Suzuki alumni from around the world are celebrating our Suzuki roots, and we’re uniting in this project!

Are you a Suzuki alum, a Suzuki family member? In the spirit of the joy and wonder of childhood, we invite you to become a Suzuki Kid on our tapestry page.

How has your Suzuki experience shaped your life, your career, your world view? We’d love to receive your own Suzuki anecdote (or photo, personal testimonial, website link) to weave into our tapestry on the Suzuki Kids! page: connect@suzukialumniproject.org. We can’t wait to see you on our site!

MIHO SAEGUSA, violin

ARIANA KIM, violin • Primary Suzuki teacher: Ellen Kim

AYANE KOZASA, viola • Primary Suzuki teacher: Louise Rossi

KAREN OUZOUNIAN, cello 

Praised by the Philadelphia Inquirer as “in full possession of that most elusive of string quartet qualities: the balance between charisma of the individual and cohesion of the collective,” the Aizuri Quartet s a top prizewinner in the 2015 Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition in London. Currently the String Quartet­in­Residence at the Curtis Institute of Music, the Quartet appears in Curtis on Tour performances throughout Europe, the United States and Latin America, and in various venues throughout Philadelphia, including the Barnes Foundation, the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, Curtis’s Field Concert Hall, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, World Café Live, and on WRTI’s musician­hosted radio special “Philadelphia Music Makers.” In addition to working closely with the Curtis Institute of Music’s renowned faculty, the Aizuri Quartet is featured throughout the Curtis­Coursera online course “The World of the String Quartet,” hosted by Arnold Steinhardt.

The Aizuri Quartet’s 2015­2016 season includes debut recitals at the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Schneider Concerts in New York City, Wolf Trap, and multiple appearances as the Ernst Stiefel String Quartet­in­Residence at the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts. The Quartet will premiere newly commissioned works by composers Caroline Shaw and Paul Wiancko, in addition to collaborating with pianists Jonathan Biss and Ignat Solzhenitsyn, and clarinetist Michael Rusinek.

Highlights of previous seasons include performances in Bremen, Dresden, Paris and Salzburg, at Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and New York City’s Morgan Library and Museum with cellist Peter Wiley, and throughout Chile, Costa Rica and Mexico with violist Roberto Díaz. The Quartet has enjoyed collaborations with eighth blackbird, the Aeolus String Quartet, poet Denice Frohman, and composers Lembit Beecher and Andrew Lipke. Formed in 2012 and comprising graduates of The Juilliard School and Curtis Institute of Music, the Aizuri Quartet was the resident ensemble of the 2014 Ravinia Festival’s Steans Music Institute.

aizuriquartet.com

Primary Suzuki teachers: Nancy Hair, Carol Tarr, Alice Vierra, Rodney Farrar, Pamela Devenport, John Kendall

Yumi Kendall joined The Philadelphia Orchestra in September 2004 as Assistant Principal cellist upon graduation from the Curtis Institute of Music. While at Curtis, Ms. Kendall studied with the late David Soyer and Peter Wiley of the Guarneri Quartet.  

Ms. Kendall began studying cello at the age of five following the Suzuki method; made her recital debut at age seven in Boulder, Colorado; and, following the completion of the Suzuki method, continued to study for seven years with National Symphony Orchestra Principal cellist David Hardy. At age 16, Ms. Kendall made her solo debut with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. upon winning the NSO Youth Competition.

Ms. Kendall’s participation in summer festivals includes Music from Angel Fire, Verbier Festival, Marlboro, touring with Musicians from Marlboro, Taos School of Music, Kingston Chamber Music Festival, and Carnegie Hall’s Emerson String Quartet Workshop. Ms. Kendall is founding cellist of the Dryden String Quartet, which formed in 2001, and has appeared in performance at the Dutch and German Embassies, Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater, Reading Chamber Music Society, Schneider Concert Series, Curtis Alumni recital series, and the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society. Ms. Kendall regularly appears with her Philadelphia Orchestra colleagues in chamber music in their Kimmel Center home, in Orchestra residencies nationally and internationally, and, on one occasion, spontaneously on an airplane while delayed on the tarmac in Beijing: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFhYPsgroMk

Ms. Kendall has served on the faculties of the National Orchestral Institute, New York State School for Orchestral Studies, the Philadelphia International Music Festival, Brevard Music Center, and Miami Summer Music Festival; serves as mentor for the Curtis Institute’s new Community Artists Program, and maintains a private teaching studio. Ms. Kendall was the 2013 recipient of The Philadelphia Orchestra’s C. Hartman Kuhn Award, given annually to “the member of the Philadelphia Orchestra who has shown ability and enterprise of such character as to enhance the standards and reputation of The Philadelphia Orchestra.”

Twenty-six year old American violinist Benjamin Beilman is recognized as one of the fastest rising stars of his generation, winning praise in both North America and Europe for his passionate performances and deep rich tone which the Washington Post called “mightily impressive” and The New York Times described as “muscular with a glint of violence.” The Times also praised his “handsome technique, burnished sound, and quiet confidence [which] showed why he has come so far so fast.” Following his performance of the Sibelius Concerto at the Montreal Competition, the Strad described his performance of the slow movement as “pure poetry.”

In the upcoming season, Mr. Beilman will return to the Philadelphia Orchestra performing Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 1 in subscription, and on tour with the orchestra at Carnegie Hall. He will also appear in recital on a ten-city tour of Australia – including debut appearances in Sydney and Melbourne. In March 2016, Warner Classics will release his debut recital CD of works by Schubert, Janacek, and Stravinsky. Highlights this season include his debut with Jaap van Zweden and the Dallas Symphony and the world premiere of a new concerto written for him by Edmund Finnis with the London Contemporary Orchestra. He will also return to Europe to play Beethoven with the London Chamber Orchestra at Cadogan Hall, and for recitals at the Louvre, and the Wigmore Hall, as well as at the Verbier and Aix-en-Provence Festivals.

