
Yu&I
These two are exciting their audiences with their charisma and virtuosity. Their programs range from early music performed on period instruments to original popular music arrangements performed at the highest level of artistry.
"They really captivated the audience; standing ovation and an encore... A truly magical experience for everyone!" Anne Manganero, Pamlico Music Society
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Programs
A Journey with Yu&I
Folk inspired music for violin and guitar
Guitar and Violin have a rich tradition as folk instruments. This program features music with popular influences showcasing the versatility of our instruments. The listener can look forward to songs and dances that will invite you to hum along and move your feet. Beautiful Italian melodies, flowing songs from the USA, passionate dances from Argentina, enchanting songs from Germany, dreamy melodies from Korea, and fierce rhythms from Romania will come together and take the listener away into a magical sound world.
Bela Bartok....Romanian Folk Dances
Niccolò Paganini….Centone di Sonate, Op.64, No.1
Robert Beaser....Mountain Songs (selections)
Intermission
Franz Schubert….Die Forelle (The Trout)
German traditional…. Weißt Du wieviel Sternlein stehen?
Korean traditional….. Rocky Island & Quaejina ChingChing Nane
Astor Piazzolla....Histoire du Tango
- Bordel 1900
- Café 1930
- Nightclub 1960
- Concert Aujourd’hui
Cinematic Scenes
Niccolò Paganini
Centone di Sonate, Op.64, No.1
Ennio Morricone: Nuovo Cinema paradiso
Nuovo Cinema Paradiso
Prima Gioventu
Tema d'amore
Manuel De Falla
7 Canciones Populares Españolas
No. 4 Jota
No.7 Polo
Stanley Myers
Cavatina
Ástor Piazzolla : Histoire du Tango
Bordello 1900 ∙ Café 1930 ∙ Nightclub 1960
Ástor Piazzolla
LiberTango
Baroque Dances
Baroque Dances for baroque violin, baroque guitar/theorbo
Nicola Matteis
Diverse bizzarie sopra la vecchia sarabanda o pu ciaccona
Dario Castello
Sonata Prima
J.S. Bach
Partita No.3 BWV 1006 for solo violin
Gaspar Sanz
Villanos
Fuga 1
Espanoletas
La cavalleria de Napoles con dos clarines
Espanoleta
Las Hachas
Canarios
Francesco Geminiani
Scottish Airs with Variations, Auld Bob Morrice, Lady Ann Bothwell's Lament, Sleepy Body
Arcangelo Corelli: Sonata “La Folia”
Made for Two
Giuliani and Schubert
Mauro Giuliani
Sonata for Violin and Guitar, op.25
Maestoso
Theme and Variation
Menuetto – Allegro
Rondo – Allegretto
Franz Schubert
16 German Dances, D.783, No.10
6 Moments Musicaux, op.94 D.780
Sonata for Arpeggione and Piano in A Minor, D. 821
Allegro moderato
Adagio
Allegretto
Ave Maria, “Ellens Gesang”, D. 839
Canciones Populares
Guitar and Violin have a rich tradition as folk instruments. This program features music with popular influences showcasing the versatility of our instruments. Beautiful sad melodies and wild virtuosic dances go hand in hand with this exciting program. Baroque dances are paired songs from the Appalachian Mountains, and Spanish Flamenco is followed by Argentinian tango music.
Bela Bartok....Romanian Folk Dances
Francesco Geminiani....Scottish Airs with Variations
- Auld Bob Morrice
- Lady Ann Bothwell's Lament
- Sleepy Body
Robert Beaser....Mountain Songs
Intermission
Manuel de Falla.....Siete Canciones Populares Espanolas
Astor Piazzolla....Histoire du Tango
-Bordel 1900-Café 1930-Nightclub 1960-Concert Aujourd’hui
Bios
Winners of the Beverly Hills National Auditions YuEun Kim and Ines Thomé met in 2013 when they both had just moved to the US, YuEun from Korea and Ines from Germany, serendipitously finding themselves as housemates in an old Victorian building in Los Angeles. Both studying at USC’s Thornton School of Music, they immediately connected through their love of chamber music and good Korean food.
Since then, they have been sharing numerous stages in California and exciting their audiences with their charisma and virtuosity. Both musicians are winners of multiple solo competitions for their instruments and experienced chamber musicians who have performed around the world. Their programs range from early music performed on period instruments to original popular music arrangements performed on the highest level of artistry.
