ViolinJisun Yang

Jisun Yang is the Assistant Concertmaster of the San Diego Symphony. Before coming to San Diego she was a violinist in the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra and had won a position with the Kansas City Symphony before that as well. She has held the position of Concertmaster at Spoleto Festival USA with the orchestra and the opera orchestra in 2003. Ms. Yang is a graduate with highest honors from the Cleveland Institute of Music and was a full scholarship student at Oberlin College Conservatory. She has studied with David Cerone, David Updegraff, William Preucil, Schmuel Ashkenazy, Myron Kartman and Almita and Roland Vamos.

Ms. Yang grew up in Chicago, Illinois and started studies at the age of six. In 1999 she was a recipient of a violin from the Stradivari Society which enabled her to appear as a soloist and chamber musician all over the United States and Europe. She has been invited to and been a finalist in numerous competitions including Julius Stulberg, where Ms. Yang was the youngest finalist at the age of 12, Concert Artists Guild, Young Concert Artists and the Carl Nielsen International Violin Competition. The Nielsen Competition was held in New York City for the first time in history that year, and the performances (held at Merkin Hall, Lincoln Center) were broadcast live on National Public Radio. Ms. Yang has also won numerous awards and competitions including the prestigious Cleveland Institute of Music Concerto Competition (performing the Bartok Violin Concerto No. 2), American String Teacher’s Association Competition (ASTA), G.D. Searle National String Competition and the Chicago Institute of Music Concerto Competition. While Concertmaster of the Oberlin Contemporary Ensemble, Jisun Yang’s quartet ensemble recorded and premiered White Silence for quartet and orchestra by John Luther Adams. She has held concertmaster positions at both the Cleveland Institute of Music and Oberlin College Conservatory, and she has also received numerous awards and high honors from both institutions.

Jisun Yang’s collaborations have included Augustin Hadelich, Ray Chen, Johannes Moser and Anne-Marie McDermott. Her music festival appearances include La Jolla SummerFest, Music Academy of the West, Festival Mozaic, Encore School of Music, Spoleto Festival USA, Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival and the Bowdoin International Music Festival.

Getting to know Jisun Yang…

Q: How did you choose your instrument?

A: I saw Itzhak Perlman and Yo-Yo Ma on Sesame Street and Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood and I have been hooked on the violin and classical music since then.

Q: What are some of your favorite movies?

A: The Godfather Parts I and II, Amadeus, Magnolia, Schindler’s List, Being John Malkovich, Goodfellas, The Game, Bram Stoker’s Dracula.

Q: What are some favorite travel destinations?

A: Anywhere there is nature and places to do something active. I love mountains and trees! I’m not much of a beach or water person.

Q: What are some of your favorite books you’ve read lately?

A: The Alchemist by Paul Coelho, Life of Pi by Yann Martel and anything by Dostoevsky, Edgar Allan Poe and Ernest Hemingway.