Danbi Um and Amy Yang
Violin and Piano
Praised by The Strad as an “utterly dazzling” artist, with “a marvelous show of superb technique” and “mesmerizing grace” (New York Classical Review), violinist Danbi Um captivates audiences with her virtuosity, individual sound, and interpretive sensitivity. A Menuhin International Violin Competition Silver Medalist, winner of the prestigious 2018 Salon de Virtuosi Career Grant, and a recent top prizewinner of the Naumburg International Violin Competition, she showcases her artistry in concertos, solo recitals, and in collaboration with distinguished chamber musicians.
This season, Ms. Um will join guitarist Jiji for a duo program in Scottsdale Performing Arts Center and Cooperstown Music Festival, recital at Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, and a trio program with pianist Juho Pohjonen and tenor Karim Sulayman for The Cliburn in Fort Worth. Other recent and upcoming engagements include solo appearances with the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia (Kimmel Center), a national tour with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and performances at premiere national series including Wolf Trap, Saratoga Performing Arts Center, Society of Four Arts in Palm Beach, Parlance Chamber Series, Chamber Music Society of Fort Worth, and Chicago’s Dame Myra Hess Concerts. Notable recent festival engagements included performances at Caramoor and Music@Menlo’s “Carte Blanche” recital series with pianist Orion Weiss. In 2018, Ms. Um made her New York recital debut at Lincoln Center presented by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.
After winning the 2014 Music Academy of the West Competition, Ms. Um made her concerto debut in the Walton Violin Concerto with the Festival Orchestra, conducted by Joshua Weilerstein. Past concerto engagements include appearances with the Israel Symphony, Auckland Philharmonic, Vermont Symphony, and the Dartmouth Symphony. She also recently appeared in recital and in chamber music performances in such venues as the Kennedy Center, Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center, Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, the Harris Theatre in Chicago, Wigmore Hall in London, and at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art.
An avid chamber musician, Ms. Um is an artist member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (CMS). Festival appearances have included those at Marlboro, Ravinia, Yellow Barn, Moab, Seattle, Caramoor, and North Shore. Ms. Um also recently made her critically acclaimed debut at the Moritzburg Festival in Dresden, Germany. Her chamber music collaborators have included Anthony Marwood, Vadim Gluzman, Pamela Frank, Cho-Liang Lin, Paul Neubauer, Frans Helmerson, David Finckel, David Shifrin, Wu Han, and Gilbert Kalish.
Born in 1990 in Seoul, South Korea, Ms. Um began violin lessons at the age of three. In the year 2000, she moved to the United States to study at the Curtis Institute of Music, where she earned a Bachelor’s degree. She also holds an Artist Diploma from Indiana University. Her teachers have included Shmuel Ashkenasi, Joseph Silverstein, Jaime Laredo, and Hagai Shaham.
Ms. Um is a winner of Astral Artists’ National Auditions. She plays a 1683 “ex-Petschek” Nicolo Amati violin, on loan from a private collection.
A “jaw-dropping pianist who steals the show…with effortless finesse” (Washington Post), Amy Yang balances an active career as soloist, chamber musician and pedagogue. In 2020, she shared the stage with Anne-Marie McDermott, Yefim Bronfman, Paul Neubauer, and the Dover Quartet in a myriad of performances at Bravo! Vail. Additionally, she gave her solo debut as well as joined forces with the Jasper String Quartet in piano quintets by Tania Léon and Joan Tower for Philadelphia Chamber Music Society’s 35th season. She was also featured in a full episode with Emmy® Award-winning producer Jim Cotter of Articulate, aired on PBS in 2021. 2021 also brought about appearances with violinist Tessa Lark at Wigmore Hall, Gardner Museum, Cal Performances, Rockport Music Festival, and International Violin Competition of Indianapolis Series. Her upcoming appearances will be at Hawaii Concert Society, Chameleon Arts Ensemble of Boston, The Seattle Series, Music at Pine Street, Coastal Concerts (DE), with violist Roberto Díaz and oboist Philippe Tondre for Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, and playing with violinists Danbi Um and Paul Huang at Santa Fe Music Festival, Cleveland Chamber Music Society, and Chamber Music San Francisco.
At the Curtis Institute of Music, she is the Associate Dean of Piano Studies and Artistic Initiatives. She will make her debut playing Schumann’s Piano Concerto with the Curtis Symphony Orchestra under Osmo Vänskä at Verizon Hall at the Kimmel Center in April, 2023.
Collaborating with leading musicians, Ms. Yang toured with Patricia Kopatchinskaya, Tito Muñoz and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, and premiered music by Michael Hersch at Cal Performances, Ojai Music Festival and Aldeburgh Festival. Additional collaborations include performances with Richard Goode, Anne-Marie McDermott, Ida and Ani Kavafian, Miriam Fried, Bomsori Kim, Roberto Díaz, Kim Kashkashian, Tessa Lark, Paul Neubauer, Tara Helen O’Conor, Joseph Silverstein, members of Guarneri String Quartet, the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Dover Quartet, Aizuri String Quartet, Jasper String Quartet and A Far Cry. In addition to working with Dame Mitsuko Uchida at Marlboro School of Music, she was chosen to participate in her Carnegie Hall Workshop on Mozart’s Piano Concerti.
She has soloed with Houston Symphony, Tuscaloosa Symphony, Connecticut Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra, Mansfield Symphony and Orquesta Juvenil Universitaria Eduardo Mata at UNAM.
Ms. Yang has premiered music by Caroline Shaw, Avner Dorman, Michael Hersch, Ezra Laderman, Paul Wianko and Hua Yang. Festival appearances include Marlboro Music Festival, Ravinia Festival, Prussia Cove, Verbier Academy, Bravo! Vail, Chamber Music Northwest, Chelsea Music Festival, Caramoor, Olympic Music Festival, Music from Angel Fire, Twickenham Fest, Saltbay Chamberfest, among others.
An active recording artist, her discography includes her solo album “Resonance” (MSR Classics), a world premiere recording of piano music by Ezra Laderman (Albany Records), albums with violinists Itamar Zorman (BIS Records), Tessa Lark (First Hand Records), Danbi Um, Carol Jantsch, and José Franch-Ballester (iTinerant Records).
At Curtis Institute of Music, she previously held the roles of program director and piano faculty of Curtis Summerfest’s Young Artist Summer Program for nine summers. She also teaches at the University of Pennsylvania. She has given masterclasses at UCLA, Mannes College of Music, University of Oklahoma, for New York Youth Symphony, and her students have soloed with the Philadelphia Orchestra and entered Oberlin Conservatory of Music, Bard Conservatory, Vanderbilt University Blair School of Music, Eastman School of Music and Indiana University.
Winner of the 2018 Musical Fund Society of Philadelphia prize and the Kosciuszko National Chopin Piano Competition, she is an alumna of Curtis Institute of Music, Juilliard School and Yale School of Music, where she received the Parisot Award for Outstanding Pianist and the Alumni Association Prize.
Aiming to lead a life rich in learning, she would love to spend more time studying painting, neuroscience, and gardening.