2023 Festival Musicians
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Raphael Bell, cello
Raphael Bell enjoys a varied career as a principal cellist, chamber musician, teacher, and festival director. He is currently principal cello of the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, co-Artistic Director of La Loingtaine in Montigny-sur-Loing, France, co-founder of the Camerata Fontainebleau, and founder and co-Artistic Director of the Charlottesville Chamber Music Festival in Virginia. As a chamber musician he has performed at Wigmore Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Salle Gaveau, Berlin Philharmonie, Köln Philharmonie, Luzerner Theater, Tokyo Suntory Hall, and Kyoto Concert Hall, and at festivals including Seattle Chamber Music, Ferrara Musica, Wiener Festwochen, Elba Festival, Ravinia, Verbier and Resonance Festival Belgium.
He was part of the IMS Prussia Cove tour that won the Chamber Music Award from the Royal Philharmonic Society in London, and has collaborated with musicians such as Steven Isserlis, James Ehnes, Martha Argerich, Maxim Vengerov, Ivry Gitlis, and with quartets including Brooklyn Rider, Dante, Taurus, Orpheus, and Oxalys Ensemble. He gave the world premier of Olli Mustonen's Triptych for three cellos with Steven Isserlis and Steven Doane. Solo performances include concertos with the Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra, Nagaokakyo Ensemble, Tokyo Luft Ensemble, and the Royal Flemish Philharmonic under Edo de Waart and Brahms Double Concerto with Philippe Herreweghe. As a member of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra for many years, he played in the Lucerne Festival Orchestra’s celebrated Mahler Symphony Cycle with Claudio Abbado. He has been guest principal in Les Dissonances, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, and worked with the Munich Philharmonic, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, English Baroque Soloists and Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique.
Raphael studied at The Juilliard School with Harvey Shapiro, and later with Mario Brunello, Steven Isserlis and Ferenc Rados.
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Photo by Geoffroy Schied
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Timothy Summers, violin
Violinist Timothy Summers is a member of the first violin section of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, and has performed on violin, viola, and occasionally mandolin with the orchestra at venues across the world. He has been co-director of the Charlottesville Chamber Music Festival since 2000, and he served as second violinist of the Orpheus String Quartet. Mr. Summers currently teaches violin on the faculty of the Universität der Künste (UdK) Berlin, and has taught violin, orchestral playing, improvisation, and chamber music worldwide. He is also artistic director of the MCO’s ‘Future Presence’ VR project with sound artist Henrik Oppermann, and serves on the orchestra’s board.
Mr. Summers has performed as a chamber musician at festivals across the United States and Europe, and has also performed extensively as an improviser with electronics. He was also for several years a participant in the Emmanuel Music cycle of Bach Cantatas in Boston, led by the late Craig Smith and John Harbison.
Mr. Summers spent the 2005-2006 year as artist-in-residence at the Danish Institute of Electroacoustic Music in Århus, funded by a grant from the Fulbright Commission, and worked in collaboration with improvisation artist Steven Nachmanovitch on improvisation and digital music projects. He continues to develop music learning and analysis tools for digital media, with a concentration on AR/VR and sonic interaction.
He holds an A.B. from Harvard University in English and American Literature and an M.M. in violin Performance from the Juilliard School. Timothy Summers was a student of Ronald Copes and Robert Mann at the Juilliard School, Mark Rush at the University of Virginia, James Buswell at New England Conservatory, and Robert Levin at Harvard University.
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Photo by Benjamin Ealovega
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Andrew Armstrong, piano
Praised by critics for his passionate expression and dazzling technique, pianist Andrew Armstrong has delighted audiences across Asia, Europe, Latin America, Canada, and the United States, including performances at Alice Tully Hall, Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, London’s Wigmore Hall, Prague’s Rudolfinum, the Grand Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, and Warsaw’s National Philharmonic.
Andrew’s orchestral engagements across the globe have encompassed a vast repertoire of more than 60 concertos with orchestra. He has performed with such conductors as Peter Oundjian, Itzhak Perlman, Günther Herbig, Stefan Sanderling, Jean-Marie Zeitouni, and Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, and has appeared in solo recitals and in chamber music concerts with the Ehnes, Elias, Alexander, American, and Manhattan String Quartets, and as a member of the Caramoor Virtuosi, Boston Chamber Music Society, Seattle Chamber Music Society, and the JupiterSymphony Chamber Players.
