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The violin department at the ����ֱ�� is strong and growing stronger.  

That’s the message from CIM this week, as the school announces several key developments and appointments to broaden the school’s world-class violin offerings through the 2025-26 academic year and beyond.  

“As we prepare for national searches to enlarge our violin department, we welcome an exciting roster of guest appointments and partnerships, all while celebrating and supporting our world-class faculty,” said Scott Harrison, CIM’s Executive Vice President & Provost.  

Among the most prominent of the new developments is the appointment of violinist Catherine Cho as a visiting artist-in-residence for the 2025-26 academic year.  

A faculty member with CIM’s Chamber Music Intensive summer program and one of the nation’s most in-demand violin teachers at The Juilliard School, Cho will be in residence at CIM two times next year. She will lead masterclasses and workshops, present a recital, and engage with students throughout CIM’s string areas of study. 

Equally exciting to CIM is a new arrangement with Stephen Tavani (AD ’18, Preucil), a CIM alum now serving as assistant concertmaster of The Cleveland Orchestra. Given his prominent role in the orchestra, Tavani will lead sectionals for the CIM Orchestra and teach CIM’s Violin Repertoire class, a cornerstone of the curriculum. 

Another high-profile development is the welcoming of Oberlin Conservatory professor of violin Sibbi Bernhardsson, a former member of the renowned Pacifica Quartet, to teach a studio of continuing students through the 2025-26 school year.  

What isn’t changing: the department’s foundation. Even as new faces enter the mix, CIM’s violin department will retain its illustrious core consisting of Ilya Kaler, Olga Dubossarskaya Kaler, Philip Setzer, Malcolm Lowe, and Todd Phillips.  

At the same time, these artists have exciting plans of their own – plans to share and combine their talents in new ways in response to the needs of their students.  

Setzer, for instance, will share his studio with Phillips, who will expand his role beyond chamber music into applied violin instruction. This move comes in tandem with CIM’s recently announced launch of a new conductor-less chamber orchestra, which will be led by Phillips.     

Lowe, meanwhile, will launch a Concertmaster Practicum, capitalizing on his former role as the longtime concertmaster of the Boston Symphony Orchestra to convey his knowledge of violin performance and leadership from the first desk.  

He also will share his studio with newly appointed guest violin faculty Eun-Song Koh (BM ’16, Sloman/Updegraff), a former teacher at the prestigious Interlochen Arts Academy.  

Speaking with CIM's current and future violin students in mind, Ilya Kaler said the new appointments and faculty expansions at CIM will ensure the school remains a leader in the realm of violin performance.  

“As our department moves into a new era, our students will be all the better equipped to take their place as the future of classical music,” he said.