Live at Muddy Waters

Black Cedar Trio

The Black Cedar Trio is a rare ensemble dedicated to music for flute, cello, and guitar. They love to create, discover, and re-imagine works for this unique combination. Their accolades include multiple grants from both the Zellerbach Family Foundation and InterMusicSF, plus an invite to the National Flute Association Convention. They began performing as a trio in 2013 and since then have performed approximately 75 concerts throughout California. They have appeared repeatedly on KALW 91.7 FM in San Francisco, KKUP 91.5 FM in San Jose, and KWMR 90.5 FM in Marin County. Their 2016 album garnered praise from Stephen Smoliar’s blog: ”While the instrumentation is unconventional, it is surprisingly effective…Black Cedar is particularly effective for the rhetoric of intimacy they establish…an intimacy evident in the strategic command of understatement one encounters in the performances on this album.”

Artist Biographies

Kris Palmer

Dr. Kris Palmer made her New York recital debut at Carnegie Hall in 2001 to rave reviews as a winner in the Artists International Competition. The New York Concert Review called Palmer’s performance “incisive and expressive…particularly enchanting…with sensuous tone and pace.” Noted for her performances of music from the eighteenth century, Kris has performed the concerti of C.P.E. Bach and Mozart in the United States and Europe, and she is the author of the book, Ornamentation According to C.P.E. Bach and J.J. Quantz. “Clearly, the author is knowledgeable about ornamentation…” states the American Music Teacher magazine. The New York Concert Review states, “Palmer is clearly among the few current performers on any instrument to fully understand the nature of Baroque music.”

Steve Lin

Steve Lin has concertized throughout the United States, Italy, the Philippines, and Taiwan. He is acclaimed by Classical Guitar Magazine as “a confident player with a powerful sound, quick hands, and a solid musical memory” and praised by American guitar virtuoso Eliot Fisk as a performer who “plays with an innate and uncommon elegance.” Steve was the first prize winner at the 2006 Boston GuitarFest Competition and the 2001 East Carolina University Guitar Competition. He has performed at the Mérida Yucatán Guitar Festival, Yale Guitar Extravaganza, L’Accademia Musicale Chigiana, ChitarraImperia Festival, and the Stetson Guitar Workshop.

Isaac Pastor-Chermak

Isaac Pastor-Chermak leads a diverse and active musical life at home in Northern California and around the United States. A quintessential 21st-century artist, he engages deeply as a cellist, teacher, conductor, and administrator, motivated by an abiding love of sharing great music with friends and collaborators. As an orchestral cellist, Isaac performs as Assistant Principal Cellist of Opera San Jose, Principal Cellist of the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony; Associate Principal Cellist of the Stockton Symphony; and as a member of the Monterey Symphony, Santa Cruz Symphony, Santa Barbara Symphony, and Dayton Philharmonic.