Recent and upcoming seasons find Andy continuing to perform as soloist and chamber musician around the globe, from London to Geneva and Dresden, from Australia to Hong Kong and Singapore, across Canada and the United States, while continuing to build and grow the flourishing chamber music series he directs in Beaufort and Columbia, SC and in New Canaan, CT.
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Edward Arron, cello
Cellist Edward Arron has garnered recognition worldwide for his elegant musicianship, impassioned performances, and creative programming. A native of Cincinnati, Ohio, Mr. Arron made his New York recital debut in 2000 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Since that time, he has appeared in recital, as a soloist with major orchestras, and as a chamber musician, throughout North America, Europe and Asia. The 2023-24 season marks Mr. Arron’s 11th season as the co-artistic director of the Performing Artists in Residence series at the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts.
In May of 2022, he stepped down after 15 years as the artistic director of the acclaimed Musical Masterworks concert series in Old Lyme, Connecticut. In 2013, he completed a ten-year residency as the artistic director of the Metropolitan Museum Artists in Concert. Mr. Arron tours and records as a member of the renowned Ehnes String Quartet, and is a regular guest with the Boston and Seattle Chamber Music Societies, as well as the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.
His performances are frequently broadcast on American Public Media’s Performance Today. In 2021, Mr. Arron’s recording of Beethoven’s Complete Works for Cello and Piano with pianist Jeewon Park was released on the Aeolian Classics Record Label, and in 2022, his recordings of Beethoven’s Late String Quartets with the Ehnes Quartet were released on the Onyx Record Label.
A graduate of the Juilliard School, Mr. Arron has served on the faculty at the University of Massachusetts Amherst since 2016.
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Photo by Marco Borggreve
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Combining exceptional lyricism and insight with consummate technique, Alessio Bax is without a doubt “among the most remarkable young pianists now before the public” (Gramophone). He catapulted to prominence with First Prize wins at both the Leeds and Hamamatsu International Piano Competitions. He has appeared as a concerto soloist who has appeared with more than 150 orchestras, including the New York, London, Royal, and St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestras, the Boston, Dallas, Cincinnati, Seattle, Sydney, and City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestras, and the Tokyo and NHK Symphony in Japan, collaborating with such eminent conductors as Marin Alsop, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Sir Andrew Davis, Fabio Luisi, Sir Simon Rattle, Yuri Temirkanov, and Jaap van Zweden.
As a renowned chamber musician, he recently collaborated with Joshua Bell, Ian Bostridge, Lucille Chung, Vilde Frang, Steven Isserlis, Daishin Kashimoto, Sergei Nakariakov, Emmanuel Pahud, Lawrence Power, Jean-Guihen Queyras, Paul Watkins and Tabea Zimmermann.
Since 2017 he has been the Artistic Director of the Incontri in Terra di Siena Festival, a Summer Music Festival in the Val d’Orcia region of Tuscany. He appears regularly in festivals such as Seattle, Bravo Vail, Salon-de-Provence, Le Pont in Japan, Great Lakes, Verbier, Ravinia and Music@Menlo.
Bax’s award winning Signum Classics discography includes 13 albums covering a wide range of solo, piano duo and concerto repertoire.
At the record age of 14, Bax graduated with top honors from the conservatory of Bari, his hometown in Italy, and after further studies in Europe, he moved to the United States in 1994. A Steinway artist, he lives in New York City with pianist Lucille Chung and their daughter, Mila. He has been on the piano faculty of Boston’s New England Conservatory since the fall of 2019.
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Photo by Fay Fox
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Stella Chen, violin
American violinist Stella Chen garnered worldwide attention with her first-prize win at the 2019 Queen Elizabeth International Violin Competition, followed by the 2020 Avery Fisher Career Grant and 2020 Lincoln Center Emerging Artist Award.
Since then, Stella has appeared across North America, Europe, and Asia in concerto, recital, and chamber music performances. She recently made debuts with the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Baltimore Symphony, Belgian National Orchestra, and many others and appeared at the Vienna Musikverein and Berlin Philharmonie. In recital, recent appearances include Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, the Phillips Collection, Rockport Music Festival, and Nume Festival in Italy. She appears frequently with Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center both in New York and on tour.
Stella has appeared as a chamber musician in festivals including the Ravinia, Seattle Chamber Music, Perlman Music Program, Music@Menlo, Bridgehampton, Rockport, Kronberg Academy, and Sarasota. Chamber music partners include Itzhak Perlman, James Ehnes, and Matthew Lipman.
