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BIOGRAPHY

The Morpheus Duo

Violinist MinJung Kang has captivated audiences throughout Asia, North America and Europe in such venues as the Konzerthaus Berlin, Gasteig Munich (Philharmonie), Herkulessaal Munich, Schloss Elmau, Kuppelsaal Hanover, Shriver Hall Baltimore, UAM Radio Hall Poznan, Noga Theater Tel Aviv, National Hall Taipei and the Seoul Arts Center. Her artistry has been praised as "first-class performance that was marked by a direct, spontaneous manner, a strong sense of line and a consistently sweet and singing tone” by The Baltimore Sun.

Since her debut with the Seoul Youth Philharmonic at the age of nine, Ms.Kang has appeared with the München Bayerischer Rundfunk Symphony, München Chamber, Kammerakademie Potsdam, Jeunesse Musicale World, Amadeus Radio Chamber, Taipei Symphony, KBS Symphony and Seoul Philharmonic, among others. She is frequently featured in television in South Korea; her live, radio and CD recordings have been broadcast worldwide.

She has also garnered many first and top prizes including ARD (including the Audience Prize), Taipei (including Modern Piece Performance Prize), Postacchini, Dong-A and Concert Artists Guild. Ms. Kang is the recipient of the Sydney Friedberg Prize and the Wun-Pa Music Prize as the Instrumentalist of the Year. Alongside her solo work, Ms. Kang performs at various chamber music festivals and has collaborated with first chairs of the Berlin Philharmonic, Peabody Trio, and Tokyo String Quartet.

Born in Seoul, Ms. Kang studied with Nam-Yun Kim and Ik-Hwan Bae in South Korea, Victor Danchenko in the USA, Herman Krebbers in Holland, and Ana Chumachenco and Krzysztof Wegrzyn in Germany. She has held the position as a concertmaster of the Komische Oper Berlin and currently is on the faculty of the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover, Germany. With Cellist Uwe Hirth- Schmidt, she is the founding member of the Morpheus -Duo, -Trio and -Quartet and plays as the leader of the Berlin Mozart Quartet. Also a member of the Salzburg Soloists, she is in high demand as chamber music partner and performs more than 80 concerts annually in addition to her solo activities.





Cellist Uwe Hirth-Schmidt was born in Lahr/Black Forrest and picked up the cello at age five. He appears internationally in venues such as Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, Berlin Philharmonie and Konzerthaus, Hamburg Musikhalle, Gasteig Munich (Philharmonie), London Wigmore Hall, Brussels Philharmonie and Amsterdam Concertgebouw. He performs as a soloist and chamber musician with renowned artists and ensembles. He has won numerous prizes including the German Federal Youth Competition, Southwest Chamber Music Competition, Baden-Baden International Competition, and Offenburg Musikpreis Competition.

In 1994, he founded the Jacques Thibaud String Trio, which, performing all repertoire from memory, won first or top prizes in competitions including Caltanissetta, Trapani, Folkwang and Deutscher Musikwettbewerb. The trio performed extensively at renowned festivals and chamber series worldwide. The New York Times stated that "this is the first string trio to have as major career...they're also having fun. It's the best combination. Success is sure to come to them." With the trio, Uwe Hirth-Schmidt recorded 6 CD’s include live recordings at Lincoln Center and in Cleveland, a well as frequent broadcasts with radio stations including WNYC, Voice of America, WQED, NPR Performance Today, St. Paul Sunday, KUHF, Radio Bremen, RBB/SFB, and NDR. In addition to giving masterclasses at universities such as Princeton, Cornell, MIT, UCLA, Duke, Carnegie Melon, Johns Hopkins, and Rice, he taught at Musica Mundi Brussels festival.

He studied with Wolfgang Boettcher at the Berlin University of Arts and received the Artist Diploma in chamber music at Folkwang Hochschule Essen with Vladimir Mendelssohn. He also worked with Varga, Geringas, Demenga, Beyerle, Gronich, Grabiecz, Toyoda, Sebók, St. Petersburg Quartet, Brandis Quartet, Beyerle, Chumachenco, Mantel, Marschner, Zimmermann, Chumachenco, Levin, Neikrug, Mandeau.

Uwe Hirth-Schmidt currently performs about 100 concerts a year in Europe and Asia annually. He plays with the Salzburg Soloists (latest CD was listed in top 10 in Japan), Morpheus -Duo, -Trio, -Quartet, and the Mozart Quartet. "Successful start of his other career”, headlined the Berlin Morgenpost reviewer lately, commenting a Berlin Philharmonie solo concert for his Saens-Saens and Shostakovitch Concerti, praising his "technique and powerful, vibrant tone” as the New York Times had previously. The Melbourne Press Journal described his sound as "sheer velvet” and the Westdeutsche Zeitung commented on the "refined voice of his playing.” Uwe Hirth-Schmidt performs on perhaps the only cello made by Giuseppe Dalaglio.