Ensemble ARI
Jiwon Evelyn Kwark, violin
Heeguen Song, violin
Sarah Hong, cello
Sharon Lee Kim, piano
Jean Ahn, composer & director
Luke Dzwonczyk Cosmos in the Flowerbed for video and piano trio
Danny Clay Six Threads for video and piano trio
Jean Ahn Life Has Seasons for video and piano quartet
Gabriel Fauré Piano Quartet No. 1 in C minor, Op. 15
“Ari” is a Korean word with multiple meanings: big river, wisdom, and beauty. Ensemble Ari is a group of Korean American musicians in San Francisco who aim to share these qualities with the community. The ensemble made its debut in October 2014 in their Korean War Memorial Concert which contributed toward the SF Presidio’s Korean Memorial. Since then, ARI has been featured at UC Berkeley, UC Davis, Saint Mary’s College, University of the Pacific, L.A. Art Share, Old First Concerts, Maybeck, and other venues. ARI is a two-time recipient of the InterMusic SF grant and was also awarded the Barlow Grant to commission Laurie San Martin for a new work. This year, ARI commissioned Luke Dzwonczyk to write a work for video and piano trio. During ARI’s 10th anniversary season, the ensemble toured Korea with three sold-out concerts featuring commissioned works as well as Schumann’s Piano Quintet. Sound recordings can be found at https://www.youtube.com/@ensembleari1695.
Violinist Jiwon Evelyn Kwark made her solo debut at age 9 with the Amabile Orchestra, then toured Canada with the Young Orchestra of the Americas as the Associate Concertmaster, invited to Fondation Des Ecoles d’art Americaines de Fontainebleau in France, and toured Germany with the Penderecki Musik Akademie Orchestra as the concertmaster and soloist under the baton of composer, Maestro Penderecki. She has also performed with the San Francisco Symphony, New World Symphony, and New Century Chamber Orchestra. Ms. Kwark currently performs regularly as the acting Principal Second Violinist of the Marin Symphony and is the violinist of Celeste Ensemble. She holds degrees from The Juilliard School, Yale School of Music, and Manhattan School of Music.
Violinist Heeguen Song is Associate Concertmaster of the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra and is a member of Beaubliss Quartet and Ensemble Ari, and has appeared at the Yale Chamber Music Society, Osaka City Hall and Daejeon Chamber Music Festival among others. A prize winner of the Henryk Szeryng International Competition, Heeguen made her solo debut at Weil Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall and has appeared as a soloist with SF Ballet Orchestra, Ensemble 212, Oberlin Orchestra and others. Heeguen has studied at Oberlin Conservatory, the Juilliard School, Yale School of music and Rutgers University under the direction of Almita Vamos, Masao Kawasaki, Peter Oundjian, and Arnold Steinhardt.
Born in Seoul, Korea, cellist Sarah Hong gained national acclaim as Korea’s most promising young cellist at 16 through a KBS-broadcast performance, holds BM and MM degrees in cello performance from The Juilliard School, and completed the Artist Certificate in chamber music at the San Francisco Conservatory under Bonnie Hampton. She has won international competitions and collaborated with renowned musicians at prestigious festivals, including Salzburg, Nice, Seoul, and New York. A member of Le Due Muse and Ensemble Ari, Ms. Hong also founded and directs the AMASE Cello Ensembles and the ‘Phos (φῶς)’ Benefit Concert Series, supporting underprivileged children and students with special needs.
San Francisco Bay Area native, pianist Sharon Lee Kim is an active chamber musician, director, vocal coach, and instructor. She is a frequent recitalist and has performed and recorded throughout the nation and internationally. She has performed in Carnegie Hall, Jordan Hall, and Symphony Hall, among other stages. Sharon works at the San Francisco Conservatory as Faculty Collaborative Pianist and at UC Berkeley as Piano Program Coordinator and Staff Pianist. Sharon maintains a thriving studio, teaching piano and vocal coaching students of all ages. She was a professor of music at Saint Mary’s College in Moraga for the past 16 years. Sharon holds degrees from UC Berkeley (BA) and New England Conservatory (MM and GD).
Director/Composer Jean Ahn earned her B.A. and M.M. degrees from Seoul National University and her Ph.D. from UC Berkeley, where she currently serves as a Lecturer. She is also the music director for CHIM studio where she teaches music for special needs students. Deeply committed to cultural dialogue, Ahn’s Folksong Revisited has recently been published by Hildegard Publishing Company.
Luke Dzwonczyk is a composer, creative technologist, and researcher whose work centers on engaging emerging technologies with multimedia composition. He incorporates elements of electronic music into his work, influenced from his time as a DJ, and explores audio-visual relationships by creating bespoke software tools. A frequent collaborator, he has worked with dancers, singers, and visual artists in the Bay Area and abroad. Outside of the U.S., his work has been shown in France, England, India, and most recently in China, at the 2026 International Choral Festival in Beijing. A Ph.D. student in Music at UC Berkeley, Luke is currently living in Paris on the George Ladd Prix de Paris, spending two years collaborating with composers and researchers at IRCAM.
Danny Clay is a composer and teaching artist based in San Francisco. Danny teaches music composition to curious folks of all ages, from kindergarteners to doctoral students. As both an artist and educator, he strives to create situations where simple creative inquiries are transformed into community sandboxes for communication and collaboration. He has worked with artists and ensembles such as Kronos Quartet, Eighth Blackbird, Third Coast Percussion, Wu Man, the San Francisco Girls Chorus, and the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, and his current interests lie in designing interactive web games that facilitate creative exploration and discovery. For more information, visit: https://www.dclaymusic.com/
