2024 Musicians

Flute: Tara Helen O’Connor, Adeline DeBella
Oboe: Kemp Jernigan
Violin: Aaron Boyd, Ida Kavafian, Benny Kim, Daniel Phillips, Tien-Hsin Cindy Wu
Viola: Toby Appel and Steven Tenenbom
Cello: Natasha Brofsky, Angela Park, Mihai Marica
Double Bass: Harold Robinson
Piano: Wendy Chen
Harpsichord: Kathleen McIntosh

Composer in Residence: Marc Neikrug
Lecturer: Jonathan Coopersmith
Artist in Residence: Sharon L. Sorensen

Young Artists:

Curtis Institute of Music: The Vizsla Quartet:
Violin: Dongyoung Jake Shim, Jacques Forestier
Viola: Sumin Kim
Cello: Elliot Sloss

Juilliard School: The Dolphins:
Violin: Luke Henderson, Isaac Park
Viola: James Preucil
Cello: Ian Maloney

Toby Appel has performed throughout North and South America, Europe, and the Far East. He has been a member of TASHI, and the Lenox and Audubon Quartets; guest artist with the Alexander, Manhattan and Vermeer Quartets, and the Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society. Festival performances include Mostly Mozart , Santa Fe, Angel Fire, Seattle, Chamber Music Northwest , and Marlboro, as well as festivals in England, France, Korea, Germany, Italy, Finland, and Greece.

A most versatile artist, Mr. Appel has narrated performances including: A Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra, Ferdinand, Ode to Napoleon, Histoire du Soldat, Masque of the Red Death, and Facade. Mr. Appel is a frequent commentator for National Public Radio’s Performance Today.

Toby Appel entered the Curtis Institute at age 13 under the guidance of Max Aronoff. He has been on the faculty at the Juilliard School in New York City since 1990. He has toured for the United States State Department and performed at the United Nations and at the White House. Mr. Appel’s chamber music and recital recordings can be heard on the Columbia, Delos, Desto, Koch International, Opus 1, and Musical Heritage Society labels.

Toby Appel lives with his wife (Carolyn) and their dog (Morgan) in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Violinist Aaron Boyd has established an international career as soloist, chamber musician, orchestral leader, recording artist, lecturer and pedagogue. Since making his New York recital debut in 1998, Boyd has appeared at the most prestigious venues throughout the United States, Europe, Russia and Asia and has appeared at the Marlboro, Tippet Rise, La Jolla, Rockport, Aspen and Hong Kong and Music@Menlo festivals and is a season artist of The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.

As a member of the Escher String Quartet for five seasons, Boyd was a recipient of the Avery Fisher Career Grant and the Martin E. Segal prize from Lincoln Center. A prizewinner in the Ecoles D’art Americaines de Fontainebleau, the Tuesday Musical Society and the Pittsburgh Concert Society competitions, Boyd was awarded a proclamation by the City of Pittsburgh for his musical accomplishments.

As a passionate advocate for new music, Boyd has been involved in numerous commissions and premieres in concert and on record, and has worked directly with such legendary composers as Milton Babbitt, Elliott Carter and Charles Wuorinen. As a recording artist, Boyd can be heard on the BIS, Music@Menlo Live, Naxos, Tzadik, North/South and Innova labels. Boyd has been broadcast in concert by PBS, NPR, WQXR and WQED, and was profiled by Arizona Public Television.

Formerly on the violin faculties of Columbia University and the University of Arizona, Boyd now serves as Director of Chamber Music and Chair of Strings at the Meadows School of the Arts at Southern Methodist University and makes his home in Plano, Texas, with his wife Yuko, daughter Ayu and son Yuki. Boyd plays on violins crafted by Matteo Goffriller in Venice, 1700, and Samuel Zygmuntowicz, Brooklyn, 2018.

Cellist Natasha Brofsky enjoys a performing and teaching career which has taken her to cities all over the US, Europe and China. A member of the cello and chamber music faculty at the Juilliard School since 2012, she was a member of the New England Conservatory cello faculty for fourteen years, and also taught at Barratt-Due MusikkInstitutt Oslo, Norway. She is also a summer faculty member at the Yellow Barn, Kneisel Hall, Orford and Vivace Music festivals and has performed at numerous other festivals including Four Seasons in North Carolina and IMS Open Chamber Music in Prussia Cove, England.

As a member of the renowned Peabody Trio for seventeen years, Ms. Brofsky played on prominent chamber music series throughout the U.S., Canada, and the U.K and was heard on numerous radio broadcasts. Champions of new music as well as the classics, the trio recorded on the New World, CRI, and Artek labels.

