Two Is Better Than One: Violin/Cello Duo performance with internationally acclaimed artists, Jasmine Lin (violin) and Deborah Pae (cello)
April 29 @ 7:30 pm
Two Is Better Than One
Violin/Cello Duo performance
with internationally acclaimed artists,
Jasmine Lin (violin) and Deborah Pae (cello)
Saturday, April 29th, 2023 at 7:30 pm
This is a rare opportunity to hear two prize-winning artists in KCH’s salon setting! The New York Times describes violinist Jasmine Lin as an “unusually individualistic player” with “electrifying assertiveness” and “virtuosic abandon.” And cellist Deborah Pae is praised by critics for her “extraordinary musicianship” (San Diego Union Tribune), “superb tone,” and “high level of interpretative intelligence” (Transcentury).
KCH’s Classical Salon presentations are generously supported in part by Genre Underwriters, Maurice & Linda Binkow.
JASMINE LIN began violin studies at age four. Since then she has appeared as soloist with orchestras including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra, Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Symphony Orchestra of Brazil, Symphony Orchestra of Uruguay, Evergreen Symphony of Taiwan, and National Symphony Orchestra of Taiwan, and in recital in Chicago, New York, Nova Scotia, Rio de Janeiro, Montevideo, and Taipei. She was a prizewinner in the International Paganini Competition and took second prize in the International Naumburg Competition. The New York Times describes her as an “unusually individualistic player” with “electrifying assertiveness” and “virtuosic abandon”.
As a chamber musician Ms. Lin has been a participant of the Marlboro Music Festival and the Steans Institute for Young Artists at Ravinia, and has toured extensively in the United States as part of the Chicago String Quartet, in China as part of the Overseas Musicians, and in Taiwan as a member of Taiwan Connection Music Festival. She has been an adjunct faculty member at Northwestern University and DePaul University and was a faculty member of the Taos School of Music in New Mexico.
Ms. Lin is a founding and current member of the Formosa Quartet, which won first prize in the 10th Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition. The Formosa Quartet’s recording of works by Mozart, Debussy, Wolf and Schubert on the EMI Debut Series has won critical acclaim from Gramophone and The Strad magazines, and the quartet performs in major venues around the world including the Chicago Cultural Center, the Library of Congress, Caramoor Festival, Cornell University, Maui Classical Music Festival, Taipei’s Novel Hall, BBC In Tune, and Wigmore Hall.
Ms. Lin is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music. She gave her New York debut in Merkin Hall, where the program included her poetry set to music. Her poem “The night of h’s” received Editor’s Choice Award from the International Poetry Foundation, and her poetry/music presentations have been featured in Chicago, at Cornell University in Ithaca, and on radio in Taipei, and have resulted in collaborations with composers Dana Wilson, David Loeb, and Thomas Oboe Lee.
In the 1999-2000 season Ms. Lin was Second Assistant Concertmaster of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. In addition to her activities with the Formosa Quartet, she is a member of Trio Voce with cellist Marina Hoover and pianist Patricia Tao; the Trio recently released its first CD of works by Shostakovich and Weinberg, Inscapes, on the Con Brio label. Ms. Lin is also a member of the Chicago Chamber Musicians, whose Composer Perspectives series won the ASCAP award for adventuresome programming. She received a Grammy nomination as part of CCM’s Grammy-nominated CD of works for winds and strings by Mozart. She is on the faculty at Roosevelt University and a proud native of Chicago.
Praised by critics for her “extraordinary musicianship” (San Diego Union Tribune) and “magical” playing (Cleveland Classical), Korean-American cellist DEBORAH PAE has received international acclaim for her powerful performances and devotion to the arts.
Ms. Pae emerged onto the international stage in 2003, making her debut at the 45th GRAMMY Awards at Madison Square Garden and the Recording Academy’s Seventh Annual Salute to Classical Music honoring the late Mstislav Rostropovich. Shortly thereafter, in 2005, she gave her European recital debut at the Musée du Louvre in Paris. Over the span of 25 years, Ms. Pae has enjoyed an award-winning career as a soloist and chamber musician whose performances at major festivals and concert series throughout North America, Europe, and Asia have garnered critical acclaim. She has been a featured artist at the Marlboro, Ravinia, and Prussia Cove festivals and performed at venues including Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall in London, the National Concert Hall in Taipei, Palais des Beaux-Art in Brussels, and the Berliner Philharmonie. Her performances have been augmented by numerous radio and television broadcasts and recordings for ECM, New World, TYXarts, Bridge, and Outhere Records.
Deborah Pae is the cellist of two award-winning ensembles: the FORMOSA QUARTET, recipients of the First Prize and Amadeus Prize at the 2006 International London Quartet Competition, and the NAMIROVSKY-LARK-PAE TRIO, winners of the 2020 German Critics’ Prize “Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik” in the category of chamber music, one of Europe’s most prestigious honors, for their debut album Masterpieces Among Peers: Trios by Frank Bridge and Johannes Brahms. Their album, particularly their performance of Brahms’ Trio in B major has been described as “a rendition that can actually stand comparison with some of the legendary recordings of the past, such as those by Heifetz, Feuermann and Rubinstein and Szigeti, Fournier and Schnabel” and was named by the German magazine, Fono Forum, as one of the 5 Best Albums of 2020.
COVID-19 Safety Policy for Indoor Concerts
- Masks are strongly encouraged and available as needed.
- Please do not attend a performance if you are feeling ill or have any symptoms of COVID-19.
