02/27/2021

Love Stories

Johannes Brahms: String Quartet No.3 in Bb Major
III. Agitato (Allegretto non troppo) — Trio — Coda

Robert Schumann: String Quartet No.1
I. Andante espressivo- Allegro
II. Scherzo-Presto
III. Adagio
IV. Presto

About the Program

Robert Schumann started composing his first string quartet in June of 1842. It was the first of three quartets composed during a short period of less than two months. Once completed, they were performed on September 13th as a musical gift for his wife Clara’s 23rd birthday.

Just a few years before Borodin’s second quartet, Johannes Brahms was writing his third quartet in the summer of 1875. He worked on the composition while living in a district of Heidelberg, the same city in which Borodin met his wife. Quoting Dennis Bade, who wrote the program notes on the third movement of Brahms’ third quartet for the Los Angeles Philharmonic, “Brahms creates an unusual texture by muting the two violins and the cello. The unmuted viola leads the way, producing a haunting and rather disturbing ensemble sonority that provoked a delighted response from an admiring Clara Schumann. Brahms himself described the movement as ‘the tenderest and most impassioned I have ever written.’” To continue reading the full article by Dennis Bade see the following link: https://www.laphil.com/musicdb/pieces/3717/string-quartet-no-3-in-b-flat-op-67

-Ann Fink

Concert Artists

Hannah Ji/Violin
Violinist Hannah Ji joined the first violin section of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra in 2020 after spending two seasons as a one-year replacement member. Ms. Ji’s playing has been hailed by critics as "engaging, mature, well thought-out, and honed down to the finest details" (głos na Wieniawskiego,Polish Radio Journal). Ms. Ji holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Curtis Institute of Music, studying with the late Aaron Rosand, a Master of Music degree from The Juilliard School, studying with Ida Kavafian, and an Artist Diploma degree from The Colburn School, studying with Robert Lipsett. Ms. Ji began her musical studies at the age of seven in South Korea and previously attended Manhattan School of Music's Precollege Division, studying with Grigory Kalinovsky.

Additionally, Ms. Ji has held Artist Faculty positions at The Danbury Music Centre's Chamber Music Intensive, The Bronx Conservatory of Music, Manhattan in the Mountains, and The Curtis Institute's SummerFest Young Artists Program & Adult Chamber Music Program. She was a substitute faculty member at The Manhattan School of Music Precollege Division, and had a large studio in New York City, the students of which have been accepted to conservatories and summer festivals across the country. She currently enjoys working as a mentor through SLSO’s Mentoring the Music: Peer to Peer program.

Ann Fink/Violin
Ann Fink most recently performed as a violin fellow with New World Symphony in Miami Beach. She holds bachelors and master’s degrees in music from the Juilliard School and also studied at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University. Fink is a past winner of the Kate Neal Kinley Memorial Fellowship from the University of Illinois. She has performed with the Opera in the Ozarks, the National Repertory Orchestra, the Spoleto Orchestra, and the Schleswig Holstein Festival Orchestra and has studied with Alexander Kerr, Elmar Oliveira, Carol Cole, Hyo Kang, and Sergiu Schwartz. Fink recently performed Wieniawski’s Concerto No. 2 with the New World Symphony under the baton of Tito Munoz, after she was selected as one of the 2012-13 New World Symphony concerto competition winners. A certified Suzuki Violin teacher, Ann Fink has worked as violin faculty at the Preparatory Center at Brooklyn College, Lucy Moses School, and the Music Institute of Long Island. Ann currently plays with St Louis Symphony in the 1st violin section.

Andrew Francois/viola
Born and raised in Kankakee, Illinois, violist Andrew Francois began his musical studies at the age of 10 on violin in his school's string program. He joined the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra viola section in September 2019. As a chamber musician and soloist, Francois has given recitals throughout the United States and Europe. He also served as artist faculty with the Anchorage Chamber Music Festival. As an avid orchestral player, Francois has played and served as principal with the Verbier Festival Orchestra, the Spoleto Festival Orchestra, New World Symphony Orchestra, and was in the inaugural class of fellows with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Resident Fellows program.

Francois has received Artistic Excellence Fellowships from the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University as well as Illinois State University. He enjoys teaching and community outreach, and has traveled to Medellin, Colombia, to teach master classes and lessons at Eafit Universidad. While an undergraduate student, he was a Teaching Assistant and private instructor at Illinois State University in its String Project program. As a graduate of the Jacobs School of music, studying under string department chair Stephen Wyrczynski, Francois held the title of Graduate Assistant for the string department, as well as at on the Jacobs School of Music Council as a Graduate representative.

Grace Eunhey Park/Cello
Grace Eunhey Park, began playing cello at 10 years old. She is a cellist with a passion for ensemble performance. She is a member of Ensemble Secreta, and was a member of Key Trio in Indiana. She is associate principle cellist of the Muncie Symphony Orchestra, and plays regularly with the Marion Philharmonic Orchestra, Anderson Symphony Orchestra, and Peoria Symphony Orchestra. She was an associate member of the Chicago Civic Orchestra and holds substitute positions with in the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and Huntington (WV) Symphony Orchestra and St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. In 2012 Grace won first prize of Indianapolis Matinee Musical Competition, graduate string/woodwind level and she received honorable mention in the Graduate Concerto Competition at Ball State University in 2011. She is a native of the Republic of Korea where she won the Catholic University of Daegu Competition in 2003, and her ensemble was awarded first prize in the Fringe Festival of the Tongyeong International Music Festival(TIMF) in 2006. Grace took second prize in the string division of Daesin University in 2013 in Korea. She was previously a member of the Daegu Opera Festival Orchestra in Korea. Grace was a cellist in the Orchestre de la Francophonie in Montreal, Canada, in 2013 and in 2008 attended the Festival Ensemble of the TIMF Academy in Korea on a full scholarship.

She earned an Artist Diploma from Ball State University, where she studied with Peter Opie with a full assistantship. Prior to entering Ball State, she completed Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from Yeung-nam University in Korea, where she studied with Seungzhin Lee.