Cal Music Prep

Congratulations to our chamber music students Jenny Jiang, Sarah Jiang, Brendan Koh, and Noah Vin for being selected to perform with the 2023 California All-State Orchestra for Junior High & High School students in Fresno!

www.calmusicprep.org/enroll

Bravo to everyone that performed this Sunday! Thank you to our phenomenal coaches and supportive families. We are blessed to have such a wonderful community. Have a great summer and see you in the fall!

Free next Saturday? Tune in to watch superstar violinist Stella Chen give a masterclass to our talented students!

The class will start promptly at 7pm pst and it will be open to the public. Zoom link will be provided on our page 30 minutes before the class. FREE admission. For questions, please contact Jonathan Koh.

Come work with the best chamber music coaches and guest artists!

Past guest artists include Stella Chen, Zlatomir Fung, Gloria Chien, Brannon Cho, Dmitri Atapine, Hyeyeon Park and more.

Past opportunities include ‘From the Top’ live auditions, various outreach performances, competitions, college counseling, and leadership roles.

Application deadline: March 15
Audition dates: March 27 & April 3 (in person or Zoom)
Strings and Piano: Ages 10-18

Faculty — Cal Music Prep 2022 Jonathan Koh Cellist Jonathan Koh has established himself as one of the most exciting musical entrepreneurs and teachers of this generation. An active soloist, ensemble musician, clinician, and administrator, Jonathan has already laid claim to several ground breaking musical endeavors. A passionate....

We are excited to announce that violinist Pasha Sabouri will be joining our faculty!

One of the most sought after and respected American violin pedagogues of the new generation, Dr. Pasha Sabouri has performed in recitals and concerts in Holland, Sweden, Austria, Germany, UK, throughout the United States, and Canada.

A passionate educator and a published author whose acclaimed book "Upbeat" guides middle and high school students and their families on the road to professional musical education and career. His students are competing and featured in such competitions and media outlets as Menuhin Competition, Sphinx Competition, Dallas Symphony’s Lynn Harrell Competition, NPR's From TheTop, winning the coveted "Jack Kent Cooke" Award, and are accepted in top conservatories – Juilliard, Colburn, New England Conservatory, Oberlin, Cleveland Institute of Music, Cincinnati Conservatory of Music and many others.

Dr. Sabouri is the founder and Artistic Director of the Texas Strings Festival, and it’s affiliate Master Series - a year-round educational initiative that provides the students with extraordinary opportunities to be guided and inspired by leading musicians of the day. Throughout the years the students of TSF have had the privilege to work with such luminaries as Miriam Fried, Vadim Gluzman, Paul Kantor, Ida Kavafian, Jan Mark Sloman, Jinjoo Cho, Nadja Salerno Sonnenberg, Robin Wilson, GrigoryKalinovsky and William Hagen. He is also the founder and leader of Teachers’ Lounge – an online teachers collective designed to support and empower his colleagues with innovative ways of teaching and studio development.

In addition to his highly successful private studio in Austin, TX, Pasha Sabouri has served as Adjunct Professor at Concordia College as well as Artistic Director at the Concordia College Music Academy in Austin, Texas. Prior to this position, he was appointed Lecturer Violin Professor at Centenary College in Shreveport, Louisiana and has also been faculty at Encore Chamber Music Institute, Omaha Conservatory of Music Institute, the Brian Lewis Young Artist Program, and has adjudicated at Carnegie Hall NYO/2 program, Jack McGehee and UT Concerto Competitions.

Dr. Sabouri has appeared as a soloist at the opening of the Edinburgh Festival, performed with the Texas Chamber Orchestra, Las Vegas Philharmonic, Henderson Symphony, and the Ottawa Sinfonette. He was awarded the first prize at the National Federation of Music Clubs Young Artist Competition, was named National Finalist for Music Teachers National Association, The Texas Young Artist and the Coeur D’Alene Competitions.

A member of the extraordinary River Oaks Chamber Orchestra in Houston, Sabouri has also performed in such orchestras as the Minnesota Orchestra, Pittsburgh Opera Orchestra, Austin Symphony, Las Vegas Philharmonic, and Aspen Chamber Symphony.

Dr. Sabouri is a graduate of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and the University of Texas Butler School of Music, studying with Won-Bin Yim, Naoko Tanaka, and Brian Lewis. He has attended such festivals as IMS Prussia Cove, International Holland Music Sessions, International Sommer Akademie in Semmering, Austria, Aspen Music Festival, and London Master Classes.

