Hsiao-mei Ku, violin & R. Larry Todd, piano

Program: Mozart: Violin Sonata in E-flat Major, K. 481; Prokofiev: Sonata for Solo Violin in D Major, Op. 115; Clara Schumann: Romance for Violin and Piano in D-flat Major, Op. 22; Robert Schumann: Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 2 in D Minor, Op. 121. Hsiao-mei Ku is a Professor in the Department of Music at Duke University and a member of the Ciompi Quartet. She made her debut at age seven and began her professional training three years later at the Central Conservatory in Beijing. After coming to America, she received her Master of Music degree with distinction and was a recipient of the Performer's Certificate from the School of Music, Indiana University. Since 1999, Ku has held the post of Visiting Professor of Guangzhou Xinghai Conservatory and leads groups of students to China each summer as part of the Duke Engage Program. R. Larry Todd is Arts & Sciences Professor and former chair of the Music Department at Duke University. Among his books are "Mendelssohn: A Life in Music," "Fanny Hensel, the Other Mendelssohn," and the recently-released "Beethoven's Cello: Five Revolutionary Sonatas and Their World" with co-author Marc Moskovitz. A graduate of Yale University, he studied piano at the Yale School of Music and with the late Lilian Kallir. His recording with Nancy Green of the complete cello and piano works of Mendelssohn and Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel has recently been released from JRI Recordings.