During a decade in Europe, Ms. Brofsky was principal cellist of the Norwegian Radio Orchestra and a member of the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra, the String Trio Opus 3 and the Serapion Ensemble. She has published articles on string playing in The Strad Magazine and on Violin Channel and her master classes appear on Cellobello.com. Her most recent recording is of the late Beethoven Cello Sonatas Opus 102 with pianist Seth Knopp. A native New Yorker, Ms. Brofsky is artistic director of Music for Food’s New York chapter, a musician-led initiative for local hunger relief.

Born in California, Wendy Chen debuted with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the age of 15 under conductor André Previn. She won First Prize in the National Chopin Competition, the Young Concert Artists auditions, was the inaugural recipient of the Gilmore Young Artists Award, and was named a Presidential Scholar by the National Foundation for the Arts.

Ms. Chen is an alumna of the predecessor to the Colburn School of Performing Arts, where she studied with Dorothy Hwang. She went on to study with Aube Tzerko and Leon Fleisher. Ms. Chen is one of the most sought after pianists and chamber musicians, performing on many of the world’s most prestigious concert stages. She has appeared in unique programs that also featured musical legends Art Garfunkel and James Taylor; and in a private concert for The Justices at the US Supreme Court presented by The Late Honorable Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Highlights have included performances at The Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Carnegie Hall’s Weill Hall, The Kennedy Center, Zankel Hall, Château Chillon in Montreux, Switzerland, The Rudolfinum in Prague, an all Chopin recital at the National Philharmonic Hall in Warsaw, recording with The London Philharmonic, touring with Spoleto USA, duo recitals with cellists Stephen Kates, Carter Brey, Andrés Diaz, violinists James Ehnes, Anne Akiko Meyers, Elina Vahala, Cheeyun, and Andrés Cárdenes, concert tours throughout Finland, South America, in The Forbidden City in Beijing, China, and at Festival Week in Tokyo, presented by CHANEL.

Ms. Chen’s performances are regularly heard on NPR’s Performance Today. She gives masterclasses and lectures throughout the world, and served many years as panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts.

Jonathan Coopersmith, Festival Education Lecturer since 2015, is a highly regarded teacher, conductor, and lecturer on music theory and analysis, music history, and music’s relationship to well-being. He has been a member of the Curtis faculty since 2005 and has served as Chair of the Musical Studies department since 2010. He has served as Associate Conductor for The Philadelphia Singers for 12 years and the Artistic Director of Nashirah for seven years, and has been a frequent guest chorus director of the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Pennsylvania Ballet.

Mr. Coopersmith is a sought-after educator and presenter in the Philadelphia area with recent lectures at the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. He has been a regular guest lecturer in the Masters of Applied Positive Psychology program at the University of Pennsylvania, speaking about music and well-being. He recently wrote a chapter for a multivolume set as part of the Humanities and Human Flourishing Project, titled “Musical Flourishes: Lessons from a Conservatory”, published by Oxford University Press in 2023.

Mr. Coopersmith holds a bachelor’s degree in music theory and composition from the University of Pennsylvania, where he studied with George Crumb, and a master’s degree in orchestral conducting from Mannes College of Music, where he studied theory and analysis with Carl Schachter and Edward Aldwell. He has also studied at the Pierre Monteux School for conductors and orchestra musicians. Adeline

Adeline DeBella is a contemporary flutist, vocalist, and chamber musician based in New York City. She is active in performing and commissioning interdisciplinary works for solo flute/voice, low flutes, and unconventional chamber ensembles. Additionally, she is a founding member of Dice Trio, an ensemble committed to experimental performance for flute, saxophone, and trumpet, as well as audience accessibility.

DeBella has recently attended New Music on the Point, Norfolk Chamber Music Festival New Music Workshop, the SPLICE Institute, and Nief-Norf Summer Festival. She holds a Master’s of Contemporary Performance from the Manhattan School of Music and Master’s of Music Performance in flute from SUNY Purchase College, where she studied under Dr. Tara Helen O’Connor. She holds a Bachelor’s of Music Performance in flute from Columbus State University, where she studied under Dr. Andrèe Martin. Outside of performing, DeBella has experience in a variety of administrative roles.

Currently, she is the Social Media Content Manager and Assistant to the Artistic Directors for the Music from Angel Fire festival. Recently she fulfilled roles as the membership administrator/marketing director of the Association of Body Mapping Education and a playtester at the Flute Center of New York. She has previously worked as a technology producer for the National Flute Association, and assisted with organizing and recording the Purchase Flute.

