So Young Kwon 

SoYoung Kwon has appeared in recitals, concerts, festivals and master classes throughout the United States, Germany, France, Netherlands, China, and Korea. Ms. Kwon has won numerous competitions and awards, including prestigious top prizes from the Korea Daily Competition and Eumyeon Competition in Korea, and was chosen as the 2014 Ujung Rising Star by Ujung Art Center.
 
She has participated and performed in music festivals such as Aspen Music Festival and School, ‘I’academy intenational de musique d’ ete de Nice, Texas Music Festival, Schleswig-Holstien Music Festival, Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, Bay Chamber Music Festival, Baroque Music Festival, and Great Mountains Music Festival. She has worked with Ida Haendel, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Silvia Rosenberg, Lucie Robert, Emanuel Borok, Roberti Diaz, Christoph Eschenbach, John Perry, and Lang Lang.
 

Ms. Kwon has been a concertmaster of the Oberlin Chamber Orchestra, the Yale Philharmonia and the Boston University Symphony/Chamber Orchestra, as well as a principal first violin of Gunsan Philharmonic Orchestra, a principal second violin of Soliall Philharmonic Orchestra and a leader of New Music New Haven. In addition, she has played with Eastern Connecticut Symphony, New Haven Symphony Orchestra, Albany Symphony Orchestra, the Macau Orchestra, Atlantic Symphony Orchestra, and KBS Symphony Orchestra. She performed regularly with the Contemporary Music Ensemble Éclat, the Ensemble Hui, and is a founding member of the Absolute Trio.
 
A passionate teacher, Ms. Kwon has taught at the Lincoln-Bassett Elementary School in Connecticut, the Pre-College division of Kangnam University, and the Sunhwa Arts School in Korea. She graduated Sunhwa Arts High School with highest honor, received Bachelor’s degree at Oberlin Conservatory with full scholarship, and she was granted Master’s degree and Artist Diploma with full merit scholarship from Yale University School of Music. Ms. Kwon has been appointed as an Adjunct Professor of Violin and Viola at Stonehill College, Keys for Kids, and EKS Music School. Currently she is finishing her Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Boston University with Peter Zazofsky.

Yi-Hsiu Liu 

Yi-Hsiu Liu has been playing and teaching violin professionally since 2000. Classically trained in violin and piano, Yi-Hsiu believes music could enrich people’s lives and enjoys working with all ages and all levels. Native of Taipei, Taiwan, Yi-Hsiu is the 1st place winner of Plymouth Music Competition in 2007 and the recipient of the Distinguished Scholarship of the Taiwan National Science Council in 2002 for her research. As a passionate violinist, she performs in Orchestra of Indian Hill, the Atlantic Symphony Orchestra, National Repertory Orchestra and numerous chamber ensembles in Boston. Received her MM from the Boston Conservatory, Yi-Hsiu is currently pursuing her DMA at Boston University.

Angel Valchinov 

Dr. Angel Valchinov is a soloist, concertmaster, chamber musician, and a teacher. A third generation musician, with his entire immediate family of musicians living in Boston, he is passionate about giving back to the next generation. He has performed solo with orchestras in the US and abroad, is currently concertmaster of several orchestras in the Boston area, and teaches at music festivals throughout the summer. He is String Faculty at Northern Essex Community College, and has a growing private teaching studio.
With his wife, violist Chen Lin, he regularly presents recitals to varied audiences.



 

Karl Ørvik   

KARL ØRVIK, violin, currently resides in Boston, MA, where he enjoys an active career as both a performer and teacher.  He has appeared in recital at major venues throughout the United States, and was a featured guest artist at the Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival in Alaska.  As violinist of the Klaritas Ensemble, he has performed in several concert series in Boston, at the Tanglewood Music Center, and in a 2010 concert tour of South Korea.  He has performed contemporary chamber music with the ensembles PresentMusic and L’Ensemble Portique, and was featured in live radio broadcasts of Modern Chamber on WMSE in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  An experienced orchestral musician, Mr. Ørvik has appeared several times as a concerto soloist and concertmaster, and has performed in the violin sections of numerous orchestras, including the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, the Green Bay Symphony, the Milwaukee Ballet Orchestra and the Erie Philharmonic.

