Complete Brandenburg Concertos - Part II

Artists

Kit Armstrong Piano/Harpsichord

Ever since Kit Armstrong entered the international music stage twenty years ago, his activities have exerted an enduring fascination upon music lovers. He performs recitals in major series, appears with the world’s finest orchestras, and has developed close artistic partnerships with leading instrumentalists and vocalists. He has held artist-in-residence appointments incorporating a wide spectrum of musical formats, combining his roles as composer, pianist, conductor, and organist. His project, Expedition Mozart, traverses Mozart’s music in various genres with an international group of distinguished chamber musicians and soloists—and has become a main feature at prestigious festivals and venues.

Armstrong came to classical music through composition at the age of five. He has since created a broad oeuvre of vocal, instrumental, chamber, and symphonic works, many of which have been commissioned by notable European cultural institutions. His compositions are published by Edition Peters.

Born in 1992 in California, USA, Armstrong pursued undergraduate studies in physics at California State University, chemistry, and mathematics at the University of Pennsylvania and mathematics at Imperial College London. Alfred Brendel has guided Armstrong as a musical mentor since 2005. In 2008, he earned a bachelor’s degree in music at the Royal Academy of Music, London, and in 2012 a master’s degree in pure mathematics at the University of Paris VI.

In 2012, Kit Armstrong purchased the Church of Sainte-Thérèse in Hirson, France, and transformed it into a hall for concerts, exhibitions, and outreach. This cultural centre has become home to interdisciplinary projects, reaching a regional as well as cosmopolitan public.

Artist's Website

Edward Arron 2025 YAI Faculty, cello

A native of Cincinnati, Ohio, cellist Edward 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 2024-25 season marks Mr. Arron’s 12th season as the co-artistic director with his wife, Jeewon Park, of the Performing Artists in Residence series at the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Mr. Arron tours and records as a member of the renowned Ehnes String Quartet and he is a regular performer at the Boston and Seattle Chamber Music Societies, the Brooklyn Chamber Music Society, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Bargemusic, Caramoor, Bowdoin International Music Festival, Charlottesville Chamber Music Festival, Seoul Spring Festival in Korea, Music in the Vineyards Festival, Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival, Manchester Music Festival, and the Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival in Finland. Other festival appearances include Salzburg, Ravinia, Tanglewood, Mostly Mozart, PyeongChang, Bridgehampton, Spoleto USA, Santa Fe, Evian, La Jolla Summerfest, Chamber Music Northwest, Chesapeake Chamber Music, and the Bard Music Festival. Mr. Arron’s performances are frequently broadcast on American Public Media’s Performance Today.

In 2021, Mr. Arron’s recording, Beethoven Complete Works for Cello and Piano with pianist Jeewon Park, was released on the Aeolian Classics Record Label. The recording received the Samuel Sanders Collaborative Artists Award from the Classical Recording Foundation. A graduate of the Juilliard School, Mr. Arron currently serves on the faculty of the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Artist's Website

Sunmi Chang Violin

As the laureate of both the 2007 International Markneukirchen and Sion-Valais International Violin Competitions, Korean-born violinist Sunmi Chang has performed widely to much acclaim throughout North America and Europe as a soloist and chamber musician.

At the age of 17, she toured with the Yehudi Menuhin School Orchestra playing Bach’s Concerto for Two Violins in D minor, conducted by Lord Menuhin in UNESCO Headquarters and Guildford Cathedral in England. In 2008, Sunmi was the soloist on Yale Philharmonia’s tour to Seoul, Beijing, and Shanghai, performing the Beethoven Violin Concerto. To celebrate Beethoven’s 250th birthday, she returned to Yale, performing Beethoven’s Triple Concerto with cellist Paul Watkins and pianist Melvin Chen, conducted by Peter Oundjian.

An active chamber musician, she has performed in various chamber music festival, including the Rising Stars Series at Caramoor, Vivace Music Festival, Music@Menlo, Music in the Vineyards, and Chamber Music Northwest. Sunmi is also the Founder & Artistic Director of Summit Chamber Music Series—committed to bringing world-class chamber music to West Virginia.

In December 2023, Sunmi recently released Mother Tales under the PARMA recording label with pianist Clara Yang—an album that pays tribute to four remarkable women composers Florence Price, Gabriela Lena Frank, Liliya Ugay, and Amy Beach.

