Ga Hyun Cho, violin (Goyangshi, Korea), has appeared as a soloist with the Munich Radio Orchestra, the Seoul National Symphony Orchestra and the Germany Mannheim University Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, among others.  She took second place in the Leopold Mozart International Violin Competition in 2006 and is the winner of eight other national and international competitions including the Seoul National Symphony Competition. B.M., Seoul National University; M.M. (in progress), New England Conservatory.*

Owen Dalby, violin (Astoria, NY), is currently a fellow at The Academy, a program of Carnegie Hall, the Juilliard School and the Weill Music Institute.  He is the co-founder and artistic director of the Hindemith Ensemble, a founding member of the Dalby-Rabin Duo and was the concertmaster and soloist for the Yale Symphony Orchestra in 2005-2006. Owen won the junior division of the Fischoff Competition in 2001 and took third in the Lyon International Competition in 2007. He has attended Kneisel Hall, Norfolk and Aspen. B.A., M.M., Yale University. Past participant, Yellow Barn Young Artists Program*

Keats Dieffenbach, violin (Wilmington, NC), is a founding member of the Tetras Quartet, which recently performed in Zankel Hall as part of Carnegie Hall’s Steve Reich at 70 series. She is a member of the Second Instrumental Unit and the American Contemporary Music Ensemble. A past concertmistress of the Juilliard Orchestra, Keats was Wilmington Symphony Orchestra’s 2006-2007 artist-in-residence, and recently appeared on “Saturday Night Live”. Festival appearances have included BargeMusic, the FOCUS! Festival at Lincoln Center, Sarasota, and Taos. Keats served as assistant faculty at Yellow Barn’s Young Artists Program, 2008. B.M., M.M., the Juilliard School; Graduate Diploma (in progress), New England Conservatory. Past Yellow Barn participant (2004, 2005, 2007)*

Isabelle Engels, violin (Kologne, Germany), is the winner of the New England Conservatory’s Honors Competition in Chamber Music 2007 and the Deutschen Musikinstrumentenfonds from 2005-2008, as well as numerous other competitions.  She has soloed and performed chamber music at Carnegie Hall, Berliner Konzerthaus, and Tonhalle Düsseldorf and has attended Prussia Cove, Lucerne Festival and the Casals Festival, among others. Graduate Diploma (in progress), New England Conservatory.*

Gershon Gerchikov, violin (Jerusalem, Israel), has been a prize winner in the violinists-composers competition in St. Petersburg, Russia. As a member of the Ariel Quartet, he has appeared in summer festivals at Ravinia Steans Institute, the Perlman Music Program, Great Lakes, Amadeus and ProQuartet.  The Ariel Quartet won the Grand Prize in the Fischoff Competition in 2006 as well as numerous other awards.  B.M., New England Conservatory. Recipient, 2008 Victoria Roth Schoplarship to attend Yellow Barn.*

Katie Hyun, violin (Sunnyvale, CA), has performed with the Koryo Quartet, the Curtis Institute Orchestra and the Aspen Festival Orchestra.  She was a 2004 winner of the Stony Brook Concerto Competition.  She has performed in music festivals at Menlo, Aspen, Taos, Music Academy of the West, Kniesel Hall and Encore. B.M., Curtis Institute; M.M., SUNY at Stony Brook; Artist Diploma, Yale School of Music.*

Alexandra Kazovsky, violin (Jerusalem, Israel), has performed with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and the Yad Harif Chamber Orchestra and as a soloist with the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra.  She won second prize in the Kol ha Musica Young Artists Competition.  As a member of the Ariel Quartet, she has appeared in summer festivals at Ravinia Steans Institute, the Perlman Music Program, Great Lakes, Amadeus and ProQuartet.  The Ariel Quartet won the Grand Prize in the Fischoff Competition in 2006 as well as numerous other awards.  B.M., New England Conservatory.  Recipient, 2008 Victoria Roth Schoplarship to attend Yellow Barn.*

Robin Scott, violin (Indianapolis, IN), is a former member of Indiana University’s Kutz Quartet and performed at the Kennedy Center in 2006. He has had concerto appearances with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestre National de Lille. Prizes include second place at the Menuhin International Competition and a silver medal at the Stulberg International Competition. He has attended festivals including Ravinia Steans Institute and Kneisel Hall. Artist’s Diploma, Indiana University; B.M. (in progress), New England Conservatory.*

