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Applauded by the Calgary Herald as “…talented, sensitive…brilliant,” Jiji is an adventurous artist on both acoustic and electric guitar, playing an extensive range of music from traditional and contemporary classical music to free improvisation. Her impeccable musicianship combined with compelling stage presence and fascinating repertoire earned the Korean guitarist First Prize at the 2016 Concert Artists Guild Competition.

Following recent performances at the 92nd Street ‘Y’ Guitar Fest and at Festival Napa Valley, Jiji has a busy 2017-18 season, featuring her New York recital debut at Weill Recital Hall on the CAG series, along with recitals for the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts in Illinois, Purdue Convocations in Indiana, and the Virginia Arts Festival (co-presented by the Tidewater Classical Guitar Society).

The Kansas City Star described Jiji as “A graceful and nuanced player,” adding that “…she presented an intimate, captivating performance” in its review of her recent appearance as guest soloist with Kansas City Symphony and conductor Carlos Miguel Prieto. Upcoming concerto appearances include the Great Falls Symphony (MT), Roswell Symphony (NM), and the Southwest Michigan Symphony.

Currently sponsored by D’Addario Strings. Jiji’s performances have been featured on PBS (On Stage at Curtis series), NPR’s From the Top, WHYY-TV, FOX 4-TV, Munchies (the Vice Channel), The Not So Late Show (Channel 6, Kansas), and Hong Kong broadcast station RTHK’s The Works.

A passionate advocate of new music, Jiji has premiered a duo piece Talking Guitars by renowned composer, Paul Lansky, and her subsequent studio recording of that work (with young Chinese guitarist Hao Yang) will be released on Bridge Records in the 2017-18 season. As a recipient of the 2017 BMI commissioning award resulting from the CAG Competition. Jiji has commissioned Nina C. Young to write a new guitar piece scheduled for premiere in early 2018. She has premiered works by numerous emerging composers, including Gabriella Smith, Riho Maimets, Krists Auznieks, Gulli Björnsson, Andrew McIntosh, and Farnood HaghaniPour. She also performs her own compositions, incorporating electronic media and acoustic music, and she currently works as a composer with the Yale Repertory Theater, Yale Cabaret, and Yale school of Art. Her music is influenced by her regular activities as a DJ, where she highlights the electronic dance styles of happy hardcore and Berlin experimental electronica.

Recent performance highlights include a wide array of venues, including: Carnegie Hall, National Sawdust, Miller theater, Mass MOCA, Subculture NYC, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Princeton Sound Kitchen, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Her recent tour in Hong Kong consisted of performances collaborating with a performance Artist, a traditional Chinese instrument ensemble, and an Erhu player in art galleries, clubs, and even on a moving trolley.

As a chamber musician, she performed with members of Eighth Blackbird, members of one beat project, members of Bang on a Can All-Stars, Tanglewood Chamber orchestra, Wild Up, The Industry, cellist Tessa Seymour, and the Aizuri Quartet.

Born in Seoul, South Korea, Jiji (Jiyeon Kim) began playing classical guitar at the age of nine, and was accepted to the Korea National University of Arts at age fourteen. She attended the Cleveland Institute of Music for two years, where she studied with Jason Vieaux, and was accepted at the Curtis Institute of Music in 2011 as one of the first two guitarists in Curtis’ distinguished history. She graduated Curtis in 2015, as a student of Mr. Vieaux and David Starobin, and she recently earned her Master of Music degree from the Yale School of Music, studying with Benjamin Verdery. Currently based in Brooklyn, NY, she enjoys cooking in her spare time and creating weird sounds on Ableton.

Brandon Ridenour official site | Brandon Ridenour on Facebook | Brandon Ridenour on Instagram | Brandon Ridenour on YouTube

A virtuoso trumpeter and composer, Brandon Ridenour’s brilliance and self-assurance on the concert stage led to his victory at the Concert Artists Guild Competition. Recognized as “a major talent in the making” (Grand Rapids Press), he has combined his wide-ranging activities as a soloist and chamber musician with his passion for composing and arranging, resulting in his distinctive artistic voice and vision.

Brandon began arranging music for trumpet as both a solo and collaborative instrument in order to expand the possibilities for his instrument, sometimes including a melding of musical styles, and creating a new cross-genre repertoire. In addition to showcasing these works in his own recital and concerto performances, his arrangements are also featured by the ensembles Founders and USEFULChamber, both of which Brandon is a founding member. At the age of twenty, Brandon became the youngest member ever to join the iconic Canadian Brass, a position he held for seven years. While with the group, he played in distinguished venues around the world, performed on television, recorded ten albums, and received three Juno Award nominations.

During the 2016-17 season, Brandon embarks on a cross-country recital tour, taking him to nineteen cities in over ten states. Highlighted appearances include the Rockport Music Festival (MA), Beaches Fine Arts (FL), Tri-County Concerts (PA), and University of Wisconsin. Featured 2016-17 concerto performances include the Grand Junction Symphony (CO), Westmoreland Symphony (PA) and the Gulf Coast Symphony (MS).

Brandon has appeared as a soloist with the National Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the Indianapolis, Jacksonville, and Edmonton Symphony Orchestras. He has performed with the New York Philharmonic, International Contemporary Ensemble, the Knights, and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra. Other solo performances include the Kennedy Center, Walt Disney Hall, and Carnegie Hall, including his 2016 Weill Recital Hall debut and a recent Stern Auditorium performance of Penny Lane alongside Sting and James Taylor. During the 2015-16 season, he was featured with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in its annual performances of Bach’s complete Brandenburg Concertos.

Brandon is the winner of the 2006 International Trumpet Guild solo competition and a recipient of the Morton Gould ASCAP Young Composer Award. He has recorded three solo albums; his latest release is Fantasies and Fairy Tales which features his own virtuosic arrangements of classical masterworks for trumpet and piano, collaborating with pianist Rachel Kudo.

A graduate of The Juilliard School and an alumnus of Carnegie Hall’s Ensemble ACJW, Brandon began his musical journey at age 5, studying piano with his father, pianist/conductor Rich Ridenour, with whom he still performs in recital and with Pops Orchestras.