Welcome to Festival Chamber Music
Meet the Artists
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RUTH SOMMERS (director/cello) is a graduate of Juilliard, where she studied with Leonard Rose and Harvey Shapiro. She began her career under the auspices of Young Concert Artists, and was a winner of a Concert Artists Guild Award. She is a frequent performer of chamber music and recitals in the United States and Europe, she has participated in the Caramoor and Wolftrap Festivals and was soloist with the Master Virtuosi Orchestra in Avery Fisher Hall. In 1988, she founded the Dobbs Ferry Chamber Music Festival of which she was the director until becoming the director of this series in 1992.
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ATHENA ADAMOPOULOS (piano) made her orchestral debut with the Jupiter Symphony in New York. Her performances have included concerts with the Little Orchestra Society at Lincoln Center, and the Chopin Foundation of New York, a solo performance at the United Nations, along with performances at the Mostly Mozart Festival, Weill Recital Hall, Avery Fisher Hall and Carnegie Hall. She has appeared on CNN, ABC, and NBC television, as well as on WQXR, NPR and international radio broadcasts. She was featured on "From the Top," a nationally syndicated NPR radio program where noted cellist Yo-Yo Ma and pianist Christopher O'Riley performed Soliloquy, the second movement of her sonata for cello and piano. She was a recipient of the Morton Gould Young Composers' Award presented by ASCAP in 2002, 2003, 2005, and 2006. She participated in the 2006 NYU/ASCAP Film Scoring Workshop.
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CHRISTINE ANTENBRING (mezzo-soprano)
was born in Winnipeg, Canada, where she graduated with an Honors degree in Economics before pursuing vocal studies at Indiana University. She has participated Caramoor, Ravinia and Marlboro Music Festivals. She is a winner of the Grand Prize at the Bellini International Voice Competition, regional finalist in the Met National Council Auditions, the Verdi Award at the Orpheus Vocal Competition, and first prize at the Joy in Singing Competition. She has performed to critical acclaim in Canada, the United States, Europe, and most recently as a champion of Icelandic Art Song in Reykjavik. She is married to pianist, Mikhail Hallak.
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THEODORE ARM (violin) received his Bachelor, Masters, and Doctor of Music degrees from Juilliard, where he was a student of Joseph Fuchs. He is a member of the chamber group TASHI, performs regularly at the Chamber Music Northwest Festival and Bargemusic, and has been a guest artist with Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Mr. Arm is a professor of violin at the University of Connecticut at Storrs and records for RCA.
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SCOTT BALLANTYNE (cello), described by France's Le Figaro as a
"consummate artist," studied with Leonard Rose at the Juilliard School. Joining
the faculty of Juilliard after his graduation, his students are members of the
world's leading orchestras and chamber ensembles. Leaving Juilliard to return to
solo playing, he now enjoys a growing international reputation. Critic Robert Lenz
described his 2002 appearance at Alice Tully Hall as "One of the most impressive
events I have seen in over 30 years of concert going." Mr. Ballantyne has recorded
for Opus One. His next release, of Frank Ezra Levy's Concerto #2, will be recorded
in 2004 for Naxos.
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JANNA BATY (mezzo-soprano)
, praised by the Boston Globe for “a rich, viola-like tone and a rapturous, luminous lyricism,” enjoys an exceptionally versatile career. She has sung with Boston Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Hamburgische Staatsoper, L’Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Eugene Opera, Opera North, and Boston Lyric Opera. As a soloist, chamber musician, and recitalist, she has performed at festivals worldwide. A noted specialist in contemporary music, Ms. Baty has collaborated with Boston Modern Orchestra Project, recording Vali: Folk Songs (sung in Persian); Lukas Foss’ opera Griffelkin; the world-premiere recording of Eric Sawyer’s Civil War-era opera Our American Cousin; and John Harbison’s Mirabai Songs. An alumna of Oberlin College and the Yale School of Music, she joined the faculty of the Yale School of Music in 2008.