His concert instrument is Johannes Cuypers made in 1793

We had our last coaching of the year and we are so proud of our students for getting through this pandemic! We look forward to seeing old and new faces in the fall! Have a great summer!

We are excited to have the International Tchaikovsky Competition winner Zlatomir Fung at our Sunday Conversations with Jonathan Koh on Sunday, February 7th! Students and parents, please check your email for more information.

About Zlatomir -

The first American in four decades and youngest musician ever to win First Prize at the International Tchaikovsky Competition Cello Division, Zlatomir Fung is poised to become one of the preeminent cellists of our time. Astounding audiences with his boundless virtuosity and exquisite sensitivity, the 21-year-old has already proven himself to be a star among the next generation of world-class musicians. Fung’s impeccable technique demonstrates a mastery of the canon and exceptional insight into the depths of contemporary repertoire.

In the 2019-2020 season, Fung performs with orchestra and in recital in all corners of North America. He returns to the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra, and debuts with Asheville and Aiken Symphony Orchestras, Plymouth Philharmonic, and Symphony Pro Musica in Hudson, Massachusetts. He performs at Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall in a joint recital with fellow Tchaikovsky Competition winners in October, following a recital at Friends of Music in Sleepy Hollow, NY. Other recitals include Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York, Wengler Center for the Arts at Pepperdine University in Malibu, Syrinx Concerts in Toronto, The Embassy Series in Washington DC, Salon de Virtuosi and Bulgarian Concert Evenings in New York City, Chamber on the Mountain in Ojai, Evergreen Museum & Library in Baltimore, and Mainly Mozart in Coral Gables. At the Artist Series of Sarasota, Fung will perform the complete works for cello and piano by Beethoven.

As a chamber musician, Fung performs around the world, opening the season with IMS Prussia Cove on Tour to London’s Wigmore Hall, Cornwall, Cambridge, West Sussex, and Somerset. He closes the season at Dresdner Musikfestspiele. New York City chamber music engagements include the Aspect Foundation and Jupiter Chamber Players. During the summer of 2019, Fung performs at Musique de Chambre à Giverny, a chamber music festival in northern France.

Zlatomir Fung started his career with Young Concert Artists. A winner of the 2017 Young Concert Artists International Auditions and the 2017 Astral National Auditions, Fung has taken the top prizes at the 2018 Alice and Eleonore Schoenfeld International String Competition, 2016 George Enescu International Cello Competition, 2015 Johansen International Competition for Young String Players, 2014 Stulberg International String Competition, and 2014 Irving Klein International Competition. He was awarded the 2016 Landgrave von Hesse Prize at the Kronberg Academy Cello Masterclasses and a 2020 Avery Fisher Career Grant.

Of Bulgarian-Chinese heritage, Zlatomir Fung began playing cello at age three and earned fellowships at Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute, Heifetz International Music Institute, MusicAlp, and the Aspen Music Festival and School. A proud recipient of the Kovner Fellowship, Fung currently studies at The Juilliard School under the tutelage of Richard Aaron and Timothy Eddy. Fung has been featured on NPR’s Performance Today and has appeared on From the Top six times. Fung plays a W. E. Hill and Sons cello from 1905. In addition to music, he enjoys cinema, reading, and blitz chess.

Updated May 2020

www.zlatomirfung.com

Photo credit: I-Jung Huang

We are looking forward to having world-class violinist Stella Chen at our Sunday Conversations with Jonathan Koh on Sunday, January 10th. Students and parents, please check your email for more information!

The recipient of a 2020 Avery Fisher Career Grant and 2020 Lincoln Center Emerging Artist Award, American violinist is the winner of the International Queen Elisabeth Grand Prize - Queen Mathilde Prize in the 2019 Queen Elisabeth International Violin Competition. Stella has been lauded for her “phenomenal maturity” and “fresh and spontaneous, yet emotionally profound and intellectually well-structured performance” (The Jerusalem Post).

In the upcoming season, Stella will make her debut with the Chicago Symphony and her New York City concerto debut in the U.S. premiere of Jorg Widmann’s Concerto No. 2, conducted by the composer. Last season, she appeared with numerous orchestras including the Belgian National Orchestra, Brussels Philharmonic, Luxembourg Philharmonia, and Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra. She also gave debut performances at the Ravinia and Kronberg Academy Festivals as well as at the Salzburg Mozarteum. In past seasons, Stella appeared with orchestras including the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra, Orchestre Royal de Chambre de Wallonie, Orquestra Filarmónica de Medellín, London Chamber Orchestra, and Welsh National Symphony Orchestra, among others.

