Artist Biographies

Attacca Quartet is one of the most versatile and outstanding ensembles of the moment – a quartet for modern times. Passionate advocates of contemporary repertoire, the quartet is dedicated to performing new works. Their latest recording project, Orange, featuring string quartets by Pulitzer-prize winning composer Caroline Shaw, won the 2020 GRAMMY® for Best Chamber Music/ Small Ensemble Performance.

Brad Balliett, bassoon

New York Citybased musician Brad Balliett is in high demand as a composer, bassoonist, and teaching artist. A native of Massachusetts, Balliett grew up playing a variety of instruments through the public school program in Westborough, and began composing as soon as he started playing. His longest-standing collaboration is with his twin brother, Doug, with whom he frequently performs, composes, and teaches.

Balourdet String Quartet

The Balourdet String Quartet was formed in 2018 at Rice University in Houston, Texas. In October of 2019, the quartet received the second prize at the Carl Nielsen International Chamber Music Competition. They will enter the New England Conservatory as the resident quartet of the Professional Quartet Program this fall, where they will work with Paul Katz and other members of the string faculty.

Efe Baltacigil, cello

The Philadelphia Inquirer called cellist Efe Baltacıgil “a highly individualized solo artist” with ”gorgeous sound, strong personality, and expressive depth.” Baltacigil won the 2005 Young Concert Artists International Auditions and was awarded the Washington Performing Arts Society Prize. Born in Istanbul, Turkey, Baltacigil received his Artist Diploma and the Jacqueline DuPré Scholarship from The Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia.

Inon Barnatan, music director & piano

Born in Tel Aviv in 1979, Inon Barnatan started playing the piano at the age of three after his parents discovered he had perfect pitch, and he made his orchestral debut at age 11. His musical education connects him to some of the 20th century’s most illustrious pianists and teachers: he studied first with Professor Victor Derevianko, who, himself, studied with the Russian master Heinrich Neuhaus; and in 1997 he moved to London to study at the Royal Academy of Music with Maria Curcio – a student of the legendary Artur Schnabel – and with Christopher Elton.

Eric Bromberger, lecturer

Eric Bromberger has been program annotator for the La Jolla Music Society since 1983, and he also writes program notes for the Minnesota Orchestra, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, San Francisco Performances, Washington Performing Arts Society, University of Chicago Presents, San Diego Symphony, and others. He lectures frequently for the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Upbeat Live series at Disney Hall.

Benjamin Beilman, violin

Benjamin Beilman has won praise both for his passionate performances and deep rich tone which the Washington Post called “mightily impressive,” and The New York Times described as “muscular with a glint of violence.” The Times has also praised his “handsome technique, burnished sound, and quiet confidence,” and the Strad described his playing as “pure poetry.” Beilman came to worldwide attention following his First Prize wins in the 2010 Young Concert Artists International Auditions – where he was also recipient of a People’s Choice Award – and the 2010 Montréal International Musical Competition.

Ethan Bensdorf, trumpet

Ethan Bensdorf joined the New York Philharmonic’s trumpet section in June 2008. He received his Bachelor of Music degree from Northwestern University in 2007, where he studied with Barbara Butler, Charles Geyer, and Christopher Martin. While a student at Northwestern, Bensdorf spent two years performing with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, the training orchestra for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and also performed with the New World Symphony and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s contemporary ensemble, MusicNOW.

David Byrd-Marrow, horn

Atlanta native David Byrd-Marrow is the solo hornist of the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), a new music collective that performs internationally and serves as ensemble-inresidence at Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival. He frequently performs at festivals including the Ojai Music Festival, the Tanglewood Music Center, and as faculty at the Banff Music Centre.

Calder Quartet

Hailed as “Superb” and “imaginative, skillful creators” by The New York Times, the Calder Quartet captivates audiences by exploring a broad spectrum of repertoire. Winners of the prestigious 2014 Avery Fisher Career Grant, they are widely known for the discovery, commissioning, recording and mentoring of some of today’s best emerging composers.

The Calidore String Quartet has been praised by the New York Times for its “deep reserves of virtuosity and irrepressible dramatic instinct.” Recipient of a 2018 Avery Fisher Career Grant, and the 2017 Lincoln Center Emerging Artist Award, the Calidore first made international headlines as winner of the $100,000 Grand-Prize of the 2016 M-Prize International Chamber Music Competition. The quartet was also the first North American ensemble to win the Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship.

Jay Campbell, cello

Cellist Jay Campbell has been praised by The New York Times for his “electrifying performances.” Campbell holds the distinction of being the only artist ever to receive two Avery Fisher Career Grants —as a soloist and again as a member of the JACK Quartet. In the 2019/20 season Campbell served as co-curator of the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Green Umbrella series opener with composer John Adams.

