The up-and-coming quartet was formed is 2017 at Kneisel Hall in Blue Hill, ME.,  known as the cradle of chamber music in the United States. The ensemble played weekly concerts throughout coastal Maine while participating in the annual Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival.  Through their varied backgrounds, the quartet brings energetic interpretations to a wide-ranging standard and non-standard repertoire.

 

In 2018, the ensemble participated in the Julliard String Quartet Seminar and the  Aspen Advanced String Quartet Studies program. The musicians also have active solo and orchestral careers, and have won many prestigious award and recognitions.

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Born in Hong Kong, violinist ​Brian Kwan Yeung Choi ​​is currently pursuing his Masters degree at the New England Conservatory after completing undergraduate studies there. He has won numerous prizes, including the Hudson Valley Philharmonic String Competition and first prize in the New York International Artists Association competition, which led to his Carnegie Hall debut in 2017. Brian is currently the concertmaster of the Gustav Mahler Orchestra in Hong Kong and substitute violinist with the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra as well as the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra.

 

Violinist Kyung Ah Oh, a native of South Korea,  received her Bachelor of Music from the Cleveland Institute of Music. Currently, she is studying at Yale School of Music for her Masters degree. In 2013, she made her concerto debut in Severance Hall as winner of the Cleveland Institute of Music Concerto Competition. Recent solo engagements include a performance with the CIM Chamber Orchestra and a professional debut with the Asheville (NC) Symphony Orchestra and debut solo recital at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall. She has been awarded a fellowship to the Kneisel Hall Chamber Music School and Festival.

 

Violist Linda Numagami holds degrees from the Julliard School and the New England Conservatory. She has performed solo, with chamber groups, and  with orchestras, at a variety of venues, including Carnegie Hall, She was awarded a Juilliard Community Engagement Grant which enabled her to present a weeklong series of concerts in her hometown of Reading, PA.  Currently, she is studying at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. To increase awareness about domestic and sexual violence against women, she created an arts program in Massachusetts called “Silence Speaks.” 

 

Cellist Robert Erhard graduated from the University of Colorado at Boulder, where he won a number or awards, and  the Eastman School of Music. He has studied with several noted chamber music groups and appeared as soloist and principal cello for the Boulder Bach Festival’s 2015 - 2017 seasons. Besides Kneisel Hall, he has participated in the Bowdoin International Music Festival and Orvieto Musica. Passionate about expanding his musical horizons, he has performed extensively as part of an Indian-Western fusion trio, Sands Around Infinity, throughout  America and in Germany and Italy. The group released an album in 2015.

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Audience members are invited to bring instruments that they wish to donate to Valentina’s Instrument Fund to be repaired, if necessary, and given to area schools and music students.  For further information regarding this program, or to donate at another time, contact Dr. Joël   Evans at evansj@newpaltz.edu or check the website: www.newburghchambermusic.org.