She is the inaugural recipient of the Robert Levin Award from Harvard University, where she was inspired by Robert Levin himself. Teachers and mentors have included Donald Weilerstein, Itzhak Perlman, Miriam Fried, and Catherine Cho. She received her doctorate from the Juilliard School where she serves as teaching assistant to her longtime mentor Li Lin.
Stella plays the 1700 ex-Petri Stradivarius, on generous loan from Dr. Ryuji Ueno and Rare Violins In Consortium, Artists and Benefactors Collaborative and the 1708 Huggins Stradivarius courtesy of the Nippon Foundation.
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Photo by Marco Giannavola
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Nicholas Cords, viola
For more than two decades, omnivorous violist Nicholas Cords has been on the front line of a unique constellation of projects as performer, educator, and cultural advocate, with a signature passion for the cross-section between the long tradition of classical music and the expansive range of music being created today.
Nicholas served for twenty years as violist of the Silkroad Ensemble, a musical collective founded by Yo-Yo Ma in 2000 with the belief that cross-cultural collaboration leads to a more hopeful world. This mission was poignantly explored by the Oscar-nominated documentary by Morgan Neville, The Music Of Strangers, which makes a case for why culture matters. In addition, Nicholas served from 2017-2020 as a Co-Artistic Director for Silkroad, and previously as Silkroad’s Programming Chair. He appears on all of the Silkroad Ensemble’s albums including Sing Me Home (Sony Music), which received a 2017 Grammy Award for Best World Music Album.
Another key aspect of Nicholas’ musical life is as founding member of Brooklyn Rider, an intrepid group which NPR credits with "recreating the 300-year-old form of the string quartet as a vital and creative 21st century ensemble.” Deeply committed to collaborative ventures, the group has worked with Irish fiddler Martin Hayes, jazz saxophonist Joshua Redman, ballerina Wendy Whelan, Persian kemancheh virtuoso Kayhan Kalhor, Swedish mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter, Mexican singer Magos Herrera, and banjoist Béla Fleck, to name a few. Two recent Brooklyn Rider recordings garnered Grammy nominations; Healing Modes (2021), which paired Beethoven’s Opus 132 with five new commissions on healing, and Stranger (2022) with tenor Nicholas Phan, featuring the music of Nico Muhly.
His acclaimed 2020 solo recording Touch Harmonious (In a Circle Records) is a reflection on the arc of tradition spanning from the baroque to today, featuring multiple premieres. A dedicated teacher, Nicholas currently serves on the viola and chamber music faculty of New England Conservatory.
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Photo by Noémie Broder
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Benjamin Dieltjens, clarinet
Benjamin Dieltjens started to learn the clarinet in 1986 with George Luyten in Leuven and went studying at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels with Henri De Roeck. From 1995 to 1998 he studied with Wolfgang Meyer at the Musikhochschule in Karlsruhe (Germany), graduating with outstanding honours in 'Künstlerisches Aufbaustudium' (solo instrument) in 1998.
Benjamin Dieltjens plays on both modern and historical instruments. His activities as chamber player, principal clarinet and soloist lead him to Europe’s most prestigious concert halls (Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Albert Hall London, Singel Antwerp, …) As such he has performed at international festivals such as 'Ars Musica' (Brussels), the ‘Lucerner Festspiele’, the festival of Saintes, the festival of Schleswig-Holstein, the Holland Festival, the 'Schwetzinger Festspielen' in Germany, … He was a founding member of 'Het Collectief', a chamber music ensemble set up to perform 20th century classical music.
Since 2006, he is principal clarinet of the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra and is a member of the “Orchestre des Champs Elysées” conducted by Philippe Herreweghe. He is regularly invited as guest principal clarinet by the Royal Concertgebouworkest of Amsterdam, the Rotterdam Philharmonic and other major European orchestras.
Benjamin Dieltjens has recorded several recital and chamber music CD's for labels such as Ambronay, Aeon, Fuga Libera, Etcetera, Dabringhaus & Grimm, Passacaille and major European radio and television broadcasting houses. His recording of the Mozart concerto on period instrument conducted by L.G. Alarcon has been highly praised by the international music press.
Benjamin Dieltjens is the clarinet professor and head of woodwinds at the Brussels Royal Conservatoire.
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Photo by David Perry
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Fitz Gary, viola
Fitz Gary joined the Garth Newel Piano Quartet as Violist and Co-Artistic Director in summer of 2022. The Quartet programs and performs over 50 concerts a year and hosts numerous outreach and educational programs at the Garth Newel Music Center in Hot Springs, Virginia.
