Ensemble Vitelotte presents music by Viardot-Garcia, Farrenc, and Mayer

Violin and piano duo Ensemble Vitelotte has been committed to sharing the music of historical women composers since 2019. In this free recital, they will perform selections from Pauline Viardot-Garcia’s Six Morceaux, Louise Farrenc’s Violin Sonata no. 2, and Emilie Mayer’s Sonata op. 29. This project is partially supported by an Individual Artists Program grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events.

BIOGRAPHIES:

Ensemble Vitelotte is a violin-keyboard duo formed in 2019 with the mission of illuminating the stories and music of historical women composers. Sun Chang, pianist/harpsichordist, and Kiyoe Matsuura, violinist, met in Italy while studying at the summer baroque-music institute “Juilliard at the Piccola Accademia”. After discovering their shared musical interests, a natural collaboration unfolded. Since its inception, the ensemble has received funding from Luminarts Foundation and Ars Musica Chicago, and presented educational outreach events for Chicago public school students. This past season, Ensemble Vitelotte proudly performed the music of composers including Jacquet de la Guerre, Isabella Leonarda, Germaine Tailleferre, Pauline Viardot-Garcia, and Louise Farrenc at the Marilyn Horne Museum and the Landowska Harpsichord Society.

Embracing a vibrant freelance career, violinist Kiyoe Matsuura thrives as both a performer and educator. Specializing in historical instruments, she performs across the country on both violin and viola in groups such as Ensemble Affect, the Haymarket Opera Orchestra, Callipygian Players, the Bach and Beethoven Experience, Indianapolis Baroque Orchestra, Bella Voce Sinfonia, and the Madison Bach Musicians. As a chamber musician, one of her main projects is Ensemble Vitelotte, a duo with keyboardist Sun Chang, dedicated to showcasing works by historical women composers. The duo has performed for the Landowska Harpsichord Society and the Marilyn Horne Museum, and was recently awarded a grant by Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events.

Kiyoe’s skills are the product of extensive training, having studied historical performance at institutes including ‘Juilliard at the Piccola Accadamia,’ the Chamber Music Collective, American Bach Soloists Academy, Amherst Early Music Festival, and Oberlin’s Baroque Performance Institute. Kiyoe holds a Master’s Degree from DePaul University’s School of Music, where she studied violin with Ms. Janet Sung. With fellow DePaul students, Kiyoe co-founded DePaul’s first period-instrument ensemble, which was featured on the Pegasus Rising Young Artist concert series. Prior to that, she earned her Bachelor of Music degree from California State University, Long Beach, studying on a full scholarship under the guidance of Dr. Lorenz Gamma. During her time there, she was a member of the University String Quartet and served as concertmaster of the University Symphony Orchestra. Kiyoe further honed her orchestral skills as a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, and in American Youth Symphony and Debut Orchestra in Los Angeles.

In addition to performing, Kiyoe enjoys sharing her knowledge with others. She completed Suzuki teacher training in violin units one through six under the guidance of Rolando Freitag. Her dedication to teaching has yielded notable successes, with her students achieving acceptance into the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra and winning prizes in the Chinese Fine Arts Society violin competition. For seven years, Ms. Matsuura served on the violin faculty of DePaul University’s Community Music Division, where she taught both individual and group classes. Along with in-person teaching, Kiyoe has created over 200 YouTube videos about violin student repertoire, which have received hundreds of thousands of views. Outside of her musical activities, Kiyoe is also a certified yoga instructor and has been teaching yoga classes throughout Chicago since 2017.

Sun Chang is a pianist and harpsichordist known for her adept interpretation of historical and contemporary works with a passion for building meaningful connections with her audiences through music. Sun studied with Dr. Peter Mack and later with Alan Chow at Northwestern University. She holds a Master of Arts degree in Harpsichord from the Royal Academy of Music, under tutelage of Carole Cerasi.

Sun’s musical career is eclectic. Some ensembles and people she has worked with include: Haymarket Opera, ProMusica Chamber Orchestra, Friction Quartet, Vadim Gluzman, Trevor Pinnock, Ars Musica Chicago, WFMT Bach Organ Project, and American Bach Soloists. She has a keen interest in discovering and sharing music by historical women, and has co-founded Ensemble Vitelotte dedicated to this purpose.

Notably, Sun is also working on a solo album of keyboard suites by Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre recorded on piano, a project made possible with support by the Luminarts Foundation. She also plays for the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, maintains a studio of dedicated young pianists, and is an amateur gambist.