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Musician Bios
Violin
Frank Huang, violin, leader
Since winning the first prize of the 2003 Walter W. Naumburg Foundation’s
Violin Competition and the 2000 Hannover International Violin Competition,
Frank Huang has developed a major career as a violin virtuoso. At the age
of eleven, he performed with the Houston Symphony Orchestra in a nationally
broadcast concert and has since performed with orchestras throughout the
world, including the Cleveland Orchestra, Indianapolis Symphony, NDR-Radio
Philharmonic Orchestra of Hannover, Amadeus Chamber Orchestra and the Genoa
Orchestra. He has performed on NPR’s Performance Today, Good Morning
America and CNN’s American Morning with Paula Zahn. Mr. Huang’s
first commercial recording, comprised of Fantasies by Schubert, Ernst, Schoenberg
and Waxman, was released to critical acclaim on Naxos in the fall of 2003.
He has had great success in competitions since the age of fifteen with top
prize awards in the Premio Paganini International Violin Competition and
the Indianapolis International Violin Competition. He received Gold Medal
Awards in the Kingsville International Competition, the Irving M. Klein
International Competition and the D’Angelo International Competition.
In addition to his solo career, Mr. Huang is deeply committed to chamber
music. He has attended the Marlboro Music Festival, Ravinia’s Steans
Institute, The Seattle Chamber Music festival, and the the Caramoor Festival,
and also been a member of the prestigious Chamber Music Society of Lincoln
Center's CMSII program. He is also the leader and concertmaster of the Sejong
Soloists, a conductorless string ensemble based in New York City. Recent
performances include concerts in Wigmore Hall, (London) Salle Cortot, (Paris)
Kennedy Center, (Washington) and Alice Tully Hall (New York), where he gave
the world premiere of Donald Martino's Sonata for Solo Violin.
Higgin Kim, Chairman of Byucksan Engineering Co. Chair
Stefan Milenkovich, violin, leader
Stefan Milenkovich has rapidly established an international reputation for compelling, poignant, and colorful performances. His career includes performances for President Ronald Reagan at the Christmas Show in Washington D.C. at the age of ten, President Mikhail Gorbachev in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, at the age of eleven, and twice for Pope John Paul II in Castelgandolfo, Italy, at the ages of sixteen and twenty one. Mr. Milenkovich has performed with the Indianapolis Symphony, Orpheus Chamber, Aspen Chamber, Berlin Symphony, Helsinki Philharmonic, the Orchestra of Radio-France, the National Orchestra of Belgium, Belgrade Philharmonic, Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra, Mexico State Symphony, Orquestra Sinfonica de Estado de Sao Paolo in Brazil and the Melbourne and Queensland Symphonies in Australia. Included in his discography are Bach’s complete Sonatas and Partitas and Paganini’s complete music for violin solo, as well as never before recorded works by Paganini. Mr. Milenkovich was a prize winner in the Queen Elisabeth, Indianapolis, Paganini, Tibor Varga and Yehudi Menuhin international violin competitions.
Also a dedicated educator, he has taught at the Perlman Music Programme, and New York University. Currently he is on the faculty at University of Illinois.
Jaewon Choi, violin
Violinist Jaewon Choi is the recipient of numerous awards and honors in
Korea, including the Korea Broadcast System (KBS), Korea Daily Newspaper,
Seoul National University, Joong-Ang Daily Newspaper, Dong-A Daily Newspaper,
and New World Newspaper competitions. She participated in Master Classes
with Dorothy DeLay, Zakar Bron, and James Buswell. She has appeared with
Seoul Philharmonic, Korean Baroque Chamber, Bu-Cheon Philharmonic, KBS,
Seoul National University Alumni, Seoul National University String, Su-Won
Philharmonic orchestras. She won the Young Artist Audition at the Kumho
Cultural Foundation and gave a recital concert at Kumho Art Hall. She has
also performed in the Alice Tully Hall at the Lincoln Center and in the
Stern Hall and the Zankel Hall at the Carnegie Hall. As an active Chamber
Musician, she performed in master classes with Juilliard String Quartet
and Isaac Stern at the Miyazaki Music Festival. She also participated in
the Isaac Stern’s Chamber Music Workshop at Carnegie Hall. While she
was pursuing Master of Music degree at Juilliard, she studied with Mr. Hyo
Kang and studied chamber music with Robert McDonald, Itzhak Perlman, Nicolas
Mann, and Joel Smirnoff. Currently a student in Artist Diploma Program at
Yale School of Music, Ms. Choi is a student of Hyo Kang.
