Meet the 2024 Artists

Soovin Kim

Soovin Kim enjoys a broad musical career regularly performing Bach sonatas and Paganini caprices for solo violin, sonatas for violin and piano ranging from Beethoven to Ives, Mozart, and Haydn concertos and symphonies as a conductor, and new world-premiere works almost every season.  When he was 20 years old, Mr. Kim received first prize at the Paganini International Violin Competition.  He immersed himself in the string quartet literature for 20 years as the 1st violinist of the Johannes Quartet.  Among his many commercial recordings are his “thrillingly triumphant” (Classic FM Magazine) disc of Paganini’s demanding 24 Caprices, and a two-disc set of Bach’s complete solo violin works to be released in 2024. Soovin Kim is the founder and artistic director of the Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival (LCCMF) in Burlington, Vermont.  In addition to its explorative programming and extensive work with living composers, LCCMF created the ONE Strings program through which all 3rd through 5th grade students of the Integrated Arts Academy in Burlington study violin.  The University of Vermont recognized Soovin Kim’s work by bestowing an honorary doctorate upon him in 2015. 

Violin

Gloria Chien

Taiwanese-born pianist Gloria Chien has one of the most diverse musical lives as a noted performer, concert presenter, and educator. She made her orchestral debut at the age of sixteen with the Boston Symphony Orchestra with Thomas Dausgaard, and she performed again with the BSO with Keith Lockhart. She was subsequently selected by The Boston Globe as one of its Superior Pianists of the Year, “who appears to excel in everything.” In recent seasons, she has performed as a recitalist and chamber musician at Alice Tully Hall, the Library of Congress, the Phillips Collection, the Dresden Chamber Music Festival, and the National Concert Hall in Taiwan. She performs frequently with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. In 2009, she launched String Theory, a chamber music series in Chattanooga, Tennessee, that has become one of the region’s premier classical music presenters. The following year she was appointed Director of the Chamber Music Institute at Music@Menlo. In 2017, she joined her husband, violinist Soovin Kim, as artistic director of the Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival in Burlington, Vermont. The couple has recently been appointed artistic directors at Chamber Music Northwest in Portland, OR. Chien studied extensively at the New England Conservatory of Music with Wha Kyung Byun and Russell Sherman. She is Artist-in-Residence at Lee University in Cleveland, Tennessee, and she is a Steinway Artist. 

Piano

David Serkin Ludwig

David Serkin Ludwig’s first memory was singing Beatles songs with his sister; his second was hearing his grandfather perform at Carnegie Hall; foreshadowing a diverse career collaborating with many of today’s leading musicians, filmmakers, and writers. His choral work “The New Colossus,” opened the private prayer service for President Obama’s second inauguration. The next year NPR Music named him in the world’s “Top 100 Composers Under Forty.” He holds positions and residencies with nearly two dozen orchestras and music festivals in the US and abroad.

Ludwig has received commissions and notable performances from many of the most recognized artists and ensembles of our time, including the Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Minnesota, and National Symphony Orchestras, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Dresden Music Festival, as well as Jonathan Biss, Jeremy Denk, Jennifer Koh, Jaime Laredo, David Shifrin, eighth blackbird, the Dover and Borromeo Quartets, Imani Winds, and the PRISM Saxophone Quartet.

This year Ludwig was honored by the American Academy of Arts and Letters as recipient of their annual award in music. In 2022 Ludwig was awarded the Stoeger Prize from the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the largest of its kind for chamber music. He received the prestigious 2018 Pew Center for the Arts and Heritage Fellowship, as well as the First Music Award, and is a two-time recipient of the Independence Foundation Fellowship, a Theodore Presser Foundation Career Grant, and awards from New Music USA, the American Composers Forum, American Music Center, Detroit Chamber Winds, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

In 2021 Ludwig was named a Steinway Artist by Steinway and Sons. He served on the composition faculty of The Curtis Institute of Music for nearly two decades before being appointed Dean and Director of Music at the Juilliard School last year. He lives in New York City with his wife, acclaimed violinist Bella Hristova, and their four beloved cats.

Resident Composer

Lucy Fitz Gibbon

Bio

Soprano

Jennifer Johnson Cano

Mezzo Soprano

Bio

Robyn Bollinger

Violin

Bio

Jennifer Frautschi

Bio

Violin

Hsin-Yun Huang

Bio

Viola

Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt

Praised by Strad magazine as having "lyricism that stood out...a silky tone and beautiful, supple lines," violist Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt has established herself as one of the most sought-after violists of her generation. In addition to appearances as a soloist with the Tokyo Philharmonic, the Jacksonville Symphony, and the Sphinx Chamber Orchestra, she has performed in recitals and chamber-music concerts throughout the United States, Latin America, Europe, and Asia, including an acclaimed 2011 debut recital at London’s Wigmore Hall, which was described in Strad as being "fleet and energetic...powerful and focused".

Ms. Pajaro-van de Stadt was the founding violist of the Dover Quartet and played in the group from 2008-2022. During her time in the group, the Dover Quartet was the First Prize-winner and recipient of every special award at the Banff International String Quartet Competition 2013 and winner of the Gold Medal and Grand Prize in the 2010 Fischoff Chamber Music Competition. Her numerous awards also include First Prize of the Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition and top prizes at the Sphinx Competition and the Tokyo International Viola Competition. While in the Dover Quartet, Ms. Pajaro-van de Stadt was on the faculty at The Curtis Institute of Music and Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music and a part of the Quartet in Residence of the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. She is a member of the newly formed piano quartet “Espressivo!” along with acclaimed artists Jaime Laredo, Sharon Robinson, and Anna Polonsky.

