Guest Artists

The Georgian Chamber Players have included many outstanding guests artists in their concerts over the years. Most recently, these artists have, among others, included:

Jecoliah Wang began studying the violin at age six in her native St. Louis, Missouri. She performed as concertmaster of the St. Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra for two seasons from age 14. As the winner of the St. Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra’s Concerto Competition in 2010, Wang performed the Wieniawski Violin Concerto No. 2 in the Spring of 2011. She then made her solo debut with the St. Louis Symphony in September 2011 at age 16.  In that same year, she led the Milo String Quartet to win the silver medal for the junior division at the National Fischoff Chamber Music Competition. Most recently, she performed the Sibelius Violin Concerto with the Mercer University Orchestra.She has attended the Innsbrook Institute in 2009-2011, the New York String Orchestra Seminar in 2012, the Rome Chamber Music Festival in 2012-2013, and the Aspen Music Festival since 2011. At the Aspen Music Festival, Wang was an Orchestral String Fellowship Recipient in 2011-2012 and was awarded the Dorothy Richard Starling Foundation Fellowship to attend the festival in 2013-2014. She has also been a Beth Newdome Fellowship Resident Artist at the Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival since 2014. Her summer engagements include returning to the Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival, the Rome Chamber Music Festival, and the Aspen Music Festival.

 

Laura Ardan has been with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (ASO) since 1982 and holds the endowed Robert Shaw Chair. She has been a featured soloist with the Orchestra in works by Mozart, Weber, Debussy, Copland, Bernstein, Finzi, Rossini, Shaw, and Michael Gandolfi, and has also performed with the Cleveland Quartet.Ms. Ardan has performed in the Tanglewood, Marlboro, Mostly Mozart, and Bellingham Music Festivals, and as a guest artist in “Emanuel Ax Invites…” on the Great Performers series at Lincoln Center. A frequent guest of the Atlanta Chamber Players, Georgian Chamber Players, and Emory Chamber Music Society, she plays regularly at the Highlands Chamber Music Festival in North Carolina and the Grand Teton Chamber Music Festival in Wyoming. A student of Roger Hiller and Stanley Drucker, Ms. Ardan attended The Juilliard School of Music on scholarships from both Juilliard and the Naumburg Foundation. Before joining the ASO, she was a resident clarinetist and teaching artist at the Lincoln Center Institute for four years. She also played in the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra for two seasons.

 

South Korean violinist Ji in Yang began her music journey at the age of six. As a soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician, she has appeared internationally in such venues as London’s Cadogan Hall, Wigmore Hall, the Salle Gaveau in Paris, the Seoul Arts Center, Beijing’s National Centre for the Performing Arts, the Kennedy Center, Alice Tully Hall, Carnegie Zankel Hall and Weill Hall.  Ms. Yang has appeared as a soloist with numerous orchestras such as KBS Symphony Orchestra, Aspen Young Artists Orchestra, New Amsterdam Symphony Orchestra, Auburn Symphony Orchestra, Sarah Lawrence Symphony Orchestra, Juilliard Pre-College Symphony Orchestra, Bucheon Philharmonic Orchestra, Suwon Philharmonic Orchestra to name a few, as well as numerous recitals. Ms. Yang tours regularly with the distinguished conductor-less Sejong Soloists and was appointed as its Samsung Foundation of Culture chair member, a distinction she held from 2006 to 2008. Their latest album on the Universal label “Passion” consists her solo performances of Piazzolla’s Four Season’s Summer, and a short piece by Ponce/Heifetz Estrellita. Ms. Yang’s performances have also been heard on radio and television shows such as NPR’s From the Top, a guest appearance on Korea’s National Television Show “Art Theatre” as well as on KBS  arts program show “Classic Odyssey”, Japan’s NHK, and America’s Capital Public Radio show “Insight”. She has also performed at the United Nations celebrating Earth Day. Ms. Yang has collaborated with distinguished artists such as Joseph Kalichstein, and Cho-Liang Jimmy Lin, and has performed at festivals such as Aspen Music Festival, Great Mountain Music Festival, Festival Music Alp, Sarasota Music Festival, Tongyeong International Music Festival, International Heyri Art Festival, and at SFX International Sound Art Festival. Ms. Yang has received Bachelor and Master’s degree in Music from the Juilliard School where she has studied with Hyo Kang and Dorothy DeLay, and Artist Diploma at Yale University under Hyo Kang. Ms. Yang is currently pursuing her Doctorate of Musical Arts at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York as a full scholarship student under Daniel Phillips. Ms. Yang has also played in master classes of Ruggiero Ricci, Itzahk Perlman, Rodney Friend, Robert McDuffie, Dong-Suk Kang, and Igor Ozim. Ms. Yang plays a  Petrus Guarnerius violin, made in Venice in 1723.

