What: Brunch and concert featuring Becca Kasdan, doctoral candidate in violin performance, and fellow musicians from the UIUC School of Music. 

When: April 30, Brunch at 11:30am, concert at 1:30pm

Where: Spurlock Museum

Sponsored by: Champaign Urbana Jewish Federation, JCC Chicago, Illini Hillel, Program of Jewish Culture and Society, Spurlock Museum, Spurlock Museum Judaica Fund

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Becca Kasdan is currently pursuing her Doctor of Musical Arts in Violin Performance at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and is a Violin Teaching Artist with Apollo's Fire - the Cleveland Baroque Orchestra in Matterson, IL. Previously, Becca studied with Violaine Melancon at the Schulich School of Musica at McGill University and the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University where she received her MM and BM in Violin Performance.

Deeply passionate about chamber music, Becca has worked closely with members of the Julliard, Jupiter, Emerson, Chiara, Orion, Ying, Brentano, and Borromeo String Quartets among others. She has performed for several distinguished artists including Midori Goto, Bruno Eicher (Assistant Concertmaster MET), Axel Strauss, and Stefan Milenkovich. As a chamber musician and orchestral player, she has collaborated with many esteemed musicians including David Ying, Michael Kannen, Yael Weiss, Benjamin Zander, David Zinman, and Leon Fleischer.

A passionate and dedicated teacher, Becca is a violin faculty member at Luzerne Music Center's Senior Session and the Easton Chamber Music Festival in Massachusetts. She has presented at the Paul Rolland String Pedagogy Workshop, American String Teacher Association's National Conference, Virginia Tech, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, DePauw University School of Music, and the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign.

In addition, Becca is extremely devoted to bringing music into the community. She served as the first co-director of the Peabody String Sinfonia, a conductor-less string ensemble at Peabody Conservatory that performs exclusively at community venues. Becca has also been on a discussion panel with Midori discussing community engagement and outreach in the 21st century. Currently, Becca is on the Board of Trustees for the Volunteer Musicians for the Arts in Boston, MA where she received a Community Leadership Award in 2021. Becca Kasdan is the 2018 recipient of the Johns Hopkins President's Commendation for Achievement in the Arts, The Grace Clagett Ranney Prize in Chamber Music, the String Achievement from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and a member of the Pi Kappa Lambda and Phi Kappa Phi's prestigious music guilds.