St. Charles String Quartet

In the event the St. Charles String Quartet is unavailable, the St. Charles Strings can form ensembles for your event.  The St. Charles Strings are professional freelance musicians who perform regularly in the Maryland/DC/NoVA area.  They also frequently perform along with the St. Charles String Quartet members and are familiar with our repertoire.

Patrcia Wang, Violin/Piano

Patricia currently resides in Maryland where she recently graduated from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University with a Bachelors of Music in Violin Performance as well as a Minor in Voice and a liberal arts concentration.  Her musical journey began at the age of 4 when she first started learning the violin.  By the age of 6, she was also being formally trained in both Voice and the Piano.  During her most formative stages of violin training, she had the opportunity to participate in master classes taught by Fung Ho, Nai-Yuan Hu, Ruggiero Ricci, Jay Zhong, Sherry Kloss and Linda Wang. At the Peabody Institute, Ms. Wang completed her Bachelor’s degree in violin under the tutelage of Professor Keng-Yuen Tseng, pupil of Erick Friedman and the silver medalist of the Queen Elisabeth International Violin Competition in Belgium 1993. Alongside violin, Ms. Wang furthered her vocal talents at the Peabody Institute with Mrs. Carol Cavey-Miles. Patricia is currently a faculty member at the Royal Arts Academy in Olney, MD.  Ms. Wang enjoys camping, surfing, martial arts, and riding roller coasters.

Chia-Yin Ma, Violin

Chia-yin(Carol) Ma was born in Taiwan. She started playing piano when she was 3 and violin when she was 5. She studied both violin and piano at the Fu Jen Catholic University in Taiwan for her bachelor degree.  She studied at the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland for her master degree in violin performance. She took jazz lessons and classes with Gary Thomas (jazz saxophonist), and has been performing with the Peabody jazz big band since 2005.  She has arranged and recorded the strings sections for the albums of Kathy Watson’s album entitled “Come to Me,” the jazz pianist Joel Holmes’ album entitled “African Skies,” and also the saxophonist Russell Kirk for his first debut Album entitled “Black &White”.

Jihea Choi, Cello

St. Charles Strings member since April 2009.  Graduate of Catholic University (BM), Northern Illinois Univesity (Performers Certificate), University of Maryland (MM).  Performed on Millenium Stage at Kennedy Center from 1998-2000 and currently performs with Fairfax Symphony.

Gabriel Dimarco, Cello

Gabriel received his Bachelor of Music degree in Cello Performance and Music Composition from The Catholic University of America, Benjamin T. Rome School of Music in Washington D.C. There he studied cello with Robert Newkirk, string pedagogy with Jody Gatwood, and composition with Dr. Helmut Braunlich. He has played cello with several orchestras including the Georgetown Symphony Orchestra, the Chamber Orchestra of Southern Maryland and the Londontowne Symphony Orchestra where he was principal cellist. Gabriel is currently a member of the St. Charles String Quartet and Simply Classics String Quartet.
He has also contributed greatly in the music education field, serving as adjudicator and guest conductor for many Maryland school orchestra festivals. Gabriel currently teaches cello at The Academy of Fine Arts in Gaithersburg, Maryland. His teaching method was influenced strongly by cellist Scott Cook at the String Academy of Wisconsin, where he attended string pedagogy workshops for cello.

Jonathan Stark, Cello

Jonathan Stark is a cellist and teacher who is in demand in the Northern Virginia area.  A native of Northfield, MN, Jonathan started playing cello when he was five years old and is passionate about sharing his love of music with others through teaching and performing. During high school, he had the opportunity to study with David Carter, cello professor at St. Olaf College. After high school, Jonathan attended the University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire for two years where he studied cello with Paul R. Kosower and was very fortunate to play under the orchestra direction of Nobuyoshi Yasuda. He transferred to Baldwin-Wallace College in Berea, Ohio where he earned a Bachelor of Music degree in cello performance under the instruction of cello professor, Regina Mushabac.  He completed  his Master of Music degree in cello performance at Cleveland State University, where he studied with David Alan Harrell and Bryan Dumm, members of the Cleveland Orchestra.   Jonathan taught cello through the Baldwin-Wallace prep-department and continues to teach privately using the Suzuki method as the starting point for his teaching.

Catherine Mikelson, Cello

Cellist Catherine Mikelson performs regularly in the Baltimore and Washington, D.C. areas.  She is a member of the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra and is an avid chamber musician.  Her venues have included the Kennedy Center, Heinz Hall, Kreeger Museum, Walters Art Gallery, Peabody Library, and the American Cathedral in Paris.  Catherine’s competitions and honors include being a prize winner in the Silberman Chamber Music Competition and the Rising Stars Competition.  She has been awarded the Osher Scholarship and the Cecil and Hella Armstrong Fellowship.  Catherine received her Bachelor of Music from the Peabody Conservatory of Music and has a Master of Music from Carnegie Mellon University.