Linton Music Artist Biographies

Prize winners at the 2006 Plowman Chamber Music Competition and semifinalists in the TROMP International String Quartet Competition held in the Netherlands, the Azmari Quartet’s performances have been described by the Cincinnati Enquirer as having, “relentless energy and superb intonation.” Formed in 2003, they currently serve as the Corbett String Quartet-in-Residence at Northern Kentucky University. While maintaining an active concert calendar, its members both teach the collegiate string students as well as coach all chamber music ensembles at NKU.

As the quartet embarks upon the 2007-8 season it welcomes Julie Fischer and Hugo Bollschweiler, both spectacular players and teachers. All alumni of the Yellow Barn Music Festival, the Azmari Quartet members bring to the stage of wealth of performance experience. Last season included performances on the Linton Chamber Music Series, Northern Kentucky University’s Azmari Quartet Series and the University of Dayton’s Arts Series. These performances involved collaborations with Sergei Polusmiak, Anthony McGill, John Aler and principal players of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. Additional performances have featured members of the Jupiter Quartet, the Fry Street Quartet, renowned bandaneon artist Coco Trevissimo, Marc Johnson of the Vermeer Quartet and James Tocco.

The quartet recently garnered rave reviews from the Austin Chronicle as the summer of 2007 brought the Azmari Quartet to the Austin Chamber Music Festival, joining a roster that included the Beaux Arts Trio. Previous summers has included performances at the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival and the Gros Morne Summer Music festival in Newfoundland, Canada where they served as Artists-in-Residence. The quartet has participated in numerous summer festivals including: the Aspen Music Festival, the Takacs Quartet seminar, the Juilliard Quartet Seminar and Soundfest with the Colorado Quartet. Members of the Azmari Quartet are past participants at numerous festivals- among them are the Perlman Chamber Music Program, Yellow Barn Music School and Festival, Taos School of Music, Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival, the Quartet Program at Bucknell, and Madeline Island Music Festival.

Prior to joining the faculty at NKU, the quartet studied with the Vermeer Quartet as the Graduate Quartet-in-Residence at Northern Illinois University. While in Chicago, the Azmari Quartet performed throughout the city, presenting concerts of traditional repertoire and collaborating in the presentation of new works with organizations such as CUBE and Northeastern Illinois University.

A commitment to community outreach began while the quartet was still in Chicago. Through the International Music Foundation the quartet presented educational concerts in the Chicago public school system. While in Aspen in the summer of 2005, the Azmari Quartet presented a number of educational programs in association with Deborah Barnekow, the festival’s director of educational outreach. The quartet will continue its involvement with Michael Chertock and the Peanut Butter and Jam Sessions presented by the Linton Series in the 2007-2008 season. In addition, the Azmari Quartet is dedicated to the growth of string playing in both the Northern Kentucky and Cincinnati communities. They will be working privately with students throughout the Cincinnati-metro area as well as presenting a plethora of concerts and presentations exposing children of all ages to the craft of chamber music.

This mission, to highlight the art of chamber music, culminates each season in the Norse Festival. The Azmari Quartet serves as Artistic Directors of the one week chamber music festival at Northern Kentucky University. The festival involves chamber music coaching and performance of the highest level, eurhythmics instruction as well as orchestral playing.

The name Azmari is derived from Aramaic and can be translated as ‘to sing.’ The term Azmari was also used in Ethiopia to refer to village orators. The quartet is drawn to the notion of emulating the human voice with their instruments as well as passing along the rich tradition of chamber music.

Randy Bowman, Principal Flutist of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra since 1990, is a California native. He received his musical education at the New England Conservatory in Boston, and after graduation enjoyed a successful freelance career, performing with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Boston Pops, the Boston Ballet and Opera orchestras, Handel and Haydn Society and the Portland and New Hampshire Symphony Orchestras.

During his tenure as principal flute of the Boston Pops Esplinade Orchestra, Mr. Bowman performed at music festivals and concert halls throughout the United States and Asia under the baton of renowned conductor and film composer John Williams. Prior to his appointment in Cincinnati, Mr. Bowman was a member of the famed Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, appearing with them at Carnegie Hall and on tours of the musical capitols of Europe.

Mr. Bowman has performed as guest principal flutist with the Boston Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony and St. Louis Symphony. Since its inaugural season in 1990, Mr. Bowman also has been principal flutist of the American Symphony Orchestra during its residency at the Bard Music Festival in New York.

Pianist Michael Chertock has fashioned a successful career as an orchestral soloist, collaborating with conductors such as James Conlon, Jamie Laredo, Keith Lockhart, Erich Kunzel and Andrew Litton. His many orchestra appearances include solo performances with the Philadelphia Orchestra, l’Orchestre Symphonique du Montreal, Toronto Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Naples Philharmonic, Detroit Symphony, Chattanooga Symphony, Utah Symphony, Oregon Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony and Dayton Philharmonic.

In January of 2005, Mr. Chertock performed Gershwin’s Concerto in F Major with Keith Lockhart and the National Youth Orchestra of London. Chertock has toured Asia with the Boston Pops and the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra. His 2003 performance on the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra’s recording of Petrouchka with Paavo Järvi turned in rave reviews in Gramophone and American Record Guide. Chertock made his Carnegie Hall debut in 1999 with the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, performing Duke Ellington’s New World A’Comin’.”

In 1994, Mr. Chertock released his first CD on the Telarc label, a collection of his original arrangements of music from movies titled Cinematic Piano. The recording has sold more than 30,000 units worldwide. Since then, he has recorded three more discs with Telarc: Palace of the Winds, Christmas at the Movies and Love At the Movies, which have been praised for their lush, original arrangements and exquisite technical facility.