Emilie-Anne Gendron, violin
Violinist Emilie-Anne Gendron, lauded as a "brilliant soloist" by the New York Times, is rapidly garnering acclaim for her perceptive and elegant interpretations as a soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician. Recent highlights include a recital at the Louvre museum in Paris, an appearance in Avery Fisher Hall with the Juilliard Orchestra, and a concert devoted to chamber work world premieres on MoMA’s acclaimed Summergarden series. A passionate and experienced advocate for new music, Ms. Gendron is a member of the Momenta Quartet, 2009 recipients of the prestigious Koussevitzky Music Foundation commission grant. She has worked with such eminent living composers as Roger Reynolds, Matthew Greenbaum, Behzad Ranjbaran, Hiroya Miura, Aaron Jay Kernis, Samuel Adler, Elliott Sharp, and Philip Lasser. She has also enjoyed success in several major competitions: she is a past winner of the Stulberg String Competition, and most recently took 2nd Prize and the Audience Prize at the 2009 Sion-Valais (formerly Tibor Varga) International Violin Competition. Ms. Gendron was trained at the Juilliard School where her principal teachers were Won-Bin Yim, Dorothy DeLay, David Chan, and Hyo Kang. She holds the distinction of being the first person in Juilliard's history to be accepted simultaneously to its two most selective courses of study: both the Doctor of Musical Arts and the Artist Diploma. She holds a B.A. in Classics from Columbia University as a graduate of the Columbia-Juilliard joint-degree program, and a Master of Music degree and the coveted Artist Diploma from Juilliard.
Yu Jeong Lee, violin
Yu Jeong Lee studied at the Seoul National University in Korea and completed
her bachelor’s and master’s degree in violin studies at The
Juilliard School. She has performed in foremost international venues such
as the United Nations, Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully
Hall, The Banff Centre for the Arts in Canada, Clarice Smith Performing
Arts Center, The Concert Series at the Korean Cultural Service in Washington
D.C, and the Seoul Arts Center as a winner of the Rising Star Concert Series.
She has been featured as a soloist with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra,
Korean Symphony Orchestra, Aspen Young Artists Chamber Orchestra, Corelliard
Chamber Orchestra and The Juilliard Orchestra, among others. She was the
principal violinist of Bucheon Philharmonic Orchestra in Korea, as well
as the concertmaster of the New York Sinfonietta and University of Maryland
Symphony Orchestra. Ms.Lee is currently a doctoral candidate at the University
of Maryland.
Liu Foundation Chair
Yura Lee, violin
Winner of the 2007 Avery Fischer Career Grant, violinist/violist Yura Lee
has enjoyed an exceptional career since coming to the United States in 1994.
In recent seasons she has appeared with many prestigious orchestras, among
them the New York Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Saint Louis Symphony,
Los Angeles Philharmonic, Hong Kong Philharmonic, and Tokyo Philharmonic,
among others. The 1999-2000 season saw her Carnegie Hall debut with Leonard
Slatkin and the National Symphony Orchestra, following subscription concerts
in Washington, D.C. In 2006, Ms. Lee was the first prize winner in the Leopold
Mozart Competition, where she was also awarded the Mozart Prize, Mozart
Medal, Jugendjury Prize, and the Public Prize. Also in 2006, Ms. Lee was
the fourth prize laureate in the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis,
and 2nd prize winner in the Premio Paganini Competition in Italy. In the
2002-03 season, Ms. Lee was nominated and represented by Carnegie Hall for
its ECHO (European Concert Hall Organization) series, for which she gave
recitals at Carnegie's Weill Recital Hall and at nine celebrated concert
halls in Europe, including Wigmore Hall (London), the Musikverein (Vienna),
and the Concertgebouw (Amsterdam). As a chamber musician, Ms. Lee regularly
performs at the Verbier, Caramoor, and Salzburg Festivals, among others.
