Kevin Kwan Loucks is a
Korean–American classical pianist, arts entrepreneur, and nonprofit executive. In September 2021, he was appointed
Chief Executive Officer
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
of
Chamber Music America Chamber Music America (CMA) is an American non-profit organization that provides small ensemble professionals with access to a variety of professional development, networking, and funding resources. CMA's regular initiatives include grants, awards, ...
in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. He previously served as Director of Business Development and Strategic Partnerships at the Philharmonic Society of Orange County, a presenting organization in residence at the
Segerstrom Center for the Arts Segerstrom may refer to
*Segerström (surname)
*C.J. Segerstrom & Sons, a real estate company in Orange County, California, U.S.
*Segerstrom Center for the Arts, a performing arts complex in Costa Mesa, California, U.S.
*Segerstrom High School in S ...
in
Costa Mesa, CA, and also served as Director of Innovation and Program Development at
Music Academy of the West
The Music Academy is a classical music training program in Montecito in Santa Barbara County, California.
Overview
The academy hosts an annual eight-week summer music festival, highlighted by concerts and workshops directed by famous composer ...
in
Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara ( es, Santa Bárbara, meaning "Saint Barbara") is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coas ...
. He co-founded Chamber Music , OC, an arts organization headquartered in
Lake Forest, California
Lake Forest is a city in Orange County, California. The population was 85,858 at the 2020 census.
Lake Forest incorporated as a city on December 20, 1991. Prior to incorporation, the community had been known as El Toro. Following a vote in 20 ...
, and is a founding member and current pianist of the award-winning
piano trio
A piano trio is a group of piano and two other instruments, usually a violin and a cello, or a piece of music written for such a group. It is one of the most common forms found in classical chamber music. The term can also refer to a group of musi ...
, Trio Céleste.
Early life and formal education
Loucks, a
Korean adoptee
The international adoption of South Korean children was at first started as a result of a large number of orphaned mixed children from the Korean War after 1953, but later included orphaned Korean children. Religious organizations in the United S ...
, grew up in
Santa Rosa, California
Santa Rosa (Spanish language, Spanish for "Rose of Lima, Saint Rose") is a city and the county seat of Sonoma County, California, Sonoma County, in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, Bay Area ...
, where he was active in the instrumental music program as an honors student at
Santa Rosa High School. He attended the
University of California, Irvine
The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a public land-grant research university in Irvine, California. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, UCI offers 87 undergraduate degrees and 129 graduate and pr ...
, where he received the Dean's Award for Excellence upon graduating with a bachelor of music degree in 2004. While a student at UC Irvine, Loucks attended the
Aspen Music Festival and
Music@Menlo
Music@Menlo is an annual summer chamber music festival and institute in Atherton, California. The festival was founded in 2003 by cellist David Finckel and pianist Wu Han. American Public Media
American Public Media (APM) is an American comp ...
where he worked closely with cellist
David Finckel
David Finckel (born December 6, 1951) is an American cellist and influential figure in the classical music world. The cellist for the Emerson String Quartet from 1979 to 2013, Finckel is currently the co-artistic director of the Chamber Music S ...
and pianist
Wu Han. Loucks moved to New York City to continue his piano studies with Julian Martin at
The Juilliard School
The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most elit ...
where he studied chamber music with pianists
Yoheved Kaplinsky,
Seymour Lipkin
Seymour Lipkin ( May 14, 1927 – November 16, 2015) was an American concert pianist, conductor, and educator.
Early life and piano career
Lipkin was born in Detroit. At age 11, he entered the Curtis Institute of Music where he studied with Dav ...
, and cellist
Fred Sherry
Fred Sherry (born 1948) is an American cellist who is particularly admired for his work as a chamber musician and concert soloist. He studied with Leonard Rose at the Juilliard School before winning the Young Concert Artists International Auditions ...
. At Juilliard, he received the Luba and George Goldberg Prize and the Susan Rose Fellowship before graduating with a master of music degree in 2006.
