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emilie-anne gendron juilliard new york violin emilie anne violinist

Photo: Steve Riskind

(Site last updated: Feb. 23, 2012)

January 20, 2012

The 2011 receipients of the prestigious Koussevitzky Music Foundation commission grant have been announced here, and the Momenta Quartet is one of them! Bolivian composer Agustín Fernández will compose a second string quartet for Momenta, and as part of the award, the score will be housed in the Foundation's music collection in the Library of Congress (Washington, DC) along with a handwritten manuscript, drafts, and sketches.

January 17, 2012

Some recent reviews from the Momenta Quartet's latest show at (Le) Poisson Rouge:

"...a focused, fluid performance by the Momenta Quartet..." -Allan Kozinn, The New York Times

"Unlike many conservatory-trained string players, Emilie-Anne Gendron was not afraid to play her violin with more rugged, forceful, and daring articulations. . .the Momenta Quartet brought a fresh sound and focused energy to the music that for my tastes sounded better than the stale cleanliness one hears from some well-established string quartets." -David Pearson, I Care If You Listen (.com)

"The Momenta Quartet, an ensemble that seems unusually well suited to Huang Ruo’s music, performed with fire, fantasy, and absolute musical commitment." -Cornelius Dufallo, Sequenza21

And a Strad Magazine review of our recent concert at the Museum of Chinese in America:

"New York's Momenta Quartet specialises in works that cross cultural boundaries, and for an appearance at the Museum of Chinese in America (13 May) the focus was five recent works by the under-50 generation of Asian composers. Up first was Melissa Hui’s Map of Reality, a quiet, airy piece containing no notation--just a set of written instructions that called for some whispers and other spoken sounds. The Momenta players brought delicacy and understated confidence to that, as well as to Chong Kee Yong’s Silence Cosmos and Yun Yong, two works focusing on nature and the universe. The players picked up tiny bells, which they rang and occasionally played with their bows in Huang Ruo’s The Flag Project, a colourful piece that was inspired by Buddhist prayer flags. The most readily appealing work ofthe night was Jason Kao Hwang’s If We Live in Forgetfulness, We Die in a Dream, which had moments of Berg-like rumination and a lush, arching climax. It suited the Momenta too, and the musicians played with a burnished tone and judicious vibrato." -Brian Wise, Strad Magazine (August 2011)

February 15, 2011

Since the last update, among many other things, I have traveled to Finland and South Korea; performed with the Toomai Quintet (in collaboration with Sospiro Winds) at a maximum-security prison for one of the most engaged audiences I've ever seen; and played the world premiere of the second and final half of Arthur Kampela's extremely complex "Uma Faca Só Lâmina" (A Knife All Blade, 1998) with the Momenta Quartet. A 15-minute sit-down video interview with Arthur, moderated by yours truly and containing some surprising usages of profanity, will soon be up on Momenta's website. If you missed the Kampela premiere, we are performing it again (along with Huang Ruo's String Quartet No. 2, "The Flag Project") on Symphony Space's 2nd annual "Music of Now" marathon on Monday, Feb. 21 around 5:30 PM ($15 admission). Come for Momenta, stay for 7 hours of new music!

I also recently found out I've been accepted to this summer's Marlboro Chamber Music Festival. I'm very honored and excited to be going!

Sept. 27, 2010

Want a chance to get inside the Momenta Quartet's heads? If you dare, check out this interview on Roulette's blog. We'll be performing there this Saturday, Oct. 2nd at 8:30 PM with works by composers who blur the boundaries between uptown and downtown aesthetics. Works include Huang Ruo's Chinese-inflected "The Flag Project" (2009); avant-jazz composer/performer Gordon Beeferman's raucous yet tender String Quartet (2006); Chinese-Canadian composer Melissa Hui's evocative and semi-improvisational "Map of Reality" (2009); and Philip Glass' lyrical and dramatic String Quartet No. 5 (1991). For reservations call Roulette at (212) 219-8242.

August 24, 2010

Had a wonderful (and busy) time in residence at the 7th annual Great Mountains Music Festival in South Korea. You can read up on some of the press here and here (with extra points for finding the hilarious typo). Directly following, my string quartet made its second annual appearance at Music at Gretna, performing Philip Glass' String Quartet No. 5, the Beethoven Serenade for Flute, Violin, and Viola (with MAG founder and director Carl Ellenberger), and the Brahms Piano Quintet (with guest pianist Blair McMillen).

