Summer Festival Subscription Concert 2
Amy Taylor, Christian Colberg, Zuill Bailey, and Robert Koenig
Saturday, June 7, 7 p.m. – Harrigan Centennial Hall
Join us for the second night of the 2025 Sitka Music Festival’s Subscription Concert Series, featuring flutist Amy Taylor, violist Christian Colberg, cellist Zuill Bailey, and pianist Robert Koenig. This evening’s program highlights TBA works for viola and piano, as well as flute and piano, followed by two deeply expressive masterworks for cello and piano—Max Bruch’s Kol Nidrei and Johannes Brahms’ Sonata No. 1 in E Minor, Op. 38.
Program
TBA Works – for Viola and Piano & Flute and Piano
Max Bruch – Kol Nidrei for Cello and Piano
Johannes Brahms – Sonata No. 1 for Cello and Piano in E Minor, Op. 38
About the Artists
Amy Taylor, Flute
Amy Taylor is a piccolo specialist who has held positions with several major United States orchestras including the Cincinnati, San Diego, Milwaukee, and the Honolulu Symphonies.
Amy will be the Acting 2nd flutist with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra during the ’23-24 season and will be guest piccolo with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Taylor was recently the winner of the 2nd flute position with the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra.
Throughout her career she has played frequently with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and joined the CSO on tours to Asia and Carnegie Hall. She has also performed with the Cleveland Orchestra, Minnesota, Atlanta, Baltimore and St. Louis Symphony Orchestras on both piccolo and flute, and was a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago.
Ms. Taylor is a frequent guest at a number of summer music festivals, including the Bellingham Festival of Music and the Sun Valley Music Festival. She has also performed with the Mainly Mozart Music Festival and the Sitka Summer Music Festival.
Other notable accomplishments of this Yamaha Artist include her performance in 2006 as a soloist with Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble at Chicago’s Grant Park. She was also the first place winner of the National Flute Association’s Orchestral Excerpts Competition and the Oklahoma Young Artist Competition.
In addition to her active performing career, Ms. Taylor is a devoted teacher. In addition to her UNT position, she is teaches at the Interlochen Summer Arts Academy. She has also held teaching positions at Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.
Originally from the Dallas, Texas area, she received her BM from the University of North Texas and her MM from Northwestern University. Her primary teachers include, Walfrid Kujala and Terri Sundberg.
Zuill Bailey, Cello
Zuill Bailey, widely considered one of the premiere cellists in the world, is a Grammy Award winning, internationally renowned soloist, recitalist, Artistic Director and teacher. His rare combination of celebrated artistry, technical wizardry and engaging personality has made him one of the most sought after and active cellists today.
Mr. Bailey has been featured with symphony orchestras and music festivals worldwide. He won the Best Solo Performance Grammy Award in 2017, for his recording of Michael Daugherty’s Tales of Hemingway, with the Nashville Symphony led by Giancarlo Guerrero. His extensive discography includes his newest release – the world premier recording of Ellen Taaffe Zwilich’s Cello Concerto with the Santa Rosa Symphony.
Mr. Bailey received his Bachelor’s Degree from the Peabody Conservatory where he was named the 2014 Johns Hopkins University Distinguished Alumni, and received a Master’s Degree from the Juilliard School. He performs on the “Rosette” 1693 Matteo Gofriller Cello formerly owned by Mischa Schneider of the Budapest String Quartet.
Christian Colberg, Viola
Violist, violinist, and composer Christian Colberg, began his musical studies at the age of four in his home country of Puerto Rico. At sixteen, he continued his studies at the Peabody Conservatory of Music, in Baltimore Maryland. Mr. Colberg is currently the Principal Viola of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. Prior to joining the CSO, he was Assistant Principal Viola with the Baltimore Symphony. Other positions currently include serving as Principal Viola of the Bellingham Festival of Music and Aspen Music Festival Chamber Orchestra. In addition he is Artist-faculty at the Aspen School and has also held teaching positions at both the Peabody Conservatory of Music, and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.
His main teachers include, Alexander Schneider, Saul Ovcharov, Charles Libov and Shirley Givens. Recipient of numerous awards, including the Alpha Delta Kappa Foundation Fine Arts grant, Colberg has also been recognized by the House of Representatives and the Senate of Puerto Rico for his achievements in the field of classical music.
As an active chamber musician, Mr. Colberg has collaborated with such artists as, Gary Karr, Milton Katims, Augustin Hadelich, Leon Fleisher, Samuel Sanders, Joseph Silverstein, Jaime Laredo, Sharon Robinson, and Marvin Hamlisch. Chamber music collaborations include, the Muir, Cypress and Ariel String Quartets and with the Silk Road Festival in China.
