Big Sky Classical Music Festival

ABOUT THE EVENING
Join Angella Ahn, Yvonne Lam, Jonathan Gunn, Alexandra Osborne and John Eckstein at the Warren Miller Performing Arts Center for an intimate quintet recital that highlights the beautiful music of the clarinet. As a co-artistic director of Eighth Blackbird, Yvonne Lam performs around 50 concerts a year internationally, and has performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Melbourne Symphony, the Kansas City Symphony, the Cincinnati Symphony, the Lexington Philharmonic, the New World Symphony, and the Tasmanian Symphony. She has recorded three albums with Eighth Blackbird, including the Grammy-winning album Filament. Yvonne has also appeared as soloist with such renowned orchestras as the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and the Auckland Philharmonia. 

Jonathan Gunn is a versatile artist with a varied career as educator, soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral performer. Currently, Mr. Gunn serves as the Assistant Professor of Clarinet at the Butler School of Music at the University of Texas, Austin. Mr. Gunn has participated in numerous music festivals including Bard, Tanglewood, Aspen, St. Bart’s, Telluride Jazz Celebration, and Ashlawn-Highland Opera Company and is the Principal Clarinetist of the Sunflower and Buzzard’s Bay Music Festivals.

Cellist John Eckstein joined the Utah Symphony in 1990 after previously serving as Associate Principal Cello of the New Orleans Symphony and Principal Cello of the Omaha Symphony. In 2004, he served as Principal Cellist and Soloist with the Auckland Philharmonia in New Zealand. He joined the music faculty at the University of Utah in 1992.

Australian violinist Alexandra Osborne enjoys a versatile career as an orchestral and chamber musician, solo artist, and teacher. She was appointed to the National Symphony Orchestra by Christoph Eschenbach as the youngest member of the violin section in 2009 and most recently was the Acting Assistant Concertmaster. A chamber music lover, Osborne has appeared at the Taos, Pan Pacific, Kneisel Hall, Sarasota, and Colorado Music Festivals, the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, the Fortas Chamber Music Series and was a featured artist in Symphony Magazine. She is a laureate of the 2001 Michael Hill International Violin Competition and a gold medalist of the Symphony Australia Young Performers Award, Australia’s largest and most grueling instrumental competition. 

Angella Ahn is the artistic director of the Big Sky Classical Music Festival and is a professional violinist and professor of violin and viola at Montana State University. She is also the violinist of the Ahn Trio, comprised of Angella and her sisters Lucia (piano) and Maria (cello). The acclaimed trio has toured the globe, appearing in such prominent venues as New York’s Lincoln Center, The Beijing Concert Hall, Argentina’s Teatro Colon, and the White House. As a soloist, she’s performed with prestigious organizations such as the Honolulu Symphony, the Louisville Symphony and KBS Orchestra of South Korea. Highlights from this program include Brahms Clarinet Quintet in B minor, Op. 115 and the Weber Quintet for Clarinet & Strings in B flat major, Op. 34.