Formal Concert 2023-11-11

The Fortnightly Music Club In cooperation with The City of Palo Alto Arts and Culture Division
Palo Alto Art Center
1313 Newell Road

*guest performers

Rick Leder, trumpets, plays, and teaches trumpet around the Bay area. After many years of research and study in the
biological sciences (1980-1998), Rick transitioned in the 2000s from being a dedicated amateur musician to working as a trumpeter and teacher of music. Having enjoyed orchestral, band and chamber music since childhood, Rick joined the
Stockton Symphony (AFM Local 189) in 2006 and the West Bay Opera orchestra (AFM Local 6) in 2009, and currently
performs, teaches, and learns music in the Bay Area and beyond. Rick has performed with Oakland, Santa Cruz, Santa
Rosa, Marin, Modesto, Monterey, Napa Valley, and Merced symphonies as well as with the San Francisco Opera, Opera
San Jose, Sarasota Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, the Stockton Opera, and the San Francisco Lyric Opera. Trumpet
lessons are currently available both online and in Palo Alto.

Pianist Hyun-Ju Sung has appeared as a solo pianist at various venues including Seoul Arts Center, Gyeonggi Arts Center, Kerr Cultural Center, Katzin Concert Hall, Chopin Hall, Weigel Hall, Hughes Hall,Goldmark Hall. After she moved to the Bay Area in 2009, she gave four solo piano recitals at Santa Clara University Recital Hall and Tateuchi Hall from 2012-2018. She has also performed numerous duo ensembles and chamber concerts in Korea and the U.S. She received both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Hanyang University in Seoul, Korea. In the United States, she received her second Master’s degree from the Mannes College of Music and Doctor of Musical Art degree from Arizona State University. Dr. Sung is also very successful and enthusiastic as a piano teacher. She was awarded an outstanding music teacher diploma of recognition from the US International Music Foundation four times (2017-2020). She was also recognized as an outstanding dedicated teacher from Bay Area Music Association in 2021-2023. Currently, she runs a private studio in San Jose as an active member of the Music Teachers’ Association of California and the Music Teachers National Association.

Bill Palmer* is an avid chamber and orchestral musician, playing both violin and viola. He serves as the concertmaster of the Winchester Orchestra of San Jose and has served in principal or concertmaster positions for several Bay Area orchestras (Saratoga Symphony, Bayshore Lyric Opera, South Bay Symphony, Palo Alto Philharmonic), as well as professional recording projects at Stanford University. Chamber music activities include studies and performances with David Salness, Alan Bodman, Owen Carman, Bernard Zaslav, the Wihan Quartet of Prague, the Meadowmount Trio, Frank Brieff, Rafael Druian and members of the Muir String Quartet and Ives Ensemble. Primary teachers were Stephen Shipps, Diane Balko, and Steve Highland, with additional studies with Jacques Israelievitch and Dorothy DeLay. Recent appearances include the Beethoven Triple Concerto with Jennifer Kloetzel and Tamami Honma and the Brahms Double Concerto with Jennifer Kloetzel, both with the Saratoga Symphony, the Mozart Sinfonia Concertante for violin, viola and orchestra with Bella Hristova and the Winchester Orchestra, Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade and Vaughan Williams’ “The Lark Ascending” with the Winchester Orchestra and the Beethoven String Trio in C minor at the Fortnightly Music Club. Upcoming performances include the Dvořák Violin Concerto with the Saratoga Symphony in May 2023. Bill has served as a board member for the Irving M. Klein Competition and the Meadowmount School of Music.

Richard Sogg, pianist, began his lessons at age 6 and has studied with Beryl Rubinstein, John Delevoryas, Adloph Baller, and most recently, with Menahem Pressler both at Indiana University and at the Adamant Vermont Music School. He has been a soloist with the Boston Symphony, San Jose Symphony, Mission Chamber Orchestra, Nova Vista Symphony and Master Sinfonia. He is an active chamber musician in Northern California and in Pittsburgh (PA). In his other life he specialized in Neuro-ophthalmology and studied at Harvard, Western Reserve University in Cleveland, and at UCSF. He is Professor Emeritus at Stanford University School of Medicine.