Kemp Jernigan performs extensively in and around New York City in ensembles varying in size and style. A graduate of the Yale School of Music, Jernigan has been a guest artist at festivals such as Bridgehampton, White Mountains Music Festival, Martha’s Vineyard Chamber Music Society, Ocean Reef, Washington Friends of Music, Black Hills Chamber Music Society, Cooperstown Chamber Music Festival and Musical Bridges over San Antonio. He is a frequent guest performer with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Mark Morris Dance Group Ensemble, as well as a core member of the Exponential Ensemble and a founding member of the ensemble SoundMind.

Jernigan is on the faculties of the Hartt School at the University of Hartford, SUNY Purchase, and Longy School of Music of Bard College. Performing with such ensembles, festivals and faculty has led him to meet and play with many incredible people and live a life of sharing his love for music with others. Jernigan received his Bachelor of Music degree from The Hartt School at The University of Hartford, Performer’s Certificate from SUNY Purchase and Master of Music degree from The Yale School of Music.

Internationally acclaimed as both violinist and violist, 2019 marked the versatile Ida Kavafian’s 35th year and final year as Artistic Director of the acclaimed festival, Music from Angel Fire in NM. For over fifty years, she has been a frequent performer with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and has been a founder of such groups as Tashi, Opus One and Trio Valtorna, as well as the festival, Bravo! Vail. During her tenure with the renowned Beaux Arts Trio, the group was Musical America’s Ensemble of the Year. She has toured and recorded with diverse greats such as Chick Corea, Wynton Marsalis and Mark O’Connor, and was featured on CBS Sunday Morning.

Ms. Kavafian has premiered many new works including a concerto written for her by Toru Takemitsu as well as Michael Daugherty’s “Fire and Blood”, which she also recorded with the Detroit Symphony. As a violist, she has performed with the Guarneri, Orion, Harlem, Shanghai and American String Quartets. Ms. Kavafian holds the Nina von Maltzahn Chair in Violin Studies at the Curtis Institute, where she was awarded the Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching.

Born in Istanbul, Turkey of Armenian parentage, she began her studies with Ara Zerounian, continued with Mischa Mischakoff, then graduated with honors from the Juilliard School with Oscar Shumsky. Young Concert Artists presented her debut with pianist Peter Serkin.

Married to violist Steven Tenenbom, Ms. Kavafian has found great success in another field, the breeding, training, hunting and showing of prize-winning Hungarian Vizsla dogs under the prefix, “Opus One”.

Whether playing in the intimate setting of a string quartet or performing a concerto on the stage of a concert hall, Benny Kim’s “emotional depth and musical carriage are his real drawing cards. His is a style that touches the peak of romantic violin playing.” (The Washington Post) Known for his versatility as soloist, chamber musician and teacher, Mr. Kim has been described as having “titanium technique” and producing “exquisite, pearly colorations.”

Kim is a proud product of the Suzuki Method, which he began at age 10 with Doris Preucil. He continued his violin studies with Almita Vamos and at the age of 15 won the Chicago Symphony Youth Symphony Auditions, making his solo debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. One year later he won the St. Louis Symphony Youth Auditions and the Julius Stulberg Auditions. Kim went on to graduate with a Bachelor and Master of Music degree from The Juilliard School where he studied with legendary pedagogue, Dorothy DeLay. In 1983, Mr. Kim won the Young Concert Artists International Auditions at the age of 20. While at Juilliard, the residents of Macomb, IL, Kim’s hometown, heard the news that he was preparing to purchase a violin. This small community, along with faculty members of Western Illinois University, began a fundraising campaign to contribute to the purchase. In 1987 he acquired a 1732 Stradivarius violin.

Kim has performed with the symphony orchestras of Chicago, Boston, St. Louis, Cincinnati, and Detroit, and internationally with the Hong Kong Philharmonic, the Orquésta Sinfonica Nacional de México, BBC National Orchestra of Wales and the major orchestras of South Africa. In recital, Kim has performed in virtually every major city in the United States, including critically acclaimed engagements at New York’s 92nd St. Y and at Washington DC’s Kennedy Center.

