HANNA KIM • biography
“Hanna Kim has over 25 years of professional playing and teaching experience. She was a teaching professor at Chung-Ang University and an associate professor at Seoul National University of Education in Korea. Hanna's playing has been described as a highly intuitive violinist. Her sense of the music shines through her performances.
Hanna earned her Doctoral degree in musical performance from Trossingen University of Music, Germany, in 2014, preceded by master's and bachelor's degrees from Mannheim University of Music and Performing Arts, Germany, in 2011.
Her musical journey has earned her numerous international music awards, including prestigious honours such as "CITTA DI BARLETTA," "PADOVA,"and "LUIGI ZANUCCOLI." She has performed on stages across Germany, Russia, China, and beyond, captivating audiences with solo recitals and as a featured soloist with renowned orchestras.
Adding to her impressive repertoire, Hanna has released her solo album titled "MERCY" and contributed to the BEVIOLINCE album "GRACE," showcasing her versatility and artistry as a violinist. Furthermore, she shares her passion for music as the host of "Hanna's Music&More" on Toronto Christian Broadcasting.
With her expertise in performance, teaching, and musical exploration, Hanna Kim continues to inspire audiences worldwide with her profound musical expression and dedication.
Hanna currently resides in the Toronto area and holds the Concertmaster position with the celebrated Ontario Philharmonic."
HWAEUN STELLA SONG • biography
Stella Song At the age of 16, Violinist Stella Hwaeun Song left South Korea to study with distinguished Professor Michael Gaiser and Valery Gradow at Robert Schumann Musikhochschule in Düssseldorf, Germany. There she earned a doctorate degree in violin performance as head of the class in 2007. She was acknowledged for her warm tone with rich emotion conveyed in her performance upon winning a special prize at the Smoltz Bickenbach Competition in Germany. Stella then embarked upon an active performing career in Europe, including Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Luxembourg.
She made appearances as a soloist on the stages such as "George Enescu" Philharmonic Orchestra in Romania, Brno Orchestra in Czech, Becksteinhaus in Germany, Luxemburg Festival, and Swiss Lugano Festival. As a symphony musician she also enjoyed performing in orchestras such as Düssseldorf Symphony, Bochum Symphony, and Köln Philharmonic orchestra.
Returning back to her homeland in 2010 she joined Bucheon Philharmonic and she continued to build her solo career at the Seoul art center and Sejong art Center for the Performing Arts giving annual recitals. Currently she resides in Ontario, Canada passionately engaged in performing chamber music as well as giving regular recitals and appearance as assistant concertmaster on Symphonic stages throughout Ontario Philharmonic Orchestra. She is also coaching at the OYMCO (Outstanding Young Musicians Orchestra)
SOPHIE LANTHIER • biography
Sophie Lanthier is a Toronto-based flutist with a deep commitment to both contemporary and orchestral music. She is particularly dedicated to discovering and programming music that reflects the growing diversity of the contemporary flute repertoire, with a focus on works by women composers.
Currently, Lanthier is a flutist with the Toronto Alternative Chamber Orchestra and serves as second flute with the Ontario Philharmonic. She also performs with various orchestras across Southern Ontario. Notably, in May 2024, Lanthier was featured as a soloist with the Oakville Symphony Orchestra, where she performed François Borne's Fantaisie brillante sur 'Carmen.' In 2025, she is scheduled to perform Vivaldi's Piccolo Concerto in C major, RV 443, with the Ontario Philharmonic.
In addition to her performance career, Lanthier is a passionate music educator. She joined Wilfrid Laurier’s Faculty of Music as a Flute instructor in 2024 and also serves as a chamber music and ensemble coach at the University of Toronto. She is the flute instructor at Branksome Hall, maintains a large private studio in Toronto, and coaches the flute section of the Oakville Symphony Youth Orchestra and the Toronto Youth Wind Orchestra.
