Mount Wilson Observatory’s “Sunday Afternoon Concerts in the Dome” presents “Piano Quartets”

For Immediate Release:

Mount Wilson Observatory Presents
Piano Quartets
The Final Offering in MWO’s 9th Season of
Sunday Afternoon Concerts in the Dome
Held Inside the Historic Dome of the 100-Inch Telescope
Sunday, October 4, 2026
Performances at 3:00 and 5:00pm

LOS ANGELES, CA – September 14, 2026 – Mount Wilson Observatory (MWO), Southern California’s esteemed home to several of the most groundbreaking astronomical discoveries in history, presents the final offering of its 2026 Sunday Afternoon Concerts in the Dome season inside the magnificent vaulted dome of MWO’s historic 100-inch Telescope. On Sunday, October 4, 2026, the audience is invited to experience Piano Quartets, with musicians David Kaplan (piano), Ambroise Aubrun (violin), Ariana Solotoff (viola), and Cécilia Tsan (cello). The program will feature Mahler Piano Quartet in A minor and Brahms Piano Quartet No. 3 in C minor, Op. 60.

For MWO’s final concert of the season, the recently acquired historic 1907 Steinway Model O grand piano in ebony (No. 125947) will take center stage. The piano was generously donated to Mount Wilson Observatory by Dr. James Vail, Professor Emeritus of Choral and Sacred Music at the University of Southern California. Following a restoration by Teri Meredyth—made possible through anonymous gifts—and a skilled move and install by P&O Movers, the piano made its debut at MWO in April, and has been featured throughout the 2026 concert season. Now finding its permanent home on the mountain, the piano’s future is secured through shared care. Much like MWO’s historic telescopes, which were carefully restored to return them to active service, the piano represents another great instrument of its era being attentively revitalized for a new generation. Both were masterpieces of craftsmanship in their time, designed to push boundaries—one through light and discovery, the other through sound and expression—and both continue to inspire today. 

As in previous seasons, Artistic Director Cécilia Tsan (Principal Cellist, Long Beach Symphony and Los Angeles Master Chorale) curates the series. Each concert date of the season features the same one-hour program presented twice—first at 3:00pm and again at 5:00pm—with an artist reception at 4:00pm between performances.

Tickets cost $65 each and are available for purchase in advance online. For more information on this concert, please visit www.mtwilson.edu/events/concert100426. For more on the entire Sunday Afternoon Concerts in the Dome series, please visit www.mtwilson.edu/concerts.

ABOUT

David Kaplan (piano)
David Kaplan is a New York-born piano soloist and chamber musician, praised by the Boston Globe for “grace and fire” at the keyboard. He has appeared as a soloist with the Baltimore Symphony, the Britten Sinfonia, Das Sinfonie Orchester Berlin, the Hawaii and San Antonio Symphony Orchestras, and many others.

His recording of Valerie Coleman’s “Revelry” was nominated for a 2025 GRAMMY, and his 2024 solo debut, New Dances of the League of David, was lauded by The Financial Times, Gramophone, Fanfare, and more. He has given recitals at the Ravinia Festival, Washington’s National Gallery, and New York’s Carnegie and Merkin Halls. In addition to his work with Decoda, the affiliate ensemble of Carnegie Hall, he has collaborated with the Attacca, Ariel, and Tesla String Quartets. Kaplan is the Associate Professor and Inaugural Shapiro Family Chair in Piano Performance at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, where he has taught since 2016. A graduate of UCLA and Yale, and a Fulbright scholar in Berlin, Kaplan’s teachers and mentors include Claude Frank, Walter Ponce, Miyoko Lotto, and Richard Goode. Away from the keyboard, he loves cartooning and cooking, and is mildly obsessed with classic cars.

Ambroise Aubrun (violin)
Hailed as a “marvelous violinist” (France Musique) with “sensitive tone” (Pizzicato Magazine) and “tremendous ease, suppleness and beauty of sound” (Nice-Matin), violinist Ambroise Aubrun enjoys a career as a sought-after recitalist, chamber musician, and pedagogue. He has performed extensively and conducted Master Classes in the Americas, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand.