During the summers of 2004-2006, Ms. Lee participated at the Marlboro Festival
of Music in Vermont. In 1997 Ms. Lee received the Debut Artist of the Year
prize at the "Performance Today" awards given by National Public
Radio. She has been featured on the "Late Show with David Letterman,"
CNN/fN, "Fox on Arts," WABC-TV in New York, KBS in South Korea
and ZDF Arte in Germany. From 1994 to 2001, Ms. Lee studied at The Juilliard
School under the late Dorothy DeLay and Hyo Kang. During the summers of
1995-2000 she was a full scholarship student at the Aspen Music School and
has performed many times at the Aspen Music Festival. In 2001 and 2002 she
participated at the Steans Institute for Young Artists at Ravinia. From
2001-2005, Ms. Lee studied with Miriam Fried and Paul Biss at Indiana University,
and the New England Conservatory of Music. Yura Lee plays the 1778 Joseph
and Antonio Gagliano violin, on loan from the Steans Institute for Young
Artists, Ravinia Festival, Chicago.
Sami Merdinian, violin
Twenty-five years old violinist Sami Merdinian has received worldwide recognition for his outstanding performances as a soloist and chamber musician. Sami has recently appeared as a soloist with the Buenos Aires Philharmonic, the Montevideo Philharmonic, The Charlemagne Orchestre, and Symphony Pro Musica. Future engagements include performances with the Argentinean National Symphony,and a European Tour with the Philharmonia of the Nations including a performance at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, as well as recital tours throughout the Middle-East, South and North America.
As chamber musician, Mr. Merdinian has performed in several Music Festivals including Spoleto, Holland Music Session, The Perlman Chamber Music Workshop, The Festival of The Hamptons, , among others. He has been the winner of various competitions including "Promociones Musicales", the Sewannee Festival Concerto Competition and the XII International Young Solo Instrumentalists Competition in Argentina.
Mr. Merdinian has also been the recipient of numerous scholarships and awards including the Grunheisen Scholarship given by the Argentine Mozarteum, the Dorothy Delay Scholarship and the Tiffany & Co. Rising Star Award.
While at The Juilliard School and Yale University, he studied with Dorothy Delay, Naoko Tanaka and Peter Oundjian, and has appeared in Masterclasses and collaborations with artists such as Ida Kavafian and Ani Kavafian, Emanuel Ax, Itzahak Perlman, Lorin Maazel, and members of the Tokyo, Juilliard and Guarnieri String Quartets.
ChenXi, violin
Violinist ChenXi has become one of the most promising young artists of his generation in China, lauded for his technical excellence and musical imagination. The youngest top prize winner in the history of the International Tchaikovsky Violin Competition, Mr. Chen made his debut at age eight and entered China’s leading music academy, the Central Conservatory of Music. He subsequently studied with Joseph Silverstein at the Curtis Institute of Music where he graduated in 2007 and is currently attending the Yale University School of Music working with Hyo Kang.
From the age of thirteen, Mr. Chen began performing with China’s leading orchestras, including the China Philharmonic, China National, and Beijing symphony orchestras; China Central Opera and Hong Kong Sinfonietta. He gained international exposure through broadcasts on NHK—Japan Broadcasting Corporation—and maintains an active schedule that has included a taping with China Central Television, tour with pianist Lang Lang and the Chinese Youth Symphony Orchestra, and more than 150 appearances with a variety of orchestras and festivals organized by the Chinese government. In May 2007, he was selected to perform at a welcome concert for United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Mr. Chen plays a 1708 Ruby Stradivarius violin, on loan to him by the Stradivari Society of Chicago.