Michael Chertock began conducting in 2001 when he stepped in for Carmon DeLeone in performances of Cincinnati Ballet’s The Nutcracker. Mr. Chertock is the conductor of the Blue Ash-Montgomery Symphony, and he frequently composes and arranges music for the orchestra’s concerts. He also serves as Artistic Director of Linton Music’s “Peanut Butter and Jam Sessions,” an interactive music series geared toward children ages 2 to 5.

In June of 2004 Mr. Chertock was appointed assistant professor of piano at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, where he received his master’s degree as a student of Frank Weinstock. He has garnered numerous awards at major competitions, among them the top prize in the 1989 Joanna Hodges International Piano Competition (Brahms Division) and the grand prize in the 1993 St. Charles International Piano Competition. He also shared the silver medal in the 1991 World Piano Competition of the American Music Scholarship Association.

Michael Chertock’s upcoming engagements include solo performances with the Boston Pops, Chattanooga Symphony, San Diego Symphony and the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra. He makes his home in Cincinnati, where he is principal keyboardist with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.

Hailed by The Philadelphia Inquirer as “a major talent with a robust tone” and “the rising star we have to watch” (Gramophone Korea), 24-year-old flutist Jasmine Choi is the Associate Principal Flute in the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra under the music director Paavo Jarvi.

Ms.Choi has appeared as a soloist with The Philadelphia Orchestra, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Salzburg Mozarteum, Czech Philharmonic Chamber, North Czech Philharmonic, Vienna Mozart Orchestra, Vienna Classical Players, Mozart Collegium Vienna, Haddonfield Symphony, Juilliard Symphony, KBS (Korean Broadcast System) Symphony Orchestra, Euro-Asian Philharmonic Orchestra, Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, Pusan Philharmonic Orchestra, Seoul Symphony Orchestra, Daejon Philharmonic, Chongju Philharmonic, as well as giving numerous recitals and masterclasses throughout the United States, Europe and Korea.

When 16, Ms. Choi was accepted at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. She was nominated by the “Symphony” magazine, as one of America’s Emerging Artists 2006 and 2007. She joined the roster of the Astral Artistic Services in 2004, which subsequently presented her in their “Rising Star” series at the Kimmel Center and Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall. Also she has performed at the Musikverein Golden Hall, Konzerthaus Mozart Hall and Schubert Hall in Vienna, Dvorak Hall and Smetana Hall in Prague, Disney Hall in LA, as well as Academy of Music and Kimmel Center’s Verizon Hall in Philadelphia. Among her numerous competition honors are first prizes in the 2005 Juilliard School’s Concerto Competition, the 2004 Yamaha Young Artist Competition and the 2002 Concerto Competition of the Philadelphia Orchestra.

She was invited for the Austrian Flute Festival in 2005, where her solo recital and concerto performance received great critical acclaim. An avid chamber musician, Jasmine Choi is a member of the Astral Winds and the Trio Morisot. She has participated in major festivals such as the Marlboro Music, Pacific Music Festival, Sarasota Music Festival, the National Orchestral Institute, and the Carnegie Hall’s Professional Workshop with Michael Tilson Thomas.

Jonathan Gunn (artists list)

Currently serving as acting Associate Principal and Eb Clarinet of the Cincinnati Symphony, Jonathan Gunn was the Principal Clarinet of the Fort Wayne Philharmonic (Indiana) from 1998 to 2004. Prior to his appointment to the Fort Wayne Philharmonic, Jonathan was Principal Clarinet of the Wheeling Symphony (West Virginia) and 2^nd Clarinet of the Palm Beach Opera Orchestra (Florida) in addition to performing with the Colorado and Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestras.

Jonathan has participated in numerous music festivals including Bard, Sunflower, Tanglewood, Aspen, St. Barth’s, Telluride Jazz Celebration, and Ashlawn-Highland Opera Company and, as a soloist, has appeared with the Wheeling Symphony and the Fort Wayne Philharmonic on several occasions. He has served on the faculty at numerous universities, most recently Indiana University - Purdue University Fort Wayne and Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan.

Born in Sheffield, England, Mr. Gunn started his musical career playing violin and piano and began studying the clarinet after moving to the United States at age eleven. He received a Bachelor of Music from Shepherd School of Music at Rice University and a Master of Music from Duquesne University. His teachers include Richard Pickar, Pattie Shands, Bil Jackson, and Mark Nuccio.

Bella Hristova was born to musical parents in the small city of Pleven, Bulgaria. She began violin studies at age six. Her early studies in Sofia were with Joseph Radionov with master classes with Ruggiero Ricci at the Mozarteum in Salzburg. In 1999, she moved to the United States to study with Stephen Shipps at the Univeristy of Michigan School of Music while completing high school in Ann Arbor. In September 2003, at 17, Ms. Hristova entered the Curtis Institute of Music where she studies violin with Ida Kavafian and chamber music with Steven Tenenbom. Having a great interest in chamber music, she has played with artists such as Gary Graffman, Ida Kavafian, Jaime Laredo, Sharon Robinson, Paul Watkins and Peter Wiley. She has made several appearances on Garrison Keillor’s A Prairie Home Companion performing live for radio audiences of over four million. Ms. Hristova has performed as soloist with orchestras in California, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Washington and Wyoming. In 2006, she was featured in the May issue of Oprah Magazine. She became a Laureate at the 2006 International Violin Competition of Indianapolis and in February 2007, she served as Artist-in-Residence for the Quad City Arts’ Visiting Artist Series. In June 2007 she was awarded First Prize at the Michael Hill International Violin Competition in New Zealand. Ms. Hristova plays a 1655 Amati, once owned by the famous violinist Louis Krasner, on permanent loan.

