American String Quartet

Peter Inograd, violin
Laurie Carney, violin
Daniel Avshalomov, viola
Wolfram Koessel, cello

Internationally recognized as one of the world's finest quartets, the American String Quartet has spent decades honing the luxurious sound for which it is famous. The Quartet will celebrate its 40th anniversary in 2014, and, in its years of touring, has performed in all fifty states and has appeared in the most important concert halls worldwide. Their presentations of the complete quartets of Beethoven, Schubert, Schoenberg, Bartók, and Mozart have won widespread critical acclaim, and their MusicMasters Complete Mozart String Quartets, performed on a matched quartet set of instruments by Stradivarius, are widely considered to have set the standard for this repertoire.

Resident quartet at the Aspen Music Festival since 1974 and at the Manhattan School of Music in New York since 1984, the American has also served as resident quartet at the Taos School of Music, the Peabody Conservatory, and the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. The Quartet's diverse activities have also included numerous international radio and television broadcasts; including a recording for the BBC in May 2012; tours of Asia; and performances with the New York City Ballet, the Montreal Symphony, and the Philadelphia Orchestra. The 2009-2010 season featured the Quartet's debut at the prestigious Casals Festival, and in the summer of 2011 the Quartet returned to Beijing for its sixth residency at the Great Wall International Music Academy. The 2012-2013 season will feature the Quartet's third tour of Israel since 2009; after their inaugural visit the Americans were immediately reengaged for concerts in Jerusalem, Haifa, and Tel Aviv. Additionally, in autumn 2011 the Quartet embarked on its forty-first European tour.

The American's additional extensive discography can be heard on the Albany, CRI, MusicMasters, Musical Heritage Society, Nonesuch, and RCA labels. Most recently the group released "Schubert's Echo," which pairs Schubert's monumental last quartet with works bearing its influence by Second Viennese masters Alban Berg and Anton Webern. This repertoire posits that the creative line from the First to the Second Viennese Schools is continuous — and evident when these works are heard in the context of each other. The CD is on the NSS Music label, a new enterprise by Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg devoted to riskier intellectual projects that are frequently overlooked by major labels.

The Quartet's innovative approach to concert programming has won them a number of notable residencies in recent years, including "Beethoven the Contemporary" at the University of Michigan, "The Six Mozart Viola Quintets" at the Aspen Music Festival with Guarneri Quartet violist Michael Tree (broadcast live nationally via Chicago superstation WFMT), and a four-year cycle entitled "4-5-6..." at Princeton University, where the Quartet performed the complete quintets and sextets of Mozart and Brahms, joined in each concert by renowned guest artists.

As champions of new music, the American has given numerous premieres, including Richard Danielpour's Quartet No. 4, commissioned by Kansas City Friends of Chamber Music, and Curt Cacioppo's "a distant voice calling," commissioned by Arizona Friends of Chamber Music. In January 2009, the Quartet premièred Tobias Picker's String Quartet No. 2 in New York City in celebration of the 90th anniversary of the Manhattan School of Music, and in May 2011 the Americans premiered Glen Cortese's Four Dances for String Quartet and String Orchestra, a work commissioned by the Oregon Mozart Players.

Formed when its original members were students at The Juilliard School, the American String Quartet's career began with the group winning both the Coleman Competition and the Naumburg Award in the same year. Individually, the members devote additional time outside the Quartet's active performance and teaching schedule to solo appearances, recitals, and master classes.

American Contemporary Ballet

Lincoln Jones, Artistic Director and Principal Choreographer
Theresa Farrell, Associate Director

Lincoln Jones was born in Fullerton, California, and began dancing at the age of nineteen. He was awarded scholarships to the Joffrey, San Francisco, Pennsylvania, Milwaukee and Los Angeles Classical Ballet schools. At twenty-three, Lincoln joined the Columbia City Ballet in South Carolina, then moved to New York City where he taught ballet at Broadway Dance Center, Peridance, DanceSpace, and danced with the Metropolitan Opera Ballet.

In 2004, Lincoln founded American Contemporary Ballet in New York City and developed various ballet projects, which included the production of live ballet performances, ballet films, an apprentice company and a training program. Looking to expand the company and give it a permanent home, Jones chose Los Angeles. In 2011, Jones conceived a groundbreaking partnership with The Da Camera Society in MUSIC+DANCE:LA, combining Da Camera's long experience with music and presentation with Jones' approach to ballet as a musical art form.

In 2012, under Jones' directorship, ACB performed its first full season, which included six new works by Jones, a performance with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and two different programs of MUSIC+DANCE:LA. featuring some of LA's most prominent musicians. Los Angeles Magazine said Jones' 2012 ballet Serenade in A was '...a multifaceted snapshot of beautiful choreography crisply integrated with music'. Los Angeles Time and Dance Magazine critic Victoria Looseleaf says 'Jones makes smart, elegant ballets...', and The Los Angeles Times called MUSIC+DANCE:LA 'a welcome new series'.

Jones was asked to create the new campaign for M Stevens Leotards, featuring American Contemporary Ballet, which will debut in 2013. Lincoln has also given talks on the subject of ballet with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and The Da Camera Society.

Originally from Saratoga Springs, NY, Theresa Harrell trained at Ballet Regent, American Ballet Theatre, the Joffrey School of Ballet, New York State Summer School of the Arts, and Dance Theatre of Harlem. Theresa graduated high school from the ballet program at North Carolina School of the Arts.

After high school, Ms. Harrell joined ACB as a dancer, and soon began working behind-the-scenes in planning and development. She was named Associate Director in 2010, heading up development and business operations.

As a dancer, Ms. Harrell has created principal roles in several new ballets with ACB, including Suite for Violin and Piano, Josquiniana, Serenade in A, Apotheose de Corelli, Gli Uccelli and Septet -Theme and Variations, and performed solo with violinst Hilary Hahn at the Skaneateles Music Festival. Ms. Harrell has also performed with the Los Angeles Opera, and has appeared as a dancer on television in Glee and House, and in commercials and print campaigns for Fruit of the Loom, AT&T, Fountainbleau Hotels, BSI Bank, FX's American Horror Story and Electronic Arts Beatles' Rock Band. In non-dance roles, she appeared in the Ford Automobiles web series 'Escape My Life', as a model for Katy Rodriguez and Riser-Goodwin, and was the face of Joe's Jeans' ballet-inspired international Stretch Legging campaign.

Zsolt Banki is a graduate of the Hungarian Dance Academy, where he received his degree in classical training with a specialty in jazz, folk dance, and theatrical dance art. Additional training included the Nizza Art Institute and a master's course with Jorma Uoutien. Banki was voted Best Hungarian Dancer in 2007 and was the main choreographer for So You Think You Can Dance - Hungary. Banki has performed leading roles in Piaf Piaf, Spartacus 2076, Carmen, Black Advent, Cats, Chess, Evita and Jesus Christ Superstar. His choreography credits include Snow Queen, Carmen, Do You Love Me?, Angel Of Graffiti, and Study of Women. Banki has taught at The University of Drama and the National Theatre of Szeged in Hungary.

Banki serves as ACB's principal male dancer, and has created roles in Jones  Suite for Violin and Piano, Serenade in A, Apotheose de Corelli, and Josquiniana, among others.

Violinist Tien-Hsin Cindy Wu enjoys a versatile career as a soloist and a chamber musician, having performed with renowned musicians and ensembles in Europe, the United States and Asia. She has appeared as soloist with the National Symphony Orchestra of Taiwan and Taipei Symphony Orchestra in her native country, as well as with the Odessa Philharmonic Orchestra and the Russian State Symphony Orchestra. As solo recitalist and chamber musician, Ms. Wu has performed extensively in Taiwan, Europe and North America, at such prominent venues as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center and Library of Congress, performing alongside artists such as Gary Graffman, Kim Kashkashian, Ani and Ida Kavafian, Ralph Kirshbaum, Midori, William Preucil, and members of the Guarneri, Orion, and Tokyo Quartets. Among Ms. Wu's many honors and awards are the gold medal in the 18th Stulberg International String Competition, and third prize in the David Oistrakh International Violin Competition. Ms. Wu's former teachers include Midori Goto at the Thornton School of Music, Ida Kavafian, Victor Danchenko, and Steven Tenenbom (on viola) at the Curtis Institute of Music, and Dorothy DeLay and Hyo Kang at the Juilliard School. She is currently professor of violin at the USC Thornton School of Music.

Pianist Kevin Fitz-Gerald enjoys a versatile performing career as recitalist, orchestra soloist, and chamber musician. His concert tours have taken place in major concert halls, universities, and concert organizations throughout the world. Fitz-Gerald's concerts have frequently been recorded for local, national and international radio and television networks in Canada, the USA, South America, France, Germany, Korea, Japan, and Australia. His CD recordings can be found on the Summit, Quatro Corde, AFCM, Yarlung, GM, Centaur, and Ivory Classics record labels. In addition to his position as Professor of Piano Performance and Collaborative Arts at the USC Thornton School, Fitz-Gerald is a regular visiting artist teacher at the Banff School of Fine Arts, and a frequent masterclass teacher at the Colburn School for the Performing Arts.

This season, ACB produces two series in partnership with The Da Camera Society. DANCE+DESIGN offers a lucid view into how ballet works from a design standpoint, highlighted by premieres of short dance works with ACB Principal Dancers. MUSIC+DANCE:LA features new ballets with the full ensemble alternating with full musical works. Both programs include live music by some of LA's finest musicians. After every performance, the audience is invited to mingle on the dance floor with the artists and friends for drinks, dancing and live jazz.

Moscow String Quartet

Eugenia Alikhanova, first violin
Galina Kokhanovskaia, second violin
Tatiana Kokhanovskaia, viola
Olga Ogranovitch, cello

Described by Alfred Schnittke as "an extraordinary ensemble that distinguishes itself with refined musical style, an unusually beautiful sound and palette of colors, and tremendous artistic temperament", and by Sofia Gubaidulina as "having extraordinary tone, phrasing and virtuosity, and the deepest reverence for the music," the Moscow String Quartet has earned a place among the most distinguished ensembles of our times. Graduates of the Moscow Conservatory and Gnessin Musical Institute, the members were students of eminent professors (Yuri Yankelevich, Genrihk Talalian and Valentin Berlinsky of the Borodin Quartet).

The quartet gained international acclaim after winning the Leo Weiner International Quartet Competition in Budapest and the International Quartet Competition in Evian.

Since then, the Moscow String Quartet has played to consistent critical acclaim in the major concert halls of Europe, including regular performances at Amsterdam's Concertgebouw, Paris' Salle Gaveau, Wigmore Hall in London, appearances at the Palais des Beaux Arts in Brussels, the Leipzig Gewandhaus, and the Academy of Arts in Berlin. In addition, festival appearances include the Berliner Festwochen, the Paris and City of London Festivals, Stratford-upon-Avon and Cheltenham Festivals, Casals Festivals in Prades and San Juan, the Catalonia Festival in Spain. In North America, the Moscow String Quartet has performed in New York City (Weill Recital Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, Frick Collection), Philadelphia, Washington, DC (White House, Library of Congress, National Gallery), Detroit, Chicago, Dallas, Salt Lake City, Tucson, San Diego, Seattle, Vancouver, Montreal and at the Teton, Ottawa International Chamber Music, Music and Beyond Ottawa, and the Domaine Forget Festivals. After a residence at the Lamont School of Music in Denver, the quartet is now affiliated with the University of Colorado in Denver.

During Soviet times, the quartet was the only one to perform the Lyric Suite by Berg, Bartok's quartets, the Ode to Napoleon by Schoenberg, Luigi Nono's quartet Fragmente & Stille, An Diotima and Toru Takemitsu's quartet. They were also the first to unveil "unofficial" and "non-conformist" composers of the Soviet underground, who were not as appreciated in their own country as abroad. Among these composers were Edison Denisov, Sofia Gubaidulina and Alfred Schnittke, with whom members of the ensemble had formed close relationships. Numerous works were written for the ensemble by these composers, and the quartet's performances of their works introduced them also to audiences outside the Soviet Union. The quartet has also made a name for its interpretations of the Shostakovich quartets - the composer was the friend of the primaria's father and even composed in their home.

Recent engagements include performances at the the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, the Casals Festival Puerto Rico, the Ottawa International Chamber Music, Domaine Forget,the Mostly Mozart Festival, the Great Perfomers series at Lincoln Center, the Library of Congress and at the Frick Collection.

The Moscow String Quartet has recorded for MCA, Fine Arts Records, Russian Disk, Channel Classics,and Melodiya released four CDs including works by Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Schnittke, Mozart, Denisov, Glinka, Shostakovich and Gubaidulina. Recent releases feature works by Haydn, Borodin, Stravinsky,Tchaikovsky, Mozart and Shostakovich.

