Todays guests are pianist Candace Chien and violinist Nicholas Pappone, the Alighieri Duo. Nicholas was inspired to take up the violin when, as a child actor, he portrayed a musical prodigy. He’s now a sought-after soloist, chamber musician, orchestral player, and teacher who has performed with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the New York Philharmonic, the Vienna Piano Trio, and the Zukerman Chamber Players. Candace is a graduate of The Juilliard School, where she studied with Jonathan Feldman and Margo Garrett. She specializes in chamber music, and she's performed across the US, Canada, and Sweden. She’s taught music in public schools in Westfield and Queens, and held faculty positions at the Usdan Center of Creative and Performing Arts and the Point Counterpoint Chamber Music Festival.