Artists & Ensembles

The Balourdet Quartet (string quartet) (Angela Bae and Justin DeFilippis, violins; Benjamin Zannoni, viola; Russell Houston, cello) was formed in 2018 and is currently in residence at New England Conservatory. The group received the Grand Prize at the 2021 Concert Artists Guild Victor Elmaleh Competition, the top prize awarded in the 2021 Premio Paolo Borciani, the Gold Medal in the 2020 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, the Gold Medal and Audience Award at the 2021 Chamber Music Yellow Springs Competition, and Chamber Music America’s 2021 Classical Commissioning Grant. The quartet gets its name from Antoine Balourdet, chef extraordinaire at the Hotel St. Bernard.

Richard Belcher (cello) joined the SPCO in 2019 after a 20-year career as founding cellist of the Grammy-nominated Enso String Quartet. Born in New Zealand, Richard is the Artistic Director of Music on the Hill in Mankato, Minnesota, and since 2008 has been Principal Cellist of River Oaks Chamber Orchestra in Houston, Texas. He has taught and performed at many festivals including St. Bart’s, Festival d’Aix en Provence, Prussia Cove, Madeline Island, Campos do Jordao International Winter Festival, SummerFest La Jolla, and the San Miguel de Allende International Chamber Music Festival.

Nick Cassarino (guitar/vocals) has shared the stage, studio, or playbill with such renowned musicians as Allison Krauss, Yo-Yo Ma, Wynton Marsalis, Joe Lovano, John Faddis, Michael Ray, Bob Gullotti, Trey Anastasio, Page McConnell, and Mike Gordon, among many others. As bandleader or sideman, he has worked at venues including Carnegie Hall, The Blue Note, Le Passion Rouge, Jacob Javitz Center, and Sullivan Hall in New York City, and also The Venetian Hotel in Macau, China. A Vermont native, Mr. Cassarino twice headlined the Burlington Discover Jazz Festival.

Choong-Jin (C.J.) Chang (viola) became principal viola of The Philadelphia Orchestra in 2006 after having joined the Orchestra in 1994. He made his performance debut as a 12-year-old violinist with the Seoul Philharmonic as winner of the grand prize in Korea’s Yook Young National Competition. Mr. Chang made his solo debut recital at Carnegie Hall in 2007 and since then has appeared in numerous recitals in the United States and South Korea. As a chamber musician, he performs with the world’s great musicians at festivals throughout the United States and Asia. He is a founding member of the Johannes Quartet.

Seong-Jin Cho (piano) was the youngest-ever winner of Japan’s Hamamatsu International Piano Competition and took Third Prize at Moscow’s Tchaikovsky Competition in 2011. He won First Prize at the Chopin International Competition in Warsaw in 2015 and signed an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon the following year. An active recitalist, he has also collaborated with conductors Esa-Pekka Salonen, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Yuri Temirkanov, and Leonard Slatkin, among others. His 2017 Carnegie Hall main stage concert sold out. Deutsche Grammophon recently released his recording of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 20 with Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducting the Chamber Orchestra of Europe.

Danish String Quartet (Frederik Øland and Rune Tonsgaard Sørensen, violins; Asbjørn Nørgaard, viola; Fredrik Schøyen Sjölin, cello) is known for its performances of classical music as well as its own renditions of traditional Nordic folk music. The recipient of many awards and prestigious appointments, including Musical America’s 2020 Ensemble of the Year and the Borletti-Buitoni Trust, the Quartet was named in 2013 as BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists and as members of The Bowers Program. Its Bravo! Vail appearance is part of Doppelgänger, a four-year international commissioning project pairing world premieres of new works with the chamber music of Schubert.

George Daugherty (conductor) has appeared with more than 125 of the world’s leading orchestras, ballet companies, opera houses, and concert artists over his 40-year career. Daugherty is also an award-winning creator with credits as director, writer, and producer for television, film, theater, and unique concerts. He received a Primetime Emmy as executive producer of ABC’s animation and live-action production of Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf, which he also directed, wrote, and conducted, and for which he was also nominated for Outstanding Music Direction. Mr. Daugherty created the Bugs Bunny symphonic concert legacy in 1990, which has since played to millions of people worldwide.