Ji In Yang, violin
Ji In Yang came to the U.S. in 1995 to study at the Juilliard Pre-College
Division. Since then she has received recognition for her outstanding performances
in and around New York. She has had many appearances with orchestras including
Bucheon Philhamonic Orchestra, Suwon Philharmonic Orchestra, Chuncheon Philhamonic
Orchestra, New Amsterdam Symphony Orchestra, and Sarah Lawrence Symphony
Orchestra. She had appeared in national Television show “Art Theatre”
in Korea as a guest. In 2004, she was invited by Midori to perform in Japan
which was televised in NHK. In 2002 she was invited to play J.S. Bach’s
Double Concerto with Cho-Liang Lin and Sejong at the Tongyeong International
Music Festival. She also performed the Elgar Violin Concerto in B minor
to critical acclaim at the Bayer-Benedict Music Tent with the Aspen Young
Artists Orchestra at the Aspen Music Festival. Since beginning her violin
studies at the age of six, she has won numerous awards and competitions
including first prize at the 1991 Korean Monthly Music Magazine Competition.
Having won the Concerto Competition, she performed the Vieuxtemps Violin
Concerto No.4 with the Juilliard-Pre College Orchestra. She recently concluded
her studies at the Juilliard School as a student of Hyo Kang. Ms. Yang has
been a member of Sejong since 2005 and was appointed as a Samsung Foundation
of Culture chair member in 2006.
Samsung Foundation of Culture Chair
VIOLA
Richard Yongjae O’Neill, viola
2006 Avery Fisher Career Grant recipient and Grammy Nominee, violist Richard
Yongjae O’Neille made solo debuts in Carnegie, Wigmore and Salle Cortot.
He made concerto appearances with Los Angeles, EuroAsian philharmonics,
KBS Symphony. A Universal Classics Artist, his debut album was a 2005 best
seller in Korea. His second album was also released in October 2006. In
2007-2008 he plays in the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. O’Neille
is one of the very few violists to receive Artist Diploma from Juilliard.
O’Neill joined the faculty of UCLA in 2007. He has been a member of
Sejong since 2001.
Maurycy Banaszek, viola
Maurycy Banaszek was born in Warsaw, Poland. He has appeared in recital
and as a soloist with orchestras in Europe and in USA. He received numerous
violin, viola and chamber music awards. As a founding member of The Elsner
String Quartet he has played in such prestigious venues as the Carnegie
Hall in New York, Wigmore Hall in London, Gewandhaus in Leipzig, among others.
In August 1998 he was invited by the members of the legendary Amadeus String
Quartet to perform at the Amadeus Quartet 50th Anniversary Gala Concert
in London. He has performed at the Marlboro, Seattle, Santa Fe, Aldeburgh,
Moritzburg, Mozart, Kingston, Martha's Vineyard, Warsaw Autumn festivals.
He regularly tours with the Musicians from Marlboro and appears at the Barge
Music in New York. He was recently invited to be the soloist with the New
Jersey Lyric Orchestra at their Carnegie Hall debut performance and with
the Metamorphosen Chamber Orchestra in Jordan Hall, Boston. He was also
chosen by Gidon Kremer to participate in Chamber Music Connects the World
Festival in Kronberg, Germany where he performed with the Guarneri String
Quartet. He is a graduate of the Manhattan School of Music in New York where
he studied with Michael Tree. He holds a position of Principal Viola at
the Metamorphosen Chamber Orchestra. He is also a founding member of ECCO
- the new conductor-less chamber orchestra. He plays a viola made by Hiroshi
Iizuka in Philadelphia in 1997.
