PROGRAM

JOHANNES BRAHMS:
String Quartet No. 1 in C Minor, Op. 51
Allegro
Romanze. Poco adagio
Allegretto molto moderato e comodo
Allegro

Yu-Ming Ma and Lingyu Dong, violins
Nicolas Perkins, viola
Davis You, cello

ANTONIN DVORAK:
Piano Trio No. 4, Op. 90, “Dumky”
Lento maestoso — Allegro quasi doppio movimento
Poco Adagio — Vivace non troppo 
Andante — Vivace non troppo 
Andante moderato — Allegretto scherzando
Allegro — Meno mosso 
Lento maestoso — Vivace 

Jeein Kim, violin
Jonah Kernis, cello
Charles Berofsky, piano

READ MORE ABOU THE WORKS

Brahms String Quartet No. 1
Wikipedia
LA Philharmonic

Dvorak Piano Trio No. 4
Wikipedia
Hollywood Bowl

PERFORMERS

Taiwanese violinist Yu-Ming (Andrew) Ma began his musical studies at the age of five. Since then, his dream has always been to be a musician. Being a well-rounded violinist, he enjoys performing actively as a soloist, a chamber musician, and an orchestra musician.

As a soloist Yu-Ming has performed concerti with a variety of orchestras. Highlights include Chausson’s Poème with the Cleveland Institute of Music Orchestra, and Dvorak’s Violin Concerto with the SiungSong Orchestra and Maestro Wen-Pin Chien in Taiwan. He has also appeared as a soloist in recital playing Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas, Ysaye’s Sonatas, and Strauss’ Violin Sonata in both Kaohsiung, Taiwan and the United States.

Yu-Ming’s chamber music festivals and competitions include the Encore Chamber Music Festival in Cleveland Ohio and the Kneisel Hall Chamber music festival in Blue Hill Maine. His string quartet, Quartet Avanzare, advanced to the semi-final round in the Fischoff 2019 Chamber Music Competition in South Bend Indiana. In February 2020, Yu-Ming was invited to the Tongyeong International Music Festival in Tongyeong Korea as a guest artist by noted violinist Jinjoo Cho. He performed a concert of string sextets that included works by Mozart, Strauss, and Schoenberg.

As an orchestral musician, Yu-Ming was a contracted member of the Akron Symphony Orchestra and performed with them regularly from 2017 to 2019. Memorable performances with the ensemble include Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4 with guest conductor Benjamin Zander and Bernstein’s West Side Story. His orchestral experiences also include substituting for the Houston Symphony in 2022-2023.

During the course of his musical training, Yu-Ming’s teachers have included Todor Pelev, Ivan Zenaty, Jinjoo Cho, Jan Sloman, and Jaime Laredo. Currently, Andrew holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Cleveland Institute of Music and a Master’s Degree from Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music. He is currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Rice University studying under the tutelage of Paul Kantor.

Lingyu Dong made his solo debut at the age of 7 with the Shandong Symphony Orchestra and won his first major competition at the age of 11 in the Hong Kong International Violin Competition of 2011. Currently he is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Violin Performance at Curtis Institute of Music studying with Midori Goto and Arnold Steinhardt. He came to the United States in 2018 to study at the Colburn School in Los Angeles under the tutelage of Margaret Batjer. He was concertmaster of the Hong Kong Symphony Orchestra in 2017 and of the National Youth Orchestra of China from 2015-2017. He has also performed as soloist with the Austrian Philharmonic Orchestra in 2022, the Los Angeles Symphony Orchestra in 2021, and the Russian National Symphony Orchestra in 2015. Mr. Dong has won many awards including first prize in the East Asia International Violin Competition in Japan in 2015 and has performed on many of the world’s most prestigious stages including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Salzburg Concert Hall and the Russian Kremlin Hall. Mr. Lingyu Dong was born in 2000 in Jinan, China.

Nicolas Perkins, 21, is a Mexican-American violist who is currently studying at the Juilliard School under the guidance of Hsin-Yun Huang. He has had the privilege of studying with esteemed members of the Juilliard, Brentano, and Borromeo string quartets. In addition to his studies, Nicolas has also attended Kneisel Hall and the Gstaad Menuhin String Academy in Switzerland, where he had the opportunity to perform Brahms B-flat Sextet alongside Rainer Schmidt, the violinist of the Hagen Quartet. While at the Aspen Music Festival, he played a concert cycle of the Brandenburg concerti with Jory Vinikour, Chad Hoopes, Paul Huang, Matthew Lipman, Timothy Ridout, Nadine Asin, and Elaine Douvas. He has also participated in masterclasses with renowned violists such as Nobuko Imai, Antoine Tamestit, Ettore Causa, and Carol Rodland. Recently, Nicolas performed as part of Juilliard’s creative residencies at Chelsea Factory and Lincoln Center. He is a Virtu Foundation Scholar, and he was awarded a Joseph Grubaugh & Sigrun Seifert viola, which he plays on generous loan.

Cellist *Davis You* is a senior and presidential scholar at the New England Conservatory in Boston, Massachusetts, where he is pursuing his undergraduate studies under the guidance of Laurence Lesser. Prior to studying with Lesser, studied with Jonathan Koh of the San Francisco Conservatory. Davis has been recognized as a top prizewinner and laureate of competitions including the Hudson Valley Philharmonic String Competition, Klein International String Competition, Stulberg International String Competition, Isang Yun International Cello Competition, Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians, National YoungArts Foundation Competition, Galante Chamber Competition, Borromeo Quartet Guest Artist Award Competition, and NEC Honors Ensemble Competition. 

