The Port Townsend Chamber Music Workshop is designed to serve the highest caliber of dedicated, emerging, pre-formed ensembles and pianists on a path to professional careers in music. Every year, two carefully selected string quartets and two up-and-coming concert pianists will be offered a rare opportunity to work with a world-renowned Quartet-in-Residence as well as Artistic Director Lucinda Carver.

We welcome the public to a free Masterclass where you can see the art of concert preparation in action!  The complete performance schedule can be seen here.

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We are proud to welcome:

Benjamin Hopkins, piano

Since winning first prize in the 2007 Thousand Islands International Piano Competition, Benjamin Hopkins has won numerous awards and has performed across North America and Europe. In 2008, after winning the Rochester Philharmonic League’s Young Artist Auditions, he made his debut with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. He has also been honored with first prize at the David Hochstein Recital Competition, the prestigious Howard Hanson Award, and as a finalist in the first Pittsburgh Symphony Concerto Competition. Most recently, he was nominated for the 2013 American Pianists Association Classical Fellowship Award and won first prize in the Rio Hondo Symphony Young Artist Competition. 2013 also brought his New York City debut at Liederkranz Hall and performances of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3 with orchestras in Valencia, Spain and California.

Hopkins has played in masterclasses for many renowned pedagogues and pianists, including Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Menahem Pressler, Julian Martin, Frederic Chiu, and Stephen Hough. An avid chamber musician, he studies the collaborative literature with violinist Henry Gronnier and performs frequently as a collaborator in the Los Angeles area. After earning his Bachelor of Music from the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music, where he was named Keyboard Department Outstanding Undergraduate, he is continuing his graduate studies at USC with Lucinda Carver. His past teachers include Brian Preston and Norman Krieger

Christopher Goodpasture, piano

Praised by the Washington Post for his “sparkling, highly musical” playing and by the Huffington Post for his “dazzling fireworks”, American pianist Christopher Goodpasture has established himself as a musician of inimitable and refined style. He has performed to great acclaim in some of North America’s finest concert halls including the Kennedy Center (Washington D.C.), Benaroya Hall (Seattle), Koerner Recital Hall (Toronto), The DiMenna Center (New York), Weill Recital Hall (New York), Bing Concert Hall (San Francisco), Ingle Auditorium (Rochester), the Nixon Library and the LACMA (Los Angeles). Recent concert series engagements include recitals at Chicago’s PianoForte Salon Series, the Colouratura Gallery in Nova Scotia, San Diego’s Music by the Sea, andLos Angeles’ Classical Underground with culminating radio broadcasts on Classical KUSC 91.5 and 88.5 KCSN.

Christopher’s awards include 1st prize and audience prize in the 2015 Seattle International Piano Competition, 2nd Prize in the 2015 Iowa International Piano Competition, and top prizes in the Los Angeles Liszt Competition, The Glenn Gould Chamber Music Competition, and the Susan Torres Competition for pianists. Festival appearances include performances at the Banff Centre, the Sarasota Music Festival, Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival, the International Holland Music Sessions, and the Music Academy of the West. Through his travels and studies, he has had the opportunity to work with a number of influential pianists, namely Leon Fleisher, Jeremy Denk, Seymour Lipkin, Joseph Kalichstein, Robert Levin, Claude Frank, and Anton Kuerti and as an active chamber musician, he has collaborated with the likes of the Schubert Ensemble of London and members of the Takacs, Ysaye, St. Lawrence, Amenda, Guarneri, and Tokyo String Quartets.

Born in Los Angeles, California, Christopher began his formal training at the Pasadena Conservatory of Music at the age of 5. He completed his Bachelor of Music degree at the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music where he studied with John Perry and Stewart Gordon and was the recipient of the Most Outstanding Undergraduate Award. He furthered his studies with John Perry, and moved to Toronto, Ontario, earning an Artist Diploma from the Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory of Music. Christopher is currently pursuing his Master’s Degree as a student of Hung-Kuan Chen and Jerome Lowenthal at the Juilliard School in New York City, where he was awarded the Irene Diamond Graduate Fellowship.

Zaffre String Quartet

YuEun Kim, violin
Zenas Hsu, violin
Tanner Menees, viola
Julia Yang, cello

Founded in Februrary 2015, the Zaffre String Quartet has performed in various venues in Boston and New York, including two sold-out concerts at an “Arts Extravaganza” event in NY, and a house concert at Martha’s Vineyards, representing the New England Conservatory. The quartet recently held a residency at the Four Seasons Chamber Music Festival in Greenville, North Carolina, where they were featured and performed at its annual donor evening event, and collaborated with Ida Kavafian in concert. The quartet has worked with Donald Weilerstein, Yeesun Kim, Mai Motobuchi, Laurence Lesser, and Hsinyun Huang. The four members of the quartet reside in California, Massachusetts, and Florida, though in pursuit of their passion, travel often to rehearse and perform.

The members of the Zaffre String Quartet will also be appearing at the Banff Centre Chamber Music Residency and Yellow Barn later this summer.

