Yefim Bronfman (artists list)

Yefim Bronfman is widely regarded as one of the most talented virtuoso pianists performing today. His commanding technique and exceptional lyrical gifts have won him consistent critical acclaim and enthusiastic audiences worldwide, whether for his solo recitals, his prestigious orchestral engagements or his rapidly growing catalogue of recordings. 

Mr. Bronfman appears regularly with such celebrated ensembles as the Berlin Philharmonic, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Vienna Philharmonic, the Dresden Staatskapelle, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, London’s Philharmonia, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the New York Philharmonic, the Orchestre de Paris and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. He has worked with an equally illustrious group of conductors, including Daniel Barenboim, Herbert Blomstedt, Christoph von Dohnányi, Charles Dutoit, Christoph Eschenbach, Valery Gergiev, Mariss Jansons, Lorin Maazel, Kurt Masur, Zubin Mehta, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Yuri Temirkanov, Franz Welser-Möst, and David Zinman. Summer engagements have regularly taken him to the Aspen, Bad Kissingen, Blossom, Hollywood Bowl, Lucerne, Mann Music Center, Mostly Mozart, Ravinia, Salzburg, Saratoga, Tanglewood, and Verbier festivals.

 A devoted chamber music performer, Mr. Bronfman has collaborated with the Emerson, Cleveland, Guarneri and Juilliard quartets, as well as the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. He has also played chamber music with Yo-Yo Ma, Joshua Bell, Lynn Harrell, Shlomo Mintz, Jean-Pierre Rampal, Pinchas Zukerman, and many other artists. 

Yefim Bronfman immigrated to Israel with his family in 1973, and made his international debut two years later with Zubin Mehta and the Montreal Symphony. He made his New York Philharmonic debut in May l978, his Washington recital debut in March l98l at the Kennedy Center and his New York recital debut in January 1982 at the 92nd Street Y. 

Mr. Bronfman was born in Tashkent, in the Soviet Union, on April 10, 1958. In Israel he studied with pianist Arie Vardi, head of the Rubin Academy of Music at Tel Aviv University. In the United States, he studied at The Juilliard School, Marlboro, and the Curtis Institute, and with Rudolf Firkusny, Leon Fleisher, and Rudolf Serkin. 

Yefim Bronfman became an American citizen in July 1989.

Randy Bowman (artists list)

Randy Bowman, Principal Flutist of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra since 1990, is a California native. He received his musical education at the New England Conservatory in Boston, and after graduation enjoyed a successful freelance career, performing with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Boston Pops, the Boston Ballet and Opera orchestras, Handel and Haydn Society and the Portland and New Hampshire Symphony Orchestras. 

During his tenure as principal flute of the Boston Pops Esplinade Orchestra, Mr. Bowman performed at music festivals and concert halls throughout the United States and Asia under the baton of renowned conductor and film composer John Williams. Prior to his appointment in Cincinnati, Mr. Bowman was a member of the famed Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, appearing with them at Carnegie Hall and on tours of the musical capitols of Europe. 

Mr. Bowman has performed as guest principal flutist with the Boston Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony and St. Louis Symphony. Since its inaugural season in 1990, Mr. Bowman also has been principal flutist of the American Symphony Orchestra during its residency at the Bard Music Festival in New York. 

Mr. Bowman premiered and recorded many new chamber works while a member of Collage New Music, the contemporary music ensemble of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. He also recorded the world premiere of the Pulitzer Prize-winning composer John Harbison’s Concerto for Flute and Orchestra, at the composer’s invitation.

Michael Chertock (artists list)

In March, 1998, Claude Gingras of La Presse, Montreal, said of pianist Michael Chertock: "Chertock revealed himself as a first-rate pianist and an interpreter of noticeable interest through the freshness that he brought to these familiar scores... (he) displayed the sensitivity of a Chopin interpreter.” Indeed, Mr. Chertock’s youthful approach to programming and sensitive, elegant styling make him a favorite soloist among conductors such as Keith Lockhart and Erich Kunzel.  Mr. Chertock’s orchestral appearances include concerto performances with Orchestre Symphonique du Montreal, the Boston Pops, the Toronto Symphony, the Baltimore Symphony, the Naples Philharmonic, the Detroit Symphony, the Utah Symphony, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and the Indianapolis Symphony. He made his Carnegie Hall debut in 1999 with the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, performing Duke Ellington’s New World A'Comin'.

Mr. Chertock has toured Asia with Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops, Erich Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, and violinist Alyssa Park.

Mr. Chertock first performed publicly at the age of 11, and at age 14 he performed on live television in Guam. At 17, he performed the Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 3 with Andrew Litton and the Arlington Symphony Orchestra.

Mr. Chertock holds a Masters degree from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, where he studied with Frank Weinstock. He was recently named Associate Professor of Piano at CCM. He has garnered numerous awards at major competitions, among them the top prize in the 1989 Joanna Hodges International Piano Competition (Brahms Division,) and the grand prize in the 1993 St. Charles International Piano Competition. He also shared the silver medal in the 1991 World Piano Competition of the American Music Scholarship Association. He received the Rildia B. OBryon Cliburn Scholarship in 1986.

