Brady Anderson
CELLO
Brady Anderson is a highly acclaimed cellist and pedagogue. At fifteen years old, he made his solo debut performing Joseph Haydn's Cello Concerto in C Major, marking the beginning of a successful career filled with numerous prizes from competitions such as the Music Teachers National Association and the American String Teachers Association. Brady is Executive Director of the Benicia Chamber Players and the cellist of the Verve Trio. Brady has had the privilege of collaborating with musicians from around the world, performing in halls in Germany, Austria, Czechia, Hungary, Greece, Canada, and Slovakia, as well as across the US. He has honed his chamber music skills under the tutelage of renowned musicians including Menahem Pressler, Jorja Fleezanis, and members of the Pacifica String Quartet, Juilliard String Quartet, JACK Quartet, and Miró Quartet. As a dedicated and in-demand teacher, Brady maintains a private cello studio in San Ramon, CA with over fourty students. In recent years, his students have won over one hundred prizes in various competitions and play in some of California's top youth orchestras. Brady holds a Master of Music in Cello Performance from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where he was awarded the Janos Starker Scholarship. He also holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music from the University of California, Berkeley and studied under Irene Sharp, Jonathan Koh, and Peter Stumpf.
Amy Hsieh
CELLO
Cellist Amy Hsieh made her New York debut recital at Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall in 2002 as a winner of the Artists International New York Debut Award. She has since performed as a soloist and chamber musician in various locations around the United States, Europe, and Taiwan, including prestigious venues such as the National Concert Hall in Taiwan, Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center, and Carnegie Hall. Dr. Hsieh is not only dedicated to performing, but also to mentoring aspiring musicians to succeed in the music industry. Her guidance has led her students to win several competitions and participate in masterclasses.
Dr. Hsieh earned her Bachelor of Music degree from the Juilliard School, her Master of Music degree from the Manhattan School of Music, and her Doctorate of Musical Arts from Boston University. Her teachers were Ardyth Alton and Michael Reynolds. Currently, Dr. Hsieh serves on the cello faculty at an International School in Taiwan and is a co-founder of C'est Bon Chamber Music Academy.
Sarah Koo
CELLO
Cellist Sarah Koo Freeman is known not only for her solo and chamber performances, but also as an educator and outreach advocate. She holds Master of Music and Bachelor of Music degrees from The Juilliard School, where she received the William Schumann Award. At age 18, she attended the Pacific Music Festival in Japan, where she was selected as assistant principal cellist. In 2000, she made her New York debut in a solo recital at Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall as the youngest winner of the New York Artists International Competition.
Koo Freeman served as assistant principal cellist of the Phoenix Symphony. Prior to that appointment, she toured Europe, including Italy, with the Symfonica Arturo Toscanini under the direction of Maestro Lorin Maazel. An active chamber musician, she has been featured in Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall and Avery Fisher Hall, studying with artists such as Gil Shaham, Joseph Kalichstein, Peter Salaff, Jerome Lowenthal and Jonathan Feldman. Her primary cello teachers include Gilda Barston, Richard Hirschl, Darrett Adkins and Ardyth Alton.
An advocate for outreach, she served as a teaching artist with the New York Philharmonic, bringing music education to public schools in New York. As a recipient of the Community Service Fellowship at Juilliard, she brought performances to confined audiences including nursing homes and cancer wards, and she has encouraged the growth of similar programs nationwide. She has also been featured in Robb Report magazine and on the cover of Residential Systems magazine for her efforts to bring classical music back to the home as a primary means of entertainment.
Koo Freeman is currently a cello professor and chamber music lecturer at the University of California, Irvine, and also serves on the cello faculty at the Colburn Community School of Performing Arts.
Vicky Wang
CELLO
San Francisco Conservatory
Cellist Vicky Wang is Artistic Director and co-founder of C’est Bon Chamber Music Academy, where she inspires young musicians through chamber music and cultural exchange initiatives such as the Beyond Borders program in El Salvador, reflecting her belief in music as a bridge across cultures. She is on faculty at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and previously served as Assistant Professor of Cello at the University of the Pacific’s Conservatory of Music, where she also performed as cellist of Trio 180. The piano trio, known for its vibrant performances and commitment to new music, celebrated its 20th anniversary with five commissioned works.
Vicky has performed, taught, adjudicated, and given masterclasses across North America, Europe, Central America, and Asia, with appearances at the Chamber Music America Conference, Pacific Music Institute in Hawaii, and Shkolnikova Academy in France. She has also participated in international festivals including the Verbier Festival in Switzerland, the Spoleto Festival in Italy, the Pacific Music Festival in Japan.
Her teachers include Eleonore Schoenfeld, Zara Nelsova, Darrett Adkins, Joel Krosnick, Alan Stepansky, and Marcy Rosen. She earned her BM and MM from The Juilliard School and DMA from the City University of New York.