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2010 Faculty
The faculty of the Eastern Music Festival is drawn from this country’s leading orchestras and music schools. Selection is based on performing and teaching credentials, and proven dedication to the education of young musicians. Besides sharing their musical and technical knowledge, Festival faculty provide an example of the highest standards of performance and musicianship. GERARD SCHWARZ, Music Director
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VIOLIN I VIOLIN II VIOLA CELLO DOUBLE BASS ‡ Chair is sponsored for the 2010 season in memory of Dr. A. J. Tannenbaum and Leah Lousie Tannenbaum by Dr. and Mrs. Sigmund Tannenbaum
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FLUTE PICCOLO OBOE ENGLISH HORN CLARINET BASS CLARINET BASSOON CONTRABASSOON HORN TRUMPET BASS TROMBONE TUBA TIMPANI PERCUSSION HARP PIANO RESIDENT CONDUCTOR ^ 2010 Leave of Absence |
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** before faculty name in bios below denotes EMF alumni
MUSIC DIRECTOR
Renowned American conductor GERARD SCHWARZ is internationally recognized for his deeply moving performances, innovative programming, and extensive recording history. Schwarz, born to Viennese parents, has been music director of the Seattle Symphony since 1985, where his phenomenal artistic success with the orchestra led to the building of the acoustically superb Benaroya Hall and an increase in the subscription audience from 5,000 to 35,000. His passion and drive enabled an increase in classical subscription weeks from 12 to 27; created over 125 acclaimed recordings, including 13 Grammy nominations and two Emmy Awards; and achieved overwhelming strides in education, including five new series and the successful Soundbridge Discovery Center. He also currently serves as music director of the Eastern Music Festival in North Carolina, where he has expanded the Festival's audiences to the largest in its history and enhanced education and programming to include a composer in residence, three new concert series, and increased collaboration with the Appalachian Summer Festival, where he is artistic partner for symphonic music programming.
Previously, he served as the music director of New York’s Mostly Mozart Festival, where he developed the orchestra’s international touring, maintained a nine-year residency in Japan, created sold-out houses, considerably expanded its Mozart repertoire, and through its televised Live from Lincoln Center appearances earned several Emmy nominations. His tenure as music director of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra initiated the long-standing partnership between the orchestra and Classic FM; drove the RLPO Live label forward and initiated a new partnership with Avie records; created the enormously popular Sunday matinee Musically Speaking concert series, which remains the orchestra’s fastest growing audience to this day; led highly acclaimed tours to Spain and Prague; and brought the orchestra to national television in BBC Proms broadcasts. As music director of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and New York Chamber Symphony, he expanded concert series and audiences, made award-winning recordings, and championed new works. In addition, he served as artistic advisor to the Tokyo Philharmonic.
Schwarz’s considerable discography of some 265 releases showcases his collaborations with some of the world’s greatest orchestras, including The Philadelphia Orchestra, The Czech Philharmonic, The London Symphony, Berlin Radio Symphony, Orchestra National de France, Tokyo Philharmonic, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, New York Chamber Symphony, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Seattle Symphony, among others. The focus of his distinguished recording career remains with the 19th century German/Austrian repertoire (complete series of Mahler symphonies and Strauss tone poems) and contemporary American composers (complete symphonies of William Schumann and Howard Hanson and works by Diamond, Foote, Piston, and Sheng, for example). Most recent and upcoming releases include the final symphonies of his acclaimed cycles of Shostakovich and Mahler symphonies, Deems Taylor Peter Ibbetson, and Samuel Jones Symphony No 3.
He continues to conduct the major orchestras of the world and maintains his absolute dedication to music education at every level, including his internationally renowned series of Musically Speaking CDs.
Since his operatic debut in 1982 with the Washington Opera, he has appeared with the San Francisco Opera, Seattle Opera, Kirov Opera, Juilliard Opera, and Mostly Mozart Festival. He has conducted the operas of Wagner, Janacek, Strauss, Mozart, Bizet, Weber, Debussy, Bartok, Stravinsky, and Beethoven, including the U.S. premiere of Strauss’ version of Indomeneo at the Mostly Mozart Festival, Wagner’s Das Liebesverbot, Strauss’ version of The Ruins of Athens, and Wagner’s version of Gluck’s Iphigenia in Aulis at the Waterloo Festival.
Schwarz has served on the National Council of the Arts. He has received two Emmy Awards, 13 Grammy nominations, six ASCAP Awards, and numerous Stereo Review and Ovation Awards. In addition, he holds the Ditson Conductor’s Award from Columbia University, was the first American named Conductor of the Year by Musical America, and has received numerous honorary doctorates, including one from his alma mater, The Juilliard School. In 2002, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers honored Schwarz with its Concert Music Award, and, in 2003, the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences gave Schwarz its first “IMPACT” lifetime achievement award. In 2009 he was honored with the First Citizen of Seattle Award and the key to the City of Greensboro.
FIRST VIOLIN
** EMF alumnus (two summers) and concertmaster JEFFREY MULTER returns to Greensboro and the Eastern Music Festival for his twenty-fifth season in 2010. Mr. Multer is also first violinist of New York City’s critically acclaimed Elements Quartet, whose New York series was named “best classical music event of 2003” by the Washington Post. He has appeared as soloist and recitalist in concert halls throughout the United States, Europe, Asia and South America, including: the Lincoln Center in New York, the Mozarteum in Salzburg, the Rudolphinium in Prague and the Kennedy Center and National Gallery in Washington, DC. As a chamber musician, he frequently appears with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and has served as first violinist of the Oxford String Quartet and as a member of the Kennedy Center Theater Chamber Players. He has been a core member of the Great Lakes Chamber Festival in Detroit, Michigan. Other concertmaster appointments include the Colorado Symphony, the Breckenridge Music Institute in Colorado, the Washington Concert Opera and the Echternacht Festival in Luxembourg. Recently, the Detroit Free Press praised him for his “extraordinary precision and poise,” and the Cleveland Plain Dealer called him “a prodigious and aristocratic violinist,” while the Washington Post called his recent solo recital at the National Gallery “a dazzling performance.” Mr. Multer currently teaches at The Juilliard School in the pre-college division and is concertmaster of The Florida Orchestra in Tampa.
Since making her Carnegie Hall solo debut with the New York Youth Symphony, American violinist JESSICA GUIDERI has performed as soloist with such orchestras as the Queens Symphony, the Westchester Symphony, and the Symphony Orchestra of Campinas in Brazil. Ms. Guideri has given solo recitals in Taiwan, Italy, and the United States, including appearances at Steinway Hall, Lefrak Hall, and Lincoln Center. As the first violinist of the Fry Street Quartet, Ms. Guideri toured nationally and internationally, including performances in the Balkans (sponsored by Carnegie Hall and the U.S. Department of State), Prague, and France. As a chamber musician, she performed in Alice Tully Hall, The Banff Music Center, Merkin Hall, and Weill Hall and has participated in the Taos, Norfolk, Sarasota, Caramoor, and Aspen Music festivals. Ms. Guideri has served as concertmaster for the Juilliard Orchestra, the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival Orchestra in Germany, and the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra. She also was a member of the Long Island Philharmonic and the Prometheus Chamber Orchestra. Ms. Guideri spent two years as the associate principal of the second violins in the Phoenix Symphony and currently lives in San Diego, where she holds the same position in Orange County’s Pacific Symphony. She also performs regularly with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Ms. Guideri received both the bachelor’s and master’s degrees in violin performance from The Juilliard School, where her teachers have included Dorothy Delay, Masao Kawasaki, and Joel Smirnoff. This is her third year at EMF.
JOHN FADIAL celebrates his eleventh season as assistant concertmaster at the Eastern Music Festival. He serves as concertmaster of the Greensboro Symphony Orchestra, a post he has held for the last thirteen seasons. Recent concert highlights include: performances of the Brahms Violin Concerto with the Greensboro Symphony Orchestra; the French premiere, with cellist Beth Vanderborgh, of William Bolcom’s Suite for Violin and Cello; and chamber music performances with Dmitry Sitkovetsky, Konstantin Lifschitz, Lynn Harrell, Bella Davidovich, and Jon Nakamatsu. Fadial’s recording of the chamber music of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor for the Centaur label was deemed “not to be missed” by American Record Guide, and his recording on the disc Where Does Love Go?: Chamber Music of Mark Engebretson for the Innova label was a Grammy™ semi-finalist for best chamber music recording for 2007. Spring 2010 saw the release in Europe of the Complete Sextets of Johannes Brahms on CD performed with Fadial as member of the Stanislas Sextet, produced by Ville de Nancy and Radio France. Currently, he is completing a recording of the sonatas for violin and piano of Johannes Brahms, also for Centaur, which is scheduled for release in fall of 2011. Fadial holds a D.M.A. from the University of Maryland, the M.M. from the Eastman School and the B.M. from the UNC School of the Arts. His teachers have included Elaine Richey, Charles Castleman, Zoltan Szekely, and Arnold Steinhardt. He is associate professor of violin and graduate coordinator for the music department at the University of Wyoming.
A native of Chicago, SHAWN WEIL is in his eighth season on faculty at EMF. He was appointed to the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra violin section in April 2005. Mr. Weil made his solo debut with the SLSO in the 2007-08 season under the direction of music director David Robertson. Prior to his appointment, he played as a contracted member of the orchestra for two seasons. Mr. Weil is a violinist with the Sun Valley Summer Symphony and, for four seasons, was a member of the New World Symphony. During his tenure at the New World Symphony, Mr. Weil was invited to represent the institution in chamber music performances domestically in Manhattan and the Hamptons and internationally in Prague, Rome, and Monte Carlo. An active educator and mentor, he is actively involved in the Community Partnerships program with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra performing and coaching throughout the Saint Louis community. Shawn Weil received his Bachelor of Music degree and the performer’s diploma from Indiana University.
** ARIADNA BAZARNIK-ILIKA, violinist, was born in Wroclaw, Poland, where she studied violin from age seven at the Karol Szymanowski Music School, studying under Bozena Wikar and Andrzej Woznica. At age 18, she entered the prestigious Krakow Music Academy to study with Adriadna Lwowicz and obtained her M.M. in 1998. Ms. Bazarnik-Ilika first came to the United States as a full-scholarship student at the Eastern Music Festival for her summers beginning at age 18 and became a full member of the faculty here in 1997. She has since held positions on modern violin with the Delaware Symphony, Opera Delaware, and the Concerto Soloists of Philadelphia and on Baroque violin with Philomel, Brandywine Baroque, and the Classical Symphony of Philadelphia. Since moving to North Carolina in 2001, she has substituted regularly with the North Carolina Symphony and freelanced extensively around the Triangle metropolitan area. She lives in Garner, North Carolina, with her husband and two children.
**ANNE DONALDSON, violin, received her Bachelor of Music degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music and her master's degree from Northwestern University, where she was the teaching assistant of Blair Milton. From 2004-2006 she was a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, serving as associate concertmaster during the 2005-2006 season. She has performed at such music festivals as Tanglewood Music Center, Brevard Music Center, Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, Eastern Music Festival, and Peninsula Music Festival. In Chicago Ms. Donaldson is active in contemporary music and performs frequently with the Dal Niente New Music Ensemble as soloist and chamber musician. She has also been a performer on the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's Music NOW series. Ms. Donaldson is a member of the Alabama Symphony Orchestra and co-founder of STEP, the Suzuki Talent Education Program of Birmingham. She is also a substitute member of the Grant Park Symphony in Chicago. Her teachers have included David Updegraff, J. Patrick Rafferty and Blair Milton. This is Ms. Donaldson’s third season at EMF.
