Julius Quartet Concert: A New Spring

The Julius Quartet

Characterized as “the captivating young string quartet” (The Bennington Banner), the Julius Quartet has cultivated a distinguished voice since its formation in 2012. As passionate chamber musicians, the quartet strives to spread the values of chamber music to diverse communities in addition to presenting their diacritic expression within the music. Swiftly rising to critical acclaim, the group was awarded First Prize at the Chamber Music Yellow Springs Competition, First Prize at the first annual MA-ASTA String Quartet/Quintet Competition by unanimous vote, and was nominated for the Harvard Musical Association’s Arthur Foote Award.

The quartet’s expressive personality, commended for leaving audiences “mesmerized by its resonant sound” (The Collegiate Times), has led to performances all over the North America in various venues such as Bing Concert Hall, Bargemusic, the Shalin Liu Performing Arts Center, The Moss Arts Center, the Museum of Fine Arts, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall. In February of 2019, the quartet collaborated with The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza and award-winning Texas composer Jesus Martinez in tribute to both the Museum’s thirtieth anniversary and the fifty-fifth anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, performing a newly commissioned work “The Sixth Floor” – a stirring journey from the darkest days of 1963 to a deeper understanding of the enduring legacy of President Kennedy and what lies beyond.

Cherishing the collaborative essence of chamber music, the group has shared in numerous collaborations with celebrated artists such as Andres Cardenes, Aaron Boyd, members of the St. Lawrence, Shanghai, Escher and Lydian Quartets in addition to composers Steven Mackey, Louis Andriessen, Dan Tepfer, Jesper Koch, and Jesus J. Martinez. The group has been featured repeatedly in the Music from Salem festival, where they have collaborated with artists and directors Rhonda Rider, Lila Brown and Judith Gordon. Keeping an active performance schedule during the summer, the quartet has participated in numerous summer festivals such as the St. Lawrence String Quartet Seminar, McGill International String Quartet Academy, the Chamber Music Residency at The BANFF Centre, and the Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music.

Settled in Dallas, the quartet’s commitment to sharing the principles of chamber music through outreach events and educational workshops has impacted both local communities and audiences nationwide. From the onset of the ensemble’s formation, the group sought to engage with community organizations, such as the “Bridging the Gap” organization in Worcester, MA- a program for youth at risk associated with The Salvation Army. More recently in September 2019, the group was invited to participate in the Quad City Arts Visiting Artist Series, enriching the Quad City region through performance workshops and interactive sessions that reached over 2,000 people across the region.

The quartet has given masterclasses for numerous youth music programs, such as the Empire State Youth Symphony String Festival, the Newark School of the Arts, the Florida Youth Symphony Orchestra and the Harrison Arts Center. Moreover, they have also been featured as guest artists at some of the country’s most prestigious institutions, including the University of South Florida, Black Hawk College, Richland College and a residency at Virginia Tech University. Furthermore, the group served as Assistant Chamber Music Coaches as part of the Peak Fellowship at the Meadows School of the Arts at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX.

The quartet recently completed its tenure as the Peak Fellowship Ensemble-in-Residence at the Meadows School of the Arts at Southern Methodist University, receiving close mentorship from violinist Aaron Boyd, Director of Chamber Music at SMU, and members of the Escher String Quartet. Prior to this appointment, the quartet served as the Graduate Quartet-in-Residence at the John J. Cali School of Music at Montclair State University, where they worked intensely with the celebrated Shanghai Quartet. Oher primary mentors and influences include Rhonda Rider, Mark Steinberg, and Lila Brown. Furthermore, the group has worked with various esteemed chamber musicians such as Shmuel Ashkenasi, Michael Tree, Gerhard Schulz, Mathias Tacke, Harald Schoneweg, Joseph Silverstein, and members of the Juilliard, Emerson, American, St. Lawrence, Tokyo, Miro, Chilingarian, Ying and Latino Americano.

Members

Hailed as being a “superior [and] excellent” violinist (The Flint Jounal), Hyun Jeong Helen Lee has captivated audiences throughout the United States, Canada and Asia. Leading into her conservatory career, she attended the Interlochen Center of Arts in the summer of 2009. While there, she was concertmaster of the World Youth Symphony Orchestra for two terms. As a soloist, she has performed with the Chichibu Festival Orchestra, Royal Oak Symphony Orchestra, and The Boston Conservatory String Ensemble as winner of the String Ensemble Concerto Competition. Furthermore, Helen was a winner of The Boston Conservatory’s prestigious String Honors Competition.

