The Johannes Quartet consists of four outstanding musicians who take time from their busy careers to pursue their love of the string quartet literature. This Quartet brings together the Principal Cello of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Principal Viola of the Philadelphia Orchestra, the first American to win the Paganini Violin Competition in twenty-four years, and a Concert Artist Guild International Competition Winner and has been praised by listeners and critics alike for its special combination of passion, warmth, elegance, and poetry. Each member has spent numerous summers at the celebrated Marlboro Music Festival in Vermont, birthplace of many of the world's renowned ensembles. New York appearances include debuts at Carnegie Hall and The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, as well as frequent performances on the Schneider Series at the New School and the Peoples' Symphony Concerts at Town Hall.

Since the Johannes made its acclaimed debut there in 1998, the Chamber Music Society of Philadelphia has played a major role in launching the Quartet, presenting it regularly each season, including a two-concert series of the complete Beethoven Opus 18 quartets. The ensemble's debut was described by The Philadelphia Inquirer as having "accurate intonation, vigorous interaction and careful regard for the details in the score…the passion and attack that characterize the best of quartet playing."

The Quartet's 2011-12 season started with another triumphant return to the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, where it appears bi-annually in multiple concerts, followed by debuts at Baltimore's Shriver Hall Concert Series and for the Buffalo Chamber Music Society. The Quartet returns to Wilton Candlelight concerts a year after making its debut and makes its annual appearance as audience favorites with the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society. Dvorak Sextet performances with members of the Guarneri Quartet bring them to New York City twice, and extended residencies and performances take them throughout Ohio and to the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia. Forthcoming commissions include plans for a new quintet with clarinetist Richard Stoltzman and a string quartet by Jorg Widmann.

A highlight of recent seasons included the group's collaboration with the Guarneri String Quartet in a program featuring Octet: Double Quartet written specifically for the two ensembles by award-winning composer William Bolcom and commissioned by the Music Accord consortium of presenters. The two groups also joined together for performances of Mendelssohn's glorious Octet. In addition to these works, the Johannes also premiered a new string quartet, Homunculus, written for it by Esa-Pekka Salonen. The Quartet received acclaim from audiences and critics alike at the Krannert Center in Urbana, IL, University Musical Society in Ann Arbor, Penn State University, Boston's Celebrity Series, the Orange County Performing Arts Society, San Francisco Performances, Phoenix Chamber Music Society, UCLA Live, Kansas City Friends of Chamber Music, Hayes University (KS), and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center for its performances of these groundbreaking works. Additional highlights have included performances at the The Kennedy Center in Washington DC, as well as residencies and performances at the Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music and Middlebury College.

The Johannes has also been heard around the country through broadcasts on public radio's Performance Today and St. Paul Sunday programs and live throughout New England on Vermont's and Maine's Public Radio Stations.

SOOVIN KIM, violin
American violinist Soovin Kim is increasingly sought-after for the character, nuance, and excitement of his performances as concerto soloist, chamber musician, and recitalist, both in the U.S. and abroad. Particularly known for his breadth of repertoire, Kim typically takes-on everything from Bach to Paganini to the big romantic concertos to new commissions within a single season. He has performed in the U.S. with such orchestras as the Philadelphia Orchestra, Orchestra of St Luke's, and the Baltimore, San Francisco, and Indianapolis symphonies and in Europe with the Stuttgart Radio Symphony, Prague Chamber, Accademia di Santa Cecilia, and Salzburg Mozarteum Orchestras; and in Asia with the Hong Kong Philharmonic and KBS Symphony. He has given solo recitals at Weill Hall in New York, Terrace Theater in Washington, D.C., Ravinia, Tokyo's Casals Hall, and the Seoul Arts Center. He maintains a close relationship with the Marlboro Music Festival in Vermont. Recent recordings include the critically acclaimed CD of the 24 Paganini Caprices, a recording of the Faure A Major Sonata and the Chausson Concerto for Violin, Piano, and Quartet with Jeremy Denk and the Jupiter Quartet. Mr. Kim won first prize in the 1996 Paganini International Competition and was also awarded the Henryk Szeryng Career Award, the Avery Fisher Career Grant, and most recently the Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award. He plays on the 1709 "ex-Kempner" Stradivarius on temporary loan to him.

