Ignace Jang (born 1969) is a South Korean and French

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

ist and is a grand and jury prize recipient. He is concertmaster of the

Hawaii Symphony The Hawaiʻi Symphony Orchestra, formerly known as Honolulu Symphony Orchestra, was founded in 1900. It is the second oldest orchestra in the United States west of the Rocky Mountains. The orchestra now plays mainly at the Hawaii Theatre Center ...

and teaches at the

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa The University of Hawaii at Mānoa is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Hawaiʻi system and houses the main offic ...

Background

Jang was born to South Korean parents in

Grenoble Grenoble ( ; ; or ; or ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Isère Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region ...

where by the age of five he began his first violin lessons with Flora Elphege and then continued it with Gerard Poulet at the

Conservatoire de Paris The Conservatoire de Paris (), or the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (; CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue Jean Ja ...

. He was fascinated with

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

and Argentinian music especially

Astor Piazzolla Astor Pantaleón Piazzolla (, ; March 11, 1921 – July 4, 1992) was an Argentine tango composer, bandoneon player, and arranger. His works revolutionized the traditional tango into a new style termed '' nuevo tango'', incorporating elements fr ...

and his

tango Tango is a partner dance and social dance that originated in the 1880s along the Río de la Plata, the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay. The tango was born in the impoverished port areas of these countries from a combination of Arge ...

s. Currently he is a

concertmaster The concertmaster (from the German language, German ''Konzertmeister''), first chair (U.S.) or leader (UK) is the principal first violin player in an orchestra (clarinet or oboe in a concert band). After the Conducting, conductor, the concertma ...

of both the

Britt Festival The Britt Music & Arts Festival is a non-profit performing arts festival located in Jacksonville, Oregon. Since its creation it has been among the premier performing arts festivals in the Northwest, and has managed to attract high-profile and local ...

and the

Hawaii Symphony Orchestra The Hawaiʻi Symphony Orchestra, formerly known as Honolulu Symphony Orchestra, was founded in 1900. It is the second oldest orchestra in the United States west of the Rocky Mountains. The orchestra now plays mainly at the Hawaii Theatre Center ...

as well as a teacher at the

. In 1989 he became a prize winner at both the

Rodolfo Lipizer Rodolfo Lipizer (January 16, 1895 – June 8, 1974), was an Italian violinist, professor of music, and orchestra conductor. Lipizer was born in Gorizia, Italy. The International Violin Competition “Rodolfo Lipizer Prize” is named in his hon ...

and

Lions Club Lions Clubs International, is an international service organization, currently headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois. , it had over 46,000 local clubs and more than 1.4 million members (including the youth wing Leo clubs, Leo) in more than 200 ge ...

's violin competitions and Eastern Music Festival. He also was a participant of various festivals such in such places as

Berlioz Louis-Hector Berlioz (11 December 1803 – 8 March 1869) was a French Romantic music, Romantic composer and conductor. His output includes orchestral works such as the ''Symphonie fantastique'' and ''Harold en Italie, Harold in Italy'' ...

, Chirens and Colorado Music Festival. He played in various

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, ...

s including

Théâtre des Champs-Élysées The Théâtre des Champs-Élysées () is an entertainment venue standing at 15 avenue Montaigne in Paris. It is situated near Avenue des Champs-Élysées, from which it takes its name. Its eponymous main hall may seat up to 1,905 people, while th ...

and at the

Sejong Center Sejong Center for the Performing Arts () is the largest arts and cultural complex in Seoul, South Korea. It has an interior area of 53,202m². It is situated in the center of the capital, on Sejongno, a main road that cuts through the capital city ...

where he performed before the

First Lady of South Korea The first lady of the Republic of Korea (), commonly known as the first lady of South Korea, is the title held by the hostess of the Presidential Residence of South Korea, presidential residence, usually the wife of the president of South Korea ...

. He also was a guest soloist with the

under the Samuel Wong's baton and

Colorado Symphony The Colorado Symphony is an American symphony orchestra located in Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital ...

which was under

Marin Alsop Marin Alsop (; born October 16, 1956) is an American conductor. She is the first woman to win the Koussevitzky Prize for conducting and the first conductor to be awarded a MacArthur Fellowship. She is music director laureate of the Baltimor ...

. Besides South Korea and France, he traveled everywhere in Asia and Europe and even participated at the

1992 Winter Olympics The 1992 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVI Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Albertville '92 (Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Arbèrtvile '92''), were a winter multi-sport event held from 8 to 23 February 1992 in and aroun ...

Music Festival. Since 1991 he became a member of the Equinox duo.

References

1969 births Living people 21st-century French violinists 21st-century male musicians French male violinists South Korean violinists Musicians from Grenoble {{Violinist-stub