Last season, Beilman made his debut in subscription with the Philadelphia Orchestra, and was invited to play with them again at the Bravo! Vail Valley Festival. He also made his debut in recital at the Berlin Philharmonie, and appeared with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony, and with Orchestra St. Luke’s at Alice Tully Hall. He has recently appeared both in Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium with the New York Youth Symphony and Weill Hall, for his recital debut, in a program that included the premiere of a new work by David Ludwig commissioned for him by Carnegie Hall. Mr. Beilman also previously performed with the Basel Symphony, the Zurich Chamber Orchestra, Pacific Symphony, Nashville Symphony, Eugene Symphony, and Mainly Mozart Festival Orchestra. Abroad, Mr. Beilman has appeared as soloist with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, with the Tonhalle Orchester Zürich and Sir Neville Marriner, with Métropolitain de Montréal and Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and with the Malaysian Philharmonic and Hans Graf.  He has also appeared in recital internationally at the Louvre, Tonhalle Zürich, Wigmore Hall, Spannungen, and Festpiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.

Mr. Beilman is a frequent guest artist at festivals including at Music@Menlo, Music from Angel Fire, and Chamber Music Northwest as well as at the Bridgehampton, Marlboro, Santa Fe, Seattle, and Sedona Chamber Music Festivals.  Mr. Beilman collaborates abroad at the Kronberg Academy in Frankfurt, Spectrum Concerts Berlin, the Verbier Festival in Switzerland, and at the Young Concert Artists Festivals in Tokyo and Beijing.

Mr. Beilman is the recipient of the prestigious 2014 Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship, a 2012 Avery Fisher Career Grant, and a 2012 London Music Masters Award. In 2010, he won the First Prize in the Young Concert Artists International Auditions, and as First Prize Winner of the 2010 Montréal International Musical Competition and winner of the People’s Choice Award, Beilman recorded Prokofiev’s complete sonata for violin on the Analekta label in 2011. In 2010, he won First Prize in the Young Concert Artists International Auditions and YCA’s Helen Armstrong Violin Fellowship. 

Mr. Beilman studied with Almita and Roland Vamos at the Music Institute of Chicago, Ida Kavafian and Pamela Frank at the Curtis Institute of Music, and Christian Tetzlaff at the Kronberg Academy.

benjaminbeilman.com

Primary Suzuki training (violin): Pui Ching Middle School, Macau

Praised by the American press as ‘a startling conducting talent’ for his ‘grace and assurance’ and his ‘beautiful sense of control’, Lio Kuokman is equally sought after as a conductor, piano soloist and chamber musician.  He is currently in his second season as the assistant conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra, and was the top prize winner at the 3rd Svetlanov International Conducting Competition in France last summer with audience prize and orchestra prize. 

Lio Kuokman has worked as conductor in both the symphonic and operatic genres, having conducted the Philadelphia Orchestra, Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra, Philharmonique de Radio France, Seoul Philharmonic, Fort Worth Symphony, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Hong Kong Sinfonietta, Pan Asia Symphony Orchestra, Hong Kong Virtuosi, Taipei Philharmonic and Macau Orchestra. His appearances at music festivals include the Beijing International Music Festival, Cabrillo New Music Festival, Great Mountain Music Festival (Korea), Hong Kong Arts Festival, and Macau International Music Festival.  In opera, Lio has conducted Turandot, Il Trovatore, Don Giovanni, Le nozze di Figaro, Carmen, L’elisir d’amore, 

Cavalleria rusticana, Pagliacci, Lucia di Lammermoor, Rigoletto, and the Hong Kong premiere of Donizetti’s La fille du règiment. In addition to his appearances with professional orchestras, Lio’s passion for education has lead him to work as Apprentice Conductor of the New York Youth Symphony, Assistant Conductor of the New England Conservatory Youth Symphony, Music Director of the Montgomery County Youth Orchestra, the Macau Youth Orchestra on tour in China, Japan and United States, Curtis On Tour in Korea, Guest Conductor of The Macau Wind Symphony, The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Art Orchestra, and Guest Conductor for a joint performance with the Afghan Youth Symphony and students of the New England Conservatory.

As a concert pianist, Lio has performed as soloist with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, Camerata Salzburg, Romania Bacau Philharmonic, China National Symphony Orchestra, Hong Kong Philharmonic, and the Shanghai Symphony.  He was invited to perform in Carnegie Hall in a masterclass coached by Maestro James Levine, and is a founding member and the President of the Macau Chamber Music Association.

Lio received his Bachelor’s Degree with First Class Honor from the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Art, Master’s Degree from the Juilliard School and Diploma from the Curtis Institute of Music and New England Conservatory.  In addition, Lio has studied in masterclasses of such renowned conductors as Sir Simon Rattle, Michael Tilson Thomas, James Levine, Christoph Eschenbach, Alan Gilbert, JoAnn Falletta, Marin Alsop, Larry Rachleff, and Gustav Meier.

Primary Suzuki teacher: Allen Lieb (Memphis, TN); currently at School for Strings in NY

Kerri Ryan is the Assistant Principal Viola of The Philadelphia Orchestra. She became a member at the beginning of the 2007-08 season.  She was previously a member of the Minnesota Orchestra from 2000-2007 where she also held the title of Assistant Principal Viola. Following her graduation from the Curtis Institute of Music in 1998, Ms. Ryan was the associate concertmaster of the Charleston Symphony.

While a member of the Minnesota Orchestra, Kerri and her husband, violinist William Polk, performed Mozart's Symphonia Concertante with The Minnesota Orchestra as part of their 2007 subscription series. William and Kerri are founding members of the award-winning Minneapolis Quartet, which received a McKnight Artist Fellowships Grant in 2003. 

As the winner of several youth competitions, Ms. Ryan performed as soloist with several orchestras including The Philadelphia Orchestra and The Cleveland Orchestra. While pursuing a violin performance degree at the Curtis Institute of Music, Ms. Ryan began studying viola with Karen Tuttle.  Ms. Ryan also studied at the Cleveland Institute of Music as a member of its Young Artist Program.  Her violin teachers include Allen Lieb, Lee Snyder, Linda Sharon Cerone, David Cerone, Jascha Brodsky, Rafael Druian, and Arnold Steinhardt.

American violinist Erin Keefe has been hailed as “an impressive violin soloist” by The New York Times and has established a reputation as a compelling artist who combines exhilarating temperament and fierce integrity. She was recently named Concertmaster of the Minnesota Orchestra and was awarded an Avery Fisher Career Grant in 2006 as well as the 2009 Pro Musicis International Award. She was also awarded the Grand Prizes in the Valsesia Music International Violin Competition (Italy), the Torun International Violin Competition (Poland), the Schadt Competition and the Corpus Christi International String Competition, and was the Silver Medalist in the Carl Nielsen, Sendai (Japan) and Gyeongnam (Korea) International Violin Competitions, resulting in performances and immediate re-engagements in the US, Europe and Asia.

