The Chien-Kim-Watkins Trio

NEWS RELEASE    

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                      Contact: Solange De Santis

Oct. 28, 2025                                                  Director of Marketing and Communications 

Phone: 917 379 2260 [email protected]

Friends of Music Concerts presents the Chien-Kim-Watkins Trio

SLEEPY HOLLOW, NY – Friends of Music Concerts continues its 72nd season with the Chien-Kim-Watkins Trio, Sunday, Nov. 2 at 3:00 p.m. at Sleepy Hollow High School, Sleepy Hollow, N.Y. Directions are here.

The trio comprises three of classical music’s most highly esteemed artists: pianist Gloria Chien, violinist Soovin Kim, and cellist Paul Watkins, formerly of the acclaimed Emerson Quartet.

The trio has been performing together since 2019 and presented Beethoven’s groundbreaking Piano Trio cycle at the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival in 2022.

Photo: from left, cellist Paul Watkins, violinist Soovin Kim, pianist Gloria Chien. Photo by Ravi Vedanayagam

Their program on Nov. 2 will include: Liszt/Saint-Saens: “Orpheus” arr. for Piano Trio; Beethoven: Piano Trio in E-flat Major, Op. 70, No.2; Dvořák: Piano Trio in F Minor, Op. 6

Please note that traffic is very busy in the area in the fall so patrons should leave extra time for travel. All audience members are invited to a light post-concert reception to meet the artists. The reception is sponsored by FOMC board members Peter Aupperle and Sandy Galef.

Single tickets are $40 for adults and available here and at the door. Those age 18 and under are admitted free. For discounted admission, there is a season-long FlexSub “choose your own” option: an advance purchase of four or more admissions at $35 apiece, each of which is good for a ticket to any concert. For the full season lineup, click here and click here to purchase a FlexSub.

Pianist Gloria Chien made her orchestral debut at age 16 with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. She is the founder and artistic director of the String Theory chamber music series in Chattanooga, Tenn., and was the Director of the Music@Menlo Chamber Music Institute in California from 2010-2020.

In 2017, she joined Kim as Artistic Director of the Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival in Burlington, Vt. Since 2020, the husband-and-wife duo has also served as Artistic Directors of Chamber Music Northwest in Portland, Ore., and were named recipients of Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s Award for Extraordinary Service in 2021 for their efforts during the pandemic.

Violinist Soovin Kim won first prize at the Paganini International Violin Competition at the age of 20. He is also recipient of the Avery Fisher Career Grant and the Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award. For 20 years, he was the first violinist of the Johannes Quartet. Kim teaches at the New England Conservatory and at the Yale School of Music.

Paul Watkins was the cellist of the Emerson String Quartet for more than a decade. He is the Artistic Director of the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival in Michigan and teaches at the Yale School of Music. He enjoys a distinguished career as a concerto soloist, chamber musician, and conductor. Winner of the 2002 Leeds Conductors Competition, Paul served as Music Director of the English Chamber Orchestra and continues to conduct a wide range of internationally acclaimed ensembles.

Friends of Music Concerts, Inc. | P.O. Box 675 | Millwood, NY 10546

Tel (914) 861-5080 | www.friendsofmusicconcerts.org