Mr. Chertock is a regular performer at the Ravinia Festival in Chicago, Blossom Music Center in Cleveland, and the Grand Tetons Music Festival in Wyoming, where he performed the Mozart Triple Piano Concerto with Minnesota Orchestra Music Director Eiji Oue last summer.

In 2002 Chertock was named Music Director of the Blue Ash/Montgomery Symphony Orchestra, he continues to serve as Artistic Director of Lintons Peanut Butter and Jam Sessions and, in 2004, was named Associate Artistic Director of the Linton Chamber Music Series.

Elizabeth Freimuth (artists list)

Elizabeth Freimuth is currently principal horn of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, formerly of the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra. From 2000–2005 she was principal horn with the Kansas City Symphony and Kansas City Chamber Orchestra. She served as acting third horn with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra from 2002–2003 and assistant principal horn with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra from 1998–2000. In addition, she has performed as a substitute principal player with the Minnesota Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and as a substitute with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra and San Francisco Opera.

As a chamber musician, Ms. Freimuth was a member of the Burning River Brass and Missouri Brass Quintet. She appears regularly at the Grand Teton Music Festival and with the Sun Valley Summer Symphony. She was adjunct professor of horn at the University of Missouri/Kansas City from 2002–2005.

Ms. Freimuth graduated from the Eastman School of Music in 1996 with bachelor’s degrees in horn performance and music education. She earned her master’s degree in horn performance from Rice University in 1998.

Aloysia Friedmann  (artists list)

Ms. Friedmann is a professional violinist, violist, and baroque violinist whose broad-ranging career has included tours in Japan, Europe, South America and the United States, performances with New York's most prestigious musical ensembles, and a special onstage role on Broadway. The New York Times praised her “fiery spirit” after her Carnegie Recital Hall debut. As a regular member of the Orchestra of St. Luke's she has performed classical symphonies in Carnegie Hall and rock'n'roll alongside “Metallica” in Madison Square Garden. She made her Broadway debut as the violinist in Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice , which starred Dustin Hoffman. Ms. Friedmann performed with the Soni Ventorum Quintet on the world premiere recording of William O. Smith's “Jazz Set for Violin and Wind Quintet”. Ms. Friedmann is featured as both violist and producer on the CD Classical Music with a View: Islands and Vistas. In 2004 she was an Affiliate Artist of Viola at the Moores School of Music at the University of Houston and also acting ing concertmaster for Houston Grand Opera's world premiere performances of Jake Heggie's “The End of the Affair”. Trained at The Julliard School and the University of Washington, Friedmann plays on a Grancino viola made circa 1675.

Richie Hawley (artists list)

Richie Hawley was appointed Principal Clarinet of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in 1994. He began his clarinet studies with Yehuda Gilad at the Colburn School of Performing Arts in Los Angeles at the age of nine. He then went on to graduate from the Curtis Institute of Music. Before his Cincinnati appointment, Mr. Hawley served as Principal Clarinet of the Charleston Symphony Orchestra in South Carolina.

Mr. Hawley has performed chamber music throughout China, Japan and North America and has been a participant in the Marlboro Music Festival in Vermont. Richard is also a frequent performer with the Linton Chamber Music series in Cincinnati.

Among his numerous accolades, Mr. Hawley received the Presidential Scholar in the Arts medal and award from President Ronald Regan in a ceremony at the White House, and he has also been the recipient of the Léni Fé Bland Foundation Grant.

Mr. Hawley is currently the head of the clarinet department at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and is writing a book titled, The Audition Book. Originally from Los Angeles, Mr. Hawley often visits Southern California to pursue his 2nd career of surfing and surf photography.

Benjamin Hochman (artists list)

Pianist Benjamin Hochman is achieving widespread acclaim for his performances as an orchestral soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician. Though only in his mid-twenties, he is an imaginatively mature artist with an innate ability to combine beauty of line within the overall shape of a piece. The Washington Post praised his "flowing artistry" in a recital at the National Gallery of Art and The Cincinnati Post wrote that he "shone in his Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra debut" and had "a crystal clear tone and articulation to match" performing Mozart's Piano Concerto, K. 271 under Jaime Laredo. After hearing Benjamin Hochman at the Marlboro Festival, pianist Mitsuko Uchida recommended him to conductor Zubin Mehta, resulting in his first orchestral engagement with the Israel Philharmonic two seasons ago and an immediate re-engagement with the orchestra for his Carnegie Hall debut. Pinchas Zukerman has additionally invited him to perform and tour with the Zukerman ChamberPlayers.

The pianist's honors include the "Outstanding Pianist" citation at the Verbier Academy, the Festorazzi Award given by the faculty of the Curtis Institute of Music, second prize at the Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition, the "Partosh Prize" awarded by the Israeli Minister of Culture for best performance of an Israeli work, and first prize at the National Piano Competition of the Rubin Academy of Music in Jerusalem. His performances have been broadcast on National Public Radio's Young Artist Showcase and Performance Today, CBC (Canada), ABC (Australia), Radio France, and Israel's Voice of Music radio station, as well as on the European television network, Mezzo.

