Join members of the Blair faculty and guest cellist Max Geissler, Monday, December 2, as they present works from Beethoven’s transformative period into his late style: Opus 95, 96, and 97. The ensemble features Christina McGann, violin; Stephen Miahky, violin; Eric Wong, viola; Max Geissler, cello; Heather Conner, piano; and Caleb Harris, piano.

Tickets are “pay what you wish” and required for admission.

For ticketing questions, please contact blairboxoffice@vanderbilt.edu or check out our Frequently Asked Questions.

Click here to get tickets!

About the program:
The “Serioso” String Quartet No. 11 in F minor is compact and written during an emotionally turbulent time in his life. The pastorale Violin Sonata No. 10 in G Major is considered the last of his middle works. By the time Beethoven composed the “Archduke” Piano Trio is B-flat Major, he had regained his spirits, and it was the last piece he performed in concert.


Cellist Max Geissler is a highly sought-after chamber collaborator, educator, and performer. He currently serves as assistant professor of cello at East Tennessee State University as well as the co-artistic director and cellist of the new music sextet Latitude 49.
He holds doctoral and master’s degrees from Rice University working as Desmond Hoebig’s teaching assistant, as well as a bachelor’s degree from his studies with Richard Aaron at the University of Michigan. Geissler has given masterclasses at schools such across the continent as SUNY Fredonia, The Boston Conservatory at Berklee, University of Tennessee-Knoxville, University of Calgary, and Baylor University.
Students of his have been featured on From the Top and YoungArts, and have gone on to continue their studies at major music schools across the country. He spends his summers on faculty at ENCORE Chamber Music and is a regularly featured performer at Geneva Music Festival and Cedar Valley Chamber Music. In addition to these festivals, Geissler has appeared as a Young Artist at La Jolla SummerFest, and performed as a part of the Taipei Music Academy and Festival in Taiwan.
Geissler is a lively advocate of the chamber music literature and takes any opportunity he can to excitedly share it with audiences. He has performed alongside and collaborated with artists such as Jon Kimura Parker, Clive Greensmith, Lynn Harrell, Cho-Liang Lin, Martin Beaver, Margaret Batjer, Brian Connelly, Desmond Hoebig, and James Dunham. He is currently the artistic director for Kalmia Garden Music and Arts, as well as a regular performer at the Geneva Music Festival.

Christina McGann has been a featured performer at the Kennedy Center, the Tel Aviv Performing Arts Center, New York City’s Merkin Hall, Symphony Space, and Bargemusic, and at various venues throughout the US, Korea, El Salvador, and Europe. McGann has been awarded prizes at the Johansen International Competition, the National Symphony Young Soloist Competition, the Lennox Competition, the Ackerman Chamber Music Competition with Trio Artica, Chamber Music Yellow Springs with the iO Quartet, and the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition.
Equally at home on both violin and viola, McGann enjoys a multi-faceted musical career. She is currently faculty at the Blair School at Vanderbilt University where she teaches violin, viola, chamber music and Pedagogy. She is also concertmaster of the Nashville Opera Orchestra, concertmaster of the Owensboro Symphony, and frequently performs recitals and chamber music.
McGann holds both B.M. and M.M. from The Juilliard School, where she was accepted with Presidential Distinction. Her foundational teachers include Ronald Copes, Victor Danchenko, Robert Mann, and Donald Weilerstein. She also completed her doctoral degree at SUNY Stony Brook under the guidance of Nicholas Cords, Soovin Kim, Philip Setzer, and Hagai Shaham.


_________________________ 

 

Venue: Turner Hall, Vanderbilt University Blair School of Music 
Address: 2400 Blakemore Ave., Nashville, TN 37212 
Parking: Free parking is available at the Vanderbilt West Parking Garage on Childrens Way, directly across from Blair School of Music.