He took a year off to concertize before enrolling in the doctoral program at
Stony Brook University
Stony Brook University (SBU), officially the State University of New York at Stony Brook, is a public research university in Stony Brook, New York. Along with the University at Buffalo, it is one of the State University of New York system's ...
in New York where he served as head of piano for the Pre-College Division and was teaching assistant for the
Emerson String Quartet
The Emerson String Quartet, also known as the Emerson Quartet, is an American string quartet that was initially formed as a student group at the Juilliard School in 1976. It was named for American poet and philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson and beg ...
and the university's graduate chamber music department. He worked with pianist Christina Dahl, violinists
Pamela Frank
Pamela Frank (born June 20, 1967) is an American violinist, with an active international career across a varied range of performing activity. Her musicianship was recognized in 1999 with the Avery Fisher Prize, one of the highest honors given t ...
and
Philippe Graffin, cellist
Colin Carr
Colin Carr (born 25 October 1957) is a British cello soloist, chamber musician, recording artist and teacher.
Biography
Born in Liverpool, Carr is professor of cello at the Royal Academy of Music. He taught at the New England Conservatory in Bo ...
, and the
Emerson String Quartet
The Emerson String Quartet, also known as the Emerson Quartet, is an American string quartet that was initially formed as a student group at the Juilliard School in 1976. It was named for American poet and philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson and beg ...
, and was awarded a doctor of musical arts degree from the university in 2014. He was the recipient of the Dean's Fellowship for Professional Activities, the Ackerman Memorial Award for Service in Chamber Music, and the Distinguished Travel Award from Stony Brook's Graduate Student Organization. During his studies at Stony Brook, Loucks also attended programs at
The Banff Centre
Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, formerly known as The Banff Centre (and previously The Banff Centre for Continuing Education), located in Banff, Alberta, was established in 1933 as the Banff School of Drama. It was granted full autonomy as ...
in Canada where he worked with pianists Marc Durand and Robert McDonald.
In 2017, Loucks graduated with an Executive
Master of Business Administration
A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...
degree from the Argyros School of Business and Economics at
Chapman University
Chapman University is a private research university in Orange, California. It encompasses ten schools and colleges, including Fowler School of Engineering, Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, Fowler School of Law, and Schmid College of Scie ...
in
Orange, California
Orange is a city located in North Orange County, California. It is approximately north of the county seat, Santa Ana, California, Santa Ana. Orange is unusual in this region because many of the homes in its Old Town District were built before ...
where he studied entrepreneurship, finance, management, and strategy. He completed his executive education at
Stanford Graduate School of Business where he studied marketing and innovation, brand management, and digital marketing strategy.
Performance career
Loucks has concertized as both
soloist and
chamber musician
Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music ...
throughout Austria, Canada, the Czech Republic, France, Italy, South Korea, Spain, Thailand, and the United States. He performed as soloist with the Bratislava Chamber Orchestra, the Seoul National University Virtuosi, and the California Chamber Orchestra, and has been featured in prominent international concert venues including
Weill Recital Hall
Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th and 57th Streets. Designed by architect William Burnet Tuthill and built by ...
and
Zankel Hall at
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...
,
Chicago Cultural Center
The Chicago Cultural Center, opened in 1897, is a Chicago Landmark building operated by Chicago's Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events that houses the city's official reception venue where the Mayor of Chicago has welcomed presid ...
, the Daejeon Cultural and Arts Center, the
Kennedy Center
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (formally known as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, and commonly referred to as the Kennedy Center) is the United States National Cultural Center, located on the Potom ...
,
Kumho Art Hall, the
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is an art museum located on Wilshire Boulevard in the Miracle Mile, Los Angeles, California, Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles. LACMA is on Museum Row, adjacent to the La Brea Tar Pits (George C. Pa ...
,
Lincoln Center
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 millio ...
's
Alice Tully Hall
Alice Tully Hall is a concert hall at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in the Upper West Side neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. The hall is named for Alice Tully, a New York performer and philanthropist whose donations assist ...
, Martinu Hall in
Liechtenstein Palace,
Merkin Concert Hall
Merkin Hall is a 449-seat concert hall in Manhattan, New York City. The hall, named in honor of Hermann and Ursula Merkin, is part of the Kaufman Music Center, a complex that includes the Lucy Moses School, a community arts school, and the Spec ...
