 Rose
Corrigan, bassoon:
is
adjunct assistant professor, winds and percussion, at the University of
Southern California Thornton School of Music. She is principal bassoon of
the Pacific Symphony and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, performs regularly
with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra and the Pasadena Symphony, and
is a former member of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and the Los
Angeles Opera Orchestra. She is an active recording artist for the
television and motion picture industries, where she was recently featured
with screen credit for her solo in the motion picture, March of the
Penguins. She has a B.A. in bassoon performance from USC where she
studied with Michael O’Donovan. |
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Alan
Durst has been an active performer and educator throughout the
United States, Mexico, Central America, and Europe. His performances
explore a diverse range of styles, and he has appeared in concert halls
such as Panama City Anita Villalaz, Los Angeles Disney Hall, Los Angeles
Ford Amphitheatre, Santa Barbara Arlington Theatre, Fresno Saroyan
Theatre, and Cleveland Masonic Temple. He performs frequently with the
Fresno Philharmonic and Santa Barbara Symphony and has appeared with
ensembles such as the Midland - Odessa Symphony & Chorale, Gang Nam
Symphony Orchestra, Korean-American Symphony, Los Angeles Jewish Symphony,
Opera Pasadena, Ohio Light Opera, and can be heard on radio and television
broadcasts such as NPR, WB, BRAVO, CBS, and WAO (Panama). As a jazz
saxophonist, Durst has performed with the Benny Goodman Orchestra, Holland
America Cruise Lines, Cleveland Playhouse Square Jazz on the Circle
series, and as a woodwind performer on numerous musicals. He is currently
the cofounder/soprano saxophonist of the Panama International Saxophone
Quartet which actively tours Central America.
As an educator,
Durst currently serves on the faculty at California State University, Fresno
where he is the Professor of Saxophone. He has given clinics at universities
and schools throughout the United States, Mexico, and Central America in
addition to publishing with Dorn Publications Inc./Needham Publications Co.
Durst has
received many awards including honorable mention at the Atwater Kent
Concerto Competition (2003), the first person to win the Three Arts
Club of Lakewood Competition two consecutive years (1998 & 1999), and
the only representative accepted from North America in 1998 to participate
in the prestigious International Saxophone Masterclasses at the
Sweelink Conservatorium von Amsterdam, Holland.
His formal
studies include a D.M.A. from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA),
an M.M. from the University of Miami School of Music, and a B.M. & B.M.E.Cum
Laude graduate of the Baldwin-Wallace Conservatory of Music. He has been
fortunate to have studied with world-class saxophonists Douglas Masek, Gary
Keller, and Greg Banaszak as well as Arno Bornkamp, and Angelo Fortini.
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Charles DeRamus,
bass: is
currently a member of Sweden's National Orchestra, the Gothenburg Symphony
Orchestra. Previously he has served as Principal Bass of the
NorrlandsOperan(Sweden), been a member of the New World Symphony, and
worked extensively with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Houston Symphony,
and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra. His studies include degrees from
Indiana University, Rice University, and participation in numerous summer
festivals including the Tanglewood Music Center, Schleswig-Holstein Musik
Festival, National Repertory Orchestra, Pacific Music Festival, and the
National Orchestral Institute. Charles is a frequent guest principal in
many Scandinavian orchestras and is currently a faculty member at the
Sequoia Chamber Music Workshop. Previously he has served on the faculties
of All-State at Interlochen, the University of Michigan Summer Arts
Institute, and has given guest masterclasses in England at the Royal
College of Music and the Yehudi Menuhin School.
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Lisa
Edwards, piano
studies in Piano Performance at North Texas State University, MM in
Accompanying, University of Southern California. Currently she is music
assistant and pianist for the Los Angeles Master Chorale. On recording,
Lisa can be heard on You Are (Variations) by Steve Reich on Nonesuch. As
organist, she serves at San Marino Community Church, Stephen S. Wise
Temple and Congregation Kol Ami.Previous faculty positions have been held
at California State Univerity, Long Beach and Glendale Community College. |
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David Evans, conductor: Graduate of San
Diego State University, Music Performance Degree with Distinction; and
California State University, Northridge, Masters Degree, Music Performance
and elected member of Pi Kappa Lambda Music Honor Society. Mr. Evans is a
professor of music at California State University, Long Beach. He has
studied conducting with Dr. Frederick Fennel and has been guest clinician
for the Southern California School Band Association and guest conductor for
several honor bands throughout Southern California. As a trumpet performer
he has studied with James Stamp, Uan Rasey, Claude Gordon and Thomas
Stevens.
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Richard Gianguilio, brass
specialist: degrees from Curtis Institute and Juilliard; First Prize from
Paris Conservatory, studied with Maurice Andre while on a Fulbright grant;
First Medal winner, Geneva international Trumpet Competition. 1967; soloist
with the Dallas Symphony. Philadelphia Orchestra, Tanglewood Festival
Orchestra; concerts and recordings in Israel with Leonard Bernstein and
Zubin Mehta, and Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Florence, Italy; principal
trumpet, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, from 1969-93, and presently co-principal
trumpet.
