Hye-Jin Kim
Violin
Known for her musical sensitivity and deeply engaging performances that transport audiences beyond mere technical virtuosity, violinist Hye-Jin Kim leads a versatile career as soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician since her First Prize win at the Yehudi Menuhin International Violin Competition at the age of nineteen and a subsequent win at the Concert Artists Guild International Competition.
Kim has performed as soloist with major orchestras worldwide including the Philadelphia, New Jersey Symphony, New Haven Symphony, BBC Concert (UK), Seoul Philharmonic (Korea), Pan Asia Symphony (Hong Kong), and Hannover Chamber (Germany) orchestras. She has appeared in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater, Kimmel Center Verizon Hall, the Kravis Center, Salzburg’s Mirabel Schloss, St. John’s Smith Square and Wigmore Hall in London. At the invitation of Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, she performed at the U.N. Headquarters in both Geneva and New York and served as a cultural representative for Korea in Switzerland, Australia, New Zealand, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan through concerts and outreach engagements. A passionate chamber musician, Kim has appeared in notable chamber music festivals including Marlboro, Ravinia, Four Seasons, Music from Angel Fire, Music@Menlo, Taos School of Music, Seoul Spring, Bridgehampton, Music in the Vineyards chamber music festivals and Prussia Cove Open Chamber Music in England. A dedicated teacher for the next generation of musicians, Kim is frequently presented in master classes throughout the US and invited as a jury member in notable international and national competitions.
Born in Seoul, Korea, Hye-Jin Kim entered the Curtis Institute of Music at age 14 and earned her master’s degree at the New England Conservatory. Kim’s debut CD, From the Homeland, featuring works by Debussy, Smetana, Sibelius, and Janacek is available on CAG Records. Kim is Associate Professor of Violin at East Carolina University and a member of the Cooperstown Quartet. Kim is the founder and artistic director of Lullaby Dreams, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that brings beauty and humanity to the hospital experience of babies, families and medical staff in NICUs and children’s hospitals through music.
Ara Gregorian
Viola
Known for his thrilling performances and musical creativity, violinist/violist Ara Gregorian made his New York recital debut in 1996 in Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall and his debut as soloist with the Boston Pops Orchestra in Symphony Hall in 1997. Since that time he has established himself as one of the most sought-after and versatile musicians of his generation with performances in New York’s Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Washington D.C.’s Kennedy Center and in major metropolitan cities throughout the world including Boston, Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit, Houston, Dallas, Atlanta, Cleveland, Vancouver, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, Ulaanbaatar, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Helsinki.
Throughout his career, Gregorian has taken an active role as a performer and presenter of chamber music. He is the founder and artistic director of the Four Seasons Chamber Music Festival in North Carolina, which is celebrating its 20th Anniversary Season, and has appeared at festivals worldwide including the SpringLight (Finland), Storioni (Holland), Summer Solstice (Canada), Casals (Puerto Rico), Intimacy of Creativity (Hong Kong), Voice of Music in the Upper Galilee (Israel), Bard, Bravo! Vail Valley, Taos, Beethoven Institute, Santa Fe, Skaneateles, Music in the Vineyards, Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society, Cactus Pear, Wintergreen, Mt. Desert, Chesapeake, Madeline Island, Kingston, Manchester and Strings in the Mountains festivals. He is a member of the Cooperstown Quartet, has performed extensively as a member of Concertante and the Daedalus Quartet, and has recorded for National Public Radio, New York’s WQXR radio station, and the Bridge and Kleos labels.
An active and committed teacher, Gregorian is the Four Seasons Chamber Music Festival Distinguished Professor in Music at East Carolina University where he has been on the violin/viola faculty since 1998. He has taught at numerous summer festivals and seminars and has taken a leading role in creating performing opportunities that bring together talented students, young professionals and world-renowned musicians through the Four Seasons Chamber Music Festival’s Next Gen on the Road, Summer Chamber Music Institute and Winter Workshop initiatives.
Susannah Stewart
Soprano
Susannah Stewart is a native of Chapel Hill, NC (Go Heels!). She recently graduated from the Eastman School of Music (MM in Vocal Performance) and before that, graduated from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (BM in Vocal Performance and Political Science).
In March of 2020, Susannah performed as the soprano starring in Dr. Marie Rolf's "Debussy Premieres" lecture concert at the J.P. Morgan Library in New York City. This performance included soprano piece "Séguidille," the U.S. premiere of cantata "Hymnis," and the world premiere of cantata "Daniel" by Debussy. Colleagues in this performance were Timothy Long, Anthony Dean Griffey, and Randall Scarlata, and Dr. Marie Rolf.
With Eastman Opera Theatre, Susannah performed the roles of Aveline Mortimer in Kevin Puts' Elizabeth Cree and The Lady with the Cake Box in Dominick Argento's Postcard from Morocco. At UNC-Chapel Hill, she performed the title role of Alcina (Händel) and Dido in Dido and Aeneas (Purcell) with UNC Opera, as well as Zerlina in Don Giovanni (Mozart) in Tuscany, Italy. Ms. Stewart won UNC’s Concerto Competition, performing with Maestro Tonu Kalam and the UNC Symphony Orchestra. Other concert performance has been with the Chamber Orchestra of the Triangle (COT) under the baton of Lorenzo Muti, performing Händel’s Crudel tiranno amor and other arias by Händel, as well as "Romanze" from Schubert’s Rosamunde, and the soprano solos in Grieg’s Peer Gynt Suite (Carolina Theater, Durham, NC).
Her other solo oratorio credits include the soprano solos in Bach’s Magnificat, Händel’s Utrecht Te Deum and Messiah, Haydn’s Theresienmesse, and Barber’s Prayers of Kierkegaard. In 2018, she won first place for Junior/Senior college women at the national NATS (National Association of Teachers of Singing) competition in Las Vegas, NV.
Susannah is also a speaker of French and Italian, and holds a special place in her heart for Italy as she has been lucky enough to travel there every summer since she was five years of age.