Chamber Music Evening

Biographies

Klaudia Olborska-Szymańska

Klaudia Olborska – Szymańska, 27, is a Polish award – winning violinist who is based in Dubai. She is among the most promising violinists of her generation. For the past nineteen years Klaudia has performed on prestigious stages across Europe, North America and the Middle East. Despite her young age she was invited to perform in Carnegie Hall in 2014 after winning the First Prize and Judges’ Distinction Award of the American Protégé International Music Talent Competition in New York with her piano trio. Klaudia received her music education at the Zenon Brzewski Music High School in Warsaw – Elite Talent School for Young Musicians. She won numerous top awards at the national and international violin competitions as a soloist and chamber artist. Klaudia was an exhibitioner of the Kosciuszko Foundation in New York. As a violin performer Klaudia played in many prestigious places in the UAE. She performed for many concerts and events held in Dubai Opera (Hacienda Classical, Phantom of the Opera, Choirfest, Al Jalila Foundation in concert), Emirates Palace, Louvre Abu Dhabi, Palazzo Versace, Palace Downtown and many more. Lately Klaudia performed her shows at luxurious private events in Mumbai (India), Kuwait, Helsinki (Finland), Yerevan (Armenia), Beirut (Lebanon), Warsaw (Poland) and Milan (Italy).
The violinist has participated in various international courses in Germany, Italy, Norway and Canada – studying with world-renowned artists including Wolfgang Marshner, Alexander Frolov, Shanshan Yao, Jonathan Crow and Ian Swensen. Klaudia holds a master’s degree in performing arts from The Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw where she studied violin with Maria Orzechowska and Janusz Kucharski. Currently, Klaudia is working as the Adjunct Music Instructor at the New York University in Abu Dhabi and she is a doctoral student at The Fryderyk Chopin University of Music. In 2018 Klaudia performed Mendelssohn Violin Concerto at the Dubai Opera with the World Doctors Orchestra under the Patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice – President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. Her most recent projects include soloing with and leading the Dubai Chamber Orchestra as a concertmaster in their 2017/2018 season, performing at the Chamber Concert Series at the NYUAD, as well as several collaborations with TV and radio projects in Poland (TVP, TVN) and the United Arab Emirates (Sharjah TV, Abu Dhabi Media, Virgin Radio).

Niki Yoon

Niki was born in South Korea and moved to New York City at age 16, where she studied piano at the Juilliard School (pre-college division). She went on to complete her undergraduate degree in Piano Performance with Dr. Deirdre O’Donohue at New York University. While at NYU, she participated in the New Music Ensemble under Dr. Esther Lemneck’s directorship and collaborated with dancers and musicians in Pisa and Lucca, Italy. Niki went on to pursue graduate study in accompanying and coaching with Margo Garrett, a renowned collaborative pianist and coach for vocal interpretation, at the University of Minnesota. As the recipient of a teaching assistantship, Niki played and performed for instrumental and voice studios, chamber choirs, auditions, competitions and opera workshops. Niki also enjoyed her numerous solo and collaborative performances in many venues including Steinway Hall, Carnegie Weill Recital Hall, Paul Hall at the Lincoln Center, Merkin Hall in New York City, Ultan Recital Hall at the University of Minnesota, the Landmark Hall at Schubert Club in the USA and Hellenic Centre in London. She was also an active participant in the master classes of Leon Fleisher, Martin Katz and Dr. Jean Barr in the USA and received vocal accompanying coaching from Roger Vignoles in London. She served as staff accompanist at the MacPhail Centre for the Arts in the USA, lecturer for German and French Art Song repertoire and instrumental accompaniment at Baek Seok Arts Conservatory in Seoul, Korea, and house pianist at Ardingly International Music School in Eastbourne, UK. Whilst in London, she co-directed and led an opera ensemble programme at City University London and performed La Serva Padrona and Italian Opera through the Centuries on harpsichord. Currently based in Dubai, Niki has collaborated in several performances including a flute-piano duo recital at House of Pianos and ‘Symphony in the Park, Abu Dhabi’ with Klaudia. Niki aims to bring and promote salon-type concerts in the community across the UAE with like-minded professional musicians.