Kenny Barron, piano

Kenny Barron's unmatched ability to mesmerize audiences with his elegant playing, sensitive melodies and infectious rhythms is what inspired The Los Angles Times to name him "one of the top jazz pianists in the world" and Jazz Weekly to call him "The most lyrical piano player of our time."

Philadelphia is the birthplace of many great musicians, including one of the undisputed masters of the jazz piano: Kenny Barron. Kenny was born in 1943 and while a teenager, started playing professionally with Mel Melvin's orchestra. This local band also featured Barron's brother Bill, the late tenor saxophonist.

By 1959 Kenny had worked with drummer Philly Joe Jones while still in high school. At age 19, Kenny moved to New York City and freelanced with Roy Haynes, Lee Morgan and James Moody after the tenor saxophonist heard him play at the Five Spot. Upon Moody's recommendation Dizzy Gillespie hired Barron in 1962 without even hearing him play a note. It was in Dizzy's band where Kenny developed an appreciation for Latin and Caribbean rhythms. After five years with Dizzy, Barron played with Freddie Hubbard, Stanley Turrentine, Milt Jackson, and Buddy Rich. The early seventies found Kenny working with Yusef Lateef who Kenny credits as a key influence in his art for improvisation. Encouraged by Lateef, to pursue a college education, Barron balanced touring with studies and earned his B.A. in Music from Empire State College, By 1973 Kenny joined the faculty at Rutgers University as professor of music. He held this tenure until 2000, mentoring many of today's young talents including David Sanchez, Terence Blanchard and Regina Bell. In 1974 Kenny recorded his first album as a leader for the Muse label, entitled "Sunset To Dawn." This was to be the first in over 40 recordings (and still counting!) as a leader.

Following stints with Ron Carter in the late seventies Kenny formed a trio with Buster Williams and Ben Riley which also worked alongside of Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, Eddie Harris, Sonny Stitt and Harry "Sweets" Edison. Throughout the 80's Barron collaborated with the great tenor saxophonist Stan Getz, touring with his quartet and recording several legendary albums including "Anniversary", "Serenity" and the Grammy nominated "People Time" Also during the 80's, he co-founded the quartet "Sphere," along with Buster Williams, Ben Riley and Charlie Rouse. This band focused on the music of Thelonious Monk and original compositions inspired by him. Sphere recorded several outstanding projects for the Polygram label, among them "Four For All" and "Bird Songs." After the death of Charlie Rouse, the band took a 15-year hiatus and reunited, replacing Rouse with alto saxophonist Gary Bartz. This reunion made its debut recording for Verve Records in 1998.

Kenny Barron's own recordings for Verve have earned him nine Grammy nominations beginning in 1992 with "People Time" an outstanding duet with Stan Getz followed by the Brazilian influenced "Sambao" and most recently for "Freefall" in 2002. Other Grammy nominations went to "Spirit Song", "Night and the City" (a duet recording with Charlie Haden) and "Wanton Spirit", a trio recording with Roy Haynes and Haden. It is important to note that these three recordings each received double-Grammy nominations (for album and solo performance.) His CD, "Canta Brasil" (Universal France) linked Barron with Trio de Paz in a fest of original Brazilian jazz, and was named Critics Choice Top Ten CDs of 2003 by JazzIz Magazine. His 2004 release, "Images" (Universal France) was inspired by a suite originally commissioned by The Wharton Center at Michigan State University and features multi-Grammy nominated vibraphonist Stefon Harris. The long awaited trio sequel featuring Ray Drummond and Ben Riley, "The Perfect Set, Live At Bradley's, Part Two" (Universal France/Sunnyside) was released October 2005.

In Spring 2008 Mr. Barron will release his first studio recording in four years with "The Traveler" (Universal France), an intoxicating mix of favorite Barron tunes set to lyrics and newly penned compositions. In a first for the noted pianist, he is joined by vocalists Grady Tate (who sheds his drumsticks for this special appearance), Tony award winner Ann Hampton Calloway and the young phenom Gretchen Parlato, winner of the Thelonious Monk International Competition for Jazz. On Um Beijo, Mr. Tate's warm, leathery voice balanced by Mr. Barron's poignant touch make for a beautifully textured conversation, underscoring their longtime on stage collaboration. Another Barron original, Clouds is a lush vehicle for Ann Hampton Calloway's romantic pitch- perfect yearnings matched with Barron's trademark mastery of subtlety. The dramatic Phantoms intertwines Parlato's ephemeral intimacy and syncopatic rhythms in an emotional escapade between Barron's haunting notes, the West Afrrican stylings of guitarist Lionel Loueké, drummer Francisco Mela (who also adds a Cuban flavor to the vocals) and the driving bass of Kiyoshi Kitagawa. The journey continues with the aptly named Duet, an improvisation with Benin-born Loueké who also joins the trio for a rousing version of Barron's Calypso. A composer who relishes in the moment, Barron's modern approach is highlighted by alto saxophionist Steve Wilson's open musings on Illusion and The Traveler who also brings an urgency to the fun-paced Speed Trap.

Barron consistently wins the jazz critics and readers polls, including Downbeat, Jazz Times and JazzIz magazines. In 2005 he was inducted into the American Jazz Hall of Fame and won a MAC Lifetime Achievement Award. He is a six-time recipient of Best Pianist by the Jazz Journalists Association and was as a finalist in the prestigious 2001 Jazz Par International Jazz Award.

Whether he is playing solo, trio or quintet, Kenny Barron is recognized the world over as a master of performance and composition.

Calidore String Quartet

Jeffrey Myers, violin
Ryan Meehan, violin
Jeremy Berry, viola
Estelle Choi, cello

Grand prize winners of the 2011 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and the 2012 Coleman and Chesapeake International Chamber Music Competitions, the Calidore Quartet is emerging as one of the most notable young chamber music ensembles in America. Formed at the Colburn School in 2010, the Calidore Quartet features violinists Jeffrey Myers and Ryan Meehan, violist Jeremy Berry, and cellist Estelle Choi. Hailing from across North America, the quartet combines its diverse musical backgrounds to bring a fiery brilliance to the concert stage.

In October 2010, the CSQ made its concert debut to a sold out audience at the Broad Stage in Santa Monica, CA. As top prize winner of the 2011 Fischoff competition, CSQ toured the Midwestern United States, performing concerts at the Debartolo Arts Center, Nichols Concert Hall, and a live radio broadcast on WFMT's Impromptu! Program. In spring 2012, the CSQ was featured at the Laguna Beach Chamber Music Festival where they collaborated with violinist Joshua Bell and the Calder Quartet.

This summer, the CSQ presented recitals across Maryland and Virginia as the Gold Medal winner of Chesapeake International Chamber Music Competition. Selected as the 2012 Fellowship Quartet at the Aspen Music Festival and School, the quartet worked with such esteemed artists as David Finckel, Sylvia Rosenberg, Earl Carlyss and the Pro Arte Quartet. In August, the CSQ made its European debut at the venerated Emilia Romagna Festival in Italy.

Members of CSQ have collaborated with artists and ensembles including the Tokyo, St. Lawrence, and Cavani string quartets, Joshua Bell, Paul Coletti, Joseph Silverstein, Menahem Pressler, Ronald Leonard, and John Perry. Teachers and mentors of the CSQ include Paul Coletti, Ronald Leonard, Robert Lipsett, Arnold Steinhardt, Andre Roy and the Ebène String Quartet.

Using an amalgamation of "California" and "doré", (French for "golden"), the ensemble's name represents a reverence for the diversity of culture and the strong support it has received from its home base in Los Angeles, California, the golden state. Calidore aims to present performances that share the passion and joy of string quartet playing. With the help of their strong friendship, four distinct musical personalities unite to bring chamber music to life for their audiences.

Trio Cavatina

Harumi Rhodes, violin
Priscilla Lee, cello
Ieva Jokubaviciute, piano

Pianist Ieva Jokubaviciute, violinist Harumi Rhodes, and cellist Priscilla Lee formed Trio Cavatina in 2005 at the renowned Marlboro Music Festival in Vermont. Deeply rooted in a strong sense of shared musical values, Trio Cavatina has rapidly emerged as one of today's outstanding chamber ensembles. As the winner of the 2009 Naumburg International Chamber Music Competition, Trio Cavatina made its Carnegie Hall debut in 2010 with scintillating performances of the world premiere of Richard Danielpour's Faces of Guernica. In recent seasons Trio Cavatina made their San Francisco debut at Herbst Theater, and their Philadelphia debut as one of the youngest ensembles to perform on the prestigious Philadelphia Chamber Music Society concert series.

As the winner of the 2009 Naumburg International Chamber Music Competition, Trio Cavatina made its Carnegie Hall debut in 2010 with scintillating performances of two monumental Beethoven trios, Leon Kirchner's second trio, and the world premiere performance of Faces of Guernica written for them by Richard Danielpour. They also made their San Francisco debut earlier that season at Herbst Theater (San Francisco Performances) as well as their Philadelphia debut as one of the youngest ensembles to perform on the prestigious Philadelphia Chamber Music Society concert series. During the summer of 2010, the trio gave concerts and appeared in mixed programs at the Kingston Chamber Music Festival, Newburyport Chamber Music Festival, and at Music in the Vineyards in Napa Valley.

Within only two years of their formation, Trio Cavatina made its New York City and Boston debuts on the New School's Schneider Concert Series and at Jordan Hall respectively. They also gave notable debut appearances on Kneisel Hall's "Emerging Artists" Series in Maine, at Union College in Schenectady, New York, at Merkin Hall in New York City, at the Brattleboro Music Center in Vermont, and at the Eastern Shore Chamber Music Festival in Maryland. They were also selected to perform at the closing concert of the Chamber Music America Conference in New York City.

Garnering critical acclaim and enthusiastic responses from audiences and presenters wherever they perform, the trio has received immediate re-engagements, most notably at Union College in Schenectady, NY where they returned in the fall of 2008 in a performance of Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time and twice in the 2009-2010 season to celebrate the anniversaries of Haydn, Mendelssohn, Schumann, and Chopin. The trio embarked on their first international tour in 2008, which included performances in Lithuania on stages in Vilnius and Kaunas.

In addition to their command of the classical and romantic repertoire, Trio Cavatina is committed to collaborating with living composers and to weaving 20th century repertoire into their programs. They have worked closely with American composers Leon Kirchner and Richard Danielpour and will premiere a new work written for them by David Ludwig in the fall of 2010 in Chicago.

Trio Cavatina completed the New England Conservatory's Professional Piano Trio Training Program in 2006-2007.

Martin Chalifour, violin & Kevin Fitz-Gerald, piano

Martin Chalifour began his tenure as Principal Concertmaster of the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 1995. The recipient of various grants and awards in his native Canada, he graduated with honors from the Montreal Conservatory at the age of 18 and then moved to Philadelphia to pursue studies at the Curtis Institute of Music.

In 1986 Chalifour received a Certificate of Honor at the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow; he was a laureate of the Montreal International Competition the following year. Since then he has concertized extensively, playing hundreds of concerto performances from a repertoire of more than 50 works. He has appeared as soloist with conductors such as Pierre Boulez, Charles Dutoit, Christoph Eschenbach, Sir Neville Marriner, and Esa-Pekka Salonen. Outside the U.S., he has appeared as a guest soloist with the Auckland Philharmonia, the Montreal Symphony, the Hong Kong Philharmonic, the National Orchestra of Taiwan, and the Malaysian Philharmonic, among others.

Chalifour began his orchestral career in 1984 with the late Robert Shaw and the Atlanta Symphony, playing as Associate Concertmaster for six years. Subsequently he occupied the same position for five years in the Cleveland Orchestra, where he also served as Acting Concertmaster under Christoph von Dohnányi. While in Cleveland, Chalifour taught at the Cleveland Institute of Music and was a founding member of two chamber ensembles, Myriad and the Cleveland Orchestra Piano Trio.

Chalifour is a frequent guest at several summer music festivals. Maintaining close ties with his native Quebec, he has returned there often to teach and perform as soloist with various Canadian orchestras. Chalifour and two of his Philharmonic colleagues, Joanne Pearce Martin and Peter Stumpf, met in 1981 while all three were studying at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia; they have joined forces to form the Los Angeles Philharmonic Piano Trio.