Ida Kavafian enjoys an international reputation as one of the most versatile musicians performing today. With a repertoire as diverse as her talents, Ms. Kavafian has electrified recital and orchestral stages nationally and internationally and her commitment to contemporary music has led to many world premieres by composers as varied as Toru Takemitsu, who wrote a concerto for her, and jazz greats Chick Corea and Wynton Marsalis, both of whom with which she has toured and recorded. Her television credits include a solo feature on CBS Sunday Morning.

Since her founding membership in the innovative group TASHI over thirty years ago, Ida Kavafian’s chamber music appearances have included many renowned festivals and series throughout the world. She has toured and recorded with the Guarneri, Orion and American Quartets as well as the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, of which she is an Artist Member. She and her sister, Ani continue to perform together regularly in recital and with major orchestras. Their television credits together include features on CBS Sunday Morning and NBC’s Today Show, and they have recorded for Nonesuch.

Ms. Ida Kavafian was the violinist of the legendary Beaux Arts Trio for six years. Some of their honors during her tenure included being named "Ensemble of the Year" by Musical America in 1997 and a 1998 Grammy nomination. More recently, she co-founded the exciting ensemble, OPUS ONE, along with pianist Anne-Marie McDermott, violist Steven Tenenbom and cellist Peter Wiley.

For twenty-three years, Ida Kavafian has been the Artistic Director of Music from Angel Fire in New Mexico. She also founded and guided Bravo! Colorado in Vail as Music Director for ten years, building it into one of the leading festivals in the country. As an educator, she is on the faculty of the Curtis Institute and the new Conservatory of Music at Bard College, and has served on numerous competition juries and boards, including Chamber Music America.

Recent highlights include the World Premiere of Michael Daugherty’s concerto, “Fire and Blood” which Ms. Kavafian performed with the Detroit Symphony under the direction of Neeme Jarvi, at Carnegie Hall with the America Composers Orchestra and with the National Symphony of Mexico in Mexico City. Ms. Kavafian opened the 06-07 season of the NM Symphony in Albuquerque with this work on the weekend following last season’s MFAF festival.

Born in Istanbul, Turkey of Armenian descent, Ms. Kavafian’s family immigrated to the United States when she was three, settling in Detroit. She began her studies at age six with Ara Zerounian, continuing with Mischa Mischakoff, and ultimately earned her Master of Music degree with honors from The Juilliard School. Ms. Kavafian made her New York debut at the 92nd Street "Y" with pianist Peter Serkin as a winner of the Young Concert Artists International Auditions. She was a recipient of the coveted Avery Fisher Career Grant in 1988. Her violin is a J.B. Guadagnini made in Milan in 1751 and Peter and Wendela Moes made her viola in 1987.

Ida Kavafian resides in Connecticut and Philadelphia, where she and her husband, violist Steven Tenenbom can be found passionately pursuing their hobby of breeding, training and showing prize winning champion Hungarian Vizsla dogs under the kennel name, "Opus One Vizslas". Excelling as much in this area as in music, they bred and own the 2003 Number One Vizsla in the country.

Alexander Kerr, violin, is a versatile and expressive performer. In 1996, at age twenty-six, he was appointed to the prestigious position of concertmaster of Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. After nine successful years in that post he left last June to assume the endowed Lind and Jack Gill Chair in Music as professor of violin at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. At thirty-six he became the string department’s youngest violin professor. In addition to his teaching responsibilities he maintains a busy concert schedule, appearing with orchestras and in recital and chamber music performances throughout the U.S., Asia, and Europe. Mr. Kerr has enjoyed numerous successful appearances as soloist with such conductors as Mariss Jansons, Riccardo Chailly, Bernard Haitink, David Zinman, Alan Gilbert, and Robert Spano. He was raised in Alexandria, Virginia, where he began violin studies at age seven with members of the National Symphony Orchestra. He continued to stude with Sally Thomas at the Julliard School and with Aaron Rosand at the Curtis Institute of Music, where he received his Bachelor of Music degree.

Eric Kim, Principal Cellist with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra since 1989, has performed throughout the United States, Europe, South America, and Middle and Far East as a recitalist, chamber musician, and soloist with orchestra. At age 15, he made his solo debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

Mr. Kim has appeared as soloist with the symphony orchestras of Cincinnati, Denver and San Diego, and was a featured soloist with the Juilliard Orchestra on its critically acclaimed tour of the Far East. He has collaborated with such conductors as Zubin Mehta, Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, Paavo Järvi, Jesús López-Cobos, Sergiu Comissiona and Lawrence Foster. As a recitalist , Mr. Kim has been heard in the cities of New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Active as a chamber musician, Mr. Kim has performed with such artists as Emanuel Ax, Joshua Bell, Yefim Bronfman, Lynn Harrell, Jaime Laredo, Cho-Liang Lin and Menachem Pressler. At the invitation of Pinchas Zukerman, he performed with Zukerman at festivals of Athens, Mostly Mozart, Schleswig-Holstein (Germany) and Verbier. He has also participated in several tours to South America and Israel as a member of the “Pinchas Zukerman and Friends” chamber ensemble. Highlights include chamber music debuts at Carnegie Hall, Boston’s Symphony Hall, and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts performing both Brahms Sextets with Itzhak Perlman, Pinchas Zukerman and Michael Tree, among others. Mr. Kim can also be heard at the festivals of Aspen, Bravo! Colorado (Vail), La Jolla and Santa Fe. Mr. Kim has also made several recordings for the RCA, EMI and Koch labels.

As a teacher, Mr. Kim has students in major orchestras throughout the world, and is a Valade Program teacher at the Interlochen Center for the Arts. He also is a regular coach and performer at the Music Masters Course in Kasuza, Japan.

Born of Korean parents in New York City, Mr. Kim grew up in Illinois where he began piano studies with his mother at the age of five. At age 10, he began his cello studies with Tanya L. Carey. Mr. Kim received his Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from the Juilliard School where he studied with Leonard Rose, Lynn Harrell and Channing Robbins. Upon graduation, Mr. Kim received the first William Schuman Prize, awarded for outstanding leadership and achievement in music.

