Three new string players join CSO

Tue Jul 03, 2012 at 4:52 pm

By Lawrence A. Johnson

Karen Basrak

Three new members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra will join the CSO this month for their concerts at Ravinia.

So Young Bae has been hired for the CSO’s first-violin section. Born in Korea, she is currently studying for a doctorate at SUNY Stony Brook. She received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Juilliard where she studied under Sylvia Rosenberg and Stephen Clapp.

Cellist Karen Basrak most recently served as principal cello of the Fort Worth Symphony. The Chicago-area native studied with Adele O’Dwyer, Gilda Barston and Richard Hirschl in Chicago and received her bachelor’s degree from USC.

Weijing Wang has also been hired as a cello section member. Currently acting associate principal of the St. Louis Symphony, Wang previously was principal cello of the Phoenix Symphony. She studied music performance at Roosevelt University.

Basrak, Bae and Wang will all join the CSO this month. Cellist Daniel Katz was also hired this past season and started last November. The Chicago native was a regular substitute with the CSO and Cleveland Orchestra and a member of the Grant Park Orchestra.

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