March 31, 2010

To anyone who cares: sorry for the hiatus in updates. It has been hectic: 15 concerts (including a marathon of 10 pieces in 2 days, plus a workshop and presentation, during my quartet's residency at Cornell University), 70+ hours of rehearsal for the world premiere of Arthur Kampela's quartet "Uma Faca Só Lâmina" (1998), and preparing for a slew of upcoming recitals and concerts...not to mention moving to a new apartment.

In addition to learning some exciting new works, I have had lots of fun uncovering some rarely-performed pieces--gems like Mendelssohn's f-minor violin sonata from 1825, which I will perform with Yelena Grinberg on April 9th and twice in June; and with the Toomai Quintet, the 27th bass quintet of French composer Georges Onslow. While his music has fallen into obscurity, Onslow was amazingly prolific and popular in his day. He was highly respected by his contemporaries Beethoven and Schubert, and later by Mendelssohn and Schumann (who regarded him on par with Mozart and Haydn). He wrote a total of 36 string quartets and 34 string quintets (no joke), the latter group serving as inspiration for Schubert's own cello quintet (again, no joke). Firsthand, I have seen his music elicit everything from stunned disbelief to amazement...a friend colorfully described him as the "Tom Jones of the 18th century". Interpret that however you want, but until we upload our recent recording of the slow movement to Toomai's website, why don't you listen for yourself? Toomai will be performing the work in its entirety on May 16th at the Con vivo chamber music series in Jersey City--don't miss it!

January 4, 2010

After spending most of last month on tour with Sejong and Gil Shaham in Asia, I'm looking forward to going right back to Korea next week for another set of Sejong concerts. Happy New Year!

November 25, 2009

[In the Media section] I've put in the YouTube links to my performance of the Beethoven Violin Concerto at the finals of the 2009 Sion-Valais International Violin Competition this past summer. The first movement is divided into three smaller videos, and due to a mix-up on the competition's end, the third portion is MIA. I'll post it if ever possible!

October 8, 2009

I am excited to announce that I've joined the Momenta Quartet, the most recent recipients of the prestigious Koussevitzky Music Foundation commission grant and lauded as a "striking new-music quartet" by Time Out New York. Please follow the link to learn more about the other members and what we do!

October 4, 2009

It has been a busy month since my last update. Most notable was my recital at the Louvre on September 24th with the wonderful pianist Takashi Sato. The Louvre's lunchtime series is unbelievably well-attended, and I am grateful to the Parisian audience for their attentiveness and enthusiasm! Coming up very soon are two concerts with Sejong Soloists in Georgia and New Hampshire, with performances of string octets by Mendelssohn and Jay Greenberg and featuring the acclaimed pianist Orli Shaham performing Mozart's Piano Concerto in A, KV414.

August 28, 2009

Some more good news! The bass quintet which I am a part of, the Toomai Quintet, has just won a place on the roster of Carnegie Hall's Musical Connections outreach series for the 2009/10 season. Toomai also has upcoming concerts on Oct. 19th at Rose Live Music in Brooklyn and on Nov. 10th at Roulette in SoHo. Please see the "Concerts" page for more information and links.

August 24, 2009

Yesterday, I won Second Prize as well as the Audience Prize at the Sion-Valais International Violin Competition in Sion, Switzerland. Now, I'm looking forward to a nice day of sightseeing before heading back to New York!

August 21, 2009

I have just performed the Beethoven Violin Concerto in the final round of the Sion-Valais International Violin Competition (formerly known as the Tibor Varga Int'l Violin Competition) with the Dohnányi Orchestra Budafok conducted by Shlomo Mintz. It was a super-positive and exhilarating experience to be able to perform such a great piece of music. Whatever the competition prize results (which will be announced tomorrow evening), I'm thankful to have had this opportunity!

July 4, 2009

Huge overhauls made in the "Concerts", "Acclaim", and "Repertoire" pages. Happy 4th of July!

June 28, 2009

After much anticipation, Emilie-Anne is now officially able to update her own website by herself.

April 3, 2009

Emilie-Anne is currently touring with Sejong Soloists and violinist Gil Shaham in California and Arizona! The program, in celebration of the Haydn and Mendelssohn anniversary year, consists of two Haydn violin concerti and the Mendelssohn Octet. Update: Here's a wonderful review of our concert in Santa Barbara. (And that's me third from the left!)