Memories: an evening of music - Aviva Chertok & Shirley Wu

Aviva Chertok Russian American violinist Aviva Chertok has performed around the U.S. as well as in England, Israel, and China. An avid string quartet player, Aviva has received numerous awards, including silver medal at the St. Paul International String Quartet Competition, 1st place at the Discover National Chamber Competition, and 1st place at the 17th Annual Rembrandt Chamber Music Competition. She has been featured on Chicago’s WFMT radio station and on National Public Radio’s From the Top. 

Aviva earned her Masters of Music in violin performance in 2018 from the Royal College of Music in London, where she studied with Itzhak Rashkovsky and Michal Cwizewicz. While in the U.K., Aviva played two seasons as assistant concertmaster of the Young Musicians Symphony Orchestra, performing in the historic St. John’s Smith Square concert hall near Westminster. Other notable performances in London included recitals at the Austrian Cultural Forum and the V&A Museum’s REVEAL Festival. 

Aviva holds a Bachelor of Music in violin performance with Honors from the University of Michigan, where she studied with Andrew Jennings. Aviva recently moved home to the Chicago area, where she teaches violin, subs in the Skokie Valley Symphony Orchestra, and is the founder and artistic director of the Picardy Collective classical ensemble. 

Shirley Wu 

Canadian pianist Shirley Wu has accomplished her masters studies at the Royal College of Music, London, UK. Shirley has performed extensively across Canada, United States, as well as in Europe, at venues such as Pollack hall in Montreal, Koerner Hall in Toronto, Seattle Art Museum, University House Wallingford in Seattle, San Francisco’s Classical Revolution Cafe, and Groupmuse in U.S. She enjoys performing solo repertoire and chamber music. In 2014, Shirley founded the company ‘Opus One Music’ to promote the social function of chamber music by producing events with fellow musicians. Shirley joined Seattle Ladies Musical club in 2015. Upon graduation in 2017 from Royal College of Music, Shirley participated Banff Arts Centre’ Fall Musician Residency. In 2019, Shirley was selected to participate at the Budapest Concerto Competition where she had the opportunity to perform excerpts from Chopin’s E minor piano concerto with Budapest State Symphony Orchestra at the prestigious Danube Palace.  

Shirley received her bachelors of Physiology and Piano Performance from McGill University in 2013, and also holds a double Quebec Diploma of College Studies (D.E.C) from Vanier College in Science and Piano Performance. As an academic researcher, Shirley has studied Performance Related Musculoskeletal Disorders (PRMDs) among music students in Canada. Shirley currently coaches groups and individual musicians on mental preparation for concerts and exams, and is on staff at Clinique de l’Artiste in Montreal, helping musicians and artists improve their performance. 

Our concert THEME is Memories, as several of the pieces are titled 'Souvenir' (memory, in French) and all the pieces on the program are looking back in time at something. The pieces are as follows: 

Memories: an evening of music presented by violinist Aviva Chertok, and pianist Shirley Wu Tchaikovsky - Souvenir D’un Lieu Cher Schubert - Ständchen Chen Gang/He Zhanhao - Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto: Adagio Cantabile - Intermission - Lazare Saminsky - Hebrew Rhapsody Op. 3 No. 2  Mozart -  Sonata for Piano and Violin No. 21 in e minor Wieniawsky - Souvenir de Moscou  

Tel: 224-423-5784 Tickets: $20.00