About us

A socially conscious artist, Adrienne strives to use her voice to help others find theirs. From her earliest years, crawling around her mother's feet under the piano while she practiced, music has been an extension of her being. The intersection of community and commitment with their accompanying values was a foundation of her upbringing and seeps into her creative process and output.

Through her collaborative duo with saxophonist Seychelle Dunn-Corbin, NorthStar Duo, they work to promote and expose audiences to works for winds. Previous commissions include Spirituals for Wind Duo, an arrangement of negro spirituals by composer Anthony Green. Their most recent commissions include a premiere in Boston of Aaron Jay Meyers' You Save One You Save the World Entire and Liz Gelinas' The Sky Is Green. Adrienne looks forward to continuing to explore their unorthodox instrumentation. Their current passions involve commissioning new works and championing pre-existing works by composers of color and women.

A dedicated educator, Adrienne teaches privately - flute, voice and piano - to students of diverse musical backgrounds and ages. There is no greater joy to her than to simultaneously foster a life long love of learning and appreciation for music. A certified Suzuki instructor, she seeking a doctorate in musical arts from Rutgers University and expects to graduate in 2022.

"A stunningly original pianist with musical insight and maturity that could inspire envy in colleagues twice his age." (Gramophone) Young Brazilian pianist with Romanian parents, Cristian Budu got international attention when he won the Grand Prize (+2 extra) at the prestigious Clara Haskil Competition (2013). Later on, his first solo album got "Editor’s Choice" by Gramophone and "5-Diapasons" by Diapason, and he recieved many other prizes such as "Best Concert of the Year" (2016, 'Guia da Folha', Brazil) and "Best Instrumentalist" (2017, Association of Art Critics of Sao Paulo). By the end of 2017, his recordings entered Gramophone's list of "Top 10 Chopin Recordings” and ” Top 10 Recent Beethoven Recordings”, and most recently, the historical "Top 50 Greatest Chopin Recordings" of all time.

Recent and future engagements include solo recital at Verbier Festival, duos with Renaud Capuçon and Antonio Meneses, solos with Lausanne Chamber Orchestra and chamber music with musicians from Berlin Philarmonic Orchestra. Cristian has already performed with orchestras such as Orquestre de la Suisse Romande, Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra, Lucerne Symphony Orchestra, has appeared as soloist at important venues such as KKL, Jordan Hall, Liederhalle, Bucharest Athene, and has played and taught at many festivals like Klavierissimo (Zurich), Les Grands Interpretes (Geneva), Rockport Music Festival (USA), among many others.

While stydying in Boston, Cristian hosted meetings that inspired Sam Bodkin in his creation of Groupmuse. In Brazil, Cristian's love for chamber music and social-engagement values made him create Pianosofia, a project that promotes local musicians while recovers

Dara Hankins is a bold, innovative artist with a social conscience. She believes in promoting equity through music and is an advocate for social justice. She has performed nationally and internationally with renowned artists including Yo-Yo Ma, Branford Marsalis, Joshua Bell, Kirk Whalum Lalah Hathaway and many others. Dara is active as an orchestral musician, soloist, chamber musician, and teaching artist. She welcomes collaboration with artists from diverse disciplines.

Ms. Hankins earned her Bachelor of Music degree from New England Conservatory in Boston, Massachusetts. She went on to earn her Master of Music degree from Manhattan School Of Music in New York City.

Dara currently resides in New York City.

Kiyoshi Hayashi is the founder and violinist of the award-winning Rasa String Quartet, Co-Artistic Director of the string ensemble and nonprofit organization, Palaver Strings, and has a personal mission to use music as a means to catalyze global social change.

Kiyoshi has won top prizes in various competitions around the US including the Chamber Music Yellow Springs Competition, Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, Music Teachers National Association Chamber Music Competition, and the Midwest Young Artists National Concerto Competition. He regularly performs with many renowned ensembles around the New England area including Palaver Strings, A Far Cry, Cape Cod Chamber Orchestra, and Phoenix Orchestra.

Kiyoshi’s principal teachers include Nicholas Kitchen and Almita Vamos and he received his B.M. from the New England Conservatory of Music in 2016. Since graduating, he has become very passionate about using music as a means to foster community, to heal and positively uplift people’s lives, and to inspire social change. He has served as Director of Community Engagement for Palaver Strings and worked as a teaching artist for the Revolution of Hope’s Roxbury Youth Orchestra and the Boston Philharmonic’s Crescendo! nonprofit organization.

Aside from music, Kiyoshi is very passionate about wellness and personal development. He is a certified personal trainer and integrative nutrition health coach and is the founder of his personal health and life coaching business, Train From Within.

When he isn’t playing music or coaching, Kiyoshi can be found going on a morning run, playing basketball, tennis, or soccer, practicing yoga, listening to a podcast, hanging out with his dog, Rusty, or exploring the outdoors.

Cellist James Jaffe has a special love for chamber music. He has performed at the Robert Mann String Quartet Institute in Manhattan, in Switzerland and France on concert tours, at Beijing’s Central Conservatory of Music, at dive bars in Canada, on top of Aspen Mountain, and once for stranded traffic during a January mudslide on Highway 299. His chamber music performances have been streamed live from the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival and broadcast on Cleveland’s WCLV 104.9, Virginia’s WVTF 89.1, and San Francisco’s KDFC 90.3. He has also performed over 120 Groupmuses to date, including a sold-out performance of Schubert’s Death and the Maiden at San Francisco’s first Massivemuse.