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Yehuda Gilad, clarinet: Educated in
Israel and at the University of Southern California School of Music.
Associate Professor of Music, USC, and Master Teacher, R.D. Colburn School
of Performing Arts. Recipient of many awards including the Israel-America
Cultural Foundation Scholarship and the Robert Simon Award in Music.
Conductor of the Santa Monica Symphony, 1982-88. As a clarinetist, he has
performed with the Marlboro Music Festival, the Music Academy of the West,
the San Francisco Chamber Music Festival and the Israel Philharmonic.
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William Goldenberg, piano: MM, The
Juilliard School of Music, Doctorate, Indiana University. Advanced studies
include chamber music with Menahem Pressler, Gilbert Kalish, Felix Galamir
and Josef Gingold. Over 500 concerts throughout the US as soloist and
chamber musician including Tanglewood and Grand Teton Festivals, and
Chicago’s Myra Hess Series. Has performed regular service as accompanist for
studios of violinists Ivan Galamian and Josef Gingold, and cellist Raya
Garbousova. Professor of Piano and director of the piano chamber music
program at Northern Illinois University. |
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Igor Gruppman, violin.
Igor Gruppman enjoys a career as a violin soloist, conductor,concertmaster
and chamber musician and has appeared in the great European capitals and in
the major cities of North America, Israel, and New Zealand. Currantly the
concertmaster of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, the Artistic Leader
and Conductor of the Concerto Rotterdam chamber orchestra and Principal
conductor of the Orchestra at Temple Square he has been a frequent guest
with such orchestras as the London Symphony Orchestra and the Royal
Philharmonic, and has worked with conductors Sir Georg Solti, Mstislav
Rostropovich, Sir Colin Davis, Christoph Eschenbach, and Bernard Haitink.
Critically acclaimed for the
richness and beauty of tone, elegant phrasing, drive, passion and virtuosity,
Igor Gruppman is a graduate of the Moscow Conservatory, where he studied
with Leonid Kogan and Mstislav Rostropovich, followed by studies with Jascha
Heifetz in Los Angeles and has collaborated with artists Sviatoslav
Richter, Yuri Bashmet, Natalia Gutman, Oleg Kagan, Jaime Laredo, and Lynn
Harrell.
An accomplished recording
artist, his work includes Sinfonia Concertante by Miklós Rózsa on
Koch International Classics and Berlioz’s Reverie and Caprice on
Naxos. He has also recorded the Rózsa Violin Concerto for Koch, which
marked the first release of the concerto since the recording by Heifetz for
whom this piece was written. In addition, Mr. Gruppman has led the
principal members of the Academy of St. Martin-in the Fields in the world
premiere recording of the original version of Brahms’s Quintet in F
Minor.2007 marks the new DVD release of Tchaikowski and Rachmaninoff Piano
Trios for VAI Intrnational as well as world wide broadcast of the Brahms
Double Concerto with the Rotterdam Philharmonic conducted by Valery Gergiev..
He and his wife, Vesna
Stefanovich Gruppman, a renowned violinist and violist in her own right,
have been heralded for their recording of Malcolm Arnold’s Concerto for Two
Violins and Orchestra, which won its producer a Grammy award in 1994.
In 2003 the Gruppmans founded
the Gruppman International Violin Institute, created specifically to teach
highly gifted violin students from all over the world using the latest
videoconferencing technology.
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Vesna Gruppman, violin. Her career
started early as a six-time winner of Yugoslavia’s National Violin
Competition, before going on to study at Moscow’s legendary Central Special
Musical School and the Moscow Conservatory. Today, she is active as a violin
and viola soloist, having appeared with the Prague Philharmonic, the Moscow
Philharmonic, the Munich Chamber Orchestra, the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra,
Ukraine Philharmonic, Florida Philharmonic, and London’s Beethoven
Philharmonic, and in recitals at London’s Wigmore Hall and St. John’s Smith
Square, Kiev Philharmonic Hall and Mozart’s Bemtraka in Prague. As a chamber
musician she has collaborated with the Tokyo String Quartet, the principal
players of the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Pinchas Zucherman, Itzak
Perlman, Jamie Laredo, and Lynn Harrell. Currently, Ms. Gruppman serves as
professor of violin/viola at Brigham Young University and is violin
Professor of the Rotterdam Conservatory and co-director of the Gruppman
International Violin Institute. |
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David Hoover, horn: Professor of Horn,
California State University, Northridge; former faculty member with the
University of Southern California, Glendale College and the Los Angeles City
Schools. Performer and conductor with many Southern California orchestras,
ensembles and studios over the past twenty years, and currently with the San
Fernando Valley Symphony. Articles on the horn and other musical topics
appear regularly in the Instrumentalist. Holds the degree of Doctor of
Musical Arts from USC. |
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Shirley Irek, piano: was born
in Croatia and was educated at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto,
the California Institute of the Arts and the Juilliard School, where she
received her Bachelors’ and Masters’ Degrees in performance. She was a
student of Irwin Freundlich and Martin Canin, and studied accompanying with
Samuel Sanders. Ms. Irek performed as a two-piano team member for over 15
years. During that time she toured Japan, Africa, France, Portugal and the
United States. Highlighting these engagements were the performances of a
two-piano concerto by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer, Michael Colgrass with
the Minnesota Orchestra conducted by Leonard Slatkin. As a member of the
Broyhill Chamber Ensemble, she performed two critically acclaimed recitals
at Carnegie Hall. They have recorded two CD’s for MMC Records. She was also
the first recipient of the Van Cliburn Award in memory of Rosina Lhevinne.
