Tonhain Kollektiv

Concert: Sounds from the New World

Friday, December 11, 2026 at 07:00 PM

Description

From the colonial era onward, the New World has exerted a powerful gravitational pull on European composers, and vice-versa. This program examines how the idea of the Americas shaped the work of figures such as Dvořák, who was famously drawn to local folk and spiritual traditions, including African American and Native American music. William Grant Still, often called the “Dean of African-American composers,” wove African-American musical idioms into his Lyric Quartette, creating a distinctive American voice. Caroline Shaw’s Entr’acte, inspired by a Haydn quartet, offers a contemporary American perspective on the European origins of the string quartet, intertwining modernist textures with echoes of American musical traditions, while Ginastera’s String Quartet No. 1 fuses vibrant rhythmic energy with a dramatic, nationalistic character, reflecting both personal and cultural landscapes of the Americas.

Program

William Grant Still: Lyric Quartette ~16'

Antonín Dvořák: String Quartet No. 12 in F major, Op. 96 'American' ~26'

Caroline Shaw: Entr'acte for String Quartet ~12'

Alberto Ginastera: String Quartet No. 1, Op. 20 (1948) ~22'

Artists

Michael Lewin

violin

Michael Lewin was born in Berlin in 2003 and took his first violin lessons at the age of 5. Among the highlights of his career to date is his solo debut at the Berlin Philharmonic Hall, performing Johannes Brahms’s Violin Concerto under the baton of Samuel Lee. Michael is a prize winner at numerous international competitions, including first prizes at the ISA Challenge, the Rudolf Matz International String Competition, the ProArt International Violin Competition, the International Moscow Music Competition, and the Szymon Goldberg Competition, where he was also awarded three special prizes. In 2023, he won second prize at the prestigious International Grumiaux Concours. As a soloist, he has appeared with orchestras such as the Chamber Orchestra of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the LGT Young Soloists, the Khmelnytskyi Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Havel Symphony Orchestra. Chamber music plays an equally important role in his artistic practice. He has performed at festivals such as the Kronberg Academy’s Chamber Music Connects the World Festival, the Gstaad Menuhin Festival, the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival, the ISA Festival, the IMS Prussia Cove, the NUME Festival, the Chamberlab Montecastelli, the Brandenburg Summer Concerts, Chieti Classica, and the Golden Violins of Odessa. His chamber music partners include artists such as Christian Tetzlaff, Ettore Cause, Gidon Kremer, Daniel Hope, Simon Crawford-Phillips, Edgar Moreau, and Karolina Errera. He received further artistic guidance from Leonidas Kavakos, Vilde Frang, Vadim Gluzman, Kolja Blacher, Ulf Wallin, Chaim Taub, Dora Schwarzberg, Rainer Schmidt, Gerhard Schulz, Erik Schumann, and Boris Kusnezov. From 2015 to 2022, Michael was a young student at the Julius Stern Institute of the Berlin University of the Arts (UdK) under Prof. Bernhard Hartog and simultaneously took lessons in Vienna with Prof. Dora Schwarzberg. Michael is currently studying at the Hanns Eisler School of Music Berlin under Prof. Antje Weithaas. He is also a mentee in the Stretton Excellence Mentorship Program under the guidance of Yamen Saadi. Michael plays a violin by G. F. Pressenda (Turin, 1823), made available to him through a generous loan from a member of the Stretton Society.

Chiara Sannicandro

violin

German-Italian violinist Chiara Sannicandro, born in Salzburg, captivates audiences with her expressive and sincere playing. A prizewinner of numerous national and international competitions, she was awarded at the International Joseph Joachim Competition (2021), the Brahms Competition in Pörtschach, the Hudson Valley String Competition (NY), and the Rahn Musikpreis in Zürich. As a soloist, Chiara has performed with orchestras such as NDR Hannover, Göttinger Symphonieorchester, Philharmonie Salzburg, and Camerata Bern. She is also an active chamber musician and a member of Trio Brontë, which recently won 1st prize in the Piano Trio category at the International Chamber Music Competition “Schubert und die Musik der Moderne” in Graz. She has appeared at major festivals including Heidelberger Frühling, Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Davos, Ernen, Lockenhaus, Elba Music Festival, Trame Sonore and Classiche Forme. Chiara began her violin studies at age 9 in the Pre-College program at the Mozarteum Salzburg with Klara Flieder. She continued her training with Mauricio Fuks at the Jacobs School of Music in Bloomington, Rainer Schmidt at the Musik Akademie Basel, and recently concluded her studies with highest distinction with Antje Weithaas at the Musikhochschule Hanns Eisler Berlin. She plays a violin by Matteo Goffriller, Venice 1723, on generous loan from the Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben Hamburg.

