Music of J.S. Bach comes to life through Jörg-Michael Schwarz, violin, and Dongsok Shin, harpsichord. Jörg-Michael Schwarz, a prize winner in several international violin competitions, is one of North America’s leading Baroque violinists. He has performed as a soloist and chamber musician throughout the Americas, Asia, Australia, and Europe. Much in demand as a soloist and continuo player, Donsgsok Shin has appeared with the American Classical Orchestra, ARTEK, Concert Royal, Early Music New York, Carmel Bach Festival, Mark Morris Dance Group, the New York Philharmonic, the Orchestra of St. Luke’s and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra.
Jörg-Michael Schwarz, a prize winner in several international violin competitions, is one of North America’s leading Baroque violinists. He has performed as soloist and chamber musician throughout the Americas, Asia, Australia, and Europe. A recipient of numerous grants and scholarships, he studied violin with Max Rostal in Germany and with Dorothy DeLay at the Juilliard School in New York. Early on in his career Mr. Schwarz concentrated on chamber music, studying with the Melos, Amadeus, and Juilliard Quartets, and with Felix Galimir. As soloist he has appeared with the Scottish Chamber Symphony under Yehudi Menuhin, Berne Symphony Orchestra, New Hampshire Symphony Orchestra, and Heilbronn Symphony Orchestra, among others. Co-founder of the Ravel Quartet Köln (1978-81), the Orfeo Chamber Soloists (1979-82) and the Monadnock Quartet (1984-88), he was concertmaster of the Juilliard Orchestra (1984-85) and the New Hampshire Symphony Orchestra (1984-88).
As Baroque violinist he has performed with Marie Leonhardt, Jaap Schroeder, Albert Fuller, Reinhard Goebel, the English Baroque Soloists, the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, Anima Eterna, the Smithsonian Chamber Orchestra, and Musica Antiqua Köln. He has also served as concertmaster of the Connecticut Early Music Festival Orchestra (1990-92), the Barockorchester Stuttgart (1992-96), Grande Bande (New York), the New York Collegium, American Bach Soloists, and the Portland Baroque Orchestra.
He has played under the batons of Gustav Leonhardt, Frans Brüggen, Ton Koopman, Philippe Herreweghe, John Eliot Gardiner, and Roger Norrington and has been a featured performer at the early music festivals of Boston, Berkeley, Utrecht, Stuttgart, Regensburg, Göttingen, Halle, Bruges, Vienna, Ambronay, and Helsinki. Mr. Schwarz has presented lecture demonstrations on the famed Stradivarius and Amati collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City and his playing can be heard on the headphones at the museum’s Musical Instruments Collection. In October 2016 Mr. Schwarz made his solo début at New York’s Lincoln Center with the American Classical Orchestra in Vivaldi’s Four Seasons.
Among many other interests Mr. Schwarz is an avid wine enthusiast.
Dongsok Shin was born in Boston and played the modern piano from the age of four. Since the early 1980's, he has specialized exclusively on harpsichord, organ, and fortepiano.
Much in demand as a soloist and continuo player, Mr. Shin has appeared with the American Classical Orchestra, ARTEK, Concert Royal, Early Music New York, Carmel Bach Festival, Mark Morris Dance Group, the New York Philharmonic, the Orchestra of St. Luke’s and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. He has toured throughout North America, Europe, and Mexico, has been heard on numerous radio broadcasts nationally and internationally, and has recorded for ATMA Classique, Bridge Records, Dorian/Sono Luminus, Hänssler Classic, Helicon, Lyrichord, and Newport Classic. He was a founding member of the Mannes Camerata, receiving international critical acclaim as music director for their productions of early baroque operas, and he was a member, as well as a guest director of NYS Baroque in Ithaca, NY.
In his spare time, he tunes and maintains harpsichords in the New York area (he is the harpsichord technician for the Metropolitan Opera and tuner of the antique keyboards at the Metropolitan Museum), and he is well known as a recording engineer, producer and editor of numerous early music recordings. He is married to early keyboard player and director of ARTEK, Gwendolyn Toth, and they are the proud parents of three children and one new cat.