March 14, Sunday's rehearsals for our string groups will be shared with students from Philadelphia's Curtis Institute of Music.

All YOBC string students will participate in Master Classes, some question and answer time and an opportunity to hear some world-class music played by the Curtis students.

String Quintet from Curtis

Becky Anderson, violin

Richard Lin, violin

Zoe Martin-Doike, viola

Branson Yeast, cello

Alexander Jacobsen, double bass

Individual Biographies

Becky Anderson is 19 years old and originally from Portland, Oregon. A student at the Curtis Institute of Music, she currently studies with Ida Kavafian. As a soloist, she has performed with the Oregon Symphony, the Portland Chamber Orchestra, and the Columbia Symphony Orchestra. Recently, she was invited to perform in a Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center concert honoring Ani and Ida Kavafian. In 2007, Becky performed a solo recital at the Conservatorio di Bologna in Italy sponsored by MetroArts and the Portland-Bologna Sister City Association. Other performance highlights include concerts with Itzhak Perlman, Andre Watts, David Shifrin, Andres Diaz, Roberto Diaz, and Daniel Phillips. Her awards include the 2008 National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts youngARTS Gold Award, which led to being named a Presidential Scholar in both the Arts and Academics and an invitation to perform at the Kennedy Center. She was also awarded the bronze medal and Bach Award at the 2008 Stulberg International String Competition and was one of three finalists selected for the 2007 American String Teachers Association National Solo Competition. Also in 2007, Becky performed on the nationally broadcast radio show “From the Top.” She was invited in May 2009 to a workshop with Michael Tilson Thomas as a part of a documentary series that will be aired on HBO in the spring of 2010. Becky was invited to perform in the Chamber Music Northwest Summer Festival (2006) and the Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival (2009). Past summer programs include Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival, the Perlman Music Program, the Perlman Music Program Chamber Music Workshop, and the Quartet Program. She is a recipient of the Mr. and Mrs. James M. Matarese Annual Fellowship at the Curtis Institute of Music.

Taiwanese violinist Richard Lin was born in Phoenix, Arizona, and began his violin studies at the age of four. He is recently studying with Aaron Rosand at the Curtis Institute of Music. Richard has won many competitions, including 2^nd prize of the NTDTV International Chinese Violin Competition, 1^st prize and the “Overall Winner” of the Buttram String Competition, and 1st prize of the following competitions: the National Taiwan Music Competition, Taichung City Music Competition, Taichung Second High School Concerto Competition, National Shing-Tien-Gong Competition, National Taiwan String Orchestra Competition, and the Taipei Symphony Orchestra Youth Concerto Violin Competition. Richard has performed the Sibelius Violin Concerto with the Oklahoma City Philharmonic, the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto with Taichung Second Senior High School Orchestra, Mozart’s  Violin Concerto No.3 with National Taiwan String Orchestra, Saint-Saens’ Violin Concerto No.3 with Taipei City Symphony Orchestra (at the age of 12), and Bruch’s Scottish Fantasy in the National Hsing-Tian-Kong Competition Winner Concert. He also played a solo recital in Taichung, Taiwan. In 2003, at the age of 11, he received a special honor – “Taichung City’s Youngest Fine Street Corner Entertainer.”  As concertmaster of the Classical Youth Orchestra from 2001 to 2004, he played many concerts throughout Taiwan. Since 2006, Hsing-Tian-Kong and Tong-Sin Foundation from Taiwan both have given Richard stipends every year to support his education in the United States. Recently, he was chosen for the “Music Talent Bank” of the Taiwanese Government.

Nineteen-year-old Zoë Martin-Doike from Honolulu entered the Curtis Institute of Music in 2008, where she studies with renowned violinist Pamela Frank. All students at Curtis receive merit-based full-tuition scholarships, and Zoë holds the Jerrie Cadek Lucktenberg Annual Fellowship. Zoë began studying violin at age six in her native Hawaii. Since then she has performed as a soloist with the Hawaii Youth Symphony, Honolulu Symphony, Bloomington Symphony Orchestra, Bloomington Pops Orchestra, and Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. She performed on NPR’s “From the Top” and Garrison Keillor’s “Prairie Home Companion.” She won first place in the MTNA senior string competition, second place in the 2008 Lennox International Young Artists Competition, and a Morning Music Club scholarship. Zoë has been a member of the Hawaii Youth Symphony, University of Hawaii Symphony Orchestra, Musical Arts Youth Orchestra (Bloomington, Ind.), and Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra’s Side-By-Side program. She has participated in the Indiana University String Academy, Innsbrook Institute, and New York String Orchestra Seminar. Prior to entering Curtis, she studied violin with Hiroko Primrose, Joan Martin-Doike, James Stanford, and Mimi Zweig.

Branson Yeast is a 20-year-old cellist from Houston, Texas. Branson started cello lessons at the age of twelve and went on to attend music festivals such as the Encore School for Strings in Hudson, OH, and the Sarasota Music Festival. While currently pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Cello Performance at the Curtis Institute of Music, Branson studies privately under David Soyer of the Guarneri Quartet. He has performed concertos by Elgar, Shostakovich, Haydn, and Korngold with local ensembles in Houston and has performed in recital series at the Curtis Institute and the Chicago area. His other teachers include Norman Fischer, Christopher von Baeyer, and, importantly, many coaches in chamber music at Curtis and abroad.

Alexander Jacobsen was born in 1989 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He began studying piano at age six, cello at 10, and at 14 switched to double bass – now his primary instrument. His bass teacher throughout high school was Mark Tatum, assistant principal bass of the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra and professor of double bass and jazz studies at the University of New Mexico. Alex participated in the Albuquerque Youth Symphony (AYS) program from 2000 to 2008, was a winner of the AYS's concerto competition for the 2007-08 season, and soloed with that orchestra in April of 2008. Upon entering Albuquerque High School in 2004, Alex began playing jazz bass in AHS's jazz band, and soon began playing professionally in restaurants, bars, private parties, and other venues with other high school students. Throughout high school, Alex was a freelance jazz bassist who played all over Albuquerque, most notably with trumpeter Justin Ray. In all four years of high school, he participated in both classical and jazz all-state programs. For his sophomore, junior, and senior year, he was selected as the best in state in both genres. With the encouragement of his high school orchestra director, Alex wrote a piece for string orchestra ( “Moonfish”) that was premiered by the AHS chamber ensemble in 2007, and a piece for a full symphony orchestra (“Bird's Eye View”) that was premiered by the AHS symphony orchestra in 2008. He also wrote a piece for the AHS jazz band (“Miss Chelsea”) that was premiered in 2007. Alex attended Brevard Music Center in the summers of 2007 and 2008, and played principal bass in Transylvania Symphony Orchestra concerts both summers, as well as in the BMC Jazz Band both years. He was one of only two high school students selected as a finalist for the Jan and Beattie Wood Concerto competition in 2008. He also attended the Aspen Music Festival and School in 2009, where he was a student of world-renowned soloist Edgar Meyer. Alex played with the Santa Fe Symphony and the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra on several occasions in 2007-08 and with Symphony in C (Camden, NJ) in October 2009. He was accepted into the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia in 2008, where he is currently a student of Harold Robinson, principal bass of the Philadelphia Orchestra, and Edgar Meyer.

There is limited space available for high school students from the community, on a first-come, first served basis. Registration is required. The reservation request form is available here.

For information about The Curtis Institute, visit their website.

For an article about Becky Anderson, one of the musicians who will be visiting YOBC,

see the current issue of Philadelphia Magazine!