Ms. Keefe has appeared in recent seasons as soloist with orchestras such as the Minnesota Orchestra, the New Mexico Symphony, the New York City Ballet Orchestra, the Korean Symphony Orchestra, the Amadeus Chamber Orchestra, the Sendai Philharmonic and the Gottingen Symphony Orchestra and has given recitals throughout the United States, Austria, Germany, Korea, Poland, Japan and Denmark.

Among the leading chamber musicians of her generation, Ms. Keefe has been an Artist Member of The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center since 2010 after previously being a member of The Chamber Music Society Two program from 2006-2009. She has been featured on “Live from Lincoln Center” three times with the Society, performing works by Brahms, Schoenberg, Bach and Corelli. Ms. Keefe performs regularly with the Brooklyn and Boston Chamber Music Societies.

Ms. Keefe has collaborated with many leading artists of today including the Emerson String Quartet, Roberto and Andres Diaz, Edgar Meyer, Gary Graffman, Richard Goode, David Shifrin, David Soyer, Colin Carr, Leon Fleisher and William Preucil. She also performed on a program with Michael Tilson Thomas premiering his own chamber music at Carnegie's Zankel Hall. Her recording credits include Schoenberg's Second String Quartet with Ida Kavafian, Paul Neubauer, Fred Sherry, and Jennifer Welch-Babidge for Robert Craft and the Naxos Label, recordings of the Dvorak Terzetto and the Dvorak Piano Quartet in E-flat with David Finckel and Wu Han for the CMS Studio Recordings label as well as live performances of the Bartok Contrasts, Dvorak Piano Quintet, Mozart E-flat Piano Quartet, Respighi’s Il Tramonto and Haydn’s Arianna a Naxos recorded for Deutsche Grammophon with Menahem Pressler, Gary Hoffman, Ani Kavafian and Ewa Podles. In January of 2010, Ms. Keefe released her first solo cd including works by Mendelssohn, Schumann, Ravel, Sibelius, Lutoslawski and Hindemith recorded with pianist Anna Polonsky. Ms. Keefe’s festival appearances have included the Marlboro Music Festival, Music@Menlo, Mainly Mozart, Music Academy of the West, Music from Angel Fire, Ravinia and the Seattle, OK Mozart, Mimir, Bravo! Vail Valley, Colorado College, Skaneateles, Salt Bay, Music in the Vineyards and Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festivals.

Ms. Keefe earned a Master of Music Degree from The Juilliard School and a Bachelor of Music Degree from The Curtis Institute of Music. Her teachers included Ronald Copes, Ida Kavafian, Arnold Steinhardt, Philip Setzer, Philipp Naegele and Teri Einfeldt. She performs on a Nicolo Gagliano violin from 1732.

erinkeefeviolin.com

Primary Suzuki teachers: Ellie LeRoux (Albers), Jim Maurer, Susan Turcotte, Ronda Cole, Timothy Durbin, John Kendall

Nicolas (Nick for short) Kendall connects people through music. He picked up his first violin at the age of three. With an insatiable appetite for a diversity of expression, he went to the streets of Washington D.C. to play trash cans for lunch money as a teenager. By college, he was forming pick-up rock bands at Curtis Institute between concert debuts at the most prestigious halls in the world.

Nick is one of our generation’s most persuasive champions of bringing new audiences to concert halls across America. Irreverent, funny, and relentless, Nick has become a force for bringing people together through music, on stage and off. His work is based on the simple idea that the energy you exude greatly impacts the relationships that you build.

Nick’s leadership comes from a long personal history with collective action. Years ago, Nick gathered his friends to form a band whose direction comes from the power of the collective, now the critically acclaimed East Coast Chamber Orchestra. His genre-bending trio, Time for Three, or TF3, creates new communities of audiences who otherwise might not participate in the performing arts.

Trained in the Suzuki method, which his grandfather, John Kendall, brought to America in the 1960s, Nick continues the teaching tradition. As a caretaker of his craft, he is passing on the vitality of classical music to a new generation.

nickkendall.com

Sculpting a diverse musical life for herself as a violinist, composer, arranger, and song-writer, Michi Wiancko has been described in Gramophone magazine as an "alluring soloist with heightened expressive and violinistic gifts." She made her solo debuts with the New York Philharmonic and Los Angeles Philharmonic, and made her NY recital debut in Carnegie’s Weill Hall after winning representation by Concert Artists Guild in 2002. In 2007, Michi was featured on the cover of Symphony magazine, and in 2011 she released an album on Naxos of the violin works of French composer and violin virtuoso Émile Sauret, which had never before been recorded.
A busy collaborator and chamber musician, Michi has performed with Musicians from Marlboro, the Mark Morris Dance Group, The Knights, Alarm Will Sound, Newspeak, The Yehudim, International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble, The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Vijay Iyer, and with a group she co-founded: the East Coast Chamber Orchestra (ECCO), which will give world premieres of music by Pierre Jalbert and Chris Theofanidis this season.
As a composer, Michi’s most recent projects include commissions from the Enso String Quartet, Sybarite5, and international violin soloist Tai Murray. In November 2015, she will be premiering a new work on the Liquid Music series in St. Paul, MN for a collaborative program with composer Bill Brittelle, and indie rock duo Wye Oak. In 2014, Michi’s work was premiered at the Ecstatic Music Festival by the electro-acoustic composer collective, Bright Wave. Recently, she co-composed as well as mixed and engineered the soundtrack to a film written and directed by John Magary and starring Josh Lucas called The Mend. The film was profiled by Time magazine as one of the Top 10 films at the 2014 SXSW Film Festival.
As an arranger, Michi has worked closely with the band Wye Oak, re-imagining their songs for electro-acoustic ensemble. She has also arranged for the band EL VY (comprised of Brent Knopf and The National's Matt Berninger), for an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Michi’s “re-composition” of Geminiani’s “La Follia” has been performed across the country by ECCO, which also released a celebrated recording of it on E1 Records. The piece has since been performed by many other groups including Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Arkansas Symphony, Spokane Symphony, Harvard Chamber Orchestra, Burlington Chamber Orchestra, The Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, and many youth orchestras throughout the country and in Brazil and Colombia.