Stéphane Denève (conductor) is well known to Bravo! Vail audiences from his many appearances as Principal Guest Conductor of The Philadelphia Orchestra (2014-2020). He is Music Director of both the St. Louis Symphony and the Brussels Philharmonic, where he also directs the Centre for Future Orchestral Repertoire. He was recently appointed Principal Guest Conductor of The Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra. Prior posts include Chief Conductor of the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra and Music Director of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. He has a special affinity for music of his native France and is a passionate advocate of 21st century music.

Dover Quartet (string quartet), named one of the greatest string quartets of the last 100 years by BBC Music Magazine, has been honored with the Avery Fisher Career Grant, Chamber Music America’s Cleveland Quartet Award, and Lincoln Center’s Hunt Family Award. In addition to its faculty role as the Ensemble in Residence at the Curtis Institute of Music, the Quartet (comprising Joel Link, Bryan Lee, Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt, and Camden Shaw) holds residencies with the Kennedy Center, Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University, Artosphere, and the Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival. Its recording of The Schumann Quartets for Azica Records was nominated for a 2020 Grammy Award.

Xavier Foley (double bass and composer) was recently recognized on New York WQXR’s “19 for 19” Artists to Watch list. Winner of a prestigious 2018 Avery Fisher Career Grant, Mr. Foley won the 2016 Young Concert Artists International Auditions and a Paiko Foundation Fellowship and First Prizes at Astral’s 2014 National Auditions, Sphinx’s 2014 Competition, and the 2011 International Society of Bassists Competition. As concerto soloist, he has performed with the Atlanta Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Nashville Symphony, Sphinx Symphony, and Sphinx Virtuosi at Carnegie Hall. His work “For Justice and Peace” was co-commissioned by Carnegie Hall and the Sphinx Organization.

Zlatomir Fung (cello) was the first American in four decades, and youngest musician ever, to win First Prize at the International Tchaikovsky Competition Cello Division. Mr. Fung was a winner of the 2022 Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship, 2017 Young Concert Artists International Auditions, and the 2017 Astral National Auditions, among other top prizes. Recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant in 2020, he has been featured on National Public Radio’s Performance Today and has appeared on From the Top six times.

Avery Gagliano (piano) gained international attention as the First Prize and Best Concerto Prize winner of the 2020 10th National Chopin Piano Competition and as the only American semifinalist at the 18th International Chopin Competition in 2021. She is an alumna of the Verbier Festival & Academy and the Lang Lang International Music Foundation’s Young Scholars Program, a four-year winner of the US Chopin Foundation Scholarship, and has made several appearances on National Public Radio’s (NPR) From The Top. Ms. Gagliano recently made her Carnegie Hall debut and released her debut album, “Reflections.”

Kirill Gerstein (piano) is a multifaceted artist whose early experience in jazz continues to influence his career. Recent highlights include Mozart with Camerata Salzburg, both of Ravel’s Piano Concertos with City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra; and all five Beethoven Piano Concertos over two nights with the Grand Rapids Symphony. His decades-long relationship with composer Thomas Adès has resulted in two recordings which have garnered a 2021 International Classical Music Award, a 2020 Gramophone Award, and three Grammy Award nominations. In 2010, Mr. Gerstein received both the Gilmore Artist Award and an Avery Fisher Grant.

Ryan Speedo Green (bass) opened the Metropolitan Opera’s 2021/22 season in Terrence Blanchard’s Fire Shut up in my Bones and reprised his Grammy Award winning role of Jake in Porgy and Bess. He was also one of the 2021 recipients of the Met’s prestigious Beverly Sills Award. Orchestral appearances include the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at the Ravinia Festival. Mr. Green is the subject of the bestselling book “Sing for Your Life,” based on his journey from trailer park to international acclaim.

Chester Gregory (vocalist) is an American actor, singer, and songwriter from Gary, Indiana. He was last seen starring in the Broadway production of Motown The Musical as Berry Gordy. Additional Broadway credits include Hairspray, Tarzan, Cry-Baby, and Sister Act. Other credits include August Wilson’s Fences and Two Trains Running. He has toured nationally with Dreamgirls and Sister Act, as well as his one-man show The Eve of Jackie Wilson. Mr. Gregory is the recipient of the Joseph Jefferson Award and a NAACP Theatre Award and has been chosen as an Honorary State Representative of Indiana.

