Wednesday, June 1, 2011 at 8:30 PM

Tenri Cultural Institute
(43A West 13th Street, NYC)

Violinist Angela and Jennifer Chun, whose harmonia mundi recording ‘Bartók 44 Violin Duos’ was one of the label’s best-selling discs of 2010, and pianist Frederic Chiu, whose extensive work with the music of Prokofiev – also recorded on harmonia mundi – has earned him some of the highest praise of his lauded career, join for a unique program of music by two violins and piano at New York’s Tenri Cultural Institute.

‘Ballad and Dance’ is a program of music drawn from 20th-century Eastern European repertoire and recent works by Asian composers. Angela and Jennifer Chun will perform selections from Bartók’s 44 Violin Duos (c. 1931); Ligeti’s ‘Ballad and Dance’ (1950); and the Sonatina for Two Violins (1983) by Isang Yun. Frederic Chiu will perform Prokofiev’s ‘Fugitive Visions’ (1915-1917) and Gao Ping’s ‘Two Russian Love Songs for Vocalizing Pianist’ (2003); and the three musicians will join to perform of Shostakovich’s Three Duets for Two Violins and Piano (1955); and Martinu’s Sonata for Two Violins and Piano (1932).

Chun sisters “play with an intensity and sense of purpose that few music lovers can resist,” according to Strings magazine. They have worked with conductors including Leonard Slatkin, Ivan Fischer, André Previn, Thomas Sanderling, Zubin Mehta, and Gerard Schwarz, with orchestras including the Seattle Symphony, London Bach Orchestra, Mozarteum Chamber Orchestra, Camerata Salzburg, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Seoul Philharmonic, and KBS Symphony Orchestra. The Chuns also performed at the Mostly Mozart, Aspen, and Ravinia festivals, and the International Bartók Festival. Since 2007, they have been String Mentors at London’s Royal Academy of Music, a prestigious honor given to only a few highly accomplished artists.

Tickets are $40 at the door. For more information, call the Tenri Cultural Institute at 212-645-2800.