Andrea Segar, violin (Davis, CA), is a former concertmistress of the New England Conservatory Sinfonietta. She has performed as soloist with the Desert Foothills Musicfest Orchestra, Oakland East Bay Symphony, and others. She is a past winner of the ASTA Massachusetts State Solo Competition as well as the Pacific Musical Society and Sacramento Symphony League Competitions. Festival and workshop appearances include the Borromeo String Quartet Bartok Seminar, Festival de San Miguel de Allende, Music Academy of the West, and Music at Menlo. B.M., New England Conservatory. Past Yellow Barn participant(2006-2007)*

Kathrin ten Hagen, violin (Steinfurt, Germany), is a member of Villa Musica and Live Music Now. She performed at the Zermatt Festival and the Festspiele Mecklenburg Vorpommern with the Sinus-Quartett and has won several prizes in quartet competitions. She has taken prizes in the International Yfrah-Neaman Competition, the Jakob-Stainer Competition and the Ibolyka Gyarfas Competition, among others. In 2004, she was concertmistress of the Junge Kammerphilharmonic Freiburg on a tour through Argentina. She plays a 1663 Cremona violin by Andreas Guarnerius.  B.M., Universität Mozarteum; M.M. (in progress), New England Conservatory.*

Danbi Um, violin (Philadelphia, PA), has appeared with the Dartmouth Symphony and toured with the Vermont Symphony Orchestra. She took second place at the Menuhin International Competition, junior division. She was featured in the “Rising Stars” series in Korea, and has performed at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall. Festival appearances include Encore, the Perlman Music Program, Aria, and Holland Music Sessions.  B.M., Curtis Institute of Music. Past Yellow Barn participant (2006-2007)*

Yoon-Jung Yang, violin (Seoul, Korea), has performed with the Curtis Symphony Orchestra and the Haddonfield Symphony Orchestra. She has collaborated on chamber works with Seymour Lipkin, Ralph Kirshbaum and others. Her festival appearances include Kneisel Hall, Summit, Music Academy of the West, Festival Music Alp, Sarasota and Ravinia.  B.M., Curtis Institute of Music; M.M. (in progress), New England Conservatory.*

Molly Carr, viola (Reno, NV), is a member of the Trovâo String Quartet. In 2007 she was a guest artist with the American String Quartet and performed with Itzhak Perlman at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She is the recipient of numerous scholarships, fellowships and awards and has been a soloist with the Reno Philharmonic Orchestra, the Young Musicians Forum, and the Carson City Symphony Orchestra. She has attended the Perlman Program and Music Academy of the West.  B.M. (in progress), the Juilliard School.

Stephanie Fong, viola (Brookline, MA), is a member of the Portland Symphony Orchestra and the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra. She has performed with the Kailas Quartet, the Aspen Music Festival Quartet, at the Kennedy Center, and at summer festivals at Aspen, Tanglewood and Kneisel Hall. She won the Fischoff Competition in 2006.  While completing her bachelor’s degree at the San Francisco Conservatory she taught viola at Pacific Academy.   B.M., San Francisco Conservatory; M.M., graduate diploma, New England Conservatory. Recipient, 2008 Barry and Elsa Waxman Scholarship to attend Yellow Barn. Past Yellow Barn participant (2002)

Paul Laraia, viola (Sewall, NJ), has performed with the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra, Anne Newman Advanced Study String Quartet, Temple Honors String Quartet and the Bela String Quartet. He received a silver medal in the Fischoff Competition in 2007. Paul is a 2007-08 member of the New England Conservatory honors quartet.  Summer festivals include Rowan International Music Festival, ASTA Strings, Kimmel Center Chamber Music and Strings International. B.M. (in progress), New England Conservatory.

Yiyin Li, viola (Beijing, China), is working on his graduate diploma at the New England Conservatory where he plays with the NEC chamber orchestra, and NEC philharmonic orchestra. He was invited three times to participate and serve as principal viola in the Pacific Music Festival Orchestra of Japan. He attended the Saito Kinen Music Festival for two years. He has achieved top rankings at many viola and chamber music competitions and is the recipient of a Presser award. B.M., Central Conservatory of Music; Graduate Diploma (in progress), New England Conservatory.

