The Rhine Quartet
The Rhine Quartet
Catherine Lange-Jensen, violin
Kun Dong, violin
Joanne Wojtowicz, viola
Alan Rafferty, cello
Catherine Lange-Jensen became a member of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in 1984 as Assistant Principal Second Violin and a few years later won the position of Associate Principal Second Violin. She has also held the position of Acting Principal Second Violin for three years. She has performed on over 100 Telarc recordings of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and Cincinnati Pops Orchestra and has toured extensively with the orchestra in the United States, Puerto Rico, Europe, Japan, Taiwan, and China. She performs regularly on the CSO Chamber series and has performed as a soloist on the CSO subscription series under Jesus Lopez-Cobos.
Born in St. Louis, Ms. Lange-Jensen began studying violin at the age of five with her mother, an accomplished pianist and violist. When she was eight, she began studying with noted Suzuki method pioneer John Kendall and continued studying violin, and later, Suzuki pedagogy with him for the next ten years.
While in high school, she was accepted into the studio of Josef Gingold, Distinguished Professor of Music at Indiana University, and in 1982 she received her Bachelor of Music degree in Violin Performance and a Performer's Certificate. Ms. Lange-Jensen appears on the Josef Gingold Master Teacher Series vol. 3, a collection of master class videos. While at IU, she was coached by Janos Starker and was also chosen to play concertmaster under Leonard Bernstein during his residency there.
Ms. Lange-Jensen studied three summers (1981-1983) as a Fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center performing chamber music and orchestral works while working under some of the great names in music including André Previn, Joseph Silverstein, Erich Leinsdorf, Seiji Ozawa, Gunther Schuller, Kurt Masur, and Leonard Bernstein. She also performed opera and chamber music at the Spoleto Festival of Two Worlds. Other professional engagements include the Sunriver Music Festival, Lakeside Festival, and two seasons with the Florida Symphony Orchestra. She has also done extensive commercial studio recording work.
Kun Dong began studying the violin at age five with her father and received formal training at age ten at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. Later she earned her Artist Diploma from the University of Southern California and a Bachelor of Music Degree from the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.
A versatile performer, Kun Dong has appeared as a solo and chamber music player throughout the United States and her native China. Her numerous recitals took her to many countries in Europe, including Italy, Switzerland, Denmark, Germany, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, England, Russia, and Canada. She was a featured soloist with the London Royal Chamber Orchestra under Sir Yehudi Menuhin and performed in London at age 13. She also appeared with many prestigious orchestras such as the Shanghai Radio Symphony Orchestra, Beijing Ballet, and the Central Conservatory Philharmonic when she was studying in China. Kun arrived in the United States in 1993. She performed many concerts with the Pacific Symphony Orchestra under Maestro Saint Clair and the West Los Angeles Symphony Orchestra as a featured soloist.
Kun Dong won the H. Weiniawski Prize for Best Performance in the at the first Beijing International Violin competition in 1986. She also won the Best Performance Award in Chinese Folk Music. In 1987, she was the Grand Prize winner of the Third Yehudi Menuhin International Violin Competition. She also won the Grand Prize in the Pasadena Instrumental Competition, the First Prize in the Pacific Symphony Concerto Competition, Second Prize in the Carmel Instrumental Competition, Third Prize in the Santa Barbara String Competition, and Second Prize in the Schadt International Violin Competition.
An enthusiastic chamber music performer, Mrs. Dong has participated in numerous master classes held by leading musicians, most notably Zvi Zeitlin, Anne Epperson, Peter Salaff, Eudice Shapiro, Alice Schoenfeld, and the Munich Quartet. She was on full scholarship to participate in the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival.
Joanne Wojtowicz joined the Cincinnati Symphony viola section in the fall of 2008. She received her Master’s from Shepherd School of Music at Rice University where she studied with James Dunham. She completed her undergraduate studies with Douglas McNabney at McGill University in Montreal QC. Since graduation Ms. Wojtowicz has performed with the Montreal Symphony, the Atlanta Symphony, the Santa Fe Opera and the Louisville Orchestra.
Ms. Wojtowicz spent summer study at Tanglewood, Aspen, Banff, Orford, Domaine Forget, Kent/Blossom and Spoleto. While in Louisville Ms. Wojtowicz served as adjunct faculty at Indiana University Southeast. In Montreal she performed chamber recitals with the Montreal Camerata. Ms. Wojtowicz had the honour of playing on Bruce Springsteen’s 2009 release “Working on a Dream”. Recently, Ms. Wojtowicz attended her first Suzuki workshops as an adult.
Alan Rafferty, cello, is currently a member of the cello section of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. Alan came to Cincinnati in September of 2007 after four years with the Louisville Orchestra. An avid chamber musician, he has performed in numerous concert series and music festivals including Tanglewood, Aspen and Interlochen, to name a few. He has studied chamber music with members of the Cleveland, Julliard, Cavani and Pacific String Quartets and played in master classes for Yo-Yo Ma. A native of Albuquerque, Alan made his solo debut playing the Dvorak concerto with the Las Cruces Symphony at the age of 16. He received his schooling at the Cleveland Institute of Music and Northwestern University. His primary teachers have included Hans Jorgen Jensen, Alan Harris, Richard Weiss and Merry Peckham.