As a song-writer, Michi has recorded, toured, and created popular self-directed music videos under the name Kono Michi, and has performed her original works throughout the east coast and the UK. She premiered her critically-acclaimed album, “9 Death Haiku,” at Symphony Space’s Thalia Theater in New York, and The Strad described her sound as “intriguing and exquisitely beautiful…music that breaks through the pop classical barrier.” Though she is taking a temporary hiatus from Kono Michi to focus on composing and collaborating, she plans to revive her Kono Michi projects in the following season.
Michi splits her time between Brooklyn and a hill in Western Massachusetts with her partner and their baby daughter. Raised in San Clemente, CA, Michi started playing the violin at the age of 3. She holds a B.Mus. in performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music and a master’s degree from The Juilliard School, where she studied with the Donald Weilerstein and Robert Mann, respectively. Her early teachers include Sharon Holland and Haroutune Bedelian.

michiwiancko.com

Primary Suzuki teacher: Carolyn Moyer (Lancaster, PA)

Violinist Dara Morales joined The Philadelphia Orchestra as assistant principal second violin at the start of the 2007-08 season. She came to the Orchestra from the Utah Symphony and Opera, where she served as principal second violin. She has previously held the positions of principal second violin and interim associate concertmaster of the Puerto Rico Symphony and concertmaster of the Northern Kentucky Symphony. 

As soloist Ms. Morales has performed with the Utah Symphony, the Cincinnati Symphony, the Puerto Rico Symphony, the Bangor Symphony, and the Lancaster Symphony, among others. During the summers she teaches at the Philadelphia International Music Festival and previously had been a regular participant in the Grand Teton Music Festival, the Park City Chamber Music Festival, and the Intermezzo Chamber Series (Salt Lake City).

A native of Ephrata, Pennsylvania, Ms. Morales earned both her bachelor and master’s degrees in music from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, where she acted as graduate teaching assistant and taught in the Starling Preparatory Program. Her principal teachers include Kurt Sassmannshaus, Helen Kwalwasser, and Dorothy DeLay. Ms. Morales also studied chamber music with Peter Oundjian, Henry Meyer, and members the Tokyo Quartet. 

Ms. Morales was a Suzuki violin student of Carolyn Moyer in Lancaster, PA for eight years. She spent many summers as a child at the Ithaca Summer Suzuki Institute, returning later as an adult, first for teacher training, and now as a Suzuki mom. Ms. Morales and her husband, cellist Jesús Morales, have two daughters, Isabel (8), a Suzuki cellist, and Karina (5), a Suzuki violinist.

J FREIVOGEL, violin • Primary Suzuki teachers: Ronda Cole, John Kendall

SAE CHONABAYASHI, violin • Primary Suzuki teachers: Takashi Shimizu, Kiyomi Anzai, Hiromi Yasuda

SAM QUINTAL, viola • Primary Suzuki teachers: Susie Hallinan, Donna Matschke, Jo Roberts

RACHEL HENDERSON FREIVOGEL, cello • Primary Suzuki teacher: Deborah Watts 

Winner of the prestigious CMA Cleveland Quartet Award, Philadelphia's Jasper String Quartet is the Professional Quartet in Residence at Temple University's Center for Gifted Young Musicians. 

The Jaspers have been hailed as “sonically delightful and expressively compelling” (The Strad) and "powerful" (New York Times). "The Jaspers... match their sounds perfectly, as if each swelling chord were coming out of a single, impossibly well-tuned organ, instead of four distinct instruments." (New Haven Advocate)

The quartet records exclusively for Sono Luminus and have released three highly acclaimed albums - Beethoven Op. 131, The Kernis Project: Schubert, and The Kernis Project: Beethoven.

Current Projects
The Quartet commissioned Aaron Jay Kernis’ 3rd String Quartet "River" for the 2015-17 seasons with a remarkable consortium of presenters. Throughout the next two seasons, they will perform the work in recital for each consortium member - Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts, Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, Chamber Music Northwest, Chamber Music Monterey Bay, Classic Chamber Concerts, and Chamber Music America.

In addition to their concert schedule next season, they will continue their work in the Philadelphia Public Schools through Astral Artists' Colors of Classical Music, a project funded through a monumental grant from the William Penn Foundation.

Our History
In 2008, the Jaspers swept through the competition circuit, winning the Grand Prize and the Audience Prize in the Plowman Chamber Music Competition, the Grand Prize at the Coleman Competition, First Prize at Chamber Music Yellow Springs, and the Silver Medal at the 2008 and 2009 Fischoff Chamber Music Competitions. They were also the first ensemble honored with Yale School of Music’s Horatio Parker Memorial Prize, an award established in 1945 and selected by the faculty for “best fulfilling… lofty musical ideals." In 2010, they joined the roster of Astral Artists after winning their national auditions.

The Quartet was the 2010-12 Ensemble-in-Residence at Oberlin Conservatory and, in conjunction with Astral Artists, was awarded a 2012 Chamber Music America grant through its Residency Partnership Program for work in Philadelphia schools. From 2009-2011, the Jaspers were the Ernst C. Stiefel String Quartet-in-Residence at the Caramoor Center for Music and Arts (Katonah, NY). They were the first ensemble to be invited for a second year as such.

Our Philosophy
The Jaspers perform pieces emotionally significant to its members ranging from Haydn and Beethoven through Berg, Ligeti, and living composers. They have commissioned string quartets from some of today’s best composers, including Aaron Jay Kernis, Andrew Norman, Nicholas Omiccioli, Conrad Tao and Annie Gosfield. Critics and audiences commend the Jasper String Quartet’s “programming savvy” (clevelandclassical.com) and they have performed throughout the United States and in Canada, England, Italy, Japan, Korea, Norway and Panama.

The Jasper String Quartet has brought well over 100 outreach programs into schools and enjoys educational work of all types. In their Melba and Orville Roleffson Residency at the Banff Centre they embarked on "guerrilla chamber music," performing concerts in unusual settings around Alberta, Canada. Currently, the quartet works closely with Philadelphia’s Astral Artists to bring outreach activities to schools.

JSQ Origin
Formed at Oberlin Conservatory, the Jaspers began pursuing a professional career in 2006 while studying with James Dunham, Norman Fischer, and Kenneth Goldsmith as Rice University’s Graduate Quartet-in-Residence. In 2008, the quartet continued its training with the Tokyo String Quartet as Yale University's Graduate Quartet-in-Residence.

