Salley Koo in Chamber Music Quad Cities: “Americana/Austriana" at the Trinity Episcopal Cathedral Parish Hall -- March 28.
Saturday, March 28, 7 p.m.
Trinity Episcopal Cathedral Parish Hall, 121 West 12th Street, Davenport IA
Closing Chamber Music Quad Cities' 2025-26 season at Davenport's Trinity Episcopal Cathedral Parish Hall with a rare Saturday-evening concert event, the ensemble's musical co-directors Gregory Sauer and Thomas Sauer lend their respective cello and piano talents to the March 28 program Americana/Austriana, the lauded brothers joined by violinist Salley Ko and violist Elizabeth Oakes for works by Joseph Haydn, Ludwig van Beethoven, Charles Ives, and Shawn Okpebholo.
A violinist of great range and energy, Salley Koo has performed internationally as a solo, chamber, and orchestral musician. Her recent calendar includes engagements as soloist, recitalist, chamber musician, orchestral guest, and faculty in California, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, Wisconsin, and Korea. Koo has appeared in concert at the Musikverein in Vienna, Bargemusic, Carnegie Hall, Town Hall, and Central Park in New York, Music from Salem, the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia, the National Cathedral and National Gallery in Washington D.C., Columbia Museum of Art, the Harris Theater in Chicago, the Nasher Series in Dallas, the Peoples Symphony Concerts, the Ojai, Tanglewood, Ravinia, Skaneateles, and Caramoor Festivals. Koo has also performed on tour alongside artists ranging from Bela Fleck to Dawn Upshaw to Gil Shaham.
Violist Elizabeth Oakes is an active chamber musician, chamber music coach and performer. A dedicated teacher, Oakes currently runs the Chamber Music Residency Program at the University of Iowa and serves as the director of the University of Iowa String Quartet Residency Program (UISQRP). For 22 years, Oakes was the violist of the Maia Quartet and as a member of the Quartet, she performed throughout the United States, Asia, Canada, and Europe and concertized in major venues including Alice Tully Hall, Merkin Hall, the 92nd Street Y and Washington DC’s Kennedy Center. Collaborations with other artists included Maia Quartet performances with Daniel Avshalomov, Joel Krosnick, Helen Callus, Andre-Michel Schub, and Robert Kapilow.
Praised for his versatility, Gregory Sauer performs in many different musical arenas. He has appeared in recital at the Old First Concert Series in San Francisco, Vanderbilt University, Rice University, the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento, and the Brightmusic Concert Series in Oklahoma City, among many others throughout the U.S. Sauer has performed concertos with orchestras such as the Houston Symphony, the Quad City Symphony, the Columbus (GA) Symphony, the Oklahoma City Philharmonic, and the Missoula Symphony, among many others. As a member of Trio Solis, he performed in Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall. Additionally, Sauer has recorded for Harmonia Mundi, MSR Classics and Mark Records, and holds the positions of principal cello of the Tallahassee Symphony and assistant principal of the Colorado Music Festival Orchestra. He also served nine seasons as principal cellist of the Oklahoma City Philharmonic Orchestra.
Pianist Thomas Sauer is highly sought after as soloist and chamber musician in a wide range of repertoire. Recent appearances include Carnegie Hall, St. John’s College, Oxford, and the Chamber Music Societies of Lincoln Center, Boston, and Philadelphia. With his long-time duo partner Colin Carr, Sauer has appeared at the Wigmore Hall (London), the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston), and Da Camera (Houston). He has performed with members of the Juilliard String Quartet at the Library of Congress and given numerous concerts with the Brentano String Quartet. Sauer has also performed at many of the leading festivals in the United States and abroad, including Marlboro, Caramoor, Music@Menlo, Chamber Music Northwest, and Taos, as well as Lake District Summer Music (England), Agassiz (Canada), Festival des Consonances (France), and Esbjerg International Chamber Music Festival (Denmark).
Chamber Music Quad Cities' Americana/Austriana will take place at Davenport's Trinity Episcopal Cathedral Parish Hall on March 28, admission to the 7 p.m. concert is $20 for adults and $5 for students (student tickets only available at the door), and more information and tickets are available by visiting ChamberMusicQC.org.