She has taught piano for over 20 years. She served as professor of piano at
the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and as visiting professor of piano at the
State University of New York in Buffalo. Ms. Irek is a sought-after
accompanist in the southeast United States. In 2002 she accompanied the
National Winner in the MTNA Competition in Cincinnati, Ohio. |
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David Jackson, trombone: Professor of
Trombone at the University of Michigan, is a soloist, chamber, and
orchestral musician who has performed with the Chicago Symphony, the Dallas
Symphony, the Detroit Symphony, the Fort Worth Symphony, the New World
Symphony, the Cabrillo Music Festival Orchestra and the Spoleto, Italy
Festival Orchestra. He is an advocate of new music and has commissioned and
performed the premieres of eight works for trombone. His chamber music
experience includes performances with the Canadian Brass, the American Brass
Quintet, Nexus Percussion Ensemble and the Galliard Brass Ensemble. His
summers are spent teaching and performing at the Hot Springs Music Festival,
the Interlochen Arts Camp All-State Division. |
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Nancy Ambrose King,
oboe, is the first-prize winner of the Third New York International
Competition for Solo Oboists, held in 1995. She has appeared as soloist
throughout the United States and abroad, including appearances with the St.
Petersburg, Russia, Philharmonic conducted by Fabio Mastrangelo, the Janacek
Philharmonic in the Czech Republic conducted by Kimbo ISHII-ETO and Petr
Vronsky, the Festival Internacionale de Musica Orchestra in Buenos Aires,
Argentina conducted by Dominique Fanal, the New York String Orchestra
conducted by Alexander Schneider, the Sinfonia da Camera conducted by Ian
Hobson, the Dearborn Symphony conducted by Kypros Markous, and the
Champaign-Urbana Symphony conducted by Catherine Comet. She has recorded
three CDs for Boston Records, the solo recordings “Nancy
Ambrose King:
The Winning Program” and “Évocations”; and a recording of flute and oboe
music with flutist Amy Porter entitled "Porter-Ambrose
King".
Her two most recent CD releases, on the British label Cala Records, feature
oboe concertos of Mozart, Goossens, Lebrun, Martinu, and Vaughan-Williams,
recorded in the Czech Republic with the Janacek Philharmonic Orchestra, with
whom she has appeared as soloist in Austria and the Czech Republic. She can
also be heard in performances on the Athena, Arabesque, Naxos, and CBS
Masterworks labels. She was a finalist in the Fernand Gillet Oboe
Competition held in Graz, Austria, and has been heard as soloist on WQXR
radio in New York City and NPR’s “Performance Today”. She has taught and
performed in the Sarasota Music Festival, Bowdoin Music Festival, Strings in
the Mountains of Steamboat Springs, and the Hot Springs Music Festival, and
has appeared as a recitalist throughout the world, including the American
Academy of Music in Rome and the Royal Conservatory of Music in Stockholm.
Her playing has earned high praise from a variety of critics, including the
American Record Guide: “Marvelously evocative, full of character, sultry and
seductive, with a soft-spoken, utterly supple tone, and as musically
descriptive as any I have heard…a fine exhibition of thoroughly musical oboe
playing”, "...a lovely player with a tone that surpasses that of most other
American oboe soloists. It defines delicacy, yet is strangely assertive,
like a soft-spoken woman who nonetheless speaks up strongly when her mind is
made up.", Fanfare: “Nancy
Ambrose King
is clearly a skilled musician of great promise, with a sterling technique”,
and The Double Reed: “…thoughtful, expressive, and perfectly controlled
performance of consummate accuracy. It’s not that she makes it sound
easy-she makes it sound perfect”, "Ms.
King's
fluid technique, combined with clean and accurate articulations, makes the
most complex passages flow and sounds effortless. Combine these aspects with
a beautiful tone and a sensitive touch in the lyrical passages, all oboists
have a new level to which to strive. " Currently Associate Professor of Oboe
at the University of Michigan and First Vice-President of the International
Double Reed Soceity, she was previously Associate Professor and University
Scholar at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. She has also served
on the music faculties of Indiana University, Ithaca College, University of
Northern Colorado, and Duquesne University Schools of Music. She has
performed as principal oboist in Sinfonia da Camera, Michigan Opera Theater
Orchestra, Flint Symphony Orchestra, Heidelberg Opera Orchestra, Colorado
Symphony, Greeley Philharmonic, Indiana University Festival Orchestra, and
the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra, as well as performing in the Los
Angeles, Boston, Detroit, and Rochester Philharmonic Symphony Orchestras. A
graduate of the University of Michigan with a Bachelor of Music degree, Ms.