The Jasper String Quartet is named after Jasper National Park in Alberta, Canada.  The quartet receives Career Development support from Astral Artists and is represented exclusively by Dispeker Artists.  

jasperquartet.com

Nathan Cole, First Associate Concertmaster of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, has appeared as guest concertmaster with the orchestras of Pittsburgh, Minnesota, Houston, Ottawa, Seattle, and Oregon. He was previously a member of the Chicago Symphony and Principal Second Violin of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. A native of Lexington, KY, he made his debut with the Louisville Orchestra at the age of ten while studying with Donna Wiehe. After eight years working with Daniel Mason, Cole enrolled at the Curtis Institute of Music. In addition to his studies there with Pamela Frank, Felix Galimir, Ida Kavafian, and Jaime Laredo, Cole formed the Grancino String Quartet, debuting in New York’s Weill Hall. Several summers at Marlboro enriched his love of chamber music.

While in Chicago, Nathan taught at Roosevelt University and coached the Chicago Civic Orchestra. He is currently on the faculty at the Colburn School for the Performing Arts, with classes at the Colburn Conservatory and USC. His articles and photographs have appeared in Strings, Symphony, and Chamber Music magazines.

Nathan is on the faculties of the Colburn Community School for Performing Arts and Azusa Pacific University, as well as an online teaching artist with ArtistWorks.

EMILY BRUSKIN, violin • Primary Suzuki teacher: Susan Reed

JULIA BRUSKIN, cello • Primary Suzuki teacher: Nancy Hair

ANDREA LAM, piano

Lauded as “one of America’s finest young chamber groups” Strad Magazine, the Claremont Trio is sought after for its thrillingly virtuosic and richly communicative performances. First winners of the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson International Trio Award and the only piano trio ever to win the Young Concert Artists International Auditions, the Claremonts are consistently lauded for their "aesthetic maturity, interpretive depth, and exuberance" (Palm Beach Daily News).

During the 2015-16 season, the Claremont Trio performs at the Smithsonian Museum (DC), Texas State University (TX), Colgate University (NY), Chicago's Norton Concert Series (IL), the Chamber Music Society of Utica (NY), the JCC of Greater Washington, (MD), Music Mondays, (NY), the Skaneateles Festival, (NY), and the Old Ship Church in Hingham (MA). They return to Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum to present a four-concert series featuring Brahms' Piano Trios alongside new works by Judd Greenstein, Robert Paterson, Donald Crockett and Lembit Beecher.  In addition, the Trio will record a newly commissioned trio written for them by Robert Paterson and will be visiting artists-in-residence at Columbia University. 

Bridge Records released the Claremont Trio’s newest recording of the Beethoven “Triple” Concerto with the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra and Beethoven’s Trio Op. 1 No. 1 this winter to critical acclaim.  Their discography also includes trios by Ravel, Mendelssohn, Shostakovich, Arensky, Leon Kirchner, Ellen Zwilich, Paul Schoenfield, Mason Bates, and a collaborative disc with clarinetist Jonathan Cohler which received a Critic’s CHOICE award from BBC Magazine.

The Claremont Trio was formed in 1999 at the Juilliard School.  Twin sisters Emily Bruskin, violin, and Julia Bruskin, cello and pianist Andrea Lam are all based in NYC near their namesake: Claremont Avenue.  For more information about the Claremont Trio, please visit www.claremonttrio.com.

claremonttrio.com

Primary Suzuki teacher: Lucille Rouse (Peabody Prep)

A native of Maryland, Burchard Tang began his musical studies on violin at the age of 3. He started with the Suzuki method at Peabody Prep in Baltimore with Lucille Rouse. At the age of 16 he switched to viola. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in May 1999 from the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied with Joseph dePasquale, retired Philadelphia Orchestra principal viola, and Choong-Jin Chang, the Orchestra’s current principal viola. Mr. Tang has served as principal viola with the Curtis Symphony and the New York String Seminar, and he has performed with the Brandenburg Ensemble.  He joined the Philadelphia Orchestra in September of 1999. 

A 1993 winner of the Philadelphia Orchestra Albert M. Greenfield Student Competition, Mr. Tang performed with the Orchestra as a soloist in a Student Concert in November 1993. Other honors include the Temple University Preparatory Division Concerto Competition and second prize in the Senior Division of the Fischoff Competition in 1996.

Wendy Warner has become one of the world's leading cellists. The New York Times reported "Warner's expressive playing and glowing tone were everywhere a pleasure." The Chicago Tribune wrote, "If there was a truly prodigious performance during the evening, this was it," while Strings has hailed her "youthful, surging playing, natural stage presence and almost frightening technique." As jury member Frans Helmerson told The New York Times when Warner won first-prize at the Fourth International Rostropovich Competition in Paris in 1990, "she's unbelievable."

Audiences have watched Warner perform on prestigious stages including New York's Carnegie Hall, Symphony Hall in Boston, Walt Disney Hall in Los Angeles, Paris' Salle Pleyel, and Berlin's Philharmonie. She has collaborated with such leading conductors as Mstislav Rostropovich, Vladimir Spivakov, Christoph Eschenbach, Andre Previn, Jesús López-Cobos, Carlos Miguel Prieto, Ignat Solzhenitsyn, Marin Alsop, Charles Dutoit, Eiji Oue, Neeme Järvi and Michael Tilson Thomas.

Recently Warner made her debut at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall performing unknown works by Beethoven which she recorded for the Beethoven Project trio. Warner's past North American engagements have included performances with the Chicago, Boston, Dallas, Hartford, North Carolina, Jacksonville, Montreal, New Mexico, Omaha, Nashville, and San Francisco Symphonies, and the Minnesota and Philadelphia Orchestras. Around the world she has performed with the London Symphony (Barbican Center), Berlin Symphony, Hong Kong Philharmonic, French Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Iceland Symphony, L'Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse, and L'Orchestre de Paris, with which she performed the Brahms Double Concerto with violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter, Semyon Bychkov conducting. Warner has played with the European Soloists of Luxembourg at Frankfurt's Alter Oper, and the Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine. She has toured Japan as a soloist with NHK Symphony Orchestra and the Japan Philharmonic. In the 2013-14 season, Ms. Warner returns to perform an all-Brahms concert at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston following her two recitals there in 2011-12 performing the complete Beethoven cycle. Concerto appearances include the Champaign-Urbana Symphony, Tuscaloosa Symphony, Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional in Lima, Peru and the Peninsula Music Festival in Summer, 2014.

