**Missing Piece** (Dan Galat and Kelly Quesada) and **Henry Zheng**, three of Chicago's dedicated new music advocates, join forces to perform an evening of some of the most acclaimed contemporary works written for string trio. This concert will feature Andrew Norman's The Companion Guide to Rome (2010), Anna Thorvaldsdottir's Spectra (2017), Amos Gillespie's Surrounding Elements (2021), as well as works by Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson, Mozart, and Henry Purcell. Violinist **Henry X. Zheng** leads an active career as both a performer and educator. A well sought after performer, Henry has performed and collaborated with a broad range of artists, including three-time Grammy Award nominated Spektral Quartet, Kontras Quartet, Griffon Quartet, and Missing Piece. Media credits include album releases with Access Contemporary Music and Lakeshore Rush, screen and music credits on the PBS documentary “Songs About Buildings and Moods”, and music credits on Chicago Film Project’s “Dreaming Grand Avenue”. Henry currently performs as a regular member of Access Contemporary Music’s in-house ensemble, Palomar, and is a former member of Lakeshore Rush. In addition to his work in contemporary music, Henry also performs on period instruments. As an experienced and passionate educator, Henry serves on the faculty of the Merit School of Music. His students have won numerous first prize awards at competitions, principal seats in local youth orchestras, and admission to the prestigious tuition-free Alice S. Pfaelzer Conservatory program. Henry’s primary instruments are a violin made in 1761 by John Johnson, and a bow made by Michael Hattala. **Missing Piece** is a south side Chicago-based musical ensemble who endeavor to commission new musical and artistic works, as well as collaborate with other musicians and organizations to provide transformative musical experiences through performances and educational programming. Through its multi-faceted work, the ensemble aims to inspire audiences to connect with their community, care for our environment, listen deeply to ourselves and others, and speak out against injustice. In a project-based approach, founders Dan Galat, violin, and Kelly Quesada, cello, often expand the ensemble to include other musicians and artists as collaborators. Missing Piece has commissioned and premiered over thirty new works, including standard notation, text and graphic scores, poetry, film, movement, and improvisation. 2025-2026 season highlights include performances of newly commissioned works by Louis Goldford, Liza Sobel Crane, Jonathan Hannau, Alex Taylor, Ilana Waniuk, and the students and faculty in composition at Tulane University. This season, Missing Piece has been invited to present their work outside of Chicago by nienteForte (New Orleans), the Johnstone Music Foundation (Columbus) and Music at Noon Series (Los Angeles). Missing Piece is a recipient of two Illinois Arts Council grants which supported 2025 commissioning projects which will bring scores, live performances, and recordings of 6 new works into the world. Past and ongoing projects include Tonewood, a series of duos commissioned by Missing Piece on theme of the wood of our instruments, Composing the Climate, a series of new works on climate change in collaboration with pianist Cacie Miller, and Third Stream, an exploration of the intersections of jazz and classical music. Missing Piece formerly co-directed creative orchestra at Urban Prairie Waldorf School and presented the curriculum at the American String Teachers Conference. Alongside music therapist April Hickey, Missing Piece co-founded Bridgeport Music Collective, a community music space which provides music education, music therapy, rehearsal space for local ensembles, and community music events and performances. www.missingpiecemusic.com
Wed, Apr 8 · The CheckOut
Thu, Apr 9 · The CheckOut
Sun, Apr 12 · The CheckOut
Tue, Apr 14 · The CheckOut
Thu, Apr 16 · The CheckOut
Sat, Apr 18 · The CheckOut
