A capacity audience enjoyed a performance by cellist Annie Jacobs-Perkins and pianist Katelyn Vahala. Their program included a new work by Octavio Vázquez, commissioned by Kathleen Murphy Kemp for Ms. Jacobs-Perkins.

• Program
• About the Artists
  • Annie Jacobs-Perkins
  • Katelyn Vahala

Program

Full Program (PDF)

About the Artists

Annie Jacobs-Perkins

Cellist Annie Jacobs-Perkins wants to do more than make art—she wants to turn her life into a work of art. Annie’s love of interdisciplinary work has led her to collaborate with painters, dancers, potters, cheesemongers, fashion designers, boxers, composers, poets, woodworkers, essayists, knitters, and farmers. She believes that it is the responsibility of an artist to protect beauty that already exists in the world, and as such, is a passionate participant in local, sustainable agriculture and boycotter of fast fashion. Music is one of the ways she digs her toes into the earth around her.

Annie is the recent winner of the 2023 Pierre Fournier Award. In the coming seasons she will present a recital in Wigmore Hall, perform as soloist with London’s Philharmonia Orchestra, and record a debut album on the Champs Hill label. Annie is also 1st prize winner of the Chamber Orchestra of the Springs Emerging Soloist Competition, New England Conservatory Concerto Competition, and Hennings-Fischer Young Artist Competition. She will begin her roles as Artist-in-Residence of the Austin Chamber Music Center and EstOvest Festival Contemporary Cello Week this fall. In 2021 she was also chosen to be Young-Artist-in-Residence at NPR’s Performance Today.

Annie is principal cellist of Joshua Weilerstein’s Phoenix Chamber Orchestra in Boston and cellist of Trio Brontë, 1st prize winners of the 2023 Ilmari Hannikainen International Piano Chamber Music Competition in Finland. She has performed at venues such as the Library of Congress, Het Concertgebouw, Jordan Hall, Carnegie Hall, Berlin Konzerthaus, Berliner Philharmonie, Ravinia Steans Institute, Krzyzowa Music, Yellow Barn Festival, and La Jolla Music Society’s SummerFest.

Annie is currently working towards an Artist Diploma at the Barenboim-Said Academy in Berlin. She previously studied at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin (MM ‘23, Ottilie-Selbach-Redslob Stiftung scholarship), New England Conservatory (MM ‘20 and GD ‘21, Laurence Lesser Presidential Scholarship), and USC’s Thornton School of Music (BM ‘18, Outstanding Graduate Award and Trustee Scholar). Her primary teachers include Frans Helmerson, Troels Svane, Laurence Lesser, Ralph Kirshbaum, and Kathleen Murphy Kemp. Other influential teachers include Guy Fishman, David Geringas, Geoff Dyer, and Thomas Gustafson.

Katelyn Vahala

Praised as a “highly accomplished pianist with wonderfully rhythmic and robust playing” (New York Concert Review), Katelyn Vahala is a passionate soloist, chamber musician, educator, and arts advocate in the Los Angeles area.

Katelyn has performed in Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Het Concertgebouw, Salzburg Mozarteum, Bratislava Reduta Philharmonic Hall, St. Petersburg Union of Composers, Porto Casa da Música, and LACMA’s Bing Auditorium. Her past collaborations include performances with artists from the Juilliard and American String Quartets, as well as appearances with the Tandru Trio and the Julius Quartet. She has attended the Yellow Barn Young Artists Program, Perlman Music Program, Colburn Academy Piano Festival, Port Townsend Chamber Music Workshop, and Maine Chamber Music Seminar. Previous chamber music mentors include Ralph Kirshbaum, Seth Knopp, Itzhak Perlman, Roger Tapping, Andrew Cook, and Dr. Susan Svrĉek.

Katelyn holds a DMA in Piano Performance from USC’s Thornton School of Music, where she studied with Dr. Lucinda Carver and Jeffrey Kahane and was the Outstanding DMA Graduate of her class. Katelyn is an adjunct instructor at USC Thornton School of Music, where she teaches keyboard literature. She is also a member of the piano faculty at the Pasadena Conservatory of Music.