 

Violinist Yoon Jung Yang joined the Georgian Chamber Players as a guest during the 2011-12 season. Ms. Yang was born in Seoul, Korea where she attended Ye-Won Art school. At the age of fifteen, Ms. Yang was admitted to the Curtis Institute of Music where she studied with Aaron Rosand and Pamela Frank. There she received a Masters of Music degree. In the fall semester of 2011, Ms. Yang will be continuing her last year of the Doctorate program studying with Donald Weilerstein. Ms. Yang won Grand Prizes at the Music Journal Competition, the Sejong Competition, as well as first prizes at the TBC Competition, Seoul Philharmonic Concerto Competition, the Ewha Kyung Hyang Competition, and an award from the Pusan Times Competition. She has recently given recitals in Sendai, Japan and in Seoul, Korea. Ms. Yang is an active chamber musician, and has collaborated in concerts with Atar Arrad, Boris Berman, Timothy Eddy, Ralph Kirshbaum, Natasha Brofsky, Paula Robinson and Seymour Lipkin. Her summer festival experience is also extensive, as she has participated in the Aspen Music Festival, Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival, Yellow Barn Music Festival, the Music Academy of the West, and the Ravinia Festival to name a few. In the summer of 2011, Ms. Yang joined the faculty at Yellow Barn Music Festival Young Artist Program.

 

Since April 2012, South Korean violinist Ilyoung Chae has played in the London Philharmonic Orchestra, fourth chair in first violins. She began this position shortly after being accepted at the Karajan Academy of Berlin Philharmoniker. Ms. Chae began playing the violin at age eight, and two years later gave a performance of Mozart violin concerto in A major with Pusan Sinfonietta. At the age of 15 she was invited to perform under Jose Cura at Tetra Pak’s 50th anniversary celebration in San Carlo Theatre in Italy. Ilyoung moved to London in 1999 to study at The Yehudi Menuhin School with Natasha Boyarsky, Loutsia Ibragimova and Rosemary Warren-Green. She graduated with first-class honours in Bachelor Music and distinction in Music Performance at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where she was awarded full scholarship to study with David Takeno between 2005 and 2011. She is a recipient of the London Philharmonic Orchestra Foyle Future Firsts Programme, London Symphony Orchestra String Experience Scheme, Geoffrey Shaw scholarship, Music Education Award, Postgraduate Performance award from Musicians Benevolent Fund, The Philharmonia Orchestra Martin Musical Scholarship Fund, an award from the Craxton Memorial Trust, and the Gwyn Ellis Bursary, Ethel Schwartz and Bratza Memorial awards from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. A keen chamber musician, Ms. Chae took part in Maistra Chamber Music Sessions (2006-2011) and has performed Beethoven’s septet, Schubert’s “Death and the Maiden” and Strauss’ “Till Eulenspiegel” for quintet at the Barbican Hall. She gives concerts abroad and in the U.K. and has performed at venues such as the Blenheim Palace, Hatfield House, National Gallery, Regent Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Wigmore Hall, Barbican Hall, Royal Festival Hall, Menuhin Hall and the Royal Albert Hall. She has taken part in various festivals such as the Menuhin festival in Gstaad (Switzerland), Music Alp festival (France), Paxos (Greece), Chacombe, Chelsea, City of London, Battle Prom, North York Moors and IMS Prussia Cove (UK).