Violinist JOAN GRIFFING is the concertmaster of the Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival Orchestra and the Shenandoah Symphony Orchestra and is a member of the Virginia Symphony. She earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music from Indiana University, where she studied with Tadeusz Wronski, and her D.M.A. in violin performance from Ohio State University. She received chamber music coaching from such artists as Joseph Gingold, Janos Starker, James Buswell, the Fine Arts String Quartet, and the Tokyo String Quartet. In the spring of 1999, she premiered a violin concerto written for her by Terry Vosbein, composer-in-residence at Washington and Lee University. She has performed as concertmaster with the AIMS Festival Orchestra in Austria and Italy as well as with the Coronado, Grand Teton, Norfolk, and Spoleto festivals in this country. She is a founding member of Tal Consort, a chamber music group based in the Shenandoah Valley. Dr. Griffing spent the 2003-04 year in Atlanta studying Baroque violin and performing with the Baroque ensemble Ritornello. Her recent international appearances include a three-week tour of Taiwan in 2004 with the Atlanta Pops Orchestra, a series of guest recitals and master classes in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, in May of 2006, a presentation at the International Viola Congress in Adelaide, Australia, in June of 2007, and a series of chamber music recitals and master classes in the northeastern part of Brazil in August of 2007. She is a founding member and tours regularly with the chamber music group Musica Harmonia, formed to promote peace and cultural understanding through musical collaboration. Most recently, they gave a community engagement presentation at the National College Music Society Conference in Portland, OR, in October of 2009. She holds the position of professor of music at Eastern Mennonite University. Dr. Griffing returns to EMF for her 20th season.
Originally from Whitestone, New York, YUKA KADOTA is a graduate of Indiana University with a B.M. and a performer diploma in violin performance. Ms. Kadota studied with professors Henryk Kowalski and Franco Gulli while at Indiana. After graduating from Indiana, she was invited as a guest student to study at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm, Sweden, for two years. In addition to performing as a soloist with several orchestras in the New York area, Ms. Kadota has given performances at The White House, the Vatican, and the U.N. General Assembly. She performed six seasons as associate concertmaster of the Fort Wayne Philharmonic and has been a featured soloist with that orchestra performing Prokofiev's Second Violin Concerto, Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante, and both Vivaldi and Piazzolla's Four Seasons. During that time, she was also the second violinist of the Freimann Quartet, the quartet in residence of the Fort Wayne Philharmonic. For the past three years, Ms. Kadota has been a regular substitute violinist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, performing and touring with them in the U.S. and abroad. She returns to EMF for her seventh season.
SO YUN KIM began studying the violin at the age of four with her father, also a violinist. She attended Eastman School of Music, studying with Charles Castleman and Camilla Wicks, where she received her Bachelor’s degree in performance and a Performer’s Certificate. So Yun was a member of the Nightingale String quartet, a graduate string quartet in residence at the University of Nevada, Reno where she received her Master’s degree in performance in the studio of Phillip Ruder. Upon graduation, she began working for the Naples Philharmonic and, the next season, joined the North Carolina Symphony where she is currently part of the first violin section. So Yun has attended numerous music festivals including the Boston University Tanglewood Institute, Encore Summer festival, New York String Seminar, Heidleberg Opera festival, Sarasota Chamber Music Festival and Shleswig-Holstein Music Festival. Ms. Kim is currently on leave from Eastern Music Festival.
** COURTNEY LEBAUER is a Greensboro native and EMF alumna who began studying the violin at the age of six. While still in high school, she was asked to join the Greensboro Symphony Orchestra, becoming the youngest musician ever to play in the orchestra. Dr. LeBauer earned her B.M. summa cum laude at Rice University, studying with Kathleen Winker. She earned her M.M. with highest honors at the University of Michigan while studying with Paul Kantor and her D.M.A. at The Cleveland Institute of Music with William Preucil. As a Fulbright Scholar, she studied with Ida Bieler in Düsseldorf, Germany. After completing a year as visiting assistant professor of violin and chamber music at Arizona State University, she returned to Germany in 2004, where she was invited to join the faculty of Düsseldorf’s Städtische Clara-Schumann Musikschule. In addition to teaching, Dr. LeBauer performs as chamber musician, recitalist, and with orchestras in Düsseldorf, Essen, and Cologne. Since 2007, with the support of and representing the Zentralrat der Juden in Deutschland, she has performed throughout Germany as a member of the Yiddish-cabaret style Borofsky Trio, playing programs presenting a mix of Broadway, Hebrew liturgical, Yiddish theater, and Klezmer music. This is her tenth year with EMF.
JEREMY PRESTON has performed in Canada and Brazil as well as major concert halls in the United States. He has performed at major music festivals including Tanglewood, Blossom and Spoleto. Trained at New England Conservatory's Walnut Hill School, Rice University and the Cleveland Institute of Music, his distinguished teachers include Marylou Speaker Churchill, Lynn Chang, Kathleen Winkler, Sally Thomas, and William Preucil. His chamber music coaches include Norman Fisher, Pamela and Claude Frank, and members of the Cleveland and Juilliard quartets. Mr. Preston has performed with the Spoleto Festival Orchestra, the Breckenridge Festival Orchestra, Akron Symphony Orchestra, and Canton Symphony Orchestra, and he was a concertmaster of the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra as well as the Shepherd School Orchestra at Rice University. Mr. Preston has recently joined the second violin section of the North Carolina Symphony, and he returns to EMF for his fifth season.
Violinist JENNIFER RICKARD is currently a substitute with the National Symphony Orchestra, the Washington National Opera Orchestra, and the Richmond Symphony. She is a member of the National Gallery Orchestra and holds a title position in the National Philharmonic Orchestra. In addition, she coaches violin sectionals and the string quartet program for the Northern Virginia Youth Symphony Association and maintains a private teaching studio in her home. Prior to moving to the Washington area, Ms. Rickard played in the New Orleans and Phoenix symphonies, spending the 1991-92 season in New Orleans as associate and acting concertmaster. She received her bachelor’s degree from Barnard College in New York and her master’s degree from the Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati. Ms. Rickard has been on the faculty of Eastern Music Festival since 1990.
A native of Germany, ULI SPETH completed his undergraduate studies at the Mozarteum in Salzburg/Austria where he was a student of Harald Herzl of the Pro Arte Quartet Salzburg. He participated in numerous performance classes given by Yfrah Neaman, Thomas Brandis, Jaap Schroeder, and Nicolaus Harnoncourt, among others. After migrating to the U.S., he earned his Master of Music degree from the Mannes College of Music. He was a student of Felix Galimir from whom he received both violin and string quartet training. He is first violinist of the Diller-Quaile String Quartet in residence at the Diller-Quaile School of Music in New York. This group has played concerts throughout the U.S., has commissioned and premiered new pieces for string quartet, and performed live on Vermont Public Radio and KMFA of Texas. It maintains a vital presence in the New York community by offering a series of recitals and giving outreach concerts for children in public schools in the South Bronx, Harlem, and the Lower East Side. As a chamber musician, Mr. Speth has also enjoyed the opportunity of performing alongside well-known soloists and members of the Hagen, Pro Arte, Cavaliere, and Ying quartets. His recent solo performances of various concerti by Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and Mendelssohn and recitals with pianist Mary Robbins have earned him praise by the critics for his “brilliant sound and facile fingers” (Austin American Statesman) and “gorgeous tone and stunning technique” (Salzburger Nachrichten). He serves as concertmaster of the Binghamton Philharmonic Orchestra. This is Mr. Speth’s fifth season on EMF’s faculty.
DAVID YARBROUGH earned his D.M.A. from the Peabody Institute of Music, where he studied with Herbert Greenberg. He received a fellowship for his M.M. from the State University of New York at Stony Brook, where he studied with Lasar Gozman. He holds a Bachelor of Music from the New School of Music in Philadelphia, where he studied with Jasha Brodsky and Linda Sharon Cerone. Dr. Yarbrough has performed with the Atlanta, Baltimore, Delaware symphony orchestras. He is an active recitalist performing solo recitals, chamber music recitals, and lecture-recitals. He is a founding member of the Amistad String Quartet and the ensemble Misto Di Voci. His participation in international festivals includes Gateways Festival, Spoleto Festival, the American Institute of Musical Studies, and the Waterloo Festival. Presently, Dr. Yarbrough is the director of orchestras at Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Greenbelt, MD. Prior to this engagement, he was the assistant director of the Baltimore Talent Education Center, a preparatory string instrument program for the Baltimore City Public School System. His college teaching positions have included the Peabody Institute of Music, Towson University, and Morgan State University. This is Dr. Yarbrough’s 19th season teaching at EMF.
SECOND VIOLIN
RANDALL WEISS, principal second violin of the Eastern Festival Orchestra, made his solo debut as a winner of the Victoria, BC concerto competition. He studied with Tadeusz Wronski at Indiana University, received his M.M. from the University of Victoria under Paul Kling, and engaged in further study at both the Peabody and Oberlin conservatories, most notably with Sylvia Rosenberg and William Berman. Mr. Weiss spent 17 years as assistant concertmaster of the San José Symphony, regularly substituting as concertmaster. He is currently assistant concertmaster of Symphony Silicon Valley and has been associate concertmaster of the Music in the Mountains Festival, as well as concertmaster of the Santa Cruz Symphony, the Modesto Symphony, and the AIMS Orchestra in Graz, Austria. He has performed with the San Francisco Opera Orchestra, the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra, and the New Century Chamber Orchestra. As a member of the Louisville Orchestra, Mr. Weiss participated in the First Edition recordings under the direction of Jorge Mester. Mr. Weiss is the founder of Music in the Mishkan, a chamber music series in San Francisco, and he is a founding member of The Bridge Players, a chamber ensemble based in San Francisco. The Bridge Players has released its firs CD, Tales from Tarezin, which is a featured item at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s bookstore. Mr. Weiss joined the EMF faculty in 1989.
PENNY THOMPSON KRUSE serves as an associate professor of violin at Bowling Green State University and previously taught for eight years at William Jewell College in Missouri. Dr. Kruse was trained at Northwestern and Yale Universities and earned the D.M.A. in violin performance from the Conservatory of Music, University of Missouri at Kansas City. For five seasons, she was a member of the Kansas City Symphony serving as associate concertmaster during the 1989-90 season. Dr. Kruse has performed extensively in solo and chamber recitals in addition to solo appearances with numerous orchestras in the U.S. As first violinist of the Escher Quartet, she was an artist-in-residence at Music at Penn’s Woods at Pennsylvania State University. Her recording of Chinese Folk Dance Suite by Chen Yi with the BGSU Philharmonia is available through Albany Records. Internationally, Dr. Kruse has performed and given master classes in South Africa, Australia, Vietnam, Taiwan, Germany, and Romania. She has presented at conferences of the College Music Society, American String Teachers Association, and International Viola Society. Dr. Kruse has co-authored articles with husband Steven Kruse in the American String Teacher, Journal of the American Viola Society, and Strad. Prior to joining EMF in 1993, she performed in the Grand Teton, Colorado, Peninsula, and Sunflower music festivals. Currently she serves as assistant principal second violin at the Eastern Music Festival.