Hélène Grimaud (piano) was born in Aix-en-Provence, France, and began her musical studies at a local school before being accepted into the Paris Conservatoire at age 13. In addition to being a concert pianist, she has published three semi-autobiographical novels and is an active member of Musicians for Human Rights, a worldwide network of musicians that promotes a culture of human rights and social change. Her recordings have been critically acclaimed and awarded numerous accolades, among them the Cannes Classical Recording of the Year, Choc du Monde de la musique, Diapason d’or, Grand Prix du disque, and the Echo Klassik Award.

Myra Huang (piano) is highly sought after for her interpretation of lieder and art song. An avid recitalist and recording artist, her recordings have received critical acclaim from the New York Times, Gramophone UK, Opera News, and The Boston Globe. Her recent album Gods and Monsters with tenor Nicholas Phan was nominated for the “Best Classical Vocal Solo Album” category at the 2018 Grammy Awards. She is a part of the coaching staff in The Metropolitan Opera Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, as well as The Atkins Program at The Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Stefan Jackiw (violin) has appeared as soloist with the Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, New York, Philadelphia, and San Francisco symphony orchestras, among others. Highlights of the past season include the premiere of a new violin concerto by Conrad Tao with the Atlanta and the Baltimore Symphonies and appearances with Orchestre National de Lyon and NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra. Jackiw tours frequently with his musical partners, Conrad Tao on piano and cellist Jay Campbell, as part of the Junction Trio. He also collaborates regularly with pianist Jeremy Denk with whom he has performed complete Ives Violin Sonatas.

James Keller (program annotator) recently completed his 22nd season as program annotator of the San Francisco Symphony. He is the author of Chamber Music: A Listener’s Guide (Oxford University Press) and has contributed chapters to books including American Mavericks, George Crumb and the Alchemy of Sound, and Leonard Bernstein, American Original. In demand as a lecturer and interviewer, he was formerly program annotator of the New York Philharmonic, a writer-editor at The New Yorker, and critic-at-large for the Santa Fe New Mexican. He has curated major museum exhibitions in California and New Mexico about historical popular music relating to those states.

Brian Killeen (bass) is based in New York City and has enjoyed performing with many inspiring artists. Some of his favorite musical situations have included sharing stages with Chuck Loeb, Jarle Bernhoft, Liz Longley, A Great Big World, and Joe Sumner, as well as various on and off-Broadway theatrical productions. He is thrilled to be a part of Revolution: The Music of The Beatles.

Bomsori Kim (violin) has won prizes at 10 international violin competitions, including Tchaikovsky, Queen Elisabeth, ARD, Sibelius, Montreal, Sendai, Wieniawski, Joachim, China, and Schoenfeld, as well as the 2018 Young Artist Award from the Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and the Korean Music Association’s 2019 Young Artist Award. She was the Focus Artist of the Rheingau Musik Festival 2021, with a nine-concert residency. Recent highlights include all five Mozart violin concertos with the Camerata Salzburg, Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto with Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and Bach with Vasily Petrenko and Tenebrae Choir.

David Kim (violin) was named concertmaster of The Philadelphia Orchestra in 1999. Born in Carbondale, Illinois, in 1963, he started playing the violin at the age of three, began studies with the famous pedagogue Dorothy DeLay at the age of eight, and later received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Juilliard School. In addition to regular solo appearances with the orchestra, Mr. Kim is in demand as a teacher and coach and enjoys annual guest appearances with the modern hymn writers Keith and Kristyn Getty. Mr. Kim is also well known by Bravo! Vail audiences for his love of golf and the outdoors.

Eunice Kim (violin) made her solo debut at the age of seven with the Korean Broadcasting Symphony Orchestra, has played for the United Nations and the American Academy in Berlin, and has appeared multiple times at the Kennedy Center on the Millennium Stage Series. The young violinist has been featured soloist with orchestras including The Philadelphia Orchestra, Louisville Symphony, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, and the Albany Symphony Orchestra, with which she recorded George Tsontakis' Unforgettable, released in 2017 on Naxos Records. Ms. Kim was the recipient of the Rose Paul Fellowship at the Curtis Institute and was awarded the prestigious Milka Violin Artist Prize upon graduation.

