Fundraising Concert:
Friday, February 12, 2027 @ 7 PM
Private Home in Georgetown, TX
Special Concert:
Saturday, February 13, 2027 @ 7 PM
Private Home in Austin, TX
Standard Concert:
Sunday, November 22, 2026 @ 2 PM
Private Home in Round Rock
Tickets
$70 - Fundraising Concert
$70 - Special Concert
Toby Blumenthal Phillips
Piano
Pianist Toby Blumenthal Phillips is a Steinway Artist and has appeared as a soloist with many ensembles including the Chicago and Houston Symphony Orchestras. She has received high acclaim for her numerous chamber music performances with members of the Philadelphia Orchestra, duo recitals with her late husband, Philadelphia Orchestra cellist, Bert Phillips, and other internationally renowned artists. A native of Chicago, she is a graduate of Northwestern University School of Music, and the University of Houston (graduate studies). Her post graduate studies were with Leonard Shure at the University of Texas in Austin, and Rudolph Serkin at Marlboro Chamber Music Institute in Vermont.
Toby and her late husband, Bert Phillips founded The Luzerne Music Center and the Luzerne Chamber Music Festival in Lake Luzerne, NY in 1980 where they shared executive and artistic directorships and where she continues to teach and perform. Toby and Bert were also Founders and Co- Artistic Directors of Classic Chamber Concerts in Naples, Florida where they performed in the Luzerne Trio (Raymond Gniewek, violin), and the Philadelphia Piano Quartet (Norman Carol, violin, Lamar Alsop, viola,) for fifteen years.
Toby now resides in Texas and was Director of the CHAMPS (chamber music in public schools) for Salon Concerts in Austin, for the ten years. She was Artistic Director and pianist for several seasons for the Classic Chamber Concert in Georgetown and Round Rock and is currently Artistic Director and Pianist for Classical Sound. She has performed for the past twelve seasons in the Georgetown Festival of the Arts, participated in The Mozart Festival Texas in San Antonio, the Texas Bach Festival in Georgetown, and most recently, the Mason Chamber Music Festival.
Sohee Kwon
Piano
Korean pianist Sohee Kwon has been recognized with top prizes at major competitions, including First Prize at the 2020 MTNA Chamber Music Competition and Second Prize at the 2020 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. Her performances have taken her to leading venues such as Carnegie Hall and the Beethoven-Haus Kammermusiksaal in Bonn, Germany, as well as to esteemed series including the Chamber Music Society of Logan, Chamber Music International, Sarasota Music Festival, Mid-America Performing Alliance, Austin Chamber Music Center, and ATX Chamber Music and Jazz. In high demand as a collaborator, she has worked with distinguished artists and ensembles such as Invoke String Quartet, The Artisan String Quartet, OSMOSIS String Quartet (Leipzig), members of major orchestras, and faculty from major universities worldwide.
An active educator and passionate advocate for chamber music, Kwon serves on the faculty of the Austin Chamber Music Center, the International Summer Music Institute at the University of North Texas, andwas just appointed the Director of Education for the Classical Sound Chamber Music Academy. She is frequently invited to present masterclasses, lectures, and performances at institutions including Rutgers University, the University of Kansas, the University of North Texas, and the University of Nebraska–Lincoln.
Kwon holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Texas at Austin, where she studied under Dr. Andrew Brownell. She earned her Master’s degree from Rice University under Jon Kimura Parker and completed undergraduate studies at the Manhattan School of Music and Rutgers University with Daniel Epstein and Dr. Min Kwon. She graduated with the Elizabeth Wyckoff Durham Award for Excellence in Keyboard Performance and was supported by full and presidential scholarships throughout her studies.
Program:
Johannes Brahms - Four Variations of Haydn's Saint Anthony Choral
Franz Schubert - Fantasy in F minor
Maurice Ravel - Mother Goose Suite
Maurice Ravel
Composer
Franz Schubert
Composer
About the Program:
Piano Four Hands Core Philosophical Themes
- The Metaphor of Harmony: Playing with four hands requires two individuals to breathe, think, and phrase as one entity. It is an ultimate exercise in active listening and compromise, where the collective sound is more important than either individual's ego.
- The Ideal of Friendship: Historically, as noted by musicologists, the four-hand duet was viewed as the ultimate musical expression of "friendship" and social bonding. It allowed people to connect without words.
We love these Core Philosophical Themes because they so simply and elegantly encapsulate the ideas of collaboration, communication, compromise, problem solving, and active listening that we love as Chamber Musicians.
These same core principles are the pillars of what we teach young Chamber Musicians in the Chamber Music Academy so we delighted to feature Classical Sound Artistic Director and CMA Founder Toby Blumenthal, and our newly minted CMA Director of Education Sohee Kwon performing this unique variety of Chamber Musician together.
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Chamber Music Academy Scholarship Fund
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Classical Sound is a not for profit 501c-3 musical organization dedicated to presenting live, small ensemble concerts, featuring world-class musicians performing both classical and pop at venues throughout Williamson County and central Texas.
Classical Sound is a 501c-3 not for profit arts organization, and all donations are tax deductible.