Mozart vs. Beethoven: A Concert, Dinner, and Discussion

Mimi Jung is a Los Angeles-based violinist with a dynamic and imaginative approach to her artistry. She has performed in renowned venues such as Walt Disney Concert Hall, Carnegie Hall, Queen Elisabeth Hall in Belgium, and the Athenaeum Main Concert Hall in Romania. Formerly the tenured associate concertmaster of the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra in Belgium, she now focuses on solo and chamber music projects while nurturing her private studio. Career highlights include performances for Nobel Peace Prize Laureates at Cambridge University and engagements across Colombia, the Netherlands, Japan, New Zealand, South America, and several European countries. She is committed to making music more accessible to a wide range of audiences.

Critically acclaimed pianist, Mei-Ting Sun, has been heard in many of the world’s greatest concert halls performing an extensive repertoire that includes the complete works for solo piano of Brahms, Chopin, and Debussy, in addition to all 32 Sonatas of Beethoven. After winning several major competitions, including the first Piano-e competition and the National Chopin Competition of the US, Mei-Ting’s career has taken him throughout most of the US, Latin America, Asia, and Europe, at venues such as Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in New York, Auditorio Nacional in Madrid, Tonhalle in Zurich, and Obecni Dum in Prague. Mei-Ting is Professor of Piano at London’s Royal Academy of Music.

Dr. Miriam English Ward has performed chamber music and as a viola soloist throughout the United States and internationally including Canada, Japan, Singapore, Mexico, Spain, and Norway. In addition to numerous groups dedicated to performance of work by living composers, she has played in baroque ensembles at the University of North Texas, Portland's Amadeus Chamber Orchestra and as a member of the Madison Bach Musicians (Wisconsin). As an educator, Dr. Ward has taught and coached for the Preparatory Divisions of the Juilliard School and the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University, Chiba Prefecture (Japan) Youth Symphony, Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras, the Eugene-Springfield (Oregon) Youth Orchestras, Portland Youth Philharmonic, and Metropolitan Youth Symphony (Oregon). She has taught at various colleges and universities, including Ripon College (Wisconsin), Lewis & Clark College, Multnomah University and Corban University (Oregon). Recent projects include recordings for Naxos, live performances for All Classical FM, a viola concerto written for her by Jasnam Daya Singh and premiered with the Portland Chamber Orchestra, and several new chamber works by composers. She has also welcomed a new collaboration with Alaska Youth Orchestras to build a chamber music program for their students.

Katherine Schultz began her musical journey as a violinist at age 3 in her local Suzuki program, but after 11 years of whining about having to practice while standing up her mother finally let her switch to the cello (she would now give anything to be able to practice while standing up.) She attended Interlochen Arts Academy and earned her BM and MM in Music Performance from Northwestern and Rice Universities. Along the way she played with groups such as the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and the Houston Symphony, and was awarded a fellowship from the Tanglewood Music Center in Lenox, MA. Katherine currently serves as the principal cellist of the Portland Chamber Orchestra and Orchestra Nova Northwest, assistant principal of the Oregon Ballet Theatre orchestra, and a member of the Portland Opera orchestra. She performs with many other local ensembles and in music festivals such as Amadeus Chamber Orchestra, the Eugene Symphony, and many others.

Professor Emeritus of Musicology, Aaron Beck, will lead the discussions about how Mozart and Beethoven composed their music and the specific pieces of music performed during the evening. After earning his PhD in musicology from Columbia University, Aaron taught music history and appreciation at Lewis & Clark College for 29 years. He published broadly on medieval Italian music and literature. In addition, he wrote program notes for the Philadelphia Orchestra and concert reviews for the Oregonian. Aaron received numerous teaching awards during his career, including Lewis & Clark College Professor of the Year and Master Teacher of the American Musicological Society.