Great Composers Chamber Music Series
May 2, 2027, 2:00 p.m.
Scott-Skillman Recital Hall, Harris Center, Folsom
Subscription renewals begin July 2
Individual tickets will go on sale September 2, 2026
Cellist Rebekah Yang and pianist Kaoruko Hayashi return to the Harris Center with a program of audience favorites and musical gems. The VITA Academy is proud to present these emerging artists in collaboration with artistic director Susan Lamb Cook and special guest violinist George Hayes in an afternoon filled with magic and mystery. Program will include works by Robert Schumann, Leoš Janáček, Antonin Dvořák and more.
Program
Piano Trio No. 6 in F Major, Hob. XV:40 by Joseph Haydn
Miroirs from Alborada del Grazioso by Maurice Ravel
Four Cities: Ankara Cello Sonata by Fazil Say
Pohadka by Leoš Janáček
5 Stücke im Volkston, op. 102 by Robert Schumann
Piano Trio No. 4 in E minor, op. 90, “Dumky” by Antonín Dvořák
Singaporean-American cellist Enru Rebekah Yang is recognized as one of the most multifaceted classical musicians of her generation, combining an active international performance career with pedagogy, leadership, and cultural exchange. She appears regularly as a soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician across North and South America, Europe, and Asia, and has collaborated with artists including Jaime Laredo, Sharon Robinson, Brinton Smith, the Galvin Cello Quartet, and members of the Shanghai Quartet. As a pedagogue, Rebekah has presented lectures and masterclasses internationally, including at the University of São Paulo, and has served as a teaching assistant to Hans Jørgen Jensen, Thomas Landschoot, and Wei Yu at the Meadowmount School of Music. She also serves as Executive and Artistic Director of the Swan International Music Festival in Singapore, launching in June 2027. She earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Los Angeles, where she was the School of Music’s sole summa cum laude recipient in the inaugural Bachelor of Music class, a Gluck Fellow, faculty-elected representative, and principal cellist of the Philharmonia Orchestra. She completed her master’s degree at Northwestern University under Hans Jørgen Jensen as an Eckstein Merit Scholar and principal cellist of the Northwestern University Symphony Orchestra, and is currently pursuing a Doctor of Music at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music as the Eva Heinitz Award recipient and a 2025 IU Ventures Fellow. She performs on a rare 1806 Franz Geissenhof cello and a Eugene Sartory bow, and her principal teachers include Hans Jørgen Jensen, Amos Yang, Antonio Lysy, and Susan Lamb Cook.
Pianist Kako Hayashi, acclaimed for her lyricism, rich sound, and dynamism, is from Davis, California, and is currently pursuing her Master of Music degree at the Eastman School of Music under Professor Alexander Kobrin. She earned her Bachelor of Music summa cum laude from the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University in 2026, where she studied with Dr. Jon Kimura Parker. Her exceptional artistry has been recognized with the Distinction in Research and Creative Works from Rice University, the Shepherd Society Award, finalist honors at the 2025 Shepherd School Concerto Competition, and a top prize at the Young Texas Artists Music Competition. She has performed as a soloist with Orchestra Virtuosi Brunenses and the Sacramento Youth Symphony, and has collaborated with ensembles including the Texas Medical Center Orchestra and the Houston Youth Symphony. Kako has attended the Aspen Music Festival and School, PianoTexas, and the Chautauqua Piano Program, and has studied with renowned artists including Arie Vardi, Yoheved Kaplinsky, Alan Chow, Roman Rabinovich, Akiko Ebi, Victor Rosenbaum, and Michel Béroff. Her former principal teachers include Professor Alexandre Moutouzkine and Mrs. Akiko Gaffney. As a former violinist and concertmaster, Kako brings a distinctive perspective to chamber music. Her love for chamber music began through Susan Lamb Cook’s Rising Stars Chamber Music Program, in which she participated from 2017 to 2019.
Susan Lamb Cook is currently Lecturer in Cello and Chamber Music at the University of California, Davis. She is a member of the Sacramento Philharmonic & Opera and the Sacramento Choral Society and Orchestra and is Artistic Director of the VITA Academy’s Great Composers Chamber Music Series. She is an active performer and educator both nationally and internationally and is sought after as soloist and chamber musician with performances throughout Europe, the Far East, and the United States. She has served on faculty for the Saarburg Festival, Germany, the Vianden Festival, Luxembourg, and on the artistic staff for the Classical Music Festival in Eisenstadt, Austria. As a member of the Kismarton Trio, Susan has performed concerts in the Hungarian National Museum and the Petöfi Museum of Literature, Budapest, and performed the opening concert for the 2024 International Music Festival, Grosslobming, Austria. She completed a degree at the Academy of Music in Vienna, Austria under the guidance of Angelica May, then joined the teaching staff as assistant professor of cello, a position she held for two years before returning to her home of Sacramento.