Fitz, a native of Charlottesville, Virginia, has toured across the United States, Europe, and Asia performing in such venues as Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, London’s Royal Albert Hall, and Japan’s Suntory Hall. He completed his undergraduate studies at the Cleveland Institute of Music with Jeffrey Irvine, and graduate studies at The Juilliard School with Heidi Castleman and Hsin-Yun Huang. Selected as a 2013-2014 Fulbright Scholar, he studied with Barbara Westphal at the Musikhochschule in Lübeck, Germany. The school subsequently awarded him the DAAD prize for an outstanding international student, as well as his second master’s degree. While in Germany, Fitz also performed with the Grammy-Award-winning NDR Sinfonieorchester (Elbphilharmonie) in Hamburg as a member of their Academy.
Fitz has served as a Clinician Ambassador for the string company D’Addario, as well as the President of the Feldman Chamber Music Society in Norfolk, Virginia. In 2012, Fitz started a project called Music Feeds Us, a chamber music series promoting hunger relief. The concerts, which have been featured on Performance Today, have raised over 200,000 meals for partner food banks in Virginia. As an avid orchestral musician, Fitz has performed with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, and the Washington National Opera at the Kennedy Center, among others.
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Photo by Neda Navaee
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Liana Gourdjia, violin
Liana Gourdjia enjoys performing many styles of music from Baroque to Contemporary. Having won many international competitions and fellowships, she now teaches on faculty at the prestigious Ecole Normale Alfred Cortot Conservatory in Paris, and at Musikene in San Sebastián, Spain, combining it with solo and chamber music performances. She is a member of the Ensemble Variance, a group dedicated to new music and enjoys discovering a world of jazz and folk repertoire thanks to her husband, a legendary jazz musician, Tcha Limberger.
This season’s highlights include a recording of Xarmak cd dedicated to works of Basque Composers including Ravel and Sarasate with great pianist Josu Okiñena, appearance at the prestigious Elba Music Festival as an orchestra leader and chamber soloist, performances of the complete Schubert violin and piano works among other projects.
Liana started playing the violin at the age of four under the guidance of her grandmother, and professor Tourchaninova. Liana began her official studies at the famous Central Music School at the Moscow State Conservatory with renowned professors Iryna Bochkova and Maya Glezarova. Upon graduating, she moved to the U.S. to continue her studies with David and Linda Cerone at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she received Bachelor and Master of Music degrees. Liana received an Artist Diploma from the Jacob’s School of Music at Indiana University, Bloomington, studying with Jaime Laredo. At The Indiana University she was the first recipient of the prestigious Jacob’s scholarship, and was subsequently awarded the Performance Certificate in recognition for outstanding performances at her degree recitals. Liana benefited from master classes with Menahem Pressler, Janos Starker, Gil Shaham, Alex Kerr, Pamela Frank, Arnold Steinhardt, Gabor Takacs and the Orion String Quartet. An avid reader, she is fluent in Russian, French, Spanish and English.
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Photo by Kim Bonggyun
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Mark Kosower, cello
Mark Kosower is a consummate artist equally at home on stage as soloist, chamber musician, and as the Principal Cello of The Cleveland Orchestra. He maintains a very active career as a soloist having appeared with the Orchestre de Paris, the Bamberg Symphony, the Rotterdam Philharmonic, the Hong Kong Philharmonic, the China National Symphony Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra of Taiwan, and the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra as well as the Detroit, Florida, Houston, Milwaukee, Minnesota, Oregon, North Carolina, Phoenix, and Seattle symphony orchestras.
Mr. Kosower has collaborated as soloist with such eminent conductors as Herbert Blomstedt, Sir Andrew Davis, Christoph Eschenbach, Ton Koopman, and Franz Welser- Möst. Festival appearances include the Aspen, North Shore Chamber, Pacific, Ravinia, Seattle Chamber Music Society and Santa Fe Chamber music festivals. Mr. Kosower has recorded for the Ambitus, Delos, Naxos, and VAI labels and is an Avery Fisher Career Grant recipient.
He also is a much sought after teacher and regularly appears on faculty for Carnegie Hall’s National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America, Colorado College’s Summer Music Festival, and California’s Hidden Valley Music Seminars in addition to working with the fellows at the New World Symphony in Miami.
