Described as "carefully colored" and "sensitive" by The Washington Post, pianist Christopher Schmitt was also hailed as a “formidable talent” and “mature beyond his years” by The Santa Barbara News-Press, regarding his performance of Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1. Having completed his doctorate at The Juilliard School in 2016, he has been sponsored for concerts by The Chopin Foundation of the United States, The Stecher and Horowitz Foundation, and The Embassy Series. He performs at the festival Málaga Clasica in Spain, as well as in July of 2016 in his own concert series in Barcelona, Classics in Catalan. A collaborator with cellist Kian Soltani on NPR's Tiny Desk Concerts in March 2019. Dr. Schmitt currently resides in Washington DC, and as pianist of “The President's Own" US Marine Chamber Orchestra, performs regularly in the White House and in concert halls across the Washington DC metropolitan area, leading a multifaceted career as chamber musician, pedagogue, and soloist. In 2024, he founded the Classical Arts Society of Washington, where he hopes to share the Beauty of classical music with the world through engaging public concerts, educational outreach initiatives, and the cultivation of a core community of classical music lovers.

SIWOO KIM is an “incisive” and “compelling” (Zachary Woolfe, The New York Times) violinist who plays with “stylistic sensitivity and generous tonal nuance” (John von Rhein, Chicago Tribune). Siwoo performs as soloist and chamber musician, and he is the co-founding artistic director of VIVO Music Festival in his hometown of Columbus, Ohio.

Siwoo gave the world premiere performance of Samuel Adler’s violin concerto which was written for him. He recorded the work on Linn Records to commemorate the composer’s 90th birthday, and the BBC Music Magazine praised his “notable fire & impassioned playing.” Siwoo made his Carnegie Hall concerto debut in Stern Auditorium with the Juilliard Orchestra. He has since performed with orchestras around the world including the Staatsorchester Brandenburgisches Frankfurt, Columbus Symphony, Gangneung Philharmonic, Houston Symphony, Johannesburg Philharmonic, Kwazulu-Natal Philharmonic, Orchestre Royal de Chambre, Seongnam Philharmonic, Springfield Symphony, and Tulsa Symphony in venues such as Walt Disney Concert Hall and Lotte Concert Hall.

As a chamber musician, Siwoo formed the “whip-smart” (Alex Ross, The New Yorker) Quartet Senza Misura, which performed at the Phillips Collection, Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, Seoul Arts Center and more during their three years together. He has had the honor of collaborating with artists such as Dénes Várjon, Itzhak Perlman, Jeremy Denk, Joyce DiDonato, Mitsuko Uchida and members of the Guarneri, Juilliard and Takács Quartets. Siwoo spent numerous summers at the Marlboro Music Festival, and he has been featured internationally as guest artist at the Tivoli Festival in Denmark, the Bergen International Festival in Norway, the Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Festival in South Africa, the Fundación Juan March in Spain and with Ensemble DITTO in South Korea.

Siwoo was named the recipient of the 2012 King Award for Young Artists. He took second place at the 2010 Corpus Christi International Competition for Piano and Strings, where he was also awarded special prizes for the best performance of solo Bach and violin performance. He has also been named top prizewinner in the California, Chengdu, Crescendo, Hellam, Ima Hogg, Juilliard, NFAA youngARTS, Schadt, Sejong, and WAMSO competitions.

Siwoo received his undergraduate and graduate degrees from The Juilliard School where he studied under Robert Mann and Donald Weilerstein with full scholarship. He went on to complete a two-year fellowship with Carnegie Hall’s Ensemble Connect. Prior to college, Siwoo studied under Roland and Almita Vamos at the Music Institute of Chicago.

Siwoo performs on a 1753 “ex-Birgkit” Giovanni Battista Guadagnini violin on generous loan through Rare Violins In Consortium.