Eugena Chang, Cello - Eugena Chang joined the Minnesota Orchestra
cello section in the fall of 2007. She is a frequent participant in
Orchestra chamber concerts, having played works of Beethoven, Brahms,
Fauré, Greenstein, Korngold, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Ravel and Rorem in her
first five seasons.
Chang graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music in 2007. While there she received a merit-based full-tuition scholarship, studied with Orlando Cole, Peter Wiley and William Stokking, and was principal cello of the Curtis Orchestra.
Chang attended Itzhak Perlman’s summer music camp for four years starting in 2002, studying with Ron Leonard and Paul Katz. She has also studied with Eleonore Schoenfeld. She has performed as soloist with the Warminster Symphony Orchestra, Pottstown Symphony and Kenneth Symphony.
Chang, the recipient of numerous awards, prizes and scholarships, has appeared across the nation as a recitalist and chamber musician, and several of her performances have been broadcast on radio and television. In 2007 she was soloist in the Schumann Cello Concerto with the National Repertory Orchestra in Colorado under the baton of Gerard Schwarz. In 2009 she made her Paris recital debut at the Auditorium du Louvre.
Greg Sauer, Cello - Praised for his versatility, cellist Gregory Sauer performs in many different musical arenas. He has appeared in recital at the Old First Concert Series in San Francisco, the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento, and the Brightmusic Concert Series in Oklahoma City, and at Carnegie's Weill Recital Hall. Mr Sauer was a prizewinner in the Hudson Valley Philharmonic and Ima Hogg National competitions, and has performed concertos with many orchestras including the Hudson Valley Philharmonic, the Houston Symphony, the Quad City Symphony, Oklahoma City Philharmonic, and the Columbus (GA) Symphony. Sauer currently holds the positions of principal cello of the Tallahassee Symphony and assistant principal of the Colorado Music Festival Orchestra. He served nine seasons as principal cellist of the Oklahoma City Philharmonic Orchestra.
It was a passion for chamber music that drew Greg to help found Trio Solis with Read Gainsford and Corinne Stillwell. Since the group's inception, they have performed throughout the U.S. including Carnegie's Weill Recital Hall. Their first CD, recorded for MSR Classics, contains music of Arno Babajanian, Jean Francaix and Paul Schoenfield.
Mr. Sauer's other chamber music ventures have resulted in festival appearances at Tanglewood, Chautauqua, MusicFest Vancouver, the Austin Chamber Music Center, the Victoria Bach Festival, the Texas Music Festival, the Colorado Music Festival and the Garth Newel Music Center. Mr. Sauer founded and served as co-Artistic Director of Chamber Music Quad Cities for thirteen years.
A committed teacher, Sauer was appointed Associate Professor of Cello of the Florida State University College of Music in 2006. Prior to his arrival at Florida State, he taught at the University of Oklahoma for eleven years, and was named Presidential Professor in 2005.
Andrey Tchekmazov, Cello - Hailed by critics as an “extraordinary musician” (Washington Post), cellist Andrey Tchekmazov is known for his versatility as a soloist, recitalist and chamber musician. Mr. Tchekmazov was the Grand Prize winner of the Vittorio Gui International Chamber Music Competition and the Premio Trio di Trieste and has performed extensively throughout North and South America, Europe, Russia and Asia, appearing at the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, Osaka Symphony Hall in Japan, New York's Alice Tully Hall, Brazil's Sala Cecilia Mereles, Sala Sao Paulo and Teatro Alfa with orchestras such as the São Paolo Symphony, the Moscow Chamber Orchestra, the Brazil National Symphony, the Kiev Philharmonic and the Teatro Alfa Symphony. He has also been a top prizewinner at the Koussevitzky Cello Competition in New York, the Schadt Competition, Artists International, Premio della Critica in Trieste and the Russian National Competition in Moscow. Ever since his critically acclaimed debut at Carnegie's Weill Recital Hall, Mr. Tchekmazov has enjoyed an active career as recitalist and chamber musician, performing at such renowned venues as Zankel Hall, the Caramoor Music Center, Barge Music, the Rhode Island Chamber Music Series, Bar Harbor Festival, Merkin Concert Hall in New York City and Hampden Sydney, where he was invited to perform by the members of The Emerson String Quartet.
As a regular performer with the Jupiter Chamber Players in New York and at the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C, Mr. Tchekmazov "impressed his audiences with a big, warm tone and Russian brand of virtuosity” (The Strad) by introducing them to rarely-performed jewels of classical music alongside the works of great masters. He has premiered works and worked closely with contemporary composers such as Alfred Schnittke, Lukas Foss, George Warren, Ira Cremer and Ralf Ytrehus and has recently recorded the Cello Sonata by David Winkler and “Byzantine Chants, The Sacred Concerto for Solo Cello,” by Margarita Zelenaia, both which were written and dedicated to him. He has also participated in ambitious, unique projects such as performing Dmitri Shostakovich’s entire chamber music repertoire for cello at the Phillips Collection.
An active educator, Andrey Tchekmazov has been a faculty member at the Rio de Janeiro Cello Encounter, the Lakewood Festival, Russish Abend in Germany and the Brasilia International Music Festival. He has also performed at Westminster College and Brown, Bowdoin, Seton Hall and Princeton Universities. As an orchestral musician, Mr. Tchekmazov was appointed principal cellist of the Moscow Chamber Orchestra and the São Paolo Symphony. His performances have been featured on WQXR, WGBH, NPR and other TV and radio stations across Eastern and Western Europe and South America.
Born in Moscow into a family of professional pianists, Mr. Tchekmazov studied piano and later cello at the Gnessin Academy. He continued his education at the Moscow State Conservatory with Nataliya Shakhovskaya and later at the Juilliard School as a Leonard Rose full scholarship student of Harvey Shapiro. At Juilliard he worked closely with members of the Juilliard and Guarneri String Quartets. Mr. Tchekmazov has made several recordings including a recent release on NAXOS with the Russian National Phiharmonic as well as a recording for the Delos label.