Department of Music

The UVA Music Department presents Anyango Yarbo-Davenport violin recital on Sunday, October 13 at 3:30pm in Old Cabell Hall with New York based pianist Kyle P. Walker. The recital pairs well known composers with under-represented ones, creating a musical dialogue about influences and inequality. This free event is part of a mini-residency exploring music, race, and gender October 11-14.  More information about the multi-day residency can be found at https://music.virginia.edu/yarbo-davenport-residency.

Born and raised in Munich, Germany, violinist Anyango Yarbo-Davenport was born into a musical family as the daughter of American soprano Africa Yarbo-Davenport and the late Austrian conductor Hans Peter Jillich. Praised by international critics for her captivating performances she regularly performs in venues like Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, Royal Festival Hall London, Munich Philharmonic, Teatro Mayor Bogotá, Mozarteum Saal Salzburg, and Teatro Colon. Recent live performances for the US, South American and European public Radio & TV stations are broadcast on BBC, NPR, FOX26, WXXI etc. She is the winner of the Presser Music Award for artistic and academic excellence, International Competition for Romantic Music, IBLA Foundation World Competition Italy, Jugend Musiziert, Alpen-Adria, MTNA USA, the Rotary Club Salzburg Prize, among others.

October 2017 Anyango made her debut as the newly appointed soloist and conductor of the Colour of Music Festival Virtuosi, an all-female chamber orchestra of African descent based in the US. The Virtuosi are presented by the Universities of Houston, Richmond, Carnegie Mellon and are as well in residence at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, D.C.

Currently she is Professor of Violin, Coordinator of Violin and Chamber Music at the Pontifical Javeriana University in Bogota, Colombia and teaches at the summer academies of the University of North Texas (SSI) and Virginia Commonwealth University (GSIM). She received her early training at the Hochschule für Musik in Munich, Germany, the University of Salzburg “Mozarteum”, pursued her graduate studies at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Finland with Paivyt Meller and was mentored by and the assistant to Charles Castleman during her Doctoral studies at the Eastman School of Music in the US. She conducted and directed the New Horizons Orchestras at Eastman from 2009-14. The WXXI documentary Music for Life: The Story of New Horizons in which Anyango and her orchestras appear, won a State Emmy at the 59th Emmy Awards. She performs on an 18th Century French violin and chooses from bows ranging from the Peccatte School to contemporary makers supported by Olitarte. www.anyangomusic.com

A strong advocate for social equality, critically-acclaimed pianist Kyle P. Walker believes music can speak to social issues better than verbal language can, the understanding of which he brings to both traditional Western repertoire and that of the living world-wide composers with whom he collaborates. 

Highlights of this season include concerto, chamber, and solo appearances with the Colour of Music Festival, of solo recital tour throughout the East and West coast, and a Lincoln Center appearance alongside Miss America 2019. 

Walker has been featured on WNYC, WQXR, NPR, and UNC-TV. Recent performances include his debut solo recital at Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall, The Great Hall at Cooper Union, The Tantaloona Cave of Australia, and the Lied Center of Kansas. 

As an advocate of social justice, Kyle is a founding member and pianist of The Dream Unfinished, an activist orchestra which supports NYC-based civil rights and community organizations through concerts and presentations. 

Kyle performs with the group Sanctuary Project NYC. The ensemble composed of classically trained musicians and dancers, creates original productions through a collaborative rehearsal process, centered around structured improvisation. 

He is currently touring a solo performance project entitled Bach to BlackNotes, which features the music of J.S. Bach juxtaposed with music of neglected composers, who speak to issues of oppression and inequality. See and hear more of Kyle Walker’s musicianship on Instagram @klassicalkyle and at www.kylewalkerpiano.com.

Old Cabell Hall is located on the south end of UVA's historic lawn, directly opposite the Rotunda. Parking is available in the central grounds parking garage on Emmet Street, in the C1 parking lot off McCormick Rd, and in the parking lots at the UVA Corner. Handicap parking is available in the small parking lot adjacent to Bryan Hall. All programs are subject to change. 

Sponsored by the UVA Arts Council | Enriching the Arts on Grounds