Stefan Jackiw is one of America’s foremost violinists, captivating audiences with playing that combines poetry and purity with an impeccable technique. Hailed for playing of “uncommon musical substance” that is “striking for its intelligence and sensitivity” (Boston Globe), Jackiw has appeared as soloist with the Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, New York, Philadelphia, and San Francisco symphony orchestras, among others.
In Summer 2021, Jackiw returned to the Cleveland Orchestra performing Prokofiev 2 with Rafael Payare, the Boston Symphony performing Mozart Concerto no. 5 with Alan Gilbert, and the Aspen Music Festival performing the Beethoven Triple Concerto, alongside Alisa Weilerstein, and Inon Barnatan. In the 2021-2022 season, he will premiere a new violin concerto by Conrad Tao with the Atlanta Symphony and the Baltimore Symphony; he will also return to the Indianapolis Symphony to perform Korngold Concerto, and to the Oregon Symphony with Schumann Concerto. In Europe, he will perform with the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra and Alan Gilbert, and with Orchestre National de Lyon under Nikolaj Znaider.
Before the outbreak of COVID-19, Jackiw was scheduled to appear with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Vancouver Symphony, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Oslo Philharmonic, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, and Antwerp Symphony, among others. He also recently performed with the Helsinki Philharmonic, Bournemouth Symphony, RTE Dublin, and Baltimore and San Diego Symphonies. In July 2020, he launched Stefan’s Sessions, a virtual masterclass series exploring major works with up-and-coming violinists. This free online series has reached thousands of viewers.
Jackiw tours frequently with his musical partners, pianist Conrad Tao and cellist Jay Campbell, as part of the Junction Trio. He also enjoys collaborating with pianist Jeremy Denk with whom he has toured the complete Ives Violin Sonatas, which the pair recorded for future release on Nonesuch Records. He also recently recorded Beethoven’s Triple Concerto with Inon Barnatan, Alisa Weilerstein, Alan Gilbert and Academy St. Martin in the Fields.
Highlights of recent seasons include his debut at The Cleveland Orchestra’s Blossom Music Festival with Juraj Valcuha, with whom he also reunited for performances in Dallas, Detroit, and Luxembourg; performances of Prokofiev’s Second Violin Concerto at Carnegie Hall with Mikhail Pletnev, as part of a multi-city tour with the Russian National Orchestra; as well as performances with the St. Louis Symphony under Nicholas McGegan, the Minnesota Orchestra under Ilyich Rivas, the Rotterdam Philharmonic under Yannick Nézet-Séguin, the Indianapolis Symphony under Krzysztof Urbanski, and the Pittsburgh Symphony under Juraj Valčuha. He also gave the world premiere of American composer David Fulmer’s Violin Concerto No. 2 “Jubilant Arcs”, written for him and commissioned by the Heidelberg Festival with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie under Matthias Pintscher. Further afield, Jackiw has appeared with the Tokyo Symphony at Suntory Hall under the direction of Krzysztof Urbanski, and the Seoul Philharmonic under Mario Venzago. He has also toured Korea, playing chamber music with Gidon Kremer and Kremerata Baltica, and toured with the Australian Chamber Orchestra play-directing Mendelssohn.
Jackiw has performed in numerous major festivals and concert halls around the world, including the Aspen Music Festival, Ravinia Festival, Caramoor International Music Festival, Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, New York’s Mostly Mozart Festival, the Philharmonie de Paris, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, the Celebrity Series of Boston, and the Washington Performing Arts Society.
Born to physicist parents of Korean and German descent, Stefan Jackiw began playing the violin at the age of four. His teachers have included Zinaida Gilels, Michèle Auclair, and Donald Weilerstein. He holds a Bachelor of Arts from Harvard University, as well as an Artist Diploma from the New England Conservatory, and is the recipient of a prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant. Jackiw plays a violin made in 1750 in Milan by G.B. Guadagnini, on generous loan from a private collection. He lives in New York City.
Hailed by The New York Times for her "inexhaustible virtuosity", clarinetist Yoonah Kim is rapidly earning recognition as a young artist of uncommon musical depth and versatility. Yoonah is a winner of the 2016 Concert Artists Guild International CompetitionHailed by The New York Times for her "inexhaustible virtuosity", clarinetist Yoonah Kim is rapidly earning recognition as a young artist of uncommon musical depth and versatility. Yoonah is a winner of the 2016 Concert Artists Guild International Competition. The first solo clarinetist to win CAG in nearly 30 years, this Korean-Canadian artist joins the ranks of prominent solo clarinetists discovered by CAG, including David Shifrin, Michael Collins, and David Krakauer.
