REHEARSAL IN PROGRESS

Potential Program:

Ludwig van Beethoven: String Quartet Op. 18 No. 4

Felix Mendelssohn: String Quartet Op. 44 No. 2 in e minor, 2nd Movement

Antonín Dvorák: American String Quartet No. 12

Joseph Haydn: String Quartet Op. 74 No. 3 “Rider”

Joseph Haydn: String Quartet Op. 64 No. 5 “Lark”

Musicians:

Angela Wee, violin

Hava Polinsky, violin

Devin Moore, viola

Michael Cantú, cello

Angela Wee

Angela Wee was born in New York and began her violin studies at age four. Angela is currently pursuing her Masters Degree at The Juilliard School with Donald Weilerstein and Masao Kawasaki. 

Angela won 2nd prize in the 2015 Sarasate International Competition in Pamplona, Spain where she performed with the Navarra Symphony Orchestra under Maestro Antoni Wit. In 2012, she participated in the Menuhin International Violin Competition in Beijing and was placed as one of eight finalists. Other top prizes include the 2013 Cooper International Violin Competition, 2nd prize in the 2013 Dorothy DeLay Fellowship Competition in the Aspen Music Festival, 3rd prize in the 2014 Klein International Competition, and 1st prize in the 2013 Salomé Chamber Orchestra Competition where she was awarded a Stradivarius to perform in Carnegie Hall. In 2015, she was selected as a National YoungArts Winner held in Miami, Florida. 

Her solo performances with orchestras include the Navarra Symphony Orchestra, Poznań Symphony Orchestra, Polish Sinfonia Iuventus Orchestra, Massapequa Philharmonic, the New York Chamber Orchestra, and many more. She has been on major tours as a soloist in Europe with Maestro Antoni Wit and a multitude of orchestras in Bilbao, Pamplona, Poznan, Warsaw, London. She has also served as concertmaster of the Juilliard Orchestra and performed Strauss Ein Heldenleben under Maestro Karina Canellakis in September of 2019. 

At nine, she was invited as a guest performer for The Lauri Strauss Leukemia Foundation Benefit Concert at Carnegie Hall’s Issac Stern Auditorium. She was also invited as a guest soloist to perform a private recital at the French Consulate of NYC and the Bohemians New York Music Club with distinguished pianist Akira Eguchi. In 2017, she gave the world premiere of the work, “The Great Light” by Martin Sedek commissioned by R. Douglas Sheldon

Angela's live broadcasts on national radio include WLIW NY Public TV, NPR, and her collaboration with Robert McDuffie in the Harris Hall 20th Anniversary Concert in the Aspen Music Festival, where she has been a recipient of the New Horizons Fellowship for three years. She was also accepted to participate in the inaugural David Finckel/Wu Han Chamber Intensive Program in Aspen. Other summer festivals she has participated in include Music@Menlo, Taipei Music Academy and Festival, Kneisel Hall, Mozarteum Summer Academy, and Young Artist Program in Ottawa. 

Hava Polinsky

Hava Polinsky is 21 years old and is in her fourth year at The Juilliard School where she studies with Laurie Smukler. Hava has been playing the violin since she was five years old. Hava studied at the Indiana University Summer String Academy for three summers in Bloomington. For the past five summers, Hava has studied at the Aspen Music Festival and School. She was a member of the Aspen Chamber Symphony and collaborated with musicians such as Joshua Bell, Orli Shaham, and Emmanuel Pahud, and conductors such as David Robertson, and Nicholas McGegan and was then invited to Aspen as an Aspen Conducting Academy String Fellow during the summer of 2018 where she was assistant concertmaster of the Aspen Conducting Academy Orchestra. This past summer Hava returned to Aspen as a Center for Orchestra Leadership Fellow where she was a mentor in the Aspen Philharmonic Orchestra and she studied privately with Paul Kantor. Hava was the concertmaster of the 2014 and 2015 Missouri All-State Orchestras, and Hava was the co-concertmaster of the St. Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra for three consecutive seasons. She also participated in the Community Music School Preparatory Program under the direction of Vera Parkin. Hava has played for influential musicians including Donald Weilerstein, Vadim Repin and Gilbert Varga.