CATHERINE CARY has been an EMF faculty member since 1999 and is a member of the Richmond Symphony Orchestra and the Richmond Chamber Players. Ms. Cary joined the Richmond Symphony, under the direction of George Manahan, in 1994 and has performed as acting principal second violin and acting concertmaster. Ms. Cary began her career freelancing in the Pennsylvania and New Jersey area, performing in the Harrisburg Symphony, the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic and the Opera Company of Philadelphia, among others. For six summers, Ms. Cary was a violinist in the Glimmerglass Opera Orchestra in Cooperstown, New York. She has been an instructor of violin at St. Catherine’s School (Richmond), the Hartwick College Music Festival and Institute (Oneonta, NY) and Temple University’s Music Prep Community Music Program. Currently she instructs private violin lessons at her home studio in Richmond Virginia. Ms. Cary’s teachers have included Julian Meyer at the Jenkintown Music School (now the Settlement Music School), Wolfgang Richter, William dePasquale (first assistant concertmaster of the Philadelphia Orchestra), and Philadelphia Orchestra violinist Yumi Ninomiya Scott at Temple University.
NANCY CHANG, originally from Taiwan, received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in violin performance from the Manhattan School of Music. As a chamber musician, she has performed with many ensembles in Los Angeles, New York, and Miami. Ms. Chang performed as a soloist with the Burbank Chamber Orchestra, West Los Angeles Symphony, and the California State at Los Angeles University Orchestra. Ms. Chang was a member of the New World Symphony from 2003-2006 in Miami, Florida. She joined The Florida Orchestra in 2006 and was appointed associate concertmaster in 2007. A current resident of Saint Petersburg, Florida, this is Ms. Chang’s fifth season at the Eastern Music Festival.
IOANA GALU is a graduate of the Gheorghe Dima Music Academy of Cluj, Romania. Before coming to the U.S., she served on the faculty of the Gheorghe Dima Music Academy as an assistant professor of violin and chamber music. She earned a master’s degree in violin performance from Bowling Green State University, and currently she is enrolled in a doctoral program at the College Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati. Her additional studies include a scholarship at the Academie National de Villecroze in 2000 in France. Since September 2004, she has been appointed to the faculty of the Heidelberg Music College in Tiffin, Ohio, and became the director of the preparatory department in September 2005. Her awards include the second prize in the Mozart International Competition for Piano Trios (Romania) and the first prize and special prize in the SOROS Foundation in the George Enescu Violin National Competition (Romania). She also won the second prize in the Starling Violin Competition (University of Cincinnati), and she was the winner of the University of Cincinnati Concerto Competition in February 2004. She has performed recitals in Romania, Budapest, Düsseldorf, Lyon, and Villecroze (France), Bowling Green, Toledo, Cincinnati, and New York City. She appeared as a soloist with several philharmonic orchestras in Romania, with CCM Orchestra in 2004, and with Perrysburg Symphony in March 2005. Currently, Ms. Galu is on leave from teaching at Eastern Music Festival in North Carolina after six seasons and serves on the faculty for the Allegheny Music Festival in Pennsylvania.
Violinist JENNY GRÉGIORE has been the concertmaster of the Mobile Symphony Orchestra since August 2001 and in 2006 was offered the same position with the Meridian and the Gulf Coast symphonies. Born in Québec, Canada, she studied at the Québec Music Conservatoire with Jean Angers and Liliane Garnier-Le Sage, where she earned both undergraduate and graduate degrees in violin performance and a minor in chamber music. Upon leaving Québec, Mrs. Grégoire moved to Chicago to attend Northwestern University, where she obtained a master’s degree in violin performance and pedagogy with Dr. Myron Kartman. She was also a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and worked with conductors Cliff Colnot, Mistlav Rostropovitch, Pierre Boulez, and Daniel Barenboim. In September 2000, Mrs. Grégoire won a fellowship position with the New World Symphony under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas. She currently lives in Tuscaloosa, AL, where she is concertmaster of the Tuscaloosa Symphony. In addition to having a full private studio, she is an adjunct violin instructor at the University of Alabama and returns to EMF for her seventh year. In September 2010, she will be featured as a soloist with the Mobile Symphony.
MAE LIN, violinist, joined the Seattle Symphony in 2008 as a member of the second violin section. She previously served as associate concertmaster of the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra and artist in residence at the University of Evansville. Ms. Lin received a Bachelor of Music and a Master of Music in performance from The Juilliard School where she studied with Naoko Tanaka. At Juilliard, she participated as concertmaster of the Juilliard Symphony and Orchestra. She has attended the Aspen Music Festival, where she was a recipient of the Orchestral and Mentor Fellowship; the New York String Orchestra Seminar; the Spoleto, Italy, Music Festival; and the Verbier Music Festival in Switzerland. When she is not with the symphony, she enjoys playing chamber music and teaching private students. This is Ms. Lin's first season at EMF.
DANIEL SKIDMORE is currently the concertmaster of the Salisbury Symphony and the associate concertmaster of the Winston-Salem Symphony. He holds a D.M.A. in violin performance from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and is an adjunct violin and viola professor at Elon University and Catawba College. Mr. Skidmore also arranges music for string quartet, other chamber ensembles, and orchestra. Eastern Music Festival welcomes him back for his ninth season.
**DIANA TSALIOVICH, an EMF alumna, began violin lessons in Russia when she was four years old. She continued her musical education upon immigrating to the United States and eventually received a B.M. from Mannes College of Music and an M.M. from Yale University. She has performed chamber music with the Emerson Quartet, studied with the Tokyo Quartet, and participated in master classes of Joseph Gingold and Ruggiero Ricci. She has performed concerti, recitals, and chamber music, including live radio broadcasts, in the United States, Europe, and Israel. Ms. Tsaliovich also has considerable experience as an orchestral player, performing as the concertmaster of the Spoleto Festival Orchestra and as the leader of an ensemble conducted by Pierre Boulez at the Aix-en-Provence Music Festival. After receiving a Fulbright Grant to study at the Sibelius Academy in Finland, she remained in Finland for 10 years while playing in the Finnish National Opera orchestra. In 2008 Ms. Tsaliovich became a member of the Jerusalem Symphony, her present occupation. She is enthusiastic about passing on her love of music to her students, completing long-term Suzuki method training, and teaching young musicians throughout her own musical career. This is her seventh season on EMF’s faculty.
VIOLA
DANIEL REINKER has been a member of the EMF viola faculty since 1987. He joined the Nashville Symphony as principal violist after a number of seasons as associate principal with the San Antonio Symphony. In Nashville, he also serves as a member of the viola faculty at the Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt University. While living in San Antonio, Mr. Reinker taught at the University of Texas at San Antonio and was a founding member of the chamber ensemble Musicopia. He has performed as principal violist with the Ohio Chamber Orchestra. Mr. Reinker received his education at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory, the Yale School of Music, and the Cleveland Institute of Music. He is serving again as principal violist for EMF.
Violist DANIELLE FARINA enjoys a varied career as a soloist, chamber musician, orchestral musician, teacher, and recording artist. As a soloist, Ms. Farina has recorded Andy Tierstein’s Viola Concerto with the Kiev Philharmonic, Jon Bauman’s Viola Concerto with the Moravian Philharmonic, and premiered Peter Schickele’s Viola Concerto with the Pasadena Symphony. She was a member of the Lark Quartet, touring extensively in North America, Europe, and Scandinavia performing at some of the most prestigious venues and festivals including Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Library of Congress, Smithsonian Institution, Schleswig Holstein Festival, and the International Istanbul Music Festival. While with the Lark, Ms. Farina recorded Aaron Kernis’ string quartets, music of Amy Beach, and music of Giovanni Sollima. Currently a member of the Elements Quartet, she has participated in the Tibor Varga Festival in Budapest and the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival; been in residence at Utah Valley State College; and premiered “Snapshots,” a project commissioning dozens of composers from Regina Carter to Angelo Badalamenti to John Corigliano and many more. She performs with a number of ensembles in the New York area, among them the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, the Orchestra of St. Lukes, Concertante and Music from Copland House with whom she recorded music of John Musto. As an orchestral musician, Ms. Farina has served as principal violist of the Brooklyn Philharmonic. An active teacher, she is now on the faculty of The Juilliard School’s Pre-College Division. A graduate of The Curtis Institute of Music, Ms. Farina has studied with Karen Tuttle, Joseph dePasquale, Stephen Werczynski,and Byrnina Socolofsky. This is her fourth season with Eastern Music Festival.
While still early in her career, violist MARA GEARMAN is already accomplished in chamber music, orchestral, and solo settings. She regularly performs with the Seattle-based mavericks, the American String Project, and Simple Measures. Upcoming concerts will include the Olympic Music Festival, Methow Music Festival, Eastern Music Festival, and a debut with the Barston String Quartet and pianist Simon Trcepski at Benaroya Hall. Ms. Gearman won principal viola (at age twenty) with the former Haddonfield Symphony and recently with the Kansas City Symphony. Previously a tenured member of the Oregon Symphony, Ms. Gearman has been appointed third chair viola with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra beginning 2009-2010. As a solo performer, Ms. Gearman has won awards at the Primrose and Tertis International Viola Competitions and performed solo compositions ranging from American Alan Shulman to Hungarian Miklos Rozca. She recently performed the Bartók Viola Concerto with the New Symphony (Bulgaria), and is featured in Harold in Italy this fall with the Cascade Symphony. A graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, her primary teachers included Roberto Diaz, Pinchas Zukerman, and Karen Tuttle. Ms. Gearman is a recent addition to the Cornish College of the Arts, Seattle, and plays with EMF for the first time this summer.
SARAH COTE has been on the faculties of Belmont University in Nashville and Middle Tennessee State University since 2003. Currently she performs with the Nashville Symphony, the Nashville Chamber Orchestra, and the Alabama Symphony. She is principal viola of the Bowling Green Chamber Orchestra. She performs with the Stones River Chamber Players, the Belmont Camerata, and the Belle Meade Baroque. Ms. Cote was a member of the San Antonio Symphony for sixteen years. In San Antonio, she was a frequent chamber music performer and a teacher and was on the steering committee for the Music Advancement Program, a music education program for inner city middle school students. Ms. Cote has been on the faculty of Eastern Music Festival since 1995, spending two of those summers as acting assistant principal of the Eastern Festival Orchestra. Additionally, she has performed as a member of EMF’s chamber ensembles. She has also performed at the Garth Newell, Fontana, and Blowing Rock chamber festivals and with the Tippecanoe Chamber Music Society. Ms. Cote earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Indiana University, where she studied with Yuval Yaron and Mimi Zweig. She spent a sabbatical year at Oberlin University, where she studied with Jeffrey Irvine and Lynne Ramsay-Irvine. She has also studied with Patricia McCarty, Burton Kaplan, and Karen Tuttle. Ms. Cote studied Baroque viola/violin with Simon Standage and Marilyn MacDonald. She also has done extensive pedagogy studies with Mimi Zweig and Carol Dallinger.