Lanthier is currently completing her Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of Toronto. She holds a Master of Music degree from Northwestern University, an Artist Diploma from the Glenn Gould School, and a Bachelor of Music degree in Flute Performance from the University of Toronto. Her teachers have included Leslie Newman, Nora Shulman, Susan Hoeppner, and John Thorne, with additional studies in piccolo under Alyce Johnson and Jennifer Gunn.
SEAN VAN GULIK • biography
Sean van Gulik is a freelance trumpet player based in the Toronto area, with a versatile performance portfolio that includes appearances with the National Arts Centre Orchestra, Ottawa Symphony Orchestra, Symphony Nova Scotia, and various chamber orchestras and small ensembles. In April 2018, Sean earned a Master's degree in Trumpet Performance from the University of Ottawa, where he studied under Karen Donnelly, principal trumpet of the National Arts Centre Orchestra.
Growing up in The Salvation Army church, Sean began playing the cornet at the age of six. He now works as a Project Specialist in The Salvation Army’s music department and plays flugelhorn with the Canadian Staff Band.
LIANE JAMES • biography
Liane James is an accomplished soloist, orchestral harpist, chamber musician, and harp teacher.
Liane is the Principal Harpist of the renowned Ontario Philharmonic. She regularly plays with other distinguished ensembles including the Kingston Symphony, Peterborough Symphony, and Orchestra Toronto. In addition to orchestral repertoire, Liane enjoys performing significant works for choir and harp, and has worked with many choral ensembles such as the Young Singers, Espressivo Singers, and the Toronto Beaches Children’s & Youth Chorus. She is a highly sought-after harpist for a wide range of special events including weddings, receptions, and corporate functions. She is passionate about sharing her love of the harp and she runs an active teaching studio. Liane served as vice-president of the Ontario chapter of the American Harp Society from 2013-2018.
Liane earned a Master of Music degree from the University of Toronto and a Bachelor of Music degree from Wilfrid Laurier University. She is an alumna of the National Youth Orchestra of Canada. She is honoured to have studied with inspirational teachers, notably Judy Loman, Lori Gemmell, Sharlene Wallace, and Heidi Krutzen. Liane regularly performs throughout Ontario and currently resides in Durham region.
LEXIE KRAKOWSKI • biography
Canadian cellist Lexie Jana Krakowski has delighted audiences from coast to coast, praised for her moving performances and sound that has been described as ‘youthfully vibrant yet having the quality of an old soul’. Featured on CBC’s ‘Classical 30 under 30’ in 2022, her most recent season included a trio of solo appearances with Symphony New Brunswick, performing Dvorak’s Cello Concerto across the province. She was also honoured to have been a prize winner at the 2023 Shean Strings Competition and performed a successful series of outreach recitals this summer in her hometown of Victoria, British-Columbia.
Having a somewhat peculiar start to her studies, the summer after her 7th birthday Krakowski’s non-musical parents enrolled her in a day camp at the Victoria Conservatory of Music. Little did they know, she would return utterly enthralled with the cello and the teacher who had introduced her to it. Not quite sure what this would entail, her parents willingly signed her up for a year of lessons. Over a decade later, Krakowski has performed actively as a solo, chamber, and orchestral musician. In addition to appearing as soloist with numerous orchestras in Victoria, she has placed in competitions across the country; most notably obtaining First Prize and the Grand Award at the 2021 National Music Festival of Canada.
Krakowski is currently in the third year of her undergraduate degree under the tutelage of Hans Jørgen Jensen and Andrés Díaz at the Glenn Gould School of Music in Toronto, Canada. She is grateful to receive full scholarship support from the Patrick and Barbara Keenan Foundation, the BC Arts Council, RBC Emerging Artists Project and the Gail O’Riordan Climate and the Arts Legacy Fund (from which her cello and bow is loaned). Lexie will forever strive to share the joy of music with her audience. A conscientious and heartfelt performer, Lexie will forever strive to share her joy of music with her audiences by transmitting her love of playing.