King
was the recipient of the school’s prestigious Stanley Medal. She received
her Doctor of Musical Arts, Master of Music, and Performer’s Certificate
from the Eastman School of Music. She lives in Ann Arbor with her husband
Bill, a clarinetist, and their two sons,
Ryan and Trevor. |
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Sandra Kipp, flute: M.M. and B.M. in
flute performance from California State University Northridge. Orchestra
experience includes Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra, Glendale Symphony,
Pasadena Symphony, Long Beach Symphony and Moscow Ballet Orchestra. Director
of Sterling and Strings Chamber Music ensemble and member of The Nuance
Ensemble. Teaching experience includes current positions at Moorpark
College, CSU Northridge, and Pepperdine University in addition to private
studio instruction. Freelance recording studio artist.
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Dariusz Korcz, viola: studied at the
Academy of Music, Katowice, Poland; Principal/Solo viola with National
Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Professor of Viola and Chamber Music at
Academy of Music, Katowice. Former Principal/Solo viola with Polish Chamber
Philharmonic and Icelandic Symphony. First Prize winner, Rakowski Viola
Competition, 1985. Has premiered compositions by Shostakovich,
Penderecki, Lutoslawski,
Gorecki and Messiaen. Coaches and teaches for International Youth
Orchestras in Germany and USA. Extensive solo & chamber music experience
throughout the world including many recordings for European and American
labels, most recently he recorded John Donald Robb’s Viola Concerto for
Opus One and Centaur recordings together with Doris Lederer as a world
premier recording. Maker of fine violins. |
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Connie Kupka, violin; has participated
in many summer chamber music festivals, including those in Santa Fe, the
Grand Canyon, the Bach Festival in Oregon, the Mainly Mozart Festival in San
Diego, and the Ojai Music Festival. She has served as principal violinist in
the Pasadena Symphony, the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and the Colorado
Music Festival. She has appeared as a soloist with the South Bay Symphony
and the Colorado Chamber Orchestra. Connie has been a member of the Los
Angeles Chamber Orchestra for ten seasons. She augments her Los Angeles
orchestra activities with frequent chamber music performances, on such
series as Pacific Serenades, the South Bay Chamber Music series, and Monday
Evening Concerts. She is also active in the motion picture studio orchestras.
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Scott Lee, viola: At twenty-three he has
established himself as one of the most exciting violists to emerge in recent
years. Winner of a Nathan Wedeen Management Award at the 1996 Concert
Artists Guild Competition, Scott Lee is the youngest artist in the 48-year
history of the Concert Artists Guild Competition to have performed as a
finalist. In 1995, he won Third Prize of the William Primrose International
Viola Competition. The 2000-2001 concert season included two performances
for New York City’s Bargemusic with Paul Neubauer, Ani Kavafian, Fred Sherry
and Gil Shaham, as well as a concerto appearance with the American Youth
Symphony.
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Jane Levy, viola: taught music at
the Colburn School of Performing Arts, Pasadena City Schools and Los Angeles
High School of the Arts; performs regularly with Pasadena Symphony, Long
Beach Symphony, Music Center Opera and Musica Angelica; has performed at
Oregon Bach and Strawberry Creek Festivals and San Luis Obispo Mozart
Orchestra; active private teacher, chamber music coach and freelance
musician in the Los Angeles area. |
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Larry Livingston
is a distinguished conductor, educator, and administrator, and a highly
respected motivational speaker. The founding Music Director of the Illinois
Chamber Orchestra, Livingston has appeared with the Houston Symphony and in
the Los Angeles Philharmonic Green Umbrella Series. Mr. Livingston has led
the American Youth Symphony Orchestra, the Young Musicians Foundation
Orchestra, the USC Thornton Chamber and Symphony Orchestras in Los Angeles
and the USC Thornton Contemporary Music Ensemble in Berlin.
Mr. Livingston frequently appears with professional, festival, collegiate,
and all-state wind ensembles, bands and orchestras throughout the United
States, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. From 1983 to 2002, he served as
a conductor in the University of Michigan All-State Program at Interlochen,
and has been the Conductor of the Festival Orchestra at Idyllwild Arts since
1989.
During the 2004-2005 season, Mr. Livingston will appear
with the George Enescu Bucharest Philharmonic Orchestra in Romania, tour
Germany with the famed Landes Jugend Orchester, serve as clinician and guest
conductor at the 50th Anniversary College Band Directors National Conference
in Carnegie Hall, lead the New Mexico All-State Orchestra, and return to
conduct the USC Thornton School Symphony Orchestra.
Holding Baccalaureate and Master’s degrees from the
University of Michigan, Mr. Livingston completed Ph.D. coursework in
theoretical studies at the University of California, San Diego. From 1977 to
1982, Mr. Livingston served as Vice President and Music Director of the New
England Conservatory of Music in Boston. Subsequently, he became Dean of the
Shepherd School of Music and Elma Schneider Professor of Music (Conducting)
at Rice University in Houston. From 1986 until 2002, Mr. Livingston served
as Dean of the USC Flora L. Thornton School of Music, where he is currently
Professor of Conducting.
