Soyulla Ensemble 

At the core of the Soyulla Ensemble, a chamber music group with a unique and dynamic approach to the performance of ensemble repertoire, are three distinctively diverse and versatile musicians: a musical couple, Kyu-Young Kim (former Associate Concertmaster of Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, current first violin of Daedalus Quartet) and Pitnarry Shin (former cellist with the Minnesota Orchestra, current cellist with New York Philharmonic), and Wei-Yi Yang (Associate Professor of Piano, Yale University).  Founded in 2001, the Soyulla Ensemble's singular approach to programming is what makes this chamber music ensemble distinct.  In addition to studying and performing the traditional chamber music repertory, from duo and trio materials to quartet and sextet repertoire, the Ensemble focuses on exploring contemporary and lesser known chamber music.  Collaborating with some of today's finest musicians ranging from key performers of major orchestras in the United States to renowned solo artists, the Soyulla Ensemble has gained recognition and support from audiences across the States.  The musicians of Soyulla have been awarded the prestigious McKnight Fellowship (2002) in Minnesota, and perform regularly on chamber music series in the Twin Cities, as well as the “Music in the Vineyards” Festival in Napa Valley, California.  The Soyulla Ensemble's dedication and intensity have prompted the support of Minnesota Public Radio (MPR), which has regularly recorded and broadcasted the Ensemble's performances.  Soyulla Ensemble's recent projects include the commissioning and premiering of a new work by Jonathan Cole, one of England's most acclaimed young composers, and performances during the opening week celebration at the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra Center in September 2004.  The Soyulla Ensemble recently made its New York debut at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall, in addition to making its debut tour of South Korea.

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Kyu-Young Kim, violin 

Kyu-Young Kim is one of the most versatile and accomplished violinists of his generation.  Hailed by John von Rhein of the Chicago Tribune for his “flawless musical and technical command”, Kim is an active soloist and chamber musician.  Most recently he performed in Carnegie Hall and in the major halls of Europe, including the Musikverein (Vienna), the Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), the Philharmonie (Cologne, the Cité de la Musique (Paris), the Mozarteum (Salzburg), the Palais des Beaux Arts (Brussels), the Festpielhaus (Baden-Baden), and the Megaron (Athens).  As a founding member of the Daedalus Quartet, winners of the Grand Prize at the 2001 Banff International String Quartet Competition, he has toured throughout the U.S., Europe, Canada, Japan and Panama, and is now a member of Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s Chamber Music Two Program. He has appeared as soloist with the Korea Broadcasting System (KBS) Symphony Orchestra, the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, of which he served as Associate Concertmaster for five years, the Amadeus Chamber Orchestra of Poland, and the Bloomington Symphony Orchestra. As a recitalist, he has performed throughout the U.S. and in Korea, Japan, Germany, and New Zealand.

Mr. Kim is a recipient of the 2007 Martin E. Segal Award from Lincoln Center in recognition of outstanding young artists from the Lincoln Center community.  As a former member of the Pacifica String Quartet, Mr. Kim won the prestigious Naumburg Chamber Music Award in 1998 and served as an artist-in-residence for National Public Radio’s “Performance Today.”  Mr. Kim’s other chamber music activities have included collaborations with pianist Gary Graffman and the Juilliard String Quartet, and performances with the Chicago Contemporary Players, the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble, the DaCapo Chamber Players, and the New Juilliard Ensemble. He has toured on four continents with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and has performed with the Sejong Soloists.  Widely recognized for his teaching and musical outreach activities, Kim has served on the faculties of Columbia University, the University of Chicago, the Music Institute of Chicago, and the Interlochen Summer Festival, among others, and has given outreach concerts to young audiences throughout the United States.  Mr. Kim has received degrees from the Curtis Institute, the Juilliard School, and the Cleveland Institute of Music, and has studied with Donald Weilerstein, Robert Mann, Jaime Laredo, Yumi Scott and Shirley Givens.

