On Saturday’s live broadcast, we feature the Kairos Quartet of the Academy at the Music Institute of Chicago. The quartet is coached by Rodolfo Vieira, and their members include Joshua Brown (violin/viola), Julian Rhee (violin/viola), Thompson Wang (violin), and Lydia Rhea (cello). Joshua, Julian, and Thompson all study violin with Almita and Roland Vamos, while Lydia studies cello with Hans Jensen. All four students are scholarship fellows at the Academy.
As solo and chamber musicians, they have been top prize winners in local, national, and international competitions, and the experience between them includes performances at prestigious venues around the world, as well as appearances on both television and radio. Joshua is a recipient of the Stradivari Society of Chicago, has won top prizes at multiple international competitions, and has performed with dozens of orchestras, including the Cleveland Orchestra and Civic Orchestra of Chicago. Julian is the first prize winner of the 2018 Johansen International Competition, finalist winner of the National YoungArts Foundation, and a U.S. Presidential Scholar candidate. Thompson, a recipient of the ChiMei Culture Foundation, has performed as a soloist with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and the San Fernando Valley Symphony, among others, and has appeared in tours across Europe and North America. Lydia has performed as a soloist with the Indianapolis and Muncie Symphony Orchestras and the Fort Wayne Philharmonic, among others.
The Kairos Quartet brings these young musicians together from across the United States. Joshua is from Illinois, Julian is from Wisconsin, Thompson is from California, and Lydia is from Indiana. The quartet recently won First Prize at the Rembrandt Chamber Players Chamber Music Competition and was named the Rembrandt Young Artists for 2018. Recently, the quartet won first prize in the junior string division at the M-Prize Chamber Arts Competition at the University of Michigan.