Details:
Dvořák’s American String Quartet
Gunter Theatre
Saturday, February 14 at 7:30 pm
Sunday, February 15 at 3:00 pm
Celebrate the spirit of collaboration and artistry with Dvořák’s American String Quartet at the intimate Gunter Theatre. Greenville Symphony’s Principal Musicians shine in a program featuring Miguel Del Aguila’s vibrant Wind Quintet No. 2 and Dvořák’s beloved String Quartet No. 12, “The American”. From the dynamic energy of contemporary sounds to the heartfelt melodies inspired by America’s landscapes, this concert offers a captivating journey through musical traditions both old and new. Perfect for an unforgettable Valentine’s weekend!
PROGRAM
Miguel Del Aguila: Wind Quintet No. 2
Miguel Del Aguila: Wind Quintet No. 2 Born in Uruguay, became a naturalized American citizen, and is widely recognized for his contributions to contemporary American music.
- Antonin Dvorák: String Quartet No. 12 "The American"
CONDUCTOR
Lee Mills, Music Director
FEATURING
Greenville Symphony Principal Musicians
Click on each principal musician to learn more about them.
Allen Jiang joined the Greenville Symphony Orchestra as principal bassoon beginning in the 2021. Born in Chicago, he began his journey as a member of the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras. In the summer of 2017, he was selected to be a member of NYO-USA, where he toured Central America under the baton of Marin Alsop. He earned a bachelor’s degree and was awarded the George F. Goslee Prize for outstanding artistry from the Cleveland Institute of Music where he studied with John Clouser.
Violinist Jackie Tso has been heard as a soloist with orchestras around the world such as the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Santa Fe Concert Association Orchestra, and the Beijing Broadcasting Orchestra. Other past solo engagements include the Kentucky Symphony, Blue Ash Montgomery Symphony, Southwest Ohio Philharmonic, MasterWorks Festival Orchestra, Wright State University Symphony, and the Seven Hills Sinfonietta.
Ms. Tso has played in many of the world’s most prestigious competitions including the Premio Paganini, Yehudi Menuhin, Shanghai Isaac Stern, Zhuhai Mozart, and Cooper. She was a semifinalist of the International Jascha Heifetz Competition as well as the Irving M. Klein. Jackie studied with Li Lin at The Juilliard School, and has also studied with Glenn Dicterow, Kurt Sassmannshaus, and Almita and Roland Vamos.
Jackie is from Cincinnati, OH and began her violin studies at the age of four with the Suzuki method. Tso made her debut in Cincinnati’s Music Hall when she was eight years old, and also performed at the Lensic Performing Arts Center when she was twelve. When she was fifteen, she had the pleasure of collaborating with acclaimed pianist Christopher O’Riley on National Public Radio’s From the Top. She was one of twenty individuals selected for the “Most Interesting People” issue of the 2009 Cincy Magazine.
Jackie was a member of Cincinnati’s Starling String Program and toured with them to Detroit and Salzburg, Austria. She was also a member of the Music Institute of Chicago’s Academy Program. Prior to transferring to Juilliard, she spent her first two undergraduate years at the University of Southern California.
Tso has spent summers at:
Great Wall International Music Academy
National Arts Center Young Artists Program
Meadowmount School of Music
Bowdoin Music Festival
Salzburg’s Mozarteum Summer Academy
Heifetz Institute of Music
MasterWorks Christian Festival
Aspen Music Festival (as an orchestral fellow)
At these festivals, Jackie collaborated in chamber music performances of Arensky, Beethoven, Brahms, Mozart, and Ravel. Recent performances include the Ariel Concert Series in St. Louis, Greenville Chamber Players, and the Lakes Area Music Festival in August 2024. In summer 2025, she will join the MasterWorks Festival faculty.
Jackie’s orchestral career began as Concertmaster of the Cincinnati Symphony Youth Orchestra for three years. She was also a member of the Aspen Conducting Academy Orchestra, USC’s Thornton Symphony, and the Juilliard Orchestra. She joined the St. Louis Symphony for the 2022–2023 season and became Concertmaster of the Greenville Symphony Orchestra in September 2023. She has served as guest concertmaster for the North Charleston Pops in the 2024–2025 season.
Jackie has played in masterclasses for:
Pinchas Zukerman
Ida Kavafian
James Ehnes
Vadim Repin
Joji Hattori
Tong Wei-Dong
Joel Smirnoff
Thomas Adès
Martin Beaver
Ms. Tso is also an active educator, maintaining a private studio, coaching the Greenville County Youth Orchestra, and offering masterclasses and an audition excerpt series in Cincinnati during the summer.
