Momento Virtuosi

From Duet to Orchestra—the Many Faces of Momento Virtuosi

The Momento Virtuosi was founded in 2006 by four outstanding musicians—Natalia Alenitsyna, Yang Liu, Pjotr Meshvinski and I-Hsuan Tsai. This group consists of two violinist/violists, and one pianist. It had its first successful chamber music festival in 2006 at the ZhouB Center, as part of the Bridgeport Concert Series. Within a year, the group has established its reputation and is invited to teach and perform in Oficina de Musica de Curitiba, a music festival in Brazil. This year it welcomes a new member Guang-Yue Su, a violist. Unlike many other professional chamber ensembles, whose repertoire would be limited by their instrumentation, such as string quartet, or piano trio, the Momento Virtuosi is capable of providing repertoire of diverse instrumentation. This year for its second annual chamber music festival, the group proudly presents music that ranges from duet to a full string orchestra, featuring many faces of the Momento Virtuosi.

About the musicians:

I-Hsuan Tsai, piano | Yang Liu, violin | Natalia Alenitsyna, violin, viola | Pjotr Meshvinski | Guang-Yue Su

I-Hsuan Tsai, piano

Currently assistant professor at Vandercook College of Music, I-Hsuan Tsai came to the United States in 1993 as both pianist and bassoonist. She attended Indiana University in Bloomington where she received her bachelor of music degree in 1996 and her master of music in piano and bassoon in 1999. Tsai went on to earn her doctor of musical arts degree in piano at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM-UC), where she later became a faculty member in the preparatory department. Tsai’s performances have won applause throughout the United States, Mexico, China, and Taiwan. Her most recent activities include: a collaborative recital at the Kennedy Center and the Ravinia Rising Star Series; a chamber music tour of China; the opening concert at the American Film Festival in Mexico; live performances on Chicago’s WFMT; and recitals at Roosevelt University, the Stradivary Society, Mostly Music Chamber Music Series at Northeastern Illinois University and the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series. Tsai was not only a former staff pianist at the Aspen Music Festival, but also a staff pianist at the Musicorda Summer Music Festival.

Yang Liu, violin

Prize winner of the twelfth Tchaikovsky International Competition, Yang Liu was born in Qindao China and accepted into Beijing’s Central Conservatory of Music as a student of Yao-Ji Lin at the age of nine. By the time Liu reached the age of ten, he was invited to perform with NHK Orchestra in Tokyo. Since then, his concert tours have taken him to Hong Kong, Taiwan, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, France, Poland, Russia, Greece, Egypt, Holland and Mexico. After moving to the United States Liu performed as a soloist for many renowned orchestras, such as the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Liu’s debut album, Song of Nostalgia, was released with critical acclaim. He was also featured in the Emmy-Award winning educational video, Classical Quest. Liu relocated to Chicago and has since performed with the Highland Park Strings, the Lincolnwood Symphony Orchestra, and the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra. He has also performed at the Ravinia and in the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series. Liu currently plays the “Lady Tennant” violin, which was made in 1699 and was made available to him through a generous loan from the Stradivary Society and Bein and Fushi Rare Violins. In addition to his busy performance schedule, Liu has joined the faculty of Roosevelt University’s College of Performing Arts in Chicago.

Natalia Alenitsyna, violin, viola

Born in St. Petersburg in 1971, Natalia Alentisyna started playing the violin at the age of six. Natalia’s musical talent was evident at an early age and she was admitted to the special music school at the Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory in St. Petersburg, which she attended from 1978 to 1989. She joined the master class of Andrey Korsakov at the Moscow Conservatory in 1990 and performed as a soloist with several large orchestras such as the St. Petersburg Philharmonic. Natalia moved to Hamburg, Germany in 1991 and continued her studies at the Hamburg Musikhohschule. She won first prize at the Elise Meyer Stifung in 1993 and at the 33rd Concours International de Musique in Bern in 1997. She is also a founding member of the “ St. Petersburg Virtuosen” which was formed in 1991. Natalia is highly acclaimed musician who has performed on many prestigious international stages throughout her career.

Pjotr Meshvinski

Pjotr Meshvinski, the dynamic director of the “St. Petersburg Virtuosen” was born in Saint Petersburg in 1966 into a renowned family of cellists. At the age of six, he began intensive training on the cello as he studied under Emanuel Fishmann. Pjotr was admitted to the special music school at the Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory in Saint Petersburg. At the age of eleven, Meshvinski’s musical talents were revealed as he performed in public with Chaikovsky’s Rococo Variations and Bocccherini’s Concert in d-major. In 1984, Meshvinski moved to Moscow and joined Professor Valentin Feigin’s master class at the Chaikovsky Observatory. Pjotr began his international career as solo cellist of the Soviet-American Youth Orchestra directed by Zubin Mehta and Leonard Slatkin, as well as the German-Soviet Philharmonic orchestra of Valery Gergiev.

Guang-Yue Su

The newest member of Momento Virtuosi, Guang-Yue attended Roosevelt University in Chicago and is currently attending DePaul University also located in Chicago in furtherance of his musical education. Guang-Yue was born in location in date and began training as a violist at the age of age. He graduated from the Sichan Music Conservatory and continued there as a viola teacher for five years. Guang-Yue recorded for ten radio stations in China. He then began playing as a soloist for the Yamagata Symphony Orchestra in Japan while attending Yamagata University and soon after played as the principal violist at the Afanese Music Festival. Guang-Yue came to the United States in date and has since played in the Symphony Orchesra of Chicago as the principal violist and has also become an integral part of Momento Virtuosi.

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