Mr. Kim is first violinist of the Miami String Quartet, winner of the prestigious Cleveland Quartet Award. Highlights of recent seasons include performances on the Quartets Plus Series at Carnegie Hall and the Fortas Chamber Music Series at the Kennedy Center. Dedicated to education, the quartet has also enjoyed working with students in residencies in Hong Kong and Bogota, Colombia and also teach at the Kent/Blossom Festival every summer. The ensemble’s commitment to new music has led to many commissions and premieres, including Concierto de Cámara by Roberto Sierra, Septet by Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, Angels by Joan Tower and Green Sneakers by Ricky Ian Gordon.

Kim spends summers playing chamber music with friends at festivals around the world, including the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Music from Angel Fire, Chamber Music Northwest, Mecklenburg and Schleswig–Holstein Festivals in Germany and the Bristol Festival in England. In his spare time, Kim is a passionate golfer who, over the years, has seen his handicap fluctuate more than the stock market! Benny and his Golden Retriever, Cubby, make their home outside Kansas City on the Falcon Ridge golf course.

Romanian-born cellist Mihai Marica is a first-prize winner of the Dr. Luis Sigall International Competition in Viña del Mar, Chile, as well as the Irving M. Klein International Competition, and is a recipient of Charlotte White’s Salon de Virtuosi Fellowship Grant. He has performed with orchestras such as the Symphony Orchestra of Chile, Xalapa Symphony in Mexico, the Hermitage State Orchestra of St. Petersburg in Russia, the Jardins Musicaux Festival Orchestra in Switzerland, the Louisville Orchestra, and the Santa Cruz Symphony in the US. He has also appeared in recital performances in Austria, Hungary, Germany, Spain, Holland, South Korea, Japan, Chile, the United States, and Canada.

A dedicated chamber musician, he has performed at the Chamber Music Northwest, Norfolk and Aspen music festivals where he has collaborated with such artists as Ani Kavafian, Ida Kavafian, David Shifrin, André Watts, and Edgar Meyer. He is a founding member of the award-winning Amphion String Quartet. A recent collaboration with dancer Lil Buck brought forth new pieces for solo cello written by Yevgeniy Sharlat and Patrick Castillo. He recently joined the acclaimed Apollo Trio.

Marica studied with Gabriela Todor in his native Romania and with Aldo Parisot at the Yale School of Music, where he was awarded master’s and artist diploma degrees. He is an alum of CMS’s Bowers Program.

Harpsichordist Kathleen McIntosh has been a Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival artist since 1996. She has performed in the United States and beyond, in festivals in Cuba, Japan, Peru, Spain and Germany, and as guest soloist with chamber orchestras in Russia and Vietnam. Workshop invitations take her regularly to Cuba, Peru and Poland.

An enthusiastic performer of contemporary music, she has premiered works by Melinda Wagner, Leo Brouwer, John Steinmetz and many others and premiered works by Lei Liang and Gregory Spear in 2021-2022. In October 2023, she premiered “Dream Scherzo” by Pierre Jalbert with Chatter, an Albuquerque based contemporary music series.

A resident of Santa Fe, McIntosh performs regularly with Several Friends, an early music group directed by Elizabeth Blumenstock and Mary Springfels. She has performed with Santa Fe Symphony, Santa Fe Pro Musica and the Desert Chorale, and as soloist with New Mexico Philharmonic in 2019. She can be heard on Marican Studio and Gasparo recordings.

Tara Helen O’Connor, who Art Mag has said “so embodies perfection on the flute that you’ll forget she is human,” is an Avery Fisher Career Grant recipient, a two-time Grammy Award nominee, and, as a member of the New Millennium Ensemble, a recipient of the Walter W. Naumburg Chamber Music Award. A Wm. S. Haynes artist, she was the first flutist selected to participate in the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s Bowers Program and is currently a season artist of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, a member of the Windscape woodwind quintet and the Bach Aria Group.

O’Connor serves as Visiting Associate Professor, Adjunct, of Flute at the Yale School of Music. She also serves on the faculty at Bard College Conservatory of Music, and the Contemporary Performance Program at Manhattan School of Music, and is Artistic Director of the Music from Angel Fire Festival.

A champion of contemporary music, Ms. O’Connor has premiered hundreds of works and has appeared on numerous recordings and film and television soundtracks such as Barbie, Respect, The Joker, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Only Murders in the Building and Schmigadoon, to name only a few. O’Connor has collaborated with such distinguished artists as vocalists Jennifer Johnson Cano and Dawn Upshaw, violinist Jaime Laredo, clarinetist David Shifrin, guitarist Eliot Fisk, and pianists Jeremy Denk, Peter Serkin, and Stephen Prutsman, and with such revered ensembles as the Emerson, Orion, and St. Lawrence string quartets.

