with Sora Kim, violin and Takumi Rodgers, cello

Calgary emerging artists Isaac Willocks, Sora Kim, and Takumi Rodgers unite to perform an exciting program that explores passion, rediscovery, love and loss, featuring works by Amy Beach, Weinberg, Prokofiev, and local composer Michalis Andronikou. 

Isaac Willocks was the first prize winner of the 2022 Calgary Youth Orchestra, Frank Simpson Concerto Competition, and was the 2023 Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra Marley Rynd Scholarship winner. This past year, Isaac has been invited to play on a regular basis as an extra musician in the first violin section of the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra. Isaac is in his fourth year in the BMus Performance program at the University of Calgary, School of Creative and Performing Arts, where he studies violin with Edmond Agopian. Previous violin teachers include Laurel Tym, Cristian Neacsu, and Jeremy Van Dieman. He has been Concertmaster of both the Calgary Youth Orchestra and the University of Calgary Orchestra. He is a member of the Calgary String Quartet, with faculty members Beth Root Sandvoss, Dean O’Brien, and Edmond Agopian. Isaac has also been a student at Mount Royal University Conservatory in the Advanced Performance Program, and in the Calgary ProMusica Dick Matthews Young Artists Development Program.

Calgary-born violinist Sora Kim has enjoyed a diverse musical career in her home city.  In addition to running an active studio, she is currently faculty with the Amici Strings program and teaches clinics throughout Calgary. Her students have received local scholarships and awards and continued on to pursue music in their post-secondary studies. She has also appeared as a collaborative pianist for exams, recitals, and the Calgary Performing Arts Festival. Sora is an alumnus of the MRU Conservatory Academy, and had the privilege of studying with Nick Pulos, Joan Barrett, and John Lowry before continuing her studies with Edmond Agopian at University of Calgary, where she is in the final year of a dual BSc/BMus in Violin Performance. Currently, Sora is co-concertmaster of the University of Calgary orchestra and maintains an active solo and ensemble performing career.

Takumi Rodgers is a Japanese-Canadian cellist currently pursuing a Bachelor of Music in cello performance at the University of Calgary. In his studies with Beth Root-Sandvoss, Takumi functions as the principal cellist of the University of Calgary Orchestra, and contributes to multiple chamber ensembles. In his time at U of C, Takumi has been awarded the Hertz Trio prize and the Don Wright scholarship as well as Honours in the Frank Simpson concerto competition. Formerly, Takumi was the principal cellist of the CYO, and University of Lethbridge Symphonia orchestra, a member of Queensland Youth Orchestra in Brisbane, Australia, and a member of the Lethbridge Symphony Orchestra.

This concert is the first in a series of five Emerging Artists Concerts during 2024 generously sponsored by: