WashU Faculty String Quartet at the Med Campus
Join us for a noon concert in Moore Auditorium on the medical campus, featuring a program of classical elegance.
Program
Divertimento for Strings in D Major, K.136 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Allegro
Andante
Presto
String Quartet in F minor, Hob. III: 35, Op. 20/No. 5 by Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
Moderato
Minuet - Trio
Adagio Finale. Fuga a 2 soggetti
American Diptych
At the Purchaser’s Option by Rhiannon Giddens
Lento from String Quartet No. 12 in F Major, Op. 96 “American” by Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904)
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, arr. Danish String Quartet
WashU Faculty String Quartet
Manuela Topalbegovic, violin
Rebecca Chung, violin
Amy Greenhalgh, viola
Kimberly Jeong, cello
Location/Parking
The best entrance to access Moore Auditorium is through the Farrell Learning and Teaching Center, 522 Euclid Ave, St Louis, MO, 63110. MAP
Plaza Garage is the best place to park. 3 Barnes-Jewish Hospital Plaza, St. Louis, MO 63110. Map
Manuela Topalbegovic
Manuela Topalbegovic, native of Rousse, Bulgaria, began her violin studies at the age of five. She emigrated to the States in 1995 with her family. Manuela holds a Bachelor of Music from Webster University, where she received the Buder scholarship for gifted students and studied with Yuly Iliashov. She holds a Master of Music degree in Violin Performance from the University of Missouri-Kansas City, where she was awarded the graduate string quartet assistantship for three years. Her teachers there include Benny Kim and Gregory Sandomirsky. Manuela is an active chamber music and orchestral performer in the Saint Louis area. She performs regularly with Union Avenue Opera, Bach Society of St. Louis, Winter Opera, Kingsbury Ensemble, Metropolitan Orchestra of St. Louis, Webster University Orchestra, Paducah Symphony, Millikin-Decatur Symphony Orchestra, Rosewood Ensemble, Salem Chamber Orchestra, and many others. Manuela is the second violinist of the Perseid String Quartet. She has also given numerous solo recitals with her good friend and pianist Diana Umali.
In addition to performing, Manuela is also an active and experienced pedagogue. She holds teaching positions at the Community Music School of Webster University, Webster Groves Elementary Schools Strings Program, and maintains a private studio at home. In her free time, Manuela enjoys traveling, cooking, reading, and spending time with friends, family, and her black lab Sasha.
Rebecca Chung
Violinist Rebecca Chung is an accomplished orchestral musician and teacher. She holds a Bachelor of Music in violin performance as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Northwestern University as a student of Roland and Almita Vamos. She has performed with the Northwestern University Symphony as a winner of the concerto competition. Rebecca went on to earn her Master of Music in violin performance at The Juilliard School under the tutelage of Naoko Tanaka.
Rebecca has performed with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Pacific Symphony, and Pasadena Symphony and was a tenured member of the Santa Barbara Symphony Orchestra and New West Symphony prior to relocating to St. Louis.
While living in Los Angeles, Rebecca has performed with major recording artists including Ariana Grande, Sarah McLachlan, Barry Manilow, Metro Boomin, Melissa Manchester, Andrea Bocelli, and Marvin Hamlisch. As a studio session player, Rebecca has performed on numerous soundtrack scores, including HOUSE OF CARDS, STAR TREK DISCOVERY, AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D., ORVILLE , ONWARD, and the LEAGUE OF LEGENDS video game soundtrack.
Her television appearances include on-screen performances for CHUCK and HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER. Rebecca has also worked as a music consultant providing coaching for Academy Award-nominated actress Catherine Keener’s performance in A LATE QUARTET.
Rebecca is on the violin faculty at Webster University’s Community Music School and maintains a private studio. She has also recently joined the Chamber Project Saint Louis.
Amy Greenhalgh
Amy Greenhalgh is an Assistant Dean at Washington University in St. Louis, and is passionate about creating a diverse and inclusive learning environment. Amy lives with their spouse, Ana, and a little dog with a big personality, Bean.
Amy studied at Oxford University and the Royal College of Music. After college, they performed chamber and orchestral music throughout Europe. Amy moved to Chile, South America, as principal viola of the Philharmonic Orchestra of Santiago, and lived there for nearly a decade.
Amy relocated to St. Louis in 2015, is the former Director of Strings and Lecturer at Washington University in St. Louis, and regularly collaborates with local organizations to bring cultural experiences to the community. Amy is also a teacher of viola and chamber music at WashU and a doctoral candidate in higher education leadership at Maryville University.
Kimberly Jeong
Korean Canadian cellist Kimberly Jeong deeply believes in the transformative power of music and its unique ability to connect people across cultures, generations, and backgrounds. She feels honored to share her story with audiences, students, and community members through the music that she loves.
As an active recitalist and a chamber musician, she has performed widely across North America and Europe in venues such as Avery Fisher Hall, National Sawdust, Dutch National Opera, Smetana House, Prague National Theatre, and Wigmore Hall, among others. Her performances have been broadcast on WFMT, CBC Radio, and BBC, and she can be heard on recording projects by Chandos with the Grammy-nominated ARC ensemble, and Linn Records. She has also collaborated with distinguished composers such as John Adams, Hans Abrahamsen, John Harbison, and Steven Stucky.
As an educator, Jeong serves as Director of Strings and Chamber Music at Washington University in St. Louis. She has worked with a number of educational initiatives, including Yale Music in Schools and Ravinia’s Reach Teach Play Program. Her interests include interdisciplinary arts, connecting with new audiences through varied mediums, and expanding access to music education for all.
Jeong holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music (BM), Yale School of Music (MM), and Northwestern University (DMA), with cognates in Musicology and Music Theory. Her principal mentors include Hans Jørgen Jensen and Steven Doane, and she received additional training at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague and the Glenn Gould School in Toronto, Canada.