Kingston Chamber Music Festival

Jasmine Lin began violin studies at age four. Since then she has appeared as soloist with orchestras including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra, Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Symphony Orchestra of Brazil, Symphony Orchestra of Uruguay, Evergreen Symphony of Taiwan, and National Symphony Orchestra of Taiwan, and in recital in Chicago, New York, Nova Scotia, Rio de Janeiro, Montevideo, and Taipei. She was a prizewinner in the International Paganini Competition and took second prize in the International Naumburg Competition. The New York Times describes her as an “unusually individualistic player” with “electrifying assertiveness” and “virtuosic abandon”.

As a chamber musician Ms. Lin has been a participant of the Marlboro Music Festival and the Steans Institute for Young Artists at Ravinia, and has toured extensively in the United States as part of the Chicago String Quartet, in China as part of the Overseas Musicians, and in Taiwan as a member of Taiwan Connection Music Festival. She has been an adjunct faculty member at Northwestern University and DePaul University and was a faculty member of the Taos School of Music in New Mexico.

Ms. Lin is a founding and current member of the Formosa Quartet, which won first prize in the 10th Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition. The Formosa Quartet’s recording of works by Mozart, Debussy, Wolf and Schubert on the EMI Debut Series has won critical acclaim from Gramophone and The Strad magazines, and the quartet performs in major venues around the world including the Chicago Cultural Center, the Library of Congress, Caramoor Festival, Cornell University, Maui Classical Music Festival, Taipei’s Novel Hall, BBC In Tune, and Wigmore Hall.

Ms. Lin is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music. She gave her New York debut in Merkin Hall, where the program included her poetry set to music. Her poem “The night of h’s” received Editor’s Choice Award from the International Poetry Foundation, and her poetry/music presentations have been featured in Chicago, at Cornell University in Ithaca, and on radio in Taipei, and have resulted in collaborations with composers Dana Wilson, David Loeb, and Thomas Oboe Lee.

In the 1999-2000 season Ms. Lin was Second Assistant Concertmaster of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. In addition to her activities with the Formosa Quartet, she is a member of Trio Voce with cellist Marina Hoover and pianist Patricia Tao; the Trio recently released its first CD of works by Shostakovich and Weinberg, Inscapes, on the Con Brio label. Ms. Lin is also a member of the Chicago Chamber Musicians, whose Composer Perspectives series won the ASCAP award for adventuresome programming. She received a Grammy nomination as part of CCM’s Grammy-nominated CD of works for winds and strings by Mozart. She is on the faculty at Roosevelt University and a proud native of Chicago.

Known for captivating interpretations of a wide repertoire Natalie Zhu is the recipient of the Avery Fisher Career Grant, Musical Fund Society Career Advancement Award, the Andrew Wolf Memorial Chamber Music Award, and Astral Artists Award. The Philadelphia Inquirer heralded Ms. Zhu in recital as a display of “emotional and pianistic pyrotechnics”. Selections from her live performances are frequently broadcasted on National Public Radio’s “Performance Today.”

Ms. Zhu has performed throughout North America, Europe, and Asia as a soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician. In the U.S. she has appeared as soloist with the Indianapolis Symphony, the Pacific Symphony, the Haddonfield Symphony, The Curtis Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, Princeton Chamber Orchestra, the Bergen Philharmonic, China Philharmonic, Riverside Symphony Orchestra, and the Colorado Philharmonic National Repertory Orchestra. Ms. Zhu made her European debut in 1994 at the Festival de Sully et d’Orleans in France, she has also given solo recitals at the Carnegie’s Weill and Zankel Hall in New York City, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Seattle Chamber Music Society, New York’s Steinway Hall and Merkin Hall, Philip Lorenz Memorial Keyboard Series in Fresno, Portland Piano Festival in Oregon, Munich’s Herkulessaal in Germany, and Beijing Concert Hall in China. She has performed with the Daedalus, Dover, Miami, Vermeer Quartets, and collaborated with members of the Guarneri, Orion, Mendelssohn, and Ying Quartets, as well as the Beaux Arts Trio and Time for Three. Ms. Zhu had been a touring recital partner with renowned violinist Hilary Hahn, and have maintained an ongoing partnership, most noticeably a Mozart Violin Sonatas recording with the Deutsche Grammophon label in 2005, as well as Suzuki Violin Books 1-3 in 2020.

As an active chamber musician, she has appeared in Marlboro Music Festival, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Curtis-On-Tour, Seattle Chamber Music Society, Maestro Foundation Concert Series, Skaneateles Festival, Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival, Bay Chamber Concerts, Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival, Tanglewood Music Festival, Chicago Chamber Musicians, Crested Butte Chamber Music Festival, The Friends of Chamber Music Reading Concert Series, and Brooklyn Library Chamber Music Series. Since 2009, Ms. Zhu has been the artistic director of the Kingston Chamber Music Festival in Rhode Island.

Natalie Zhu began her piano studies with Xiao-Cheng Liu at the age of six in her native China and made her first public appearance at age nine in Beijing. At eleven she emigrated with her family to Los Angeles, and studied with Robert Turner and Li Ming-Qiang. By age fifteen was enrolled at the Curtis Institute of Music where she received the prestigious Rachmaninoff Award and studied with Gary Graffman. She received both Master of Music degree and Artist Diploma from the Yale School of Music where she studied with the late Claude Frank. Ms. Zhu lives in Philadelphia suburbs with her husband and daughter.

Domrist, Mandolinist, and 2019 Astral National Auditions Winner, Ekaterina Skliar made her debut at age 11 with the Russian Folk Instrument Orchestra of the Buryatia Republic. Since then she has been performing throughout the United States, Europe, and Russia giving solo recitals and collaborating with various chamber groups and orchestras.

Ekaterina started her music education with Vera Lashkina, Merited Worker of Culture of the Russian Federation and a highly-acclaimed domra teacher, in her home city Abakan, Republic of Khakassia. At the age of 15, Ekaterina moved to Novosibirsk where she studied at the Novosibirsk Specialized Music School (college), which is one of the two most prestigious schools of music for protégés in Russia (the second one is in Moscow). She received her Bachelor’s degree with Honors in Music Performance from M. Glinka Novosibirsk State Conservatory playing domra and mandolin under Professor Andrey Kugaevsky.

Ekaterina has concertized throughout the United States and Russia giving solo recitals and performing with symphony and Russian folk instrument orchestras, and chamber ensembles. She has appeared in such concert halls as Academy of Music of Kimmel Center of Performing Arts, A. Katz State Concert Hall, Novosibirsk Philharmonic Hall, Big Academic Concert Hall of Krasnoyarsk State Academy of Music and Theatre, and numerous concert stages in the United States and Russia. Her large repertoire includes transcriptions of classical music, original works for domra and mandolin, contemporary and folk music.

Ekaterina performed with such orchestras as Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra, Munier Mandolin and Guitar Orchestra, Novosibirsk Orchestra of Russian Folk Instruments, Krasnoyarsk Philharmonic Russian Orchestra, and others. In 2015 Ekaterina took part in the Trans-Siberian Art Festival playing with violinist Vadim Repin and the Gypsy Folk String Ensemble “Lendvay & Friends.”

Ekaterina is a prizewinner of national, international and all-Russian competitions. In 2020 and 2019 Ekaterina was awarded a Silver Medal Global Music Award for her domra and mandolin recordings. In 2018, she was one of three winners in the Kaleidoscope Instrumental and Vocal Competition, chosen from more than 2,000 international applicants, after which she was invited to perform with the conductorless, collective Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra in Los Angeles.

Nathan Farrington is a bassist, singer, and composer living in Los Angeles. He regularly appears in the bass sections of many of America’s top orchestras including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony, the New York Philharmonic, the Cleveland Orchestra, the East Coast Chamber Orchestra, and the Seattle Symphony. Nathan was recently named the Principal Bass of the Los Angeles Opera Orchestra under James Conlon and Placido Domingo, and pursues chamber music and solo opportunities avidly.

Nathan has appeared at the Marlboro Music Festival, the Aspen Music Festival, the Olympic Music Festival, ChamberFest Cleveland, and the Da Camera Society. Wherever he is performing, Nathan makes sure to take along his trusty guitar and pairs singing and playing operatic arias and folk songs alongside his bass playing.

In addition to his performance interests, Nathan is deeply interested in Cinema. His Los Angeles-based audio company, Hazard Audio, connects top classical minds, with the artistic minds in movie and tv production. His life in each of these fields has helped him engage in new and interesting projects, highlighting the natural strengths of each of the two worlds.

Performer, composer, and Made in NY Jazz Competition Winner, Alexey Alexandrov is a unique artist who plays Domra in both classical and jazz styles. Expanding the boundaries of Domra, Alexey has integrated the sound of this Russian folk string instrument into the jazz stylistic. He currently resides in Philadelphia and performs solo and with various groups throughout the US.

Alexey has collaborated with musicians all over the world including John Lee, Al Foster, Oliver Lake, Kevin Mahogany, Alain Musichini, Bobby Sanabria, Vadim Repin, Aaron «Professor Louie» Hurwitz, and others. His large repertoire includes transcriptions of classical music, original works for domra, contemporary and jazz music, and his own compositions.

A prizewinner of many international competitions, in 2018 Alexey was awarded the first prize of the prestigious Made in NY Jazz Competition, where he competed with jazz musicians from all over the world. His other accomplishments include I prize at the First and Third International Competitions “Libertango”, Golden prize at the International “Gold Iria” Ethno Music Competition.

​In 2015 Alexey and his wife Ekaterina Skliar, who is also a professional musician, created an acoustic mandolin-domra duo. Together they have performed concerts in numerous American and Russian cities, where their performances got many positive reviews. The duo has become a nominee for the “MIRA” World Music Award and a winner in the category “Best Instrumental Project” of the International Music Festival “Ustuu-Huree”. Mark Linkins, Musical Director of Munier Mandolin and Guitar Orchestra, wrote about this project: “Both products of the M. Glinka Novosibirsk State Conservatory, Alexandrov and Skliar enthrall audiences with their virtuosic skill and impeccable artistry. The combination of Skliar’s pure, crystalline tone (mandolin) and Alexandrov’s warm, harp-like tone (domra) is magical.” Ekaterina and Alexey present a repertoire that spans the globe; from Bach duets to Russian folk songs, and from Alexey’s own compositions to neo folklore and jazz.

Alexey is also a founder of ethno-jazz project “Shake”. This project brings together jazz musicians and folk instrument performers and unites the atmosphere of freedom from Russian folk tradition and the spirit of improvisation from American jazz origins. The project became very successful in Russia and won multiple awards. In 2007 «Shake» recorded its first CD album «Jazz in Russian Style». The album was very well received and got many positive reviews. Specifically for this project, Alexey constructed four-stringed fretless balalaika-contrabass (traditional balalaika-contrabass has three strings and is a fretted instrument).

Alexey holds his DMA at Russia’s M. Glinka Novosibirsk Conservatory, one of the most prestigious music universities in Russia.

An exceptional musician renowned for her fluid technique, gorgeous tone, and brilliant, expressive performances, cellist Hai-Ye Ni enjoys a distinguished, multi-faceted career as principal cellist of the acclaimed Philadelphia Orchestra, and as a sought-after soloist and chamber musician.

A versatile artist whose performances have been praised by the press as “soulfully expressive” (Washington Post) and possessing a “superbly focused sound” (San Francisco Chronicle), Ms. Ni has performed on classical stages around the world, appearing as soloist with such symphony orchestras as Chicago, New York Philharmonic, San Francisco, Vienna Chamber Orchestra, Vancouver, Singapore, the Orchestre National de Paris, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Shanghai Symphony, China Philharmonic, and Hong Kong Philharmonic, among others.

er recital credits include the Lincoln Center New York, Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Smithsonian Institute, Gardner Museum, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, and the Wallace Collection in London. She has collaborated with some of today’s foremost artists, including pianists Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Lang Lang, Jeffrey Kahane, and Yefim Bronfman, and violinists Joshua Bell, Gil Shaham, Christian Tetzlaff, and Pinchas Zukerman. Among her festival credits are Ravinia, Marlboro, La Jolla SummerFest, Sarasota, Chamber Music Dolomiti (Italy), Pacific Music Festival, Santa Fe, Aspen, Spoleto, Kuhmo, and Pablo Casals (France).

