Helen Hwaya Kim, violinist & friends | Press Releases

8 p.m., Saturday, May 4, 2013
"An Evening in France and Spain"

Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts
Fairfield University, Fairfield, CT
Tickets: $35, $30

Image: Helen Hwaya Kim One of the most dynamic and exciting violinists performing in America today, Helen Hwaya Kim , performs with Caroline Stinson, cello , and Sakiko Ohashi, piano , in a chamber music concert entitled "An Evening in France and Spain" at 8 p.m. on Saturday, May 4, 2013, at Fairfield University's Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts . A pre-concert talk with the three performers hosted by Gary Wood , director of the Quick Center for the Arts, takes place at 7:15 p.m . on the Quick Center stage. The evening's program is highlighted by the famous "Violin Sonata in A Major" by César Franck (1822-1890), and also features works by Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847), Manuel de Falla (1876-1946), and Pablo de Sarasate (1844-1908). Audience members are invited to a free wine and cheese reception following the performance. Tickets are: $35 and $30.

Helen Hwaya Kim, a native of Canada, made her orchestral debut with the Calgary Philharmonic at the age of six. Ms. Kim earned her Master's Degree from the Juilliard School, where her teachers included Cho-Liang Lin and Dorothy DeLay. She is the recipient of more than one hundred national and international awards. In 1992, she won the prestigious Artists International Competition in New York and, as a result, gave debut recitals at Carnegie Weill Recital Hall and the Aspen Summer Music Festival. She has appeared as a soloist with the Boston Pops at Boston's Symphony Hall, as well as with the Milwaukee and Atlanta Symphony Orchestras. Ms. Kim has been profiled on national and international television and has appeared on CBC, PBS and CBS networks. Her performances have been aired on NPR and CBC radio networks. Ms. Kim served as assistant concertmaster for two seasons and associate concertmaster for one season for the Atlanta Symphony. She is currently the assistant concertmaster of the Atlanta Opera Orchestra.

Helen Hwaya Kim has a style that is both graceful and electrifying and charms audiences with exquisite tone and phrasing. "Helen held the audience rapt with her ravishing tone and impeccable technique. Simply wonderful," wrote the Ottawa Citizen. Ms. Kim has toured extensively throughout Canada and the United States, including performances at Alice Tully Hall and the Sante Fe and La Jolla International Music Festivals, where she performed with Cho-Liang Lin, Gary Hoffman, Andre Prévin, and the Orion String Quartet. She performed Bach's Double Violin Concerto with Hilary Hahn at the 2002 Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival. Ms. Kim has been engaged by many of Canada's leading orchestras, including the National Arts Center Orchestra, Montreal Metropolitan Orchestra, Vancouver Symphony, McGill Chamber Orchestra, and the Windsor, Regina, Victoria and Prince George Symphonies. She has also appeared with the Cobb, Georgia Symphony Orchestra, DeKalb, New Orleans, Aspen and Banff Festival Orchestras, and with orchestras in the United Kingdom, Germany and Poland. In 2006, she joined the music faculty at Kennesaw State University in Kennesaw, Georgia, where she is Associate Professor of Violin. Ms. Kim performs with local new music ensembles, Bent Frequency, Sonic Generator, Thamyris and recently joined the Atlanta Chamber Players.

Cellist Caroline Stinson is praised for her vibrant lyricism, fresh interpretations and expressive performances. Her debut CD, "Lines," was released in 2011 on Albany Records, and she has over a dozen other chamber music recordings to her credit on labels from Bridge to Naxos. She is co-Artistic Director of the Weekend of Chamber Music in NY State and teaches cello and chamber music at The Juilliard School in New York City in the Pre-College Division and as Assistant Faculty for Joel Krosnick.

Sakiko Ohashi, a native of Japan, began her piano studies at the age of four. By the time she was 10 years old, she was accepted to the Juilliard Pre-College Division as a student of Herbert Stessin. At the Juilliard School, her awards and scholarships included Van Cliburn, Lilian Halpern, Bertha Levin, Alexander Siloti, and the Maxwell Muriel Gluck Fellowship. In New York, her appearances have included venues such as Alice Tully Hall, Carnegie Weill Recital Hall, Juilliard Theatre, and The Harvard Club. In 2004, she founded the New Orleans Chamber Music Festival. A dedicated teacher, her students have won numerous competitions both locally and nationally.

Tickets and subscriptions are available through the Quick Center Box Office: (203) 254-4010, or toll-free 1-877-ARTS-396 (1-877-278-7396). Tickets can also be purchased online at www.quickcenter.com .

The Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts is located on the campus of Fairfield University at 1073 North Benson Road in Fairfield, Connecticut. Entrance to the Quick Center is through the Barlow Road gate at 200 Barlow Road. Free, secure parking is available. Access for people with disabilities is available throughout the Quick Center for audience members and performers. Hearing amplification devices are available upon request at the Box Office. Fairfield University is located off exit 22 of Interstate-95. For further information and directions, call (203) 254-4010 or 1-877-278-7396, or visit www.quickcenter.com .