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| The Calla Quartet formed
at the Juilliard School in fall 2007. Members Elizabeth
Lara and Clio Tilton began playing together in 2004 at
the Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival, where the idea
for a future quartet was born. Continuing to collaborate
since then, they joined with violinists Ilana Setapen and
Arthur Moeller to form the Calla Quartet. Enrolled in the master of music degree and doctorate of musical arts programs, the Calla Quartet members have made their commitment to chamber music the focus of their graduate work. With the guidance and support of Sylvia Rosenberg, the Calla Quartet has studied major repertoire and performed concerts at New York City venues such as the Society for Ethical Cultural and Peter Jay Sharp Theater. Selected to participate in ChamberFest 2008, the Calla Quartet worked intensively with Curtis Macomber on Bartok’s first quartet, and performed in the final concert of the week-long festival. The quartet has upcoming recitals and concerts in New York this spring including on the Juilliard Chamber Music series and at the Player’s Theater in Greenwich Village. |
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| Ilana Setapen, currently a graduate student at the Juilliard School, is an experienced performer of solo, chamber, and orchestral music. She has performed as concertmaster of the Juilliard Orchestra, the Colburn Orchestra, the American Youth Symphony, the National Repertory Orchestra, and the USC Thornton Symphony. She won the first professional audition she took at the age of 21 for concertmaster of the Riverside Philharmonic, of which she has now been the concertmaster for 4 years. She has toured Brazil and France with the Armstrong String Quartet, formed at USC, and has been a finalist in the Coleman Chamber Music Competition. As a soloist, Ms. Setapen has performed with the National Repertory Orchestra, the Idaho Falls Symphony, the Pasadena Pops, and the Amarilo Symphony, among others. She is currently a student of Donald Weilerstein and Ronald Copes, and she has also studied with Robert Lipsett at both the University of Southern California and the Colburn School in Los Angeles. | |||||||||
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| Violinist Arthur Moeller from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania recently completed an undergraduate degree at the Juilliard School as a student of Cho-Liang Lin and Naoko Tanaka. He studied previously with Sergei Galperin, Cyrus Forough, and Stephen Shipps. Mr. Moeller has made solo appearances with the Westmoreland and Johnstown Symphonies, and also with the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony. In chamber groups, he has performed in Alice Tully Hall and various other venues throughout New York. Mr. Moeller currently studies with Naoko Tanaka and Ronald Copes at the Juilliard School in the master’s degree program. | |||||||||
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| Clio Tilton, viola, is the first prize-winner in the Ohio Viola Society Competition, the Indianapolis Symphony Concerto Competition, the Lafayette Symphony Keller Competition. She has attended the Kneisel Hall Music Festival, the Bowdoin International Music Festival, and performed this past summer as a scholarship recipient in the Aspen Chamber Symphony. Ms. Tilton completed degrees in comparative literature and viola performance at Oberlin College and Conservatory, studying with Peter Slowik. At Oberlin, she performed in the prestigious Contemporary Music Ensemble under the direction of Timothy Weiss. She currently performs with the New Juilliard Ensemble and the Calla Quartet. Ms. Tilton attends the Juilliard School as a student of Masao Kawasaki. | |||||||||
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| Cellist Elizabeth Lara completed her master of music degree and bachelor of arts degree in molecular biophysics and biochemistry at Yale, where she studied with Aldo Parisot and Ole Akahoshi. She was a student of Stephen Kates at the Peabody Conservatory, where she was also a member of the Capriccio String Quartet. The ensemble won first prize in the 2000 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and performed on NPR’s “From the Top.” She has served as principal cellist in several orchestras and performed as soloist with the Maryland Symphony Orchestra. As a recitalist and chamber musician, Ms. Lara has performed in such venues as the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art, the New York MoMA, Alice Tully Hall, and Weill Recital Hall. She has attended numerous festivals including Kneisel Hall, Sarasota, Banff, Tanglewood, and Music Academy of the West. Ms. Lara is currently a C.V. Starr Doctoral Fellow and student of Joel Krosnick at the Juilliard School. | |||||||||
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| The Kodecari Quartet was
formed this past fall at The Juilliard School and
consists of violinists Ari Isaacman-Beck and Ko Sugiyama,
MM, violist Caitlin Lynch, MM, and cellist Denise Ro, BM.
Members have performed or have future engagements as
soloists/chamber musicians at venues such as Alice Tully
at Lincoln Center, the 92nd Street Y’s Kaufmann
Concert Hall, Severance Hall in Cleveland, and at the
Tonhalle in Zürich, among others. They have also had
solo performances with orchestras such as the Columbia
Symphony, Oregon Symphony, South Salem High School
Chamber orchestra (European tour), Lithuanian State
Symphony, Cleveland Bach Consort, Minnetonka Symphony,
Symphony Nova Scotia, the Cleveland Institute of Music
Orchestra, the Cleveland Pops Orchestra, and the Colburn
School of Performing Arts’ Orchestra da Camera. Current and past teachers/chamber coaches of the members include Darrett Adkins, Ronald Copes, David Updegraff, Masao Kawasaki, Paul Kantor, Heidi Castleman, Steve Tenenbom, Jeffrey Irvine, Lynne Ramsey, Timothy Eddy, and members of the Cleveland and Cavani String Quartets. Masterclass participation includes those conducted by members of the Cleveland Quartet, Juilliard Quartet, Takach Quartet, Emerson Quartet. Music Programs they have individually attended include Sarasota Music Festival, Aspen Music Festival and School, Encore School for Strings, Meadowmount School for Strings, Bowdoin International Music Festival, Music Academy of the West, and Kneisel Hall. |
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| Praised by the Sion, Switzerland newspaper Le Nouvelliste for his “impressive magisterial finesse,” Ari Isaacman-Beck, 22, is a full scholarship student at The Juilliard School pursuing his Master’s degree under the tutelage of Ronald Copes. Isaacman-Beck recently won two important awards: the 2nd Prize and Chiildren’s Jury Award in the 2006 Sion-Valais (formerly Tibor Varga) International Violin Competition, and the Joseph and Elsie Scharff Prize in Violin from the Cleveland Institute of Music, where he recently completed his undergraduate degree studying with David Updegraff. He has also won several prizes in Minnesota based competitions, including the first prize in the Senior Division of the Schubert Club, Northwestern College, and the Macphail and Minnetonka Symphony Orchestra concerto competitions among others. These awards have led Ari to perform as a soloist the Lithuanian State Symphony, Cleveland Bach Consort, Minnetonka Symphony, Northwestern College Symphony, and the MacPhail Orchestra; he has collaborated with conductors such as Shlomo Mintz, Scott Terrell, Manuel Laureano, and Lucas Waldin. Highlights of this past season include performances at the Tonhalle in Zürich; various venues in Sion, Switzerland; and recitals in Minneapolis, Cleveland, and Hudson, Ohio. He has also participated in master classes with Joseph Silverstein, Trond Saeverud, Steven Copes, and Cara Mia Antonello. Ari’s performances have been broadcast on Cleveland’s WCLV Classical Radio Station, Minnesota Public Radio as a part of their “Classical Kids” program for two consecutive years, WVIZ (Cleveland Public Television), and on the nationally distributed cable television program, “Music da Camera,” as a result of winning the Schubert Club Competition. A strong orchestral leader, Ari has served as concertmaster and principal second of the Cleveland Institute of Music Orchestra, concertmaster of the Minnesota Youth Symphony, and Assistant Concertmaster at the Aspen Music Festival. Ari maintains a vigorous interest in chamber music, and has been coached by members of the Juilliard, Cleveland, Chicago, Mendelssohn, Borromeo, Brentano, Cavani, Bergonzi, and Artaria string quartets (both as a violist and violinist). Ari has been a frequent performer at Kneisel Hall, the ENCORE school for strings, the Aspen Music Festival and School, and Madeline Island Music Camp. He has spent his summers studying with such renowned artists as Norman Carol, Naoko Tanaka, David Updegraff, and his former teacher, Mary West. Ari’s interests have not been limited solely to music, however: Academically, he has been honored as a National Merit Scholar, Valedictorian, and has received numerous awards from his high school and CIM for his outstanding achievements in Spanish, Math, and overall scholastic achievement. In his spare time, Isaacman-Beck enjoys reading, hiking, and spending time with his family and friends. | |||||||||
