Artist Biographies

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Keith Stanfield is a concert violinist, educator, and former international athlete whose career bridges the worlds of high-level performance, leadership, and outreach. As the newly appointed Artistic and Executive Director of the Youth Symphony of Kansas City, he brings a bold, inclusive vision to one of the region’s most respected classical  music education programs—one that emphasizes artistic excellence, community growth, and access for all.

Founder of the acclaimed Opus 76 Quartet, Stanfield performs more than 50 concerts a year, with recent appearances at Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, the Philharmonie in Berlin, and Teatro alla Scala in Milan. His discography includes the complete Beethoven String Quartets, Mozart’s “Haydn” Quartets, and Schubert’s String Quintet, alongside solo recordings such as Mozart’s 4th Violin Concerto and Paganini’s First. A recent performance of the latter was described as “deep, resonant… played with considerable sensitivity… profoundly moving.” (KC Arts Beat)

Stanfield is one of a very small number of professional classical musicians from Western Samoa, where his journey began not only with music but also with sports. He represented the country in the 2010 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers, scoring two goals in five international appearances before retiring from soccer to pursue the violin full-time. During his career, he played for clubs in England, Germany and Italy. After relocating to the United States in 2013, he coached youth soccer for four years, and recently returned to the pitch in a lighthearted role as a part-time coach with Sporting Kansas City. His experience as a professional athlete has given him a unique ability to connect with students and audiences alike, especially those from non-traditional musical backgrounds.

He holds the title of Associate of the Royal Academy of Music (London), where he also serves as a visiting lecturer. In Kansas City, he is Concertmaster of the Kansas City Civic Orchestra and the Kinnor Philharmonic, and is the Artistic and Executive Director at the Youth Symphony of Kansas City, where he also teaches orchestral violin, electives and chamber music at YSKC. He has served as Guest Concertmaster with the Kansas City Ballet Orchestra on numerous occasions and was named one of The Independent’s “Rising Stars of Kansas City” in 2022.

Known for his dynamic artistry and technical finesse, Stanfield has been hailed “The Polynesian Paganini” (K.C. Arts Beat) for his commanding presence and virtuosic style. He made his recital debut at six years old at the Royal Festival Hall in London and appeared as a soloist live on BBC television aged ten. He studied with renowned violinists Remus Azoitei, Karoly Schranz, and the late Erik Huston, following early training with Alison Apley and the Suzuki Method.

Beyond the stage, he is a contributor to publications including The Strad and The Catholic Herald, writing on topics that range from pedagogy to performance practice. Whether leading from the podium, connecting with young musicians, or performing for international audiences, Keith Stanfield continues to inspire with a career rooted in curiosity, grit, and a lifelong love of music.

May 2025. Please disregard all previous versions.

Hungarian violinist Zsolt Eder has established himself as a versatile and engaging performer and teacher. He is Professor of Violin and Viola at Washburn University (Topeka, Kansas) and has been Concertmaster of the Topeka Symphony Orchestra since 2011. He is a founding member of the Opus 76 String Quartet and also performs with Spire Chamber Ensemble, newEar Contemporary Chamber Ensemble, the KC Baroque Consortium, Ensemble Iberica, the Sunflower Music Festival (Topeka), the Kansas City Symphony, as well as his chamber music group Zsolt Eder and Friends. 

With most performances cancelled in 2020, Zsolt and the Opus 76 Quartet immersed themselves in the complete Beethoven string quartets -  performing and recording the 18-piece cycle at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Kansas City. Another recent highlight was the completion of Topeka Symphony’s 75th anniversary season (2020/21) and a digital residency with Musica para Respirar, a Bolivian organization presenting free, live performances on WhatsApp to people affected by the pandemic across South America.

Zsolt has performed extensively in North and South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. Highlights include performing in the first Canadian Ring Cycle (Wagner) with the Canadian Opera Company, the Beijing Modern Music Festival in China, IMS Prussia Cove in England, and at the International Classical and Folk Music Festival in Kyrgyzstan. He has performed as a soloist with the Cleveland Institute of Music Symphony Orchestra, the Topeka Symphony, the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas, the City of Asuncion Symphony Orchestra (OSCA) in Paraguay, the Washburn Symphony,  the Via Salzburg Chamber Orchestra (Toronto, Canada), the Midwest Chamber Ensemble and the Medical Arts Symphony (Kansas City). In 2018, Zsolt appeared as guest concertmaster of the National Symphony of Colombia (South America). He has appeared live on Kansas Public Radio, Hungarian National Radio and ABC Australia. 

Zsolt is passionate about education, working with organizations like UMKC Conservatory Bridges, Heartland Chamber Music, the Blanche Bryden Chamber Music Institute, Harmony Project KC, Topeka Strings for Success and CityMusic Cleveland. He is frequently invited to adjudicate and present lectures and masterclasses. In 2019 he completed a week-long residency at the National University of Paraguay. 