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TANYA BANNISTER (piano) was born in Hong Kong and began her piano studies at the age of five. She won a gold medal at the 2005 New Orleans International Piano Competition and was the winner of the 2003 Concert Artists Guild International Competition. She has performed all over the world as a soloist and chamber musician. Among the many international festivals at which she has performed are the Kurtág Festival in London Ravinia, Schleswig-Holstein, Amsterdam's Holland Music Sessions, Tuckamore Festival in St John's, Newfoundland, England's Norwich Festival and Festival Encuentro de Musica y Academica de Santander, Spain. An avid chamber musician, she formed a piano trio at Yale called Trio Volante, which was awarded the Weill Hall Début Prize at the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival in 1999. She is the Founder and Festival Co-Director of AlpenKammerMusik in the Austrian Alps.
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JEFFREY BEECHER (double bass) was born in New York and studied at the Curtis Institute of Music with Harold Robinson, principal bass of thePhiladelphia Orchestra and renowned double bassist Edgar Meyer. He has performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Philadelphia Chamber Orchestra, the Minnesota Orchestra, and the Orchestra of St. Luke's, the Verbier Festival Orchestra, the New York String Seminar, the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, and the Tanglewood Festival and the the Marlboro Music Festival. He has also performed and toured as a member of the Silk Road Ensemble with Yo-Yo Ma.
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NATHAN BOTTS (trumpet) has appeared as a soloist in Beijing with the China National Symphony, in Zurich with the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra. He has performed with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, New York City Ballet, New York Pops, Orchestra of Saint Luke's, Brooklyn Philharmonic, and the Manhattan Sinfonietta. He is also a member of both the Wet Ink Ensemble and Second Instrumental Unit, two groups specializing in new and experimental music. He is equally respected as a jazz performer and a classical musician.
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AMY COFIELD (soprano) Amy Cofield Williamson has performed to critical acclaim across the U.S. as well as in France, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, Austria, England, Santo Domingo, Taiwan and Guam. Recent performances include Violetta with Annapolis Chamber Orchestra and Chorale, a role that marked her debut at Houston Grand Opera where she covered Renee Fleming. A regional finalist in the MET National Council Auditions at Orchestra Hall in Chicago, she has performed roles including Mimi, Cunegonde, Susannah, Musetta, Pamina, Gilda, Norina and Konstanze as well as numerous oratorio works.
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ANNA ELASHVILI (violin), hailed as "riveting" by the New York Times, has appeared as a soloist, chamber musician and concertmaster around the world. She has collaborated with renowned artists such as Lynn Harrell, Dawn Upshaw, Daniel Hope and Maxim Vengerov. Alex Ross in The New Yorker wrote, "Anna Elashvili all but transformed the early, nondescript [Britten] Suite for Violin and Piano, maintaining ferocious accuracy far into the upper register". Anna has been a core member of the Decoda ensemble since its inception. She has also performed with the East Coast Chamber Orchestra, NOVUS NY, Exponential Ensemble and was the first violinist of the Bryant Park Quartet. Having studied dance for several years, Anna really enjoys collaborating with the Lar Lubovitch Dance Company, Wendy Whelan, the Mark Morris Dance Group and others. Anna currently teaches at the Special Music School High School.
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OREN FADER (guitar) has performed in London, Tokyo, Munich, Amsterdam, Montreal, Maui, Russia, Mexico, and the United States. He has been a soloist with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, the Brooklyn Conservatory Orchestra, and the Manchester Music Festival Chamber Players in Vermont. He has performed with the Met Chamber Ensemble, New York City Opera, New York Philharmonic, New York City Ballet, New World Symphony, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, American Composers' Orchestra, Brooklyn Philharmonic, Music from Japan, and Speculum Musicae. Festival performances include Aspen, Tanglewood, Bach Oregon Festival, and the Deer Valley Festival. He has premiered over 100 solo and chamber works with guitar. Mr. Fader is on the guitar and chamber music faculty of the Manhattan School of Music.
