Young Concert Artists on Tour features three extraordinarily talented musicians: cellist James Baik, violinist Risa Hokamura, and pianist Chaeyoung Park. Their program for TAA will include solo works, duets, and trios. TAA is honored to host this one-of-a-kind concert spotlighting these rising, world-class artists. Here is more about each performer.
Cellist James Baik has been described as an artist with “an undeniable authority” and as one possessing “a real warmth emerging in lyricism” by Belgian newspaper Le Soir after his astounding performance at the 2021 Queen Elisabeth competition. First prize winner of the 2023 Susan Wadsworth Young Concert Artists International Auditions and recipient of the Paul A. Fish Memorial Prize and the Bridgehampton Chamber Music Prize, Baik is a Young Concert Artist Jacobs Fellow. He made his debut solo appearance in 2015 with the Houston Civic Symphony Orchestra and the Clear Lake Symphony. Baik was also awarded the grand prize at the Walgreens National Competition, resulting in a performance of the Schumann Cello Concerto with conductor Dr. Allen Dennis at Northwestern University. He was also a finalist at the 2019 Stulberg International String Competition and would go on to receive the first prize at the prestigious Irving M. Klein International Competition. Recently, Baik was a fellow at the Ravinia Steans Music Institute, where he gave widely praised performances of Rachmaninoff’s Cello Sonata and the Franck Sonata in A Major. He is currently a bachelor of music candidate at the Colburn Conservatory of Music where he studies with Clive Greensmith.
Risa Hokamura began studying the violin at the age of three, and by the age of ten captured top prizes in competitions throughout her home country of Japan. She first came to international attention upon winning First Prize in the 2018 Young Concert Artists Susan Wadsworth International Auditions when she was seventeen. She also won the Tannery Pond Concerts Prize, and the Silver Medal at the 2018 International Violin Competition of Indianapolis, where she performed with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra conducted by Leonard Slatkin. Hokamura has since performed as concerto soloist with many orchestras including the East Coast Chamber Orchestra, New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, Tokyo Philharmonic, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, and the Sapporo Symphony Orchestra. She made her New York City debut at Merkin Hall and her Washington, DC, debut at the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater. Hokamura studied at the Tokyo College of Music as the honorary scholarship student under the tutelage of Koichiro Harada. She continued her studies at the Manhattan School of Music as the full scholarship student under the tutelage of Koichiro Harada and Lucie Robert. Hokamura is also a recipient of scholarships from the Ezoe Memorial Foundation and the Rohm Music Foundation.
Chaeyoung Park has been praised as a passionate pianist who, “Does not play a single note without thought or feeling” (New York Concert Review). Embracing a broad range of the classical music literature, her programs feature works ranging from the early French Baroque by Rameau, to Beethoven sonatas, to new music by living composers including South Korean classical composer Unsuk Chin. Through Park’s various roles as a recitalist, chamber musician, and concerto soloist, she has performed at Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall, Bravo! Vail Music Festival, Tongyeong International Music Festival, Ravinia’s Bennett Gordon Hall, Symphony Center’s Orchestra Hall, as well as live-streamed concerts presented by the Gilmore Rising Stars series, the Carlsen Center, and the Lied Center of Kansas virtual series. As winner of the 2019 Hilton Head International Piano Competition, Park is the first female South Korean pianist to receive first place in the history of the competition. Introduced to the piano in her kindergarten music class, she immediately showed a love for music, which was deepened by her grandmother’s gift of a Yamaha upright piano. When she won her first local competition at age eight, Park’s musical studies became serious. She immigrated to the United States at age ten to study with Jack Winerock, to whom she credits much of her musical upbringing.
The Nashville Philharmonic Orchestra will present a program for TAA attendees that includes a variety of excerpts from the contemporary and classical orchestral repertoire.
About the Orchestra
The Nashville Philharmonic Orchestra (NPO), an all-volunteer community orchestra featuring amateur and professional players from middle Tennessee, is proud to play its part in enriching the already vibrant Nashville arts community. Its mission is to offer area orchestral musicians opportunities to perform, while providing high-quality symphonic music free of charge to a wide variety of audiences. Founded in January 2004 by Kelly Corcoran, Christopher Norton took up the baton in 2008 to lead the NPO, and he continues advancing the mission of community outreach and musical excellence. The Nashville Philharmonic performs a diverse repertoire of different genres and styles anchored in the orchestral tradition. The orchestra features area soloists and new music by local composers and sponsors annual concerto and composition competitions as well as a year-long fellowship for aspiring conductors.
Orchestra Conductor
Christopher Norton was appointed music director and conductor of the Nashville Philharmonic in March 2008. Prior to moving to Tennessee, he held a similar post for nearly a decade in Kentucky with the Bowling Green Western Symphony Orchestra. Norton has guest conducted the Nashville Symphony, Alabama Symphony Orchestra,
Nashville Chamber Orchestra, Nashville Ballet, ALIAS Chamber Ensemble, Vanderbilt University Orchestra, and Blair Chamber Orchestra. He earned his doctorate from Louisiana State University and his master’s and bachelor’s degrees from the Eastman School of Music. Norton studied orchestral conducting with David Effron, choral conducting with John MacDonald, and band conducting with Frank Wickes. He also credits the educational benefits of performing for thirty years as a percussionist in professional orchestras under a wide array of conductors. Norton is a professor of music and the director of percussion studies at Belmont University.
Operations Director
Alan Fey joined the NPO in February 2019. Fey is an arts administrator, percussionist, composer, arranger, and conductor who specializes in performance logistics and in performing solo and chamber music. In addition to his role with the NPO, he serves as executive director of Make Music Nashville and has previously worked as an administrator with the Grammy-nominated ALIAS Chamber Ensemble and Portara Ensemble. Fey is a regular percussionist with ALIAS and a frequent soloist. He is also actively involved in advocating for equity in arts and cultural funding.