 Hava was the winner of the St. Louis Got Talent in 2011. She was also a winner of the University City Young Artist Competition in 2012, she won Belleville Philharmonic “Stars of Tomorrow” Young Artist Competition in 2013, and Hava won the Alton Symphony Orchestra Young Artist Competition in 2014. In March of 2015, Hava played the Mendelssohn Concerto with the St. Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra as the winner of the Youth Orchestra Concerto Competition. She was the state-level winner of the MTNA Competition in 2015 and 2016, and received honorable mention at the regional level this past winter. In March of 2016, Hava played with the UMSL Orchestra as the winner of their concerto competition. The following May, Hava played with the St. Louis Symphony during their annual Link Up concert. On December 31, 2016, Hava was honored to be the surprise guest soloist with the St. Louis Symphony at their annual New Year’s Eve concert, under the direction of David Robertson. In May of 2017, as the winner of the St. Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra’s concerto competition, she performed the Tchaikovsky Concerto with Gemma New. 

During her time at Juilliard, she has worked with musicians such as Alan Gilbert, John Adams and members of the Juilliard String Quartet. She was concertmaster of the Juilliard Chamber Orchestra in Alice Tully Hall last February, and she was concertmaster of The Juilliard Orchestra under Marin Alsop this past January. Last August, as the winner of the concerto competition, Hava performed as a soloist with the Aspen Philharmonic Orchestra.

Devin Moore

Devin Moore, native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is a senior at the Juilliard School studying under the private instruction of Samuel Rhodes. He began his studies with Mr. Rhodes at the Manhattan School of Music in 2017.

In 2016, Devin participated as a violinist in the National Youth Orchestra of the USA, performing around the States and Europe. In 2018, Devin was awarded an Orchestral Viola Fellowship at the Aspen Music Festival and School, alongside an acceptance into the esteemed Finckel-Wu Han Chamber Music Studio. At Aspen, Devin performed as a chamber musician/soloist with Augustin Hadelich and Sarah Chang. In 2019, Devin attended the Sarasota Music Festival sitting principal violist and performing the Mendelssohn Octet with the Pacifica String Quartet. For Summer 2020, Devin was accepted to the Perlman Music Program Chamber Music Workshop and Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Program. Devin will be participating as a finalist in the 2020 Cecil Aronowitz International Viola Competition in Birmingham, England. Devin is also Co-Founder and Media and Communications Liaison for Opus Illuminate, an online concert series dedicated to performing and raising awareness for works by composers of underrepresented communities in order to expand the horizons of conventional programming.

At the Juilliard School, Devin has held the position of principal violist of the Juilliard Orchestra, Juilliard Orientation Orchestra, the Juilliard Chamber Orchestra, the Juilliard Lab Orchestra, and is a member of the 2020 String Principal Pool for the Juilliard Orchestra. Devin participated in the 2020 Juilliard ChamberFest where he coached with Fred Sherry and Joseph Kalichstein. Outside of his musical endeavors, Devin is also an Undergraduate Classical Music Representative on the Inaugural Juilliard Student Congress. Devin is a proud recipient of a Kovner Fellowship at The Juilliard School.

Michael Cantú

20-year-old Mexican-American cellist Michael Cantú is currently an undergraduate student at The Juilliard School where he studies under Ms. Astrid Schween. He has appeared on stages across the U.S and Europe as both a soloist and chamber musician. He has been mentored by many of today’s leading musicians including Darrett Adkins, Timothy Eddy, Frans Helmerson, Philippe Muller, Troels Svane, and John Walz. A seasoned chamber musician, he has also been coached by members of Juilliard, Emerson, Cleveland, Orion, and Ysaÿe String Quartets. Michael was a semifinalist at the 2017 Sphinx Competition, the winner of the 2017 Idyllwild Arts Academy Concerto Competition, and the 3rd prize winner at the 2019 Virtuoso & Belcanto Cello Competition in Lucca, Italy. In 2020, Michael was invited to participate in the Académie musicale de Villecroze and the Schleswig-Holstein Festival Orchestra. Michael plays on a cello made by Charles Adolphe Gand in Paris in 1854 and on a bow made by W.E Hill and Sons on generous loan from The Juilliard School.