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MOHAMMED FAIROUZ (composer) born in 1985, is one of the most frequently performed, commissioned, and recorded composers working today. Hailed by The New York Times as “an important new artistic voice” and by BBC World News as “one of the most talented composers of his generation,” his large-scale works engage major geopolitical and philosophical themes with persuasive craft and a marked seriousness of purpose. Fairouz’s cosmopolitan outlook reflects his transatlantic upbringing and extensive travels. His catalog encompasses virtually every genre, including opera, symphonies, vocal and choral settings, chamber and solo works. Fairouz recently became the youngest composer in the 115-year history of the Deutsche Grammophon label to have an album dedicated to his works with the spring 2015 release of Follow, Poet. He is also a frequent contributor to Foreign Policy Magazine.
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ELIZABETH FAYETTE (violin) is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music and received her master’s degree at Juilliard. She has been selected as Presidential Scholar in the Arts, and was a gold winner in the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts YoungArts Program. She has participated in Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute, the Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival, Music from Angel Fire, the Aspen Music Festival, and the Marlboro Music Festival.
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PHILIP EDWARD FISHER (piano) is a prolific soloist and chamber musician whose tours have taken him across his native United Kingdom to Italy, Austria, Denmark, Switzerland, Norway, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Ukraine, and The United States. He has performed with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the Copenhagen Philharmonic. In 2001, he received the prestigious Julius Isserlis Award from the Royal Philharmonic Society of London. His solo disc with the NAXOS label, Handel's Keyboard Suites Vol. 1, was released in early 2010 to great critical acclaim. His recent release on the Chandos label, Piano Works by the Mighty Handful, was featured on Classic FM as John Suchet's "Album of the Week", as "Classical Album of the Week" in The Telegraph, and has been nominated in the "Best Solo Instrumental Album" category of the International Classical Music Awards 2012. He studied at the Royal Academy and the Juilliard School of Music. Recently performed all 32 Beethoven sonatas at Bargemusic.
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YURI FUNAHASHI (piano) was born in Japan and received her musical training in the United States, including a Doctorate of Musical Training from Juilliard in 1991.
She has won many awards, including a diploma from the International Tchaikovsky Competition, the Japanese American Musical Award and the Gina Bachauer Award.
She has performed throughout the United States, Canada, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, and Japan, and has recorded the Grieg violin sonatas with Joseph Swensen on the Musical Heritage label.
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MIKHAIL HALLAK (piano), a native of Waterloo, Belgium, studied at the Royal
Conservatory of Brussels, where he received the Premier Prix de Piano, and
Premier Prix de Musique de Chambre. He was both a Fulbright and a Rotary
scholar and received a grant from The Queen Elizabeth of Belgium
Competition. He joined the Metropolitan Opera Lindemann Young Artist
Development Program at the beginning of the 2001-2002 season, before which
time he maintained an extensive schedule as a solo recitalist and orchestral
soloist. Mr. Hallak was the founder and Artistic Director of the Belgian
chamber music festival "Les Nuits d'Hiver au Chateau." His first CD,
dedicated to the Jascha Heifetz was released in 1998.
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SOLOMIYA IVAKHIV (violin)
was born in the Ukraine where she made her debut at the age of 12. She is a graduate of the Curtis Institute, and has performed throughout the United States, Europe, and China.
As a chamber musician, she has collaborated with renowned artists such as Joseph Silverstein, Claude Frank, Gary Graffman, Steven Isserlis, Gilbert Kalish, Philip Setzer and Eugene Drucker of the Emerson Quartet.
She has also appeared in many national and international chamber music festivals, including Strings in the Mountains, Tanglewood, Ottawa ChamberFest, Embassy Series, Prussia Cove in England, Holland Music Festival, Verbier in Switzerland,
Normandy Chamber Music Festival, KyivFest and Festival of Modern Music "Contrasts" in Ukraine. She is the head of the String Department and Assistant Professor of Violin and Viola at the University of Connecticut.
She has been soloist with the Charleston Symphony and the Knox- Galesburg Symphony.