JAMIE HOFMAN is a graduate of Indiana University and holds performance degrees in violin (B.M.) and viola (B.M.), as well as a performer diploma for viola. His principal teachers have been Mimi Zweig, Jerry Horner, and Atar Arad. For the past two years, Mr. Hofman has performed with the Milwaukee Symphony while on faculty at the String Academy of Wisconsin and Carroll University. Prior to moving to Milwaukee, he was a member of the Louisville Orchestra and the Louisville String Quartet, quartet-in-residence at the University of Louisville, where he was also a faculty member. Mr. Hofman has performed at festivals such as the Hirosaki Chamber Music Festival (Japan), Schlewig-Holstein Musik Festival (Germany), European Musik Festival (Stuttgart), International Festival Symphony (Jerusalem), Pacific Music Festival (Japan), Blossom Music Festival (Cleveland), and the Sarasota Music Festival (Florida). Mr. Hofman won the second prize in the Chicago Viola Society solo competition and has performed as a soloist in Milwaukee with the Milwaukee Chamber Orchestra, the Catholic Symphony Orchestra, and on the Civic Music Artist and Ensemble series. Mr. Hofman is married to horn player Kelly Hofman. This is his sixth year at EMF.
Violist STEVEN KRUSE teaches viola at the Heidelberg University (Tiffin, OH), plays in the Toledo Symphony, and performs as the principal violist of the Flint (Michigan) Symphony. He performed for six years as principal viola with the Kansas City Symphony and for four seasons as principal viola of the Kansas City Camerata, appearing as soloist with both groups. Dr. Kruse served on the faculty of the Conservatory of Music, University of Missouri-Kansas City for twelve years. He has also held teaching positions at the University of Windsor (Canada), West Virginia University, Bowling Green State University, the University of Toledo, Hillsdale College, William Jewell College, the University of Notre Dame, and Bethany College in West Virginia. Dr. Kruse earned his Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from the Manhattan School of Music, and a doctorate from Ball State University. His principal teachers have been Lillian Fuchs, Milton Thomas, Robert Slaughter,and Jerzy Kosmala. He has performed in Germany, Taiwan, Romania, Canada, and Vietnam, where he appeared as both viola soloist and conductor. He currently serves on the faculty of the Eastern Music Festival in Greensboro, North Carolina for his 18th season. Dr. Kruse has co-authored articles with his wife, Penny, in the Strad, American String Teacher, and the Journal of the American Viola Society. He is treasurer of the International Viola Society and past treasurer of the American Viola Society.
** EMF alumna DIANE PHOENIX-NEAL performs regularly as a collaborative chamber musician and as a soloist in addition to her roles as an educator and clinician. She currently teaches violin and viola at Guilford College and is assistant professor of music at Fayetteville State University. An active performer, she serves as a principal artist with the Carolina Chamber Symphony Players and is a founding member of the chamber ensemble Music Harmonia, which presented its second concert tour to Brazil in 2008. Her performances have taken her to concert stages worldwide, including China, North Africa, and more recently to music festivals in Brazil and to Australia, where she performed for the International Viola Congress in 2007. Highlights of her chamber music and solo recitals include performances at the Eastern Music Festival, Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center (New York String Orchestra), Salle Pleyel in Paris, the Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon, and the music festivals of Spoleto, Banff, and Evian (France). Her varied and vibrant solo appearances include performances with the Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival, the North Carolina Symphony, and the Picardie Orchestra of France. Dr. Phoenix-Neal holds degrees from The Juilliard School, UNC School of the Arts, and UNCG. Her teachers include violists Sally Peck, William Lincer, and Paul Doktor, violinist Joel Smirnoff, and the Juilliard, Amadeus, and Orion quartets. She served as principal violist of the Juilliard Orchestra and performed with the Juilliard Chamber Orchestra and with the New York Philharmonic. More recently, she has collaborated in chamber music concerts with Stuart Malino, members of the Orion Quartet, with cellists Lynn Harrell and Gary Hoffman, and with Dmitry Sitkovetsky in the chamber series “Dmitry Sitkovetsky and Friends.” Formerly the violist of the Joachim Quartet (France), Dr. Phoenix-Neal is the recipient of several top prizes, including awards from UNCG, the Banff International String Quartet Competition, and the French Foreign Ministry. This is her 14th season at EMF.
Violist JENNIFER PUCKETT has just completed her fifth season as principal viola with the Memphis Symphony Orchestra. Prior to her tenure with the MSO, she was a member of the New World Symphony in Miami Beach for three years. Originally trained as a violinist, she received her bachelor’s degree in violin performance from the University of Alabama. She has also attended various summer music festivals such as the Brevard Music Center, Sewanee Summer Music Center, Meadowmount School of Music, National Repertory Orchestra, Sarasota Music Festival, and the Aspen Music Festival. Aspen led her to the University of Colorado in Boulder where she received her master’s degree in viola performance. Miss Puckett held teaching assistantships for the three years that she was at the University of Colorado, including membership in the graduate string quartet her first year. Over the years she has played professionally with many orchestras including the Colorado Symphony, Alabama Symphony, Missouri Symphony Society, Tuscaloosa Symphony, Tupelo Symphony, Huntsville Symphony, and the Central City Opera. Her experience as principal viola includes the 2005 Mahlerfest in Boulder, Colorado, numerous occasions with the New World Symphony, and performances throughout her college career. In 2008 Ms. Puckett performed the Mozart Sinfonia Concertante with the Memphis Symphony. This is her sixth year with EMF.
CELLO
Cellist NEAL CARY joined the EMF faculty in 1984 and has served as principal cello of the Eastern Music Festival since 1988. He is principal cello with the Richmond Symphony and is on the adjunct faculty at the College of William and Mary and Virginia Commonwealth University. He was co-principal cello of the Kansas City Philharmonic and assistant principal cellist of the Tulsa Philharmonic, the San Antonio Symphony, and the Denver Symphony orchestras. His major teachers have included Robert Newkirk, Channing Robbins, and the world-renowned Leonard Rose. Mr. Cary holds a M.M. from The Juilliard School of Music, holding a chamber music teaching assistant position to both Claus Adam and Earl Carlyss of the Juilliard String Quartet during his final year. Notable recital performances in the Richmond area include performances from memory of the 40 Popper Études and all the Bach Suites for Solo Cello. Mr. Cary has completed a “performance edition” of the Popper Études (as yet unpublished) and is working on a companion book which explains how to practice these études. He has also completed an unpublished edition of the Bach Suites for Solo Cello, based on the three surviving copies from Bach's manuscript.
“The adventurous cellist,” writes Russell Platt of The New Yorker about ROBERT BURKHART and his 2008 Lincoln Center recital with pianist Blair McMillen. The culmination of a year-long project, the concert honored composer Elliott Carter’s 100th birthday, featuring his Cello Sonata and a newly commissioned work by Academy of Arts and Letters recipient Andrew Waggoner. Mr. Burkhart frequently collaborates with living composers as a member of the American Modern Ensemble, Ensemble Pi, and the S.E.M. Ensemble. He has recently worked with Aaron Jay Kernis, Steve Mackey, Joan Tower, Chen Yi, and Charles Wourinen and played the New York premiere of John Harbison’s Abu Ghraib for cello and piano in 2007. He has recently finished a residency at Yale with the Argento Chamber Ensemble, and been presented on WQXR’s “Young Artists Showcase” and in recital with pianist Barbara Podgurski at the Liederkranz Foundation, the New York Public Library, and in Trinity Church’s “Concerts at One.” Over 15 years of orchestral playing have included the American Symphony Orchestra, Berkshire Opera, Louisiana Philharmonic of New Orleans, SONYC, EOS Orchestra, and the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra. Mr. Burkhart is principal cellist of the New York Symphonic Ensemble, where he has been a featured soloist in several tours of Japan. Not limited to classical music, he has played jazz in New Zealand and Fiji, toured the U.S. with Savion Glover and the Mark Morris Dance Group, and is featured on the recently-released CD “Noir” with Anat Cohen, Erik Friedlander, and members of the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. Mr. Burkhart has taught at Syracuse University and the Music Conservatory of Westchester and has a private studio of young cellists in Manhattan. His recently-recorded CD, produced by Grammy-Award winner Adam Abeshouse, is now available from Centaur Records, and his solo Bach on the American Express commercial “Don’t Take Chances. Take Charge.” has garnered national attention.
Cellist DANIELLE GUIDERI holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in cello performance from The Aaron Copland School of Music in New York. After completing her studies, she joined the faculty of Colorado State University-Pueblo as cellist of the Veronika String Quartet, and toured nationally. Ms Guideri was a member of the Phoenix Symphony for three years. This is her second season at EMF.
Cellist MARTA SIMIDTCHIEVA enjoys an active career as a soloist, chamber musician, and teacher. She is currently the assistant professor of cello at Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, where she is also a member of the LeClaire Piano Trio and the Illinois Symphony Orchestra. A native of Bourgas, Bulgaria, and graduate of the Bulgarian State Academy of Music in Sofia, she earned her doctorate of music from Florida State University where she was a student of Lubomir Georgiev. Dr. Simidtchieva has also been a member of the Eppes String Quartet with whom she worked closely with composer Ellen Taafe-Zwilich and performed and premiered contemporary works for string quartet. Her interest in contemporary music has intersected with her desire to perform music by fellow Bulgarians. This research has led to a series of lectures and recitals presented at various universities throughout the United States titled “Lifting the Veil: Presenting Unknown Compositions for Cello and Piano by Bulgarian Composers to American Audiences.” In 2004, Dr. Simidtchieva performed the Vivaldi Concerto for Two Celli with vocalist Bobby McFerrin as part of the Tallahassee, Florida, Seven Days of Opening Nights festival. The recipient of numerous awards and prizes, she has been a member of, or performed with the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra, New Symphony Orchestra (Sofia, Bulgaria), Orlando Philharmonic, Columbus (Georgia) Symphony, Eastern Music Festival Orchestra, Wildwood Opera Festival, and at the New Bulgarian Music Festival. She has been at EMF since 2004.
Cellist BETH VANDERBORGH enjoys a rich and varied career as both soloist and chamber musician. In the summer of 2008 she was appointed to the faculty of the University of Wyoming. She continues to serve as principal cellist of the Greensboro Symphony Orchestra. She was formerly principal cellist of the Winston-Salem Symphony and co-principal of the Carolina Chamber Symphony. She is a founding member of the acclaimed Stanislas Sextet, based in Nancy, France, which released a recording of the Brahms Sextets this spring, and she tours regularly with Musica Harmonia. Dr. Vanderborgh has captured top prizes in the Baltimore Chamber Awards, the National Society of Arts and Letters Cello Competition, and the Ulrich Solo Competition. As United States Information Service Artistic Ambassador and member of the Fadial-Vanderborgh Duo, she has performed on four continents, including recitals at the Kennedy Center, the Phillips Collection, the Teatro Nacional in Costa Rica, and the American University in Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria. Recent solo highlights include Elgar's Cello Concerto with the Winston-Salem Symphony, Strauss' Don Quixote and Haydn's D Major Cello Concerto with the Greensboro Symphony, and solo cello in the sextet arrangement of Don Quixote at the Lazlo Varga Cello Celebration. She appears regularly on the Greensboro Symphony’s chamber series "Dmitry Sitkovetsky and Friends" collaborating with guest artists Lynn Harrell, Augustin Hadelich, Elmar Oliveira, Bela Davidovich, Konstantin Lipschitz, Garrick Ohlsson and Stuart Malina. In 2007 she performed the world premiere of Patrick Byers' Gospel Quartet with members of the NCSA faculty at Steinway Hall in NYC. She holds degrees from the Manhattan School of Music, the Eastman School of Music, and the University of Maryland, where her teachers included Evelyn Elsing, David Soyer, Steven Doane, and David Geber. Dr. Vanderborgh divides her time between Laramie, WY, and Greensboro. This is her eleventh season with EMF.
** REBECCA ZIMMERMAN began studying piano at the age of four and cello at the age of ten. Throughout her early development as a cellist, she studied with several teachers including Dajing Yang, Jim Wilson of the Shanghai Quartet, and Neal Cary, principal cellist of the Richmond Symphony. Ms. Zimmerman graduated from the Cleveland Institute of Music in 2003 with a B.M. in Cello Performance, studying under Stephen Geber, former principal cellist of The Cleveland Orchestra. In 2008, she received her master’s degree from Northwestern University under the instruction of Hans Jorgen Jensen. Ms. Zimmerman has attended Eastern Music Festival, Tanglewood, Kent-Blossom Music Festival, and the National Orchestral Institute—all of which she served as principal cellist. Ms. Zimmerman’s competition winnings include the 1999 Richmond Symphony and the 2000 Eastern Music Festival concerto competitions. Ms. Zimmerman has held positions in the Canton Symphony, the Richmond Symphony, New World Symphony, and Northwest Indiana Symphony. She is currently an active teacher and performer in Chicago where she teaches for the Merit School of Music and plays with several chamber orchestras including Camerata Chicago, New Millennium Orchestra, and Erato Chamber Orchestra. This is her seventh season with Eastern Music Festival.
DOUBLE BASS
Bassist LEONID FINKELSHTEYN enjoys an active career as a performer and teacher. Currently principal bassist of the North Carolina Symphony Orchestra and the Eastern Festival Orchestra in North Carolina, Mr. Finkelshteyn serves on the faculty of East Carolina University in Greenville, NC in addition to maintaining a large private studio. He has served on the faculty at the Eastern Music Festival since 1999. As a soloist, he has made numerous concerto appearances with both the North Carolina Symphony Orchestra and the Peninsula Music Festival Orchestra in Door County, WI, of which he was principal bassist for 15 years. Such concerto performances included works by Koussevitzky, Bottesini, Tubin and the North American premiere of Gareth Glyn’s Microncerto. Most recently Mr. Finkelshteyn gave the world premiere of Antaeus by J. Mark Scearce, a concerto for double bass and orchestra, with the North Carolina Symphony Orchestra, commissioned by the orchestra for Mr. Finkelshteyn. Other artistic pursuits include tours with the New York Philharmonic, with which he recently traveled the United States and the Far East, the Chicago Symphony and the Philharmonia Hungarica in addition to appearing with the St. Louis, Cincinnati and Dallas symphonies as guest principal bassist. He has also performed with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Milwaukee Symphony and the Baltimore Symphony. A native of Leningrad, in the former Soviet Union, Mr. Finkelshteyn joined the Symphony Orchestra of the Leningrad Philharmonic at only 19 years of age while still a student at the Leningrad Conservatory from which he earned a Master of Music degree graduating with honors. His primary teachers were Peter Weinblatt and Serge Akopov. Eventually, he became principal bassist of the Symphony Orchestra and was a prize winner of the Soviet Union Bass Competition before emigrating to the U.S. in 1990.
Double bassist ROBERT NAIRN’s experience covers contemporary, jazz, traditional orchestral, and historical performance ensembles, with a career that has spanned Europe, the U.S. and Australasia. His teachers have included Klaus Stoll, Tom Martin, and Max McBride. He has performed with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, the London Philharmonic, the English Chamber Orchestra, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the London Sinfoniett, and The Melbourne Symphony. He has acted as guest principal bassist with the Halle Orchestra, the London Mozart Players, and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and held the position of principal bass with the Australian Chamber Orchestra and the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. In the historical performance world he holds the position of principal double bass with the Handel Haydn Society in Boston, MA; he is a member of Juilliard Baroque; and has also worked with the Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique, Concerto Caledonia, Washington Bach Consort, the Aulos Ensemble, Rebel, BEMF, the English Baroque Soloists, Florilegium, and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. He has performed recitals in Europe, the U.S. and Australia. Mr. Nairn is active in commissioning new works and has premiered more than forty compositions for both solo bass and chamber music featuring the bass. In 2009 he premiered a new concerto by Barry Conyngham, and his first solo CD of music by Australian composers is due for release shortly. As a soloist, he has performed concerti with the Australian Chamber, Adelaide, and Darwin symphony orchestras (including Bottesini's Passiona Amoroso with Gary Karr). Robert Nairn is professor of double bass at Penn State University and is on the faculty of The Juilliard School in New York. He is president of the International Society of Bassists and hosted the Society’s 2009 convention at Penn State. In 2008 he was awarded a Howard Foundation Fellowship. This is his first season with EMF.
LUCIANO CARNEIRO received his D.M.A. from the University of Iowa, M.M. from Yale University and his B.M. from the New England Conservatory of Music. He also attended the Franz Liszt Academy at Budapest and Universidade do Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. His major teachers have been Diana Gannett, Gary Karr, Zoltan Tibay, Bela Wurtzler, and William Rhein. Dr. Carneiro has been principal bass of the Orquestra Estadual do Estado de São Paulo and Orquestra Sinfônica do Rio Grande do Norte and a member in the double bass sections of the Virginia Symphony and the Hartford Symphony Orchestra. He has appeared as soloist with many major orchestras in South America and in numerous performances in Brazil and the United States. He is the recipient of the 1996-97 Henry and Parker Pelzer Award for strings. Dr. Carneiro has been on the Universidade Federal da Paraiba (Brazil) since 1992 and EMF faculty since 1989.
MARC FACCI is currently principal double bassist with the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra and the Tulsa Opera Orchestra. He also was associate principal bassist with the former Tulsa Philharmonic Orchestra and has been a member of The Florida Orchestra and the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Facci received his B.S. from the State University of New York at Fredonia and M.M. from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music where he studied with Barry Green. He has also studied with Peter Rofé and Walter Botti. Mr. Facci currently is on the faculty at the University of Arkansas–Fayetteville and returns to EMF for his 22nd season.
Bassist R. MEREDITH JOHNSON was raised in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. He began playing the double bass while pursuing a bachelor’s degree in English literature at Vanderbilt University, studying with Edgar Meyer. He received his M.M. in music performance at Boston University where he studied with Todd Seeber and Edwin Barker of the Boston Symphony. Mr. Johnson has performed extensively throughout the United States and Europe as a member of festival orchestras including: Classical Winter in Jerusalem, Schleswig-Holstein, National Repertory Orchestra, Sarasota Chamber Music, and Tanglewood Music Center. He was the recipient of the Henri Cohn Memorial Award during the 2000 Tanglewood festival season and was also a member of the New World Symphony from 1999-2002. During his tenure with the New World Symphony, he was a substitute bassist with the Charleston and Atlanta symphonies. At the end of his Fellowship with the New World Symphony, he moved to Philadelphia. There he was a student of Philadelphia Orchestra principal bassist Hal Robinson, as well as nanny to Mr. Robinson’s son. In the fall of 2004, Mr. Johnson moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba to join the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra as principal bassist. He is also principal bassist with the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra and the Brandon Chamber Players, and he is a regular guest performer with the Winnipeg Chamber Music Society. This is his tenth summer at EMF.
As an active freelance musician, RICK OSTROVSKY performs regularly with some of the most respected ensembles in New York City, including the American Symphony Orchestra, the American Composers Orchestra, the Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra, and the New York City Ballet. He has toured extensively, playing in major concert halls throughout the United States, Europe, South America, and Japan. He can be heard on orchestral recordings of the American Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestra of St. Lukes. Mr. Ostrovsky was a member of the Colombus Symphony Orchestra and was the solo bass with the Soviet Émigré Orchestra, an ensemble of thirteen string players. He has also had the opportunity to perform in a variety of chamber and solo settings, including a performance of the Bottesini Gran Duo in concert with violinist Erick Friedman, and to share the recital stage with his wife, soprano Kaori Sato. Mr. Ostrovsky received both his B.M. and M.M. from The Juilliard School. This is his ninth season at EMF.
** EMF alumnus DAVID ANDERSON joined the Louisiana Philharmonic in New Orleans as principal bass in 1996. He has performed and recorded regularly with orchestras including the Louisville Orchestra and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Since 1994, he has served as principal bassist in the Britt Festival Orchestra in Oregon. He has performed extensively with ensembles including the Aspen Festival, Chautauqua Festival, Colorado Philharmonic, Colorado Music Festival, and the LaSalle Quartet and as a soloist with Richard Stoltzman, Gene Bertoncini, Nigel Kennedy, and Bobby McFerrin. A composer as well as a performer, Mr. Anderson completed a concerto for bass trombone several years ago, commissioned by his father, Edwin Anderson, former bass trombonist with the Cleveland Orchestra. His Concerto for Double Bass, Strings & Harp, commissioned by Philadelphia Orchestra principal bassist Hal Robinson, was premiered at the ISB Convention in June of 1997. Mr. Anderson has been with the Loyola University College of Music faculty since 2003 and appears with EMF for the first time this summer. RYAN KAMM, double bass, is an active teacher and performer in the New York City area. He is currently on the faculty of the Bard College Conservatory and the Diller-Quaile School of Music. As a performer, he has held positions in the Nashville Symphony, New World Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Haddonfield Symphony, and New Hampshire Symphony. Ryan holds degrees from Boston University and Indiana University, and his primary teachers include Harold Robinson, Edwin Barker, Lawrence Hurst, and Craig Brown. His festival appearances include Tanglewood Music Center, Spoleto USA, National Repertory Orchestra, Kent/Blossom Festival, and Eastern Music Festival.FLUTE
LES ROETTGES, principal flute of the Eastern Music Festival, has been principal flute of the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra since 1986. A native of Ohio, Mr. Roettges became a student of The Cleveland Orchestra’s Maurice Sharp at age 15. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the New England Conservatory and a master’s from The Juilliard School, and he studied for a year in Paris. His teachers include Paula Robison, Julius Baker, Alain Marion, and Robert Stallman. Mr. Roettges was the winner of the first annual James Papoutsakis Memorial Flute Competition. He is a regular participant in the Amelia Island (FL) Chamber Festival, the Madison (GA) Festival, and the Saint Augustine (FL) Festival and has participated in the Colorado Music Festival, the Bowdoin (Maine) Chamber Music Festival, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Institute. Before taking the position in Jacksonville, he performed as the principal flute for the Philharmonic Orchestra of Mexico City, Solisti New York, the Opera Ensemble of New York, Bel Canto Opera Company of New York, the Boston Philharmonic, and many other freelance orchestras in New York and Boston. This is his tenth season with EMF.