Born in Budapest, Hungary, Zsolt spent most of his childhood in Perth, Australia. College studies brought him first to Toronto, Canada, where he studied with Lorand Fenyves. Zsolt then continued with Paul Kantor at the Cleveland Institute of Music, earning his Bachelors and Masters Degrees there. In Kansas City he studied with Benny Kim at the UMKC Conservatory and received a Doctoral Degree in Violin Performance in 2018. He lives in a suburb of Kansas City with wife Gloria and their two children.

Waka Kim is a professional violinist with extensive experience in orchestral music, chamber music, solo performances, and teaching. She obtained her degree from Toho Gakuen School of Music, one

of Japan’s top conservatories, studying under the mentorship of Akiko Tatsumi.

Throughout her career, Kim has garnered top prizes from competitions, including notably a second-place prize at the 66th Student Music Concours of Japan, as well as multiple prizes at the18th Japan Player’s Competition. She has received awards from

the Japan Classic Music Concours, the All-Japan Student Music Concours, and the Japan Performers’ Competition. Additionally, she has participated as a violin fellow at the Pacific Music Festival, Tanglewood Music Center, and the International Summer Academy

Mozarteum University in Vienna.

Waka’s teaching journey began as a collegiate volunteer for Toho Gakuen’s young music education program for students aged 3-15. Coupling her firsthand experience in high-level violin performance

with her love of teaching, she has since expanded her teaching practice to work with students of all ages.

Currently, Waka Kim finds fulfillment in sharing her expertise as a violin teacher, collaborating with her husband, Paul Kim, at P & W Violin Studio. Through their dedicated instruction, they provide students with exceptional violin lessons, imparting their extensive

knowledge and fostering the growth of aspiring musicians.

Violist Ashley Stanfield is a founding member of The Opus 76 Quartet. An experienced chamber musician, she is a former and founding member of the Hampden String Quartet, with whom she won the Sir John Barbirolli Prize for Chamber Music at the Royal Academy of Music (London, UK). As violist of that Quartet, she performed regularly at the Oxford Proms and the Prom's at St. Jude's concert series, as well as at a ceremony to celebrate the London 2012 Olympics at St. James’s Palace for members of the British Royal Family. Reviews in numerous journals and magazines included The Financial Times (London, UK) who remarked: "I don't think anyone was unmoved by the ardour and commitment with which this group delivered the soul harrowing slow movement of Schubert's "Death and the Maiden" quartet and the exuberant finale of Beethoven's op. 130."

Outside of her recordings and performances with The Opus 76 Quartet, Ashley performs regularly with the Kansas City Symphony and Des Moines Symphony, Lyric Opera of Kansas City & Kansas City Ballet. She has also served as guest Principal Violist for both the Kinnor Philharmonic and the Saint Joseph Symphony. She has appeared as a guest artist with the Bach Aria Soloists, Spire Ensemble and the KC Baroque Consortium, and has also performed as a guest soloist with a number of orchestras, most recently with the Kansas City Civic Orchestra, playing Mozart's "Sinfonia Concertante". She has enjoyed performing with several rock/pop bands including Michael Buble, “Belle and Sebastian”, “Hanson” and Johnny Mathis.

Ashley is an alumni of both the Interlochen and Idyllwild Arts Academies and holds a Bachelors' Degree in Viola performance as well as a Teaching Licentiate from the Royal Academy of Music, where she was a student of London Symphony Orchestra Principal Violist, Paul Silverthorne. Other teachers include  Miami String Quartet violist, Scott Lee, Evan Wilson, Donald McInnes, and Christine Grossman. As a part of her studies at the Academy, Ashley worked with many prominent conductors including Trevor Pinnock, Leif Segerstam, Yan Pascal Tortelier, Tadaaki Otaka, and Sir Colin Davis, with whom she recorded Mozart's Marriage of Figaro and Beethoven's Symphony No.9. 

A native of Kansas City and a passionate educator, Ashley enjoys teaching and has extensive experience at the beginner through to collegiate level. She currently teaches group violin (elementary level) in the Kansas City Missouri School district via the KC Harmony Project program and formerly served as a teaching artist on the faculty of Drake University. Many of her private students are members of the Kansas City Youth Symphony and the Kansas All-State and District Orchestras. She lives in Kansas City with her husband and son and their faithful Labrador, Miley, and in addition to her career as a violist, is pursuing a degree in Psychology at Harvard University. 

Korean-born violist Heejung Yang is an active orchestral and chamber musician currently based in Missouri, and began performing with the Opus 76 Quartet in 2026. She is pursuing her Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of Missouri–Kansas City under the guidance of Scott Lee. She is currently engaged as a substitute violist with the Kansas City Symphony Orchestra and the Illinois Symphony Orchestra.