Robyn Reeves Lana, Founder and Managing Artistic Director of the Cincinnati Children’s Choir, is a sought after children’s choir clinician and conductor. She has prepared choirs for performance with the Cincinnati Symphony, the Cincinnati Pops, the Vocal Arts Ensemble, international festivals and University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music choirs and orchestras. In addition to preparing the choir for two compact disc releases, Mrs. Lana has prepared them for recordings with the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra under the direction of Maestro Erich Kunzel on the Telarc label. She has presented techniques for educating and performing chamber music for young children at the Chamber Music America National Convention. Presently, she devotes her professional life to the growth, development, and artistry of CCC and is Educational Coordinator/Hostess for the Linton Chamber Music Series’ Peanut Butter and Jam Sessions, the 1999 Post Corbett Award winning classical music concert series for preschool age children. More information can be found at their website: http://www.cincinnatichoir.org/index.html.

In his forty years before the public, Jaime Laredo has enraptured millions with passionate and polished performances of rare style and elegance. As a soloist, he has played with over one hundred international orchestras, including the Boston and Chicago Symphonies, the New York Philharmonic, the Cleveland and Philadelphia Orchestras, the London Symphony and the Royal Philharmonic, with Barenboim, Mata, Mehta, Ormandy, Slatkin, Stokowsky and Szell. He has performed in recital at the finest international music centres and festivals, and has collaborated with many eminent artists of the century, including Pablo Casals, Glenn Gould, Mstislav Rostropovich, Rudolf Serkin and Isaac Stern.

As a conductor, Mr Laredo's regular appearances include the Baltimore, Hartford, Houston, Montreal, New Jersey, Ottawa, Phoenix, San Francisco, Seattle and Utah Symphonies. His twenty-year relationship with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra has resulted in several European and two US tours, including sold-out Carnegie Hall appearances. A former "Distinguished Artist" by the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Mr Laredo has conducted the orchestra in Minnesota, on tour, and advised the chamber music series. Over recent seasons, he has led the Orchestra of St Luke's on premiere tours to Japan and Europe. On record, he has over forty discs on ten labels, and has received a Grammy Award and Deutsche Schallplatten Prize. As an administrator, he directs New York's "Chamber Music at the 92nd Street Y" series, one of the most important forums for chamber music performance in the US. His continuing interest in contemporary music has led to his premiering works by Haflidi Halgrimsson, John Harbison, Leon Kirchner, Ezra Laderman, Arvo Pärt, Ned Rorem and Ellen Taaffe Zwilich.

Born in Cochabamba, Bolivia, Jaime Laredo began playing the violin at the age of five and gave a full recital at age eight. Three years later he made his orchestral debut with the San Francisco Symphony, prompting the San Francisco Examiner to proclaim: "In the 1920's it was Yehudi Menuhin; in the '30's it was Isaac Stern; and last night it was Jaime Laredo." Over the next few years he studied with Josef Gingold and Ivan Galamian at the Curtis Institute, and with the great conductor George Szell. In May 1959, at the age of seventeen, Mr Laredo won first prize in the Queen Elizabeth Competition in Brussels, becoming the youngest winner in the history of this prestigious competition.

His festival appearances have included Tanglewood, Marlboro, Mostly Mozart, Aspen and the Hollywood Bowl. In Europe, he has appeared with the London and BBC Symphonies, the English Chamber Orchestra, the Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields, and the Helsinki Philharmonic. Mr Laredo has also performed at the United Nations and at the White House, for Presidents Johnson and Carter. In his native Bolivia, he holds the status of national hero, with a stadium named for him in La Paz and commemorative set of twelve postage stamps issued in his name.

As a member of the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio, which he formed in 1976 with his wife, cellist Sharon Robinson, and pianist Joseph Kalichstein, Mr Laredo performs regularly in the music capitals of North and South America, Europe, Australia and the Far East.

Owen Lee has been the Principal Bassist of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra since 1996. Mr. Lee has also earned much acclaim as a soloist and chamber musician. He has performed as a soloist with orchestras including the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Paavo Jarvi and Jesus Lopez-Cobos, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra under John Harbison, and the New World Symphony under Michael Tilson-Thomas in Miami and on tour to Lincoln Center (Alice Tully Hall).

Mr. Lee's prizes in competitions include First Prize at the International Society of Bassists Solo Competition and Fourth Prize at the Irving M. Klein International String Competition in San Francisco. He has been heard in recital throughout the United States and in Geneva.

Mr. Lee's extensive chamber music experience includes three summers as the bassist of the Marlboro Festival. While there, he performed with many distinguished musicians including Richard Stoltzman, Midori, Nobuko Imai, and members of the Beaux Arts Trio, Guarneri Quartet, Juilliard Quartet, Chicago Quartet and Johannes Quartet. He has also performed with the Tokyo String Quartet on tour to Mexico, John Browning, Chee-Yun, the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival, San Diego's Mainly Mozart Festival, the Linton Music Series in Cincinnati, Cincinnati Symphony Chamber Players, Chamber Music L.A. Festival, Texas Music Festival, Tanglewood Festival, and on tour throughout China as a member of an octet comprised of leading musicians of Chinese descent from around the world.

For the Boston Records label, he has recorded the Misek Sonata No. 2 and Bach Unaccompanied Suites No. 3 and No. 5. The recording has earned praise from prestigious publications. Mr. Lee is a graduate of the University of Southern California, where he was a student of Dennis Trembly and Paul Ellison.

