Applauded by The Strad for her “fiery virtuosity” and “consummate performances,” violinist YooJin Jang is a winner of the 2017 Concert Artists Guild Competition, and is also First Prize winner of the 2016 Sendai International Music Competition in Japan. These two victories have resulted in a busy itinerary of international recital and concerto engagements, and also the release of two new recordings, including a CD of her prize-winning Sendai concerto performances. “Jang is a performer without fear or technical limitation” (Boston Musical Intelligencer).
A native of Korea, YooJin has been performing with top Korean orchestras since the age of nine, including the KBS Symphony Orchestra and the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, and during the 2017-18 season she performs regularly in both Korea and Japan. Looking ahead to 2018-19, highlighted engagements include concerto debuts at New York’s Chautauqua Institution and in Japan with the Osaka Symphony Orchestra, as well as her Carnegie Hall recital debut on CAG’s series at Weill Recital Hall. An active international soloist, YooJin has appeared with the Budapest Festival Orchestra led by Ivan Fischer, Bulgaria National Radio Symphony Orchestra under Emil Tabakov, Sofia Philharmonia Orchestra with Ljubka Biagioni, the Erato Ensemble led by Sholomo Mintz, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, Spain’s Extremadura Orchestra conducted by Jesus Amigo, and the NEC Philharmonia led by Josh Weilerstein.
Recent career highlights for YooJin include recitals in Boston at Jordan Hall and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum; in Chicago for the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert series; in Japan for the Sendai Competition Winner’s series in Sendai, Nagoya and at Hamarikyu Asahi Hall in Tokyo; and chamber music performances with Caramoor’s Rising Stars. Ravinia’s Steans Institute on Tour and Music From Marlboro.
In 2017, two new CD’s were released, including YooJin’s live performances of the Mendelssohn and Stravinsky Violin Concertos with the Sendai Philharmonic Orchestra and Junichi Hirokami, and a recital disc featuring music of Mendelssohn, Stravinsky, Grieg and Sibelius with pianist Kae Ozawa. Her first CD entitled “Korean Young Musicians” was released on the KBS (Korean Broadcast System) label, in cooperation with Aulos media & KBS Classic FM. She is also regularly heard on the radio, including a recent appearance on WQXR’s McGraw Hill Young Artists Showcase.
A seasoned young artist, YooJin’s latest victories at CAG and Sendai follow a long line of international competition success. In 2013, she won Japan’s 4th International Munetsugu Violin Competition, which included the loan of the 1697 ‘Rainville’ Stradivari violin. She was also a top prize winner at the prestigious International Violin Competition of Indianapolis, the Michael Hill International Violin Competition (including the Audience Prize and Best Performance of the New Zealand Commission Work), and the Yehudi Menuhin Competition.
Also a passionate chamber musician, YooJin is a co-founder of The Kallaci String Quartet in 2012, which made its international debut at the Kumho Art Hall in Seoul, Korea and the Seoul Spring Festival of Chamber Music. Recognized for her creative work in chamber music, she won the 2011 Borromeo String Quartet Guest Artist Award, and in 2009 she was awarded the Schloss Weikersheim Scholarship as part of the London String Quartet Competition. YooJin has also participated in the Marlboro and Ravinia Festivals, where she worked with artists such as Menahem Pressler, Dénes Várjon, and Peter Wiley.
Born in Korea in 1990, YooJin Jang holds a Bachelor of Music from The Korean National University of Arts, where she studied under Nam Yun Kim. She earned a Master of Music, Graduate Diploma, and Artist Diploma from New England Conservatory, as a student of Miriam Fried, and she is currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts at NEC.