Stamps String Quartet
Lydia Newton
Lydia Newton is a senior violin performance major at the Frost School of Music, where she studies with Charles Castleman as a Class of 2022 Stamps String Quartet Scholar. She has been a state winner and national finalist in the Music Teachers’ National Association’s competitions. Lydia has been awarded music education grants from the Rachel Barton Pine Foundation and The Performing Arts Consortium. She has soloed with the Atlanta Community Symphony Orchestra, the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, the Georgia Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Southeastern Louisiana University Chamber Orchestra. Recent recitals have been featured in Hilton Head’s “Young Artist Performances” and Charleston’s “Music Matters” concert series. Beyond her musical pursuits, Lydia loves running, reading nonfiction, and drawing portraits.
Soohyun Chae
Born in Seoul, South Korea and raised in Lubbock, Texas, Soohyun Chae began his violin training at the age of 6, studying under the tutelage of Kirsten Yon and John Gilbert throughout his pre-collegiate years. During his early years as a violinist, he joined STELR (Suzuki Talent Education of the Lubbock Region) as well as the Lubbock Youth Symphony Orchestra, serving frequent leadership positions over his many years of participation. Recently, Soohyun has attended various summer music programs including Bravo, the Pienza Music Festival, the Castleman Quartet Program, and the Kent Blossom Music Festival. He has also received lessons and masterclasses from numerous distinguished professors, including Sally O’Reilly, Yair Kless, Cornelia Heard, Joseph Kalichstein, and Peter Otto. On top of his musical experiences, he has won numerous Texas state-wide honors. He has been a member of Texas All-State Orchestra for 3 years as well as being selected as an Outstanding Performer at the Texas State Solo and Ensemble Violin Solo Contest 3 times in a row. Soohyun also won the LYSO Concerto Competition in 2016, performing the Barber Violin Concerto with orchestra during LYSO’s Spring Orchestra Concert. Currently, Soohyun studies with Charles Castleman as a Distinguished Stamps Scholar at the Frost School of Music and is a frequent performer in the Henri Mancini Institute Orchestra. In his free time, he enjoys listening to film and game soundtracks and creating transcriptions and arrangements based off them.
Wynne Owre
Wynne Owre, violinist/violist, is majoring in Instrumental Performance at the Frost School of Music located at the University of Miami, where she is a Stamps Distinguished Ensemble Scholar. She studies viola with Jodi Levitz and violin with Bettina Mussumeli. For the past three summers, Wynne has attended the Meadowmount School of Music in Westport, New York in the studio of Gerardo Ribeiro. During the summer of 2019, she also attended the Zephyr International Chamber Music Festival, in addition to the Castleman Quartet program. She has also performed with the ICMC Music Festival in Italy and France. In 2015 and 2016, she performed under the baton of Michael Tilson Thomas in the New World Symphony Side by Side concerts. In her free time Wynne enjoys horseback riding, and has been competing in hunter/jumper competitions since the age of five.
Ruth Stokes
Ruth Stokes, violoncello, is a senior studying Instrumental Performance with Professor Ross Harbaugh at the Frost School of Music located at the University of Miami, where she is a Stamps Distinguished Ensemble Scholar, Class of 2022. Ruth is from Minnesota, where she previously studied with cellist Tom Rosenberg. Ruth has been principal cellist and soloed with the orchestra at St Croix Preparatory Academy. She also played in the Symphony Orchestra of Minnesota Youth Symphonies for two years under Manny Laureano, during which she went on an international tour to Cuba, was a finalist in their symphony solo competition, and served as principal cellist. Ruth attended University of Northwestern for her final two years of high school, playing with their orchestra both years, and was principal cellist for her second year. She has attended the Green Lake Chamber Music Camp, the Credo Oberlin Chamber Music Festival, the St Paul Chamber Music Institute, and the Castleman Quartet Program. She was recently a finalist in the Frost Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition. Ruth uses music to worship God and love others. She greatly enjoys science, art, poetry, horseback riding, and spending time with her parents and her four siblings.