Larry
Livingston is Music Director of Thornton School Orchestras and
Chair of the Department of Instrumental Conducting.
In addition, since 2002, Mr
Livingston has held a seat on the Board of Directors of the Guitar Center. |
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Shalom
Bard, clarinet:Masters
of Music, Performance (University of Southern California, Faculty of Music)
Bachelor of Music, Performance (University of Toronto). Shalom Bard has also
studied with Igal Cohen, Principal Clarinettist of the Haifa Symphony
Orchestra and Joaquin Valdepenas, faculty member of The RCM's Glenn Gould
School and Principal Clarinettist of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Mr.
Bard has held several positions with various ensembles including: Guest
Principal Clarinet, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (2001-2002), Acting
Principal Clarinet, Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra (2001), Substitute Second
Clarinet, National Ballet School of Canada (2001-2001) and Principal
Clarinet, National Academy Orchestra of the Boris Brott Festival (2000). He
has given solo performances with the Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Orchestra,
the St. Lawrence String Quartet, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and the
Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra. Mr. Bard has won several awards including
Finalist at the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra Canadian Concerto Competition
(2000), Winner of the Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Orchestra Competition
(1997) and Recipient of the Chalmers Award, Ontario Council of the Arts
(1996 & 1997). Mr. Bard has been a member of The RCM Community School
faculty since 2004.
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Joseph
Gramley
"Tremendous
vitality,
character, and sophistication"
is how conductor Christoph Eschenbach
describes the playing of multi-percussionist
Joseph Gramley. |
Lauded by the
Cleveland Plain Dealer as "a Heifetz of the marimba," multi-percussionist
Joseph Gramley grew up in Oregon and was named a Presidential Scholar in the
Arts as a high-school senior in 1988. He did his undergraduate work at the
University of Michigan and also attended the Interlochen Arts Academy, the
Tanglewood Institute and Salzburg Mozarteum.
Gramley made
his concerto debut with the Houston Symphony Orchestra after winning their
National Soloist Competition, and made his solo debut at Carnegie Hall's
Weill Recital Hall in 1994. After graduate studies at the Juilliard School
in New York, he performed with the Ethos Percussion Group throughout the U.
S. and Europe.
An invitation
from Yo-Yo Ma in 2000 led Gramley to join Mr. Ma's Silk Road Project. He has
toured with Mr. Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble throughout North America,
Europe and Asia, performing in the world¹s finest concert halls. Along the
way, Gramley has studied percussion styles and instruments from around the
globe, collaborating with internationally-renowned musicians from India,
Iran, China, Japan, Korea and Central Asia.
Gramley's performances as a soloist have garnered critical acclaim and
enthusiasm from emerging composers, percussion aficionados and first-time
concert-goers alike. He is committed to bringing fresh and inventive
compositions to a broad public, and each year he commissions and premieres a
number of new works. His first solo recording, American Deconstruction,
appeared in 2000. His second recording, Global Percussion has just been
released on Towerhill Recordings.
Joseph Gramley is director of
the Juilliard Summer Percussion Seminar, an intensive program for
high-school students held at Lincoln Center in New York City. He also
teaches at Queens College in New York. Gramley performs exclusively on
SABIAN and Black Swamp Percussion instruments.
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Peter Middleton, flute: Professor of
Music, Northern Illinois University where he teaches flute, recording
techniques and acoustics. He has a patent on an electronic tuning device and
has compiled an extensive flute discography. |
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Kenneth
Munday has been principal bassoon of the Los Angeles Chamber
Orchestra since 1975. He has appeared on most of the orchestra's
recordings and has collaborated as a soloist with all of the orchestra's
music directors. In 2003, together with the Los Angeles Chamber
Orchestra, he gave the première of John Steinmetz's Bassoon Concerto,
the result of a joint commission made possible by the orchestra's
Sound Investment programme. He also performed the West Coast
première of Luciano Berio's Sequenza XII for solo bassoon in
2000. Ken Munday has performed with period instrument ensembles
throughout the United States, including Musica Angelica, Santa Fe Pro
Musica, and the Portland Baroque Orchestra. An active studio musician,
he has played on hundreds of film scores and with all the major film
composers of our time. He is a graduate of the California Institute of
the Arts |
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Edith Orloff: piano: has performed
extensively to great acclaim throughout the U.S. and in Europe. She has
concertized with equal success as recitalist, chamber musician, and soloist
with orchestra. Currently the concert coordinator of the Summer Chamber
Music Program at Idyllwild Arts, where she has served on the faculty since
1976. In 1980 she became a member of the Los Angeles based Pacific Trio,
which serves as trio-in-residence for Idyllwild Arts and annually tours the
U.S. and Europe. She maintains a private teaching studio in Houston and
performs frequently as guest artist with the Shepherd School and the Houston
Symphony Chamber Players. She is also a regular guest artist with the
Ensemble Con Brio of Bruchsal, Germany. Ms. Orloff obtained a Masters Degree
from CALARTS where she studied with Earle Voorhies and Cesare Pascarella and
has also worked with Jerome Lowenthal, Reginald Stewart and Rosina Lhevinne.
