ESENCIA QUARTET
ABOUT US!
The Esencia Quartet is a Baltimore-based string quartet featuring violinists Ahreum Kim and Diana Sanchez, violist Sarah Kheel, and cellist Nicholas Pascucci. As an international ensemble with musicians from Colombia, Korea, Israel, and the United States, their mission is to foster unity through the shared joy of Western classical music and the unique sounds of their respective cultures.
The quartet's members are accomplished educators and award-winning musicians, having won solo and chamber music competitions such as the Young Artist Competition of the New Horizons Symphony Orchestra in New Mexico, the Young Performers of the Luis Angel Arango in Bogotá, Colombia, the American Fine Arts Festival Competition, and the AFAF Concerto Competition in New York.
Esencia Quartet members have performed with orchestras worldwide, including the Island Symphony Orchestra, the Kostroma Symphony Orchestra, the Columbia Orchestra, the New Horizons Symphony, and the Ibagué Symphony Orchestra. They have also performed in venues like Carnegie Hall in New York, Teatro Colón in Colombia, Charles Bronfman Auditorium in Tel Aviv, and Sala São Paulo in Brazil.
The quartet's members hold principal positions in orchestras and have extensive experience performing and teaching both in the United States and internationally. They hold advanced degrees from esteemed institutions, including Peabody Conservatory, Florida State University, Harvard, and Rubin Academy of Music.
Founded in 2023, the Esencia Quartet has been attracting diverse audiences with their sold-out concerts. They share beloved classical repertoire and special pieces from their homelands, aiming to create new favorites for their listeners.
Sarah
Kheel
Viola
International violist, Sarah Kheel performs as a solo and collaborative artist in the U.S. and abroad. She has appeared as a soloist in three continents, including multiple performances in Carnegie Hall and a televised solo recital with the Kostroma Symphony Orchestra. She is the recipient of numerous awards for her playing, including first place in the American Fine Arts Festival Competition and second place in the AFAF Concerto Competition. She has been listed by Style Magazine as one of Baltimore’s most talented musicians.
Sarah is always up for new projects. She is an advocate of new compositions and has commissioned and premiered works by composers such as Jonathan Leshnoff and Boris Pigovat. Sarah co-founded and directed the concert series, Chamber Encounters and music program, Baltimore Bows and is now a founding member of the Esencia Quartet.
Sarah Kheel’s education includes study at the Rubin Academy of Music and Peabody Conservatory with renowned teachers, Gad Lewertoff, Victoria Chiang, and Maria Lambros. She holds a BM, MM, and a DMA from the Peabody Conservatory. She currently enjoys performing chamber concerts around the Baltimore, Washington area with the Esencia Quartet and teaching at the Peabody Preparatory.
ahreum
Kim
Violin
Violinist Ahreum Kim, a dedicated artist-teacher currently based in the Baltimore and Washington D.C. area, holds a faculty position at the Peabody Preparatory of the Peabody Institute where she is also the Co-Director of the Young People’s String Program.
In her previous roles, Dr. Kim held the position of Assistant Professor of Upper Strings and Musicology at the State University of New York at Oswego, where she was recognized as an "outstanding educator" by the Assistant Vice President of Residence Life in 2016. She also served as the String Department Advisor at the Baltimore Symphony’s ORCHKids program, where she mentored teaching artists and provided guidance on their string curriculum. Dr. Kim has served as a Co-Director of the Allegro Strings Camp and is on faculty at the InterHarmony International Music Festival. Dr. Kim continues to contribute to the development of young musicians beyond her current roles by serving as an adjudicator at competitions and coaching various youth orchestras throughout New York and Maryland.
An avid performer, Dr. Kim regularly connects with audiences as a member of the Esencia Quartet and the LAON ensemble, both dedicated to bringing joy to communities through music. She is also engaged in an ongoing project with pianist Dr. HyeSung Hwang, performing all ten of Beethoven's violin sonatas at various venues and universities across the states. Over the years, Dr. Kim has premiered numerous works as a violinist for the Society for New Music in Syracuse, New York.
Dr. Kim’s musical journey began at the age of four when she started her studies on the piano, followed by taking up the violin two years later. At 12, she was accepted into the Young Artist Performance Academy at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, and at the age of 17, she made her orchestral debut as a soloist with the Columbia Orchestra. She continued her studies at the Peabody Conservatory, earning bachelor, master, and doctoral degrees in violin performance, where she served as the graduate assistant to Herbert Greenberg. During her time at Peabody, Dr. Kim was honored with the J. C. Van Hulsteyn Award in Strings and the Diversity Recognition Award from Johns Hopkins President Ronald J. Daniels and the JHU Diversity Leadership Council, acknowledging her exceptional contributions to diversity. Her other influential teachers include Atis Bankas, Martin Beaver, and Violaine Melançon.
