Music

Biographies

• Minna Chung Rose: Featured Artist/Clinician

  Dr. Minna Rose Chung enjoys an international career in all performance environments, taught Master Classes on four continents and is a frequent guest artist at music festivals around the world. She is co-author of “CelloMind: Intonation and Technique” (2018, Ovation Press, Ltd.), a popular book on cello methods, with Hans Jorgen Jensen (teacher emeritus of Cello from the Bienen School of Music, Northwestern University).

  After moving to Canada, Chung was quickly assessed as “a bright light, his intelligent musicality and rich resonance, a wonderful addition to any set” (Winnipeg Free Press). Chung performs with the DeSautels Piano Trio and the Nacka Duo, who perform extensive tours with recitals and lectures at world music conferences, focusing mainly on the art of chamber music. In 2007, Chung debuted at Carnegie Hall with his quartet of strings Pangea, presenting works of his own commissioned by the Quartet Kronos.

  Currently, Chung tours as a member of the Munich Symphony Orchestra, performs regularly with the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra and likes to participate in several musical collaborations across the country. His international tours include Canada, UK, Sweden, Germany, Serbia, Poland, Brazil, Asia and the USA. Since 2008, Chung has been the director of the Rio project, a multi-collaborative program that supports the International Cello Meeting of Rio (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) through masterclasses and teacher presentations in Brazil.

  So far, she has returned to perform for Brazil in more than thirty recitals and concerts. His upcoming international recital tour includes performances in Vancouver, South Africa, Hong Kong and the Republic of Korea. Chung received in 2014 the HR Award from the University of Manitoba for exceptional contributions to scholarships and research in creative works. CelloMind: Intonation and Technique offers a systematic and unique approach to the cello technique with the left hand and unravels the mysteries of string tuning.

  It was reviewed by Strad Magazine (February 2018) and Strings Magazine (April 2018). In April 2018, Chung was also the featured teacher in the long-term article by Strad Magazine “Teaching and Playing – Tones of Tartini”. Chung is the coordinator of the Symphony Orchestra of the University of Manitoba. She is also the conductor of the cellos ensemble led by students “The C-String Collective”, dedicated to the premiere of works by promising composers. His commitment to the interpretation of new songs attracted great interest from composers around the world. ​

• Barbara Balatero, Cellist and Collaborative Pianist

  Barbara Balatero graduated from Oberlin Conservatory with a Bachelor Degree in cello performance and a Master of Music in Teaching where she studied cello with Andor Toth Jr. At Oberlin, Art Montzka introduced her to the Suzuki method. Between 1974 and 1976 she served as a US Peace Corps volunteer in El Salvador, playing in the National Symphony, teaching cello and starting the Suzuki program in the National Music School. Barbara has maintained a large private studio of Suzuki students in Seattle, and has retired from being the director of the Japan–Seattle Suzuki Institute in order to do more teacher training in Latin America. She is a registered teacher trainer of the SAA and is a cello student of Rajan Krishnaswami. After 50 years of teaching, Barbara is retiring from studio teaching in June. She will continue to do Suzuki Teacher training throughout Latin America.

• Tom Walworth, Composer

  Tom Walworth is a music educator, cellist, vocalist, and composer. He teaches orchestra, guitar, and Mariachi at Thomas Jefferson High School in Federal Way. He also coaches for the Tacoma Youth Symphony Association and the Lake Samish Music Camp. Tom is the principal cellist for Rainier Symphony and has performed with the Federal Way and Auburn Symphonies. His choral works are published by Colla Voce Music and has been the Composer-In-Residence for the Central Cello Celebration since 2008. He is a charter member and bass sectional leader of Northwest Repertory Singers (Tacoma). He studied cello with Cordelia Wikarski-Miedel and Hamilton Cheifetz, and voice with Thomas Goleeke and Bill Eddy. Tom had the honor to perform in a master class with Janos Starker in 2000 and solo with the Tacoma Community College Orchestra and the Rainier Symphony. He resides in Des Moines, WA with his family and cats.

• Giyong Ahn, CWU Professor of Collaborative Piano

  Giyong Ahn, a native of South Korea, is a pianist and chamber musician. He has served as an official collaborative pianist for events like the American Single Reed Conference and the ISB Double Bass Competition. Ahn's talent has led to performances at venues such as the Society of Composers Conference, WFHB, and the Sempre Chamber Music Series. He participated in prestigious programs like the Music Academy of the West and the Colorado College Summer Festival as a collaborative piano fellow, and has also contributed as a faculty member at the Austin Chamber Music Center Workshop. Dr. Ahn earned his Doctorate of Musical Arts in collaborative piano and Master of Music from the University of Texas at Austin, a Performance Diploma from Indiana University, and a Bachelor of Music from Kyungwon University. He is currently a lecturer in collaborative piano at Central Washington University.

