Great Composers Chamber Music Series
February 22, 2026, 2:00 p.m.
Scott-Skillman Recital Hall, Harris Center, Folsom
Individual tickets will go on sale September 1, 2025
Cindy Behmer, oboist
Susan Lamb Cook, cellist
I-Hui Chen, pianist
And special guest Annamarie Arai-Lopez, violinist
Program
From 6 Studies in Canonic Form, Op. 56 by Robert Schumann
Mit innigem Ausdruck
Andantino – Etwas Schneller
Innig
Trio for Oboe, Violin, and Cello (1936) by Grażyna Bacewicz
Adagio
Andante
Vivo
Sonata for Violin and Piano (TBA)
Quartet for Oboe, Violin, Cello, and Piano (1947) by Bohuslav Martinu
Moderato poco allegro
Adagio – Andante – Poco allegro
Cindy Behmer, oboist
Dr. Cindy Behmer is Instructor of Oboe and Chamber Music at UC Davis and CSU, Sacramento. Dr. Behmer is a member of Sacramento Choral Society and Orchestra and performs regularly with Sacramento Philharmonic and Opera, Stockton Symphony, Broadway at Music Circus, Modesto Opera, and Berkeley Community Chorus and Orchestra and has been newly appointed to Sunriver Music Festival in Oregon. She hosted the 2024 Carolyn Hove (LA Philharmonic) English Horn Master Classes at Sacramento State which drew musicians from across North America. She also serves as Woodwind Coach for Cal Cap Chamber Music Workshop in Sacramento.
Upon completion of her Doctor of Musical Arts degree from University of Arizona, Dr. Behmer served as member of the Tucson Symphony Orchestra, Tucson Chamber Artists, Tucson Pops Orchestra, St. Philip’s Friends of Music, and St. Andrew’s Bach Society.
Dr. Behmer has performed in China, South Korea, Europe, and Mexico but most notable were her performances at the 2011 College Music Society International Conference held in Seoul, South Korea and for the International Double Reed Society Conference in 2016.
I-Hui Chen, pianist
I-Hui Chen is a compelling pianist who seamlessly radiates her music and thoughts to the audience. Critics consider her musicality to be honest and direct, reflecting the composer’s original intentions, yet retaining her own creative individuality. Chen regularly appears in concert throughout Taiwan and the United States. An accomplished soloist, she also often collaborates with prestigious chamber music groups in the San Francisco Bay Area and the greater Sacramento area. Chen completed her undergraduate degree at the Taipei National University of the Arts where she studied piano performance under Alexander Sung whose musical lineage can be traced to Emil von Sauer (one of Liszt’s students) and Carl Czerny. Chen received a scholarship to pursue her master of music degree at the New England Conservatory of Music where she studied with the legendary piano maestra Patricia Zander. Before moving to the United States, Chen lectured in piano at Aletheia University music department in Taipei, Taiwan. She also held the keyboard section position in the Kaohsiung Symphony Orchestra. In 2019, Chen was appointed as a Lecturer in Music in piano at the UC Davis Department of Music.
Susan Lamb Cook, cellist
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 has performed as soloist with numerous orchestras and is highly regarded as master clinician. Following her studies at the University of Iowa with Charles Wendt, she moved to Vienna, Austria where she continued her studies and performed with numerous ensembles in Austria, Hungary, and Italy. During the decade she spent in Europe, Susan performed with the Arena di Verona opera orchestra, completing three seasons and joining the orchestra for a tour of Egypt with performances of Aida which used the grand Luxor Temple as backdrop. She completed at 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.
Annamarie Arai-Lopez, violinist
San Francisco-based violinist Annamarie Arai-Lopez loves performing in ensembles of all shapes and sizes, such as One Found Sound, a democratically-run, unconducted chamber orchestra in San Francisco for their past 11 seasons. She is also a newly appointed first violinist with the Santa Cruz Symphony and Sacramento Philharmonic (her hometown orchestra!) and often performs as a substitute player with various regional northern California symphonic organizations. In addition to her performances in traditional classical settings, she has shared the stage in accompanying Kygo, Michael Bublé, Geographer, and Portugal the Man in their respective California tour stops.
Annamarie is also a passionate educator and, in addition to cultivating her private violin studio, is the Lead Beginning Strings Teaching Artist at Enriching Lives through Music (ELM), a non-profit music program in San Rafael. She holds degrees from UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music and the San Francisco Conservatory.