Piano & Cello Recital

Immerse yourself in the harmonious blend of strings and keys as talented musicians Rowena Mariano and Jacob Wenger bring classic pieces to life.  Invite your friends and enjoy this delightful matinee of music, and stay afterward for a wine and appetizers reception.

🗓  Sunday, April 13, 2025
⏰ 2:00pm - 3:30pm
📍 North Carolina Museum of Art
      2110 Blue Ridge Rd, Raleigh, NC 27607
      SECU Auditorium, East Building

PROGRAM

Rowena Mariano, piano

Chopin:          Mazurka in C-sharp Minor, Opus 50, No. 3
                       Ballade #4 in F Minor, Opus 52

Ravel:            Gaspard de la nuit
                      Alborada del gracioso

 

Jake Wenger, cello
Rowena Mariano, piano

Fauré:            Après un rêve
Brahms:         Cello Sonata #1 in E Minor, Opus 38



Piano player Rowena Mariano is originally from the Philippines.  She trained in California and in New York where she received the Gaston Dethier Scholarship Prize and earned Bachelor and Master of Music degrees at the Juilliard School.  She studied with pianists Seymour Lipkin and Jacob Lateiner at Juilliard, and continued advanced studies with pianist Mordecai Shehori in New York.  She also studied chamber music with violinists Lewis Kaplan and Felix Galimir.  As a soloist and chamber musician, she has performed across the United States and internationally.  Solo piano concerts have included performances at Steinway Hall in Los Angeles, Merkin Concert Hall in New York, and regular solo concerts at the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, New York.  Chamber music performances have included concerts at the Bowdoin International Music Festival in Maine, Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall in New York, Stadttheater Freiburg in Germany, Violin-Piano masterclasses with pianist Alexis Weissenberg and violinist Pierre Amoyal in Switzerland, and an all-Beethoven Piano & Cello Sonata recital with cellist Amy Kim at the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall.  In 2019 Ms. Mariano performed in a benefit concert for the humanitarian organization MEDAIR at Crêt-Bérard, Switzerland. 

In addition to practicing music, Ms. Mariano practices medicine. She is a physician specializing in Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation.  She trained at the Rusk Institute for Rehabilitation Medicine at New York University, and completed Fellowships in Spine Medicine and Interventional Pain Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation.  Ms Mariano is Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurosurgery at Duke University, where she has been a faculty member for 12 years.  

An active member of the Performing Arts Medical Association, she has a special interest in medical problems of musicians.  As a Board Member of Chamber Music Raleigh, she has the privilege of helping promote world-class musicians in exceptional concert events.   She has lived and practiced in Raleigh, NC since 2006. 

Cellist Jacob Wenger is a native of Raleigh. He received an undergraduate degree from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, and a Masters degree from Manhattan School of Music. Mr. Wenger has performed with the North Carolina Symphony, Chamber Orchestra of the Triangle, Tar River Philharmonic, as well as the Raleigh and Durham Symphonies.  He has also performed with members of the Verona and Balourdet String Quartets.  He performs regularly with touring Broadway productions at the Durham Performing Arts Center.  He has served on the faculty of the University of North Carolina-Wilmington, and maintains a cello studio in Raleigh.  Mr. Wenger studied privately with Margo Drakos, Zvi Plesser, Marcy Rosen, and Jonathan Kramer. He has also studied chamber music with Robert Mann, Sylvia Rosenberg, and Jeffrey Cohen.