In 2024, Ms. Ni played a recital tour in China, and in the summer, and performed at the Chamber Music Dolomites festival in Italy.

In 2023, she gave a recital at the New England Conservatory, and performed the Barber concerto with the Apollo Orchestra in Washington, DC. Hai-Ye made her solo debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra in 2010 in Saint-Sa&eml;ëns concerto with Maestro Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos. She was also featured in Haydn C major concerto, Tan Dun’s The Map Concerto for Cello, Video and Orchestra, Tchaikovsky Rococo Variations; the Brahms “Double” Concerto, and the Beethoven “Triple” Concerto.

Highlights of Hai-Ye’s past performances include an All Baroque Concertos program with the Philadelphia Chamber Orchestra as soloist and conductor. She also played trio with Lang Lang in 2009 at Carnegie for Ancient Paths, Modern Voices: A Festival Celebrating Chinese Culture. In 1997, Ms. Ni premiered composer Bright Sheng’s cello concerto Two Poems in a 14-city U.S. tour, in which she replaced cellist Yo-Yo Ma at his recommendation.

Hai-Ye Ni was born in Shanghai, China and began her cello studies with her mother and the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. She also studied with Irene Sharp at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Joel Krosnick at The Juilliard School, and with William Pleeth in London.

Violist Che-Hung Chen joined The Philadelphia Orchestra at the age of 20, when he was hired by then-Music Director Wolfgang Sawallisch, becoming the first Taiwanese citizen ever to join the Orchestra. He has also served as acting associate principal viola under former Music Director Christoph Eschenbach.

Mr. Chen was the first-prize winner at the Seventh Banff International String Quartet Competition as the founding member of the Daedalus Quartet; the Quartet was also awarded the Pièce de Concert prize for the best performance of a commissioned work and the Székely Prize for the best performance of a Beethoven quartet. A three-time, top-prize winner at the Taiwan National Instrumental Competition, Mr. Chen is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied with the legendary Joseph dePasquale. Mr. Chen has served as principal viola of the Curtis Symphony and recently appeared as guest principal viola with Japan’s Hyogo Performing Arts Center Orchestra, the San Diego Symphony, and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. Mr. Chen’s recording of Chiayu’s Twelve Signs for solo viola on the Naxos Label was praised in Gramophone magazine’s Awards 2015 issue for its ‘“mesmerizing intensity.’”

As a chamber musician, Mr. Chen was a participant at Marlboro Music, performing in its 50th anniversary concerts in Boston and New York’s Carnegie Hall, and in several “Musicians from Marlboro” national tours. He performs annually at the Kingston Chamber Music Festival in Rhode Island with his wife, pianist and Artistic Director Natalie Zhu, and has also participated in such festivals as Ravinia, Caramoor, Saratoga, Bridgehampton, and Music from Angel Fire. With Ms. Zhu, Philadelphia Orchestra colleague and First Associate Concertmaster Juliette Kang, and cellist Clancy Newman, he is a member of the Clarosa Piano Quartet, dedicated to exploring and enriching the piano quartet repertoire. Their debut performance earned praise from the Philadelphia Inquirer as “a combination of easy cohesion and unfettered, expressive freedom.” In the Fall of 2019, Mr. Chen founded Quartet Iris with Philadelphia Orchestra colleagues violinists Christine Lim, Julia Li, and cellist Yumi Kendall, eager to delve into the challenging realm of string quartet playing.

Mr. Chen serves on the faculty of Temple University’s Esther Boyer College of Music. He performs on a viola made by Carlo Antonio Testore in Milan, Italy, c.1756. He and Natalie reside in Narberth, PA, with their daughter, Clara.