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Photo by Benjamin Allen
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Tessa Lark, violin
Violinist Tessa Lark is one of the most captivating artistic voices of our time, consistently praised by critics and audiences for her astounding range of sounds, technical agility, and musical elegance. In 2020 she was nominated for a GRAMMY in the Best Classical Instrumental Solo category and received one of Lincoln Center’s prestigious Emerging Artist Awards: the special Hunt Family Award. Other recent honors include a 2018 Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship and a 2016 Avery Fisher Career Grant, Silver Medalist in the 9th Quadrennial International Violin Competition of Indianapolis, and winner of the 2012 Naumburg International Violin Competition.
She solos regularly with many of the major orchestras around the world, from the Royal Scottish National Orchestra to Seattle Symphony, and has appeared in recital in such prestigious venues and series as Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw and Carnegie Hall’s Distinctive Debuts series in Weill Hall (2017).
She is also a highly acclaimed fiddler in the tradition of her native Kentucky, delighting audiences with programming that includes Appalachian and bluegrass music and inspiring composers to write for her - most notably SKY, a bluegrass-inspired violin concerto written for Tessa by Michael Torke which earned both a GRAMMY nomination for Tessa and a Pulitzer finalist distinction for Torke.
Lark is a graduate of New England Conservatory and completed her Artist Diploma at The Juilliard School. She plays a ca. 1600 G.P. Maggini violin on loan from an anonymous donor through the Stradivari Society of Chicago.
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Photo by Goodman_Van Riper Photography
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Anthony Manzo, double bass
Anthony Manzo’s vibrantly interactive music making has made him a ubiquitous figure in the upper echelons of classical music, performing regularly at venues including Lincoln Center and Boston’s Symphony Hall, and at festivals including Spoleto USA, Music@Menlo, Bowdoin International Festival, and La Jolla SummerFest. He appears regularly with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and with chamber music groups and chamber orchestras across the country. Mr. Manzo has also been guest principal with Camerata Salzburg during their summer residency at the Salzburg Festival, as well as two European tours as soloist alongside bass/baritone Thomas Quasthoff. Mr. Manzo is also an active performer on period instruments with the Handel and Haydn Society and Philharmonia Baroque, and teaches at the University of Maryland.
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Photo by Denver Rispel
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Demarre McGill, flute
Winner of an Avery Fisher Career Grant and the Sphinx Medal of Excellence, Demarre McGill has appeared as soloist with numerous orchestras including the Philadelphia Orchestra, the San Francisco, Pittsburgh, Dallas, Seattle, San Diego, Winnipeg, Hawaii, Hartford and Baltimore symphony orchestras and, at age 15, the Chicago Symphony.
Demarre has participated in festivals around the globe, is co-founder of Art of Élan, a founding member of the Myriad Trio, and has participated in the Marlboro, Moab, Santa Fe, Sarasota and Stellenbosch chamber music festivals, to name a few.
Along with clarinetist Anthony McGill and pianist Michael McHale, the McGill/McHale Trio was founded in 2014. Their first recording, "Portraits," was released in 2017 to rave reviews, as has "Winged Creatures," his recording with Anthony McGill and the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra.
Demarre performs, coaches and presents master classes throughout the United States and in Europe, Asia and South Africa. Committed to teaching, he is on the faculty of the Aspen Music Festival and School, participates in the National Orchestral Institute and holds the position of Associate Professor of Flute at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.
Now principal flute of the Seattle Symphony, Demarre previously served as principal flute of the Dallas Symphony, San Diego Symphony, Florida Orchestra, and Santa Fe Opera Orchestra as well as acting principal flute of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.
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Photo by Elisha Knight
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Simone Porter, violin
Born in 1996, violinist Simone Porter made her professional solo debut at age 10 with the Seattle Symphony and her international debut with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London at age 13. In March 2015, she was named a recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant. Simone made her Carnegie Zankel Hall debut on the Emmy Award-winning TV show From the Top: Live from Carnegie Hall, followed in November 2016 by her debut in Stern Auditorium.
In the past few years Simone has debuted with the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and with renowned conductors Stéphane Denève, Gustavo Dudamel, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Nicholas McGegan, Ludovic Morlot, and Donald Runnicles. Recent and current seasons included extensive touring as soloist with U.S. orchestras, Edinburgh Festival, Royal Northern Sinfonia, Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart, and LA PHIL with Dudamel at Hollywood Bowl and Walt Disney Concert Hall. At the invitation of Esa-Pekka Salonen, Simone performed his solo violin work “Lachen Verlernt” (“Laughing Unlearnt”) at Lincoln Center in 2018. Recent recital highlights include a tour in Spain and performances at the Celebrity Series in Boston (2022) and 92nd St. Y (2023) in New York. This summer included Domaine-Forget and Moab Music Festivals.