Among the festivals at which O’Connor regularly appears include the Bravo! Vail festival, Chamber Music Northwest, Music@Menlo, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Chamber Music Festival of the Bluegrass, Spoleto Festival USA, the Banff Centre, Rockport Music, Bay Chamber Concerts, Manchester Music Festival, the Great Mountains Music Festival, Chesapeake Chamber Music Festival and Music From Angel Fire. She has also performed in the New York Philharmonic, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and Metropolitan Opera Orchestra.

A charismatic performer noted for her artistic depth, brilliant technique and colorful tone spanning every musical era, O’Connor has appeared on A&E’s Breakfast with the Arts and PBS’ Live from Lincoln Center. She has recorded for Deutsche Grammophon, EMI Classics, Koch International, CMS Studio Recordings with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and Bridge Records.

She lives with her husband, violinist Daniel Phillips and their two miniature dachshunds, Chloé and Ava on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.

Equally at home as a soloist and chamber musician Angela Park has performed throughout the North and South Americas, Europe, and East Asia. Notable appearances are concertos with the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Seoul Philharmonic, chamber music appearances at the Marlboro, Verbier, and Ravinia Festivals, and masterclasses at the New England Conservatory.

In recent seasons, Angela has performed with Helsinki Baroque, Anne-Sophie Mutter on her Virtuosi European Tour, Incheon Philharmonic, and has returned to the Marlboro Music Festival, Prussia Cove Open Chamber Music, Seoul Spring Festival, and Festival de los Siete Lagos in Argentina. She was awarded the Silver Medal at the Isang Yun International Competition, in addition to prizes at the Stulberg International Competition and the Young Tchaikovsky International Competition. She has performed in chamber music settings with Leonidas Kavakos, Miriam Fried, Peter Wiley, Bruno Canino, and Kim Kashkashian, and has performed the concerto repertoire with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Seoul Philharmonic, KBS (Korean Broadcasting System) Orchestra, and the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra.

Angela is active as a baroque cellist, having played the Bach Suites in a baroque setup, and continuo with Helsinki Baroque, as well as for the Gamut Bach Ensemble Philadelphia. In addition to historical performance, she has a deep interest in the music of our times and is dedicated to playing the works of living composers, taking part in dozens of world premieres.

As a sought-after teacher, Angela has given classes at the Korean National Institute for the Gifted in Arts, the Curtis Young Artist Summer Program, and New England Conservatory. She currently resides in Pittsburgh, USA, where she is on the cello faculty at the Carnegie Mellon University School of Music.

Angela plays a 1690 cello from Bologna, generously on loan.

Violinist Daniel Phillips is co-founder of the Orion String Quartet which gave its last concert in April 2024 , presented by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln after an illustrious 37 year career. A graduate of Juilliard, his major teachers were his father Eugene Phillips, Ivan Galamian, Sally Thomas, Nathan Milstein, Sandor Végh, and George Neikrug.

Since winning the 1976 Young Concert Artists Competition, he has performed as a soloist with many orchestras, including the Pittsburgh, Houston, New Jersey, Phoenix, San Antonio symphonies. He appears regularly at the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, St Lawrence String Quartet Seminar , Heifetz Institute, Chesapeake Music Festival, the International Musicians Seminar in England, and Music from Angel Fire, where he is co-artistic director. He was a member of the renowned Bach Aria Group and has toured and recorded in a string quartet for Sony with Gidon Kremer, Kim Kashkashian, and Yo-Yo Ma. A judge in the 2022 Leipzig Bach Competition, 2018 Seoul International Violin Competition, the 2023 World Bartok Competition, and the 2024 Prague Spring Competition.

Phillips is a professor at the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College and on the faculties of the Bard College Conservatory, and the Juilliard School. He lives with his wife, flutist Tara Helen O’Connor, and their two dachshunds on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.

Internationally acclaimed artist, Harold Hall Robinson just played his last official concert as Principal Bass with The Philadelphia Orchestra in September of 2022. Prior to this, Mr. Robinson spent ten seasons as principal bassist of the National Symphony Orchestra, eight seasons as associate principal of the Houston Symphony Orchestra and three seasons as principal of the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra.

A prize winner at the 1982 Isle of Man Solo competition, Mr. Robinson has performed concertos with The Philadelphia Orchestra, the National Symphony, Houston Symphony, New York Philharmonic, the Rhode Island Philharmonic, American Chamber Orchestra and the Greenville South Carolina Orchestra. In addition, Mr. Robinson is known for his outstanding recitals and master classes throughout the United States. Mr. Robinson is currently on the faculty of Curtis Institute and Juilliard.

