Violinist Jing Zhang began studying the violin at the age of 4. She entered the Shanghai Conservatory of Music on the Fu Cheng-Xian Scholarship at the age of 10 as the youngest of only four violinists accepted that year. She received her master’s and bachelor’s degrees in violin performance from the New England Conservatory, where she studied with Donald Weilerstein.

Zhang has performed extensively around the world—her most memorable concert performances including those given in the US, Canada, Australia, Singapore, and her native China. She has appeared in numerous recitals and programs, including the Temple Israel’s Schmier Concert in Detroit; the premiere of the Perlman Music Residency Program in Vermont; and many others at New England Conservatory and Shanghai Conservatory—where she has often been invited to visit back and play as a top graduate and renowned alumna. Zhang has also performed as a soloist with the Xiamen Philharmonic Orchestra, the Shanghai Broadcasting Symphony Orchestra, and the Orchestre Royal de Chambre de Wallonie.

Zhang has won multiple national and international competitions, including fourth prize at the Fourth International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians, the Gold Award in the Second "Pu Gong Ying" National Violin Competition, and third prize in the Seventh National Youth Violin Performance Competition. She was a semi-finalist in the 2009 Queen Elisabeth International Violin Competition and in the 2012 San Diego Symphony auditions for violin. Zhang was a finalist in the 2011 Cleveland Orchestra and 2012 Chicago Symphony Orchestra auditions. She has attended festivals such as the Morningside Music Bridge Summer Camp in Canada, the Aspen Music Festival in Colorado, the Perlman Music Program, and the Perlman Music Program’s Chamber Music Workshop.

Outside of her mastery of the violin, Zhang starred in a 2002 Chinese film Together which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. In her spare time, Zhang enjoys spending time with her friends and being outdoors.

Mike Chen received his Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from Northwestern University, studying violin with Blair Milton. In 1999 he began playing the viola and studied with Li-Kuo Chang. His other teachers included Michael Strauss, Peter Slowik, Keith Conant, and Baird Dodge.

Chen was a member of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra from 2012 to 2018, a member of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra from 2003 to 2012, and prior to that, a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago from 1992 to 1995. He has performed with the Detroit Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, and Chicago Symphony. In 2017, Chen joined the Cincinnati Symphony on its European Festivals Tour.

He received a master’s degree in conducting at Northwestern University in 1999, studying with Victor Yampolsky and Mariusz Smolij. His other conducting teachers include Gilbert Varga, David Zinman, and Murry Sidlin.

Chen was a conducting fellow at the American Academy of Conducting in Aspen, Colorado in 2008. He has also served as Assistant Conductor of the Saint Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra, Guest Conductor of the Webster University Community Music School’s Young People’s Symphony Orchestra, and Guest Conductor of the Indianapolis Symphony Side-by-Side Orchestra.

Jeremy Crosmer is a remarkable young artist—both as a cellist and a composer. He completed multiple graduate degrees from the University of Michigan in cello, composition and theory pedagogy, and received his DMA in 2012 at age 24. From 2012 to 2017 he served as the Assistant Principal cellist in the Grand Rapids Symphony, and joined the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in May of 2017.

Crosmer is the composer and arranger for the GRS Music for Health Initiative, which pairs symphonic musicians with music therapists to bring classical music to hospitals. In March of 2017, the Helen DeVos Children's Hospital launched a music channel that runs continuously, using four hours of meditative music composed by Crosmer and performed by musicians of the GRS.

Crosmer is a founding member of the modern music ensemble Latitude 49. He is also a current member of the band ESME—a duo that aims to broaden the education of classical music by bringing crossovers and mashups of pop and classical music to schools throughout Michigan. ESME released its first CD in December of 2016.