His albums for the Editions Hortus, Brilliant Classics, and Navona Records have embraced a wide range of repertoire from J.S. Bach to Tanguy (b. 1968) and received praise of the highest caliber (5 stars Pizzicato Journal, “editor’s choice” on France Musique, “Choc” Classica, and a nomination for the 2021 International Classical Music Awards). His performances and albums have been broadcast on CBS, ABC, WFMT Chicago, France Musique, 3MBS Melbourne (Australia), Klara Radio (Belgium), KPFK Los Angeles, KNCJ Nevada, WTUL New Orleans, and K-USC Los Angeles.

Aubrun studied at the Paris National Superior Conservatory, UCLA (D.M.A.), and the Colburn School (Artist Diploma). He is the winner of the Charles Oulmont Prize of the Fondation de France and a laureate of the Langart Foundation. As Associate Professor of Violin at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Aubrun plays a Matteo Goffriller violin on a generous loan from the Foundation. He is the artistic director of the Bruman Chamber Music Festival at UCLA. More information at www.ambroiseaubrun.com.

Ariana Solotoff (viola)
Ariana Solotoff, originally from New York, is a Los Angeles-based violist, violinist, recording artist, educator, and chamber musician. She earned her bachelor’s degree from The Juilliard School, where she studied with Michael Tree and Masao Kawasaki, and her master’s degree from the Haute École de Musique de Genève in Switzerland, where she studied with Miguel Da Silva and received the prestigious Hans Wilsdorf Foundation Scholarship Award.

Solotoff has performed with chamber and symphonic orchestras throughout the U.S. and Europe, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra, Camerata Venia, Hulencourt Symphony Orchestra, Camerata Regala, and Orchestra Na?ionala Radio România. She has performed at the Grammy Awards, Video Game Music Awards, Global Demand Awards, and on the Disney Channel, and has recorded for film soundtracks and pop albums.

Solotoff teaches violin and viola privately from her home studio and serves on the faculty of several international summer music programs. She is also the founder of Popsical Music, an interactive concert series designed to introduce young children and families to live classical music.

Cécilia Tsan (cello and Artistic Director)
“Uncompromising musical character and a towering technique… In the breadth of her virtuosity and the charisma of her musical personality, Tsan made this work her own.” (Daniel Cariaga, L.A. Times, Haydn D Major Concerto).

Born in France, Cécilia Tsan began playing the cello with the same teacher as her childhood friend, Yo-Yo Ma. After majoring in philosophy and Chinese, she was awarded the First Prize for Cello at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris under André Navarra. She is a prizewinner at the Barcelona, the Florence, and the Paris International Competitions.

Tsan toured throughout the world as a soloist and also as an avid chamber musician with Rudolf Firkusny, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Bruno Rigutto, Pascal Rogé, Pierre Amoyal, Augustin Dumay, Ivry Gitlis, Martin Chalifour, Hatto Beyerle, Gérard Caussé, Bruno Pasquier, Paul Neubauer, Heiichiro Ohyama, and more.

Since moving to Los Angeles, she has recorded hundreds of movie soundtracks with composers including John Williams, James Horner, Randy Newman, Hans Zimmer, Danny Elfman, David Newman, Jerry Goldsmith, Alan Silvestri, Alexandre Desplat, James Newton-Howard, and John Debney, to name a few. She recorded a CD, Eleven Pieces for Cello and Piano (Cybelia), and two CDs of chamber music by Weber and Ropartz (Timpani). More recently, Warner Classics released John Williams Reimagined, the double album she recorded with Sara Andon (flute) and Simone Pedroni (piano).

She currently serves as Principal Cellist with the Long Beach Symphony Orchestra and the Los Angeles Master Chorale. She also served in that position at the Academy Awards, the Emmys, American Idol, and America’s Got Talent. In addition to numerous chamber music performances, her recent concerts include Memoirs of a Geisha by John Williams, the Elgar and Dvorák Cello Concertos, as well as Strauss’s Don Quixote and Brahms’s Double Concerto.

Since 2017, she has been the Artistic Director of the music series, Sunday Afternoon Concerts in the Dome at Mount Wilson Observatory.

