Our accomplished faculty members are the following experienced professional musicians.
Lisa Lithall, Cello, MM
Ms. Lithall holds her Bachelor of Arts from Northern Illinois University, where she studied with Marc Johnson. Her Masters degree was received from Western Illinois University, where the primary teacher was Tanya Carey. She has taught cello for over 20 years including Barrington High School, Suzuki-Orff School for Young Musicians, Barrington Suzuki Strings, Music for Youth of Arlington Heights.
As an active musician, she has been a member of the Northbrook Symphony Orchestra and Arabella Ensembles. Also, she holds her annual solo recitals and numerous church performances.
Alison Duffy, Flute, BM
Alison S. Duffy received her Bachelor of Music degree in Flute Performance from Oberlin Conservatory where she studied with renowned flute pedagogues Kathleen Chastain and Michel Debost. She spent the fourth year of her undergraduate career in Paris, France, studying with the principal flutist in the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Magali Mosnier. Ms. Duffy gives private lessons regularly from her home in Libertyville, IL. She was also a Secondary Private Flute Instructor at Oberlin Conservatory from 2005-2009 and taught at the Midwest Young Artists Summer Flute Camp in 2008 and 2009.
Ms. Duffy has performed in orchestras and wind ensembles for many years, including the Classical Symphony Orchestra of Chicago, the Comic Intermezzo of Chicago, the Orchestre de Flutes Francais in Paris, the Oberlin Wind Ensemble, and the Oberlin Baroque, Chamber, and Symphony Orchestras. In high school she played principal flute in the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra, the award-winning Libertyville High School Wind Ensemble and Symphony Orchestra, and ranked first in the All-State Band at the Illinois Music Educator’s Association annual conference in Peoria, IL. She has appeared as a soloist with the North Suburban Symphony Orchestra and the Libertyville High School Symphony Orchestra.
Naomi Matsunaga, Oboe/Piano, MA
Mrs. Matsunaga holds a Master of Arts in Music from Northeastern Illinois University. She has studied oboe with Takahisa Shinmatsu, former Principal Oboe of the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, Ray Still, former Principal Oboe of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and J. Ricardo Castenada, Principal Oboe of the Chicago Sinfonietta. She has appeared in the Northwest Indiana Symphony, Illinois Symphony and Illinois Philharmonic Orchestras.
Mrs. Matsunaga also holds a Piano Pedagogy Certificate from Elmhurst College, where she studied the piano under the direction of Linda Camp.
She has been accompanying for student recitals and music competitions.
HaeRim Yoo, Piano, MM
Ms. Yoo studied piano with Dmitry Rachmanov and Pawel Checinski and received her Bachelor’s degree in Music from Roosevelt University, Chicago. Her Masters degree was received from Northern Illinois University, where the primary teacher was William Goldenberg. She received Rudolph Ganz Scholarship while attending Roosevelt University and Graduate Assistantship in Accompanying from Northern Illinois University.
She has appeared in numerous concerts and recitals as a soloist, an accompanist and a chamber musician. She has also been teaching piano at Northern Illinois University Community School of the Arts, DeKalb, IL. In the Fall of 2008, Ms. Yoo won at the 2008 Concerto Competition held at Northern Illinois University.
She holds her Performer’s Certificate in Piano Performance from Northern Illinois University and is a member of the Music Teachers National Association, Illinois State Music Teachers Association and Naperville Chapter of the Illinois State Music Teachers Association.
Yuriko Tanaka, Piano, MM
Ms. Tanaka studied piano in Japan under Naoyuki Inoue, Hiroko Kurai and Etsuko Tazaki, and she joined the piano adjunct faculty member of the School of Music at Mukogawa Women’s University of Hyogo, Japan.
After moving to the U.S., Ms. Tanaka further pursued graduate studies in piano performance at the Chicago College of Performing Arts of Roosevelt University, where her principal teachers were Ludmila Lazar and Annie Sherter. During her studies at Roosevelt, she won the first prize at the Irene Tintner International Piano Competition. She also performed for master classes by Edith Picht-Axenfeld and Richard Goode. Since she graduated from Roosevelt with honors, she has been teaching piano throughout the Chicago area.
Whun Kim, Violin/Viola, MM
Born in Seoul, Korea, Ms. Kim began her violin studies at the age of 7 at which time she immigrated with her family to the U.S. She attended Northwestern University where she studied with Dr. Myron Kartman and received a Bachelor of Music degree. She further attended The Juilliard School where she studied with Joseph Fuchs and received her Master of Music degree. She has studied with Marc Zinger and Albert Igolnikov in Chicago.
Ms. Kim has had coaching with Eugene Becker, Hamao Fujiwara, Fredelle Lack, Igor Ozim and William Lincer. She won first prize in the Solo and Ensemble Competition of Hawaii. She also received second prize in the Society of American Musicians Competition of Illinois, was a finalist in the Chicago Symphony Youth Auditions and received the Farwell Award from the Women's Musician Club of Chicago.
Ms. Kim presently teaches and performs as concertmaster with the Southwest Michigan Symphony Orchestra where she recently was soloist for Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. She also plays in the first violin section of the Northwest Indiana Symphony Orchestra and free-lances in Chicago. She resides in the Chicagoland area with her husband Bernardo Arias, who is also a violinist, and their two daughters, Claire and Esme.
