A Russian Rhapsody
Drew Santini, baritone
Recognized for his unusual warmth of sound and presence, baritone Drew Santini is active singing concerts and opera on both sides of the Atlantic. In recent seasons he has appeared as soloist with Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, Concertgebouw Chamber Orchestra, Jerusalem Baroque Orchestra, The Hague Philharmonic, the Nederlandse Bachvereniging, Nieuwe Philharmonie Utrecht, and Finnish Baroque Orchestra. This season he sang the role of William in Opera2Day’s tour of Philip Glass’ The Fall of the House of Usher. He is a founding member of Damask Vocal Quartet and holds degrees from The Juilliard School (MM) and Manhattan School of Music (BM). He lives in The Hague and when he’s not making music, you’ll find him in the pottery studio or in the kitchen baking sourdough bread.
Shuann Chai, piano
Shuann Chai is an active and engaging performer, recognised for her interpretations on a wide range of historical pianos as well as the modern piano. After earning degrees from Oberlin College (Bachelor in Biology as well as in Music) and the New England Conservatory (Master in Piano), Shuann studied privately with Norma Fisher in London and Christian Schuster in Vienna. After being based in Boston for more than a decade, Shuann moved permanently to the Netherlands in 2007.
Performances include the Beethoven Festival (Netherlands) where she was the soloist in Beethoven's Choral Fantasy; La Folle Journée of Tokyo, the festival ‘Bach en Combrailles’ (France), Landesmuseum of Innsbruck (Austria), the American Church of Paris, and concert series throughout the Netherlands.
In 2012 Shuann began a large-scale project of performing the 32 piano sonatas of Beethoven; the series will conclude with concerts in 2020 to mark the 250th anniversary of the composer’s birth. Along the way Shuann’s CD recording of a selection of Beethoven’s Sonatas garnered enthusiastic reviews in publications such as Fanfare Magazine (“...bristling with excitement”), BBC Music Magazine (“Stimulating... Chai has a keen sense for the colouristic possibilities of her instrument”), and the Classical Music Sentinel (“...played with a determination and urgency that makes Beethoven’s music sound larger than life”).
Upcoming projects include CD recordings with baritone Mattijs van de Woerd on Zephyr Records and the chamber music of Brahms with Shunske Sato (violin) as well as a collaboration with Belgian-Iranian photographer Mashid Mohadjerin combining live music with concurrent images.
Among other things, Shuann Chai is grateful for having two inspiring musical companions: a concert grand Steinway signed by jazz legends Herbie Hancock and Ahmad Jamal, and an original 1820 Rosenberger fortepiano, generously provided on permanent loan by the National Musical Instruments Foundation of the Netherlands.