Inbal Segev, cello; Yalin Chi, piano
J.S. Bach, Cello Suite No. 4; Schumann, Adagio & Allegro, Op. 70; Shostakovich, Cello Sonata, Op. 40; Segev, Premiere
Inbal Segev is “a cellist with something to say” (Gramophone). Combining rich tone and technical mastery with rare dedication and intelligence, she has appeared with orchestras including the Baltimore Symphony, Bamberg Symphony, Berlin Philharmonic, Dallas Symphony, Dortmund Philharmonic, Israel Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, Orchestre National de Lyon, Pittsburgh Symphony, Polish National Radio Symphony, and St. Louis Symphony, collaborating with such prominent conductors as Marin Alsop, Stéphane Denève, Edward Gardner, Kirill Karabits, Lorin Maazel, Cristian Măcelaru, and Zubin Mehta. Committed to reinvigorating the cello repertoire, she has commissioned and premiered new cello concertos from Timo Andres, Anna Clyne, Avner Dorman, Fernando Otero, Victoria Poleva, and Dan Visconti. Recorded with Alsop and the London Philharmonic for Avie Records, Segev’s premiere recording of Clyne’s new cello concerto, DANCE, was an instant success, topping the Amazon Classical Concertos chart. Its opening movement was chosen as one of NPR Music’s “Favorite Songs of 2020,” receiving more than twelve million listens on Spotify. To encourage creative recovery during the early pandemic lockdowns, Segev launched 20 for 2020, a commissioning, recording, and video project for 20 cutting-edge composers, including John Luther Adams, Viet Cuong, and Angélica Negrón, all of whom wrote new works in response to the worldwide crisis. Segev’s previous discography includes acclaimed recordings of the Elgar Cello Concerto, Romantic cello works, and Bach’s Cello Suites, while her popular YouTube masterclass series, Musings with Inbal Segev, has inspired a generation of cellists.
A native of Israel, at 16 Segev was invited by Isaac Stern to continue her cello studies in the U.S., where she earned degrees from Yale University and the Juilliard School, before co-founding the Amerigo Trio with former New York Philharmonic concertmaster Glenn Dicterow and violist Karen Dreyfus. Segev started composing during the pandemic: her cello quartet, Behold, can be heard on her album 20 for 2020; her cello octet, B Natural, premiered at Yale in 2023; and in 2024 her string trio premiered in Fort Worth and her clarinet trio in Israel. Segev’s cello was made by Francesco Ruggieri in 1673.
With performances in venues including Alice Tully Hall and Carnegie Hall in New York City, the Gardner Museum in Boston, Kumho Art Hall in Seoul, and ZhongShan Music Hall in Beijing, pianist Yalin Chi has delighted audiences with her “gorgeous tonal coloring” and “masterful and flowing” playing (Leslie Garber, Hudson Valley One). An active chamber musician, Yalin is a founding member of Trio Raconteur and together with pianist Steve Beck performs as the At Once Duo. Yalin has also performed with principal trombonist of the New York Philharmonic Joseph Alessi, principal trumpet of the London Symphony Orchestra Philip Cobb, clarinetists Alexander Fiterstein and Charles Neidich, concertmaster of the Seoul Symphony Orchestra Wayne Lin, concertmaster of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra Andrew Wan, with the Knights chamber orchestra, and regularly performs with the Albany Symphony and the New Jersey Festival Orchestra.
As a soloist, Yalin has appeared with the Green Bay Symphony Orchestra, the Hudson Valley Philharmonic, the Bard Orchestra, the Central Opera Symphony Orchestra, and the West Point Band. Yalin has held the principal keyboard position at the Hudson Valley Philharmonic since 2014, and has been pianist with the West Point Band since 2008. In 2022 Yalin became Co-Artistic Director of the Chapel Restoration’s Sunday Music Series, in Cold Spring, New York. Originally from Beijing, China, Yalin studied at the Interlochen Arts Academy before earning her bachelor’s and master’s at the Juilliard School, where she studied with Seymour Lipkin and Jerome Lowenthal, and pursued additional studies with Peter Frankl at Yale School of Music.