“This year’s annual Avery Fisher Career Grants of $25,000 each … will go to four artists deemed to ‘have great potential for solo or chamber ensemble careers,’ ” reports Nicholas Beard in Thursday’s (3/14) Musical America (subscription required). “They are the JACK Quartet, Musical America’s 2019 Ensemble of the Year; pianist Henry Kramer; piano duo Christina and Michelle Naughton; and violinist Angelo Xiang Yu…. They have been chosen by the executive committee of the Avery Fisher Artist Program, which was established by a major gift to Lincoln Center from its namesake in 1974. Based in New York and first assembled in 2005, the JACK Quartet is especially known for its adventurous new-music programming and its commitment to training young musicians…. Pianist Henry Kramer, 32, was a second prize winner of the 2016 Queen Elisabeth Competition…. Christina and Michelle Naughton, both 31, are hardly strangers to the international concert circuit.… Orchestral appearances for the New York-based duo include the major ensembles of Philadelphia, Atlanta, Minnesota, and St. Louis.… Boston-based Angelo Xian Yu, also 31, just last month was given a Lincoln Center Emerging Artists Award.… He has performed internationally both with orchestras and in recital.”
Posted March 15, 2019