During the 03–04 season, she has appeared as guest pianist with Camerata
Pacifica of Southern California, with the Rainier Quartet in Seattle, and
also helped to successfully launch the Santa Barbara Chamber Music Festival,
a series featuring works by American composers. She has recorded on the Brio
Classic and Resort Classics labels. |
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Stephen P. Piazza,
conductor: Chair of the Music Department, Los Angeles Pierce College.
Currently bass clarinet with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. Regular
performer with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Long Beach Symphony, and
Los Angeles Pops Orchestra; commercial recordings with Warner Brothers,
Columbia and Fox studios.
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Tomasz
P. Porwol, violin, was born 1974 in Rybnik,
Poland. At the age of five he received his first violin and piano lessons by
his mother. Two years later his first public performances and further
classes followed. Since 1988 Tomasz Porwol is living in Germany.
His violin and chamber music
studies lead him to Valery Klimov, Liviu Casleanu, Thomas Kakuska ( Alban
Berg – Quartet ), Eduard Brunner and the KRONOS – Quartet.
His repertoire reaches from
Baroque to Modern including Jazz. As a duo, Tomasz Porwol and his sister
Alexandra performed in Europe and the U.S.A. and are prizewinners of
international competitions, such as the "XXVII. Concorso Internazionale
Palma d’Oro" and the "VIII. Concorso Internationale Vittoria Caffa Righetti’".
.
From 1999 to 2003 he was,
following an invitation of the "Gesellschaft für Deutsch-Polnische
Zusammenarbeit" (society for a german – polnish cooperation), a constant
interpret at the "VII and VIII Ludwig van Beethoven Festival" and the
"Friedenskonzerte Krzeszów" (peace concerts). He performed at these
festivals among others also with the MILAN – Ensemble, being one of its
founders and its art director.
Tomasz Porwol performed in
Switzerland, France, Italy, Spain, U.S.A. and Germany during festivals like
"Saarbrücker Kammermusiktage", "Musik des XX und XXI Jahrhunderts",
"Bach-Festival Kielce", "Jeunesses Musicales Festival" (Poland), "Sgarabotto
Festival" (Italy),
Records for broadcast companies
in Germany, Poland and Italy show to proof his abilities.
.
Besides his artist’s activities
Thomas Porwol is, together with his wife Arleta Porwol,
also responsible for the organisation and realization of several
cultural projects in Europe. From 2000 to 2003 he was manager of the "Bayreuther
Osterfestival" in Bayreuth / Germany. From 2003 to 2008 he was
festival/orchestra manager of the
Idyllwild Arts Music Festival CA/U.S.A.
As the owner of
"arte gemini - international culture relations"
Tomasz Porwol represents the most exciting artistst from Europe and the
USA.
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Tomasz Porwol plays a violin by
Filippo Fasser.
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Bill Schlitt, percussion: Percussion
instructor Azusa Pacific University, California State Polytechnic
University, Concordia University, University of Redlands, Vanguard
University, Chaffey Community College; timpanist with the Redlands Symphony
Orchestra, principal percussionist with Music Theater of Southern California,
freelance performer and recording artist, including appearances with the Los
Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra; author, clinician and private instructor.
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David Speltz, cello: MA in Mathematics,
University of California. Founding member of the Arriaga Quartet, winners of
the Coleman Competition, and former member of the Gregor Piatigorsky Master
Class at USC. As a member of the ensemble, Musical Offering, he performed at
the Library of Congress, Lincoln Center and throughout the USA and Canada.
He participates regularly in several Los Angeles chamber music series
including Pacific Serenades, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art Bing
Concerts, the South Bay Chamber Music Society and the IMA concerts.
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Francisco
Castillo, oboe,
earned his M.M. in oboe
performance from the University of Southern California and a Bachelor and
Licenciatura in oboe, composition and orchestra conducting from the
University of Costa Rica. He was the winner of the Costa Rica National
prize in composition, 1979, for his orchestral work, TUPACK AMARU. In 1988
the Los Angeles Philharmonic Woodwind Quintet premiered his Woodwind Quintet,
Op.22, No.1. The Pasadena Pops Orchestra premiered his Concerto for
Pasadena, a concerto for full orchestra, commissioned by the Pasadena Arts
Council. Other works premiered by the Pasadena Pops Orchestra include his
Variation on a Theme by Haydn and his Concerto for EVI (Electronic Valve
Instrument) and Orchestra. The Fanfare for a Soccer Championship was
premiered during the celebrations of the 1994 World Cup of soccer, held in
Los Angeles. Casita de Miel, a jazz composition for solo Flute and
Orchestra, was also premiered that year.
Other works recently premiered
are: Suite "El Tonto De Las Adivinanzas" for Orchestra, premiered by the
Redlands Symphony, as well as the cantata: "Eyes of Great Heart"
commissioned by the University of Redlands. Children's Variations for
Woodwind Quintet and String Bass and the Trio for Soprano Sax, Bassoon and
Piano, a commissioned work by the University of Arizona, premiered during
the 1998 International Double Reed Society convention in Phoenix, Arizona.
