CMNW's New Young Artist Institute Announced

This summer, Chamber Music Northwest (CMNW) launches their new Young Artist Institute (YAI), a new intensive education program for 16 talented string players from around the world, ages 14-18. The four-week YAI program will be held from June 18 to July 10 on the University of Portland campus, and the young musicians will be featured in free performances throughout the community, including on the brand new mobile concert stage, during CMNW's 2022 Summer Festival.

YAI faculty includes esteemed musicians and teachers: CMNW's Artistic Director Soovin Kim, Jessica Lee (violin), Nicholas Cords (viola), and Peter Stumpf (cello). The Institute is managed by violinist and music education powerhouse Alyssa Tong, and the students will be supported by young artist mentors Katie Danforth and Paul Kim. A new Collaborative Piano Fellowship has also been created to support the YAI with two fellows, Pualina Lim Mei En and Yandi Chen, who will collaborate intensively each day in rehearsals and performances with the Institute students.

The violinists, violists, and cellists selected for the YAI program are among the top high school string players from North America and Asia. The students have been finalists in the most important competitions in the world such as the Menuhin and Sphinx Competitions, and they hail from prestigious preparatory programs at the New England Conservatory, San Francisco Conservatory, Colburn Academy, Cleveland Institute of Music, Korea National University of the Arts, and Portland's own Portland Youth Philharmonic. CMNW's Institute will provide talented young musicians the unique opportunity to perform numerous times during its three weeks. The students will experience tremendous growth performing both solo works and string quartets for small and large audiences. The Portland community will get to enjoy the amazing virtuosity and precociousness of these musicians at festival concerts and pop-up performances around the city.

Collaborative Piano Fellowship

Hand-in-hand with the YAI program comes the new Collaborative Piano Fellowship. Selected from major conservatories, two graduate-level pianists join this summer's program, sponsored by pianist, Lewis & Clark faculty and CMNW Board Member Yoko Greeney with her husband, Jon. "A critical person in a young string player's development is the pianist with whom they collaborate in concertos, sonatas, and other pieces with piano," said Peter Bilotta, CMNW Executive Director. "The pianist provides the string player with the sense of rhythm, harmony, and texture. We are excited to create the CMNW Collaborative Piano Fellowship that brings two of the finest graduate student pianists to rehearse and perform with the Institute string players."

"Supporting and educating young artists has been at the core of our work at Music@Menlo (where Gloria was institute director), and at the New England Conservatory and Yale School of Music (where Soovin teaches)," said Gloria Chien and Soovin Kim, CMNW Artistic Directors. "This Young Artist Institute is a dream come true, and we know it is going to affect the lives of the extraordinary students and the CMNW audiences. Our hope is to inspire and invigorate the love of chamber music through these bright, shining musical talents!"

"As manager of the Young Artist Institute, it has been amazing to watch the project grow," said Alyssa Tong, YAI manager. "Soovin and Gloria's vision is incredible and I am excited to see it all come together! The students are extremely talented and mature, and the faculty is just as amazing and impactful. The final puzzle piece is the audience; I can't wait to see the audience get to experience and enjoy such a high level of playing from such young artists."

Institute Faculty

Soovin Kim, violin, faculty
Jessica Lee, violin, faculty
Nicholas Cords, viola, faculty
Peter Stumpf, cello, faculty

Institute Staff

Alyssa Tong, manager
Katie Danforth, young artist mentor
Paul Kim, young artist mentor

Collaborative Piano Fellowship

Pualina Lim Mei En ● Piano fellow ● Singapore
Yandi Chen ● Piano fellow ● Shanghai, China

Institute Young Artists

Corina Deng (14) ● Violin ● Vancouver, Canada
Fiona Huang (14) ● Cello ● Saratoga, California
Emily Hwang (16) ● Viola ● Palo Alto, California
Hanna Jang (17) ● Viola ● Seoul, South Korea
Sarah Kave (18) ● Cello ● Los Angeles, California
Joshua Kováč (15) ● Cello ● Johnson City, Tennessee
Eleanor Markey (17) ● Violin ● Wayland, Massachusetts
Jiyu Oh (16) ● Violin ● Seoul, South Korea
Ella Saputra (17) ● Violin ● Schaumburg, Illinois
Nazeeh Shahid (17) ● Viola ● Chicago, Illinois
Nate Strothkamp (18) ● Violin ● Portland, Oregon
Moshi Tang (17) ● Violin ● Cleveland, Ohio
Hana Taylor (16) ● Violin ● Brookline, Massachusetts
Maanas Varma (17) ● Viola ● Flower Mound, Texas
Kira Wang (17) ● Cello ● Portland, Oregon
Marina Ziegler (17) ● Violin ● Akron, Ohio

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