Previously, Heejung served for two seasons as Principal Violist of the Syracuse Orchestra in New York and held the same position with the Amedeo Philharmonic Society from 2019 to 2024. Her orchestral experience also includes extensive work as a guest principal violist with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra in New Jersey over several seasons.

A deeply committed chamber musician, Heejung’s string quartet won First Prize at the 2022 Ruth Widder String Quartet Competition, and the ensemble continues to pursue a professional career. She was a viola fellow with the APEX Ensemble by the Met Orchestra in New York, from 2022 to 2024. In 2019, she was selected as a viola fellow at the Tanglewood Music Festival, where she performed as a member of the Yosemite String Quartet and was featured in a Classical WMHT-FM radio broadcast.

Originally from Korea, Heejung gained early orchestral experience as a substitute violist with the Chungbuk Philharmonic, Cheonan Philharmonic, Guri Philharmonic, Wonju Philharmonic, and Gangneung Philharmonic. Her awards include Second Prize at the Yaejin Artist

Music Competition and Third Prize at the Sangmyung Music Competition.

Heejung earned her Master of Music degree from the Manhattan School of Music, studying with Patinka Kopec, and completed Professional Studies in Orchestral Performance under Karen Dreyfus and Shmuel Katz. She later pursued an Artist Diploma at Montclair State University,where she studied with Kathryn Lockwood. Alongside her performing career, she is an active educator and has worked in private instruction, youth orchestra coaching, and community outreach programs.

Lubomira G. Paskaleva began her studies in Sofia, Bulgaria, with Professor Peter Arnaudov when she was merely 5 years old. She was accepted to the National Music School “Lubomir Pipkov” at the age of 10.

Ms. Paskaleva was awarded a full scholarship to come to Baton Rouge School of Music in Louisiana where she studied under Jerzy Kosmala. During her time in Louisiana she performed concerts with the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra, Lafayette Symphony, and the LSU

Symphony.

In 1999, Ms. Paskaleva moved to Kansas City to study at the Kansas City Conservatory of Music on a full scholarship. Since coming to Kansas City she has won the hearts of Kansas City Music Club and received the

club’s highest scholarship. During her time in Kansas City, Ms. Paskaleva studied intensively with world-renowned musicians Paul Coletti, Benny Kim

and Scott Lee.

Throughout her musical upbringing, Lubomira Paskaleva has competed in such competitions as Svetoslav Obretenov National Competition where she was awarded the first prize, Young Talent National

Competition in Sofia, Bulgaria, in which she received the second prize, MTNA Competition, where she was a finalist with five other soloists from across the United States. She has participated in the master classes of

Evan Wilson, Simon Roland Jones and Yuri Bashmet.

Ms. Paskaleva worked as the Strings Director at Mid-American Nazarene University. She has performed with various ensembles and artists including the Kansas City Symphony, the Opus 76 Quartet, Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Rod Stewart, Sarah Brightman, Josh Groban and Michael Buble. 

Daniel Ketter, born and raised in Kansas City, specializes in performance of contemporary and classical chamber music as cellist of American Wild Ensemble, Opus 76 String Quartet, Ensemble Alla Balena, and Cellax Duo. He has appeared as a concerto soloist with Kansas City Civic Orchestra, Eastman Wind Orchestra, Youth Symphony of Kansas City, Westwood Ensemble, Springfield Symphony Orchestra, and Outburst Chamber Orchestra. 

Daniel Ketter is Co-Director and cellist of American Wild Ensemble, which celebrates the people and places that define American communities with new music. In 2018, American Wild Ensemble released a two-hour album of eleven original works, Music in the American Wild, including an hour-long video album available on YouTube. With support from the National Endowment for the Arts, these works were commissioned and performed for a national tour of 25 performances in seven national parks celebrating the centennial of the National Park Service in 2016. AWE's second album, Duos and Trios, released on New Focus Recordings, was named a Top 10 Album of 2022 by Rochester City Magazine, whodescribedthe album as "a winning combination of accessible and adventurous" performed "with sensitivity and precision" and "the perfect album for those listeners wanting to dip their toes into experimental sounds." Since 2016, AWE has collaborated with ten different national parks and historic sites and commissioned and premiered over 35 new chamber music works for grant-funded projects celebrating the US National Park Service, 19th Amendment Centennial, Great Lakes Region, Frederick Law Olmstead Centennial, and programs promoting children’s literacy with support from National Endowment for the Arts, Washington’s National Park Fund, Chamber Music America, Mid- America Arts Alliance, The Paul R. Judy Center for Applied Research, The Aaron Copland Fund for Music, Missouri State University, Missouri Humanities Council, Missouri Arts Council, and New Music USA.