As an oboist, Francisco was
a prize winner at the 34th Chamber Music Competition in Colmar, France, with
the USC Graduate Woodwind Quintet and also won the first William Criss
Memorial Award at USC in 1985.
Francisco is principal oboist with the Redlands Symphony, California
Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Pasadena Pops Orchestra. Mr. Castillo has
performed with many different orchestras including the San Diego Symphony,
San Diego Opera, Los Angeles Philharmonic, New West Symphony Orchestra,
Pacific Symphony, Long Beach Symphony, Riverside Philharmonic, Burbank
Symphony Orchestra, San Bernardino Orchestra and the Santa Barbara Symphony
Orchestra. Mr. Castillo also works and records for the movie industry and
shows, and has performed on CDs with many different artists. Most recently
Francisco recorded the Concerto for Oboe and Orchestra by Charles Fernandez
with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London, England under the direction
of the composer.
Mr. Castillo's principal
oboe teachers were William Criss, David Weiss, Alan Vogel, David Busch,
Claudio Bondi, Hernan Masis and Barbara Northcutt. Mr. Castillo's principal
composition teachers were Benjamin Gutierrez, Carlos E. Vargas, Daniel
Kesnner and Alberto Ginastera. Mr. Castillo's principal conducting teachers
have included Benjamin Gutierrez, Larry Christensen and Hans Bear.
Mr. Castillo is also the
oboe and chamber music instructor at Redlands University, Pasadena City
College, Pomona College, the Idyllwild Arts Academy and the Los Angeles
County High School for the Arts. He has been recognized as an outstanding
oboe teacher and chamber music clinician. Many of his students have won
major solo and chamber music competitions in the United States, and his
students have also been admitted to the best Universities and Music Schools
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Maria
Schleuning, violin: joined the Dallas Symphony in 1994. She has been
a soloist for the Oregon, Seattle, Columbia (Oregon) and Long Bay (South
Carolina) symphonies and the New Philharmonic of Irving. Since 1993, she has
been a faculty member and performer at the Bowdoin (Maine) Summer Music
Festival. She has also been a coach for the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra
and performs regularly with Voices of Change and Walden Piano Quartet.
Schleuning earned her master’s degree at The Juilliard School. |
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Mitchell Dtuba:
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Amanda Walker, clarinet: MFA, UCLA;
currently principal clarinet of the Los Angeles Mozart Orchestra where she
performed Copland’s Clarinet Concerto on their 1999-2000 series. She has
also performed with the Los Angeles Master Chorale, Pacific Symphony, Long
Beach Symphony, the Royal and Swedish Ballets, the Los Angeles Music Center
Opera Orchestra, and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra for a recording of
Ned Rorem’s works. She has appeared as one of the Los Angeles Mozart
Orchestra’s Chamber Musicians and has also participated in the Bach Camerata
of Santa Barbara, the Henry J. Bruman Summer Chamber Music series and the
Summer Music series at the Getty. She is active in recording for film,
freelances and is also in demand as a teacher. Her training in England was
at the Royal College of Music where she studied with Thea King. Recordings
include Viklarbo’s recent CD release Songs and Romances which can be found
on the Raptoria Caam label and the Mozart and Strauss Serenades with the
California Philharmonic.
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John Walz, cello: Hailed as one of the
outstanding cellists of his generation, John Walz has excited audiences on
three continents. Born in Southern California, he began his studies with
Eleonore Schoenfeld. In 1973, he traveled to Switzerland to study with
Fournier, becoming one of the French master’s finest pupils. He has made
seventeen tours of Europe, playing recitals and concertos in such important
musical centers as London, Zurich, Geneva, Lucerne, Rome, Vienna, Hamburg,
and Oslo. His solo engagements with more that 120 symphony orchestras
throughout the world have included performances of 25 different concertos.
In 1997, he performed the Dvorak Concerto in Prague at the Rudolfinum,
Dvorak’s own hall. This performance was subsequently recorded and released
on Carlton Classics, to great acclaim. Most recently he performed and
recorded Bloch’s Schelomo and the Shostakovich Concerto #1 with JoAnn
Falletta and the Czech National Symphony Orchestra. Equally at home in
chamber music and orchestral playing, he is currently the principal cellist
with the Los Angeles Opera, having previously held that position with the
Long Beach Symphony for twenty years. As a chamber music artist, he has
played with such luminaries as Leonard Pennario, Andre-Michel Schub, Mona
Golabek, Nathan Milstein, Jean-Pierre Rampal and Pierre Fournier. In 1979,
John Walz was a founding member of the Pacific Trio. This renowned ensemble,
which consists of violinist Roger Wilkie, and pianist and co-founder Edith
Orloff, has played more than 900 concerts throughout North America and
Europe. He also performs regularly with the Santa Barbara based Camerata
Pacifica, a celebrated chamber music ensemble made up of Southern
California’s finest musicians. In addition, Mr. Walz is currently on the
faculty of the Idyllwild Arts Academy. Future engagements include a debut
with the Phillipine Philharmonic in Manila, and the release of a new CD by
the Pacific Trio, featuring Beethoven’s Triple Concerto and Archduke Trio.