Jennifer Johnson Cano, voice

A naturally gifted singer noted for her commanding stage presence and profound artistry, Jennifer Johnson Cano has garnered critical acclaim for committed performances of both new and standard repertoire. For her performance as Offred in Poul Ruders’s The Handmaid’s Tale she was lauded as a “tour de force” by The Boston Globe. With more than 100 performances on the stage at The Metropolitan Opera, her most recent roles have included Nicklausse, Emilia, Hansel and Meg Page. Bassist Timothy Cobb joined the New York Philharmonic as Principal Bass in May 2014, after serving as principal bass of The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, and principal bass of the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra since 1989. A native of Albany, New York, Cobb graduated from The Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied with Roger Scott. While at Curtis, Cobb was a substitute with The Philadelphia Orchestra and in his senior year became a member of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Georg Solti.

Eunghee Cho, cello

Born in Davis, California, KoreanAmerican cellist Eunghee Cho graduated magna cum laude and as a Steven & Kathryn Sample Renaissance Scholar from the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California with a Bachelor of Music in Cello Performance and a Minor in Biology. Following his completion of a Masters degree at New England Conservatory he is currently enrolled in the conservatory’s Doctor of Musical Arts Program under the tutelage of distinguished pedagogue Laurence Lesser.

Diana Cohen, violin

Praised for her “incredible flair, maturity and insight,” violinist Diana Cohen leads a multi-faceted career as a concertmaster, chamber musician, soloist, and arts administrator. Appointed concertmaster of the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra in 2012, she previously served as concertmaster of the Richmond Symphony Orchestra and Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra while maintaining an active freelance career in New York City. Eric Derr is committed to commissioning and presenting new, vibrant, sustainable works for percussion as well as revisiting classic pieces with focus and intensity. Derr is a member of Red Fish Blue Fish, the International Contemporary Ensemble, and has performed with innovative Ensemble Dal Niente since 2007, with highlight performances at the Library of Congress and a Residency at Harvard University. Eric holds a DMA in Contemporary Percussion Performance from UC San Diego, where he studied closely with Steven Schick.

Aaron Diehl Trio

Pianist and composer Aaron Diehl transforms the piano into an orchestral vessel in the spirit of beloved predecessors Ahmad Jamal, Erroll Garner and Jelly Roll Morton. Diehl is the American Pianist Association’s 2011 Cole Porter fellow. Bassist David Wong graduated from the Juilliard School in classical music in 2004 and has studied with Orin O’Brien, Ron Carter, Ben Wolfe, and John Clayton. Drummer Aaron Kimmel holds a bachelor of music degree from The Juilliard School, where he studied with Kenny Washington and Billy Drummond. Dustin Donahue, percussion

As an advocate for contemporary music, percussionist Dustin Donahue has commissioned and premiered a large body of solo and chamber music by living composers while continuing to perform music of the twentieth-century avantgarde. He frequently performs with New York’s International Contemporary Ensemble and collaborates with many of southern California’s presenters of contemporary music.

James Ehnes has established himself as one of the most sought-after violinists on the international stage. Gifted with a rare combination of stunning virtuosity, serene lyricism and an unfaltering musicality, Ehnes is a favorite guest of many of the world’s most respected conductors. Ehnes began violin studies at the age of four, became a protégé of the noted Canadian violinist Francis Chaplin aged nine, made his orchestral debut with Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal aged 13 and graduated from The Juilliard School in 1997, winning the Peter Mennin Prize for Outstanding Achievement and Leadership in Music.

Doug Fitch, designer & director

Doug Fitch was born in 1959 in Philadelphia and graduated magna cum laude with a degree in visual studies from Harvard University. The creative life of Fitch began as part of his family’s touring puppet theater. Later, while studying visual arts at Harvard University, he collaborated with director Peter Sellars, including on a production of Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen. Fitch also worked on Robert Wilson’s Civil Wars at the American Repertory Theatre and, in England, with the late Jim Henson of The Muppets.

Xavier Foley, double bass

Xavier Foley is known for communicating his virtuosity on the double bass, which is rarely presented as a solo instrument. Foley is a winner of a prestigious 2018 Avery Fisher Career Grant. As a composer, Foley has been co-commissioned by Carnegie Hall and the Sphinx Organization for a new work entitled For Justice and Peace for Violin, Bass, and String Orchestra, which will be performed this season as part of a program promoting social justice. Included in the Washington Post’s list of the 35 most significant women composers in history (August, 2017), identity has always been at the center of composer/pianist Gabriela Lena Frank’s music. Born in Berkeley, California, to a mother of mixed Peruvian/Chinese ancestry and a father of Lithuanian/Jewish descent, Frank explores her multicultural heritage most ardently through her compositions. Frank is something of a musical anthropologist. Having traveled extensively throughout South America, her pieces often reflect and refract her studies of Latin American folklore, incorporating poetry, mythology, and native musical styles into a western classical framework that is uniquely her own.

