Masahito Sugihara Jennifer Brimson Cooper Zach Cooper Eunbyol Ko
Performers for the May 12, 2013 concert
A Chamber Quartet
Jennifer Brimson Cooper has performed throughout Great Britain, Canada and the U.S. with solo appearances with the Brott Music Festival Orchestra, Cincinnati’s MusicX festival, the Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Orchestra and Wilfrid Laurier University Symphony. She served as principal flute with the National Academy Orchestra of Canada and Orchestre de la Francophonie Canadienne and is a laureate of many competitions including the William C. Byrd Young Artists Competition, Gilbert/Feld Prize for Woodwind Duo (RNCM), the Elora Festival, Claude Monteaux Flute Competition, and the Cincinnati Flute Symposium. Cooper has presented clinics and recitals at annual conferences for the National Flute Association, Kentucky Flute Society, Florida Flute Association, Kentucky Music Teachers’ Association, Canadian Universities Music Society, North American Saxophone Alliance and directs an annual All-State Flute Audition clinic for Kentucky high school flutists. In addition to Awea Duo she performs as flutist with the Baird Winds woodwind quintet and has recorded CD's of Canadian flute octets and flute quartets as a member of Quartet Laurier. She is currently working on a recording of Canadian flute duos scheduled for summer 2013.
Cooper received her doctoral degree from the Cincinnati College-Conservatory and MMus from the Royal Northern College of Music studying with Peter Lloyd. She serves as Assistant Professor of Flute and Music History at Morehead State University, KY and teaches flute at the Lutheran Summer Music Academy, Decorah, Iowa.
Masahito Sugihara is the assistant professor of saxophone at Morehead State University. He earned the Doctor of Music and Master of Music degrees from Northwestern University as a student of Dr. Frederick L. Hemke. Previous studies include with Marshall Taylor at Temple University and a masterclass with Claude Delangle. Sugihara has appeared as recitalist and clinician in Canada, Japan Norway, Scotland, and United States. He is a member of Awea Duo, Amethyst Saxophone Quartet, Chicago Reed Quartet, and Northshore Saxophone Trio, and has performed in the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, Chicago Chamber Musicians, Chicago Lyric Opera, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Ensemble Dal Niente, Grant Park Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Network for New Music, New York City Ballet, and Reading Symphony. An advocate of contemporary music, he has worked with such notable composers including, Lee Hyla, Christian Lauba, Lei Liang, Zhou Long, Alvin Lucier, François Rossé, Mari Takano, Hans Tomalla, and Marc-Anthony Turnage. Previously, he has taught saxophone and chamber music in the Chicago area at Northwestern University, Roosevelt University and Trinity Christian College. More info can be found at www.mas-sugihara.com
Mas Sugihara and Jennifer Brimson Cooper share a passion for chamber music. They formed the Awea Duo in the summer of 2012 for the purpose of artistic development and as a means for educational outreach. The Awea Duo is committed to promoting music for the flute and saxophone duo through performing existing works, writing transcriptions and commissioning new repertory. It is our goal to expand available literature for this instrumentation while having a great time working and performing together! www.awea-duo.com
Zach Cooper is third horn with the Kentucky Symphony Orchestra, he has also performed with the Memphis Symphony, Dayton Philharmonic, Lexington Philharmonic, Huntington Symphony, Ohio Valley Symphony, Blue Ash Montgomery Symphony, Richmond Symphony (IN), and Tallahassee Symphony Orchestras. As a soloist he played as a semi-finalist in the 2013 William Byrd Young Artist Competition, was awarded second place in the 2005 IHS Symposium Farkas Solo Competition and was the winner of the 2004 SouthEast Horn Workshop Solo Competition. Additionally, he has performed at numerous SouthEast Horn Workshops, and as part of the Florida International Festival with the London Symphony Orchestra, and the 28th International Youth and Music Festival in Vienna, Austria.
Cooper received his doctorate in horn performance from the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM). He also received his MM in horn from CCM and a BM in performance from Florida State University. He freelances as a soloist and orchestral performer and holds a private studio in the Lexington/Morehead, KY region.
Eunbyol Ko is a native of South Korea. She maintains an active international performing career as a soloist, chamber musician, and concerto soloist. She has performed in Canada, Austria, Germany, Belgium, Italy, the Czech Republic, South Korea, and throughout the United States, and has appeared with orchestras including the Kyungwon Philharmonic Orchestra, the Queen City Chamber Orchestra, and the Manhattan Chamber Orchestra. Her competition honors include prizes in the South Korea National Piano Competition, the Eum-Yeon competition, the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music’s (CCM) Chamber Music Competition, the International Yellow Springs Chamber Music Competition, the Kankakee Young Artists Concerto Competition, the Ibla Grand Prize Competition, and the American Protégé International Piano Competition.
As a collaborator, she has worked with members of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Lexington Philharmonic, Seoul Philharmonic, Dayton Philharmonic, Columbus Symphony Orchestra, and the China National Symphony Orchestra. She has also served as a chamber music coach and accompanist for the Starling String Project, and has been an official accompanist for the Young-Pyong International Clarinet Festival, the Henri Marteau International Violin Competition, and the Mozarteum International Summer Academy.
A dedicated teacher, Ko is Assistant Professor of Piano at Morehead State University. Her students have won numerous notable awards and competitions over the years on national and international levels. She also regularly teaches masterclasses throughout the United States and abroad, and serves as a judge for numerous area competitions and events.
Ko earned her Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in Piano Performance from CCM and her Masters degree in Piano Performance from Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. Her former teachers include Soo-Jung Shin, Shigeo Neriki, Eugene Pridonoff, and James Tocco.