Musician Biographies

Disclaimer: The following biographies were accurate when Mozart’s Music of Friends was published in 2016. The artists mentioned on this page may have more updated information on their personal websites.

Siwoo Kim

Siwoo Kim is an “incisive” and “compelling” (The New York Times) violinist who performs as soloist and chamber musician. Siwoo made his New York concerto debut at Carnegie Hall – Stern Auditorium with James DePreist and the Juilliard Orchestra. Additional performance highlights include the world premiere of Samuel Adler’s first violin concerto and a Walt Disney Concert Hall concerto debut. An enthusiastic collaborator, Mr. Kim founded Quartet Senza Misura. Praised for their “whip-smart performances” (Alex Ross, The New Yorker), the string quartet has performed at an array of venues such as Alice Tully Hall of Lincoln Center, Terrace Theater of The Kennedy Center, Seoul Arts Center, and Le Poisson Rouge. Additionally, Siwoo performs as the violinist of Carnegie Hall’s Ensemble ACJW, Ensemble DITTO, and Marlboro Music Festival. Siwoo received both his undergraduate and graduate degrees from The Juilliard School. As the recipient of the Elsie and Walter W. Naumburg Scholarship, he led the Juilliard Orchestra as concertmaster and studied with Robert Mann, Donald Weilerstein, and Ronald Copes. Previously, Siwoo studied with Roland and Almita Vamos at The Music Institute of Chicago. Mr. Kim is the founding artistic director of VIVO Music Festival. siwookim.com

Edward Klorman

Violist Edward Klorman is a multi-faceted musical artist and scholar. He made his solo debut performing Mozart’s Sinfonia concertante with Stefan Jackiw and the Camerata Notturna. An avid chamber musician, he has appeared as guest artist with the Borromeo, Corigliano, Orion, and Ying Quartets and with the Lysander Trio. As violist of the Tessera Quartet, he recorded the world-premiere album of recently rediscovered chamber music by the American composer Harold Brown for Albany Records. He was a founder of the Canandaigua Lake Music Festival in upstate New York, where he served as co-artistic director for nearly a decade. Mr. Klorman is Assistant Professor of Music Theory and Viola at Queens College and the Graduate Center, CUNY. He also teaches chamber music and music analysis at The Juilliard School, where he was founding chair of Music Theory & Analysis. He has presented illuminating lectures and masterclasses at scholarly venues and music schools throughout the United States and Europe. Describing a recent presentation, The Strad wrote “Edward Klorman gave a thoroughly researched and imaginatively illustrated lecture, turning a subject which is often dry and theoretical into a practical and fascinating one.” Mr. Klorman graduated with distinction from The Juilliard School. and earned his doctorate at the CUNY Graduate Center. His major viola teachers include Heidi Castleman, Hsin-Yun Huang, Daniel Phillips, Thomas Riebl, and Steven Tenenbom. www.edwardklorman.com

Matthew Patrick Morris

Baltimore native Matthew Patrick Morris, hailed by Le Monde for his “warm baritone voice, immense humanity, and the gift of an actor,” starred as Papageno in Peter Brook’s adaptation of The Magic Flute, Une flûte enchantée, at the Bouffes du Nord Theatre in Paris, the Piccolo Teatro in Milan, and on the subsequent international tour. Highlights of his career include the world premiere of Crossing by Matt Aucoin, directed by Tony-award winner Diane Paulus at the American Repertory Theater, and debuts with New York City Opera in Offenbach’s La périchole, the Aldeburgh Music Festival in Poulenc’s Mamelles de Tirésias, as well as with the London, Boston, Memphis, MDR, and American Symphony Orchestras. He has participated at young artist programs at Santa Fe Opera and Tanglewood. Outside the classical world, he has appeared on Law & Order and danced as a featured ensemble member in the major motion picture The Producers.In 2013 he was a Mid-Atlantic Region Finalist for the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, and as the winner of the 2013 Vocal Arts DC Competition, he made his Kennedy Center debut as a solo recitalist in 2014. He earned his B.M. in voice at The Juilliard School and M.M. in vocal arts Bard College Conservatory under the direction of Dawn Upshaw. www.matthewpatrickmorris.com

Charles Neidich

Charles Neidich, hailed by the New Yorker as “a master of his instrument and beyond,” and called a legend in his time, performs extensively throughout the US, Europe, and Asia, as soloist with orchestra, in collaboration with major chamber music ensembles, and as a conductor of symphonic and chamber orchestras. An ardent exponent of new music and a composer himself, he has expanded the technical and expressive possibilities of the clarinet and has championed the works of many of the world’s most important composers. He is a leading performer on period instruments and he has restored and reconstructed original versions of works of composers from Mozart to Copland. Charles Neidich has made award-winning recordings for leading record labels. He is publishing editions of major clarinet and wind chamber music for Lauren Keiser Music and Southern Music, has made instructional videos for “Play with a Pro,” and publishes a monthly column in the Japanese magazine Pipers. He is a long time participant in major summer music festivals in the US, Europe, and Asia and is on the faculty of the Aaron Copland School, the Mannes College, The Juilliard School and the Manhattan School of Music in New York. He is a member of the New York Woodwind Quintet and a member emeritus of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. In 2004, he was awarded the William Schuman Award for performance and scholarship at the Juilliard School. www.charlesneidich.net