, the Moulin d'Andé,
Prösels Castle
Prösels Castle (German: ''Schloss Prösels''; Italian: ''Castello di Presule'') is a castle in the Gothic style which stands on the high plain below the Schlern mountain, in South Tyrol. Prösels is a location within the municipal boundaries of ...
, IBK Chamber Hall and the Recital Hall at
Seoul Arts Center
The Seoul Arts Center, also referred to as SAC, is an arts complex in the Seocho-gu district of Seoul, in South Korea. It consists of five main buildings: the Opera House, with three auditoriums; the Music Hall, with two concert halls; the Han ...
, Soka Performing Arts Center, and BP Hall at
Walt Disney Concert Hall
The Walt Disney Concert Hall at 111 South Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles, California, is the fourth hall of the Los Angeles Music Center and was designed by Frank Gehry. It was opened on October 24, 2003. Bounded by Hope Street, Grand Ave ...
.
![Drucker and Loucks in Recital](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9d/Drucker_and_Loucks_in_Recital.JPG)
As a collaborative artist, Loucks has been featured in recital performances with
Rachel Barton Pine
Rachel Barton Pine (born Rachel Elizabeth Barton, October 11, 1974) is an American violinist. She debuted with the Chicago Symphony at age 10, and was the first American and youngest ever gold medal winner of the International Johann Sebastian Ba ...
,
Denis Brott Denis Brott , SMOM (born December 9, 1950) is a Canadian cellist, music teacher, conductor and founder and artistic director of thMontreal Chamber Music Festival ,
James Campbell James Campbell may refer to:
Academics
* James Archibald Campbell (1862–1934), founder of Campbell University in North Carolina
* James Marshall Campbell (1895–1977), dean of the college of arts and sciences at the Catholic University of Americ ...
,
Colin Carr
Colin Carr (born 25 October 1957) is a British cello soloist, chamber musician, recording artist and teacher.
Biography
Born in Liverpool, Carr is professor of cello at the Royal Academy of Music. He taught at the New England Conservatory in Bo ...
,
Paul Coletti,
Robert deMaine
Robert DeMaine (born December 6, 1969 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) is an American virtuoso cellist, best known as Principal Cello of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Early life
From a musical family, Robert DeMaine began learning music at age 4 fr ...
,
Glenn Dicterow
Glenn Dicterow (born December 23, 1948), is an American violinist and former concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. He is on the faculty of the University of Southern California's Thornton School of Music where he holds the Jascha ...
,
Karen Dreyfus
Karen Dreyfus is a violist who currently teaches at the USC Thornton School of Music. Ms. Dreyfus has distinguished herself as a recipient of many prizes, including the Walter W. Naumburg Foundation, Naumburg Viola Competition (1982), the Lionel T ...
,
Eugene Drucker,
Philippe Graffin, Alan Kay,
Edgar Meyer
Edgar Meyer (born November 24, 1960) is an American bassist and composer. His styles include classical, bluegrass, newgrass, and jazz. He has won five Grammy Awards and been nominated seven times.
Meyer is a member of the Telluride Bluegrass ...
, Frank Morelli,
Johannes Moser,
Lara St. John
Lara St. John (born April 15, 1971) is a Canadian violinist.
Early life
Lara St. John was born in London, Ontario, and spent her early childhood there.John Terauds, "Violinist Lara St. John Keeps Herself Guessing," ''Toronto Star'', October 22, ...
, Kyung Sun Lee, Stephen Prutsman, Roger Tapping,
Raphael Wallfisch
Raphael Wallfisch (born 15 June 1953 in London) is a British cellist and professor of cello. As a soloist he performs regularly with leading orchestras around the world, as well as together with duo partner John York (piano), or as member of the ...
, Carol Wincenc, and Peter Zazofsky. He has also appeared with numerous ensembles including the Afiara, Argus, Arneis, Beaubliss, Cecilia, Jupiter, Lyris, Rus, and YUL String Quartets, and has performed and recorded as a member of Gruppo Montebello, an All‐Star Ensemble of acclaimed faculty and alumni from
The Banff Centre
Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, formerly known as The Banff Centre (and previously The Banff Centre for Continuing Education), located in Banff, Alberta, was established in 1933 as the Banff School of Drama. It was granted full autonomy as ...
