The Conservation Concertos, Stephanie’s biggest project to date, are a set of works for solo instrument and orchestra being written over the next decade, each about a different nearly-extinct flora or fauna, or environmental concern.
Because the leaders of tomorrow are in youth orchestra today, young people and professionals alike will be able to get involved as “mini commissioners”: for contributions of $50 (students) and $100 (professionals), they’ll be named in the score and will receive the chamber music versions of the concerto: with piano, and with piano quintet.
Stephanie will be working with an expert on each piece who specializes in the concerto’s subject matter so that the program notes will consist of not only accurate information about the subject’s current and projected future states, but also realistic, actionable advice on what audience members can do to help out, as well as information about the best charity to look into contributing to.
Each concerto is about a subject close to its soloist’s heart. Pieces in the project’s pipeline include:
with Anthony McGill, for clarinet + orchestra
about the Nautilus
with Tammy Miller, for piano + orchestra
about Nearly-Extinct Flowers
with Masumi Rostad, for viola + orchestra
about Pernambuco Wood
with Tommy Mesa, for cello + orchestra
about Plastics
Hailed for his “trademark brilliance, penetrating sound and rich character” (New York Times), clarinetist Anthony McGill enjoys a dynamic international solo and chamber music career and is principal clarinet of the New York Philharmonic — the first African-American principal player in the organization's history. He is the recipient of the 2020 Avery Fisher Prize, one of classical music’s most significant awards, and was named Musical America’s 2024 Instrumentalist of the Year. American Stories, his album with the Pacifica Quartet, was nominated for a GRAMMY® for Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance.
McGill appears as a soloist with top orchestras, including the New York and Los Angeles Philharmonics, the Metropolitan Opera, and the Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, and Detroit Symphony Orchestras. He performed alongside Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma, and Gabriela Montero at the inauguration of President Barack Obama, premiering a piece by John Williams. As a chamber musician, McGill is a collaborator of the Brentano, Daedalus, Guarneri, JACK, Miró, Pacifica, Shanghai, Takács, and Tokyo Quartets, and performs with leading artists including Emanuel Ax, Inon Barnatan, Gloria Chien, Yefim Bronfman, Gil Shaham, Midori, Mitsuko Uchida, and Lang Lang. He serves on the faculty of The Juilliard School and is the Artistic Director for Juilliard’s Music Advancement Program. He holds the William R. and Hyunah Yu Brody Distinguished Chair at the Curtis Institute of Music.
Praised for his “burnished sound” (The New York Times) and described as an “electrifying, poetic, and sensitive musician,” the Grammy Award-winning, Japanese-Norwegian violist Masumi Per Rostad hails from the gritty East Village of 1980s New York. He was raised in an artist loft converted from a garage with a 1957 Chevy Belair as the remnant centerpiece in their living room. Masumi began his studies at the nearby Third Street Music School Settlement at age three and has gone on to become one of the most in demand soloists, chamber musicians, teachers. In addition to maintaining an active performance schedule, he serves on the faculty of the prestigious Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY.
As a member of the Pacifica Quartet for almost two decades (2001-2017), Masumi regularly performed in the world’s greatest halls including Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Tokyo’s Suntory Hall, Sydney’s City Hall, New York’s Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, London’s Wigmore Hall, Vienna’s Konzerthaus and Musikverein, Munich’s Herkuleshaal, Paris’ Louvre and Cité de la Musique, and Berlin’s Konzerthaus among many others. He was full professor of viola and chamber music as quartet-in-residence at Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music. In 2006, the ensemble was awarded the coveted Cleveland Quartet Award, Avery Fisher Career Grant, and they were also named Musical America’s 2009 Ensemble of the Year.
Pianist Tammy Miller enjoys a multi-faceted career as a soloist, collaborative artist, educator, composer, and researcher. One of only two piano teachers to receive a Yamaha 40 under 40 award, she is artist-faculty at the Omaha Conservatory of Music. Tammy has appeared as soloist with the Symphony of the Vines, Westminster College Symphony, Orchestra Omaha, Oklahoma Composers Orchestra, Dordt University Symphonic Band, and the Lakeland Civic Orchestra. In June 2018, she made her Kennedy Center debut in a duo recital with famed contraforte soloist Lewis Lipnick following their collaborative recital tour across the Midwest in 2017.
As part of a growing repertoire of newly commissioned works, Ms. Miller has commissioned and given the world premiere performances of piano concertos by Daniel Perttu (2019), Daniel Baldwin (2018 & 2020), and Eric Ewazen (2023). She has received additional works that were written for her by composers such as Libby Larsen, Noelia Escalzo, and William F. Montgomery. To further her mission of supporting the works of living composers, Ms. Miller co-founded the National Composers Orchestra and Chamber Music Series in 2020.
Cuban-American cellist Tommy Mesa has established himself as one of the most charismatic, innovative, and engaging performers of his generation. The recipient of the Sphinx Organization’s 2023 Medal of Excellence, its highest honor, Mesa has appeared as soloist at the Supreme Court of the United States on four occasions and with major orchestras including the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, The Cleveland Orchestra, The Philadelphia Orchestra, and the symphony orchestras of Indianapolis, Madison, New Jersey, San Antonio, and Santa Barbara, among others. Mesa gave the world premiere and subsequent tour of Jessie Montgomery’s cello concerto in the 2022-23 season, with performances at major halls across the United States and Brazil including Miami’s New World Center and Carnegie Hall. His orchestral recording debut of the work was released in July 2023 on Deutsche Grammophon. Orchestral highlights of the 2023-24 season include an extensive performance tour of Cuba and performance debuts with the Calgary and Fort Wayne Philharmonic Orchestras; the Ann Arbor, Bay Atlantic, Columbus, Greenwich, Gulf Coast, Knoxville, Quad City, Reading, Waterbury Symphony Orchestras; and Boston’s Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra.