program

hover over a performer to see their biography:
• Benjamin Kim, soprano saxophone,

  

  Benjamin Kim
  Benjamin Kim comes back to Northern VA after spending nearly a year in Los Angeles playing saxophone full-time. The high point of his "sabbatical" occurred late last March when, during a lesson with his hero Dave Koz that he had won via an eBay charity auction sponsored by the Grammy Foundation and MusiCares (for $1225—cheap!), he was asked by the six-time Grammy-nominated saxophonist to play on his Dave Koz Cruise this fall. A versatile saxophonist, Benjamin is largely self-taught and has been a featured soloist in the classical, jazz, and pop idioms. A graduate of Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology, Cornell University (B.S., Applied & Engineering Physics) and Penn State University (Ph.D., Acoustics), Dr. Kim is presently an acoustics consultant at BBN Technologies (Bolt Beranek and Newman). En-Yi Lin, piano
  

  

  En-Yi Lin
  Upon receiving her Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, En-Yi Lin moved to the DC area to work for BBN Technologies in Rosslyn. She started playing classical piano at the age of 7, and went through 10 years of rigorous training. Her interests are quite diverse: while an engineer, she is passionate about the arts; while trained in classical piano, she longs to play drums in a band; while a serious churchgoer, she enjoys many "worldly" activities such as shopping, dining, and dancing hip-hop. At the Cross (Mark Titheridge)
• Noriko Takahashi, violin
  

  

  Noriko Takahashi
  Noriko's first violin was a birthday present from her mother when she turned five. Since then, she has performed in various competitions and concerts as a soloist and in several orchestras including the American Youth Philharmonic. In the summer of 2000, she traveled to Bolivia with several other violinists, performing benefit concerts to raise money for orphans. The following year, she was concertmistress of the All Virginia State Orchestra and the American Music Abroad Orchestra Summer Europe Tour of 2001. She was also a finalist in the Young Soloists' Competition which led to a performance in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall. Last year, she performed at the opening ceremony of the Cherry Blossom Festival at the National Building Museum in DC. Noriko also enjoys playing music for weddings. She graduated from the University of Virginia with a degree in nursing and is currently working as a Registered Nurse at Inova Fairfax Hospital. Sonata No. 3 in C (Largo) (Johann Sebastian Bach)
• Joanne Kim, acoustic guitar and vocal
  

  

  Joanne Kim
  Joanne Kim is a 22-year-old philosophical nursing student at the University of Virginia. She will be moving back to her hometown Burke in Northern Virginia after graduation in May 2008. Although her profession is to care, her passion is to play music, that is. Joanne finds great enjoyment in the expression and experience of music, particularly jazz and progressive rock. Joining the local praise band at church during middle school was what began her intrigue with music, although she has had a strong background in piano well beforehand. It is her earnest hope that others will enjoy her music as well, and feel a sense of connection, understanding, and transcendence beyond mundane life. Sparks (Coldplay)
  So Wrong (Joanne Kim)
• Edward Tsong, piano
  

  

  Edward Tsong
  Ted Tsong started playing piano at the age of 3, taking many years of lessons. The highlight of his musical career was winning the Brown University Concerto Competition in both 1992 and 1993. He recently relocated to NoVa from the west coast, and is now practicing Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery in Falls Church. L'Isle Joyeuse (Claude Debussy)
• Sam Allin, guitar
  

  

  
  Sam Allin
  Sam Allin's illustrious musical career has featured afternoons in the bed of a pickup truck, playing fight songs at Virginia Tech football games, a double-tap-solo cameo appearance with indie rock heroes Jupiter Sunrise, and a 3-year stint with the soul-metal-jazz-punk-dance-rock phenomenon that was, "The Liberation Jumpsuit." Nowadays he wears perm creased pants and works as a "planner slash engineer" in Northern Virginia. The First Ride (Don Ross)
• Timothy and Joyce So, piano
  

  

  Timothy So
  Timothy So was born in Hong Kong and came to University of Virginia when he was 19 years old. He graduated with degrees in Architecture and Astronomy. With a strong desire to learn about music, he started his first piano lesson when he was 15 years old. 3 years later, he met Joyce in a piano concert and played his first piano duet with her before he left Hong Kong, which was the same duet that they played on their wedding. With God's grace, despite his lack of musical education, Timothy serves God as a pianist in church and bible study fellowship. He is currently working as an Architectural Designer in David M. Schwarz / Architectural Services, Inc. in Washington DC.
  