The duo recently recorded their debut album, “A Journey with Yu&I”, featuring folk-inspired music from around the world. The album will be released in summer 2022 and includes music from YuEun’s and Ines’ home counties, South Korea and Germany. Concerts with the Yu&I duo are energizing and relaxing, they are traditional and break boundaries.
YuEun Kim
Violin
Originally from South Korea, Violinist YuEun Gemma Kim started playing piano at age 5 and violin at 7, although she enjoyed singing Korean and American pop songs from the 80’s with her father the most. She also used to play organ every Wednesday at 6am at the church services.
She moved to the US about 7 years ago to study at University of Southern California under the tutelage of violinist Midori Goto. She is not a big fan of competitions, however, she has been participating in quite a few of them and has won first place in USC’s Solo Bach Competition and the Strings Concerto Competition, and was a semi-finalist at the Qingdao International Violin Competition (China) and the Michael Hill International Violin Competition (New Zealand). The most memorable competition was the Boulder International Competition: Art of Duo where she won second prize in 2018.
YuEun started exploring more of the early music repertoire, and this season, she is invited to play with various Baroque ensembles including Musica Angelica Baroque Orchestra, American Bach Soloists, Boulder Bach Festival and Blue Hill Bach in Maine. She was one of the recipients of the 2021 American Bach Soloists’ Jeffrey Thomas Award.
YuEun is a core member of Delirium Musicum, a self-conducted chamber orchestra based in Los Angeles. During the pandemic, Delirium Musicum created MusiKaravan that took YuEun and Artistic Director Etienne Gara to the road in a vintage Volkswagen bus to perform socially-distanced concerts for farm workers, winemakers, random passerby, and even the occasional ostrich. The video episodes of this musical journey can be found on Youtube.
Her Chopin’s Nocturne video on YouTube has over 10 million views. The funniest moment in her performing career was when she noticed Itzhak Perlman was in the audience; she couldn’t turn the pages and she ended up playing the whole Haydn string quartet by heart.
Ines Thome
Guitar
German-born guitarist Ines Thomé is a multifaceted musician and educator. She has completed a Bachelor and Master’s degree in Germany, and in 2018 earned her Doctor of Musical Arts degree at University of Southern California, Los Angeles.
Ines is a passionate chamber musician who performs diverse repertoires with a variety of instrumental ensembles. Her ensembles Yu&I Duo with violinist YuEun Kim, and Gifts From Over Sea with soprano Katina Mitchell, have toured extensively in California. Gifts From Over Sea recently toured Italy and Germany where they performed in medieval castles and churches, which included a collaboration with UNESCO and Museo Civico Castelbuono. On multiple occasions she was invited to join the Colburn Orchestra, performing under the batons of John Adams and Matthias Pintscher, and the USC.
Symphony Orchestra with performances in Walt Disney Concert Hall, conducted by Carl St. Clair. Even as a young student Ines won first prizes as a solo and chamber musician in national competitions - later in her career she received awards from numerous international competitions in Germany, Italy, and the United States, including First Prizes at the Beverley Hills National Auditions, the International Guitar Competition in Walnut Creek, California and the American Guitar Society’s Bickford Competition in 2015.
Ines’ academic interests include historical performance practice; in addition to classical guitar Ines enjoys playing lute, theorbo, and baroque guitar. In 2017 she performed original continuo realization in Handel’s Alcina for the USC Opera, and has performed on period instruments with the American Contemporary Ballet company in Los Angeles and at the Berkeley Early Music Festival. Her passion for early music was honored with a special prize for the best interpretation of a work by Johann Sebastian Bach at the International Guitar Competition in Erwitte, Germany.
This year’s projects include concerts with violinist YuEun Kim throughout the U.S., international engagements with German violinist Puschan Mousavi Malvani, a CD of the yet unrecorded chamber works for guitar by Ian Krouse, and didactic recordings for the online platform EliteGuitarist.com. Ines currently lives in Columbus, GA with her husband Michael and son Vincent.
Outreach
YuEun and Ines have extensive outreach experience and Ines was awarded USC’s outreach award in 2015. They especially enjoy playing for kids (of all ages), sharing their love and talent for music. Seeing kids get excited for music and their instruments is a passion of Yu&I. Telling stories with their music, Yu&I gets the kids involved with dancing, singing, and clapping along with the music.Their programs are engaging for all and include well known songs arranged for violin and guitar.