International Violin Musicians Return in ‘String Academy’

The fourth annual Lake City String Academy welcomes seven college-level violinists to Lake City for an intensive week of practice, lessons and concerts beginning next Monday, July 29 and concluding with a finale concert Saturday, August 3.
Sponsored by Lake City Arts, Artistic Director and violinist Annie Chalex Boyle is once again joined by pianist Rick Rowley and music specialist John Boyle, the trio of accomplished musicians constituting the teaching faculty for this year’s String Academy.
Students will perform two short concerts, each at 11:30 a.m. as a part of their outreach program, including a family concert in Anthony Gallery on Thursday, August 1, and a concert at the Senior Luncheon on Friday, August 2, also in the Anthony Gallery at the Moseley Arts Center, sponsored by Silver Thread Public Health District.
In addition, there will be a gala finale concert at 6 p.m. Saturday, August 3, at Moseley Arts Center. Master Classes will be held in the Stigall Theater at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, July 30; 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, July 31, and 7 p.m. Friday, August 2.
Individual lessons are also open, the sites for which will be available in the lobby of the Moseley Arts Center during the Academy week. Every lesson, master class and concert is free and open to the public, with the exception of the finale concert for which tickets will be available at a nominal cost.
The seven students were selected from among a group of international applicants. Each has chosen a demanding classical composition which they will work to perfect during the week in individual lessons, practice sessions, master classes and concerts.
Funding for this week of intensive violin learning and performance is the result in part of sponsorships by Richard Alkire and Melissa Huff, Helen Dewey, Harvey and Kathy DuChene, Don Farmer, Ruthanna Hall, Bob and Julia Johns, Shelley McGehee, David Palmer and Michele Sibley, Bill and Teresa Pippin,
Dick and Gwen Powell, John and Martha Smith, Mort and Ceil Weir, Bill and Donna Williams, Ron and Sandra Yates, and generous grants from the Lake Fork Community Foundation and the Helmle-Shaw Foundation.

Students participating this year are Nicole Cherry of Lubbock, Texas, who is pursuing her doctorate in violin performance at Texas Tech University. Nicole is second violinist of the award-winning Marian Anderson String Quartet. She was profiled in the Juilliard School’s 100th Anniversary as a “Juilliard Alumni, Transforming Arts Education in America.” Performances overseas include a solo tour of South African townships.

Joseph Jung of Atlanta, Georgia was born in Seoul, South Korea and came to the U.S. at the age of 8. Joseph fell in love with music as a toddler when his mother played the Turkish March by Mozart, and he began playing the violin at age 6 without any thought that he would become a violinist. He has studied with David Coucheron as a member of the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra and Janet Sung at DePaul University.

Saikat Karmakar, also of Atlanta, Georgia, recently earned his Artist Diploma from Montclair State University studying with Weigang Li and the Shanghai Quartet. He has earned a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Georgia and a Master’s degree from Michigan State University. He has worked in the Hollywood Concert Orchestra in China and in the pit for the Ohio Light Opera and looks forward to beginning doctoral work at Texas Tech University this fall.

Megan Kepley, of Tulsa, Oklahoma, has been playing the violin since she was seven years old and is now an aspiring conductor. As a proponent of new music, she has been performing new works by young, local composers. Megan is part of an experimental strings and electronic duo called Birds Beak. She is a graduate of the University of Tulsa and will be pursuing a Master’s degree in violin performance at Texas Tech University this fall.

Molly Schneider, of Baltimore, Maryland, has just received her BA in music performance from the University of Maryland Baltimore County and will be pursuing a Master’s degree at the Hartt School of Music at the University of Hartford this fall. She is a winner of the 2018 concerto competition and the Music Achievement Award at UMBC and has attended prestigious festivals such as the Boston University Tanglewood Institute and Prague Summer Nights.

Ariya Tai, of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance at Texas Tech University. Prior to studying in the U.S., she obtained both her Associate and Licentiate of Trinity-Guildhall London, England with distinction in violin and piano performance. She has performed chamber music for the Texas Tech School of Music in San Antonio and won the Round Top Festival Institute Chamber Music Competition.

Joy Yamaguchi, of Salinas, California, received her Bachelor of Music with distinction at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities and a Master of Music from Florida State University. She is currently a graduate student at the University of Denver where she studies with Dr. Linda Wang. As a freelance musician and teacher, Joy performs professionally with regional orchestras across Colorado and teaches violin at Front Range Community College.

The Lake City String Academy week provides an excellent opportunity to hear some of the nation’s finest young violinists as well as witnessing the way in which senior level violinists are taught and perfect their musical work.