Kyu Young Kim (violin) is artistic director and principal violin of The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and one of the most versatile and accomplished musicians of his generation. His appointment as the SPCO’s Artistic Director in January 2016 marks the first time a playing member has been tapped to take the artistic helm of a major American orchestra. Since assuming his dual role in 2013, the SPCO has toured throughout the U.S. and to Europe to great critical acclaim. It also won a Grammy Award in 2018 for its recording of Schubert’s Death and the Maiden.

Priscilla Lee (cello) joined The Philadelphia Orchestra as assistant principal cello at the start of the 2016/17 season. A 2005 Avery Fisher Career Grant recipient, she began studying at the age of five and made her solo debut in 1998 with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. A native of California, she studied with Ronald Leonard at the Colburn School of Performing Arts and in 1998 went on to the Curtis Institute of Music to study with David Soyer. In 2005 she received a Master of Music degree from the Mannes College of Music, where she studied with Timothy Eddy.

Isabel Leonard (mezzo-soprano) is a multiple Grammy Award-winning mezzo-soprano with repertoire that spans from Vivaldi to Mozart to Nico Muhly. Recent season highlights include debuts at Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Dutch National Opera, Cincinnati Opera, and The Glimmerglass Festival, as well as performing L’enfant et les sortilèges with the The Philadelphia Orchestra and Cincinnati Symphony, Shéhérazade with the New York Philharmonic and Detroit Symphony Orchestra, and La damnation de Faust with the Saint Louis Symphony. Ms. Leonard is a recipient of the Richard Tucker Award and serves on the Board of Trustees at Carnegie Hall.

Paul Loren (vocalist) is a singer, songwriter, producer, and entertainer. A native New Yorker, Mr. Loren was raised on the rich legacy of soul, classic pop, and the Great American Songbook. He completed his first headline tour this year and has performed as a support artist on national tours for Brendan James, The Temptations, as part of Stamford’s Summer Concert Series “Wednesday Night Live,” and has sold out Joe’s Pub at the Public in New York City multiple times. Mr. Loren’s upcoming album is being recorded at his “Five & Dime” studio in Brooklyn on old magnetic tape machines.

Darren Lorenzo (vocalist) is a veteran performer, hailing straight from Atlanta, Georgia. He trained with Broadway Theater Project at the University of South Florida and with Theater Emory of Emory University. He has performed in national and international touring productions of Legally Blonde, Saturday Night Fever, Smokey Joe’s Cafe, and Once on This Island, as well as several gospel tours throughout Europe. In addition to acting and singing, he also works as a writer, producer, teacher, and director.

Daniel Lozakovich (violin) was born in Stockholm in 2001, began playing the violin when he was almost seven, and made his solo debut two years later with the Moscow Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra. He signed an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon in June 2016, soon after his 15th birthday. His many accolades include first prize at the 2016 Vladimir Spivakov International Violin Competition, the Excelentia Prize, awarded to him under the honorary presidency of Queen Sofia of Spain, and “Young Artist of the Year” at the 2017 Festival of the Nations. Recent highlights include his New York debut at the Mostly Mozart Festival with Louis Langrée and tours to Japan and Asia.

Fabio Luisi (conductor) Grammy-winning conductor Fabio Luisi launched his tenure as Louise W. & Edmund J. Kahn Music Director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra in the 2020/21 season. Also serving as Principal Conductor of the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, he assumes the role of Chief Conductor of Japan’s NHK Symphony Orchestra in September 2022. Luisi’s DSO tenure has already been marked by remarkable artistic growth, and, during the 2021/22 concert season, he and the orchestra continued their exploration of American music, launched a Brahms symphonic cycle recording project, and presented a full opera-in-concert.

Michael Lynche (vocalist) garnered attention during his stint on the ninth season of American Idol, where he rose from obscurity to finalist. Since performing throughout the United States as part of the American Idol LIVE! Tour, “Big Mike” has released two studio albums; toured as an opening act for Boyz II Men, Lalah Hathaway, Faith Evans, and Lyfe Jennings; and recently took his show overseas for the first time to headline a tour of the Mediterranean.