  Joyce So
  Joyce So was born and raised in Hong Kong. Music has been part of her life since the age of eight. Joyce doesn't think she is a very musical person, but through her piano teacher persistent guidance and her steadfast practice, she learns to appreciate music more and more each day. Today, she is married to her best friend whom she played her first piano duet with. Joyce is thankful for the piano skills, as well as the grand piano, that GOD has given her. In her leisure time, she loves to play piano duet and ballroom dance with her hubby. She is currently working as a senior auditor in Deloitte and Touche in Washington DC. Sonata in C major K.521 - 1st Movement (Allegro)
  (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)
• Dorothy Deng, vocal & John Morris, electric guitar
  

  

  Dorothy Deng:
  Dorothy is an attorney, but if she didn't become an attorney, she would be a personal trainer. Dorothy grew up playing the piano. In high school, she played trombone in the marching band, the symphonic band, and the jazz ensemble. She is also a wicked good karaoke singer.
  
  John Morris:
  John is an attorney who has almost no formal musical training. Somehow he has managed to play the guitar for ten years without ever actually learning to play it. John also makes really mean crab cake, though he confesses a lack of understanding as to how this came about as well. Tumbling After (Dorothy Deng and John Morris)
• Joseph Tong, piano
  

  

  Joseph Tong
  Joseph Tong is a two time cancer survivor and currently goes to the IB program at Richard Montgomery High School. He's been in remission for 5 years and things have been going great. Coincidentally, his piano career began due to cancer. He was allowed one wish from the Make a Wish Foundation for Cancer Survivors and he wished for a piano. He has played the piano ever since, a total of 10 years. Apart from playing the piano, he enjoys playing soccer on his club team and school team and loves interacting with his peers at school. Impromptu No. 2 Op. 90 (Franz Schubert)
  All of Me (Jon Schmidt)
• Wendy Hou, vocal,

  

  Wendy Hou
  Wendy Hou is an undergrad student attending James Madison University. She enjoys many genres of music from metal to classical. Wendy also enjoys singing in the shower. For eight years she was in Glorystar's Children's Chorus and traveled with them to several places around the world for international choir festivals. Her passion to sing has helped her gain confidence to sing on stage. Angela Hou, piano
  

  

  Angela Hou
  Angela Hou is still inspiring young minds as an SAT, ACT, and MCAT instructor for Kaplan Test Prep. Aside from music, Angela has an eclectic range of interests. They include food, photography, foreign language, and Chinese chess (which she is not very good at, but still likes to play anyway). She hopes to participate in more activities like Melodic Impact in the future, whose mission reminds her of a quote by Margaret Mead:
  "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." Laudate Dominum (from Vesperae solennes de confessore K.339)
  (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, arranged by Doreen Rao)
• Grace Jean, flute,

  

  Grace Jean
  Grace Jean began her musical journey at the age of 4 on piano. She picked up the flute in 5th grade and the piccolo in 9th grade and played both in wind ensembles, orchestras, and marching bands through college. As a freshman at Cornell University, she became a chimesmaster and performed concerts three times a week on 19-bell chime in the campus clock tower. When her journalism career brought her back to the D.C. area, Grace learned how to change ring on bells in the National Cathedral and the Old Post Office Tower. She is senior editor at National Defense Magazine and also writes classical music reviews for the Washington Post. Grace is the immediate past co-chair of the Cornell Chimes Advisory Council and serves on the board of directors for the MusicLink Foundation. In her spare time she enjoys playing her instruments, ice skating, letterboxing, and volunteering for numerous university organizations. Pauline Wu, flute,

  

  Pauline Wu
  Pauline Wu grew up in the DC area, and graduated from the University of Virginia with a degree in commerce. She started playing the piano when she was six, and although she initially viewed piano practice as some sort of undeserved punishment, she has since come to be very grateful that her parents invested in her musical education. Her musical background includes classical piano, choral, a cappella, and flute performances. On Sundays, she plays keyboard and sings for the praise team at her church, Chesterbrook Taiwanese Presbyterian Church in Falls Church, VA. Pauline is currently working as a consultant for Booz Allen Hamilton in McLean, VA. Also, she really loves Asia and will talk your ear off about her time in Japan if you get too close to her. Edward Tsong, piano
  

  

  Edward Tsong
  Ted Tsong started playing piano at the age of 3, taking many years of lessons. The highlight of his musical career was winning the Brown University Concerto Competition in both 1992 and 1993. He recently relocated to NoVa from the west coast, and is now practicing Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery in Falls Church. Concerto in G Major for Two Flutes - 1st Movement (Allegro)
  (Domenico Cimerosa)
• Natasha Holt, vocal,

  