Emily Daggett Smith

Violinist Emily Daggett Smith has been praised as having “a very beautiful tone” (thegatheringnote.com) and giving performances with “poised elegance” (seenandheard-international.com) and “irrepressible élan” (The Seattle Times). Ms. Smith won first place in the Juilliard concerto competition and at 21 years old made her New York concerto debut in Alice Tully Hall, playing the Beethoven Violin Concerto with the Juilliard Orchestra and conductor Emmanuel Villaume. Ms. Smith has appeared at various festivals including the Seattle Chamber Music Society, Ravinia’s Steans Institute, and the Festival Mozaic, and has performed in venues around the world including Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, the Shanghai Grand Theatre and the Vienna Konzerthaus. Her performances have been featured on PBS’s national broadcast Live from Lincoln Center, NPR’s From the Top, and Classical King FM in Seattle. Ms. Smith holds Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from The Juilliard School. She performed as concertmaster of the Juilliard Orchestra under many renowned conductors including Michael Tilson-Thomas, Leonard Slatkin and Nicholas McGegan. Her teachers have included Soovin Kim, Joel Smirnoff, Laurie Smukler, Masuko Ushioda, and Donald Weilerstein. Ms. Smith plays on a Johannes Cuypers violin and a Vuillaume bow, both generously donated by Dr. Marylou Witz. www.emilydaggettsmith.com

Liza Stepanova

Praised by The New York Times for her “thoughtful musicality” and “fleet-fingered panache,” Liza Stepanova has performed as a soloist with the Juilliard Orchestra and Southwest German Philharmonic with conductors James DePreist and Nicholas McGegan; in venues including the Berlin Philharmonie, Weill and Zankel Recital Halls at Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Kennedy Center, Krannert and Mondavi Performing Arts Centers; and live on WQXR New York, WFMT Chicago, and WETA Washington. As a member of the Lysander Piano Trio, winner of the 2012 Concert Artists Guild Competition, she tours nationwide and has released a debut CD. Deeply invested in the art song repertoire, Stepanova serves as Associate Artistic Director at SongFest at The Colburn School in Los Angeles. She studied at the “Hanns Eisler” Hochschule in Berlin and earned a DMA from The Juilliard School, where she subsequently taught for four years. Previously an Iva Dee Hiatt Visiting Artist at Smith College, she is currently an Assistant Professor of Piano at the University of Georgia Hugh Hodgson School of Music. www.liza-stepanova.com

Laura Strickling

Soprano Laura Strickling has performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, Wigmore Hall, Ravinia Music Festival, Tanglewood Music Festival, Songfest, Trinity Church on Wall Street, the Berkshire Choral Festival, Opera America Center, Liederfest in Suzhou, China, the Afghanistan National Institute of Music, and the Galapagos Art Space, where she was praised by The New York Times for her, “flexible voice, crystalline diction, and warm presence.” Her operatic roles include Countess Almaviva (Le nozze di Figaro), Mimi (La bohème), Gretel (Hansel und Gretel), Micaëla (Carmen), and Pamina (Die Zauberflöte). Her performance of Mozart’s Exsultate jubilate and Mass in C minor with the Cathedral Choral Society at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC was broadcast by classical radio station WETA, and her recital at the Chicago Schubertiade was broadcast by WFMT. A devoted recitalist, she is on the artist roster of the Brooklyn Art Song Society and Vox 3 Collective, and has appeared with Joy in Singing, the Half Moon Music Festival, and SongFusion. New Voices, her best-selling recording with the Brooklyn Art Song Society, is available through Naxos Records. A Chicago native, Ms. Strickling resides in New York City and St. Thomas, U. S. Virgin Islands. www.laurastrickling.com

Alice YOO

Cellist Alice Yoo has warmly been hailed for her sensitive musicianship, expressive nuance, and passionate commitment to chamber music and teaching. Alice has collaborated with artists such as Itzhak Perlman, Mitsuko Uchida, Pamela Frank, Kim Kashkashian, Midori Goto, Miriam Fried, and Jonathan Biss. She has been invited to festivals such as the Marlboro Music Festival, Caramoor’s Evnin Rising Stars, the Ravinia Festival’s Steans Institute, and Music@Menlo. She frequently performs with The Knights, Metropolis Ensemble, and A Far Cry. As winner of the USC 2009 String Concerto Competition, she performed Samuel Barber’s Cello Concerto with the USC Chamber Orchestra under the baton of Jorge Mester. She has won top prizes in the Holland-America Music Society Competition, Schadt International String Competition, and Klein International String Competition. Solo appearences include the Cleveland Philharmonic, Billings Symphony, and the Bozeman Symphony. Alice was cello faculty at Bard Conservatory’s Preparatory Division from 2012-2015. From 2012-2014, she was a member of Carnegie Hall’s prestigious Ensemble ACJW, a program of Carnegie Hall, the Juilliard School of Music, and the Weill Music Institute. A native of Bozeman, Montana, Alice received degrees from New England Conservatory, the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, England and the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music. Her major teachers include Ralph Kirshbaum, Paul Katz, Richard Aaron, and Dr. Ilse-Mari Lee. aliceyoocello.com