Dr. Minji Noh Lee has been on Irvine Valley College’s Keyboard department faculty since 2015. She brings decades of extensive teaching experiences in working with piano students of all ages. Praised as a “superb pianist” by the Boston Globe, Dr. Minji Noh Lee is active as a soloist and a chamber musician.
Dr. Kookhee Hong is a distinguished performer, educator, and award-winning pianist. After relocating to Los Angeles, she was invited to serve as an adjudicator for numerous festivals, including the Southwestern Youth Music Festival (SYMF) and the Junior Bach Festival in California. Dr. Hong is currently the Director of Junior Chamber Music in the Inland Empire Branch, a board member of the Music Teachers' Association of California, and an adjunct professor at Irvine Valley College.
Dr. Suzanne Wong holds the B.M. and M.M. degrees in Piano Performance from the University of Southern California and the D.M.A from Boston University. She has studied piano with Nancy Bricard and James Bonn, violin with Alice Schoenfeld, and composition and theory with Dr. Robert Linn. Abroad, Ms. Wong has studied with pianist, Carlo Zecchi at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria. She has also been on the faculty of the Colburn School of the Performing Arts.
German pianist Dr. Eva Schaumkell is established on three continents as a brilliant soloist and collaborator praised for her “astonishing combination of depth of expression and thrilling virtuosity” (Nassauische Neue Presse). Dr. Schaumkell has established a major international presence as Gold medalist in the 2018 International James Ramos Piano Competition, and the 2014 International Siegfried Weishaupt Piano Competition.
Svetlana Smolina has performed with leading orchestras and given recitals throughout the world, appearing with the New York Philharmonic at Avery Fisher Hall, the Mariinsky Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, the Orchestre National de France, and the Rotterdam Philharmonic. Her performances have taken her to the Salzburg Festival, Hollywood Bowl, Ravinia Rising Stars, White Nights Festival, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Ruhr Klavier Festival, Royal Opera House in London, Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, and Rome’s Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia.
Dr. Susan Boettger is a pianist, chamber musician, composer, and music educator based in Irvine, California. She is Professor of Music and Piano and Chamber Music Area Coordinator at Irvine Valley College, Artistic Director of the IVC Keyboard & Chamber Music Series, and Founder and Executive Director of Junior Chamber Music.
Dr. Matthew Tresler is the current Academic Chair of Music at Irvine Valley College and Director of Choral and Vocal Music. In Addition to conducting the IVC Chorale, Dr. Tresler teaches class voice, applied voice, applied music workshop and honors music appreciation courses.
“Gorgeously radiant”(classicalvoice.org) soprano, Christina Bristow is a graduate of The University of Southern California earning her Graduate Certificate and Masters of Music in Voice performance at the USC Thornton School of Music. She has her Bachelor of Arts in Music from California Baptist University, magna cum laude. She is an award winner for the Metropolitan Opera Council auditions Western Finals, NATS-LA Young Artist of the Year, NATS-AA competition semi-finalist, and scholarship recipient from the Colburn Foundation in Early Music Performance at USC.
Tyler Walton is a professional drummer and percussionist with many years of experience teaching, performing live, and recording in the studio. Mr. Walton earned his Master of Music degree in Jazz Studies Performance at California State University – Fullerton, and his Bachelor of Music degree in Percussion Performance from California State University – Fullerton. Mr. Walton has performed with several of southern California’s most prominent jazz musicians, including Joey Sellers, Dan St. Marseille, and the Bill Cunliffe Big Band featuring Ron Stout and Francisco Torres. Mr.
Stephanie Thomas grew up in the Seattle area and while there studied with Anna Cloud and Christopher Leuba. She moved to Los Angeles and received her Bachelor’s Degree in Horn Performance from the University of Southern California. While there she had the privilege of studying with Jim Decker and Vincent DeRosa. She has been a free-lance musician in Los Angeles ever since.