Brandi Berry, Violin/Viola, MM
Brandi Berry, violin, praised for her "alert violin playing outstanding" by Chicago Classical Review, has appeared with various groups throughout the U.S. and Canada, including Apollo’s Fire, the Newberry Consort, Toronto’s Classical Music Consort, the Indianapolis and Atlanta Baroque Orchestras, Baroque Band, and has appeared as soloist/concertmaster or section leader of Ars Antigua, the Madison Bach Musicians, and St. Louis’ Kingsbury Ensemble.
She has performed in numerous festivals throughout North America, including recital performances with the Dame Myra Hess and Ars Musica Chicago series, the Chicago, Boston, and Berkeley Early Music Festivals, as concertmaster of the Bloomington Early Music Festival Opera Orchestra, Opera in the Ozarks as a principal, Crested Butte MoUNtain Institute, and at the Tafelmusik and Vancouver early music programs. Upcoming performances include the 2010 CMC Handel Festival in Toronto, and the Madison Early Music Festival with King’s Noyse.
A student of Stanley Ritchie and Cynthia Roberts, Ms. Berry holds degrees in violin performance from Indiana University and the University of North Texas. Ms. Berry is co-founder with Curtis Foster of the Bach and Beethoven Ensemble which recently debuted at the Chicago Early Music Festival.
Myeong Su Park, Violin/Viola, MM
Mr. Park studied violin with Nam Yoon Kim and received his Bachelor’s degree in Music from Kyung Hee University in Korea. He was a concertmaster of the university orchestra and the leader of its chamber ensemble. After his graduation from the college, he played in the In-Cheon City Symphony Orchestra for seven seasons.
After he moved to the U.S., he studied violin with Cyrus Frough, Yuko Mori and Arron Shultz while attending the Chicago College of Performing Arts of Roosevelt University and the American Conservatory of Music, where he received his Master’s degree in Music in Violin Performance.
He has been a member of the Northbrook Symphony Orchestra and has played with the Rockford Symphony Orchestra. He has also played at numerous concerts in the Chicagoland area. He has been teaching many students both in Korea and in the U.S. and many of his students have won competitions and led their school orchestras. Currently, he is a music director and conductor at a church in Mt. Prospect, IL.
Barmey Ung, Guitar/Composition, BM
Barmey Vishnu Ung is an accomplished guitarist, composer, producer, and teacher graduating from the University of Miami. In the span of his young career, Mr. Ung has performed around the world, and has also had his own compositions performed by many. In keeping with the tradition of sharing his music and talents, Mr. Ung is also thoroughly involved in teaching music, as well as being a community organizer in the field of the arts.
During his college career, Mr. Ung took the position of president of the University of Miami Society of Composers in which he organized many concerts, international collaborations, and opportunities for emerging young composers. Other accomplishments include his participation in the Ress Family Hospital Project in which he helped provide live music performances for individual patients in various Miami hospitals, and also his former directing of the project Youth Music Campaign which sought to provide inner city Miami youth with free music lessons.
As a guitarist, Mr. Ung has performed in New York, Miami, Chicago, Spain, France, and the Czech Republic in guitar festivals, master classes, concert halls, art galleries, museums, private parties, weddings, and even hospitals.
As a composer, Mr. Ung’s compositions have been performed by the Cleveland Orchestra, University of Wisconsin’s Javanese Gamelon, NYU Chamber Ensembles, and various University of Miami ensembles including their Percussion Ensemble and Chamber Orchestra.
Mr. Ung currently continues to push the limits of his abilities in his work as a producer and songwriter in which he has worked in scoring all types of video and has helped produce many unsigned Miami artists, most notably the electro-pop group "Beijinhos". Currently, he is working on his highly anticipated solo project entitled, "Kmang Kmang".
Mas Sugihara, Saxophone/Clarinet/Recorder, DMus
Mas Sugihara teaches saxophone and chamber music at Northwestern University, Roosevelt University, and Trinity Christian College. He earned the Doctor of Music degree from Northwestern University where he studied with Dr. Frederick L. Hemke. Previous studies include Marshall Taylor at Temple University and a masterclass with Claude Delangle.
Dr. Sugihara has appeared as a recitalist and clinician in Japan, Canada, Norway, and the United States. He is a member of the Amethyst Saxophone Quartet, Anaphora Ensemble, Ensemble Dal Niente, Chicago Reed Quartet, and Northshore Saxophone Trio, and has performed with the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, Chicago Chamber Musicians, Chicago Lyric Opera, Concerto Soloists Concert Band, Grant Park Orchestra, Millennium Chamber Players, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Network for New Music, New York City Ballet, and Reading Symphony.
Up-to-date performance schedule can be found on his website, www.mas-sugihara.com.
Elizabeth Hain, Voice (soprano), BM
A native to the Chicago suburbs, Miss Hain has been singing classically since the age of 8. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal Performance from Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois.
She has performed in various opera and musical theater productions, most recently playing the role of Madame Lidoine in Francis Poulenc’s opera Dialogues of the Carmelites on the Millikin University main stage. Miss Hain has also performed in various opera scenes and workshop programs as well as participating in touring choral ensembles including the Millikin University Chamber Chorale and University Choir.
Aside from performing in the classical arena, she has interest and passion for the study of music theory and analysis and music history.
