Meet the wife-and-husband duo of our upcoming performance of Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante

The challenges – and joys – of playing Mozart 

Ji Won was born in South Korea, grew up in Melbourne and moved to Vienna at 16 to study music, a period that, in hindsight, chipped away at her confidence. 

‘There were so many rules – where the trill comes from, where there should be a grace note – I couldn’t be musical, I was lost in all these rules,’ she reflects.

Back in Australia, Ji Won continued her studies at the Sydney Conservatorium and Melbourne Conservatorium, earning two masters degrees.

In 2009 she won the ABC Young Performers Award, igniting her international career.

‘It wasn’t until I came back to Australia and started playing violin concertos again that I rediscovered a sense of freedom. Someone once told me to play Mozart like an operatic singer. That changed everything. The nuance, the colours, how a singer starts and ends a note – it opened up Mozart for me,’ she says.

For Caleb, Mozart’s challenge lies in the clarity of the music. 

‘It’s pristine. That kind of clean beauty makes it hard to play well. You can’t hide in it – if something’s not right, it really shows. It feels more exposed than other composers, which makes it risky, but also more rewarding,’ he says. 

The couple first performed Sinfonia Concertante together several years ago in Sydney – pre-children – and both feel they’ve grown as musicians since. 

‘We have more to say through the music now,’ Ji Won says. 

Off stage 

At home, the creative energy continues. Caleb makes biltong (air-dried, cured meat) with TSO colleague Susanna Low (violin), and he and Ji Won love to experiment in the kitchen. 

They sometimes make fruit wine from backyard produce from their neighbours – often damson plums and other stone fruit. 

Their sons, Teo (7) and Ioan (4), are more into maths and Lego than music for now – something Ji Won is perfectly happy with, preferring a more relaxed approach to learning than she experienced herself. 

A first for the TSO  

Tasmanian audiences may have seen the couple perform in small ensembles across the state, but this concert marks their first major appearance as co-soloists with the TSO on their home stage. 

‘This concert will be even more special because we’re performing with people we know so well,’ Ji Won says. ‘The spirit of collaboration will be heightened.’ 

Having Eivind conducting only adds to the sense of ease. 

‘We’re good friends with him. We’ve had him over for dinner – just casual chats over steak and wine. He was a violinist himself, so he’s sympathetic to our instruments, and that makes a real difference,’ Ji Won says. 

Caleb agrees: ‘There’s a depth to his understanding. He brings out more meaning in the music, and he expects that from the musicians too. I really like that – it pushes you in the right way.’