 

Praised by the New York Times as a “splendid player,” Argentinean bandoneónist Héctor Del Curto has captivated audiences around the world as a soloist and chamber musician, sharing the stage with the world-renowned tango legends Astor Piazzolla and Osvaldo Pugliese, pianist Pablo Ziegler, clarinetist Paquito D´Rivera, ballet dancer Julio Bocca, National Symphony Orchestra (Washington, D.C.), Buenos Aires Symphony Orchestra and Teatro Colón Ballet among many others. After a Carnegie Hall concert in April 1999 with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and outstanding artists such as Gary Burton, Joe Lovano, Pablo Ziegler, José Angel Trelles and Maria Graña, the New York Times highlighted Mr. Del Curto´s artistry, making special mention of his “wistful, piercing solos on the bandoneón.” Mr. Del Curto won the title of “Best Bandoneón Player under 25″ when he was only 17 years of age. This award led Osvaldo Pugliese to invite him to play in his legendary orchestra, which made him the youngest bandoneonist in the history of Pugliese’s orchestra. In 1999, Mr. Del Curto received the Golden Note Award from the Italian-American Network in recognition of his artistic achievements. As conductor, he directed the spectacular show “Forever Tango” on Broadway and founded the “Eternal Tango Orchestra,” a ten-piece ensemble. Mr. Del Curto has produced a critically acclaimed CD, “Eternal Tango,” which was successfully released at the Jazz Standard in New York City in June 2007. Mr. Del Curto´s recordings include performances with Osvaldo Pugliese and Astor Piazzolla on “Finally Together” (Lucho Records), Pablo Ziegler on the albums “Asphalt” and “Quintet for the New Tango” (BMG), “Tango Magic” (Sony Music-USA) on video and DVD and “Tango and All That Jazz” (Kind of Blue Records), and Luis Borda Cuarteto on “Linea de Tango” (Jazz and Fusion Records). He also appears as guest artist in recordings such as Tito Puente’s “Masterpiece,” Paquito D´Rivera´s “Funk Tango,” Ricardo Arjona´s “Santo Pecado” (Sony International), and Shakira´s “Laundry Services” (BMG).

 

Helen Hwaya Kim made her orchestral debut with the Calgary Philharmonic at the age of six and has gone on to become a respected and sought-after artist. She has appeared as a soloist with the Boston Pops at Boston’s Symphony Hall, as well as with the Milwaukee and Atlanta Symphony Orchestras. Ms. Kim earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Juilliard School, where her teachers included Cho-Liang Lin and Dorothy DeLay. She is the recipient of more than 100 national and international awards, including winner of the Juilliard Concerto Competition and Grand Prize winner of the Canadian Music Competition. In 1992, she won the prestigious Artists International Competition in New York and, as a result, gave debut recitals at Carnegie Weill Hall and the Aspen Summer Music Festival. A native of Canada, Ms. Kim has been engaged by many of Canada’s leading orchestras, including the National Arts Center Orchestra, Montreal Metropolitan Orchestra, Vancouver Symphony, McGill Chamber Orchestra, and the Windsor, Regina, Victoria and Prince George Symphonies. She has also appeared with the DeKalb, New Orleans, Aspen and Banff Festival Orchestras, and with orchestras in the United Kingdom, Germany and Poland. Ms. Kim currently resides in Atlanta, Ga., where she served as assistant and associate concertmaster for the Atlanta Symphony for three seasons. She is currently the assistant concertmaster of the Atlanta Opera Orchestra and associate professor of violin at Kennesaw State University.