Department of Music

Jiyeon Choi, Clarinet 

Clarinetist and educator Jiyeon Choi joined the University of Virginia Arts & Sciences faculty as a lecturer in Clarinet and as Principal Clarinet with the Charlottesville Symphony in the fall of 2019. She also holds the Principal Clarinet position with the Sinfonia da Camera, Illinois and clarinet faculty at the Blue Lake Arts Camp, Michigan. She is an advocate for contemporary music as well as specializing in standard solo, chamber and orchestral repertoire. Her primary research explores the chamber music of renowned German clarinetist and composer Jörg Widmann. 

Choi previously served on the faculty of Purdue University and the Illinois Summer Youth Music program. She has collaborated with groups such as Ensemble VIM, PRIZM Ensemble and Seoul Clarinet Ensemble. She has performed with orchestras including the Richmond Symphony Orchestra, Heartland Festival Orchestra, Millikin Decatur Symphony Orchestra, Springfield Choral Society and Champaign Urbana Symphony Orchestra. 

She received solo and chamber awards from various competitions, including Misbin Chamber Competition, and was a runner-up in the Krannert Debut Artist Competition. She has performed in such prestigious venues as the National Arts Centre in Ottawa and Carnegie Hall, among others. She was a member of the National Orchestral Institute with a scholarship, TIMF Academy Orchestra and Orchestre de la Francophonie in Montreal. In addition, she has been a resident artist at the Atlantic Music Festival. She can be heard on the Naxos recording American Classics Series: Randall Thompson, Symphony No. 2 under James Ross. 

Jiyeon received a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in music performance from University of Illinois Urbana Champaign, a Master of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music and a Bachelor of Music degree from Ewha Womans University. Her principal teachers include J. David Harris, Kenneth Grant and Jeongmin Song. 

Hana Lim, Piano 

Hana Lim is an active pianist, and a teacher interested in solo and collaborative piano works. Prior joining the music faculty at George Fox University, she has served as a piano faculty in University of Illinois Springfield, and Champaign School of Music. Her repertoire covers from Baroque to 21st century music, including commercial and jazz music as well. As a Russian music specialist, she was praised for “brought into strong relief the romantic yearnings” by John Frayne (News- Gazette). She has appeared as a soloist in Seoul Arts Center, Krannert Arts Performing Center, Moore Auditorium, and many other prestigious venues throughout North America and Korea. 

Her piano playing was recognized by national and international competitions. She is the winner of Summer Piano Institute Concerto Competition (2019), Artist Presentation Society Competition (2018), and Sinfonia da Camera Concerto Competition (2017). Also, she won prizes from Southern Illinois Young Artist Organization Competition, Canadian Music Competition, Canadian National Provincial Round, Misbin Chamber Competition, and American Prize Competition, Kiwanis Music Festival, and Scarborough Piano Competition. 

As a dynamic musician, she has participated in various international festivals such as, Chautauqua Music Festival, Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival, Great Mountain Music Festival and School. She received masterclasses from renowned musicians including John Perry, Tim Eddy, Marc Durand, Soojung Shin, Hyungjoon Chang, Vadim Monastyrski, and Martin Katz. Currently, she is performing throughout North America and South Korea. She completed her doctoral degree at University of Illinois under Ian Hobson, and was a recipient of Langford Fellowship and Ross Fellowship during the studies. She holds BM, and MM degrees from Eastman School of Music, University of Michigan. 

Ayn Balija, Viola 

Violist Ayn Balija leads a musically rich life performing and teaching throughout the country. She teaches at the University of Virginia and serves as the principal violist of the Charlottesville Symphony at the University of Virginia and violist of the Rivanna String Quartet. Dr. Balija performs solo, chamber, and orchestral works around the country including the Yachats Music Festival, Tennessee Governor’s School for the Arts, ProMusica Chamber Orchestra of Columbus where as a member recorded two CDs of new works under the Summit label. Connecting holistically with her students and colleagues is an integral part to Dr. Balija’s teaching philosophy. Dr. Balija created Violapalooza, an annual, all-viola day, featuring guest viola artists including Kim Kashkashian, George Taylor, and Paul Neubauer. In addition to giving masterclasses and recitals, Dr. Balija presented at the American String Teachers Association, American Viola Society’s Viola Festival, International Viola Society’s 44th Congress in Wellington, New Zealand and published on the American Viola Society’s Teacher’s Toolbox page. Dr. Balija holds degrees from Oberlin Conservatory of Music, The Cleveland Institute of Music and James Madison University. 

John Mayhood, Piano 

Pianist John Mayhood enjoys a busy performance schedule that in recent seasons has taken him across the North America and Europe in a wide variety of solo and collaborative settings and in repertoire that spans from the English virginalists to music of the present day. His concerts often explore the works of a single composer, combining solo piano and chamber music – he has dedicated complete evenings to the works of Poulenc, Hindemith, Feldman, and Schubert, and to new works by emerging composers. He has recently given world premieres of works by Matthew Burtner, Daniel Kessner, and James Sochinski, and the US premiere of Bruce Mather’s Doisy Daëne III. His performances are often featured on NPR, CBC, and SRC radio, and his recordings can be heard on Ravello Records and the EcoSono label. 

Also a scholar, he has presented work on ‘transformational theory’ and ‘theory and performance’ at the University of Chicago and at the annual meeting of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Musiktheorie. His main interest is the philosophy of music, particularly meaning in abstract music and the philosophy of performance. 

John holds the Master of Music degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he studied with Ian Hobson; his other major teachers are Caio Pagano and Jean-Paul Sévilla. He has taught piano at the University of Illinois and philosophy at Brown University and the Rhode Island School of Design. He currently resides in Charlottesville, Virginia, where he is head of the piano faculty at the University of Virginia.

All programs are subject to change.

For more information please call the Department of Music at 434.924.3052.

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