OGCMA Presents The Solisti Ensemble

Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association will present the Solisti Ensemble in concert on Thursday, July 12 at 7:30 PM in the Great Auditorium. Tickets are $16.00 (plus applicable fees) and may be ordered online at www.oceangrove.org or by phone at 800-590-4064. The Great Auditorium is located at Pilgrim and Ocean Pathways in Ocean Grove, NJ. All facilities are handicapped accessible.

This acclaimed string ensemble has garnered a following in Ocean Grove, where it will be back by popular demand after performances over the past several summers. Directed by Byung-Kook Kwak, the Solisti Ensemble will perform the following program:

-Dvorak's American Quartet(1st Movement)
-Elgar's Introduction and Allegro
-Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante for Violin and Viola (3rd Movement)
-Lalo's Symphonie Espagnole for Violin Solo (2nd Movement)
-Handel's Arrival of the Queen of Sheeba for Organ and Strings
-Schindler's lists
-La Vie En Rose (French chansons)
-Sous le Ciel de Paris(French chansons)
-Karl Jenkins' Suite for Organ and Strings

Founded in 2008 by violinist Byung-Kook Kwak, the Solisti Ensemble celebrated its ninth anniversary this past season. Based in New York, the group consists of eleven active string soloists and chamber musicians dedicated reviving the traditions of small-ensemble chamber music. The ensemble is exceptional for its unique size of the ensemble and the individual virtuosity of each member and performs not only classical chamber music, but also arrangements of pop, tango, and jazz.

Since its inception, the ensemble has given concerts around the Metropolitan Area, including regular appearances at Alice Tully Hall and Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall. In January 2013, the ensemble made its debut at Carnegie Hall's Stern Auditorium.

Byung-Kook Kwak enjoys a versatile career as a soloist, chamber musician, and educator. He has received critical acclaim for his performances with orchestras such as Baltimore Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, American Symphony, and the Los Angeles Chamber Symphony. In Europe, he has appeared as a soloist with Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, Cologne Radio Orchestra, Bamberger Symphony, Rotterdam Philharmonic, and French National Orchestra. An active chamber musician, Mr. Kwak is a member of the Sea Cliff Chamber Players. He is also very active as a concertmaster and appears in that capacity with virtually every major symphony orchestra around the Metropolitan New York area. He has been the conductor of the Summit Music Festival Orchestra for the past five years, has conducted the Queens Symphony Orchestra, and the Manhattan School of Music Summer Festival Orchestra in the summer of 1999. He has also been active as a choral conductor for over twenty years. He has been an assistant to Aaron Rosand at Mannes College of Music for ten years, and he is currently a faculty member at Manhattan School of Music Pre-College, Lehman College, Queens College, Westchester Conservatory of Music, and chairman of strings at Jewish Academy of Fine Arts.