Praised as an “artist of enormous prowess” (Verbier Festival Newsletter) with a “wide range of rich colors” (San Diego Story) and playing that is “imaginative, intoxicating... high-voltage” (Sindelfinger Zeitung), American pianist Sahun Sam Hong brings his distinctly magnetic tone and artistic vision to recital, chamber, and concerto stages worldwide.

Hong is a prize winner of numerous international competitions, including the Vendome Prize at Verbier, International Beethoven Competition Vienna, and Naumburg International Piano Competition. He was also a recipient of a 2021 American Pianists Award.

Described as a “virtuoso, scaling realms... [with] sheer beauty of tone” (Boston Musical Intelligencer), he has been invited as soloist with the ORF-Vienna, Milwaukee, Indianapolis, Budapest Symphony MAV, Azerbaijan State, Fort Worth, Racine, Camerata New York, Richardson, Waco, Galveston, and Brazos Valley Symphonies. Hong has performed at prestigious venues such as Carnegie Hall’s Weill Hall, Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, the Vienna Musikverein, Église de Verbier, Merkin Hall, and the Kennedy Center.

A highly sought-after chamber musician, Hong appears regularly on national tours and mainstage concerts with organizations such as Marlboro, Music@Menlo, Ravinia’s Steans Institute, and Four Seasons. He is a member of the Bowers Program (2024–27) at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.

In addition to performing, Hong is a prolific arranger and orchestrator, recognized for his innovative transcriptions that are performed worldwide and featured prominently in the touring programs of ensemble132, which he co-directs. Hong’s unique imagination for texture and color has led to ongoing relationships and commissions for orchestras such as the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and Mount Vernon Virtuosi.

Hong’s primary mentors have included John Owings, Leon Fleisher, and Yong Hi Moon. He is currently based in New York City, and serves on the faculty of CUNY Queens College. Hong is a Steinway Artist.

Jacques-Pierre Malan is an internationally acclaimed, award-winning South African cellist known for his vibrant musicality and compelling stage presence. Currently based in the United States, he maintains an active career as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral performer, while also remaining deeply committed to music education and cultural diplomacy.

Malan has been described as a “tour de force” player, appearing with orchestras and ensembles across the globe. He serves as Cellist-in-Residence and Artistic Director for the Embassy Series in Washington, D.C., where he curates programs centered on diplomatic and humanitarian themes. He is also the founder of the Embassy String Quartet and a member of the Serafin Ensemble.

Throughout his career, Malan has been recognized with prizes in competitions including the Yale Gordon String Competition and the SAMRO Bursary Competition. Alongside his performance schedule, he is passionate about community outreach and mentorship. He performs on a cello crafted by Greg Walke, known for its depth of tone and expressive resonance.

Praised for his “beautiful”, “sweet-voiced” tone, and “superbly acted” portrayals, Patrick Kilbride, tenor, is enjoying an international career. He is a graduate of Northwestern University and the University of Maryland Opera Studio. He completed additional studies as a Vocal Fellow with the Aspen Opera Theater Center, The Tanglewood Music Center, and the Académie with Festival d’Aix-en-Provence. Patrick was the winner of the 24th International Concours de Chant in Clermont-Ferrand, France, debuting in the opera houses of Rennes, Clermont-Ferrand, Chaise Dieu, and Avignon in Handel’s Acis and Galatea with Damien Guillon and Le Banquet Céleste. He has sung roles with Festival Aix-en-Provence in the opera houses of Paris, Luxembourg, and the Royal Opera Versailles with Leonardo García Alarcón; at the Britten-Pears Aldeburgh Festival Snape Maltings Concert Hall with Christian Curnyn, and with Opéra National du Rhin in their critically acclaimed, new production of Monteverdi’s L’Incoronazione di Poppea, conducted by Raphaël Pichon with Ensemble Pygmalion.

In the United States Patrick has performed extensively with Washington, DC’s Opera Lafayette, the Boston Early Music Festival and Annapolis Opera, and as a concert soloist he has appeared with the Washington Bach Consort, Cathedral Choral Society, Grammy award-winning Seraphic Fire, the New World Symphony, and Fort Worth Symphony, in venues including The Kennedy Center in Washington, DC; in New York at Lincoln Center, Brooklyn Academy of Music and Tanglewood’s Seiji Ozawa Concert Hall. Recent performances include an international tour of Handel’s Theodora with Ensemble Jupiter in Toulouse, Versailles, Madrid, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Bordeaux, Brussels, Dijon, and Montpellier. Future performances include his professional debut in Chicago, Illinois as he joins Haymarket Opera in two productions of their 2026 season, Charpentier’s David et Jonathas and Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo. He has been a Lecturer for the University of Maryland Opera Studio, and is a member of the American Guild of Musical Artists. Beyond his performing and teaching career, Patrick is an accomplished mixed media artist, with a focus on watercolor painting. www.PatrickKilbride.com

Yejin Lee is an active soloist and chamber musician based in the United States. She has been invited to perform in many prestigious venues, including her solo debut at Weill Recital Hall of Carnegie Hall in New York, the Cultural Art Center in Jaen, Spain, the Tyler Recital Hall in Florida, and the Seoul Arts Center in Seoul, Korea. Her performances have also been featured and broadcast live on WCLV 104.9 FM from the Cleveland Play House. She has appeared as a soloist with the Korean Symphony Orchestra and with the Accord Symphony Orchestra.

Yejin has claimed awards at prestigious competitions, including the Dallas International Piano Competition, Kingsville International Piano Competition, and Wideman International Piano Competition. She has also performed at leading music festivals and masterclasses at the Mozarteum Academy in Salzburg, the Banff Music Festival, the Gijon Music Festival in Spain, and PianoTexas International Academy & Festival. She has shared musical inspiration with some of the great pedagogues and pianists of this century, including Richard Goode, Dmitry Bashkirov, Stephen Hough, John O’Conor, John Perry, and Karl-Heinz Kämmerling.

Yejin graduated with honors from the Oberlin Conservatory, earning degrees in both piano performance and vocal accompanying under Haewon Song and Philip Highfill. She later completed her master’s and doctorate degrees under Boris Slutsky at the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University. Shecontinues to receive invaluable mentorship from Lambert Orkis, further cultivating her artistry.

She currently serves as a piano faculty member at the Washington Conservatory of Music and as a professorial lecturer at George Washington University. As a staff pianist at Shenandoah University, she actively collaborates with students in both solo and ensemble performances. In addition to her academic roles, Yejin maintains a private teaching studio and is dedicated to music education as a member of MTNA and NVMTA.

As the founder and artistic director of Matinee-M, a house concert series in McLean, VA, she is also committed to bringing classical music into the community through intimate and engaging performances.