The second concert in our free Chamber Music Concert series will feature performers Gabriela Díaz (violin), Cara Pogossian (viola), and Jan Müller-Szeraws (cello).
Join us in-person or on livestream!
About the Performers
Gabriela Díaz, Violin
Gabriela Díaz began her musical training at the age of five, studying piano with her mother, an the next year, violin with her father. A childhood cancer survivor, Gabriela is committed to supporting cancer research and treatment as a musician. In 2004, she was awarded a grant from the Albert Schweitzer Foundation to organize a series of chamber music concerts in cancer units at various hospitals in Boston, this project is now a part of her chamber music organization, Winsor Music. A fierce champion of contemporary music Gabriela has worked closely with many significant composers, including Pierre Boulez, Joa Tower, Jessie Montgomery, Tania León, and Helmut Lachenmann. Gabriela is a member of The International Contemporary Ensemble, A Far Cry, Castle of Our Skins, Sound Icon, and appears frequently with other chamber music ensembles throughout the United States. Gabriela teaches at Wellesley College and the Longy School of Music at Bard College. Critics have acclaimed Gabriela as “a young violin master,” and “one of Boston’s most valuable players.” Lloyd Schwartz of the Boston Phoenix noted, “…Gabriela Diaz in a bewitching performance of Pierre Boulez’s 1991 Anthèmes. The come-hither meow of Diaz’s upward slides and her sustained pianissimo fade-out were miracles of color, texture, and feeling.” Others have remarked on her “indefatigably expressive” playing, “polished technique,” and “vivid and elegant playing.” Gabriela can be heard on New World, Centaur, BMOPSound, Mode, Naxos, and Tzadik records. Her recording of Lou Harrison’s Suite for Violin and American Gamelan was highlighted in the New York Times Article, “5 Minutes That Will Make You Love Classical Music.” Gabriela is proud to be a core member of the team that created Boston Hope Music, bringing music to patients and frontline workers during the pandemic. In the fall of 2024 Gabriela will become a member of the Kronos Quartet. More info can be found at gabrieladiazviolin.com!
Cara Pogossian, Viola
Armenian-American violist Cara Pogossian is an avid chamber musician having attended numerous summer festivals, including the Marlboro Festival, Ravinia Steans Music Institute, and Taos School of Music. In 2022, Cara was the winner of the Borromeo String Quartet Guest Artist Award, and, more recently, her quartet was selected as a 2022-2023 Honors Ensemble at the New England Conservatory. She has also toured with the Curtis Institute on multiple occasions, performing Schubert’s Cello Quintet, as well as with the Curtis Symphony Orchestra as principal violist. Cara has had the privilege of collaborating and performing with many of the leading figures in classical music, such as Don Weilerstein, Ida Kavafian, Joseph Lin, Marcy Rosen, Peter Wiley, Daniel Phillips, Kim Kashkashian, and the Borromeo String Quartet. Cara is the Principal Violist of the Portland Symphony Orchestra, and has appeared as a guest musician with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Boston Pops Orchestra. As an AGBU (Armenian General Benevolent Union) Scholarship recipient, she has performed at several high-profile concerts, including a joint recital with her brother, Edvard, at the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. Earlier this year, Cara was named the winner of the NEC Concerto Competition, culminating in a performance of Bartók’s Viola Concerto with the NEC Philharmonia. Cara is lucky enough to have an entire family of musicians, with whom she frequently performs. During the pandemic, the Pogossian/Manouelian Clarinet Quintet collaborated with composers Timo Andres, Ian Krouse, Artashes Kartalyan, and Aida Shirazi, premiering each of their works in a series of online concerts. Cara is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, where she studied with Hsin-Yun Huang and Misha Amory, and is currently continuing her graduate studies with Kim Kashkashian at the New England Conservatory of Music as the recipient of the Abraham Skernick Memorial Presidential Scholarship.
Jan Müller-Szeraws, Cello
Cellist Jan Müller-Szeraws has a versatile career as a performer and teacher. Solo performances have included engagements with many orchestras including the New England Philharmonic, Concord Orchestra, Boston Landmarks Orchestra, Richmond Symphony Orchestra, Moscow Symphony Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfónica de Concepción, Orquesta de la Universidad de Santiago de Chile and Orquesta Sinfónica de Chile with repertoire ranging from concertos from the traditional repertoire such as Haydn, Dvorak, Schumann, Tchaikovsky, Bloch, Shostakovich to contemporary composers Chou Wen Chung, Gunther Schuller, Shirish Korde, Bernard Hoffer and John Harbison. Projects have included collaborations with composers Peter Child and Shirish Korde, including the release of “Anusvara”, a disc with music by Shirish Korde for cello, tabla and carnatic soprano, as well as a disc with sonatas by Brahms and Chopin with pianist Adam Golka for Hammond Performing Arts. He has been guest professor at the Universidad Católica de Chile, a guest with the Israeli Chamber Project as well as guest principal cellist for the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra in Germany and a regular extra player with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Most recently he has been pairing the Bach Cello Suites with works by Shirish Korde in his project “Bach & Ragas”. A longtime member of contemporary music ensemble Boston Musica Viva he also plays regularly with Collage New Music. On the faculty at Phillips Academy Andover, he is a frequent guest artist at many festivals. As Artist-in-Residence at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester he directed the Performance Program and was founder and director of the Chamber Music Institute at Holy Cross, an intensive summer program for talented high-school and college students. Müller-Szeraws studied at the Musikhochschule Freiburg and holds degrees from Boston University. He plays a cello by David Tecchler, on loan from the Saul and Naomi Cohen Foundation. More information at www.jan-mueller-szeraws.com.
The Chamber Series is sponsored by Saul B. and Naomi R. Cohen Foundation
THE SAUL B. AND NAOMI R. COHEN FOUNDATION
Founded in 1997, the Foundation supports and promotes the fine and performing arts. It awards grants to promising young artists and especially gifted performing musicians to enable them to further their artistic pursuits. The Foundation also assists in the development of the musical careers of classical artists with assistance in arranging performance engagements, counseling in career strategy, guidance in the selection of live and recorded performances and help in day-to-day living matters.
To receive email communications about the Chamber Concert series, please contact sbc87home@gmail.com.
