2024 CIMF Artists-in-Residence are Peter Dugan, Kara Dugan & Charles Yang
Pianist Peter Dugan’s debut performances with Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony were described by the Los Angeles Times as “stunning” and by the SF Chronicle as “fearlessly athletic.” He is heard every week across America as the host of National Public Radio’s beloved program From the Top. Mr. Dugan has appeared as a soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician across North America and abroad. In 2020, he joined acclaimed violinist Joshua Bell for At Home With Music, a national PBS broadcast and live album release on Sony Classical. This season Mr. Dugan continues his collaboration with Bell, touring internationally with recitals at London’s Wigmore Hall, Taipei’s National Theater and Concert Hall, and the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC.
Prizing stylistic versatility as the hallmark of a 21st century musician, Mr. Dugan is equally at home in classical, jazz, and pop idioms, and has collaborated with artists ranging from Jesse Colin Young, to Renee Fleming, to Paquito D’Rivera. Mr. Dugan performs regularly in partnership with friends and artists who share a passion for expanding the world of classical music. The Wall Street Journal described Mr. Dugan’s collaboration with violinist and vocalist Charles Yang as a “classical-meets-rockstar duo.” In Mr. Dugan’s performances with his wife, mezzo-soprano Kara Dugan, repertoire ranges from art song, to American Songbook, to original songs and world premieres. The Dugans have appeared at Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, WQXR’s Greene Space, and on PBS Great Performances’ Now Hear This. Mr. Dugan holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from The Juilliard School, where he studied under Matti Raekallio. He resides in New York City and is a Yamaha Artist. https://www.peterduganpiano.com/
Mezzo soprano Kara Dugan has been praised by The New York Times for her “vocal warmth and rich character.” Her versatile career ranges from oratorio to world premieres. She made her Kennedy Center debut with Michael Tilson Thomas conducting his piece Four Preludes on Playthings of the Wind with the National Symphony Orchestra. Her work with living composers also includes In a New York Minute: Miniatures for Voice and Piano, a newly commissioned song cycle with WQXR comprised of 5 one-minute songs by women composers and poets highlighting some of the joys and challenges faced by New Yorkers during the pandemic. Additional work with living composers includes her debut with the Albany Symphony singing This Land Sings by Michael Daugherty, and performances in the roles of Amadora/Stelladora in John Musto’s opera Bastianello for Festival Napa Valley. She can also be heard as a guest host on WQXR.
A passionate recitalist and chamber musician, she often performs with her husband, pianist Peter Dugan. Last season they were presented by New York Festival of Song, Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Portland Chamber Music Festival, Emerald City Music, and WQXR’s Greene Space. They have also been featured performers on PBS Great Performances “Now Hear This,” and performed as part of the Wigmore Hall’s Bollinger International Song Competition.–Ms. Dugan has sung with the San Francisco Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Buffalo Philharmonic, New World Symphony, Marlboro Music Festival, Ravinia Steans Institute, Boston Early Music Festival, North Country Chamber Players, Wolf Trap Opera, Alice Tully Hall, and Aspen Music Festival. She is a graduate of the Juilliard School. https://www.karadugan.com/
GRAMMY Award-winning artist and recipient of the 2018 Leonard Bernstein Award, Charles Yang has been described by The Boston Globe as one who “plays classical violin with the charisma of a rock star.” The Juilliard graduate began his violin studies with his mother, Sha Zhu, in Austin, Texas, and has since studied with world-renowned pedagogues Kurt Sassmanshaus, Paul Kantor, Brian Lewis and Glenn Dicterow. He has performed as soloist with orchestras and in concert throughout the United States, Europe, Brazil, Russia, China and Taiwan. On June 9th of 2005, the Mayor of Austin presented Mr. Yang with his own “Charles Yang Day.” In 2016 Mr. Yang joined the multi-genre string-band Time for Three as violinist and lead singer.
Not only confined to classical styles, Mr. Yang’s improvisational crossover abilities as a violinist, electric violinist, and vocalist have led him to featured performances at festivals including The Aspen Music Festival, The Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, The Ravinia Festival, Caramoor, Interlochen, The YouTube Music Awards, TED, and Google Zeitgeist. He has performed at some of the world’s most celebrated venues such as Carnegie Hall, Musikverein, Lincoln Center, Konzerthaus Berlin, Rudolfinum, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Royal Danish Theatre, Joe’s Pub, ACL Live, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and The Forbidden City in Beijing, among many others. He has performed in the presence of two former US Presidents, the Queen of Denmark, and has shared the stage in collaborations with artists including Peter Dugan, Michael Thurber and CDZA, Steve Miller, Jesse Colin Young, Joshua Bell, Jake Shimabukuro, Ray Benson, Savion Glover, Twyla Tharp, Misty Copeland and Jon Batiste.
An adventurous composer, arranger, songwriter and collaborator, Mr. Yang’s works have been featured in projects for Glamour and Pentagram. In 2021 he co-wrote the original score to Robin Wright’s 2021 feature film, Land. Time for Three’s album, “Letters for the Future” with Xian Zhang and The Philadelphia Orchestra featuring concertos written by Kevin Puts and Jennifer Higdon, won the 2023 GRAMMY award for “Best Classical Instrumental Solo.” Charles Yang performs on the 1854 “ex-Soil” J.B. Vuillaume. https://www.charlesyangmusic.com/
Past Artists-in-Residence
2023 – Ranaan Meyer ranaanmeyer.com/
Past Composers-in-Residence
2021 – Kati Agócs katiagocs.com/
2022 – Jared Miller jaredmillermusic.wordpress.com/
2023 – Kevin Puts www.kevinputs.com/