Young Artist Institute

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, 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 that were released in 2022.

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. In 2020, he and his wife, pianist Gloria Chien, became Artistic Directors of Chamber Music Northwest in Portland, Oregon. He, with Chien, were awarded Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s 2021 CMS Award for Extraordinary Service to Chamber Music. Kim devotes much of his time to his passion for teaching at the New England Conservatory in Boston and the Yale School of Music in New Haven.

Violist Hanna Lee has performed throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia in such venues as Carnegie Hall, Kimmel Center, Jordan Hall, Suntory Hall, and Seoul Arts Center. Ms. Lee has appeared as a soloist with the KBS Symphony Orchestra, Korean Symphony, Fairbanks Symphony Orchestra, Frankfurt Jungen Symphony Orchestra, and the Sungnam City Orchestra. As an avid chamber musician, she was invited to perform at Ravinia, Verbier, Kronberg, and Marlboro Festivals. As a member of the Kallaci String Quartet, she has performed complete string quartet works by Shostakovich and Beethoven and has toured in Korea and abroad. As a recitalist, she has appeared at Kumho Cultural Foundation and Seoul Arts Center Series. A recipient of many honors and prizes, Ms. Lee’s awards include major prizes at the International Young Artist Competition (USA) and the Osaka International Competition (Japan). She is a graduate of Korean National University of Arts, Curtis Institute of Music, New England Conservatory, and Kronberg Academy. She has been invited to festivals worldwide, such as Music Alp Festival, Seoul Spring Festival, Pyeongchang Music Festival, and Seoul International Music Festival. Also, she is a member of Kallaci String Quartet, Kumho Soloists, Ensemble Opus, and is guest principal violist at Australian Chamber Orchestra. Ms. Lee is currently on faculty at Korean National University of Arts, Yonsei University, and Korea National Institute for the Gifted in Arts.

Cellist Edward Arron has garnered recognition worldwide for his elegant musicianship, impassioned performances, and creative programming. A native of Cincinnati, Ohio, Mr. Arron made his New York recital debut in 2000 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Since that time, he has appeared in recital, as a soloist with major orchestras, and as a chamber musician throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. The 2022-23 season marks Mr. Arron’s 10th season as the Co-Artistic Director of the Performing Artists in Residence series at the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts. In the May of 2022, he stepped down after 15 years as the Artistic Director of the acclaimed Musical Masterworks concert series in Old Lyme, Connecticut. In 2013, he completed a ten-year residency as the Artistic Director of the Metropolitan Museum Artists in Concert. Mr. Arron tours and records as a member of the renowned Ehnes String Quartet, and is a regular guest with the Boston and Seattle Chamber Music Societies, as well as the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. His performances are frequently broadcast on American Public Media’s Performance Today.

In 2021, Mr. Arron’s recording of Beethoven’s Complete Works for Cello and Piano with pianist Jeewon Park was released on the Aeolian Classics Record Label, and in 2022, his recordings of Beethoven’s Late String Quartets with the Ehnes Quartet were released on the Onyx Record Label. A graduate of the Juilliard School, Mr. Arron has served on the faculty at the University of Massachusetts Amherst since 2016.

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Alyssa Tong studies violin under Simon James at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. She formerly studied under Nelson Lee of the Jupiter String Quartet at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign School of Music. Alyssa has participated in masterclasses for artists such as Rachel Barton Pine, Ani Kavafian, Laurie Smukler, Zach DePue, Daniel Hope, and Alexi Kenney. An avid chamber musician, she has performed in chamber masterclasses with Yo-Yo Ma, the Cavani, Parker, Catalyst, JACK and Telegraph Quartets, Mathieu Herzog, and pianist Michael Brown. Her other violin mentors include Paul Kantor, Charles Castleman, and Soovin Kim and she has spent recent summers at Bowdoin International Music Festival, ENCORE Chamber Music, LyricaFest and the Castleman Quartet Program. During the pandemic, Alyssa launched the first online summer music festival to great success, providing instruction for over 100 students with faculty from the country’s most prestigious music schools. Faculty members Ani Kavafian, Paul Katz, Paul Kantor, Soovin Kim, Ettore Causa, and more praised her work that filled the gap left by the canceled in-person festivals. The festival, the Online Solo Strings Intensive, continued and is on its fifth iteration. She also started an in-person offshoot, which has hosted the Verona and Rolston Quartets, and manages the Young Artist Institute at Chamber Music Northwest. She is passionate about increasing accessibility to classical music, which includes revitalizing the concert stage, providing quality music education to youth, and opening conversations around careers and holistic musicianship.

