Horowitz Center Playbills and Programs
Divine Inspiration: Music for Souls Concert
Saturday, February 28, 2026
7:30 p.m.
Monteabaro Recital Hall
FEATURING
Lu-Hsuan Chen, Soprano
Yoon Nah Cho, Cello
Hsien-Ann Meng, Piano
PROGRAM
| Piece | Composer |
|---|---|
| Vocalise | Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943) |
| Yoon Nah Cho, Cello Lu-Hsuan Chen, Soprano Hsien-Ann Meng, Piano |
|
| Hear ye, Israel! from Elijah | Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) |
| Lu-Hsuan Chen, Soprano Hsien-Ann Meng, Piano |
|
| Song Without Words, Op. 67, No. 2 | Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) |
| Seven Variations in E-Flat Major WoO 46 Bei Männern welche Liebe fühlen from The Magic Flute |
Ludwig Van Beethoven (1770-1827) |
| Over the rainbow | Harold Arlen (1905-1986) arr. Tom Poster |
| Yoon Nah Cho, Cello Hsien-Ann Meng, Piano |
|
| INTERMISSION | |
| Morgan | Richard Strauss (1864-1949) |
| Four songs for Voice, Cello, and Piano | Joseph Glaeser (1835-1891) |
| II Kein Echo IV Lockung |
|
| La Captive op. 12 | Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) |
| Yoon Nah Cho, Cello Lu-Hsuan Chen, Soprano Hsien-Ann Meng, Piano |
|
| Cantana | John Carter (b. 1930) |
| Prelude Rondo Recitative Air Taccata |
|
| Lu-Hsuan Chen, Soprano Hsien-Ann Meng, Piano |
|
ARTIST BIOS
A native of Taiwan, Dr. Lu-Hsuan Chen earned her B.A. from National Taiwan Normal University, her M.M. from the Peabody Conservatory of Music of Johns Hopkins University, and her Doctor of Musical Arts from University of Maryland at College Park.
Dr. Chen was granted numerous honors and scholarships including the Peabody Scholarship, Berman Scholarship, GA and TA scholarships from UMCP. In Competitions, Ms. Chen won the Ulrich Competition of UMD for Graduate Voice Division in 1997, and the Taiwan Music Competition for Adult Voice Division in 1993. She garnered second prize from Taiwan Teacher’s Singing Competition in 1993, and Taiwanese French Song Competition in 1995. Ms. Chen was also a finalist from Asian International Vocal Competition in 1996 held in Malaysia.
As an active performer, Dr. Chen performs regularly with Howard Community College Concert series. She is often invited to perform in celebrations and concerts for local Taiwanese Societies. She also performed regularly with Friday Morning Music Club Concert Series. She was elected to perform as a soloist twice with the FMMC Choral and Orchestra. Her recent solo recitals include Music at Paint Branch concert series in 2013 in Silver Spring, Maryland, a solo recital “Come Hear Me Sing” in her home town: I-Lan, Taiwan in July, 2016, HCC Faculty Concert “When East Meets West” in 2018, HCC Faculty Concert “Musical Potpourri” in March, 2023, and HCC Faculty Concert “That’s Amore” in November 2024.
Currently she is the voice coordinator and an adjunct faculty at Howard Community College. She is the music director for the musical production Ride the Cyclone in Spring 2024. The courses she teaches at HCC include Music of East Asia, Class Voice, Music Appreciation, and Ear Training & Musicianship. Besides HCC, she also teaches at Peabody Preparatory of Johns Hopkins University. She maintains a music studio teaching piano and voice in Ellicott City, Maryland. Dr. Chen is a member of the National Guild of Piano Teachers, National Association of Teachers of Singing, and Music Teachers National Association.
Yoon Nah Cho was born in Korea, where she began her musical studies at the age of four. She earned her Master of Music in cello performance under Robert Newkirk from the Catholic University of America and her Bachelor of Music in cello performance under Stephen Kates and Andres Diaz at the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University. She received scholarships from both institutions.