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HÉLÈNE JEANNY (piano) Hélène graduated from the Paris Conservatory at age 17 with 1st Prize in Piano and Chamber Music. She was a Fulbright scholar at Indiana University and is also a graduate of the Juilliard School. She is a winner of the Robert Casadesus International Piano Competition in Cleveland. She has performed throughout Europe, Australia, and the US. She has performed with the NY Philharmonic Ensembles and has been a soloist with the Cleveland Orchestra, the Indianapolis Orchestra, the Orchestre de Radio France, and with the New England Symphonic Ensemble. She gives Master Classes at Indiana University, and is on the Faculty at the French American School of Music in NYC and at the Hoff Barthelson School of Music in Scarsdale. Helene can be heard on the Naxos Label with cellist Hai ye Ni.
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DAVID JOLLEY (horn) is one of this generation's most outstanding horn soloists.
He has performed as a soloist throughout North and South America, Europe, and
Asia. As a chamber artist, he has performed with the Guarnieri, Orion and
American String Quartets, the Beaux Arts Trio, Music from Marlboro and the
Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Many of the most important composers
of our time have written works for him including Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, John Harbison,
and George Perl. He is an emeritus member of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and
teaches at The Mannes College of Music, Queens College and the North Carolina
School of the Arts. He has recorded extensively including a CD of the Horn Music
of Alec Wilder with pianist David Oei and others for Arabesque.
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JOSHUA KAYE (violin) has studied chamber music at California Summer Music, the Boston University Tanglewood Institute, and Wesleyan University, and has performed in chamber music master classes given by members of the Juilliard, Cleveland, Muir, Miro, St. Lawrence, and Tokyo String Quartets. As a soloist and chamber musician, Kaye has given concerts in the United States and Sweden, including a performance of Mendelssohn’s violin concerto with the Wesleyan Orchestra. His principal violin teacher was Wendy Sharp. Kaye graduated from Wesleyan University with honors, where he was concertmaster of the orchestra, and earned degrees in law and history from Duke University.
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MORAN KATZ (clarinet) won the First Prize at the Freiburg International Clarinet Competition in Germany, the Second Prize at the Beijing International Music Competition for Clarinet in China and the First Prize and Overall Prize at the Midland/Odessa "National Young Artist Competition" in Texas. She performs extensively throughout the United States, Europe and Asia as a soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician. She has appeared as soloist with such orchestras as the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, and the China Philharmonic. Following an invitation of Daniel Barenboim, she joined his West-Eastern Divan Orchestra on its concert in Doha, Qatar in 2010, and in the summer of 2013 she joined it once again for a twelve-concert-tour in Europe. She is She is an adjunct faculty at Vassar College.
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YURI KIM (piano) has performed extensively throughout North America, Asia, Russia and Europe, appearing with such conductors as Vladimir Feltsman (Hudson Valley Philharmonic and the International Sejong Soloists), Heichiro Oyama (Los Angeles Philharmonic), and Yoel Levi (Atlanta Symphony Orchestra).
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KATIE LANSDALE (violin) is a founding member of the Lions Gate Trio, trio in residence at the Hartt School, where she teaches. She made her debut with the Baltimore Symphony at fourteen. She earned her B.A. cum laude from Yale and graduate music degrees from Cleveland Institute and Manhattan School. Her recordings include new French trios (Triton label,) the solo Bach violin works, and most recently the duos and trios of Robert Schumann (Centaur label.) She has collaborated in chamber concerts with Yo Yo Ma, the Miami String Quartet, Robert MacDonald, Ron Leonard, and others, and was featured at the Amalfi Coast Chamber Festival in Italy this summer.
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SCOTT LEE (violin), winner of the 1996 Concert Artists Guild Competition, became the youngest winner in the Competition's 50 year history. He won First Prize in both violin and viola in the Taiwan National Instrumental Competition, and was a top prize winner in the Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition and the William Primrose Viola Competition. He has performed at the the Newport Chamber Music Festival, La Jolla Chamber Music Festival, The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Music from Marlboro, The Gardner Museum in Boston and the Metropolitan Museum., and has been a guest artist with the Miro, Guarneri, Juilliard, Orion, and Miami String Quartets, and with the Beaux Arts and Mannes Piano Trios. Scott Lee has been a featured soloist at the International Hindemith Viola Festival and at the 22nd and 24th International Viola Congresses. He is a faculty member at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory
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DAVID LEISNER (guitar) is a versatile musician with a multi-faceted career as a performing artist, a composer, and teacher. He is a featured recording artist for the new label, Azica, with highly acclaimed solo recordings of Bach, Villa-Lobos and Contemporary music, with soon-to-be released CDs of Mertz and Schubert and his own compositions. He has toured in Greece, Italy, the Philippines and Mexico, and was deemed “absolutely splendid” by the New York Times in his solo debut with the Brooklyn Philharmonic. Mr. Leisner is also a highly respected composer and is on the faculty of the Manhattan School of Music.