Timothy Lees, Concertmaster of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, is increasingly in demand for his thoughtful chamber music playing and controlled command of the orchestral literature. A native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Mr. Lees graduated from the Eastman School of Music where he received the coveted Performer’s Certificate, and, in March 1991, won third prize in the Sitson Ma International Violin Competition. He has distinguished himself both here and abroad, and has established his reputation as a leader by serving as concertmaster for the internationally renowned Spoleto Festival Orchestra, the New Jersey Symphony and the Charleston (SC) Symphony Orchestra.

Mr. Lees has given solo recitals in Cincinnati, Philadelphia and San Diego’s Mainly Mozart Festival. He is a former member of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra and the Concerto Soloists of Philadelphia, where he also performed as a soloist. Mr. Lees has appeared as soloist with the Charleston Symphony Orchestra and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra performing such works as the Beethoven, Bruch and Korngold Violin Concertos, and Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante for Violin and Viola. In March of 1999 he won critical acclaim for a Carnegie Hall performance with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. Edith Eisler of Strings Magazine wrote: “The display of egotism is almost redeemed by the soaring melodies and the famous bravura violin solo, played with spectacular virtuosity by concertmaster Timothy Lees (Strauss, Ein Heldenleben)”.

An avid chamber musician, Mr. Lees has collaborated with such artists as Peter Wiley, Steven Tenenbom, Ida Kavafian, Yefim Bronfman and Jaime Laredo. Mr. Lees makes regular appearances at the Linton Chamber Music Series in Cincinnati, Ohio and has performed at the Spoleto, Sebago-Long Lake and Aspen Festivals. Timothy Lees plays on a 1748 J.B. Guadagnini violin graciously on loan to him from the collection of Mr. Charles Castleman.

A luminous, boldly emotive pianist who also conveys great sensitivity and spirituality through her playing, Anne-Marie McDermott is widely celebrated for her expressive performances on the world's most illustrious stages. A highly versatile musician, Ms. McDermott is at home with a wide range of repertory, from Bach and Mozart to Prokofiev and Rachmaninov. As a solo recitalist, soloist with orchestra or as part of a chamber music ensemble, Ms. McDermott conveys the message of the composer in deeply felt, spontaneous playing.

Ms. McDermott's 1997 debut with the New York Philharmonic under Christian Thielemann was a great success and has been followed in recent seasons by highly successful performances with the orchestras of Atlanta, Baltimore, Dallas, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Rochester, St. Louis, San Diego, Seattle, Columbus and others. She toured to 13 American cities with the Australian Chamber Orchestra during the 1999-2000 season with an unusual program of Prokofiev, Shostakovich and Britten.

In 1992 Ms. McDermott stepped in at the last moment as soloist with the Atlanta Symphony to play the Mozart Concerto K. 466 for an indisposed Murray Perahia. Her performance of this concerto the previous year, with the Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra, had won her the Silver Medal in Japan's First Hamamatsu Piano Competition. In the spring of 1995, she returned to Japan for her debut recital tour, and will return there in 2004.

Sought after by major festivals such as Mainly Mozart, Mostly Mozart, Ravinia, Angel Fire, and Bravo Vail Valley, Anne-Marie McDermott regularly performs recitals and chamber concerts throughout the United States and abroad. She has appeared at many other festivals including Santa Fe, Spoleto, Chamber Music Northwest, Newport, the Dubrovnik Festival in the former Yugoslavia, and the Festival Casals in Puerto Rico.

A winner of the Young Concert Artists Auditions, Anne-Marie McDermott was also the recipient of the Avery Fisher Career Development Award, the Andrew Wolf Memorial Chamber Music Award, the Joseph Kalichstein Piano Prize, the Paul A. Fish Memorial Prize, the Bruce Hungerford Memorial Prize, and the Mortimer Levitt Career Development Award for Women Artists.

Ms. McDermott began playing the Piano at age 5. From the beginning, she realized that music was the most natural language for her, the one in which she could express the broadest range of human emotions. By 12 she had performed the Mendelssohn Concerto in G minor with the National Orchestral Association at Carnegie Hall. She studied at the Manhattan School of Music as a scholarship student with Dalmo Carra, Constance Keene and John Browning, and participated in master classes with such highly respected Artists as Leon Fleisher, Menahem Pressler, Misha Dichter, Abbey Simon, Rosalyn Tureck, Michael Tilson Thomas and Mstislav Rostropovich.

Internationally acclaimed hornist Jeff Nelsen is enjoying an increasingly successful career as performer, educator, and “Fearless” coach. After more than four years with the Canadian Brass, Jeff has gone solo and is quickly becoming one of the most sought after hornists in North America and abroad.

Jeff has held positions with the Montreal, Vancouver, and Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. Among his other appearances as orchestral performer are those with the New York Philharmonic, National Symphony (Kennedy Center, D.C.), National Arts Center Orchestra, and the Canadian Opera Company. As a member of Canadian Brass (2000-2004), he performed with the New York Philharmonic (Brass), Philadelphia Orchestra (Brass and Orchestra), Rotterdam Philharmonic, and countless symphony orchestras including Atlanta, Baltimore, Detroit, Houston, Minnesota, Seattle, and St. Louis.

Intensely active as a soloist, chamber musician, and clinician Jeff is in high demand as a guest artist by music festivals around the world. His performances and master classes have taken him to leading conservatories and concert halls in Europe, Asia, and North America. He has recorded on labels such as Sony, Warner, Blue Note, London/Decca, Disney, Summit, C.B.C and Opening Day Records.

Jeff Nelsen is a Yamaha Performing Artist and has been on faculty at four Canadian Universities. Jeff’s debut publication, Fearless Auditioning, is due for release in 2006. More information can be found at www.jeffnelsen.com.