Born in Jerusalem in 1980, Benjamin Hochman graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia and the Mannes College of Music in New York where his principal teachers were Claude Frank and Richard Goode. His studies were supported by the America Israel Cultural Foundation.

Ida Kavafian (artists list)

Ida Kavafian enjoys an international reputation as one of the most versatile musicians performing today. With a repertoire as diverse as her talents, Ms. Kavafian has electrified recital and orchestral stages nationally and internationally.  Since her founding membership in the innovative group TASHI over thirty years ago, Ida Kavafian’s chamber music appearances have included many renowned festivals and series throughout the world. She has toured and recorded with the Guarneri, Orion and American Quartets as well as the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, of which she is an Artist Member. Ms. Kavafian has been the Artistic Director of Music from Angel Fire in New Mexico for twenty-three years. Born in Istanbul, Turkey of Armenian descent, Ms. Kavafian’s family immigrated to the United States when she was three, settling in Detroit. She began her studies at age six and ultimately earned her Master of Music degree with honors from The Juilliard School

Alexander Kerr (artists list)

Alexander Kerr, violin, is a versatile and expressive performer. In 1996, at age twenty-six, he was appointed to the prestigious position of concertmaster of Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.  After nine successful years in that post he left last June to assume the endowed Lind and Jack Gill Chair in Music as professor of violin at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music.  At thirty-six he became the string department’s youngest violin professor. In addition to his teaching responsibilities he maintains a busy concert schedule, appearing with orchestras and in recital and chamber music performances throughout the U.S., Asia, and Europe. Mr. Kerr has enjoyed numerous successful appearances as soloist with such conductors as Mariss Jansons, Riccardo Chailly, Bernard Haitink, David Zinman, Alan Gilbert, and Robert Spano. He was raised in Alexandria, Virginia, where he began violin studies at age seven with members of the National Symphony Orchestra. He continued to study with Sally Thomas at the Julliard School and with Aaron Rosand at the Curtis Institute of Music, where he received his Bachelor of Music degree.

Benny Kim (artists list)

Benny Kim has become one of the most successful and acclaimed violinists of his generation, having performed on five continents and in nearly twenty countries. As the Washington Post observed, "Kim's emotional depth and musical carriage are his real drawing cards. His is a style that touches the peak of romantic violin playing." His spectacular performances of the Sibelius Violin Concerto with the Utah Symphony, conducted by Keith Lockhart, resulted in the Salt Lake City Tribune writing, "Kim's titanium technique was only surpassed by his and his violin's exquisite, pearly colorations."

As a chamber musician, Mr. Kim has collaborated with many renowned artists including Pinchas Zukerman, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, Lynn Harrell, and Gary Graffman. With Ms. Salerno-Sonnenberg, Benny Kim appears on two recordings for EMI - Bella Italia and Night and Day. He can also be heard on recordings on Koch International and Centaur. As recitalist, Mr. Kim has performed in virtually every major city in the United States, including two critically acclaimed engagements at New York's 92nd St. Y and in recital at Washington DC's Kennedy Center.

A passionate proponent of bringing the arts to the people, Mr. Kim continues to give school-concerts, lecture-demonstrations, and "informances" to students at all levels, senior citizens, and various other groups. As Mr. Kim states, "I want to reach as many people as possible who would not otherwise have the opportunity to be touched by music."

Benny Kim is a graduate of the Juilliard School where he studied with Dorothy DeLay. He now makes his home just outside Kansas City where he is currently associate professor of violin at the University of Missouri/Kansas City Conservatory of Music. His early studies were with Doris Preucil and Almita Vamos.

A golf fanatic, he is always in search of a game and brings his clubs whenever he travels. Unfortunately, he can not always take along his faithful golden retriever, Yogi. Mr. Kim plays a Stradivarius violin, dated 1732.

Eric Kim (artists list)

Eric Kim has performed throughout the United States, Europe, South America, and Middle and Far East as a recitalist, chamber musician, and soloist with orchestra. At age fifteen, he made his solo debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

Mr. Kim has appeared as a soloist with the symphony orchestras of Cincinnati, Denver, San Diego; and was a featured soloist with the Juilliard Orchestra on its critically acclaimed tour of the Far East. He has collaborated with such conductors as Zubin Mehta, Jesus Lopez-Cobos, Sergiu Comissiona, and Lawrence Foster. As a recitalist, Mr. Kim has been heard in the cities of New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.

An active chamber musician, Mr. Kim has performed with such artists as Emmanuel Ax, Yefim Bronfman, Philippe Entremont, Lynn Harrell, and Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg. Under the invitation of Violinist Pinchas Zukerman, Mr. Kim has performed with Mr. Zukerman at the festivals of Mostly Mozart (NY), Verbier (Switzerland), Schleswig-Holstein (Germany), and Athens (Greece). He has also participated in several tours with Mr. Zukerman to South America and Israel as member of the “Pinchas Zukerman and Friends” chamber ensemble. Recent highlights include chamber music debuts at Carnegie Hall, Boston¹s Symphony Hall, and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts performing both Brahms Sextets with Itzhak Perlman and Pinchas Zukerman, among others. Mr. Kim can also be heard at the festivals of Aspen, Bravo! Colorado, La Jolla, Mainly Mozart and Santa Fe.

