FACULTY


Bongshin Ko

Hailed by critics for her “most perfect playing” (Internet Cello Society) with “great warmth and beauty” (The STRAD), cellist Bongshin Ko has appeared worldwide as a soloist with such groups as Television and Radio Symphony of Moscow, Munich Chamber Players, the KBS Korean Broadcasting Symphony, Zagreb Philharmonic, and Central Broadcasting Symphony of China to name a few. Ms. Ko was the first Korean artist to be invited to perform in China after the historic resumption of diplomatic relations between South Korea and China, and has since been invited back annually.

Ms. Ko has collaborated with some of the world’s greatest artists including Mstislav Rostropovich, Bernard Greenhouse, Sir Georg Solti, Leonard Stein, Gunther Schuller, Semyon Bychkov and Valery Gergiev. She appeared at Seoul International Music Festival to give the Asian premiere of Bernard Rands’ Cello Concerto, dedicated to and world premiered by Mstislav Rostropovich in celebration of his 70th birthday. Other international music events and festivals welcomed her to Schleswig-Holstein festival, Kronberg Cello festival, Hoertnagel Konzertdirekzion, Berlin Wall 10th anniversary concert, Rostropovich & Friends Concert (Germany), American Cello Congresses, Kumho Guest Artist Recital, plus numerous others in France, Italy, Switzerland, Spain, Luxembourg, Poland, Russia, Monaco, Croatia, USA, Korea, China, Japan, Hong Kong, and Indonesia.

She has performed to critical acclaims on NDR and Bayerischer Rundfunk (Germany), Fuji TV (Japan), TV New Zealand, TV China, Korean Broadcasting Systems and NBC. As a member of the European-based Tritton Cello Quartet she can be heard on the Musica Columna label. Her live performances of Brahms and Barber sonatas are often broadcast on the Arte TV in Korea and over the transpacific in-flight classical station on Asiana Airlines. Ms. Ko’s Haydn and Saint-Saens concerti, recorded with Munich Chamber Players in Germany, can also be heard on the SONY Classical label.

As a recipient of over 30 international prizes and awards, including the highest performance award in her native Korea and the Crossroad Award in the US for her “superior teaching,” she is on popular demand as a teacher as well as a performer around the globe. Prestigious schools where she taught special guest master classes include The Juilliard School, Mannheim Musikhochschule, Korean National University of Arts, Nürnberg School for Music, and Bejing Central Conservatory. Serving as Professor of Cello and Vice Director at Cal State University Fullerton School of Music she is also active in supporting young talents and promoting cello art through   Greenhouse Foundation & Festival   , which she founded together with the late legendary cellist Bernard Greenhouse in 2008. As a leading member of The New York Soloists and New York Public Library Concert Series Ms. Ko performs frequently at major venues and concert halls throughout five continents.

Christoph Wagner

Dr. Christoph Wagner is a prize-winning cellist and sought-after pedagogue and lecturer who enjoys a diverse international career. He received first prizes at the German Youth Competition Jugend Musiziert, Ribalta Mozart Italia in Italy, and the Peter Pirazzi Competition in Germany. Prize-winner of the National Society of Arts and Letters competition in Bloomington, Indiana in both 2016 and 2017, he holds scholarships from the Richard Wagner Verband in Frankfurt, the Lions Club in Karlsruhe, and the Theodor Rogler Foundation for Young Musicians. In 2018, he received the Sviatoslav Richter Grant from Rice University, followed by the Amici di Via Gabina Fellowship in 2019 for research and performances in Italy. Wagner has performed in major concert halls in Europe such as the Berlin Philharmonie and the Concertgebouw Amsterdam under renowned conductors including Jonathan Nott, Lothar Zagrosek and Stefan Asbury, and appeared at festivals throughout Europe and the US. His international career has spanned four continents, including appearances in Switzerland, Croatia, France, Italy, South Africa, South America, China, South Korea and the US.

Wagner has been a passionate music ambassador as fellowship holder from Live Music Now - Yehudi Menuhin Foundation in Germany and as a musician in Classical Connections in Bloomington where he played numerous concerts in underserved areas. Active in expanding the role of the arts in community outreach, Wagner participated in a summer residency with LA Street Symphony in Los Angeles in 2018, working with homeless and prison communities, and was a Young Artist Fellow with DA CAMERA Houston from 2018 - 2020. 

Wagner received a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Music in Frankfurt, a Master of Music at Indiana University, and received the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University. As a graduate research fellow at Houston Methodist Research Institute he conducted research focusing on injuries and injury prevention in orchestral musicians. He taught as adjunct faculty of music at Lone Star College in Houston from 2018 - 2023 and is currently Assistant Professor of Cello at University of New Mexico.