Helen has also performed in masterclasses for various artists, including Phillipe Quint, Jorja Fleezanis and Joseph Silverstein. She is a graduate of The Boston Conservatory where she studied with Markus Placci, and received an Artist Diploma as part of the John J. Cali School of Music Graduate Quartet in Residence Program where she studied with Weigang Li of the celebrated Shanghai Quartet. Recently, as part of the Peak Fellowship, Helen served as a Teaching Assistant and Assistant Chamber Music Coach at the Meadows School of the Arts at Southern Methodist University.

Violinist, David Do, is the second violinist of the The Julius Quartet, and has appeared as an international soloist at the Chichibu International Music Festival in Japan, performing with the Chichibu Festival Orchestra. Furthermore, he has also performed as soloist with various orchestras in the Northern Californian region, including a commissioned work by Kerry Lewis with the San Jose Youth Chamber Orchestra, where he also served as concertmaster. As a passionate chamber musician, David has participated in various chamber music festivals and concerts such as the St. Lawrence String Quartet Seminar, McGill International String Quartet Academy, The Banff Centre’s Chamber Music Residency Program, the Tanglewood String Quartet Seminar, Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music, and the Worcester Chamber Music Society Summer Festival.

Do is a graduate of The Boston Conservatory where he studied with Markus Placci and received an Artist Diploma from the John J. Cali School of Music at Montclair State University where he worked with Yi-Wen Jiang, the renowned second violinist of the Shanghai Quartet. Prior to his conservatory career, David began his formal training at San Francisco Conservatory’s Preparatory Division studying with Doris Fukawa. Most recently, as part of the Peak Fellowship, David served as an Assistant Chamber Music Coach at the Meadows School of the Arts at Southern Methodist University.

Violist John Batchelder has captivated audiences across North and South America as a passionate chamber musician, recitalist and soloist. He has performed as soloist with numerous ensembles such as the Hemenway Strings, Los Colinas Symphony Orchestra, Symphony Arlington, Garland Symphony Orchestra and Worcester Bach Consort and, as well as participated in various summer festivals and masterclasses, such as The McGill International String Quartet Academy, the Banff Centre Masterclasses, St. Lawrence String Quartet Seminar, the Meadowmount School of Music, The Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music, and the Music from Salem Viola Seminar in Salem NY. As a member of the award winning Julius Quartet, John has performed in venerated venues such as Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, Bargemusic, Moss Arts Center, Shalin Liu Performance Center, and Bing Concert Hall.

As a chamber musician, John has collaborated with numerous artists such as Joseph Silverstein, Aaron Boyd, Andres Cardenes and members of the St. Lawrence, Shanghai, Baumer, Lydian and Escher Quartets. In 2011, John was a winner of the Davis Projects for Peace Grant for his program designed to help, encourage and teach music to the young children of the favelas of Natal, Brazil. John is a graduate of The Boston Conservatory where he studied with Lila Brown, and of the John J. Cali School of Music Graduate String Quartet in Residence program where he studied with Honggang Li of the celebrated Shanghai Quartet. Furthermore, he previously served as Artistic Coordinator at the National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award (NAHYP) award winning organization Project STEP; a nonprofit, music education program. Most recently, as part of the Peak Fellowship, John served as an Assistant Chamber Music Coach at the Meadows School of the Arts at Southern Methodist University.

Sebastian Kozub comes from a musical family, his father being a cellist and mother violinist. He started playing the cello when he was 5 years old, studied in The Purcell School of Music in London under Pal Banda and Sir Simon Rattle and is a current Performance Diploma student of Meadows School of The Arts in Dallas in the class of Andres Diaz. He is a prize winner of over 50 cello competitions on national and international level. The most important are: VIII. International cello Competition ‘Antonio Janigro’ (Croatia) – first prize, V.J. Dotzauer International cello Competition (Germany) – 2nd prize, International cello competition ‘Flame’ (Paris) – 1st prize, International cello Competition (Liezen – Austria) – 2nd prize, D. Popper International cello Competition ( Hungary) – 2nd Prize, International strings Competition ‘Bohdan Warchal’ (Slovakia) – Grand Prix.

He has performed in many venues in the United Kingdom and around the world, including Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elisabeth Hall, Wigmore Hall, Goldsmiths Theatre, Royal Castle Hall in Warsaw, Concert Hall of Forbidden City (Beijing). The orchestras he performed with include BBC Symphony Orchestra, Amadeus Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Sinfonia Varsovia, National Orchestra of China, Kaunas Philharmonic Orchestra, The National Chamber Orchestra of Slovakia, Lublin Symphony Orchestra among many others. Sebastian is an active chamber musician having performed with artists such as Andres Cárdenes, Yuja Wang, Teng Li and Aaron Boyd.scholarship and is the newest member of the Julius Quartet under the mentorship of Aaron Boyd and the Escher String Quartet.