Martin Chalifour is a professor at the University of Southern California's Thornton School of Music. He records for the Yarlung label, and his latest recording will be released in a few weeks, featuring Mozart and Lutoslawski concertos with the Los Angeles Philharmonic recorded live at Walt Disney Concert Hall

Canadian pianist Kevin Fitz-Gerald enjoys a versatile performing career as recitalist, orchestra soloist and chamber musician. His performances have garnered international acclaim and he has been recognized for his "hypnotically powerful and precise" pianism and "dynamic and distinguished interpretations. His concert tours and performances have taken place in major concert halls, universities and concert organizations throughout the United States, Canada, China, Japan, Korea, Australia, Mexico, South America, the Mediterranean and the Caribbean. Notable venues include Carnegie Recital Hall (New York), The Mormon Tabernacle (Utah), Walt Disney Concert Hall (Los Angeles), National Arts Centre (Ottawa), Roy Thompson Hall (Toronto), Place des Arts (Montreal), Izumi Hall (Osaka), Suntori Hall (Tokyo), National Gallery (Kingston) and Town Hall (Melbourne). He has appeared with several Canadian and American orchestras including the Toronto Symphony, Montreal Symphony, Canadian Chamber Orchestra, CBC Radio Orchestra, Calgary Philharmonic, Los Angeles Camerata, Utah Chamber Orchestra and the Mormon Tabernacle Orchestra at Temple Square. Recent orchestral performances have included concerti by Dvorak, Mozart, Beethoven, Prokofiev, Mendelssohn, Rachmaninoff, Stravinsky, Berg and Poulenc. Mr. Fitz-Gerald's concerts have frequently been recorded for local, national and international radio and television networks in Canada, USA, South America, France, Japan and Australia. His CD recordings can be found on the Summit, Quatro Corde, AFCM, Yarlung, GM, Centaur and Ivory Classics record labels.

In constant demand as a chamber musician, he has collaborated with internationally renowned artists such as Hagai Shaham, Patrick Gallois, Midori, Stephen Isserlis, Anne Akiko Meyers, Richard Stolzman, Alan Civil, Camilla Wicks, Eudice Shapiro, Milton Thomas, Karen Tuttle, Donald McInnes, Ronald Leonard, the Bartok, St. Petersburg and St. Lawrence String Quartets. For many years he was studio pianist in summer programs for many leading artist teachers of our time including William Primrose, Lillian Fuchs, Zara Nelsova, Janos Starker, Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi, Zoltan Szekely, Lorand Fenyves and Marcel Moyse. He regularly performs two-piano and four-hand recitals with Bernadene Blaha appearing at prestigious festivals, conventions, music teacher's symposiums and concert venues throughout North America, South America, Europe and Asia. The Blaha/Fitz-Gerald Duo has performed extensively throughout Canada under the auspices of the "Piano Six" program, the Canada Council Touring Office and the "Cross Country Classics" program.

Mr.Fitz-Gerald also enjoys an international reputation as a teacher, presenting master classes and lecture-symposiums throughout the world. His students have been prize winners in many major piano and chamber music competitions including the Rubinstein International Piano Competition, Vilna International Piano Competition, IBLA International Piano Competition, American Orff-Schullwerke International Competition, ARD International Piano Competition, the Music Teacher's National Association national competition, LA Liszt International Piano Competition, Jean Francaix International Competition, Canadian National Music Competitions and the Colman National Chamber Music Competition. Today his students can be found winning competitions, performing, recording and teaching at many of the finest conservatories and universities throughout the world.

In addition to his position as Professor of Piano Performance and Collaborative Arts at the USC Thornton School of Music in Los Angeles, Mr. Fitz-Gerald is also a regular visiting artist teacher at the Banff School of Fine Arts, a frequent guest master class teacher at the Colburn School for the Performing Arts in Los Angeles, as well as visiting faculty at many other national and international music festivals and institutions throughout North America, South America, Asia and Australia. Born in Kelowna, British Columbia, Mr. Fitz-Gerald was a full scholarship student at the Victoria Conservatory of Music, The Banff Centre School of Fine Arts and the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto where his principal teachers were Marek Jablonski, Robin Wood and Alma Brock-Smith. A winner of several prestigious competitions, grants and awards, he has also worked extensively with Menahem Pressler, John Perry, Gyorgy Sebok and Leon Fleisher.

The Da Camera Players constitute the leading musicians who specialize in chamber music drawn from throughout Southern California and beyond. This roster of musicians, appearing in different configurations, is now the resident ensemble of The Da Camera Society. Under the artistic direction of violinist Ida Levin, The Da Camera Players will explore the full repertory of chamber music across the centuries. This ensemble will focus on the presentation of programs that evince a variety and richness that can be attained only by superb musicians who rehearse and perform together regularly as colleagues. Future projects include regular appearances on The Da Camera Society's Chamber Music in Historic Sites series as well as the development of a Downtown Chamber Music Festival. Warner and Carol Henry are the generous sponsors of The Da Camera Players.

Ida Levin has established an international reputation as soloist, recitalist and chamber musician. She began her violin studies at age three in her native Santa Monica, California, and made her professional debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at age ten. The recipient of both the Leventritt Award and an Avery Fisher Career Grant, Ms. Levin was invited by Rudolf Serkin to appear with him in a joint recital for President and Mrs. Reagan, broadcast by PBS as "In Performance at the White House. " She has performed at Carnegie Hall as soloist with the American Symphony Orchestra and the New York String Orchestra and with the orchestras of St. Louis, Utah, Toulouse, Kammerphilharmonie Berlin, the Prague Symphony and the Edinburgh Chamber Orchestra, among others. As a recitalist, she has appeared at the 92nd Street Y, the Kennedy Center, London’s Wigmore Hall and throughout the US, Italy, France, the Netherlands, Mexico and numerous other countries. Ms. Levin is a senior artist at the Marlboro Festival, takes part annually in Open Chamber Music in Cornwall, England and is a regular guest at festivals from Seattle, Santa Fe and Montreal to Cremona, Italy, West Cork, Ireland, and Mondsee, Austria. She is a member of the Boston Chamber Music Society, the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society Players and a frequent guest with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and Houston Da Camera. Ms. Levin’s world premiere recording of Leon Kirchner’s Duo for Violin and Piano with Jeremy Denk was recently released on Bridge Records. Additionally, she has recorded for Philips, EMI, Dynamic, Music Masters, Nonesuch, BCMS and Stereophile . She has given master classes worldwide and has been on the faculties of Harvard University, UCLA, the European Mozart Academy and the Sandor Vegh Academy in Prague. Currently, she is a member of the chamber music faculty of The Colburn School for the Performing Arts in Los Angeles.

Andrew Bain studied French horn at the Elder Conservatorium, Adelaide, and then in Europe (Karlsruhe and Vienna). He is currently Principal Horn with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra and at the Colorado Festival. He lectures in Horn at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and throughout his career has performed with orchestras in Australia, Germany, and Malaysia.

Born in Adelaide in 1973, Andrew Bain began playing the horn at the age of twelve. In 1993 he completed a Bachelor of Music at the Elder Conservatorium, Adelaide. Andrew continued his studies in Sydney, where he performed with the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra and The Sydney Opera House Orchestra. During this time he also worked as an orchestral player for productions of musicals such as The Phantom of the Opera, Cats, West Side Story, The Secret Garden and Beauty and the Beast. In 1996 Andrew toured internationally with the Music of Andrew Lloyd-Webber stage production.

In 1997 he was appointed Associate Principal Horn with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, relishing the opportunity to take part in the Australian premiere of Wagner's Ring Cycle, conducted by Jeffery Tate in 1998. While in Adelaide, Andrew was active as a recitalist, chamber musician, conductor and teacher. He was the director of the Adelaide Symphony Brass Ensemble in 1999 and 2000, and conducted and lectured at the Elder Conservatorium. After three years in Adelaide, Andrew accepted the position of Principal Horn in the Queensland Symphony Orchestra. In Brisbane he appeared as soloist with the orchestra on a regular basis and presented several masterclasses and recitals for the Queensland Conservatorium. At the end of 2000 Andrew moved to Europe, where he garnered international acclaim. In 2003 he completed postgraduate studies with Will Sanders at the Karlsruhe Hochschule for Music, and went on to study with Hector MacDonald in Vienna.

Andrew has performed as guest artist with the Saarbrücken Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Malaysian Philharmonic, the Bavarian State Opera, and the South-East Bavarian State Opera, and collaborated with pianist Martha Argerich and the World Brass ensemble among others. In 2001, Andrew was appointed Solo Horn of the Munich Symphony Orchestra. In addition to extensive touring throughout Germany, the orchestra has performed in the United States, Japan, Brazil, Mexico, China, Italy, Austria, and Slovakia. Andrew also featured as Solo Horn of the Munich Chamber Philharmonie.

Andrew continued to be in demand as a performer and teacher in his homeland, returning to Australia as Soloist and Principal Horn with the Queensland Orchestra and as guest artist with the Sydney Symphony and West Australian Symphony Orchestras. He was appointed Principal Horn of the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra in 2003. The following year, he was offered the Principal Horn position in The Queensland Orchestra. Andrew is a regular soloist with the orchestra and is director of its Ferry Road Chamber Players series. He is heard regularly as a soloist and chamber performer on ABC classic FM.

Andrew is a foundation member of the New Sydney Wind Quintet, which in 2005 undertook a concert tour to China and has recently completed its first studio recording. In addition, Andrew holds the position of Lecturer in Horn at the Sydney Conservatorium and since 2003 has appeared as Principal Horn of the Colorado Music Festival held in Boulder each July.

Richard Beene enjoys an active career as a teacher, soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral performer. In 2001, while serving as Professor of Bassoon at the University of Michigan, he was awarded the 2001 Harold Haugh Award for excellence in studio teaching. He has been invited to present master classes and teaching residencies at a number of institutions, including the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California, Rice University's Shepherd School of Music, and McGill University, among others. He has also served on the faculties of Michigan State University and Wichita State University.

In addition to performing numerous times with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Mr. Beene has appeared with the New York Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. While maintaining his teaching schedule in Michigan, he also held the position of Principal Bassoonist with the Toledo Symphony Orchestra, where he performed many times as a soloist. Additionally, he has toured Europe as a soloist with the American Sinfonietta and performed as a soloist at the Festival de Musique de St. Barthelemy in the French West Indies. Summer festival engagements have included the Sunflower Music Festival in Kansas, the Basically Bach Festival in Anchorage (Alaska), the Colorado Music Festival, Strings in the Mountains (Colorado), the Arkansas Music Festival, Washington's Centram Chamber Music Festival, the Bellingham Festival of Music, and the Peninsula Music Festival (Wisconsin).

Chamber music and recital engagements have taken him to New York's Merkin Concert Hall and the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., as well as venues throughout Germany, Switzerland, Italy, and Austria. Mr. Beene has also been a featured recitalist at the annual convention of the International Double Reed Society.

Richard Beene is Dean and Chair of the Winds Department and teaches bassoon at the Colburn School Conservatory of Music.

Bernadene Blaha's "brilliant command of the piano", whether featured as recitalist, concerto soloist or chamber musician, has been heralded in performances throughout North America, Europe, Asia and Mexico. This season's highlights include her debut performances in Australia, as well as an invitation to serve as a jury member at the prestigious 2010 Gina Bachauer International Artists Piano Competition in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Originally from Canada, Ms. Blaha first came to international attention as a prizewinner in the Montreal Symphony Orchestra Competition; the Young Keyboard Artists International Piano Competition, Grand Rapids, Michigan; the Masterplayers International Competition, Lugano, Switzerland; and the 11th Annual International Piano Competition, New York City. This latter award resulted in two highly acclaimed recital appearances, at Carnegie Recital Hall and the Lincoln Center Library. Soon afterward, Ms. Blaha was featured in the opening orchestra concert and a solo recital at the XXIX International Chopin Festival in Marianske Lazne, Czechoslovakia, followed by solo recitals at the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C. and in London, England.

In the summer of 1999, Ms. Blaha was invited by Canada's "Piano 6" to perform with the group in televised gala concerts in Lanaudiere and in Ottawa at the National Arts Centre. She remained an active touring member of the project through the completion of it's ten year mandate in 2003.

A highly regarded chamber musician, Ms. Blaha has been a regular guest at international festivals including, The Newport Festival, Tucson Chamber Music Festival, La Jolla Summerfest, Festival of the Sound, Bard Festival, Banff Festival of the Arts, Round Top International Festival and Festival de San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.

Ms. Blaha's first solo CD featured the piano music of Chopin. Piano & Keyboard's review referred to her as "a pianist of integrity, with lovely sonorities and total clarity of line. She understands and respects Chopin and lets his eloquence speak for itself." Her discography also includes a CBC Records CD of Sonatas by Strauss, Debussy, and Barber with cellist Shauna Rolston and an album of the complete works of Schumann with violist Rivka Golani. Her most recent CD of the complete works of Felix Mendelssohn for Cello and Piano with cellist Elizabeth Dolin was released on the Analekta label.

