This Sunday, we are delighted to welcome a guest violinist who will add a special touch to our worship service. During the offertory, our choir will present Here, O My Lord by Russell Schulz-Widmar, accompanied by a beautiful violin melody.

We will also enjoy two all-time classical favorites as our prelude and postlude: J. S. Bach’s Air on the G String, BWV 1068, and the first movement of Winter from Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons. These are such beloved and familiar works that many of you have probably heard them countless times in recordings. This Sunday, we invite you to experience their beauty firsthand through live! 
The guest violinist’s brief bio is as follows: 

Seo Hee Byun, DMA, earned her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees at the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University as a Peabody Merit Scholar, studying under Pamela Frank. She went on to complete her Doctorate of Musical Arts at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign on a full-tuition scholarship. An accomplished orchestral and chamber musician, Dr. Byun was a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, performing under the batons of renowned conductors such as Riccardo Muti, Michael Tilson Thomas, and Jaap van Zweden, as well as alongside world-class artists like cellist Yo-Yo Ma. Originally from Seoul, South Korea, she has appeared as a soloist with the Seoul Academy Symphony and Kang-Nam Symphony, and performed with the TongYeong International Music Festival Orchestra, Sonnet Ensemble, Nova Solisti Chamber Ensemble, San Francisco Ballet, and Symphony San Jose. Committed to community outreach, she regularly organizes and performs monthly concerts at local hospitals alongside fellow musicians. In addition to her active performance career, Dr. Byun is a dedicated educator. Her past faculty appointments include Sookmyung Women’s University and Oikos University in Oakland, as well as prominent arts high schools and international schools in Korea. Deeply invested in mentoring the next generation, she has coached youth ensembles such as BAYMS, Emmanuel Youth Orchestra, and AMASE (an organization serving students with autism).

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