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JOHN MARCUS (violin) is a native New Yorker and graduate of The Juilliard School. His teachers include Dorothy DeLay and David Takeno. As a member of the Grammy-nominated Enso String Quartet, John has performed extensively as a chamber musician throughout the United States, Latin America, and Europe. He has performed for numerous concert series, including LPR, Barbes, BargeMusic and in collaboration with members of Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Project. John has also performed with the Mark Morris Dance Group, and the New Juilliard Ensemble. As a member of the New York-based chamber music group "The Knights" he has toured throughout the United States and Europe. John has performed at many festivals, including Ravinia, Aspen, Tanglewood, Interlochen, San Miguel de Allende, Campos do Jordao International Winter Festival, Verbier, and Spoletto.
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LAURA METCALF (cello) received her Master of Music degree from Mannes College of Music. She has Laura has performed at the Taos, Sarasota, Aspen, and Round Top (Texas) Music Festivals, and the American Conservatory at Fontainebleau, France. She is a member of the Stella Piano Trio, as well as an active orchestral musician Laura is dedicated to seeking out and performing new music, having premiered numerous works of both solo and chamber music, some written specifically for her.
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JERANE MICHEL (castanets) has been a Spanish dancer for over 40 years. She toured all over the US, Canada and Spain with the Mariano Spanish Danc Company and for many years was partner to Matteo, the authority on castanets in his popular and unique programs of Castanets in Concert. She currently teaches Escuela Bolera, 18th Century Spanish Dance.
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FRANK MORELLI (bassoon) was the first bassoonist awarded a doctorate by the Juilliard School, where he studied with Stephen Maxym. With over 150 recordings for major labels to his credit, his recording of the Mozart Bassoon Concerto with Orpheus on the DG label won international critical acclaim. The Orpheus CD "Shadow Dances," featuring Frank Morelli, won a 2001 Grammy Award. He has made nine appearances as a soloist in New York's Carnegie Hall and has appeared with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center on numerous occasions, including at the White House for the final state dinner of the Clinton presidency. A member of the renowned quintet, Windscape, an ensemble in residence at the Manhattan School of Music, he also serves on the faculties of the Juilliard School, Yale School of Music, and SUNY Stony Brook. He is Co-principal bassoonist of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. Frank Morelli recently released two solo recordings on MSR Classics: Bassoon Brasileiro and Baroque Fireworks. He published several transcriptions for bassoon as well as woodwind quintet and compiled the first collection of Stravinsky’s music for the bassoon, entitled: Stravinsky: Difficult Passages, published by Boosey & Hawkes. For more information and to purchase CDs, visit www.MorelliBassoon.com.
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CHARLES NEIDICH (clarinet) is a graduate of Yale University, where he majored in Anthropology. He is a winner of The Walter W. Naumburg Competition. He won a top prize at the 1982 Munich International Competition and the Geneva and Paris International Competitions. He teaches at The Juilliard School, the Manhattan School of Music, and the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He has participated in festivals throughout the world and performs extensively as a soloist and as a member of the New York Woodwind Quintet.
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NILS NEUBERT (Tenor) has performed nearly all of the major German song cycles and has presented programs in French, Italian, English, and Russian. As a concert soloist, he is particularly noted for his interpretations of the oratorios and cantatas of Johann Sebastian Bach, as well as works by Händel, Haydn, Beethoven, Schubert, and Mendelssohn.