Sunmi received her Bachelor’s degree at the Hanns Eisler Musikhochschule in Berlin, a Master’s degree and an Artist Diploma at the Yale School of Music, and a Doctoral degree from the University of Michigan. Her principal teachers have included Eberhard Feltz, Peter Oundjian, Soovin Kim, Ani Kavafian. She recently joined as the violin faculty at the School of Music at the University of Oregon.

Artist's Website

Joyce Chen Harpsichord

A native of Taiwan, Dr. Joyce Wei-Jo Chen 陳瑋若 is Assistant Professor of Historical Keyboards at the University of Oregon. She is also a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Music (Historical Musicology) and the Interdisciplinary Doctoral Program in Humanities at Princeton University. Dr. Chen holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in Harpsichord Performance from Stony Brook University and a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from UC Berkeley.

As a solo harpsichordist, Dr. Chen has performed throughout the United States, Europe, and Taiwan. Dr. Chen received the 2018 Individual Artist Fellowship from the Delaware Division of the Arts and was a featured soloist in the 2019 Emerging Artist Showcase by Early Music America. She has performed as a soloist in the Musica Antica Festival in Belgium (2018), the International Normandy Baroque Competition in France (2018), and the Prix Annelie de Man in Amsterdam (2023). In addition, Dr. Chen is releasing her first solo harpsichord album featuring English virginalist music in 2025. She just finished building her first harpsichord from a Troubadour Virginal Kit.

Outside academia, Dr. Chen is a dedicated church musician with over 13 years of experience. As an organist specializing in the baroque repertoire, Dr. Chen recently received the Colleague certification from the American Guild of Organists. Since August 2024, she has been serving as Music Director at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Mt. Angel.

Artist's Website

Marilyn de Oliveira Cello

Brazilian cellist Marilyn de Oliveira enjoys an active career as a symphonic and chamber musician. Since joining the Oregon Symphony as the Assistant Principal cellist in 2009, Marilyn has been a founding member of Mousai Remix and Pyxis String Quartets, cellist of Third Angle and 45th Parallel Music, and a guest with prestigious festivals such as Grand Teton Music Festival, Oregon Bach Festival and Chamber Music Northwest.

In addition to her many performance engagements, Mrs. de Oliveira is also an educator, orchestral coach and music activist. She is part of the music faculty at Reed College, maintains a private studio with graduates now in renowned music schools worldwide, and founded the Oregon Symphony Musician’s Caroling Project— a collaborative effort which has brought music to those in need during the holidays for over a decade.

Prior to joining the OSO, Marilyn served as Acting Assistant Principal cellist and section member of the San Antonio Symphony and was a fellow at the New World Symphony in Miami, FL. She received her Bachelor of Music degree from Indiana University, her Master of Music degree at Rice University and was the Bronze Award Winner in the senior division of The Sphinx Competition in 2006.

Paul Dwyer Cello

Cellist Paul Dwyer brings to life everything from early music on Baroque cello to brand new works by young composers. He has appeared as a soloist and chamber musician in the US, Europe, and Asia, and has performed with Menahem Pressler, Jordi Savall, and artist-faculty of the Juilliard School and Aspen Music Festival. A prize-winner of numerous competitions, Paul is also the recipient of the Javits Fellowship, Presser Award, and a Fulbright Fellowship for studies with Anner Bylsma and Frances-Marie Uitti in Amsterdam. Paul holds degrees from Oberlin Conservatory, The Juilliard School, and the University of Michigan, where he was teaching assistant to Richard Aaron. Paul is a founding member of Diderot String Quartet, ACRONYM, The Colonials, and joined Lyric Opera of Chicago as Assistant Principal cellist this fall.

Growing up in Vienna and Munich, Paul originally wanted to play the double bass, but was told he was too short. His varied musical explorations began soon thereafter: as a teenager, he co-founded a heavy metal cello quartet and sang the role of Polyphemus in Handel’s Acis and Galatea. In his free time, he enjoys playing soccer, biking, and brewing beer.

Emi Ferguson Flute

A 2023 recipient of the Avery Fisher Career Grant, Emi Ferguson can be heard live in concerts and festivals with groups including the Handel and Haydn Society, AMOC*, Ruckus, the New York New Music Ensemble, the Manhattan Chamber Players, and as the music director of Camerata Pacifica Baroque.

Her recordings By George!, Amour Cruel, and Fly the Coop: Bach Sonatas and Preludes, celebrate her fascination with reinvigorating music and instruments of the past for the present and have been called “blindingly impressive ... a fizzing, daring display of personality and imagination” by The New York Times.