• Michael King

  Cellist Dr. Michael King is a native of Spartanburg, SC. Michael has performed both solo and chamber music across the US as part of the Oregano String Quartet and the Mordecai Cello Quartet. He received a BM in Music Performance from the University of South Carolina where he was awarded the Cello Fund Award, an MM in Music Performance from The University of North Carolina School of the Arts, a Certificate in Suzuki Pedagogy from The University of Denver where he was the teaching assistant to Richard Slavich and a DMA from the University of Washington where he was the teaching assistant to Saeunn Thorsteinsdottir. He has attended summer festivals such as the National Music Festival, Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival and The Meadowmount School for Strings. His teachers include Robert Jesselson, Brooks Whitehouse, Melissa Kraut, Richard Slavich, Saeunn Thorsteinsdottir, and Carol Tarr.

• Kevin Leiferman

  Cellist Kevin Leiferman grew up in Billings, Montana, and holds a Bachelor of Music in Performance from the University of Montana, a Master of Music in Performance from Miami University, and Performance and Suzuki Pedagogy Certificates from the University of Denver. His primary teachers include Dr. Nancy Critelli, Fern Glass-Boyd, Pansy Chang, Richard Slavich, Sæunn Thorsteinsdóttir, and Carol Tarr. Based in Seattle, Kevin is a freelance cellist, a regular member of the North Corner Chamber Orchestra (NOCCO) and the Yakima Symphony Orchestra, and a frequent coach for sectionals in Seattle-area schools. A dedicated educator, he is known for his patience and for fostering a fun, engaging atmosphere in his teaching studio.

• John Michel, CWU Professor of Cello

  John Michel is Professor of Cello at Central Washington University, where he has taught since 1990. He maintains an active career as a soloist, collaborative artist, and teacher. He has performed numerous concertos with orchestras including the Yakima Symphony, Rainier Symphony, Seattle Festival Orchestra, and Everett Philharmonic. With violinist Carrie Rehkopf, he has performed the Beethoven Triple and Brahms Double Concertos, including performances at the Kennedy Center.

  Mr. Michel has presented complete performances of J.S. Bach’s six Cello Suites from memory and appears regularly in the Seattle Bach Marathon. He was a featured artist at the First Kobe International Cello Festival in Japan and returned with his students to participate in the 1000 Cellists Concert. At the World Cello Congress III, he premiered Maria Newman’s Sonata for Solo Cello, Othmar.

  He is a founding member of Kairos, the resident ensemble at Central Washington University and Icicle Creek, and has performed throughout North America and internationally, including appearances at the National Recital Hall in Taiwan. He has collaborated with a wide range of distinguished artists across disciplines. Mr. Michel founded the Internet Cello Society, an online community of more than 20,000 cellists worldwide, now permanently archived at CelloBello.org. He has served on the board of the New Directions Cello Association.

  In 1996, he was named Outstanding College String Teacher by the Washington chapter of the American String Teachers Association.

• Bruce Walker, Columbia Basin College Professor of Music

  Bruce Walker is an Associate Professor of Music at Columbia Basin College in Pasco, WA, Music Director for the Walla Walla Symphony Youth Orchestra, Past President of the Washington chapter for the American String Teachers Association, on the Board of Directors for the Suzuki Association of the Americas, College/University representative for the Washington Music Educators Association, and the 2021 Music Educator of the Year by the Washington Music Educators Association. Previously, he has held the positions of Music Director for the Yakima Youth Symphony and Oregon East Symphony Youth Orchestras. 

  During the summer months, Mr. Walker works throughout the United States and Canada at various Suzuki institutes, music camps, festivals, and retreats. Internationally, he has also worked with the Youth Excellence on Stage Academy in collaboration with American Voices, a non-profit, cultural exchange organization. Through this organization, he has conducted orchestras and taught cello in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan.

  As a conductor, Mr. Walker participated in many workshops and music festivals across the United States such as the Marrowstone Music Festival, Pierre Monteux School for Conductors and Orchestral Musicians, various workshops sponsored by the Conductor’s Guild, Astoria Music Festival, Rose City International Conductor’s Workshop, and the University of Oregon Orchestral Conducting Institute. He has appeared as guest conductor with the Central Washington University Symphony, Oregon East Symphony, Yakima Symphony, Portland Columbia Symphony, and the Musicians of the Spokane Symphony Orchestra. Memorable for his unique style of positive student engagement, analogies, and his knowledge of the orchestral repertoire, Mr. Walker is also in high demand as an adjudicator and guest conductor for many All-State and Honors Orchestras throughout the United States, most recently conducting the 2021 Nevada All-State Symphony Orchestra. Upcoming engagements include working with orchestras and schools in throughout the Pacific Northwest and Alabama and presenting at various conferences.

  Mr. Walker earned Bachelor of Music degrees in Music Education and Cello Performance from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and a Master of Music degree from Central Washington University focusing on Orchestral Conducting and Cello Performance. In the fall of 2019, he began his Doctor of Music Arts degree in Music Education through Boston University. When not in the classroom, on the podium working with ensembles, or teaching cello lessons, he enjoys hiking and traveling around the Pacific Northwest, enjoying time outside around a BBQ pit and smoker sampling new culinary creations, or shopping for and admiring argyle socks.