Inspired Impressions
Sunday
March 5, 2023
3:00pm
Trinity Chapel
Bethany Lutheran College, Mankato
Hanna HyunJung Kim, piano
Rui Du, violin
Richard Belcher, cello
Reena Esmail’s first piano trio is paired with Ravel’s masterpiece in this concert of impressionistic music. Esmail’s music fuses elements of Indian traditional music with Western classical music, and this trio shows an unmistakable nod towards Ravel. Both trios feature exquisite, wistful sonorities that will be sure to transport you to another world!
Inspired
Arts
Sunday
April 16, 2023
3:00pm
Trinity Chapel
Bethany Lutheran College, Mankato
Maureen Nelson, violin
Cecilia Belcher, violin
Hyobi Sim, viola
Richard Belcher, cello
Haydn’s op.77 #2 is the source inspiration for this concert. Composer Caroline Shaw heard a performance of this work which led to the composition of “Entr’acte”. Inspired by how Haydn’s music sometimes “takes you to the other side of Alice’s looking glass” (Shaw), this piece is structured on the classical minuet-trio form. Vaughan Williams’ second quartet was inspired by the playing of the violist to whom the work is dedicated, Jean Stewart. It appropriately shines a light on the viola throughout the work, which is dramatic, highly personal and incredibly serene at its conclusion.
Inspired
Energy
Sunday
May 7, 2023
3:00pm
Trinity Chapel
Bethany Lutheran College, Mankato
Nikki Melville, piano
Natsuki Kumagai, violin
Rolf Haas, violin
Sabina Thatcher, viola
Richard Belcher, cello
Each of the works on our final program for the season comes from early in each composer’s career. They all project a contagious energy, from an abundance of inspiration that so clearly shows the promise and vitality of youth.
Richard Belcher
Music on the Hill Artistic Director
New Zealand cellist RICHARD BELCHER joined the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra in 2019. He was founding cellist of the Grammy-nominated Enso String Quartet with whom he toured for two decades, performing frequently in many of the great concert halls throughout the world, as well as making several highly acclaimed recordings. In addition to his quartet career, from 2008 Richard has been Principal Cello of ROCO in Houston, TX.
In 2018 the Enso Quartet disbanded, and Richard became Artistic Director of the chamber music series Music on the Hill in Mankato, MN. He continues to be a frequent guest at festivals throughout the USA, and is in demand as a teacher and chamber music coach.
Richard moved to the United States in 1998 to study with Aldo Parisot at Yale University, and it is there that he co-founded the Enso Quartet, He is married to Cecilia Belcher, the Assistant Principal 2nd Violin of the Minnesota Orchestra.