Jessica Oudin, viola (Houston, TX), is principal violist of the City Music Cleveland Chamber Orchestra and has served as principal with the Juilliard Orchestra. She is a former member of the Kashii String Quartet and has served on the chamber music faculty of the Innsbruck Music Festival. She is currently a teaching assistant to Heidi Castleman.  Jessica is a past winner of the Darius Milhaud Award and the Horace & Marie Arnold Award for Viola Performance. Festival appearances have included Aspen, Music at Menlo, Musicorda, and the Perlman Program. Jessica served as  assistant faculty  at Yellow Barn’s Young Artists Program, 2008. B.M., Cleveland Institute of Music; M.M., the Juilliard School. Recipient, 2008 Gennifer Sussman Scholarship to attend Yellow Barn.  Past Yellow Barn participant (2006-2007)

Lisa Steltenpohl, viola (North Barrington, IL), has been principal with the Curtis Institute Orchestra and the Haddonfield Symphony Orchestra and was a member of the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia. She is a substitute with the Philadelphia Orchestra. Festival appearances include the Philadelphia Music Festival, Schlewig-Holstein Musik, Taos, Kneisel Hall and Aspen. B.M., Curtis Institute of Music; M.M. (in progress), the Julliard School.

Sergey Tarashchansky, viola (Jerusalem, Israel), began his musical studies at the age of six on violin in his native country of Ukraine.  He began playing viola while studying at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance. In 2005, he played with Itzhak Perlman and Yo-Yo Ma at a benefit concert. As a member of the Ariel Quartet, he has appeared in summer festivals at Ravinia Steans Institute, the Perlman Music Program, Great Lakes, Amadeus and ProQuartet.  The Ariel Quartet won the Grand Prize in the Fischoff Competition in 2006 as well as numerous other awards.  B.M., New England Conservatory. Recipient, 2008 Victoria Roth Schoplarship to attend Yellow Barn.

Emmanuelle Bergeron, cello (Montreal, Canada), won the Special Jury Prize in the Prix d’Europe in 2007 and a silver medal in the Fischoff Competition in 2006.   She has played with the Kailas String Quartet and Les Violons du Roy and soloed with the National Center of the Arts Orchestra in Ottawa. She has attended Aspen, Tanglewood and the Quartet Program.  Emmanuelle served as assistant faculty for Yellow Barn’s Young Artists Program, 2008. B.M., Montreal Conservatory; M.M., the Juilliard School; M.M., String Quartet Program, Rice University. Recipient, 2008 Jackie Melnick Memorial Scholarship to attend Yellow Barn.  Past Yellow Barn participant (2004)

Jacqueline Choi, cello (Old Tappen, NJ), is the winner of several cello competitions including the Boston Symphony Competition in 2004. Her most recent concerto performances were with the Bucheon Symphony, Yemel Philharmonic and the New England Conservatory Chamber Orchestras. She performed chamber music at a Lincoln Center Gala concert in 2007.  Her awards include the New England Conservatory Presidential Scholar and Merit Scholarship awards. She has attended Banff, Music at Menlo, and Apeldoorn.  B.M., New England Conservatory.

Amit Even-Tor, cello (Jerusalem, Israel), studied from the age of 6 at the Jerusalem Conservatory and at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance. She has performed as a soloist with the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra live on Israel Radio. As a member of the Ariel Quartet, she has appeared in summer festivals at Ravinia Steans Institute, the Perlman Music Program, Great Lakes, Amadeus and ProQuartet.  The Ariel Quartet won the Grand Prize in the Fischoff Competition in 2006 as well as other awards. B.M., New England Conservatory. Recipient, 2008 Victoria Roth Schoplarship to attend Yellow Barn.

Michael Haas, cello (New York, NY) is a member of and occasional soloist for the Chelsea Symphony Orchestra and the principal cellist for the Juilliard Orchestra. He has been principal cello for the Curtis Symphony Orchestra. He has performed at summer music festivals at Aspen, Tanglewood and Taos.  B.M., Curtis Institute of Music; M.M., the Juilliard School. Recipient, 2008 David Wells Scholarship to attend Yellow Barn. 

Adelle-Akiko Kearns, cello (San Francisco, CA), was the assistant principal for the Tokyo Symphony from 2005-07. She has also performed with the DaCapo Chamber Players and the Monterey Symphony. Festival appearances include Saito Kinen, Spoleto, Tanglewood, Schleswig-Holstein and Aspen. B.M., M.M., San Francisco Conservatory; Graduate Diploma (in progress), the Juilliard School.

Jonathan Lewis, cello (Georgetown, KY), has appeared as soloist with the Louisville Symphony Orchestra. He performed in Carnegie’s Zankel Hall with John Adams and Leila Josefowicz, and in 2006 gave a solo recital in Cornwall, England. He has served as a teaching assistant to Hans Jensen at the Meadowmount School of Music. Jonathan won third prize at the Holland-America Music Society Competition and has been recognized for outstanding musical achievement by the Kentucky State Senate. Festival appearances have included Aspen, Kent-Blossom, Kneisel Hall, Meadowmount, and Ravinia. B.M., Northwestern; M.M., D.M.A. (in progress), New England Conservatory.

