June 20, 2023 at 7:30 p.m.
Dallas International Violin Competition Finals
Moody Performance Hall
2520 Flora Street, Dallas, TX 75201
Experience magical performances by Chaewon Kim, Sarah Ying Ma, and Jaewon Wee, the three finalists of the Dallas International Violin Competition 2023 as they vie for the event’s top prize. All will perform a solo concerto with orchestra, and a renowned jury will select a winner. Attendees have their say as well and can cast their vote for the audience favorite!
$29-54, reserved seats
Program
Main event starts at 7:30 p.m.
Jim Stopher conducts
Béla Bartók
Violin Concerto No. 2
Chaewon Kim, violin (Third Prize Winner)
Short Intermission
Sergei Prokofiev
Violin Concerto No. 2 in G Minor
Sarah Ying Ma, violin (Second Prize Winner)
Short Intermission
Jean Sibelius
Violin Concerto in D Minor
Jaewon Wee, violin (First Prize Winner + Audience Choice Award)
Program duration:
130 minutes, including intermissions
$29-54, reserved seats
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Monday – Friday
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About the Artists
Jim Stopher, conductor
Jim Stopher maintains an active career as a conductor, pianist, composer, and educator. Praised for his “brilliant” conducting and “energetic and precise” piano playing, he is based in Marin County, CA, and is a dedicated contributor to its musical culture.
Stopher has served as Music Director of the College of Marin Symphony Orchestra for seven seasons, and previously served in the same role with the Joliet (IL) Symphony Orchestra. As a pianist, he performs regularly as recitalist, chamber musician, and concerto soloist; recent concerto engagements have been with the Mill Valley Philharmonic, the Lucas Valley Chamber Orchestra, and the Marin Symphony Youth Orchestra. His compositions have been performed by the Sebastian Chamber Orchestra, the Navitas String Quartet, and the Golden Gate Brass Band. In 2018, he released an album of original piano music called Tonal Recall.
Stopher studied music theory and composition at Harvard University, orchestral and opera conducting at the University of Arizona, and conducting at the Peabody Conservatory, where he earned his doctorate under Gustav Meier and Markand Thakar. He is chairperson of the music department at the College of Marin, where he teaches courses in theory, repertoire, history, and musicianship.
Chaewon Kim, violin
Violinist Chaewon Kim has completed her Master’s degree at Juilliard School under Ronald Copes. She received her Bachelor’s degree from Seoul National University with honors. Now, she is pursuing Master of Musical Arts degree at Yale University under Professor Tai Murray.
Born in South Korea, she debuted with Gunsan City Symphony Orchestra at age 7. She continued her studies at Yewon School and Seoul Art High School and serve as a concertmaster. As a soloist, she collaborated with Junju City Symphony Orchestra and Sungnam City Symphony Orchestra. Not only does Chaewon perform as a soloist, but she also has lot of interest in ensemble music. She was the founder of Blanc String Quartet which was one of the five semi-finalists of the Prague Spring International Music Competition year of 2021. She was also accepted by Kumho Young Artist Audition and had a String Quartet recital at Kumho Art hall (Seoul) on August 15, 2020. Recently, her quintet at Yale won second prize at 2023 Coltman Chamber Competition.
At Juilliard, she served as a Gluck Fellowship which is community engagement program and presents music to hospitals and nursing homes. Also, she was the fellow of Music Academy of the West in 2022 and Taipei Music Academy & Festival in 2021. She had collaborated with Takács Quartet at the Music Academy of the West performing Mendelssohn String Octet E-flat Major.
Sarah Ying Ma, violin
Sarah Ma is currently pursuing a double-degree at Oberlin College and Conservatory with Sibbi Bernhardsson after transferring from The Juilliard School with Donald Weilerstein and Li Lin, and with Masao Kawasaki in the Pre-College Division. Sarah has performed internationally with Ensemble 212, New York Concerti Sinfonietta, the Accademia D’Archi Arrigoni, and more. She was featured in Show 393 on NPR’s “From the Top” and was a winner of the 2021 National YoungArts Competition. Sarah has attended the Heifetz International Music Institute, Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival, and was the Dorothy Richard Starling fellow at Aspen Music Festival for three summers as a student of Robert Lipsett, Donald Weilerstein, and Paul Kantor. In 2019, she was a laureate of the Cooper International Competition sponsored by Florian Leonhard Fine Violins and the Anthony Quinn Foundation, and performed on an 1828 Vuillaume. She is grateful to have worked with Almita Vamos, Robert Levin, Aaron Rosand, and Sarah Chang, among others. Her chamber group, the Poiesis Quartet, recently completed several artistic residencies abroad while on tour in Uruguay. They recently received the Gold Medal and BIPOC Award at the prestigious 2023 St. Paul String Quartet Competition and Bronze at the Glass City Chamber Music Competition. They are laureates of the 2023 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, where they also won the Lift Every Voice Prize. Sarah is the recipient of the Oberlin Conservatory Dean’s Scholarship & John F. Oberlin Scholarship and is a 2023 Benjamin A. Gilman Scholar of the U.S. Department of State.
Jaewon Wee, violin
Violinist Jaewon Wee recently won the First Prize at the YSAYE 2022 International Violin Competition and the First & the Audience Prizes at the Washington International Competition. She was awarded the Second & the Special iPalpiti Prizes at the George Enescu International Competition 2021, where she performed Brahms’ Violin Concerto at the Romanian Athenaeum. She was the top prizewinner of the Menuhin International Violin Competition, Tchaikovsky International Competition for young musicians, Kloster Schöntal International Competition, and many others.
As a winner of the Juilliard Violin Concerto Competition 2019, she made her New York debut at Lincoln Center, Alice Tully Hall, performing Prokofiev’s second violin concerto. Jaewon has appeared as a soloist with the George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra of the Republic of Bashkortostan, Italy Palermo Festival Symphony Orchestra, KBS (Korean Broadcasting System) Symphony Orchestra, among others.
As an academy soloist at the 2022 Verbier Festival, she played in numerous solo/chamber recitals, public masterclasses, and community performances. Jaewon performed at Verbier Festival’s main halls, such as Eglise de Verbier and Cinéma de Verbier. In 2021, she was invited as a soloist at the Palermo Classica Festival and the iPalpiti International Music Festival and performed concertos with the festival symphony orchestras.
Graduate of the Korea National University of Arts (Bachelor of Music), The Juilliard School (Master of Music), and New England Conservatory (Graduate Diploma) on the Dean’s-full scholarship, studied under Donald Weilerstein, Jaewon will begin studying for the Artist Diploma with Cho-Liang Lin at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music.