Meet the Recitalists
Phoon Yu:
As an organist and composer, Phoon Yu is active both in Singapore and in the United States. In Singapore, he has performed as a soloist multiple times in the Victoria Concert Hall Organ Series since 2015, as well as at the Esplanade – Theatres by the Bay and St. Andrew’s Cathedral. Previous solo recital appearances in the U.S. include performances in New York, NY (St. Thomas’s Church at Fifth Avenue and the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine), Lloyd Harbor, NY (Seminary of the Immaculate Conception), Scarsdale, NY (Hitchcock Presbyterian Church), and in Baltimore, MD (St. David’s Episcopal Church), while he recently performed in 2024 alongside the Orlando Sings Symphonic Chorus and the Solaria Players for their production of J.S. Bach’s B Minor Mass. His début album, SEVEN – Organ Music of Singapore, featuring the solo works of up-and-coming Singaporean composers, was released by Centaur Records in April 2022. In November that same year, Phoon Yu performed alongside his co-composer Jonathan Shin with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, the Singapore Symphony Chorus, the Singapore Symphony Youth Choir, and the Singapore Symphony Children’s Choir for the premiere of Illuminations – Symphony for Organ, Chorus, and Orchestra, which was commissioned for the 20th anniversary of the Esplanade.
Phoon Yu’s performance career as an organist is supplemented by his composing and arranging ability. His compositions – for various solo instruments and chamber groups – have been performed and premiered across various venues in Singapore, China, Finland, and the U.S.. Aside from Illuminations, notable premieres include his Piece no. 5 for Organ and Trumpet, premiered in 2023 at Christ and St. Stephen’s Church in New York City, and his Fantasia on ‘Lenggang Kangkung’ for Alto Saxophone and Piano, premiered in 2022 as part of the ‘Stories from Singapore’ project, while his arrangements have been performed by the Orchestra of the Music Makers, Spot Pocket Opera Theatre, The Opera People, Singapore Sounds, the SMU Symphonia, and the NUS Chinese Orchestra. His Three Organ Anthems were published and released by Muziksea, a Southeast Asian publisher specialising in choral music, in 2020.
Phoon Yu was previously a C. V. Starr Doctoral Fellow at the Juilliard School, pursing his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in organ performance under the tutelage of Paul Jacobs. For his dissertation on Handel and Porpora’s settings of Siroe, re di Persia in connection to Jacobitism, Phoon Yu was awarded the Richard F. French Doctoral Prize. Previously, he did his Bachelors of Music in music composition at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music under full scholarship, participating during his undergraduate studies in the partnership between the Conservatory and the Peabody Institute in their Joint Degree Programme. He then did his Masters of Music in organ performance at the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University, being awarded the Bruce R. Eicher prize at the conclusion of his studies. His other teachers included Professor Donald Sutherland and Dr. Evelyn Lim for organ, and Associate Professor Ho Chee Kong and Dr. Oscar Bettison for composition. Phoon Yu is currently the Parish Organist at All Saints Episcopal Church in Winter Park, FL.
Yun-Ting Kuo:
Yun-Ting Kuo has been appointed as the Principal Violist with the Jacksonville Symphony starting from the 2023-24 season. She has also performed with the Delaware Symphony Orchestra, National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra, Korean National Symphony Orchestra Academy, and Shanghai Symphony Orchestra Academy.
Originally from Taiwan, she recently received a Graduate Performance Diploma and a Master of Music from the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University, studying under Victoria Chiang and Choong-Jin Chang. Additionally, she holds a Joint Bachelor of Music degree from the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music at the National University of Singapore and the Peabody Institute. She further enriched her musical journey by performing at the Formosa Chamber Music Festival, Aspen Music Festival, and Tanglewood Music Center. Beyond the Symphony Hall, Yun-Ting is a pickleball enthusiast.
Elena Baquerizo:
A native of Miami, organist Elena Baquerizo is pursuing a DMA under Ken Cowan in the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University. She has won awards in the James Weaver Prize, the Albert Schweitzer Organ Festival, and the AGO/Quimby RCYO. Solo concert appearances include St. Patrick’s Cathedral (NYC), Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart (Houston, TX), and Methuen Memorial Music Hall (Miami, FL). Currently, she is the music director at Reginal Caeli Church in Houston, TX. She received an MM and BM in organ performance at The Juilliard School under Paul Jacobs, and an AA in liberal arts from St. Mary’s College (Saint Marys, KS). Her favorite things include the music of Schumann, chocolate, and puns.
Cecily DeMarco:
Hailed as a "Rising Star" by the American Guild of Organists, Cecily DeMarco (b. 2000) is Organ Scholar at Hitchcock Presbyterian Church in Scarsdale, NY. A native of Boca Raton, Florida, Cecily moved to New York in 2019 to study with world-renowned, Grammy award-winning artist, Paul Jacobs at The Juilliard School. She graduated with her Bachelor of Music Degree in organ performance in 2023 and is continuing her studies there in the Master of Music degree program, graduating in 2025.
Cecily has been awarded first prize in the New York City chapter of the Regional Competition for Young Organists competition (RCYO), as well as the Northeast Regional AGO Competition where she earned the title of “Rising Star.”
Cecily has performed in major cathedrals and concert halls throughout the United States including New York, California, Washington, Oregon, Massachusetts, and Florida.