Born in Brantford, Ontario, Ms. Blaha was a scholarship student of Boris Berlin at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto and of Mme. Ania Dorfmann at the Juilliard School where she graduated with a Bachelor and Master of Music Degree. Her other mentors included: Marek Jablonski, Menahem Pressler, Gyorgy Sebok and Ludwig Stefanski.

Ms. Blaha currently resides in Los Angeles, and since 1993 has been a member of the Keyboard Faculty at the Thornton School of Music, University of Southern California.

As Viola soloist, Chamber Musician, and Composer, Paul Coletti has performed throughout the world, making major appearances at the Edinburgh Festival, the Sydney Opera house, London's Queen Elizabeth hall and Il Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires. For ten years he played with the award winning Menuhin Festival Piano Quartet, and with Typhoon, An innovative Japan-based group that released five best-selling discs, DVDs and Laser Discs, and performed over 500 concerts and 200 children's shows. Coletti's other recordings include his much honored recital disc English Music for Viola and a Grammy- nominated recording of Nicholas Maws Flute Quartet.

Coletti's Radio and Television broadcasts include appearances on the BBC, CNN, NHK, Classic Arts, and National Public Radio. His performance of Bartok's Viola Concerto conducted by Lord Menuhin, was broadcast live from Berlin on Eurovision Television.

Coletti began playing the viola at age eight in his hometown of Edinburgh. He studied at the Royal Scottish Academy with Jimmy Durrant and with Alberto Lysy at the International Menuhin Music Academy in Gstaad, Switzerland. After completing his education in Cincinnati, the Banff Center, and the Juilliard School, where he studied with Dorothy Delay, Felix Galimir, and Zoltan Szekely, he returned to IMMA as a teacher. He was also a teaching assistant to Sandor Vegh and Don McInnes. He has won prizes at several competitions, including the Golden harp in Belgrade in 1982. He gave his conducting debut in 1992 at a sold-out concert with the new Japan Philharmonic in Tokyo. In 2003 Oxford University Press published his Three Pieces for Viola and Piano.

At age 25, Coletti was appointed Head of Strings at the University of Washington. He was also Professor of Viola and Chamber Music at the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University and a guest professor at the University of Missouri at Kansas City. He has given Master Classes on five continents. He is now Head of Chamber Music and Professor of Viola at UCLA. Coletti produced and composed Dream Ocean, a music video for electric viola, with the actor, Leonard Nimoy. His compositions have been performed throughout the world.

Brian Dembow, violist, is well known in the field of chamber music. Born in New York City, he was admitted to the Juilliard School at age eleven as a scholarship student of the renowned pedagogue Dorothy DeLay. As a young violinist Mr. Dembow began capturing first place finishes in competitions as well as winning the Edward Dethier Award and on two occasions the Michael Rabin Award. At age eighteen he made his first appearances abroad with orchestra in a series of concerts throughout Germany and Scandinavia. A move to Southern California in 1978 helped establish his reputation there as a teacher (at the University of California), and as an orchestral musician (serving as concertmaster of both the Long Beach and San Diego Symphonies.) Mr. Dembow has been a member of the New York and Sequoia String Quartets. As a member of the Angeles String Quartet, Mr. Dembow won a Grammy for Best Chamber Music Performance (2001) for the landmark recording of the 68 String Quartets of Joseph Haydn for the Philips Classics label. In addition, he has recorded for the Delos, Sine Qua Non, CRI, and Koch international labels. Mr. Dembow has also served for several years as Artist-in-Residence at the Aspen Music Festival in Colorado.

Carrie Dennis entered the Curtis Institute of Music at the age of 16 as a violin student of Victor Danchenko and took viola lessons with Joseph de Pasquale. She returned to Curtis in 2000 to study viola with Michael Tree, followed by summer sessions with Roberto Diaz. Halfway into her second year she earned a position in the Philadelphia Orchestra as Associate Principal Viola. She was invited by Simon Rattle to audition for the Berlin Philharmonic, and served as Solo Viola for the Berlin Philharmonic for two years. She joined the Los Angeles Philharmonic as Principal Viola in 2008. In addition to her orchestra career, Dennis is an avid chamber musician and has toured with Musicians from Marlboro. She has also participated in the Verbier Festival and been a Tanglewood Fellow. She has appeared at the Grand Tetons Music Festival and the Barga Chamber Music Festival in Italy, and has given master classes at Northwestern University and the Juilliard School. She played with the Musiche Quartet in Berlin, and she still performs with the ambient electronic music group Mico nonet.

Clarinetist Alexander Fiterstein is recognized for playing that combines flawless technique and consummate musicianship with graceful phrasing and a warm soulful tone. Considered one of today's most exceptional clarinet players, he has performed in recital and with prestigious orchestras and chamber music ensembles throughout the world. Winner of a 2009 Avery Fisher Career Grant Award, Mr. Fiterstein has been praised by The New York Times for possessing a "beautiful liquid clarity," and TheWashington Post wrote, "Fiterstein treats his instrument as his own personal voice, dazzling in its spectrum of colors, agility and range. Every sound he makes is finely measure without inhibiting expressiveness."

As a soloist, Mr. Fiterstein has appeared with the Orchestra of St. Luke's at Lincoln Center, Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela, Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra, China National Symphony Orchestra, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Israel Chamber Orchestra, Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, KBS Symphony Orchestra in Seoul, Korea, Polish Chamber Philharmonic, Tokyo Philharmonic and the Vienna Chamber Orchestra. He has performed in recital at the National Gallery of Art, the Kennedy Center, the 92nd Street Y, Carnegie's Weill Hall, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, the Louvre in Paris, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, and the Tel-Aviv Museum. A dedicated performer of chamber music, Mr. Fiterstein frequently collaborates with distinguished musicians and ensembles, and performs at esteemed chamber music festivals and societies. Among the highly regarded artists he has performed with are Daniel Barenboim, Mitsuko Uchida, Richard Goode, Emanuel Ax, Pinchas Zukerman, Steven Isserlis and Elena Bashkirova; and he has joined the American, Borromeo, Daedalus, Fine Arts, Jerusalem, Mendelssohn, Muir and Vogler string quartets and appeared with the Ensemble Wien-Berlin. Mr. Fiterstein was a member of the prestigious Chamber Music Society II of Lincoln Center from 2004 to 2006, and continues to perform with the CMS each season. He also participated in the Marlboro Music Festival for four summers and toured with Musicians from Marlboro. Mr. Fiterstein has performed chamber music at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the 92nd Street Y, the Kennedy Center and the Library of Congress in Washington DC, and at the Louvre in Paris; and he has appeared at the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival in Germany, the Storioni Festival in Holland, and the Jerusalem International Chamber Music Festival. This season he will rejoin the Daedalus Quartet for performances in Washington, DC; return to the Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival, and perform with the Boston Chamber Music Society. He will also perform with the Goldstein-Peled-Fiterstein Trio in St. Paul and Baltimore.

Mr. Fiterstein is the founder of The Zimro Project and the Alexander Fiterstein Trio. The Zimro Project, founded in 2008, is a unique ensemble dedicated to incorporating Jewish art music into chamber music programs that is inspired by the Zimro Ensemble, a group that nurtured the music of Jewish composers and culture nearly a century ago in St. Petersburg, Russia. This season The Zimro Project will perform at the Brooks Center for the performing arts at Clemson University. The Alexander Fiterstein Trio was also formed in 2008 with cimbalom player Walter Zev Feldman and accordionist Christina Crowder. The trio regularly performs a program of Klezmer music from the traditional Eastern European Jewish wedding ceremony.

Alexander Fiterstein has worked with composers John Corigliano and Osvaldo Golijov and has had pieces written for him by Samuel Adler and Mason Bates, among others. He performed the U.S. premieres of Henrik Strindberg's Clarinet Concerto Minne, Harrison Birtwistle's Pulse Shadows and Paul Schoenfield's clarinet trio. A recording of Schoenfield's trio, performed by Mr. Fiterstein with James Tocco and Yehuda Hanani, was released in May 2010 on the Naxos label. Mr. Fiterstein's upcoming recordings include an album of clarinet music by Ronn Yedidia to be released by Naxos in April 2012, and a recording of Weber's Clarinet Concertos with the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra conducted by Martin West.

During the 2011-12 season, Mr. Fiterstein will perform the world premiere of Roger Zare's clarinet concerto Bennu's Fire with the California State University Northridge Wind Ensemble at ClarinetFest 2011 in Los Angeles, and the world premiere of a new arrangement of Julius Chajes Hebrew Suite for piano trio and clarinet by Sarah Nemtsov and Alexander Veprik's Chant rigoreux for clarinet and piano for Pro Musica Hebraica at the Kennedy Center's Terrace Theater. He will also perform Mozart's Clarinet Concerto with the Lubbock Symphony and Sean Hickey's Clarinet Concerto with the St. Petersburg Philharmonic in Russia (which will be recorded and released by the Naxos label). An alumnus of the Interlochen Arts Academy, Mr. Fiterstein will play excerpts from Weber's second clarinet concerto with the Interlcohen Arts Academy Band led by Donald McKinney as part of Academy's 50th anniversary tour.

Mr. Fiterstein was born in Belarus. At the age of two, he immigrated with his family to Israel where he later studied at the Israel Arts and Science Academy. After attending the Interlochen Arts Academy, Mr. Fiterstein graduated from the Juilliard School, and his teachers include Charles Neidich and Eli Heifetz. He is the first prize winner of the Young Concert Artists International Auditions, the Carl Nielsen International Clarinet Competition, and the "Aviv" competitions in Israel; and he is the recipient of numerous awards from the America-Israel Cultural Foundation and the Bunkamura Orchard Hall Award (Tokyo). Mr. Fiterstein is the clarinet professor at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.

Ronald Leonard is best known as the former Principal Cellist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, a post he held for 24 years. Several years ago, when the Colburn School, where he has taught for many years, was looking for a conductor, Ronald Leonard was chosen because of his vast orchestral experience and his background in teaching and performing. Prior to his appointment as Principal Cellist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Leonard had been Principal Cellist of the Rochester Philharmonic and had taught at the famous Eastman School of Music, where he was professor of cello for 17 years. He has also been an artist/performer at many summer music festivals, among which are Aspen, Marlboro, Meadowmount, the Australian Music Festival, Musicorda, Bowdoin, Summerfest in La Jolla, and the Sarasota Music Festival. In his many years of chamber music performances he has played with many of the world's leading musicians, including Rudolf Serkin, Leonard Rose, Isaac Stern, Jaime Laredo, Richard Goode, Peter Serkin, Joseph Silverstein, Itzhak Perlman, Pinchas Zukerman, Yefim Bronfman, and Yo-Yo Ma. He has also been a guest artist with some of the world's finest string quartets, including the Guarneri, Borromeo, Juilliard, and American Quartets.

A native of Philadelphia, Peter Lloyd is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music and The Settlement Music School. Upon graduation he immediately joined the Philadelphia Orchestra, remaining there for more than eight seasons before accepting the position of Principal Bass of The Minnesota Orchestra from 1986 to 2007. Mr. Lloyd performs on a world-renowned bass violin made by Daniel Hachez, provided by Robertson Violins.

Cellist Antonio Lysy has performed as soloist worldwide, in major concert halls, appearing with orchestras such as the Royal Philharmonic and Philharmonia Orchestras of London, Camerata Academica of Salzburg, Zurich Tonhalle, the Zagreb Soloists, Orchestra di Padova e il Veneto, Israel Sinfonietta, and in Canada with the Montreal, Toronto, Symphony Orchestras, and Les Violons du Roi. He has collaborated with distinguished conductors such as Yuri Temirkanov, Charles Dutoit, Sir Yehudi Menuhin, and Sandor Vegh. Antonio continues to perform regularly as a solo and chamber music artist. He is committed to special projects which enrich his diverse interests in music, including a new album dedicated to cello works from Argentina, including the Grammy award winning recording of Pampas written for him by Lalo Schifrin, released in 2010 on the Yarlung Records label.

Anton Nel is the winner of the 1987 Naumburg and 1986 Joanna Hodges International Piano Competitions, and has frequently appeared with orchestras and as a recitalist since his debut at the age of 12 in Beethoven's First Piano Concerto after only two years of study. Summer festival highlights include Mostly Mozart, Ravinia (with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra), San Francisco Symphony at Stern Grove and repeated engagements at the Aspen, Vancouver and Seattle music festivals. He has collaborated with many distinguished artists, including members of the Cleveland Quartet, William Sharp and Zara Nelsova, and released three albums. He has served on the faculties of the Eastman School and the University of Michigan and is now in residence at the University of Texas.