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AH LING NEU (viola) has performed across several continents, including the U.S., Europe, Australia and Asia. An avid chamber musician, she recently joined the Cassatt String Quartet, and was formerly a member of the Ridge String Quartet. She was invited to the Marlboro Music Festival for four summers in addition to touring with Musicians from Marlboro, and was also a member of New York Philomusica for 20 years. She is presently a member of the North Country Chamber Players in New Hampshire and the Brooklyn Library Chamber Players and is a frequent guest at the Barge Music in Brooklyn, NY. She has participated in festivals such as the Bridgehampton Festival, the White Mountains Music Festival, Manchester Music Festival and International Musician’s Seminar in Cornwall, England.
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DAVID OEI (piano) was soloist with the Hong Kong Philharmonic at the age of nine and has since performed with the New York Philharmonic, and the Pittsburgh and Baltimore Symphonies. Mr. Oei has made guest appearances with the Orchestra of St. Luke's, the Orpheus Chamber Ensemble, and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and has performed regularly at Chamber Music Northwest and Bargemusic. Founding director of the Salon Chamber Soloists he is also a member of the Friends Of Mozart and the Elysium and Ecliptica Chamber Ensembles. He has appeared on television in Leonard Bernstein's Young People's Concerts and has recorded with the Delos, ADDA, CRI, Vanguard, Arabesque and Grenadilla labels. Mr. Oei teaches at Summertrios, Bennington Chamber Music Conference, Hoff-Barthelson Music School and the Mannes College of Music. He was the owner of Carlyle Wines.
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RICHARD O’NEILL (viola) One of the few violists to ever be awarded the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant as well as a 2006 Grammy Nomination, two of music's highest achievements, this Korean-American is rising to international prominence as one of the most promising artists of his generation. Mr. O'Neill made his solo debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. An accomplished chamber musician, he has collaborated with members of the Juilliard, Guarneri, Emerson, Orion, Brentano and Mendelssohn String Quartets, Ensemble Wien-Berlin, Gil Shaham, Cho-Liang Lin, Kyung-Wha Chung, Joshua Bell, Mihaela Martin, Steven Isserlis, Frans Helmerson, Gary Hoffmann, Carter Brey, Edgar Meyer, among others. He was a member of Chamber Music Society Two of Lincoln Centera, a residency that featured the world's most gifted young chamber musicians, and will join the Society for their 2007-08 season. He frequently tours with the Society as well as with Musicians from Marlboro. He also serves as principal violist and soloist with Sejong (ICM Artists), a conductorless string ensemble that he tours with internationally. Mr. O'Neill performs on a rare viola made by Giovanni Tononi, of Bologna, circa 1699.
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AYAKO OSHIMA (clarinet) is a graduate of Toho Music School and Eastman School of Music. She is a winner of the Japan Music Competition, Japan Instruments and Percussion Competition and Beograd International Competition. Ms. Oshima has performed in recital throughout Japan, the United States, and Europe. She and her husband, Charles Neidich, founded the noted period instrument wind ensemble, “Mozzafiato,” whose recordings are available on Sony Classical.
Her performances can be heard on recordings from Toshiba EMI (solo) Victor Entertainment, and Sony Classical. Collaborating with her sister, Naoko Oshima, her third CD “American Snapshots” on Octavia Records features works by American composers. Since 2005, she and her sister have directed the Kitakaruizawa Music Festival. Ms. Oshima teaches at Purchase College, SUNY, and on the faculty at Juilliard School.
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LEWIS PAER (double bass) is the principal bassist of the New York City Opera and the American Ballet Theater Orchestra. Mr. Paer is on the faculty of the Chamber Music Conference of the East at Bennington College and the Affinis Seminar of Japan. He appears regularly as a guest artist with such presenting groups as the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the New York City Ensemble, and the Orchestra of St. Luke's.
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STEVEN PANE (piano) has performed as a soloist, chamber musician and conductor at universities and in major halls throughout the country, including the Academy of Music in Philadelphia, Aaron Davis Hall in New York City, Davies Hall in San Francisco and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Most recently he curated the Opus 111 Project where philosophers, artists, composers, and others created intermedia variations on Beethoven’s last piano sonata. Pane is currently Professor of Music at the University of Maine at Farmington, where he teaches courses in music history, writing, sound studies, and travel courses to Italy.
