Selected Violinists

Listen to Jeff Yang play with Corky Siegel’s Chamber Blues

Jeff Yang

“Kelvin Scott is a superb artisan of his craft, his violins are not only meticulously crafted with great elegance and style, but they each have a complexity of sound and resonance that have unique depths of its own, giving each of his instruments a unique voice and soul.”

Born in Taiwan, Jeff came to the U.S. at the age of eight. A classically trained violinist, he is one of the most versatile string players in Chicago, having performed blues, rock, and jazz with numerous internationally renowned artists. He is also adept at other instruments including viola, cello, bass guitar, and the baroque recorder. Currently, Jeff is the violin soloist and recorder player with the band Mannheim Steamroller and the violinist/violist with Access Contemporary Music where he recently played the Chicago premiere of Wolfgang Rihm’s violin concerto Lichetes Spiel in 2013. He has also served as first violinist in Corky Siegel’s Chamber Blues, conductor and concertmaster of the group Il Divo, and concertmaster for the New Millennium Orchestra.

 

read more…

In Chicago, Jeff performs frequently with the Grant Park Symphony, Chicago Philharmonic, Chicago Opera Theater, Joffrey Ballet, and he is in great demand as a studio musician. Well versed in various genres of music, Jeff has performed on PBS’s Soundstage with Jewel, Peter Cetera, Dennis DeYoung, Lyle Lovett, Ron Isley, Burt Bacharach, and also on the Oprah show with Andrea Bocelli and Monica. He has also performed with artists such as The Three Tenors, Kansas, Smokey Robinson, Bernardette Peters, Diana Krall, and David Foster. Jeff has served as concertmaster for the Spoleto Festival Orchestra in Italy, the National Repertory Orchestra in Colorado, Ballet Legere in Chicago, the Emerald City Philharmonic in Seattle, and as assistant concertmaster of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and the International Symphony Orchestra in Israel. Jeff hails from the Pacific Northwest and holds bachelor degrees in both arts, music, and industrial engineering from the University of Washington in Seattle, a masters degree in music from Northwestern University, and the certificate in performance from DePaul University, studying with renowned concertmaster Steven Staryk, pedagogue Gerardo Ribeiro, and with the former first violinist of the Muir and Chicago String Quartets, Joe Genualdi.

 

read less…

 

Ezinma

Ezinma (eh-zee-mah), also known as Classical Bae, first picked up the violin when she was three-years old. Born in Lincoln, Nebraska to a Guyanese father and a German-American mother, Ezinma’s mixed cultural and ethnic background influenced her musical upbringing and helped mold her into the versatile artist she is today. Growing up, there was a melange of music booming from the stereo: Parliament, Bill Monroe, Bob Marley, Van Morrison, Billie Holiday, Earth Wind and Fire, Bob Dylan, and Roberta Flack to name a few. These artists—along with her classical study of Bach, Beethoven, and Mozart—were influential in Ezinma’s development and continue to inspire her today.

read more…

In 2012, Ezinma moved to New York City to pursue her professional career as a classical violinist. In New York, she performed with string quartets and orchestras at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and Madison Square Garden. While classical music will always be a passion for Ezinma, she felt a strong need to present the world with a different side of her and a new context for the classical violin. Since then, Ezinma has collaborated with jazz, R&B, pop, hip-hop and electronic artists such as Beyonce, Stevie Wonder, Mac Miller, and Clean Bandit.

Ezinma’s style cannot be limited to one genre. Her music is a blend of virtuosic melodies and orchestral soundscapes with hard hitting beats. This fusion, this juxtaposition of seemingly unrelated worlds, allows Ezinma to connect with diverse audiences and communicate her passion in a way that is uniquely her own.

read less…

Click here to see Ezinma with a Kelvin Scott violin.