Balourdet Quartet

Angela Bae, Violin - Justin DeFilippis, Violin - Benjamin Zannoni, Viola - Russell Houston, Cello

Born in Seoul, Korea, Angela Bae is a violinist in the Balourdet Quartet. She began her musical aspirations at the age of three. Angela has appeared as a soloist in venues such as Carnegie Hall, Disney Hall, and Sydney Town Hall, and when she was 16, she became the youngest ever Concertmaster of the American Youth Symphony in LA. She has won awards in Korea and the United States, including the Korea Times Competition, Alexander and Buono International Competition, and Mika Hasler Competition. As a chamber musician, she has performed with artists including Gil Shaham, Kenneth Goldsmith, Geoffrey Nutall, and Alexander Sitkovetsky. Ms. Bae is a recent graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music Professional String Quartet Program where she studied with Donald Weilerstein. She also studied with Paul Kantor at Rice University, Phillip Levy in Los Angeles, and Simin Ganatra.

A native of New Jersey, Justin DeFilippis is a violinist in the Balourdet Quartet. He is a graduate of the New England Conservatory, Rice University Shepherd School of Music, and Juilliard School Pre-College Division, where his major teachers were Austin Hartman, Miriam Fried, Nicholas Kitchen, Cho-Liang Lin, Donald Weilerstein, and Elizabeth Chang. He has collaborated alongside artists including the Silkroad Ensemble, Jon Kimura Parker, and Matthew Lipman, as well as members of the Ying and American Quartets.

Benjamin Zannoni, the violist of the Balourdet Quartet, has performed around the world and shared the stage with artists such as Ralph Kirshbaum, Elmar Oliveira, Cho-Liang Lin, Anthony McGill and Marc-André Hamelin. He is a recent graduate from the New England Conservatory and has also received degrees from Rice University, Manhattan School of Music and the Juilliard School, where he studied with Mark Holloway, Martha Katz, Mai Motobuchi, James Dunham, Karen Dreyfus, Pinchas Zukerman, Patinka Kopec, Heidi Castleman and Robert Vernon. Zannoni is originally from Houston, Texas. 

Russell Houston, from Dallas, Texas, is the cellist of the Balourdet Quartet. He is the winner of the Lynn Harrell Concerto Competition and Sorantin International Competition and performed as soloist with orchestras including the Dallas and Plano Symphonies. Houston has had the privilege of sharing the stage with renowned artists such as Clive Greensmith, Cho-Liang Lin, Brinton Smith, and members of the Cleveland and Dover Quartets. He holds degrees from the New England Conservatory, Rice University, Colburn Conservatory, and Northwestern University, where he studied with Paul Katz, Brinton Smith, Clive Greensmith, Hans Jensen, and Brandon Vamos.