Salon Concert of Mozart, Schumann, and Brahms
Music for Clarinet, Viola, and Piano
Tuesday, October 28, 2025, 6:30 pm
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
$40 Members - $45 Non-members
Program
1. Robert Schumann (1810-1856), Op.132 Märchenerzählungen (Fairy Tales)
I. Lebhaft, nicht zu schnell (Lively, not too fast)
II. Lebhaft und sehr markirt (Lively and very marked)
III. Ruhiges Tempo, mit zartem Ausdruck (Restful tempo, tenderly expressive)
IV. Lebhaft, sehr markirt (Lively and very marked)
2. W.A. Mozart (1756-1921), Trio K.498 (Kegelstatt) in E-flat Major
I. Andante
II. Menuetto
III. Rondeaux, allegretto
3. Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) Trio Op. 114 in A minor (arr. for viola by Shai Wosner)
I. Allegro
II. Adagio
III. Andantino grazioso
IV. Allegro
About the Artists:
Originally from Larsen, Wisconsin, Becky Johnson received a Bachelor of Music degree in viola performance from Oberlin Conservatory and her Master of Music degree in Suzuki pedagogy from Ithaca College where she did long-term training with Carrie Reuning-Hummel. As an orchestral musician, Becky has performed as a member of Movement in Music Ensemble (MIME), The Civic Orchestra of Chicago, Eastern Connecticut Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra of the Southern Finger Lakes, and the National Festival Orchestra at the National Orchestral Institute. An avid chamber music lover, Becky has also performed as a member of the Florestan Quartet and as part of Fox River Chamber Festival, Madeline Island Chamber Music, Credo Chamber Music Festival, New York University String Quartet Intensive, and the Juilliard String Quartet Seminar.
Currently residing in Baltimore, Becky holds the Suzuki Coordinator position and teaches violin and viola at the Washington Conservatory of Music. When not teaching or performing, Becky enjoys gardening, training Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, making food, and caring for local cats including her own two furry felines, Layla and Punichan.
Arts Club members Robert Marcus and his wife, Ann, moved to Washington, D.C. two years ago. Although Robert’s primary career was in medicine, he has been an active clarinetist throughout his adult life in both orchestral and chamber music. His major orchestral affiliation was the Redwood Symphony on the San Francisco peninsula, with whom he appeared as soloist in the Mozart Clarinet Concerto, a Concerto by Miguel del Aguila, “Gnarly Buttons” by John Adams, and “The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind” by Osvaldo Golijov. He also performed a transcription by Luciano Berio of the Brahms F minor clarinet sonata for clarinet and orchestra and was featured as soloist in Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto with the Los Alamos Symphony. Now a Washington resident, he has performed several recitals and last Spring played a noontime Washington Arts Club concert bass clarinet recital with pianist Natalia Kazaryan featuring transpositions of ‘cello sonatas by Beethoven and Brahms.
Praised by Marin Alsop as an “amazing young pianist,” Chengcheng Yao has emerged as a most creative and expressive artist. Her orchestral highlights include performances of Bartók’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Peabody Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Marin Alsop and with the Chautauqua Music School Festival Orchestra under maestro Timothy Muffitt. She has also appeared as a soloist with the Xiamen Philharmonic Orchestra and the Hebei Symphony Orchestra. Solo performances have taken her to prestigious venues across North America, Europe, and Asia, such as Alice Tully Hall in New York, the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Vienna’s Beethoven Center and University of Music and Performing Arts, Berlin’s Chinese Culture Center and University of the Arts, Beijing’s National Center for the Performing Arts and Forbidden City Concert Hall, and the University of Toronto.
A passionate chamber musician, Yao has participated in major festivals including the Chautauqua Music Festival (USA), Virtuoso & Belcanto Festival and Amalfi Coast Music & Arts Festival (Italy), University of Toronto New Music Festival (Canada), and Beijing International Piano Festival (China). Winner of the 2017 Elizabeth Parisot Prize—awarded to outstanding pianists at the Yale School of Music—Yao has been recognized with numerous awards. Her achievements include First Prizes at the 71st Steinway International Piano Competition, the Sigma Alpha Iota Piano Competition, and the Harrison Winter Piano Competition.
Dedicated to education, Yao is a piano instructor at the Washington Conservatory of Music. She has given masterclasses at the Peabody Institute and the China Conservatory of Music and, since September 2024, has served as a coach for the Homewood Chamber Music Seminar at Johns Hopkins University.
Yao completed her Bachelor of Music degree at the China Conservatory of Music in Beijing. She holds two master’s degrees from The Juilliard School and the Yale School of Music, where she studied with Jerome Lowenthal, Matti Raekallio, Peter Frankl, and Hung-Kuan Chen. While pursuing her Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University, she worked with legendary pianist Leon Fleisher and Yong Hi Moon.
6:30 p.m. - Salon Concert
8:00 p.m. - Reception
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
The Salon Concert Series is presented by the Classical Music Committee of The Arts Club of Washington, and offers chamber music in an historic atmosphere evocative of the period during which the music was written.
