Almava Piano Trio, Trio

Biography

New York-based violinist, Miki-Sophia Cloud, enjoys a rich musical life as a recitalist, chamber musician, orchestra-leader, and innovative artistic director.  As a soloist and recitalist, she has appeared at Boston Symphony Hall, the Kennedy Center, and on NPR.  Since 2009, Ms. Cloud has been a core member of the self-conducted chamber orchestra, A Far Cry, where her leadership as Concertmaster and soloist has been acclaimed by the New York Times and Boston Globe. She is also co-concertmaster of the Mozart Orchestra of New York, a member of the Solera Quartet, New York Chamber Soloists, and first violinist and artistic director of the White Mountains Music Festival. Dreams and Prayers, the first album she developed for A Far Cry was nominated for a 2015 Grammy award in Chamber Music, and the second, Law of Mosaics, was hailed by Alex Ross as one of the top ten albums of 2014 in The New Yorker.  A graduate of Harvard College, and Yale School of Music, Ms. Cloud is currently a doctoral candidate at New England Conservatory. 

Cellist Jia Kim began her cello studies at the age of ten in Korea, where she has won first place in the Korean Music Association Competition, the National Symphony Orchestra Competition of Korea, and the Young Musician Foundation's National Debut Concerto Competition. Since then, Ms. Kim has taken the stage in cities across the United States, South America, Europe, and Asia. A passionate chamber musician and educator, Ms. Kim was invited to a Visiting Artist Residency at the University of Hawaii and the College of William and Mary. She currently serves as faculty at the Brearley School and New York Youth Symphony's Chamber Music Program.  Recently Ms. Kim was appointed Artistic Director of the International Music Sessions which provide students from different backgrounds with platforms to collaborate and develop life skills through music. In 2003, her life changed forever at the Perlman Music Program;  she is grateful to her mentors and teachers Ronald Leonard, Itzhak & Toby Perlman, and to Joel Krosnick, whom she studied with at the Juilliard School for a Bachelor and Master Degree in Music.

Noted for her “sensitive and imaginative” playing (New York Concert Review), Korean-born pianist Sookkyung Cho has been captivating audiences with her personal, thoughtful expressionist style. Recently accepting a position as Assistant Professor of Piano-Artist Performer at Grand Valley State University in Michigan, she is also a founding member of the New York-based Almava Trio. She has appeared in venues such as Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center, Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Sarasota Opera House, Baltimore Museum of Art, Beaux Concerts de la Relève in Quebec, Château de Fontainebleau in France, and Zijingang Theater at Zhejiang University in China, among others, and was recently heard on Chicago’s WFMT.  She has also been featured in major music festivals including Yellow Barn, Norfolk, and Sarasota, and was a Performing Associate at Bowdoin International Music Festival in Maine. She holds a Master of Music degree from Peabody and Bachelor of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees from Juilliard, where she was honored with the John Erskine Graduation Prize. Her teachers include Boris Slutsky, Julian Martin, Matti Raekallio, and Jonathan Bass.