FLUX Quartet

The FLUX Quartet has performed to rave reviews in venues worldwide, including the Tate Modern with BBC Radio3, Kennedy Center, and international festivals. FLUX’s recent highlights include a live recording of string quartets by influential Japanese composer Toshi Ichiyanagi—including String Quartet No.5, commissioned by La Jolla Music Society and premiered by FLUX at SummerFest 2018. To support the next generation of composers, FLUX has been awarded grants from the American Composers Forum, Aaron Copland Fund, and Meet-The-Composer, among others.

Clive Greensmith, cello

Clive Greensmith was a member of the world-renowned Tokyo String Quartet from 1999 until 2013, giving over one hundred performances each year in the most prestigious international venues, including New York’s Carnegie Hall, Sydney Opera House, and Berlin Philharmonie. He is Professor of Cello at the Colburn School in Los Angeles. Greensmith performs regularly with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and is a founding member of the Montrose Trio.

David Grossman, double bass

Double bassist and composer David Grossman enjoys a multi-faceted career in the realms of classical and jazz music. Born and educated in New York City, he joined the New York Philharmonic as its youngest member in Spring 2000. Grossman has been an ardent student of Orin O’Brien, with whom he now enjoys the pleasure of playing in the Philharmonic bass section. He is also a member of the double bass faculty of Manhattan School of Music.

Augustin Hadelich, violin

Augustin Hadelich has firmly established himself as one of the great violinists of today. Showcasing a wide-ranging and adventurous repertoire, he is consistently cited for his phenomenal technique, soulful approach, and beauty of tone. He has performed with every major orchestra in the U.S., as well as an evergrowing number of orchestras around the world. Hadelich is the winner of a 2016 GRAMMY® Award for his recording of Dutilleux’s Violin Concerto with the Seattle Symphony and Ludovic Morlot.

Dylan Hart, horn

Los Angeles native Dylan Hart is a busy freelance musician. Depending on the day, Hart can be found recording French Horn music for video games, motion pictures, theme parks, cruise lines and television shows as well as performing a wide variety of musical genres including solo, chamber music, pop, jazz, contemporary, and orchestral. In 2013, Hart won Honorable Mention in the Professional Division at the International Horn Competition of America.

The recipient of a 2021 Avery Fisher Career Grant, cellist Oliver Herbert is quickly building a reputation as an artist with a distinct voice and individual style. Performing a wide range of repertoire, Herbert’s recent solo and recital appearances include debuts with the San Francisco Symphony, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Warsaw Philharmonic, Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony SoundBox, Union College Concert Series, and the Dame Myra Hess Recital Series in Chicago, among others.

Paul Huang, violin

Recipient of the prestigious 2015 Avery Fisher Career Grant and the 2017 Lincoln Center Award for Emerging Artists, violinist Paul Huang is celebrated for his eloquent music making, distinctive sound, and effortless virtuosity. Huang is a proud recipient of the inaugural Kovner Fellowship at The Juilliard School, where he earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees under Hyo Kang and I-Hao Lee.

Nathan Hughes, oboe

Nathan Hughes is Principal Oboe of the Metropolitan Opera and serves on the faculties of The Juilliard School, Rutgers University, and the Verbier Festival in Switzerland. Hughes regularly performs with the MET Chamber Ensemble at Carnegie Hall, and has collaborated with Yefim Bronfman, Jeremy Denk, and James Ehnes, among others. Hughes has earned degrees from The Juilliard School and the Cleveland Institute of Music, from which he was awarded the Alumni Achievement Award. Robert John Hughes is a journalist, broadcaster, musician, author, and record producer. During his ownership at San Diego FM station, 102.1 KPRi, Hughes interviewed hundreds of musical artists including Sting, Adele, Don Henley & Glenn Frey (Eagles), Bonnie Raitt, B.B. King, Paul Simon, and Peter Gabriel. As a record producer and member of the GRAMMY® Academy, Hughes created the five disk KPRi Live Tracks CD series that offered over 130 live performances recorded in his home studio and at KPRi studios and events.

Jun Iwasaki, violin

Jun Iwasaki is the Concertmaster and Walter Buchanan Sharp Chair of the Nashville Symphony. He was appointed concertmaster of the Nashville Symphony by Music Director Giancarlo Guerrero at the beginning of the 2011-12 season. A graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Music’s prestigious Concertmaster Academy, he has been hailed for his combination of dazzling technique and lyrical musicianship.

Stefan Jackiw, violin

Stefan Jackiw is one of America’s foremost violinists, captivating audiences with playing that combines poetry and purity with an impeccable technique. Hailed for playing characterized by “uncommon musical substance” and that is “striking for its intelligence and sensitivity” (Boston Globe), Jackiw has appeared as soloist with the Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, New York, Philadelphia, and San Francisco symphony orchestras, among others. Hailed by the New York Times as “an interpretive dynamo,” conductor and cellist Eric Jacobsen has built a reputation for engaging audiences with innovative and collaborative programming. He is the newly-named Music Director of the Virginia Symphony, becoming the 12th music director in the orchestra’s 100-year history. Jacobsen is Artistic Director and conductor of The Knights, and serves as the Music Director for the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra. Jacobsen founded the adventurous orchestra The Knights with his brother, violinist Colin Jacobsen, to foster the intimacy and camaraderie of chamber music on the orchestral stage.

