Hailed by The New York Times for her “inexhaustible virtuosity”, clarinetist Yoonah Kim is an artist of uncommon musical depth and versatility. She enjoys a diverse career as solo clarinetist, chamber musician, orchestral musician, and educator. Yoonah launched her career when she won the 2016 Concert Artist Guild International Competition – the first solo clarinetist to win CAG in nearly 30 years; she is also the first woman to win first prize at the V andoren Emerging Artists Competition and is the first prize winner of the George Gershwin International Competition and the Vienna International Competition.

Yoonah has given recitals at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, Chicago’s Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts series, and Washington Performing Arts, among many other prestigious venues. She has also appeared as concerto soloist with the Maui Chamber Orchestra, New England Philharmonic, Wheeling Symphony Orchestra, and New York Classical Players, among others.

Beyond performing solo clarinet repertoire in recital and with orchestras, Yoonah is devoted to commissioning and premiering new works for the clarinet. These projects include Eric Nathan’s Double Concerto for Violin and Clarinet (premiered alongside her husband, violinist Stefan Jackiw), Texu Kim’s reimagination of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue for solo clarinet and string orchestra, and Andrew Hsu’s Erebus for clarinet and piano and Three Pieces for solo clarinet.

In addition to her work on stage, Yoonah is a sought-after educator. She is on the clarinet faculty at New York University's Steinhardt School and has given masterclasses across the United States, and internationally in Canada, and South Korea.

Born in Seoul, Korea, and raised in Langley, British Columbia, Yoonah now resides in New York City. She is currently pursuing her doctoral degree at The Juilliard School as the C.V . Starr Doctoral Fellow. She holds a Master of Music degree from Juilliard and a Bachelor of Music degree from the Mannes College of Music at The New School, where she studied clarinet under Charles Neidich.

Dr. Lisa Tipton, violinist, co-founder of the award-winning Meridian String Quartet, has toured, held residences and won distinctions from the Evian International Competition, Artists International and Chamber Music America. A devoted interpreter of new music, Lisa, established the Made in America series at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, performed on the Interpretations series at Merkin Hall and recently launched The NY Chamber Music CoOP in NYC devoted to social justice programming. Lisa's critically acclaimed recording of Charles Ives’ violin sonatas, Hammers and Strings, was released on Capstone Records in 2006. This season Lisa launched The Unsung Chamber Music series on YouTube, a NYYS repertoire initiative to feature composers from diverse cultures. Lisa’s performances include Amici NY, American Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Lumos, Phantom of the Opera, Radio City Christmas Spectacular, the Little Mermaid, Spamalot, Sunset Boulevard, Spongebob, Aladdin, My Fair Lady, Camelot, Gardens of Anuncia and The Notebook. Dr. Tipton has taught as Adjunct Assistant Professor at the Aaron Copland School of Music/Queens College, is the Director of the NY Youth Symphony Chamber Music Program, and on the faculty of School for String. Lisa earned her B.A. from Cornell University, M.A. from The Aaron Copland School of Music and DMA from the CUNY Grad Center.