
Artistic Directors,
Sharon Robinson
& Jaime Laredo
For over three decades, Sharon Robinson and Jaime Laredo have combined multi-faceted international music careers, dividing their time between solo and duo engagements, performing chamber music, touring with the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio, teaching, and of course many long hours on the road. Their incredible artistry and devotion to music has garnered them many devoted fans.
As individual artists, Sharon and Jaime are recognized worldwide as consummate artists and are considered to be among the most outstanding musicians of our time. Sharon Robinson is the winner of the Avery Fisher Recital Award, the Piatigorsky Memorial Award, the Pro Musicis Award, and a Grammy Nominee. Critics, audiences and fellow musicians respond to what the Indianapolis Star has called “A cellist who has simply been given the soul of Caruso.” She has appeared with some of the musical giants of our time, from Yo-Yo Ma to Itzhak Perlman, along with many prominent quartets. Sharon Robinson’s CDs include the Vivaldi Cello Sonatas on Vox and a Grenadilla disc of solo cello works by Debussy, Fauré, and Rorem.
Mr. Laredo made his stunning orchestral debut at the age of eleven with the San Francisco Symphony, and at the age of seventeen won the prestigious Queen Elisabeth of Belgium Competition, launching his rise to international prominence. Since then, he has performed with and conducted prominent orchestras worldwide, and holds several prestigious artistic directorships. For fifteen years, Mr. Laredo was violist of a Piano Quartet with renowned musicians Emanuel Ax, Isaac Stern, and Yo-Yo Ma, and won a Grammy for a recording with that group.
As a teacher, Mr. Laredo has fostered the education of many prominent young violinists. For 35 years,he taught at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. From 2005-2012, Laredo and Robinson served on the faculty of the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University and were both appointed in 2012 to the renowned instrumental and chamber music faculty of Cleveland School of Music.
In addition to beloved performances of Bach, Barber, Mozart, Vivaldi and Mendelssohn, Laredo and Robinson’s commitment to new works is ever-present and the recent premiere, to great critical and audience acclaim of the new Double Concerto by Andre Previn is one example. Additional works recently performed with his wife, acclaimed cellist Sharon Robinson, include the Rozsa Sinfonia Concertante, the Zwilich Double Concerto and the world premieres of four works written for them: “In the Arms of the Beloved” and “A Child’s Reliquary” for violin, cello and orchestra by Richard Danielpour, “Masquerade” by Daron Hagen and David Ludwig’s Double Concerto. The latter 3 works appear on the acclaimed “Triple Doubles” CD (recorded with Sarah Hicks, Troy Peters and the VSO for Bridge; released November 2011). Jaime Laredo and Sharon Robinson received a Grammy nomination for the Two Brahms Sextets CD with their renowned colleagues Isaac Stern, Cho-Liang Lin, Michael Tree, and Yo-Yo Ma. With members of the same ensemble, they also recorded Schubert’s great Cello Quintet for Sony.
Associate Artistic Director,
Michael Chertock
In addition to serving as Linton’s Associate Artistic Director, pianist Michael Chertock is also the Artistic Director for Peanut Butter & Jam Sessions. He has fashioned a successful career as an orchestral soloist, collaborating with conductors such as James Conlon, Jaime Laredo, Keith Lockhart, Erich Kunzel and Andrew Litton. His many orchestral appearances include solo performances with the Philadelphia Orchestra, l’Orchestre Symphonique du Montreal, the Toronto Symphony, the Baltimore Symphony, the Naples Philharmonic, the Detroit Symphony, the Chattanooga Symphony, the Utah Symphony, the Oregon Symphony, the Indianapolis Symphony and the Dayton Philharmonic.