NACO at the Fourth

Yosuke Kawasaki currently serves as Concertmaster of the NAC Orchestra. His versatile musicianship allows him to pursue a career in orchestra, solo, and chamber music. His orchestral career began with the Montgomery Symphony Orchestra and soon led to Mito Chamber Orchestra, Saito Kinen Orchestra, and Japan Century Orchestra, all of which he led as concertmaster. His solo and chamber music career spans five continents, collaborating with artists such as Seiji Ozawa, Pinchas Zukerman, and Yo-Yo Ma, and appearing in the world's most prestigious halls such as Carnegie Hall, Suntory Hall, and the Royal Concertgebouw.

Kawasaki's current regular ensembles are Trio Ink and the Mito String Quartet. His passion for chamber music led to his appointment as Music Director to the Affinis Music Festival in Japan. He is also an artistic advisor to a new chamber music festival, Off the Beaten Path, in Bulgaria.

As an educator Kawasaki has given masterclasses and performed side by side with students in schools across Canada. Well versed in the string quartet literature he was entrusted by Seiji Ozawa as the youngest faculty member of the Ozawa International Chamber Music Academy at the age of 26. He was also an adjunct professor of violin at the University of Ottawa School of Music from 2013 to 2022 alongside the beloved pedagogue Yehonatan Berick.

Kawasaki began his violin studies at the age of six with his father Masao Kawasaki and Setsu Goto. He was subsequently accepted into The Juilliard School Pre-College Division and further continued his education and graduated from The Juilliard School in 1998 under the tutorship of Dorothy DeLay, Hyo Kang, Felix Galimir, and Joel Smirnoff.

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Violinist Jessica Linnebach has distinguished herself among the next generation of Canadian classical artists being lauded on concert stages nationally and around the world. Since her soloist debut at the age of seven, Jessica has appeared with major orchestras throughout North America, Europe and Asia.   Jessica has been a member of the National Arts Centre Orchestra (NACO) since 2003 and was named their Associate Concertmaster in April 2010.

Acknowledging the importance of versatility in today’s world, Jessica has developed a reputation as one of those rare artists who has successfully built a multi-faceted career that encompasses solo, chamber and orchestral performances. A passionate chamber musician, Jessica was a founding member of the Zukerman ChamberPlayers, a string quintet led by Pinchas Zukerman. During the 8 years they performed together, they toured extensively to international acclaim appearing throughout North America, South America the Middle East, Europe, and Asia.  Their recording of the Mozart Viola Quintet in G minor was nominated for a Juno Award and its fifth release, Quintets by Mozart and Dvorak, is on the Altara Label. Chamber music collaborations have included some of the most illustrious artists of a generation - Emanuel Ax, Yefim Bronfman, James Ehnes, Leon Fleisher, Lynn Harrell, Yo-Yo Ma, Jon Kimura Parker, Itzhak Perlman, Gil Shaham, and Michael Tree.

In 2014, Jessica and three of her NACO colleagues formed the Ironwood String Quartet, and they are frequent performers at various chamber music series and festivals, including the WolfGANG and MFASA series, as well as the Pontiac Enchanté, Ritornello, and Classical Unbound festivals.

As her schedule permits, she is also a solo artist in demand across North America. Over the past couple of years she performed with orchestras in the United States, as well as in Canada, including the Edmonton and Thunder Bay Symphonies, and the National Arts Centre Orchestra.

Jessica is also the Artistic Director of the ‘Classical Unbound Festival’, a chamber music festival in Prince Edward County.

Accepted to the world-renowned Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia at the age of ten, Jessica remains one of the youngest ever Bachelor of Music graduates in the history of the school. While there, Jessica’s primary teachers were Aaron Rosand, Jaime Laredo and Ida Kavafian. At eighteen, she received her Master of Music degree from the Manhattan School of Music in New York City where she studied with Pinchas Zukerman and Patinka Kopec.

Jessica Linnebach plays a circa 1840 Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume (Guarnerius del Gésu 1737) violin.  Her bows are crafted by Ron Forrester and Michael Vann.

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