Jessica Tong, violinist
Lauded for her "lyrical intensity" (Baltimore Sun) and her "performances to remember" (Woodstock Times), violinist Jessica Tong has garnered international acclaim as a soloist, recitalist and chamber musician. A recipient of the Canada Council Grant for Professional Musicians and the David Ouchterloney Award for Most Promising Young Artist, she is also a DAAD Scholar and has also been a top prizewinner at the Eckhardt-Gramatté Competition, the Toronto Symphony, Canadian Music and Yellow Springs International Chamber Music Competitions.
A devoted chamber musician, Jessica's performances have taken her to Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, the Kennedy Center, les Invalides in Paris and the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, and led to collaborations with artists such as Pamela Frank, Leon Fleisher, Cho-Liang Lin and members of the Cleveland, Vogler, Brentano and Borromeo Quartets. She has served as the first violinist of the Vinca and Larchmere String Quartets, and most recently held the post of Artist-in-Residence at the University of Evansville and concertmaster of the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra in Indiana. Her debut album of chamber works by Stephan Krehl with the Larchmere Quartet and clarinetist Wonkak Kim was released in 2016 by Naxos Records to critical acclaim.
Dedicated to finding innovative ways to make the chamber music art form relevant and understood by current society, Jessica is also a passionate advocate for music education and humanizing the concert experience. She has been an Artist-in-Residence for the Perlman Music Program in Florida, the Gorgeous Sounds Program in Oregon and a two time recipient of the ProQuartet Odyssée Residency Grant in France. She has served as a Co-Artistic Director for several chamber music workshops including Chamber Music of the Rockies in Colorado, University of Florida’s ChamberFest, and the Harlaxton Music Festival in England. She is a co-founder of the chamber music residency organization Music Beyond the Chamber, as well as the current Director for the Chamber Music Workshop of the Composers Conference held at Brandeis University in Massachusetts.
A pupil of Pamela Frank, Jessica has also studied with Kathleen Winkler, Donald Weilerstein, and Zhang yun Zhang, and has been mentored as a chamber musician by members of the Alban Berg, Vogler, Artemis and Brentano Quartets.
Her ongoing fascination with mind-body connection and its relevance to music performance has also led her to explore the science of yoga in-depth and complete her teacher certification at the Kripalu Center in Lenox, Massachussetts. But in her moments away from the violin and the yoga mat, Jessica can often be found taking long walks with her little dog Benjamin, expanding on her baking repertoire for Sunday brunch, and re-learning how to play the piano on three volumes of Schubert's four-hand music.
Lauded for her "lyrical intensity" (Baltimore Sun) and her "performances to remember" (Woodstock Times), violinist Jessica Tong has garnered international acclaim as a soloist, recitalist and chamber musician. A recipient of the Canada Council Grant for Professional Musicians and the David Ouchterloney Award for Most Promising Young Artist, she is also a DAAD Scholar and has also been a top prizewinner at the Eckhardt-Gramatté Competition, the Toronto Symphony, Canadian Music and Yellow Springs International Chamber Music Competitions.
A devoted chamber musician, Jessica's performances have taken her to Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, the Kennedy Center, les Invalides in Paris and the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, and led to collaborations with artists such as Pamela Frank, Leon Fleisher, Cho-Liang Lin and members of the Cleveland, Vogler, Brentano and Borromeo Quartets. She has served as the first violinist of the Vinca and Larchmere String Quartets, and most recently held the post of Artist-in-Residence at the University of Evansville and concertmaster of the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra in Indiana. Her debut album of chamber works by Stephan Krehl with the Larchmere Quartet and clarinetist Wonkak Kim was released in 2016 by Naxos Records to critical acclaim.
Dedicated to finding innovative ways to make the chamber music art form relevant and understood by current society, Jessica is also a passionate advocate for music education and humanizing the concert experience. She has been an Artist-in-Residence for the Perlman Music Program in Florida, the Gorgeous Sounds Program in Oregon and a two time recipient of the ProQuartet Odyssée Residency Grant in France. She has served as a Co-Artistic Director for several chamber music workshops including Chamber Music of the Rockies in Colorado, University of Florida’s ChamberFest, and the Harlaxton Music Festival in England. She is a co-founder of the chamber music residency organization Music Beyond the Chamber, as well as the current Director for the Chamber Music Workshop of the Composers Conference held at Brandeis University in Massachusetts.
A pupil of Pamela Frank, Jessica has also studied with Kathleen Winkler, Donald Weilerstein, and Zhang yun Zhang, and has been mentored as a chamber musician by members of the Alban Berg, Vogler, Artemis and Brentano Quartets.
Her ongoing fascination with mind-body connection and its relevance to music performance has also led her to explore the science of yoga in-depth and complete her teacher certification at the Kripalu Center in Lenox, Massachussetts. But in her moments away from the violin and the yoga mat, Jessica can often be found taking long walks with her little dog Benjamin, expanding on her baking repertoire for Sunday brunch, and re-learning how to play the piano on three volumes of Schubert's four-hand music.
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