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RAMAN RAMAKRISHNAN (cello) holds a bachelor's degree in physics from Harvard and a master's degree from Juilliard. He was a founding member of the Daedalus Quartet, winners of the grand prize at the 2001 Banff International String Quartet Competition. During his eleven years with the quartet, he performed coast-to-coast in the United States and Canada, in Japan, Hong Kong, and Panama, and across Europe. The quartet has been in residence at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the University of Pennsylvania, and Columbia University, where he also teaches cello. He is also a founding member of the Horszowski Trio. He has performed chamber music with the Boston Chamber Music Society and Chicago Chamber Musicians, and at the Aspen, Bard, Charlottesville, Four Seasons, Lincolnshire (UK), Marlboro, Mehli Mehta (India), Oklahoma Mozart, and Vail Music Festivals. As a guest member of Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Ensemble, he has performed in New Delhi and Agra, India, and in Cairo, Egypt.
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LUKE RINDERKNECHT (percussion) made his debut while still in high school with The Cleveland Orchestra in Paul Creston's Marimba Concerto. Since then he has performed orchestral and chamber music on four continents as a member of Metropolis Ensemble, The Knights, and Festival Chamber Music, the Metropolitan Opera, Buffalo Philharmonic, and the Orchestra of St. Luke's. He appears on the Buffalo Philharmonic's double Grammy award winning recording of John Corigliano's Mr. Tambourine Man. Luke has also performed at the Bowdoin, Marlboro, and Verbier festivals. He is the Chamber Music Manager and manager of the New Juilliard Ensemble and was the 2005 recipient of the Peter Mennin Prize for outstanding achievement and leadership in music.
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ROBERT RINEHART (violin) studied at the Curtis Institute of Music. He has appeared at the Spoleto Festival, the Vancouver Chamber Music Festival, Chamber Music Northwest, the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, and with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. A founding member of the Ridge String Quartet, Mr. Rinehart has performed in every major music center in the United States, as well as in Europe, Canada, Australia, and Japan, and has collaborated with Benny Goodman, Rudolf Firkusny, and the Guarneri String Quartet, among many others. His chamber music recordings include albums that have received a Grammy Award, two Grammy nominations and the Diapason d'Or. A native of San Francisco. He is a member of the New York Philharmonic as well as a professor at Manhattan School of Music
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MIKA SASAKI (piano), a graduate of the Peabody Conservatory, is a sought-after chamber musician, soloist and educator based in New York City. Since her solo debut with the Sinfonia of Cambridge at age seven, she appeared twice with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, and more recently with the 92Y Orchestra. Mika has performed frequently in the U.S., Europe and Japan, at venues including the Alice Tully Hall, 92nd Street Y, New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Palazzo Chigi Saracini (Italy), Minatomirai Hall (Japan), Tokyo Bunka Kaikan (Japan), Seiji Ozawa Hall at Tanglewood, and live on WQXR radio. Her solo debut CD album "Obsidian: Mika Sasaki plays Clara Schumann" was released on Yarlung Records in 2016, highly acclaimed by the Online Merker as "illuminat[ing] the artistic inspiration and creative exchange between these three Romantic souls," Clara Schumann, Robert Schumann, and Johannes Brahms.
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ERIKO SATO (violin),
winner of the Tibor Varga International competition and three Japanese National Awards, has appeared as soloist with the Louisville, San Francisco Chamber, Aspen Chamber and Tokyo Imperial orchestras. She has also performed regularly with the Mostly Mozart, Caramoor, Gretna, and Chamber Music Northwest festivals and Bargemusic. For the past two decades she has been a co-concertmaster of the Orchestra of St. Luke's and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. Miss Sato has recorded for Vanguard, Deutsche Grammophon, Musical Heritage and Grenadilla. She teaches at the Hoff-Barthelson Music School and the Mannes College Of Music and is a member of the Elysium and Ecliptica Chamber Ensembles along with her husband, pianist David Oei.