Violinist Tereza Stanislav was appointed assistant concertmaster of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra in 2003 by music director Jeffrey Kahane. An active performer, Tereza has appeared in venues including the Carnegie, Alice Tully, Wigmore and Merkin halls; the Library of Congress; the Kennedy Center; the Ravinia, Chautauqua, St. Barth's Music, Charlottesville Chamber Music and Bravo! Vail Valley Music festivals; the La Jolla Music Society SummerFest and the Banff Center in Canada. She has performed in concert with artists including Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Gilbert Kalish, Jon Kimura Parker, Jian Wang and Colin Currie. In 2004, Tereza released a CD in collaboration with pianist Hung-Kuan Chen.

In 2010, Tereza served as concertmaster of the LA Opera production of The Marriage of Figaro, conducted by Plácido Domingo. In 2009, Tereza was invited to be chamber music collaborator for Sonata Programs and a member of the jury for the 6th Esther Honens International Piano Competition.

As a founding member of the Grammy-nominated Enso String Quartet, Tereza was awarded second prize at the 2004 Banff International String Quartet Competition and led the quartet to win the special prize, awarded for best performance of the Pièce de Concert commissioned for the competition. The quartet was a winner of the 2003 Concert Artists Guild, Chamber Music Yellow Springs and Fischoff competitions. With the Enso, Tereza is featured on the Naxos recording of the complete Ignaz Pleyel quartets, Op. 2.

An advocate for new music, Tereza traveled to Israel to represent the United States as the violinist in the New Juilliard Ensemble at the World Composer's Symposium under the direction of Dr. Joel Sachs. She has worked with composers including Steve Reich, Joan Tower, Toshio Hosokawa, Gunther Schuller and Louis Andriessen.

Tereza holds a Bachelor of Music from Indiana University, where she studied with Miriam Fried, and a Master of Music from The Juilliard School, where her teachers were Robert Mann and Felix Galimir.

Peter Stumpf is professor of cello at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. Prior to his appointment, he was principal cellist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Stumpf’s tenure in Los Angeles followed 12 years as associate principal cellist of the Philadelphia Orchestra. A dedicated chamber music musician, he is a member of the Johannes String Quartet and has appeared on the chamber music series at Carnegie Hall, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, and Casals Hall in Tokyo. As a former member of the Boston Musica Viva, he has explored extended techniques, including microtonal compositions and numerous premieres. His awards include first prize in the Washington International Competition, the Graham-Stahl Competition, and the Aspen Concerto Competition and second prize in the Evian International String Quartet Competition.

Violinist Tien-Hsin Cindy Wu enjoys a versatile career as a soloist and a chamber musician, having performed with renowned musicians and ensembles in Europe, the United States and Asia. Praised by the Liberty Times (Taiwan) for “capturing the spirit of the music astonishingly,” she has appeared as soloist with the National Symphony Orchestra of Taiwan and Taipei Symphony Orchestra in her native country, as well as with the Odessa Philharmonic Orchestra and the Russian State Symphony Orchestra. As solo recitalist and chamber musician, Ms. Wu has performed extensively in Taiwan, Europe and North America, at such prominent venues as Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall of Lincoln Center, Washington D.C.’s Kennedy Center and Library of Congress, and throughout major cities in the United States including Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Media appearances include performances on WHYY TV and Radio in Philadelphia and NPR’s “From the Top”, as well as multiple on-air interviews with Philharmonic Radio Taipei and IC Broadcasting of Taiwan. Among Ms. Wu’s many honors and awards are the gold medal in the 18th Stulberg International String Competition, and third prize in the David Oistrakh International Violin Competition. Ms. Wu’s former teachers include Midori Goto at the Thornton School of Music, Ida Kavafian, Victor Danchenko, and Steven Tenenbom(on viola) at the Curtis Institute of Music, and Dorothy DeLay and Hyo Kang at the Juilliard School. She performs on a 1734 Domenico Montagnana violin.

 

Alla francesca

Internationally recognized for the quality of its performances and the originality of its projects, Alla francesca specializes in songs and instrumental dances from the Middle Ages. Their performances, both lively and poetic, have reached maturity after many years of research and are intimate and always full of life and musical inventiveness.

Co-directed by Pierre Hamon and Brigitte Lesne and comprised of  up to ten musicians and singers, the ensemble experiments with different approaches to find the very best musical interpretation, historically plausible and respectful of original sources. The accent is put on instrumental techniques – searching for subtle playing and articulations adapted to dance music and a singer’s accompaniment – and on a specific vocal approach – based on diction, line and legato which support the rich poetic texts of this repertoire.

Alla francesca concentrates its research on the period from the 12th to the 15th century, thus offering a true musical voyage, a festive and poetic kaleidoscope, apparently simple or extremely sophisticated. The repertoire contains music from France (Oc and Oïl language, troubadours, trouvères, motets), Spain (cantigas, Llibre vermell de Montserrat), Italy (Francesco Landini, istanpitte) and from the whole of 14th and 15th century Europe (Guillaume de Machaut, ars subtilior, Guillaume Dufay, French-Flemish and English repertoire, and Spanish song books). Certain programs also adopt various musical traditions that took root in the Middle Ages (Sephardic songs, tarantella’s, arabo-andalusian music…). Indeed, while referring to musicological research and medieval documents (musical manuscripts, treaties, literary works, account books), Alla francesca also willingly embraces living monodic traditions, whether popular, scholarly, European or oriental and as well as research by instrument makers. Furthermore the ensemble creates concerts, lectures and performances including storytellers, actors, jugglers or the women’s vocal ensemble Discantus, thus creating a complete palette of medieval sonorities.

Alla francesca performs regularly in the most important festivals and concert halls in France and throughout Europe. The ensemble has also toured Australia, Azerbaidjan, Canada, Colombia, India, Morocco, Mexico, New-Zealand, Russia, USA, and Turkmenistan and has recorded with Zig-Zag territoires, Opus 111, Virgin Classis and Jade. Among numerous awards, Alla Francesca has received the “ Early music Diapason d’or of the year 2000 ”

 

Mak Grgic, guitar & Jay Campbell, cello

At 25, Mak Grgic has been invited to a multitude of music venues world-wide. These include Sandpoint Festival with the Spokane Symphony, the Allegro Guitar Series in Texas, the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C., the Newman Center for the Performing Arts, Denver, in performance with the Assad Brothers and cellist Joshua Roman for Strings on Fire, Strathmore Hall in North Bethesda, MD, Pepperdine University as a guest of Christopher Parkening, Portland Classical Guitar, Guitar Festival Mikulov, Piran Music Nights and The Sounds of Six Strings, Cankarjev Dom, Slovenia.

He has also been invited to perform at the Grande Auditorium di Espinho, Espinho and Teatro di Fafe, Fafe Municipality in Portugal, Teatro Cervantes de Bejar, Salamanca, Castile-Leon in Spain, International Music Council of the European Broadcasting Union in an all instrument "New Talent" Competition in Bratislava, representing the Republic of Slovenia, and a performance with RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra and Maestro Ivo Lipanovic in Gallus Hall, Cankarjev Dom, Ljubljana, as well as The Dallas Opera with Chamber Orchestra in performances of Peter Maxwell Davies' The Lighthouse, the Lancaster Festival in Ohio, where he performed Rodrigo's Fantasia para un Gentilhombre, conducted by Gary Sheldon, conductor of the Miami City Ballet. Other dates include performances with the renowned JACK Quartet where they premiered a new guitar quintet by the most distinguished of young Slovenian composers, Nina Senk, as well as the Croatian Chamber Philharmonic in Europe and at the "Musica a 4 Stelle" summer festival in Grado, Italy, the Guitar Festival at William Patterson University in New Jersey, St. Donat's Church in Zadar, Croatia, and the Atrium of the City Museum of Ljubljana, Slovenia. He has been reviewed and interviewed around the world by magazines, newspapers and radio stations such as KPBX in Spokane, Washington, UNIVOX and National Radio in Slovenia, National TV and Radio in Croatia, Thüringische Landeszeitung in Germany, Jutarnji List in Croatia, the popular family magazine Jana in Slovenia, Columbus Dispatch in Ohio, Classical Guitar Magazine in the UK and Il Messaggero and Chitarra Classica in Italy. He recently recorded music for the film Regrets of White Camellias staring Cybill Shepherd to be released in 2012.

Mak recently took first prize at the Guitar Competition "Luigi Mozzani" in Italy and the Pacific Guitar Festival and Competition 2011 in California, and has been honored with highest prizes at: the Andres Segovia International Competition for young guitarists in Velbert, Germany, the Forum Gitarre Wien International Competition in Vienna, Austria, the International Guitar Competition in Arrenzano, Italy, the Anna Amalia Competition for young guitarists in Weimar, Germany, the International Guitarart Festival and Competition in Belgrade, Serbia and the European Classical Guitar Competition "Enrico Mercatali" in Italy.

Born in 1987 in Ljubljana, Slovenia, Mak follows in a distinguished line of some of today's finest young guitarists emerging from the Croatian school of guitar. In Zagreb he studied with the revered Ante Cagalj at the Elly Basic Conservatory of Music and obtained his Bachelor's Degree with Alvaro Pierri at the Universität f&umul;r Musik und darstellende Kunst in Vienna, Austria. At the moment he is pursuing a Master's Degree at the USC Thornton School of Music as a student of William Kanengiser of the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet. He is also newly appointed TA at USC at the Thornton School of Music.

Armed with a diverse spectrum of repertoire and eclectic musical interests, Jay Campbell has been praised as an "astonishing cellist" (Seen and Heard International), and whose performances "conveyed every nuance" (New York Times). Originally from Berkeley, CA., he has collaborated with an array of significant musicians and composers ranging from Elliott Carter and Pierre Boulez to members of Radiohead and Einstürzende Neubauten. Actively involved with the music of our time, he has had the privilege of working and studying with leading ensembles throughout the globe including ICE (International Contemporary Ensemble), Ensemble InterContemporain, the Arditti, Emerson, and Kronos string quartets, the Da Capo Chamber Players, and others.

Campbell has been heard on television, radio broadcasts and in concert halls around the world, including concerto appearances in Carnegie Hall (Stern), Alice Tully Hall, Kultur und Kongresszentrum Luzern (KKL), the Aspen Festival's Benedict Music Tent, with conductors such as Pierre Boulez, Jeffrey Milarsky and with ensembles including The Juilliard Orchestra, Lucerne Festival Academy, the New York Youth Symphony and others. He has premiered nearly one hundred works to date including concertos by Chris Rogerson and David Lang. Next season's highlights include recitals at Smith College, Clark University, The Stone, residencies at the Yellowbarn festival, nearly a dozen centennial performances of Schoenbergs Pierrot Lunaire with Paula Robison and six performances of a new work for solo cello and ensemble by David Lang in collaboration with the Morphoses dance company. Currently enrolled at the Juilliard School, Jay studies with Fred Sherry and has been invited as a participant at the Marlboro Music Festival.

Tord Gustavsen Quartet

Tord Gustavsen, piano
Jarle Vespestad, drums
Mats Eilertsen, double bass
Tore Brunborg, saxophones

Pianist Tord Gustavsen has released four albums on ECM Records with his ensemble and trio; "Changing Places" (2003), "The Ground" (2005), "Being There" (2007) and "Restored, Returned" (2009/2010). His music has been met by a huge volume of critical approval around the world. The recent release also won the Norwegian Grammy Award (Spellemannsprisen).

After playing primarily in trio format for several years, Tord launched his new project, Tord Gustavsen Ensemble, in 2008 with a commissioned work for the Vossajazz Festival in Norway, followed by a few selected performances leading up to a new recording in 2009. Tord also plays in duo and trio formats with the musicians in the new ensemble.

Before starting his solo career, Tord had already been an important part of the Norwegian jazz scene for several years. His playing has formed a cornerstone in projects featuring some of the finest Norwegian singers, including Silje Nergaard, Siri Gjære, Kristin Asbjørnsen, Solveig Slettahjell and Live Maria Roggen. The urge for individual expression fuses with acutely attentive listening in creative interplay, making Tord a very special experience both as a soloist and as an ensemble player. While relating to fields like Scandinavian folk music, gospel, Caribbean music and cool jazz alike, Tord's ensembles present a unique universe of lyricism and subtle funkiness. His way of conversing jazz history with 'Nordic' reflective moods and lyrical beauty brings about an intriguing voice on today's music scene.

Tord tours extensively world-wide with his projects. He can be heard on several albums; in addition to his own releases there are releases with Kristin Asbjørnsen, Silje Nergaard, the Nymark Collective, the Ulrich Drechsler Quartet, Carl Petter Opsahl, and the duo aire & angels.

You can read more about Tord's biography, about his theoretical thesis "The Dialectical Erotism of Improvisation", and about his other musical projects on his personal web site: www.tordg.no

Jarle Vespestad has been one of Scandinavia's most in-demand jazz musicians for several years. His range of experience covers projects like Farmers Market; Supersilent and the Silje Nergaard Band, as well as duo cooperation with saxophonist Tore Brunborg, trio with Petter Wettre, and appearances with Bugge Wesseltoft. Along with fierce technique and startling abilities in complex rhythmic landscapes, Jarle has a unique sense of expressive minimalism and quiet moods, which is really featured in Tord's ensemble.

