Cellist Bryan Cheng, prize-winner of the 2023 Virginia Parker Prize and 2022 Prix Yves Paternot, and pianist Silvie Cheng, 2022-23 Cecilia Concerts Musician-in-Residence and National Arts Club Artist Fellow, have been making music together their entire lives. Since officially forming the Cheng² Duo at their 2011 Carnegie Weill Recital Hall debut, their artistry has left lasting impressions across the globe, with extensive tours to illustrious concert halls and international festivals throughout North America, Europe, Asia and South Africa.

Recent highlights include recitals at the Frauenkirche Dresden, Flagey (Brussels), Munich Künstlerhaus, California Center for the Arts, Dame Myra Hess Series (Chicago), Chamber Music at the Clark (Los Angeles), Harvard University (Cambridge) and Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts (Kingston), as well as Chamberfest Cheboygan, Ottawa Chamberfest and Toronto Summer Music Festivals. Past performances and interviews have been broadcast on CBC Radio, Radio-Canada International, WCRB Classical Music Boston, WCNY Classic FM, Südwestrundfunk (SWR2) Germany and ORF Austria.

In the vanguard of creative programming, Bryan and Silvie are equally committed to presenting traditional masterworks, rediscovering neglected repertoire and championing the music of their time. Since 2013, they have commissioned and arranged 15 new works, as well as curating cross-disciplinary concert experiences that meld classical and contemporary music with jazz, poetry, and visual/media arts. World-class collaborative partners have included photographer and cinematographer Edward Burtynsky, Mercury Films and multimedia studio Normal.

Cheng² Duo has released four critically acclaimed albums on the Canadian label Centrediscs and the German label audite: Portrait (2023) - nominated for a 2024 JUNO Award in the category Classical Album of the Year, Small Ensemble, Russian Legends (2019), Violonchelo del fuego (2018), and Violoncelle français (2016).

Anselm McDonnell (b. 1994) is an Irish/Welsh composer whose music has been described as “abrasive and compelling” (Irish Times) “dazzling… seductive… eerie and disturbing” (Planet Hugill) “a feast for the senses” (Morning Star) and “the cutting edge of musical creativity.” (Opera Journal). A diverse range of interests in cross-genre and multimedia art has led to collaboration with rap artists, lighting designers, poets, filmmakers, dancers, and actors, including the 5-star reviewed Politics of the Imagination, a rap opera commissioned by the London Symphony Orchestra. McDonnell’s works embrace musical and emotional contrasts that “evoke emotional territories indicative of our time’s unsettled state of menace, balanced with personal moments of fragile hope and stability. (Get Classical NYC)".

McDonnell has held residencies at the London Symphony Orchestra (Jerwood + composer for 2023/24), Centre Culturel Irlandais in Paris (Oct/Nov 23), Belfast City Council (2022) and TACETi Ensemble in Bangkok (Jun 23). International performers of his music include Collegium Novum Zürich (Switzerland), Helsinki Chamber Choir (Finland), Rosetta Ensemble (Japan), GAMEnsemble (Russia), Ottawa Guitar Orchestra (Canada), Ensemble Offspring (Australia), C4 Ensemble (USA), and Avanti! Chamber Orchestra (Finland). In the UK and Ireland, he has been commissioned and performed by the London Symphony Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra Ireland, BBC Concert Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, BBC Singers, Crash Ensemble, Ulster Touring Opera, Hard Rain Soloist Ensemble, Chamber Choir Ireland, and New Dublin Voices. He is a current member of Sound and Music’s Composer Advisory Group.

Leoš Janáček (1854–1928)

Pohádka

Con moto – Andante - Allegro
Con moto - Adagio poco rubato
Allegro

Francis Poulenc (1899–1963)
Sonate pour violoncelle et piano, FP 143

Allegro - Tempo di marcia
Cavatine
Ballabile
Final

Interval


Anselm McDonnell (1994)
Music Network commission

Johannes Brahms (1833–1897)
Sonata No. 2 for Cello and Piano in F Major, Op. 99

Allegro vivace
Adagio affettuoso
Allegro passionato
Allegro molto