Anne-Marie McDermott (piano) has been Artistic Director of Bravo! Vail since 2011. She enjoys performing, recording, commissioning, and planning an awe-inspiring variety of music. She is currently working on recording the complete Mozart Concertos with the Odense Symphony in Denmark for release on Bridge Records and is looking forward this summer to premiering a new concerto by Chris Rogerson, commissioned for her by the Bravo! Vail Music Festival in honor of her 10th anniversary. A highly sought-after chamber musician, she regularly performs with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, where she has been a member since 1995.

Maureen McKay (soprano) has recently been featured in several roles with The Metropolitan Opera, singing Echo in Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos and serving as the cover for Pamina in The Magic Flute, and Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro. Recent concert performances include Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 with The Cleveland Orchestra, Mozart’s Requiem and Debussy’s La damoiselle élue with the Utah Symphony, Carmina Burana with the National Symphony Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, and Utah Symphony, and Louis Andriessen’s The New Math(s) with the Seattle Chamber Players. Ms. McKay is a former member of Seattle Opera’s Young Artists Program and was a Filene Young Artist with Wolf Trap Opera Company.

Cynthia Meng (keyboard) is a New York-based music director, vocalist, and pianist who frequently works in theater, and also performs regularly as a session keyboardist and singer in the live music circuit. Ms. Meng is a member of the music team for the Tony- and Grammy-winning production of Anaïs Mitchell’s Hadestown, has played keyboard for the Radio City Christmas Spectacular, and currently plays keyboard in the Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Company starring Katrina Lenk and Patti LuPone.

Edgar Meyer (double bass) works in the traditions of classical, bluegrass, newgrass, and jazz as both performer and composer. In 1994 he became the only bassist to win the Avery Fisher Career Grant and in 2000, the only bassist to receive the Avery Fisher Prize. His uniqueness in the field was recognized by a MacArthur Award in 2002. A five-time Grammy Award winner, his collaborators have spanned a wide range of musical styles and talents; among them are Joshua Bell, Hilary Hahn, Yo-Yo Ma, Béla Fleck, Zakir Hussain, Sam Bush, Chris Thile, Mark O’Connor, Christian McBride, and Emanuel Ax.

Siena Licht Miller (mezzo soprano) has been featured as a soloist with the Oregon, Grant Park (Chicago), Columbus, and Charlotte Symphonies in repertoire from Beethoven to Britten. Operatic highlights include role debuts with Opera Philadelphia as Hermia in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Zweite Dame in Die Zauberflöte. Ms. Miller has received awards from the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, the Marilyn Horne Rubin Foundation, and the Gerda Lissner Foundation.

Dara Morales (violin) joined The Philadelphia Orchestra as assistant principal second violin at the start of the 2007/08 season. She came to the Orchestra from the Utah Symphony and Opera, where she served as principal second violin. She has previously held the positions of principal second violin and interim associate concertmaster of the Puerto Rico Symphony and concertmaster of the Northern Kentucky Symphony. As soloist Ms. Morales has performed with the Utah Symphony, the Cincinnati Symphony, the Puerto Rico Symphony, the Bangor Symphony, and the Lancaster Symphony, among others.

Ricardo Morales (clarinet), a native of San Juan, joined The Philadelphia Orchestra as principal clarinet in 2003 and made his solo debut with the Orchestra in 2004. Previously he was principal clarinet of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, with which he soloed at Carnegie Hall. With the U.S. Marine Band, he recorded Jonathan Leshnoff’s Clarinet Concerto, commissioned for him by The Philadelphia Orchestra. His recent recordings include a performance with the Pacifica Quartet, which was nominated for a Latin Grammy Award. He also performs as principal clarinet with the Saito Kinen Festival Orchestra and the Mito Chamber Orchestra, at the invitation of Maestro Seiji Ozawa.

Maureen Nelson (violin) became a full-time member of The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra in 2016. As former founding member and first violinist, she led the Grammy-nominated Enso String Quartet for nearly two decades, making numerous critically acclaimed recordings on the Naxos label. A native of Pennsylvania, Maureen was enrolled in Temple University's Center for Gifted Young Musicians at the age of 12, and began attending the Curtis Institute of Music shortly thereafter. She was concertmaster of the Detmolder Kammerochester and has been a member of the Houstonbased River Oaks Chamber Orchestra since 2010.

