Glow Music Newsletter

Hello, my friends!

It’s spring. 🌿 A lot has happened to Glow Music, and we are ready to spring forward! 😉 The newsletter is about to be very long, so I split it in half, and there is still so much to share. Go ahead and grab your favorite drink!

Yours truly,
Yeonkyung

Mentoring Session

The annual project of Glow Music features the premiere of a newly commissioned work, requiring performers to develop their own interpretations rather than rely on established traditions and recordings. This process creates a unique opportunity for performers and composers to collaborate—sharing ideas, experimenting, and shaping an artistic yet practical outcome together. At the same time, without a teacher or recording to guide them, students can feel on their own. I saw this as an opportunity to introduce coaching support while they are still in school.

While I initially hoped to offer this experience in person, I launched a virtual pilot program to assess its impact. Our coaches—Dr. Jamie Clark (cello, University of Iowa), Dr. Andrea Baker (bassoon, Western Illinois University), and Dr. Caroline Ahn (composition, former Dean of Anderson University School of Music)—promised to guide participants in balancing creativity with practicality and in engaging thoughtfully as performers and composers.

For this virtual session, I also introduced a range of topics, including establishing and maintaining an ensemble, navigating the academic job market, freelancing, building community and careers as international students, and achieving work–life balance as a musician.

The two-hour Zoom meeting on March 2 was hardly enough to cover the depth of real-life experiences shared or to address the many thoughtful and candid questions that arose. Still, it fostered a strong sense of community as we explored topics that are often overlooked in traditional conservatory education, yet are incredibly important. I received very positive feedback from both participants and coaches.

In addition to the virtual meeting, I introduced an element of ongoing mentorship by encouraging continued communication between students and coaches. This allows these relationships to grow into meaningful mentorships over time. Looking ahead, I plan to invite some of these mentors to Cincinnati to work with students in person and to share their artistry with our audiences. We would greatly appreciate your support for these efforts and future programs.

Collaboration with the Wyoming Fine Arts Center

Glow Music and the Wyoming Fine Arts Center (Cincinnati) celebrated a meaningful first step in their collaboration on March 13. Under the leadership of its new Executive Director, Brianna Matzke, the Center has an inspiring vision to become a hub for Wyoming’s visual and performing arts, as well as arts education.

As Glow Music continues to expand its performance venues and opportunities, WFAC generously offered its stage, resulting in wonderful performances by several talented students. The program featured music by classical composers such as Claude Debussy and Robert Schumann, alongside works by contemporary composers including Edward Kilenyi and Gene Koshinski.

More information about the program and performers can be found here.

Alumni Spotlight

Yasmine Bougacha, who performed solo violin music at our 2024 concert, is now in Cremona—the birthplace of the legendary luthier Antonio Stradivari. We briefly introduced her journey as a Fulbright Scholar in our last newsletter. Here is an interview with her that followed the last newsletter.

YK: Where are you now, and how long will you be there?
Yasmine: I arrived in Cremona, Italy, in September 2025 to begin my Fulbright studies. I will be here for about nine months, from late September through mid-July.

YK: What is your focus in the Fulbright program?
Yasmine: My focus is on preparing to become a concertmaster of a professional symphony orchestra. I audit courses at the Stauffer Center for Strings and the University of Pavia’s Department of Musicology to deepen my understanding of musicianship, history, and leadership—skills that will help me become the best concertmaster I can be.

The Stauffer Center for Strings offers an incredible Concertmaster Artist Diploma program, where distinguished concertmasters from major orchestras in Europe and the United States are invited to teach private lessons, lead master classes, and perform—sometimes alongside students. Although I am not enrolled in the diploma program, I spend a great deal of time auditing lessons and classes, and it has been an amazing experience.

At the University of Pavia, which is internationally recognized for its specialization in musicology, I meet occasionally with a professor who guides me toward resources that help answer my own questions about music and violin.

YK: How is it going?
Yasmine: It’s going well! Starting life in a foreign country challenges you in so many ways. I am also learning perspectives and approaches that aren’t typically taught in music schools in the United States. While I am very grateful for my teachers at CCM, I sometimes struggled because I was rarely a concertmaster or competition winner there. However, here in Italy, I feel that everything is gradually coming together to help me become the musician and performer I aspire to be.

I’ve mostly adjusted to the cultural and lifestyle differences now, but November was especially challenging. One of the biggest hurdles I’ve had to overcome is building the stamina to bike everywhere I need to go!

YK: Anything else you’d like us to feature?
Yasmine: I will be giving several recitals in 2026! I am currently trying to schedule them, but in Italy, things happen on their own timeline. When I share my availability, people often say, “Ci sentiamo,” which means “we’ll talk soon.” Ci sentiamo… but when?!

In the second half of the newsletter, we will look at the details of this.