Pure Poetry -- A tri-coastal coming together of marvelous musicians

Admired for her “pure poetry” and “beautiful technique and sound” (NFA Chronicle), Ji Weon Ryu is one of the most versatile flutists of her generation. Appointed Principal Flute of the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra by Carlos Miguel Prieto in 2019, she became the first Asian musician to join the orchestra’s wind section.

​She has frequently performed with the New York Philharmonic as a guest flutist and other distinguished ensembles in and around New York, including the Albany, Chautauqua, Princeton, and Syracuse Symphonies, as well as the Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players and the Manhattan Chamber Players. As a concerto soloist, she has appeared with the Seoul Philharmonic and the Louisiana Philharmonic. Her festival creditsas Principal Flute include the Verbier, Tanglewood, Britt, and Seoul Arts Center Festival Orchestras, as well as BBC Proms Korea.

​ Ji Weon has also built an active career as a soloist and chamber musician. She has won First Prize at the Artur Balsam Duo Competition, the Flute Society of Greater Philadelphia Competition, the New York Flute Club Competition, the National Flute Association Soloists Competition, with a special prize for the Best Performance of the Newly Commissioned Piece,and the Silver Medal at the Vienna International Music Competition.In the 2025-2026 season, Ji Weon will be the first local recitalist to be featured by the prestigious Friends of Music New Orleans.

Her chamber music collaborations are equally notable. She is a founding member of Frisson—an “explosive” New York City-based nonet—with which she has toured more than 20 cities across the U.S. annually and has been featured on NPR’s Performance Today. She is also a co-founder of Ensemble Blank, a group that explores new sounds in unconventional venues.

As a recording artist, Ji Weon has earned wide recognition. Her recent recording of Debussy’s Afternoon of a Faun (arranged for octet), released by Delos Productions, has garnered critical acclaim for her “coiling flute,” “seductively spun” interpretation, “gorgeous,” “buoyant flute,” and “enchanting lyricism.”

In addition to her stage performances, Ji Weon is dedicated to teaching. She served on the flute faculty during the 2022-2023 academic year at Louisiana State University and has been invited as a guest clinician at leading institutions including The Juilliard School, the Manhattan School of Music, and the National University of Tainan, among many others.
​
​Ji Weon holds a Master of Music degree in Orchestral Performance from the Manhattan School of Music, as well as both a Bachelor of Music and an Accelerated Master of Music degree from The Juilliard School. Her principal teachers include Young Ji Song, Carol Wincenc, and Robert Langevin.

She is a Sankyo Artist and performs on a handmade 14k Sankyo Flute.

_________

“.... a pianist of utmost beauty combined with fantastic technique… above all, his temperament, stage personality, and communicative powers make him one of the most natural concert pianists of his generation.” - Vladimir Krainev Pianist

Sung Chang is known for his outstanding technical abilities, musical maturity, and sensitive yet powerful expression that shines through the keys. He has received critical acclaim for his “poetic imagination, superb technical skills, and, most importantly, a deep emotional connection to whatever music he plays” by Jeffrey Kahane. With over 20 concerti and many complete recital programs in his repertoire, Chang has been engaged as a soloist in Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, France, Czech Republic, Japan, Taiwan, China, Korea, and the United States. He has performed solo recitals at the Concertgebouw, Teatro Lirico di Cagliari, and Seoul Arts Center. Last season alone, Chang performed in more than fifteen major cities across the U.S., including Walt Disney Hall in Los Angeles. He also has appeared as a guest soloist with KBS Symphony Orchestra, Kyung-Ki Philharmonic Orchestra, HMTM Hannover Orchestra, Taejon Symphony Orchestra, Wonju Symphony Orchestra, and KNUA Symphony Orchestra. In the U.S., he performed the Liszt's thunderously virtuosic Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Phoenix Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Maestro Case Scaglione, and the Greig Piano Concerto with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Maestro Carlos Prieto.