Ori Kam, viola

Violist Ori Kam made his debut at 16 with the Israel Philharmonic and has since performed with orchestras such as the National Symphony Orchestra and the Manhattan Philharmonia. As an avid performer of chamber music, Kam is the violist of the Jerusalem Quartet. Independently, he has appeared alongside Isaac Stern, Daniel Barenboim, and Itzhak Perlman, among others. He appears regularly in festivals including Verbier, Tanglewood, Aspen, and Jerusalem Chamber Music Festival.

Kings Return

Kings Return is a vocal band of brothers —Gabe Kunda, Vaughn Faison, J.E. McKissic & Jamall Williams. The Dallas, Texas based a cappella group formed unintentionally in 2016 after first singing together for Kunda’s college graduation recital. The popularity of Kings Return grew when they began posting videos to social media from the stairwell where they rehearse. Avoiding the confines of a single genre, their sound is proudly born out of gospel, jazz, R&B, and classical music.

Tessa Lark, violin

Violinist Tessa Lark, recipient of a 2018 BorlettiBuitoni Trust Fellowship and a 2016 Avery Fisher Career Grant, is one of the most captivating artistic voices of our time. A budding superstar in the classical realm, she is also a highly acclaimed fiddler in the tradition of her native Kentucky. Since making her concerto debut with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra at sixteen, Lark has appeared with dozens of orchestras, festivals, and recital venues including Carnegie Hall, Ravinia, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, and Marlboro Music.

Byungchan Lee, violin

Originally from Seoul, Korea, violinist Byungchan Lee garnered international attention as prize winner at the inaugural 2009 Yankelevich International Violin Competition. During his undergraduate studies at McGill University’s Schulich School of Music, he won the coveted $25,000 Golden Violin Award. He received his master’s degree from The Juilliard School where he was awarded a Benzaquen Career Advancement Grant for demonstrating artistry and achievement in leadership. Affectionately, he is known to his friends as ‘Chan.’ Rose Lombardo, flute

Rose Lombardo was appointed Principal Flute of the San Diego Symphony in 2011 at the age of 23. At the time, she was in her second year of graduate studies with Jim Walker at the Colburn School Conservatory of Music in Los Angeles and graduated with a Professional Studies Certificate. Previously, Lombardo earned a Bachelor of Music degree from The Juilliard School where she studied with Jeffrey Khaner.

Mary Lynch, oboe

Mary Lynch is currently principal oboist of the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, where she has performed frequently as soloist, including a collaboration with Itzhak Perlman. Lynch earned her BM and MM degrees at New England Conservatory and The Juilliard School. Upon graduating from Juilliard, she was awarded the prestigious William Schuman Prize for outstanding achievement and leadership in music.

Kelly Markgraf, voice

Bass-baritone Kelly Markgraf has been hailed by The New York Times for his “heartstirring” singing and “charismatic” stage presence. He has performed music from the Baroque to works composed expressly for him. In the summer of 2017, he created the role of Paul Jobs in Mason Bates’ premiere The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs at the Santa Fe Opera, which later received a 2019 GRAMMY® Award for Best Opera Recording.

Travis Maril, viola

Travis Maril is Coordinator of the string department at SDSU’s School of Music and Dance, CoDirector of SDSU’s new String Academy, and Undergraduate Advisor. Maril was a top prize winner at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. His chamber music partners have included the concertmasters of the Cleveland Orchestra and LA Philharmonic, the Miro String Quartet and members of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.

Anthony Marwood, violin

British violinist Anthony Marwood, appointed an MBE in the Queen’s 2018 New Year’s Honors List, is known worldwide as an artist of exceptional expressive force. His energetic and collaborative nature places him in great demand as soloist and director with chamber orchestras worldwide. He is Principal Artistic Partner of the celebrated Canadian chamber orchestra, Les Violons du Roy, a post he took up in 2015.

Anthony McGill, clarinet

Anthony McGill serves as the principal clarinet of the New York Philharmonic —that orchestra’s first African-American principal player. McGill is hailed for his “trademark brilliance, penetrating sound, and rich character” (The New York Times), as well as for his “exquisite combination of technical refinement and expressive radiance” (The Baltimore Sun). McGill also serves as an ardent advocate for helping music education reach underserved communities and for addressing issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion in classical music.

