Clinicians

Home
Concerts
Workshops
Schedule
Clinicians
Forms
Repertoire

Contact Us

Tido Janssen
UTRGV Cello Festival Director
School of Music
Performing Arts Complex B2.128
Email: tido.janssen@utrgv.edu
Phone: (956) 665-3475
Facebook

Bongshin Ko

California State University, Fullerton
Read More

Bongshin Ko

Cellist Bongshin Ko has appeared worldwide as a recitalist, chamber musician, and soloist with orchestras including Television and Radio Symphony of Moscow, Korean Broadcasting Symphony, and Munich Chamber Players to name a few. In 1992, Ms. Ko was the first Korean musician invited to China after the historic resumption of diplomatic relations between the two countries, and has since been invited back annually.

Ms. Ko collaborated with Mstislav Rostropovich on the premier performances of Bernard Rands Cello Concerto. International music festivals welcomed her to Kronberg Cello Festival, Hoertnagel Konzertdirektion, Berlin Wall 10^th Anniversary concert, American Cello Congresses, plus numerous others in France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Spain, Poland, Russia, Monaco, Croatia, USA, Korea, China, Japan, Hong Kong, and Indonesia.

Her performances to critical acclaims include NDR and Bayerischer Rundfunk (Germany), Fuji TV (Japan), TV New Zealand, TV China, Korean Broadcasting Systems and NBC. Ms. Ko can be heard on major labels including the SONY Classical and over the transpacific in-flight classical station of the Asiana Airlines. She taught masterclasses at such music schools as The Juilliard School, Manheim Musikhochschule, and Seoul National University, and other prestigious institutions around the world.

Currently serving as the Professor of Cello at California State University, Fullerton, Ms. Ko is passionate about supporting young talents and promoting less-known cello works through the Greenhouse Foundation, which she founded with the late legendary cellist Bernard Greenhouse.

California State University, Fullerton

Julian Schwarz

Shenandoah Conservatory
Read More

Julian Schwarz

As a chamber musician, Julian performs extensively in recital with Marika Bournaki. In 2016 the Schwarz-Bournaki duo was awarded first prize at the inaugural Boulder International String Competition’s “The Art of Duo”, and embarked on an extensive 10-recital tour of China in 2017. Julian is a founding member of the New York based Frisson Ensemble and the Mile-End Trio. He performs frequently at Bargemusic in Brooklyn, and as a member of the Palladium Chamber Players in St Petersburg FL.

Julian is an ardent supporter of new music, and has premiered concertos by Richard Danielpour, Samuel Jones and Dobrinka Tabakova. In the 17-18 season, he gave the world premiere of Lowell Liebermann’s first Cello Concerto with a consortium of six orchestras.

A devoted teacher, Mr. Schwarz serves as Asst. Professor of Cello at Shenandoah Conservatory and on the artist faculty of New York University. Other faculty appointments include faculty teaching assistant to Joel Krosnick at The Juilliard School and cello faculty at the Eastern Music Festival where he runs programming for the Tuesday evening chamber music series.

Born in Seattle, WA, Mr. Schwarz studied at the Academy of Music Northwest and the Lakeside School. He continued to the Colburn School in Los Angeles and then The Juilliard School to study with mentor Joel Krosnick (BM 14, MM 16). Other influential teachers include the late David Tonkonogui, the late Toby Saks, and Lynn Harrell. Julian plays a Neapolitan cello made by Gennaro Gagliano in 1743. He is an active contributor to Strings Magazine’s Artist Blog, and sits on the music committee of the National Arts Club. A Pirastro and Melos artist, he endorses and plays the Pirastro "Perpetual" medium set of cello strings and Melos light rosin.

Shenandoah Conservatory

Tido Janssen

University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
Read More

Tido Janssen

Cellist Tido Janssen has served on the faculty at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley since 2010 and is director of the annual UTRGV Cello Festival.

A native of Germany, Dr. Janssen studied cello performance at Folkwang Hochschule für Musik in Duisburg before continuing his studies in the US. He holds a Master of Music Degree from Boston University, and Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of North Texas. His major teachers include Jürgen Wolf, George Neikrug, Carter Enyeart, Walter Gray, and Eugene Osadchy. His chamber music studies include coachings with the Muir Quartet, Lydian Quartet, and members of the Lyontevich and Kolisch Quartets.

Before joining the music faculty at UTRGV, Dr. Janssen served on the faculty of the University of Lethbridge in Alberta, Canada, and Hardin Simmons University in Abilene, Texas. As a charter member of the University of Lethbridge faculty ensemble Trio Amaranth, he has performed extensively throughout western Canada. In Abilene, TX, he was Principal Cellist of the Abilene Philharmonic and Abilene Opera Orchestras, founder and Director of the Abilene Summer Music Festival, and performed with the Abilene Chamber Players for the Concerti Nel Chiostro at the Conservatorio di musica “Giuseppe Verdi”, and the Abrosianeum Concerti, in Milan, Italy.

As a performer Dr. Janssen has repeatedly appeared in Germany, The Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Austria, Canada, and throughout the US. He has been a member of the New Hampshire Music Festival Orchestra since 2000, and has recorded for Deutsche Welle, Public Radio, and Centaur Records.

