CANDLER CONCERT SERIES - Arts at Emory - Emory University

Krzystof Urbanski. Cooke will appear with her husband, baritone Kelly
Markgraf, on New Year’s Eve with the San Francisco Symphony. She also
makes debuts with the Philadelphia Orchestra under the baton of Cristian
Macelaru in Handel and the MDR Orchestra of Leipzig in Prokofiev and
Debussy with James Gaffigan conducting. Following a return to the Los
Angeles Philharmonic for Phillip Glass’s The Civil Wars with Grant Gershon,
Cooke will embark on a European tour with Michael Tilson Thomas and
the San Francisco Symphony performing Mahler’s Symphony No. 3.
Additional highlights include her debut with Opéra National de
Bordeaux as Smeton in Anna Bolena, her Wigmore Hall debut recital,
as well as chamber music performances with Chamber Music Society of
New York at Lincoln Center, Chamber Music Northwest, Celebrity Series
of Boston, Da Camera of Houston, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival,
and Sejong Soloists in Goyang, Korea. As a recitalist, Cooke travels
to University of Little Rock Arkansas, Emory University, and Matinee
Musicale in Duluth, Minnesota. Contemporary works continue to be a
vital part of Cooke’s versatile career. She performs works this season by
John Harbison, Lowell Lieberman, and Mohammed Fairouz. Premieres
in future seasons include works by Jake Heggie, Laura Kaminsky, and
Mark Grey. As Kitty Oppenheimer in the Metropolitan premiere of John
Adam’s Doctor Atomic, Cooke was praised for “her fresh, vital portrayal,
bringing a luminous tone, a generously supported musical line, a keen
sense of verbal nuance, and a flair for seduction.” She reprised the role
in her European debut at the English National Opera. Her recent album,
If you love for beauty, with the Colburn Orchestra is available on Yarlung
Records.
Pei-Yao Wang, piano
Born in Taipei, Taiwan, Pei-Yao Wang was the
youngest pianist ever to receive the overall first
prize in the Taiwan National Piano Competition,
at age eight. Four years later, she was invited to
study at the Curtis Institute of Music, where she
worked with Seymour Lipkin and institute
director Gary Graffman. She then studied with
Claude Frank at Yale University, where she
received a master of music degree, and also
pursued a concentration in architecture. She
has performed as soloist with the Stamford
Symphony, Orlando Symphony, South Fingerlake Orchestra, and Taipei
Philharmonic. Wang has also performed throughout the United States,
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