Emmett O’Hanlon (baritone) recently made his house debut with Irish National Opera as Simon in Donnacha Dennehy and Edna Walsh’s The First Child, presented as part of the Dublin Theatre Festival. The Irish-American vocalist has performed in concert in Scenes from a New York Stage at the Blue Building in Manhattan and Unanswered Questions: A Leonard Bernstein Journey with the New World Symphony, and in recital at Opera Birmingham and with Sun Valley Opera. Mr. O’Hanlon was a finalist in both the 2017 Operalia competition and the south regional finals of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.

Nicholas Phan (tenor) performs regularly with the world’s leading orchestras and opera companies. Also an avid recitalist, in 2010 he co-founded the Collaborative Arts Institute of Chicago (CAIC) to promote art song and vocal chamber music. In addition to his work as artistic director of CAIC, he also has served as guest curator for projects with the Laguna Beach Music Festival, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Merola Opera program, WQXR, and San Francisco Performances, where he served as the vocal artist-in-residence from 2014 to 2018. Mr. Phan’s most recent album, Clairières, was nominated for the 2020 Grammy Award for Best Classical Solo Vocal Album.

Susanna Phillips (soprano), recipient of The Metropolitan Opera’s 2010 Beverly Sills Artist Award, is a singing actor and recitalist, and co-founder of Twickenham Fest, a chamber music festival in her native Huntsville, Alabama. Known for her sparkling portrayal of Musetta in La bohème, Ms. Phillips has sung at the Metropolitan Opera for 12 consecutive seasons. In 2005 she won four of the world’s leading vocal competitions: Operalia (both First Place and the Audience Prize), the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, the MacAllister Awards, and the George London Foundation Awards Competition.

Shubh Saran (guitar) is a New York-based Indian guitarist and composer who has performed extensively throughout the United States, India, Canada, Bangladesh, Vietnam and Mexico. In his compositions and performances, he has crafted a unique style that blends the sounds of classical and contemporary Indian music with blues, jazz, funk and neo soul. Mr. Saran has performed alongside many renowned artists in the American and Indian music industries including OMI, American Idol’s Michael Lynche, A.R Rahman, Clinton Cerejo, Prasanna, and Mohini Dey.

Jordan Rose (drums) A native of Houston, Texas, drummer Jordan Rose has performed at festivals and venues throughout the US, Canada, Europe, Mexico, Asia, and the Middle East. From 2012-2014 Jordan toured extensively with multi-Grammy Award winner Joe Louis Walker. He now resides in Brooklyn, New York where he’s had opportunities to collaborate with Charlie Puth, Jeff Coffin, Nona Hendryx, Bakithi Kumalo, Louis Cato, and many others. Recently, he has toured with Theo Katzman and Corey Wong of Vulfpeck, The Blues Brothers, and Caleb Hawley.

David Rozelle (Retired Army Colonel) served 26 years as an Armor/Cavalry Officer in the U.S. Army. David served in leadership positions from tank platoon leader to combined arms battalion command and completed four combat deployments. He served three tours in Iraq, twice as a Military Amputee where he lost his right leg below the knee to a land-mine in June of 2003. He most recently deployed for a year to Afghanistan and served as a Colonel on the Resolute Support staff in Kabul. In March of 2021, David retired from the Army out of Fort Jackson, South Carolina, and is now working for the State of South Carolina Department of Veterans’ Affairs as the Director of Operations. Since 2004, David has been an active Vail Veterans program board member and spokesperson.

Issachah Savage (tenor) swept the boards at Seattle’s International Wagner Competition in 2014, taking First Prize, Audience Prize and Orchestra Favorite award. Formerly a member of San Francisco Opera’s prestigious Merola Program, recent operatic milestones include his debut as Bacchus in Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos at Seattle Opera and his Metropolitan Opera debut as Don Riccardo in Verdi’s Ernani. Mr. Savage’s varied concert repertoire includes mainstay works such as Beethoven Symphony No. 9, Verdi’s Messa da Requiem and Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde alongside lessfrequently performed pieces like Stravinsky’s Pulcinella and Kurt Weill’s Lost in the Stars.

