Violinist Geneva Lewis to perform with Pianist Marisa Gupta. Part of the Recital Series at Pepperdine University

Violinist Geneva Lewis, accompanied by pianist Marisa Gupta, comes to Pepperdine University's Raitt Recital Hall at 2 p.m. on Sunday, December 5, 2021 as the first performer of the Recital Series for the 2021–2022 season.

Lewis' program, entitled Joachim & Friends, includes Robert Schuman's Sonata No. 1 for Violin and Piano in A minor, Op. 105, Clara Schumann's Three Romances, Op. 22, Johann Sebastian Bach's Partita No. 2 in D minor, BWV 1004, Joseph Joachim's Romance in B-flat Major, Op. 2, and Johannes Brahms' Sonata No. 3 in D minor, Op. 108.

Sunday, December 5, 2021, 2 p.m. Raitt Recital Hall, Pepperdine University 24255 Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu, CA

Tickets, priced at $28 for adults and $10 for full-time Pepperdine students, are available now by calling (310) 506-4522 or visiting the event page. More information about Geneva Lewis is available at genevalewisviolinist.com. More information about Marisa Gupta is available at marisagupta.com.

While Lewis' claim to chamber music fame came early on as a member of the renowned Lewis Family Trio with her siblings Nathan (piano) and Rochelle (cello), she has since gone on to become the violinist of the Callisto Trio, Artist-in-Residence at the Da Camera Society in Los Angeles. Callisto was the recipient of the Bronze Medal at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition (senior division) as the youngest group to ever compete in the finals. In fall 2019, they were invited on the Masters on Tour series of the International Holland Music Sessions and performed at the celebrated Het Concertgebouw Amsterdam.

Lewis' program, entitled Joachim & Friends, includes Robert Schuman's Sonata No. 1 for Violin and Piano in A minor, Op. 105, Clara Schumann's Three Romances, Op. 22, Johann Sebastian Bach's Partita No. 2 in D minor, BWV 1004, Joseph Joachim's Romance in B-flat Major, Op. 2, and Johannes Brahms' Sonata No. 3 in D minor, Op. 108.

About Geneva Lewis

New Zealand-born violinist Geneva Lewis has forged a reputation as a musician of consummate artistry whose performances speak from and to the heart. Lewis is the recipient of a 2021 Avery Fisher Career Grant and winner of the Grand Prize at the 2020 Concert Artists Guild Victor Elmaleh Competition. Other recent accolades include being named a Finalist at the 2018 Naumburg Competition and a Performance Today Young Artist in Residence.

After her stellar solo debut at age 11 with the Pasadena Symphony, Lewis has gone on to perform with such orchestras as Symphony NH, Diablo Symphony Orchestra, Culver City Symphony, Sierra summer Festival Orchestra, Brentwood Westwood Symphony Orchestra, Antelope Valley Symphony Orchestra, and the Pasadena Pops. She has worked with a number of notable conductors, including Nic McGegan, Edwin Outwater, and Michael Feinstein.

Deeply passionate about collaboration, Lewis has had the great pleasure of performing with such prominent musicians as Atar Arad, Efe Baltacigil, Glenn Dicterow, Miriam Fried, Ilya Kaler, Michael Kannen, Kim Kashkashian, Ida Kavafian, Marcy Rosen, Mitsuko Uchida, and the Borromeo String Quartet, among others.

An advocate of community engagement and music education, Lewis was selected for the New England Conservatory's Community Performances and Partnerships Program's Ensemble Fellowship, through which her string quartet created interactive and educational programs for diverse audiences within the Boston community. Her quartet was also chosen for the Virginia Arts Festival Residency, during which they performed and presented master classes in elementary, middle, and high schools.

Lewis is currently in the Artist Diploma program as the recipient of the Charlotte F. Rabb Presidential Scholarship at the New England Conservatory studying with Miriam Fried. Past summers have taken her to the Ravinia Steans Institute, Perlman Music Program's Chamber Workshop, International Holland Music Sessions, Taos School of Music, and the Heifetz International Music Institute. She is also a regular participant of the Marlboro Music Festival and will be returning in 2021.