Outside of music, Jackie enjoys serving on the worship team at her church, making flower arrangements, nature walks with her pup, and spending time with family and friends.
Originally from Lake Mills, Wisconsin, violist Kathryn Dey is active as a soloist and chamber musician and has performed extensively throughout the United States and Europe. Ms. Dey is a Surdna Foundation fellow and was awarded a grant from that organization to study and perform works for unaccompanied viola by Lillian Fuchs. She is principal violist of the Greenville Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Dey performs regularly with organist David Turner as The Lila Duo and recent projects include a guest artist residency at the Zanmi Lasante school in Haiti and a series of recitals in Germany. Together the duo founded the Haiti Music Project, an outreach program connecting musicians in the United States and Cange, Haiti. Through this program over 2000 instruments have been donated to the École Bon Saveur music program and performing ensembles. Ms. Dey has also served as a program consultant and guest artist at the Palotti School of Music in Belize City, Belize. A dedicated and innovative educator, her teaching has been recognized by the American String Teacher Association, Strings Magazine, Music Teachers National Association, the American Viola Society, the South Carolina Alliance for Arts Education, and the South Carolina Music Educators Association. Students from her studio are now performing and teaching around the world. Ms. Dey has given workshops to teachers and students throughout the United States and is especially committed to building and sustaining rural string programs throughout South Carolina, including Chester, Fairfield, Jasper, Laurens, and Pickens counties. She is a frequent presenter at music teaching conferences and has been recognized nationally for her innovative work making interdisciplinary connections between the fields of music, creative writing and acting. Ms. Dey is on the faculty of the South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts, the Swannanoa Chamber Music Festival, and is a co-director of the Eastman School of Music Summer Viola Workshop. She earned degrees in viola performance from the University of Wisconsin-Madison as a student of Sally Chisholm, and at the Eastman School of Music, where she served as teaching assistant to John Graham. She has also worked with Heidi Castleman and George Taylor. Ms. Dey speaks fluent German, practices hatha yoga daily and together with her husband cellist Robert O’Brien, has been renovating a historic home in downtown Greenville, SC for the past twenty-two years.
Seth Russell performs internationally as a chamber musician, soloist, and orchestral player. He has performed solo and chamber music recitals in venues such as Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, Boston’s Jordan Hall, Eastman’s Kodak Hall, and Taipei’s Elite Performance Hall. He has been a featured soloist with the Greenville Symphony Orchestra and the Western Illinois University Orchestra. In 2017 and 2019 he was awarded a top prize in the New York International Artists Competition. He has been Principal Cello of the Greenville Symphony Orchestra since 2021.
Seth is passionate about creating new ways to explore music and connect with audiences. He formed the Parrish Cello Trio with cellists Jamie Clark and Kenny Lee in the Spring of 2022. Since then, the trio has held guest residencies at the Fine Arts Center in Greenville, SC, Western Illinois University, and the University of Northern Iowa. Their work has included working with students in cello and chamber music classes, performing a double cello concerto with orchestra, and performing their unique, multi-genre cello trio programs.
In September 2024, Seth launched the Greenville Chamber Players, a new chamber music concert series in Greenville, SC. The series presents chamber music concerts played by local musicians in local homes and venues, and is aimed at building community around music through creative programming and approachable, candid presentation. The series received a grant from the Metropolitan Arts Council for their March 2025 concerts.
Dedicated to sharing his love of music through pedagogy and music education, Seth works with students from diverse backgrounds and in a variety of settings. His private students have been accepted into the “Rising Stars” Piccolo Spoleto Festival, the University of North Dakota, The University of South Carolina, and Oberlin Conservatory. He has served on the faculty of several summer music festivals, including the Longhorn Music Camp, Furman Orchestra Camp, Varna International Music Festival, and the MasterWorks Festival. Seth is the Instructor of Cello and Chamber Music at the South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities, a residential high school that gives young emerging artists the opportunity to explore and refine their talents in a one-of-a-kind, arts-centered community.
Seth holds a Bachelor’s degree in Cello Performance and a Performer’s Certificate from the Eastman School of Music where he studied with David Ying. He received a Master’s degree in Cello Performance from New England Conservatory where he studied with Paul Katz. He studied with Bion Tsang at the University of Texas at Austin where he received his Doctorate of Musical Arts degree in 2019. Seth and his wife Chelsea are natives of Greenville, SC where they live with their family.
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