2026 Season Overview
1/16, 3/13, 5/22
Location: Grand Ballroom
Women’s University Club of Seattle
1105 6th Ave., Seattle, WA 98101
Friday, January 16, 2026, 7:30 pm
Helen Kim, Clowes Family Associate Concertmaster
Seattle Symphony Orchestra
Meeka Quan DiLorenzo, Associate Principal Cello
Seattle Symphony Orchestra
Henry Kramer, piano
Université de Montréal
Helen Kim, praised by the San Francisco Chronicle as “astoundingly gifted”, was named Associate Concertmaster of the Seattle Symphony Orchestra in 2022, having previously served as Associate Principal Second Violin of the San Francisco Symphony.
In recent seasons, she has performed concertos under conductors Peter Oundjian, Jun Märkl, and Nicholas McGegan, amongst others, and, of special note for Seattle patrons, Kim performed the Vivaldi Four Seasons with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, May 1-3, 2025, hailed in The Strad, the international periodical of strings: “Abounding with surprises, Kim’s playing showed a gift for making even the most familiar passage feel freshly imagined, avoiding eccentricity while underscoring Vivaldi’s innovation. . . . It was also a deeply collaborative performance, . . . echoing bird calls with fellow strings and engaging in spirited dialogue with cellist Meeka Quan DiLorenzo.”
In addition to orchestral work, Ms. Kim is a dedicated interpreter of contemporary music and has performed such works as Salvatorre Sciarrino’s Sei Capricci on San Francisco Symphony’s Soundbox series as well as Pierre Boulez’s Anthèmes II and Morton Feldman’s evening-length For John Cage on the Pulitzer Arts Foundation’s contemporary music series.
Ms. Kim resides in Seattle with her husband, composer Samuel Adams, and their two sons.
Meeka Quan DiLorenzo, a multi-award-winning cellist who thrills audiences with playing described as “incredibly nuanced” and “exquisitely beautiful,” began her professional career as first-prize winner of the Khuner Concerto Competition at age 15 and debuted soon after, performing the Antonín Dvořák Cello Concerto with the Pacific Symphony under the direction of Carl St. Clair.
A graduate of the Young Artist Program of the Cleveland Institute of Music and subsequent recipient of the Bachelor of Music degree in cello performance, Ms. Quan DiLorenzo was awarded the highly competitive position of Associate Principal of the Utah Symphony in her inaugural professional audition and remained with that ensemble for five years before joining the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, where she is the current Associate Principal Cello.
Recent concerto highlights include the duo cello suite When We Were Trees by Sicilian cellist and composer Giovanni Sollima, reviewed in The Strad magazine: “DiLorenzo’s beautifully calibrated vibrato traded off with Abel (Selaocoe’s) relentless intensity and vivid musical gestures in Sollima’s exploration of a kaleidoscopic panoply of styles.”
Ms. Quan DiLorenzo resides in Seattle with her husband, composer Tony DiLorenzo, their son Luca, and two sweet canine companions.
Henry Kramer returns to TSS after an outstanding collaboration with Seattle Symphony Orchestra Concertmaster Noah Geller in January 2023.
Mr. Kramer has been featured as soloist with orchestras around the world under such lauded conductors as Marin Alsop, Stéphane Denève, Jan Pascal Tortelier, and Hans Graf, and collaborated with such luminaries as Emmanuel Pahud, the Calidore and Pacifica Quartets, Miriam Fried, and members of the Berlin Philharmonic. He is also heard on highly praised duo recordings with violinist Jiyoon Lee and violist Mathew Lipman.
Awarded the Avery Fisher Career Grant by Lincoln Center in 2019, Mr. Kramer’s many accolades include wins garnered in the Queen Elizabeth, Shanghai International, Montreal International, Honens International, and National Chopin Competitions.
Originally from Maine, Mr. Kramer joined the music faculty of Université de Montréal in 2022 and previously served as the L. Rexford Whiddon Distinguished Chair in Piano at the Schwob School of Music at Columbus State University, Columbus, Georgia. https://www.henrykramerpiano.com/
Program
Boulanger Two Pieces for Violin and Piano, I and II
Rachmaninoff Vocalise for Cello and Piano
Prokofiev Violin Sonata No. 2 in D Major
Intermission
Rameau/Balbastre Pygmalion Overture;
Du Phly Pièces de clavecin, VII (Les Grâces);
Rameau Les Rappel des Oiseaux; and
Ravel Tombeau de Couperin, Toccata
for piano solo
Ravel Trio for Piano, Violin, and Cello in A Minor
Friday, March 13, 2026, 7:30 pm
Efe Baltacigil, Principal Cello
Seattle Symphony Orchestra
Jason Vieaux, guitar
Cleveland Institute of Music and
Curtis Institute of Music
Efe Baltacigil, the Marks Family Foundation Principal Cello of the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Turkey’s String Player of the Year, 2013, and awardee of the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant, is lauded for his risk-taking, passionate performances that immediately capture the heart and imagination.
Recipient of the Peter Jay Sharp Prize, Washington Performing Arts Society Prize, and a first-prize awardee in concerto competitions of Istanbul, New York, and the Pennsylvania Schadt String Competition, Baltacigil experienced early acclaim as winner of the 2005 Young Concert Artists International Auditions. He later served as Associate Principal Cello of the Philadelphia Orchestra before joining the Seattle Symphony as Principal Cello.