Lewis is performing on a violin by Zosimo Bergonzi of Cremona, c. 1770 courtesy of Guarneri Hall NFP and Darnton & Hersh Fine Violins, Chicago.

Lewis appears courtesy of Concert Artists Guild.

About Marisa Gupta

Pianist Marisa Gupta has a versatile musical life, comprised of solo and chamber music performances, ranging from rare repertoire of the past to a deep commitment towards music of today, performed with heartfelt conviction and a deep intellectual engagement. Born in the USA of Thai and Indian parentage, Gupta made her debut performing Prokofiev's 1st Piano Concerto with the Houston Symphony. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including top prizes at the Concours Maria Canals (Barcelona), the Viotti Competition (Vercelli, Italy), Corpus Christi and Kingsville International Music Competitions, a Solti Foundation Award, a Fulbright scholarship for study in the UK, and many others. She was an Edison Visiting Fellow at the British Library (for the study of early chamber music recordings and performance styles) and was named a finalist by the BBC for its New Generations Thinkers Scheme, an initiative inviting leading British thinkers to broadcast on BBC Radio 3.

Gupta has appeared as a soloist and chamber musician in some of the world's leading venues including the Wigmore Hall, Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), Palau de la Música (Barcelona), South Bank Centre, Kings Place (London), the Bridgewater Hall (Manchester), LSO St. Luke's, Warsaw Philharmonic Hall, Bucharest's Ateneul Român, Zipper Hall (Monday Evening Concerts – Los Angeles), LACMA (Los Angeles), Tokyo Opera City, Munegetsu Hall (Nagoya), and other venues throughout Europe, Japan, and the USA. Radio broadcasts include those on BBC Radio 3, BBC TV 4, Radio 4 (Netherlands), Radio Catalunya, KUSC (L.A.) and KUHF (Houston). She has appeared at numerous festivals including Rockport, Ravinia, Three Choirs Festival, Prussia Cove, Yellow Barn, and many others. Gupta has worked closely with a number of composers, notably Jörg Widmann, Brett Dean, Philippe Hersant, and David Matthews, and has given the US and UK premieres of works by Jean-Frédéric Neuburger, European premieres of major works by Aaron Jay Kernis and Ned Rorem at the Wigmore Hall, and the world premiere of Rhapsodie by Philippe Hersant. Chamber music collaborations include those with Anthony Marwood, Philippe Graffin, Stephen Kovacevich, Nicolas Dautricourt, Lynne Dawson, Tom Meglioranza, Mats Lidstrom, Natasha Brofsky, Eduardo Leandro, Alan Kay, members of the Berlin Philharmonic, COE, Bavarian Radio Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic, Philharmonia, LPO, Hallé, the Verona, Calder, Rolston, and Doric Quartets, Nash Ensemble and many others.

Gupta received the Diplôme de Soliste from the HEM Genève in Switzerland, where she studied with Pascal Devoyon. She received her Doctorate at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, focused on the performance of approximately 50 recently discovered solo piano works by the Catalan composer Frederic Mompou. Other important mentors include Richard Goode, Horacio Gutierrez, and John and Nancy Weems.

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If you have any questions about purchasing or reserving tickets, or if you would like to make a reservation to visit the Box Office in person, contact the Box Office at cfabox@pepperdine.edu or by phone at 310.506.4522.

The Lisa Smith Wengler Center for the Arts at Pepperdine University provides high-quality activities for over 50,000 people from over 800 zip codes annually through performances, rehearsals, museum exhibitions, and master classes. Located on Pepperdine's breathtaking Malibu campus overlooking the Pacific, the center serves as a hub for the arts, uniquely linking professional guest artists with Pepperdine students as well as patrons from surrounding Southern California communities. Facilities include the 450-seat Smothers Theatre, the 118-seat Raitt Recital Hall, the "black box" Helen E. Lindhurst Theatre, and the Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art.