Hyobi Sim (viola) is the Associate Principal Violist of The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. A native of Korea, she began her studies at age 12 and went on to win prizes at Tertis International Viola Competition, Music Chunchu Competition and Seoul Arts Center Competition. In addition to concerto appearances, Ms. Hyobi was the guest principal violist at the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music in 2018 and has performed chamber music extensively with the world’s top players. She is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, the Juilliard School and the Peabody Institute of Music.

Colin Smith (vocalist) has led a varied musical life. With his former band Mrnorth, he toured extensively with The Who, Van Halen, Sheryl Crow and Journey among others. His songs have been licensed for movies and television. Mr. Smith has been seen in live collaborations with Alicia Keys and has worked multiple times on Saturday Night Live as the featured vocal talent. In 2018 he could be seen on tour with Christina Aguilera, duetting with her on the Grammy winning “Say Something” for audiences across the globe.

Nathalie Stutzmann (conductor) became The Philadelphia Orchestra’s principal guest conductor in the 2021/22 season. She made her Philadelphia Orchestra debut as a contralto in 1997 and her conducting debut in 2016. She is also in her fourth season as chief conductor of the Kristiansand Symphony and was principal guest conductor of the RTÉ National Symphony of Ireland from 2017 to 2020. In October she was named the next music director of the Atlanta Symphony, beginning in the 2022/23 season, becoming only the second woman to lead a major American orchestra.

Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider (violin) enjoys a varied career as both a soloist and conductor. Currently Music Director of the Orchestre National de Lyon, he regularly plays and conducts with orchestras such as the Staatskapelle Dresden, Cleveland Orchestra, and the New York Philharmonic. His recording of Mozart’s violin concertos, conducted from the violin with the London Symphony Orchestra, was critically acclaimed, and he has recorded the complete violin and piano works of Johannes Brahms with Yefim Bronfman. Mr. Szeps-Znaider is also president of the Carl Nielsen International Competition, which takes place every three years in Odense, Denmark.

Burchard Tang (viola) joined The Philadelphia Orchestra in September 1999. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in May 1999 from the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied with Joseph dePasquale, retired Philadelphia Orchestra principal viola, and Choong-Jin Chang, the Orchestra’s current principal viola. Mr. Tang has served as principal viola with the Curtis Symphony and the New York String Seminar, and he has performed with the Brandenburg Ensemble.

Conrad Tao (piano), a native of Urbana, Illinois, made his Bravo! Vail debut in 2019 playing Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with the New York Philharmonic. He was awarded the 2021 Yvar Mikhashoff Prize and received an Avery Fisher Career Grant and was named a Lincoln Center Emerging Artist in 2018. While he was the Dallas Symphony’s artist-in-residence as a composer, the orchestra premiered his The world is very different now, commissioned in observance of the 50th anniversary of President Kennedy’s assassination. In 2018, the New York Philharmonic premiered his Everything Must Go, a work commissioned by the Orchestra.

Davóne Tines (bass baritone) work blends opera, spirituals, gospel, and anthems as a means to tell deeply personal stories. Mr. Tines was co-creator and co-librettist of The Black Clown, a music theater experience inspired by Langston Hughes’ poem of the same name. He is also a founding core member of the American Modern Opera Company. A winner of the 2020 Sphinx Medal of Excellence, and the 2018 Lincoln Center Emerging Artists Award, he has appeared on numerous concert stages in collaboration with the Dover Quartet.

Bramwell Tovey (conductor) is the Grammy and Juno Award-winning Principal Conductor of London’s BBC Concert Orchestra, Music Director Emeritus of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, and Artistic Advisor of the Rhode Island Philharmonic. His many New York Philharmonic performances have included annual appearances at Bravo! Vail since 2007, and the nationally telecast 2017 New Year’s Eve tribute to Leonard Bernstein. A Fellow of London’s Royal Academy of Music and Toronto’s Royal Conservatory of Music, he also holds honorary degrees from four universities. In 2013 he was appointed honorary Officer of the Order of Canada for services to music.

Jeff Tyzik (conductor/composer/arranger) was a member of Chuck Mangione’s jazz

orchestra in the 1970’s. He is the Principal Pops Conductor of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and serves in that role for the symphonies of Detroit and Oregon, the Rochester Philharmonic, and The Florida Orchestra. At Bravo! Vail, he has conducted jazz, classical, Motown, Broadway, film, dance, Latin and swing, and the annual Fourth of July celebration. He has produced and composed theme music for major television networks and released six of his own albums. He produced the Grammy Award-winning “The Tonight Show Band” with Doc Severinson, Vol 1.

