inFLUX

inFLUX Flute and Harp, based in Houston, TX, was founded in 2015 by flutist Izumi Miyahara and harpist Emily Klein.  Ms. Miyahara and Ms. Klein met while studying at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music and are former members of Da Camera of Houston’s Young Artist Program.  The ensemble creates innovative concerts in the community by partnering with non-profit organizations.  As part of inFLUX’s mission to perform classical music outside the concert hall, the duo cultivates relationships with communities of care.  Partnerships include Music for Autism, Daniel Pearl World Music Days, biannual concerts at Sheltering Arms Senior Services and quarterly performances on the Houston Methodist Hospital’s Crain Garden Recital Series. In July 2018, inFLUX was honored to take place in an artist residency at the Avaloch Farm Music Institute in New Hampshire, and partnered with local gallery, TWIGGS, for an interdisciplinary visual art, poetry and concert exhibition.  inFLUX was awarded a “Let Creativity Happen!” Express Grant from the Houston Arts Alliance and the Houston Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs in December 2018.  The grant funded free performances by inFLUX at New Hope Housing (an assisted living facility for low income and formerly homeless individuals) during 2019. Recent concerts include recitals at Houston Community College, Houston Symphony League Bay Area and Archway Gallery. 

In addition to inFLUX’s annual programming, Ms. Miyahara and Ms. Klein are passionate educators and work with Da Camera of Houston’s Young Artist Program and American Festival of the Arts to bring performances and masterclasses to students in the Houston Independent School District. 

About Our Members

Flutist Izumi Miyahara is a freelance artist and educator based in Houston, Texas.  She is a frequent guest musician with the Houston Symphony, Houston Grand Opera, and Houston Ballet orchestras, and holds positions with the Symphony of Southeast Texas in Beaumont, TX, and the Corpus Christi Symphony Orchestra. Additional engagements include the San Antonio, Sarasota (FL), Louisiana, New World (Miami), and Breckenridge (CO) Music Festival Orchestras.  She has performed with renowned conductors such as Sir Neville Marriner, Michael Tilson Thomas, Hans Graf, and Paavo Jarvi, among others. 

A recipient of the 2018 “Let Creativity Happen!” Express Grant from the City of Houston and Houston Arts Alliance, Izumi maintains a private flute studio and is on the faculty of Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts and Lone Star College-Cy-Fair. She is a native of New York City, a graduate of the Juilliard School Pre-College Program, and holds a Bachelor of Music from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and a Master of Music from Rice University.

 

Houston based harpist Emily Klein is in her fifth season as Principal Harpist with Opera in the Heights.  Ms. Klein regularly performs with the Houston and San Antonio Symphony Orchestras and in March 2018 joined the Houston Symphony for their European Tour.  From 2012-2015 Emily was a member of the Young Artist Program at Da Camera of Houston and performed at the Wortham Theater Center, Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Rothko Chapel, and for HISD middle and high school students.  Ms. Klein has performed with esteemed artists such as Josh Groban, Renée Fleming, Ana María Martínez, and The Suffers band in collaboration with the Houston Symphony.

Ms. Klein received her high school diploma from Interlochen Arts Academy and obtained her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University where she was a student of Paula Page, former Houston Symphony Principal Harpist.  Ms. Klein teaches the harp at the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts and at the AFA Summer Music Conservatory.  

 

Guest Artists

Hailed for his rich tone and charismatic playing, Korean-American cellist, Mark Baekbeom Yee has a career as a soloist, chamber musician, orchestral performer, and teacher. As winner of the Cleveland Institute of Music concerto competition, Mr. Yee performed the Dvorak Cello Concerto with the CIM symphony orchestra. This led to an invitation to perform Tchaikovsky Rococo Variations with the National Repertory Orchestra. In 2014, Mr. Yee was invited to participated in the 50th anniversary distinguished alumni “Shooting Stars” concert for the Sarasota Music Festival. An avid contemporary music performer, Mr. Yee has world premiered new works by Victoria Bond, Gao Ping, Wang Da Hong, and Xie Wen Hui at the Lincoln Center with the China Conservatory Chamber Ensemble. He has performed at such prestigious concert halls across the country such as Carnegie, Alice Tully, Zilkha, Jones  Halls, and at the Lincoln, Kennedy and Wortham Centers.

Mr. Yee maintains a full time cello studio teaching  cello privately and his students regularly play in the Houston Youth Symphony, place in the local All-Region Orchestra, receive superior ratings at local contests, and participate in summer festivals throughout Texas and the US. Mr. Yee has extensive experience as a cello teacher and sectional coach in schools throughout Houston, Humble ISD, Houston ISD, Spring Branch ISD, and Fort Bend ISD. Outside of music, he’s known for his abilities as a Korean Barbecue Chef specialist and currently training for the IRONMAN 70.3. He lives in Sugar Land with his pug Pumpkin.
For more information about the artist www.markyeecello.com