Music at St. Luke's: viMosaic

• Jessica Stinson, violin
• Tramaine Jones, violin
• Shadwa Mussad, viola
• Alana Bennett-Garcia, cello
• Laura Usiskin, cello
• Emily Koh, double bass
• Choo Choo Hu, piano

Join ensemble vim for their FINAL concert of season vi(m) on Tuesday, March 25th at 7:30pm at St. Luke's Atlanta! "viMosaic" will deliver an impactful, dynamic performance in collaboration with Mosaic String Quartet that you won't want to miss!

About Mosaic Quartet (Atlanta)

Jessica Stinson (violin), Tramaine Jones (violin), Shadwa Mussad (viola), and Alana Bennett-Garcia (cello) of the Mosaic Quartet maintain an in-demand performance schedule and international acclaim. This powerhouse ensemble is committed to creating a more equitable and inclusive future for classical music by celebrating BIPOC artistry and using music as a tool for justice. The all-female quartet was formed out of their connection with the Atlanta non-profit organization, Challenge the Stats (CTS), and has performed as a quartet in venues across Atlanta since 2021.

About ensemble vim

ensemble vim is dedicated to bringing thoughtful, innovative programs to audiences in our home city of Atlanta. Our mission is based on three key pillars: excellence in the performance of new music, collaboration with local composers and artists, and community outreach and education.

About Music at St. Luke's (Atlanta)

Music at St. Luke's is a yearlong classical concert series generously supported by the Friends of Music, parishioners, and supporters of St. Luke’s Atlanta.

About Jessica Stinson, violin

https://music.gsu.edu/profile/jessica-stinson-2/

About Tramaine Jones, violin

Tramaine Jones began learning the violin at the age of nine and has not put down her instrument since. She is a graduate of the Tri-cities High School Performing Arts Program and went on to receive a highly competitive scholarship to attend Northwestern University. While at NU, she earned her Bachelor's Degree in Violin Performance and Master’s Degree in Music Education. Tramaine is a highly-regarded violinist in the Atlanta area and performs regularly with the Symphony Orchestra of Augusta, Tuscaloosa Symphony, and the Harlem Festival Orchestra.

About Shadwa Mussad, viola

https://www.shadwamussad.com/

About Alana Bennett-Garcia, cello

Alana Bennett-Garcia, an Atlanta-based cellist and dedicated music educator, has solidified her presence as a versatile and emotive performer. A graduate of New York University and Indiana University, Alana has had a varied career where she has been a recording artist, collaborator, and performer for film, dance and theatre. Currently serving as a founding member and cellist for the Mosaic String Quartet, she also holds the position of principal cellist with the DeKalb Symphony Orchestra.

About Laura Usiskin, cello

Heralded for her "thoughtful, attentive" playing (Alabama Entertainment), cellist Laura Usiskin enjoys a versatile career as a soloist and chamber musician. Her playing has taken her to concert halls throughout the United States and Europe, including the Kennedy Center, Palazzo Chigi Saracini (Siena, Italy), Symphony Hall (Boston), and New York venues including Alice Tully Hall, Weill Hall, Zankel Hall, Merkin Hall, Miller Theatre, Barge Music, Steinway Hall, Klavierhaus, and more.

She has received such awards as the Prix d’Instrument at the Écoles d'art Americaines (France), the Aldo Parisot Prize at Yale University, and was a finalist for the Pro Musicis International Award. She completed the nationally acclaimed Artist In Residency with the Montgomery Symphony Orchestra as well as a fellowship with the Yale Baroque Ensemble. Usiskin has held tenured orchestral appointments with the New Haven Symphony Orchestra, Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra, and Orchestra Iowa, where she served as Principal Cello.

Usiskin is a member of multiple chamber groups including the Bayberry String Quartet and ensemble vim. Usiskin serves on the faculty of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, through which she founded the concert series Chamber Music @ AEIVA. She also teaches at Birmingham-Southern College, the Alabama School of Fine Arts, and STEP Birmingham. Usiskin's cello studies began at age five with Gilda Barston of the Music Institute of Chicago and continued with Richard Hirschl of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. She graduated from Columbia University cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Neuroscience and Behavior, The Juilliard School with a Master of Music, and Yale University with a Doctor of Musical Arts. She currently lives in Atlanta, GA.

About Emily Koh, double bass

Emily Koh (b.1986) is a Singaporean composer-bassist based in Atlanta whose music aims to elevate the ordinary by sonically expounding everyday human experiences. Her music usually consists of multiple layers of details that are intricately weaved together, and can be self-described as other-worldly with raw and intense grit. She is a multi-faceted creator who learns, reflects and works best by working collaboratively with other artists.