William Preucil was appointed concertmaster of the Cleveland Orchestra in 1994. Prior to joining the orchestra, Mr. Preucil performed for seven seasons the first violinist of the Grammy Award winning Cleveland Quartet. As a member of the quartet, Preucil performed more than 100 concerts each year in the world's major musical capitals and recorded for Telarc International the complete cycle of Beethoven's seventeen string quartets, as well as a variety of chamber works by Haydn, Mozart, Schubert, and Brahms. Previously Mr. Preucil served for seven years as concertmaster of the Atlanta Symphony, after earlier holding the same position with the orchestras of Utah and Nashville.

During his tenure in Atlanta, Preucil appeared with the orchestra as soloist in 70 performances of 15 different concertos. Composer Stephen Paulus's Violin Concerto was written for, and dedicated to Mr. Preucil, who premiered it and then recorded it for New World Records with the Atlanta Symphony and conductor Robert Shaw. He has also made solo appearances with the symphony orchestras of Minnesota, Detroit, Rochester, and Hong Kong.

Mr. Preucil regularly performs at the most prestigious North American chamber music festivals, including those of Seattle, Sitka, Sarasota, and Santa Fe, as well as at International festivals in Switzerland, France, and Germany. He also serves as concertmaster and violin soloist of the Mainly Mozart Festival Orchestra in San Diego and continues to perform as a member of the Lanier Trio, whose recording of the complete Dvorak piano trios was honored as one of TIME magazine's top 10 compact discs for 1993. The Lanier Trio has also recorded the trios of Mendelssohn and Paulus for Gasparo Records.

Actively involved as an educator, Mr. Preucil currently teaches at the Cleveland Institute of Music and is a member of the artistic advisory board for the Interlochen Center for the Arts in Michigan. He previously held positions as professor of music at the Eastman School of Music and distinguished lecturer in music at the University of Georgia.

Winner of the Avery Fisher Recital Award, the Piatigorsky Memorial Award, and a Grammy nominee, cellist Sharon Robinson is recognized worldwide as a dynamic artist and one of the most outstanding musicians of our time. Whether as a recitalist, soloist with orchestra, or a member of the renowned Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio, critics, audiences and fellow musicians worldwide respond to what the New York Times called “an artistic personality that vitalizes everything she plays.” Her guest appearances with orchestra include the National Symphony, the Philadelphia and Minnesota Orchestras, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Boston, Baltimore, Dallas, Houston, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, and San Francisco Symphonies, and in Europe, the London Symphony, Helsinki Philharmonic, Zürich's Tonhalle Orchestra, and the English, Scottish and Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestras.

Appointed to the renowned cello faculty of Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in 2005, Ms. Robinson divides her time between teaching, performing with her husband, violinist and conductor Jaime Laredo, and touring with the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio. The Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio will celebrated its 30th anniversary with major concerts at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center , the 92nd Street Y in New York.

Born into a musical family (her father was a bass player, her mother a violinist and all her siblings are string players), Ms. Robinson gave her first concert when she was seven and has since received numerous honors and awards: the Avery Fisher Recital Award, the Pro Musicis Sponsorship Award, the Leventritt Foundation Award and the Gregor Piatigorsky Memorial Award. As winner of the Avery Fisher Recital Award, Ms. Robinson appeared on Lincoln Center 's Great Performers series, giving the premiere of Ned Rorem's After Reading Shakespeare , a work she commissioned and later performed on the Dick Cavett Show. Ms. Robinson's close relationships with today's composers has led to numerous commissions for solo and chamber works as well as concerti from Leon Kirchner, Arvo Pärt, Stanley Silverman, Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, David Ott, Katherine Hoover, Richard Danielpour and Ned Rorem .

Canadian pianist Arthur Rowe is a critically acclaimed recitalist, soloist with orchestra and chamber musician. Touring annually across North America, he has received enthusiastic reviews from his performances in cities such as New York, Cleveland, Minneapolis, Seattle, San Diego, as well as in venues in Europe and New Zealand. Following a New York solo recital, The New York Times wrote:” The Canadian pianist Arthur Rowe made an immediate and positive impression...before eight bars had gone by, one knew he was capable of vigor without heaviness, energy without excess of drive. It was first-rate playing: a kind of execution tinglingly alive to the shape and contribution of each phrase". Reviewing a solo recital in London England, The London Times spoke of his "unusual clarity of articulation", and "poetry of expression", The Rome Daily News, "a dazzling performance", and David Burge, writing in The San Diego Tribune said, "Rowe is a marvelous pianist…even when he is pushed to the limit by extreme virtuosic demands...he can concentrate all of his considerable talents on vital matters of phrasing, tone and ensemble".

Born in McLennan Alberta, Arthur Rowe holds degrees from The University of Western Ontario, where he studied with Damjana Bratuz, and from Indiana University, as a student of Gyorgy Sebok. His professional career began while an undergraduate student, when he was invited to tour in Canada and The United States with cellist Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi. Before completing his degrees Mr. Rowe had performed as soloist with a number of Canadian orchestras, including radio broadcasts with CBC Radio Orchestras, and performances under the baton of Arthur Fiedler. To date he has been heard in some 150 radio performances on the CBC and Public Radio in the United States, including performances with The National Arts Centre Orchestra, CBC Winnipeg and Vancouver Orchestras.

A highly respected chamber musician, Arthur Rowe regularly collaborates with artists and chamber ensembles across North America. While at Indiana University, Mr. Rowe began his long association with violinist William Preucil, Concertmaster of The Cleveland Orchestra, with whom he has concertized for almost three decades. In February of 2004 The Harrington String Quartet joined forces with Arthur Rowe and William Preucil in New York for a performance of the Chausson Concerto for Violin, Piano and String Quartet, which was reviewed by Harris Goldsmith as a "reading that rivaled the benchmark recordings by Franzescatti/Casadesus/Pascal, and Heifetz/Sanroma/New Arts”. Mr. Rowe has recorded with various artists for the Crystal, ebs, Innova, GM and Fanfare labels, and in 2006, he will release an all Schubert recording on the Centaur label. Upcoming engagements will take him to venues in Alabama, California, Colorado, Iowa, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas, Washington, as well as to venues in Canada and Mexico. In BC, he will be performing with the Victoria Symphony in February 2007, as well as in recitals in Abbotsford, Qualicum, Victoria, and Vancouver.

