Artists
CHRISTINE CHOI
Artistic Director | Violin
Korean-American violinist Christine Choi enjoys a versatile career as both performer and educator. She made her concerto debut at the age of eleven and has appeared in concerts across the United States, Canada, Italy, and China, performing in major venues including Alice Tully Hall, Boston Symphony Hall, and Jordan Hall. As a chamber musician, Dr. Choi has performed as a Guest Artist at Music in the Vineyards in Napa Valley alongside members of the San Francisco Symphony and was awarded a Fellowship at the Madeline Island Music Festival. In 2015, she became an artist member of the Music for Food concert series in Boston and has also appeared at the Mannes Festival in New York, The Beethoven Research Center at Boston University, and BU’s Center for New Music in collaboration with composer Joan Tower. Her orchestral experience includes performances with the Banff Festival Orchestra, Hwaum Boston Chamber Orchestra, Cantata Singers, and the Santa Rosa and Santa Cruz Symphonies.
Born in Los Angeles, Dr. Choi began violin lessons at age six and entered the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Pre-College Division at age eight. She earned her Bachelor of Music from SFCM as a recipient of the Ruth and Jo Blackmore Scholarship, and her Master’s degree from the Manhattan School of Music under Lucie Robert. She pursued a Professional Studies Diploma at Mannes College of Music before earning her Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Boston University under Bayla Keyes. Her chamber music mentors include members of the American, Juilliard, and Muir Quartets.
Committed to education and community engagement, Dr. Choi has served as a teaching assistant to Bayla Keyes at Boston University and the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra, and as an orchestral coach at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Her students have earned top prizes in local and national competitions and have performed at Carnegie Hall. She is the Co-Founder and Artistic Director of Sora Music Society and maintains an active private studio in El Dorado Hills.
MICHAEL DAHLBERG
Cello
A chamber musician noted for his “sensitivity and coloristic playing” (The New York Times), Michael has built a career using music for community-building and exploration. Following graduation from New England Conservatory (NEC) in Boston, he led projects aimed at revitalizing the way classical music was presented and taught around New England - from a chamber music parlor series at local jazz clubs to immersive orchestral experiences in breweries, string quartet residencies in the Boston Public Schools, and more. Michael’s work earned recognition from NEC, the St. Botolph Club, and Tanglewood Music Center (where he spent multiple summers as a New Fromm Player) and NPR’s “From the Top” where he designed and facilitated over 80 interactive music events across 45 US cities for over 13,000 audience members of all ages. In 2017, Michael relocated to the Bay Area where he was fortunate to play with regional ensembles including the San Jose Chamber Orchestra and Symphony Silicon Valley and serve as cello faculty at San Jose State University. Michael now resides in the Sacramento area with his wife, two daughters and 13-pound cat, Gus, enjoying a triple life as Product Director for a tech startup, musician, and father. He can be heard regularly on chamber music series across the region, in the pit at Broadway Sacramento, and continues to innovate new concert experiences with his ensemble @soundpostsacramento.
ROBIN FISHER
Voice
Soprano Robin Fisher is a native Californian who studied music in Hamburg and Vienna as both a Fulbright Scholar and recipient of a Rotary International grant. She performed professionally in over 15 leading operatic roles in Germany, Austria, Prague, Paris, and Salzburg. Professional recordings include works for flute and soprano (The Nightingale Sings), sacred American art songs with pianist Dalton Baldwin (God be in my Heart), as well as complete Mozart Lieder with keyboardist Siegbert Rampe, for Swiss Radio. Her publications include a second edition of American Art Song & American Poetry (2012) in collaboration with scholar/performer Ruth Friedberg, and The Selected Writings of John Duke (2007).
Robin returned to California in 2003 to join the music faculty at Sacramento State where she inspired university students to find their voice in the performing arts. She founded a summer program in Italy for college singers in 2013 and led a summer-intensive in Germany focusing on German art song in 2021. Robin’s interests then turned to the public schools with the mission to help restore arts education to elementary students. This led to her early retirement from Sacramento State to take a position as Education Program Manager at CLARA Studios in midtown Sacramento. She now manages the CLARA Teaching Artist Company that brings weekly classes in music, theatre, and dance in public schools to inspire the next generation of music-lovers.