.
The Krechkovsky/Loucks Duo
![Violinist Iryna Krechkovsky in a recent performance](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1f/Violinist_Iryna_Krechkovsky_in_a_recent_performance.JPG)
In 2004 Loucks met concert violinist and future wife Iryna Krechkovsky at a music festival in Italy where the two were scheduled to perform together. Later that year they formed the award-winning Krechkovsky/Loucks Duo and have since performed hundreds of recitals together throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. They have performed the majority of the violin/piano repertoire with particular interest in the music of
Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...
,
Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...
,
Brahms
Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped with ...
,
Corigliano,
Debussy
(Achille) Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influential composers of the ...
,
Gershwin,
Janacek,
Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...
,
Saint-Saëns,
Szymanowski, and
Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most popu ...
. The Duo has also premiered numerous compositions written for them by composers including
Samuel Adler and
Philip Lasser, and have worked with
John Corigliano
John Paul Corigliano Jr. (born February 16, 1938) is an American composer of contemporary classical music. His scores, now numbering over one hundred, have won him the Pulitzer Prize, five Grammy Awards, Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition, an ...
in New York City.
Trio Céleste
At the recommendation of pianist
Wu Han, Loucks formed Trio Céleste in 2012 with Krechkovsky and cellist Ross Gasworth who performed together with Krechkovsky during their graduate studies at the
Cleveland Institute of Music
The Cleveland Institute of Music (CIM) is a private music conservatory in Cleveland, Ohio. Founded in 1920 by Ernest Bloch, it enrolls 325 students in the conservatory and approximately 1,500 students in the preparatory and continuing educatio ...
in 2006 and 2007. The trio has since established itself as one of the most active and dynamic chamber music ensembles in the country with major recital performances in Chicago, Cleveland, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Seoul, and Toronto.
![TrioCélesteTriple](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7b/TrioC%C3%A9lesteTriple.jpg)
In their inaugural season, Trio Céleste was selected as winners of the prestigious Beverly Hills Auditions in Los Angeles
and were appointed Artists-in-Residence at the
Claire Trevor School of the Arts
The Claire Trevor School of the Arts (CTSA, Claire Trevor) is an academic unit at the University of California, Irvine, focused on the performing and visual arts. The four departments housed in the school are for art, dance, drama, and music. ...
at the
University of California, Irvine
The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a public land-grant research university in Irvine, California. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, UCI offers 87 undergraduate degrees and 129 graduate and pr ...
,
where they also direct the annual Summer Chamber Music Festival. The ensemble also makes up the core of Chamber Music , OC, both as principal performers and as organizational administrators.
The trio’s first major performance project, “The Complete Piano Trios of
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...
” included three separate performances of the entire piano trio cycle of Beethoven in Irvine, San Francisco, and Toronto, as well as multiple performances of the
Triple Concerto
A triple concerto (Italian: ''Concerto triplo'', German: ''Tripelkonzert'') is a concerto with three soloists. Such concertos have been composed from the Baroque period, including works by Corelli, Vivaldi, Bach and Telemann, to the 21st century ...
with the UC Irvine Symphony Orchestra at the Irvine Barclay Theater and the Capistrano Conductor's Institute Orchestra at the Marcus D. Hurlbut Theater in Southern California. “The American Project” took place in June 2015 featuring world premieres by Christopher Dobrian and jazz flautist
Nicole Mitchell as well as established works by
John Adams
John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Befor ...
,
Samuel Adler,
John Corigliano
John Paul Corigliano Jr. (born February 16, 1938) is an American composer of contemporary classical music. His scores, now numbering over one hundred, have won him the Pulitzer Prize, five Grammy Awards, Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition, an ...
, and
Eugene Drucker, and "The Evolution of Ludwig van Beethoven" with music critic Timothy Mangan explored the creative evolution of Beethoven through his music for violin, cello, and piano.