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| Violinist Ko Sugiyama is
currently pursuing an MM degree under the tutelage of
Masao Kawasaki at the Juilliard School; recipient of the
Irene Diamond Graduate Fellowship and the Juilliard Alum
Scholarship. His primary chamber music coaches at the
Juilliard School include Darertt Adkins, Sylvia
Rosenberg, and Fred Sherry. Also, he recently received
his BM from the Cleveland Institute of Music where he
studied with Paul Kantor and was a participating member
of the CIM Intensive Quartet Seminar receiving
coaching’s with Peter Salaf and the Cavani String
Quartet. Ko began studying the violin at age 4 with Carol Hetrick at the New Music School in Boston. He continued his studies in California studying with Elizabeth Arbus, Zoya Leybin, and Linda Rose. In the following years, he went on to study at the Colburn School of Performing Arts in Los Angeles where he studied with Henry Gronnier, Amy Hershberger, and Chan Ho Yun. Also during his years at CSPA, he participated in Colburn’s Orchestra Da Camera, the Colburn Chamber Orchestra, and was a member in their Chamber Music Institute receiving coachings from Richard Naill. His ensembles at CSPA have performed at various venues through out the greater Los Angeles area including performances at Colburn’s Zipper Hall and multiple performances at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s Bing Theater, which was concurrently broadcasted live on KMZT in their weekly “Sunday Live” series. In his first competition, at the Southwestern Youth Music Festival, he was the first place winner in the Baroque category at the age of 6. That same year he had his first performance with orchestra at the Suzuki Showcase Concert of greater Los Angeles. He has also been a winner of the CSPA Concerto Competition, CIM Concerto Competition, Burbank Philharmonic Competition, Young Musicians Foundation Debut Orchestra Competition, among others. Solo engagements with orchestra include performances with the CIM Orchestra, CSPA’s Orchestra Da Camera, the Young Musician Foundation Debut Orchestra, Burbank Philharmonic, and the Cleveland Pops Orchestra. He has performed as soloist/chamber musician at venues such as Alice Tully at Lincoln Center, Severance Hall in Cleveland, and will be performing at the 92nd Street Y’s Kaufmann Concert Hall. Music programs/festivals he has attended include: Bowdoin Summer Music Festival, The Masterclasses Internationales at the Universite de Paris-Sorbonne, Meadowmount Summer School, Disney Youth Symphony Orchestra summer program, Starling DeLay Symposium, New York Strings Orchestra Seminar, Chamberfest at Juilliard, Aspen Music Festival, and Music Academy of the West. His teachers/coaches at these festivals include Kathleen Winkler, Brian Lewis, Laurie Carney, Jerome Lowenthal, and Yoheved Kaplinsky. Through out the years, Ko has participated in masterclasses run by Dorothy DeLay, Ruggiero Ricci, Ann Akiko Meyers, David Kim, Sidney Weiss, Jonathon Feldman, Donald Wielerstein, and members of the Takac, Emerson, Cleveland, and Cavani String Quartets A long time advocate of musical outreach, the Toomai Quintet, which he is the violinist of, was the 2007 winner of the 92nd Street Y’s “Music Unlocked!” Competition. As a result, his quintet has given multiple performances/presentations at elementary schools throughout Manhattan, presentations to promote the 92nd Street Y’s Musical Introduction series, which all culminates to 4 performances at the 92nd Street Y’s Kaufmann Concert Hall. Also, he is one of the Juilliard School’s Gluck Community Service fellows. Past participation in community service/outreach include participation in CIM’s community service program, which include performances around the city’s health care facilities, and has been a member of the CSPA’s “Musical Encounter” program where he has given performances at inner-city elementary schools in the greater Los Angeles area. |
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| Caitlin Lynch is
currently pursuing a Master of Music degree in Viola
Performance at the Juilliard School as a full-tuition
recipient of the Irene Diamond Graduate Fellowship. She
is a student of Heidi Castleman and Steven Tenenbom.
Caitlin graduated with a Bachelor of Music degree in May
2007 from the Cleveland Institute of Music as a student
of Jeffrey Irvine and Lynne Ramsey. In addition to her
studies at CIM, Caitlin participated in the
conservatory’s dual-degree program with Case Western
Reserve University, earning a minor in English
Literature. Caitlin has made numerous solo appearances with orchestras, including the Columbia Symphony, Portland Youth Philharmonic, Young Musicians and Artists Connoisseur’s Orchestra, South Salem High School Chamber Orchestra, and a collaboration of the Oregon Symphony and Oregon Ballet Theatre Orchestras. These performances, in addition to solo recital appearances, have featured Caitlin across the country and the world, including Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Australia, New Zealand, France, Italy, and Switzerland. This spring, she will join the Juilliard Orchestra on tour in China. As an orchestral player, Caitlin was a winner of the 2007 Juilliard Orchestra principal viola audition. She has also been principal violist of the Cleveland Institute of Music Orchestra, the Internationale Sommerakademie de Cervo Orchestra, Portland Youth Philharmonic, and the South Salem High School Chamber and Symphony Orchestras. Summer festivals include the Academie de Tibor Varga (Sion, Switzerland), Karen Tuttle Coordination Workshop, Internationale Sommerakademie de Cervo (Cervo, Italy), ENCORE School for Strings, and the Sarasota, Aspen, Musicorda, and Marrowstone Music Festivals. Her primary teachers at these festivals include Nobuko Imai, Jean Sulem, Jeffrey Irvine, Chauncey Patterson, Susan DuBois, Karen Ritscher, James Dunham, and Vicki Chiang. Other masterclasses include work with Kim Kashkashian, Barbara Westphal, Robert Vernon, Lars Tomter, Hartmut Rohde, Carol Rodland, Michelle LaCourse, Daniel Foster, Rennie Regehr, and Masao Kawasaki. Caitlin was the founding violist of the Kosafieka String Quartet at CIM, leading to her participation for three years in the conservatory’s Intensive Quartet Seminar, as well as coachings and masterclasses with members of the Cleveland, Cavani, American, Takacs, and Emerson string quartets. She is currently in a string quartet at Juilliard, coached by Darrett Adkins. In fall 2007, Caitlin performed in a chamber ensemble featured in Juilliard’s “Composers and Choreographers…Plus” collaborative workshop. Caitlin has been the recipient of many honors, including the first prize at the 2006 Ohio Viola Society Competition, Young Artists Competition (2003), Portland Youth Philharmonic Concerto Competition (2003), Oregon State Solo Competition (2003), and the KBPS Radio Young Talent Search (2003). She was also a finalist in the Aspen Music Festival Low-Strings Concerto Competition (2005), and a participant in the 2005 Primrose International Viola Competition, where she was selected to perform in a masterclass for Daniel Foster. In the fall semester of 2006, Caitlin was chosen to be the first viola exchange student from CIM at the Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (France), where she studied with Jean Sulem. In addition to studying the viola, Caitlin has also studied piano and voice privately, for ten and six years, respectively, and taught a studio of viola and piano students. Her previous teachers include Karen Vincent and Charles Noble, both of her native Oregon. |
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| Twenty-year old cellist,
Denise Ro, is a native of Halifax, Nova Scotia. She
currently is studying under the tutelage of Timothy Eddy
as a 3rd year scholarship student at the Juilliard School
in New York City. She has privately studied with mentors
such as Olive Shaw, Shimon Walt, Richard Aaron, Philippe
Muller, Alan Stepansky, David Geber, Carole Sirois, and
Hans Jorgen Jensen. Denise has been awarded grants from the Nova Scotia Talent Trust, including the Raymond Simpson Award for most exceptional talent. These grants have enabled her to attend a number of summer music festivals, such as the Encore School for Strings, Meadowmount School for Strings, Bowdoin International Music Festival, the National Music Institute in Ottawa, Aria International Music Festival, and the Domaine Forget Festival. She is sincerely grateful to the Nova Scotia Talent Trust for their constant support. Over the years she has performed with Symphony Nova Scotia, and the Nova Scotia Youth Orchestra, along with recital engagements with the St. Cecilia Concert Series, the Mahone Bay Concert Series, and the St. Bernard Concert Series. She was featured as part of the radio series, “Up and Coming”, with pianist Jon Kimura Parker, which was broadcast nationally through CBC. Denise is the recipient of other prizes such as the Jubilee Award of Queen Elizabeth II for exceptional qualities and service to Canada. As a member of the Quantum Quartet, she was awarded the Grand Prize at the Canadian National Music Competition. Denise is an avid chamber musician in New York with her recently formed quartet, and additionally gives regular performances across the city as part of the Gluck Community Service Fellowship. |
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| The 85th Street Quintet is a newly formed ensemble of students at the Mannes College of Music. The group was assembled for the purpose of seeking professional playing opportunities outside of school. The 85th Street Quintet is currently recording for numerous competitions, and planning for a recital at Mannes in the near future. Members of the ensemble have a history of playing chamber music together in New York over the past five years. The 85th Street Quintet have been coached by Judith Mendenhall and Patricia Rogers. | |||||||||
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| A native of Auckland, New Zealand, Jonathan Engle began flute studies at the age of 12. After moving to the United States, he won First Prize in numerous competitions including the Texas Solo and Ensemble Competition, the Upper Midwest Flute Association Young Artists' Competition, the Southeastern Minnesota Youth Orchestra Concerto Competition, and the Minnesota-Iowa-Wisconsin Tri-State Concerto Competition. He was also the winner of the Wind, Brass, and Percussion division of the 2005 Mannes College of Music Concerto Competition and Third Prize winner of the New York Flute Club Young Artists' Competition in 2006 and 2007. Jonathan has performed with the Minnesota Orchestra, the Rochester Symphony, the New Amsterdam Symphony Orchestra, Orion String Quartet, Ensemble 212, Aeolian Winds, and the ground-breaking Helix Series Orchestra. In the summer of 2006, he toured Greece, performing in the Nafplio and Corfu Music Festivals. He currently serves as principal flute of the Mannes Orchestra. Equally at home as soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral musician, Jonathan has performed in many of America's leading venues including Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Steinway Hall, the Yamaha and Bosendorfer Showrooms, Symphony Space, the United Nations, the Morgan Museum, and the University and Metropolitan Clubs in New York City, Verizon Hall in Philadelphia, and Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis. In addition, he has participated in master classes with such leading flutists as Bonita Boyd, Marina Piccinini, Julius Baker, Keith Underwood, Emmanuel Pahud, Judith Mendenhall, Trudy Kane, Joshua Smith, and Michael Parloff. Jonathan received his Bachelors and Masters degrees with honors from Mannes College of Music and is currently a Professional Studies Diploma candidate at Mannes, where he is a student of Keith Underwood. | |||||||||
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| Ryan Walsh is a student and freelancing oboist in New York City. He received his Bachelor's Degree in 2006 from the Mannes College of Music studying with Thomas Stacy and is currently working on his Master's Degree at Mannes and is studying with Sherry Sylar. Ryan has played with many orchestras in NYC and Washington State including the Yakima Symphony, Wenatchee Symphony, Camerata New York, Bronx Orchestra, Bronx Opera, Bermuda Philharmonic and Greenwich Village Orchestra. In 2007, Ryan was chosen as the English horn soloist of the Festival Ensemble Stuttgart orchestra conducted by Helmut Rilling and toured Germany with that orchestra. In 2008, Ryan will again be attending Festival Ensemble Stuttgart, playing oboe, oboe d'amore and English horn on Bach's St. Matthew Passion under Helmut Rilling. Ryan will also be traveling to Mexico with Cultures in Harmony to work with Mexico's youth orchestra program and to teach composition to children living in an orphanage. Recently, Ryan played first oboe in the New York City premiere of Jennifer Higdon's Concerto for Orchestra at Carnegie Hall. Ryan is originally from Washington State. | |||||||||
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| Clarinetist Ben Ringer is a senior in the BM program at Mannes College of Music, where he studies with David Krakauer. A native of Portsmouth, VA, he attended the Virginia Governeror's School for the Arts, where he was a concerto competition winner and recipient of the John Philip Sousa and Award. Since arriving in New York Ben has performed with numerous ensembles including The Mannes Orchestra, Ensemble 212, The Chelsea Symphony, Alaria, and The New York Youth Symphony. He received an Honorable Mention for his performance in the 2007 Mannes Concerto Competition. He hopes to attend graduate school in the fall as a conducting major. | |||||||||
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| Thomas Fleming is a freelancing student bassoonist working in the New York area. He received a Bachelors in Music fro the Manhattan School of Music in 2007, where he studied with Patricia Rogers and Frank Morelli. He also studied with Mark Popkin as a high school student at the North Carolina School of the Arts. Previous to joining the 85th Street Quintet, Thomas competed in the Fischoff competition in 2003 with the Aristo Quintet and gave numerous performances in North Carolina. Thomas has performed in many orchestras including the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas, the Dicapo Opera Theatre, and the Chelsea Symphony. Thomas recently advanced to the finalist sub pool for the New World Symphony. He is currently principal bassoon in the Mannes Orchestra where he is working on a Professional Studies Diploma with Patricia Rogers. Thomas has performed concerts in Carnegie Hall, Allice Tully, Verizon Hall, Meyerson Hall in Dallas, the Kennedy Center, and the Beunos Artes in Mexico City. | |||||||||
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| Audrey Flores is currently a Professional Studies Diploma candidate at the Mannes College of Music. After completing her Bachelor’s Degree at the Juilliard School in 2005, she sat Second Horn with the Jerusalem Symphony. She has performed with the New World Symphony, the National Repertory Orchestra, and performed Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 as Principal Horn with the American Russian Youth Orchestra in their final World Tour. A student of Philip Myers and the late Jerome Ashby, Audrey was also a member of the Amirus Woodwind Quintet and completed several international tours before joining the 85th Street Quintet. | |||||||||
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| The Bela Quartet have already established themselves as an award winning ensemble and after winning the prestigious honors ensemble competition at the New England Conservatory, they currently represent the school as the honors string quartet which enables them to perform a fully sponsored recital in the historical Jordan Hall among other performance opportunities. They are individually active as soloists and have been to noted festivals such as the Perlman Music Program, and the Yellow Barn Festival. They have been coached by members of the Cleveland Quartet, and the Takács Quartet. In May, they have been invited to compete in the live round at the Fischoff national chamber competition. | |||||||||
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| Violinist Benjamin
Thacher is a graduate of the Walnut Hill School for the
Arts, a prestigious boarding school for gifted musicians
from around the world. He currently studies at the New
England Conservatory of music and is a student of Donald
Weilerstein, founding member of the Cleveland Quartet. Ben has performed numerous times as a soloist, with Cape Sinfoniettam Nashua Symphony and Metrowest Symphony. In 2008, Ben will appear as soloist again with the Cape Symphony Orchestra playing Beethoven's triple concerto with cellist Sebastian Baverstam and pianist Yue Chu. Ben is the first place winner of the Cape Cod Conservatory Poniar Competition and first place winner in the Cape Symphony Orchestra scholarship competition, and his piano trio won first place in the International Chamber Music Competition of New England which led to their Carnegie Hall debut. In 2005, Ben received the Eugene Lehner chamber music award given by the New England Conservatory for excellence in chamber music. Ben has performed as concertmaster of the Walnut Hill School orchestra during the Walnut Hill/From the Top gala at Boston Symphony Hall which was broadcast on the radio throughout the United States . Ben has attended the Perlman Music Program, Boston University Tanglewood Institute, Musicorda Festival, Yellow Barn Young Artist Program, Greenwood Music School , and Kinhaven. His former teacher is Kelly Barr, a member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. He has participated in master classes with such esteemed musicians such as, Joseph Silverstein, Pamela Frank, Benjamin Zander, Denes Szigmondi, Bonnie Hampton, Midori, Donald Weilerstein, and additional studies with Izhak Perlman. Ben recently became a conductor with the Nashoba Youth Orchestra. He has previously held a faculty position at the Ipswich Highschool. . In the winter of 2005, he was personally invited to participate in the Perlman Music Program residency in Sarasota, Florida and at Carnegie Hall. Ben plays on a violin created for him by Douglas Cox, a violin maker in Vermont . This summer he is going to Taiwan , Germany , Brazil , and Hungary to give concerts with the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival playing under the conductor of the Philidelphia Orchestra, Christoph Eschenbach. His solo appearance on 'From The Top' national radio show can be heard on the web at www.fromthetop.org |
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| Rita Wang began violin at the age of six and is currently an international student at the Walnut Hill School in Natick , Massachusetts . She made her American debut in Lincoln Center at the age of ten, playing Zigeunerweisen by Sarasate with the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra. She has won First Prize in several national competitions in Taiwan . She won top prizes in the Brockton and Wellesley concerto competitions, and was recently featured on the Brockton Symphony Orchestra's Feinberg Awards Concert. She formally was the concertmaster of the Youth Philharmonic Orchestra at NEC under Benjamin Zander, and performed the triple concerto in Carnegie Hall with YPO on national radio. She currently studies with Miriam Fried. | |||||||||
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| Originally from
Washington Township New Jersey, Paul Laraia began his
viola studies with Brynina Socolofsky, the disciple of
famed viola pedagogue Leonard Mogill. He later studied with the principal and assistant principal violists of the Philadelphia Orchestra-- Choon-jin Chang, and Che-hung Chen under scholarship through Temple Universities Center for Talented and Gifted Youth. During his time in South Jersey, Paul has held numerous principal positions in Youth and Festival Orchestras. He has been principal violist with the All South Jersey Intermediate and Senior High Orchestras, the New Jersey All State Intermediate and Senior Orchestras, the Temple Youth Chamber Orchestra, the Rowan International String Festival, the Strings Festival at Brynn Marr, and the Settlement Music School's Chamber Orchestra. An avid supporter of chamber music, Paul has collaborated with many successful ensembles. He has performed with a number of string quartets at Temple Music Prep, Settlement Music School, and various summer music festivals . Last year with the Newman Advanced Study String Quartet, Paul was a silver medalist in the prestigious Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and has been invited as part of the Bela Quartet to participate in the 2008 competition in May. Paul has played in numerous chamber music master classes with such renowned artists as Peter Oinjin (former 1st violinist of the Tokyo String Quartet, the Miami Sting Quartet, the Johaness String Quartet, Ricardo Morales, the DePont String Quartet, the Liebestraud String Quartet, and Diane Monroe, Paul Katz (former cellist of Cleveland String Quartet), Miriam Fried, Donald Weilerstein (former 1st violinist of the Cleveland Quartet), and Roger Tapping (former violist of the Takacs String Quartet). Paul has also performed recitals and concertos at various music festivals and has played for some of the utmost violists of our time. Such violists include Roberto Diaz (head of the Curtis Institute of Music), Michael Tree ( violist of the famed Gaurneri String Quartet), Patricia McCarty (recording artist and soloist). Paul is now studying with internationally acclaimed viola soloist-- Kim Kashkashian at the New England Conservatory and is a winner of the New England Conservatory's Honors Ensemble Competition. |
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| Michael Katz - Born in
Tel Aviv, 1987. Begun his Cello studies at the age of 7
at the Israel Music Conservatory in Tel Aviv, Among his
teachers were Prof. Michael Khomitzer (till his death),
Mr. Zvi Plesser and with Mr. Hillel Zori. Since 2005 he
studies in the New England Conservatory with Mr. Laurence
