Index

Katalin-150

Guest violinist, Katalin Viszmeg is a native of Mako, Hungary. She started her musical studies at an early age and earned her Bachelor's and Master's Degrees in Budapest at the prestigious Franz Liszt Music Academy . She received third prize in the Hungarian National Violin Solo Competition, was awarded the Special Prize in the Hungarian National Chamber Music Competition and won the 2004 Paranov Competition.

As a soloist she has performed the Sibelius Violin Concerto with the Bela Bartok Youth Orchestra, Chausson's Poeme with the Hartt Symphony Orchestra, Bach Concerto four two violins with the Sandor Frigyes Chamber Orchestra as well as Vivaldi's The Four Seasons and Beethoven's violin concertos with various ensembles throughout Hungary. Since age 12 she has appeared in the Hungarian National Radio as a soloist and chamber musician.

She completed an Artist Diploma at the Hartt School of Music as part of the prestigious 20/20 chamber music program under the guidance of Mickey Reisman and Anthea Kreston, with whom she collaborated for two years in the Sleeping Giant String Ensemble.
Ms Viszmeg is second violin principal of the Connecticut Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra and of the Waterbury Symphony Orchestra. She had her Carnegie Hall debut in October 2004 as a member of the Sylveen String Quartet. She is also a member of the Arensky Piano Trio which was formed in 2005. Katalin Viszmeg is presently a violin teacher at the Community Division in the Hartt School of Music in Hartford, Connecticut. Viszmeg has kept collaborating with prominent figures of the music world, such as the two-times Grammy Award winner Larry Combs, cellist Jason Duckles and violinist Anthea Kreston, renowned pianist Luiz de Moura Castro and the Alturas Duo.

Born in Taiwan, Pi-Hsun Shih has resided in the USA since 1990. As a collaborative pianist, she has performed with musicians throughout North and South America, Hong Kong, China, and Taiwan; including performances with members of the Empire Brass, Emerson String Quartet and solo appearances with Mexico State Symphony Orchestra, Sao Paulo Symphony in Brazil and Hartt Symphony in Connecticut. International Clarinet Magazine praised her former Duo Asiatica-clarinet and piano recording for its “passionate virtuosity, a tour de force.” The Hartford Courant described her live performance with the New World Trio as “searing precision…brilliant flashes of panache.”

She has served on the piano faculty at Mount Holyoke College and is currently on the faculty of Hartt School, Community Division and the Center for Creative Youth at Wesleyan University. She earned her Master’s degree from Boston University and a Doctorate from the Hartt School. Her teachers include Gary Steigerwalt, Irma Vallecillo, Hung-Kuan Chen and Rolf-Peter Wille.

Ms Shih has made Hartford her second hometown. She joined the New World Trio in 2001. She also formed a piano duet, Duo Asiana, with her sister Yu-Chen Shih. In addition to the standard repertoire, they also specialize in piano arrangements of orchestral music.

A Connecticut native, Melissa M. Morgan’s playing has been called “deeply resonant” and “vibrant”. She holds a Bachelor of Music from the Eastman School of Music (where she studied with Steven Doane) and a Master of Music from the San Francisco Conservatory (where she worked with Bonnie Hampton). A former member of the New Mexico-based Bella Cosi String Quartet, Ms. Morgan taught cello at the University of New Mexico , was principal cellist of the Sante Fe Ballet, and was a member of the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra and the Chamber Orchestra of Albuquerque. In 2000, she and the Bella Cosi String Quartet moved to San Francisco , where she joined the faculty of the San Francisco Community Music Center . The quartet also participated in the prestigious Fischoff Competition in Indiana . In addition to her current activities with the New World Trio, Ms. Morgan teaches privately, is on the faculty of the Green Street Arts Center in Middletown , CT and a substitute with the Hartford Symphony.