Emi has spoken and performed at TEDx events and has been featured on the Discovery Channel, Amazon Prime, WQXR, and Vox talking about how music relates to our world today. As part of WQXR’s Artist Propulsion Lab, she created the series “This Composer is SICK!” with Max Fine, exploring the impact of Syphilis on composers Franz Schubert, Bedřich Smetana, and Scott Joplin. She is also a host of WQXR’s Young Artists Showcase and Once Upon A Composer. Her book, Iconic Composers, co-written with Nicholas Csicsko with artwork by David Lee Csicsko, was released in 2023.

Born in Japan and raised in London and Boston, she now resides in New York.

Artist's Website

Jordan Frazier Bass

Double Bassist Jordan Frazier has performed worldwide with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra since 1993 and was appointed a member of the orchestra in 2006. He is a former member of L’Orquestra Ciutat de Barcelona, and currently is a member of the American Symphony Orchestra, American Composers Orchestra, and is Principal Bass of the Westchester Philharmonic, Little Orchestra Society, Bard Festival Orchestra, and at the Carmel Bach Festival in California. Jordan has also performed as Principal Bass with the St. Paul and Australian Chamber Orchestras, as well as the Pittsburgh and Cincinnati Symphonies, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, among many others. He has also performed and recorded with the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, both in Toronto and in Europe.

As a Chamber musician, he has performed with the Helicon Ensemble, Speculum Musicae, Los Angeles Piano Quartet, Horozowski Trio, Amani Winds and the Corigliano, Jupiter, Parker, and Daedalus Quartets.

His recording credits include Sony Classical, Harmonium Mundi, Nonesuch, London, Decca/Argo, EMI, Koch, Musical Heritage Society, Blue Note, and Deutsche Grammophon, including two Grammy Award-winning recordings with Orpheus (Shadow Dances) and with the Wayne Shorter Quartet (Emanon). Jordan is a founding member of The All-Star Orchestra, recording more than 20 episodes for Naxos and PBS.

A native of Cleveland, Jordan received his musical training at the Interlochen Arts Academy and the Manhattan School of Music. He has been on the faculty of the Mannes College of Music and has given masterclasses at Interlochen, Yale, and Rice Universities and at the National Orchestral Institute

Braizahn Jones Bass

Braizahn Jones is the Assistant Principal Bassist of the Oregon Symphony and a graduate of The Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied with Hal Robinson and Edgar Meyer. Originally from Las Vegas, NV, he began his studies with Paul Firak before attending The Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University under Jeffrey Weisner, later transferring to Curtis in 2014.

Braizahn has performed and toured with the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Seattle Symphony and is an active freelance musician, appearing at Chamber Music Northwest, the Oregon Bach Festival, the Bellingham Music Festival, and the Jackson Hole Chamber Music Festival.

A dedicated educator, he serves on the faculty of the National Orchestral Institute and Reed College, maintains a full private studio, and has taught at the Pacific Music Institute in Honolulu as well as various international double bass workshops.

Upcoming Concerts & Events

• Loeffler’s Lost Octet, Debussy & Schumann

Wenting Kang 2025 YAI Faculty, Viola

Chinese violist Wenting Kang appeared as an “excellent violist” who “possesses a dark glowing sound” in The New York Times after her performance at Carnegie Hall. Kang’s playing also has been lauded as “elegant”, “precise,”  as well as “pure” and “tone-passionate without ever losing a sense of control” in the Boston Musical Intelligencer.

Her debut CD recording with pianist Sergei Kvitko, Mosaic, received many positive reviews, among which Gramophone Magazine noted “Part of the allure is her golden and glowing tone, but the subtlety of her shading is just as transfixing.” It has won the gold medal as a recommended CD on the Melómano Magazine in Spain.

Ms. Kang has appeared as a soloist, collaborating with major orchestras such as Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, Nagoya Philharmonic Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid, and Malaga Philharmonic Orchestra—working with renowned conductors including Ivor Bolton, Michiyoshi Inoue, and José María Moreno.

Ms. Kang was appointed as Viola Faculty at the New England Conservatory in Boston in September 2024. Since 2016, Kang has been active as assistant professor alongside the renowned Nobuko Imai at the Escuela Superior de Musica Reina Sofia in Madrid. In recent years, Kang has taught masterclasses for viola and chamber music in prestigious institutions such as University Mozarteum, University of Graz, Conservatorium van Amsterdam, and Franz Liszt Academy of Music.

