Garden Chamber Party: A Little Summer Night Music

Artists

Soovin Kim Violin & Artistic Director

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.

Jessica Lee 2025 YAI Faculty, Violin

Violinist Jessica Lee has built a multi-faceted career as soloist, chamber musician, pedagogue, former Assistant Concertmaster of the Cleveland Orchestra, and now as Associate Concertmaster of the Oregon Symphony. 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 D.C., and the Kennedy Center.

A long-time member of the Johannes Quartet as well as of 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 Chamber Music Northwest, 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, Oberlin College, and as Head of the Violin Department 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.

Hanna Lee 2023 YAI Faculty, viola

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.

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