A highly sought-after and respected chamber musician, Mr. Baltacigil performs for such renowned festivals as Seattle Chamber Music Society, Marlboro, Lincoln Center, Music@Menlo, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, La Jolla, Kingston (Rhode Island), Saratoga, and Taos, and chamber series such as Lyric Chamber Music Society, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Lyon & Healy Hall, and The Seattle Series. Recent highlights include the Shostakovich No. 1, Brahms Double, Camille Saint-Saëns Le Muse et le Poete, Dvorák, and Haydn concertos with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra
Mr. Baltacigil received his Bachelor’s degree from Mimar Sinan University Conservatory, Istanbul, and an Artist Diploma from the Curtis Institute of Music, Philadelphia, where he studied with Peter Wiley and David Soyer and received the Curtis Institute’s Jacqueline DuPré Scholarship.
Mr. Baltacigil resides in Seattle with his wife, attorney Heather MacClintock, and their precocious, cello-playing daughter.
Jason Vieaux is regarded as “among the elite of today’s classical guitarists” (Gramophone) and “perhaps the most precise and soulful classical guitarist of his generation” (NPR). His career and influence are worldwide. In appearances from New York’s Lincoln Center to Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw and the Seoul Arts Center, Jason Vieaux has cemented his reputation as an artist of brilliance and uncompromised mastery.
His extensive discography includes the 2015 Grammy Award-winning album for Best Classical Instrumental Solo, Play; a premiere recording of the Leshnoff Guitar Concerto with the Nashville Symphony (Naxos); and Dance with the Escher Quartet (Azica). Other recent recordings include Infusion (Azica) with accordion/bandoneon virtuoso Julien Labro; Ginastera’s Guitar Sonata on Ginastera: One Hundred (Oberlin Music); and Together (Azica) with harpist Yolanda Kondonassis.
Mr. Vieaux has appeared as a soloist with over 100 orchestras and performed premieres by Jonathan Leshnoff, Avner Dorman, Jeff Beal, Dan Visconti, David Ludwig, Vivian Fung, and Mark Mancina, among others. He appears regularly with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Music@Menlo, and the Strings and Eastern Music festivals.
Mr. Vieaux is head of the guitar program at the Cleveland Institute of Music and founder of the guitar program at the Curtis Institute of Music. He performs on a 2013 Gernot Wagner guitar. https://jasonvieaux.com/
Program
J.S. Bach Solo Cello Suites, I-VI, selections and improvisations
Falla Siete Canciones Populares Españolas, cello and guitar
Metheny Travels, cello and guitar
Intermission
Metheny Four Paths of Light, I and II, guitar*
J.S. Bach Prelude, Fugue and Allegro, BWV 998, guitar
Villa-Lobos Bachianas Brasileiras No.5, I, guitar and cello
Bonfá Black Orpheus, guitar and cello
*Composed for Mr. Vieaux
Friday, May 22, 2026, 7:30 p.m.
Noah Geller, Concertmaster
Seattle Symphony Orchestra
Efe Baltacigil, Principal Cello
Seattle Symphony Orchestra
Kerri Ryan, Assistant Principal Viola
The Philadelphia Orchestra
William Polk, First Violin
The Philadelphia Orchestra
Noah Geller is the David and Amy Fulton Concertmaster of the Seattle Symphony Orchestra. Named to that post at the conclusion of a multi-year search, Mr. Geller is among a small cadre of elite violinists who serve as both leaders and featured performers for the nation’s acclaimed orchestras.
A significant and sought-after chamber musician, Mr. Geller’s appearances include prestigious festivals, such as Marlboro, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Tanglewood, Kingston (Rhode Island), Olympic, and Seattle Chamber Music Society, and chamber series, such as Lyon & Healy Hall (Chicago), Lyric Chamber Music Society (NY), Philadelphia Museum of Art, and The Seattle Series.
As of May 22nd, Mr. Geller will have performed the West Coast premiere of Theofinidis’ double concerto with percussionist Svet Stoyanov on April 9th and 11th at Benaroya Hall, concluding a string of double concerti, including Brahms Double with SSO Principal Cello Efe Baltacigil, J.S. Bach Concerto for two violins with SSO Principal Second Violin Elisa Barston, and Saint-Saëns la muse et le poète, with Mr. Baltacigil. Mr. Geller’s recent solo concerti have included Mozart No. 5, Bartók No. 2, Glazunov, Mendelssohn, and Vaughan Williams, along with the beautiful solo passages of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherezade in Seattle’s Benaroya Hall, home of the Seattle Symphony Orchestra.
Efe Baltacigil, see entry above.
Kerri Ryan, Assistant Principal Viola, The Philadelphia Orchestra, and William Polk, First Violin, The Philadelphia Orchestra, join Mr. Geller and Mr. Baltacigil for a long-awaited reunion of chamber music-making!
In addition to serving in one of the nation’s premier orchestras, where they were colleagues of Mr. Geller and Mr. Baltacigil, Ms. Ryan and Mr. Polk founded the Minneapolis Quartet, which performed to critical acclaim, winning a McKnight Foundation Artist Fellowship. As dedicated chamber players, they have continued that specialty as current members of the Philadelphia Chamber Ensemble.
Originally a violinist, Ms. Ryan attended the Cleveland Institute of Music Young Artist Program and the Curtis Institute of Music in violin performance, studying with Lee Snyder, Linda Sharon Cerone, David Cerone, Jascha Brodsky, Rafael Druian, and Arnold Steinhardt. Not until studying with Karen Tuttle at Curtis did Ryan realize her love of the viola, which later became her instrument of choice.
Violinist William Polk joined The Philadelphia Orchestra in October 2007 and previously served as associate principal second violin of the Minnesota Orchestra. A native of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Mr. Polk is an alumnus of Louisiana State University, studying with Camilla Wicks, one of the first female violinists to establish a major international career, and the University of Minnesota under the tutelage of Professor Sally O’Reilly, a distinguished soloist, chamber musician, and pedagogue.
Together, Ryan and Polk have charted a unique orchestral and chamber career.
