Please join us for an afternoon in the historic Richardson Building for a concert featuring cellist Yunwen Chen and pianist Elias Dagher. 

Chinese cellist Yunwen Chen values music’s power to connect people and bring healing experiences. Born in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, she is the first professional musician in her family. At age 16, she came to the U.S. to further pursue music after having studied at Shanghai Conservatory of Music. The following year, she performed as a soloist with the orchestra of Interlochen Arts Academy as a concerto competition winner. Passionate for chamber music, she co-founded a piano trio at Shanghai Conservatory of Music, all the members of which traveled to the U.S. to continue their studies. The trio was a winner of the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition in 2012. She has enjoyed collaborating with musicians from around the globe at music festivals such as the Perlman Chamber Music Workshop, Bowdoin International Music Festival, Yellow Barn, and Kneisel Hall. Chen holds degrees from Eastman School of Music, New England Conservatory, and Manhattan School of Music. Her most influential mentors include Alan Harris, Paul Katz, and Julia Lichten. Last year, she gave nine duo recitals, including a Nancy Frampton Rising Artists Series concert in Atlanta, GA, and a benefit concert in Weymouth, MA which raised funds for Ele Elna Elak, an organization actively delivering and distributing water in Gaza. A devoted educator, Chen was a teaching artist at Boston Arts Academy and cello faculty at the Four Strings Academy Summer Program in 2024. She performs on a 1771 instrument made by Italian luthier Carlo Ferdinando Landolfi.

Pianist Elias Dagher values music's power to tell stories and build community. He lives in Quincy, MA, where he maintains a small studio of piano students and actively collaborates with local musicians in instrumental and vocal chamber music. Elias received his undergraduate degree from Columbia University, where he majored in English Literature and participated in the exchange program with The Juilliard School. He subsequently received a Master's Degree in piano performance and a Graduate Diploma in collaborative piano at New England Conservatory. After completing his formal education he worked for two years at Bard College, accompanying classes, lessons, and recitals as a Piano Fellow. In an effort to bring together many of his loves--music, literature, community--Elias co-founded the Boston Text and Tone Festival which took place in January 2024. The festival included four concerts of vocal music, poetry recitation, and spoken word performance. He looks forward to continuing this project in future years. Elias performs regularly throughout New England, appearing recently in concerts hosted by the Tanglewood Music Center and the Rockport Chamber Music Festival. He has also performed several concerts of vocal, chamber, and solo piano music in Lebanon, in venues ranging from small museums to large universities. Some of his most influential teachers have included Eugene Kaminsky, Jeffrey Goldberg, Julian Martin, Alexander Korsantia, Erika Switzer, and Kayo Iwama. Elias also plays the mbira dzavadzimu, a plucked instrument of metal keys wound over a wooden soundboard, which comes from the Shona people of Zimbabwe.

The Richardson Building seats a maximum of 100 and on some occasions we do have to turn people away when that capacity is reached. We recommend planning ahead and leaving time for parking, which can be tricky in Quincy Center. On Sundays, if the Library parking lot is full, there is overflow parking available in front of the Coddington Building, across the street from the Library on Coddington Street. Doors open 15 minutes before the start of the performance. If you'd prefer to watch from home, the event will also be LIVESTREAMED to our YouTube channel and recorded and aired at a later date on QATV.

This program is made possible by the generous sponsorship of the Friends of the Thomas Crane Public Library. Click here to find out more about their work and how you can get involved.