Musical connection beyond the border - A chamber music recital featuring Igor Cetkovic (cello) and Wei-Qin Claire Tang (piano)

Igor Cetkovic (left) and Wei-Qin Claire Tang (right)

Concert details

• Date: 22 March
• Time: 5:30 p.m.
• Location: 1300 FRIB Laboratory
• Video recording

Program 

Edvard Grieg (1843-1907) 
Sonata in A minor, Op. 36 (1882-1883)

Allegro agitato 
Andante molto tranquillo
Allegro molto e marcato 

Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943)
Sonata in G minor, Op. 19 (1901)

Lento Allegro moderato  
Allegro scherzando 
Andante
Allegro mosso 

Performers

Igor Cetkovic (cello)

A native of Belgrade, Serbia, cellist Igor Cetkovic enjoys a career as a soloist, chamber musician, orchestra member, and educator. Cetkovic has served with orchestras across Europe and the United States, including the Bergen Philharmonic, Stavanger Symphony Orchestra, the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra, and as a solo cellist of the Serbian chamber orchestra, “The St. George Strings.” A winner of many national and regional competitions and performance awards, Cetkovic finished his doctoral studies at Michigan State University, studying under the renowned Suren Bagratuni. He also holds degrees from Stavanger University, University of Belgrade, and Central Michigan University. Cetkovic’s other principal teachers include his father Relja Cetkovic, Sandra Belic, Live Opdal, and Jamie Fiste.

Currently, Cetkovic is an artist-in-residence and principal cellist of the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra, assistant principal cello of the West Michigan Symphony, principal cello of the Saginaw Bay Symphony, and the cellist for Burdick-Thorne String Quartet. In addition to his performing schedule, Cetkovic enjoys teaching both college and high-school students. Cetkovic is a former cello professor at Albion College and has given masterclasses at the Flint Institute of Music and for the Michigan Chapter of American String Teachers Association. Cetkovic has been teaching at the New England Musical Camp since 2018.

Wei-Qin Claire Tang (piano)

Wei-Qin Claire Tang comes from a family of professional musicians. Before continuing her piano study in the United States, she studied at the Xinghai Conservatory of Music in Guangzhou, China. She was twice a winner in the “Pearl River” National Piano Competition. She was invited to perform as a soloist with the Hong Kong Philharmonic at age fifteen.

Tang earned her bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degree in piano performance from Michigan State University. Her teachers and mentors include Philip Hosford, Ralph and Albertine Votapek, as well as Panayis Lyras. She was a winner of the MSU Honor’s (Concerto) Competition, and a recipient of various scholarships, including the Ralph Votapek Endowment Scholarship. Being an active performer, Tang has given many solo and chamber recitals in the United States, France, and China. As a soloist, she has performed with the MSU Symphony, the Guangzhou Symphony, and the Hong Kong Philharmonic.

She is also an active piano teacher as well as competition adjudicator, a member of National Music Teachers Association, Michigan Music Teachers Association, Capital Area Music Teachers Association, and Lansing Matinee Musicale. Her students are frequent winners of regional and state competitions.