Lesser. Michael is a member of the Young Musicians Group of the "Jerusalem Music Center " and he have preformed around Israel in various concerts and recordings with different ensembles. Participated in various Master Classes with: Steven Isserlis, Janos Starker, Wolfgang Botcher, Franz Helmerson, Philippe Muller, Bernhard Greenhouse, and others. Participated in various music festivals in Canada , USA , Monaco , France , Belgium, Czech Republic and Israel. Participated in the Perlman Music Program in 1999,2000,2006 and 2007. Michael graduated from the "Thelma Yellin" high school for music and arts where he was the principal cellist of the school's symphonic orchestra . Since 1999, he is a recipient of the "American - Israel Cultural Foundation" scholarships. In May 2000, received the first prize of the Israel Music Conservatory scholarship competition. In May 2005 he received the first prize at the Turjeman Competition. In March 2006 was a semifinalist at the Stulberg International String Competition. In January 2005 he performed with the orchestra of Conservatoire Superieur de Paris -CNR, conducted by David Stern. In March he performed with the "Thelma Yellin" Symphony Orchestra. In July he performed in two concert at the Kfar Bloom chamber music festival. Worked and rehearsed with many composers such as Zvi Avni, Jan Radzinski, Sergio Natra, Josef Dorfman, Josef Tal and Ofer Ben-Amots. |
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| As the flute and guitar ensemble Duo Stromeaux, Ryu Cipris and Max Zuckerman have been performing together since they met as first year undergraduates at the Peabody Institute in Baltimore. Together they have performed recitals in San Francisco, Seattle, Washington D.C., Baltimore, and New York City, and are currently commissioning a new work from Spanish composer Elisenda Fábregas to be premiered in 2009. The duo focuses on contemporary repertoire, and especially enjoys performing works by current composers. Ryu and Max are now both scholarship students in the Graduate Performance Diploma program at Peabody, where they are coached by Julian Gray and receive additional instruction from Manuel Barrueco and Marina Piccinini. | |||||||||
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| Ryu Cipris began his
musical studies at age seven and has performed as
principal flute under conductors Marin Alsop, James
DePreist, Michael Gilbert, and Gustav Meier. Ryu won
first prizes in the 2007 Yamaha Young Performing Artists
national auditions, the Baltimore Music Club Winds
Competition, and the Flute Society of Washington
Collegiate Soloist Competition, and was a finalist in the
Caprio Young Artist and the Kathryn E. MacPhail concerto
competitions. He has performed several seasons with the
Washington Summer Opera Theater, and has participated in
master classes with Julius Baker, William Bennett, Wissam
Boustany, Gaspar Hoyos, Timothy Hutchins, Jaime Martín,
Marina Piccinini, Elizabeth Rowe, and Stephen Preston,
among others. Ryu was a scholar of the New Jersey Governor’s School for the Arts, and graduated from the Preparatory Division of the Manhattan School of Music. He received a Bachelor of Music degree from the Peabody Institute in Baltimore, and was awarded the Britton Johnson Memorial Prize for flute performance. Ryu is currently furthering his studies with international soloist Marina Piccinini in the Graduate Performance Diploma program at Peabody, where he continues to frequently premier new works by both composition students and faculty. |
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| Max Zuckerman has been
studying guitar since he was six years old. He was an
invited performer and master class instructor at the VI
Encuentro Internacionál de Guitárra de Panamá in
Panama City in 2007, and has won first prizes in the
Portland Guitar Festival Solo Competition, the
Menuhin-Dowling Young Musicians Competition, and the
American String Teachers’ Association national
competition, where he was the first classical guitarist
to ever win the Grand Prize for all string instruments in
the junior division. Max has performed in master classes
for Lily Afshar, Manuel Barrueco, Roland Dyens, Julian
Gray, John Holmquist, William Kanengiser, Ron Pearl,
David Tanenbaum, Scott Tennant, and Benjamin Verdery, and
has twice been featured on "From the Top," a
PBS radio program featuring talented young musicians. A native of San Francisco, Max studied for twelve years with Scott Cmiel of the Preparatory Division of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. He recently received a Bachelor of Music from the Peabody Institute in Baltimore, where he is currently continuing post-graduate studies with Manuel Barrueco. This year he has been invited to perform in various concerts in California and will premier a new work commissioned by the Baltimore Classical Guitar Society. |
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