Programme for March

We will be hosting the talented quartet composed of violinists Gooil Kang and Rachel Hayoung Woo, violist Dahee Kwon and cellist Haeun Kim. They will perform Mendelssohn and Dvorak.

Don’t miss out on the chance of having a lovely time at the beautiful church building, enjoying classical music performed by Korean artists.

Gooil Kang Violin

Rachel Hayoung Woo Violin

Dahee Kwon Viola

Haeun Kim Cello

________________

REPERTOIRE

Felix Mendelssohn String Quartet No.6 in F minor, Op. 80

Interval

Barber, Adagio for strings

Dvorak String Quartet No. 12 in F major, Op. 96, "American"

________________

ARTIST'S BIOS

Gooil Kang Born in 1986, Gooil Kang started learning the piano at the age of two and took up the violin when he was nine years old. After showing notable talent, Gooil went on to study abroad at Academic de musique de Sion and Kunst der Universität in Graz, Austria, where he studied as the very last student of the renowned violinist, Tibor Varga. In 2006, he started his studies at Hanns Eisler in Berlin after being recognised by Stephan Picard. From 2007 to 2010, Gooil performed as a quartet with members of the Berlin Philharmonic and also continued to perform extensively as a soloist with numerous orchestras such as the Neustadt Symphony Orchestra, MS Philharmonic Orchestra and many named orchestras in South Korea. He was invited to perform as a soloist by the Obersdorf Music festival in Germany and also the Bowdoin Festival held in the USA. From 2014 to 2018, Gooil served as the concertmaster of Sejong City Philharmonic in Korea then moved in 2020, to the Freiburg Philharmonic Orchestra in Germany. Most recently, he served as concertmaster of the Mainz Philharmonic Orchestra up until 2022.

Rachel Hayoung Woo Born in 1999, Rachel took up the violin at the age of 5 and joined the Purcell school of music in 2009. Here she studied with Berent Korfker for eight years and was awarded full scholarship for the time of her study. In 2014, she led the Purcell orchestra in Conway hall and has since then performed extensively as an orchestral musician in concert venues such as the Royal Festival Hall and Queen Elizabeth Hall under conductors such as Marin Alsop, Karina Canellakis and Edward Gardner. She is also a guest member of the Hankyung Philharmonic Orchestra and received guidance in collaboration with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Rachel has participated in masterclasses all across Europe where coaches have included Tanja Bender-Becker, Ulf Schneider and more. Rachel is currently a scholarship student at the Royal Academy of Music studying with Joshua Fisher. She plays on the 1860 Postacchini violin generously loaned by RAM.

Dahee Kwon is a South Korean violist who is currently based in Germany. She studied under the tutelage of Sylvie Altenburger at the Hochschule für Musik, where she graduated with top honours for her Master’s degree. She was awarded the Helmut Spehl scholarship for her time of study. In addition, she won first place at the Haneum Philharmonie competition and second place at the Korea Germany Brahms Association competition and the international artist competition. Dahee has performed recitals at the Humbert Saal in Freiburg and in Kirschzarten, Germany. She has also performed as a soloist with the Seoul String Ensemble. As an orchestral player, she completed a placement with the Leipzig Orchestra and played with the Freiburg Philharmonic Orchestra, also performing as a guest musician with the Deutsches Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken. She is currently a member of the Dortmund Philharmonic.

Haeun Kim South Korean cellist Haeun, made her public debut at the age of 12 with the Seoul Metropolitan Youth Orchestra. She went on to study at the Seoul Arts High School, during in which she won national competitions in Korea and performed in major concert venues including Seoul Arts Centre and KBS Hall. Haeun completed her Bachelor studies at the Royal College of Music under Alexander Boyarsky and her Master’s at the Royal Academy of Music with former head of Strings, Professor Jo Cole, supported by the Sheila Bennett Scholarship and the Mary Stuart Harding Scholarship. As an orchestral player, she has been working with maestros including Bernard Haitink, Trevor Pinnock and Edward Gardner and performed in many prestigious hall such as Royal Albert Hall, Suntory Hall and Sheldoinan theatre. She appeared as a principle cello at the New Perspectives Ensemble and RCMSO, and was selected for the English National Opera’s Evolve Scheme and the Sainsbury Royal Academy of Soloists. Haeun was also invited to give lecture recitals and supervise young musicians at Aju University and Hanyang University. She is currently undergoing her Artist Diploma at RCM.