An Afternoon Tea at The Sammons Center for the Arts
Monday, April 8 • 11:30 AM
We invite you to join us in celebrating the extraordinary 2024 solar eclipse.
Prepare to be enchanted as we usher in this celestial spectacle with refined elegance and mystical insights.
Indulge in a sophisticated champagne tea luncheon featuring an array of delectable treats, perfectly complemented by a selection of exquisite teas. Our menu includes both sweet and savory delights. Champagne will also be provided during the totality of the eclipse.
Immerse yourself in the enchanting melodies of C2, a live piano and string duo, as they provide a melodic backdrop inspired by the celestial wonders above.
For those seeking a mystical experience, tarot readers will be on hand to offer insights and guidance, adding an element of mystery and personal revelation to the event.
As the grand finale, guests will have the exclusive opportunity to witness the total solar eclipse in all its glory. Totality will begin over the Sammons Center for the Arts at 1:40 PM and end at 1:44 PM. Special Eclipse glasses will be provided for safe viewing, ensuring memories that will last a lifetime.
We encourage guests to embrace the spirit of the occasion by wearing fascinators and cocktail attire, adding to the elegance and charm of the event.
Join us for an afternoon of elegance, music, mystique, and celestial wonders. Don't miss your chance to be part of this once-in-a-lifetime event as we come together to celebrate the awe-inspiring beauty of the 2024 solar eclipse.
About C2
Dongni Xie
Dongni Xie
Originally from Changsha, China, Dongni Xie is the first prize winner of multiple international piano competitions. She is one of the guest artists of the prestigious Cliburn Foundation as well as one of the Legacy Pianists of the renowned Achúcarro Foundation. Xie has been invited to perform across the world as a globally renowned and in demand artist. Critics have praised her “bold and riveting” (PENINSULA) and “bravura performance . . . mature and relaxed, perfectly in line with its composer’s presumed intention.” (HERALD TRIBUNE). She’s held performances at Carnegie Hall, Château de Fontainebleau (France), Dream Forest Arts Center (South Korea), Gijon City Hall (Spain), and the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts (Los Angeles), as well as a plethora of other venues throughout Europe, Asia, and the United States—being the featured soloist with orchestras such as the Boulder Symphony Orchestra, the Debut Symphony, the Meadows Symphony Orchestra and the Mansfield Philharmonic. She has appeared as a featured artist at numerous international music festivals, including the Imago Sloveniae (Slovenia), Festival ARTIS (Slovakia), and the August Music Festival (UK). During the 2024-25 season, Xie will perform with orchestras and in recitals across Europe, Asia, and the United States —including performances in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. She will also release her first solo album.
Xie is an avid supporter of music education programs and charitable causes. She has performed benefit concerts to support orphans and refugees who have been displaced by the current Ukranian War and local charities. She has also volunteered with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s OrchKids program and has partnered with the Cliburn Foundation’s signature education program Cliburn in the Classroom.
Being an advocate of new music, Xie premiered many solo and chamber works in the genre and serve as Artistic Director of the “In Bloom” musiCON Concert Series, which involves three nights of concerts in New York City, promoting and performing selected works by living composers from all over the world. She also co-founded the concert series Live! Again featuring new music by contemporary composers designed to connect the visual arts with music. Xie has created a unique flair through which the community can experience new music, classical charm, and modern arts. Xie is a leader in the interplay between classical and modern music, having founded In6ix, a sextet combining both jazz and classical styles. She toured with the group throughout China in 2019, giving concerts and master classes.
Dr. Xie obtained her Doctorate in Piano Performance from the University of North Texas where she held a teaching position. She has also earned degrees and diplomas from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University, University of Southern California, and Shanghai Conservatory of Music—having studied with Pamela Mia Paul, Norman Krieger, Yong Hi Moon, and Chen Jiang respectively—as well as has received the Meadows Artistic Scholarship and Harold Von Mickwitz Prize Award from Southern Methodist University where she worked with maestro Joaquín Achúcarro and Andrey Ponochevny. Dr. Xie has been invited to lecture at universities and colleges throughout the United States and Asia, is a featured clinician at Music Teacher Associations throughout Texas, and is a regularly invited judge at piano competitions across the globe. Dr. Xie is a faculty of Tarrant County College and Texas Tech University School of Music.
Visit www.dongnixie.com for more.
Zexun Shen
Zexun Shen
Zexun (Jason) Shen joined the DSO cello section in 2022. Born in Shanghai, China, he studied at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music with Professor Da-Hai Liu and graduated with honors in 2009. In the same year, he began his studies with Timothy Eddy at the Mannes College of Music (BM 2013, MM 2015) and was awarded a full scholarship and the Goldsmith Foundation Award. Dr. Shen served as the principal cellist of the Mannes Orchestra from 2011 to 2015. After graduation, he completed his professional study with Dean’s Award under the guidance of Philippe Muller at Manhattan School of Music. He joined the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra in 2016. In May 2021, Dr. Shen was awarded the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Stony Brook University where he studied with Colin Carr.
Dr. Shen has performed extensively in the U.S. and abroad (including China, Australia, and Poland) as a soloist and chamber musician, playing at venues such as the Alice Tully Hall, Carnegie Hall, Steinway Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, Metropolitan Museum and Morgan Library Museum, and he has taken part in music festivals such as the Sarasota Music Festival, Heifetz International Music Institute (String Quartet Seminar), and the Taos Chamber Music Festival, working with the members of the Borromeo String Quartet, Brentano String Quartet, the Moscow Rachmaninoff Piano Trio, the Guarneri String Quartet and the Orion String Quartet, among others. He has also performed and worked with world-renowned musicians such as Shmuel Ashkenazi, Paul Biss, Andres Diaz, Vladimir Feltsman, Miriam Fried, Herbert Greenberg, Frans Helmerson, Christoph Henkel, Gary Hoffman, Paul Katz, Ralph Kirshbaum, Laurence Lesser, Robert McDonald, Marcy Rosen, Joseph Silverstein, Mark Steinberg and Michael Tree.
Dr. Shen has appeared in the Starry Night concert series at Stony Brook with Hagai Shaham and musicians from the Emerson String Quartet and the concert series of The Society for Chamber Music in Rochester with faculty members of the Eastman School of Music and musicians from the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Mr. Dr. Shen and his colleagues, pianist Miki Aoki and violinist Emre Engin, founded an online classical concert series “Musik in the Air” and performed in many online concerts.
Zexun (Jason) Shen plays on a 1723 Italian cello made by Matteo Goffriller with an 1890 French bow made by Joseph Lamy. The instrument is loaned by an anonymous sponsor, and the bow is made available to Dr. Shen as a gift from a sponsor from Taiwan.