The long-running Ojai Art Center hosts four classic chamber music concerts
each year on selected Sunday afternoons.
The Ojai Art Center welcomes:
Violinist Yue Deng & Cellist Virginia Kron
Sunday, January 11, 2026, at 3pm
Suggested donation $25
Ojai Art Center chamber music series launches 2026 with an afternoon of evocative music from the dazzling violinist, Yue Deng and Ojai cellist, Virginia Kron. The concert is Sunday, January 11, at 3pm. They will present works by Ravel, Bach, and Beethoven.
Violinist Yue Deng was born in Hebei, China. Her musical career began at the age of eight when she won First Prize in the National Violin Competition in China. In her teens, she moved to the US to continue her education at Oberlin Conservatory and The Juilliard School. After two glorious summers attending Santa Barbara's prestigious Music Academy of the West, Yue settled here in Ojai.
Ms. Deng is a much sought after violinist for her skills in both the jazz and classical genres. She has performed at Carnegie Hall with the New York String Seminar Orchestra. In 2003, she played at Birdland with Grammy winner Roger Kellaway and Bill Charlap. Kellaway later featured Yue on his album “Both Sides Now”. Musicologist and jazz writer Gene Lees wrote an essay about her in his book “Friends Along the Way”. Yue served as concertmaster and soloist for the Henry Mancini Institute in 2002 and 2003 and, in 2006, was the featured soloist in the tribute concert for Henry Mancini at the Kodak theater. As a recording artist, she has recorded with Barbra Streisand, Barry Manilow, Diana Krall, Josh Groban, Johnny Mandel, Willy Nelson and Dionne Warwick, and on movie scores including No God No Master (soloist), Invictus, (directed by Clint Eastwood) and In Her Sleep. Her album with Jean-Yves Thibaudet titled “Ogermann: Violin and Piano works” was released on Decca in 2007. Yue served on the jury for the strings competition hosted by American String Teachers Association and Ventura's Henry Schwab Violin Competition. Presently she is a member of Edmonton Symphony Orchestra in Alberta Canada and a regular performer with the Santa Barbara Symphony. She maintains a home both in Canada and Ventura
“Accomplished cellist Virginia Kron has done her best to keep alive the music of our time," says the LA Times. From her extensive career, of special note is her premiere of John Biggs' cello concerto with the New West Symphony and subsequent recording with the Czech National Symphony. Her own, well reviewed original album is The Crystal Harp. Long a pillar on cello at California's Cabrillo Festival under the direction of acclaimed director Marin Alsop, Virginia's mastery of the music of our time is matched by recordings and concerts with noted Celtic harpist Kim Robertson. She has recorded for Jeremy Haladyna of UCSB who says of her work, “To a composer, Virginia is what you can only hope for a scant number of times: a performer that will absolutely l-i-v-e with what you’ve written until she can make it leap off the page and into sound-space... the seasoned player who will devote the time necessary to allow the music to ‘cure,’ when it may even take on a lovely ‘patina’ you didn’t know was there!”
The Art Center is located at 113 South Montgomery.
Recommended donation is $25 at the door, and concert parking is first come across the street at HELP of Ojai.
Violinist Yue Deng was born in Hebei, China. Her musical career began at the age of eight when she won First Prize in the National Violin Competition in China. In her teens, she moved to the US to continue her education at Oberlin Conservatory and The Juilliard School. After two glorious summers attending Santa Barbara's prestigious Music Academy of the West, Yue settled here in Ojai.
Ms. Deng is a much sought after violinist for her skills in both the jazz and classical genres. She has performed at Carnegie Hall with the New York String Seminar Orchestra. In 2003, she played at Birdland with Grammy winner Roger Kellaway and Bill Charlap. Kellaway later featured Yue on his album “Both Sides Now”. Musicologist and jazz writer Gene Lees wrote an essay about her in his book “Friends Along the Way”. Yue served as concertmaster and soloist for the Henry Mancini Institute in 2002 and 2003 and, in 2006, was the featured soloist in the tribute concert for Henry Mancini at the Kodak theater. As a recording artist, she has recorded with Barbra Streisand, Barry Manilow, Diana Krall, Josh Groban, Johnny Mandel, Willy Nelson and Dionne Warwick, and on movie scores including No God No Master (soloist), Invictus, (directed by Clint Eastwood) and In Her Sleep. Her album with Jean-Yves Thibaudet titled “Ogermann: Violin and Piano works” was released on Decca in 2007. Yue served on the jury for the strings competition hosted by American String Teachers Association and Ventura's Henry Schwab Violin Competition. Presently she is a member of Edmonton Symphony Orchestra in Alberta Canada and a regular performer with the Santa Barbara Symphony. She maintains a home both in Canada and Ventura
“Accomplished cellist Virginia Kron has done her best to keep alive the music of our time," says the LA Times. From her extensive career, of special note is her premiere of John Biggs' cello concerto with the New West Symphony and subsequent recording with the Czech National Symphony. Her own, well reviewed original album is The Crystal Harp. Long a pillar on cello at California's Cabrillo Festival under the direction of acclaimed director Marin Alsop, Virginia's mastery of the music of our time is matched by recordings and concerts with noted Celtic harpist Kim Robertson. She has recorded for Jeremy Haladyna of UCSB who says of her work, “To a composer, Virginia is what you can only hope for a scant number of times: a performer that will absolutely l-i-v-e with what you’ve written until she can make it leap off the page and into sound-space... the seasoned player who will devote the time necessary to allow the music to ‘cure,’ when it may even take on a lovely ‘patina’ you didn’t know was there!”
The Art Center is located at 113 South Montgomery.
Recommended donation is $25 at the door, and concert parking is first come across the street at HELP of Ojai.
Please enjoy these short films of some of our wonderful past Music Branch performances. Thank you for your support, and stay safe!
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