Joann Whang

First and Audience Prize winner at the Amsterdam Cello Biennale Competition, Joann Whang has performed as a soloist with the Amsterdam Sinfonietta, NJO New Music Ensemble, and the Dutch Youth String Orchestra, as well as performed in numerous festivals including Ravinia, Birdfoot, Delft, Domaine Forget, Giverny, Grachten, and Storioni. She has also been broadcasted in the Netherlands on Radio 4 and public television station VPRO’s Vrije Geluiden. Joann has performed alongside notable artists such as Martin Beaver, Steven Dann, Misha Dichter, Leon Fleisher, Sol Gabetta, Anssi Karttunen, Johannes Moser, Astrid Schween, David Shifrin, and the Brentano Quartet.

Joann is the founding member of the Argus Quartet. First Prize winners at the M-Prize Chamber Arts Competition and the Concert Artists Guild Victor Elmaleh Competition, they have held residencies at the Juilliard School, Yale School of Music, and Caramoor Center for Music. Performances include appearances at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall and Zankel Hall, Lincoln Center, National Sawdust, the American Music Festival, University of Michigan, James Madison University’s Contemporary Music Festival, Princeton University, and the Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ. Commissions include quartets by Katherine Balch, Christopher Cerrone, Donald Crockett, Eric Guinivan, Thomas Kotcheff, Shuying Li, and Juri Seo.

Her affinity to contemporary music has led her to work with composers such as Andrew Norman, Kaija Saariaho, Christopher Theofanidis, and Augusta Read Thomas. Joann has worked closely with cellist Anssi Karttunen at the Acanthes Contemporary Music Festival and studied works by Tristan Murail and Beat Furrer. In addition, she performed music of young composers and collaborated with Magnus Lindberg and Karttunen at Creative Dialogue. During three seasons at NJO Muziekzomer, she participated in performances of Steve Reich’s Music for 18 Musicians, works by Kaija Saariaho, and Martijn Padding’s cello concerto.