Trio Céleste recorded their debut album with
Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...
winning recording engineer Jesse Lewis at Soka Performing Arts Center in June 2015. The album, released on the Navona label, debuted at No. 5 on
iTunes
iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...
for new classical music releases, and No. 10 on
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential economi ...
for chamber music releases and has received critical acclaim from major publications including
The Strad
''The Strad'' is a UK-based monthly classical music magazine about string instrumentsprincipally the violin, viola, cello and double bassfor amateur and professional musicians. Founded in 1889, the magazine provides information, photographs and re ...
who said, "The US West Coast-based Céleste Trio may have been formed only four years ago, but judging from its first disc it has an important career ahead of it...The playing in Beethoven’s early Piano Trio in G major is not only accomplished but unfailingly stylish – crisply turned yet high in character...The second movement is a rapt fusion of slow, pliantly lilting siciliana, prayer-like solemnity and twinkling delicacy. Constellations – ten newly commissioned variations based on the opening theme from the second movement of Beethoven’s Trio – are novel if not all successful...In Dvořák’s ‘Dumky’ Trio, the players contrast sparkling exuberance in the fast sections with heart-rending tragedy in the slow ones – the Poco adagio of the second movement is especially mesmeric in its frozen motion. They vividly realise the composer’s ambition to combine the ‘melancholy and delirious joy of life… in the same being’."
The ensemble recorded their second album in June 2018 featuring Beethoven's
Archduke Trio
Archduke (feminine: Archduchess; German: ''Erzherzog'', feminine form: ''Erzherzogin'') was the title borne from 1358 by the Habsburg rulers of the Archduchy of Austria, and later by all senior members of that dynasty. It denotes a rank withi ...
and
Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most popu ...
Piano Trio in A minor, Op. 50 with recording engineer Louis Ng at Soka Performing Arts Center.
Professional activities
International Arts Mentoring Program
![KrechkovskyLoucksatMerkin](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7d/KrechkovskyLoucksatMerkin.jpg)
The Education and Culture Association of South Korea created the International Arts Mentoring Project in 2010 to bring music performance and arts education to underprivileged children throughout South Korea.
Loucks was invited to lead and direct the artistic operations of the project that included the selection of over fifty student to take part in over two weeks of mentoring and formal concert performances in Busan, Seoul, and Yongin. The program featured private lessons and master classes for pianists and string players, interdisciplinary performance projects with actors and dancers, and a weeklong arts camp that culminated in a formal performance tour of the country.
Orange County Great Park
In 2011 Loucks was selected as Artist-in-Residence at the
Orange County Great Park
The Great Park is a public park located in Irvine, California, with a focus on sports, agriculture, and the arts. It is a non-aviation reuse of the decommissioned Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) El Toro. The Orange County park comprises 28.8 ...
in
Irvine, California
Irvine () is a Planned community, master-planned city in South Orange County, California, United States, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Irvine Company started developing the area in the 1960s and the city was formally incorporated on ...
. He conceived and developed an eight-concert chamber music series that featured Canadian cellist
Denis Brott Denis Brott , SMOM (born December 9, 1950) is a Canadian cellist, music teacher, conductor and founder and artistic director of thMontreal Chamber Music Festival ,
Alarm Will Sound
Alarm Will Sound is a 20-member chamber orchestra that focuses on recordings and performances of contemporary classical music. Its performances have been described as "equal parts exuberance, nonchalance, and virtuosity" by the ''Financial Times' ...
clarinetist Bill Kalinkos, The Krechkovsky/Loucks Duo, and Trio Céleste among others. Each individual program included unique interactions with the audience, public workshops, lectures, and special programs for kids. It was through the success of this residency that then Mayor of Irvine,
Sukhee Kang
Sukhee Kang (born 15 September 1952) is an American Democratic Party politician from Orange County, California. From 2008 to 2012, Kang served as Mayor of Irvine, California, the first Korean American to serve as mayor of a major American city. ...
, convinced Loucks and Krechkovsky to move to
Irvine, California
Irvine () is a Planned community, master-planned city in South Orange County, California, United States, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Irvine Company started developing the area in the 1960s and the city was formally incorporated on ...