Steven Tenenbom’s impeccable style and sumptuous tone have combined to make him one of the most respected violists performing today. He has appeared as guest artist with the Guarneri and Emerson String Quartets, the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson and Beaux Arts Trios. As soloist, he has appeared with the Utah Symphony, the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and the Brandenburg Ensemble.

Mr. Tenenbom was the violist of the Orion String Quartet, having just celebrated their final season and a co-founder of the exciting piano quartet, OPUS ONE. He has appeared at many festivals including Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Norlfolk, Music@Menlo and Music From Angel Fire.

Mr. Tenenbom is a member of the viola faculty of the Juilliard School, the Curtis Institute of Music and was a visiting professor at the Yale School of Music. His acclaimed recordings of the complete Beethoven quartets with the Orion Quartet are available on Koch International.

Born in Phoenix, Arizona, Mr. Tenenbom’s teachers have included Max Mandel, Heidi Castleman, Milton Thomas at USC, and Michael Tree and Karen Tuttle at The Curtis Institute of Music. He currently plays a viola made by Peter and Wendy Moes from 2015. Married to violinist Ida Kavafian, the Tenenboms live in Connecticut where they breed, raise and show champion Vizsla purebred dogs.

Praised by the Seattle Times as “Simply marvelous” and Taiwan’s Liberty Times for “astonishingly capturing the spirit of the music,” violinist Tien-Hsin Cindy Wu enjoys a versatile career as a soloist, chamber musician, and educator throughout North America, Europe and Asia.

Spotlighted as the cover story of Monterey County Weekly in September of 2023 and Marie Claire Taiwan’s 2004 September issue “Young Power”, Cindy has collaborated in concerts with generations of renowned artists such as Yefim Bronfman, James Ehnes, Lynn Harrell, Leila Josefowicz, Kim Kashkashian, Cho-Liang Lin, Midori, Thomas Quasthoff, Yuja Wang, and members of the Alban Berg, Cleveland, Emerson, Guarneri, Miró, and Tokyo string quartets at prominent venues such as the Kennedy Center, Library of Congress, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and festivals such as Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival, Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival, La Jolla Summerfest, the Marlboro Music Festival, Music at Menlo, and Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival. She has also collaborated as a guest violist with the Dover Quartet, Orion Quartet, and Shanghai Quartet.

Cindy is a recipient of many awards including the Milka Violin Artist Prize from the Curtis Institute of Music, and third prize at the International Violin Competition of David Oistrakh. She has taught at institutions as the Thornton School of Music of the University of Southern California, the Encore School for Strings, the Curtis Institute of Music’s Young Artist Summer Program and Yale School of Music’s Norfolk Chamber Music Festival.

Passionate about programming, Cindy is the Music Director of the New Asia Chamber Music Society, Director of Chamber Music at the Hidden Valley Music Seminars, Artistic Director of Sunkiss’d Mozart, and has curated programs for the Da Camera Society in Los Angeles as the Artistic Partner. Cindy plays on a 1734 Domenico Montagnana violin, 1918 Stefano Scarampella violin, 2021 Samuel Zygmuntowicz violin, and a 2015 Stanley Kiernoziak viola.

Hailed by CBC Music as a “Top 30 Hot Canadian Classical Musicians Under 30,” Jacques Forestier began playing the violin at the age of two, and has since delighted audiences in concert halls across North America, Europe, and Asia. A student of Shmuel Ashkenasi and Pamela Frank at the Curtis Institute of Music, Forestier is also a student of Itzhak Perlman at the Perlman Music Program.

Forestier has performed as a soloist with orchestras internationally having made his début with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra at the age of 11. The 1st Prize Laureate of the Shean Strings Competition, Forestier also took the Silver Medal and Bach Prize at the Stulberg International Strings Competition as well as top prizes at the Irving M. Klein and Johansen international competitions — most recently. He looks forward to performing in festivals across North America and Europe including at Chamberfest Cleveland, Gstaad Menuhin, Perlman, and Angel Fire music festivals.

Forestier is grateful for support from the Edmonton Community Foundation and the Anne Burrows Foundation in helping make his studies possible.

Elliot Sloss started playing the cello when he was four years old, and in the 16 years since, his love for his cello and music has taken him many places.

