Breath in Music

Pianist Katelyn Vahala and cellist Annie Jacobs-Perkins perform a recital of brand new and contemporary “standard” repertoire for cello and piano by Stratis Minakakis, Daniel Temkin, Octavio Vazquez, Michael Essl, Helmut Lachenmann, and B.A. Zimmermann. Four of the compositions were written for the performers, and this concert at the Goethe-Institut will be the world premiere of two of them (Minakakis (2022), Temkin (2024), Vazquez (2024, premiere), and Essl (2025, premiere)).

About the Artists:

Annie Jacobs-Perkins:
Praised for “hypnotic lyricism, causing listeners to forget where they were for a moment,” (The New Yorker), cellist Annie Jacobs-Perkins is the 1st prize winner of the Pierre Fournier Award, Buchet International Cello Competition, Chamber Orchestra of the Springs Emerging Soloist Competition, Father Merlet Award from the Pro Musicis Foundation, New England Conservatory Concerto Competition, and Hennings-Fischer Young Artist Competition. She is Artist-in-Residence of the Austin Chamber Music Center and cellist of Trio Brontë, winner of the 2023 Ilmari Hannikainen International Chamber Music Competition. She regularly performs at venues such as the Concertgebouw, Wigmore Hall, Carnegie Hall, Berliner Philharmonie, Krzyzowa Music, Ravinia Steans Institute, Yellow Barn Festival, and Marlboro Music. 
Annie’s primary teachers include Frans Helmerson, Troels Svane, Laurence Lesser, Ralph Kirshbaum, and Kathleen Murphy Kemp.

Katelyn Vahala:
Praised as a “highly accomplished pianist…with wonderfully rhythmic and robust playing” (New York Concert Review), Katelyn Vahala is a passionate soloist, chamber musician, educator, and arts advocate from the Los Angeles area.
Katelyn’s recent highlights include being a 2023-24 Piano Spheres Emerging Artist, for which she performed a solo recital of contemporary music and premiered a new work for solo piano by composer Corey Dundee. She was a finalist in the 2022 Leipzig International Bach Competition, where she performed as a soloist with the Mendelssohn Kammerorchester Leipzig, and she was first prize winner of the 2019 Rosalyn Tureck International Bach Competition, where she was also awarded the contemporary music award. Past awards also include first place at the 2021 USC Thornton Concerto Competition and Bronze Medal at the 2016 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. 
Katelyn is a doctoral candidate at the USC Thornton School of Music, where she studied with Dr. Lucinda Carver and Jeffrey Kahane. In addition to her research studies, Katelyn is now a USC Thornton School of Music faculty member, teaching Keyboard Literature. She is also a member of the piano faculty at the Pasadena Conservatory of Music.