As a performer, Davis has been invited to appear on notable programs across the nation, including NPR’s From the Top radio show, the San Francisco International Piano Festival, and the Noontime Concerts series. He is also a member of Quartet Luminera, a rising string quartet based at NEC who has had the privilege of performing alongside esteemed artists such as Miriam Fried, Paul Biss, Jonathan Swensen, and the Borromeo String Quartet. 

Davis is also dedicated to using music to positively impact his community. He is an active member of the Back to Bach Project, an organization that connects with local school children through interactive classical music presentations, and maintains a private cello studio. Through his teaching and his involvement in the project, Davis has been able to share his love of music with others and inspire the next generation of musicians. This is Davis’s second year appearing in the Taos Young Artist program.

Known for her genuine musicality, Jeein Kim has appeared in numerous stages worldwide. She has collaborated with orchestras including the Hradec Králové Philharmonic Orchestra, Northwest Sinfonietta, JK chamber orchestra, Prime Philharmonic Orchestra and Yonsei University Orchestra. She also gave recitals in the Kumho Art Hall, Shinhan Art Hall, Yonsei Kumho Art Hall and Elim Art Center. Other performances include appearances at Seattle channel ‘Music Encounter’, Chosunilbo Debut Concert, Young Mozart Concert and Mast Summer Academy Rising Star Concert.

She has won prizes in several competitions including Menuhin International Competition, Seoul International Competition, Northwest Sinfonietta Youth Competition, Shinhan Music Award, Ewha & Kyunghyang competition, Eumak Chunchu Competition, Donga Competition, Busan Competition and Joongang Competition.

She increased her musical boundaries to chamber music in the past several years, engaging in Borromeo Beethoven String Quartet Seminar, Norfolk Chamber Music Festival and Heifetz Summer Institute.

Jeein graduated from the Preparatory School of Korea National University of Arts, Korea National Institute for the Gifted in Arts, Yewon school, Seoul Arts High School, Yonsei University, New England Conservatory and is currently studying with Ani Kavafian at Yale School of Music. Her former teachers on her journey include Soovin Kim, Dong-suk Kang, Sang-soon Lee and Bon-ju Koo.

Jonah Kernis is twenty years old and has been playing the cello from the age of three. Jonah currently studies with Paul Katz at the New England Conservatory. He recently was principal cellist for NEC’s symphony orchestra and was appointed a position in the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra. Prior to enrolling at NEC, Jonah studied with Natasha Brofsky in the Juilliard Pre-College program while enrolled at the Professional Children’s School. 

As a cellist in Face the Music’s “This Side UP” string quartet, he participated in Kronos Quartet master classes and performed with them in Carnegie Hall in 2014. Jonah performed with “This Side UP” from 2013 to 2015 at Lincoln Center, Merkin Hall, the Metropolitan Museum, Queens Museum and many other venues, featuring more than 10 contemporary string quartets each year. In February 2017, Jonah premiered a new composition for solo cello by Mario Davidovsky at Greenwich House Music School. 

As soloist, Jonah won Kaufman Music Center’s Concerto Competition and subsequently performed the Shostakovich Cello Concerto with orchestra in Merkin Hall on February 11, 2018. He also won the Gold Prize at the 2017-18 Vivo International Music Competition. Jonah recently traveled to Shanghai and performed a cello and piano duo with his father, the esteemed composer Aaron Jay Kernis. 

As cellist of the HaWK Piano Trio. Jonah performed at Lincoln Center’s Rose Studio in Merkin Hall as a top prize winner in the League of Performing Arts National Chamber Music Competition. The HaWK Trio was a semi-finalist participant in the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition (May, 2019), as well as finalists in the Coltman Chamber Music Competition (March 2020). 

He has participated in summer music programs including the Aspen Music Festival and School, Kinhaven Summer Music School in Vermont for three summers, and at the Bowdoin Music Festival in 2017. He has also participated at Yellow Barn’s Young Artist Program and Greenwood Music Camp for four years. He is extremely grateful to be spending this summer at the Taos School of Music.

Charles Berofsky grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and began piano lessons when he was six years old. He also developed an interest in composition from a young age and started organ lessons at age 14.Today, Charles is pursuing a Master’s degree in piano performance at the New England Conservatory, studying with HaeSun Paik, after having obtained his Bachelor’s degree from the Eastman School of Music with a double major in composition and piano performance.

Charles was awarded Third Prize at the 10th New York International Piano Competition in 2022, as well as the Melvin Stecher and Norman Horowitz First Prize for the one piano, four-hands ensemble round. Charles was also recently named the winner of the 2022 NEC Chamber Orchestra Concerto Competition. Past awards include First Prize at the 2021 Thousand Islands International Piano Competition (senior division); Second Prize at the 2021 Chautauqua piano competition; and Runner-Up in the 2021 New York MTNA piano competition (Young Artist Division). In 2020 Charles became one of the youngest students to win a concerto competition at the Eastman School of Music, performing Beethoven’s “Emperor” Concerto. For his compositions, he has received a commission from the American Guild of Organists and four prizes from the Eastman composition department. He also won first prize at the 2018 Chicago College of Performing Arts Young Composer Competition, first prizes at the Dearborn and Dexter Youth Artist Concerto Competitions in southeastern Michigan (2018 and 2016 respectively), and first prize in the 2017 Rosalie Edwards Youth Artists Competition in Ann Arbor.

Charles is the pianist of the Newbury Trio, which was selected as one of NEC’s honors ensembles for the 2022-2023 school year. He also enjoys playing with members of his family as the pianist of the Berofsky Piano Quartet.