Methow Valley Chamber Music Festival

2008 Musicians

This is the Finisterra Trio’s sixth year performing at The Methow Valley Music Festival. Individually, the three come from an impressive musical background bringing a rich variety of musical experiences to their work as a trio. Members of the trio have garnered recognition as performers and have been heard in such prestigious halls such as New York’s Lincoln Center, Chicago’s Orchestra Hall, Seattle's Benaroya Hall and have been winners in competitions both nationally and internationally. Finisterra won the Silver Medal at the Zinetti International Chamber Music Competition in Italy out of groups from 20 different countries. Since then, the trio won the Greenlake National Chamber Music Competition where they also won the Audience Prize. They have been invited to perform in Europe and the Americas, including an invitation from the famed Florestan Trio, who recently brought Finisterra for performances and dialogue in London, England. Most recently, the Finisterra trio has been invited as Artists-in-Residence at a beautiful new concert hall called The Seasons in Yakima, Washington. Currently, Finisterra is recording the three piano trios of contemporary American composer Daron Aric Hagen. Ned Rorem, famed American composer, called Finisterra's first recording, of Hagen's third trio, The Wayfaring Stranger, "exquisite." Visit their website at www.finisterra.org for more information.

Kevin Krentz, cello, is a native of Atlanta, Georgia. Although he began his musical life as a cellist at 12, he soon dropped the cello to sing for the rest of his youth. Starting at age 20, he made quick progress. In 2000 Kevin was a winner at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, with his clarinet, piano, and cello trio, In Flight 3. In addition to his chamber music credits with Finisterra, Kevin has also won several concerto competitions and the Ladies Musical Club of Seattle Award/Tour Competition. He has been featured on NPR as well as KING FM's Live! By George program and has performed throughout the U.S. to critical acclaim. Kevin is a dedicated and well-known teacher in Seattle and has presented at the American String Teachers Association National Convention.

Kwan Bin Park, violin, was born in South Korea and by age eleven attended the Juilliard pre-college program. Since then, his teachers have included Gabriel Banat, Denes Zsigmondy, Joseph Fuchs, Stephen Clapp, Ron Patterson and Ruggiero Ricci. He received a Bachelor and Master of Music Degrees from the Juilliard School. He has performed as soloist with the Princeton Youth Orchestra and the Philadelphia College Symphony. A recipient of the William Randolph Hearst Award and the Dorothy Delay Violin Awards he has attended the Meadowmount Institute, the Kneisal Hall Chamber Music School, and has performed in the Torre Mountgri Chamber Music Festival, the Mostly Nordic Chamber Music Series and the Seattle Chamber Music Festival. He was a founding member of the Corelliard Chamber Orchestra and has performed as soloist and chamber musician throughout Spain, Germany, Canada, South Korea and the United States.

On the occasion of her debut at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall, Tanya Stambuk, pianist, was hailed as "a player with a powerful technique, ideas of her own, and considerable promise" by the New York Times. Since then, her concert career has taken her across the United States and throughout Western and Eastern Europe. She has performed with the Orchestre de Toulouse in France, the Virginia Symphony, Chicago Civic Orchestra in Orchestra Hall, the Bergen Philharmonic, the Lake Charles Symphony and Rapides Symphony Orchestra in Louisiana, Oregon's Rogue Valley Symphony, Washington’s Olympia Symphony, and the Seattle Symphony. Tanya Stambuk has performed at the 92nd Street Y and Merkin Hall in New York City, the Music Academy in Philadelphia, the Phillips Collection in Washington D.C., the Dame Myra Hess Series in Chicago, the Piano Series at the San Diego Art Museum, and at Brigham Young University, Texas A&M University, and the University of Hawaii. She has recorded the piano works of Norman Dello Joio on the Centaur label. She is currently on the piano faculty at the University of Puget Sound.

The Biava Quartet is recognized as one of today's most exciting young American quartets. Winner of the Naumburg Chamber Biava Quartet Music Award and top prizes at the Premio Borciani and London International Competitions, the Quartet has established an enthusiastic following in the United States and abroad, impressing audiences with its sensitive artistry and communicative power. The Quartet takes its name from Maestro Luis Biava, who has been a mentor and inspiration to the Quartet since its inception.

The Biava Quartet has performed to acclaim in major concert halls throughout North America, Europe and Asia, including Alice Tully Hall, Carnegie Hall, the Library of Congress, London's Wigmore Hall and the Baroque Art Hall in Seoul. Other highlights from recent seasons include appearances at the Mostly Mozart and Aspen Music Festivals, Chautauqua Institution, and Pacific Music Festival in Japan. Visit their website at www.biavaquartet.com for more information.

