Marina Piccinini, flute
Hye-Jin Kim, violin
Peter Stumpf, cello
Cynthia Raim, piano

Hailed by Gramophone magazine as “the Heifetz of the flute,”  Marina Piccinini is that rare, high-caliber artist who is devoted not only to her craft, but also to music education and the creation of programs featuring powerful traditional repertoire and inventive new works. She is an authentically modern voice and 21st century virtuoso, much sought after around the world as a soloist, chamber music collaborator, and recording artist.

Her rich artistic tapestry is woven from the multi-national, multi-lingual household in which she grew up, bringing that vibrant spirit and global perspective to all of her cultural and personal endeavors. As a 36th-generation Shaolin Fighting Monk, she relishes an ideology that inspires self-discovery, discipline, finding joy, and having no limits.

Known for expanding the repertoire of her instrument, her program offerings are among the most extensive of today’s illustrious artists, and she has premiered works by Aaron Jay Kernis, who recently wrote a flute concerto for her, John Harbison, Lukas Foss, Paquito D’Rivera, Marc-Andre Dalbavie, and Yuko Uebayashi, among others. Her appearances as soloist include the Boston, Vienna, Vancouver, Tokyo, Toronto and National Symphonies and London, Rotterdam, and Hong Kong Philharmonics, and she has worked with some of the leading conductors of our time, including Seiji Ozawa, Kurt Masur, Pierre Boulez, and Esa-Pekka Salonen. She also appears regularly on major stages around the world with such artists and ensembles as the Tokyo, Brentano, and Takács Quartets; pianists Mitsuko Uchida and Andreas Haefliger; and Tre Voci, her flute, harp, and viola trio; and she can be heard on the Avie, Claves, and ECM labels.

She is creator and founder of the Marina Piccinini International Masterclasses (MPIMC), in partnership with the New World Symphony. The first flutist to win the coveted Avery Fisher Career Grant, she was top prize winner of the CBC Young Performers Competition and Concert Artists Guild International Competition. She is currently on the faculty of the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University and lives with her family in Vienna and New York.

Known for her musical sensitivity and deeply engaging performances that transport audiences beyond mere technical virtuosity, violinist Hye-Jin Kim leads a versatile career as soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician since her First Prize win at the Yehudi Menuhin International Violin Competition at the age of nineteen and a subsequent win at the Concert Artists Guild International Competition.

Kim has performed as soloist with major orchestras worldwide including the Philadelphia, New Jersey Symphony, New Haven Symphony, BBC Concert (UK), Seoul Philharmonic (Korea), Pan Asia Symphony (Hong Kong), and Hannover Chamber (Germany) orchestras. She has appeared in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater, Kimmel Center Verizon Hall, the Kravis Center, Salzburg’s Mirabel Schloss, St. John’s Smith Square and Wigmore Hall in London. At the invitation of Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, she performed at the U.N. Headquarters in both Geneva and New York and served as a cultural representative for Korea in Switzerland, Australia, New Zealand, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan through concerts and outreach engagements. A passionate chamber musician, Kim has appeared in notable chamber music festivals including Marlboro, Ravinia, Four Seasons, Music from Angel Fire, [email protected], Taos School of Music, Seoul Spring, Bridgehampton, Music in the Vineyards chamber music festivals and Prussia Cove Open Chamber Music in England. A dedicated teacher for the next generation of musicians, Kim is frequently presented in master classes throughout the US and invited as a jury member in notable international and national competitions. Kim’s debut CD, From the Homeland with pianist Ieva Jokubaviciute featuring works by Debussy, Smetana, Sibelius, and Janacek (CAG Records), has been described by American Record Guide as “…superb - warm, polished, expressive…”

Born in Seoul, Korea, Hye-Jin Kim entered the Curtis Institute of Music at age 14 and earned her master’s degree at the New England Conservatory. Kim is Associate Professor of Violin at East Carolina University and a member of the Cooperstown Quartet. Kim is the founder and artistic director of Lullaby Dreams, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that brings beauty and humanity to the hospital experience of babies, families, and medical staff in NICUs and children’s hospitals through music.

Peter Stumpf is professor of cello at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. Prior to his appointment, he was principal cellist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Stumpf's tenure in Los Angeles followed 12 years as associate principal cellist of the Philadelphia Orchestra. His professional orchestral career began at the age of 16 when he joined the cello section of the Hartford Symphony Orchestra. He received a bachelor's degree from the Curtis Institute of Music and an Artist's Diploma from the New England Conservatory.

A dedicated chamber music musician, he was a member of the Johannes String Quartet and has appeared on the chamber music series at Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, the Boston Celebrity Series, the Da Camera Society in Los Angeles, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Casals Hall in Tokyo, and at the concert halls of Cologne. He has collaborated with pianists Leif Ove Andsnes, Emanuel Ax, Jorge Bolet, Yefim Bronfman, Radu Lupu, Wolfgang Sawallisch, András Schiff, Jean Yves Thibaudet, Mitsuko Uchida, and with the Emerson and Guarneri String Quartets.

Mr. Stumpf's awards include first prize in the Washington International Competition, the Graham-Stahl Competition, and the Aspen Concerto Competition and second prize in the Evian International String Quartet Competition. As a teacher, he has served on the cello faculty of the University of Southern California, Hartt School of Music at the University of Hartford, the New England Conservatory, and guest artist faculty at the Curtis Institute of Music.

Cynthia Raim came to international attention when she was unanimously chosen as the First Prize Winner of the 1979 Clara Haskil International Piano Competition in Switzerland, after winning First Prizes in the 1977 Three Rivers National Piano Competition in Pittsburgh and the J. S. Bach International Piano Competition in Washington DC. She has been acclaimed for her concerto, recital, and chamber music performances throughout the United States and abroad and also won the 1987 Pro Musicis Award, the Festorazzi Award at the Curtis Institute and the "Distinguished Artist Award" from The Musical Fund Society of Philadelphia.

Cynthia Raim has appeared in recitals with soprano Benita Valente, cellist David Soyer, violinist Arnold Steinhardt, violist Samuel Rhodes, and the Guarneri String Quartet and has recorded for Gall, Pantheon, and Connoisseur Society, including solo albums of Ravel, Schumann, Brahms, and Schubert and two-piano recordings of Rachmaninoff, Brahms, and Dvořák with David Allen Wehr.

A native of Detroit, where she studied with Mischa Kottler, Ms. Raim studied with Rudolf Serkin and Mieczyslaw Horszowski at the Curtis Institute of Music, where she earned bachelors and masters degrees.