Johannes Brahms: Sonata in F minor for Viola and Piano, Op.120 No.1; Sonata in E-flat major for Viola and Piano, Op.120 No.2; Trio in A minor for Viola, Violoncello and Piano, Op.114

Geraldine Walther, violist of the Takács String Quartet since 2005, plays 80 concerts world wide annually. She was the Principal Violist of the San Francisco Symphony for 29 years, having previously served as assistant principal of the Pittsburgh and Baltimore symphony orchestra and Miami Philharmonic. A native of Florida, Walther first picked up the viola in a public school music program in Tampa. She went on to study at the Manhattan School of Music with Lillian Fuchs and at the Curtis Institute with Michael Tree of the Guarneri Quartet. In 1979, she won first prize at the William Primrose International Competition. With the San Francisco Symphony, Walther performed concertos by Mozart, Telemann, Berlioz, Hindemith Tippett, Martinu, Walton, Piston, Henze, Musgrave, Bartók, Schnittke, Penderecki and William Schuman. She also premiered several important works with the Orchestra, by composers including Takemitsu, Lieberson, Holloway and Benjamin. In 1995, Walther was selected by Sir Georg Solti to be a member of his Musicians of the World to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the United Nations. In 2011, she was awarded the Order of Merit Officer's Cross of the Republic of Hungary and also as a Member for the Takács Quartet, was awarded the Royal Philharmonic Award in the Chamber Music and Song category. In 2012, the Quartet was inducted into the Gramophone Hall of Fame and is currently Associate Artists of the Wigmore Hall in London. Walther has participated in leading chamber music festivals, including Marlboro, Santa Fe, Tanglewood, Bridgehampton, Cape Cod, Amelia Island, the Telluride, Seattle, and Green Music Festivals, and Music@Menlo. She has collaborated with such artists as Isaac Stern, Pinchas Zukerman, and Jaime Laredo, and has appeared as a guest artist with the Tokyo, Vermeer, Guarneri, Lindsay, Cypress and St. Lawrence string quartets. In addition to her recordings for Hyperion with the Takács Quartet, Walther s recordings include Hindemith's Trauermusik and Der Schwanendreher with the San Francisco Symphony (London/Decca), Paul Chihara's Golden Slumbers with the San Francisco Chamber Singers (Albany), Lou Harrison's Threnody (New Albion), Delectable Pieces as a member of the Volkert Trio (Con Brio) and True Divided Light: Chamber Music by David Carlson (MSR Classics).

David Korevaar performs an extensive repertoire as a soloist and chamber musician, and has been a guest artist with internationally acclaimed orchestras and ensembles. He is a regular participant as performer and teacher at Colorado's Music in the Mountains summer festival and the Music Center Japan. Korevaar earned degrees from the Juilliard School, studying piano with the Earl Wild and composition with David Diamond. Later, working with Abbey Simon, Korevaar received his Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Juilliard and was honored with the Richard French award for his doctoral document on Ravel's Miroirs. Other honors include top prizes from the University of Maryland William Kapell International Piano Competition (1988) and the Peabody-Mason Music Foundation (1985), as well as a special prize for his performance of French music from the Robert Casadesus Competition (1989). Highly active as a recording artist, Korevaar's recent recording of J.S. Bach s Partitas (MSR Classics) showcases his exquisite musical sensitivity and fine technique.

András Fejér, cellist of the Takács String Quartet, was born in Hungary in 1955 into a musical family. At the Franz Liszt Academy, he studied with Ede Banda, András Mihaly, Ferenc Rados and Gyorgy Kurtag. In 1975, he founded the Takács String Quartet with three classmates and has been a member ever since. He is a winner of the Evian, Budapest and Portmouth-London competitions, and has toured extensively, appearing in all the musical centers of the world, including Beethoven cycles in New York.