In 2005 and 2006, Ms. Cho performed at Morgan State University as a string quartet member and at Young-San Art Hall and Chung-Ju Culture Center in
Korea as a piano trio member. Her passion for chamber music continues, as she has collaborated with various chamber groups and performed chamber concerts and solo recitals in the Baltimore and Washington, D.C., areas since 2007. She has received chamber music coaching from esteemed musicians, including Michael Tree, Marian Hahn, Alan Stephansky, Paul York, Thomas Kraine, David Finckel, Wesley Baldwin, Michael Mermagen, Thomas Mastroianni, Rita Sloan, and Christopher Von Baeyer.
As an orchestral musician, Ms. Cho has performed with the Washington Chamber Orchestra and the Orchestra of St. John. She is currently a faculty member at Howard Community College and maintains a thriving private studio. Many of her students have won local, regional, and national competitions and have gone on to study at prestigious conservatories and music schools across the country.
Beyond her musical career, Ms. Cho enjoys volunteering at the Hatton Animal Rescue Foundation, where she dedicates her time to caring for and supporting rescued animals.
Hsien-Ann Meng holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Piano Performance from the University of Maryland, both Master of Music in Piano Performance and Music History degrees and a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance degree from the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University. She has studied and coached with distinguished teachers and artists Walter Hautzig, Marian Hahn, Yehoved Kaplinsky, Samuel Sanders, Anne Koscielny, Bradford Gowen, and Raymond Hanson.
Dr. Meng is active in the Baltimore-Washington area as a duo-pianist with the Octtava Piano Duo and chamber musician, had performed as a member of the Friday Morning Music Club in its recital series, as guest artist on the Ward Virts Concert Series at College of Southern Maryland, and as a member of faculty on the Faculty Concert Series at Howard Community College. Her duo performances has taken her to perform in the National Recital Hall and Shih Chien University in Taipei, Taiwan. Dr. Meng is also a lecturer on topics in music, and she had appeared as pre-concert lecturer for the Columbia Orchestra Concert Series, the Candlelight Concert Series, as guest lecturer for OASIS in Bethesda, Maryland, SASI in Columbia, Maryland, and as a member of a panel of speakers for the Women’s Studies Speaker Series at Howard Community College.
Hsien-Ann Meng had held teaching positions at Washington Conservatory of Music in Washington, D. C. and Montgomery College in Rockville, Maryland. She is currently an Associate Professor in the Performing Arts Department at Howard Community College. She is Director of the Howard Community College Concert Series. Dr. Meng is an active piano teacher in the Washington D. C. Metropolitan area. She is a member of the National Music Teachers Association and both state and county music teachers association. Dr. Meng is a sought-after adjudicator in local, county, and state piano competitions.
PROGRAM NOTES
Song Without Words, Op. 67, No. 2 (arr. for cello and piano, A minor) by Felix Mendelssohn
Originally composed in 1845 as part of Mendelssohn’s Lieder ohne Worte (“Songs Without Words”), Op. 67, No. 2 is a lyrical miniature that captures the expressive spirit of Romantic song without the use of text. Written in a graceful, flowing style, the piece unfolds as a tender melody supported by a gently moving accompaniment.
In this arrangement in A minor for cello and piano, the singing quality of the main theme is beautifully suited to the cello’s warm and expressive tone. The minor key lends the work a quiet introspection, while its elegant phrasing and transparent texture reflect Mendelssohn’s characteristic clarity and refinement. Though intimate in scale, the piece speaks with heartfelt simplicity and poetic charm.
