FOUR SOLOISTS -
FOUR CONCERTMASTERS
Frank Huang
Frank Huang joined the New York Philharmonic as Concertmaster, The Charles E. Culpeper Chair, in September 2015. The First Prize Winner of the 2003 Walter W. Naumburg Foundation’s Violin Competition and the 2000 Hannover International Violin Competition, he has established a major career as a violin virtuoso. Since performing with the Houston Symphony in a nationally broadcast concert at the age of 11 he has appeared with orchestras throughout the world including The Cleveland Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Indianapolis Symphony, NDR Radio Philharmonic Orchestra of Hannover, Amadeus Chamber Orchestra, and the Genoa Orchestra. He has also performed on NPR’s Performance Today, ABC’s Good Morning America, and CNN’s American Morning with Paula Zahn. He has performed at Wigmore Hall (in London), Salle Cortot (Paris), Kennedy Center (Washington, DC), and Herbst Theatre (San Francisco), as well as a second recital in Alice Tully Hall (New York), which featured the World Premiere of Donald Martino’s Sonata for Solo Violin. Following more than 25 additional solo appearances with the Orchestra, in May 2022 he performed Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 5, Turkish, conducted by Music Director Jaap van Zweden.
Huang has had great success in competitions since the age of 15 and received top prizes in the Premio Paganini International Violin Competition and the Indianapolis International Violin Competition. Other honors include Gold Medal Awards in the Kingsville, Irving M. Klein, and D’Angelo international competitions. His first commercial recording — featuring fantasies by Schubert, Ernst, Schoenberg, and Waxman — was released on Naxos in 2003.
In addition to his solo career, Frank Huang is deeply committed to chamber music. He is a member of the New York Philharmonic String Quartet, established in the 2016–17 season, and has performed at the Marlboro Music Festival, Ravinia’s Steans Institute, Seattle Chamber Music Festival, and Caramoor. He frequently participates in Musicians from Marlboro’s tours, and was selected by The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center to be a member of the prestigious CMS Two program. Before joining the Houston Symphony as concertmaster in 2010, he served as first violinist of the Grammy Award–winning Ying Quartet and was a faculty member at the Eastman School of Music.
Frank Huang was born in Beijing, China. At the age of seven he moved to Houston, Texas, where he began violin lessons with his mother. He commenced study with Fredell Lack at the University of Houston and at 16 he enrolled in the pre-college program at the Cleveland Institute of Music (CIM) where he studied with Donald Weilerstein. He continued studies with Weilerstein in college and earned his bachelor of music degree from CIM in 2002. He subsequently attended The Juilliard School in New York City, studying violin with Robert Mann. He is an alumnus of the Music Academy of the West. He served on the faculties of The Shepherd School of Music at Rice and the University of Houston, and currently serves on the faculty of The Juilliard School.
David Chan
Known as one of the most accomplished violinists of his generation, David Chan is also quickly making a name for himself as an elegant conductor of unusual interpretive depth. Currently in his 24th season as concertmaster of New York’s MET Orchestra, he has also recently served as Music Director of the APEX Ensemble, with which he earned high praise for innovative and adventurous programming, and as Music Director of Camerata Notturna, one of New York City’s foremost chamber orchestras. As a soloist, he has appeared under the baton of such conductors as James Levine and Fabio Luisi, with orchestras including the MET Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Diego Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, National Symphony Orchestra of Taiwan, and Moscow State Symphony. He is also a dedicated chamber musician who performs regularly in the New York area and at all the leading summer festivals.
A native of San Diego, Chan began his musical education at the age of four. After winning prizes at the Tchaikovsky and Indianapolis international violin competitions, he made his New York debut in 1995 at Avery Fisher Hall, and his Carnegie Hall debut in 2003, performing the Brahms Double Concerto with the MET Orchestra. A student of Dorothy DeLay, Hyo Kang, and Michael Tseitlin, he received his bachelor’s degree from Harvard University and his master’s from the Juilliard School. In addition to being on the Juilliard faculty, he also serves as Head of the prestigious Orchestral Performance Program at the Manhattan School of Music; and lives in the New York City area with his wife, violinist Catherine Ro, and their children Annalise, Micah, and Arianna.
Andrew Wan
Andrew Wan was named concertmaster of the Orchester Symphonique de Montréal (OSM) in 2008. As soloist, he has performed under conductors such as Payare, Nagano, Vengerov, Petrenko, Labadie, Rizzi, Oundjian, Zhang, Stern and DePreist. Wan has also appeared as guest concertmaster for the Pittsburgh, Houston, Indianapolis, National Arts Centre, Toronto and Vancouver Symphony orchestras.
