Sounds of Schumann

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The beautiful performance space (and beautiful pianos!) at Michelle’s Piano Company will come alive with the many different sounds of Schumann. The eclectic program will include 4-hand piano music with Michael Liu and Kate Hobbie, solo piano works by Julia Hwakyu Lee, French horn and piano duos by Michael Liu and Allan Stromquist, and songs by baritone Kevin Walsh and pianist John Strege. Mingle with the artists after the performance while you enjoy wine and tasty nibbles.

More about Michelle’s Pianos

Michelle’s Pianos is family-owned piano company located in Southeast Portland. It is the official piano dealership of Steinway, Boston, and Essex Pianos in Portland and also offers high quality pre-owned pianos such as Schimmel, Bosendorefer, Yamaha, Baldwin and much more! They are involved in all aspects of the piano business, with a staff that includes piano technicians, refinishers, movers, musicians, and sales consultants

More about the artists

Kathryn Hobbie, pianist, has performed with a variety of groups in the Vancouver area including the Vancouver Children’s Opera, Opera Quest, and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. She has performed regularly for the Vancouver Symphony Chamber Music Series and for other events, and is a former board member of several years for the VSO.  She is currently the board chair and pianist for Opera Quest Northwest, a local nonprofit organization that introduces young audiences to opera through a lively, interactive program brought into their schools. In the past she has accompanied choral groups at Boston’s Symphony Hall and at music festivals in Europe.  Professionally, she works as a self-employed writer.

Julia Hwakyu Lee, pianist, has performed solo and chamber music in New York, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Portland, Toronto and cities in Korea including Seoul. Julia is on the faculties of the University of Portland and Portland State University. Previously, she served on faculty at Southern Utah University and at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her many prizes and awards include the Chamber winner in Niagara International Music Competition in Canada, Gold Medal in Hankuk Ilbo Competition in Korea, Beethoven competition in Wisconsin- Madison, and fellowship recipient in Gilmore Keyboard Festival in Michigan. She has been a soloist with University of Wisconsin Symphony Orchestra, Korean Chamber Orchestra, Portland’s Columbia Symphony, and recently with UP Community Orchestra. She has presented lecture recitals at the College Music Society national conference and regional conference, and has participated in master classes with Leon Fleisher, Richard Goode, Claude Frank, Paul Badura-Skoda, Gary Graffman, Rusell Sherman and John O’Conor. Julia received her Doctor in Musical Arts in Piano Performance from the University of Wisconsin, Master in Music from Korean National University of Arts, and Bachelor in Music from Yonsei University, Seoul.

Dr. Michael Liu has been playing the piano since age four. In his youth he won numerous awards and honors, including first prize in the Chicago Symphony Youth Auditions. He has performed as piano soloist with orchestras including the Chicago Symphony, the Taipai Symphony, the Rochester Symphony, and the Guam Symphony. Liu’s passion for chamber music started very young, when he played chamber music with his sister and his brother. He later studied with renowned English pianist Ian Hobson at the University of Illinois, and has been part of several piano trios and chamber ensembles. Currently, he performs with the Lohr Trio and the Simian Trio with cellist Betsy Goy as well as 4‐hand piano with Kate Hobbie. Liu received bachelor degrees in both music and chemistry, graduating with honors from the University of Illinois. He is a board member and pianist for the Vancouver Symphony.

John Strege was Director of Music at Trinity Cathedral for 36 years, retiring in May 2010. John guided the development of the Trinity music program into one of Portland’s greatest sources of civic pride and established himself as a pillar of the Portland musical community. A number of his performances as an organist, choral conductor and accompanist have been aired on Oregon Public Broadcasting, National Public Radio, and he has recorded for Delos International and PGM Recordings.

American baritone Kevin Walsh is a multi-talented musician and performer, equally at home in the concert hall and the stage, and acclaimed for performances that are both intelligent and technically impeccable. He has appeared as soloist with PBO, PYP, Portland Symphonic Choir, ORS, Third Angle, Willamette University New Music Series, U of P, Symphonia Concertante, Abbey Bach Festival, the Music on the Mount Series, and in the Trinity Episcopal Cathedral Music Series. His credits also include the West Coast premier of Bernstein’s Arias and Barcarolles (duo piano version), the West Coast premier of Imant Raminish’s The Nightingale with the Portland Symphonic Girlchoir, several roles with Opera Theater Oregon, and Badkhen, the town clown in David Schiff’s Gimple the Fool, which Opera News reviewed as “perfectly realized by Kevin Walsh.”  Mr. Walsh received his Master of Music from the University of Portland in 1985. He has recorded for Delos, Arkay, Naxos, PGM Recordings, OCP and GIA Publications and is Executive Producer of Recordings for Oregon Catholic Press.