Raised in Seattle, Washington, Simone studied with Margaret Pressley as a recipient of the Dorothy Richard Starling Scholarship, and with renowned pedagogue Robert Lipsett at the Colburn Conservatory in Los Angeles. She spent many summers at the Aspen Music Festival, Indiana University’s Summer String Academy, and the Schlern International Music Festival.
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Photo by Bob Handelman
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William Purvis, French horn
William Purvis pursues a multifaceted career in the United States and abroad as horn soloist,
chamber musician, conductor, and educator. He is a member of the New York Woodwind Quintet, the Yale Brass Trio, and the Triton Horn Trio, and is an emeritus member of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s. A passionate advocate of new music, he has participated in numerous premieres of pieces for solo horn, horn concerti, horn trios, and woodwind quintets by such composers as Krzysztof Penderecki, Steven Stucky, and Elliott Carter. Purvis has also been a frequent guest artist at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and the Boston Chamber Music Society and has collaborated with many of the world’s most esteemed string quartets. At the Yale School of Music, Purvis teaches a studio of graduate-level horn students and has
been featured many times in performances on the School’s Faculty Artist Series. A Grammy® Award winner, Purvis has recorded extensively for numerous labels including
Deutsche Grammophon, Sony Classical, Naxos Records, Koch Entertainment, and Bridge Records. |
Photo by Vicente Galaso
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David Quiggle, viola
Born in the Pacific Northwest of the USA, David Quiggle has been a leading violist, chamber musician and teacher for more than 20 years. As a member of the Casals Quartet he toured Europe and South America, and won top prizes in the London, Hamburg and Paolo Borciani string quartet competitions. David studied violin, viola, and string quartet at the Vancouver Academy of Music, the New England Conservatory and the Musikhochschule of Cologne. His teachers include Walter Trampler, Gwen Thompson, Walter Levin, Louis Krasner, Eugene Lehner, and the members of the Alban Berg Quartet.
As a member of the chamber ensemble La Bande de la Loingtaine David has performed in France, Belgium, Singapore and Japan. Solo performances include the Bartók Viola Concerto with the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela; Hindemith's Der Schwanendreher with the Medellín Philharmonic; and Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante in Madrid and Valladolid with violinists Gordan Nikolić and Alina Ibragimova. He is one of the founders and the principal viola of BandArt, and has been a frequent guest principal with groups such as the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, the Malaysian Philharmonic and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. For six years he was principal viola of the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
When not playing classical music David actively explores other musical genres, which has led to collaborations with many of Spain's leading musicians and dancers. Since 2006 he has worked with the SaludArte Foundation on projects including concerts and workshops for people with special needs, in situations of social exclusion or in hospitals or prisons. In collaboration with SaludArte, Lisarco Dance and the New World Symphony, he took part in the collective creation of Synergy, a show for four musicians and five dancers that includes functionally diverse artists. Synergy was premiered in June 2013 at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and since has been staged in Barcelona, Valladolid, Madrid, Miami, Jerusalem and Ramallah.
David has coached youth orchestras in Spain, France, Venezuela, Colombia, Japan, Korea, Singapore and the USA, and was for twelve years viola teacher at the Musikene Conservatory in San Sebastián, Spain. Currently David is living in Cologne, where he teaches string chamber music at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln.
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Photo by Karjaka Studios
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Orli Shaham, piano
A consummate musician recognized for her grace, subtlety and brilliance, the pianist Orli Shaham is in demand for her prodigious skills and admired for her interpretations of both standard and modern repertoire. The New York Times called her a “brilliant pianist,” The Chicago Tribune referred to her as “a first-rate Mozartean,” and London’s Guardian said Ms. Shaham’s playing at the Proms was “perfection.”
She has performed with most of the major orchestras in the United States, on stage internationally from Carnegie Hall to the Sydney Opera House and appeared at music festivals around the world. Since 2007, she has been Artistic Director for Pacific Symphony’s chamber music series; and is Artistic Director of the interactive children’s concert series, Orli Shaham’s Bach Yard, which she founded in 2010.
Continuing her multi-year Mozart recording project, Orli Shaham releases the final two volumes of the complete piano sonatas by Mozart in the 2023-24 season. Volumes 1-4 of the sonata cycle, and a recording of Mozart’s Piano Concertos are already out. Additionally, she has taught a master class on the digital platform Tonebase centered around the Mozart sonatas, as well as a live online discussion and demonstration of the life and music of Clara Schumann. Her discography includes a dozen titles on Deutsche Gramophone, Sony, Canary Classics and other labels.