Fluent in both German and Italian, Robin loves to travel, but her heart will always be with young artists in California who--like she once did--dream of fantastic adventures in the arts!
FANTEE JONES
Piano
Taiwanese-American pianist Fantee Jones, of Roseville, California, gave her first solo recital at the age of seven, and her concerto debut at age ten performing Mozart’s Piano Concerto in A Major, K. 488. She was awarded First Prize and awarded the “Best Execution of a Classical Piece” in the Città di San Donà di Piave International Piano Competition and Fifth Prize at the 2022 XII Darmstadt International Chopin Piano Competition in Germany. She has received top prizes in the Gina Bachauer Young Artists, Lagny-sur-Marne, Los Angeles International Piano Competitions and a winner of the PianoTexas International Young Artists Concerto Competition. Following her success at PianoTexas, she performed with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Lio Kuokman.
Miss Jones made her first Carnegie Weill Hall appearance in May 2005 and has also performed at Benaroya Hall and Lied Center of Kansas in the United States, National Recital Hall in Taiwan, Sendai City Cultural Center in Japan, Seoul Arts Center in South Korea, Temppeliaukion Kirkko “Rock Church” in Finland and Verbrugghen Hall in Australia.
Fantee began studying with her mother at age three. She received her Bachelor of Music from Manhattan School of Music and Master of Music from The Juilliard School. She was awarded the Elizabeth Parisot Prize along with a Master of Musical Arts from Yale School of Music, under the tutelage of Hung-Kuan Chen. She received her Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the Eastman School of Music in Piano Performance and Literature and a minor in Piano Pedagogy in May 2022, where she studied with Alexander Kobrin and served as a Teaching Assistant to Alexander Kobrin and Vincent Lenti.
Miss Jones is currently on the faculty at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (Pre-College division), Legato Music School in San Jose, and maintains a private piano studio in the Sacramento area. She previously served as Lecturer of Piano at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and is now on the piano faculty at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah.
SHINAE KIM
Piano
Pianist Shinae Kim is a frequent solo and collaborative performer. She debuted with the Seoul Symphony Orchestra at age 11 and has appeared as soloist with the Coro Symphony in Puerto Rico, the International Chamber Orchestra in California, and the Brevard Repertory Orchestra in North Carolina. As a collaborator, she has performed at the Carnegie Hall, Symphony Space, Merkin Hall, and the Mondavi Center.
Dr. Kim holds a Bachelor of Music degree from The Boston Conservatory, a Master's in Music Education from New York University, and a doctorate in piano performance from Stony Brook University. She attended the Franz-Schubert-Institut in Austria, where she studied Lieder intensively. As an educator, Dr. Kim has worked at LaGuardia Performing High School, Wagner School for Arts and Technology, and was an adjunct faculty member at New York University and Hebrew Union College.
In 2017, Shinae Kim founded the non-profit organization An die Musik NYC and served as its artistic director for three seasons. After moving to California in the summer of 2020, she has been part of the California music-making community. She currently resides in Sacramento, is a member of the Cyrus Piano Trio, and is a musician at Temple Or Rishon and Davis Lutheran Church. As accompanist, she plays regularly with Granite Bay High School Choir, U.C. Davis Choir, and Chanteuses.
JIAMO CHEN
Cello
Jiamo Chen is a cellist and dedicated music educator based in Sacramento, California. He holds a Bachelor's degree in cello performance from California State University, Sacramento, and a Master of Music degree from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and has an extensive performance background as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral player across North America and Europe.
In addition to his performance career, Mr. Chen is committed to nurturing the next generation of musicians. He serves as a cello instructor at the Pacific Institute of Music and manages J's Music Studio.
Recent performances include collaborations with pianist Kirsten Smith, featuring works by Bach, Beethoven, Debussy, and Barber. Chamber music appearances include a piano trio with pianist Shinae Kim and violinist Anita Felix. He has also appeared with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, Sacramento Philharmonic Orchestra, Bear Valley Symphony Orchestra, North State Symphony, Stockton Symphony, and the Sacramento Choral Society.
