Front Row with Harry Smith, a Pella Corporation and Central College speaker series, welcomes a piano quartet composed of members of the New York Philharmonic next week. The event will be held at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 31 in Douwstra Auditorium. Doors open at 6:30 p.m and the concert is free and open to the public. Harry Smith, a 1973 Central graduate and trustee, will emcee this interactive and instructive special concert.

“This virtuosic ensemble of violin, viola, cello and piano will perform pieces from various composers, played in different configurations- solo, duet, trios and all four musicians together,” Smith explains. “It’s a classical music sampler that will be powerful, irresistibly beautiful and masterfully performed.”

Members of the quartet will conduct a participatory session at Pella Community Schools earlier in the day, working with students and Charlee Gililland Eekhoff, 1999 Central alumna and Pella’s orchestra director.

Hear more about the concert on this weekend’s In Touch with South Central Iowa.

The musicians:
Rebecca Young is the associate principal violist for the philharmonic. She is a Juilliard School of Music graduate and began her career with the orchestra while still a student.

Pianist Eric Huebner holds the Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Piano Chair since 2012 and will be playing on Central’s Fazioli grand piano.

Cellist Ru-Pei Yeh joined the NY Philharmonic in 2006. She has been playing professionally since the age of 10. A native of Taiwan, she is a graduate of the New England Conservatory.

Violinist Alina Ming Kobialka is a renowned soloist and joined the NY Philharmonic in 2022. She graduated from the Cleveland Institute of Music with her master’s in violin performance.

This performance is made possible by funding from Pella Corporation, Central and Smith.