Lydia Rhea and Amber Scherer
Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts Live Broadcast on WFMT
Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts
Live weekly concerts from some of the world’s most exciting emerging artists
Live broadcast on WFMT 12:15 CDT -1:15 EST
Each week, WFMT shares live concerts from emerging artists from around the world. Produced by Classical Music Chicago, the series is named for pianist Myra Hess, who organized over 1500 free concerts for Londoners during World War II. Enjoy solo recitals and ensemble performances from some of classical music’s brightest rising talent, presenting thrilling repertoire across eras and instruments.Cellist Lydia Rhea and Pianist Amber Scherer perform works by Claude Debussy, Andrea Casarrubios, Philip Lasser and Johannes Brahms, live from the Seventeenth Church of Christ, Scientist, Chicago.
Cellist Lydia Rhea has traveled across the world sharing the power of storytelling through music. A firm believer in increasing accessibility to concert halls and diversifying the classical canon, her work has taken her from Carnegie Hall to Cuba in performing and teaching capacities.
In 2023 & 2025, Lydia was a member of the quartet-in-residence at the European American Musical Alliance in Paris. She previously attended the Sitka International Cello Seminar studying with concert cellist Zuill Bailey. Other festival experiences include the Festival des écoles d’art américaines, Moritzburg Festival and Academy, Yellow Barn Young Artist Program, Meadowmount School of Music, and Heifetz International Music Institute.
Amber Scherer is a pianist and educator based in NYC. Her work focuses on broadening accessibility to the arts and performing underrepresented voices in classical music.
In 2024, Scherer collaborated on the Webby-nominated Claiming Your Space, Juilliard’s celebration of Black musicians throughout history. She more recently performed in Juilliard’s Pride Songbook and Eros & Co. Eros featured Scherer and four singers at Merkin Hall as Caramoor Fellows, as part of the New York Festival of Song.
Scherer returned to Merkin Hall for Juilliard’s Vocal Arts Honors Recital with soprano Kerrigan Bigelow. Amber and Kerrigan have performed together extensively, as New Music Fellows at Songfest and Fellowship winners with the Federation of Art Song. Next season, they will perform recitals through City Lyric Opera, featuring a commissioned song cycle by composer Justine Chen.
PROGRAM
Claude Debussy: Cello Sonate pour violoncelle et piano, L. 135
Andrea Casarrubios: Sonia for Cello and Piano
Philip Lasser: Sonata for Cello and Piano
Johannes Brahms: Unbewegte laue Luft, Op. 57 No. 8