Mr. Ørvik enjoys teaching students of all ages and abilities, and is a member of the violin faculties of the Community Music Center of Boston, the Creative Arts School in Reading, the Dedham School of Music and the Waldorf School of Lexington.  He has been an Adjunct Instructor of violin at both Wisconsin Lutheran College and Alverno College, and has held positions as Director of the Milwaukee Center for Strings and String Department Chair at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music.  An experienced teacher in school settings as well, he leads group violin classes at several Boston public schools, and was a violin instructor at the Conservatory Lab Charter School during the 2009-2010 school year.  Mr. Ørvik is in demand as an adjudicator and clinician, and regularly presents “practice workshops” to help students improve their practicing habits.  In May of 2007 he published an article concerning these practice strategies in the ASTA Journal.  He has conducted several youth string orchestras, and has been a violin sectional coach with both the Milwaukee and Green Bay youth symphonies. 

     A native of Canada, Mr. Ørvik began violin lessons at age eight with Philip Frank in Toronto, and later studied with Eduard Minevich in London, Ontario, and Stephen Kecskemethy in Portland, Maine.  He studied chamber music with members of the Muir, Manhattan, Cleveland and Cavani string quartets, and was awarded a fellowship to study with the Fine Arts Quartet at the Sorkin International Institute of Chamber Music in Milwaukee. He received his Bachelor’s Degree from Lawrence University, studying with Calvin Wiersma, and his Master’s Degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music, where his principal teacher was Stephen Majeske. In January of 2012, Mr. Ørvik received his Doctorate of Musical Arts in violin performance from Boston University, where he was a student of renowned violinist and pedagogue Roman Totenberg.



Kenneth Mok 

Kenneth Siu-hang Mok received a Master of Music Degree in Violin Performance from The Boston Conservatory in May 2010 under the tutelage of Irina Muresanu, Ronan Lefkowitz and Markus Placci. Kenneth completed his Bachelor of Music at Hong Kong Baptist University under the tutelage of Michael Ma, Lily Koh and Scott Homer in 2006. He has studied with Lau Yin Pui at Central Conservatory of Music at Beijing during an exchange program in 2005. In 2003, he was awarded a diploma in violin performance by the Associated Board of The Royal Schools of Music. Kenneth has also participated in masterclasses with Eva León, Timothy Eddy and Amadi Azikiwe. Currently, Kenneth is a resident artist in the Suzuki Institute of Boston and violin faculty in Dedham School of Music.

Kenneth serves as the concertmaster of Calliope and Umass Boston Chamber Orchestra in Boston. He served as the concertmaster in Hong Kong Institute of Education Graduate Orchestra (1996-2001) and Hong Kong Baptist University Orchestra (2005-2006). He also joined the Hong Kong International Youth Orchestra and Hong Kong Medical Association Orchestra (1998-2000). In 2005, he was invited to perform as a soloist with the Hong Kong Baptist University Symphony Orchestra. In 2007, he appeared as a soloist with the Collegium Musicum Hong Kong in the Harlaxton Chamber Music Festival in England and the Central Conservatory Annual Music Festival in Bejing. Kenneth gives performances regularly with orchestras such as Boston Civic Symphony, Boston Chamber Orchestra, Boston Opera Collaborative and Hong Kong City Chamber. Currently, Kenneth is serving as the concertmaster in Calliope and the principle of second violin in the Video Game Orchestra in Boston. Kenneth has been giving performances in places such as Hong Kong Cultural Centre, Hong Kong City Hall, Central Conservatory in Beijing, Ely Cathedral and Southwark Cathedral in the UK, Berklee Performance Center, Hynes Conventional Center in Boston, Jordon Hall and Boston Symphony Hall.

Kenneth not only active in Classical field, but also in popular music. He has performed with many pop singers in Hong Kong, including Chet Lam, Wada Hiromi, Blezz, 2R. In Boston, he participated in Eli Reed's album “Come and Get it”.