Jessica Lee Violin

Violinist Jessica Lee has built a multifaceted 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.

Artist's Website

Paul Neubauer Viola

Violist Paul Neubauer’s exceptional musicality and effortless playing led The New York Times to call him “a master musician.” In 2025 he will release two albums for First Hand Records that feature the final works of two great composers: an all-Bartók album including the revised version of the viola concerto, and a Shostakovich recording including the monumental viola sonata.

At age 21, Mr. Neubauer was appointed principal violist of the New York Philharmonic, and he held that position for six years. He has appeared as soloist with over 100 orchestras including the New York, Los Angeles, and Helsinki philharmonics; Chicago, National, St. Louis, Detroit, Dallas, San Francisco, and Bournemouth symphonies; and Mariinsky, Santa Cecilia, English Chamber, and Beethovenhalle orchestras.

He has also premiered viola concertos by Béla Bartók (revised version of the Viola Concerto), Reinhold Glière, Gordon Jacob, Henri Lazarof, Robert Suter, Joel Phillip Friedman, Aaron Jay Kernis, Detlev Müller-Siemens, David Ott, Krzysztof Penderecki, Tobias Picker, and Joan Tower. He performs with SPA, a trio with soprano Susanna Phillips and pianist Anne-Marie McDermott, with a wide range of repertoire including salon style songs.

He has been featured on CBS’s Sunday Morning, A Prairie Home Companion, and in Strad, Strings, and People magazines. A two-time Grammy nominee, he has recorded on numerous labels including Decca, Deutsche Grammophon, RCA Red Seal, and Sony Classical.

Mr. Neubauer appears with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and is the artistic director of the Mostly Music series in New Jersey. He is on the faculty of The Juilliard School and Mannes College

Artist's Website

Johanna Novom Violin

Johanna Novom grew up in the woods of New Hampshire, and is currently based in Brooklyn. Her unusual schooling encouraged a variety of artistic inclinations that she thrives on to this day. She began playing violin at age 10, and the collaborative, communicative aspects of music have always inspired her, making chamber music an obvious priority.

Johanna discovered baroque violin while pursuing her BM with Marilyn McDonald at Oberlin, and went on to achieve a Master’s in Historical Performance. She also spent a fellowship year in the Yale Baroque Ensemble under Robert Mealy.

First prize winner of ABS’ 2008 International Young Artists’ Competition, Johanna is Associate Concertmaster of Apollo’s Fire, and performs with many period ensembles, including Trinity Wall Street Choir and Baroque Orchestra, Boston Early Music Festival Orchestra, TENET, Concert Royal, Washington National Cathedral Baroque Orchestra, ACRONYM, and the Sebastian Chamber Players.

Recent festival engagements include the Carmel Bach Festival, the Boston Early Music Festival, the Tanglewood Festival, and the BBC Proms.

Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt Viola

Praised by The Strad magazine as having “lyricism that stood out…a silky tone and beautiful, supple lines,” Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt has established herself as one of the most sought-after violists of her generation. In addition to appearances as soloist with the New York String Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, the Tokyo Philharmonic, the Jacksonville Symphony, the Sphinx Chamber Orchestra, and Symphony in C, she has performed in recitals and chamber-music concerts throughout the United States, Latin America, Europe and Asia, including an acclaimed 2011 debut recital at London’s Wigmore Hall, which was described in The Strad as being “fleet and energetic…powerful and focused.” 

Ms. Pajaro-van de Stadt was the founding violist of the twice-Grammy-nominated Dover Quartet, and played in the group from 2008-2022. During her time in the group, the Dover Quartet was the First Prize-winner and recipient of every special award at the Banff International String Quartet Competition 2013, and winner of the Gold Medal and Grand Prize in the 2010 Fischoff Chamber Music Competition. Also during her tenure, the Dover Quartet received the Cleveland Quartet Award and an Avery Fisher Career Grant.  Her numerous awards also include First Prize at the Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition and top prizes at the Sphinx Competition and the Tokyo International Viola Competition.

While in the Dover Quartet, Ms. Pajaro-van de Stadt was on the faculty at The Curtis Institute of Music and Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music, and a part of the Quartet in Residence of the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.  She is now a member of the newly formed piano quartet, Espressivo!, along with acclaimed artists Jaime Laredo, Sharon Robinson, and Anna Polonsky.