MOUNT WILSON OBSERVATORY:
Since its founding in 1904 by astronomer and visionary George Ellery Hale, the research conducted at Mount Wilson Observatory has revolutionized our understanding of the Universe. Perched on top of Mount Wilson, a 5,710-foot peak in the San Gabriel Mountains near Pasadena, California, the Observatory boasts a rich history and significant contributions to science and the heritage of Los Angeles. The Observatory’s 100-inch Telescope—the world's largest telescope from 1917 to 1949—forever changed our understanding of the scale and nature of our Universe and deeply expanded human knowledge. This world-heritage-class instrument, used by many of the greatest astronomers of the 20th century, launched a revolution in astronomy that continues through today.

Mount Wilson Institute has independently operated and maintained the Mount Wilson Observatory since 1989 under a long-term agreement with the Carnegie Institution of Washington. The Observatory and grounds are open to the public to visit, and during the spring and summer months, the Institute produces programs including observing sessions through the historic telescopes (the largest on the planet made available to the public), lectures, concerts, art exhibits, educational programs, and more. Many of these cultural offerings are presented inside the singular vaulted dome of the 100-inch Telescope.

All proceeds from ticketed events go to support Mount Wilson Institute in its mission to preserve, protect, and promote the Observatory and its scientific accomplishments.

Complete information on all the scientific, educational, and cultural activities at Mount Wilson Observatory can be found on its website www.mtwilson.edu. 

THE VENUE
The 100-inch Telescope is the instrument with which astronomer Edwin Hubble discovered our place in an expanding universe. The dome for the telescope—designed by seminal Chicago architect D.H. Burnham—is a 20th century temple to science whose acoustics rival the great cathedrals of Europe, a truly unique setting for this ambitious music series.

VISITING MWO
The gate to Mount Wilson’s campus opens at 10:00am daily and closes at 5:00pm from early April through November. Entrance to the grounds is free. Visitors can hike, gaze at the telescope domes and towers that dot the landscape, and take a look at historic Mount Wilson photos and letters in the Museum.

The Cosmic Cafe, located above the main parking lot at the Observatory entrance, is open on weekends in the spring, summer, and fall. In addition to traditional menu items such as hot dogs, drinks, and snacks, the Cafe offers wraps, salads, and sweet treats from Little Flower.  

LOCATION
Mount Wilson Observatory
Mount Wilson Circle Road & Mount Wilson Toll Road
Mount Wilson, CA 91023

On MWO’s website, the “Map” page shows various SoCal routes to the 2 and 210 Freeways which feed into Angeles Crest Highway leading to Red Box Road, which then leads to Mount Wilson Circle Road.

PLEASE NOTE: Do not rely on directions given by phone apps; they can be incorrect. We recommend downloading and printing this PDF map with directions.

Parking
A U.S. Forest Service Adventure Pass is required to park at the Observatory. A $5 day pass or a $30 annual pass may be purchased at the Cosmic Cafe on weekends between 10:00am and 5:00pm. During the week, passes are available at locations around Los Angeles. The most convenient location before heading up is at the Shell station in La Cañada Flintridge at the bottom of the Angeles Crest Highway. Click here to go to the U.S. Forest Service website for more information about passes and other locations to buy them.

PLEASE NOTE

• The Observatory is not ADA-compliant. Access to the 100-inch dome is via an open-air, 53-step staircase inside the building that could present challenges to those with difficulties.
• There is a 10-minute walk from the parking lot to the 100-inch Telescope; be prepared with comfortable shoes.

LINKS:

• Mount Wilson Observatory - www.mtwilson.edu
• Sunday Afternoon Concerts in the Dome - www.mtwilson.edu/concerts
• October 4 Tickets - www.mtwilson.edu/events/concert100426
• MWO Facebook - www.facebook.com/WilsonObs
• MWO Instagram - www.instagram.com/mtwilsonobservatory
• MWO X - https://x.com/MtWilsonObs
• PR Assets Folder (images, etc.) - https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ZJJE1OsJKhbRCt1-kUiC_kXEAzPCNAk2

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For more information, photos, interviews, or press passes—for any of MWO's movie, concert, lecture, or art series—please contact Green Galactic’s Lynn Tejada at lynn@greengalactic.com or 213-840-1201.

For Mount Wilson Observatory, please contact Sarah Emery Bunn at semerybunn@mtwilson.edu or 626-214-8030.