In April of 2013 Crosmer toured London with the Grand Valley State University Chamber Orchestra, performing the Boccherini G Major Concerto, No. 7. He performed the Vivaldi Double Concerto with Alicia Eppinga and the GRS in March of 2016. While still in school, Crosmer was awarded the prestigious Theodore Presser Graduate Music Award to publish, record and perform his Crosmer-Popper duets. He recorded the duets with Julie Albers, and both sheet music and CD recordings are available online.

Crosmer has taught music theory, pre-calculus, and cello at universities across Michigan. He draws mazes, writes science fiction, and plays good old country fiddle in his spare time.

In 2014, Scott Strong was named Third Horn of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. He was born into a family of musicians in Iowa, and raised in the Dallas, Texas area. He received his undergraduate degree from Southern Methodist University, and completed his graduate studies at Rice University before joining the Louisiana Philharmonic. Strong is an active participant in many festivals, and has held positions in the Houston Grand Opera and Houston Ballet orchestras, as well as the San Antonio Symphony. Strong has studied with Gregory Hustis and William VerMeulen.

Weiwen Ma, a native of Shanghai, is celebrated internationally for her virtuosic technique, her bold interpretations of the classic repertoire, and her vivacious stage presence. She has been described by world celebrated pianist Antonio Pompa-Baldi as “(playing) with flair and technical prowess. Her keyboard skills are remarkable.”

Ms. Ma performed for the last several years all over the globe. Recently, Ms. Ma was returned as a guest pianist and performed with Detroit Symphony Orchestra(DSO) members at Detroit Symphony Orchestra Chamber Series Concert. During the pandemic, she performed a series of video recordings entitled “Piano at Home”, featured in the virtual series —“Concerts & Cocktails”. Ms. Ma also performed a virtual duet alongside a violinist from the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, featured on its website and social media. In February 2020, Ms. Ma was featured as a soloist at the Noontime Concert Series in San Francisco. In January of the same year, she performed a solo concert in Shanghai at the Schiller Piano Gallery. In March of 2019, she performed Mozart piano concerto K.503 with Northbrook Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Lawrence Rapchak. In June of that same year, she performed at DSO chamber series. In 2018, she performed at Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series at Chicago Culture Center. The concert was broadcast on Chicago Classical Radio WFMT 98.7. In May of 2018, she made her first appearance at the Buntrock Hall at the Chicago Symphony Center. She was also featured as a soloist and performed Rachmaninoff Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini with the Park Ridge Symphony Orchestra in 2017, and performed Ravel Piano in G major with the Wooster Symphony Orchestra in Ohio in 2015.

Shortly after moving to Chicago in the fall of 2014, she performed at numerous well known venues across the city, including two solo recitals at the Pianoforte Foundation Salon Series with live broadcasts on WFMT and YouTube, and a solo recital at the Dame Myra Hess Concert Series, solo appearance at Chicago Bach Keyboard Concert Series at the Alice Millard Chapel.

Ms. Ma graduated from the DePaul School of Music for a Performance Certificate Degree under the studio of George Vatchnadze in 2016. She came to the US in 2003 to attend the Oberlin Conservatory on a prestigious scholarship, and later attended the Cleveland Institute of Music in pursuit of a Master's Degree. Aside from her solo career, Ms. Ma currently teaches at Music Institute of Chicago, Merit School of Music, Christopher Laughlin School of Music, and her private home studio.

While at CIM, she won first prize in the concerto competition and performed Rachmaninov's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini with the CIM orchestra in 2009. Later that year, she made her Carnegie Weill Hall debut as the winner of the Bradshaw & Buono International Piano Competition. After winning a Bronze medal at the First Chinese International Piano Competition, she also performed at The Town Hall in NYC in 2008. She is also the prize winner of many other international piano competitions including The World Piano Competition, the Corpus Christi International Competition for Piano & Strings, the Kankakee Young Artist Piano Competition, and the Thousand Islands Piano Competition. As a teacher, Weiwen is currently teaching at Music Insitute of Chicago, Merit school of music, Christopher Laughlin School of Music and her own private piano studio. Please check the website weiwenma.com for more information.