Pitnarry Shin, cello

Cellist Pitnarry Shin is a dynamic soloist and chamber musician and has been praised in Strad magazine for her beautiful tone and passionate interpretations in her New York debut recital at Weill Hall, Carnegie Hall.  She has toured throughout the United States, Europe, and her native Korea.  Ms. Shin has performed as soloist with the Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) Symphony Orchestra, the Yale Symphony Orchestra, the Springfield Symphony Orchestra, the Queens Symphony Orchestra, and the Bloomington Symphony Orchestra.  She has also appeared at many of the leading international festivals including the Ravinia Festival, the Edinburgh and Dartington Festivals (England), Colmar and Evian Festivals (France), Banff Festival (Canada), and the Piatigorsky Seminar. Ms. Shin was the recipient of a Fulbright Grant to Germany, which allowed her to participate and perform in several European festivals such as the Manchester Festival, the Kronberg Festival, and the Ensemble InterContemporain Summer Festival, where she played solo cello under Pierre Boulez.  As a chamber musician, Ms. Shin has toured throughout South Korea with the Chung Trio.  She is a recipient of the Lincoln Center Chamber Music Prize and is a founding member of the Soyulla Duo, along with her husband, violinist Kyu-Young Kim. The Soyulla Duo won the prestigious McKnight Fellowship in 2002 and has toured throughout the United States and Korea. 

Ms. Shin can be heard on the Grammy nominated recording of Dominick Argento’s music on the Gothic label. Ms. Shin’s other projects have included collaborations with Yo Yo Ma at the Tanglewood Festival on the Silk Road Project, the American premiere of Paul McCartney’s production of  “A Garland For Linda” to help raise money for cancer research, and touring with the Mark Morris Dance Company as solo cellist.  Ms. Shin has served as co-principal cellist with the London Symphony Orchestra and as acting principal of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra.  She has also played with the New York Philharmonic and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra.  She is currently a member of the Minnesota Orchestra. She received her musical education at the Curtis Institute of Music, Yale University Music School, where she received the Aldo Parisot-Yo Yo Ma Prize upon graduation, and the Juilliard School of Music.  Her teachers include Myung Wha Chung, David Soyer, Aldo Parisot, Jerome Carrington, Maria Kliegel, and Karine Georgian.

Wei-Yi Yang, piano

Critically acclaimed pianist Wei-Yi Yang enjoys a flourishing concert career, performing in solo recitals, appearances with orchestras, and chamber music concerts in Europe, North America, Asia and Australia.  Winner of the Gold medal and Grand Prize in the Fifth San Antonio International Piano Competition, Mr. Yang’s performances have been featured on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) in Sydney, National Public Radio (NPR), WCNY-New York, Minnesota Public Radio, WFMT-Illinois as part of the “Live From Studio One” concert series, and KLRN public television in Texas.  In addition to receiving numerous scholarships and fellowships, Mr Yang has also garnered top prizes and awards in the Manhattan Concerto Competition, New York’s FiveTown Arts Foundation Competition, the San Jose International Piano Competition, and the Long Island Young Artist Competition.  Born in Taiwan of Chinese and Japanese heritage, Mr. Yang was first educated in the United Kingdom, before arriving at New York City’s Manhattan School of Music, where he studied with Russian pianist Arkady Aronov.  Additionally, Mr. Yang has worked with artists such as Murray Perahia, Vera Gornostaeva, Jerome Lowenthal, Byron Janis, and the late Hans Graf.  Under the guidance of Boris Berman, as well as tutelage from Claude Frank and Peter Frankl, Mr. Yang was awarded a doctorate in musical arts by Yale University in 2004. 

An active recitalist and avid chamber musician, Mr. Yang has performed in such prestigious venues as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Steinway Hall, Merkin Hall in New York, the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., Powell Symphony Hall in St. Louis, Missouri, the Kumho Art Hall in Seoul, Korea, the Royal Scottish Academy of Music in Glasgow, Scotland, the Great Hall in Leeds, England, and the Royal Dublin Society in Dublin, Ireland, among many other major concert stages around the world.  Mr. Yang has performed at international festivals in Novi Sad (Serbia), Monterrey (Mexico), Kotor (Montenegro), Napa Valley and La Jolla (California), and has collaborated with members of some of the world's finest ensembles, including the London Symphony, the New York Philharmonic, the Cleveland Orchestra,  Singapore Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, the Minnesota Orchestra, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Orquestra do Estado de Sao Paulo, and Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society II.  Recent festival performances have also brought Mr. Yang to collaborate with such internationally renowned artists as the legendary Mezzo-Soprano Frederica von Stade, and the Naumburg-winning Pacifica String Quartet, just to name a few.  Mr. Yang joined the faculty at Yale University in Fall of 2005. 

Please click to visit Wei-Yi Yang's webpage for more of his fine recordings.

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