Weatherford College Chamber Music Ensemble

04/20/2026

04/14/2026

04/03/2026

[WCIPC People 2026] Desiree Elsevier, violist

We are incredibly excited about this year's newest addition to the WCIPC-a final round in which pianists will perform chamber music with the Weatherford College Chamber Music Ensemble!
In a recent Q&A session, Desiree Elsevier, violist of the Weatherford College Chamber Music Ensemble shared her thoughts on the upcoming performances with 4 talented finalists. Please read below!

Q:How does it feel to perform chamber music for the first time at this year’s WCIPC? Anything you would like to share with our pianists or audiences?
A:I feel like it is a very unusual thing - I mean, we are approaching the event and we have no idea which quartets will be performed, and how many? I mean, it could mean that we (the three string players) perform four quartets in the program (which is very unusual - most chamber music concerts include two works).

Q:You all have to learn 4 different piano quartets, and don't yet know which ones you will have to perform at the competition yet. What does the preparation process look like for you all as you get ready for things next month?
A: Luckily, we know some of them already, and we have played together a bit, and we are friends. But it is pretty daunting - we are used to a certain level of uncertainty in life, sure, this is pretty exciting!

Q:Having rehearsed without the pianist, on the day of the final you will have only one meeting and one rehearsal together. What will you focus on the most during that time?
A:It seems to me that this is sort of like playing in a tennis match with a doubles partner you’ve never met. You know they are good, but you don’t know their quirks. It’s a little different, though, because the pianist is the one in the competition, and although we are playing chamber music with them (it’s different from accompaniment like in an orchestra with a concerto) we are still not the ones who are in the hot seat. So, I’d say, our focus will be on helping the pianist do their best.

Q:What role do you think chamber music plays in a pianist’s artistic development? Why do you believe it is important?
A: I think all of music is chamber music. I like to think of it as input and output at the exact same time. Pretty complicated, and exciting. In every situation when you are making music it is not in a vacuum. Your part influences all the other parts - even when you are one violin of 16 in a section, it is like you are all on the same team. Sure, there’s a goalie and a forward, but every position plays with every other position.

Q:What message would you like to share with the audience? And for those experiencing chamber music for the first time, why would you recommend it?
A:I think for an audience member the best part of chamber music is being able to see those relationships - you see the melody being passed from one player to another, you see them smile or sweat, play really soft, and all of that in tandem with the other players. Sort of like watching the inside of a family.

The final round of 2026 WCIPC will be April 11, 2-4pm. Don't miss this opportunity!

02/15/2026

Thanks to everyone who joined us for the lovely evening.

Swang Lin Hyeyoung Song Duo Concert
February 13, 2026
Highland Park Presbyterian Church

02/15/2026

Thank you so much for everyone who came!

Weatherford College Chamber Music Ensemble
Swang Lin, violin & Hyeyoung Song, piano
February 11, 2026

02/10/2026

After this evening’s rehearsal for the February 11 concert — Dr. Hyeyoung Song & Mr. Swang Lin.

🎻🎹

01/06/2026

We are pleased to announce the 2026 Weatherford College Chamber Music Ensemble concert. Violinist Swang Lin and pianist Hyeyoung Song will perform on Wednesday, February 11, at the Alkek Fine Arts Center at Weatherford College.

Admission is free, and we look forward to sharing an evening of chamber music with you.

09/11/2025

Weatherford College Chamber Music Ensemble, 2025-2026
DÉSIRÉE ELSEVIER, viola

A New York native, Désirée Elsevier was a full time member of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in New York until 2021. She currently resides in Dallas, TX, playing extra with the Dallas Opera, the Austin Symphony and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. She can also be heard with Voices of Change in Dallas and the Victoria Bach Festival in Victoria, Texas.

She is one of the principal violists of Classical Tahoe, a summer festival in Lake Tahoe, NV. She has also been a coach at the Verbier Festival in Switzerland since 2015, and a coach at the Chamber Music Conference and Composer’s Forum of the East formerly of Bennington, VT.

A member of the World Orchestra for Peace founded by Sir Georg Solti which performs concerts in the name of world peace an harmony across the world, from Chicago to Beijing.

As a soloist, she performed the Bartok Concerto for Viola and Orchestra in Portland, OR and in Greeley,CO. She also premiered Glen Cortese’s Viola Concerto for viola and chamber orchestra with the Western New York Chamber Orchestra.

Her first job was as Assistant Principal viola in the Orchestra di San Carlo, in Naples, Italy, where she learned to drive and negotiate (argue) in Italian.

She can also be heard on numerous movie soundtracks and albums.

She holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics from Cornell University from what is now the Dyson School of Economics, where she also studied music composition with Karl Husa and Stephen Stucky. She went on to receive Bachelor and Master’s degrees in music from the Manhattan School of Music, studying with Lillian Fuchs and Karen Tuttle.

09/11/2025

WC Chamber Music Ensemble 2025–2026
Craig Leffer, cello

Cellist, Craig Leffer performs as a member of the Dallas Opera Orchestra, Texas Winds Musical Outreach, and as artist-in-residence for Baylor Scott & White Health. He has been lecturer in cello at the University of Texas at Arlington since 2016.
Leffer has previously served as principal cellist and soloist with the Midland-Odessa Symphony and Abilene Philharmonic Orchestra. Festival appearances include Bravo! Vail with the Dallas Symphony, National Repertory Orchestra, Kent Blossom, and as principal cellist of the New York String Orchestra Seminar at Carnegie Hall.
A New York native, Leffer is a graduate of the Manhattan School of Music Preparatory Division and holds degrees in cello performance from the Eastman School of Music (BM) and Cleveland Institute of Music (MM), where he studied with Marion Feldman, Steven Doane, and Stephen Geber.

09/11/2025

WC Chamber Music Ensemble 2025–2026
Swang Lin, Violin

A native of Taipei, Taiwan, Lin began the study of violin at the age of six. Later he studied with Zvi Zeitlin at the Eastman School of Music. His performances have taken him throughout the United States, Germany, Austria, Spain, Switzerland, Italy, England and Taiwan. He is currently the Associate Concertmaster of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra. Swang has also performed with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Dallas Symphony, Houston Symphony, the Orchestra of St. Luke’s. He held the concertmaster position with the West Virginia Symphony and the Bear Valley Music Festival, and guest concertmaster with Taipei City Symphony, Atlantic Classical Orchestra, and East Texas Symphony. Swang has performed at Tanglewood, Caramoor, Colorado and Killington Music Festival and Snowbird Institute in the US as well as Goslar music festival in Germany, Vietnam Connection Music Festival and Taiwan National Symphony Orchestra Summer festival in Asia.
Swang’s concerto appearances include Fort Worth Symphony, West Virginia Symphony, Kaohsiung City Symphony (Taiwan), Shanghai Broadcast Symphony, Kunming Symphony (China) and Taipei City Symphony Orchestra, Lake Lewisville Symphony and other regional orchestras. His performances have been on National Public Radio’s Performance Today, and on WRR, KBYU, WVPR and have been televised on Good Morning America and on PBS.
Swang Lin performs on the "Eugenie, ex-Mackenzie" Antonio Stradivari violin (1685), generously on loan to the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra Association from an anonymous patron.