PAOLO ROSSELLI • biography
Paolo Rosselli is an active freelance horn player in the Greater Toronto Area and is currently attending the Glenn Gould School of Music for the Artist Diploma in Performance program. Paolo has previously held the position of 4thHorn with the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra and has played with orchestras around Canada and the United States – such as the Ontario Philharmonic, Cape Cod Symphony and Atlantic Symphony Orchestra.
In 2023, Paolo graduated from New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) in Boston with a Masters of Music in Horn Performance; at NEC, Paolo had the pleasure of privately studying with Michael Winter (3rd Horn, BSO) and learning directly from world-renowned brass musicians and pedagogues – such as Gus Sebring, James Sommerville, Eli Epstein and James Markey. Prior to his time at NEC, Paolo attended the University of Toronto where he achieved a Bachelors of Music (2020) and Advanced Certificate in Performance (2021) while studying with Chris Gongos (Associate Principal Horn, TSO) and Audrey Good (2nd Horn, TSO).
During his time, Paolo was also a member of the Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra where he was coached by Vanessa Fralick (TSO) and Nick Hartman (TSO). Paolo also has attended prestigious summer festivals, such as Aspen Music Festival (2023),National Academy Orchestra of Canada (2022) and National Youth Orchestra of Canada (2021). Outside of his performance pursuits, Paolo works as the Festival Manager for the Toronto Bach Festival and is also passionate about promoting queer excellence in the arts.
RICCI EBRON • biography
Ricci Ebron is a freelance musician, audio engineer, and video editor. She received her Bachelor of Music from the University of Toronto, studying in the comprehensive flute program with a minor in psychology. Ricci studied flute and piccolo with Camille Watts of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and Stephen Tam of the Canadian Sinfonietta, and has performed in masterclasses for Bonita Boyd of the Eastman School of Music, internationally renowned flutist and composer Robert Aitken, Kelly Zimba of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Denis Bluteau of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, and Dr. Christine Beard of the University of Nebraska. Having won numerous awards and scholarships for flute and piano performances over the past 15years, she is always in high demand to play in ensembles and productions. Ricci has performed in multiple professional orchestras such as Ontario Philharmonic, Orchestra Toronto, and Brantford Symphony Orchestra, and has accompanied various artists of note such as pianists Lang Lang and Eva Gevorgyan.
Ricci has gathered multi-faceted experience in the music field through work as Education Assistant at the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, as a recording engineer, music booking office associate, library assistant, and student ambassador at the University of Toronto Faculty of Music, as well as through recording and editing performances for local organizations and musicians. In 2022, Ricci obtained her masters in the Music Technology and Digital Media Field program at the University of Toronto, where she composed for games and films, and recorded an album of video game music called GAMEBOXMIXX. Outside of music, Ricci holds glider and power pilot’s licenses and loves flying and travelling to be immersed in different cultures and to meet new people. Her dream is to work with soundtrack music, whether through the recording studio or performing in a soundtrack or pit orchestra. For more information, please visit
ricci.ebron.com.
TYLER ROMESBERG • biography
Tyler Romesberg holds a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education from the University of North Texas and is currently pursuing graduate studies in Oboe Performance at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. During his time at UNT, Romesberg won the UNT Chamber Music Competition as a member of a woodwind quintet, and he was a finalist in the UNT Concerto Competition.
Outside of school, he has also attended Rocky Ridge Music, the Curtis Mentorship Program, the 2020Eastern Music Festival Virtual Session, and the International Lyric Academy in Vicenza, Italy. In the Greater Toronto Area, Romesberg is Principal Oboe of Oakville Symphony.
As a teacher, Tyler Romesberg served as an oboe instructor for Carroll School District from 2019-2022 and the double reed instructor for Aubrey School District in 2022.In addition to lessons for young oboists and bassoonists, he also taught masterclasses, reed making classes, and a combined beginner double reed class.
Beyond the school system, Romesberg teaches private oboe lessons in Toronto, and in 2018 he served as the oboe instructor at Ecole de Musique Ste. Trinité in Mirebalais, Haiti.
Tyler Romesberg’s primary teachers are Sarah Jeffrey, James Ryon, and Anita Juilianna, and he has also studied with Katharine Needleman, Eric Ohlssohn, and Peter Cooper. As a masterclass participant, Romesberg has performed for Richard Woodhams, Eugene Izotov, Nancy King, and William Welter.
When he is not making reeds or practicing, Romesberg loves to be outside, and he enjoys hiking, skiing, and running.
PROGRAM NOTES
by John Green
George Frederic Handel (1685-1759)
Concerto for Harp in B flat major
In 1738, Handel’s harp concerto was published as an organ concerto, originally composed for that instrument. It was intended to be played by him as interludes between sections of his oratorios. As written, the concerto is equally effective on either instrument, even indeed for “harp, lute, lyrichord (a keyboard instrument where a bow is passed over a string mechanism) and other instruments.”
How a piece written specifically for the organ became principally a harp concerto seems rather strange, the explanation probably lost somewhere back in the 1700s. But it hardly matters because the beauty of music composed by the Baroque masters—Handel, Vivaldi, and Bach—was their genius in writing music that could be played on a variety of instruments.
Vittorio Monti (1868-1922)
Csardas
Vittorio Monti is one of those rare composers whose legacy rests on a single composition—the Csardas, and although the name of this Italian violinist and conductor has been mostly forgotten among contemporary musicians, he is remembered as the composer of one of the most popular works still performed widely by world orchestras.
Csardas was written in 1904 and remains Monti’s sole work in today’s repertoire. It is a folkloric Hungarian dance, originally written for the violin but subsequently transposed for several different instruments including mandolin and piano. Its popularity has remained front and centre, even being included in a piece by Lady Gaga titled Alejandro.
Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
Concerto for Piccolo in C major
Vivaldi’s piccolo concerto was one of three he probably wrote for his students at the Ospedale della Pietà in Venice where he was music director. Judging by its intricate development, his students must have been quite talented, able to showcase Vivaldi’s inventive compositional style. The piece displays the “piccolo's agility, brilliance, and ethereal quality, demonstrating {the composer’s} deep understanding of the instrument's capabilities.” It is written in the common Baroque style of three movements each having a unique atmosphere. The first, an Allegro, introduces the piccolo with bravado introducing a back-and-forth dialogue with the orchestra. The second Adagio displays a contrasting mood of delicate phrasing and lyric lines. At the movement’s conclusion there is a breathless feeling of anticipation about what is to come. What occurs is the lively Allegro heard in the first movement. This time, however, Vivaldi engages the incredible full capability of the solo instrument—lightning-fast phrases and rhythmic drive.
George Gershwin (1898-1937)
Promenade (Walking the Dog)
It would be a difficult task to find anyone who didn’t recognize at least one of George Gershwin’s compositions. His work spanned the entire genres of popular, jazz, and classical. Among his best-known music are the orchestral compositions Rhapsody in Blue (1924) and An American in Paris (1928); the songs Swanee (1919) and Fascinating Rhythm (1924); the jazz standards Embraceable You (1928) and I Got Rhythm (1930); and the universally popular opera Porgy and Bess (1935) which includes the hit Summertime.
Walking the Dog was written in 1937 for the film score Shall We Dance staring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. The movie features Gershwin’s score including a ‘Walking the Dog’ sequence aboard an ocean liner. Of interest is that Gershwin’s score for the film remains unpublished to this day; however, in 2013 the Gershwin family announced that a full score for Shall we Dance will be released as part of the University of Michigan’s Gershwin Project.
Tommaso Antonio Vitali (1663-1745)
Chaconne
The Chaconne in G minor, traditionally attributed to Tommaso Vitali, is open to debate regarding the origin of its composition. Some music historians believe the piece is a hoax, actually composed and arranged by Ferdinand David, a German violin virtuoso and composer; however, there is little to substantiate this claim, and the name that remains on the early 18thcentury Dresden manuscript is Vitali’s.
This Romantic-style showpiece is Vatali’s major claim to fame, and despite its dubious origin it remains a work of enduring popularity. John Henken, program supporter for the Los Angeles Philharmonic, describes the Chaconne, “…original variations over the simple basic pattern are astonishingly inventive and pack a powerful emotional punch for such a seemingly abstract genre.”
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Horn Concerto No. 4 in E flat major
The E-flat major horn concerto is the third of Mozart’s four horn concertos, probably written sometime between1784 and 1791. The concerto is a product of Mozart’s Vienna period, a significant time for the composer, the most fruitful and successful period of his compositional life. During this time he produced not only the four horn concertos but also eleven piano concertos, an opera, and a large variety of incidental piano and violin works.
In relation to the horn it is not Mozart’s name that comes readily to mind, certainly not in the way his piano concertos and violin works do. But because Mozart is Mozart, the many outstanding wind instrument parts found in his orchestral and opera works—including the four horn concertos—speak volumes for his genius as a composer.
All four of Mozart’s horn concertos—including the No. 3—were written for Joseph Leutgeb, Mozart’s childhood friend and a horn virtuoso of the highest standard. It’s important to remember that horns during this period were “natural” in that they had no valves, unable to produce all the notes. Instead, the player placed his moving hand into the bell of the horn thus producing many of the pitches and intonations found in the score. This “hand-stopping” technique was a difficult task, even for an accomplished musician like Leutgeb, and to make matters even more demanding, Mozart inserted several “lip trills” and “challenging tonguing” techniques into the music.
The work is written in the standard Mozart three-movement format: first and third fast movements with a lyrical “Romance” movement between them. The concerto, not unlike its three siblings, is engagingly and enlighteningly Mozart.
Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959)
Bachianas brasileiras No. 5
As a composer, Heitor Villa-Lobos was exposed to very little formal training in counterpoint or harmony. His musical insight came from secretive observations of his father’s musical evenings in their home in Rio de Janeiro; from these he learned to play the cello and classical guitar. After his father’s death he became the family’s principal wage earner playing in theatre orchestras in Rio; but his compositions, many based on musical influences of Brazil's indigenous cultures, were not considered for publication until 1905.
The series of nine suites that make up his famous Bachianas brasileiras, written for a variety of instruments, was composed between 1930 and 1945. The music represents a synthesis of Brazilian folk music and the counterpoint and harmonic complexity typical of J. S. Bach's musical style—thus the word Bach in the title Bachianas. The number five is the best-known suite among the nine and quite possibly the most popular piece of all of Villa-Lobos’ compositional output—over 2000 works before his death in 1959.
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F major
The Brandenburgs, as they are familiarly referred to, are a set of six instrumental works by J. S. Bach composed around 1751, although some of them seem to have appeared much earlier. The speculation with regard to their composition dates depended to a certain extent on the instrumentation Bach had available to him at the time each was completed.
The collection was a gift to Christian Ludwig Margrave of Brandenburg. Bach’s dedication to the Margrave read, ”As I had the good fortune a few years ago to be heard by Your Royal Highness, at Your Highness's commands, and as I noticed then that Your Highness took some pleasure in the little talents which Heaven has given me for Music, and as intaking leave of Your Royal Highness, Your Highness deigned to honour me with the command to send Your Highness some pieces of my Composition”.
It is necessary to remember that much of Bach’s music has been lost, particularly those manuscripts he insisted on copying out himself instead of relying a hired copyist. The Concerto No. 2 may very well have been based on one of these lost scores—a chamber music version of a much earlier Bach quintet.