Daniel began his tenure as cellist of The Opus 76 String Quartet in 2021. Recognized as “Kansas City’s String Quartet,” Opus 76 are currently Artists-in-Residence at the Midwest Trust Center at Johnson County Community College, where they present a full season of live and digital performances. In 2023 the Quartet performed their debut recital in Carnegie Hall.

As an ardent supporter of contemporary music, in 2021, Daniel founded the annual Cello Teaching Repertoire Consortium, with the mission to supplement traditional cello student repertoire with the commission of new pedagogical concert works and etudes representing diverse musical styles and cultural backgrounds. This project has commissioned seven new works for cello students supported by cello teachers across the country, featured in workshops and performed by students at the Eastman Cello Institute, and presented at American String Teachers Association's 2022 and 2024 national conferences.

Since 2018 Daniel has served as faculty at Missouri State University, where he teaches courses in cello, chamber music, and music theory. As a teacher, he continues to present annual summer cello classes as faculty for the Eastman Cello Institute and works with Opus 76 as Quartet-in-Residence faculty for Youth Symphony of Kansas City. In Springfield, Daniel coaches chamber music for the annual Missouri State University String Fling for high school and college students in the region.

In 2020, Daniel completed a Ph.D. in Music Theory at Eastman School of Music, and he has served as Co-Chair for Society for Music Theory’s Performance and Analysis Interest Group. His research interests include essential voices in Schenkerian theory and performance and analysis.

In 2017 Daniel completed his Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Eastman School of Music. Daniel has a MM in cello performance and pedagogy from Peabody Conservatory and graduated with high distinction from both Eastman School of Music (BM ’10, Applied Music - Cello) and from University of Rochester (BA ’10, Mathematics). Daniel completed a MBA in 2024 at Missouri State University with a Certificate in Finance and is a member of Beta Gamma Sigma.

Daniel plays a cello made by H. C. Silvestre c. 1870 in Lyon, France.

Ho Anthony Ahn, cellist, was a member of the Kansas City Symphony for twenty years before his retirement in 2014.  

He has served as a board member for the Kansas City Symphony, the Youth Symphony of Kansas City and is currently on the board of the Kansas School of Classical Ballet.

Ho holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Rice University and a Master of Music degree from Northwestern University.  Teachers he has studied with include Shirley Trepel, Hans-Jorgen Jensen, Michael Haber and Glenn Garlick.  Mr. Ahn has participated in the Spoleto Opera Festival, the Colorado Music Festival, the Utah Opera Festival and the Palm Beach Chamber Music Festival.  

Ho has soloed with the Kansas City Philharmonia, the Seoul Symphony of New York, the Saint Joseph Symphony, the Olathe Community Orchestra, the Northland and the Medical Arts Orchestra of Kansas City.  

An avid teacher, Ho currently holds a studio of  private students as well holds sectionals for the Youth Symphony and area high schools.  Mr. Ahn has given masterclasses at Drake University and Wichita State University, the University of Nebraska as well as at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore.

South-Korean cellist Seungchan Song is building his career as a captivating chamber musician and soloist. His competition experiences include III International Klaipeda David Geringas Cello Competition (Lithuania), Plowman Chamber Music Competition, Gustav Mahler (Czech Republic) and French Music Competition, and has held solo recitals in US and Asia. 

Having made a solo debut at the age of 12, Mr. Song has performed in Hilbert Circle Theatre (Indianapolis), Kauffman Center, Kansas City Convention Center, Busan Art Center, and worked with Jinju Symphony (Korea), State Ballet Theatre of Ukraine, Midwest Chamber Ensemble, Paragon Ragtime Orchestra, among others. He has worked with acclaimed masters such as Joseph Genualdi, Gil Shaham, Kevin Noe, Luis Miguel Rojas, Thomas Wilkins, Gary Wedow, among others. He has participated in masterclasses by Mike Block, Zlatomir Fung, John Sharp, Mark Gibbs, and Karen Becker and studied with several internationally acclaimed pedagogues including Susan Moses, Astrid Schween and Ukjin Yang. He has also appeared in Interlochen Arts Camp, IU Summer Music, Heartland Chamber Music Festival and Puerto Rico Piano & Strings. 

Seungchan has been involved with the contemporary music scene immensely. He has collaborated with Renee Baker, Chen Yi, Yotam Haber and Hans Thomalla, and his lecture-performance on extended techniques in a folk context has been presented in the US and Canada. 

His recent collaboration involves masterclasses with Jake Heggie and Del Sol Quartet. Before coming to the United States, he was a former member of Project Midam in Korea, a collaborative project group that seeks to find ways to convey international literature in music. 

Seungchan holds a Bachelor of Music with High Distinction from Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and a Master of Music degree from University of Missouri-Kansas City. He is currently pursuing his doctoral degree at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, where he studies cello with Professor Michael Mermagen and performs in the Conservatory’s Graduate Fellowship String Quartet.