Faculty - Strings - Washington Conservatory of Music

AMADI AZIKIWE
Violin Class, Lecturer

M.M., Indiana University B.M., New England Conservatory of Music

Violinist, violist. Currently, Teaching Artist, ClassNotes, the Noel Pointer Foundation, member of Harlem Chamber Players, Pressenda Chamber Players; Music Director, Harlem Symphony Orchestra. Formerly: Artist Faculty, Brevard Music Center, Interlochen Center for the Arts, Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music, Tennessee Governor’s School for the Arts, Bennington Chamber Music Conference, University of North Carolina School of the Arts (Summer), Aria International Academy, London, Ontario; conductor, Old Dominion University Chamber Orchestra, Atlanta University Center Orchestra. Visiting faculty, Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music; faculty, James Madison University. Performances in the US, Israel, Canada, South and Central America, Switzerland, India, Japan, Nigeria, Hong Kong, and the Caribbean.

DEBORAH BRUDVIG
Cello

M.M., University of Maryland; B.M., Boston University; studies at University of Michigan.

Deborah Brudvig received a M. Mus. in cello performance from University of Maryland and a B. Mus. degree from Boston University. She began her undergraduate music studies at the University of Michigan. Deborah joined Northern Virginia Community College/Alexandria as an adjunct music instructor in 2017. She is the former principal cellist of the Washington Concert Opera and the Amadeus orchestra. As both a chamber musician and orchestral player, Deborah has performed at venues including the Smithsonian, Corcoran Gallery, Phillips Collection, Kennedy Center, Wolf Trap and National Cathedral. She has performed in many theater pit orchestras, including productions for over 25 years at her favorite theater home, Arena Stage. Recordings include performances with Cathedral Choral Society, Washington Chorus, and Washington Bach Consort, as well as with cabaret artists Beverly Cosham and Sally Martin. Deborah has also written and self-published a book of 40 cello etudes.

SONYA CHUNG
Violin

M.M. Peabody Conservatory; B.A. (philosophy, honors) Harvard College; Yellow Barn Music Festival; Tanglewood Music Festival, two-year fellowship.

Studied with Violaine Melançon. As avid chamber musician, performed with members of the Peabody Trio, Brentano, Mendelssohn, and Takács Quartets. Opera and orchestral performances include concerts under the direction of James Levine, Bernard Haitink, Herbert Blomstedt, Sir Roger Norrington, and Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos. Recent notable trips include Carnegie Hall in New York, Auditorio Nacional in Mexico City, and Queens University Belfast, Northern Ireland.

KEVIN JANG
Violin

D.M.A., Catholic University; M.M., B.M., Peabody Institute.

Concertmaster, Peabody Symphony, Catholic University Symphony. J.C. Hulstyen Award for excellence in violin, Peabody Institute. Guest concertmaster, Annapolis Symphony Orchestra. Artist-in-Residence concert, Strathmore Mansion, Soloist, Cascade Festival Orchestra, Catholic University Symphony and Aspen Mozart Orchestra. Member, Aspen Festival Orchestra and Chamber Symphony. Joseph Gingold Award for excellence in chamber music, Kent/Blossom Festival.

BECKY JOHNSON
Suzuki Violin & Viola, Suzuki Academy Coordinator

M.M. (Suzuki pedagogy), Ithaca College; B.M. (viola performance), Oberlin Conservatory.

Wisconsin-born violinist and violist. Trained with Carrie Reuning-Hummel at Ithaca College. Her other teachers include Peter Slowik, David Quiggle, Yuliya Smead, and Barbara Beechey. Johnson has received additional Suzuki training from Sandy Reuning, Kimberly Meier-Sims, Ed Kreitman, and Tom Wermuth. As an orchestral musician, Johnson has performed as a member of The Civic Orchestra of Chicago, Orchestra of the Southern Finger Lakes, and the National Festival Orchestra at the National Orchestral Institute. She has also performed as a member of the Florestan Quartet and as part of the Credo Chamber Music Festival. Johnson has been teaching for over ten years.

KATHY JUDD
Violin, Executive & Artistic Director

M.M.A., Yale University; B.M., New England Conservatory of Music, Wichita State University.

Former member, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Idyllwild Trio, Mariposa Piano Trio; concertmaster, Boulder (CO) Bach Festival, Las Vegas Symphony. Lead commercial musician, Las Vegas. Orchestral, chamber music, festival performances throughout the U.S., Europe, and Taiwan. Faculty, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Idyllwild (CA) School of Music and the Arts. Instructor, Elizabethtown College. National and State grants panelist. Executive and Artistic Director, Music at Gretna (PA) chamber music and jazz concert series.

GEORGE OHLSON
Viola, Violin

B.A., Washington University (St. Louis, Missouri).