ANN CHOOMACK performs with the Richmond Symphony in Richmond, Virginia as third flute/piccolo. A graduate of the Eastman School of Music, she went on to complete her master’s degree at the New England Conservatory in Boston. Before arriving in Richmond, Ms. Choomack participated in numerous music festivals including Music Academy of the West, National Repertory Orchestra, and the Tanglewood Music Center. In addition to her duties with the Richmond Symphony, she also performs regularly with the Virginia Symphony and the Virginia Opera, as well as maintaining a private teaching studio in Richmond. This is Ms. Choomack’s sixth summer at EMF.
BRIAN GORDON has been associate principal flute and piccolo with the Phoenix Symphony Orchestra since 1981 and has played piccolo and flute at Eastern Music Festival since 1986. He earned his B.M. from the Eastman School of Music and M.M. from Indiana University, where he performed as principal flute with the Evansville Philharmonic. As a soloist, he has appeared with the Phoenix Symphony, the Columbus Symphony and the Shenandoah Bach Festival. As a chamber musician, he has performed at the Portland Chamber Festival in Maine, the Rossmore Music Series in California, and the Sedona Chamber Festival in Arizona. Mr. Gordon has appeared as guest piccolo player with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the St. Louis Symphony. His teachers include William Hebert, Walfrid Kujala, Marcel Moyse, Kazuo Tokito, and Lois Schaeffer.
OBOE
Principal oboist RANDALL ELLIS received his Bachelor of Music degree from the North Carolina School of the Arts and his Master of Music degree from the State University of New York at Stony Brook where he studied with Ronald Roseman. He is principal oboist of Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, the oboist in Windscape Woodwind Quintet and artist-in-residence at the Manhattan School of Music. He was principal oboist of the New York Chamber Symphony and in that capacity received two Grammy® nominations. He has performed with the New York Philharmonic, Seattle Symphony, San Diego Symphony, and The Florida Orchestra. Mr. Ellis has been a soloist with the New England Bach Festival, the International Bach Festival of Madeira, the Philharmonia Virtuosi of New York, and Chamber Music at the 92nd Street Y. He has toured extensively as a guest artist with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and has performed with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Ensemble Wien-Berlin, Orchestra at St. Luke’s, the New York Philomusica, and the orchestras of the Martha Graham, Paul Taylor, and the American Ballet Theatre dance companies. Mr. Ellis has appeared on NBC’s “Today” show, CBS’ “Sunday Morning,” and many times on PBS’ “Live from Lincoln Center.” His performances have been heard on National Public Radio, European radio, and NHK Radio and TV in Japan. Mr. Ellis has recorded for EMI/Angel, Deutsche Grammophon, Columbia, Sony, RCA, Vox, Nonesuch, CRI, Pro Arte, and Delos. Mr. Ellis has performed with Wynton Marsalis at Jazz at Lincoln Center and on Broadway in the orchestra for the musical Wicked. Mr. Ellis returns for his fifth season at EMF.
KATHERINE YOUNG was appointed principal oboe of The Florida Orchestra in March 2007. Previously, she completed a fellowship with the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, Florida, where she served as principal oboe on numerous occasions under music director Michael Tilson Thomas. She was also principal oboe during residencies at the Accademia de Santa Cecilia in Rome, Italy, and New York's Carnegie Hall. Ms. Young has served as guest principal oboe in the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and the San Diego Symphony. She has performed in the music festivals of Tanglewood, Spoleto USA, Banff, Music in the Mountains in Durango, Colorado, and with the National Repertory Orchestra. An active chamber musician, she has participated in chamber music festivals in Sarasota, Florida, and Norfolk, Connecticut, and has presented recitals in Washington, DC, Columbus, Ohio, and throughout south Florida. She is a passionate advocate for music education and maintains a small private teaching studio. Ms. Young serves on the faculty at the University of Tampa and at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in western Michigan. A native of Lancaster, Ohio, Ms. Young holds a Bachelor of Music degree and the prestigious performer's certificate from the Eastman School of Music and a Master of Music degree from Rice University’s Shepherd School. Her primary teachers include Richard Killmer, Robert Atherholt, and Donna Conaty. This is her third season at the Eastern Music Festival.
SUSAN EISCHEID currently holds the position of principal oboe with the Valdosta Symphony and serves as professor of music at Valdosta State University. She received her Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and her master of music degree from the Philadelphia University of the Arts. Dr. Eischeid played for many years with the Mexico City Philharmonic Orchestra. She has also performed with the Richmond Symphony, the West Virginia Symphony, the Jacksonville Symphony, and the Cincinnati Ballet Orchestra. Dr. Eischeid is a long-time member (from 1987) of the Eastern Festival Orchestra. Her major teachers include Robert Bloom, James Gorton, and Sara Lambert Bloom. In 2004 she was awarded the Excellence in Professional Activity Award from the College of the Arts at VSU. Dr. Eischeid was also featured as soloist in the world premiere of the second oboe concerto by Hungarian composer Frigyes Hidas in 2000 and in 2001 commercially released her first compact disc on the ACA Digital label. In 2006 she was featured as oboe soloist with the Valdosta Symphony Orchestra in a performance of the Bellini Concerto. Dr. Eischeid is also a published author, has presented lectures and recitals in dozens of cities in the United States and in Europe, and has received multiple grants. Most recently, in 2005 and 2006, she was featured in performances in Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, and Poland. In March of 2010, as part of the Old First Concerts Artist’s Series in San Francisco, CA, she premiered a new work for oboe, piano, and men’s voices by noted German composer Stefan Heucke.
KAREN BIRCH BLUNDELL is second oboe of the Sarasota Orchestra. This is her sixth season as English horn player for Eastern Music Festival. Mrs. Birch Blundell has been a member of the New World Symphony, the Orquesta Sinfonica de Mineria, the Spoleto Festival Orchestra (Italy), and the National Repertory Orchestra. She has performed with The Florida Orchestra, the Florida Philharmonic, the Naples Philharmonic, the Houston Symphony, and the Houston Ballet. In addition, she has been featured as a solo artist in Russia, St. Croix, Mexico, and Panama. She holds degrees from Oberlin Conservatory and The Hartt School where she studied with James Caldwell and Humbert Lucarelli, respectively.
CLARINET
SHANNON SCOTT has been principal clarinet of the Eastern Festival Orchestra since 1991. She is the instructor of clarinet and history of music and clarinetist for Solstice Woodwind Quintet at Washington State University School of Music in Pullman, Washington. As part of the Scott-Garrison Duo (flute and clarinet) with husband Leonard Garrison, Dr. Scott performs and is active in commissioning new music for the ensemble. Since moving to the Northwest, she has performed with the Spokane, Walla Walla, and Washington-Idaho symphonies. Before joining the WSU School of Music faculty, Dr. Scott taught clarinet and survey of music in fall 2006 and performed with the Northwest Winds Woodwind Quintet at the University of Idaho. From 1988 to 2006, she served as principal clarinetist of the Tulsa (Oklahoma) Opera Orchestra and the Tulsa Philharmonic Orchestra. While in Tulsa, she taught clarinet at the University of Tulsa, Oral Roberts University, Northeastern State University, and Tulsa Community College. She holds degrees from Juilliard, École Normale de Musique de Paris, Conservatoire Regional Marcel Dupre, Yale University, and Northwestern University. Her major clarinet teachers were Robert Marcellus, Keith Wilson, and Stanley Drucker. Before joining the Tulsa Philharmonic, she was associate principal clarinet of the Orchestra of the Opera of Lyon, was second clarinet for the Grant Park Symphony in Chicago, and played in the Marlboro Music Festival, where she participated in Music from Marlboro tours and recorded for the Marlboro Recording Society.
Clarinetist JUDITH DONALDSON is the second and E-flat clarinetist of the Alabama Symphony Orchestra. As a freelancer, she has also played with the Tuscaloosa Symphony, with the orchestras of Tampa and Jacksonville, and with The Florida Orchestra. She is on the faculties of Birmingham Southern College and the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Former teaching affiliations include the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, and the University of Montevallo. She was a founding member of the Cahaba Trio and Birmingham Musica Antiqua. Ms. Donaldson received bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the New England Conservatory. She has been a member of the EMF faculty since 1976.
KELLY BURKE, bass clarinet, is also principal clarinetist of the Greensboro Symphony Orchestra and a faculty member at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She holds the B.M. and M.M. from the Eastman School of Music and the D.M.A. from the University of Michigan. Dr. Burke has received several teaching awards including UNCG’s Alumni Teaching Excellence Award and the School of Music Outstanding Teacher Award. She has been named numerous times to Who's Who Among America's Teachers and was awarded the 2004 Board of Governors’ Award for Excellence in Teaching. Dr. Burke is the author of several pedagogical articles and the critically acclaimed book Clarinet Warm-Ups: Materials for the Contemporary Clarinetist. Equally at home playing Baroque to bebop, she has appeared in recitals and as a soloist with symphony orchestras throughout the United States, Canada, Germany, New Zealand, Australia, and Russia. Burke’s discography includes several recent releases: The Russian Clarinet with works by Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Glinka, Melkikh, and Goedicke; Middle Voices: Chamber Music for Clarinet and Viola featuring works by several American composers; and Samuel Coleridge-Taylor: Chamber Music featuring the quintet and nonet. An avid chamber musician, Burke is frequently heard in concert with the Mallarmé Chamber Players, for whom she plays clarinet and bass clarinet; the EastWind Trio d'Anches; Middle Voices (clarinet and viola); and the Cascade Wind Quintet.
BASSOON
Currently in his first year as principal bassoonist of the Jacksonville Symphony, CHRISTOPHER SALES has had a brief, yet sententious career of orchestral music playing. He has played with such orchestras as the Aspen Festival Orchestra and the Juilliard Orchestras as well as the Norrköping, Kentucky, Augusta, Charleston, and New World symphonies. Having played with these orchestras, Mr. Sales was able to work under many great conductors, including James Levine, Michael Tilson Thomas, and David Zinman. Also a soloist and avid chamber musician, Mr. Sales has performed concertos with the Aspen Academy of Conducting Orchestra, the Charleston Symphony, and the Governor’s School for the Arts in Virginia Beach. Over the past years, Sales has played multiple solo and chamber recitals throughout the country, most notably in Greensboro, Charleston, Tallahassee, and Cincinnati. Mr. Sales received his Bachelor of Music from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music in 2007, studying under William Winstead, and is currently on a leave of absence from The Juilliard School where he studied with Whitney Crockett for his master’s. Mr. Sales has attended the Sarasota Music Festival as well as the Aspen Music Festival, holding the 2nd bassoon fellowship studying and playing with Per Hannevold, principal bassoon of the Bergen Philharmonic. He spent his last summer with the Bellingham Music Festival in Bellingham, Washington, conducted by Michael Palmer.
KARLA EKHOLM is an active freelancer in the San Francisco Bay area, where she is a member of seven orchestras, playing principal bassoon with the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra, Pacific Chamber Symphony, San Francisco Lyric Opera, Vallejo Symphony, and San Francisco Opera Center, and second bassoon with the Marin and Santa Rosa symphonies. Ms. Ekholm has performed with the San Francisco Opera Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony, and the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra. Her solo appearances include performing Michael Daugherty’s Dead Elvis this season, and she is a featured artist in the documentary film, “Freeway Philharmonic.” Ms. Ekholm received her B.M. from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and her M.M. from Temple University. Her major teachers have included Walter Green, Stephen Paulson, and Bernard Garfield. This is her 27th year at EMF.