Wan's discography includes Grammy-nominated and Juno, Felix and Opus award-winning releases on the Analekta, Onyx, Bridge, and Naxos labels with the Seattle Chamber Music Society, New York's Metropolis Ensemble, Charles Richard-Hamelin and the New Orford String Quartet. In the fall of 2015, he released a live recording of all three Saint-Saëns violin concerti with the OSM and Kent Nagano under the Analekta label to wide critical acclaim. His recent live album of works for violin and orchestra by Bernstein, Moussa and Ginastera with Nagano and the OSM won the 2021 Juno award for Best Classical Recording for Large Ensemble. His album of Beethoven's 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 5th Sonatas with pianist Charles Richard-Hamelin garnered the 2022 Juno award for Best Classical Recording for Small Ensemble.
Wan graduated from The Juilliard School with Bachelor of Music, Master of Music and Artist Diploma degrees and is currently a member of the New Orford String Quartet and Associate Professor of Violin at the Schulich School of Music at McGill University.
Andrew Wan performs on a 1744 Michel'Angelo Bergonzi violin, and gratefully acknowledges its loan from the David Sela Collection. He also enjoys the use of an 1860 Dominique Peccatte bow from Canimex.
Daniel Cho
Appointed in 2021 as the 1st concertmaster of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra, Korean-American violinist DANIEL CHO has been acclaimed as “a violinist with musicality and lyricism of the Judeo-Russian school". He won numerous international competitions, notably claiming the top prize at the Max Rostal Competition in 2019. As a soloist, he has performed with orchestras such as the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra, Hamburger Camerata, Sejong Soloists, and the Bucheon Philharmonic. In 2010, he had his debut recital at Weill Hall in Carnegie Hall, followed by his European debut in 2013 at the Musée du Louvre in Paris.
A passionate chamber musician, Daniel Cho toured South America with the Sejong Chamber Players, and as a founding member of the Bordone String Quartet, he performed at Alice Tully Hall in Lincoln Center and Greene Space in New York City. He can be heard regularly playing chamber music in the Elbphilharmonie with members of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra. Globally sought-after as a guest concertmaster, he has shared the stage with conductors such as Sir Antonio Pappano, Ivan Fischer, Christoph Eschenbach, Kent Nagano, Michael Tilson Thomas, and Alan Gilbert. His engagements span various orchestras, including the Bavarian State Orchestra, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, NDR Radiophilharmonie, Orchestra of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Verbier Festival Orchestra, and the Budapest Festival Orchestra.
A student of Hyo Kang, Kolja Blacher, David Chan, and Yu Jeong Lee, Daniel Cho received his bachelor’s degree from The Juilliard School and his master’s degree from Hochschule für Musik “Hanns Eisler” Berlin. He performs on the "Salomon" Antonio Stradivari violin (1695), generously loaned from a private sponsor.
Stephen Kim
Winning top prizes at the 2019 Queen Elisabeth (3rd Prize), 2018 Premio Paganini (3rd Prize), and 2016 Sendai (2nd Prize) international violin competitions, Stephen Kim has further established international recognition, performing concertos and chamber music throughout Europe, the United States, and Asia.
A passionate chamber musician, Stephen has performed together with Isabelle Faust, Christian Tetzlaff, Tabea Zimmermann, Antoine Tamestit, Gary Hoffmann, Jörg Widmann, and musicians from the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, as well as musicians from the Philadelphia Orchestra, among others.
Having recently performed recitals and chamber music at Wigmore Hall, Konzerthaus Berlin, and Seoul Arts Center, Stephen has also performed at the Marlboro, Kronberg, Kingston, and Verbier festivals. During the upcoming season, he will perform at the Ravinia, Krzyżowa, Seoul, and Caramoor festivals, as well as the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society.
Also an avid performer of contemporary music, Stephen has given premieres of new works by living composers. He stunned the Belgian audience and listeners worldwide at the Queen Elisabeth Competition, with his performance by heart of the final round commissioned work, Kimmo Hakola’s “Fidl”, a twenty-minute concerto given seven days before the performance. Stephen also performed Steven Mackey’s “Beautiful Passing” concerto by heart in its New York premiere at Carnegie Hall. He recorded an album, “Till Dawn”, released by Sony Classical in 2021, featuring various works by Korean composer Shinuh Lee and including two new pieces, the second violin sonata and first caprice for solo violin, both dedicated to Stephen.
Stephen studied at the Curtis Institute of Music with Shmuel Ashkenasi, Joseph Silverstein, and Aaron Rosand, and at the Juilliard School with Hyo Kang. Stephen is currently in Juilliard’s Artist Diploma program and also studying at the Kronberg Academy with Antje Weithaas in Germany.