The "Back to BACH" Project
Students for the Arts!
Ashley Chung
Member Since May 2018
Ashley Chung, 15, is currently a 10th grade student attending Sage Hill High School in Newport Beach. She started playing the cello when she was eight years old with Sarah Koo Freeman and is now studying with Sang Won Cho.
She was chosen to play in many selective orchestras, such as the Irvine Unified School District Honor Orchestra and performed at Segerstrom Hall and Disneyland multiple times with the ensemble. Ashley also played in the Pacific Symphony’s Santiago Strings as principal cellist which received a unanimous superior rating from the American Strings Teachers Association (ASTA). Also, she was the assistant principal cellist at the Southern California School Band & Orchestra Association Honor Group and was a part of the California Orchestra Director’s Association All-State Orchestra. Additionally, Ashley has been placed second place in the Pre-college division ASTA-LA solo competition this year and third place in Intermediate division ASTA-LA solo competition in 2017.
Outside of music, Ashley is a nationally top ranked competitive archer. Ashley has been shooting archery since when she was in third grade. She ranked top 5 in the California Archery Rankings, 10th place in the U.S. indoor national competition, 11th place in the Chula Vista national competition, and 15th place in the Arizona U.S. national competition in 2018.
Currently, Ashley serves as a principal cellist at her school’s orchestra while orchestrating her own Music Therapy club as a president. Together with her Music Therapy club, Ashley regularly visits Dementia and Alzheimer’s facilities in Garden Grove, using her musical talent to make this community a better place.
Albert Gang
Member Since Fall 2016
Sixteen-year-old violinist Albert Gang is the recipient of numerous awards, including first prize in the Palisades Symphony Young Artist Competition and prizes in the ENKOR International Competition and the Classics Alive Young Artist Auditions. He also was a finalist in the Mondavi National Young Artists’ Competition. Albert has been featured as a soloist with the Pacific Symphony, Palisades Symphony and MUSE/IQUE, and as a chamber musician in the Music Academy of the West’s MERIT Program and the Young Musicians Foundation’s Chamber Music Series. In his summers, Albert has attended the Meadowmount School of Music and the Aspen Music Festival. Currently, Albert studies with Margaret Batjer at the Colburn Music Academy.
Hannah Kim
Member Since April 2019; Assoc. R.D. Fall 2019
Hannah Kim, a sixteen-year-old violinist, is a sophomore at the Sage Hill High School in Newport Coast, CA, where she serves a co-chair of the grade. She started playing violin when she was five years old and currently studies with Linda Rose. She is a principal second violin at her school orchestra and a first violin member at PSYO. She appeared multiple times as a soloist with the Dream Orchestra, YMF's Debut Orchestra, Riverside Philharmonic, SYMF Orchestra and San Fernando Valley Symphony. She won many
1st place prizes from competitions including ASTA, MTAC, SYMF and Musical Arts Competition of Orange County. She was a merit scholarship recipient for five consecutive years (2012-2017) at the Young Musicians Foundation (YMF) and the Colburn School. She was selected by the faculty of the Colburn School to perform at the School's Honors recitals in 2015 and 2016. She has been actively involved in chamber music for over seven years. As a chamber musician, she was named debut artist of the year by JCM multiple times and won Silver Medal in 2017 PCM Chamber Music Competition. She helps organize benefit concerts and performs as a soloist and a chamber musician to raise funds for the Smile Train, a nonprofit organization that provides corrective surgery for children with cleft lips and palate. She has attended the Montecito International Music Festival and the Meadowmount School of Music in the past summers and this summer she is looking forward to participate in the Curtis Summerfest.
Andrew Do
Member Since Fall 2018
Andrew Do, 16, is a junior at Northwood High School in Irvine, California, and started playing the cello at the age of 8. He currently studies with Sarah Koo Freeman. Andrew was invited to compete in the X International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians in Astana, Kazakhstan, and was a prizewinner of the ASTA solo competition numerous times. Most recently, he served as the principal cellist for the national Honors Orchestra of America. At the age of 11, Andrew made his Carnegie Hall debut in New York City as a prizewinner of the American Protégé Competition, and subsequently performed in Weill Recital Hall. Andrew has also participated in Chamber Music | OC’s Young Artist Program in chamber music trios, and has performed with numerous orchestras such as Pacific Symphony Santiago Strings and California All-State Orchestra. Andrew has played for acclaimed musicians such as Sergei Roldugin, Darrett Adkins, Gilda Barston, Alan Stepansky, Philip Setzer, and Robert deMaine in various masterclasses. Outside of the cello, Andrew enjoys debate and is a staff writer for his school’s newspaper. Andrew is set to join the "Back to BACH" Project in the fall of 2018.
Grace Choi
Member Since Fall 2018
Grace Choi, 16, is a junior at Crean Lutheran High School and the concertmaster at her school orchestra. She has been playing the violin since the age of 9. She now studies with Min Jung Park and Yuki Mori at The Mori & Park Violin Studio. Grace has participated in various orchestras such as, 2015-2016 All-Southern Orchestra as the second violin principal, 2016-2017 Pacific Symphony Santiago Strings, 2018 All-State Orchestra, and 2017-2018 Pacific Symphony Youth Orchestra. She has also entered 2017 SYMF and won third place for the Open Baroque category and 2018 SYMF and won first place for Open American Composer category. Grace is set to join the “BACK TO BACH” Project in Fall 2018.
Tyler Kim
Member Since Winter 2019-20
Seventeen-year-old Korean-American pianist Tyler Kim made his concert debut at the age of ten with the Viennese International Orchestra at the Palais Ausburg in Vienna, Austria. Since then, he has performed with various orchestras including the San Diego Symphony, Greater San Diego Symphony, Montgomery Symphony Orchestra, Alicante Philharmonic Orchestra of Spain, MostArts Festival Orchestra, and Inland Valley Symphony. Some of Tyler’s major recitals include two performances in Weil Recital Hall at the Carnegie Hall, Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, and a duo performance of Scaramouche for two pianos by Darius Milhaud with world renowned concert pianist, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, CA. In addition to orchestra and solo recital appearances, Tyler’s most recent competitive accomplishments include being the grand prize winner at the Los Angeles Music Center’s Spotlight Competition, semi-finalist at the International Piano-e Competition, finalist at the Bosendorfer and Yamaha USASU International Piano Competition, 1st prize at the Blount-Slawson Young Artists Competition, 1st prize at the Mondavi Center National Young Artists Competition, and 1st place in the MTNA California State Competition. Tyler is a junior at Temecula Valley High School and currently studies with Myong-joo Lee. Tyler studied at the Colburn Music Academy for three years and is now currently enrolled in Chamber Music OC and Junior Chamber Music Orange County.
Chunyi Zhou
Member Since Winter 2019-20
Chunyi Zhou, thirteen-year-old violinist, moved from Cambridge, England with her family in 2015. Having studied the violin in the UK for 2 years, she soon took up studying with her current teacher, Linda Rose. Chunyi was a featured performer on NPR’s radio program ‘From the Top’ as a soloist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, conducted by Maestro Paolo Bortolameolli in March of 2018. She was also the recipient of the Great Los Angeles ASTA Finals Grand Prize. Miss Zhou has won numerous other competitions, including 1st place in the Redlands Bowl Young Artist competition 2016. She was the 1st Place winner of the Orange County 2016 Area ASTA Competition and subsequently the 1st Place winner of the Great Los Angeles 2016 in ASTA Finals, in addition to 1st place in the JCM/CAPMT Concerto competition 2017 and 1st place in the Classics Alive Young Artist Auditions 2017. Most recently, Chunyi won the Parness Concerto Competition and played the full Mozart No. 4 concerto with the Culver City Symphony Orchestra. She then attended the Hennings-Fischer Young Artist Competition (Burbank Philharmonic) for musicians under 30 and was the youngest finalist in the 19-year history of the competition. Chunyi attends University High School in Irvine, California. Aside from violin, her academic pursuits include mathematics and science.
Kate Lee
Member Since May 2020
Kate Lee, 15, is a 9th grader at Arnold O. Beckman High School. She began her violin studies at the age of five and has been studying under Cheryl Kim at the Colburn Community School of Performing Arts since the summer of 2013. Kate has received a number of honors in local competitions and festivals, including the Young Stars of the Future Concerto Competition, the Gail Newby Concerto Competition, Classics Alive National Auditions, the Open Violin and Open Baroque Categories at the Southwestern Youth Music Festival, Junior Chamber Music’s Concerto Competition, and the American String Teacher’s Association Regional Competition in Irvine, as well as their Los Angeles Finals. Kate also played in a masterclass with Pinchas Zukerman in March of 2018. She has also attended the Aspen Music Festival. She is a recipient of a merit scholarship at the Colburn Community School of Performing Arts.
Eunice Lee
Member Since May 2020
Eunice Lee, 16, is a junior at Beckman High School. She began her violin studies at the age of five, and has been studying with Robert Lipsett at the Colburn Music Academy since 2018. Eunice has received a number of honors in competitions and festivals. A few include first prize in the Young Stars of the Future Competition, Classics Alive National Auditions, Bellflower Symphony Concerto Competition, and first prize in the American String Teachers'
Association Regional Competition in Pomona, as well as their Los Angeles Finals. Eunice also appeared as a soloist with the Bellflower Symphony, SYMF Festival Orchestra, the Orchestra Collective of Orange County, and the South Coast Symphony. She performed in the Colburn Community School of Performing Arts’s Honors Recital in the spring of 2017 and 2018, performing in Zipper Hall. She also performed in a masterclass for Robert McDuffie and Emanuel Borok, and received coaching from Jean Yves Thibaudet, as well as Arnold Steinhardt. As an accomplished chamber musician, Eunice won second prize and the Beethoven prize in the Pasadena Chamber Music Competition in 2018. She was also a part of the Ed and Mari Edelman Chamber Music Institute at the Colburn Community School of Performing Arts as the Colburn Honors Trio. She has performed for and received coachings from Robert DeMaine, Martin Beaver, and Fabio Bidini. For the past two summers, she has been attending the Aspen Music Festival in Aspen, Colorado.