3pm, Saturday, April 19th, 2008
Paine Hall, Harvard University

Rossini Overture to the Barber of Seville     John Sullivan '09, conductor     Music Director-Elect 2008-09 Copland Appalachian Spring Shostakovich Cello Concerto     Bong Ihn Koh '08, cello Brahms Variations on a Theme by Haydn

Purchase tickets for this concert now!

Featured Artist

Bong Ihn Koh '08, cello

Bong Ihn Koh was born in Korea in 1985 and began to play the cello as a hobby at the age of 7. In 1995, he was accepted as a student by Prof. Myung Wha Chung of the Korean National University of Arts, Pre College Division. At the age of 11, he won the Ewha Kyunghyang National Competition and made a debut with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra. The next year, at the age of 12, he started to receive international attention by winning the First Prize in the Third International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians held in St. Petersburg, Russia. As a result, he was invited as a soloist by many renowned orchestras such as the Russian Symphony Orchestra, St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, KBS Symphony Orchestra conducted by Maestro Myung Whun Chung.

In 1999, at the age of 14, Bong Ihn was accepted as the youngest student to the prestigious class of Prof. David Geringas in Luebeck, Germany, and received further attention from the cello society. In the year 2000 at the Cello Masterclass in Kronberg, Germany, he was nominated by the legendary cellist Bernard Greenhouse from 104 talented cellists and awarded the Landgraf von Hessen Prize. Through this prize, he became further renowned in Europe and received more concert engagements, which include solo recitals and concerts with the Frankfurt Sinfonietta Chamber Orchestra, Hamburg Camerata Chamber Orchestra, Suedwestdeutsches Chamber Orchestra Pforzheim and Lithuania National Chamber Orchestra in Russia, USA, Japan, Germany, Italy, UK, Norway and Lithuania. His recent tour of Asia with the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra performing the Brahms Double Concerto with violinist Sayaka Shoji and Maestro Myung Whun Chung received high accolade. Besides giving numerous solo concerts, he has performed in various festivals such as the Indiana University Summer String Academy, Elan Music Festival, Itzhak Perlman Music Program, International Summer Academy Cervo, Schleswig- Hostein Music Festival, RNCM Manchester International Cello Festival, Cello Festival Kronberg, Oberlin at Casalmaggiore Music Festival and Great Mountains Music Festival. Bong Ihn was concurrently enrolled in the John F. Kennedy School and Musikhochschule “Hanns Eisler” in Berlin, Germany until June 2004. He is currently a participant of the five-year Harvard/New England Conservatory Double Degree Program, studying biochemical sciences at Harvard and studying with Prof. Laurence Lesser at the Conservatory.

This is Bong Ihn's second time performing with BachSoc, having performed the Elgar Cello Concerto in the previous season.

Other Performances This Season