ANITA FETSCH FELIX
Violin
Anita Fetsch Felix began her violin studies under the tutelage of her mother, violinist Nicholette Fetsch. She joined the Stockton symphony at age 16. Currently in her thirteenth season as the Folsom Lake Symphony’s concertmaster, Anita also is a member of the Sacramento Philharmonic and performs regularly with the orchestras of the Sacramento Opera, Sacramento Choral Society and Sacramento Ballet. She was formerly assistant concertmaster of the Stockton Symphony and concertmaster of the Gold Country Chamber Orchestra, and a member of the Omaha Symphony and Omaha String Quartet. Anita’s desire to perform the virtuosic violin and piano chamber music literature resulted in the formation of Duo Concertante with her pianist father, Wolfgang Fetsch. From 2008 to 2015, Anita performed as a member of the Sierra Ensemble, a trio consisting of violin, piano and French horn, with San Francisco Bay area musicians. Sierra Ensemble was invited to perform in Istanbul and Ankara, Turkey, in 2013. Recently Anita has joined with Folsom Symphony oboist Curtis Kidwell and Sacramento State faculty member John Cozza in the ensemble Tres Musicos. An active chamber musician, Anita and harpist Beverly Wesner-Hoehn formed the Angelica Duo as a result of years of performing together in the Sacramento Gold Country Chamber Orchestra and the Sacramento Choral Society. Angelica Duo premiered Aqueous States by Boston composer Arnold Friedman at the Festival of New American Music at Sacramento State University in 2018, and was invited to repeat the performance in Boston. After completion of a master of music degree, summa cum laude in violin performance with Ian Swensen at Sac State in 2016, Anita was hired as adjunct assistant professor of violin at American River College. In 2023, Anita was invited to perform a recital for Violins of Hope, a touring exhibit of Holocaust instruments from Israel.
KATIE YOUN
Cello
Dr. Katie Youn is widely praised for her passionate, imaginative, and colorful artistry. She has performed throughout North America, South America, Europe, and Asia in major venues including Boston’s Symphony Hall and Jordan Hall, Japan’s Suntory and Minatomirai Halls, Vancouver’s Orpheum Theatre, and Vatican City’s St. Peter’s Basilica.
Dr. Youn’s festival appearances include the Aspen Music Festival, Banff Centre, Beethoven Institute, Bowdoin, Orford, and the Kronberg Academy’s Cello Festival. She has collaborated with members of the Cleveland, Borromeo, Muir, and Arneis Quartets, and with artists such as Daniel Phillips, Barry Shiffman, Todd Palmer, Stephen Drury, and Bayla Keyes. She has studied with celebrated cellists including Aldo Parisot, Anner Bylsma, Bernard Greenhouse, Natalia Gutman, and Frans Helmerson.
She is a founding member of the San Francisco-based Shoreline Piano Trio and SAGE, ensembles that have performed across the Bay Area for organizations such as the Santa Cruz Chamber Players, Stanford Hospital Concert Series, Fortnightly Music Club, and The Sequoias Portola Valley. She also performs regularly with Chamber Music Silicon Valley, San Francisco Chamber Orchestra and Sonnet Ensemble.
Dedicated to music education and community outreach, Dr. Youn is a founding faculty member of the Boston String Project, a program offering string instruction to inner-city students at the Salvation Army Kroc Center. In 2015, she launched the Boston String Project Chamber Concerts, giving students the opportunity to perform alongside Boston University faculty and graduate students. She is also a member of Sound Impact, an organization committed to bringing music to schools, juvenile detention centers, and underserved communities.
Dr. Youn is on the cello faculty at Santa Clara University and maintains an active private studio in the Bay Area. Her students have served as principal cellists in youth orchestras and have won prizes in competitions such as the US Open Music Competition and the Junior Bach Festival. Her previous teaching roles include Boston University, Belvoir Terrace, and the Boston University Tanglewood Institute (BUTI) String Quartet Seminar.
Born in Korea and raised in Canada, Dr. Youn began her cello studies at age seven with Judith Fraser at the Vancouver Academy of Music. She earned her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from the New England Conservatory under Yeesun Kim, and completed her Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Boston University in 2013, studying with Michael Reynolds. Her doctoral thesis explored Balinese Influence in Benjamin Britten’s Suite for Cello, Op. 72.
Performs on a 1935 Oreste Martini cello and a custom bow crafted by Benoit Rolland in 2019.