Born of Korean parents in New York City, Mr. Kim grew up in Illinois where he began piano studies with his mother at age five. At age ten, he began his cello studies with Tanya L. Carey. Mr. Kim received his Bachelor and Master of Music degrees at the Juilliard School where he studied with Leonard Rose, Lynn Harrell, and Channing Robbins. Upon graduation, Mr. Kim was the first recipient of the William Schuman Prize awarded for outstanding leadership and achievement in music. Mr. Kim had served as Principal Cellist with the Denver and San Diego symphonies; and since 1989, has served as Principal Cellist with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.

Jennifer Koh (artists list)

  Violinist Jennifer Koh continues to dazzle audiences with playing that combines intensity of temperament with a patrician poise and elegance, qualities that she brings to music old and new in equal measure. As a virtuoso whose natural flair is combined with a probing intellectual acuity, Ms. Koh is committed to exploring connections between the pieces she plays, searching for similarities of voice between different composers, as well as within the works of a single composer. Accordingly, her programs often present rare and revealing juxtapositions, offering works by composers as divergent as Mozart and Ornette Coleman, Schubert and Wuorinen. Having received a bachelor’s degree in English literature from Oberlin College and a performance diploma in music from the Oberlin Conservatory, Ms. Koh maintains a lively interest in writing and literature. Her innovative outreach ideas and her approach to the study of the composers are enriched by a broad educational background. Ms. Koh revels in the unexpected.

A prolific recitalist, Ms. Koh appears frequently at major music centers and festivals, including Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Mostly Mozart, Marlboro and Wolf Trap, and with Christoph Eschenbach at Ravinia and Schleswig-Holstein. She is heard annually at the Spoleto Festival in Italy, where she recorded Menotti's Violin Concerto live in concert with the Spoleto Festival Orchestra conducted by Richard Hickox.

Born in Chicago of Korean parents, Ms. Koh currently resides in New York City. Ms. Koh is a graduate of Oberlin College (where she pursued studies in the violin and English literature) and an alumna of the Curtis Institute, where she worked extensively with Jaime Laredo and Felix Galimir. Ms. Koh is grateful to her private sponsor for the generous loan of the 1727 Ex Grumiaux Ex General DuPont Stradivari she uses in performance

Jaime Laredo (artists list)

In his forty years before the public, Jaime Laredo has enraptured millions with passionate and polished performances of rare style and elegance. As a soloist, he has played with over one hundred international orchestras, including the Boston and Chicago Symphonies, the New York Philharmonic, the Cleveland and Philadelphia Orchestras, the London Symphony and the Royal Philharmonic, with Barenboim, Mata, Mehta, Ormandy, Slatkin, Stokowsky and Szell. He has performed in recital at the finest international music centres and festivals, and has collaborated with many eminent artists of the century.

Born in Cochabamba, Bolivia, Jaime Laredo began playing the violin at the age of five and gave a full recital at age eight. Three years later he made his orchestral debut with the San Francisco Symphony, prompting the San Francisco Examiner to proclaim: "In the 1920's it was Yehudi Menuhin; in the '30's it was Isaac Stern; and last night it was Jaime Laredo." Over the next few years he studied with Josef Gingold and Ivan Galamian at the Curtis Institute, and with the great conductor George Szell.  In May 1959, at the age of seventeen, Mr Laredo won first prize in the Queen Elizabeth Competition in Brussels, becoming the youngest winner in the history of this prestigious competition.

His festival appearances have included Tanglewood, Marlboro, Mostly Mozart, Aspen and the Hollywood Bowl. In Europe, he has appeared with the London and BBC Symphonies, the English Chamber Orchestra, the Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields, and the Helsinki Philharmonic. Mr Laredo has also performed at the United Nations and at the White House, for Presidents Johnson and Carter. In his native Bolivia, he holds the status of national hero, with a stadium named for him in La Paz and commemorative set of twelve postage stamps issued in his name.

As a member of the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio, which he formed in 1976 with his wife, cellist Sharon Robinson, and pianist Joseph Kalichstein, Mr Laredo performs regularly in the music capitals of North and South America, Europe, Australia and the Far East.

When Mr and Mrs Laredo are not on tour, they divide their time between their home in Vermont and their New York City apartment. They are active members of Performing Artists for Nuclear Disarmament and Musicians Against Nuclear Arms.

Owen Lee (artists list)

Owen Lee has been the Principal Bassist of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra since 1996. Mr. Lee has also earned much acclaim as a soloist and chamber musician. He has performed as a soloist with orchestras including the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Paavo Jarvi and Jesus Lopez-Cobos, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra under John Harbison, and the New World Symphony under Michael Tilson-Thomas in Miami and on tour to Lincoln Center (Alice Tully Hall).

Mr. Lee's prizes in competitions include First Prize at the International Society of Bassists Solo Competition and Fourth Prize at the Irving M. Klein International String Competition in San Francisco. He has been heard in recital throughout the United States and in Geneva.