Jennifer Montone, horn

Jennifer Montone joined The Philadelphia Orchestra as principal horn in 2006, and is currently on the faculties of The Curtis Institute of Music and The Juilliard School. Monotone won an Avery Fisher Career Grant in 2006 and performs regularly at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, La Jolla SummerFest, and Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival. A native of northern Virginia, Montone was in the National Symphony Fellowship Program, where she studied with Edwin Thayer, and was a fellow of the Tanglewood Music Center.

Joseph Morris, clarinet

Joseph Morris is the principal clarinet of the Pacific Symphony where he holds the Hanson Family Foundation Chair. As the first prize winner of the 42nd Ima Hogg Competition, Morris is the recipient of the 2017 Grace Woodson Memorial Award and has appeared as soloist with the Houston Symphony Orchestra.

Tamar Muskal, composer

Tamar Muskal studied composition and viola at the Jerusalem Academy for Dance and Music (Israel), Yale University, and CUNY. Recent commissions include a song cycle commissioned by ASCAP and work for percussionist Steve Schick to perform with a kinetic, interactive sculpture created by Daniel Rozin. Muskal is a 2009 recipient of the Guggenheim Fellowship. Her composition,“The Yellow Wind,” was nominated for a Pulitzer prize.

Marc Neikrug, composer

Composer Marc Neikrug has written chamber, symphonic, opera music and musicaltheater. Among noted performers of his music are Zubin Mehta, Leonard Slatkin, John Turturro, and the Emerson, Vermeer, Tokyo and Orion Quartets. His music-theater work, Through Roses, was commissioned by London’s South Bank Festival with the National Theater. Since its premiere in 1980 it has had hundreds of performances in fifteen countries and has been translated into 11 languages.

Andrew Norman, composer

Andrew Norman is a Los Angeles-based composer who was recently praised as “the leading American composer of his generation” by The Los Angeles Times. He is the recipient of the 2005 ASCAP Nissim and Leo Kaplan Prizes and a 2016 Guggenheim Fellowship, among others. Norman’s string trio The Companion Guide to Rome was named a finalist for the 2012 Pulitzer Prize in Music.

Geoff Nuttall, violin

Violinist Geoff Nuttall began playing the violin at the age of eight and spent most of his musical studies under the tutelage of Lorand Fenyves at The Banff Centre, the University of Western Ontario, and the University of Toronto, where he received his bachelor of arts. In 1989, he co-founded the St. Lawrence String Quartet, with which he has performed well over 2,000 concerts nationally and internationally. He has received two GRAMMY® nominations for the St. Lawrence Quartet and is now on faculty at Stanford University, where the St. Lawrence Quartet is ensemble-in-residence.

Aaron Paige, lecturer

A native of Detroit, Aaron Paige is a former member of the Singing Sergeants of the United States Air Force Band where he held the tenor section leader position. Dr. Paige has presented lectures and recitals on African American music in collaboration with the Smithsonian Institute at the National Museum of American History, National Air and Space Museum, and National Museum of African Art. He has also been a featured soloist at the White House, Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, and DAR Constitution Hall.

Guadalupe Paz, voice

Mezzo-soprano Guadalupe Paz graduated from Conservatory Arrigo Pedrollo in Vinceza, Italy. Among classic repertoire she has performed as soloist in Bach’s Magnificat, Handel’s Messiah, and Mozart’s Requiem and Vesperae Solennelle. Recent engagements include her debut with San Diego Opera Company singing Mercedes in Bizet’s Carmen, and singing Marchesa Melibea in Il Viaggio a Reims, among others for the Bellas Artes National Opera Company in Mexico City.

Masumi Per Rostad, viola

Praised for his “burnished sound” (The New York Times) and described as an “electrifying, poetic, and sensitive musician,” the GRAMMY® Awardwinning, Japanese-Norwegian violist Masumi Per Rostad hails from the gritty East Village of 1980s New York. Passionate about breaking down barriers that prevent people from enjoying classical music, Per Rostad was the founder of DoCha, a chamber music festival in Champaign, Illinois that produced innovative events with a focus on engaging new audiences through fun and inventive programming.

Ethan Pernela, viola

Ethan Pernela joined the viola section of the San Diego Symphony Orchestra in spring of 2015. Pernela completed his Bachelor of Music, Master of Music and Graduate Diploma with honors at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, where he studied with James Dunham and Martha Strongin Katz. After receiving a fellowship to the New World Symphony in 2007, Pernela won a viola position in the Honolulu Symphony under the baton of Andreas Delfs.

Violinist Blake Pouliot has joined the upper echelons of brilliant soloists, establishing himself as a consummate 21st century artist with the rigor and passion to shine for a lifetime. At only 25-years-old the tenacious violinist has been praised by the Toronto Star as, “one of those special talents that comes along once in a lifetime.” Pouliot has twice been featured on CBC’s “30 Hot Canadian Classical Musicians under 30”.

Laura Prichard, lecturer

Laura Stanfield Prichard studied at Yale, Emory, and the University of Illinois; she holds master’s and doctoral degrees in choral conducting, library science, musciology, and education. She lectures regularly for the San Francisco and Chicago Symphonies and opera companies in Boston and San Francisco (since 1995).

