Learn more about the performers at An Afternoon with Yang and Olivia!
CMA is excited to welcome the Yang & Olivia Duo as well as guest performers Virginia Croskery-Lauridsen and Dr. Ashley Sidon for an afternoon of music.
Thank you to the 801 Group at Morgan Stanley for sponsoring this event!
Virginia Croskery-Lauridsen
American Soprano Virginia Croskery is well known for her dramatic interpretations of twentieth century repertoire and the music of Victor Herbert. She has performed Herbert selections with numerous orchestras across the United States, including those of Cincinnati, Minnesota, Milwaukee, Houston, Utah and Indianapolis. Her 1991 National broadcast from Chicago’s Grant Park featured Victor Herbert and was enjoyed by over a million spectators. Miss Croskery and Maestro Brion have also shared Herbert’s songs with Japanese audiences, having performed in twelve cities on their 1996 tour of Japan with the New Sousa Band.
Miss Croskery has appeared with the St. Louis Symphony under Leonard Slatkin (Vaughn Williams Dona Nobis Pacem), the Montreal Symphony under Charles Dutoit (Wozzeck) and on several Chicago Symphony chamber music concerts (Pierrot Lunaire, Auf dem Strom, Der Hirt auf dem Felsen). As a winner of the Third Luciano Pavarotti International Voice Competition, she performed alongside Mr. Pavarotti in the Opera Company of Philadelphia’s 1989 production of L’Elisir d’Amore. Operatic roles include Marie in Wozzeck, Anna in Seven Deadly Sins, Dorabella in Cosi fan Tutte, Marguerite in Faust, Rosalinda in Die Fledermaus and Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni. Miss Croskery has performed with the Broadway and National Tour productions of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera, and made her debut as Carlotta in Chicago.
Miss Croskery is a champion of contemporary music and has received rave reviews for her performances of Pierrot Lunaire, Wozzeck, and the world premiere of Frank Abbinanti’s Come una Forza di Luce. Chicago Tribune critic Ted Shen called her Pierrot Lunaire with the Grammy winning Chicago Pro Musica a “tour de force that bordered on the spellbinding”. Claude Gingras of the Montreal Le Presse describes her Marie (Wozzeck) as “absolument saisissante”.
Yang & Olivia Duo
Global Music Award Silver Medalist Yang and Olivia is a dynamic violin-piano duo who create an unforgettable storytelling event in their program, featuring contemporary and classical works from different parts of the world. They have been the featured recitalists for many concert associations, performing across the United States, and appearing internationally highlighted by performances at major festivals and venues, such as Ravinia Festival, Kennedy Center, SESC Music Festival in Brazil, Algarve Music Festival in Portugal and throughout their homeland China, among others.Violinist Yang Liu is the prize winner of the 12th International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, the first prize winner of the American Prize in String Performance in 2023, the 2022 Medici International Competition, the 2021 International Artists Award Competition, and China’s 5th National Competition. Olivia is a frequent presenter of MTNA, CMS, NCKP, GP3 conferences and other music festivals, promoting music of Chinese and Taiwanese heritage.
The duo founded the Yang and Olivia Foundation, advocating diversity, equity, and inclusion through music of different cultures. Recently, they dedicate their performances to contemporary works by Taiwanese women composers, Brazilian composers and young composers from the US. They have many outreaches to schools, senior homes and libraries. Topics include “Red Music”, “5000-Mile Journey”, and “Lost in Diversity”, all focus on compositions of diverse influences. In the past, the duo participated in several innovative multi-media, multi-art-form performances involving improvisations with the famed Chinese artists the Zhou Brothers painting live, while major Chinese poet Bei-Dao recited his poetry. The foundation’s achievements are recognized by grants from National Endowment for the Arts, MidAtlantic Arts and Illinois Arts Council Agency. Ultimately, with their performances, they want to also communicate their message of faith, love, and joy.
Yang and Olivia were both students at the University of Cincinnati when they first met. At the time, Yang Liu was a sought-after violinist and a prodigy from China. Olivia was an accomplished pianist combining both scholarly and concert activities. Their life coincided when Yang, a complete stranger to Olivia, was asked at the last minute by Olivia to turn pages for her at her performance. From then on, they have been life partners and music partners ever since, sharing stories with audiences through their music.
Dr. Ashley Sandor Sidon
Respected as both a soloist and chamber musician, cellist Ashley Sandor Sidon is the Briggs Endowed Professor of Cello at Drake University and Executive Director of Civic Music Association. As an invited performer and clinician, Sidon’s credits include international solo performances across China, in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Canada, Taiwan, Italy, Germany, France, Poland, and Brazil. Nationally, her performances as a chamber musician and as an orchestral soloist have taken her to the leading universities, chamber music festivals, and concert stages from Maine to California. An advocate for new music, Ashley Sidon has commissioned new works by Phillip Koplow, Matthew Quayle, Roger Vogel, Miguel del Aguila, and William Dougherty; and in 2014 she performed the Polish premiere of Ned Rorem’s cello concerto on tour in Poland. She has premiered new chamber music and unaccompanied works to critical acclaim nationally, including in New York City, Cincinnati, Chicago; and internationally, including Beijing, Shanghai, Paris, and Arcidosso. Dr. Sidon previously was cello teaching artist at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music in Shanghai, China.
Ashley Sandor Sidon has performed under the direction of artists such as Daniel Barenboim, Pierre Boulez, Michael Tilson Thomas, and Christopher Wilkins. She has appeared with numerous orchestras, including the Chicago Civic Orchestra, the Zazrbe Filharmonia (Poland), The Minnesota Orchestra, Aspen Festival Orchestra, the Butte Symphony Orchestra, the Des Moines Symphony Orchestra, the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra, Colorado College Music Festival Orchestra, the Florida Atlantic Symphony Orchestra, Daytona I Solisti Orchestra, the DaSalo Chamber Orchestra, Athens Symphony Orchestra, and the Drake Symphony Orchestra. She has presented lectures/presentations at professional conferences including College Music Society Southeast Convention, the Music Educators National Conference (MENC), MENC Southeast Convention, and the Iowa Music Educators Conference. Her research document titled, “Lineage and Comparison of Versions of Igor Stravinsky’s Suite Italienne” was published by the Hawaii International Conference on the Arts.