Artist's Website

Adriane Post Violin

Sought after as soloist, leader, collaborator and teacher across the US, Adriane Post formed her first string quartet at age eleven and was hooked.

A founding member of Diderot String Quartet and ACRONYM Ensemble, Adriane is leader of Indianapolis Baroque Orchestra and The Thirteen and dedicates her time to performing and teaching Baroque, Classical and Early Romantic repertoire on historical instruments.

She has served as Concertmaster of the Washington National Cathedral Orchestra, tenured member of Handel + Haydn Society,a member of Apollo’s Fire, frequent guest artist and soloist with Four Nations Ensemble, and a regular with Trinity Wall Street Baroque Orchestra. She has appeared with Harry Bicket and The English Concert, with William Christie and Les Arts Florissants in Thiré, France, as guest concertmaster with groups such as Seraphic Fire in Miami, New York Baroque Inc. and with many ensembles across the US. Recent tour and festival appearances include The Proms, Carnegie Hall, Caramoor, Tanglewood, Ravinia, and Carmel Bach Festival.

Teaching has brought her to Oberlin’s Baroque Performance Institute, The Smithsonian, De Paul University, and Cincinnati Conservatory. Post completed a Bachelor of Music at Oberlin Conservatory and a master’s with the inaugural class of The Juilliard School’s Historical Performance program.

Post was born and raised in Vermont.

Artist's Website

Shunske Sato Violin

Shunske Sato is a violinist, conductor, chamber musician, soloist, and teacher. The diversity of his activities reflects his versatile and resourceful nature. Historically-informed performance practice is central to his identity, allowing him to inhabit the music and communicate with audiences in dramatic, revelatory ways.

Shunske directs and appears as soloist with period ensembles as well as symphonic orchestras around the world, and has led several staged productions. Resident in the Netherlands, Shunske has been a faculty member of the Amsterdam Conservatory since 2013.

From 2013 to 2023 Shunske was artistic leader and concertmaster of the Netherlands Bach Society. Since 2011, he has worked closely with Concerto Köln, where he has been making noteworthy strides into the realm of the performance practice of the 19th century.

Highlights of the 2024-2025 season included Shunske’s conducting debut with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and the tour celebrating the release of Bee1h0ven | The Complete Violin Sonatas—Shunske’s recording of Beethoven’s complete violin sonatas with pianist, Shuann Chai.

Born in Tokyo, Shunske immigrated to the US at the age of four. Shunske studied at the Juilliard School in New York, Conservatoire National de Région in Paris, and Die Hochschule für Musik und Theather in Munich.

Artist's Website

Joshua Smith Flute

Joshua Smith is equally at home as a soloist, chamber musician, and educator. He was appointed as The Cleveland Orchestra’s principal flute in 1990 at the age of twenty. He appears regularly as a soloist with the orchestra, in repertoire ranging from Bach and Mozart to Penderecki and Widmann. In 2014, he was featured with the orchestra on tour in Europe, playing Jörg Widmann’s flute concerto at the London Proms, Lucerne Festival, Berlin Philharmonie, Vienna Musikverein, and Amsterdam Concertgebouw.

Joshua received a Grammy nomination for his Telarc recording Air. He appeared on a Live from the Marlboro Music Festival recording and can be heard on more than 100 Cleveland Orchestra recordings.

Intrigued with exploring new ways of connecting with audiences, Smith leads the innovative chamber group Ensemble HD, which includes fellow Cleveland Orchestra members and special guests. Joshua was invited to speak to the National Endowment for the Arts Council about community engagement efforts spearheaded by Ensemble HD.

Joshua appears as a chamber musician throughout the United States, including recent and ongoing appearances with the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, at the Marlboro and Santa Fe chamber music festivals, and with the Israeli Chamber Project. He has performed in collaborative concerts at the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Pensacola Museum of Art, Museum of Contemporary Art in Miami, and the 92nd Street Y in New York. Upcoming appearances include Chamber Music Northwest and Taipei Music Academy and Festival.

Joshua served until recently on the flute faculty at the Cleveland Institute of Music. He is a Powell Artist and performs most often on a new Mopane Légende Powell. A native of Albuquerque, New Mexico, he worked closely with renowned pedagogue Frank Bowen before attending Philadelphia’s Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied with Julius Baker and Jeffrey Khaner.