ENSEMBLE ARI - The Beethoven 2020 Project

• Date & Time: Saturday September 26, 7:30 p.m.
• Venue: Incarnation Episcopal Church, 1750 29th Avenue, San Francisco
• Tickets: $20 General, $15 Seniors/Students

For more information visit https://sunsetarts.wordpress.com/ensemble-ari/

PROGRAM

1. Beethoven Sonata for piano and violin in G Major No. 8
2. Bartok Rhapsody No.1 for violin and piano
3. Brahms Sonata for violin and piano in G Major No.1

ABOUT ENSEMBLE ARI

“Ari” is a Korean word with multiple meanings: big river, wisdom and beauty. Ensemble Ari is a group of musicians in the Bay Area who share this quality with the community. The ensemble gave its debut concert in October 2014 as a Korean War Memorial Concert and has been given concerts at UC Berkeley, UC Davis, Old First Concert Series, Maybeck House, OSLC Concert Series among others. Sound recordings can be found at https://www.facebook.com/EnsembleAri.

Native of South Korea, Heeguen Song is the assistant concert master of the SF Ballet. She has held positions at Santa Rosa Symphony, Oakland Symphony and Berkeley Symphony Orchestra. Dr. Song performs regularly in South Korea and throughout the Bay Area in venues such as Seoul Arts Center, Sejong Arts Center, Old First Concerts, Herbst Theater, Bing Concert Hall, and many more. She is an active chamber musician and is a member of Beaubliss Quartet and Ensemble Ari. She has performed at Yale Chamber Music Society, Yellowbarn Music Festival, Taos Music Festival, and Banff Chamber Music Residency. Heeguen was invited to play at Osaka City Hall, Daejeon Chamber Music Festival, Beethoven institute at New School and City University of NY. Additionally Heeguen gave a solo debut recital at Weil Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall and had solo appearances with many orchestras such as SF Ballet Orchestra, Oberlin Orchestra, Rutgers Symphony Orchestra, Ensemble 212, and Camerata Academica de Merida. She was a prize winner at the Henryk Szeryng International Competition, Irving M Klein Competition, and Kingsville International Competition among others. Heeguen studied at Oberlin Conservatory, the Juilliard School, Yale School of music and Rutgers University under the direction of Almita Vamos, Masao Kawasaki, Peter Oundjian, and Arnold Steinhardt.

Violinist Jiwon Evelyn Kwark holds a bachelor’s degree from The Juilliard School, a master’s from Yale School of Music, and Professional Studies from Manhattan School of Music in the Orchestral Performance Program. Her primary teachers were Glenn Dicterow, Ani Kavafian, Masao Kawasaki, and Alexander Treger. Since making her solo debut with the Amabile Orchestra in Korea at the age of 9, Ms. Kwark has performed with numerous orchestras in the U.S. and Korea. She has toured Canada with the Young Orchestra of Americas as the associate concertmistress and toured the cities of Germany with the Penderecki Musik Academie Orchestra as the concertmistress and soloist of the orchestra under the baton of renowned composer, Maestro Penderecki. Ms. Kwark performs regularly as the Associate Principal Second Violinist of the Marin Symphony and violinist of Symphony Silicon Valley. She has also performed with the San Francisco Symphony, New World Symphony, and New Century Chamber Orchestra. (www.jiwonevelynkwark.com)

Acclaimed by music critics as “free, warm and a very expressive” performer, cellist, Sarah Hong was born in Seoul Korea. She began studying cello at the age of six and was selected as most promising young cellist in the nation at the age of 16, her performance broadcasted nationwide by KBS. She made her New York debut at Carnegie Hall as a winner of Artists International. Ms. Hong studied at the Juilliard School with Zara Nelsova and Joel Krosnick while receiving both of the BM and MM degrees. She finished her artist certificate in chamber music at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music under the direction of Bonnie Hampton. Ms. Hong lives in Los Altos where she balances a busy career as a soloist, collaborative artist, and teacher. Currently, she is a cellist of Le Due Muse with a pianist Makiko Ooka, Ensemble Ari, and San Francisco Cello Quartet. She teaches string orchestra at the King’s Academy and cello sections at CYS and KAMSA youth orchestras. She has started the ‘Phos (f??)’ Benefit Concert Series to help support various non-profit organizations serving children all over the world in 2014. (www.cellistsarahhong.com)

Native to the Bay Area, pianist Sharon Lee Kim actively performs as solo and chamber pianist, vocal coach, music director, choral and vocal accompanist, and is a highly demanded piano instructor. She is a frequent recitalist, collaborating with the top instrumentalists and opera singers in the world. Ms. Kim joined the Saint Mary’s College Music Faculty in 2008. As Adjunct Associate Professor her roles include: Asst. Director/Accompanist of the choral program, Lecturer in piano, chamber music, and music history, and Director of the Faculty Concert Series. Aside from her roles at the college, Sharon is the pianist of Ensemble Ari, the co-founding member of Duo Camaraderie together with flutist Laura Scarlata, a collegiate staff pianist at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, freelances as a solo, vocal, and chamber pianist, and maintains a thriving private studio teaching piano and vocal coaching singers. Sharon is a member of the Music Teachers Association of California (MTAC) and adjudicator for local competitions. Sharon holds degrees from UC Berkeley (BA) and New England Conservatory (MM and GD). Her primary teachers were Irma Vallecillo, Kayo Iwama, John Greer, Barbara Shearer, and Margret Elson. (www.sharonleekim.com)

Director/Conductor Jean Ahn finished her B.A. and M.M. at Seoul National University and Ph.D. at UC Berkeley. Her music was featured at Aspen Music Festival, IAWM Beijing, American Composers Orchestra’s Earshot, SEAMUS, NY Electronic Music Festival, Spark Festival among others. Commissions include works for the Leftcoast Chamber Ensemble, Volti, Duo Camaraderie, Gayaguem Soloist JUL, Locrian Chamber Players, and Pianissimo among others. She is the composer-in-residence for SF Choral Artist and adjunct Lecturer at UC Berkeley. She also recently joined hum-on.com, AI music company. (www.jeanahn.com)