University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

Patrick Hopkins

South Texas College
Read More

Patrick Hopkins

Patrick Hopkins is an active soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral player having performed nationally and internationally in venues such as Alice Tully Hall, David Geffen Hall, Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, Merkin Hall, and Suntory Hall. He made his Lincoln Center debut in 2008 as soloist with the Juilliard Pre-College Orchestra and has appeared three times as soloist with the Fairbanks Symphony. In July 2015, he was soloist/principal cellist with the National Repertory Orchestra and recently appeared as soloist with the New Amsterdam Orchestra of New York. In 2011, Mr. Hopkins was the Grand Prize winner of the Music Teachers National Association Young Artist Competition and is also a Yamaha Young Performing Artist. He joined the faculty of South Texas College in the fall of 2018. Mr. Hopkins was a member of the Wichita (Kansas) Symphony Orchestra and has also served as a lecturer at Rutgers University.

Mr. Hopkins has worked with conductors such as Alan Gilbert, Bernard Haitink, Robert Spano, and Yannick Nezet-Seguin. He has studied chamber music with members of the Emerson, Juilliard, and Orion Quartets and has performed with members of the Harlem and Orion Quartets. Mr. Hopkins has performed in master classes with Zuill Bailey, Colin Carr, Timothy Eddy, and Franz Helmerson.

Mr. Hopkins is a graduate of Juilliard’s Pre-College Division and received his Bachelor of Music degree from The Juilliard School as a scholarship student of Bonnie Hampton and Richard Aaron. Mr. Hopkins received his Master of Music degree from the Manhattan School of Music in the Orchestral Performance program as a full scholarship student of Alan Stepansky. Other teachers with whom he has worked extensively include Hans Jørgen-Jensen, Melissa Kraut, and Minna Rose Chung. Mr. Hopkins has received summer fellowships from the National Repertory Orchestra, Spoleto Music Festival, Aspen Music Festival and the Music Academy of the West. Mr. Hopkins is currently a candidate for the Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Rutgers University as a full scholarship student of Jonathan Spitz.

South Texas College

Efrain Munguia

Southwest Early College High School
Read More

Efrain Munguia

Efrain E. Munguia is currently an Orchestra Director at Southwest Early College High School in Pharr-San Juan-Alamo Independent School District in Pharr, Texas. He is currently in his 9^th year of public-school teaching.

A native of the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, Mr. Munguia studied at the University of Texas Pan-American (UTPA) in Edinburg, Texas where he focused on Music Education and received his Bachelor of Arts. He continued his education at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) where he received his Master of Music. His major teachers include Dr. Christopher Munn, Sarah Kapps, Dr. Curtis Tredway, Dr. Mark Schuppener, and world-renowned cellist and Grammy award winner, Zuill Bailey.

An avid recording artist, Mr. Munguia enjoys spending time in recording studios. In the past, he has recorded in studios such as: Noonday Studios (Harlingen, Texas), Sound of Rain Studios (Edinburg, Texas), and the largest residential recording studio, Sonic Ranch (Tornillo, Texas). He has recorded for several bands, artists, and projects, such as: Corine Garcia & the Meow Meow Meows, Static Cycle, ArcaneDisplay, AeroTek, Ali Wagner, Liberty King, Rachel Corsi, and Bert Saenz. Songs from these artists can be found on Pandora Radio, Spotify, Amazon, iTunes, and other streaming services.

An amateur composer and arranger, Mr. Munguia is the author of the Sight-Read to Succeed: Coverage of the Texas UIL Orchestra Sight-Reading Criteria series, as well as Scale & Rhythm Rudiments: Exercises in Correlation with the Texas UIL Orchestra Sight-Reading Evaluation series. In addition, he is the owner of La Hacienda Musica, a local sheet music publishing house in the Rio Grande Valley. Visit https://www.haciendamusica.com/ for more information.

This will be Mr. Munguia’s sixth year conducting the Novice Ensemble at the 2020 Pan American Cello Festival. This year’s ensemble will premiere a composition of Mr. Munguia’s entitled “The Three B’s Get Boomwhacked”.

Southwest Early College High School

Natalie Haugeberg

Vela and Gutierrez MS Harlingen CISD
Read More

Natalie Haugeberg

Cellist Natalie Haugeberg is a graduate of The Florida State University, where she was a member of the Eppes String Quartet and earned her Master of Music in Cello Performance. She earned her Bachelor of Music Education at The University of South Carolina where she was actively involved in the String Project, and taught students of all ages and abilities. She has been teaching in public schools for 9 years and privately for fifteen years. Natalie is a member of the Valley Symphony Orchestra and is an active chamber musician. She currently teaches orchestra at Vela and Gutierrez middle schools in Harlingen, TX.

Vela and Gutierrez MS Harlingen CISD

Jump to Top

Cello Festival School of Music

Clinicians

Bongshin Ko

Julian Schwarz

Tido Janssen

Patrick Hopkins

Efrain Munguia

Natalie Haugeberg