What Gets In

Cynthia Raim came to international attention when she was unanimously chosen as the First Prize Winner of the 1979 Clara Haskil International Piano Competition in Switzerland, after winning First Prizes in the 1977 Three Rivers National Piano Competition in Pittsburgh and the J. S. Bach International Piano Competition in Washington DC. She has been acclaimed for her concerto, recital, and chamber music performances throughout the United States and abroad, and also won the 1987 Pro Musicis Award, the Festorazzi Award at the Curtis Institute, and the “Distinguished Artist Award” from The Musical Fund Society of Philadelphia. Ms. Raim has appeared with leading orchestras in such major cities as Detroit, Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, New Orleans, Prague, Hamburg, Lausanne, and Vienna, and in such venues as Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, the 92nd St. Y in New York City, and the Master Keyboard Series of the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society. She is a regular artist at such international music festivals as Marlboro, Ravinia, Tanglewood, Meadow Brook, Grand Teton, Bard, Mostly Mozart, Santa Fe, Luzerne, Sunflower Music Festival, Buzzard Bay Musicfest, and Montreux. Cynthia Raim appears frequently in duo recitals with soprano Benita Valente, cellist David Soyer, violinist Arnold Steinhardt, violist Samuel Rhodes, and the Guarneri String Quartet and has recorded for Gall, Pantheon, and Connoisseur Society, including solo albums of Ravel, Schumann, Brahms, and Schubert and two-piano recordings of Rachmaninoff, Brahms, and Dvořák with David Allen Wehr.

A native of Detroit, where she studied with Mischa Kottler, Ms. Raim studied with Rudolf Serkin and Mieczyslaw Horszowski at the Curtis Institute of Music, where she earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees. “Le Monde” in Paris: “a new Clara Haskil”; “La Suisse” (Geneva): “Ms. Raim showed a musical nature that has gone far beyond technical mastery. Without affectation, without useless bravado, Cynthia Raim has imprinted herself on us and cannot escape our admiration.”

Praised for her “heart-stopping and unrivaled beauty” and “supremely musical playing,” violinist Hye-Jin Kim is recognized for her expressive artistry as a soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician. A prizewinner of both the Yehudi Menuhin International Violin Competition and the Concert Artists Guild International Competition, she has appeared as soloist with leading orchestras including the Philadelphia Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony, Seoul Philharmonic, and BBC Concert Orchestra.

An active chamber musician, Kim has performed at renowned festivals such as Marlboro, Ravinia, Music@Menlo, Taos, and Prussia Cove. She is also a dedicated educator, serving as Associate Professor of Violin at East Carolina University and teaching at the Taos School of Music as a member of the Cooperstown Quartet. In addition, she is the founder and artistic director of Lullaby Dreams, a nonprofit organization that brings the healing power of music to infants, families, and healthcare workers in NICUs and children’s hospitals.

Born in Seoul, Korea, Kim studied at the Curtis Institute of Music and the New England Conservatory.

Cellist Peter Stumpf is Professor of Cello at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and former principal cellist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Prior to his appointment in Los Angeles, he served for twelve years as associate principal cellist of the Philadelphia Orchestra. A graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music and the New England Conservatory, Stumpf has enjoyed a distinguished career as a soloist, chamber musician, and educator.

A dedicated chamber musician, Stumpf is a member of the Johannes String Quartet and has performed at leading venues and festivals worldwide, including Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Marlboro, Aspen, Santa Fe, Spoleto, and Bridgehampton. As a soloist, he has appeared with major orchestras including the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, and Los Angeles Philharmonic.

A dedicated teacher, Stumpf has served on the faculties of the University of Southern California, New England Conservatory, and the Hartt School, and has presented masterclasses throughout North America and Asia. His awards include top prizes in the Washington International Competition, the Graham-Stahl Competition, and the Aspen Concerto Competition.

Praised by the Philadelphia Inquirer for her “crystalline sound, perfectly true intonation, glowing warmth, and total presence,” American soprano Sarah Shafer has established herself as a versatile performer on leading operatic, concert, and chamber music stages. She has appeared with major organizations including the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Opera Philadelphia, Cincinnati Opera, San Diego Opera, and Glyndebourne Festival, performing roles such as Poppea, Susanna, Pamina, Adina, and Azema.

An acclaimed concert artist, Shafer has collaborated with orchestras including the Cincinnati Symphony, Milwaukee Symphony, Detroit Symphony, and Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, performing works by Bach, Mozart, Brahms, Mahler, Handel, and Barber. A dedicated chamber musician and recitalist, she has appeared alongside renowned artists such as Richard Goode, Anthony McGill, and Mitsuko Uchida, and was a resident artist at the Marlboro Music Festival for five summers.

A native of State College, Pennsylvania, Shafer is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music and is based near Philadelphia.

Violist Hsin-Yun Huang has forged a career by performing on international concert stages, commissioning and recording new works, and nurturing young musicians. Ms. Huang has appeared as a soloist with leading orchestras in Berlin, London, Tokyo, Beijing, Taipei, and Bogota, amongst others. Inspired by authentic folk elements, recent highlights include “Strings of Soul”, in collaboration with composer Lei-Liang and pipa virtuoso Wu Man. Additional performances this season include chamber and solo recitals in New York City, Philadelphia, and more. Upcoming projects include “Sing for Our Land” — a commission of choreography by John Heginbotham with dancers from the Juilliard School as well as “Sisila ila ila” — a multidisciplinary musical poem in collaboration with theater director Doug Fitch and composer Shih-Hui Chen.

She was the first solo violist to be presented in the National Performance Center of the Arts in Beijing and was featured as a faculty member alongside Yo-Yo Ma in Guangzhou. She has commissioned compositions from Steven Mackey, Shih-Hui Chen, Poul Ruders, Lei Liang and Eric Nathan. Her 2012 recording for Bridge Records, titled Viola Viola, won accolades from Gramophone and BBC Music Magazine. Her recent releases include the album Viva Viola, which features exclusive arrangements for the viola, and another album under Orchid Classics featuring Eric Nathan’s Double Viola Concerto in collaboration with her husband Misha Amory.

Ms. Huang regularly appears at festivals, including Marlboro, Spoleto, Ravinia, Santa Fe, La Jolla and Music@Menlo, among many others. Huang was the gold medalist in the 1988 Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition, the top-prize winner in the ARD International Competition in Munich, and was awarded the highly prestigious Bunkamura Orchard Hall Award. She has served on the panel of the Banff Quartet Competition, the Melbourn Chamber Music Competition, the Hindemith Competition and the International Tokyo Viola Competition. A native of Taiwan, she received degrees from the Yehudi Menuhin School, the Curtis Institute of Music, and The Juilliard School. She now serves on the faculties of Juilliard and Curtis.