Noonday Concert

Julie Castor, violin & Sohyun Ahn, piano  – Music by Mozart and Brahms

Sohyun Ahn, pianist

Sohyun Ahn has been invited to perform in Italy, Germany, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Iceland, Japan, Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam, South Korea and the United States. She was named Performer of the Year by Eumak-Chunchu, South Korea’s leading classical music journal in 2002. In the States, her performance venues include Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Merkin Hall, Steinway Hall, Bechstein Hall, Hubbard Recital Hall, Klavierhaus, St. Paul’s Chapel, Trinity Church and Riverside Church in NYC. Her performances and interviews have been broadcast nationally in South Korea on EBS-TV. She was also a guest soloist at the concert honoring the 250th anniversary of Mozart’s birth at the Sejong Art Center.

Sohyun holds a Bachelor’s degree from Yonsei University, Masters degrees with distinction from the Royal Scottish Academy in Music and Drama and Tokyo National University in Music and Arts, and a Professional Studies Degree from the Manhattan School of Music. She is currently finishing the doctor of musical arts degree at Rutgers University.

As a dedicated educator, Sohyun has been a faculty at Rutgers University and also at Concordia College in New York. She was invited to give masterclasses at the University of Malaya, the Universiti Putra Malaysia, the University College of Sedaya International, Trinity College London, the Ann Perreau Music School and the Allegro Music School in Malaysia and the Glovil College in South Korea. Her activities as a pedagogue have included adjudication of the Greater Princeton Steinway Society Scholarship Competition.

Julie Castor, violin

New York City-based violinist Julie Castor has performed in Germany, Switzerland, France, and throughout the United States. She appeared as soloist with the Ashland Symphony alongside renowned violinist Aaron Berofsky, with the Hudson Symphony, and has given solo and chamber music recitals in Steinway Hall, United Nations Chapel, Spanish Cultural Institute of New York, Fort Lee Library Series, Union Theological Seminary, Ashland University, The University of Akron, and Manhattan School of Music. As an orchestral musician, she has performed in New York’s most prestigious concert halls, including Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium, Zankel Hall, Alice Tully Hall, and Symphony Space with orchestras like the Chappaqua Symphony, Binghamton Philharmonic, Chelsea Symphony, Garden State Philharmonic, Bellayre Opera, and Dell’Arte Opera. She has been a fellow with the National Repertory Orchestra, guest artist and concertmaster for the Calvin College String Summit, and orchestral apprentice and concertmaster at the MasterWorks Festival. In 2011, she was invited to Nice, France for a two-week residency with the Manhattan School of Music Chamber Sinfonia . Ms. Castor recently shared the stage with Broadway performers in a concert version of Sondheim’s “A Little Night Music,” and can be seen in the new Amazon TV series Mozart in the Jungle.
A dedicated educator, Ms. Castor is the Director of The Geneva Conservatory of Music in Manhattan, where she also maintains a violin studio. She has also been an Instructional Coach for the Harmony Program, supervising string teachers and working with underserved youth in New York City. She is a Founding Teacher of the Royal Conservatory Music Development Program and is an active member of the Suzuki Association of the Americas and American String Teachers Association. She received her Suzuki Teacher Certification from the School for Strings.
Ms. Castor has worked with members of the Emerson, Orion, and American String Quartets and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and has performed in masterclasses for David Kim, Robert Mann, and Andres Cardenes. She received her B.M. and M.M. from Manhattan School of Music, where she studied with Laurie Smukler and Isaac Malkin. She will begin her Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Rutgers University in the Fall 2015.