Nothing like some Schumann under the sun.

The San Francisco Conservatory of Music and the Hawaii Chamber Music Festival are continuing their partnership for another beach season—and this year, there's an old friend there as well.

Renowned violinist and Opus 3 Artist Stefan Jackiw is the HCMF's new Artistic Director this year, deepening his connection with the Festival, which began with his debut in 2021. He'll be joined by SFCM's Kaimana Quartet, composed of Mathea Goh (violin), Alexandra (Ayoun) Kim (cello), Shintaro Taneda (violin), and Jun-Ting Wei (viola). The Quartet will be playing alongside Jackiw in three of the Festival's concerts from June 13-23, with Taneda playing two more concerts as part of the Festival, including in an ensemble alongside the Festival's founder, Christopher Yick.

Stefan Jackiw.

“Stefan has been tremendous for HCMF since his debut in 2021,” Yick said. “As a growing chamber music festival, we feel having a superstar like Jackiw will not only elevate our artistic and organizational profile but also increase our educational efforts here in the local community of Honolulu. He is the perfect fit for our organization." (Jackiw will be performing as part of SFCM's Chamber Music Tuesday series in the Conservatory's 2024-2025 season.)

For the second year in a row, SFCM is the HCMF's Education Partner, and students are selected to perform as part of the Kaimana Quartet by SFCM's Chair of String and Piano Chamber Music department, Dimitri Murrath. “Hawaii loves San Francisco and San Francisco loves Hawaii," Yick said last year of the organizations' partnership. “The community was delighted to hear such world-class talent performing here on the islands.”

Highlighting the students' opportunity to gain performance experience and act as mentors to the younger musicians at the Festival, Murrath added, "to have this all take place in a beautiful setting like Hawaii makes this partnership with the HCMF an even better experience for our students.”

Founded in 2018, the HCMF has featured over 50 artists and produced over 50 concerts. In 2021, the organization launched its first-ever tuition-free Young Artist Program for Hawaii’s local talented youth. The Kaimana Quartet is named for the Kaimana Beach Hotel, one of the chief sponsors of the Festival, along with Lilian Tsai.

Learn more about the Hawaii Chamber Music Festival or studying chamber music at SFCM.