MICHAEL BURNS, bassoon and contrabassoon, holds the B.M. degree from the Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand; the M.M. from the New England Conservatory; and the D.M.A. from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. He is an associate professor of bassoon at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and is a Yamaha Performing Artist. Burns has performed in numerous professional orchestras, including the Cincinnati and the New Zealand symphony orchestras, and played principal in the Midland/Odessa, Richmond and Abilene symphonies and the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra. Currently he is in demand as a performer with the North Carolina, Charleston, Greensboro, and Charlotte symphony orchestras. He is also bassoonist in the Eastwind Ensemble and the Cascade Quintet. Burns remains active as a solo and chamber artist with numerous performances at International Double Reed Society conventions, recitals, and master classes throughout North America and the South Pacific. He has recorded for the Centaur, CAP, Telarc, EMI, Klavier, and Mark labels. In summers, Burns is associated with the Eastern Music Festival and the Bands of America Summer Symposium. His mentors include William Winstead, Sherman Walt, Leonard Sharrow, and Colin Hemmingsen. He is archivist for the International Double Reed Society and was co-host for the IDRS 2003 conference in Greensboro, NC.
HORN
A native of Florida, KEVIN REID is currently the principal horn of the Jacksonville Symphony and has previously been a member of the New World Symphony in Miami Beach. His solo performances include Mozart's Forth Horn Concerto and the Sinfonia concertante. He has an M.M. from Southern Methodist University, where he studied with Greg Hustis, and a B.M. from Florida State University, where he studied with William Capps. He has played with symphony orchestras in Dallas, Waco, Tallahassee, Albany, Aspen, Boston, Breckenridge, and the Dominican Republic. Mr. Reid is on faculty at the University of North Florida and served as visiting professor of horn at Florida State University for the 2006-2007 school year. Mr. Reid has been at EMF since 2000.
SUSAN CARROLL currently serves as third horn with the Seattle Symphony under the direction of Maestro Gerard Schwarz. Prior to her appointment with the Seattle Symphony in 2000, Ms. Carroll played in the Louisville Orchestra, the Colorado Symphony, and the Fort Wayne Philharmonic. She has appeared as soloist with the Seattle Symphony, the Rainier Symphony, the Louisville Orchestra, and the Fort Wayne Philharmonic. Ms. Carroll has participated in numerous summer music festivals, including the Grand Teton Music Festival, the Aspen Music Festival, and as a fellow at the Tanglewood Music Festival. She received her musical education at The Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia as a student of Myron Bloom and Mason Jones.
KELLY HOFMAN is in her sixth season with EMF. She is currently third horn with the Southwest Michigan Symphony Orchestra and is an active freelancer in the Chicago and Milwaukee areas. In addition to two seasons with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, her freelance career has taken her around the Midwest where she has performed with the Kansas City Symphony, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic, the Nashville Symphony, and many others. She also maintains a full private teaching studio, and in her extra time, she performs at many retirement homes under the name "Music Elyon." Ms. Hofman has attended Northwestern University, New England Conservatory, and the Cincinnati Conservatory and is honored to have studied with Gail Williams, Dick Mackey, Randy Gardner, and Ted Thayer. Ms. Hofman is married to EMF violist Jamie Hofman.
LISA BERGMAN, horn, is a sought-after performer and teacher who has been praised for her “sweet sound” (Miami Herald). Performing orchestral works throughout the United States and Europe, she has had the pleasure of playing under the baton of conductors including Michael Tilson Thomas, Robert Spano, James Levine, Mstislav Rostropovich, Simon Rattle, and Paavo Jarvi and enjoys working with Gerard Schwarz. Notably acclaimed for her “brilliant playing and idiomatic musicality” (The Sun Sentinel [Ft. Lauderdale]), Ms. Bergman also greatly enjoys performing with chamber ensembles and has performed in summer festivals across the country. She can be heard as principal horn on a number of recordings, including a PBS television broadcast concert honoring Janos Starker’s 75th birthday celebration and also a CD recording heard on National Public Radio of “Marcel Dupré’s Complete Music for Organ and Orchestra” released on Naxos records. Ms. Bergman has been a member of the San Antonio Symphony, the Knoxville Symphony, and the New World Symphony. She is currently a freelance musician and teacher in Kansas City and enjoys performing regularly with the Kansas City Symphony. Ms. Bergman holds a Master of Music degree from Indiana University and a Bachelor of Music degree from Michigan State University. Her principal teachers include Randy Gardner, Michael Hatfield, and Julie Landsman. This is her second season with EMF.
TRUMPET
MARK NIEHAUS has been principal trumpet of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra since 1998 where he has often been a featured soloist with the orchestra. He has also performed as a soloist with the New World Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, Eastern Festival Orchestra, and the New Haven Symphony. Mr. Niehaus also spent three seasons as principal trumpet of the New World Symphony in Miami Beach with artistic director Michael Tilson Thomas. He may be heard on two RCA label recordings with the New World Symphony: The Music of Villa Lobos and New World Jazz, on which he is a featured soloist. Mr. Niehaus began his professional career as principal trumpet of the New Haven Symphony – a post he attained while still a freshman at The Juilliard School. He remained with New Haven for six years, simultaneously serving as principal trumpet of the Juilliard Orchestra. His teachers at Juilliard included Mark Gould and Raymond Mase. Immediately upon graduation, Mr. Niehaus joined the faculty of The Juilliard School’s Pre-College Division and was active in The Juilliard School’s Music Advancement Program, teaching high school students from the New York City public school system. He has spent past summers at the Tanglewood Music Festival, National Repertory Orchestra, Pacific Music Festival, Spoleto USA, and the Colorado Music Festival. Mr. Niehaus is also a founding member of the New York Big Brass Ensemble and the National Brass Virtuosi. He returns for his tenth season with EMF.
JEFFREY KAYE is an internationally acclaimed orchestral and chamber musician, soloist and teacher. A founding board member of the Boca Symphonia, he has played principal trumpet with the Symphonia since 2005. He held the same position with the Florida Philharmonic (1989-2003), the Florida Grand Opera, the Florida Philharmonic Pops Orchestra, and the Miami Chamber Orchestra. Since 1999 Mr. Kaye has played with the IRIS Chamber Orchestra in Germantown, TN. He has performed as soloist with the Moscow Chamber Orchestra, the Casals Festival in San Juan with the Puerto Rico Symphony, and throughout south Florida. For three seasons he has played with the Milwaukee Symphony as an extra. Mr. Kaye is currently artist in residence at the BAK School for the Arts in West Palm Beach where he teaches and coaches the trumpet and brass sections. He has taught at Louisiana State University, UNLV Las Vegas, and the New World School of the Arts in Miami, where he received the “Teacher of the Year Award.” This summer Jeff will perform and teach at the Eastern Music Festival under the direction of Gerard Schwarz in Greensboro, NC. Summer performances have included the Santa Fe Opera, Aspen Music Festival, Waterloo Music Festival, Norfolk Music Festival/Yale Summer School of Music, and Tanglewood Music Festival where he played under Leonard Bernstein. He has also performed as soloist and taught at the Tainan Music Festival in Tainan, Taiwan and toured Europe with the North Carolina School of the Arts Chamber Orchestra. Mr. Kaye received his Bachelor of Arts in Performance and a Bachelor of Science in Music Management at the Hartt School of Music. He earned a master’s degree from the Manhattan School of Music. Mr. Kaye has recorded on the award winning Florida Philharmonic CD of Gustav Mahler’s First Symphony and the EMI, Telarc, Epic, and Harnonia Mundi labels, performing with The Empire Brass, The Florida Philharmonic, Placido Domingo, and the Broadway show Scarlet Pimpenel.
JUDITH SAXTON enjoys an international career as a versatile and sought-after performer, chamber musician, and clinician. Currently, she is principal and soloist with Key West Symphony and Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival and performs regularly with North Carolina, Greensboro, and Winston-Salem symphonies and various chamber organizations on the eastern seaboard. Most recently, she was a guest artist at Lieksa Brass Week, Finland, and toured Brazil with Musica Harmonia. Previously, she was associate professor at Wichita State University and principal with the Wichita Symphony and Wichita Brass Quintet. For three seasons, she was principal and soloist with the Hong Kong Philharmonic. A veteran Chicago freelancer, she performed with the Chicago and Grant Park symphonies and the CSO brass quintet, along with seven Chicago area orchestras. Ms. Saxton has performed and toured with the newly formed Tromba Mundi trumpet ensemble, UNCSA Brass Quintet, Jazz Septet, the Chicago Chamber Musicians, Sierra Brass, Millar, and Monarch Brass ensembles. Her recordings are on Crystal, Koss, Proto, Novitas, MSR Classics, and Moravian Music Foundation labels. She is on the boards of the International Trumpet Guild, International Women's Brass Conference, and the National Trumpet Competition. Her degrees are from Mansfield and Northwestern Universities. Her teachers include Vincent Cichowicz, Arnold Jacobs, William Scarlett, Susan Slaughter, and Michael Galloway. She taught previously at Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts and Illinois Wesleyan and Northeastern Illinois universities. She is artist faculty and brass coordinator at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts.
ALAN CAMPBELL is returning to the Eastern Music Festival for his third summer. He currently holds the position of second trumpet with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, the most recent position in a career that has spanned 28 years. He has appeared with the National Repertory Orchestra (NRO), the Peninsula Festival Orchestra, and the Lancaster (Ohio) Festival. Mr. Campbell has played in Milwaukee for four seasons, the first two of which were as acting second trumpet, while on leave from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He came to Madison in 1998 as an artist-in-residence, performing and recording with the Wisconsin Brass Quintet, a nationally recognized chamber ensemble that performs regularly throughout the upper Midwest and all over the country. While in Madison, Mr. Campbell played with both the Madison and Milwaukee Symphony orchestras, as well as the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and the Pro Musica Chamber Orchestra of Columbus. Prior to his arrival in Madison, he performed for 17 seasons as second trumpet with the Columbus Symphony and still plays there during the summers. While in Columbus, he was adjunct professor of trumpet at Otterbein College in Westerville, Ohio. He has also taught the trumpet studios of the University of Wisconsin–Madison, the University of Wisconsin–Whitewater, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. For the 1990-91 season, at the invitation of Ricardo Muti, Mr. Campbell joined, recorded, and toured with the Philadelphia Orchestra as acting second trumpet. He received a B.M. in performance from the Oberlin Conservatory and a B.A. in economics from Oberlin College. He received an M.M. in trumpet from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he studied with and was the teaching assistant to David Hickman. Mr. Campbell has also studied with Gene Young, Louis Davidson, Roger Voisin, Armando Ghitalla, Manny Laureano, Charles Schlueter, Phil Collins, and Michael Sachs.
ROBERT WHITE holds the position of second trumpet with the Charlotte Symphony. Prior to joining them in 2004, Dr. White was on the faculty of Indiana State University and enjoyed an active career in Indianapolis as a studio musician and freelance trumpeter. While in Indianapolis, Dr. White also performed regularly with the Indianapolis Symphony, the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, the Columbus Symphony, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic, and the New World Symphony. He has also participated in the Spoleto USA Festival, Music Academy of the West, and the Aspen Music Festival. Dr. White completed a Doctor of Music degree in trumpet from Indiana University, where he also received his master’s degree, and appeared as soloist with the IU Chamber Orchestra. He completed a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Western Michigan University. His primary trumpet teachers are John Rommel, Stephen Burns, and Scott Thornburg.
