Duxbury Music Festival alum, violinist Ahra Cho is a versatile and enthusiastic musician. She began intensive studies at the age of ten at the Korean National University of Arts Pre-college Division and went on to receive her bachelor's degree at Seoul National University as an honor student, under the tutelage of Ju-Young Baek. In 2015, she won the Mozart Classical String Competition in New York City, using that steppingstone to make her debut in the United States with the Manhattan School of Music String Chamber Orchestra. She has won top acclaimed prizes from the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Young Artist Competition, the Duxbury Music Festival Concerto Competition, and The Chamber Music Competition.
In January 2022, she joined the Omaha Symphony as associate concertmaster, having previously served as substitute musician for the New York Philharmonic, as well as concertmaster of the Manhattan Chamber Sinfonia, Manhattan Soloists Ensemble in New York. She continues to perform throughout North America and Asia with renowned orchestras such as the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, the Jeonju Philharmonic Orchestra, Korean Chamber Orchestra, Seoul National Symphony Orchestra, Manhattan Soloists Ensemble, and the Duxbury Music Festival Orchestra. Ms. Cho has performed at the Seoul Arts Center and Kumho Arts Hall in South Korea, and in various venues throughout the United States and abroad, including Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Kaufman Music Center.
Ms. Cho moved to the United States to pursue her MM degree and professional studies certificate, at the Manhattan School of Music, under the tutelage of Lucie Robert, with full scholarships, respectably. In 2019, Ms. Cho earned her Artist Diploma while studying with the former concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic Glenn Dicterow and Associate Principal, second violin group Lisa Kim of the New York Philharmonic. She was the first student ever to earn an Artist Diploma of Orchestral Performance Program at the Manhattan School of Music in its one-hundred-year history.
Since her Carnegie Hall debut in 2007, Duxbury Music Festival alum Dr. Amy Dahm Huh has performed as a viola soloist and chamber musician across four continents. Major performance venues include Lincoln Center, Spain Zaragoza Auditorium, Tokyo Metropolitan Arts Space, Shanghai Oriental Arts Center, Hong Kong Cultural Centre, and Seoul Arts Center. She has performed as a soloist with the New York Classical Symphony Orchestra, Czech Republic Symphony, Il San Symphony Orchestra, and La Fuse Players. Most recently, Dr. Huh appeared at the “Korean Poetry” concert with traditional Korean instrument players at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and has been invited to perform as a soloist with the Santiago Philharmonic Orchestra and the Seoul Orchestra.
In addition to solo appearances, Dr. Huh engaged in collaborative chamber performances with prominent artists, including the members of Emerson Quartet, Muir Quartet, and Brooklyn Rider. Since 2012, Amy has been a violist of Starry Duo group whose two albums, “Hymns and Passacaglia” and “Mozart, Halvorsen, and Brydern,” were released worldwide.
She currently serves as the principal violist for Bergen Symphony Orchestra. Dr. Huh has a strong passion for charity work and has used her musical talent to benefit children and seniors. She has given charity concerts in the Philippines and Spain, and continues to perform in the United States, particularly for people who are physically and mentally challenged. Dr. Huh is on the faculty at Northern Academy of the Arts.
A native of Michigan, Duxbury Music Festival alum Peter Pearson began his musical studies at the age of eight. On a field trip to the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, he heard the cello for the first time. From that moment, he knew that he wanted to play the cello. Peter had the privilege of studying with Marcy Chanteaux of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra for many years before moving to San Francisco to continue his education. He received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Cello Performance from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, studying with Jennifer Culp, former cellist of the respected Kronos Quartet. Upon graduation, Peter moved to New York City where he performed for three Broadway shows, including War Paint with Patti LuPone, Pretty Woman, and Clay Aiken & Ruben Studdard’s Christmas Show, as well as Off-Broadway’s In The Green at Lincoln Center, which features Peter’s playing on the original cast recording.
Peter has performed extensively across China, Australia, Europe, and the United States. Recently, Peter collaborated, recorded and toured with recording artists Haux, Henry Jamison and Rosie Carney on their European and North American tours, and is featured on their recent albums. As an active orchestral musician, Peter has performed under conductors Sir Simon Rattle and Neeme Järvi. Peter currently lives in Hamburg, Germany, after completing a music fellowship program with the Hochschule für Musik und Theater, where he collaborated with other artists, conductors, and academics to innovate the orchestral experience in Germany, China and the United States. He is thrilled to be back at Duxbury Music Festival after performing as an artist in 2017.
Ukrainian pianist and Duxbury Music Festival alum, Tetiana Shafran has won prizes at approximately two dozen International piano competitions, including a Gold Medal of the Olga Kern International Piano Competition in 2019. Tetiana has performed throughout Europe, South and North America, Africa, Australia and Asia, including the Shenzhen Grand Theatre (Shenzhen, China), Lindeman Hall (Oslo, Norway), Llewellyn Hall (Canberra, Australia), Popejoy Concert Hall (NM, USA), Main hall of Palau de la Musica (Valencia, Spain), Theatre Mohammed V (Rabat, Morocco), Sala Cecilia Meireles (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), Felicja Blumental Music Center (Tel Aviv, Israel), Congress Hall (Gabala, Azerbaijan) and many others. She has also been featured as a guest artist at well-known music festivals such as Portland Piano International, Gabala Music festival, Bosnia International Music festival, Shenzhen International piano Festival and others. Tetiana has performed with many orchestras and conductors, such as maestros D.Yablonsky, H. Earle, F. Krager, G.Glinka, R. Minczuk, M.Dyadyura, M.Anamammedov, and many others. She has recorded for radio and TV productions in the USA, Italy ,Israel, Spain, and Ukraine, and in 2021 recorded an album with Steinway & Sons in New York. Born in Kiev, Ukraine, Tetiana Shafran started playing piano at the age of three, and graduated from the Lysenko Music School and the Tchaikovsky National Music Academy of Ukraine. She studied with Oxana Yablonskaya.