Ms. Shaham is on faculty at The Juilliard School, and has served on the juries of both the Cliburn and Honens International Piano Competitions. She is Co-Host and Creative for NPR’s “From the Top”, and was host of “America’s Music Festivals,” and “Dial-a-Musician,” a feature series she created, all of which are broadcast nationally. In addition to her musical education at the Juilliard School, Orli Shaham has a BA from Columbia University. She is a member of the board of trustees of Kaufman Music Center, serving as chair through 2023.
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Mimi Solomon, piano
American pianist Mimi Solomon enjoys a multi-faceted career as a chamber musician, soloist, and teacher. She has performed throughout the United States, China, Japan and Europe, has appeared as soloist with orchestras including Shanghai Symphony, Philharmonia Virtuosi, and Yale Symphony Orchestra, and has been featured on numerous radio and television broadcasts including the McGraw-Hill Young Artist’s Showcase, France 3, France Inter, and National Public Radio.
An avid chamber musician, she regularly appears at music festivals on both sides of the Atlantic such as Santander, IMS Prussia Cove, Lockenhaus, Rencontres de Bel-Air, Ravinia, Taos, Norfolk, Yellow Barn, Charlottesville, La Loingtaine, and Aspen.
Mimi is also an enthusiastic and dedicated pedagogue: she is co-artistic director of MYCO Youth Chamber Orchestra, she spends part of every year coaching and performing chamber music at Kinhaven Festival in Vermont, and she has taught at Cornell University, East Carolina University, and Ithaca College. She is currently on the faculty of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Mimi graduated cum laude in East Asian Studies from Yale, went on to receive a Master of Music from Juilliard, and then studied the fortepiano in Paris. Her main teachers were Peter Frankl and Robert McDonald, and she has also played regularly for Ferenc Rados and studied the fortepiano with Patrick Cohen. She currently lives in Chapel Hill with her husband, violinist Nicholas DiEugenio.
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Photo by Lisa-Marie Mazzucco
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Jory Vinikour, harpsichord
In repertoire ranging from Bach and before, to Poulenc and beyond, Jory Vinikour has performed as soloist with the Cleveland Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Lausanne Chamber Orchestra, Philharmonic of Radio France, among many others, under the direction of renowned conductors such as Stéphane Denève, Martin Haselböck, Armin Jordan, Marc Minkowski, et al, and as recital soloist in series and festivals throughout much of the world.
Mr. Vinikour's debut recording for Sono Luminus, the complete harpsichord works of Jean-Philippe Rameau, was nominated for a Grammy® award, in the category of Best Classical Solo Instrumental Recording in 2013, an honor also accorded to his Toccatas (Contemporary American works for harpsichord) in 2015. Jory’s recording of J.S. Bach’s Partitas for harpsichord was released in late 2016. His recording of Bach’s Six Sonatas for violin and Obbligato Harpsichord with Rachel Barton Pine marks Jory’s debut on Cedille Records. Also for Cedille – 20th century concerti for Harpsichord and Orchestra (Leigh, Rorem, Kalabis, Nyman) with the Chicago Philharmonic, and harpsichord works of François Couperin.
Jory made his recital debut at Chicago’s famed Ravinia Festival in August of 2019, as well as his conducting debut at the Aspen Festival.
In recent seasons, Mr. Vinikour has made appearances as conductor/soloist with the St. Louis Symphony, Bergen Philharmonic, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Musica Angelica, Korea Chamber Orchestra, musicAeterna, Juillard415, Alabama Symphony, West Edge Opera, Chicago Opera Theater, Florentine (Milwaukee) Opera.
Jory can be heard as fortepianist in the Deutsche Grammophon Mozart Opera series, under Yannick Nézét Séguin’s direction. He conducted the gala concert for the Handel Festival in Karlsruhe, and has conducted and played concerts for the Seattle Symphony, l’Orchestre de Bretagne, and the Hawaii Symphony.
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Photo by Lisa-Marie Mazzucco
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Orion Weiss, piano
One of the most sought-after soloists and chamber music collaborators of his generation, Orion Weiss is widely regarded as a “brilliant pianist” (The New York Times) with “powerful technique and exceptional insight” (The Washington Post). He has dazzled audiences with his lush sound and performed with dozens of orchestras in North America including the Chicago Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Boston Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and New York Philharmonic and at major venues and festivals worldwide.
