Syoko Aki, Hyo Kang, Ani Kavafian, Peter Oundjian, Wendy Sharp, Kyung Hak Yu, violin
Jesse Levine, viola; Ole Akahoshi, Aldo Parisot, violoncello; Donald Palma, double bass
The Tokyo String Quartet—Martin Beaver and Kikuei Ikeda, violin; Kazuhide Isomura, viola; Clive Greensmith, cello—Chamber Music
The violin faculty encourages each student to become his or her own best teacher, first through explanation and demonstration, and eventually through critical self-awareness. No single method is stressed; rather, an approach is designed for each individual student. Rhythmic control is paramount; it is inextricably bound, both physically and emotionally, to beautiful violin playing.
The approach to viola instruction stresses the overriding importance of musical language as well as technical mastery of the instrument. The search for beauty in performance is the ultimate goal; the production of an expressive sound and an acute awareness of phrasing in interpretation are also constantly kept in mind. Independent and broad exploration of viola literature is encouraged, as are new compositions to be written for the instrument.
The method of cello instruction is based upon the belief that even the most imaginative musician is prevented from achieving the highest potential if he or she is limited by technical deficiencies. The student, therefore, concentrates first on the removal of tension; then learns to involve the entire body in cello playing and to experience the physical sensations associated with facility on the instrument. When the player and the instrument function as an efficient unit, the student begins to explore the vast subtleties of sound, phrasing, and interpretation available to those who have thoroughly mastered the cello.
The Yale School of Music offers the double bassist a chance to refine his or her technique and musicianship while gaining a truer understanding of the physical aspects of playing the double bass. Preparation for orchestra auditions, solo performances, and all aspects of twentieth-century writing for the double bass are emphasized in degrees corresponding to the students’ goals.
The Tokyo String Quartet—Martin Beaver and Kikuei Ikeda, violin; Kazuhide Isomura, viola; Clive Greensmith, cello. Officially formed in 1969 at The Juilliard School of Music, the Tokyo String Quartet traces its origins to the Toho School of Music in Tokyo, where the founding members were profoundly influenced by Professor Hideo Saito. Soon after its creation, the Quartet won First Prize at the Coleman Competition, the Munich Competition and the Young Concert Artists International Auditions, and signed an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon. The quartet first performed and coached at the Yale Summer School of Music and Art in Norfolk, Connecticut, in 1976. The following fall they joined the Yale School of Music faculty as quartet-in-residence. They have released more than thirty landmark recordings, including the complete quartets of Beethoven, Schubert, and Bartók. The ensemble's recordings of works by Brahms, Debussy, Dvorák, Haydn, Mozart, Ravel and Schubert have earned numerous honors, including seven Grammy nominations. The Tokyo has also been featured on PBS's Sesame Street and Great Performers and on CNN This Morning. In Yale’s chamber music program the members of the quartet work intensively as coaches with all the student string ensembles..
Syoko Aki, violin, studied in Japan at the Toho Academy of Music and in the United States at Hartt College and the Yale School of Music. She previously taught at the Eastman School and the State University of New York at Purchase. She has appeared as soloist with leading conductors such as Seiji Ozawa, Gerard Schwartz, Krzysztof Penderecki, and Kenneth Schermerhorn. Miss Aki has been concertmaster and soloist with the New York Chamber Symphony, the New Japan Philharmonic, the Waterloo Festival Orchestra and the New Haven and Syracuse Symphonies and performed in concerto and chamber music performances with Syzmon Goldberg, Henryck Szeryng, Broadus Erle, Leon Fleisher, Jaime Laredo, Joan Panetti and many others.
