Stephanie Vial
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Andrew Willis is a pianist, fortepianist, harpsichordist, and longtime professor of music at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, known for performances that combine artistry, scholarship, and historical imagination. A graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, Temple University, and Cornell University, he studied with Mieczyslaw Horszowski, Lambert Orkis, and Malcolm Bilson.
His recordings and performances span Beethoven on period instruments, early-Romantic song, chamber music, Chopin on an 1848 Pleyel piano, and contemporary works. Praised by The New York Times for a Hammerklavier Sonata performance “of rare stature,” Willis invites audiences to hear the keyboard repertoire through the sound worlds and instruments that first shaped it.
Nancy Lambert served as Executive Director of Chamber Music Raleigh from 1995 to 2012, a period marked by significant growth in budget, programming, and donor support. Highlights of her tenure include launching the Sights and Sounds on Sundays series with the NC Museum of Art, establishing an endowment, and expanding artist residencies with educational outreach. She received the Raleigh Medal of Arts in 2012 in recognition of her decades of service to the arts community.
ANDREW WILLIS &
Elizabeth Field is a violinist known for passionate, stylistically informed performances on both period and modern instruments, and is the founder of The Vivaldi Project. She has performed with ensembles including Opera Lafayette, the Bach Choir of Bethlehem, the Sun Valley Summer Symphony, Brandywine Baroque, the Van Swieten Quartet, and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, with recordings on Deutsche Grammophon, Hungaroton, Naxos, and Dorian. Field holds a DMA from Cornell University in 18th-century performance practice, teaches at George Washington University, and co-directs the Institute for Early Music on Modern Instruments with cellist Stephanie Vial.
The Vivaldi Project is a period-instrument ensemble praised for its brilliant, expressive playing and for programs that bring Baroque and Classical string repertoire vividly to life. Named for Antonio Vivaldi, whose music stands at the crossroads of the Baroque and Classical eras, the ensemble combines scholarship and performance in concerts designed to educate as well as delight. Its musicians include Allison Nyquist, Elizabeth Field, and Stephanie Vial, and its acclaimed recording series, Discovering the Classical String Trio, has drawn continued critical attention, including a 2024 WETA spotlight for Volume 4.
Andrew Willis
$31 ADULTS
$28 NCMA MEMBERS
$23 STUDENTS
Sunday, May 9, 2027
2:00 p.m.
SECU Auditorium - NC Museum of Art
2110 Blue Ridge Rd, Raleigh, NC 27607
The NCMA Cafe will be open prior to the concert if you would like to add a Mother's Day Brunch to your concert ticket. CLICK HERE TO RESERVE
Allison Edberg Nyquist is acclaimed for the beauty, versatility, and precision of her playing, with The Chicago Sun-Times praising her as “impeccable, with unerring intonation and an austere beauty.” A leading performer on both baroque and modern violin, she has appeared throughout North America with ensembles including Apollo’s Fire, Chatham Baroque, The Vivaldi Project, Haymarket Opera Company, and the Indianapolis Baroque Orchestra, where she serves as concertmaster. She is also Artistic Director of Music City Baroque and Adjunct Professor of Baroque Violin at Vanderbilt University’s Blair School of Music.
Allison Nyquist
ABOUT THE CONCERT SPONSOR - Growing up in Raleigh, John Lambert has attended Chamber Music Raleigh concerts since the mid-1950s and joined the board in the 1980s under Jo Cresimore, helping establish the organization’s membership database and early fundraising efforts. A longtime arts writer, he later co-founded CVNC.org, which continues to provide comprehensive coverage of CMR and other presenters. He has also served on the City of Raleigh Arts Commission and the board of Arts Access, and in 1985 was among the first recipients of the Raleigh Medal of Arts.
THE VIVALDI PROJECT
JOHN & NANCY LAMBERT PRESENT
Stephanie Vial is a widely respected cellist praised for her technical flair, expressive phrasing, and deep expertise in historical performance practice. She performs regularly with early music ensembles across the United States and, with Elizabeth Field, co-directs The Vivaldi Project and its educational arm, the Institute for Early Music on Modern Instruments. A Durham resident since 1997, Vial holds a DMA from Cornell University, records on labels including Dorian, Naxos, Hungaroton, MSR Classics, and Centaur, and is a lecturer at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.