Shall We Gather…
music of Brahms, Mahler, and Copland

Gustav Mahler: Rückert Lieder
Aaron Copland: Old American Songs
Johannes Brahms: Horn Trio, Op. 40

Keven Keys, baritone
Yvonne Lam, violin
Dan O’Connell, horn
Yasuko Oura, piano

The violinist of the multi-Grammy-Award-winning chamber ensemble Eighth Blackbird, Yvonne Lam has captivated audiences worldwide with her intelligent musicianship and boundary-pushing performance aesthetic. Ms. Lam has given lessons, masterclasses and lectures at universities throughout the US in addition to long-term residency activities at the University of Chicago and the University of Richmond. In addition to serving three seasons as Assistant Concertmaster of the Washington National Opera Orchestra, she has appeared as soloist with such renowned orchestras as the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and the Auckland Philharmonia and captured top prizes at international competitions such as the Michael Hill World Violin Competition. She received her Bachelor of Music from the Curtis Institute of Music, and her Master of Music from the Juilliard School.

Dan O’Connell regularly plays with many of the Chicago area’s great orchestras and ensembles, both at home and on tours. From 1990 to 1992 he was a member of Miami’s New World Symphony and as a student attended the Tanglewood Music Center and participated in the New York String Seminar Orchestra.  He is the horn instructor at North Central College, The Birch Creek Music Center, and maintains a private studio.    He received a BM from The New England Conservatory, an MM from DePaul University.

Baritone Keven Keys has appeared with orchestras around the Midwest and beyond, performing the Fauré Requiem with the Grant Park Orchestra, Bach’s Mass in B minor with the Kalamazoo Bach Festival, Mahler’s monumental Symphony No. 8 with the Colorado Mahlerfest.  He has performed numerous times with both the Peninsula Music Festival and Chicago’s Music of the Baroque.

Recent appearances have included Zemlinsky’s  Lyric Symphony with the Northwestern Symphony Orchestra, the title role of Mendelsohn’s Elijah at the Music Institute of Chicago, Dr. Dulcamara in The Elixir of Love with the Salt Creek Chamber Orchestra, and Jesus in Bach’s St John Passion with the Bach Cantata Vespers.  Upcoming performances include Vaughn Williams’ A Sea Symphony with the Fox Valley Symphony Orchestra and the Easter portion of Handel’s Messiah at the First Presbyterian Church of Libertyville.

Keven Keys’ concert repertoire includes J.S. Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, St John and St Matthew Passions, the Duruflé Requiem, and Mahler’s Rückert Lieder with groups including the Orion Ensemble, Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra, Waukegan Symphony Orchestra, Elmhurst Symphony Orchestra and Northeastern Illinois University Orchestra.

Yasuko Oura is an accomplished pianist who has been praised for her sensibility and passion for collaborating with others. She is currently a lecturer of collaborative piano at Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music, as well as on the faculty at North Park University. Additionally, she is on the music staff for Des Moines Metro Opera and Lyric Opera of Chicago.  She has worked with many prominent conductors such as Sir Andrew Davis, Stephen Lord, and Jane Glover. She was the principal production pianist and coach for Florentine Opera for seven years.  Her other past affiliations include companies such as Fort Worth Opera, Kentucky Opera, Madison Opera, Toledo Opåera, and AIMS in Graz, Austria.  Active as a recitalist, she has performed with singers such as Susanne Mentzer, Susanna Phillips, and Emily Birsan as well as performances for the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series, the Bel Canto Foundation, WFMT, and WTTW’s Chicago Tonight.  She resides in Chicago, where she works with Grant Park Orchestra Chorus, Music of the Baroque, Chicago Opera Theater, Light Opera Works, and the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions Wisconsin District. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Oberlin College and master’s and doctoral degrees from the Juilliard School, where she was a C.V. Starr Doctoral Fellow.