Violinist Felicity James served as Associate Concertmaster of the Minnesota Orchestra from 2018-2022, and has previously served as concertmaster of the Verbier Festival Orchestra, the Colburn Orchestra, and the Aspen Philharmonic Orchestra.
View BioApplauded by The Strad for her “fiery virtuosity” and “consummate performances,” violinist YooJin Jang is a winner of the 2017 Concert Artists Guild Competition and First Prize winner of the 2016 Sendai International Music Competition.
View BioTimothy Lees, violinist, enjoys an exciting and eclectic career as Concertmaster of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician. Since his arrival in Cincinnati as Concertmaster in 1998, Mr. Lees has also been appointed as an esteemed member of the violin faculty of the University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music
View BioPraised by the Washington Post for her “temperament and clear musical purpose” and “great technical maturity,” Stefani Matsuo has emerged as one of today’s great talents. She was appointed by Maestro Louis Langrée as Concertmaster of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in September 2019.
View BioRictor Noren teaches violin, viola, chamber music, string fundamentals, and string pedagogy at the Boston Conservatory. He also teaches at New England Conservatory’s Preparatory School, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard University, the Prelude Music Academy, and the New World Symphony.
View BioWon-Bin Yim has served as concert master of the Wichita Symphony Orchestra and Reno Philharmonic, and he was first violinist of the Fairmount String Quartet and violinist of the Argenta Trio. Yim is an associate professor of violin at CCM where he received the Glover Award for the Excellence in Teaching, and during the summer, he teaches at the Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival in Vermont and at the Aria International Summer Academy in Massachusetts.
View BioHailed by critics as a “superior poet” (Vancouver Sun) and praised for his “heart and indomitable will” (Gramophone), Grigory Kalinovsky has performed at some of the world’s major venues, from all three stages of Carnegie Hall in New York to Musikhalle Grosser Saal in Hamburg.
View BioCho-Liang Lin was born in Taiwan. A neighbor’s violin studies convinced this 5-year old boy to do the same. At the age twelve, he moved to Sydney to further his studies with Robert Pikler, a student of Jenő Hubay. After playing for Itzhak Perlman in a master class, the 13-year old boy decided that he must study with Mr. Perlman’s teacher, Dorothy DeLay.
View BioIcelandic violinist Sibbi Bernhardsson joined the Oberlin Conservatory faculty in 2017 after performing for the previous 17 years with the Pacifica Quartet, with which he won a Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance, Musical America Ensemble of the Year honors, and the Avery Fisher Career Grant.
View BioViolinist Judith Ingolfsson is recognized for her intense, commanding performances, uncompromising musical maturity, and charismatic performance style. Based in Berlin and Baltimore and enjoying a global career, she performs regularly as soloist, chamber musician and in recital as the Duo Ingolfsson-Stoupel, founded in 2006.
View BioRictor Noren teaches violin, viola, chamber music, string fundamentals, and string pedagogy at the Boston Conservatory. He also teaches at New England Conservatory’s Preparatory School, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard University, the Prelude Music Academy, and the New World Symphony.
View BioRebecca Barnes is a member of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra viola section and faculty member at the University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music.
View BioCatharine Carroll Lees, viola, maintains an active career as recitalist, chamber musician, teacher and pedagogue. Professor of Viola at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music where she also serves as Chairman of the String Department, Dr. Lees is a member of the Artist/Faculty of the Aspen Music Festival and School where she serves as Principal Violist of the Aspen Chamber Symphony.
View BioPraised for his “burnished sound” (The New York Times) and described as an “electrifying, poetic, and sensitive musician,” the Grammy Award-winning, Japanese-Norwegian violist Masumi Per Rostad hails from the gritty East Village of 1980s New York.
View BioScott Lee has established himself as one of the most exciting and unique violists. His Performances as soloist and chamber musician garner great attention. New York Times described his playing as “flawless technical resources combines them with an assured sense of musicianship, a remarkable and auspicious talent.” Also, hailed as “the superstar of his generation” by the String Magazine.
View BioAlan Rafferty is rapidly gaining recognition as a preeminent cellist and master teacher. In demand as a clinician around the world, Mr. Rafferty has presented Master Classes at numerous schools
View BioCo-head of the cello department at the Cleveland Institute of Music, Dr. Melissa Kraut is recognized as one of the leading pedagogues of her generation. Having developed and trained some of the outstanding young musicians of today, Dr. Kraut has demonstrated a unique ability to teach all ages and stages of dedicated students, helping them reach their highest potential both at and away from the cello.
View BioDr. Sarah Kim, leads a vibrant and diverse career as performer, educator, and arts administrator. She is an acclaimed instructor who was named the 2016 Ohio String Teachers Association Studio Teacher of the Year and recipient a 2015 Cincinnati Arts Association Overture Educator Award.
View BioWinner of top prizes at the M.K Čiurlionis International Piano Competition, the Cleveland International Piano among others, Israeli-American Pianist Dror Biran has been described by The Cleveland Plain Dealer as “his fortissimos crashed and roared, but next to them came pianissimos that whispered seductively…he has technique to burn and uses it effectively.”
View BioPianist Michael Chertock has fashioned a successful career as an orchestral soloist, collaborating with conductors such as James Conlon, Jaime Laredo, Keith Lockhart, Erich Kunzel and Andrew Litton. His many orchestral appearances include solo performances with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Atlanta Symphony, the Dallas Symphony, l’Orchestre Symphonique du Montreal, the Toronto Symphony, the Baltimore Symphony, the Detroit Symphony, the Chattanooga Symphony, the Indianapolis Symphony and the Cincinnati Symphony.
View BioPianist Sandra Rivers enjoys a reputation today as one of the foremost performing artists of her generation. She has concertized throughout the world and has appeared at the Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center, Tanglewood, Aspen, the Schleswig-Holstein festival, the Kennedy Center and on the Great Performers Series at Lincoln Center.
View BioVladimir Stoupel is an individualist with an extraordinarily rich tonal and emotional palette. The Washington Post praised his “protean range of expression” and Der Tagesspiegel Berlin described his performance as “enthralling and atmospherically dense.”
View BioCurrently 1st Assistant Concertmaster of the Cincinnati Symphony, Philip Marten joined the Kansas City Symphony in 2016 as a member of the first violin section, and served as Acting Assistant Concertmaster in 2017.
View BioTom Stone was a founding member of the Cypress String Quartet and performed thousands of concerts throughout North America, Europe, Asia and Latin America.
View BioViolinist Harvey Thurmer enjoys a varied career as a soloist, concertmaster, chamber musician and pedagogue.
View BioThe Miró Quartet is one of America’s most celebrated and dedicated string quartets, having been labeled by The New Yorker as “furiously committed” and noted by the Cleveland Plain Dealer for its “exceptional tonal focus and interpretive intensity.”
View BioIcelandic violinist Sibbi Bernhardsson joined the Oberlin Conservatory faculty in 2017 after performing for the previous 17 years with the Pacifica Quartet, with which he won a Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance, Musical America Ensemble of the Year honors, and the Avery Fisher Career Grant.
View BioTaiwanese pianist Ming-Li Liu is active in solo performance, collaborative piano, and chamber music.
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