Wen Yun (Chello) and Elias Dager (Piano)

Elias Dagher

Pianist Elias Dagher values music’s power to tell stories and build community. He lives in Quincy, MA. Last spring, Elias completed a two year fellowship at Bard College, where he worked daily with both vocalists and instrumentalists in his role as a collaborative pianist. The program is headed by pianists and vocal coaches Erika Switzer and Kayo Iwama, whose deep love of art song will leave a lasting impression on Elias.

Elias spent the summer of 2022 at the Tanglewood Music Center as a fellow and will return this summer. In January 2023, Elias and bass-baritone Michael Alexander Aoun presented two song recitals in Lebanon, at the Nabu Museum and the Lebanese American University of Beirut.

Elias holds degrees from Columbia University (where he participated in the Exchange Program with Juilliard) and New England Conservatory. Some of his most influential teachers have included Eugene Kaminsky, Jeffrey Goldberg, Julian Martin, Jerome Lowenthal, Alexander Korsantia, Vivian Weilerstein, and Cameron Stowe.

Elias also plays the mbira dzavadzimu, a plucked instrument of metal keys wound over a wooden soundboard. The instrument comes from the Shona people of Zimbabwe.

Wen Yun

Born in NanJing, China, cellist Yunwen Chen is an active solo and chamber performer. She holds a Master’s Degree and Graduate Diploma from the New England Conservatory of Music, where she studied with Paul Katz.

Yunwen is the first musician in her family. At age 16, her piano trio from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music embarked on an adventure to study together in the U.S. While attending Interlochen Arts Academy, Yunwen won the school concerto competition. Her trio was named a winner of the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition. Yunwen went on to receive her Bachelor’s Degree from the Eastman School of Music in 2017 under the guidance of Alan Harris. Over the years, she has attended music festivals such as Kneisel Hall and Yellow Barn where she has felt tremendously fulfilled collaborating with musicians from around the globe. She finds great meaning in playing works by living composers such as Brett Dean and James McMillan, and has enjoyed the opportunity of working closely with them. She is enthusiastic about playing new works composed by her friends and colleagues.