Chamber Music Concert with Cheryl Lin Fielding, Martha Aarons and Lev Polyakin
Week of November 1, 2025
Concert with Cheryl Lin Fielding, Martha Aarons and Lev Polyakin
Cheryl Lin Fielding, Martha Aarons and Lev Polyakin invite you to a concert covering a broad spectrum of music featuring piano, flute and violin. The program will include works by composers of several countries and eras, and the music ranges from charming to extremely virtuosic. Join us in Oaktree, where the acoustics are perfect and the atmosphere is casual!
Praised by the New York Sun for her “Warm, grand and rich” pianism, Cheryl Lin Fielding has performed on some of the finest stages throughout the world, including the Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Weill Recital Hall, Tanglewood Music Center, Music Academy of the West, Aspen Music Festival, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, Juilliard Theater, Mark Morris Dance Group, Musco Center for the Arts, and Soka Performing Arts Center. A sought-after collaborator and vocal coach, Fielding has been honored with the Grace B. Jackson Prize in Excellence by the Tanglewood Music Festival, recognized by the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts, and received the distinguished Gwendolyn Koldofsky Award in Keyboard Collaborative Arts. Cheryl’s musical studies began at the age of three in Taiwan, first on the piano and later on the violin, and continued through dual master’s degrees at the Juilliard School (Piano Performance and Collaborative Piano), and Doctor of Musical Arts in Keyboard Collaborative Arts at the University of Southern California, with extended emphasis in Vocal Performance. Fielding has had the honor of working alongside luminaries such as Matthew Aucoin, Christian Badea, Cori Ellison, John DeMain, Luana Devol, Peter Kazaras, Kelly Kuo, James Levine, Timothy Lindberg, Angela Meade, Carol Neblett, Linda Watson, and Dolora Zajick, and has served as music director, vocal coach, pianist, adjudicator for organizations including Dolora Zajick’s Institute for Young Dramatic Voices, Santa Fe Opera, the Philadelphia Virtuosi, Los Angeles Opera, Opera Pacific, Operafestival di Roma, Opera Santa Barbara, Opera San Jose, OperaWorks, Pacific Vocal Series, Pacific Symphony, Opera Chapman, California State University at Northridge, Azusa Pacific University, the Juilliard School, and the USC Thornton Opera. You can hear her playing on all major streaming platforms on the newly released album with soprano, Tory McKenna: Awakening. Dr. Fielding is passionate about keeping the arts thriving in the communities and has recently help produced several concerts with Parnassus Society at Soka Performing Arts Center. She is currently the Artistic Director of Parnassus Society and Coach at Opera UCLA and Dolora Zajick’s Institute for Young Dramatic Voices.
Martha Aarons’ professional career began with her appointment as principal flute of the North Carolina Symphony. Subsequently she played with the Cleveland Orchestra for 25 years. After becoming a freelancer, she performed often with the Philadelphia Orchestra. During this time, she appeared as guest principal flute with the Metropolitan Opera, Minnesota Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony, San Diego Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, and Mostly Mozart Festival. Ms. Aarons served as Artist Faculty with the Aspen Music Festival for 19 years. Her teaching credits include the Cleveland Institute of Music, Duke University, University of North Carolina/Chapel Hill, Oberlin College, Skidmore College, Shanghai Conservatory and Eastman School of Music. She has been soloist with the Cleveland Orchestra, North Carolina Symphony, Ohio Chamber Orchestra, and with the Aspen Festival Chamber and Festival orchestras. Her first solo CD, The History of the Tango, is recorded on the Azica label and additionally features pianist Frances Renzi and Grammy-winning guitarist Jason Vieaux. Her newest release is the CD Last Silence with violinist Lev Polyakin and pianist Frances Renzi. Martha is also an avid runner and has qualified for her fifth consecutive Boston Marathon in April 2025!
Lev Polyakin was appointed co-concertmaster of the Moscow Chamber Orchestra at age 21. In that position he was regularly featured as soloist. In the U.S. he served as assistant concertmaster of the Cleveland Orchestra, as well as concertmaster of the American Academy of Conducting in Aspen Music Festival. Lev has won several prizes in international violin competitions, including the Beethoven Prize in Carl Flesch in London, and Gold Medal and Special Prize in Brescia, Italy. In addition to solo performances with the Moscow Chamber Orchestra, he has appeared as soloist with the London Mozart Players, Royal Philharmonic, and Cleveland Orchestra. Recording credits include Melodia, BBC, National Public Radio, and Decca. He is prominently featured on an album entitled Cafe Music comprising chamber music by Paul Schoenfield, which was nominated for a Grammy. Lev has a special interest in jazz and has recorded three CDs, entitled Russian Blue, The Other Side of the Road, and Christmas Kaleidoscope. He is also featured in the recent release by Azica Records entitled Last Silence, with flutist Martha Aarons and pianist Frances Renzi.