Cellist Ole Akahoshi from Germany has concertized on four continents in recitals as well as soloist with orchestras, such as the Orchestra of St. Luke's, Symphonisches Orchester Berlin, and the Czechoslovakian Radio Orchestra. Winner of numerous competitions including the Concertino Praga, Jugend Musiziert, and the Luis Sigall International Cello Competition, Mr. Akahoshi's performances have been featured on numerous international broadcasts. He is also recipient of the generous fellowship award from Charlotte White's Salon de Virtuosi. He has performed in major halls in the US, Europe, and Asia, and has made recordings for the Albany, New World Records, Composers Recording, Inc., Calliope, Bridge, and Naxos labels. Mr. Akahoshi has degrees and diplomas from the Juilliard School, the Yale School of Music, and Indiana University; his mentors were Aldo Parisot, Janos Starker, and Pierre Fournier. Mr. Akahoshi is the principal cellist of the International Sejong Soloists in New York. He is also a member of Seiji Ozawa's presitgious Saito Kinen Orchestra and the Tokyo Monori Opera. Mr. Akahoshi has been teaching at the pre-college division of the Manhattan School of Music since 2004. He joined the faculty of the Yale School of Music in 1997.
The artistic director of the International Sejong Soloists, Hyo Kang made numerous concert tours in the United States, Europe, Asia, Canada and Central America as both violin soloist and chamber musician. As a member of the highly acclaimed Theatre Chamber Players of the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC for more than 20 years, he has given many works their American premieres and enjoyed musical collaborations with such artists as Leon Fleisher, Pina Carmirelli, Walter Trampler and André Watts. Kang, world-renowned violin teacher, has been on the faculty of the Juilliard School since 1978 and has given master classes in the United States, Korea and Japan. He has also been on the faculties of the Aspen Music School in Colorado since 1978 and the Nagano Aspen Music Festival in Japan since 1994. He was a visiting professor at the Seoul National University in 1994 and served as a judge in several international competitions, including the Wieniawski-Lipinski in Poland. His students have distinguished themselves with top prizes at the world’s most prestigious competitions and are performing with major orchestras worldwide. Kang’s former students include Gil Shaham, Sarah Chang and Chee-Yun, among many others. Kang was born in Seoul, Korea, and graduated from The Juilliard School where he studied with Dorothy DeLay. He was most recently the subject of a Korean Broadcasting System documentary titled, “Teaching Genius-Juilliard Professor, Hyo Kang.” The governor of Gangwon province asked Kang to bring the first international music festival to PyeongChang and appointed him as the music director in March 2003. He joined the Yale faculty in the fall of 2006.
Ani Kavafian, violin, has performed with virtually all of America's leading orchestras including the New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Pittsburgh Symphony, the Minnesota Orchestra, and the symphony orchestras of Detroit, San Francisco, Atlanta, Seattle, Minneapolis, Phoenix and Rochester. Her numerous recital engagements include performances at New York's Carnegie Hall and Alice Tully Hall; Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis; and the Krannert Center in Illinois. As a chamber musician, Ms. Kavafian appears frequently as an Artist-Member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. She is also a member of the Walden Horn Trio with pianist Anne-Marie McDermott and hornist Robert Routch. She is in demand at numerous festivals including the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Chamber Music Northwest, and the Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival. Ms. Kavafian's list of prestigious awards includes the Avery Fisher Prize and the Young Concert Artists International Auditions. She has appeared at the White House on three separate occasions and has been featured on many network and PBS television music specials. Her recordings can be heard on the Nonesuch, RCA, Columbia and Musical Heritage Society labels. She joined the Yale School of Music faculty in 2006.
Jesse Levine was principal violist of the Buffalo, Dallas, Baltimore, and New Jersey symphony orchestras. As soloist, recitalist, chamber musician, and conductor, he has performed in Europe, South America, Mexico, Israel, Australia, and throughout the United States. Mr. Levine regularly offers master classes in Paris, Barcelona, Madrid, and other major musical centers. He served as music director of the Norwalk Symphony Orchestra in Connecticut for twenty years, and was music director of the Orquesta del Principado de Asturias (Spain) from 1991 to 1994. He has served on the faculties of the State University of New York at Buffalo and at Stony Brook, and the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore. Mr. Levine joined the Yale faculty in 1983, and is coordinator of the string department.
