Naho Tsutsui
Violinist, Naho Tsutsui, a native of Japan, is an active performer and an educator. A member of the Hyperion String Quartet since 2007, she regularly performs with the ensemble throughout the United States. As an advocate of contemporary music, she has commissioned and premiered dozens of works. She has given numerous recitals in the United States, Canada, Japan, Germany, and Bulgaria, both as a soloist and chamber musician, and has performed at prestigious halls such as Merkin Hall, Lincoln Center, and the National Palace of Culture in Bulgaria. Her live performances have been broadcasted worldwide on WQXR and she was a featured recitalist on the Bulgarian National Television.
She is a recipient of numerous scholarships and awards including the first prize of the NCSA Concerto Competition, the Giannini scholarship, and the Liberace scholarship. She received her BM from North Carolina School of the Arts, and her MM and DMA from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Her principal teachers include Philip Setzer, Pamela Frank, Mitchell Stern, and Kevin Lawrence. As an educator, Naho served as an adjunct professor at the Ross School in East Hampton from 2003-2006 and was an artistic director of the Music Academy at Ross.
Since 2003, Naho spends her summers at the Kinhaven Music School in Vermont and, since 2007, she has been serving as a resident teaching artist at the Bloomingdale School of Music in Manhattan, New York.
Shu Shioda
Violinist Shu Shioda started the violin at the age of four, and began attending the New England Conservatory prep division orchestra until the age of eight. He then moved to New York and attended Laguardia High School for Performing Arts, while studying at the Juilliard School of Music pre-college program where he entered at age of nine. He was a student of Masuko Ushioda at the New England Conservatory and graduated in 2004. He has attended Aspen Music Festival, Orford Arts Centre in Canada and other numerous summer festival.
He has been playing under Seiji Ozawa’s conducting at the Saito Kinen Music Festival, Seiji Ozawa Ongakujyuku Tour and Tokyo no Opera no Mori every year. He worked with Seiji Ozawa, Mstislav Rostropovich, Robert Mann, and performed with soloists Maxim Vengerov, and singer Barbara Bonney.
Emy Todoroki-Schwartz
A Native of Tokyo, Japan, Emy Todoroki-Schwartz began her musical training at the age of three. She attended the Toho Gakuen Music School for Children, and Tokyo College of Music High School, where she was a student of Reiko Yamagishi and Noriko Nanin. In 2001 she came to the United States to continue her piano studies with late Danielle Martin, Jose Ramon Mendez, and the Polish pianist Dariuz Pawlas. She received her Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Texas at Austin as a scholarship student.
Ms. Todoroki-Schwartz has won concerto competitions at both the University of Texas at Austin and New York University. She had the privilege of performing with the University of Texas at Austin Symphony Orchestra in 2004, with the conductor Brett Mitchell. In 2006, she performed with the New York University Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Michael Lankester. In 2008, she won the Special Presentation Award from Artist International Auditions, and will be giving her New York Debut recital at the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in their next concert series.
Ms. Todoroki-Schwartz has appeared in numerous performances as a soloist and as a chamber musician in Japan, Spain, and throughout the United States. In 2007, Ms. Todoroki-Schwartz completed her Master’s degree at New York University, where she was a scholarship student and an adjunct faculty member. Currently she is an active freelancer in New York City, continuing her studies with Miyoko Lotto.
SoJin Kim
As a very active soloist and a chamber musician in New York City, Ms. Kim has performed in New York City’s most prestigious concert halls such as the Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, and Alice Tully Hall, where she made her Lincoln Center Solo Debut with the Juilliard Orchestra in 2006.
Starting the piano at the age of three, and the violin at the age of eight, Ms. Kim won the gold medal at the Korean National Children’s Music Competition at the age of nine. Presenting her first solo recital at the E. Desmond Lee Concert Hall, and having the honor of playing for maestro Hans Vonk and the Whitaker Society at Powell Symphony Hall at the age of twelve, she has won numerous prizes including the prize of Saint Louis Music Educator, first prize at the Moon-Wha-Il-Bo Competition in Korea, the first prize at the Montreal Classical Music Festival Competition, and was a top laureate at the 2007 Stradivarius International Violin Competition.
As a chamber musician, Ms. Kim has especially worked closely with the members the Juilliard String Quartet, and the Emerson String Quartet, as well as collaborations with artists such as Jean-Yves Thibaudet.
Ms. Kim has studied with David Halen, Nam-Yoon Kim, Eleonora Turovsky, David Kim, and Hyo Kang.
Ms. Kim has earned her Bachelor of Music Degree at The Juilliard School, and is currently enrolled in the school’s Master of Music Program with Cho Liang Lin and Naoko Tanaka as a recipient of the Irene Diamond Graduate Fellowship and the Juilliard Alumni Scholarship.
Cicely Parnas
Cellist Cicely Parnas,14, began her musical studies at age four and was setting award records at an early age, including a 1st prize win at age nine earning her a performance with the Walden Chamber Players of Boston. Last year alone, Cicely won three first prizes in competition including the Uel Wade Scholarship Competition, the Schenectady Symphony Stefan Concerto Competition, and the Berkshire Lyric Young Artist Competition, as well as being named a winner of the 2007 National ASTA Solo Competition in the Junior Division. Cicely’s debut as guest soloist with orchestra was also at nine and earned these words from a reviewer, who described her playing as “an astonishing mix of pungency and finesse.â€
Upcoming 2007-2008 solo orchestral performances include the Saint-Saens Concerto No. 1 in A minor, the Kabalevsky Cello Concerto No. 1 in G minor, and two double concerti with sister and violinist Madalyn Parnas. An avid chamber musician, Cicely joins Madalyn in the Parnas Duo performing at the highest caliber and consistently generating enthusiasm in audiences. Cicely was a full scholarship student at the Hotchkiss School Chamber Music Program, has participated in the Boston University Tanglewood Institute Quartet Workshop as the youngest participant, and studies chamber music privately with legendary pianist Peter Serkin. Cicely’s exquisite tone and intuitive musicality fueled by a generosity and fearlessness in performance remind us she is the granddaughter of the great cellist, Leslie Parnas . She is a student of world-renowned cellist Peter Wiley.
| Previous | Top | Next |