Mats Eilertsen plays with a unique combination of solid accompaniment and constant creative thinking, making him a very special musical partner. His interplay with Tord has developed through recording and touring over several years with various ensembles, resulting in a solid and intuitive musical connection.

Mats leads his own quartet/quintet, and he has released four albums under his own name with intriguing and inventive projects. He also plays with ensembles like Parish, Food, Jacob Young Group, Wolfert Brederode Quartet, and The Source.

Website: www.matseilertsen.com

Tore Brunborg's approach to music is unique in the world of saxophonists. He has a strong lyrical 'voice' on his instrument, bridging Scandinavian folk music influences with American traditions in a very special way. He is the perfect complement to Tord's melodic playing, and their interplay has gone far beyond the normal roles of 'soloist' and accompaniment – they play together in an integrated 'musical organism'.

Tore Brunborg's experiences as a band leader and an ensemble musician cover a wide range of the most important European jazz projects through several decades, with the legendary Norwegian group Masqualero as a starting point in the 1980's. He has played with Jon Christensen, Arild Andersen, Jon Balke, Nils Petter Molvær, Bugge Wesseltoft, Anders Jormin to name a few – and he also currently leads a quartet with British pianist John Taylor.

Website: www.torebrunborg.com

Horszowski Piano Trio

Jesse Mills, violin
Raman Ramakrishnan, cello
Rieko Aizawa, piano

Hailed by The New Yorker as "destined for great things," when the members of the HorszowskiTrio (Hor-SHOV-ski) – Jesse Mills, Raman Ramakrishnan, and Rieko Aizawa – played together for the first time, they immediately felt the spark of a unique connection. Many years of close friendship had created a deep trust between the players, which in turn led to exhilaratingexpressive freedom.

Two-time Grammy-nominated violinist Jesse Mills first performed with Raman Ramakrishnan, founding cellist of the prize-winning Daedalus Quartet, at the Kinhaven Music School over twenty years ago, when they were children. In New York City, they met pianist Rieko Aizawa, who, upon being discovered by the late violinist and conductor Alexander Schneider, had made her U.S. debuts at the Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall. Their musical bonds were strengthened at various schools and festivals around the world, including the Juilliard School and the Marlboro Festival.

Ms. Aizawa was the last pupil of the legendary pianist, Mieczyslaw Horszowski (1892-1993), at the Curtis Institute. The Trio takes inspiration from Horszowski's musicianship, integrity, and humanity. Like Horszowski, the Trio presents repertoire spanning the traditional and the contemporary. In addition, they seek to perform works from the trove of composers with whom Horszowski had personal contact, such as Ravel, Saint-Saëns, Fauré, Martinu, Villa-Lobos, and Granados.

The Trio's 2012-2013 engagements include the People's Symphony and New School Concerts series in New York, the Phillips Collection in Washington, the Athenaeum in La Jolla, the Friends of Chamber Music in Troy and Fullerton, the University of Texas in Brownsville, the Bard and Cooperstown festivals, Bargemusic in Brooklyn, and several concerts in India. The 2013-2014 season will include their debut performances in Japan. They will be featured on a recording of music of Dan Visconti, to be released by Bridge Records in 2013.

Based in New York City, the members of the Horszowski Trio teach at Columbia University and the Longy School of Music of Bard College.

Israeli Chamber Project

Moran Katz, clarinet
Brook Speltz, cello
Assaff Weisman, piano

Winner of the 2011 Israeli Ministry of Culture Outstanding Ensemble Award, the Israeli Chamber Project brings together some of the finest young Israeli musicians to perform classic and contemporary chamber music of the highest quality. Based both in New York and Israel, we present chamber music concerts, educational and outreach programs, bringing something back to the people of Israel and something of Israel to concertgoers overseas. We believe in the power of music to heal and to transcend geographical and cultural boundaries, and that by leveraging our collective talents, we can create a powerful and meaningful experience for all people.

Our vision embraces values that include collaboration, partnership, and a strong cultural identity. Embracing these values, we present high quality chamber music programs in both major venues and remote locations where there is little opportunity to hear world-class live chamber music. We actively commission new works from young Israeli composers and reach out to underprivileged communities in order to provide educational programs, including master classes and lessons.

The Israeli Chamber Project is dedicated to bringing a unique musical experience to a worldwide audience. To that end, we:

• Present the public with high quality chamber music performances by an accomplished group of renowned young Israeli musicians

• Feature both classic and rarely heard chamber masterworks side by side with newly commissioned music by Israeli composers

• Perform at major concert venues as well as in remote locations where the public does not often have the opportunity to experience live chamber music concerts

• Provide educational outreach programs including master classes and lessons to underprivileged communities

• Increase the audience's understanding of, and therefore involvement, with music by providing commentary from the stage

JACK Quartet with Mak Grgic, guitar

Ari Streisfeld, violin
Christopher Otto, violin
John Pickford Richards, viola
Kevin McFarland, cello

The JACK Quartet is breaking new ground with "viscerally exciting performances" (New York Times) of "explosive virtuosity" (Boston Globe). Alex Ross (New Yorker) proclaimed their performance of Iannis Xenakis' complete string quartets as being "exceptional" and "beautifully harsh," and Mark Swed (Los Angeles Times) called their sold-out performances of Georg Friedrich Haas' String Quartet No. 3 In iij. Noct. "mind-blowingly good." JACK's recording of Xenakis' complete string quartets appeared on "Best Of" lists from the Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, New Yorker, NPR, and Time Out New York as "one of 2009's most impressive recordings." The quartet has recently performed to critical acclaim at the Library of Congress, Miller Theatre, Morgan Library, and Kimmel Center with upcoming performances at the Darmstadt Internationale Ferienkurse für Neue Musik (Germany), Garth Newel Music Center, Donaueschinger Musiktage (Germany), Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ (Netherlands), Festival Internacional Cervantino (Mexico), Ultraschall Festival für neue Musik (Germany), Wigmore Hall (UK), and the Arcana Festival (Austria).

Comprising violinists Christopher Otto and Ari Streisfeld, violist John Pickford Richards, and cellist Kevin McFarland, the JACK Quartet is focused on the commissioning and performance of new works, leading them to work closely with composers Helmut Lachenmann, György Kurtág, Matthias Pintscher, Toshio Hosokawa, Wolfgang Rihm, Elliott Sharp, Beat Furrer, Caleb Burhans, and Aaron Cassidy. Upcoming premieres include works by Jimmy López, Evan Gardner, Peter Ablinger, Alan Hilario, and Gregory Spears. The quartet also has a keen interest in unusual reworkings of music written before familiar repertoire, including works by Guillaume de Machaut, Girolamo Frescobaldi, and Josquin des Prez.

JACK has led workshops with young composers at Columbia University, New York University, the University of Huddersfield, Northwestern University, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the University of Victoria, the University of Iowa, and the University of Washington. In addition to working with composers and performers, the JACK Quartet seeks to broaden and diversify the potential audience for new music through educational presentations designed for a variety of ages, backgrounds, and levels of musical experience.

The members of the quartet met while attending the Eastman School of Music, and they have since studied with the Arditti Quartet, Kronos Quartet, Muir String Quartet, and members of the Ensemble Intercontemporain.

At 25, Mak GRGIC has been invited to a multitude of music venues world-wide. These include Sandpoint Festival with the Spokane Symphony, the Allegro Guitar Series in Texas, the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C., the Newman Center for the Performing Arts, Denver, in performance with the Assad Brothers and cellist Joshua Roman for Strings on Fire, Strathmore Hall in North Bethesda, MD, Pepperdine University as a guest of Christopher Parkening, Portland Classical Guitar, Guitar Festival Mikulov, Piran Music Nights and The Sounds of Six Strings, Cankarjev Dom, Slovenia.

He has also been invited to perform at the Grande Auditorium di Espinho, Espinho and Teatro di Fafe, Fafe Municipality in Portugal, Teatro Cervantes de Bejar, Salamanca, Castile-Leon in Spain, International Music Council of the European Broadcasting Union in an all instrument "New Talent" Competition in Bratislava, representing the Republic of Slovenia, and a performance with RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra and Maestro Ivo Lipanovic in Gallus Hall, Cankarjev Dom, Ljubljana, as well as The Dallas Opera with Chamber Orchestra in performances of Peter Maxwell Davies' The Lighthouse, the Lancaster Festival in Ohio, where he performed Rodrigo's Fantasia para un Gentilhombre, conducted by Gary Sheldon, conductor of the Miami City Ballet. Other dates include performances with the renowned JACK Quartet where they premiered a new guitar quintet by the most distinguished of young Slovenian composers, Nina Senk, as well as the Croatian Chamber Philharmonic in Europe and at the "Musica a 4 Stelle" summer festival in Grado, Italy, the Guitar Festival at William Patterson University in New Jersey, St. Donat's Church in Zadar, Croatia, and the Atrium of the City Museum of Ljubljana, Slovenia. He has been reviewed and interviewed around the world by magazines, newspapers and radio stations such as KPBX in Spokane, Washington, UNIVOX and National Radio in Slovenia, National TV and Radio in Croatia, Thüringische Landeszeitung in Germany, Jutarnji List in Croatia, the popular family magazine Jana in Slovenia, Columbus Dispatch in Ohio, Classical Guitar Magazine in the UK and Il Messaggero and Chitarra Classica in Italy. He recently recorded music for the film Regrets of White Camellias starring Cybill Shepherd to be released in 2012.

Mak recently took first prize at the Guitar Competition "Luigi Mozzani" in Italy and the Pacific Guitar Festival and Competition 2011 in California, and has been honored with highest prizes at: the Andres Segovia International Competition for young guitarists in Velbert, Germany, the Forum Gitarre Wien International Competition in Vienna, Austria, the International Guitar Competition in Arrenzano, Italy, the Anna Amalia Competition for young guitarists in Weimar, Germany, the International Guitarart Festival and Competition in Belgrade, Serbia and the European Classical Guitar Competition "Enrico Mercatali" in Italy.

Born in 1987 in Ljubljana, Slovenia, Mak follows in a distinguished line of some of today's finest young guitarists emerging from the Croatian school of guitar. In Zagreb he studied with the revered Ante Cagalj at the Elly Basic Conservatory of Music and obtained his Bachelor's Degree with Alvaro Pierri at the Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst in Vienna, Austria. At the moment he is pursuing a Master's Degree at the USC Thornton School of Music as a student of William Kanengiser of the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet. He is also newly appointed TA at USC at the Thornton School of Music.

Concerto Köln

For over 25 years, Concerto Köln has ranked among the leading ensembles for historically informed performance practice. Even shortly following its establishment in 1985, both audience and critics alike were highly enthusiastic about the energetic performance style of the ensemble and ever since, Concerto Köln has appeared as a regular guest at the most renowned concert halls and music festivals around the globe. Numerous tours supported by the Goethe Institute, among others, have lead the ensemble to North and South America, to Asia including China, Japan and South Korea as well as to Israel and throughout most countries within Europe.

A partnership with the leading High End Audio specialists, MBL, was established in October of 2009 resulting in concerts, conventions and further cooperative efforts. Both the company and the orchestra combine shared goals and values: "We maintain a similar philosophy and Concerto Köln pursues the same goals at a musical level as we do at the technical-musical level — to evoke the listener's emotions through technical perfection and passion." (MBL)

Concerto Köln has produced numerous recordings with Deutschen Grammophon, Virgin Classics, Harmonia Mundi, Teldec, Edel and Capriccio and is able to boast a discography of more than 50 CDs, the majority of which have been recognised by significant awards such as the Echo Classic, the Grammy Award, The German Record Critics Award, the MIDEM Classic Award, the Choc du Monde de la Musique, the Diapason d'Année and the Diapason d'Or. A trademark of the ensemble is the rediscovery of composers whose music has remained in the shadows of great names. Concerto Köln has made significant contributions to the renaissance of works including those of Joseph Martin Kraus, Evaristo Felice dall'Abaco and especially those of Henri-Joseph Rigel. The recording of Rigel's Symphonies received numerous awards in 2009 including the ECHO Classic and the MIDEM Classic Award in 2010. The seamless integration of research and practical application is especially important for the ensemble and plays a significant role in their musical approach.