Peter Oundjian, violin, began his studies at the age of seven in London, England. After winning the Gold Medal at the Royal College of Music, he went on to The Juilliard School in 1973 to study with Ivan Galamian. He also worked with Itzhak Perlman, Dorothy DeLay and members of the Juilliard String Quartet. In 1980 Mr. Oundjian won First Prize in the International Violin Competition in Vina del Mar, Chile. He performed as recitalist throughout North America under the sponsorship of the Pro Musicis Foundation, making his New York recital debut in 1981. He has soloed with the Boston Pops and the Toronto, Montreal and Winnipeg Symphony Orchestras, the National Arts Center Orchestra and the Calgary Philharmonic. He was first violinist of the Tokyo String Quartet from 1981 to 1995. His formal conducting debut was in 1995 with the Orchestra of St. Luke's. Since then he has conducted major orcestras in the United States and around the world, and he is currently music director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.
Donald Palma, double bass, is a graduate of The Juilliard School. His teachers were Frederick Zimmermann, Robert Brennand, Orin O'Brien, and Homer Mensch. A former member of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, he has also been principal bass of Canada's National Arts Center Orchestra, the Brooklyn Philharmonic, and the American Composers Orchestra. He is presently solo bassist of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra with which he has toured Europe, Asia, South America, and the United States, and recorded over forty-five compact disks for Deutsche Grammophon. Mr. Palma has performed with the Juilliard Quartet, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Da Camera Society of Houston, and in recital with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Jean Pierre Rampal, and Jan DeGaetani. A former member of the Contemporary Chamber Ensemble, he is presently bassist and conductor of Speculum Musicae and an annual participant at the Composers Conference.
Aldo Parisot, cello, is the Samuel Sanford Professor of Music. He has lead the career of a complete artist--as soloist, chamber musician, recitalist and teacher. He has been heard with the major orchestras of the world, including Berlin, London, Paris, Amsterdam, Stockholm, Rio, Munich, Warsaw, Chicago, Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, etc. under the batons of such eminent conductors as Stokowski, Barbirolli, Bernstein, Mehta, Monteux, Paray, Carvalho, Sawallisch, Hindemith and Villa-Lobos. As an artist seeking to expand his instrument's repertoire, Mr. Parisot has premiered numerous works for the cello, written especially for him by such composers as Carmago Guarnieri, Quincy Porter, Alvin Porter, Alvin Etler, Claudio Santoro, Joan Panetti, Yehudi Wyner and Villa-Lobos, whose Cello Concerto No. 2 was premiered by Mr. Parisot in his New York Philharmonic debut.
Wendy Sharp, award-winning violinist, performs frequently as a recitalist and a chamber musician. In demand as a teacher and chamber music coach, she is on the faculties of the Yale School of Music and California Summer Music, and maintains a private studio. For nearly a decade she was the first violinist of the highly acclaimed Franciscan String Quartet. As a member of the quartet she toured the USA, Canada, Europe, and Japan, and was honored with many awards including first prize in the Banff International String Quartet Competition and the Press and City of Evian prizes at the Evian International String Quartet Competition. A native of the San Francisco Bay area, she attended Yale University, graduating summa cum laude with Distinction in Music and received her Master of Music degree from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Ms. Sharp has served on the faculties of the Mannes College of Music, Dartmouth College, and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and Choate Rosemary Hall, and has participated in the Aspen, Tanglewood, Chamber Music West, Norfolk, and Music Academy of the West festivals. Ms. Sharp is currently the Director of Chamber Music at the Yale School of Music, where she has also been on the Violin faculty since 1997. She is also a Fellow in Berkeley College and a Member-at-Large delegate to the AYA. Ms. Sharp lives with her husband and their two children in North Haven, Connecticut.
Kyung Hak Yu, violin, holds a Master of Music degree from the Yale School of Music, and Masters and Bachelors degrees from The Juilliard School. She studied with Paul Kantor, Dorothy DeLay and the late Emanuel Zetlin. She has taught at the Aspen Music Festival, and was an assistant to Dorothy DeLay at the Juilliard Pre- College division. She gave her New York debut recital at Carnegie Hall as a winner of the Artists International Competition. She has appeared as a soloist with the Seattle Symphony, the New Haven Symphony, Yale Philharmonia and has performed recitals in New York, Seattle, Aspen, and throughout Korea.