.
Chamber Music , OC
Launched in 2012 by Loucks and Krechkovsky, Chamber Music , OC is a unique arts initiative designed to address what Loucks says are many of the complex issues facing performers and audiences alike: "It is a project that embodies the most important elements shaping classical music today – a commitment to the art of performance, educating the next generation of young musicians, and the necessity to contribute to one’s community through the arts.” Krechkovsky currently serves as the organization's Director of Education while Loucks serves as a member of the Pre-College Faculty.
Performance
The Performance division of Chamber Music , OC provides residents of the greater Orange County area with world-class chamber music performances presented by rising stars and established veterans in the classical music world. Distinguished guest artists have included the Argus Quartet,
Colin Carr
Colin Carr (born 25 October 1957) is a British cello soloist, chamber musician, recording artist and teacher.
Biography
Born in Liverpool, Carr is professor of cello at the Royal Academy of Music. He taught at the New England Conservatory in Bo ...
, cello; Yuri Cho, violin;
Paul Coletti, viola;
Robert deMaine
Robert DeMaine (born December 6, 1969 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) is an American virtuoso cellist, best known as Principal Cello of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Early life
From a musical family, Robert DeMaine began learning music at age 4 fr ...
, cello;
Glenn Dicterow
Glenn Dicterow (born December 23, 1948), is an American violinist and former concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. He is on the faculty of the University of Southern California's Thornton School of Music where he holds the Jascha ...
, violin;
Karen Dreyfus
Karen Dreyfus is a violist who currently teaches at the USC Thornton School of Music. Ms. Dreyfus has distinguished herself as a recipient of many prizes, including the Walter W. Naumburg Foundation, Naumburg Viola Competition (1982), the Lionel T ...
, viola;
Eugene Drucker, violin;
Grace Fong
Grace Fong, D.M.A., is the American Director of Keyboard Studies at Chapman University Conservatory of Music and has an active solo and chamber music career. She also performs as part of the Selvaggi Trio.
Fong grew up in Bakersfield, California. ...
, piano;
Philippe Graffin, violin; the Jupiter String Quartet; Alan Kay, clarinet; Kyung Sun Lee, violin; the Lyris Quartet; Julian Martin, piano; Robert McDonald, piano; David Samuel, viola;
Philip Setzer
The Emerson String Quartet, also known as the Emerson Quartet, is an American string quartet that was initially formed as a student group at the Juilliard School in 1976. It was named for American poet and philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson and be ...
, violin; Trio Céleste; Ben Ullery, viola; and
William VerMeulen, horn. In 2017, Chamber Music , OC celebrated its 5-year anniversary with a sold-out
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...
debut recital at Zankel Hall featuring the world premiere of a new concerto grosso by composer Paul Dooley featuring Trio Céleste and some of the organization's former guest artist.
Education
The Education division of Chamber Music , OC is anchored by the Pre-College Program (formerly the Young Artist Program) and was previously in residence at
Chapman University
Chapman University is a private research university in Orange, California. It encompasses ten schools and colleges, including Fowler School of Engineering, Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, Fowler School of Law, and Schmid College of Scie ...
in
Orange, California
Orange is a city located in North Orange County, California. It is approximately north of the county seat, Santa Ana, California, Santa Ana. Orange is unusual in this region because many of the homes in its Old Town District were built before ...
. The program provides a unique and comprehensive musical education that features chamber music coachings and performance classes, musicianship, composition, ear training, career development and college preparation, participation in distinguished guest artist master classes, community outreach performances, and the Rising Stars Recital Series. Select members and alumni from the Program appeared in Carnegie Hall in April 2017, and have since gone on to pursue their studies at the
Eastman School of Music
The Eastman School of Music is the music school of the University of Rochester, a private research university in Rochester, New York. It was established in 1921 by industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman.
It offers Bachelor of Music (B.M ...
,
The Juilliard School
The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most elit ...
,
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world.
Charte ...
