Yoon Kwon is a South Korean-born American violinist and member of the first violins section of the

Metropolitan Opera Orchestra The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is operat ...

Life and career

Born in Seoul, South Korea, Kwon began her studies at the age of three, initially studying piano under the tutelage of her mother. At the age of six, she began studying violin, was quickly recognized as a

Child prodigy A child prodigy is defined in psychology research literature as a person under the age of ten who produces meaningful output in some domain at the level of an adult expert. The term is also applied more broadly to young people who are extraor ...

and was accepted into

Juilliard 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 ...

two years later at the age of 8. There, she studied with

Dorothy DeLay Dorothy DeLay (March 31, 1917 – March 24, 2002) was an American violin instructor, primarily at the Juilliard School, Sarah Lawrence College, and the University of Cincinnati. Life Dorothy DeLay was born on March 31, 1917, in Medicine Lodg ...

. In 1997, she was the youngest winner of the Juilliard School Concerto Competition, which resulted in her

Avery Fisher Hall David Geffen Hall is a concert hall in New York City's Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts complex on Manhattan's Upper West Side. The 2,200-seat auditorium opened in 1962, and is the home of the New York Philharmonic. The facility, designe ...

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 ...

debut that year. After also studying with

Hyo Kang In Confucianism, Chinese Buddhism, and Daoist ethics, filial piety (, ''xiào'') (Latin: pietas) is a virtue of respect for one's parents, elders, and ancestors. The Confucian ''Classic of Filial Piety'', thought to be written around the late W ...

Cho-Liang Lin Cho-Liang Lin (Lin Cho-liang, , born January 29, 1960), born in Hsinchu, Taiwan, is an American violinist who is renowned for his appearances as a soloist with major orchestras. Musical America named him its "Instrumentalist of the Year" in 200 ...

, and

Donald Weilerstein Donald Weilerstein (born 1940) is an American violinist and pedagogue. Early life and education Weilerstein was born in Washington, D.C. and raised in Berkeley, California. He began playing the violin at the age of four and earned a Bachelor o ...

, she received her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees as well as the Artist Diploma from Juilliard. Kwon's career began in 1993 as a thirteen-year-old when she won the New Jersey Symphony Young Artists Auditions and joined the roster of

IMG Artists IMG Artists LLC is a performing arts management corporation. History In 1979 Charles Hamlen and Edna Landau co-founded Hamlen/Landau, a New York-based musical artist management agency. In 1984 it was acquired by International Management Group an ...

. In 1997, she released her debut CD on the

RCA Victor Red Seal RCA Red Seal is a classical music label whose origin dates to 1902 and is currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment. History The first "Gramophone Record Red Seal" discs were issued in 1901.Metropolitan Opera Orchestra The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is operat ...

, while working with other ensembles, including the

quintet A quintet is a group containing five members. It is commonly associated with musical groups, such as a string quintet, or a group of five singers, but can be applied to any situation where five similar or related objects are considered a single ...

Off The Score with

Police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and t ...

drummer

Stewart Copeland Stewart Armstrong Copeland (born July 16, 1952) is a Scottish-American musician and composer. He is best known for his work as the drummer of the English rock band the Police from 1977 to 1986, and again from 2007 to 2008. Before playing with th ...

, and

Jon Kimura Parker Jon Kimura Parker (born 25 December 1959) is a Canadian pianist. Early life and education Jon Kimura Parker was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, the son of Keiko Parker and John Parker. He began his studies with his uncle, Edward P ...

. Kwon has performed extensively with her pianist sister

Min Kwon Min Kwon (born Kwon, Min-Kyung) is a Korean-American pianist, a Professor of Piano at the Mason Gross School of the Arts (Rutgers University in New Jersey). Background Min Kwon began playing the piano at the age of three under the tutelage of h ...

. The duo recorded a record for RCA Victor Red Seal entitled ''You And Me''. She is a founding member of the ensemble Emergence along with

Patrick Zimmerli Patrick Zimmerli (born July 23, 1968) is an American saxophonist, composer, arranger, and record producer. His work has been performed at Carnegie Hall and Town Hall in New York, Wigmore Hall in London and Salle Pleyel in Paris, as well as at ...

. As of 2014, she began working with the ensemble Off The Score.

Pedagogy

Kwon has taught at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

's Young Musicians Program, Kuhmo International Music Course in Finland, and as an assistant to Cho-Liang Lin, at the Juilliard School. She is on the faculty of the Mason Gross School of the Arts at

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...

where she teaches violin.

Instruments

Kwon has been the recipient of the Avery Fisher

Stradivarius A Stradivarius is one of the violins, violas, cellos and other string instruments built by members of the Italian family Stradivari, particularly Antonio Stradivari (Latin: Antonius Stradivarius), during the 17th and 18th centuries. They are co ...

on loan from the Juilliard School and the Sennhouser

Guarnerius The Guarneri (, , ), often referred to in the Latinized form Guarnerius, is the family name of a group of distinguished luthiers from Cremona in Italy in the 17th and 18th centuries, whose standing is considered comparable to those of the Amati ...

del Gesu on loan from the

Stradivari Society The Stradivari Society is a philanthropic organization based in Chicago, Illinois, best known for its arranging deals between owners of antique string instruments such as those made by luthiers Antonio Stradivari and Giuseppe Guarneri, for use by t ...

.The Stradivari Society (2016)
Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesù, Cremona, 1735, “Sennhauser”
/ref>

Awards

New Jersey Symphony The New Jersey Symphony, formerly the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, is an American symphony orchestra based in the state of New Jersey. The New Jersey Symphony is the state orchestra of New Jersey, performing classical subscription concert seri ...

Young Artists Auditions: First place * Juilliard Concerto Competition: First place

Discography

* ''You And Me'' (With Min Kwon), BMG/RCA Red Label, 2000 * ''Phoenix'' – Patrick Zimmerli, 2005 * ''Love Is Dead'' –

Kerli Kerli Kõiv (; born 7 February 1987), better known mononymously as Kerli, is an Estonian singer and songwriter. Born in Elva, Kerli entered multiple singing competitions before being signed to Island Records in 2006 by LA Reid. In 2007, she rel ...

, 2008 – (Violin) * '' Duets II'' –

Tony Bennett Anthony Dominick Benedetto (born August 3, 1926), known professionally as Tony Bennett, is an American retired singer of traditional pop standards, big band, show tunes, and jazz. Bennett is also a painter, having created works under his birth ...

, 2011 – (Violin) * ''

Cheek to Cheek "Cheek to Cheek" is a song written by Irving Berlin in 1934–35, specifically for the star of his new musical, Fred Astaire. The movie was ''Top Hat'', co-starring Ginger Rogers.

'' – Tony Bennett and

Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta ( ; born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her image reinventions and musical versatility. Gaga began performing as a teenag ...

, 2014 – (Violin)

References

External links

*
Homepage
Off The Score {{DEFAULTSORT:Kwon, Yoon Year of birth missing (living people) American classical violinists American classical musicians of Korean descent Musicians from New York City Juilliard School alumni Violin pedagogues Juilliard School faculty South Korean emigrants to the United States Living people Educators from New York City American women educators Classical musicians from New York (state) 21st-century classical violinists Women classical violinists 21st-century American women