The child of professional musicians and the granddaughter of composer Philip Warner whose symphony premiered with the NBC Symphony, Leopold Stokowski conducting, Warner began studying piano at the age of four and began studying the cello at age six, under the tutelage of Nell Novak. At age 14 she made her debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra broadcast on WTTW-TV. She continued her studies with Rostropovich at the Curtis Institute from which she graduated. Her career took an auspicious turn in 1990 when she made her Washington D.C. debut with the National Symphony playing Shostakovich's First Cello Concerto. In 1991, she made her Carnegie Hall debut performing the Schumann Concerto conducted by Rostropovich. She was re-engaged to appear with the NSO on a North American tour in 1991. Under Rostropovich's baton, she performed with the Bamberg Symphony for a 1991 European tour, making her debuts in Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Köln, Düsseldorf and Berlin. "He made the Prokofiev Symphonia Concertante and Shostakovich No. 1 fit like a glove. He challenged me to new heights and made me feel that I had no limitations," recalls Warner.

Warner's discography includes the 2010 release of The Beethoven Project – featuring unknown Beethoven piano trios with pianist George Lepauw and violinist Sang Mee Lee; Wendy Warner Plays Popper and Piatigorsky; Double Play: Twentieth Century Duos for Violin and Cello with Rachel Barton Pine, (all on the Cedille label); Hindemith's Music for Cello & Piano for Bridge Records and the critically acclaimed Samuel Barber: Orchestral Works, Volume 2 featuring Barber's Cello Concerto, with Marin Alsop and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, released by Naxos. Her first duo recording with pianist Irina Nuzova was released in 2010. Titled "Russian Music for Cello & Piano," the Cedille Records collection of romantic works features Sergei Rachmaninov's Sonata in G minor, and the first time the rarely-performed Sonata in A minor by Nikolai Miaskovsky has been recorded by an American on American soil. Also included are works by Sergei Prokofiev, Alfred Schnittke, and Alexander Scriabin.

A recipient of the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant, Warner is on the faculty at the Schwob School of Music at Columbus State University in Georgia where she holds the Leah D. Hamer Distinguished Chair in Cello.

wendywarnercello.com

Winner of numerous prizes including the Walter Naumburg International Competition,  Tibor Varga International Competition, Astral Artists National Auditions, Young Performers Career Advancement, and Lili Boulanger awards, Ayano has appeared recently at the National Gallery of Art in D.C., at Lincoln Center (NYC), in the U.K. and New Zealand, and gave a TEDx talk at the University of Tokyo.  Praised for her "deeply communicative and engrossing" (The New York Times) recital at Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall, she has performed with orchestras across the U.S. and in Switzerland and Bulgaria and has been featured in major halls in Vienna, Paris, Lucerne, Copenhagen, Barcelona, Melbourne, Beijing, and Tokyo, among others.  She has performed at the Marlboro, Ravinia, Moab, Bowdoin, Skaneateles, Adams (New Zealand), Canberra International (Australia), and Prussia Cove (England) festivals, and has been featured on Musicians from Marlboro Festival tours on the west and east coast of the U.S. and France.  She was first violinist of the Ying Quartet, with whom she recorded three albums, and was Associate Professor at the Eastman School of Music until 2015.  In 2015 she joined the faculty of the New England Conservatory of Music.  As a recipient of the Beebe Fellowship, Ayano studied in Budapest at the Liszt Academy after graduating from Harvard University and The Juilliard School.  She is also a watercolor artist and passionate Aikidoka.

ayanoviolin.com

Primary Suzuki teacher: Terry Peters

Suzuki pedagogy teachers:  Beth Titterington, Christie Felsing

Kei is excited to be part of The Suzuki Alumni Project Team as a Suzuki kid and a music educator who incorporates the Suzuki Method into her teaching. She began her musical studies at the age of five with Terry Peters at a local Suzuki violin program in Connecticut. Even after completing all of the Suzuki books and being told she needed a teacher who could better serve her, Kei insisted on staying with Mrs. Peters and did so as she continued her violin studies in New York.  

While her love for music and the desire to help others was deeply rooted during her formative years, it was not until college that Kei realized her potential to pursue a career that would use music performance and education to positively impact communities, particularly those that are underserved. After graduating from Swarthmore College with a Bachelor of Arts in biology and music, she switched her focus back to studying the violin under the guidance of Choong-Jin (C.J.) Chang, Ivan Chan, and Benny Kim.  Kei has had the honor and pleasure of studying chamber music and collaborating with members of the Miami String Quartet.  Equally passionate about orchestral playing, she performs regularly with Britt Music Festival, Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, PA Ballet, and the Philly POPS and has also played in Kansas City Symphony, Akron Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra 2001, and Symphony in C. Kei has been dedicated to her work as a teaching artist at Play On, Philly! and Project 440 and is continuously exploring ways to use music education and performance as tools for inspiring, empowering, and uniting people of all backgrounds.

Primary Suzuki teachers: Teri Einfeldt and David Einfeldt (Hartt School of Music), Linda Embser and Barbara Embser (Hartford Conservatory)

Violinist Marc Rovetti came to The Philadelphia Orchestra in 2007 and was named assistant concertmaster beginning with the 2009-10 season. Previously he was a member of the New World Symphony and the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE). He was formerly a member of the award-winning Rothko String Quartet and the Mark Morris Dance Group Ensemble.

Mr. Rovetti spent four summers at the Tanglewood Music Center, both as a fellow and as a violinist in the New Fromm Players, Tanglewood’s resident new music chamber ensemble. A strong advocate for new music, he has worked closely with composers Augusta Read Thomas, Bernard Rands, and Magnus Lindberg, and he has collaborated with many young composers during ICE residencies at New York, Columbia, and Northwestern universities.

Born and raised in Hartford, Connecticut, Mr. Rovetti made his solo debut with the Atlanta Symphony in 2005. He holds both Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from the Juilliard School and an Advanced Certificate from New York University, where his teachers were Ronald Copes and Pamela Frank, respectively. During his time at NYU he also served as adjunct violin faculty.