Erica Wise, cello (Saint Louis, MO), is a founding member of the Scheherazade Trio. She has performed with the Iris Chamber Orchestra and the New World Symphony and appeared as soloist with the Aspen Sinfonia, New England Conservatory Symphony Orchestra, and Hudson Valley Philharmonic. She is a past winner of the Nakamichi Cello Competition. Festival appearances have included Great Lakes, Kneisel Hall, and Tanglewood. Recipient, 2007 Barry and Elsa Waxman Scholarship to Yellow Barn. B.M., Peabody Conservatory; M.M., New England Conservatory. Recipient, 2008 John Burt Scholarship to attend Yellow Barn. Past Yellow Barn participant (2000-2002, 2007)

Alice Yoo, cello (Bozeman, MT), is a former member of the Redwood String Quartet, the New England Conservatory Honors Quartet and the Halle Orchestra. She has appeared with the Bozeman and Billings Symphony Orchestras and the Cleveland Philharmonic. She has won prizes in the Holland-America Music Society Competition, the Schadt Strings Competition; and the Frieda-Schumacher Young Artist Competition. Festival appearances have included Banff, Bowdoin, Encore, Music Academy of the West, the Perlman Program, Ravinia, and Sarasota.  B.M., New England Conservatory; Post Graduate Diploma, Royal Northern College of Music. Past Yellow Barn participant (2007)

Thomas Van Dyck, double bass (Philadelphia, PA), is a substitute with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Detroit Symphony and the San Diego Symphony and has been a member of the New World Symphony. He is the recipient of the Maurice Schwarz Prize by Marion E. Dubbs from Tanglewood.  His festival appearances include Lucerne, Tanglewood, Sarasota, Domaine Forget, and Aspen. B.M., Rice University; M.M., Boston University. Recipient, 2008 George and Ginger Elvin Scholarship to attend Yellow Barn. Past Yellow Barn participant (2005-2006)

Julio Elizalde, piano (San Francisco, CA), is a C.V. Starr doctoral fellow at the Juilliard School.  He plays with New York’s N-E-W Trio, which, in the past year, won both the Coleman National Chamber Music Competition and the Plowman National Chamber Music Competition. He recently performed at the Kennedy Center as part of the inaugural concert for the Pro Musica Hebraica. He has performed at summer music festivals including Taos, Kneisel Hall and Music Academy of the West. Julio served as assistant faculty at Yellow Barn’s Young Artists Program, 2008. B.M., San Francisco Conservatory of Music; M.M., the Juilliard School. Recipient, 2008 Nathan Schwartz Memorial Scholarship to attend Yellow Barn.

Kai-Yin Huang, piano (Taipei, Taiwan), has appeared in many international competitions and was awarded “The Most Promising Artist” prize at Hamamatsu Inernational Piano Academy in Japan, as well as third prize at the Chopin International Piano Competition in Taipei. Summer festival appearances include Bowdoin and Music Academy of the West. B.M., the Juilliard School; M.M., Yale School of Music; Graduate Diploma, the Juilliard School.  Past Yellow Barn participant (2005)

Hye Yeon Park, piano (Seoul, Korea), was a soloist this year with the Korean National University of Arts Orchestra, and with the Seoul Symphony and Seoul Philharmonic Orchestras.  She was the recipient of a Special Prize in the Maria Canals International Piano Competition and took awards at the Amadeo, Ettingen and Oberlin competitions. Festival appearances include the Festival Encuentro de Musica Academica de Santander, Ishikawa Academy, and the Salzburg Mozarteum. B.M., Korean National University of Arts; M.M., Artist Diploma, Yale School of Music; D.M.A. (in progress), Peabody Conservatory. Past Yellow Barn participant (2006)

Edward Robie, piano (Newport, NC), is a past recipient of the Gina Bachauer Scholarship and was a second prize winner in the 1999 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. Festival appearances have included Music Academy of the West, PianoFest, and Taos. B.M., M.M., the Juilliard School; D.M.A. (in progress), SUNY Stony Brook.  Recipient, 2008 Theodore Banning Scholarship to attend Yellow Barn.  Past Yellow Barn participant (2006-2007)

Mei Rui, piano (Shanghai, China), studied at the Shanghai Conservatory.  Her awards include the Van Gelder Memorial Award and the McDermott Scholarship and prizes in the Kingsville International and Kosciusko Competitions. She won the 2001 Manhattan School of Music Concerto Competition.  While at Yale University studying for an undergraduate degree in Molecular Physics and Biochemistry, she won the Yale William Waite Concerto Competition, the Yale Undergraduate Recital Competition, and the Joseph Selden Memorial award for excellence in the arts, along with a Sheffield Scientific Scholarship. Festival attendance includes Norfolk, Taos and Music Academy of the West. B.S., Yale University; M.M., A.D., Yale School of Music. Recipient, 2008 David Oswald Scholarship to attend Yellow Barn.

