Lee University will conclude its 33rd annual Presidential Concert Series with “String Celebrations” on Monday, April 13, at 7:30 p.m. in Pangle Hall.
 
The performance will feature violinists Benjamin Beilman, Erin Keefe, Alexi Kenney, and Arnaud Sussmann; violists Misha Amory and Nicholas Cords; and cellists Nina Lee and Edward Arron in an evening of chamber music masterworks.
 
The program will include Richard Strauss’s “Sextet from Capriccio, Op. 85,” Alexander Glazunov’s “String Quintet in A Major, Op. 39,” and Felix Mendelssohn’s “Octet in E-flat Major, Op. 20,” a cornerstone of the chamber music repertoire known for its energy and brilliance.
 
“Each piece offers something unique, giving both performers and audience members the opportunity to experience the depth and nuance of chamber music,” said Dr. Vanessa Wei, assistant professor of piano and director of the Presidential Concert Series.
 
Beilman studied at the Curtis Institute of Music and the Kronberg Academy and has received numerous honors, including a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship and the London Music Masters Award.
 
Keefe performs with the Minnesota Orchestra and joined the faculty of the Curtis Institute of Music in 2022. She has appeared in concert halls across the United States, Europe, and Asia.
 
Kenney, a graduate of the New England Conservatory, won the 2013 Concert Artists Guild Competition. The New York Times has praised his playing for its “architect’s eye for structure and space.”
 
Sussmann serves as co-artistic director of Music@Menlo’s International Program and teaches at Stony Brook University. He studied at the Conservatoire de Paris and The Juilliard School.
 
Amory, winner of the 1991 Naumburg Viola Award, performs widely throughout the United States and Europe. He holds degrees from Yale University and The Juilliard School and serves on the faculties of both Juilliard and Curtis.
 
Cords is co-artistic director of the Silkroad Ensemble and a member of Brooklyn Rider. He studied at The Juilliard School and the Curtis Institute of Music and is on faculty at the New England Conservatory.
 
Lee is a member of the Brentano Quartet, in residence at Yale University. She has previously served on the faculties of Princeton University and Columbia University and currently teaches at Yale. She earned degrees from The Juilliard School and the Curtis Institute of Music.
 
Arron serves as co-artistic director of the Performing Artists in Residence series at the Clark Art Institute. He previously taught at New York University and is currently on faculty at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He studied at Juilliard.
 
Tickets are $15 for adults and $5 for students, seniors, and children. Tickets will be available for purchase at the Lee University Box Office in the Dixon Center or by calling (423) 614-8343 one week prior to the event, Monday through Friday from 3-6 p.m. They are also available at eventbrite.com.
 
Pangle Hall is located at the corner of Church Street and Central Avenue. Designated parking will be available, and details will be announced in the days leading up to the concert.
 
For more information on the Presidential Concert Series, visit leeuniversity.edu/academics/music/pcs, email [email protected], or call the School of Music at (423) 614-8240.