NELSON LEE, violin

MEGAN FREIVOGEL, violin • Primary Suzuki teacher: Ronda Cole, John Kendall

LIZ FREIVOGEL, viola • Primary Suzuki teacher: Ronda Cole, John Kendall

DANIEL McDONOUGH, cello • Primary Suzuki teacher: Phyllis Young

The Jupiter String Quartet is a particularly intimate group, consisting of violinists Nelson Lee and Megan Freivogel, violist Liz Freivogel (older sister of Meg), and cellist Daniel McDonough (husband of Meg, brother-in-law of Liz). As they enter their thirteenth year of making music together, the members of this tightly-knit ensemble have firmly established their quartet as an important voice in the world of chamber music. In addition to their performing career, the Jupiters are the String Quartet-in-Residence at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana, where they maintain private studios as well as responsibility for running the chamber music program.

The Quartet concertizes across the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia, and the Americas. They have enjoyed playing in some of the world’s finest halls, including New York’s Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, London’s Wigmore Hall, Boston’s Jordan Hall, Mexico City’s Palacio de Bellas Artes, Washington, D.C.’s Kennedy Center and Library of Congress, Austria’s Esterhazy Palace, and Seoul’s Sejong Chamber Hall. They have also been enthusiastically received at many major music festivals, including the Aspen Music Festival (where they performed their first complete Beethoven quartet cycle), West Cork (Ireland) Chamber Music Festival, Caramoor International Music Festival, Music at Menlo, Maverick Concerts, Madeline Island Music Festival, Rockport Music Festival, the Banff Centre, Yellow Barn Festival, Skaneateles Festival, and the Seoul Spring Festival, among others.

The Jupiters have been fortunate to receive several chamber music honors over the course of their career. In 2008 they were awarded an Avery Fisher Career Grant and, in 2007, they were given the Cleveland Quartet Award from Chamber Music America. Previously, the Jupiters were awarded first prize in the Banff International String Quartet Competition (where they also received the Szekely Prize for best performance of a Beethoven quartet), and grand prize in the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. The quartet’s career began to take off after being selected in the Young Concert Artists International auditions in 2005. From 2007-2010, the Quartet was in residence at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s Chamber Music Two and, in 2009, they received a grant from the Fromm Foundation to commission a new quartet from Dan Visconti for a CMSLC performance at Alice Tully Hall.

The Jupiters’ relationship with CMSLC continued with a series of performances alongside vocalist Thomas Hampson, including a new commission for quartet and voice by Mark Adamo. The quartet also helped to commission a new quartet by the composer Hannah Lash, which they premiered at the Great Lakes and Aspen Music Festivals.  Current projects include a second Beethoven cycle, this time at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a Bartok cycle (to premiere at the University of Illinois) and two upcoming recording projects, the first of which will include Visconti’s string quartet as well as the Dvorak “American” quartet–interspersed with a selection of spirituals arranged for voice and quartet. The Jupiters just finished a multi-year visiting residency at the Oberlin Conservatory, and will continue their regular series of concerts as resident quartet at the beautiful Krannert Performing Arts Center in Champaign-Urbana.

In addition to its formal concert schedule, the Jupiter String Quartet places a strong emphasis on developing relationships with future classical music audiences through outreach work in school systems and other educational performances. They believe that chamber music, because of the intensity of its interplay and communication, is one of the most effective ways of spreading an enthusiasm for “classical” music to new audiences.

Indeed, it was early exposure to chamber music that brought these four musicians to form the Jupiter String Quartet. Meg and Liz grew up playing string quartets with their two brothers, Ben and J. Rehearsals were often quite raucous, but they grew to love chamber music during weekly coachings with Oliver Edel, a wonderful cellist who taught generations of students in the Washington, D.C. area. Nelson also comes from a musical family–both of his parents are pianists (his father also conducts) and his twin sisters, Alicia and Andrea, are both musicians. Although Daniel originally wanted to be a violinist, he ended up on the cello because the organizers of his first string program declared that he had “better hands for the cello.” He remains skeptical of this comment (he was, after all, only five), but is happy that he ended up where he did.

The quartet has recorded works by Mendelssohn, Beethoven, Shostakovich, and Britten for Marquis Records. American works by Barber, Seeger, and Gershwin were also recorded for iTunes in conjunction with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and Deutsche Grammophon. Most recently, they collaborated on a collection of works by Ravel (Ravel: Intimate Masterpieces) on the Oberlin College label. Two upcoming recordings are in the works on the Azica label this season.

The quartet chose its name because Jupiter was the most prominent planet in the night sky at the time of its formation and the astrological symbol for Jupiter resembles the number four. They are also proud to list among their accomplishments in recent years the addition of five quartet children–Pablo (5), Lillian (2), Clara (2), Dominic (0), and Felix (0). You may spot some of these miniature Jupiters in the audience or tagging along to rehearsals, along with their grandparent babysitters.

The Jupiter Quartet is managed by Bill Capone of the Arts Management Group.

jupiterquartet.com

I am not a professional musician.  It was never my goal to become one.  I am an amateur violinist in the truest and proudest sense of the word:  I do it only because I love it.  To be crystal clear, I have nothing but profound respect and deep admiration (and admittedly, oftentimes more than a little jealousy) for those who do make music their life’s work.  It just wasn’t the life for me, or at least I thought it wasn’t when I had to figure out what to do with myself.   So what did I get from twelve years of Suzuki education?  I only had two private teachers, Marty Steiger and John Kendall.  What did I get from twelve years of their best efforts?  In a word, everything.  The Suzuki method isn’t about turning out prodigies or professionals (although it does plenty of both).  It’s about becoming a whole person.  Learning the value of persistence and hard work.  Learning how to analyze a problem and break it down into manageable bits.  Learning how to build on previous knowledge and skills.  Learning how to use all of your senses, and learning the value of group experience.  Learning how to learn.  I was shown how to see beauty amid structure, and structure amid beauty.    Music education, particularly the Suzuki way, trains the mind for everything from recognizing patterns to developing empathy.  At least it did for me.  I use it every day, even the days I don’t pick up my violin.

Siroth Charnond, M.D.

Primary Suzuki teacher: Nell Novak at The Music Center of the North Shore (now the Music Institute of Chicago) 

Praised as "passionate and elegant" by The New York Times, cellist Amy Sue Barston has performed as a soloist and chamber musician on stages all over the world, including Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Ravinia, Bargemusic, Caramoor, Haan Hall (Jerusalem), The Banff Centre (Canada), The International Musicians Seminar (England), The Power House (Australia), and Chicago's Symphony Center.