Diana SancheZ
violin
Born in Bogota, Colombia, Diana Sánchez, a faculty member of the Peabody Preparatory of Johns Hopkins University, has developed an international career as a violinist. She has performed as a soloist with orchestras including the New Horizons Symphony in New Mexico (2017) and the Ibague Symphony Orchestra in Colombia (2019). She has toured internationally with the Cincopando Ensemble, the Colombian Youth Philharmonic Orchestra, the New Mexico State University Philharmonic Orchestra, the Bogota Symphony Orchestra, the National University of Colombia Symphony Orchestra, among others.
Orchestras where she has been an active member include the Maryland Symphony Orchestra, the Mid-Atlantic Symphony Orchestra, the Northwest Florida Symphony Orchestra, the Panama City Symphony Orchestra, the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra, El Paso Symphony Orchestra, Las Cruces Symphony Orchestra, Roswell Symphony Orchestra, Bogota Symphony Orchestra, the Clara Schumann Women’s Orchestra, among others.
Diana has been teaching professionally since 2008. In 2010, she was part of the violin faculty of Montalban in Caracas, Venezuela, for El Sistema program. Between 2012 and 2016 she was a violin and music teacher in Colombia at Tocar y Luchar and the Bogotá Philharmonic Orchestra music education program. In addition to her faculty position at Peabody Preparatory, she is currently performing and teaching with the Iris Music Project at Weinberg Villages and Weinberg Manors in Maryland.
Diana has also participated in different music festivals including the Vienna Summer Music Festival and the Aruba Symphony Festival. Since 2021, she has been invited to New Mexico State University to participate in different events and festivals as violin faculty and clinician. Additionally, she is currently part of the core faculty at the New England Music Camp.
Diana is a co-founder of the Esencia Quartet, where she currently performs. Additionally, she has vast experience playing in different ensembles including the Iris Music Project Piano Trio (2021-present), the Embassy String Quartet (2023), the Latin American ensemble Cincopando (2018-2020), Julian Guerrero y su Compas de Tango (2013-2016), Alla Corda String Quartet (2006-2008), among others.
Nicholas Pascucci
Cello
From Oyster Bay, NY, Nicholas Pascucci began playing cello at age 6 and studied with André Emelianoff at Juilliard Pre-College in high school. He made his solo debut at age 15 performing Saint-Saëns Cello Concert No. 1 with the Island Symphony Orchestra.
Nicholas attended Harvard College, where he received a B.A. in Economics with a minor in Music, and was also a member of the Harvard Radcliffe Orchestra. Nicholas studied with Amit Peled at the Peabody Institute and earned his M.M. in Cello Performance and a Performance Diploma. At Peabody, he was a member of the Conductor’s Quintet and principal cellist of the Peabody Symphony Orchestra, Peabody Concert Orchestra, and Peabody Opera Theater.
Nicholas has attended many chamber music and orchestral festivals, including the Bowdoin International Music Festival, Aspen Music Festival and School, and Puerto Piano and Strings. An active orchestral musician, Nicholas is currently the principal cellist of the Amarillo Symphony and section cello at the Mount Vernon Virtuosi in Baltimore, MD. He regularly performs with the Fairfax Symphony Orchestra and has served as principal cellist of both the Mid-Atlantic Symphony Orchestra and the Washington Opera Society. Nicholas currently plays an English cello made by Thomas Kennedy ca. 1820.
Nicholas is very involved in philanthropy and has worked with various charity organizations. In 2023, he organized and gave a recital for Catholic Relief Services that raised over $22,000 for countries around the world in need of disaster relief. He recently performed a recital at an event that raised over $30,000 for the North Shore Soup Kitchen, a charity that feeds the hungry in Glen Cove, NY, a community near his hometown.
concerts
String Quartet Concert
works by Mozart, Montaña, Atehourtúa, Halvorsen, and Satie
Sunday, May 5, 2024, 3:00 pm Owings Mills, MD
String Quartet Concert
works by Borodin, Villa-Lobos, Atehortúa, and Cassadó
Saturday, December 9, 2023, 7:30 pm Owings Mills, MD
Contact Us
for booking inquiries and concert updates.