Sloss attends the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia where he studies with Peter Wiley and Gary Hoffman. Previously, he studied with Paul Widner and Joe Johnson at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, Canada where he participated in the Phil and Eli Taylor Performance Academy for Young Artists for many years.

Sloss is a three-time 1st place winner in the national round for strings in the Canadian Music Competition. Most recently, he won in the 15-18 year old Chamber Music category, performing Schulhoff’s Duo for Violin and Cello with his friend and musical duet partner, Duncan McDougall. Sloss won three concerto competitions in 2019. He won the North York Music Festival Competition and performed with the Etobicoke Philharmonic Orchestra. He won the Taylor Academy Chamber Orchestra Concerto Competition and the
Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra Concerto Competition. He has attended many summer music festivals in Canada, the United States, Switzerland, and the Netherlands.

He has played in many ensembles, and one of his favourite chamber performances was playing Mendelssohn’s String Octet. Sloss plays on a 1706 Giuseppe Guarneri ‘filius Andreae’ cello made in Cremona, and a 1925 Victor Fetique bow made in Paris.

Dongyoung Jake Shim gained international recognition winning 1st Prize and Bach Prize at the 2020 Stulberg International String Competition in Michigan, United States. After winning a prize at the 2020 Irving M. Klein International String Competition in San Francisco, United States, he also won a prize at the 2022 Zhuhai International Mozart Competition in Zhuhai, China.

Shim was also one of the Laureates at the 2020 J. S. Bach Competition. In the upcoming season, Shim will make his debut as a soloist with the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra and Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra. He also gave debut performances on three different continents including venues such as Salle des Combins at Verbier Festival, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Jordan Hall, Kumho Art Hall, Seoul Arts Center, The Musikverein in Vienna, and Alice Tully Hall.

Shim has appeared at chamber music festivals including the The Verbier Festival Soloist Academy, Music at Menlo, YellowBarn, Perlman Music Program, Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, Heifetz International Music Institute’s Ashkenasi Chamber Music Seminar, and Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s Spring Festival, performing alongside esteemed musicians such as Kim Kashkashian, Molly Carr, David Finckel, Wu Han, Li Lin, Arnaud Sussmann, and Itzhak Perlman.

In addition to his recent awards, Shim’s numerous honors include the Grand Prize at the Vienna Music Competition in Vienna, Austria, the prizes at the DongA Music Competition and Ewha Music Competition in Seoul, Korea, and the special prize at the Munetsugu Angel International Violin Competition in Japan and F. Kreisler International Violin Competition in Vienna, among many others. He is also the 1st Prize winner at The Stradivarius International Violin Competition. Last season, he appeared as a soloist with numerous orchestras including the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra, Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra, Seoul Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra, Busan Philharmonic Orchestra, Suwon Philharmonic Orchestra, Sarah Chang & Virtuosi Orchestra and Korea Chamber Orchestra, among many others.

He is currently an Artist Diploma candidate at the Curtis Institute of Music with a full scholarship and Tobe Amsterdam Fellowship studying with Ida Kavafian and Shmuel Ashkenasi. His former teachers include Donald Weilerstein at the New England Conservatory where he studied with a Tan Family Education Grant and Dean’s Scholarship. He plays the 1711 D. Montagnana, on generous loan from the Sooyoung Art Trade in Korea.

Burrows Foundation is helping make his studies possible.

Sumin Kim is a violist with extensive repertoire coverage, including solo, chamber music, and orchestra. Born in Seoul, she began playing string instruments with violin at age eight and won several major competitions. Since 2020, she has expanded her musical reach to the viola and been mesmerized by its deep sounds which led to her full devotion to the instrument.

As a violist, she was invited to Verbier Festival Academy, Kronberg Academy Masterclass, and Heifetz International Music Institute. She played multiple chamber music, including WRTI Live Radio performance, and played in the Curtis Symphony Orchestra and Juilliard 415 Period-Instrument Ensemble.

Kim studied viola with Steven Tenenbom at The Juilliard School and violin with Aaron Rosand, Shmuel Ashkenasi, Arnold Steinhardt, and Midori at the Curtis Institute of Music. She is pursuing her Post-Baccalaureate diploma at the Curtis Institute of Music as an Edna Harkness Fellow with Hsin-Yun Huang and Misha Amory.

Gold Medal Winner in the Fischoff and the Coltman National Chamber Music Competitions, Luke Henderson is 21 years old, from Raleigh, North Carolina, and currently studies with Li Lin at The Juilliard School. In 2021 Luke won The American Prize in Instrumental Performance and the Grand Prize at the World Classical Music Awards.

