Program and Artist Biography

Cellist Hee-Young Lim made her Kennedy Center recital debut at the Terrace Theater in 2007. A winner of numerous competitions, Ms. Lim, a native of Korea, has won the Washington International Competition for Strings, the Barnett Foundation Competition, and the Sorantin International String Competition. She captured the grand prize at the IBLA International Competition in Italy, where she was given a Special Mention and recognized as a Most Distinguished Musician. She joined Astral Artists' roster as the winner of its 2009 national auditions. Ms. Lim has performed at Carnegie Hall, Jordan Hall in Boston, Miller Theater in Houston, Seoul Arts Center, Sejong Center for the Performing Arts, and Kumho Art Hall in Seoul. She was a featured performer at a special concert marking the anniversary of Korea-China diplomatic relations, and she has given solo recitals in Canada's Jeunesse Musicales' Debut Series, the Kumho Prodigy recital series, and for the Korean National University of Arts. The Adam International Cello Festival in Christchurch, New Zealand, featured her in the world première of a solo work for cello by Robin Toan. Ms. Lim received a bachelor's degree from Korean National University of Arts, where she was the youngest student ever accepted and completed her master's degree at the New England Conservatory of Music in 2009. Ms. Lim currently attends the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris where she studies with Philippe Muller.

Pianist Noreen Cassidy-Polera ranks among the most highly-regarded and diverse chamber artists performing today, and maintains a career that has taken her to every major American music center and abroad to Europe, Russia, and Asian centers. Winner of the Accompanying Prize at the Eighth International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, Ms. Cassidy-Polera regularly collaborates with laureates of the Queen Elisabeth, Tchaikovsky and Naumburg international competitions. She has collaborated with leading soloists including David Shifrin, Matt Haimovitz, Carter Brey, Antonio Menesis, Aurora-Natalie Ginastera, Yo-Yo Ma and Leonard Rose. Her mastery and affection for the complete standard cello-piano repertory is well-known, as is her attention and dedication to the works of living composers.  In recent seasons she performed Elliott Carter’s venerable Sonata for Cello and Piano on tour in Paris, New York and Philadelphia, along with new works by Lowell Liebermann, Benjamin C.S. Boyle and Kenji Bunch to critical acclaim.  Her CD recording Sound Vessels (with cellist Scott Kluksdahl) features the recording premiere of Richard Wernick’s Duo, and works of Robert Helps, Augusta Read Thomas as well as Elliott Carter. She has recorded for EMI, Audiophon and Centaur Records. Ms. Cassidy-Polera holds Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from the Juilliard School, where she studied with Martin Canin.