Mr. Lee's extensive chamber music experience includes three summers as the bassist of the Marlboro Festival. While there, he performed with many distinguished musicians including Richard Stoltzman, Midori, Nobuko Imai, and members of the Beaux Arts Trio, Guarneri Quartet, Juilliard Quartet, Chicago Quartet and Johannes Quartet. He has also performed with the Tokyo String Quartet on tour to Mexico, John Browning, Chee-Yun, the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival, San Diego's Mainly Mozart Festival, the Linton Music Series in Cincinnati, Cincinnati Symphony Chamber Players, Chamber Music L.A. Festival, Texas Music Festival, Tanglewood Festival, and on tour throughout China as a member of an octet comprised of leading musicians of Chinese descent from around the world.

For the Boston Records label, he has recorded the Misek Sonata No. 2 and Bach Unaccompanied Suites No. 3 and No. 5. The recording has earned praise from prestigious publications. Mr. Lee is a graduate of the University of Southern California, where he was a student of Dennis Trembly and Paul Ellison.

Timothy Lees (artists list)

Timothy Lees, Concertmaster of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, is increasingly in demand for his thoughtful chamber music playing and controlled command of the orchestral literature. A native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Mr. Lees graduated from the Eastman School of Music where he received the coveted Performer’s Certificate, and, in March 1991, won third prize in the Sitson Ma International Violin Competition. He has distinguished himself both here and abroad, and has established his reputation as a leader by serving as concertmaster for the internationally renowned Spoleto Festival Orchestra, the New Jersey Symphony and the Charleston (SC) Symphony Orchestra.

Mr. Lees has given solo recitals in Cincinnati, Philadelphia and San Diego’s Mainly Mozart Festival. He is a former member of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra and the Concerto Soloists of Philadelphia, where he also performed as a soloist. Mr. Lees has appeared as soloist with the Charleston Symphony Orchestra and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra performing such works as the Beethoven, Bruch and Korngold Violin Concertos, and Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante for Violin and Viola. In March of 1999 he won critical acclaim for a Carnegie Hall performance with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. Edith Eisler of Strings Magazine wrote: “The display of egotism is almost redeemed by the soaring melodies and the famous bravura violin solo, played with spectacular virtuosity by concertmaster Timothy Lees (Strauss, Ein Heldenleben)”.

An avid chamber musician, Mr. Lees has collaborated with such artists as Peter Wiley, Steven Tenenbom, Ida Kavafian, Yefim Bronfman and Jaime Laredo. Mr. Lees makes regular appearances at the Linton Chamber Music Series in Cincinnati, Ohio and has performed at the Spoleto, Sebago-Long Lake and Aspen Festivals. Timothy Lees plays on a 1748 J.B. Guadagnini violin graciously on loan to him from the collection of Mr. Charles Castleman.

Anne-Marie McDermott (artists list)

A luminous, boldly emotive pianist who also conveys great sensitivity and spirituality through her playing, Anne-Marie McDermott is widely celebrated for her expressive performances on the world's most illustrious stages. A highly versatile musician, Ms. McDermott is at home with a wide range of repertory, from Bach and Mozart to Prokofiev and Rachmaninov. As a solo recitalist, soloist with orchestra or as part of a chamber music ensemble, Ms. McDermott conveys the message of the composer in deeply felt, spontaneous playing. In 1992 Ms. McDermott stepped in at the last moment as soloist with the Atlanta Symphony to play the Mozart Concerto K. 466 for an indisposed Murray Perahia.

Ms. McDermott began playing the Piano at age 5. From the beginning, she realized that music was the most natural language for her, the one in which she could express the broadest range of human emotions. By 12 she had performed the Mendelssohn Concerto in G minor with the National Orchestral Association at Carnegie Hall. She studied at the Manhattan School of Music as a scholarship student with Dalmo Carra, Constance Keene and John Browning, and participated in master classes with such highly respected Artists as Leon Fleisher, Menahem Pressler, Misha Dichter, Abbey Simon, Rosalyn Tureck, Michael Tilson Thomas and Mstislav Rostropovich.

Anthony McGill (artists list)

Anthony McGill has been principal clarinet of the New York Metropolitan Orchestra since 2004, and, from 2000-2004, he was associate principal clarinet of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. A graduate of Curtis Institute, his faculty appointments have included Mannes College of Music, Opera Theatre and Music Festival of Lucca, Italy, and Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. He is a recipient of the Avery Fisher Career Grant.

Jon Kimura Parker (artists list)

Internationally acclaimed concert pianist Jon Kimura Parker was born, raised, and educated in Vancouver. His extraordinary career has taken him from Carnegie Hall and the Sydney Opera House to Baffin Island and Zimbabwe. A true Canadian ambassador of music, Mr. Parker has given two command performances for Queen Elizabeth II, special performances for the United States Supreme Court, and has performed for the Prime Ministers of Canada and Japan.