Beth Guterman, viola
Beth Guterman is one of the most sought after violists. Starting in the
2006-7 season, she will perform in Alice Tully Hall as a member of the Chamber
Music Society Two of Lincoln Center. In the past seasons, Ms. Guterman has
appeared as soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician in Zankel Hall, Weill
Hall, Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, Merkin Concert
Hall, Wigmore Hall, Jordan Hall, and Aspen's Harris Hall and Benedict Music
Tent as well as touring across America, Europe and Asia. As soloist, Ms.
Guterman has performed concertos with the Spoleto USA Orchestra, the Juilliard
Symphony, and Aspen's Sinfonia Orchestra. Ms. Guterman is currently principal
violist in the IRIS Chamber Orchestra, and has performed as Principal in
the Metamorphosen Chamber Orchestra, Juilliard Symphony and Orchestra, Aspen
Sinfonia Orchestra, and the Spoleto USA Orchestra. Between 2001-2004, she
was the associate principal viola of the Aspen Festival Orchestra and the
Aspen Chamber Symphony.
As a member of the International Sejong Soloists, she has toured extensively
across the world. This spring she toured with Sejong playing Piano Quartets
with Joseph Kalichstein.
Jung Yeon Kim, viola
Violist Jung Yeon Kim was born in Seoul, Korea. She began to play the violin
when she was eight and switched to viola, receiving Masters in viola at
Juilliard. Jung Yeon has received many awards including winning the Juilliard
Pre-College Concerto Competition. She made solo performances with the Juilliard
Pre-College Orchestra as well as the Korea Philharmonic. She also performed
solo at the Juilliard School, Aspen Music Festival, Courchevel Music Festival,
Meadowmount Music Festival, Kneisel Hall Music Festival, Ort Castle Gala
Concert, Belgian Embassy Benefit Ceremony, and many more. As a chamber musician,
she performed at the Aspen Music Festival, Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall,
Pual Hall, French Alliance in NYC, and Santa Barbara Festival. In 2004,
as a member of the Hudson String Quartet Jung Yeon received the New England
Conservatory Honors Ensemble award at NEC, where she received her artist
diploma. In the summer of 2005 and 2006 Jung Yeon participated in the Point
Counterpoint Music Camp as an artist and faculty member. Recently, she has
collaborated with Alice Walker, the author of “The Color Purple”.
Wei-Yang Andy Lin, viola
Wei-Yang Andy Lin, recognized as one of the most promising young violists of today, has performed at major venues such as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center in Washington DC., Los Angeles Music Center, and Tainan Cultural Center in Taiwan. He also had the privilege to perform for the President of the United States, Bill Clinton and the President of Taiwan, Ten-Hui Lee. He has been invited to perform chamber music with Itzhak Perlman at Manhattan Synagogue, Princeton University, Jazz at Lincoln Center, and The Metropolitan Museum. Born in Taiwan, Mr. Lin came to the US in 1997 to attend Idyllwild Arts Academy and studied with Donald McInnes. He graduated The Juilliard School working with Hsin-Yun Huang and his other teachers include Michael Tree and Toby Appel. He has been a part of several music festivals including Bowdoin Summer Festival, Aspen Summer Music Festival, Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, Music at Menlo, and The Perlman Chamber Music Workshop.
CELLO
Ole Akahoshi, cello, principal
German cellist Ole Akahoshi has performed as soloist with orchestras including
Orchestra of St. Luke’s under Yehudi Menuhin, Symphonisches Orchester
Berlin and Czechoslovakian Radio Orchestra. Winner of competitions including
Concertino Praga and Jugend Musiziert, his performances have been featured
on CNN, NPR, HR, BR, KBS (Korea), and WQXR. Akahoshi has performed in Carnegie
Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, Kennedy Center, Suntory Hall Tokyo, Seoul Arts
Center, Wigmore Hall London, Berliner Philharmonie. He recorded for among
others the Albany and Naxos Labels. Akahoshi received his BM from Juilliard
and MM from Yale (with Aldo Parisot) and the Artist Diploma from Indiana
University (with Janos Starker). Akahoshi was teaching assistant for Aldo
Parisot and Janos Starker. He also studied with Pierre Fournier. His other
mentors in Germany were Georg Donderer and Wolfgang Boettcher. Akahoshi
is principal cellist of the Sejong Soloists in New York, as well as member
of the Saito Kinen Orchestra and the Opera Nomori Tokyo. He joined the faculty
of the Yale School of Music in 1997 and the Manhattan School of Music in
2004.