Recognizing the immediate need for musical connections during the pandemic, James participated in quarantine-era projects with many longtime friends and collaborators: livestreams with the Sierra Quartet, violinist Mélanie Clapiès, and visual artist Peggy Gyulai; hybrid events with Classical Revolution and the Trinity Alps Chamber Music Festival; live outdoor performances with Concerts in the Park; and new video projects with One Found Sound.

Aside from his role as performer, James serves as Artistic Director of Festival Rolland, a summer chamber music festival in Burgundy, France. He has also taught chamber music at the Northern Lights Chamber Music Institute, the Crowden School, and Baldwin Wallace University.

James spent summers studying at the Aspen Music Festival, [email protected], and the Banff Centre. His chamber music mentors include members of the Juilliard, Cleveland, Takács, Tokyo, Vermeer, Emerson, Brentano, and Kronos quartets.

Praised as “a rare virtuoso of the flute” by Libération, Sooyun Kim has established herself as one of the rare flute soloists in the classical music scene. Since her concerto debut with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra at age ten, she has performed with orchestras including the Bavarian Radio, Munich Philharmonic, Munich Chamber, and Boston Pops orchestras. She has given recitals around the world including the Kennedy Center, the Louvre Museum, Seoul Arts Center and Franz Liszt Hall in Budapest. A winner of the Georg Solti Foundation Career Grant, she has received numerous international awards and prizes including the third prize at the ARD International Flute Competition. Her summer appearances include the [email protected], Spoleto USA, Yellow Barn, Rockport, Olympic, Charlottesville, Ravinia and Tanglewood festivals. Her special interest in interdisciplinary art led her to collaborate with many artists, dancers, and museums around the world such as Sol Lewitt, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and Glassmuseet Ebeltoft in Denmark. She choreographed and performed in dance works for Chamber Music Northwest and the Tivoli Dance Troupes in Denmark. An alum of The Bowers Program (formerly CMS Two), she celebrates her 10th season with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center as Artist Member. As an educator, she has given masterclasses and lectures around the world including the Cleveland Institute of Music, Mannes School of Music, Sibelius Academy in Finland and Seoul National University in Korea. She teaches summer courses at the Orford Musique and is on the faculty at Longy School of Bard College. Ms.Kim studied at the New England Conservatory under tutelage of Paula Robison. In addition to her musical training, she studied Baroque Dance with Melinda Sullivan. Praised for her tone that “shone like bright jewel” (San Jose Examiner), Ms. Kim plays on a rare 18-carat -gold flute specially made for her by Verne Q. Powell Flutes.

Based in New York City, South Korean violinist/improviser/producer/teacher Katherine Kyu Hyeon Lim is a member of the Unison Quartet and Impromptuo, and co-founder of The Moving Orchestra. Lim has been presented by acclaimed organizations such as House of Yes, International Contemporary Ensemble, (Le) Poisson Rouge, Metropolis Ensemble, The Juilliard School, Prague Conservatory, and Music Technology at Mason Gross, as well as National Arts Diversity Integration Association, Fifth Wall Performing Arts, Current Showcase, Variousound Sessions 2020 Residency, and the Bushwick Improvised Music Series.

Lim’s early performing career, starting at the age of 10, mainly took place in South Korea, Czech Republic, Germany, and the UK. An avid chamber musician, Lim is a member of the Unison Quartet, who has previously participated in the Juilliard String Quartet Seminar and Perlman Music Program and has been chosen to participate at the Aspen Music Festival in summer 2021. As an improviser, she is co-founder of Impromptuo and The Moving Orchestra, both of which focus on performing free-form improvisation. Lim is also a loving teacher of 19 young violinists in NYC. Starting her teaching career at the Meadowmount School of Music in 2016, she is a faculty member at Opus 118 Harlem School of Music and New Amsterdam School. She is also a devoted musician/staff emcee at Groupmuse.

Lim holds a bachelor’s and a master’s degree from The Juilliard School and is currently a Doctor of Musical Arts candidate at Rutgers University Mason Gross School of the Arts.

Virtuoso violinist Eric Silberger is a prize winner of the XIV International Tchaikovsky Competition and the Michael Hill International Violin Competition in 2011. His performances have been described by critics as “spine-tingling…astonishing” (The Guardian), “dazzling virtuoso playing” (The Washington Post), “impeccable level of playing, a wonderful musician” (Heather Kurzbauer, The Strad), and “ ….he has got everything in his favour, technique, composure and personality.” (El Pais, Spain).

Eric has performed as soloist, recitalist and chamber musician throughout the United States and around the world, including solo performances with the San Francisco Symphony, Mariinsky Orchestra, St. Petersburg Philharmonia, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Chamber Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre, London Philharmonia, Danish National Symphony, Orquesta Sinfónica de México, Munich Chamber Orchestra, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, among others. Conductor collaborations include Lorin Maazel, Valery Gergiev, Dimitri Kitajenko, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Donald Runnicles, Robin Ticciati, and others. An avid chamber musician, Eric frequently performs chamber music internationally.

Collaborators have included Itzhak Perlman, Martin Beaver, Elmar Oliveira, and Jake Shimabukuro. Eric is also part of the Mana Music String Quartet, Gloriosa Trio, Castleton Chamber Players and JP Jofre Hard Tango Chamber Band.

Eric received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Columbia University and a Master of Music degree from The Juilliard School. Mentors have included Glenn Dicterow, Itzhak Perlman, Pinchas Zukerman, Robert Mann, and Dorothy Delay, among others. He was also mentored by Maestro Lorin Maazel.

Eric plays on a rare J.B. Guadagnini violin from 1757 on generous loan from the Si-Yo Music Society Foundation Sau-Wing Lam collection. Eric is a Co-Founder of the Hawaii International Music Festival and Director of Strings at the Classical Bridge International Music Festival.