A native of Seoul, Korea, Choong-Jin (C.J.) Chang joined the Philadelphia Orchestra as the associate principal viola in November 1994 and became principal viola in April 2006. He studied at the Curtis INstitute of Music, from which he received degrees in both violin and viola. His primary teachers were the late Jascha Brodsky and Joseph de Pasquale.

Since Mr. Chang made a successful solo debut recital at Carnegie Hall in 2007, he has appeared in numerous recitals and as a frequent soloist with The Philadelphia Orchestra as well as orchestras in South Korea. An ardent chamber musician, Mr. Chang has performed in numerous chamber music festivals here and abroad, including the Marlboro Festival, Bridgehampton, Seattle, and Santa-Fe.

Mr. Chang is a founding member of the Johannes Quartet whose debut performances at Philadelphia’s Ethical Society and at Carnegie Hall in New York City received glowing reviews. Since 1997, the Quartet has performed to audience and critical acclaim throughout the United States. The Quartet recently commissioned and premiered Esa-Pekka Salonen’s new quartet, Homunculus, and William Bolcom’s new octet, Double Quartet, with the Guarneri Quartet.

Alongside his extensive performing activities, Mr. Chang is a respected teacher on both violin and viola. He currently serves on the faculty of Rutgers University’s Mason Gross School of the Arts and Temple Music-Prep.

Hailed by The New York Concert Review as "a magnificent artist and poet: everything she touches turns to gold--a Midas touch for tone and music", pianist and visual artist Amy Jiaqi Yang is already a seasoned performer and collaborator. A rising star who, “artistically, has fully arrived” (Philadelphia Inquirer), Ms. Yang’s memorable performances “elevate joy to the edge of rapture” and “conveys the exuberance and enthusiasm of youth” (Star-Telegram).

This past season, she performed works ranging from Schoenberg’s “Pierrot Lunaire”, to Beethoven’s Sonata in Bb, Op. 106, “Hammerklavier”, to Ezra Laderman’s Third Piano Sonata, drawn from her immense repertory. An experienced performer, she has played at Carnegie Recital Hall, The Kennedy Center, The Gardner Museum, The White House, Jones Hall (with The Houston Symphony), at Marlboro, Ravinia, OKMozart, and Caramoor Festivals, Perelman Theatre, Steinway Hall, and in Spain, Instanbul, Poland, and China. A passionate chamber musician, she’s shared the stage with renowned artists as Richard Goode, David Soyer, Peter Wiley, Arnold Steinhardt, Michael Tree, Ronald Leonard, Ida and Ani Kavafian, Miriam Fried, Kim Kashkashian, Paul Neubauer, Fred Sherry, among many others.

Ms. Yang is graduate of The Curtis Institute of Music, The Juilliard School, and The Yale School of Music, where she received the Parisot Prize for an Outstanding Piano Student as well as the Alumni Association Prize.