CORE MUSICIANS
CHAMBER MUSIC FESTIVAL OF LEXINGTON
ARTISTIC DIRECTORZach Brock
Born and raised in Lexington, Zach Brock is a multi-Grammy Award-winning American jazz violinist and composer best known for his long-standing membership in the genre-bending instrumental group Snarky Puppy. Heralded by critics as the “pre-eminent improvising violinist of his generation,” his style uniquely blends jazz, classical, world, and popular music. He has released over a dozen albums as a leader or co-leader. A dedicated educator, Brock has been an adjunct faculty member at The New School in NYC, 5-year Artist-in-Residence at Temple University in Philadelphia, and is currently Associate Professor of Multi-Genre Performance and Improvisation at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. He was the Festival’s artist-in-residence in 2017 and was appointed Artistic Director in early 2026. He premiered his new orchestral suite, What Remains, with the Lexington Chamber Orchestra on May 9, 2026.
CELLO, ARTIST AND COMPOSER IN RESIDENCEMike Block
Mike Block is a multi-style cello player, composer, singer, and educator, with a passion for cross-cultural collaborations. Hailed as “one of the bravest, most intriguing musicians on the American fusion scene.” (Gramophone), he was acclaimed by the New York Times for his "vital rich-hued solo playing” and “a true artist... a sight to behold” by Salt Lake City Desert News. In addition to solo performances, Mike's touring bands include Biribá Union, Mike Block Trio, duo with Indian tabla player Sandeep Das, and Djékady, a West-African fusion band with Balla Kouyaté. Since 2005, Mike has been a member of the Silk Road Ensemble, founded by Yo-Yo Ma, with which he earned a 2017 Grammy® Award.
As an innovator, Mike is among the first wave of cellists to adopt a strap to stand and move while performing using his own patented design, The Block Strap, and is the Musical Instrument Consultant for Forte3D, the world’s first 3D-Printed carbon fiber cello. In 2020, Mike founded Play For The Vote, which organizes musical performances at polling locations across the country on Election Days, with the goal of creating a more positive voting experience.
As an educator, Mike is dedicated to creating transformative experiences and is the Founder/Director of the Mike Block String Camp in Vero Beach, FL, Silkroad’s Global Musician Workshop in Boston, MA, and Hangzhou, China, and teaches over 400 cello students online through his Multi-Style Cello School at ArtistWorks.com. Since 2018, he has been on faculty at the New England Conservatory.
VIOLINNathan Cole
Nathan Cole, Concertmaster of the Boston Symphony, has appeared as guest concertmaster with the orchestras of Pittsburgh, Minnesota, Houston, Ottawa, Seattle, and Oregon. He was previously First Associate Concertmaster of the LA Philharmonic, a member of the Chicago Symphony, and Principal Second Violin of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra.
A native of Lexington, KY, he made his debut with the Louisville Orchestra at the age of ten while studying with Donna Wiehe. After eight years working with Daniel Mason, Cole enrolled at the Curtis Institute of Music. In addition to his studies there with Pamela Frank, Felix Galimir, Ida Kavafian, and Jaime Laredo, Cole formed the Grancino String Quartet, debuting in New York’s Weill Hall. Several summers at Marlboro enriched his love of chamber music.
While in Chicago, Cole taught at Roosevelt University and coached the Chicago Civic Orchestra. He is currently on the faculty at the Colburn Community School for Performing Arts, with classes at the Colburn Conservatory and USC. His articles and photographs have appeared in Strings, Symphony, and Chamber Music magazines. Additionally, the Nathan Cole School of Violin includes a video curriculum of all major orchestral excerpts, plus concertos, etudes, and fundamental lessons. Visit him at natesviolin.com.
VIOLA
Burchard Tang
A native of Maryland, Burchard Tang joined The Philadelphia Orchestra in September 1999. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in May 1999 from the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied with Joseph dePasquale, retired Philadelphia Orchestra principal viola, and Choong-Jin Chang, the Orchestra’s current principal viola. Mr. Tang has served as principal viola with the Curtis Symphony and the New York String Seminar, and he has performed with the Brandenburg Ensemble.
A 1993 winner of the Philadelphia Orchestra Albert M. Greenfield Student Competition, Mr. Tang performed with the Orchestra as a soloist in a Student Concert in November 1993. Other honors include the Temple University Preparatory Division Concerto Competition and second prize in the Senior Division of the Fischoff Competition in 1996.
PIANOKuang-Hao Huang
Chicagoan Kuang-Hao Huang is a highly sought-after collaborative pianist whose performances have taken him throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. He has appeared at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall, Lincoln Center, and Merkin Hall in New York; at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.; and at every major venue in the Chicago area, including the Harris Theatre and Symphony Center. His performances are often heard live on WFMT, and he has also appeared on WQXR and Medici.tv.
A strong advocate of new music, Huang is a core member of the Fulcrum Point New Music Project and Picosa, and has premiered numerous works by composers including Mason Bates, John Harbison, and Shulamit Ran. He has recorded for the Aucourant, Cedille, Innova, and Naxos labels, most recently "Notorious RBG in Song" with soprano Patrice Michaels and "Songs from Chicago" with baritone Thomas Hampson. He teaches on the faculties of the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University and Concordia University-Chicago.
CELLOBenjamin Karp
Benjamin Karp received the MM degree from Indiana University, where he was a student of Janos Starker and Gary Hoffman, and a BA in Philosophy from Yale University.
He has performed concerti, chamber music, and orchestral repertoire on four continents, joining the faculty of the University of Kentucky in 1991. He has been Principal Cellist of the Lexington Philharmonic since 2012. Mr. Karp served as a full-time member of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra for two and a half seasons and has been a substitute in that cello section for international tours, five Carnegie Hall performances, 15 Telarc CD recordings, and hundreds of performances in Cincinnati. During the summer months Mr. Karp teaches, performs, and serves as Head of Strings at the Brevard Music Center in the mountains of North Carolina. Benjamin Karp served as Adjunct Associate Professor of Cello at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University in Bloomington from 2008-2012. Mr. Karp was for five years principal cellist of the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, and has been guest principal cellist of the Charleston (SC) Symphony, the Asheville Symphony, and the West Virginia Symphony. Mr. Karp is a widely known chamber musician, appearing at festivals throughout the United States. Before coming to the University of Kentucky Mr. Karp was for six years cellist of the New College String Quartet and principal cellist of the Florida West Coast Symphony. He has recorded for the Telarc, Gasparo, Arabesque, CRI, and Centaur labels. Benjamin Karp is a Larsen Performing Artist.
VIOLINMargaret "Margie" Karp
Margaret Karp is a full-time Senior Lecturer in Violin and Viola at the University of Kentucky School of Music, Concertmaster of the Lexington Chamber Orchestra, and Assistant Concertmaster of the Lexington Philharmonic Orchestra, and has completed nine summers as an artist faculty member of the Brevard Music Center. She was previously principal second violin of the Florida Orchestra and the Sarasota Opera for six years, and a member of the Philharmonia da Camera in Dortmund, Germany. She studied with James Buswell at Indiana University, with additional work under Valery Gradow and Yair Kless, and was named Outstanding Educator of 2015 by the Kentucky chapter of the American String.
DOUBLE BASSPaul Reich
Paul Reich is a graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Music and has pursued additional studies at the Pacific Music Festival, the National Repertory Orchestra, and the Tanglewood Music Center. He has performed with numerous orchestras throughout the region, serving as a member of the Akron Symphony and as a frequent substitute with the Canton, Erie, Rochester, Youngstown, Lexington, West Virginia, and Louisville orchestras. He is currently Principal Bass of Orchestra Kentucky Bowling Green and the Lexington Chamber Orchestra.
