Programme for February

PROGRAMME:

Mendelssohn String Quartet No. 2 in A minor, Op. 13

I. Adagio – Allegro vivace

II. Adagio non lento

III. Intermezzo. Allegretto con moto – Allegro di molto

IV. Presto – Adagio non lento

Intermission

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

ⅰ Allegro ma non troppo

ⅱ Lento

ⅲ Molto vivace

ⅳ Finale: Vivace ma non troppo

ARTIST BIOS:

Katherine Yoon, violin 1

Born in 1998, South Korean violinist Katherine Yoon has performed in concert venues including Berliner Philharmonie, Musikverein Vienna, Wigmore Hall, Konzerthaus Berlin, Victoria Hall Singapore, and Bozar Brussels. In 2019, Katherine was the winner of the RCM Violin Competition. She has had masterclasses with Pinchas Zukerman, Maxim Vengerov, Zakhar Bron, Alina Ibragimova, Mihaela Martin and András Keller. Being a passionate chamber musician, she has been coached by members of the Doric, Chiaroscuro, Emerson, Endellion, Marmen and Sacconi Quartets. Katherine was born in South Korea and grew up in England, USA and Singapore. She previously studied with Akiko Ono at the Yehudi Menuhin School. From 2017, she studied at the Royal College of Music with Itzhak Rashkovsky on a full scholarship as a recipient of the Anne & Brian Wadsworth Scholarship and the ISH Award. She was supported by the Drake Calleja Trust in 2020/21. Katherine is currently pursuing her Master of Music degree at the RCM as an ABRSM Scholar. She plays on a 1741 Giovanni Battista Guadagnini violin, on loan from the RCM and temporarily a Marco Antonio Cerin violin, loaned to her by Florian Leonhard Fine Violins.

Amber Emson, violin 2

Amber started playing violin at the age of 5 as a pupil of Margaret Norris and later Natasha Boyarsky. She was a student at Chetham’s School of Music 2014-16, and attended the Royal College of Music’s Junior Department between 2016 and 2019, where she took lessons with Maciej Rakowski. She currently studies violin at the Royal Academy of Music under the tutelage of So-Ock Kim. In 2019 Amber received 1st prize in Germany's national "Jugend Musiziert" competition, as well as 1st prize at the International Music Competition Hohenpriessnitz. A passionate chamber musician, she took part in ‘Mit Musik – Miteinander’ at Kronberg Academy in September 2018, and regularly participated at ‘MusicWorks’ chamber music coaching where she worked with mentors including Catherine Manson, James Boyd, Robert Max and Alasdair Beatson. Since August 2019, she is a member of LGT Young Soloists, performing with the group in major concert halls worldwide. During recent years, Amber’s musical activities have been supported by generous grants from a number of trusts and foundations. Amongst these are the National Youth Arts Trust, Kathleen Trust and Spoff’s Chamber Music Scholarships. Amber plays on a violin by Matthew Taylor from 1806.

Ji-Eun Park, viola

Ji Eun Park attended Yewon Music School in Seoul, Korea under the instruction of Professor Sang Jin Kim. She studied under Professor Toby Appel at The Juilliard School Pre-College. Ji Eun studied at The Colburn Music Academy School in Los Angeles under Professor Helen Callus. Recently, she finished her Bachelor and Master’s studies from the Juilliard School as an accelerated five year BM/MM program student. She is currently pursuing her Artist Diploma degree in Royal College of Music under Professor Nathan Braude. Ji Eun recently won the first prize in 2022 Jefferson Symphony Orchestra Young Artist Competition and she will perform with the Orchestra this coming March. She has won first awards at various competitions such as the Guri orchestra, Universal music competition, Haneum music competition, Koreana concert orchestra, Haneum philharmonic orchestra concours, and the Strad concours. She has been awarded an Honorable Mention at the Alexander & Buono International String Competition. She has been chosen as a first place winner of the American Protege International Music Talent Competition Fall and performed at the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. Ji Eun was a member of The Young Artists Festival of Chamber Music and Ensemble Vora. As for community service, Ji Eun has been playing viola at Ictus Youth Orchestra in Seoul for seven years during the summer and winter fundraising concerts to aid disability organizations. She is currently a member of the LGT Young Soloists, performing around the world. For the past summer, she has attended the Great Mountains Music Festival, Perlman Music Program, Colorado college summer music festival, and the Manchester Music Festival. She attended the Viola Master Class in Otaru winter festival with Nobuko Imai.

Özgür Kaya, cello

Ozgur Kaya, born in Ankara, started playing the cello at the age of 12. Followed by joining the Bilkent University Music Faculty in 2017, where along with his cello education he also studied composition with Ulkemin Akbas and participated in classes of renown composers such as Bruno Mantovani and Mark Andre. During his studies in Bilkent University, he premiered a variety of works that are composed by young composers. From 2018 until this year, he has continued his cello studies at The Yehudi Menuhin School with Bartholomew LaFollette. His chamber group "Kiana Trio" won the 1st place in the 2017 Egirdir Chamber Music Competition and the 3rd place in the 2018 AKOB Chamber Music Competition. In 2018, he performed "Variations on a Rococo Theme" by Tchaikovsky with the Bilkent Youth Symphony Orchestra which has been released on digital platforms. He won the finalist diploma at the 2018 Knushevitsky. He has had the chance to collaborate with world renowned musicians such as Colin Carr, Robert Levin, Alexander Chaushian, Peter Bruns, Johannes Moser and the Endellion Quartet. He has performed alongside artists such as Charles Owen, Ashley Wass, Viktor Tretiakov and Akiko Ono. Ozgur has been studying at the Royal College of Music in London, with Prof. Alexander Chaushian since September 2021, as the Amaryllis Fleming Foundation Scholar supported by the Phyllis Horne Menzies Scholarship, International Students House and Talent Unlimited foundation

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