Stella is also the first recipient of the Robert Levin Award from Harvard University, the top prize winner of the Tibor Varga International Violin Competition and youngest ever prize winner of the Menuhin Competition. She has given solo performances at venues such as the Kennedy Center, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and on the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series in Chicago. Other noteworthy ventures include performances in Bhutan, Jordan, Israel, Cuba, and Colombia. She has appeared at chamber music festivals including the Perlman Music Program, Music@Menlo, the Sarasota Music Festival, and YellowBarn. Stella has collaborated with such notable artists as Itzhak Perlman, Robert Levin, Gábor Takács-Nagy, Matthew Lipman, and the Silk Road Ensemble.

A graduate of the Harvard/New England Conservatory Dual Degree Program, Stella received a Bachelor of Arts in psychology with honors from Harvard University and an MM from NEC. Currently, Stella is a C.V. Starr doctoral candidate at the Juilliard School and a professional studies candidate at Kronberg Academy. Teachers and mentors include Li Lin, Mihaela Martin, Donald Weilerstein, Itzhak Perlman, and Miriam Fried. Stella is a member of the Bowers Program (formerly CMS Two) at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center She plays the ‘Huggins’ 1708 Stradivarius violin, generously on loan from the Nippon Music Foundation.

So proud of our students for performing beautifully at the concert last night! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 Looking forward to seeing everyone in the new year! 🎉🎉🎉

Darnton & Hersh Fine Violins will be coming on Sept. 15 to help our students with minor repairs and sound adjustments! Julian Hersh and Michael Darnton will also have some fine Italian and French instruments for our students to try. By appointment only.

Below is an article written by Julian Hersh for the upcoming issue of The Strad magazine.

Two is better than one! We are pleased to have another distinguished pianist and educator, Michael Smith, join our faculty!

Pianist Dr. Michael James Smith, a native of Davis, CA, enjoys performing as a soloist as well as collaborating with a wide range of artists within many different musical communities. He is a former fellow at Ensemble Connect, a program of Carnegie Hall and Juilliard which brings together many facets that Michael is passionate about: performing, teaching, outreach, and developing unique roles as a creator and presenter. Michael has worked with the Bridge Arts Ensemble, the Weill Music Institute, and Stony Brook University to produce concerts, lectures, and workshops that focus on initiating discussion and discovering new musical pathways with audience and performers alike.

Deeply committed to the art of chamber music, Michael has performed throughout New York, the United States, and Europe in a variety of venues, including Carnegie’s Weill Hall, Steinway Hall, Bernard Haitink Hall, Subculture, Merkin Hall, Seiji Ozawa Hall, National Sawdust, and the Mondavi Center. He has appeared at festivals including Music@Menlo, Tanglewood, and Norfolk. His performances have also been featured on WQXR and Wisconsin Public Radio.

An advocate of the music of today, Michael has premiered works by major American composers such as Meredith Monk and Stacy Garrup, and worked with other major composers like Kaija Saariaho, Marc Neikurg, Steven Mackey, and Martin Bresnick. His most recent partnerships include collaborating with composers Gitz Razaz, Timo Andres, Jeremy Flowers, and the Mark Morris Dance Group. Michael works on the Faculty of the Crowden Music School and at San Francisco State University.

We are thrilled to have concert pianist and educator, Elizabeth Dorman, join our exceptional faculty!

Praised by Joshua Kosman of the San Francisco Chronicle for her “crisp, brightly finished” playing and her “elegance and verve,” pianist Elizabeth Dorman received the 2017 Father Merlet Award from Pro Musicis and was a finalist in the 2018 Leipzig International Bach Competition. Appearances in the 2018-2019 season include performances with the Leipzig Chamber Orchestra, Louisville Orchestra and the Folsom Lake Symphony, solo recitals in Washington, California, and New York, chamber music performances with principal players from the Los Angeles and New York Philharmonics as well as members of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Upcoming recording projects include an album of Scarlatti sonatas, anticipated for release in Spring 2020.

Currently based in Berkeley, CA, Dr. Dorman teaches piano and musicianship at the Crowden Music Center and freelances in the Bay Area. She studied with Gilbert Kalish at Stony Brook University where she also served as Adjunct Lecturer of Piano Pedagogy. A native of San Francisco, CA, Elizabeth began her training with Paul Hersh at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.