Violinist Danbi Um and collaborative pianist Kuang-Hao Huang present a program of Korngold, Block, Saint-Saëns, and Ravel for this Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert broadcast.
Praised by The Strad as an “utterly dazzling” artist, with “a marvelous show of superb technique” and “mesmerizing grace” (New York Classical Review), violinist Danbi Um captivates audiences with her virtuosity, individual sound, and interpretive sensitivity. A Menuhin International Violin Competition Silver Medalist, winner of the prestigious 2018 Salon de Virtuosi Career Grant, and a recent top prizewinner of the Naumburg International Violin Competition, she showcases her artistry in concertos, solo recitals, and in collaboration with distinguished chamber musicians. She is a winner of Astral’s 2015 National Auditions.
Highlights of the 2019-2020 season include solo appearances with the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia and the Brevard Philharmonic, a national tour with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and debut performances at Wolf Trap, Cincinnati’s Linton Chamber Series, and Chicago’s Dame Myra Hess Concerts. Notable recent engagements include performances at Caramoor, Music@Menlo’s celebrated “Carte Blanche” series, the National Museum of Women in the Arts, The Philadelphia Orchestra’s “Morning Musicales,” Parlance Chamber Music Series, and Ms. Um’s New York recital debut at Lincoln Center, presented by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.
After winning the 2014 Music Academy of the West Competition, Ms. Um made her concerto debut in the Walton Violin Concerto with the Festival Orchestra, conducted by Joshua Weilerstein. Past concerto engagements include appearances with the Israel Symphony, Auckland Philharmonic, Vermont Symphony, and the Dartmouth Symphony. She also recently appeared in recital and in chamber music performances in such venues as the Kennedy Center, Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, the Harris Theatre in Chicago, Wigmore Hall in London, and at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art.
An avid chamber musician, Ms. Um is a current artist member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (CMS), and she opens CMS’s 50th anniversary season in the fall of 2019 in Alice Tully Hall, broadcast live on Medici TV. Festival appearances have included Marlboro, Ravinia, Yellow Barn, Moab, Seattle, Caramoor, and North Shore. Ms. Um also recently made her critically acclaimed debut at the Moritzburg Festival in Dresden, Germany, at the invitation of Jan Vogler. Chamber music collaborators have included Anthony Marwood, Vadim Gluzman, Pamela Frank, Cho-Liang Lin, Paul Neubauer, Frans Helmerson, Jan Vogler, David Shifrin, and Gilbert Kalish.
Born in 1990 in Seoul, South Korea, Danbi Um began violin lessons at the age of three. In the year 2000, she moved to the U.S. to study at the Curtis Institute of Music. She also holds an Artist Diploma from Indiana University, and her teachers have included Shmuel Ashkenasi, Joseph Silverstein, Jaime Laredo, and Hagai Shaham.
Ms. Um plays a 1683 “ex-Petschek” Nicolo Amati violin, on loan from a private collection.
Commended for his “perceptive pianism” (Audiophile) and “playing that is sensitive and wonderfully warm” (American Record Guide), Chicagoan Kuang-Hao Huang is a highly sought-after collaborative pianist whose performances have taken him throughout North
America, Europe and Asia. He has performed in New York City’s Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and Merkin Hall; in Washington, D.C.’s Kennedy Center; and at every major venue in the Chicago area, including the Harris Theatre and Symphony Center. He is often heard live on WFMT and has also performed on WQXR and on Medici.tv. Mr. Huang has recorded for Aucourant, Cedille, Innova and Naxos, including a CD of flute fantasies with flutist Mathieu Dufour and a premiere recording of early songs by Alban Berg with mezzo-soprano Julia Bentley. His most recent recordings include Notorious RBG in Song with soprano Patrice Michaels and Songs from Chicago with baritone Thomas Hampson.
A strong advocate of new music, Mr. Huang is a core member of Fulcrum Point New Music Project and Picosa. He has premiered numerous works, including pieces by Mason Bates, Jacob Bancks, Kyong Mee Choi, Stacy Garrop, John Harbison, Daniel Kellogg and Shulamit Ran. Mr. Huang gave the world premiere performances of works by Louis Andriessen and Chen Yi at Weill Hall as part of Carnegie Hall’s Millennium Piano Book Project. He has appeared on the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s MusicNOW series.
A dedicated teacher, Mr. Huang serves on the faculties of the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University and Concordia University-Chicago. He has also taught at the Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University.
Mr. Huang is Associate Artistic Director for the International Music Foundation and is the driving force behind Make Music Chicago (makemusicchicago.org), a citywide celebration of music every June 21st. He also founded IMF’s Pianos in the Parks program, which partners with the Chicago Park District to give all Chicagoans access to outdoor pianos as well as free lessons.
Biography courtesy of IMF Chicago.
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