Member, National Gallery Orchestra, Washington Chamber Symphony and American Chamber Orchestra. Member, Belmont String Quartet. Lecture/demonstrations at Washington-area schools. Violist at Grand Teton Music Festival.

DREW OWEN
Cello, Suzuki Cello

M.M., Cleveland Institute of Music; B.M., College Conservatory of Music, Cincinnati; Aspen Music Festival, Fellowship student.

Instructor, Howard, Tulane Universities. Former member, New Orleans Symphony, Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra. Performs with the National Symphony, the Baltimore Symphony, and Washington National Opera; has toured Japan with the Washington National Opera, and China and Korea with the National Symphony.

TOBIAS WERNER
Cello, Chamber Music

M.M., Musikhochschule Freiburg in Germany, and B.M., Boston University.

Music Director, The Chamber Music Conference of the East, Artistic Director, Pressenda Chamber Players, Arts for the Aging (AFTA) teaching artist. Formerly cellist in residence and co-artistic director, Garth Newel Music Center. Performances at the Cape and Islands Chamber Music Festival, Villa Musica Mainz, San Diego Chamber Music Workshop, Vail Valley Bravo! Colorado Music Festival, Maui Classical Music Festival, in venues including Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, Strathmore Hall, the Phillips Collection, the Library of Congress, the National Gallery of Art, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the New York Society for Ethical Culture and Bargemusic. Soloist with orchestras in the US, France, Germany and Romania. Recorded on ECM, Darbringhaus & Grimm, Bayer Records, and Orfeo labels. Former faculty, Georgetown University.

AVNER FINBERG
Violin, Suzuki Academy Violin, Music Theory, Composition

D.M.A., composition, Manhattan School of Music; M.M. composition, Mannes College; M.M. violin, B.M., composition, B.M. violin, Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance

Faculty, Suzuki violin, Opus Ithaca (NY); Violin, chamber music, conductor, Amadeus Music School, (Chappaqua, NY); Director of Strings, “Hadasim” Elementary School, (Yoqneam, Israel); Visiting Instructor, Syracuse University (NY); Substitute violinist, Israel Philharmonic (Tel-Aviv); Solo and chamber music: Opus Ithaca Community Concert Series, OSFL Chamber Series, Spectrum NYC, Firehouse Space, Ensemble INMC, Tiroler ensemble für newe musik, (Innsbruck, Austria). Suzuki training, Ithaca College, Montreal, Canada; Teaching certification, strings, Israeli Ministry of Education. Compositions commissioned by the Meitar Ensemble, ensemble mise-en, The Boston New Music Initiative, Ensemble Platypus Wien, The Ithaca New Music Collective, Cisum Percussion, The Orchestra of the Southern Finger Lakes. Awards: 2017 Kirkoskammer Chamber Music Competition, Chamber Music Rochester Award, the Bard Prize, 2014 Kol Emet Young Composers competition, finalist, 2018 Banaue International Music Composition Competition in The Philippines.

Faculty – Strings

AMADI AZIKIWE
Violin Class, Lecturer

DEBORAH BRUDVIG
Cello

SONYA CHUNG
Violin

KEVIN JANG
Violin

BECKY JOHNSON
Suzuki Violin & Viola, Suzuki Academy Coordinator

KATHY JUDD
Violin, Executive & Artistic Director

GEORGE OHLSON
Viola, Violin

DREW OWEN
Cello, Suzuki Cello

TOBIAS WERNER
Cello, Chamber Music

AVNER FINBERG
Violin, Suzuki Academy Violin, Music Theory, Composition

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Faculty – Strings

AMADI AZIKIWE Violin Class, Lecturer

DEBORAH BRUDVIG Cello

SONYA CHUNG Violin

KEVIN JANG Violin

BECKY JOHNSON Suzuki Violin & Viola, Suzuki Academy Coordinator

KATHY JUDD Violin, Executive & Artistic Director

GEORGE OHLSON Viola, Violin

DREW OWEN Cello, Suzuki Cello

TOBIAS WERNER Cello, Chamber Music

AVNER FINBERG Violin, Suzuki Academy Violin, Music Theory, Composition

MORE INFO

AMADI AZIKIWE
Violin Class, Lecturer

DEBORAH BRUDVIG
Cello

SONYA CHUNG
Violin

KEVIN JANG
Violin

BECKY JOHNSON
Suzuki Violin & Viola, Suzuki Academy Coordinator

KATHY JUDD
Violin, Executive & Artistic Director

GEORGE OHLSON
Viola, Violin

DREW OWEN
Cello, Suzuki Cello

TOBIAS WERNER
Cello, Chamber Music

AVNER FINBERG
Violin, Suzuki Academy Violin, Music Theory, Composition