TROMBONE
GREGORY COX returns for his 33rd season as principal trombone with the Eastern Festival Orchestra. During the remainder of the year, he is a member of the Vancouver Symphony. In addition to his orchestral position, he serves on the faculties of Western Washington University, the University of British Columbia, and the Vancouver Academy of Music. Mr. Cox is active as an adjudicator, clinician, chamber musician, and recitalist, and he has performed extensively in British Columbia, Washington, and North Carolina. Mr. Cox has recorded extensively on Polydor, Mark, CRI, and CBC labels and is also active as a studio musician. In 2009 he was involved in recording music for the 2010 Olympics. A former member of the North Carolina Symphony and a former faculty member of the North Carolina School of the Arts, Mr. Cox has also performed with the Rochester Philharmonic, the Regina and Winnipeg symphonies, and the CBC Vancouver Chamber Orchestra. Mr. Cox received his Bachelor of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music. His major teachers include Kenneth Cloud, William Gray, and Emory B. Remington.
MICHAEL KRIS is the instructor of low brass and director of brass chamber music at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He also serves on the faculty of Duke University and regularly performs with the North Carolina Symphony, North Carolina Jazz Repertory Orchestra, North Carolina Theater Orchestra, North Carolina Opera Orchestra, and a variety of chamber music ensembles. Mr. Kris has been a member of the North Carolina Symphony, serving as principal and second trombone. In addition, he has been a member of the Winston-Salem Symphony and the Greensboro Symphony and has performed with several orchestras throughout the eastern United States. Apart from his orchestral work, Mr. Kris is an active soloist and clinician performing and teaching throughout the southeast. As a jazz musician, he has toured with groups in the United States and Europe and has worked with artists such as Tony Bennett, Clark Terry, and Natalie Cole. Mr. Kris attended McNeese State University and the Cincinnati College/Conservatory of Music where he studied with Mr. Tony Chipurn, retired principal trombone of the Cincinnati Symphony. Mr. Kris has earned a Bachelor of Music Education as well as a Master of Music in trombone performance. He returns for his sixth season with EMF.
BASS TROMBONE
Bass trombonist TERRY MIZESKO received his B.M. in theory/composition from East Carolina University where he studied composition with Martin Mailman and Gregory Kosteck and trombone with Eugene Narmour. He has played bass trombone with the North Carolina Symphony since 1971. He also taught trombone for many years at Duke University, UNC-Chapel Hill, and St. Augustine’s College. In addition to his performing duties with the North Carolina Symphony, Mr. Mizesko has also conducted education and holiday pops concerts and has arranged and composed for the orchestra since 1989. His original compositions and arrangements have been played by several orchestras including Atlanta, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Louisville, Fort Worth, Syracuse, Buffalo, Virginia, and his own North Carolina Symphony. Mr. Mizesko’s orchestral work, Sketches from Pinehurst, was premiered in April 2005 by the North Carolina Symphony. A compact disc featuring this piece was released by the orchestra in September of 2005. Four new works were premiered in 2006: Sundays at Shackleford Banks was performed by the Triangle Youth Philharmonic in April; Last Voyage of the Currituck was commissioned by the North Carolina Symphony and performed at the Tall Ships Festival in Beaufort, NC; the Divertimento for Clarinet and Strings was performed by Michael Cyzewski and members of the North Carolina Symphony in November; and A Little Dance Suite was commissioned and performed by the Canton Symphony Orchestra, also in November. Mr. Mizesko resides in Raleigh with his wife, Sandra Schwarcz, a violist with the North Carolina Symphony, and their two children. This is his eleventh season with EMF.
TUBA
LEE HIPP, principal tuba of the San Antonio Symphony and the San Antonio Brass since 1989, has also performed with the Dallas, Houston, and Atlanta symphonies, the Miami City Ballet Orchestra, the Southwest Florida Symphony, and two seasons as acting principal tuba with the Utah Symphony. Mr. Hipp has also taught tuba and euphonium at the University of Texas at San Antonio and the University of Utah and is currently instructor of tuba and euphonium at St. Mary’s University. Mr. Hipp is a native Texan and received his B.M. in education from Texas Tech University, studying with David Payne. He earned his M.M. in tuba performance at Southern Methodist University, studying with Everette Gilmore and Sandy Keathley. Mr. Hipp has also studied with David Kirk of the Houston Symphony, Dennis Miller of the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, and Donald Little of the University of North Texas and the Dallas Opera. Mr. Hipp has performed as a soloist, in concert, and recital, with groups such as the San Antonio Symphony, the Utah Symphony, the Dallas Wind Symphony, the Winters Chamber Orchestra, the San Antonio Brass, the King William Winds, and the University of Utah Wind Symphony. He has recorded with the Utah and Atlanta symphonies and can be heard on the 1999 Telarc recording of the Brahms Requiem with the Utah Symphony and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir as well as the 2005 Grammy® Award-winning Atlanta Symphony and Chorus recording of the Berlioz Requiem. Mr. Hipp has also conducted educational clinics throughout the state of Texas and across the United States. Along with his many performing and teaching duties, Mr. Hipp was also a contributing editor for The Tuba Source Book published by Indiana University Press. Mr. Hipp is a Yamaha Artist performing on the Yamaha 822 F Tuba and the Culbertson “Neptune” CC. He has served as principal tuba at EMF since 2000.
TIMPANI
JOHN FEDDERSEN is the principal timpanist with the Eastern Festival Orchestra and the North Carolina Symphony Orchestra. He is a former member of the American Symphony Orchestra, the American Wind Ensemble, and the U.S. Navy Band, with which he appeared as soloist. Mr. Feddersen appeared as a clinician and soloist with the Percussive Arts Society and has made solo and chamber music appearances in North Carolina, Virginia, and Indiana. He received his performer's certificate from Indiana University. His major teachers include Warren Benson, Paul Price, George Gaber, and Cloyd Duff. Mr. Feddersen has been recorded with the North Carolina Symphony on the BIS label, and he has been with Eastern Music Festival for over 34 years.
PERCUSSION
ERIC SCHWEIKERT is the principal percussionist with the Eastern Music Festival and the principal timpanist with the Fort Wayne Philharmonic. He has performed with the Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Indianapolis Symphony Orchestras and appeared as soloist with the Fort Wayne Philharmonic and Detroit Symphony orchestras. Former principal with the New World Symphony and the Victoria Symphony, Mr. Schweikert received his B.M. from the Cleveland Institute of Music and studied further at The Juilliard School of Music. His major teachers include Paul Yancich, Richard Weiner, Cloyd Duff, Roland Kohloff, and James Ross. This is his 18th season at EMF.
JOHN SHAW is the principal percussionist with The Florida Orchestra, a position he has held since 1996. He had previously served as a section percussionist with The Florida Orchestra beginning in 1992. A native of Milton, Florida, Shaw earned a Bachelor of Music degree from Florida State University, where he studied with Gary Werdesheim, and a Master of Music degree from Temple University as a student of Alan Abel. He received additional training at the Aspen Music Festival and Grand Tetons Orchestral Seminar. In addition to his duties with The Florida Orchestra, Mr. Shaw is the head of the percussion studio at St. Petersburg College. He has been featured as a soloist with The Florida Orchestra many times, performing the Concerto for Percussion by Joseph Schwantner, Concerto for Two Pianos and Percussion by Bartók, and Veni, Veni, Emmanuel by James MacMillan. His seven-member steel drum band, the Tampa Bay Steel Orchestra, was featured with The Florida Orchestra in March 2005, and again in October 2009, as part of the orchestra’s pops series. The steel drum band has received acclaim for its first recording, which is now available on iTunes. He lives in St. Petersburg with his wife, Florida Orchestra principal harpist Anna Kate Mackle, and their children. This is his third season with EMF.
HARP
**ANNA KATE MACKLE has served as the principal harpist of The Florida Orchestra since 1999. She formerly served as principal harpist of the New World Symphony, the Spoleto Festivals (Italy and USA), Sarasota Opera, the National Repertory Orchestra, and the Colorado Music Festival, among others. Originally from New York City, she studied with Alice Chalifoux at Baldwin-Wallace College and the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she earned Bachelor and Master of Music degrees, respectively. She is on the faculty at St. Petersburg College and Pinellas County Center for the Arts and is a former faculty member at the Interlochen Arts Camp. Ms. Mackle was named one of the top ten female musicians in the Tampa Bay area by Creative Loafing magazine, and will perform Ginastera’s Harp Concerto during The Florida Orchestra’s 2009-2010 season. In her free time, Ms. Mackle enjoys long distance running and has completed two marathons, as well as numerous 5K, 10K and half marathons. Ms. Mackle lives in St. Petersburg, Florida, with her husband, EMF faculty member and Florida Orchestra principal percussionist John Shaw, and their three children. A former EMF student, Ms. Mackle returns for her eleventh season as faculty member and principal harpist of the Festival.
One of Spain's most promising conductors, JOSÉ-LUIS NOVO is currently music director and conductor of the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra (MD) and the Binghamton Philharmonic (NY). Prior to these appointments, Mr. Novo served as assistant conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra under the direction of both music director emeritus Jesús López-Cobus and music director Paavo Järvi, and the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra under the late Erich Kunzel. He has been the resident conductor at EMF since 1999.
Most recently, Mr. Novo made an impressive Kimmel Center debut in Philadelphia, conducting the Curtis Institute Orchestra in a last-minute replacement for an ailing Maestro Otto Werner Mueller. Prior guest conducting engagements have included appearances with the Baltimore Symphony, the Minnesota Orchestra, the Syracuse, Modesto, Tulsa, Windsor, Stamford, Tallahassee, Springfield (Ohio), and Ridgefield symphonies; the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra; the Cleveland and Abilene philharmonics; the Tenerife, Principado de Asturias, and Castilla y León symphony orchestras; the City of Granada Orchestra; the Andrés Segovia Chamber Orchestra at the National Auditorium in Madrid; the Vallés Symphony Orchestra at the Palau de la Musica in Barcelona; and the Echternach Festival Orchestra at the Kennedy Center and on tour in Luxembourg and Germany.
While maintaining a promising professional conducting career, Mr. Novo has also developed a reputation as a keen educator of young musicians. He has held the positions of music director of the Cincinnati Symphony Youth Orchestra and the Miami University Symphony Orchestra; associate conductor of the National Repertory Orchestra; and assistant conductor of the National Youth Orchestra of Spain and the Yale Symphony Orchestra. In addition, he has conducted many noteworthy college and youth orchestras. Among these are the Curtis Institute Orchestra, the National Repertory Orchestra, the University of Maryland Symphony, the Cleveland Institute of Music Orchestra, and the Portuguesa State Youth Orchestra of the Venezuelan El Sistema. In the summer of 1998 he took the National Youth Orchestra of Spain on a concert tour of Spain and Portugal, with performances at the Teatro Real in Madrid and the World Exposition in Lisbon.
Mr. Novo is a 2008 recipient of an ASCAP Adventurous Programming Award and a 2005 Heart of the Arts Award. He holds music degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music, Yale University, and the Royal Conservatory of Music in Brussels.
