Mahoko Eguchi has performed throughout the United States and Japan, as well as in France, Italy, Austria and Switzerland. As a member of the Arianna String Quartet, she was a finalist at the first International String Quartet Competition of Bordeaux. She has appeared in performances at festivals such as Strings-in-the-Mountains, Tanglewood, Taos, Spoleto, Norfolk and Moonbeach (Japan), and in chamber music series such as Japan Airline Young Artists Series, MIT Chamber Music Series, Fermilab Chamber Music Series, Chicago's Mostly Music Series, Premiere Performance Series in St. Louis, the Chamber Music Society of Williamsburg, and Doheny Soiree Series in Los Angeles. Ms. Eguchi has been heard in live broadcast performances in Osaka, Japan, on Chicago's prestigious Dame Myra Hess Series, and on NPR's Performance Today program. Her recording of Suite for Viola and Piano by George Frederick McKay was released in 2002 and can be heard on the Naxos label. She received her DMA, MMA and MM degrees from Yale University and BM from Indiana University, studying with Henryk Kowalski, Josef Gingold, Syoko Aki and Richard Young. Prior to joining the National Symphony, she served on the faculty of the University of Missouri-St. Louis, Eastern Michigan University and University of Michigan School of Music. She joined the National Symphony Orchestra in September 2001.
Benny Kim is a graduate of the Juilliard School where he studied with Dorothy DeLay. He now makes his home just outside Kansas City where he is currently Associate Professor of Violin at the University of Missouri/Kansas City Conservatory of Music. Having performed on five continents spanning nearly twenty countries, Benny Kim has become one of the most successful and acclaimed violinists of his generation. As the Washington Post observed, "Kim's emotional depth and musical carriage are his real drawing cards. His is a style that touches the peak of romantic violin playing." An avid and frequently sought after chamber musician, Mr. Kim has collaborated with many renowned artists including Pinchas Zukerman, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, Lynn Harrell, and Gary Graffman. He is a founding member of the recently formed quintet V to ONE, an ensemble featuring Anne-Marie McDermott, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, Evan Wilson (principal viola of the Los Angeles Philharmonic), and his brother, Eric Kim (principal cello of the Cincinnati Symphony). With Ms. Salerno-Sonnenberg, Benny Kim appears on two recordings for EMI - Bella Italia and Night and Day. He can also be heard on recordings on Koch International and Centaur. Mr. Kim plays a Stradivarius violin, dated 1732.
Eric Kim was born of Korean parents in New York City. He grew up in Illinois, and at age fifteen he made his solo debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Kim received his Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from the Juilliard School where he studied with Leonard Rose, Lynn Harrell, and Channing Robbins. Upon graduation, Mr. Kim received the first William Schuman Prize, awarded for outstanding leadership and achievement in music. He has been Principal Cellist with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra since 1989.
Mr. Kim has appeared as a soloist with the symphony orchestras of Cincinnati, Denver, San Diego, and was a featured soloist with the Juilliard Orchestra on its critically acclaimed tour of the Far East. He has collaborated with such conductors as Zubin Mehta, Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, Paavo Jarvi, Jesus Lopez-Cobos, Sergiu Comissiona, and Lawrence Foster. As a recitalist, Mr. Kim has been heard in the cities of New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Active as a chamber musician, Mr. Kim has performed with such artists as Emmanuel Ax, Joshua Bell, Yefim Bronfman, Lynn Harrell, Jaime Laredo, Cho-Liang Lin, and Menachem Pressler. At the invitation of violinist Pinchas Zukerman, he performed with Mr. Zukerman at the festivals of Athens (Greece), Mostly Mozart (NY), Schleswig-Holstein (Germany), and Verbier (Switzerland). He has also participated in several tours with Mr. Zukerman to South America and Israel as a member of the "Pinchas Zukerman and Friends" chamber ensemble. Mr. Kim has also made several recordings for the RCA, EMI, and Koch labels. Mr. Kim plays a cello made by Matteo Goffriller circa 1707 in Venice.
James Lee was born in the San Francisco bay area, where he made his debut with the San Francisco Symphony at the age of 15. He received his bachelor's degree from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and in 1985 earned his masters degree from the Juilliard School. That same year, he became a member of the National Symphony Orchestra. At Juilliard, Mr. Lee served as principal cellist of both the Juilliard Orchestra and the Juilliard Chamber Orchestra. As winner of the prestigious Juilliard Cello Competition, he was featured as soloist in Alice Tully Hall. Mr. Lee's teachers have included Margaret Rowell, Bonnie Hampton, Leonard Rose, and Joel Krosnick. He was a featured soloist with the National Symphony in 1988, in the world premiere of Adreas Makris' Concertante under the baton of Mstislav Rostropovich. A devoted chamber musician, he has appeared at the Phillips Gallery, Cosmos Club, Meridian House, and the Kennedy Center. Mr. Lee is married to National Symphony Orchestra violinist Teri Hopkins Lee.
Teri Hopkins Lee received her bachelor's degree from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and her master's degree from the Mannes School of Music. While pursuing her master's degree, she attended the Tanglewood festival where she won a scholarship to study at the Britten-Pears School in England. A native Californian, Ms. Lee moved to the D.C. area in 1985 with her husband, NSO cellist James Lee. At that time she served as Concermaster for the Handel Festival Orchestra, the Washington Bach Consort and performed her debut recital at the Corcoran Gallery. In 1989, Ms. Lee became a member of the NSO and one year later won an audition to join the first violin section. A devoted chamber musician, Ms. Lee is a member of the National Chamber Players, now celebrating their sixth year in residence at Episcopal High School. Recently, she performed with the Kennedy Center Chamber Players. In 1999, Ms. Lee appeared as a featured soloist with the NSO in the Vivaldi Festival.