Rush Hour Concerts 2020 - Warner/Griffin Family

Rush Hour Concerts 2020
July 28, 2020
Warner/Griffin Family
Robbie Ellis, host
Susan Warner, clarinet
David Griffin, horn
Henry Griffin, baritone/piano
Tian Qin, piano
Pearl Griffin, harp
View our digital Program booklet here: imfchicago.org/warner-griffin...
Program:
Claude Debussy, arr. David Riniker - Claire de Lune
Clara Schumann, arr. Ashley Ertz - Love Songs from Op. 12 and Op. 13
Sie liebten sich beide, Op. 13
Liebst du um Schönheit, Op. 12
Franz Schubert; trans. Kazimierz Machala - Gretchen am Spinnrade, D. 118
Leonard Bernstein - Sonata for clarinet and piano
I. Grazioso
Henry Griffin - Pandemic, Op. 4
I. Exultation
Susan Warner is Acting Co-Principal Clarinetist of the Lyric Opera of Chicago Orchestra. During the summer Susan performs with the Prairie Winds Quintet at Madeline Island Chamber Music and in the Sun Valley Music Festival Orchestra, recently featured there as soloist. Susan has also appeared as a substitute musician with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Montreal Symphony Orchestra, and Grant Park Symphony Orchestra.
Susan has performed at the Tanglewood, Schleswig-Holstein, Heidelberg Castle, Grand Teton, Music Academy of the West, and Aspen festivals. In August 2019 as a member of the Chicago Winds Quintet, Susan, along with her husband CSO hornist David Griffin, toured throughout China where Susan’s growing fluency in Mandarin allowed her to deliver spoken introductions during concerts.
David Griffin is the fourth horn of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Upon graduating from Northwestern University in 1987, Griffin began his career with the Rochester Philharmonic and followed with positions in the orchestras of Montreal and Houston before joining the Chicago Symphony in 1995. Griffin has served as guest principal horn of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Saint Louis Symphony, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and Shanghai Radio Orchestra.
Griffin is artist faculty of French horn at Roosevelt University and has previously taught at McGill University and Northwestern University. Summer festival engagements have included Sun Valley, Grand Teton, Tanglewood, Manchester (VT) and Madeline Island. Griffin has also been a featured artist and clinician at the annual symposium of the International Horn Society.
Susan and David live in Oak Park; together they have homeschooled their children Henry and Pearl, allowing for extensive family travels, most recently to Chile, Antarctica, New Zealand, Australia, Indonesia, Panama, and Turkey.
Henry Griffin studies baritone voice under the tutelage of Marlena Malas at the Manhattan School of Music. For the past two summers Henry has attended the Chautauqua Institute’s Voice Program. As a young boy Henry frequently appeared as boy soprano soloist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Lyric Opera of Chicago. In addition to singing, Henry is an expert birder with over one thousand birds on his life identification list. He also enjoys studying piano and music composition.
Tian Qin is a candidate for the Bachelor of Music degree in Classical Composition at the Manhattan School of Music, studying with Dr. Marjorie Merryman. Her vocal piece, “The Moon,” won the second prize in the vocal category of the Li Ming Chun Xiao China National Composition Competition in 2015. Her trio of traditional Chinese instruments, “Obsessed,” won the second prize of the Yinzhong China National composition competition in 2016. This piece was selected to be performed at the 34th Shanghai Spring International Music Festival, as well as the Communication concert of the Xian and Shanghai Music Middle Schools in 2017.
Rush Hour Concerts
Rush Hour Concerts exists to provide “great music for busy lives” free of charge every Tuesday evening, June through August, at 5:45pm in historic St. James Cathedral in downtown Chicago. In the Summer of 2000, concert pianist and civic leader Deborah Sobol founded the Rush Hour Concert series to reinvent the traditional classical music concert format by presenting chamber music masterworks in an engaging setting, accessible to all. These 30-minute concerts offer unparalleled access to repertoire spanning 700 years, performed by world-class musicians from Chicago’s leading ensembles including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Lyric Opera of Chicago and independent chamber music groups. Informal education via pre-concert conversations about the music with artists, composers and other members of Chicago’s vibrant classical music scene and post-concert opportunities to interact with the performers make for an inviting and invigorating cultural experience.
International Music Foundation
The International Music Foundation is dedicated to presenting free high-quality classical music performances and music education experiences in the Chicago metropolitan area for people of all ages and degrees of musical awareness so they can experience how music enriches life.
imfchicago.org