, the
Peabody Institute of Music
The Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University is a private conservatory and preparatory school in Baltimore, Maryland. It was founded in 1857 and opened in 1866 by merchant/financier and philanthropist George Peabody (1795–186 ...
,
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...
,
Rice University
William Marsh Rice University (Rice University) is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas. It is on a 300-acre campus near the Houston Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. Rice is ranke ...
, the
San Francisco Conservatory of Music
The San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM) is a private music conservatory in San Francisco, California. As of 2021, it had 480 students.
History
The San Francisco Conservatory of Music was founded in 1917 by Ada Clement and Lillian Hodgh ...
, and
Stanford University
Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...
, among others.
Community
The Community Outreach Division of Chamber Music , OC aspires to make the benefits of music widely accessible through collaborations with local schools and community organizations. The program offers a range of single- and multi- session workshops and performances designed to give participants the opportunity to enjoy and learn about how music can positively affect their well-being. Partnering organizations include the Irvine Adult Day Health Services, Human Options, Orange County Academy of Sciences and Arts, Orange County Children's Therapeutic Art Center, Rejoice Center,
Santa Ana High School
Santa Ana High School is the oldest and largest high school in Orange County, California, United States. The school was established in 1889.
Notable alumni
* Original members of the surf band The Chantays
* Barry Asher, professional bowler
* To ...
, and University Synagogue in Irvine.
Grand Canyon Residency
In 2013, Chamber Music , OC was selected from over five hundred applicants to be Artists-in-Residence at the
Grand Canyon National Park
Grand Canyon National Park, located in northwestern Arizona, is the 15th site in the United States to have been named as a national park. The park's central feature is the Grand Canyon, a gorge of the Colorado River, which is often consider ...
. Then directors Iryna Krechkovsky, Michelle Gasworth, Ross Gasworth, and Loucks participated in performances, public master classes, and led educational outreach projects throughout the South Rim in August 2014.
COVID-19 pandemic and new headquarters
During the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
, Chamber Music , OC's Pre-College Program successfully shifted to a virtual model that prompted the
LA Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
to write, "Gatherings or no gatherings, Chamber Music OC is keeping classical music going in Orange County." The pandemic also prompted the organization to formulate a new strategic plan that would enable the organization to self-produce innovative artistic content, invest in technology to expand organizational reach, scale its thriving Pre-College Program, and explore and implement new business models.
On August 11, 2020, Chamber Music , OC purchased a 4,000-square-foot commercial property that was repurposed to help address these needs. The facility includes the 1,200-square-foot Weinstein Performance Space, a recording studio, rehearsal spaces, administrative offices, and various common areas.
Upcoming 10-Year Anniversary Season
To kick off its 10-year anniversary season, Chamber Music , OC announced that it was named a commissioning partner for the
Kronos Quartet
The Kronos Quartet is an American string quartet based in San Francisco. It has been in existence with a rotating membership of musicians for almost 50 years. The quartet covers a very broad range of musical genres, including contemporary classic ...
’s 50 for the Future project. This collaboration will bring members of the Quartet to Orange County to interact with participants of the Pre-College Program, and will also feature special performance collaborations with students and Chamber Music , OC principals. Other anniversary initiatives include a new concert series at the Weinstein Performance Space, new partnerships with major Southern California arts organizations, and a concert celebration at
Walt Disney Concert Hall
The Walt Disney Concert Hall at 111 South Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles, California, is the fourth hall of the Los Angeles Music Center and was designed by Frank Gehry. It was opened on October 24, 2003. Bounded by Hope Street, Grand Ave ...
in July 2022.
Chamber Music America
After an extensive national search,
Chamber Music America Chamber Music America (CMA) is an American non-profit organization that provides small ensemble professionals with access to a variety of professional development, networking, and funding resources. CMA's regular initiatives include grants, awards, ...
, the national network of ensemble music professionals, named Loucks as its new Chief Executive Officer effective September 1, 2021. The organization provides access to professional resources and benefits, professional development seminars, grants and awards, and a national conference hosted annually in New York City. The membership community is made up of thousands of artists, educators, managers, presenters, and organizations, and represent all fifty states. Loucks is tasked with providing leadership and strategic vision that will enable the organization to achieve its artistic, financial, and organizational goals. He also serves as an ex-officio member of the Board of Directors.
