Meet the Members
Jonathan Mak
Piano
Winner of the 2024 inaugural Concours international de musique de Sorel-Tracy, pianist Jonathan Mak made his orchestra debut at the age of 4. Since then, he has been a guest soloist with numerous orchestras, most notably the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal. In addition to his win at the Sorel-Tracy competition, Jonathan's recent accomplishments include the Grand Prize at the 2023 Bader & Overton Canadian Piano Competition, Grand Prize at the 2023 Plowman Chamber Music Competition with Trio Menil, the First Prize at the 2024 Tuesday Musical Club’s Young Artists Competition, and the third prize in the OSM competition. Jonathan received special prizes at the Ljubljana Festival International Piano Competition in Slovenia, and the Maj Lind International Piano Competition in Finland. He has also participated in the 16th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.​​
Named as one of CBC’s 30 hot Canadian classical musicians under 30, Jonathan is a recipient of the Canada Council for the Arts-Michael Measures award and the Sylva Gelber Music Foundation Award, along with the 2023 Walter Prystawski Prize.
In the upcoming 24/25 season Jonathan will be performing Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat major, Op. 83 with the Orchestre symphonique de Trois-Rivières, Kingston Symphony Orchestra and the Shepherd School Symphony Orchestra.
He has been invited to perform at various festivals including the Bravo! Vail Festival in Colorado, the Festival of the Sound in Ontario, Ottawa Chamberfest, and the Edinburgh International Festival.
An advocate for community outreach, Jonathan is an alumnus of DACAMERA’s Young Artist Program, a fellowship program for emerging professional instrumentalists, vocalists, and composers that serves the Houston community.
Jonathan is currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts at Rice University with Jon Kimura Parker. He began his studies with Aster Lai in Toronto, and holds a Master’s of Music and a Master’s of Musical Arts degree from the Yale School of Music, studying with Boris Slutsky. He received his Bachelor’s degree at the Cleveland Institute of Music with Dr. Daniel Shapiro, as well as minors in viola and German.
Jeongwon Claire An
Violin
South Korean violinist Jeongwon (Claire) An is a versatile violinist experienced in solo, chamber, and orchestra settings who joined the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra in September 2023 as a member of the first violin section.
As a chamber music enthusiast, Jeongwon is a founding member of Trio Menil, the Grand Prize and Odyssey Chamber Music Series Award winner of the 2023 Plowman Chamber Music Competition, and is a recipient of the Peter Salaff Prize in Chamber Music from the Eastman School of Music. She feels grateful to have performed the U.S. premiere of Yevhen Stankovych’s “Almost Serenade” for Two Violins in recital with Oleh Krysa, and shared the stage with Jon Kimura Parker, James Dunham, and Norman Fischer.
She was invited to participate in numerous international festivals including Mozarteum Sommerakademie, IMS Prussia Cove, Aspen Music Festival, and New York String Orchestra Seminar (NYSOS), and in concert venues like the Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, Walt Disney Concert Hall, and various halls in Asia.
A recipient of the Korean Embassy’s Korean Honor Scholarship, Jeongwon has served principal positions in the Shepherd School Symphony, Eastman Philharmonia, and Aspen Festival Ensemble. She also performed as an acting concertmaster of Symphony S.O.N.G. (Seoul, South Korea), and as a substitute violinist in the Minnesota Orchestra. She has given world premiere performances of Masatoshi Mitsumoto “Concertino for Violin and Orchestra” (2020, CalState LA Symphony / Olympia Youth Orchestra), and Michael Daugherty’s “The Old Man and the Sea” Piano Trio (2016, MTAC’s Friend of Today’s Music Program).
An advocate for community outreach, Jeongwon was a member of DACAMERA’s Young Artist Program in 2022-2023, a fellowship program for emerging professional instrumentalists, vocalists, and composers that serves the Houston community. She also served as a mentor of YOLA (Youth Orchestra Los Angeles), LA Philharmonic’s El Sistema music education program. She is currently on faculty at the Hochstein School as a chamber music coach and co-director of the Strings & Piano Chamber Music Connections camp, and maintains a private violin studio.
Jeongwon has studied and worked with inspiring master musicians such as Pierre Amoyal, Steven Doane, James Dunham, Anthony Marwood, Donald Weilerstein, and Kathleen Winkler, and will always be a student of her loving mentors, Fung Ho, Paul Kantor, and Oleh Krysa. She is currently playing on a 1703 G.B. Rogeri violin, generously on loan from the Maestro Foundation.
David Dietz
Cello
Cellist David Dietz has performed across North America and Europe and is experienced in a variety of settings as a performer, educator, and administrator. His belief in classical music’s ability to strengthen communities and bring people together has driven his involvement in many creative projects, including the Houston Music Festival, as co-founder; the Windwood Music Festival, as community liaison; and Monarch Chamber Players, as a core member.
Chamber music is at the core of David’s musical practice. He is a founding member of Trio Menil, a piano trio that performs extensively throughout the United States and was the Grand Prizewinner at the 2023 Plowman Chamber Music Competition. During the 2024-25 season, Trio Menil performed a series of concerts in diverse venues across Houston featuring a new work written for the Trio by Nicky Sohn. Other recent performance highlights of David’s include appearances with APERIO, Monarch Chamber Players, DACAMERA Young Artists, the Windwood Trio, and recitals with pianist Tong Wang in Houston and Montreal.
David was raised by two public school music teachers, and firmly believes in music education’s ability to lift up communities and build a more compassionate society. He regularly appears in classrooms across Houston to perform and speak about classical music, and has recently given masterclasses at Houston’s High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, American Festival of the Arts, and Opus 1 Chamber Music School. David also serves on the faculty of Lone Star College- University Park as an Adjunct Instructor of Cello and maintains a robust private studio.
David holds a Master’s Degree from Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music where he studied with Desmond Hoebig, and a Bachelor of Music and Performance Diploma from Indiana University, where he studied with Eric Kim. In his free time David loves to read historical fiction novels, drink a lot of coffee, and explore the many bicycle trails throughout Houston, Texas. For more information, visit www.daviddietzcello.com.