Aldo Parisot Chair
Ani Aznavoorian, cello
Hailed by the Los Angeles Times as a “cellist who shows great sensitivity
and great virtuosity at all moments,” Sejong member Ani Aznavoorian
has established herself as one of the foremost cellists of her generation.
She has been a soloist with many of the world's leading orchestras, including
the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Boston Pops, Tokyo, Helsinki, and Indianapolis
philharmonics, Finnish Radio, Edmonton, and San Jose symphonies, and Concertante
di Chicago. Ms. Aznavoorian has won first prizes in the Illinois Young Performers,
Union League Civic and Arts Foundation Music Scholarship, Chicago Cello
Society National, Julius Stulberg, and American String Teachers Association
competitions. A Presidential Scholar in the Arts, Ms. Aznavoorian was the
youngest winning cellist in the history of the Juilliard School’s
Concerto Competition. Most recently, she gave the world premiere performance
of Lera Auerbach’s Twenty-four Preludes for Cello and Piano live on
stage with the Hamburg State Ballet. Ms. Aznavoorian received both her bachelor’s
and master’s degrees from Juilliard as a student of Aldo Parisot.
Currently Ani is on the faculty of University of Illinois. She proudly performs
on a cello made by her father, Peter Aznavoorian of Chicago.
Na-Young Baek, cello
Winner of the Philadelphia orchestra competition, cellist Na-Young Baek
has made her American Debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra in 2000. She
has performed as a soloist with numerous orchestras such as Hudson Valley
Philharmonic, DuPage Symphony Orchestra, Academy Symphony, World Symphony
Orchestra, Suwon Philharmonic, and the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra. As
an active recitalist, one of the most recent recitals include the Dame Myra
Hess concert which was broadcasted live in Chicago. She came to USA to study
at the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music as a pupil of Orlando Cole.
Her study continued at the Yale University for the Mater’s degree
with Aldo Parisot who also had taught her for the Artist Diploma program
at the Juilliard School. During the study, she won a top prize at the 1st
Gyeongnam International Competition(Isang Yun in memoriam), and the first
prizes at the Hudson Valley Philharmonic Competition and the Holland-American
Society Competition, where she was awarded a use of a Koen Johan Herman
Padding cello for a year.
Patrick Jee, cello
Mr. Jee’s solo career has taken him across the United States, Canada,
Asia, and Europe with engagements and re-engagements by many orchestras
including the Buffalo Philharmonic, Edmonton Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic,
the Moscow Chamber Orchestra, and the National Orchestra of Toulouse. As
a recitalist and chamber musician, Mr. Jee has performed at prestigious
venues such as Carnegie Hall, Herbst Theatre, the Kennedy Center, the United
Nations, and Wigmore Hall. He has also performed on Caramoor’s “Rising
Stars” and “Virtuosi” Series in collaboration with Leon
Fleisher. Mr. Jee is a member of the Sejong Soloists (EMI) and “Ditto”
(Credia), a new chamber group based in S. Korea. Mr. Jee has garnered top
prizes in many competitions, most recently being the 5th Carlos Prieto International
Cello Competition held in Morelia, Mexico. Others include the Andre Navarra
Cello Competition, the Holland-America Music Society Competition, the Irving
Klein International String Competition, the Hugo Kauder Cello Competition,
and the International Web Concert Hall Competition. He holds a B.M. from
the Juilliard School and a M.M. from Yale University School of Music. Currently,
Mr. Jee is Assistant Principal Cello of the Lyric Opera of Chicago and Principal
Cello of the Grant Park Orchestra. He is also on faculty at Roosevelt University
Chicago College of Performing Arts.
