Jeeihn Kim, violin
Mark Chen, violin
Erika Cho, viola
Lindsay McKenna, cello
The Amaru String Quartet was founded by four graduate students at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM) in 2024, consisting currently of violinists Jeeihn Kim and Mark Chen, violist Erika Cho, and cellist Lindsay McKenna. Based in San Francisco, the quartet will be enrolled in the Chamber Music degree program at SFCM from 2026-2028, mentored by violinist Wonhee Bae.
The Amaru Quartet served as an Honors Chamber Ensemble at SFCM from 2024-2026, which led to performances on the Conservatory’s Chamber Music Tuesday concert series. Here, they performed alongside leading chamber musicians and pedagogues, including cellist Clive Greensmith, violists Kim Kashkashian and Jonathan Brown, and flutist Demarre McGill. As frequent performers in the San Francisco Bay Area, the Amaru Quartet has also collaborated with Jonathan Vinocour, principal violist of the San Francisco Symphony, and guitarist Mateusz Kowalski.
Amaru most recently attended the 70th Jeunesses Musicales International Chamber Music Campus in Weikersheim, Germany, where they studied with Günter Pichler, Heime Müller of the Artemis Quartet, and the Vogler Quartet. They have also participated in masterclasses with renowned ensembles such as the Danish String Quartet, Esmé Quartet, and Terra String Quartet. In August 2026, Amaru String Quartet will attend the 15th edition of the McGill International String Quartet Academy (MISQA) in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Amaru takes its name from the truncation of Amarullis, “sparkling” in Ancient Greek. We believe in making music that “sparkles”, creating impactful musical connections with our audiences.
Mark chen
A Grand Prize recipient at the New York Artists Guild (NYAG) International Music Competition 2025, Licheng (Mark) Chen has performed in the masterclasses of Stella Chen, Shunske Sato, Sebastian Casleanu, Randall Goosby, Mihaela Martin, David Kim, and more. Mark has also performed in the Academy of St Martin in the Fields under Joshua Bell and in the San Francisco Symphony at the Davies Symphony Hall. Additionally, he has made his debut in venues such as the Bruno Walter Auditorium at the Lincoln Centre, the Kaufman Center in New York City, and the Sydney Town Hall in Australia.
An enthusiastic chamber musician, Mark is a member of the Amaru String Quartet. With them, he participated in the 70th Jeunesses Musicales Deutschland International Chamber Music Campus. He also received First Prize at the SFCM Violin Concerto Competition in 2025 and, with Amaru, at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM) Chamber Honours Competition in both 2024 and 2025. In addition, his recent festivals include Domaine Forget 2024 and the Zodiac Music Academy 2025, where he will return for the 2026 season.
Mark obtained his Bachelor of Music from the Manhattan School of Music in the studio of Kelly Hall-Tompkins, and his Master of Music from SFCM under Wonhee Bae. He will return to continue with Prof. Bae as an Artist Diploma candidate.
Lindsay McKenna
Cellist Lindsay McKenna received her Bachelor of Music degree and Graduate
Performance Diploma in Cello Performance from The Peabody Institute of The Johns
Hopkins University, as a student of Alan Stepansky. She was selected as the 2023-2024
recipient of the Stephen Kates Memorial Endowed Scholarship in Cello and awarded
the Gregor Piatigorsky Endowed Undergraduate Scholarship from the Peabody Institute
in 2021. Upon graduation, she was selected to receive the Sidney Friedberg Prize in
Chamber Music. Additionally, she served as a Junior Board member of the Shriver Hall
Concert Series in Baltimore, Maryland, gaining experience in the world of professional
chamber music and classical music presentation. She was also an Emerging Artist
Fellow at the Garth Newel Music Center in Hot Springs, Virginia, in 2023 and 2024.
Currently, Lindsay is completing her Master’s degree in Cello Performance at the San
Francisco Conservatory of Music, where she studies with Jennifer Culp as a Hampton
Scholar. As the newest member of the Amaru String Quartet, the group was selected as
a 2025-26 SFCM Honors Ensemble and frequently performs at the conservatory and in
the San Francisco Bay Area. Most recently, Amaru performed on the Chamber Music
Tuesday concert series at SFCM, appearing with flutist Demarre McGill and violist
Jonathan Brown. The quartet continues to be coached by violinist Wonhee Bae of the
Esmé Quartet, and will appear at the McGill International String Quartet Academy in the
summer of 2026. Amaru will continue their studies as a quartet in the SFCM Chamber
Music Degree program through Academic Year 2027-28.
Lindsay’s masterclass participation includes instruction from numerous artists, like
cellists Nina Lee, Zlatomir Fung, and Camille Thomas, and with ensembles including
the Danish String Quartet, Parker Quartet, Fry Street Quartet, Duo Ingolfsson-Stoupel,
and the Terra String Quartet. Her primary chamber music mentors, who she gratefully
thanks for introducing her to the meaningful impact of string quartet playing and
chamber music, include Michael Kannen, Maria Lambros, and Annie Fullard.