Henderson was a member of the Chamber Music Intensive Performance Seminar at the New England Conservatory Preparatory School led by Merry Peckham and of the Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, conducted by Benjamin Zander. He has performed internationally in Berlin, Salzburg, Budapest, Pecs, Vienna, Amsterdam, and Jihlava. Luke was awarded the New England Conservatory Eugene Lehrer Chamber Music Award and is featured on National Public Radio’s From The Top (Show 392).

Henderson’s musical interests extend beyond European classical repertoire – namely Bluegrass, Jazz, R&B, and South Indian Classical. Luke was featured in the Juilliard Jazz Orchestra during their residency at Dizzy’s Club at Jazz at Lincoln Center, performing the music of Duke Ellington. Henderson is dedicated to the study and performance of contemporary classical music. In 2023, he was featured in celebration performances for contemporary composers John Corigliano, Samuel Adler, and Reena Esmail.

When not playing violin, Luke enjoys hiking and listening to John Coltrane.

Ian Maloney is a cellist, composer, and chamber musician studying with Joel Krosnick at The Juilliard School where he is currently pursuing a Master of Music. Maloney has appeared on WQXR’s Young Artists Showcase, NPR’s From the Top, and in music videos with Brooklyn’s Project Trio and violinist Joshua Bell. He has performed in master classes for Carter Brey, Philippe Muller, Clive Greensmith, Paul Katz, David Finckel, Bonnie Hampton and Colin Carr.

As a cellist, he has earned first prize in numerous music competitions and has appeared as a featured orchestral soloist. Over the past four years at Juilliard, ten of his works, mainly for chamber configurations, have been premiered. As an orchestral player, he has served as principal cellist of the Juilliard Jazz Orchestra. He also performs with the New York Arabic Orchestra, appearing in David Geffen Hall at GlobalFest 2023 as well as in the video game, Assassin’s Creed: Mirage.

Maloney is an active chamber musician, mainly as the cellist of the award-winning Dolphins Quartet.

Violinist Isaac Park began his studies at the age of five with Sunny Kang, and has studied with Li Lin, Wei He, Helen Kim, and Chen Zhao. In 2020, he entered the undergraduate program at The Juilliard School where he is currently a student of Joseph Lin. He has enjoyed chamber music from an early age, playing in nonprofit groups, the Young Chamber Musicians, and at various festivals.

Throughout the summers, Park has attended the Taos School of Music, Kneisel Hall, the Juilliard String Quartet Seminar, and Music from Angel Fire.

Currently based in New York, he enjoys performing in nursing homes, hospitals, and schools. As a part of The Dolphins Quartet, the quartet has performed multiple times in Alice Tully Hall and have worked with renowned composers John Corigliano and Andy Akiho. Through the organization, Project Music Heals Us, they have performed for inmates on Rikers Island, and helped launch an initiative to create an educational program in prisons across California.

In 2024, The Dolphins performed the quartet concerto, Absolute Jest, in David Geffen Hall with the Juilliard Orchestra and John Adams conducting.

James Preucil, violist and composer, is pursuing his master’s degree at the Juilliard School of Music, where he studies with Molly Carr and Samuel Rhodes. He graduated with a Bachelor of Music degree in 2024 from Juilliard. He previously studied with Peter Slowik and his mother, Stephanie Preucil.

An avid chamber music musician, James is the founding violist of The Dolphins Quartet, which formed in summer of 2022. Along with his quartet, Preucil attended Music From Angel Fire Festival, St. Lawrence String Quartet Seminar, Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival, and Centrum Chamber Music Festival. Previously, he attended Kneisel Hall Chamber Festival, Juilliard Chamberfest, Castleman Quartet Program, and Credo Chamber Music Festival.

Preucil also dedicated to composition, especially centered around the viola. His compositional style ranges from the natural, idiomatic sounds of strings to ideas typical of pop, country, and jazz. He has completed and performed three major works for solo viola: “Kalendarmusik” Partita (2021), Sonata no. 1 in C major “The Sea” (2022), and Sonata no. 2 in Db major “Solitude” (2023). He recently completed his String Quartet No. 1 in F# minor, “Grunge”.

Since January 2021, Preucil has created videos for his YouTube channel called “Viola King”, aimed at forming a community of violists and viola supporters. Now with an audience of more than 35,000 followers across multiple platforms, he regularly posts arrangements, covers, vlogs, comedy videos, and discussions about the viola.

Preucil is a proud recipient of a Kovner Fellowship at The Juilliard School.