Momenta Festival VIII: Looking Back

• Emilie-Anne Gendron, violin
• Alex Shiozaki, violin
• Stephanie Griffin, viola
• Michael Haas, cello

The eighth annual Momenta Festival, Sept 30 – Oct 5, 2023, features concert programs curated by the members of Momenta Quartet.

September 30: "Looking Back" features three centuries of music, including: contemporary masterpieces from Han Lash and Matthew Greenbaum; a work by the master of the string quartet, Franz Joseph Haydn; and Robert Schumann's Piano Quintet in E-flat major (with guest pianist Amy Yang).

Admission is free, and donations to Music for Food to benefit the Broadway Community are encouraged.

About Momenta Quartet

Emilie-Anne Gendron, violin |
Alex Shiozaki, violin |
Stephanie Griffin, viola |
Michael Haas, cello

About Emilie-Anne Gendron, violin

Lauded by The New York Times as "brilliant" and by The Strad for her "marvellous and lyrical playing," violinist Emilie-Anne Gendron enjoys an active and versatile freelance career based in New York. A deeply committed chamber musician, Ms. Gendron has been on the roster of the Marlboro Music Festival and the touring Musicians from Marlboro since 2011. She has appeared frequently with Talea Ensemble, A Far Cry, Argento Ensemble, Sejong Soloists, and has served on numerous occasions as concertmaster of ensembles including Orpheus, IRIS Orchestra, and Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia. She is a founding member of Ensemble Échappé, a new-music sinfonietta, as well as the Gamut Bach Ensemble, in residence with the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society. Ms. Gendron's extensively varied international appearances have included recitals in Sweden and at the Louvre in Paris; festivals in Russia, Finland, and Jordan; and recently, major venues in China, South Korea, Argentina, Chile, and Colombia. She was trained at the Juilliard School where her teachers were Won Bin Yim, Dorothy DeLay, David Chan, and Hyo Kang. A dual U.S.-Canadian citizen, she holds a B.A. in Classics from Columbia with Phi Beta Kappa honors, and a Master of Music degree and the coveted Artist Diploma from Juilliard.

About Alex Shiozaki, violin

Praised by The New York Times as "spellbinding," violinist Alex Shiozaki is emerging as a strong advocate for the music of today. At home with music new and old, he has appeared as a soloist with orchestras including the Sapporo Symphony, Sendai Philharmonic, AXIOM Ensemble, and the Juilliard Orchestra. Other highlights include summer residencies at the Tanglewood Music Center as a New Fromm Player and a Japan tour with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. A member of the Momenta Quartet since 2016, he also regularly performs with the IRIS Orchestra, Contemporaneous, and Mimesis Ensemble. As part of the Shiozaki Duo with his wife and pianist Nana Shi, Alex has given recitals in New York, Boston, Washington D.C., and California. Holding a B.A. from Harvard College and an M.M. and D.M.A. from the Juilliard School, he counts among his teachers Ronald Copes and Joseph Lin of the Juilliard String Quartet, Lynn Chang, and Robin Sharp. In addition to his performance activities, he is on faculty at the Juilliard School, State University of New York at New Paltz, and Interlochen Center for the Arts.

About Stephanie Griffin, viola

Stephanie Griffin is an innovative violist and composer with an eclectic musical vision. Born in Canada and based in New York City, her musical adventures have taken her to Brazil, Mexico, Indonesia, Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong, England, Ireland, France, Germany, Belgium, Spain, Italy, and Mongolia. Stephanie founded the Momenta Quartet in 2004, and is a member of the Argento Chamber Ensemble and Continuum; principal violist of the Princeton Symphony; and viola faculty at Hunter College. She was a 2019 Composition Fellow at the Instituto Sacatar in Brazil, and has received prestigious composition fellowships and commissions from the Jerome Foundation, the New York Foundation for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts and the Bronx Council on the Arts. As an improviser she has performed with Henry Threadgill, Wadada Leo Smith, Butch Morris and Adam Rudolph, among others, and was a 2014 Fellow and 2021 Alumna-in-Residence at Music Omi. She holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from The Juilliard School where she studied with Samuel Rhodes, and has recorded for Tzadik, Innova, Naxos, Aeon, New World and Albany records. Since August 2020, she has served as the Executive Director of ACMP, a nonprofit organization providing grants and services for amateur chamber music worldwide.

About Michael Haas, cello

Michael Haas is an accomplished and exciting cellist, performing in New York City and around the world. His playing has been described as "refined and attractive" by The New York Times. Leading a varied musical life, Michael is equally at home performing chamber music and orchestral repertoire both old and new. He has recently appeared performing at Symphony Space, the New York Live Arts Theater, Le Poisson Rouge, as well as for Tertulia, a new series bringing chamber music to intimate settings around New York City. In addition to his work with Momenta Quartet, he performs regularly with the Princeton Symphony, New Jersey Symphony, and American Ballet Theater Orchestra. He holds degrees from the Curtis Institute of Music and the Juilliard School.