Alicia Lee, clarinet (Lutherville, MD), is assistant principal of the Santa Barbara Symphony and has performed with the Colburn Chamber Music Society. In 2005 and 2006, she appeared in Carnegie Hall workshops with David Robertson and John Adams. Festival appearances have included Lucerne, New York String Orchestra Seminar, Norfolk, and Spoleto, Italy. Earlier this summer Alicia served as assistant faculty in Yellow Barn’s Young Artists Program. B.A., Columbia; M.M., USC Thornton School of Music; Professional Studies Certificate (in progress), Colburn School. Recipient, 2008 Howard Brofsky Scholarship to attend Yellow Barn.

Conor Nelson, flute (Caledon, Ontario), is a member of the Conor and Ayano Duo and was formerly the flutist for Intrada Winds. He has appeared as soloist with the Toronto Symphony and the Banff Festival Orchestra. In 2006 he performed with Claude Frank in the Schneider Series. He is a former winner of the Fischoff and Coleman National Competitions, among others. Festival appearances have included Aspen, Banff, Brevard, OK Mozart, and Norfolk. B.M., Manhattan School of Music; M.M., Yale; D.M.A., SUNY Stony Brook. He is currently an assistant professor of flute at Oklahoma State University. Recipient, 2008 George and Laura Heller Scholarship to attend Yellow Barn.  Past Yellow Barn participant (2007)

Ayano Kataoka, percussion (Yachiyo, Japan), has appeared with Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble at Carnegie Hall, and performed at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, where she is the first percussionist to be chosen for a 3-season residency for emerging artists.  She toured Japan with her Latin percussion group, “Marimba Tropicana,” broadcast live on NHK-radio, and released two recordings on Respect Records. She has attended Norfolk and other summer festivals.  B.M., Tokyo National University of Fine Arts; M.M., Peabody Conservatory; Artist Diploma, Yale School of Music. Recipient, 2008 John Michael McKenzie Scholarship to attend Yellow Barn.

The Ariel String Quartet joins us as resident student ensemble this year, participating in the festival both as a group and as individuals studying and performing with other festival artists. The group had its origins in Jerusalem, where all members studied at the Jerusalem Conservatory of the Academy and the Jerusalem Academy of Music, before coming to the New England Conservatory in Boston. They are winners of the 2006 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and Third Prize winners at the 2007 Banff International Competition.

The Chiara String Quartet returns to Yellow Barn as a guest ensemble this year, boasting accolades like “vastly talented, vastly resourceful and vastly committed to music of their time” (Strings Magazine). The group (Rebecca Fischer and Julie Yoon, violins; Jonah Sirota, viola; Gregory Beaver, cello) has toured the nation and abroad, from major concert halls such as Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall to intimate small galleries and clubs, bringing chamber music to traditional audiences and new listeners. They have taught at the Juilliard School and the Greenwood Music Camp and were in residence at the Yellow Barn in 2002. They are artists-in-residence at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, and will be Blodgett Artists-in-Residence at Harvard starting this fall.

The Peabody Trio, our resident professional ensemble since 1998, features founding members Seth Knopp, piano, and Violaine Melançon, violin, musical partners and husband and wife. Seth is Artistic Director of Yellow Barn and founder of our Young Artists Program, and both he and Violaine serve on the faculty at the Peabody Conservatory. Cellist Natasha Brofsky, the third member of this Naumburg Chamber Music Award-winning trio, serves on the faculty at the New England Conservatory.

So Percussion, formed at Yale in 1999, is an established young percussion quartet which includes Jason Treuting, Adam Sliwinski, Josh Quillen and Lawson White. The group is known for its interesting, exciting work with contemporary composers like Steve Reich and David Lang, and has been hailed by the New York Times as “consistently impressive”. Their most recent DVD is entitled “Amid the Noise”. After a 2004 residency at Yellow Barn, and a 2004-05 residency at Brattleboro Union High School, we welcome them back this year as a guest ensemble.