Artist's Website

Originally from Indianapolis, Indiana, Katie Danforth currently attends the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University where she is pursuing a Master of Music degree in Oboe Performance under the instruction of Robert Atherholt. Previously, she studied with Robert Walters at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Oboe Performance in 2021. As an orchestral musician, Katie has performed as an extra musician with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, Akron Symphony Orchestra, and the New Texas Sinfonia. She was also a member of the 2020 National Academy Orchestra of Canada and a member of the 2022 Spoleto Festival USA Orchestra. Outside of performance, Katie teaches private lessons and masterclasses in the greater Houston area and is passionate about creating a comfortable and accessible environment for students to cultivate a love for music. When she is not making reeds, Katie is an avid reader and enjoys relaxing with a cup of tea, and a great book.

Colorado-native Paul Kim is a recent transplant to the Bay Area where he is an active performer and teacher. He has just recently finished his master’s degree with Cordula Merks at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and is pursuing a Performance Certificate with Ms. Merks next fall. Previously, he studied with Charles Wetherbee of the Carpe Diem String Quartet at the University of Colorado Boulder College of Music. In his free time, Paul enjoys baking bread and hiking with friends.

Armenian-American violinist, Haig Hovsepian began his musical journey at a very young age. At four, he was already playing violin, at eight the Sh’vi (Armenian fipple flute), and at eleven, the saxophone. Those instruments became the means of his musical expression reflecting his upbringing—deeply rooted
in traditional classical training, his Armenian heritage, and American jazz. This unique blend shaped him into the versatile musician that he is today.

Despite his young age, Hovsepian is already enjoying a multifaceted career that has taken him across the US, to Canada, Norway, Iceland, Armenia, and to the stages of Carnegie Hall, Koussevitzky Music Shed, Jordan Hall, Slosberg Hall, and Killian Hall, among others. As a saxophone player, he has appeared in
various jazz clubs, Mechanics Hall, and Boston’s Symphony Hall.

As a prestigious Max Reger Ambassador prize winner at New England Conservatory’s Preparatory division, Hovsepian moved on to become a recipient of several scholarship awards at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where he graduated with his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees studying under one of the world’s most outstanding violin personalities, Ilya Kaler.

At the age of eleven, Hovsepian won his first international competition - “Classival” (Canada), followed by “Young Promise” (USA), “Renaissance” (Armenia), and preceded by several local competition prizes (Massachusetts Music Teachers’ Association, “Armenian Youth Talent”). An array of Concerto Competition wins launched his orchestral debuts with Waltham Philharmonic, Nashua Chamber, Concord Orchestra, and the Youth Orchestra of New England Conservatory. This was culminated by his engagement with the acclaimed Boston Pops Orchestra and Maestro Keith Lockhart at Symphony Hall.

Featured by local newspapers, radio, and television, Hovsepian was invited more than once to appear on National Public Radio’s From the Top program both as a soloist and in several music videos. Countless performances were dedicated to charitable events helping raise money for various causes (e.g. Belmont
Media’s “Gifts of Hope” Telethon, Joslin Diabetes Center, “Armenian Music for Peace,” “5pm Series,” and others).

At the young age of 24, Haig Hovsepian is an artist who is dedicated to promoting music of various genres at the crossroads of cultures, forms, and styles.

Violinist Jessica Lee has built a multi-faceted career as soloist, chamber musician, and now as Assistant Concertmaster of the Cleveland Orchestra since 2016. She was the Grand Prize Winner of the 2005 Concert Artists Guild International Competition and has been hailed as “a soloist which one should make a special effort to hear, wherever she plays.” Her international appearances include solo performances with the Plzen Philharmonic, Gangnam Symphony, Malaysia Festival Orchestra, and at the Rudolfinum in Prague. At home, she has appeared with orchestras such as the Houston, Grand Rapids, and Spokane symphonies. 

Jessica has performed in recital at venues including Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall, Ravinia “Rising Stars,” the Phillips Collection in Washington DC, and the Kennedy Center.

A long-time member of the Johannes Quartet as well as of the The Bowers Program (formerly the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Two), Jessica has also toured frequently with Musicians from Marlboro, including appearances at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Boston’s Gardner Museum, and with the Guarneri Quartet in their farewell season. Her chamber music festival appearances include Bridgehampton, Santa Fe, Seoul Spring, Caramoor, Olympic, and Music@Menlo. She also put together a six-video chamber music series during the pandemic which was a collaboration between the Cleveland Orchestra and the Cleveland Clinic to bring chamber music from iconic spaces in Cleveland to the greater Cleveland community.

Jessica has always had a passion for teaching and has served on the faculties of Vassar College and Oberlin College, and now is on violin faculty at the Cleveland Institute of Music. She was accepted to the Curtis Institute of Music at age fourteen following studies with Weigang Li, and graduated with a Bachelor’s degree under Robert Mann and Ida Kavafian. She completed her studies for a Master’s degree at the Juilliard School.