Founded in 1991 to investigate the little known wealth of chamber music for viola and guitar, the D’Amore Duo has toured internationally and domestically to enthusiastic reviews.
The group has released three critically-claimed recordings, and performed at such venues as St. Martin in the Fields in London, the Yale Centre for British Art, the National Cathedral, the Arts Centre in Christchurch, New Zealand, the Spanish Institute in New York, the Smithsonian Institution, and live on ABC International Radio out of Sydney, Australia.
They have twice been winners of the Baltimore Chamber Music Awards Competition.
Composers who have written pieces for the Duo include Ronald Pearl, Albert Harris, Richard Greene, Stephen Gerber, Jose Manuel Lezcano, Marcos Vinicius, Marcelo Ferraris, Jean Chatillon, Dimitris Kapsomenos, and the multi-talented actor/musician Michael Moriarty.
The Washington Post referred to the Duo as a “perfect partnership of sound” and lauded their performance as “one of the most uniquely satisfying concerts of the season.”
Members
Dan Zhang, Viola
Violist Dan Zhang’s musical expertise extends across multiple domains as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestra player in Europe, the US, Asia, and South America. Her performances have graced renowned venues such as Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, Heinz Hall, Gewandhaus in Leipzig, Teatro Centro Cultura Kirchner in Buenos Aires. In winter 2023, Dan presented her solo recital across five cities in China. Dan’s musical prowess has earned her the privilege of performing with esteemed orchestras and festivals, including the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra, and Naples Philharmonic.
As a dedicated teacher at various esteemed institutions including The Catholic University of America and Washington Adventist University. Dan is also on faculty at Music & More SummerFest (Trebinje, Bosnia & Herzegovina), and Point CounterPoint Chamber Music Festival in Vermont. Dan has also led masterclasses at several schools including, Facultad de Música-UNAM and Panamericana University in Mexico, Istanbul University State Conservatory, Istanbul Technical University, George Mason University, Shenandoah University, MinZu University of China, Xi’an Conservatory, Nanjing University, and Beijing Normal University.
Dan is the Co-Founder and Co-Director of the Washington Adventist University’s Summer Music Festival. Chair of the MSMTA/ASTA-MD DC Spring Festival, Co-Founder and Board Member of the America Society of Musical Excellence, and one of the pioneers of the American Virtuoso International Music Competition. Dan is also the Co-Founder of MTSY Studio (Xi’an, China) which has been hosting the SPSV International Music Festival annually since 2015. Her educational background includes a D.M.A. from The Catholic University of America, an M.M. from Yale School of Music, an A.D. from Shenandoah University, and a B.M. from the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing.
William Feasley, Guitar
Classical guitarist William Feasley was the first guitarist to be awarded the Peabody Conservatory’s coveted Artist Diploma. He has since been the recipient of numerous prizes and awards: a gold medal in the 1987 PanHellenic Guitar Competition in Athens, the 1990 and 1995 Baltimore Chamber Music Awards and a 1996 Governor’s Citation for Outstanding Achievements in the Arts in Maryland.
Selected to play for Andrés Segovia at the master’s historic last class at the University of Southern California in 1986, he was later featured on the CBS special, Eulogy of Segovia.
Since making his debut in 1980 with the San Francisco Ballet, performing Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez for Lou Christenson’s ballet, Don Juan, William Feasley has maintained an active international touring schedule.
William has appeared in the Ohrid Spoleto Festival in Macedonia and venues such as St. Martin in the Fields in London, the National Gallery of Art, the Phillips Collection, the Washington National Cathedral and the Yale University Centre for British Art. He has toured with the Russian Chamber Orchestra, Music Viva , in the former Yugoslavia, with the Moyzes String Quartet in Slovakia, performed live on ABC International Radio in Australia, with New York’s Bacchanalia Ensemble under the direction of Nina Beilina and Washington’s 20th Century Consort.
William has been a featured soloist at the Mertz International Guitar Festival in Bratislava, the Quito International Guitar Festival, the Cochabamba Guitar Festival in Bolivia, the Winter Festival in Sarajevo, the Forfest Contemporary Music Festival and the Stramberk Guitar Festival in the Czech Republic, the Gliwice International Guitar festival in Poland and the XI Lima International Guitar Festival . Recent tours have included Spain, the Caribbean, Greece, Serbia, Italy, Ecuador, New Zealand, Poland, Slovakia, Honduras, Peru, Bolivia, The Czech Republic, Slovenia, Bosnia, Australia, the United Kingdom, and Iceland.
He released four critically acclaimed discs for the Sonora label: Simplicity, American Sketches — musical Americana with rags, Gershwin and Coplandesque landscapes, Echoes of Goya — a multimedia presentation on the life of the famous painter and his impact on several generations of composers and Shenandoah, featuring music of Robert Beaser, Ralph Towner, George Rochberg and Joaquin Rodrigo. His most recent solo recording, the French Perspective, is out on the Center Earth label.
William Feasley records and performs exclusively on guitars made by Randy Angella of Concord, California.