Having previously held positions at The University of Iowa and The University of Western Ontario, Arthur Rowe now resides in Victoria, Canada, where he is Professor of Piano at The University of Victoria.

Gillian Benet Sella has recently returned to the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra after a year's leave of absence to play Principal Harp with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. Highlights of her career include performances with James Galway of the Concerto for Flute and Harp by Lowell Liebermann, a flute and harp recital in Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, New York for the Mostly Mozart Festival, and the Ginastera Harp Concerto at the Kennedy Center, Washington D.C.. In 1999 she performed at the World Harp Congress in Prague with the Radio Prague Symphony Orchestra and in 2000 she played at the American Harp Society National Conference. She has also performed as a soloist with the Israel Philharmonic, the Quebec Symphony Orchestra, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and at the Festival Estival de Paris.

Ms. Sella has also been a busy chamber musician participating in the Abu Gosh, Aspen, Kfar Blum and Tanglewood Music Festivals as well as concerts with soprano Dawn Upshaw. Her chamber music recordings include compositions by Debussy, Jolivet, Jongen, Ravel and Schmitt with the Atlantic Sinfonietta, the Tailleferre Concertino for Harp with the Women's Philharmonic on the Koch International label and In Distance for harp, piccolo and bass drum by Tan Dun with the Oscar Award Winning composer playing the bass drum for CRI.

Lauren Skuce made her Carnegie Hall debut in 2001 with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and has since been distinguished for her versatility on both the opera and concert stage. This past season she was seen as Mimi in La Bohème with the Kentucky Opera and Ophelia in Thomas's Hamlet with Lyric Opera of Kansas City. She recently returned from the Far East where she appeared as Liu in Turandot with the Hong Kong Opera. Other recent operatic highlights include La Contessa in Le nozze di Figaro with Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Syracuse Opera, and West Virginia Symphony, Alexandra in Blitzstein's Regina at Bard SummerScape, and Marguerite in Faust with Palm Beach Opera. Recent recital and concert credits include the World Premiere of Bruce Adolphe's song cycle for soprano and piano trio, Wind Across the Sky, at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, a solo recital at the Kravis Center in Palm Beach with Anne Marie McDermott, Shostakovich's Blok Songs with Ida Kavafian, Anne Marie McDermott, and Fred Sherry at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Schumann's Liederkreis and a semi-staged Winterreise at the Garden City Chamber Music Society, and Haydn's Scena di Berenice with Boston Baroque. This past summer she was showcased at Chamber Music Northwest and the Skaneateles Chamber Music Festival. In the summer of 2004, Ms. Skuce sang Lidochka in Shostakovich's Moscow: Cherry Tree Towers, Podtochina's Daughter in The Nose, and the soprano soloist in Shostakovich's Symphony No. 14 with the American Symphony Orchestra at the Bard Music Festival.

In the 2003-04 season, Ms. Skuce returned to New York City Opera as Morgana in a new production of Handel's Alcina in which Time Out New York Magazine printed “we're ready to crawl on our knees over a mile of gravel to hear Lauren Skuce (Morgana) read the phone book.” In addition, Ms. Skuce's engagements in the 2003-04 season included another triumph as Morgana in Alcina with Boston Baroque, Micaëla in Carmen with Opera Theatre of St. Louis, soloist in the Mozart Requiem with the Toledo Symphony Orchestra, Messiah with the Pacific Symphony Orchestra, a national tour with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and a performance of Tchaikovsky songs at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Michael Isaac Strauss, principal violist of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, has performed in North America, Asia and Europe as a soloist, chamber, and symphonic musician. He has participated at festivals such as Caramoor, La Jolla, Banff, Schleswig-Holstein, and Montpellier. His collaborations with some of the worlds premiere musicians, including Yefim Bronfman, Lynn Harrell, Joseph Silverstein and Schlomo Mintz have been broadcast on radio and television in the United States and Western Europe. Mr. Strauss is a former member of the Fine Arts Quartet, and has held principal viola positions with the Charleston Symphony Orchestra, the Concerto Soloists of Philadelphia and Orchestra 2001, an orchestra dedicated to the performance of new works. Mr. Strauss solo recordings of the Jennifer Higdon Viola Sonata and the Viola Concerto by David Finko were released on CD to critical acclaim in 1995 and 1996. His most recent recordings are of the complete viola quintets by Mozart with the Fine Arts Quartet, on the Lyrinx label.

In addition to his performing career, Mr. Strauss has demonstrated a dedication to teaching, serving on college faculties and as an audition coach for professional musicians. He is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music and performs on a viola made in 1704 by Matteo Albani of Bolzano, Italy.

Lars Vogt has rapidly established himself as one of the leading pianists of his generation. Born in the German town of Düren in 1970, he first came to public attention when he won second prize at the 1990 Leeds International Piano Competition, and has since gone on to give major concerto and recital performances throughout Europe. Asia, and North America.

An exclusive EMI recording artist, Lars Vogt has made fifteen discs for the label. These include the Schumann and Grieg concertos and the first two Beethoven Concertos with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Sir Simon Rattle, who has described him as “one of the most extraordinary musicians of any age group that I have had the fortune to be associated with.” Vogt has also made solo recordings of Haydn, Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms, Schumann, Tchaikovsky, and Mussorgsky. Last season EMI released a disc of French Violin Sonatas with Sarah Chang and a three disc set of the complete Brahms Duo Sonatas. His most recent concerto release is Hindemith’s Kammermusik No. 2 with the Berlin Philharmonic and Claudio Abbado.

