ABOUT

Sang Yoon Kim, clarinet, is the principal clarinet of The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. A native of South Korea, he was the top prizewinner of the 67th Prague Spring International Music Competition in 2015. Kim’s career highlights include his appearance as a soloist with the BBC Symphony Orchestra under the baton of their Music Director, Sakari Oramo, at the Prague Spring International Music Festival. Moreover, he is a laureate of multiple international competitions. He studied with distinguished professors Michel Arrignon and Pascal Moragues at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse in Paris. His time in Paris was preceded by three years working with Florent Heau at the Conservatoire à Rayonnement Regional de Rueil-Malmaison. After Paris, he went on to study in Los Angeles at the Colburn Conservatory of Music, gaining an artist diploma under Yehuda Gilad in 2014. Sang Yoon Kim is a Buffet Crampon, Vandoren, and Silverstein Performing Artist.

Maria Ioudenitch, violin, was born in Russia; she immigrated with her musical family to the U.S. at the age of two and grew up in Kansas City. In 2021, she received first prizes in the YsaÿeInternational Music Competition, the Tibor Varga International Violin Competition and theJoseph Joachim International Competition. She also received numerous special prizes at these competitions, including Joachim’s Chamber Music Award, the prize for Best Interpretation of the Commissioned Work, the Henle Urtext Prize, and a recording deal with Warner Classics. An active chamber musician, Ioudenitch has taken part in multiple chamber music tours with Marlboro and Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute. She began playing violin with Gregory Sandomirsky at the age of three and continued her studies with Ben Sayevich at the International Center for Music in Kansas City and with Pamela Frank and Shmuel Ashkenasi at the Curtis Institute of Music, where she completed her bachelor’s degree. She fulfilled both her master’s degree and Artist Diploma at the New England Conservatory, where she studied with Miriam Fried. She is currently in the Professional Studies program at the Kronberg Academy, working with Christian Tetzlaff.

Stephanie Zyzak, violin, is quickly gaining a reputation as one of the most soulful and profound musicians of her generation. A deeply passionate chamber musician, she has been praised for her sensitive musicianship and heartfelt playing.  She has had the privilege of collaborating with many renowned musicians, including Jonathan Biss, Kim Kashkashian, Ida Kavafian, Alice Neary, Daniel Phillips, Marcy Rosen, and Mitsuko Uchida. She has also performed at Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute, Caramoor, and the Four Seasons Chamber Music Festival. Born in South Carolina, Zyzak is a graduate of New England Conservatory where she studied with Miriam Fried. Currently, she is studying at CUNY The Graduate Center with Mark Steinberg. She is also a founding member of ensemble132, a roster-based chamber music collective and was a 2020-22 Ensemble Connect fellow at Carnegie Hall. Zyzak performs on a 1778 Joseph and Antonio Gagliano violin, generously on loan from Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute, and a bow by François-Nicolas Voirin.

Hiroki Kasai, viola, has been performing extensively on violin and viola across Europe, Asia, Australia, and the United States. He has performed in such prestigious venues as the Elbphilharmonie, Carnegie Hall, Suntory Hall, Lincoln Center, and Barbican Center and at prominent music festivals such as the Beethovenfest Bonn, Pacific, Pablo Casals, Schleswig-Holstein, and Gstaad Menuhin Festivals. Kasai graduated from the Royal Academy of Music in 2021, studying under the tutelage of Rodney Friend. He continued his studies on the violin at the International Menuhin Music Academy. Beginning in 2023, he studied viola at the Escuela Superior de Musica Reina Sofia in Madrid with Nobuko Imai. Kasai has performed chamber music with eminent musicians such as Lawrence Power, Ivan Monighetti, Sayaka Shoji, and Bruno Delepelaire. He is a scholar of the Seiji Ozawa Academy Switzerland and the Villa Musica Rheinland Pfalz.

Natalie Loughran, viola, is quickly establishing herself as one of the most versatile young artists of our time. She was awarded First Prize at the 2021 Primrose International Viola Competition, as well as the Audience Award and the BIPOC Composer Prize for her arrangement and performance of William Grant Still’s “Mother and Child”.  A former member of the Kila Quartet, Loughran is a sensitive and passionate chamber musician. She has appeared on WQXR’s series, “Midday Masterpieces”, and has participated in the Perlman Music Program Chamber Workshop, Robert Mann String Quartet Institute, Yellow Barn, and Kronberg’s Chamber Music Connects the World. She earned her B.M. and M.M. in Viola Performance at The Juilliard School, studying with Roger Tapping, Misha Amory, and Hsin-Yun Huang as a proud recipient of the Kovner Fellowship. In Fall of 2022, Loughran began her professional studies at the Kronberg Academy with Tabea Zimmermann. She plays on a 1976 viola by Sergio Peresson.

Peter Stumpf, cello, is professor of cello at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. Prior to his appointment, he was principal cellist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Stumpf’s tenure in Los Angeles followed 12 years as associate principal cellist of the Philadelphia Orchestra. A dedicated chamber music musician, he was a member of the Johannes String Quartet and has appeared on the chamber music series at Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, the Boston Celebrity Series, the Da Camera Society in Los Angeles, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Casals Hall in Tokyo, and at the concert halls of Cologne. Stumpf’s awards include first prize in the Washington International Competition, the Graham-Stahl Competition, and the Aspen Concerto Competition and second prize in the Evian International String Quartet Competition. As a teacher, he has served on the cello faculty of the University of Southern California, Hartt School of Music at the University of Hartford, and the New England Conservatory, and as guest artist faculty at the Curtis Institute of Music.

Evren Ozel, piano, has established himself as a musician of “refined restraint” (Third Coast Review), combining fluent virtuosity with probing, thoughtful interpretations.  Having performed extensively in the United States and abroad, Evren is the recipient of a 2023 Avery Fisher Career Grant and 2022 Salon de Virtuosi Career Grant. He is currently represented by Concert Artists Guild as an Ambassador Prize Winner of their 2021 Victor Elmaleh Competition. An esteemed chamber musician, Evren has performed on multiple Musicians from Marlboro tours and with ChamberFest Cleveland. Most recently, he was selected as a Bowers Program Artist for the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. He received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the New England Conservatory (NEC) and is currently a candidate in NEC’s prestigious Artist Diploma program, all under the tutelage of Wha Kyung Byun. Other important mentors include Jonathan Biss, Imogen Cooper, Richard Goode, Dr. Sarah Miller, Tom Rosenberg, and Mitsuko Uchida.