Roman Rabinovich, piano

The eloquent pianist Roman Rabinovich has been highly lauded by The New York Times and BBC Music Magazine, among others. Rabinovich made his Israeli Philharmonic debut at age 10, and has since performed in venues such as Wigmore Hall, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, as well as participated in festivals including Marlboro, Lucerne, and Davos.

Catherine Ransom Karoly, flute

Catherine Ransom Karoly was appointed Los Angeles Philharmonic Associate Principal Flute by former Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen in March 2009. She joined the Philharmonic in 1996, and made her solo debut in 2000. Karoly is a former member of the New World Symphony and the Dorian Wind Quintet. She has participated in numerous music festivals, including Tanglewood, the Spoleto Festival in Italy, and has been a frequent performer at La Jolla Music Society SummerFest. She earned her Master of Music degree from The Juilliard School, studying with Carol Wincenc, and has three children with her husband LA Philharmonic cellist Jonathan Karoly. J

Nicolas Reveles, lecturer

Composer and pianist Nicolas Reveles earned his Master of Arts in choral conducting from the University of Redlands, as well as a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in piano performance from the Manhattan School of Music. He has produced theater scores for the Old Globe Theatre, North Coast Repertory Theatre, and others. As of 2010, he is also the host of UCSD-TV’s OperaTalk with Nick Reveles.

John Reynolds, trumpet

Dr. John Reynolds is a highly sought trumpeter in Southern California, adept in performing many styles of music. Reynolds holds a Doctorate in Musical Arts from the University of Southern California as well as degrees from San Diego State University and Point Loma Nazarene University. The SoCal Jazz Society recently recognized Dr. Reynolds as the “Jazz Educator of the Year.”

Joshua Roman, cello

Joshua Roman is a cellist, accomplished composer, and curator whose performances embrace musical styles from Bach to Radiohead. Roman was named a TED Senior Fellow in 2015. His compositions are inspired by sources such as the poetry of Pulitzer Prize-winner Tracy K. Smith, and the musicians he writes for, such as the JACK Quartet, violinist Vadim Gluzman, and conductor David Danzmayr.

Leah Rosenthal, lecturer

Leah Rosenthal, Director of Programming for La Jolla Music Society, has held positions with some of the most prestigious non-profit organizations in the country, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Ravinia Festival, The Recording Academy, and PBS. Rosenthal completed undergraduate studies in voice performance and went on to receive her master’s degree in Arts Management at Columbia College of Chicago.

Alex Ross lecturer

Alex Ross has been the music critic at The New Yorker since 1996. He writes about classical music, covering the field from the Metropolitan Opera to the contemporary avant-garde, and has also contributed essays on literature, history, the visual arts, film, and ecology. His first book, The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century, won a National Book Critics Circle award and the Guardian First Book Award, and it was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. His second book, the essay collection Listen to This, won an ASCAP-Deems Taylor Award.

Daniel Rozin, digital artist

Daniel Rozin is an artist, educator and developer, working in the area of interactive digital art. Rozin creates installations and sculptures that have the unique ability to change and respond to the presence of the viewer. As an educator, Rozin is a Professor at Tisch School Of The Arts, NYU. Born in Jerusalem and trained as an industrial designer, Rozin lives and works in New York. His work has earned him numerous awards including Prix Ars Electronica, ID Design Review, and the Chrysler Design Award.

Eduardo Ruiz has been the brass instructor of La Jolla Music Society’s Community Music Center since 2015. Born and raised in San Diego, he has worked hard to bring music to San Diego and its surrounding areas for over 10 years and is currently pursuing a degree in Music Education. He plays trumpet and enjoys composing and arranging.

Steven Schick, percussion & lecturer

Percussionist, conductor, and author Steven Schick has been hailed by Alex Ross in the New Yorker as, “one of our supreme living virtuosos, not just of percussion but of any instrument.” Schick has championed contemporary percussion music by commissioning or premiering more than one hundred-fifty new works. He is music director of the La Jolla Symphony and Chorus, the artist director of Breckenridge Music Festival, and is an inductee of the Percussive Arts Society Hall of Fame.

Jay Shankar, clarinet

Jay Shankar is a James Backas Memorial Scholar at the Peabody Institute studying as a freshman under Professor Eugene Mondie. He has performed as a clarinetists in several youth orchestras including the National Youth Orchestra of the USA in 2016. In 2015, he participated in the Tanglewood Institute Summer Program. He currently plays in both the Peabody Concert and Symphony Orchestras. He was awarded first prize in the San Diego Clarinet Society competition and was a finalist of the San Diego Symphony’s HotShots Concerto Competition. David Shifrin is one of only three wind players to have been awarded the Avery Fisher Prize. An artist member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center since 1989, Shifrin served as its artistic director from 1992 to 2004. He has been the Artistic Director of Chamber Music Northwest since 1981. Shifrin was appointed Artistic Director of the Chamber Music Society of Yale and Yale’s annual concert series at Carnegie Hall in 2008.