Lars Vogt enjoys a high-profile career as a recitalist and chamber musician, having appeared over the past two seasons in New York, Tokyo, London, Paris, Vienna, Rome, and Amsterdam. In summer 2005, he was featured at the BBC Proms and the festivals of Salzburg, Lucerne, Edinburgh, the Schubertiade, and La Roque d’Antheron. In June 1998, Lars Vogt founded his own festival in Heimbach, Germany. Known as “Spannungen,” its huge success has been marked by the release of ten live recordings on EMI. He enjoys regular partnerships with colleagues such as Christian Tetzlaff and collaborates with actor Klaus-Maria Brandauer and comedian Konrad Beikircher

Lars Vogt studied with Ruth Weiss (Aachen) and Prof. Karl-Heinz Kämmerling (Hanover). He lives near Cologne with his wife, the Russian composer Tatjana Komarova and their young daughter, Isabelle.

Dick Waller is Artistic Director and founder of the Linton Chamber Music Series, currently in its
twenty-ninth season. Under his leadership, the Linton series received one of Chamber Music
America’s first Presenter Expansion Program grants and added three additional concert series:
Encore! Linton, the Mayor’s 801 Plum Concerts and Peanut Butter and Jam Sessions for two to six
year old children.

Mr. Waller was principal clarinetist of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra from 1961 to 1994. He also
served on the faculty of the Aspen Music Festival and performed as principal clarinetist, soloist and chamber music
artist. From 1990-2003, he was also Aspen Music Festival’s Coordinator of Winter and Summer House Music Concerts.

Throughout his career, Mr. Waller has performed at major music festivals throughout the United States, including
Marlboro, Tanglewood, Carmel, Bowdoin, and the Sarasota Music Festival.

A student of Kalman Bloch and Daniel Bonade, Mr. Waller studied at the Juilliard School and is a graduate of Occidental
College. In addition to his tenure with the Cincinnati Symphony, he was principal clarinetist of the American Ballet
Theatre Orchestra.

Mr. Waller currently entertains his class, For the Love of Music, at the Osher Life Learning Institute at the University of
Cincinnati.

Peter Wiley, a native of Utica, NY, attended the Curtis Institute at just thirteen years of age, under the tutelage of David Soyer. He continued his impressive youthful accomplishments with his appointment as Principal Cellist of the Cincinnati Symphony at age twenty, after one year in the Pittsburgh Symphony. He has been awarded an Avery Fisher Career Grant and was nominated with the Beaux Arts Trio for a Grammy Award in 1998. As a member of the Beaux Arts Trio, Mr. Wiley performed over 1,000 concerts, including appearances with many of the world’s greatest orchestras. He continues his association with the Marlboro Music Festival, dating from 1971. He has also been a faculty artist at Caramoor's "Rising Stars" program, and has taught at the Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music, the Mannes College of Music, and the Manhattan School of Music. Mr. Wiley is currently on the faculty of the Curtis Institute of Music, as well as the University of Maryland.

William Winstead is Professor of Bassoon at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and Principal Bassoonist with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.

A native of western Kentucky, Mr. Winstead began his musical training as a pianist and composer before taking up the study of several wind instruments. He later received degrees in bassoon from the Curtis Institute of Music and in theory and composition from West Virginia University.

At age twenty-two Mr. Winstead first performed at the Marlboro Music Festival, serving for seven years as principal bassoonist under Pablo Casals for many recordings with the Marlboro Festival Orchestra. He also toured the United States and Canada and recorded chamber music representing the Festival.

During this time and for an additional fifteen years, Mr. Winstead built a career as a college professor - teaching bassoon, piano, theory, and composition - first at West Virginia University, then at Indiana-Purdue University, Florida State University, and Oberlin Conservatory of Music. Ten years ago he joined the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, and two years later joined the faculty of the Cincinnati College-Conservatory.

As a soloist, Mr. Winstead has appeared with orchestras ranging from the Wheeling (WV) and Waco (TX) Symphonies to the Pittsburgh and Cincinnati Symphony Orchestras, and has held residencies with the Lake George Opera, the Goldovsky Opera Festival, and the Fort Wayne Philharmonic. He has been a featured recitalist in this country and Europe at several conferences of the International Double Reed Society, and served two terms as president of that institution. He has served as a member of the National Endowment for the Arts Music Advisory Panel for Solo Recitalist Grants, and he frequently presents master classes and concerto performances on university campuses across the country.

Mr. Winstead has performed at other summer festivals including Spoleto, Italy's Festival of Two Worlds and has been a featured artist performer/teacher for the past ten years at the Sarasota Music Festival. In 1994, after an absence of twenty years, he returned to the Marlboro Music Festival as a senior member, and has recently served as a member of the faculty of the Aspen Music Festival as well.

As a composer, William Winstead has had premieres by the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Pittsburgh Symphony. He has received numerous commissions, grants, and awards, including an NEA grant in 1976 for a bicentennial work for narrator and orchestra. In addition he has collaborated with Sol Schoenbach in publishing three volumes of solo bassoon music.

Violist Jeroen Woudstra began his music studies at age five. At 17 he began studies at the Utrecht Conservatory in the Netherlands where he graduated with a Masters Degree. Upon graduation, he was granted a full scholarship to attend The Mozart Academy in Krakow, Poland where he studied with Ana Chumachenko, Denis Szigmundy and Nobuko Imai. In 2000, Woudstra won a position in the viola section of Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. An active chamber musician, Woudstra frequently participates in international music festivals throughout Europe, the U.S. and Asia, performing with such distinguished musicians as Emanuel Ax, Kyoko Hashimoto, Viktor Lieberman, Charles Andre Linale, Rainer Moog, Nathaniel Rosen and Young-Chang Cho.