ARTIST PROFILE

Miami String Quartet

BIOGRAPHY

Ivan Chan, violin; Cathy Meng Robinson, violin; Chauncey Patterson, viola; Keith Robinson, cello

Praised in The New York Times as having "everything one wants in a quartet: a rich, precisely balanced sound, a broad coloristic palette, real unity of interpretive purpose and seemingly unflagging energy," the Miami String Quartet has quickly established its place among the most widely respected quartets in America. Their diversity in programming, poise in performance, keen sense of ensemble and impeccable musicality has made the Miami String Quartet one of the most sought after quartets in chamber music today.

IVAN CHAN, Ivan Chan bronze medalist of the 1990 Indianapolis International Violin Competition, received his education at the Curtis Institute of Music and Indiana University. His principal teachers included Jascha Bordsky, David Cerone, Miriam Fried, Felix Galimir, and Jaime Laredo. Mr. Chan became first violinist of the Miami String Quartet in January of 1995.

CATHY MENG ROBINSON, violin, is a founding member of the Miami String Quartet. She received her Bachelor of Music Degree from the Curtis Institute of Music, and her Masters degree from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Her teachers include Ivan Galamian, David Cerone, and Isadora Tinkleman

CHAUNCEY PATTERSON, viola, has been violist of the Miami String Quartet since 1990. He attended both the Curtis Institute of Music and the Cleveland Institute of Music where he studied with Michael Tree, Karen Tuttle, and Robert Vernon.

Nokuthula Ngwenyama

(pronounced "No-ku-tu-la En-gwen-ya-ma")

Nokuthula Ngwenyama is recognized as one of the foremost instrumentalists of her generation. Her acclaimed appearances as soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician garner great attention, as she plays 'music beautifully, with dazzling technique in the virtuoso fast movements and deep expressiveness in the slow movements (The Washington Post).'

Ms. Ngwenyama came to international attention when she won the Primrose Competition and Young Concert Artists International Auditions - both at age 17. Her debut recitals in Washington, D. C. at the Kennedy Center and in New York at the 92nd Street 'Y' were widely praised, and in 1997 she received an Avery Fisher Career Grant.

Ms. Ngwenyama has concertized extensively throughout the United States and abroad. Domestic appearances include performances with the Atlanta, Baltimore, and Indianapolis Symphonies, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the National Symphony Orchestra. She has been heard in recital at Tokyo's Suntory Hall, the Louvre, the Ford Center in Toronto, the Maison de Radio France, and the White House.

Born in California of Zimbabwean-Japanese parentage, Ms. Ngwenyama graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music in 1996. She attended the Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique de Paris as a Fulbright scholar, and in 2002 received a Master of Theological Studies degree from Harvard University.