JESSICA LEE, violin
Violinist Jessica Lee, the First Prize Winner of the 2005 Concert Artists Guild International Competition, was featured in the "Launch Pad" column of The Strad as the magazine's "pick of up-and-coming musicians" for June 2007. Her current engagements include a concerto appearance with the Modesto Symphony in California and her debut recital at Carnegie Hall's Stern Auditorium, as well as festival appearances at the Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival and Santa Fe Music Festival. Special projects comprise a number of featured performances with dance companies, including Lar Lubovitch and Mikhail Baryshnikov and the Richmond Ballet. Other recent recital highlights include Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall on the CAG/Winners Series, as well as recitals at the Phillips Collection in Washington, DC, Caramoor Festival in New York, Asociacion National de Conciertos in Panama, and Purdue University. An active chamber musician, Lee became a member of the Johannes String Quartet in 2006, and she joined the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center's CMS 2 program starting with the 2009-10 season. She has toured frequently with 'Musicians from Marlboro,' and is a member of the conductor-less string ensemble ECCO (East Coast Chamber Orchestra), with which she has performed at Town Hall and the Kennedy Center. A native of Virginia, she began playing the violin at age three and quickly captured national attention with a feature article in LIFE magazine. Following studies with Weigang Li of the Shanghai Quartet, she was accepted to the Curtis Institute of Music at age fourteen and graduated with a Bachelor's Degree under the tutelage of Robert Mann and Ida Kavafian. In May 2003, she completed her studies with Robert Mann for a Master of Music Degree at the Juilliard School and currently resides in New York.

CHOONG-JIN CHANG, viola
Choong-Jin (C.J.) Chang was appointed in April 2006 Principal Viola of The Philadelphia Orchestra, where he had been Associate Principal Viola for twelve years. He was a double major in violin and viola at the Curtis Institute of Music, studying with the late Jascha Brodsky and Joseph dePasquale. Chang was born in Korea but emigrated with his family to the United States when he was thirteen. As a soloist, he made a successful solo debut recital at Carnegie Hall along with numerous recitals in the U.S. and Far East in 2007. He also has appeared recently with the KBS Symphony of South Korea and the Temple University Symphony. In 2008, he performed as soloist with The Philadelphia Orchestra during its Asian Tour and its summer residency at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center. An ardent chamber musician, Chang has participated in numerous chamber music festivals, including the Marlboro Festival, Bridgehampton, Seattle, and Santa-Fe, and Evian and Moritzburg in Europe. The list of distinguished musicians with whom he has collaborated includes Emanuel Ax, Yefim Bronfman, Jaime Laredo, André Previn, Mstislav Rostropovich, and, most recently, Yo-Yo Ma, with whom he performed as viola soloist in Strauss's Don Quixote with The Philadelphia Orchestra. He is a founding member of the Johannes Quartet. Along with his extensive performing activities, Chang is a respected teacher of both violin and viola. Among his former pupils are current members of The Philadelphia Orchestra and the Cleveland Orchestra, as well as several winners of major competitions. He currently serves on the faculty of Rutgers University's Mason Gross School of the Arts and Temple Music-Prep.

PETER STUMPF, cello
Peter Stumpf enjoys a multi-faceted career. After serving 12 years as the Associate Principal Cellist of the Philadelphia Orchestra, Peter Stumpf became the Principal Cellist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the beginning of the 2002/2003 season. He is in great demand as a chamber musician around the world performing on series at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Concertgebouw, and Casals Hall in Tokyo with some of the greatest living artists such as Emanuel Ax, Yefim Bronfman, Andras Schiff, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Radu Lupu, Mitsuko Uchida, and Jean-Yves Thibaudet. Mr. Stumpf has performed concertos with the Boston Symphony, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Boston Philharmonic, and the Virginia Symphony. He has also been heard in recital at Jordan Hall in Boston, at the Philips and Corcoran Galleries in Washington D.C., and at the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society. As a member of the Boston Musica Viva he has explored extended techniques including microtonal compositions and numerous premieres. In addition to his current position on the cello faculty of the University of Southern California, Mr. Stumpf has taught at the Hartt School of Music at the University of Hartford, the New England Conservatory, and served as guest artist faculty at the Curtis Institute of Music as well as at the Yellow Barn Music Festival and the Musicorda Summer String Program. He received a Bachelor's degree from the Curtis Institute of Music and an Artist Diploma from the New England Conservatory.