Seven Variations in E flat major for cello and piano on the aria “Bei Männern welche Liebe fühlen” from Mozart’s opera The Magic Flute by Ludwig van Beethoven
Seven Variations in E flat major for cello and piano on the aria Bei Männern welche Liebe fühlen from Mozart’s opera The Magic Flute of Beethoven’s three collections of variations for cello and piano, two were written on themes from Mozart’s Magic Flute. All belonged to the composer’s early works and were destined for the salon: their technical difficulty was adapted to the potential of amateur performance. The cycle of seven variations, a piece with no opus number, on the theme Bei Männern, welche Liebe fühlen (“In men, who feel love”) was created in 1801 and published in the following year. Exact circumstances of its origin are unknown; only the dedication shows that it was a gift to Count Johann von Brown-Camus, described by the author as “the first patron of my muse”. The theme of the variation, taken from the duet of Pamina and Papageno in the first act of Mozart’s opera, allowed the instruments to conduct a dialogue on equal terms. The structure of the cycle is straightforward and conventional: the middle variation stands out with its minor mode (E flat minor), the last three are all in different time. The melody of the theme (Andantino, E flat major), with its dancing features, all but vanishes in virtuosic figurations in both instruments and only returns in the final variation. The most song-like and lyrical variation (Adagio) precedes a joyful and extensive finale (Allegro). - Ewa Siemdaj
Over the Rainbow - Harold Arlen
Arranged by Tom Poster
Originally written for the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, Over the Rainbow has become one of the most beloved songs of the twentieth century. Introduced by Dorothy in the film, the song expresses longing, hope, and the dream of a world beyond present troubles.
In Tom Poster’s arrangement for cello and piano, the melody’s vocal quality finds a natural home in the cello’s warm, singing tone. The piano provides a gentle harmonic landscape, allowing the melody to unfold with simplicity and sincerity. Rather than emphasizing grandeur, the arrangement highlights intimacy and lyrical expression.
TRANSLATIONS
Morgan, Tomorrow!
And tomorrow the sun will shine again…And on the path that I shall take,
It will unite us, happy ones, again, amid this same sun-breathing earth ...
And to the shore, broad, blue-waved, we shall quietly and slowly descend,
Speechless we shall gaze into each other’s eyes,
And the speechless silence of bliss shall fall on us ...
Translation © Richard Stokes, author of The Book of Lieder (Faber, 2005)
Kein Echo, No Echo
Vibrating through the air, a sound echoes in my heart, as if a wind harp sounds,
even though a bell broke?
High above the Alphorns flies a bright morning dream,
and on the lake float sails white like swans.
Oh, if I just was in the mood, melting away at once,
becoming one with mountain light, in fragrant twilight glow, in fragrant twilight glow!
My arms are wide in longing call, and yearning all around:
Just one hand, one heart, one home! In vain! All is mum!
Translation: Nicolas Foster
Lockung, Attraction
Can’t you hear? The trees are whistling outside through the silence all around.
Aren't you tempted to listen from the Söller?
Into the valley, where many creeks are flowing, wonderful, lit up by moonshine,
and to see the silent castles watching the river from rocky heights?
Do you remember the wild songs from the old and beautiful time?
They are awakening every evening in forest solitude, when the trees are dreaming, listening
and the lilac’s piercing scent, and in the river, mermaids splashing.
Come on down, come on down, to tranquility.
Translation: Nicolas Foster
La Captive, The Captive
1
If I were not a captive, I would love this country, and this plaintive sea,
And these fields of corn, and these stars without number.
If the saber of the Spahis did not glimmer in the shadow along the dark wall!
2
If I was not born a Tartar, then a black eunuch would tune my guitar, or hold my mirror.
Far away from these Sodoms in the country where we were born,
One could speak with a young man in the evening.
3
Yet I love this shore, where the cold breath of winter never blows,
Through the open windows.
In summer, the rain is warm, the creeping green insects shine like living emeralds
Beneath blades of green grass.
4
But above all, when the breeze blows caressingly about me, I love to sit at night,
Half-dreaming, looking at the deep sea,
While pale and fair, the moon opens its silver fan on the waves. Ah!
HCC CONCERT SERIES
Hsien-Ann Meng, Director, HCC Concert Series
Bill Gillett, Chair, Performing Arts
HOROWITZ CENTER STAFF
Janelle Broderick - Director
Jessica Chaney - Content Coordinator
A. Lorraine Robinson - Production Manager
John Elder - Technical Director
Darius McKeiver - Business Associate
Linwood Milan – Technical Coordinator
Eric Moore - Production Electrician
Mark Smedley - Associate Technical Director
Julie Via - Audience Services Manager
Bill Watson – Gallery Manager and Curator
SPECIAL THANKS
This performance is made possible through generous support from the Galbraith-Winer Family Trust Fund and the Maryland State Arts Council.
