Expanded Ed Faculty Recital: Rebecca Kasdan and Victor Cayres with Eugene Kim

Artist(s)

Becca Kasdan, violin:
Violinist Becca Kasdan is currently a Teaching Associate at Brown University and holds a Violin Faculty position at New England Conservatory Preparatory/Expanded Education and Project STEP. Becca Kasdan is also an active freelancer in Rhode Island and Boston performing with groups such as the Rhode Island Philharmonic, the Rhode Island Civic Chorale, and The Orchestra on the Hill, among others. During the summers, Becca is a faculty member at the Easton Chamber Music Festival and the Rhode Island Philharmonic Summer Chamber Music Workshop.
Becca received her Doctor of Musical Arts in Violin Performance at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where she studied with Meg Freivogel of the Jupiter String Quartet. Previously, Becca studied with Violaine Melancon at the Schulich School of Music at McGill University and the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University.

A passionate and dedicated teacher, Becca has presented masterclasses at the Paul Rolland String Pedagogy Workshop, American String Teacher Association’s National Conference, Tonebase Violin, Virginia Tech, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, DePauw University School of Music, and the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign. Deeply passionate about chamber music, Becca has worked closely with members of the Juilliard, Jupiter, Emerson, Chiara, Orion, Ying, Brentano, and Borromeo String Quartets among others. Dr. Kasdan frequently performs U.S. and world premieres of contemporary works and enjoys collaborating with composers. In addition, Becca is extremely devoted to bringing music into the community and is currently a Board Member with the Volunteer Musicians for the Arts in Boston, MA. 

Becca lives in Providence, RI with her husband, Korei, and their adorable mini poodle, Pedro. As a family they enjoy long nature walks and chicken.


Victor Cayres, piano:
Pianist Victor Cayres has earned praise for concerts with the Sine Nomine string quartet and as soloist with Boston Pops, Orchestre des Jeunes de Fribourg in Switzerland, and Brno Philharmonic in the Czech Republic. He has been a guest artist at Banff Center for the Arts in Canada, Interlochen Center for the Arts, Universidade de São Paulo, University of Connecticut, Claflin University, Wesleyan University, Western Washington University, Moscow’s Tchaikovsky Conservatory and State University for Arts and Culture.

He has recorded for Albany, Centaur, Navona, and Parma Records, and frequently performs in Brazil, Europe, South Korea, and in the United States, including Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall, Chicago’s Preston Bradley Hall, Boston’s Symphony Hall and Jordan Hall. His concerts have been broadcast live at Brazil’s TV Cultura channel, Boston’s WGBH 99.5 All Classical, and Chicago’s WFMT Fine Arts Radio. Mr. Cayres currently serves as Lecturer at Boston University, Co-Director for Boston University Tanglewood Institute Young Artists Piano Program, and Faculty at New England Conservatory Preparatory School and Rivers School Conservatory. In his free time he enjoys cooking and playing soccer.


Eugene Kim, cello:
Cellist Eugene Kim has concertized throughout Korea, Japan, England, Italy and his native United States, including solo performances at Carnegie Recital Hall and Jordan Hall. His chamber music collaborations have included Raphael Hillyer, Shmuel Ashkenasi, Marc Johnson, Marcus Thompson, Gervase de Peyer and Mark O’Connor. Eugene has performed with the Boston Symphony Orchestra as an extra player, the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra, Boston Ballet, and has been guest principal cellist with the Boston Philharmonic, Boston Classical Orchestra and the Pro Arte Chamber Ensemble. Formerly, he was the principal cellist of the Vermont Symphony.

Eugene is a committed music educator, serving on the faculties of the Rivers School Conservatory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the New England Conservatory Preparatory Division, where he received the Jean Stackhouse Award for Excellence in Teaching. His students have had numerous solo performances with orchestras, notably with the Boston Symphony and Boston Pops under the batons of Andris Nelsons and Keith Lockhart. Eugene has formerly served as the Artistic Director of Project STEP, and as Executive Director of the Foulger International Music Festival.

Eugene holds degrees from Harvard University and New England Conservatory. He has studied with cellists Andres Diaz, Colin Carr, Laurence Lesser, Carter Brey and Alan Harris.