  Natasha Holt
  Hailing from Tasmania, Australia, contralto Natasha Holt began vocal training at the age of 18 until she moved to the United States at age 23. Natasha's performances include Gilbert & Sullivan's Oliver!, an ugly step-sister in Peter Maxwell Davies's children's opera Cinderella, which featured in the internationally acclaimed 10 Days on the Island festival, various shows with Bel Canto Australia in aid of Camp Quality, and a recital for the Italian Ambassador to Australia. She has competed in many competitions across Tasmania, and has performed in two solo recitals. Most recently, she returned to Tasmania where she performed in a recital for a local Rotary Club. Natasha’s repertoire includes English and Italian Art songs, Italian, French and English Operatic Arias, and Scottish, Irish and English folk songs. Favorites include Gluck, Menotti, Quilter, Bizet, and Elgar. Linda Hwong, piano
  

  

  Linda Hwong
  Linda Hwong was first taught how to play the piano by her music teacher and vocalist mother at the age of four. As soon as she could recite her ABC's and sit for 20 minutes at a time, she was introduced to the keyboard. We believe this is because every enthusiastic vocalist needs an accompanist however young or old. Her debut was at the age of five when she accompanied her mother on "Sweet Hour of Prayer" in church. Since then, she has taken lessons at the Eastman School of Music while a student at the University of Rochester (class of 1989). Other instruments she has tinkered with include the clarinet and violin. However, her primary interest is in listening to others use their musical talents, whether in country, classical, rock, or jazz. When not seated in front of the 88 keys, she prefers to fish with her husband, Henry, or swing a golf club at one of the courses in Woodbridge, Virginia where they reside. Che faro senza Euridice (Christoph Willibald Gluck)
• Benjamin Kim, alto saxophone,

  

  Benjamin Kim
  Benjamin Kim comes back to Northern VA after spending nearly a year in Los Angeles playing saxophone full-time. The high point of his "sabbatical" occurred late last March when, during a lesson with his hero Dave Koz that he had won via an eBay charity auction sponsored by the Grammy Foundation and MusiCares (for $1225—cheap!), he was asked by the six-time Grammy-nominated saxophonist to play on his Dave Koz Cruise this fall. A versatile saxophonist, Benjamin is largely self-taught and has been a featured soloist in the classical, jazz, and pop idioms. A graduate of Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology, Cornell University (B.S., Applied & Engineering Physics) and Penn State University (Ph.D., Acoustics), Dr. Kim is presently an acoustics consultant at BBN Technologies (Bolt Beranek and Newman). En-Yi Lin, piano
  

  

  En-Yi Lin
  Upon receiving her Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, En-Yi Lin moved to the DC area to work for BBN Technologies in Rosslyn. She started playing classical piano at the age of 7, and went through 10 years of rigorous training. Her interests are quite diverse: while an engineer, she is passionate about the arts; while trained in classical piano, she longs to play drums in a band; while a serious churchgoer, she enjoys many "worldly" activities such as shopping, dining, and dancing hip-hop. Cinema Paradiso Suite (Ennio Morricone/Andrea Morricone)
  Partners in Crime (Jim Brickman/Dave Koz)
• Chi-Chung Ho, violin,

  

  Chi-Chung Ho
  With the tremendous support from his parents, Chi-Chung Ho started studying piano, violin, and viola at an early age. When he was still an orchestra violist in a professional orchestra, the idea of being a professional orchestral conductor had never come across his mind until he met the renowned conductor and teacher, Kenneth Kiesler, at the University of Michigan. While he was pursuing his graduate music degrees in Ann Arbor and Baltimore, he has already been appointed as music director and conductor of numerous orchestras and opera companies, as well as guest conducting orchestras in the States, Europe, and Asia. His recent professional engagement includes being the cover conductor and assistant conductor of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and the Baltimore Opera. His major mentors and teachers include internationally acclaimed conductors such as David Zinman, Marin Alsop, and Gustav Meier. Chi-Chung is currently a doctoral candidate (orchestral conducting) at the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University. Besides his passion to classical music, he enjoys serving in the praise team at church as drummer, guitarist, and bass guitarist, as well as devoting his time teaching private studios (conducting, violin, viola, and other band instruments) and freelancing as a wedding photographer. En-Yi Lin, piano
  

  

  En-Yi Lin
  Upon receiving her Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, En-Yi Lin moved to the DC area to work for BBN Technologies in Rosslyn. She started playing classical piano at the age of 7, and went through 10 years of rigorous training. Her interests are quite diverse: while an engineer, she is passionate about the arts; while trained in classical piano, she longs to play drums in a band; while a serious churchgoer, she enjoys many "worldly" activities such as shopping, dining, and dancing hip-hop. Preludium and Allegro (In the Style of Pugnani) (Fritz Kreisler)