At age seventeen, she appeared as soloist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on live television, was the Grand Prize winner in the Society of American Musicians' Competition, and won First Place and the Audience Prize in the Fischoff International Chamber Music Competition.

Beginning at age three, Amy studied with Nell Novak at the Music Institute of Chicago, Eleonore Schoenfeld at USC, and Joel Krosnick at Juilliard, where she earned her Masters degree. She also worked with Yo Yo Ma, Gary Hoffman, Ralph Kirshbaum, Tim Eddy, David Geringas, and Pinchas Zukerman.

Amy has performed as soloist with the Chicago Symphony, the Chicago Chamber Orchestra, the Prometheus Chamber Orchestra, the Rockford Symphony, the USC Symphony, the Westchester Symphony, and the University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra, among many others. She made her first solo appearance with orchestra in Guelph, Canada when she was twelve.

Amy is artistic director of the Canandaigua Lake Music Festival in New York, and the cellist ofThe Corigliano Quartet, which has been hailed by Strad Magazine as having "abundant commitment and mastery," and whose recent Naxos CD was named one of the top two recordings of the year by both the New Yorker and Gramophone Magazine. Her piano trio, Trio Vela, performs regularly at Bargemusic in New York City. She also performs regularly in duos, trios, and quartets with the world's most celebrated fiddler, Mark O'Connor. Amy has performed sonatas and chamber music with many of the world's leading musicians, including Leon Fleisher, Jon Kimura Parker, Arnold Steinhardt, Bernard Greenhouse, and Ani Kavafian.

Amy is also a devoted teacher: in her home, at the Juilliard School Pre-College, and at numerous summer music festivals. Several of her students commute for lessons from hundreds of miles away, some from as far away as Alaska and Japan. Amy's upcoming schedule includes solo and chamber music performances in England, Sydney, New Zealand, Tokyo, New York, Los Angeles, Salt Lake, Wisconsin, Rochester, Denver, Chicago, and Germany. Amy also has a brand new CD out and available, which she had the honor to record with Grammy Award winning contemporary classical music producer, Judith Sherman.

amybarston.com

Nikki was born in 1989 to parents of Chinese descent in Victoria, British Columbia. He began his studies at the Victoria Conservatory of Music where at age 9, he became a protege of Sydney Humphreys. He is a graduate of the Mount Royal Conservatory under Bill van der Sloot, and received his undergraduate degree at the Curtis Institute of Music, and recently completed his studies at the Juilliard School with Ida Kavafian and Donald Weilerstein. In 2004, he came to national attention as the Grand Award winner of the Canadian National Music Festival and the Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal Standard Life Competition.

Passionate in Chamber Music as well, Nikki has performed in many international festivals including the Marlboro Music Festival, the Ravinia Festival, the Dresden Music Festival in Germany, Montreal Chamber Fest, Napa Valley’s Music from the Vineyards, and Music from Angel Fire. He has collaborated in performances with Pamela Frank, Gary Graffman, Kim Kashkashian and with members of the Guarneri String Quartet, Juilliard String Quartet, Vermeer String Quartet, Orion String Quartet. In 2009, Nikki was a core member of the Curtis on Tour to Europe ensemble performing with Roberto Diaz and Robert MacDonald.

In summer of 2015, Nikki joined the genre-breaking ensemble, Time for Three, and will perform in selected concerts with them throughout the 15/16 season.

nikkichooi.com

Born in Victoria, British Columbia, Canadian violinist Timothy Chooi, is enrolled at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia studying with Ida Kavafian and previously studied with Pinchas Zukerman and Patinka Kopec. At the age of 16, Chooi captured the 2010 Grand Prix of the 71st l'Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal Standard Life Competition, bringing him numerous concert engagements. Chooi debuted his performance with the l'Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal under the command of Maestro Jean-François Rivest. The La Presse Newspaper of Montréal described Chooi's debut as ''le miracle (the miracle).'' He has since played with l'Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal again under the baton of Maestro Kent Nagano. Chooi was recently awarded the Bronze Medal (3rd Prize) at the 2015 Michael Hill International Violin Competition in New Zealand.

Highlight performances in 2015-2016 season, includes performances with the Montreal Chamber Orchesetra, the Santa Barbara Symphony, Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, a recital tour in Quebec and in Latin America. Chooi has performed with major orchestras across the world including, Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, National Arts Centre Orchestra, Toronto Phillharmonia, Auckland Philharmonia, the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra.  Some of the conductors that he has worked with include Pinchas Zukerman, Benjamin Zander, Carlos Miguel Prieto, Kent Nagano and Yoav Talmi. Chooi maintains a close relationship with CBC Radio-Canada and his performances are regularly recorded and broadcasted across the world.

Timothy acknowldeges the generous loan of his 1717 Windsor-Weinstein Stradivarius from the Canada Council for the Arts.

timothychooi.com

Suzuki cello teachers: Haukur Hannesson, Iceland; Preucil School in Iowa City; Tanya Carey (currently at Roosevelt University).

“The Suzuki philosophy not only teaches us to be good musicians, but more importantly, to be good people.”

I am truly the product of Suzuki's philosophy of learning through love! My mom was a Suzuki violin teacher. I started learning cello in Iceland with one of the leaders of the Suzuki movement in Europe, Haukur Hannesson, then continued at the Preucil School in Iowa City, then the incredible artist teacher and teacher trainer, Tanya Carey, who would eventually train me to be a Suzuki teacher myself! Although I am now teaching cello at the college level (at the University of Washington in Seattle) I still use the guiding principals of Dr. Suzuki, because his philosophy not only teaches us to be good musicians, but, more importantly, to be good people.

saeunn.com

JULIA SALERNO, violin

SARAH WHITNEY, violin

SEEING DOUBLE is a unique concert of all duo violin music, proving that the music of two violins can be much more than the sum of their parts! The audience will be taken on a journey from Baroque to Jazz, with compositions by Telemann, Leclair, Mozart, Halvorsen, Bartok, Prokofiev, Martinu, Rosza, Summer, Chepaitis, and O'Connor, just to name a few!

Longtime best friends, Sarah Whitney and Julia Salerno began performing duo violin concerts while studying together at the University of Michigan. Though currently residing on opposite coasts, Julia as violin/viola professor at Eastern Washington University and Sarah as a violinist in the NYC based quintet Sybarite5, the concerts have continued over the past decade. This extraordinary opportunity to hear these friends in concert is not to be missed.

seeingdoubleduo.com