About Us
Our mission is to bring together Knoxville’s exceptional musicians with dedicated audience members to create inspirational chamber music experiences.
Meet the September 27th Artists
Evie Chen
Evie Chen is an accomplished violinist from Palo Alto, California. She made her solo debut with the Fremont Symphony Orchestra at age 8 after being the youngest to win the Nafisa Taghioff Award in their Young Artists Competition. Since then, she has received recognition performing concertos with the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra, Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra, California Youth Symphony, Eastman Philharmonia, the Shepherd School Symphony Orchestra, and the Houston Symphony Orchestra. In addition to having an active performing career,
Evie is a passionate and engaging educator with years of experience teaching at the collegiate and studio setting. Her pedagogical philosophy prioritizes awareness of ergonomic techniques that provide students an unrestricted ability in developing their unique musical voice. As a result, her students graduate from her studio with confidence in their musical independence. Evie is also deeply interested in exploring new ways of bringing diverse music to new audiences, advocating for inclusive and holistic musical programming. She has inspired interest in contemporary and folk-based compositions, performing works like Einojuani Rautavaara’s Concerto for Violin and Orchestra (1977) and premiering Erberk Erylmaz’s Violin Concerto No. 2, a piece which was written for her.
Evie received her MM at Rice University with Paul Kantor and is working towards her DMA. She also earned a BA in psychology at the University of Rochester and a BM in violin performance at the Eastman School of Music, where she was awarded the Performer’s Certificate under the tutelage of Mikhail Kopelman.
Bernadette Lo
Equally at ease with instrumental repertoire, Dr. Lo has served as an official accompanist for numerous festivals such as Tennessee Cello Workshop, UT Viola Celebration and Western Kentucky University Violin Fest, performed in masterclasses given by Mauricio Fuks, Heidi Castleman and collaborated with festival guest artists such as Victoria Chiang, Melissa Kraut and Ivo-Jan van der Werff. She has appeared in recital with acclaimed instrumentalists such as violinist Yuri Mazurkevich, David Griffin (of the Chicago Symphony), Ronald Barron (of the Boston Symphony) and flutist Tadeu Coelho. Dr. Lo has served as conference pianist for the 41st International Horn Symposium, the Southeast Regional Tuba-Euphonium Conference, and the 2016 International Tuba Euphonium Conference.
Dr. Lo has concertized regularly with violist Hillary Herndon, which whom she recorded the album “La Viola: Music for Viola and Piano by Women Composers of the 20th Century,” receiving critical acclaims. She is the recipient of Sewanee Faculty Development Grant and Tennessee Arts Commission “Arts Build Community” Grant, which she used to support the commission of a new trio for viola, clarinet and piano by Libby Larsen. Dr. Lo is one of the founding members for the Waldland Ensemble, a group commissioned and premiered five new works, including Larsen’s new trio in Carnegie Hall, New York in April, 2015.
Dr. Lo holds degrees from the University of Illinois – Champaign-Urban, and the Peabody Conservatory. Her mentors include Ellen Mack, Gustavo Romero and Timothy Ehlen. Prior to her appointment at the University of the South, she was the staff pianist for Western Illinois University. Dr. Lo also serves on the faculty for Viola Winter Intensive in both Columbus, Ohio and Greenville, South Carolina and American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria.
