MUSIC
THURSDAY, MARCH 23, 2026 at 7:30 p.m.
RAMSEY CONCERT HALL
Thursday, March 23, 2026 at 7:30 p.m.
Ramsey Concert Hall
UGA Performing Arts Center
featuring
Levon Ambartsumina, violin
Shakhida Azimkhodjaeva, viola
Guang Wang, cello
Alan Woo, piano
PROGRAM
Quartet in G Minor, KV 478
Allegro
Andante
RONDO (Allegro)
INTERMISSION
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Quartet in G Minor, op. 25
Allegro
Intermezzo( Allegro ma non troppo)
Andante con moto
Rondo alla Zingarese (Presto)
Johannes Brahms
Levon Ambartsumian is Regent’s and Franklin Professor Professor of Violin at the University of Georgia Hugh Hodgson School of Music. Prior to coming to UGA in 1995, he was a Visiting Professor at Indiana University School of Music, replacing legendary American Violin Teacher Joseph Gingold. He also taught at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory in 1978 where he taught for 15 years.
Ambartsumian is an alumnus of the Moscow Central Music School and the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, where his teachers were Felix Andrievski, Yury Yankelevitch, Leonid Kogan and Igor Bezrodny. In 1977 he became the First Prize winner of Zagreb International Violin Competition headed by Henryk Szeryng. Two years later he was a prize-winner of the Montreal International Competition, and in 1981 he won the All-Union Violin Competition in Riga.
In 1988 Amartsumian was distinguished as “Honored Artist of Armenia,” and was named “Honored Artist of Russia” in 1997. He has performed in the major cities of the United States of America, Russia, Eastern Europe, Canada, Italy, France, Germany, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Brazil, China, Japan, and South Korea, having collaborated as a soloist with conductors and composers such as Valery Gergiev, Vladimir Fedoseev, Maxim Shostakovich, Aram Khachaturian, Alfred Schnittke, Karen Khachaturian, and many others.
In 1990 Ambartsumian founded the Moscow Chamber Orchestra ARCO which regularly performed in Russia and abroad and now resides in Athens, Georgia. Since its creation, Ambartsumian has led UGA’s ARCO Chamber Orchestra, commercially releasing 15 CDs and has performing four times in Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall. In 2011, ARCO was invited to perform at La Fenice, the world famous Opera House in Venice, Italy.
As a recording artist, Ambartsumian has over 50 commercially-released and internationallydistributed CD’s including music by Wieniawski, Sarasate, Brahms, Mendelssohn, Vivaldi, Stravinsky, Bartok, Shostakovich, Strauss, Schnittke, Vasks, Bronner, Arutiunian and other contemporary composers. As a teacher, Ambartsumian has given master classes in Russia, Armenia, South Korea, Canada, Brazil, Portugal and France. His former students hold principal positions in major European orchestras in Germany, France, Portugal, Denmark, and the United States, as well as full time college teaching positions.
Born in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Shakhida Azimkhodjaeva began violin studies at the Tashkent State Conservatory’s Special Music School. She graduated from the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory where she studied with Professor Irina Medvedeva. Azimkhodjaeva performed with Symphony Orchestras under direction of Zubin Metha, Pierre Boulez, Dmitry Kitaenko, Valery Gergiev, Fuat Mansurov, and many others.
As a soloist and chamber musician, she has performed in most prestigious halls, such as Grand Hall of Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, St. Petersburg Philharmonic Concert Hall, Athenaeum Hall in Bucharest, Romania, Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, and many others.
Azimkhodjaeva performed in solo recitals and master classes in numerous international festivals, her recent appearance was at Varna International music festival. Shakhida also performs on viola frequently, both chamber music and solo with orchestras. Her recent performances as violist in Bruch’s Double concerto includes concerts in Kenya, Minnesota, and Georgia.
Azimkhodjaeva was one of the founders of the Moscow Chamber Orchestra “ARCO.” Since then, she has been concertmaster, soloist, and assistant conductor of the orchestra and has performed extensively both as a soloist and concertmaster in Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Romania, Latvia, Russia, South Korea, USA, Canada, and Brazil. She has released numerous CDs with music by Vivaldi, Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky, Ysaye, Rozsa, Piazzolla, Shostakovich, Podgaits and other contemporary composers.
Chinese-born cellist Guang Wang has appeared in concerts and festivals across Europe, Asia, North and South America, performing in leading venues including the Royal Concertgebouw, the Musikverein, Carnegie Hall, Suntory Hall, Shanghai Concert Hall, and Teatro Mayor Julio Mario Santo Domingo. He has also appeared at major festivals including the Aspen Music Festival and the Mostly Mozart Festival. His performances have been featured on international broadcasts including NPR’s Performance Today, National Radio of China, Shanghai TV, Radio France, and France Musiques.
Mr. Wang has collaborated with many distinguished artists, including Yo-Yo Ma, Lynn Harrell, Zuill Bailey, Richard Stoltzman, Cho-Liang Lin, David Shifrin, Sarah Chang, Robert McDuffie, William Preucil, Mark O’Connor, Charles Wadsworth, and Christopher O’Riley. He has also performed with ensembles including the Juilliard String Quartet, American String Quartet, St. Petersburg String Quartet, and the Eroica Trio.
A founding member of the Vega String Quartet, Mr. Wang and his colleagues are celebrating the ensemble’s 20th season (2025–2026) as Quartet-in-Residence at Emory University. Over two decades they have combined performance with mentorship and outreach, presenting concerts, educational programs in local schools, and masterclasses at universities. His students have earned recognition at competitions including the American Protégé International Piano and Strings Competition and other young artist competitions, with winners performing at Carnegie Hall Weill Recital Hall and other venues throughout Metro Atlanta. During the 2025–2026 season, Mr. Wang performs at festivals and concert series across the United States, including appearances in Sitka and Juneau, Alaska; El Paso, New Mexico; Wilmington, Delaware with the Serafin Ensemble; and the Highlands-Cashiers Chamber Music Festival in North Carolina.
Praised by the New York Times as a pianist with “assurance and vitality,” Alan Woo made his Lincoln Center debut at Alice Tully Hall performing with the Juilliard Orchestra under the baton of Yannick Nézet-Séguin. He has since collaborated with conductors Daniel Hege, Miguel HarthBedoya, and Tito Muñoz in solo appearances with the Houston and Fort Worth Symphonies, and the Music Academy of the West Festival Orchestra. Other recent performances include solo recital engagements throughout the US, Puerto Rico, and Europe.
Woo has been featured on The McGraw Hill Financial Young Artists Showcase broadcasted on WQXR in New York and has performed in venues such as Carnegie’s Weill and Zankel Recital Halls. An avid chamber musician, he has made appearances at the Brooklyn Chamber Music Society, La Jolla Music Society’s SummerFest, Gamper Festival of Contemporary Music, Bowdoin International Music Festival, and Juilliard’s ChamberFest. Other accolades include prizes at the High Point University, Ima Hogg, Iowa and Juilliard’s Gina Bachauer piano competitions. Born in Arlington, Virginia, Woo is a graduate of The Juilliard School and Peabody Institute, where he completed degrees in piano performance under Robert McDonald and Yong Hi Moon. Prior to joining the faculty at the University of Georgia, he served on the faculty at Elizabeth City State University.