Martin Sandhoff has been responsible for the artistic direction of the orchestra since 2005. In addition to the concertmaster from within the ranks of Concerto Köln, Markus Hoffmann, external concertmasters are also engaged for certain projects, such as the recent involvement of Hiro Kurosaki or Mayumi Hirasaki. For large-scale projects, Concerto Köln additionally engages various conductors. Such previous collaborations have included Kent Nagano, Ivor Bolton, Daniel Harding, René Jacobs, Marcus Creed, Peter Dijkstra, Laurence Equilbey and Emmanuelle Haïm. Further artistic partners include mezzo-sopranos Cecilia Bartoli, Vivica Genaux and Waltraud Meier, sopranos Simone Kermes, Nuria Rial, Rosemary Joshua and Johannette Zomer, counter tenors Philippe Jaroussky, Max Emanuel Cencic, Andreas Scholl, Maarten Engeltjes and Carlos Mena, tenors Werner Güra and Christoph Prégardien, pianists Andreas Staier and Alexander Melnikov, actors and moderators Bruno Ganz, Harald Schmidt and Ulrich Tukur as well as the Ensemble Sarband, the Balthasar-Neumann Choir, the WDR, NDR and BR choirs, the Collegium Vocale Gent, the Regensburger Domspatzen, the RIAS Chamber Choir, Accentus and Arsys de Bourgogne.

Since 2005, Concerto Köln headquarters have been located in the Cologne district of Ehrenfeld where, on the ensemble's initiative, a centre for early music shall be established. The centre wishes to build on the international significance of Cologne as the capital city of early music and to provide partners in the early music scene a common roof. Generous sponsors such as the State of North-Rhine Westphalia, the Kunststiftung NRW, the city of Cologne, the TÜV Rheinland, the Landschaftsverband Rheinland, the Bauwens Group and the RheinEnergieStiftung Kultur help to support Concerto Köln in realising this vision.

Modern Mandolin Quartet

Dana Rath, mandolin
Matt Flinner, mandolin
Paul Binkley, mandola
Adam Roszkiewicz, mandocello

The Modern Mandolin Quartet was formed in 1985 to give a new voice to that most American of musical instruments, the mandolin. Following the tradition of the mandolin orchestras and chamber groups from the early twentieth century, the MMQ uses the instruments of the mandolin family which correspond to the conventional string quartet (two mandolins, mandola, and mandocello).

The Quartet's goals are to introduce audiences to the modern mandolin family of instruments, to increase the repertoire of original and arranged music for the instrument, and to bring the mandolin into the next millennium by commissioning new works.

Their early recordings, Modern Mandolin Quartet and Intermezzo, were explorations of the world of classical music using mostly transcriptions; Nutcracker Suite featured the first piece composed for the group, the first guest artists and the first complete transcription of a major work. Their 1994 recording, Pan American Journeys, explored music of the Americas; their 1999 recording, Modern Mandolin Quartet - Interplay, features pieces specially commissioned from David Balakrishnan (of Turtle Island String Quartet fame) and Utah composer Tully Cathey, as well as a string quartet by Terry Riley.

The Modern Mandolin Quartet members are Dana Rath and Matt Flinner (mandolins), Paul Binkley (mandola), and Adam Roszkiewicz (mandocello). The members of the Quartet come from diverse backgrounds including classical, jazz, rock, and folk.

To date the Quartet has arranged and performed over 90 works originally written for orchestra, chamber ensemble, piano, guitar, and string quartet, including arrangements of traditional classical music (Vivaldi, Bach, Corelli, Mozart, Ravel, Bernstein), string quartets (Mozart, Bartok, Dvorak, Villa-Lobos, Terry Riley), music from the mandolin's historical roots, (American Bluegrass, Brazilian Choro, Italian folk songs), and commissioned works (David Jaffe, Tully Cathey, David Balakrishnan, Philip Bimstein, Larry Polansky, and Edgar Meyer).

The Modern Mandolin Quartet began recording in 1988 with Windham Hill/BMG; they have released four albums to date, with sales in excess of 130,000 units worldwide. In addition to their own albums, the group appears on samplers from Polygram Records, Well Tempered Productions, and Acoustic Disk. In 1994 the Quartet received a National Endowment for the Arts Chamber Music grant to tour and perform new American music.

They are the 1995 recipients of a grant from the Meet the Composer/Lila Wallace - Reader's Digest Fund Commissioning Program, which funded David Balakrishnan's Interplay and Tully Cathey's Elements. These works premiered in 1997 at Merkin Hall in New York City; both are featured on Interplay.

El Mundo

El Mundo is a chamber group that was created by guitarist/lutenist Richard Savino to perform the rich and sensual musical repertory from 16th-19th century Italy, Spain and Latin America. El Mundo has performed for early music and chamber music presenters in Houston, San Diego, Arizona, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, New York, Cleveland, Columbus, Seattle, Vancouver, Victoria, Sedona, and many other locations. Recent recordings by El Mundo include: Venice Before Vivaldi; A Portrait of Giovanni Lengrenzi; Villancicos y Cantadas, 17th & 18th Century Music from Spain and Latin America; and The Essential Giuliani. El Mundo records for Koch International Classics.

Guitarist/Lutist Richard Savino has been a featured performer and concerto soloist with many groups and on many concert stages including the Frick Collection, Cloisters (Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY), Boston Early Music Festival International Series, Tage Alter Musik, Regensburg, London Early Music Network, Shrine To Music Museum, San Francisco/Seattle/ Vancouver/Victoria Early Music Societies, and the Portland and Los Angeles Baroque Orchestras. In recent years he has been a featured artist, faculty member and judge at numerous festivals throughout the US and Europe the International Guitar Festival in Gargnano, Italy, Guitar Foundation of America Festival and the National Guitar Summer Workshop.

In 1995 he was Visiting Artistic Director of the Aston Magna Academy at Rutgers University and from 1994 - 1997 was Coordinator of Performance Practice at the Monadnock Music Festival in New Hampshire. Since 1987 Mr. Savino has directed the CSU Summer Arts Guitar and Lute Institute and is presently co-director of Ensemble El Mundo which will perform the featured opening concert at the 1998 Berkeley Early Music Festival. In 1982 Mr. Savino was chosen twice by Maestro Andres Segovia to perform in master-classes at the Conservatoire de Musique in Geneva, Switzerland and at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

In 1984 and 1986 he was chosen to perform in the International Segovia Fellowship Competition sponsored by New York University and in 1985 became the first solo guitarist to be chosen a winner at the Artists International Carnegie Recital Hall Debut Competition. Mr. Savino has secured grants from the National Endowment of the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, the California State University and has recently been chosen to appear on the CAC touring roster by the California Arts Council. An active accompanist as well as soloist, he has performed in recitals with singers Paul Hillier, Andrea Fullington, Judith Nelson, and Susan Narucki. His recordings include the first period instrument versions of Luigi Boccherini's guitar quintets (3 cd's), Mauro Giuliani's Grand Quintetto and Johann Kaspar Mertz's Bardenklänge for the Harmonia Mundi record label, all of which have received great critical acclaim. In addition to receiving a 10 du R&eegu;pertoire the Parisian journal has also placed his Boccherini recordings in their "Great Discoveries" category which they deem as essential to any classical music collection. His recent releases include a duo recording with British violinist Monica Huggett, featuring virtuoso sonatas by Paganini and Giuliani, on HM, and a collection of sonatas by Ferdinando Carulli on the Naxos label.

Most recently he has recorded an extensive collection of 18th century guitar music from Mexico by Santiago de Murcia (Koch International) and a collection of monody by Barbara Strozzi with soprano Emanuela Galli and Ensemble Gallilei (Stradivarius, Milano). In January 1999 the NPR/BBC program The World featured the Murcia cd as its "Global Hit." In the coming year Mr. Savino will record music of Giovanni Legrenzi with El Mundo, of which he is co-director, the first period instrument versions of the Boccherini Guitar Symphonia, the Op. 30 Concerto for Guitar by Mauro Giuliani, and music by Biagio Marini with Monica Huggett.

Mr. Savino has appeared on the CBS and PBS television networks, has been heard "in recital" on National Public Radio's Performance Today, Morning Pro Musica, Off The Record, England's BBC and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's Music from Montreal and Music from Vancouver programs. In 1995 he was a contributing author to the Cambridge University Press Studies in Performance Practice series and is presently editing the complete works of Fernando Sor for Editions Chanterelle and a collection of secular monodies by Francesca Caccini for Indiana University Press.

Mr. Savino has studied with Oscar Ghiglia, Eliot Fisk and received his Doctor of Musical Arts degree from SUNY at Stony Brook where he studied with Jerry Willard. He is presently Professor of Music at the California State University at Sacramento where in 1994 he was the first member of the music faculty to be awarded an Outstanding and Exceptional sabbatical and in 1996 became only the seventh CSUS faculty toreceive the prestigious Semester Leave Research Grant Award.

Nokuthula Ngwenyama, viola & Eckart Sellheim, piano

Recently featured as a "Face to Watch" in the Los Angeles Times, Nokuthula Ngwenyama's performances as orchestral soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician continue to garner great attention. Gramophone proclaimed Ms. Ngwenyama's playing as providing "solidly shaped music of bold, mesmerising character," and the Washington Post described her as playing "with dazzling technique in the virtuoso fast movements and deep expressiveness in the slow movements."

Nokuthula Ngwenyama came to international attention when she won the Primrose International Viola Competition and the Young Concert Artists International Auditions at age 17. Plaudits followed her debut recitals in Washington, D.C. at the Kennedy Center and in New York at the 92nd Street Y, and in 1998 she received the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant.

In 2010-11 Ms. Ngwenyama was chosen for the coveted Duncanson Artist-In-Residence at the Taft Museum. She also appears in Washington D.C. at the Cosmos Club, at Symphony Space in New York, and at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia, among others. Past seasons include appearances with the Cincinnati Symphony, the Nurnberg Philharmonie and world premiere performances of Andrew Norman's Sabina in Washington DC's Kennedy Center and Merkin Hall in New York. She has also performed with the Charlotte, Austin, Jackson and Memphis symphonies, and with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Additionally, she "fascinated on viola and violin during recital" (Washington Post) at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, DC and with the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society.

Ms. Ngwenyama has performed throughout the United States and abroad. Domestic appearances include performances with the Atlanta, Baltimore, and Indianapolis symphonies, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the National Symphony Orchestra. She has been heard in recital at Tokyo's Suntory Hall, the Louvre, the Ford Center in Toronto, and the Maison de Radio France. Summer festival appearances include Green Music, Vail, San Diego's Mainly Mozart, Chamber Music Northwest, Marlboro Music Festival, and Spoleto USA.

No stranger to television and radio appearances, her performance at the White House, commemorating the 10th anniversary of NPR's Performance Today, also featured artists Wynton Marsalis, James Galway, and Murray Perahia. A vivid portrait of Ms. Ngwenyama was televised nationally on CBS Sunday Morning with cultural correspondent Eugenia Zukerman. She was featured on the Emmy Award-nominated PBS program Sound of Strings in the "Musical Encounter" series, hosted by cellist Lynn Harrell. A dedicated advocate for the arts, she has testified before Congress on behalf of the National Endowment for the Arts. As an artist recording on the EDI label, she has collaborated with pianist Mihae Lee on Grieg and Debussy, and with guitarist Michael Long on Bach Partitas as well as Corella's Che! A Musical Biography. Her recent collaboration with pianist Jennifer Lim on the Rubinstein viola and violin sonatas was released in 2009 to excellent reviews.

In addition to her performance activities Ms. Ngwenyama served as visiting professor at the University of Notre Dame in 2007, where she lectured on the subjects of African Music, and Music and World Religions. From 2008-2010 she was a visiting professor at Indiana University. She has been director of the Primrose International Viola Competition since 2005 and assumed presidency of the American Viola Society in 2011.

Born in California of Zimbabwean-Japanese parentage, Ms. Ngwenyama graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music. As a Fulbright scholar she attended the Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique de Paris, and received a Master of Theological Studies degree from Harvard University.

Eckart Sellheim received has musical training in Germany and Switzerland; Adolf Drescher and Jacob Gimpel were among his teachers. He was appointed to the faculties of the two major conservatories in Cologne, Germany and continued his academic career as Associate Professor of Piano and Chamber Music at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Since 1989, he has been a professor and director of collaborative piano (former piano accompanying) at Arizona State University. He is also a frequent guest lecturer of fortepiano and performance practice at various music academies in Germany, most notably at the Musikhochschule in Trossingen, and taught numerous master classes and workshops in the U.S. and in several European countries.

Mr. Sellheim maintains an active performance schedule having made concert tours in the U.S., Central America, the Caribbean, Africa, and throughout Europe, including Russia. He has rediscovered and performed in concert and on CD, a host of unknown piano concertos by classical and romantic composers including Field, Boccherini, and others and he has played the world premiere of Debussy's early piano trio. His longtime collaboration with his late brother, cellist Friedrich-Jurgen Sellheim, is manifested in an award winning set of recordings on the CBS/Sony label. He appears regularly on radio programs in the U.S. and abroad and has made more than 20 recordings on piano and fortepiano as a soloist and collaborative pianist.

