Winner, 2005 Concert Artists Guild International Competition
Winner, 2005 Bordeaux International String Quartet Competition

The New York Times calls the Parker String Quartet, winner of Concert Artists Guild's 2005 Competition, "something extraordinary." The Boston Globe hails its "fiercely committed performances," and The Washington Post declares it "a quartet that deserves close attention." Three months after its win at the CAG Competition, the Quartet captured First Prize at the Bordeaux International String Quartet Competition, enhancing its international reputation.

The Parker Quartet's 2007-08 season includes debut performances at the Mostly Mozart and Caramoor Festivals and at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC (on a program with the Borromeo Quartet), as well as engagements with the Chamber Music Society of Little Rock, the Rockport Chamber Music Society and at Shriver Hall in Baltimore. The Quartet collaborates with CAG pianist Soyeon Lee, performing Schumann's Piano Quintet for the Philharmonic Society of Orange County and Music in the Park in St. Paul. The group also tours Europe in connection with its victory at the Bordeaux Competition.

Equally at home in a famous concert hall or a downtown club, the Parker Quartet embraces opportunities to bring its music to new listeners in non-traditional spaces. The ensemble performs in bars and clubs nationwide, and its performances in these venues have been covered with features in Time Out NY, The Boston Globe, Chamber Music Magazine and Musical America.com. In Fall 2007, the group continues on this ground breaking path becoming the first ever String Quartet in Residence at Barbes Bar and Performance Space in Brooklyn. As part of this residency, the Parker String Quartet performs a series of collaborative concerts with artists of various genres including jazz, folk and world.

The Parker Quartet recorded its debut CD in Paris for the Zig Zag label, featuring Bartok's String Quartets Nos. 2 and 5, which is scheduled for release in fall of 2007. Also in 2007, the ensemble steps back into the studio to record the complete string quartets of the late Gy��rgy Ligeti for Naxos.

Recent highlights include stops at Lincoln Center's Great Performers Series, the Wolf Trap Discovery Series, Ravinia's Rising Stars Series, Boston's Jordan Hall and Gardner Museum, the Cerritos Center, Clark Memorial Library at UCLA, the Phillips Collection and New York's Merkin Concert Hall and Schneider Concerts. The Quartet has also performed at Symphony Space's Thalia Theatre as part of CAG's New Works Series and at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall on CAG's Winners Series.

Also recognized for traditional residences, the Quartet's honors include being named the seventh Ernst Stiefel String Quartet in Residence of the Caramoor Center which featured a three week long educational residency culminating in performances at the Center. In addition, the Parker String Quartet has been ensemble-in-residence at the Yellow Barn Music School and Festival.

The Parker String Quartet was recently selected for the prestigious Professional String Quartet Training Program at the New England Conservatory of Music, where the group was founded and also where it was selected in 2002 and 2003 as the NEC's Honors Ensemble. The Quartet's members are presently pursuing graduate degrees in performance and chamber music at the New England Conservatory.

October 2007

DANIEL CHONG, violin
Violinist Daniel Chong started his solo career at age of eight with the Orchestra Da Camera in Los Angeles, and at ten years old appeared as soloist with the Redlands Bowl Symphony Orchestra. As a recitalist, Mr. Chong has concertized in Weill Recital Hall, Curtis Hall, Kulas Hall at the Cleveland Institute of Music, the Ebell Theater and Zipper Hall in Los Angeles. Abroad, Mr. Chong has also been invited for recitals in Mannheim, Heidelberg, and Heilbronn, Germany, and he recently appeared in concert with Maestro Shlomo Mintz in Geneva, Switzerland. A native of Southern California, Daniel began the violin at age four, and studied with Robert Lipsett at the Colburn School of Performing Arts. He was accepted to the Curtis Institute of Music at the age of thirteen where he studied with Victor Danchenko.

KAREN KIM, violin
Violinist Karen Kim was named a Presidential Scholar in the Arts by the United States Department of Education in 2001 and was a recipient of the Music for Youth Foundation Scholarship in the same year. In 2000 she was Grand Prize Winner of the 2000 American String Teachers Association National Solo Competition. Ms. Kim has presented solo performances at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., and Steinway Hall in New York City. She has appeared as a soloist with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, the Madison Civic Orchestra, and the La Crosse Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Kim began her violin studies at age 4 in La Crosse, WI, and at 8 became a student of Gerardo Ribeiro in Evanston, IL. She has participated in master classes with Mstislav Rostropovich, Vadim Repin, Pamela Frank, and Janos Starker. Ms. Kim is currently pursuing her graduate degree in violin performance at the New England Conservatory in Boston as a student of Donald Weilerstein.

JESSICA BODNER, viola
Violist Jessica Bodner has established herself as one of the leading violists of her generation. As a soloist, she has appeared in Jordan Hall, Rice University's Stude Hall, the Gewandhaus Recital Hall, and Leipzig's Contemporary Arts Museum (Germany). As an orchestral musician, Jessica Bodner has been a member of the Portland Symphony Orchestra (Maine), the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, the Bachfest Leipzig Orchestra (Germany), and has performed with the Houston Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Bodner began her musical studies with the violin at the age of two in her native Houston, TX, and then switched to viola at the age of twelve. Her teachers have included Lawrence Wheeler and Kim Kashkashian. Ms. Bodner is currently a graduate student at the New England Conservatory where she studies with Martha Strongin Katz as the recipient of the Lotte M. Crabtree Scholarship.

KEE-HYUN KIM, cello
Cellist Kee-Hyun Kim, a native of Seoul Korea, has participated in many prestigious festivals, including the Mostly Mozart Festival, the Kronberg Cello Master classes and Festival, the World Cello Congress III, Sarasota Music Festival, and Music Academy of the West, among others. Mr. Kim has won top prizes in most of the major competitions in Korea, including the I-Hwa, Sae-gae, and Korean Newspaper Competitions, as well as placing second in the Pusan National Competition. Mr. Kim received his B.M. at the New England Conservatory, as a student of Laurence Lesser. Currently he is pursuing his M.M. at the same institution, studying under Paul Katz, as a recipient of the Gregory Piatigorsky Scholarship for the 2005-2006 school year. Mr. Kim plays on an 1844 Giacomo Rivolta from Milan.

February 2007