Helena Bandy - Violin
Violinist Helena Bandy was born in Virginia Beach and began taking violin lessons at the age of four and piano lessons shortly after. She was exposed to a variety of music genres in childhood and grew up listening to and playing classical music, jazz, gospel, and funk.
Helena received both her BM and MM from Baylor University, studying violin performance with Dr. Bruce Berg and Dr. Eka Gogichashvili. During her time at Baylor, she also studied classical voice, piano, and improvisation. Being a zealous chamber musician, she developed and curated an interest in significant and unusual chamber works, performing Bartók’s Contrasts, Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time, Shostakovich’s Prelude & Trio for String Octet, Ewazen’s Trio for Trumpet, Violin, and Piano, and Stravinsky’s Dumbarton Oaks Concerto for chamber orchestra. During her collegiate years and afterward, she performed with the Waco Symphony Orchestra, the Abilene Philharmonic, and the Temple Symphony Orchestra and taught at the Central Texas Strings Academy, Live Oak Classical School, and within her own private studio. In addition to teaching and playing in orchestras, she regularly performed in jazz trios as a singer and violinist. Helena was a founding member and songwriter of the folk/jazz bands Medicine Man and Days & Nights. Both of these groups performed extensively in east Texas and released several singles and albums on streaming platforms. Helena recently relocated to North Carolina after winning an audition with the Chamber Orchestra of the Triangle. She has now been a member of the COT for two seasons, and she regularly performs with the Carolina Philharmonic, the Carolina Ballet, and the Long Bay Symphony. Helena currently teaches violin and piano at the High Strung School of Music and the Community Music School of Raleigh. She lives in west Raleigh with her partner and enjoys reading, hiking, running, kayaking, and cooking in her free time. |
Jacob Hermsen - Viola
Jacob Hermsen holds postgraduate and undergraduate degrees in Viola Solo and Orchestra Performance from the Conservatory of Amsterdam, the Royal Conservatory of The Hague, and the Musik Hochschule ‘Carl Maria von Weber’ Dresden where he studied with Nobuko Imai (Vermeer Quartet), Vladimir Bukac (Talich Quartet), and Michael Gieler (Principal Violist of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam).
For more than 10 years, Jacob has been professionally engaged with orchestras and opera houses in The Netherlands, Germany, and Austria. He plays regularly with the North Carolina Symphony, Opera Carolina, Chamber Orchestra of the Triangle, Carolina Ballet, Carolina Philharmonic, and the Mallarmé Chamber Players. As a passionate chamber musician, Jacob is also a founding member of Vida Strings, a Triangle Area-based string quartet: providing concerts, workshops, and research combining Music & Medicine. He performed at festivals such as the ‘Grachtenfestival’ in Amsterdam, the ‘Palais Sommer Festival’ in Dresden, 'Music Academy of Villecroze' in Paris, 'Franco - Czech Academy of Music' in Telč, and NC State's 'Flourish Mental Health Festival'. Concert tours brought him to Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Ireland, Italy, Hungary, Czech Republic, France, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Israel, and the USA. Jacob has made numerous musical appearances for Dutch and German radio & television, and he performed the solos in Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 6, the Double Concerto for Viola and Clarinet by M. Bruch, the Viola Concerto in G Major by G.P. Telemann, and played the Dutch Premiere of ‘Eulogy’ by M. A. Turnage. His most recent solo performance included works for viola solo and percussion by Luciano Berio, Somei Satoh, and Tigran Mansurian, and was accompanied by Ballet Ensemble Timée. When he is not busy performing, Jacob coaches chamber music with NCCMI, The Lamar Stringfield Music Camp, and he teaches viola at the National Bornoff Workshop, as well as the CODA Strings Camp. He is the founder & owner of NC Strings Studio. |
Joyu Lee - Cello
Cellist Joyu Lee, is the owner of Music and Your Mind. She is the principal cellist with Tar River Orchestra & Chorus, and performs regularly with the Carolina Ballet, Carolina Philharmonic, and the Chamber Orchestra of the Triangle. For the 2019-2020 season, she was Assistant Principal Cello with Opera Carolina in Charlotte, NC. From 2008 – 2012, Joyu was a cellist with the Hyogo Performing Arts Center Orchestra, Japan.
Joyu has 20+ years of combined international experiences in cello performance, music education, creative/expressive arts therapy, and arts administration. She is a Senior Therapist at UNC Health in Chapel Hill, NC, and is a Fellow of the Association for Music and Imagery. Joyu is also a Music Breathing practitioner and a Narrative Therapist specializing in performance anxiety and mindfulness training. Since 2018, she has facilitated "Music Care", and trauma-informed workshops at The National Bornoff Workshop at the University of Arizona (2023) and the University of Kansas (2022), NC State University, Meredith College, Duke University, Durham Crisis Response Center, UNC Health, Queens University, and Current Wellness. Joyu has presented in SER-AMTA regional conferences in 2021-2023, and was the keynote speaker presenting on "Radical Listening" in 2022. She presented in international conferences for the Association of Music and Imagery 2021-2023. Joyu was the recipient for the 2022 Innovation Award at the Rehabilitation Department of UNC Health, and the recipient of 2021 "Linda Keiser Mardis Education" research grant. Joyu is a PhD music therapy research candidate at Aalborg University, Denmark, and she completed her Music Therapy degree from Appalachian State University (Boone, NC). Joyu has been a Board-Certified Music Therapist (MT-BC) since 2014. She received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Cello Performance from the National Taiwan Normal University (Taipei, Taiwan), and received a special honors award with a Master of Music Degree in Cello Performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music (Cleveland, OH). |