        In the past two seasons, Jon Kimura Parker has performed as guest soloist with the New York Philharmonic, The Cleveland Orchestra, The Philadelphia Orchestra, the Baltimore Symphony, the Columbus Symphony, the Dallas Symphony, the Florida Orchestra, the Houston Symphony, the Minnesota Orchestra, and every major orchestra in Canada. This season Mr. Parker performs with major orchestras in Atlanta, Boston, Calgary, Cincinnati, Denver, Ottawa, Salt Lake City, San Diego, Tampa, Tokyo, Toronto, Rochester, and Warsaw. He also returns to the Hollywood Bowl with the Los Angeles Philharmonic next summer.

        As a member of the outreach project “PianoPlus,” Mr. Parker toured remote areas including the Canadian Arctic, performing music ranging from Beethoven to Alanis Morissette on everything from upright pianos to electronic keyboards. He has also jammed with Doc Severinsen in Calgary and Bobby McFerrin in Philadelphia and Baltimore. Recent summer festival appearances have included Britt, Green Music, Vail, the Hollywood Bowl, Orcas Island, San Diego’s Mainly Mozart, Seattle, La Jolla, Sun Valley, and Santa Fe with Pinchas Zukerman and Lynn Harrell. Jon Kimura Parker also collaborates regularly with the Tokyo Quartet.

        An active media personality, Mr. Parker has hosted two seasons of the classical music television series “Whole Notes,” on Bravo! Canada. He also hosted CBC Radio Two’s five-part series “Up And Coming,” which showcases the talents of promising young musicians across Canada. He has played himself in a guest appearance on the Disney Channel’s “Under the Umbrella Tree”. Mr. Parker was also seen on CNN performing in war-torn Sarajevo and has been documented frequently on CBC, as well as on PBS’s “The Visionaries.”

        Jon Kimura Parker is Professor of Piano at The Shepherd School of Music at Rice University in Houston, and this year begins a two-year appointment as the E. Stephen Purdom Distinguished Visiting Artist at the Schwob School of Music at Columbus State University. Parker is Artistic Advisor of the Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival. He is an Officer of The Order of Canada, his country’s highest civilian honor.

        “Jackie” Parker received all of his early education in Canada, training with his uncle, Edward Parker and his mother, Keiko Parker. He studied with Lee Kum-Sing at the Vancouver Academy of Music and UBC, and Marek Jablonski at The Banff Centre, and in 1979 was admitted to The Juilliard School on full scholarship as a student of the renowned pedagogue Adele Marcus.

Sharon Robinson (artists list)

Winner of the Avery Fisher Recital Award, the Piatigorsky Memorial Award, and a Grammy nominee, cellist Sharon Robinson is recognized worldwide as a dynamic artist and one of the most outstanding musicians of our time. Whether as a recitalist, soloist with orchestra, or a member of the renowned Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio, critics, audiences and fellow musicians worldwide respond to what the New York Times called “an artistic personality that vitalizes everything she plays.” Her guest appearances with orchestra include the National Symphony, the Philadelphia and Minnesota Orchestras, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Boston, Baltimore, Dallas, Houston, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, and San Francisco Symphonies, and in Europe, the London Symphony, Helsinki Philharmonic, Zürich's Tonhalle Orchestra, and the English, Scottish and Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestras.

Appointed to the renowned cello faculty of Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in 2005, Ms. Robinson divides her time between teaching, performing with her husband, violinist and conductor Jaime Laredo, and touring with the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio. The Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio will celebrated its 30th anniversary with major concerts at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center , the 92nd Street Y in New York.

Born into a musical family (her father was a bass player, her mother a violinist and all her siblings are string players), Ms. Robinson gave her first concert when she was seven and has since received numerous honors and awards: the Avery Fisher Recital Award, the Pro Musicis Sponsorship Award, the Leventritt Foundation Award and the Gregor Piatigorsky Memorial Award. As winner of the Avery Fisher Recital Award, Ms. Robinson appeared on Lincoln Center 's Great Performers series, giving the premiere of Ned Rorem's After Reading Shakespeare , a work she commissioned and later performed on the Dick Cavett Show. Ms. Robinson's close relationships with today's composers has led to numerous commissions for solo and chamber works as well as concerti from Leon Kirchner, Arvo Pärt, Stanley Silverman, Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, David Ott, Katherine Hoover, Richard Danielpour and Ned Rorem .

Gil Shaham (artists list)

Violinist Gil Shaham is internationally recognized by audiences and critics alike as one of today’s most virtuosic and engaging classical artists. He is sought after throughout the world for concerto appearances with celebrated orchestras and conductors, as well as for recital and ensemble appearances on the great concert stages and at the most prestigious festivals. 

In addition to his many orchestral engagements Mr. Shaham regularly tours in recital with pianist, Akira Eguchi. He has the good fortune to enjoy musical collaboration with his family as well, including his wife, violinist Adele Anthony, his sister pianist Orli Shaham and his brother-in-law, conductor David Robertson. In spring 2007 his dream of bringing together friends and colleagues for chamber music will come to fruition in a tour of Brahms programs, culminating in a series of three concerts at Carnegie’s Zankel Hall. 

Among his more than two dozen concerto and solo CD’s, are a number of best sellers, appearing on record charts in the US and abroad. These recordings have earned prestigious awards including multiple Grammys, a Grand Prix du Disque, Diaposon d’or and Gramophone Editor’s Choice. Mr. Shaham’s most recent recordings have been produced for his own label “Canary Classics -- The Faure Album with Akira Eguchi and the Prokofiev Album with Orli Shaham. 