Jeanne Skrocki, violin

Jeanne Skrocki is Artist in Residence at the University of Redlands and Concertmaster of the Redlands Symphony Orchestra. She has established herself locally and nationally as an outstanding teacher and performer. Skrocki continues the legacy of the legendary Jascha Heifetz, with whom she studied at the University of Southern California, and joined the faculty of the Jascha Heifetz Symposium at Connecticut College in June 2013. She is a dedicated mentor to young musicians, using encouraging and effective teaching methods to motivate students to excel and accomplish their career goals.

Julie Smith Phillips, harp

Principal Harpist of the San Diego Symphony since 2007, Julie Smith Phillips is one of the most prominent young harpists today, performing as both an orchestral musician and concert artist. Phillips made her National Symphony Orchestra debut in 2003 and is a founding member of The Myriad Trio.

Livia Sohn, violin

Hailed by Opus Magazine as “a stunning musician,” violinist Livia Sohn performs widely on the international stage as concerto soloist, recitalist, and festival guest in Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa, and New Zealand. The Strad Magazine says “Livia Sohn possesses a remarkably lithe and transparent tone of exceptional purity. [Her] virtually blemishless accounts are nothing short of remarkable. Even when under the most fearsome technical pressure at high velocity, every note rings true with pinpoint accuracy.”

Chelsea de Souza, piano

Chelsea de Souza is a Steinway Young Artist from Mumbai, India. She has won four All-India piano competitions and is a committed performer of music by living composers, having premiered numerous works for solo piano and small ensemble by composers at the Oberlin Conservatory, Peabody Institute and Shepherd School. Most recently, she was awarded a 2020 Grant by New Music USA for her project “Blurred Origins: Redefining Culture through Music,” supporting the commission of a new work for cello and piano that refocuses discussions of culture around the individual.

Daniil Trifonov, piano

Grammy Awardwinning Russian pianist Daniil Trifonov – Musical America’s 2019 Artist of the Year – has made a spectacular ascent of the classical music world, as a solo artist, champion of the concerto repertoire, chamber and vocal collaborator, and composer. Combining consummate technique with rare sensitivity and depth, his performances are a perpetual source of awe. “He has everything and more … tenderness and also the demonic element. I never heard anything like that,” marveled pianist Martha Argerich. As The Times of London notes, he is “without question the most astounding pianist of our age.”

Trombonist Rachel Trumbore is the Professor of Brass at Aurora University based in Chicagoland. Trumbore has performed with the San Diego Symphony, Chicago Symphony, The Who, Johnny Mathis, and under the baton of Charles Dutoit, Edo de Waart, and Rafael Payare. Trumbore completed her master's at California State University Long Beach with Kyle Covington. She is also a Northwestern University alumnus, where she studied with Michael Mulcahy, Tim Higgins, Doug Wright, and Randy Hawes. Aside from music, Trumbore finds joy in hiking, gardening, and raising alpacas with her wife Sarah.incipal viola of the San Francisco Symphony. A Jonathan Vinocour, viola

Since 2009, Jonathan Vinocour has been the principal viola of the San Francisco Symphony. A native of Rochester, New York, Vinocour graduated from Princeton University and the New England Conservatory of Music. He is a regular coach at the New World Symphony in Miami and is on the faculty of the San Francisco Conservatory. Flutist Pamela Vliek Martchev has played with southern California’s top orchestras, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Diego Symphony, LA Chamber Orchestra, Pacific, Pasadena, and Mainly Mozart Festival Symphonies. She served as principal flute with the Boulder Philharmonic in CO for 10 seasons, and was also 2nd flute of Philharmonie der Nationen in Germany from 1997-98. She has taught at Mt. San Antonio College and Riverside City College, and is currently on the faculties of San Diego State University, Pt. Loma Nazarene University, and USD.

Paul Watkins, cello

Since 2009, Acclaimed for his inspirational performances and eloquent musicianship, Paul Watkins enjoys a distinguished career as a concert soloist, chamber musician, and conductor. He is the Artistic Director of the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival in Detroit, the cellist of the Emerson String Quartet, Visiting Professor of Cello at Yale School of Music, and won first prize in the 2002 Leeds Conducting Competition. Alisa Weilerstein ”is a consummate performer, combining technical precision with impassioned musicianship,” stated the MacArthur Foundation, when awarding American cellist Alisa Weilerstein a 2011 MacArthur Fellowship. Committed to expanding the cello repertoire, Weilerstein is an ardent champion of new music. A graduate of the Young Artist Program at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she studied with Richard Weiss, the cellist also holds a degree in history from Columbia University, from which she graduated in May 2004.