Zenas Hsu, violinist, is a graduate from the New England Conservatory and the Curtis Institute of Music, having studied with Donald Weilerstein, Nicholas Kitchen, and Ida Kavafian. He has a recent guest member with the St. Paul and Orpheus Chamber Orchestras, and A Far Cry, and is a founding member of Chamber Music by the Bay and Boston-based Phoenix.

YuEun Kim, violinist, is an Artist Diploma candidate at the University of Southern California, studying with Midori Goto. She was recently a semifinalist at the Michael Hill Competition, and was a guest soloist with the USC Orchestra and Irvine Symphony.

Tanner Menees, violist, is an Artist Diploma candidate at the Colburn University of Music, where he studies with Paul Coletti. Tanner has performed recently in the Colburn Chamber Music Society and soloed with the Colburn Orchestra. He will be the guest violist of the Zaffre String Quartet this season.

Julia Yang, cellist, has toured as the principal cellist at the New World Symphony. She holds degrees from the New England Conservatory and Northwestern University under the tutelage of Laurence Lesser and Hans Jorgen Jensen. She was recently featured as a soloist with the New World Symphony.

Voss String Quartet

Melissa Deal, violin
Cristian Zimmerman, violin
Xiaohan Sun, viola
Jacqueline Rogers, cello

The Voss Quartet is comprised of young artists from the Cleveland Institute of Music, where they participate in the Intensive String Quartet Seminar, and have the opportunity to work closely with Peter Salaff of the Cleveland Quartet, and members of the Cavani Quartet. They have participated in masterclasses with renowned artists such as Cuarteto Casals, Amy Schwartz Moretti of the Ehnes Quartet, and Rebecca and Julie Albers of the Albers Trio. The quartet’s members have participated in festivals such as Pacific Music Festival, National Repertory Orchestra, The Quartet Program, and Morningside Music Bridge. This quartet distinguishes itself from its fellow traditional chamber music ensembles every day, bringing a spirit of good humor, enthusiasm and energy to everything they involve themselves in. The Voss Quartet has always been passionate about community outreach, and regularly perform free, public concerts in venues throughout Cleveland. They have recently taken large steps in their commitment to community engagement, and created a program geared toward K-8 students that exposes the audience to the wonders of chamber music, which they perform in several public schools in Cleveland.

Melissa Deal, a native of Minneapolis, MN, began playing violin at the age of four, studying with her older sister. Since then, she has enjoyed performing in many orchestral and chamber ensembles, such as Minnesota Youth Symphonies, Artaria Chamber Music School, and the University of Minnesota Symphony Orchestra, where she has served as associate concertmaster. Melissa has performed as soloist with the La Crosse Symphony Orchestra, and the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Cuba in Havana. As a chamber musician, Melissa has performed on NPR’S From the Top and Minnesota Public Radio. Her notable teachers include Mary West, Charles Castleman, Yair Kless, and Sally O’Reilly, with whom she most recently studied at the University of Minnesota. This fall, Melissa will continue her studies at the Cleveland Institute of Music to complete her Bachelor of Music degree.

Cristian Zimmerman is a student in David Updegraff’s studio at the Cleveland Institute of Music. Cristian’s studies began with renowned Suzuki pedagogue Teri Einfeldt at the Hartt School of Music in West Hartford, CT. Other teachers at Hartt included Anton Miller and Mickey Reisman and masterclasses with Brian Lewis, Heidi Castleman, and Gabe Bolkosky. In 2008 Cristian attended the Ithaca Chamber Music program and in subsequent years continued chamber music studies at Point Counterpoint and at Hartt. In 2010 and 2011 he was invited to attend the Ithaca Preludio Institute for advanced violin studies, as well as the Aria Summer Academy, studying with Allegra Wermuth, Anton Miller, James Buswell and Greg Fulkerson. In addition he has participated in chamber music masterclasses with the Miami, Daedelus, and Cavani string quartets. Cristian began studying with James Stern at the University of Maryland in 2010. He was invited to participate in the highly selective National Symphony Orchestra’s Youth Fellowship, performing on the Kennedy Center’s Millenium Stage in both solo and chamber music concerts.

Xiaohan Sun, viola, was born in Wuhan, China. She began violin lessons at the age of 5 and later switched to the viola at 13. During high school, Xiaohan attended the prestigious pre-conservatory program at Shattuck St. Mary’s School in Faribault, Minnesota. While in Minnesota, she placed in many competitions such as Thursday Musical and Schubert Club. Xiaohan has attended many music festivals, including the Kent Blossom Music Festival, The New York String Orchestra Seminar, and the Pacific Music Festival. She is now a senior at the Cleveland Institute of Music studying under Jeffrey Irvine.

Jacqueline Rogers, cello, was raised in Toronto, Canada as a third generation musician. She has won numerous awards for her solo performances, including third place at the National Canadian Music Competition in Sherbrooke, Quebec. Jacqueline has attended summer festivals including Pinchas Zukerman’s Young Artist Program, Morningside Music Bridge, AIMS in Austria and Orford Summer Festival. She is currently in her second year of undergraduate studies at the Cleveland Institute of Music, studying with Melissa Kraut. In between performances, Jacqueline enjoys playing a good game of hockey at the outdoor rink and sailing across Lake Ontario on a breezy day.