The Frost School of Music at the University of Miami is pleased to announce second-year Doctor of Musical Arts student violinist Tianxu Liu will make her debut at New York’s prestigious Carnegie Hall Weill Recital Hall Thursday, April 14, 2022, at 8:00 PM, performing on the rare 300-year-old Sue Miller Guarneri Violin. The 1714 Giuseppe Guarneri ‘filius Andreae’ violin was purchased by the Frost School of Music through a major donation from the Miami-based Miller family in honor of their late matriarch, Sue Miller, an avid music lover, tireless community supporter, and trustee of the University of Miami. Now called the Sue Miller Violin, the instrument is loaned to a talented Frost School violin student upon the recommendation of the string faculty.
“Performing on a violin of the caliber of the Sue Miller Guarneri is a very special opportunity” states Bettina Mussumeli, Frost’s lecturer of Violin Performance, Pedagogy, and Chamber Music. “It offers Tianxu millions of different nuances to experiment within color and sound. It allows her to stretch her own limits, pushing the boundaries of her musical imagination while learning how to let the violin itself speak. Tianxu has excellent technique and wonderful innate musicality. More importantly, she possesses that most elusive quality: her own unique musical voice. It is that special something that one immediately recognizes when one listens to her play. We are extremely grateful to the Miller family for affording our students this opportunity, and I am sure the partnership between Tianxu and the violin will shine brightly in Carnegie Hall.”
Tianxu Lui’s Carnegie Hall recital program will synthesize her intimate relationship with diverse communities and cultures and will frame two premieres. “When I started to think about my repertoire I wanted to do something that no one else had done,” states Tianxu. “I contacted composer Delong Wang, who was very kind and supportive and later sent me the piece ‘Drinking Alone With The Moon’ which was influenced by one of the greatest Chinese poets, Li Bai, who inspired me throughout my childhood.”
“I also cannot explain enough how honored I am to have a world premiere piece written for me by our wonderful composition faculty member Charles Mason. I can’t wait to show Professor Mason’s masterwork “Silencing the Sirens” to all the world,” she says.
It is also her hope that in presenting herself in a recital of this magnitude that people get to know more about “how the Frost School of Music provides a fantastic education and creates a great transition path from being a student to a professional soloist, chamber musician, and artist.”
Tianxu, who is a Henry Mancini Institute fellow and also a string player in the Frost Symphony Orchestra explains as a Mancini fellow “she gets to expand her understanding of different music genres.” As a string player in the Frost Symphony she “experiences what it is like to sit in a professional orchestra” and learns well-rounded music aspects about each composer from “our great conductor and life model Maestro Schwarz!”
On a personal level, Tianxu loves watching movies, going out to eat, and cooking. “I find cooking in many ways parallel to the violin. Fine delicious food needs special treatment. You treat your ingredients with your heart and they will pay you back with delicious food!”
In speaking as to why she chose to study at Frost, she states “When I was auditioning at Frost, the first thing I couldn’t help but notice was the beautiful weather and great campus to study around. The school has a great reputation, supportive peers, outstanding facilities, and lots of performance opportunities. I can’t find a reason for not being here!”
For more information about the Sue Miller Guenari violin:
https://news.miami.edu/stories/2017/06/rare-violin-honors-a-rare-woman.html
https://ingleshayday.com/features/a-violin-by-giuseppe-guarneri-filius-andreae-circa-1715/
To access tickets and more information regarding the recital:
https://www.carnegiehall.org/Calendar/2022/04/14/Tianxu-Liu-Violin-0800PM