Awards and recognition
Loucks has been called "impeccable" by
La Presse, Montreal; "a shining talent" by Völser Zeitung, Italy;
[http://www.gemeinde.voels.bz.it/gemeindeamt/download/042004.pdf ] and a pianist of “exhilarating polish, unity and engagement” by the ''
Orange County Register
''The Orange County Register'' is a paid daily newspaper published in California. The ''Register'', published in Orange County, California, is owned by the private equity firm Alden Global Capital via its Digital Fiest/Media News subsidiaries. ...
'', California. He has been featured in live performances on
National Public Radio
National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other n ...
's
Performance Today
''Performance Today'' is a Peabody Award-winning classical music radio program, first aired in 1987 and hosted since 2000 by Fred Child. It is the most listened-to daily classical music radio program in the United States, with 1.2 million liste ...
,
CBC Radio 2
CBC Music (formerly known as CBC FM, CBC Stereo and CBC Radio 2) is a Canadian FM radio network operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It used to concentrate on classical and jazz. In 2007 and 2008, the network transitioned towards a ...
,
KUSC
KUSC (91.5 FM) is a listener-supported classical music radio station broadcasting from downtown Los Angeles, California, United States. KUSC is owned and operated by the University of Southern California, which also operates student-run Internet s ...
,
WFMT
WFMT is an FM broadcasting, FM radio station in Chicago, Illinois, featuring a format of fine arts, classical music programming, and shows exploring such genres as folk music, folk. The station is managed by Window to the World Communications, In ...
, the
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educati ...
, KABC-TV Los Angeles, and the
Korean Broadcasting System
The Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) () is the national broadcaster of South Korea. Founded in February 1927, it is one of the leading South Korean television and radio broadcasters.
KBS operates seven radio networks, ten television channels, a ...
. He was a top prize winner at the Schlern International Competition in Italy,
the International Chamber Music Ensemble Competition in Boston, the Beverly Hills Auditions in Los Angeles on two separate occasions, the Music Teachers' Association of California Duo-Piano Competition, the American Prize in Piano Performance, and the Emerging Artist Award from
Arts Orange County.
Loucks was named one of Orange County's most influential people by
OC Weekly
''OC Weekly'' was a free alternative weekly paper distributed in Orange County and Long Beach, California. OC Weekly was founded in September 1995 by Will Swaim, who acted as editor and publisher until 2007.
The paper was distributed at coffee ...
and in 2018, was nominated for the Excellence in Entrepreneurship Award by the
Orange County Business Journal
The ''Orange County Business Journal'' is a weekly print and online newspaper covering business in Orange County, California. The paper is the second largest business journal in California after the ''Los Angeles Business Journal''.[California State Legislature
The California State Legislature is a bicameral state legislature consisting of a lower house, the California State Assembly, with 80 members; and an upper house, the California State Senate, with 40 members. Both houses of the Legisla ...]
for the creation and development of the Sing! Program at
Music Academy of the West
The Music Academy is a classical music training program in Montecito in Santa Barbara County, California.
Overview
The academy hosts an annual eight-week summer music festival, highlighted by concerts and workshops directed by famous composer ...
.
Personal
Loucks resides in
Brooklyn, New York
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
and
Irvine, California
Irvine () is a Planned community, master-planned city in South Orange County, California, United States, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Irvine Company started developing the area in the 1960s and the city was formally incorporated on ...
with his wife and musical partner, violinist Iryna Krechkovsky. He is an avid outdoorsman having earned his
Eagle Scout
Eagle Scout is the highest achievement or rank attainable in the Scouts BSA program of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). Since its inception in 1911, only four percent of Scouts have earned this rank after a lengthy review process. The Eagle Sc ...
in 2000.
References
External links
Official WebsiteOfficial Twitter Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Loucks, Kevin Kwan
Living people
South Korean classical pianists
American pianists
Aspen Music Festival and School alumni
American male pianists
21st-century classical pianists
21st-century American male musicians
21st-century American pianists
Year of birth missing (living people)