Mr. Colberg performed his Viola Concerto with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in October, 2018 (Read review in Cincinnati Business Courier.) He has performed it with numerous orchestras, including the Puerto Rico Conservatory Orchestra and Música de Cámara in New York City. The second movement of his concerto, "Aldonza", was used as the competition piece for the 2014 Primrose International Viola Competition. In June, 2018, The Rant - For Two Violas, was also premiered at the International Viola Congress in Los Angeles. In 2024, the third movement "Sancho" of his Viola Concerto was used as the mandatory piece for the Sphinx Competition.
Robert Koenig, Piano
Now in his third decade as a much sought-after performing artist, Canadian pianist Robert Koenig has performed throughout the world to great acclaim as a collaborative pianist and chamber musician. His partnerships with many of today’s leading classical artists have seen him grace many of the world's most important stages including New York’s Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, Washington’s Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Boston’s Jordan Hall, San Francisco’s Herbst Theater, Seattle’s Benaroya Hall, Vancouver’s Chan Center, Tokyo’s Suntory Hall, Taiwan’s National Theater, Hong Kong’s City Hall, London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall, Paris’ Louvre Museum, Brussels’ BOZAR, and Amsterdam’s Het Concertgebouw. These frequent recital appearances have seen him collaborating with many of this generation’s most renowned musicians, including Augustin Hadelich, Sarah Chang, Hilary Hahn, Pamela Frank, Ida Kavafian, Kyoko Takezawa, Esther Yoo, Paul Huang, Roberto Diaz, Jonathan Moerschel, Zuill Bailey, Sara Sant’Ambrogio, Jennifer Kloetzel, Isabel Bayrakdarian, Miro String Quartet, St. Lawrence String Quartet, and members of the Tokyo and Juilliard String Quartets. Of significance is Koenig’s frequent partnership with legendary late violinist Aaron Rosand that resulted in many successful recital tours throughout the world, in addition to a recorded legacy of live performances. Koenig’s 25-year collaboration with renowned American violinist Elmar Oliveria continues to see the pair travel the globe in recital performances as well as in multiple acclaimed recordings for the Artek and Biddulph Recording labels. His additional recording activity includes a GRAMMY nominated CD for Naxos of William Primrose Transcriptions for Viola and Piano with violist Roberto Diaz as well as recordings for Decca, Cedille, Eroica, Ambassador, Centaur, and CRI.
A favorite at summer festivals, Koenig has performed at such prestigious festivals as Ravinia, Aspen, Saratoga, Chamber Music Northwest, Seattle Chamber Music Festival, Caramoor, Banff, Mostly Mozart, Campos do Jordao Festival in Brazil, and Interlochen Summer Arts Festival. A strong advocate for new music, he commissioned American Composer Lowell Liebermann to write his Piano Trio for flute, cello and piano, Op. 87 and gave the world premiere at the National Flute Association Convention in Nashville, TN.
Mr. Koenig’s 2019-20 season includes performances at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY, The Forum in Harrisburg, PA, Bankhead Theater in Livermore, CA, and recitals in Copenhagen and Brussels. In addition to a southern California tour with well-known Camerata Pacifica, he will also perform Beethoven Triple Concerto with the Waynesboro Symphony Orchestra in Virginia.
A native of Saskatchewan, Canada, Koenig is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia where he studied with renowned collaborative pianist Dr. Vladimir Sokoloff. In addition to his decade long association with the Juilliard School where he served as staff pianist, he was formerly Professor of Piano and Chamber Music at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, KS. Since 2007, Koenig has been Professor and Head of Collaborative Piano at the University of California Santa Barbara where he has served as the Chair of the Music Department and Head of Performance. In 2022, Koenig was appointed as the Artistic Director of the Palm Springs International Piano Competition. His summers are spent at the Interlochen Summer Arts Camp where he is Coordinator of Collaborative Piano.
About the Sitka Music Festival
The Sitka Music Festival (SMF) inspires audiences, sparks creativity, and strengthens community across Alaska through live chamber music performances, music education, and training by artists of the highest caliber.
For over 50 years, SMF has presented classical music at the highest artistic standards. Throughout its history, SMF musicians have shared their music with Alaskans who would otherwise not have access to live chamber music of the highest caliber and, in turn, Alaskans have shared their music, traditions, and ways of life with the visiting musicians. These shared experiences have taken SMF musicians to more than 40 Alaskan communities, many of which are small, remote villages off the road system. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, SMF remains dedicated to bringing exceptional music experiences to communities statewide.