Kevork Parsamian, cello
Cellist Kevork Parsamian was born in Sofia, Bulgaria. He began his cello
studies at the age of four. In 1995, Kevork came to the United States, where
he completed his bachelor degree at the University of Cincinnati with Yehuda
Hanani, his master’s degree at Indiana University with Janos Starker,
and an Artist Diploma at Yale University School of Music, with Aldo Parisot.
Kevork has received many and prizes, including first prize in the Bulgarian
National Music Competition, the Lima Symphony Competition in Lima, OH, and
the Cincinnati University concerto competition. Kevork has been featured
as guest soloist with the University of Cincinnati, the Indiana Symphony,
the Lima Symphony, the Mannes Community, and the Bulgarian National orchestras.
In 2005 he performed in Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall on the “Treasures
of Bulgaria” series. His concerts have been broadcast on Bulgarian
radio and television. Kevork is also an active chamber musician. During
his stay at Indiana, his string quartet won the prestigious Kutner award.
He has worked with such notable artists as the Tokyo String Quartet, Peter
Oundjian, Ani Kavafian, Mauricio Fuks, and Paul Biss. In addition, he has
been a cello section member in the New Haven Symphony Orchestra, as well
as the Lima, OH., Evansville, IN., Sarasota West Coast, and New World Symphony
Orchestras. Currently he is on faculty in the preparatory division of Manhattan
School of Music, and a member of the New Haven Symphony Orchestra.
BASS
Rachel Calin, bass
Rachel Calin began playing the bass at the early age of nine, and has since
been called “a bassist that deserves a place in the sun”, and
“a lyrical soloist in command of her instrument” by the New
York Times. In 1994 she won the Juilliard Concerto Competition, making her
concerto debut in Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center with the Juilliard
Orchestra, and subsequently has made solo appearances with Sejong, the Metamorphosen
Chamber Orchestra, and has given numerous recitals throughout North America.
As a chamber musician, Miss Calin has collaborated with Myung-Wha Chung,
Ron Leonard, and Itzhak Perlman, among others. She has appeared in concert
throughout Asia, Europe, the Middle East, North America, and can be heard
on NPR's Performance Today, both in live and recorded broadcasts. Miss Calin
has performed frequently with the New York Philharmonic, at Live from Lincoln
Center, the Aspen Music Festival, the Mostly Mozart Festival, and has recorded
numerous movie and commercial soundtracks. She has given the world premieres
of works by composers such as Lera Auerbach and Mark O'Connor, and has performed
with many new music ensembles including the New Juilliard Ensemble, Sequitur,
the Composers Concordance, and Mosaic. Miss Calin received both a BM and
MM from The Juilliard School, where she studied with Homer Mensch and Eugene
Levinson. Miss Calin was the recipient of an instrument loan from the Karr
Foundation, and is currently on the faculty of the Perlman Music Program.
She has been a Sejong member since 1995.
Stephen Sas, bass
Sejong member Stephen Sas has performed regularly with the New York Philharmonic
in New York and on tours to Europe, Asia, South America, and throughout
the United States. He is a sought-after bassist, having recorded with the
New York Philharmonic and Kurt Masur for the Telarc label and has been heard
with the New York Philharmonic in broadcasts of Live from Lincoln Center.
Mr. Sas studied with David Walter and Eugene Levinson and received his bachelor’s,
master’s, and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees from the Juilliard School.
He has performed at festivals around the world, including Spoleto (Italy),
Evian (France), Aspen, and Tanglewood. He has given performances with the
Orpheus Chamber Orchestra at Carnegie Hall and on tours of the United States.
Mr. Sas has played with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, including
the renowned Lincoln Center Mostly Mozart Festival. He performs with the
New York City-based new music ensemble Continuum, bringing music to the
stages of the Presences Festival in Paris and the ISCM World Conference
in Seoul, Korea. |