Mr. Shaham was born in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, in 1971. He moved with his parents to Israel where at the age of 7 he began violin studies with Samuel Bernstein of the Rubin Academy of Music and granted annual scholarships by the America-Israel Cultural Foundation. In 1981, while studying with Haim Taub in Jerusalem, he made debuts with the Jerusalem Symphony and the Israel Philharmonic. That same year he began his studies with Dorothy DeLay and Jens Ellerman at Aspen. In 1982, after taking first prize in Israel’s Claremont Competition, he became a scholarship student at Juilliard, where he has worked with Ms. DeLay and Hyo Kang. He has also studied at Columbia University. 

Gil Shaham was awarded the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant in 1990. He plays the 1699 “Countess Polignac” Stradivarius. He lives in New York City with his wife, violinist Adele Anthony and their two children.

Orli Shaham (artists list)

Pianist Orli Shaham has established an impressive international reputation as one of today's most gifted pianists. Whether revealing the power of Prokofiev, the sensuousness of Ravel, the elegance of Mozart, or the brilliant energy of John Adams, she has a way of transforming every note into an exhilarating communication with her audience. In addition to her prodigious technical skills, she plays with an infectious joy and innate musicality that make her a charismatic performer who never fails to elicit standing ovations and critical raves. Hailed for her "fabulous pianissimo" (The New York Times) and combination of "confidence with reflective grace, digital wizardry with subtlety of touch" (The Cleveland Plain Dealer) --she expresses passion and deep understanding in all she plays.

Ms. Shaham has performed numerous times with the Cleveland and Philadelphia Orchestras, San Francisco, and Saint Louis Symphonies--with whom she appeared in her Carnegie Hall debut. Festival appearances include regular visits to Ravinia, Verbier, Mostly Mozart, Aspen, Caramoor, and Spoleto. She has given numerous acclaimed recitals, including in New York, Washington, DC, and Munich.

Ms. Shaham is passionate about bringing classical music to new audiences. With that in mind, in 2005 she began an on-going collaboration with Classical Public Radio Network as the host of "Dial-a-Musician," a feature she created especially for the radio network. The concept of the program is to enhance listeners' experiences of music and musicians. During the feature she directs listeners' questions about classical music to fellow musicians - literally dialing them up for the correct answer. Her over 60 guests to date have included composer John Adams, pianists Emanuel Ax and Yefim Bronfman, Emerson String Quartet violinist Philip Setzer and cellist David Finckel, and superstar sopranos Natalie Dessay and Christine Brewer.

Orli Shaham and her older brother Gil have collaborated on several recordings including a Deutsche Grammophon recording entitled Dvorak for Two, an all-Prokofiev disc The Prokofiev Album on Canary Classics, ("As fine a recording of the violin and piano music of Prokofiev as has ever been made by one of the finest violinist and pianist teams of the last ten years." Barnes&Noble.com.), and most recently a Euroarts DVD and upcoming recording, Mozart in Paris, on Canary Classics of their performance of the Mozart Violin Sonatas, Opus 1. When performing this recorded repertoire live in duo appearances, the result is a glorious "sibling revelry" (The Plain Dealer)--musical chemistry, nourished by shared family history and a comfortable give-and-take.

Orli Shaham was recognized early for her prodigious talents and received her first scholarship for musical study from the America-Israel Cultural Foundation at the age of five. She studied with Luisa Yoffe at the Rubin Academy of Music in Jerusalem and at age seven, traveled to New York with her family to begin study with Nancy Stessin. One year later, she became a scholarship student of Herbert Stessin at The Juilliard School, graduating from the Horace Mann School and earning a degree in history at Columbia University. An enthusiastic teacher, she has taught non-musicians music literature at Columbia University. Orli Shaham lives in New York and St. Louis with her husband, conductor David Robertson, her two stepsons, Peter and Jonathan, and her newborn twin sons Nathan and Alex.

Dick Waller (artists list)

 
Dick Waller is Artistic Director and founder of the Linton Chamber Music Series, currently in its thirtieth season.  Under his leadership, the Linton series received one of Chamber Music America’s first Presenter Expansion Program grants and added three additional concert series: Encore! Linton, the Mayor’s 801 Plum Concerts and Peanut Butter and Jam Sessions for two to six year old children.

Mr. Waller was principal clarinetist of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra from 1961 to 1994.  He also served on the faculty of the Aspen Music Festival and performed as principal clarinetist, soloist and chamber music artist.  From 1990-2003, he was also Aspen Music Festival’s Coordinator of Winter and Summer House Music Concerts.

Throughout his career, Mr. Waller has performed at major music festivals throughout the United States, including Marlboro, Tanglewood, Carmel, Bowdoin, and the Sarasota Music Festival.

A student of Kalman Bloch and Daniel Bonade, Mr. Waller studied at the Juilliard School and is a graduate of Occidental College.  In addition to his tenure with the Cincinnati Symphony, he was principal clarinetist of the American Ballet Theatre Orchestra.

