The Risus Quartet was founded in 2020 by four passionate musicians living in South Korea. ‘Risus’ means ‘laugh’ in Latin and the vision of the quartet is to bring joy and laughter to audiences around the globe. Members Haeni Lee, Jieun Yoo (violins), Mary Eunkyung Chang (viola),Yukyung Ma(cello) graduated from Seoul National University with a devotion to chamber music and now reside in the South Korea and continue to expand their artistry and dedicate themselves to a deeper exploration of the art of the string quartet.
First Prize winners of the 2022 Chamber Music In Yellow Springs Competition and Grand Prize and Gold Medal Prizewinners at the 2021 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, the Risus quartet is currently earned the AD degree with the Young Professional String Quartet in residence at the Butler School of Music at the University of Texas in Austin under the Miró Quartet and Sandy Yamamoto. Awarded “The City of Portsmouth Prize” in the 2022 Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition. Also, they were the Finalist of Concert Artist Guild(CAG) in 2022 and the semi finalist of ARD international Music Competition in Munich 2022. Recently, they have been announced as prize winner of 3rd prize and commissioned piece prize from Melbourne International Music Competition 2023. In the summer of 2022, they participated at the Chigiana International Festival and Summer Academy in Siena,Italy. Also, they were In the McGill International String Quartet Academy(MISQA) in Montreal, Canada 2022, they had the mentoring and coaching with world class artists including Günter Pichler, Gerhard Schulz and Valentin Erben from the Alban Berg Quartet, Heime Müller from former member of the Artemis Quartet, Mathieu Herzog from former member of the Ébène Quartet, Min-Jeong Koh from Cecilia Quartet, all members from Meta4 Quartet.
They had concerts at the Seoul Arts Center Summer Music Festival, Recital in Lotte concert Hall, Jeju International Music Festival, Gum Nanse Music Center, The House Concert. Also,North American appearances include the Dame Myra Hess Series in Chicago, Illinois, the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center’s Presents at Notre Dame University, Indiana and the Artists Series Concerts in Sarasota, Florida. Virtual performances have played an important role in reaching communities - Music For Food Benefit broadcasted by The Violin Channel. They also had concerts in Italy - Forli at the Santa Lucia Church cloister, Riolo Terme at the Rocca, Imola at the Cloister of Palazzo Vescovile,Fontanelice San Pietro Apostolo Church.
Haeni Lee, Violin
Haeni Lee earned her Doctorate in Violin Performance at the University of Texas at Austin, under Professor Sandy Yamamoto on May 2019. Born in 1992 in Seoul, Korea, she began playing the violin at the age of seven. In 2010, she was accepted to Seoul National University, where she worked with Ju-Young Baek and received her Bachelor of Music degree. In 2014, she then moved to the USA to earn her Master of Music degree with Mauricio Fuks at Indiana University as a scholarship recipient. Haeni Lee is also the recipient of several prizes and awards, including ENKOR International Music Competition, UT String Concerto Competition, and Indiana Concerto Competition. Also, she was the finalist of Classics Alive Artists Audition and semi-finalist of Washington International Competition. Moreover, she was the finalist of Minnesota Orchestra, Houston Symphony Orchestra and St.Louis Symphony Orchestra as a section violinist. For the past summers, she has participated in Music Academy of West, Pacific Music Festival, Tanglewood Music Center where she worked with Andres Nelsons, Valery Gergiev, Marin Alsop etc. As a leader of Risus Quartet, she won the Grand Prize and Gold medal Prize from Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition in 2021, First Prize winners of the 2022 Chamber Music In Yellow Springs Competition, “The City of Portsmouth Prize” in the 2022 Wingmore Hall International String Quartet Competition, 3rd prize of Melbourne International chamber music competition 2023.
Jieun Yoo, Violin
Born in South Korea, violinist Jieun Yoo received Artist Diploma at the University of Texas at Austin under Miró Quartet and she graduated her Master of Music and Performer Diploma at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music, where she studied under Mark Kaplan. During her time there, she received many awards, including Jacobs School of Music supplement Award, Artist Excellence Award and multiple scholarships. Jieun also holds a Bachelor of Music from Seoul National University under Jiwon Song. Additionally, she won lots of competitions in Korea such as KCO competition, Universal Music competition, Sungjung Music competition and Seoul Philharmonic Music competition. etc. At her hometown, she has given several recitals at Kumho Art Hall, Yujung Art Hall, Hanjun Art Hall and Elon Art Hall. She also was a winner of Indiana University Concerto Competition and performed as a soloist with the Indiana Chamber Orchestra in 2018. Moreover, Jieun has participated in summer festivals including New York String Orchestra Seminar and Pacific Music Festival with full scholarship. As a founder member of Risus Quartet, she got multiple prizes from Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition and Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition. etc.
Mary Eunkyung Chang, Viola
Mary Eunkyung Chang earned her bachelor’s degree in viola performance from Seoul National University under the tutelage of Eun Sik Choi. She earned Performance diploma and Masters degree from IU Jacobs School of music under Stephen Wyrczynski. At Jacobs school of music, she holds a full scholarship supported by the Graduate Tuition Award and the Jacobs Chairman’s Scholar Award. She has won top prizes in numerous competitions hosted by the Korea String Association, Segue Daily, Korea Herald, The Music Education News, Yejin Music, Han-dok Brahms Association, Kyungwon University, Sungshin Women’s University, Seoul Youth Chamber Competition, and Kukmin Daily Korea. She has given solo recitals in Seoul, Korea, at such venues as, Yongsan Art Hall and Mozart Hall. Chang has performed in a recital series through Kumho Young Artists with string quartet. Chang has soloed at Seoul Arts center at age 15, and with Seoul National University Chamber orchestra during her undergraduate studies. She has also soloed with Jacobs School of music Chamber Orchestra on Mozart Sinfonia Concertante with Arthur Fagen in 2018. Also, in 2020, Chang performed with Thomas Wilkins and Jacobs school of music Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2018, Chang attended the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, Japan. Chang is currently member of Risus quartet.
Yukyung Ma, Cello
Cellist Yukyung-Ma entered and graduated with top honors from Yewon School, Seoul Arts High School, and Seoul National University. She continued her cello study and pursued her master's degree at Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler in Berlin, and completed her Konzertexamen at Lübeck Musik Hochschule. Her musical talent was recognized through her achievement as a first prize winner in the prestigious Ewha Kyunghyang Competition, Dong-A Music Competition along with her selection as a Kumho Young Artist. Her achievements led to her being awarded the Bunard Greenhouse Foundation scholarships. She has served as a guest principal cellist with the Korean National Symphony Orchestra, Daejeon City Symphony Orchestra, and as an assistant principal cellist with the Beethoven Orchester Berlin. Currently, she actively engages as an orchestral and chamber music performer.