Verona Quartet (string quartet) comprises Jonathan Ong and Dorothy Ro, violins, Abigail Rojansky, viola, and Jonathan Dormand, cello. The group made its Bravo! Vail debut in 2019, performing Michael Gilbertson’s Quartet, a finalist for the 2018 Pulitzer Prize in Music. In 2020, the Quartet earned Chamber Music America’s coveted Cleveland Quartet Award. The ensemble serves as Quartet-in-Residence at Oberlin College and Conservatory, the Lunenberg Academy of Music Performance, and Indiana University Summer String Academy. Its collaborations include one with the Grammy-winning folk supergroup I’m With Her.

Zhu Wang (piano) is a winner of 2020 Young Concert Artists International Audition and has been awarded the Stern Young Artist Development Award. Mr. Wang’s upcoming season includes solo recital debuts at Carnegie’s Zankel Hall and The Kennedy Center, world premiere performances of a work for solo piano by Nina Shekhar, Florence Price’s Piano Concerto in One Movement with the Mississippi Symphony and appearances with violinist Randall Goosby in a San Francisco Symphony recital series, at the 92nd Street Y, and Merkin Hall. Mr. Wang is currently pursuing his artist diploma at Curtis Institute of Music, under the guidance of Robert McDonald.

Westerlies (brass quartet) is comprised of four childhood friends: Riley Mulherkar and Chloe Rowlands on trumpet, and Andy Clausen and Willem de Koch on trombone. Equally at home in concert halls and living rooms, The Westerlies navigate a wide array of venues and projects with recent engagements at Bay Chamber Concerts, Earshot Jazz Festival, and Noe Valley Chamber Music, among many others. Sought-after collaborators, The Westerlies have toured with Fleet Foxes and are featured on recordings by Vieux Farka Touré, Common, and Dave Douglas. Formed in 2011, the ensemble takes its name from the prevailing winds that travel from the West to the East.

Colorado Symphony Chorus (Duain Wolfe, founder-director) was formed in 1984 by

founder Duain Wolfe, who also served as director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Chorus for 28 years. Well known to Bravo! Vail audiences, the ensemble of 160 volunteers is a nationally respected chorus that has joined each of the Festival’s resident orchestras for major choral presentations. In addition to its many performances each season with the Colorado Symphony, the Chorus has made several commercial recordings and has done three European tours.

Haochen Zhang (piano) won the gold medal at the Thirteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2009, and has since been captivating audiences around the world. In 2017, the year of his Bravo! Vail debut, Mr. Zhang received the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant. In recent seasons, Mr. Zhang has made his Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France debut and toured China with the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, and Asia with The Philadelphia Orchestra. He recently finished recording the complete Beethoven piano concertos with The Philadelphia Orchestra and Nathalie Stutzmann for BIS Records.

Jaap van Zweden (conductor) is Music Director of the New York Philharmonic and Hong Kong Philharmonic. He regularly guest conducts distinguished ensembles including the Orchestre de Paris, Chicago Symphony, and Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. In October 2022 he leads the NY Phil’s return to the reimagined David Geffen Hall. Born in Amsterdam, he was the youngestever concertmaster of the Royal Concertgebouw. He began his conducting career in 1996, and his many honors include the Concertgebouw Prize (2020). In 1997 he and his wife, Aaltje, established the Papageno Foundation to support families of children with autism.

Our vibrant, inclusive Jewish community welcomes you.

Family Friendly Shabbat Services in Vail, every Friday Night at 6:00pm

Holiday Celebrations

Religious School Education & Bar and Bat Mitzvah Training Year Round and Seasonal Membership Available Lifecycle Events Created For You We hope you’ll join us…

Rabbi Joel D. Newman & Cantor Michelle Cohn Levy For schedule information, please see our website or contact Executive Director, Jeanne Whitney (970) 477-2992 or admin@bnaivail.org www.bnaivail.org

Regionally sourced ingredients from nearby mountains and rivers

Reservations Recommended

RidgeandRiverVail.com | 970-343-6111 Located in Manor Vail Lodge (next to the Ford Amphitheater)