Mr. Waller currently entertains his class, For the Love of Music, at the Osher Life Learning Institute at the University of Cincinnati.

Liang Wang (artists list)

Liang Wang joined the New York Philharmonic in September 2006 as Principal Oboe. Previously, he was principal oboe of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (2005–06), and principal oboe of the Santa Fe Opera in the 2004–05 season.     

Born in Qing Dao, China, in 1980, Mr. Wang comes from a musical family. His mother was an amateur singer; his uncle was a professional oboist, and Mr. Wang began oboe studies with him at the age of seven. In 1993 he enrolled at the Beijing Central Conservatory, studying with Professor Zhu Dun, and two years later became a full-scholarship student at the Idyllwild Arts Academy in California. During his time there he was the Jack Smith Award Winner at the Pasadena Instrumental Competition, a two-time winner of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Fellowship, and a winner at the Spotlight Competition of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. 

Mr. Wang completed his bachelor’s degree in 2003 at The Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where he studied with Philadelphia Orchestra principal oboist Richard Woodhams. While at Curtis, he was a fellowship recipient at both the Aspen Music Festival and School, where he studied with John de Lancie, the former Principal Oboist of The Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Music Academy of the West, where he was a Career Grant recipient. Mr. Wang was the second-prize winner at the 2003 Fernard Gillet International Oboe Competition and a prizewinner at the 2002 Tilden Prize Competition. 

William Winstead (artists list)

William Winstead, head of CCM’s bassoon program and principal bassoonist with the esteemed Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, remembers the exact moment he fell in love with his instrument. The then-teenager was taking clarinet lessons at Kentucky’s Murray State Teachers College (now Murray State University). While wandering the halls, he peered into a practice room window.

"I saw this very tall girl playing this instrument," Winstead recalled with a chuckle. "I think it was just the unusualness of it, or maybe I liked the way it sounded. But I was just obsessed from that moment on."

That instant, though unexpected, proved to be a pivotal one for Winstead, and just the next in his lifelong infatuation with all things musical. The western Kentucky native recounted how, from his earliest memories, music was in his blood. His mother—a piano teacher—first recognized his interest at age three and began teaching him herself. By age five, he was writing music of his own.

"I was obviously predestined in some way to be a musician," he said. "There was never really another thought about it."

Throughout the ensuing years, including undergraduate studies at the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music and graduate work at West Virginia University, the "natural" began to carve out what would become a multidimensional musical career. He mastered multiple instruments, composition and music theory, and during his graduate assistantship at WVU, Winstead discovered his affinity for another facet of music: teaching.

Soon he found himself leading a triple life – of performing artist, composer and educator. He went on to teach an array of subjects at Indiana-Purdue University, Florida State University and Oberlin Conservatory of Music. The Philadelphia Orchestra and Pittsburgh Symphony performed world premieres of his works. Simultaneously, he flourished as a performer, with engagements at the Marlboro Music Festival (Vermont), Aspen Music Festival, Spoleto (Italy) Festival of Two Worlds, and the Sarasota Music Festival, to name a few. Successful guest appearances with the Cincinnati Symphony led to an invitation to join the orchestra full-time in 1987. Two years later, Robert Werner, former dean of CCM, recruited Winstead to the college’s faculty.

Now, nearly 20 years later, Winstead shows no signs of slowing, invigorated by the opportunities before him. He continues to receive critical nods for his performances, and he has spearheaded dramatic growth in CCM’s bassoon program. Budding young artists clamor to work with him not only due to his status as an accomplished performing artist, but also because of his reputation as a skillful and sensitive teacher. According to his division head David Adams, "[He] is considered one of the finest bassoon pedagogues in the nation. Acceptance into his teaching studio is highly competitive."

His years in the professional music world have no doubt shaped his exacting, yet practical approach to teaching, and masters student James Massol is one of many who has benefited from it first-hand. "Mr. Winstead works miracles," he explained. "I have seen so many struggling bassoonists come here, like myself, who need serious help to learn how to play. Instead of rattling off a discouraging list of deficiencies, he brings up each issue in turn. The student never has more work than he can handle."

"His students prize him ... for his intense devotion to their individual musical development," added CCM alumnus Adam Schwalje, now a bassoonist with the Macau Orchestra in China. "He works tirelessly, is able to teach with both minute detail and overarching concept, and brings out the best in his students with his obvious passion for their success."

John Zirbel (artists list)

John Zirbel has been principal horn of the Montreal Symphony since 1979. During that time he has performed all the major horn concertos with the orchestra and has presented the premiere of Sérénade héroïque, a concerto written for him by Quebec composer Jacques Hétu, and the Canadian premiere of John Williams’s Horn Concerto. During his sabbatical season of 1999 to 2000 he was principal horn of the San Francisco Symphony; during the 2005–06 season he was principal horn of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. He has also served as guest principal horn of the Milwaukee Symphony, the St. Louis Symphony, the NHK Symphony of Japan, and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. Mr. Zirbel, now in his eighth summer as an artist-faculty member of the Aspen Music Festival and School, is a professor at the Schulich School of Music at McGill University. His students play in orchestras across Canada. Summer 2007.