Katherine Denton

Kate graduated from the Royal Academy of Music with a First Class Honours degree. She studied cello, piano and singing. Whilst at the Academy, Kate gained a Licentiate of the Royal Academy of Music teaching diploma. After completion of her degree Kate was awarded the Douglas and Hilda Simmonds scholarship to study at the Royal College of Music in London at Postgraduate level. Kate has spent many years teaching and performing. Performances include with the London Symphony Orchestra and the Verbier Festival Orchestra. As a chamber musician and soloist, she
has performed in the Purcell Room, St. James’s Piccadilly, St. John’s Smith Square, Fulham Palace and the Cheltenham Festival. She worked for Live Music Now, giving performances and
workshops in special needs schools, hospitals and prisons. She was also accepted by CAVATINA music to give musical workshops in schools and was a regular performer as part of a duet for
Music in Hospitals. In 2010, Kate started working as an examiner for the London College of Music exam board. This involved examining in the UK as well as tours to Indonesia and the UAE.
Kate has spent over 10 years living overseas where she has worked as an instrumental teacher and class music teacher in many top British International Schools. She has taken part in many
performances within the UAE, including with The Rolling Stones and Andrea Bocelli.

Becky Saxby

Becky began her musical training on piano and violin at the age of 4 and later took up the viola. She read Music at Cambridge University and completed her Masters in Performance on the Viola at the Royal College of Music, London with Ian Jewel and Piano with Julian Jacobson. She played in Southbank Sinfonia for one year before continuing her studies on viola at Zürcher Hochschule der Künste in Switzerland with Christoph Schiller, where she played with a string quartet, giving regular recitals across Switzerland. After completing her studies, she returned to London and worked full-time with the Philharmonia Orchestra and periodically with BBC Symphony Orchestra and BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. She has also played with the Royal Opera House Covent Garden and the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-fields. She now lives and works in the UAE, first working at CMA Dubai and now working as a freelance musician on both violin and piano. She also
regularly plays in the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra in Kuala Lumpur and accompanies on Piano for recitals in Dubai. She has had residencies at Raffles, Kempinksi and the Conrad hotel and has played for Michel Bublé, the Jackson 5, the Phantom of the Opera at Dubai Opera, and Hacienda Classical. Becky is also a qualified classroom Music teacher, having gained her Post Graduate Certificate in Education in the UK in 2017 and she very much enjoys teaching academic Music.

Eva Gräsbeck

Finnish Violinist Eva Gräsbeck grew up in a renowned musical family, thus beginning a lifetime music journey at a very young age. Among Eva’s notable teachers were Olga Parhomenko, a student of David Oistrakh and accomplished artist; and Igor Bezrodny, former Conductor and Artistic Director of the Moscow Chamber Orchestra. After successfully completing a Diploma at the Turku Conservatory; Belarus Academy; Eva pursued a Masters Degree in Violin Performance at Finland’s prestigious Sibelius Academy. Prior to accepting a permanent seat with the Finnish National Opera, Eva performed at the Royal Concertgebouw, the Great Hall of St. Petersburg and the Vitebsk Music Festival. Since moving to the UAE, Eva quickly established herself as an outstanding educator – as a Private Instructor; Head of Strings for the National Youth Orchestra in Dubai (NYO Dubai). Eva’s students were awarded top prizes at the BSME Young Musician of the Gulf (Bahrain 2020), Young Musician of the Year (UAE 2019) and Emirates Virtuoso Competition (Dubai 2018). Eva has been highly engaged in the UAE music scene, as a Soloist, Chamber Artist; Orchestra leader. More recently, she was appointed Concertmaster of the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO-UAE).

Hayoung Song

Hayoung is a third-year student at New York University Abu Dhabi pursuing a bachelors of science in biology. Hayoung grew up in Boston where she attended the New England Conservatory Preparatory School and studied with Lynn Chang. She also played in the Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra under the directorship of Maestro Benjamin Zander. While in the orchestra she toured around Europe and South America playing in venues such as the Musikverein in Vienna, Royal Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Symphony Hall in Boston, Oslo Concert Hall and the Konzerthaus in Berlin. She also regularly attended the International Music Academy in Cremona, Italy. While in the UAE, Hayoung has participated in masterclasses in the Louvre, concerts such as Symphony in the Park and Hacienda Classical at the Dubai Opera.