Having an enthusiasm for teaching and performance, violinist Austin Hartman of Columbia, Pennsylvania, enjoys an active career that has featured him in concerts and masterclasses around the world. As a founding member of the Biava Quartet, Mr. Hartman has most recently been awarded an Artist Diploma from Yale University School of Music where he served as a teaching assistant for the Tokyo Quartet. Hartman has also earned recognition as a solo violinist and recitalist. In 1999, Mr. Hartman was awarded first place, the Gold Medal Prize at the Julius and Esther Stulberg International String Competition in Michigan. As the winner of the Albert Greenfield and the Mann Music Center Concerto Competitions, Austin Hartman was featured as soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra performing under the baton of Maestro Luis Biava (for whom the quartet is named). Mr. Hartman has also made solo appearances with the Kennett Symphony, the Landsdowne Symphony, the Temple University Orchestra, as well as the Lancaster Symphony and The Cleveland Institute of Music Orchestra as winner of the annual concerto competition.

Mary Persin, founding member and violist of the Biava Quartet, has distinguished herself with performances throughout the United States and abroad. A native of Greensburg, Pennsylvania, Ms. Persin is a recent Artist Diploma recipient and graduate of Yale University where she also served as a teaching assistant to the Tokyo Quartet. Ms. Persin has received numerous awards and was featured in a live radio broadcast on the Performance Pittsburgh Series as winner of the Pittsburgh Concert Society Major Auditions. She was the winner of the Duquesne University, Westmoreland Symphony and Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Concerto Competitions, as well as the PADESTA Solo Competition and Duquesne Young Artist Competition. Ms. Persin made her solo debut with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in Heinz Hall in 1997. In addition, she has also made solo appearances with the Pittsburgh and Westmoreland Youth Symphonies and was most recently invited to solo with the Westmoreland Symphony Orchestra, performing the Mozart "Sinfonia Concertante" in collaboration with Austin Hartman.

Violinist Hyunsu Ko began her violin studies at the age of four in South Korea, her native country. Before transferring to the Cleveland Institute of Music to study with Donald Weilerstein in 1999, Ms. Ko studied at the Seoul National University where she was a student of Min Kim, Dean of the College of Music and Director of the Korea Chamber Ensemble. While residing in Korea, Ms. Ko won numerous musical awards including: the grand prize at the Jeju-Korea Broadcasting System Music Competition, first prize at the Chosun Newspaper Music Competition, second prize at the Ewha Kyounghyang Music Competition, and the gold medal prize at the Hankook Newspaper Music Competition. She also won the grand prize at the Ahn Ik-Tae Music Competition (named in honor of the composer of the Korean National Anthem), resulting in her debut performance with the Seoul City Philharmonic Orchestra at the Sejong Music Hall. In January 2006, Ms. Ko performed at the Seoul Arts Center as a soloist with the Korean Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Ko participated in the Bartok Symphonic Series and performed the Bartok Violin Concerto No. 2.

Cellist Jason Calloway has performed to acclaim throughout North America, the Caribbean, Europe, and the Middle East as soloist and chamber musician. He has appeared at festivals including Lucerne, Spoleto USA, Darmstadt, Klangspuren (Austria), Acanthes (France), Perpignan, Valencia, Citta’ della Pieve (Italy), Jerash (Jordan), Casals (Puerto Rico), Sarasota, Blossom, Music Academy of the West, the New York String Seminar, and Encore. Mr. Calloway has collaborated in chamber music with members of the Curtis, Juilliard, Miami, and Amernet String Quartets and appears across the U.S. as a member of ‘In Freundschaft,' a duo with trombonist, Steve Parker, and with Animato!, a duo with pianist Christopher Weldon. He gave his Carnegie Hall recital debut under the auspices of Artists International and has also been heard in New York at Alice Tully Hall, Steinway Hall, the Museum of Modern Art, the Kosciuszko Foundation, the 92nd Street Y, and the Polish Consulate; in Los Angeles at Disney Hall, the Bing Theatre, the Skirball Center and Pepperdine University; in San Francisco at Hoover Auditorium; in Philadelphia at the Academy of Music and the Ethical Society; and live on WQXR (NYC), KMZT (Los Angeles), WFLN (Philadelphia), and on RAI television (Italy).