Known for his affinity for chamber music, Weiss performs regularly with violinists Augustin Hadelich, William Hagen, Benjamin Beilman, and James Ehnes; pianists Michael Brown and Shai Wosner; cellist Julie Albers; and the Ariel, Parker, and Pacifica Quartets. In recent seasons, he has also performed with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, National Arts Centre Orchestra, and Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. Weiss can be heard on the Naxos, Telos, Bridge, First Hand, Yarlung, and Artek labels.
Weiss has been awarded the Classical Recording Foundation’s Young Artist of the Year, Gilmore Young Artist Award, an Avery Fisher Career Grant, and the Mieczyslaw Munz Scholarship. A native of Ohio, Weiss attended the Cleveland Institute of Music and the Juilliard School, where he studied with Emanuel Ax. Learn more www.orionweiss.com.
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Virginia Symphony Orchestra (VSO)
Photo by Taylor Waldron
As the region’s most celebrated musical, educational and entrepreneurial arts organization, the Virginia Symphony Orchestra continues to challenge expectations and push the boundaries of what an American orchestra can be. Innovation and excellence are at the heart of the VSO’s narrative.
The VSO has received national attention for its unique mission serving a home area of 1.7 million across the diverse communities of southeastern Virginia. Through appearances at the Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall and commitment to adventurous programming, the VSO and its musicians have been highlighted in the media including The New York Times, The Washington Post, National Public Radio and BBC Worldwide News.
As the largest performing arts organization in southeastern Virginia, the VSO and VSO Chorus present more than 150 concerts and events annually for more than 100,000 residents and visitors. Recent innovations include health and wellness programs, including interactive therapeutic experiences for people living with Alzheimer’s and dementia, and adopting welcoming concert environments for those who are neurodiverse. Since 2019, the VSO has been recognized nationally for striving to reflect the region’s ethnic and racial diversity in its members, its programming, and its leadership.
The selection of the young and dynamic conductor Eric Jacobsen as music director in 2021 was another bold step forward for the VSO, further expanding its vision to attract wider and larger audiences with engaging concert experiences and creative and relevant programming. Rounding out the artistic leadership team is Norfolk native Thomas Wilkins in the role of Principal Guest Conductor, reflecting the VSO’s commitment to tell its community’s stories and advance the important conversations that will promote understanding and belonging among all residents.
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Photo by Shervin Lainez
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Eric Jacobsen, conductor
Already well-established as one of classical music’s most exciting and innovative young conductors, Eric Jacobsen combines fresh interpretations of the traditional canon with cutting-edge collaborations across musical genres. Hailed by the New York Times as “an interpretive dynamo,” Eric, as both a conductor and a cellist, has built a reputation for engaging audiences with innovative and collaborative programming.
Eric joined the Virginia Symphony Orchestra as Music Director in 2021, being named the twelfth music director in the orchestra’s 100+ year history. Current projects include recording projects of Dvorak and Coleridge-Taylor with Gil Shaham, Rhapsody in Blue (on banjo!) with Bela Fleck, and Rachmaninoff with pianist Olga Kern.
Eric is in his ninth season as Music Director of the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra, as he continues to pioneer the orchestra’s programming and community engagement in new and exciting directions. The 23-24 season looks forward to the return of the Resonate Festival, a unique blend of old and new orchestral and chamber works, performed in standard and more intimate concert formats.
Eric is also artistic director and co-founder of The Knights, the uniquely adventurous NYC-based chamber orchestra. The ensemble, founded with his brother, violinist Colin Jacobsen, grew out of late-night music reading parties with friends, good food and drink, and conversation. Current projects include a multi-year Rhapsody project as well as a residency at Carnegie Hall. Under Jacobsen’s baton, The Knights have developed an extensive recording collection, which includes the critically acclaimed albums Azul, with longtime collaborator Yo-Yo Ma, as well as a recent album featuring Gil Shaham in performances of the Beethoven and Brahms Violin Concertos.
A frequent guest conductor, Eric has established continuing relationships with the Colorado Symphony, the Detroit Symphony, the Oregon Bach Festival, and the Dresden Musikfestspiele. Recent engagements also include concerts with the Omaha Symphony, New Jersey Symphony, and Grant Park Festival.
Eric brings joy, storytelling, and a touch of humor to what he describes as “musical conversations” that delight audiences around the world, including those who do not traditionally attend classical music concerts. Jacobsen is married to Grammy-Winner singer-songwriter Aoife O’Donovan and together they have a daughter, Ivy Jo.
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