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Christoph Wyneken
studied at the conservatories in
Berlin, Detmold and Austin, Texas (U.S.A.). It is
especially his work with Andor Toth (Galamian school) and George Neikrug (Dounis
school) that had a decisively formative influence on him.
His work
as the concertmaster of the Radio-Sinfonieorchester Berlin was followed by
further experience with the Berlin Philharmonic and the position of
principal concertmaster of the NDR Radio-Orchestra in Hanover, Germany.
In
addition to his work in orchestras, his well-rounded performing career has
included numerous recordings for radio broadcast, solo concerts and
concert tours in Germany and abroad with the Berlin String Trio, the
Waldstein Piano Trio and the Orfeo-Chamber Soloists.
As a
conductor, Christoph Wyneken has made appearances in all of Europe, in the
various countries of North and South American, in Africa, Japan, Korea,
and in the GUS countries. His collaboration with the NDR-Orchestra Hanover,
the Stuttgart Philharmonic Orchestra, the Silesian Philharmonic in
Kattowitz, Poland, as well as with Soloists such as Tabea Zimmermann,
Claudio Bohorquez and Aaron Rosand is well documented on numerous
recordings.
His vast
knowledge in his field combined with his experience as soloist and first
concertmaster have made him a highly sought-after conductor for renowned
professional orchestras as well as for first class youth orchestras.
Wynekens' big experience combines with an extraordinary sensitivity for
teaching, providing a significant opportunity for personal and musical
growth for many young musicians who attend his master-classes. Many of
Wyneken’s former students play in renowned orchestras or study at
distinguished conserva- tories such as the Curtis Institute in
Philadelphia and the Musikakademie in Vienna.
Every
year, the state music council of Baden-Württemberg offers chamber music
courses, in collaboration with Christoph Wyneken and Prof. H.-C.Schweiker,
in Weikersheim, Germany; music students are confronted with
interdisciplinary problems such as interpretation and ensemble playing,
but also analysis of posture at the instrument, and bow and left hand
technique combined with training for a conscious awareness of movements.
Knowledge of and extensive experience with the correction of physical
processes in instrumental instruction, and as part of the musical whole,
play an important role for Wyneken.
Another
of Christoph Wyneken’s goals is the instruction and support of
extraordinarily gifted young musicians not yet at the conservatory or
university level. The stage for his engagement in this area is provided by
the State Youth Orchestra (Landesjugendorchester) of
Baden-Württemberg. The magnificent results of the orchestra, of which
Wyneken has been the artistic director since it’s founding over 30 years
ago, have been documented by numerous CDs and radio broadcast recordings.
In addition, he works regularly with the musical talent of
tomorrow. Many of his students and the chamber music groups he has coached
have received first prizes at the national level of the German youth music
competition, Jugend Musiziert.
Since 1991, Christoph Wyneken has been an instructor for
chamber music at the conservatory in Freiburg and is now also a guest
professor at the “Musachino” conservatory in Tokyo, Japan. Wyneken directs
concert projects there for the conservatory orchestra, which are followed
by concert tours through the musical centers of Japan
In 2003,
Wyneken’s tireless commitment to the training and support of talented
youth and his engagement as the director of the Youth Orchestra of
Baden-Württemberg, which he has conducted for over 30 years, were honored
by the German president, Johannes Rau, with the Bundesverdienstkreuz
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Alexandra
Zacharella, trombone:
a Doctoral student in Trombone Performance and a Teaching Assistant in the
Music Education and Wind Ensemble departments at The Thornton School of
Music, University of Southern California. Ms. Zacharella was previously
Director of Bands at L’Anse Creuse Middle School-Central in Harrison
Township, MI. Ms. Zacharella holds Bachelor’s degrees in Trombone
Performance and Music Education from The Hartt School, The University of
Hartford and a Masters degree in Trombone Performance from The University
of Michigan. While at Michigan, she recorded with The University Symphony
Orchestra for the Milken Archive of American Jewish Music and was one of
three featured trombone soloists to premiere Michael Daugherty’s Rosa
Parks Boulevard under the direction of H. Robert Reynolds. A work that
Ms. Zacharella recently performed with the Idyllwild Festival Wind
Ensemble in 2006 at the Walt Disney Concert Hall. From 2001-2004, Ms.
Zacharella was Trombone coach for The University of Michigan All Sate
Program at Interlochen. In 2005 after having been a recent alumnus Ms.
Zacharella joined the faculty of the Idyllwild Music Festival as Festival
Wind Ensemble Trombone Coach. In addition to freelancing in the Los
Angeles area Ms. Zacharella is a Wind Ensemble Clinician for the Idyllwild
Arts Foundation. |
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Yao Zhao, cello: formerly principal cellist
of USC Symphony, the American Youth Symphony, and the Debut Symphony
Orchestra. Guest soloist with the Downey Symphony, the Marina Del-Rey
Westchester Symphony, the Peninsula Symphony, the Debut Symphony
Orchestra, and the Pacific Symphony Orchestra. He has received the
Piatigorsky Cello Scholarship and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Fellowship
for Excellence in Diversity. Currently, he is a member of the San Diego
Symphony Orchestra.
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