Eckart Sellheim and his wife Dian Baker formed a piano duo in 1998 and concertize in the U.S. and Europe. They have performed the complete works for piano duet by Schubert, Brahms, Mozart, Debussy, and others. Their repertoire includes many contemporary works for piano for-hands, especially by American composers.

Pacifica Quartet

Recognized for its virtuosity, exuberant performance style, and often-daring repertory choices, over the past two decades the Pacifica Quartet has gained international stature as one of the finest chamber ensembles performing today. The Pacifica tours extensively throughout the United States, Europe, Asia, and Australia, performing regularly in the world's major concert halls. Named the quartet-in-residence at Indiana University's Jacob School of Music in March 2012, the Pacifica was also the quartet-in-residence at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (2009 - 2012) – a position previously held by the Guarneri String Quartet – and received the 2009 Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance.

Formed in 1994, the Pacifica Quartet quickly won chamber musics top competitions, including the 1998 Naumburg Chamber Music Award. In 2002 the ensemble was honored with Chamber Music America's Cleveland Quartet Award and the appointment to Lincoln Center's CMS Two, and in 2006 was awarded a prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant, becoming only the second chamber ensemble so honored in the Grant's long history. In 2009, the Quartet was named "Ensemble of the Year" by Musical America.

An ardent advocate of contemporary music, the Pacifica Quartet commissions and performs many new works, including those by Keeril Makan and Shulamit Ran to be premiered during the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons. In 2012 Cedille Records released the second of three volumes comprising the entire Shostakovich cycle, along with other contemporary Soviet works, to rave reviews: "The playing is nothing short of phenomenal." (Daily Telegraph, London)

The members of the Pacifica Quartet live in Bloomington, IN, where they serve as quartet-in-residence and full-time faculty members at the Jacobs School of Music. Prior to their appointment, the Quartet was on the faculty of the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana from 2003 to 2012. The Pacifica Quartet also serves as resident performing artist at the University of Chicago.

Trio Sonnerie

Monica Huggett, director & violin
Emilia Benjamin, viola da gamba
James Johnstone, harpsichord

Trio Sonnerie is one of the longest established and most highly regarded chamber groups working in Europe today. Having begun its life in 1982 as a trio of violin, viola da gamba and harpsichord, it evolved into a more flexible group, allowing it to perform repertoire such as Bach cantatas and concerti, and extend its limits to classical, even early romantic composers. It has now returned to the more intimate trio format.

Trio Sonnerie and Sonnerie, its alter ego, have made countless recordings and played in most national and international early music festivals. They bring to the music "playing of real elegance" (The Independent), and “one could even go as far as to say "musical bliss!" (The Times).

Monica Huggett, Baroque violin
Monica Huggett took up the violin at age six. Her talent became apparent quickly and it was decided by her parents and teachers that she would become a violinist, which saved her from the agony of having to decide what to do with her life. At age sixteen, she entered the Royal Academy of Music as a student of Manoug Parikian. Although she did well and won several prizes, she was not entirely comfortable with her instrument until she was given a Baroque violin. She was immediately won over by the mellow quality of the gut strings and became a fervent champion of the Baroque violin. In the intervening decades, she co-founded the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra with Ton Koopman; founded Sonnerie; worked with Christopher Hogwood at the Academy of Ancient Music; and with Trevor Pinnock at the English Concert. She also performs frequently as a solo violinist all over the world and directs the Portland Baroque Orchestra and the Irish Baroque Orchestra.

Her recent history of accolades includes the Vantaa Baroque Energy Prize (Finland) in 2005 and the "Best Instrumental Recording" award at the Gramophone Awards for Heinrich Biber's Violin Sonatas, 2002. In 2009, her CD Music for a Young Prince (Sonnerie), won a Diapason d'Or and was nominated for a Grammy award in 2010. Currently Monica is Artistic Advisor and Artist-in-Residence at the Juilliard School.

Emilia Benjamin, viola da gamba
Emilia discovered her desire to be a professional musician rather than just a dilettante violinist when she took up the treble viol while studying History of Art at the University of East Anglia. She went on to study the viol and Baroque violin at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and then viol with Wieland Kuijken in Brussels. In addition, Emilia plays viola and lirone and now performs on all four instruments on a fairly even basis.

Her musical life has covered a wide range: she has been a member of the viol consort Concordia for many years and now plays treble and tenor viol with Phantasm, directed by Laurence Dreyfus; with Sonnerie, which Emilia has been playing in since 1995, she has played everything from English divisions and French Baroque through Mozart quartets and Bach concertos to Mendlessohn piano quartets; Early Italian opera on the viol and lirone with Glyndebourne, Early Opera Company, Norwegian State Opera and Frankfurt Oper among others; Baroque orchestral and chamber playing most recently with the Irish Baroque Orchestra, the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, The Dunedin Consort and The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. She has also played at Shakespeare's Globe for Twelfth Night, Measure for Measure and Anne Boleyn. Emilia has made numerous recordings over the years.

James Johnstone, harpsichord
For more than two decades James Johnstone has been active as a soloist and continuo player, performing and recording with all the major UK-based period instrument ensembles, as well as groups in Germany, Canada, Italy and Holland. He has worked with conductors such as Bernard Haitink and Simon Rattle and symphony orchestras of Chicago and Boston.

These days his interests are focused on recital work, chamber music and teaching. As a recitalist, he has performed throughout the UK as well as in Holland, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Poland, Denmark, Iceland, Spain, Israel, Colombia and most recently the USA. He appears on twenty-two recordings on Deutsche Grammophon with the Gabrieli Consort and Players, ten discs with Florilegium, and was the first European to record on an 18th century organ built by the indigenous Indians in Santa Ana, Bolivia. He has also recorded six solo discs of works by Blow, Gibbons, E Pasquini, Cornet, Elizabethan Virginalists and a Bach recital on the Waalse Kerk organ, Amsterdam. He will soon release a CD of Bach's Clavierübung III recorded on the Wagner organ in Trondheim cathedral.

Besides Trio Sonnerie, he currently works with the Monteverdi Choir, Trinity Baroque, I Furiosi, Harmonie Universelle Cologne and La Serenissima. James is professor of early keyboards at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance.

Peter Stumpf, cello

Peter Stumpf is professor of cello at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. Prior to his appointment, he was principal cellist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Stumpf's tenure in Los Angeles followed 12 years as associate principal cellist of the Philadelphia Orchestra. His professional orchestral career began at the age of 16 when he joined the cello section of the Hartford Symphony Orchestra. He received a bachelor's degree from the Curtis Institute of Music and an Artist's Diploma from the New England Conservatory.

A dedicated chamber music musician, he is a member of the Johannes String Quartet and has appeared on the chamber music series at Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, the Boston Celebrity Series, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Casals Hall in Tokyo, and at the concert halls of Cologne. He has performed with the chamber music societies of Boston and Philadelphia and at the Casals Festival in Puerto Rico as well as the Festivals of Marlboro, Santa Fe, Bridgehampton, Ottawa, Great Lakes, Ojai, Spoleto, and Aspen. He has toured with Music from Marlboro, the Casals Hall Ensemble in Japan, and with pianist Mitsuko Uchida in performances of the complete Mozart Piano Trios. He has collaborated with pianists Leif Ove Andsnes, Emmanuel Ax, Jorge Bolet, Yefim Bronfman, Radu Lupu, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Andras Schiff, Jean Yves Thibaudet, Mitsuko Uchida, and with the Emerson and Guarneri String Quartets. Most recently, the Johannes Quartet has collaborated with the Guarneri Quartet on tour in performances including commissions from composers William Bolcom and Esa Pekka Salonen.

Concerto appearances have been with the Boston Symphony, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Boston Philharmonic, the Virginia Symphony, the Vermont Symphony, the Connecticut String Orchestra, the Chamber Orchestra of the South Bay, the American Youth Symphony, and at the Aspen Music Festival. As a recitalist, he has performed at the Universities of Hartford, Syracuse, and Delaware, at Jordan Hall in Boston, and at the Philips and Corcoran Galleries in Washington, D.C. Most recently, he performed the Six Suites for Solo Cello by J. S. Bach on the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society Series and on the Chamber Music in Historic Sites Series in Los Angeles. His awards include first prize in the Washington International Competition, the Graham-Stahl Competition, and the Aspen Concerto Competition and second prize in the Evian International String Quartet Competition.

As a former member of the Boston Musica Viva, he has explored extended techniques, including microtonal compositions and numerous premieres. As a teacher, he has served on the cello faculty of the University of Southern California, Hartt School of Music at the University of Hartford, the New England Conservatory, and guest artist faculty at the Curtis Institute of Music as well as at the Yellow Barn Music Festival and the Musicorda Summer String Program. He has conducted master classes at the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts, Manhattan and Mannes Schools of Music, Iowa and Pennsylvania State Universities, the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, Seoul National University, Temple University, and at the Universities of Delaware and Michigan.

Tallis Scholars

The Tallis Scholars were founded in 1973 by their director, Peter Phillips. Through their recordings and concert performances, they have established themselves as the leading exponents of Renaissance sacred music throughout the world. Peter Phillips has worked with the ensemble to create, through good tuning and blend, the purity and clarity of sound which he feels best serve the Renaissance repertoire, allowing every detail of the musical lines to be heard. It is the resulting beauty of sound for which the Tallis Scholars have become so widely renowned.

The Tallis Scholars perform in both sacred and secular venues, giving around 70 concerts each year across the globe. In 2011- 2012 the group will visit the USA three times and appear at festivals and venues across the UK and Europe including in their own Choral Series at Cadogan Hall. In 2012 The Tallis Scholars team up with the National Centre for Early Music and the BBC for the bi-annual nation-wide composition competition, designed to encourage young people to write for unaccompanied voices. The winning entries will be performed by the Tallis Scholars in a concert recorded and broadcast by BBC Radio 3. In 2013 the group celebrates their 40th anniversary with some exciting new projects, commissions from Gabriel Jackson and Eric Whitacre and extensive touring.

The Tallis Scholars' career highlights have included a tour of China in 1999, including two concerts in Beijing; and the privilege of performing in the Sistine Chapel in April 1994 to mark the final stage of the complete restoration of the Michelangelo frescoes, broadcast simultaneously on Italian and Japanese television. The ensemble have commissioned many contemporary composers during their history: in 1998 they celebrated their 25th Anniversary with a special concert in London's National Gallery, premiering a Sir John Tavener work written for the group and narrated by Sting. A further performance was given with Sir Paul McCartney in New York in 2000. The Tallis Scholars are broadcast regularly on radio (including performances from the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall in 2007, 2008 and 2011) and have also been featured on the acclaimed ITV programme The Southbank Show.

Much of The Tallis Scholars reputation for their pioneering work has come from their association with Gimell Records, set up by Peter Phillips and Steve Smith in 1980 solely to record the group. In February 1994 Peter Phillips and the Tallis Scholars performed on the 400th anniversary of the death of Palestrina in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome, where Palestrina had trained as a choirboy and later worked as Maestro di Cappella. The concerts were recorded by Gimell and are available on both CD and DVD.

Recordings by the Tallis Scholars have attracted many awards throughout the world. In 1987 their recording of Josquin's Missa La sol fa re mi and Missa Pange lingua received Gramophone magazine's Record of the Year award, the first recording of early music ever to win this coveted award. In 1989 the French magazine Diapason gave two of its critical Diapason d'Or de l'Année awards for the recordings of a mass and motets by Lassus and for Josquin's two masses based on the chanson L'Homme armé. Their recording of Palestrina's Missa Assumpta est Maria and Missa Sicut lilium was awarded Gramophone's Early Music Award in 1991; they received the 1994 Early Music Award for their recording of music by Cipriano de Rore; and the same distinction again in 2005 for their disc of music by John Browne. Released on the 30th anniversary of Gimell Records in March 2010, the Tallis Scholars' recording of Victoria's Lamentations of Jeremiah received critical acclaim, and to further celebrate the anniversary, the group released three 4 CD box sets of "The Best of the Tallis Scholars", one for each decade. The ongoing project to record Josquin's complete cycle of masses, when completed, will run to 9 discs.

These accolades are continuing evidence of the exceptionally high standard maintained by the Tallis Scholars, and of their dedication to one of the great repertoires in Western classical music. For the latest opportunities to hear the Tallis Scholars in concert, or for more information on how to purchase CDs or DVDs of the group, please visit the Gimell Records website. Here you will also find details of how to register for free e-newsletters, purchase gift vouchers for items available on the website, and news of forthcoming releases and occasional special offers.