Tien-Hsin Cindy Wu, violin & viola

Violist Tien-Hsin Cindy Wu enjoys a versatile career as a soloist, chamber musician and educator. She has collaborated with such artists as Midori, Yuja Wang and members of the Brentano and Miró string quartets. From 2010 to 2015 she taught violin, chamber music and string pedagogy at USC’s Thornton School of Music. She is currently the artist-in-residence of the Da Camera Society in Los Angeles. Wu plays on a 1734 Domenico Montagnana violin, and a 2015 Stanley Kiernoziak viola.

Photo credits: Cover: RGB Peg Mirror by Daniel Rozin; Pg. 10: I. Barnatan © Marco Borggreve; Pg. 11: P. Huang © Marco Borggreve; Pg. 12: A. Weilerstein © Paul Stuart; Pg. 17: F. Price © G. Nelidoff; Pg. 22: Calidore Quartet © Sophie Zhai; Pg. 26: T. Lark © Lauren Desberg; Pg. 30: Attacca Quartet © David Goddard; Pg. 39: B. Beilman © Stefan Ruiz, A. Diehl © Maria Jarzyna; Pg. 45: D. Trifonov © Dario Acosta; Pg. 51: S. Jackiw © Sangwook Lee; Pg. 54: Flux Quartet courtesy of artists; D. Shifrin courtesy of artist, J. Johnson Cano © Fay Fox; K. Markgraf courtesy of artist; Pg. 56: C. Greensmith © Shayne Gray, Calder Quartet courtesy of artists, A. Hadelich © Luca Valentina, X. Foley courtesy of artist, T.H. Wu courtesy of artist; Pg. 61 & 67: G. L. Frank © Mariah Tauger; Pg. 71: O. Kam © Yanai Yechiel; Pg. 74: I. Barnatan © Marco Borggreve, S. Schick courtesy of artist, D. Byrd-Marrow courtesy of artist, P. Watkins © Jurgen Frank; Pg. 76: C. Ransom Karoly courtesy of artist, J. Pohjonen courtesy of artist, A. Marwood © Walter Van Dyck; Pg. 82: Attacca Quartet © David Goddard, B. Balliett © Katrin Albert, Balourdet String Quartet courtesy of artists, Efe Baltacigil courtesy of artist, I. Barnatan © Marco Borggreve, B. Beilman © Stefan Ruiz, E. Bensdorf I. Barnatan courtesy of artist, D. Byrd-Marrow courtesy of artist, Calder Quartet courtesy of artists; Pg. 83: Calidore Quartet © Sophie Zhai, J. Campbell courtesy of artist, J. Johnson Cano © Fay Fox, T. Cobb © Chris Lee, T. Cook courtesy of artist, D. Cohen courtesy of artist, E. Derr © Ren Ebel, A. Diehl © Maria Jarzyna; D. Donahue courtesy of artist, J. Ehnes © B. Ealovega; Pg. 84: D. Fitch courtesy of artist, X. Foley courtesy of artist, G. L. Frank © Mariah Tauger, Flux Quartet courtesy of artists, C. Greensmith © Shayne Gray, D. Grossman courtesy of artist, A. Hadelich © Luca Valentina, D. Hart courtesy of artist; Pg. 85: O. Herbert © Todd Rosenberg, P. Huang © Marco Borggreve, N. Hughes courtesy of artist, J. Iwasaki courtesy of artist, S. Jackiw © Sangwook Lee, E. Jacobsen courtesy of artist, O. Kam © Yanai Yechiel, Kings Return courtesy of artists, T. Lark © Lauren Desberg; B. Lee © Bo Huang, R. Lombardo © Beth Ross Buckley, M. Lynch courtesy of artist, K. Markgraf courtesy of artist, A. Marwood © Walter Van Dyck, A. McGill © David Finlayson, J. Montone courtesy of artist, J. Morris courtesy of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra; T. Muskal courtesy of artist; Pg. 87: M. Neikrug courtesy of artist, A. Norman courtesy of artist, G. Nuttall courtesy of artist, G. Paz courtesy of artist, J. Pohjonen courtesy of artist, B. Pouliot © Jeff Fasano, M. Per Rostad courtesy of artist, R. Rabinovich © Balazs Borocz, C. Ransom Karoly courtesy of artist; Pg. 88: J. Roman courtesy of artist, D. Rozin courtesy of artist, E. Ruiz courtesy of artist, S. Schick courtesy of artist, D. Shifrin courtesy of artist, J. Skrocki courtesy of artist, J. Smith Phillips courtesy of artist, L. Sohn courtesy of artist, C. de Souza courtesy of artist, D. Trifonov © Dario Acosta; Pg. 89: R. Trumbore courtesy of artist, J. Vinocour courtesy of artist, P. Vliek Martchev © Anastasya Korol, P. Watkins © Jurgen Frank, A. Weilerstein © Paul Stewart, T. H. Wu courtesy of artist; Back Cover: C. Botti courtesy of artist