Previous Music Around The Corner Concerts (Photo courtesy of Music Around The Corner)

Music Around the Corner is back to offer chamber music in unusual locations, with two performances on December 27 and 28. The concerts highlight the music of Canadian composers, including a work from the organization’s Call for Scores.

The program for both concerts includes new and contemporary works, alongside a beloved work from the classical repertoire:

Francis Malka: Quatuor 1
Reena Esmail: String Quartet “Ragamala”
Maurice Ravel: String Quartet in F Major

Performers

Emma Meinrenken, Violinist, Co-Director

Canadian violinist Emma Meinrenken earned a Bachelor of Music from the Curtis Institute of Music and Master’s degree from Yale. She is the recipient of Yale’s Presser Foundation Graduate Music Award. She has won several international awards, including first place at the Stradivarius International Violin Competition and the Prix Ravel at the Ecole d’Art Américaines de Fontainebleau. Emma has performed at multiple festivals internationally, including the NUME Festival in Italy, Norfolk Music Festival, Verbier Festival, Krzyżowa Music Festival, and the Four Seasons Winter Workshop. She made her orchestral debut with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra at the age of ten, and has performed as a soloist with many others over her career, including most recently the Richmond Symphony. She has premiered compositions that were dedicated to her, including her Carnegie Hall debut performing a piece by Fred Lerdahl. Emma is currently pursuing a doctorate degree at CUNY. She plays on the 1717 Windsor-Weinstein Stradivarius, on loan from the Canada Council for the Arts.

Lynn Sue-A-Quan, Violist, Co-Director

A native of Toronto, violist Lynn Sue-A-Quan is currently a member of the Jacksonville Symphony. Lynn earned both an undergraduate and master’s degree at The Juilliard School. She has worked with several orchestras across North America as a soloist, including the Aspen Music Festival Orchestra, Niagara Symphony, Guelph Symphony Orchestra, and Oakville Chamber Orchestra, among others. She has also performed at several music festivals, including the Lucerne Music Festival, Tanglewood Music Center and Verbier Festival, and she is a founding member of the Toronto-based chamber music collective Music Around the Corner. Lynn is also a passionate educator in her private studio, and she was a recipient of the Morse Teaching Artists Fellowship at Juilliard, where she taught students in New York City.

Diane Kim, Violinist

Korean-Canadian violinist Diane Dahyeon Kim has an active international career. She performed in the National Youth Orchestra in 2022 and 2023, where she received the Stephen Sitarski Leadership Award and served as a Co-Concertmaster. In 2019, she was a member of the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival and was also a substitute violinist at the Millenium Symphony in Seoul, South Korea, the SFK Euro Symphony and the Kärnten Symphony Orchester in Klagenfurt, Austria. Diane made her orchestral debut with the Cathedral Bluffs Symphony Orchestra, performing the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto. She is a graduate of the Glenn Gould School, where she earned a Bachelor of Music degree, and subsequently received her master’s degree at the Gustav Mahler Privat Universität. Diane is currently pursuing an Artist Diploma program at the Glenn Gould School.

Joanne Yesol Choi, Cellist

Korean-Canadian cellist Joanne Yesol Choi is based in Toronto, where she pursues a career in chamber music and education. She is the recipient of the 2025 Canada Council’s Virginia Parker Award, and was named as one of CBC’s 30 Under 30 Canadian Musicians. Joanne is a founding member of the award-winning Dior Quartet, and with them, she has toured and performed on many prominent stages worldwide. She leads Solegio Arts and the Art of Four Chamber Music Program, two initiatives that advance accessibility, representation, and innovation within the realm classical music.

The Concerts

December 27: Youthful Vengeance

The concert takes place at Youthful Vengeance, 1110 Dundas St W, at 7:30 p.m.

There will be a sight reading party after the concert, a relaxed jam session where musicians come together to play through scores on the spot. Anyone can join in, and composers are encouraged to bring pieces for the musicians to read through.

Find tickets and concert details [HERE].

December 28: Glad Day Lit

The concert takes place at Glad Day Lit’s new location on 32 Lisgar St at 2 p.m.

Find tickets and concert details [HERE].

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Anya Wassenberg

Anya Wassenberg is the Toronto City Editor at Ludwig Van. Previously, she was a freelance writer with a specialty in culture and travel for three decades, and a creative writing instructor for Ontariolearn.