Célina Béthoux
Violinist Célina Béthoux, 16, began her musical studies at the age of five with Cleveland Orchestra violinist Isabel Trautwein. She is currently enrolled in the Cleveland Institute of Music Young Artist Program, studying with Philip Setzer of the Emerson String Quartet and Jessica Lee, Assistant Concertmaster of The Cleveland Orchestra.
Célina made her solo debut with the Pittsburgh Symphony as First Prize winner of the Duquesne National Young Artist Competition. She also performed as soloist with several local orchestras, including the Cleveland Pops Orchestra conducted by Carl Topilow. As a member of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra, she served as concertmaster several times and gave a solo performance of the Barber Concerto as a winner of the concerto competition. During COYO’s 2019 European tour, she was selected by conductor Vinay Parameswaran to perform the Schubert Octet as first violinist in a cross-cultural exchange with musicians from the Anton Bruckner University of Linz, Austria, coached by Maestro Franz Welser-Möst.
Célina received merit scholarships to attend the Music@Menlo and Heifetz International Institute music festivals. She has performed in master classes for Soovin Kim, James Ehnes, Todd Phillips, Peter Salaff, and Ani Kavafian. Célina loves writing, origami, and philosophy and strives to connect with the community through her music.
Claire Bourg
Claire Bourg has been praised for being in “total command of music and instrument with an excellent sense of style and character” (Maestro Lawrence Rapchak).
She has appeared as a soloist with several orchestras, performing in such venues as Chicago’s Orchestra Hall, the Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park, and Jordan Hall in Boston. As a laureate of many competitions, Ms. Bourg has appeared on NPR and Chicago’s WFMT radio programs. An avid chamber musician, she has collaborated in performances across the United States and Europe. Claire has attended festivals such as Yellow Barn, Ravinia, Taos School of Music, IMS Prussia Cove masterclasses, and the Gstaad Menuhin Festival Academy where she has performed with Kim Kashkashian, Peter Frankl, Jorg Widmann, and Frans Helmerson, among others. She also performs regularly with the Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players and Music for Food and has been a part of Curtis on Tour several times. Claire has collaborated with several preeminent composers, such as Bright Sheng and Augusta Read Thomas. She currently serves as the concertmaster of Symphony in C in Philadelphia. Upcoming highlights for next season include attendance at the Marlboro School of Music.
A native of Chicago, Ms. Bourg is currently pursuing an artist diploma from the Curtis Institute of Music studying with Pamela Frank and Arnold Steinhardt and received her bachelor’s degree from the New England Conservatory studying with Miriam Fried.
Dongyoung Jake Shim
Dongyoung Jake Shim, violin, is pursuing his B.M with Donald Weilerstein at New England Conservatory with Tan Family Education Grant and Dean’s Scholarship.
Dongyoung’s musical ability has been demonstrated through many competition successes, including Stulberg International String Competition (1st Prize & Bach Prize) in Michigan and Irving M. Klein International String Competition (4th Prize) in San Francisco. He was also awarded dozens of performance opportunities in the U.S. which will take place during the next few years.
Graduate of Yewon School and Seoul Arts High School in Korea, he made his debut with Suwon Philharmonic Orchestra as a soloist at age 12, and performed his first solo recital at age 13 at Kumho Art Hall. Dongyoung has performed at numerous concert halls, including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Jordan Hall, Seoul Arts Center, and Alice Tully Hall. Since 2014, he has appeared as a soloist with major South Korean orchestra, including Korea Chamber Orchestra, Seoul Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra, and Busan Philharmonic Orchestra. 2020-21 season recital and performances will include debuts with the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra and Kumho Young Artist Concert in Korea. He has attended Aspen Music Festival And School as a violin fellowship, as well as The PMP Chamber Music Workshop and Kneisel Hall.
Geirþrúður Anna Guðmundsdóttir
Icelandic-American cellist Geirþrúður Anna Guðmundsdóttir was born into a musical family in Reykjavík in 1994. She made her debut in 2013 with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra and graduated with a soloist diploma from the Reykjavík College of Music the same year. She went on to study with Prof. Hans Jensen at Northwestern University and completed her bachelor’s degree in 2017. She served as a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago during their 2017-18 season and recently graduated with a master’s degree from The Juilliard School, where she studied Prof. Natasha Brofsky.
She has been a prize winner at numerous competitions, including the Iceland Symphony Orchestra Young Soloist Competition, the Thaviu String Competition, The Evanston Music Club Competition, the Musicians Club of Women Competition, the WDAV Young Chamber Musicians Competition, and the Dover String Quartet Competition. Additionally, she has received fellowships from the Jean-Pierre Jaquillat Memorial Foundation, the Valitor Foundation in Reykjavík, the Rotary Foundation in Iceland, the American-Scandinavian Foundation, the American-Scandinavian Society, and the Leifur Eiríksson Foundation. She has performed solo and chamber music recitals across the United States, in Iceland, Denmark, Holland, and France, and has appeared as a soloist with several orchestras in Iceland. Her festival appearances include Ecole d’Art Américains de Fontainebleau, Valley of the Moon Music Festival, the Holland International Music Sessions, Banff Masterclasses, and the Pinchas Zuckerman Young Artist Program. She has also appeared as artist-in-residence at the Harpa International Music Academy, the Young Icelandic Chamber Musicians Festival, and the Mineral Point Chamber Music Festival. Geirþrúður plays on a Pierre Silvestre cello from 1857. In addition to playing music, Geirþrúður loves baking, reading, running, and playing chess.
Maxime Quennesson
Maxime Quennesson began learning the cello at the age of 6. In 2011, he entered the CRR in Paris in Hélène Dautryʼs class at before entering the class of Michel Strauss and Guillaume Paoletti at the CNSM in Paris in 2014. In 2019 he obtained his masterʼs degree “Summa cum laude with the congratulations of the jury.
He is now in a post-graduate program in CNSMDP, in the class of Jérôme Pernoo. The winner of many international competitions, among them Louis Rosoor, Woluwe-Saint-Pierre, FNAPEC, PMC, Flame and Bellan, he has performed as a soloist, with orchestra (Ensemble Appassionato, Orchestre du Concert de la Loge, OCUP, Stuttgart Kammerorchester) and in recital (Festival Radio France Montpellier-Occitanie, Amsterdam Cello Biennale …) He entered the Jaroussky Academy for the 2018‒2019 season, and was artist in residence (with his trio) at the international piano festival La Roque dʼAnthéron 2019. Founding member of Trio Zeliha (piano trio), a recording for the Mirare label was just released in November 2020 and is supported by great personalities such as Menahem Pressler, Trio Wanderer, Quatuor Ebène …
Maxime has benefited from the guidance of masters such as Nicolas Altstaedt, David Geringas, Clive Greensmith, Emmanuelle Bertrand, Ophélie Gaillard, Gary Hoffmann and Philippe Muller. In September 2019, he entered the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel as an artist in residence under the direction of Gary Hoffman.
Maxime plays a cello made by Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume (1863), on a generous loan by B.D, and is supported by SAFRAN, ADAMI, and lʼOr du Rhin.