem, New York City, Martita began performing in the streets at a young age to help support her family. Her undeniable talent caught the eye of legendary dancer Guillermo Del Oro—who once performed in the courts of Spain in the 1920s and 30s—and under his mentorship at the San Francisco Ballet Academy, Martita’s artistry flourished. 

In San Francisco, she became a sought-after performer, gracing countless clubs, fundraisers, and social events with her commanding presence. During the 1960s, Martita starred in the Red Cross USO Entertainment Branch and was invited to join Bob Hope on tour overseas. In 1961, she had the honor of being invited to perform for President John F. Kennedy at the San Francisco Civic Auditorium.