Described as "the future of composing" (The Straits Times, Singapore), Emily is the recipient of awards such as the Copland House Residency Award, Young Artist Award (National Arts Council, Singapore), Yoshiro Irino Memorial Prize (Asian Composers League), ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Award, Prix D'Ete (Peabody), and the Macagnoni Prize for Innovative Research (University of Georgia). Described as "beautifully eerie" (New York Times), and "subtley spicy" (Baltimore Sun), Emily's music has been performed around the world by acclaimed ensembles such as Guerilla Opera, Alarm Will Sound, PRISM Quartet, Talea Ensemble, Transient Canvas, New York New Music Ensemble, Orquesta Sinfónica de Aguascalientes (Mexico), Trio Accanto (DE), Avanti! (FI), orkest de ereprijs (NL), Tacet(i) (Thailand), Hong Kong New Music Ensemble, Next Mushroom Project (JP), National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra, Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Singapore Chinese Orchestra, and others. Her music is published by Babel Scores (Europe) and Poco Piu Publishing (worldwide), and can be heard on the Innova, XAS, New Focus and Ravello labels.

Emily is currently Associate Professor of Music Composition at the Hugh Hodgson School of Music, University of Georgia (UGA). She also taught at the Alba Music Festival Composition Program (Italy), International Composition Institute of Thailand, Asia-Pacific Saxophone Academy (Thailand) and the Etchings Festival (USA). Prior to UGA, she taught at Brandeis and Harvard Universities, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Longy School of Music (Bard College) and Walnut Hill School for the Arts. She graduated from the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, National University of Singapore (BM Music Composition), the Peabody Institute, Johns Hopkins University (MM Music Composition and Music Theory Pedagogy), and Brandeis University (Ph.D. graduate in Music Composition and Theory).

Emily is on the leadership team of ensemble vim, a new music collective in Atlanta. She is also the National Treasurer of the Society of Composers Inc., and serves on the advisory boards of Composers Conference, Indictus Project, Atlanta Contemporary Music Collective, and Dinosaur Annex Music Ensemble. She had also held artistic and administrative positions at the Boston New Music Initiative (Director of Concert Series, 2012-2016), Lunar Ensemble (composer-in-residence, 2012-2014) and Composers Society of Singapore (CSS) (honorary ex-co member, 2014-2020), and is a member of ASCAP, SCI, and CSS.

About Choo Choo Hu, piano

Pianist Choo Choo Hu has been recognized as a musician of inordinate versatility. Choo Choo has performed across the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia as a soloist, chamber musician, and collaborative pianist. Always striving for versatility and new challenges, she has shared the stage with everyone from the Imani Winds to John Legend. Recent solo engagements include appearances with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and the Spokane Symphony. As an orchestral musician, she has played with the Atlanta Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Baltimore Chamber Orchestra, Prince George's Philharmonic, and York Symphony. As a repetiteur, she has worked with the Atlanta Opera, as well as with the Prague Summer Nights Opera Festival in such venues as the Mozarteum in Salzburg and various palaces throughout the Czech Republic.

An avid proponent of contemporary music, Choo Choo is a founding member of the Atlanta-based new music collective ensemble vim. She has played for the contemporary opera workshop NANOworks, was a core member of the SONAR New Music Ensemble, and has performed alongside members of Alarm Will Sound and the International Contemporary Ensemble. Her guest artist residencies include the Levine School of Music, McDaniel College, Washington University, and East Central College, as well as the Prague Summer Nights Festival, the Bethlehem Music Festival, the Heifetz International Music Institute, and the Wintergreen Performing Arts Festival. Never one to shy away from a crossover opportunity, she is also a founding member of the Disney rock band Godmother.

Born in China and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, Choo Choo began taking lessons at the age of five with pianist John Sun. She made her concerto debut at age twelve with the Washington University Symphony Orchestra. By the time she was sixteen she had already accumulated top prizes at competitions throughout the United States such as the Missouri Southern International Piano Competition, the Biennial Lee Competition, the Washington University Young Artists Concerto Competition, and the St. Louis Symphony Youth Concerto Competition. At age seventeen she enrolled at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, studying with renowned musicians Leon Fleisher and Brian Ganz. While at Peabody, Choo Choo was the recipient of the Albert and Rosa Silverman Memorial Scholarship, the Yale Gordon Chamber Music Fellowship, and the Grace Clagett Ranney Prize in Chamber Music.