A violin student of Sergiu Schwartz and Melissa Pierson-Barrett for several years, she began studying viola with Michael Klotz at the Bowdoin International Music Festival in 2005. Ms. Pajaro-van de Stadt graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music, where she studied with Roberto Diaz, Michael Tree, Misha Amory, and Joseph de Pasquale. She then received her Master's Degree in String Quartet with the Dover Quartet at Rice University's Shepherd School of Music as a student of James Dunham.

Viola

Wenting Kang

Bio

Viola

Edward Arron

Bio

Cello

Peter Stumpf

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Cello

Marcy Rosen

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Cello

Emi Ferguson

Flute

Bio

Romie de Guise-Langlois

Bio

Clarinet

David Shifrin

Bio

Clarinet

Nancy Allen

Harp

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Ji Hye Jung

Percussion

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Ji Su Jung

Percussion

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Sandeep Das

Tabla

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Jeewon Park

Praised for her “deeply reflective playing”(Indianapolis Star) and “infectious exuberance” (New York Times), Korean-born pianist Jeewon Park has garnered the attention of audiences for her dazzling technique and poetic lyricism. Since making her debut at the age of 12, performing Chopin’s First Concerto with the Korean Symphony Orchestra, pianist Jeewon Park has performed as a recitalist, soloist, and chamber musician in prestigious venues worldwide, including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Merkin Hall, 92nd Street Y, Metropolitan Museum of Art and Seoul Arts Center. She is a frequent performer at Bargemusic and Caramoor International Music Festival where she was named a Rising Star in 2007. A passionate chamber musician, she has appeared at prominent festivals throughout the world, including Seattle Chamber Music Society, Lake Champlain, Spoleto USA, Bridgehampton, Lake Champlain, Manchester, Seoul Spring, Great Mountains (Korea), Tucson, Appalachian Summer, Central Vermont, Taos, Eastern Music Festival, Emilia-Romagna (Italy), Music Alp in Courchevel (France), and Kusatsu Summer Music (Japan). The 2022-2023 season marks her 10th season as the co-artistic director, along with her husband, Edward Arron, of the Performing Artists in Residence series at the Clark Art Institute. In 2021, Ms. Park’s recording of Beethoven’s Complete Works for Cello and Piano with cellist Edward Arron was released on the Aeolian Classics Record Label. Subsequently, they received the Samuel Sanders Collaborative Artists Award from the Classical Recording Foundation. She came to the US in 2002 after winning all major competitions in Korea. Park is a graduate of Yonsei University, The Juilliard School, Yale University and SUNY Stony Brook where she earned her DMA.

Piano

Ieva Jokubaviciute

Bio

Piano

Jin Kim

Keynote Speaker

Bio

Jonah Cohen

Young Composer

Jonah Cohen (b. 2004) is a composer, conductor, pianist, and cellist from Farmington Hills, MI, currently based in New York City. His compositions tend to revolve around his fascination with space, time, motion, and stagnation and how they are relevant in the here and now. He strives to write music that is accessible yet unafraid to explore sonic realms that may be uncomfortable. Jonah has received recognition from ASCAP, Tribeca New Music, National YoungArts Foundation, Foundation for Modern Music, Interlochen Center for the Arts, National Young Composers Challenge, Chicago College of Performing Arts, Music Teachers National Association, and many others for his work. He has been lucky enough to attend numerous composition programs and festivals, including Yellow Barn Young Artists Program, Boston University Tanglewood Institute, Atlantic Music Festival, Interlochen Arts Camp, and Curtis Young Artists Summer Program. Jonah recently graduated from the Interlochen Arts Academy, where he majored in composition and studied with Dr. Cynthia Van Maanen. At the Academy, Jonah was honored to receive the Neil Rabaut Memorial Composition Scholarship as well as the Young Artist Award. Jonah is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Music in Composition degree at The Juilliard School, studying with Dr. David Ludwig. Dedicated to supporting future generations of young composers, Jonah serves as the founder and Program Director of The NowBeat Project, a nonprofit organization that has provided free opportunities for over 50 participants from 17 US states and 5 countries.

Delfin Demiray

Young Composer

Based in Philadelphia, Delfin Demiray is an aspiring composition student. Born and raised in Ankara, Turkey, she started her music education with piano at the age of 7. She began her composition studies at the age of 17 with Yiğit Aydın. She also spent her time studying drama as a half-time student. Her photography and film critic newsletter were recognized locally, and her photography was exhibited at Bilkent University in Turkey. She participates in conceptual and interdisciplinary art exhibitions and has displayed works of conceptual art in her newly blooming career. Delfin is pursuing her Bachelor’s Degree at The Curtis Institute of Music, where she has been studying with Nick DiBerardino, Steven Mackey, Amy Beth Kirsten, Jonathan Bailey Holland, and Richard Danielpour since the Fall of 2023.

Yuri Lee

Young Composer

Yuri Lee (b. 2004) is a Korean-Japanese composer and violinist based in NY with the dream of making people happy with music. With unique themes and extramusical ideas, her music tells a story and stimulates the listener's imagination. Her compositions have been recognized and performed by various organizations and musicians, including the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra, The Little Orchestra Society, the Nu Deco Ensemble, the International Contemporary Ensemble, Mivos String Quartet, NYO-USA, Duo Cortona, Pedro Giraudo, Trifilio Tango Trio, and Composers Now 2019 Opening Event at National Opera Center.

After studying composition with Manuel Sosa and Daniel Felsenfeld and violin with Lucie Gelinas at the Juilliard School Preparatory Division for seven years, as well as receiving Reena Esmail’s mentorship at Luna Composition Lab, she is studying at Princeton University as an intended music major to explore the raw, vast elements of life that will offer new perspectives and stories for her compositions. She is enjoying playing in the Princeton University Orchestra and singing in the Princeton Chamber Choir.