A versatile performer, Paul spent ten years touring internationally and throughout all 50 states as a bassist for Broadway productions including RENT, Jekyll & Hyde, Miss Saigon, Grease, The Who's Tommy, Cats (25th Anniversary Tour), Disney's High School Musical, and Aida. He is also the resident bassist for the Lexington Theatre Company and a founding member of the Lexington Theatre Company Quartet.
An active educator, Paul teaches double bass and bass guitar at the University of Kentucky and Eastern Kentucky University. He has previously served on the faculties of Asbury University, Transylvania University, and Centre College.
Ensemble-in-Residence
Our Ensemble is made up of musicians from the Lexington Chamber Orchestra, our sister organization made up of the finest string musicians in Central Kentucky. They provide education and performances to the public and our local students at Fayette County Public Schools free of charge every year. They are a crucial part of our support for education and community outreach.
Margie Karp
ViolinMargaret Karp is a full-time Senior Lecturer in Violin and Viola at the University of Kentucky School of Music, Concertmaster of the Lexington Chamber Orchestra, and Assistant Concertmaster of the Lexington Philharmonic Orchestra, and has completed nine summers as an artist faculty member of the Brevard Music Center. She was previously principal second violin of the Florida Orchestra and the Sarasota Opera for six years, and a member of the Philharmonia da Camera in Dortmund, Germany. She studied with James Buswell at Indiana University, with additional work under Valery Gradow and Yair Kless, and was named Outstanding Educator of 2015 by the Kentucky chapter of the American String.
Madison Jones
ViolinNative Lexingtonian and veteran of both CKYO and the UK Symphony, Madison Jones began violin studies at age five. Her summer training has included the Garth Newel Emerging Artist Program, Brevard Music Institute, and the Meadowmount School of Music, and her teachers and mentors include Bethany Watt, Rebecca Kiekenapp, Margaret Karp, and Daniel Mason. Today, she holds the chair of Assistant Concertmaster with the Lexington Philharmonic, and she also teaches private violin lessons in Lexington to students ages 7 through adult, focusing on classical repertoire.
ViolinTze-Ying Wu
Tze-Ying Wu is a violist, educator, and director currently based at the University of Kentucky, where she serves as Assistant Professor of Viola and String Education and directs the UK String Project. She received her Doctor of Music and Master of Music degrees in viola performance from the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, studying under Professor Atar Arad. She earned her BFA at National Taiwan Normal University.
Before coming to Kentucky, she served as Director and Violin Instructor at the Sturgis Music Academy of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, and she also worked as a violin/viola instructor at Indiana University's pre-college string program, the Indiana University String Academy, collaborating closely with Mimi Zweig and Dr. Brenda Brenner. She has performed with the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, and Singapore Symphony Orchestra.
CelloYoonie Choi
Yoonie Choi is a Korean-born cellist and educator, currently on the music faculty at Centre College. She began her musical journey at age five, then moved to New York City at 13 on an invitation to study with Marion Feldman at the Manhattan School of Music's Preparatory Division. She attended the Oberlin Conservatory of Music on a full scholarship for her bachelor's degree, studying with Professor Peter Rejto. There, she was a founding member of Trio Casalmaggiore, which performed across Europe, the U.S., and Canada. She then became teaching assistant to Miró Quartet cellist Joshua Gindele at Kent State University, earning her master's degree in music. She completed her doctoral degree in cello performance at the University of Kentucky under Benjamin Karp.
She was a member of the Akron Symphony Orchestra and substitute cellist for the Canton, Youngstown, and Erie Symphony Orchestras. At UK, she was part of the Niles String Quartet and played with the Lexington Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2008 she joined the International Broadway Tour of Aida for a six-month run in China and afterward became the permanent cellist for the WoodSongs Old-Time Radio Hour.
She's also been a member of Orchestra Kentucky in Bowling Green, a faculty member at the Bowling Green String Academy, and adjunct faculty at Kentucky State University. Currently, she is a member of the Louisville Master Chorale and serves as resident cellist for the Lexington Theater Company.