Miguel Erlich

viola

Portuguese violist Miguel Erlich has recently been performing as soloist, chamber musician and in orchestra across Europe, America and the Middle East, in venues such as Lincoln Center, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Wigmore Hall, Royal Albert Hall, Elbphilharmonie, Philharmonie de Paris, Berliner Philharmonie, Dubai Opera and NCPA Beijing. He has performed at festivals including Krzyżowa-Music, Heidelberger Frühling, Dresdner Musikfestspiele, IMS Open Chamber Music, Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, NUME, Festival d'Aix-en-Provence, Festival de Pâques, and the Alderney Chamber Music Festival. As an avid chamber musician, Miguel is a member of the Viatores Quartet, a 2024-2027 SWR New Talent, performing regularly across Europe, and was also a founding member of Stravinstrio, which won 1st prize in Portugal’s national radio competition Prémio Jovens Músicos and the Concorso Internazionale Saverio Mercadante, among other awards. Stravinstrio has premiered works dedicated to the trio on radio and television in Portugal and Italy. Miguel has been solo viola of Ensemble Resonanz, the Portuguese Chamber Orchestra and the European Union Youth Orchestra, among other orchestras, and is a regular guest co-leader with the Budapest Festival Orchestra and the Luxembourg Philharmonic. Miguel studied with Tabea Zimmermann at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin, in the Portuguese National Conservatory with Anne Victorino D’Almeida and with António Pereira, and took part in masterclasses with Lawrence Power, Ettore Causa, Lars Anders Tomter, Gérard Caussé, Tatjana Masurenko, Leo De Neve, Pauline Sachse and Christophe Desjardins, among others. He is currently based in Berlin and is supported by the Deutsche Orchester-Stiftung for the 2025/26 season.

Yehjin Chun

cello

South Korean cellist Yehjin Chun studied with Konstantin Heidrich at the Berlin University of the Arts and subsequently continued her studies with Jens Peter Maintz. In the summer of 2021, she completed her concert exam at the Weimar University of Music under Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt. In addition to her studies, she received further musical guidance from David Geringas, Heinrich Schiff, and Christian Poltéra. She is a multiple prize winner at national and international competitions, including the Strad Competition in Korea and second prize at the Asia Youth Competition in Singapore. In 2018, she reached the finals of the International Isang Yun Competition, where she was also awarded the Seong-Yawng Park Special Prize. As a soloist, she has performed with orchestras such as the Thuringia Philharmonic, the Jena Philharmonic, and the Tongyeong Festival Orchestra. She currently performs regularly as principal cellist with the Kammerphilharmonie Metamorphosen Berlin and is a founding member of the new chamber music collective “Tonhain Kollektiv.” She has also been dedicated to teaching for several years. Her students’ achievements include prizes at renowned competitions such as the Queen Elisabeth Competition, the International Witold Lutosławski Cello Competition, and “Jugend musiziert.” Since October 2025, she has also been teaching as an adjunct lecturer at the Franz Liszt University of Music in Weimar. She plays a cello by Giovanni Grancino, Milan 1705.

Leonard Disselhorst

cello

Leonard Disselhorst, a co-founder of Tonhain Kollektiv, completed early studies at the Musikhochschule Hannover, studied at the Musikhochschule Karlsruhe with Prof. Martin Ostertag and at the Universität der Künste Berlin with Prof. Jens Peter Maintz. His musical education was further complemented by studies with the Artemis Quartet and Günter Pichler. Leonard was a member of the German National Youth Orchestra and has played under conductors such as Sir Dennis R. Davies and Sir Simon Rattle. He is an active soloist and chamber musician at home and abroad. Leonard has won several prizes, including 1st prize and all special prizes at the prestigious Concours de Genève. He is a founding member of the vision string quartet, which was awarded the OPUS KLASSIK in 2020 for its debut CD released by Warner. The album SPECTRUM followed in September 2021, with original compositions and arrangements of folk, pop, rock, funk, minimal and singer-songwriter music. Leonard plays on a cello by Gaetano Antoniazzi, Milan 1892.

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