Recent performance highlights include Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto with the Maui Chamber Orchestra, George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue in a new arrangement for solo clarinet and string orchestra by Texu Kim, and the World Premiere of a new concerto by Eric Nathan for Violin and Clarinet, with violinist Stefan Jackiw and the New York Classical Players. Her recent chamber music appearances include performances of Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time with Stefan Jackiw, cellist Jay Campbell and pianist Orion Weiss at Princeton University and the Crypt in New York City and also with the Junction Trio (Stefan Jackiw, Jay Campbell, and pianist Conrad Tao) at Rockefeller University.
Yoonah recently made her New York recital debut at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, and has also given debut recitals for Chicago’s Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts series, Washington Performing Arts’ Music in the Country series, Chamber Music Society of Little Rock and Union County Performing Arts Center. She also appeared as concerto soloist with the Arkansas Symphony Youth Orchestra, the Chesapeake Youth Symphony, and the DuPage Symphony Orchestra.
In 2016, Yoonah became the first woman to win first prize at the Vandoren Emerging Artist Competition, leading to her world premiere performance of Pocket Concerto by American composer Dag Gabrielsen at The Music for All National Festival in Indianapolis, presented by Yamaha. Earlier that year, she was a featured soloist at Juilliard’s Focus Festival, performing Donald Martino’s A Set for Clarinet at Peter Jay Sharp Theater in New York City.
From 2016 to 2018, Yoonah was a member of Ensemble Connect (formerly Ensemble ACJW), a highly selective two-year fellowship program under the joint auspices of Carnegie Hall, The Weill Institute, and The Juilliard School. With Ensemble Connect, she performed regularly at Carnegie Hall, often in collaboration with renowned conductors and guest artists. Highlights include collaborations with Sir Simon Rattle at Zankel Hall, and with soprano Natalie Dessay at the Philharmonie de Paris.
Yoonah tours regularly with the ensembles FOUNDERS and Frisson, and has appeared at chamber music festivals, including the Marlboro Music Festival, Mainly Mozart Festival, Chautauqua Music Festival, California’s Festival Napa Valley, Maine’s Bay Chamber Music Festival, Bravo! Vail, Sarasota Music Festival, and The Banff Centre Music Festival and the Thessaloniki Festival in Greece.
In addition to her appearances on stage, Yoonah is also committed to teaching. Through her extensive educational outreach working with Ensemble Connect, she served as an education ambassador for Carnegie Hall at New York City schools. With a fellow colleague from Ensemble Connect, Yoonah co-founded Chime for Children, an initiative to bring joy and inspiration through interactive performances to children with limited exposure and access to music.
Born in Seoul and raised in British Columbia, Yoonah is currently pursuing her doctoral degree at The Juilliard School as the C.V. Starr Doctoral Fellow. She holds a Master of Music degree from Juilliard and she holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the Mannes College of Music at The New School, where she studied clarinet under Charles Neidich.
Praised for her “bountiful gifts and passionate immersion into the music she touches” (The Plain Dealer), pianist Fei-Fei is a winner of the Concert Artists Guild Competition and a top finalist at the 14th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. She continues to build a reputation for her poetic interpretations, charming audiences with her “passion, piquancy and tenderness” and “winning stage presence” (Dallas Morning News), both in the US and internationally, including her native China.
Fei-Fei’s 2019-2020 concert season will take her across the globe in concerto performances, recitals and chamber music collaborations alike. Highlights include performances with the Baden-Baden Philharmonic touring in Germany, a tour of Spain with the New York Youth Symphony, as well as concerto engagements with the Costa Rica National Symphony Orchestra, Columbus Symphony, Big Springs Symphony and Symphony in C. This season also brings a new special project titled The Inner Voices with violist Dana Kelley and clarinetist Yoonah Kim, featuring the music of Mozart, Schumann and Brahms.
Additional career highlights include performances with the Fort Worth Symphony, Kansas City Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic, Calgary Philharmonic, Aspen Music Festival Orchestra, Spokane Symphony, Corpus Christi Symphony, Austin Symphony, Denver Philharmonic, Anchorage Symphony, Youngstown Symphony, and the Juilliard Orchestra. Internationally, she has performed with Canada’s Calgary Philharmonic, Germany’s Rostock and Baden-Baden philharmonic orchestras, and in China with the Hong Kong Philharmonic, China National, and Shenzhen Symphony orchestras.
Fei-Fei was showcased prominently as a Cliburn finalist in the documentary film, Virtuosity, about the 2013 Cliburn Competition, which premiered on PBS in August 2015. She is currently based in New York City.