Born in Seoul, Korea, Chang began his musical adventure as a child, inspired by his pianist mother. He still remembers that “enchanted” moment when the beauty of music first struck him. From then on, the piano became his entire life, and he realized that he was capable of giving great joy through his music. Sung Chang gave his debut concert at the age of five. At 16 he was accepted into the prestigious Korea National University of Arts, and his musical virtuosity attracted international attention when he became the youngest ever to win the Nagoya International Piano Competition in Japan, where he also received the Chamber Music and Japan Expo special prizes.

After completing his B.A. degree at the young age of 19, he began seriously to find his purpose. It was when he met the legendary pianist, Vladimir Krainev, that his passion was rekindled. Chang traveled to Hannover, Germany, to continue his studies under the tutelage of Vladimir Krainev and Ewa Kupiec, and completed the Master of Music “Künstlerische Ausbildung” and a postgraduate program “Soloklasse” at the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover.

Since then, Chang has gone on to win more than ten international competitions around the world, including in the United States, Germany, Italy, Korea, and Japan. His impressive list of awards from the major international piano competitions includes- the first prize and the audience prize at the Chopin-Gesellschaft Hannover Internationaler Klavierwettbewerb, the first prize and the special award for the "Best Performance of a Virtuoso Piece" at the Bösendorfer USASU International Piano Competition, a silver medal with two special prizes in "Best Performance of a Work by a Classical Composer" and "Best Performance of a Work by a Spanish, Latin American or Impressionistic Composer" at the San Antonio International Piano Competition, and a silver medal at the New Orleans International Piano Competition.

Chang completed his studies at the USC Thornton School of Music with Professor Jeffrey Kahane. As a founder of Los Angeles Ensembles quartet, he is also known for his passion for chamber music. He is an active chamber recitalist in the greater Los Angeles area. He garnered the first prize, audience prize, and the Schubert special prize in the International Schubert Competition for Piano Duo. Most recently, he and the violinist YuEun Kim received the 2nd prize at the Boulder International Chamber Music Competition: The Art of Duo. In the winter of 2018, the duo performed the complete Beethoven Violin Sonatas, all within a span of three weeks, at the USC Thorton School of Music. He currently serves as a music director/conductor for the Beethoven Project Orchestra in Orange County, California.

Sung Chang's enthusiasm and passion for music never stop.

“If I could divide my life as a pianist into three periods, the first would be my early childhood in Korea – where I learned HOW to play the piano. The second would be my twenties in Germany – where I FOUND the purpose and the depth of being who I am as a pianist. And the third, my life now in America – where I wholeheartedly desire to find the ways I can GIVE back to the community. I believe it is one of the responsibilities of being a musician.”

Chang currently resides in California with his wife, pianist Esther Lee, and their two sons, Roy and Alan.

________________

French-American cellist Georgia Bourderionnet is an active chamber musician, orchestral musician, and soloist based in New York City. As the cellist of classical crossover trio TAKE3, she has toured nearly all 50 U.S. states and 16 countries since joining the group in 2024. Previously, she performed in France, Canada, Germany, Romania, Japan, South Korea, Guadeloupe, and some of the most renowned concert halls in the U.S. including Carnegie Hall, Walt Disney Concert Hall, and Seiji Ozawa Hall.

Before embarking on a rigorous touring schedule with TAKE3, she served as the Principal cellist of the Brooklyn Chamber Orchestra for two seasons. She currently plays in the NYO-USA All-Stars Orchestra and Carnegie Hall’s Link Up Orchestra, and she has appeared in the cello sections of the New World Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, and Princeton Symphony. Recent highlights include Carnegie Hall’s Gala concert with Yuja Wang and the NYO All-Stars last October, Guadeloupe’s Festival Saint-Georges in November, and finishing off TAKE3’s 2025 tour in the Pacific Northwest in December.

Georgia holds performance degrees from Manhattan School of Music (studio of Philippe Muller) and Eastman School of Music (studio of David Ying). She began her cello studies with Jeanne Jaubert in New Orleans, and it is always an honor to come back to this amazing community of distinguished artists.