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JAMES AUSTIN SMITH (oboe) is an active chamber musician and new music advocate. Mr. Smith is a member of the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) and the Metropolis Ensemble; he is an alumnus of The Carnegie Hall Academy/Ensemble ACJW. Mr. Smith has performed with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Orchestra of St. Luke's, St. Luke's Chamber Ensemble, the Knights, East Coast Chamber Orchestra (ECCO), and Speculum Musicae. His festival appearances include Marlboro, Lucerne, Schleswig-Holstein, Chamber Music Northwest, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Schwetzingen and Spoleto USA.
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LAURIE SMUKLER (violin) made her debut with the Cleveland Orchestra at the age of fourteen. A graduate of Juilliard, where she studied with Ivan Galamian, she was a founding member of the Mendelssohn String Quartet. Her chamber music performances have included appearances with Music from Marlboro, Chamber Music Northwest, the Mostly Mozart Festival, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Sea Cliff Chamber Players, and she has a long-term relationship with the Santa Fe Festival. She records with the Music Masters, Delos, and Musical Heritage labels. She is professor of violin and head of the string department at the Conservatory of Music, SUNY Purchase.
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CHARLES TAYLOR (baritone) is one of the rising stars of the Metropolitan Opera. He made his Metropolitan Opera debut in the role of the Herald in Otello.During the 2006/7 season, Charles Taylor sang Germont in La Traviata at the Metropolitan Opera opposite Hei-Kyung Hong. He also sang Roucher in Andrea Chenier there opposite Ben Heppner. With Opera Colorado, he sang Renato in Un Ballo in Maschera. His season concluded with Alfio in Cavalleria Rusticana and Tonio in I Pagliacci with Opera Ft. Collins. He will return to the Met in numerous roles in the 2007/8 season as well as with the Minnesota Opera, San Francisco Opera, and Seattle Opera. Charles is very active in music education and outreach. He regularly teaches master classes and lectures for singers ranging in experience from beginner to emerging professional. He performs fund raising concerts for community arts organizations, philanthropic organizations such as The Boys and Girls Clubs, and collegiate scholarships funds. In 2006, He and his wife Kelly founded the Iron Springs Opera Company in his home town of Prescott Arizona. His crowning achievement was the birth of his daughter who was born on July 24, 2007!
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STEPHEN TAYLOR (oboe) is a member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and Speculum Musicae. He is principal oboe of the orchestra of Saint Luke’s and co-principal of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. He is an artist in residence at Columbia University and teaches at the Manhattan School of Music and SUNY Stony Brook. Mr. Taylor has recordings on RCA, Columbia, Nonesuch, Vox, CRI, New World, Musical heritage, and Deutche Grammophon labels.
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IRA WELLER (viola), a founder of the Mendelssohn String Quartet, is a member of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, with which he has toured throughout the world. He has been a guest artist with the Marlboro Music Festival, Chamber Music Northwest, and the White Mountains Festival. He is a frequent guest soloist with the Sea Cliff Chamber Players, New York Chamber Soloists, and Da Capo Chamber Players, and is a member of the Santa Fe Festival. He is married to violinist Laurie Smukler.
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CALVIN WIERSMA (violin) has performed extensively as a soloist and chamber musician all throughout the US, Europe and Australia. He was a founding member of the Meliora Quartet, winner of the Naumberg, Fischoff, Coleman, and Cleveland Quartet competitions and is currently a member of the Figaro Trio. He has participated in Chamber Music festivals in Vancouver, Bard College, El Paso, Rockport, Portland, Music Mountain, and Aspen. He has collaborated with such artists as harpsichordists John Gibbons and Kenneth Cooper and regularly performs with flutist Paula Robison at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
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EUGENIA ZUKERMAN (flute) has appeared as soloist with orchestras
worldwide, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the National Symphony,
the English Chamber Orchestra, the Israel Chamber Orchestra, and the Royal
Philharmonic. Festival appearances include the Aspen, Ravinia, Tanglewood,
Edinburgh, and Spoleto festivals. She has recorded for CBS Masterworks, Pro
Arte, and Vox Cum Laude, and has been heard throughout Europe. Her first novel,
Deceptive Cadence, was published in 1981.
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