Audition Intensive Faculty June 4-6, 2018 New World Center

Edward Gazouleas Professor of Viola, Indiana University

Edward Gazouleas is professor of viola at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music.

Gazouleas was a member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra for 24 years where he held the Lois and Harlan Anderson Chair and led the viola section on many occasions, notably with conductors such as Colin Davis, Kurt Masur, and James Levine. While in Boston, he was active in orchestra governance, chairing the orchestra’s artistic advisory committee and serving on the search committee that selected Andris Nelsons to be the orchestra’s music director. Previously he was a member of the Pittsburgh Symphony under Lorin Maazel.

As a chamber music performer, Mr. Gazouleas performs frequently as a viola/piano duo withPei-Shan Lee, and has appeared with members of the Fine Arts, Pacifica, Muir, and Audubon string quartets, among others. A prize-winner at the Eighth International String Quartet Competition in Evian, France, he has also collaborated with such artists as Christian Tetzlaff, Roberto Díaz, the Boston Symphony Chamber Players, and the principal string players of The Cleveland Orchestra.

Gazouleas has also served on the faculties of Boston University College of Fine Arts, Boston Conservatory, Wellesley College, and New England Conservatory. Gazouleas attended Yale and received a Bachelor of Music degree from the Curtis Institute, where he studied with Michael Tree and Karen Tuttle.

Noa Kageyama, Ph.D. Performance Psychologist Founder, Bulletproof Musician Faculty, The Juilliard School

Formerly a violinist with degrees from Oberlin and Juilliard, performance psychologist Noa Kageyama is on the faculty of The Juilliard School, where he teaches performing artists how to utilize sport psychology principles and more consistently demonstrate their full abilities under pressure.

Noa has also conducted workshops at institutions ranging from Northwestern University, New England Conservatory, Peabody, Eastman, and the U.S. Armed Forces School of Music, to programs such as the Starling-Delay Symposium, The Perlman Music Program, and the National Orchestral Institute, and for organizations like the Music Teachers’ National Association and the National Association of Teachers of Singing.

Noa’s work has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Musical America, Strings Magazine, Strad, and Lifehacker. He maintains a private coaching practice and authors a performance psychology blog called The Bulletproof Musician, which has 100,000+ monthly readers.

Alex Kerr Concertmaster, Dallas Symphony Orchestra Professor of Violin, Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University

Alexander Kerr’s expressive and charismatic style has made him one of the most accomplished and versatile violinists on the international music scene today. In 1996 at the age of 26, Mr. Kerr was appointed to the prestigious position of Concertmaster of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. After nine successful years at that post, he left in June, 2006 to assume the endowed Linda and Jack Gill Chair in Music as Professor of Violin at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. In addition to his teaching responsibilities in Bloomington, he maintains a busy concert schedule appearing with orchestras and in recital and chamber music performances throughout the U.S., Asia and Europe. In 2008 he began his tenure as Principal Guest Concertmaster of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and in September 2011, he assumed his role as Concertmaster of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra.

Regarded by the press as a masterful virtuoso with an elegant, old-world sound, Mr. Kerr has appeared as soloist with major orchestras throughout the United States and Europe, working with such renowned conductors as Mariss Jansons, Riccardo Chailly, Peter Oundjian, Robert Spano, Alan Gilbert, Jaap van Zweden and David Zinman.

An active chamber musician, Mr. Kerr has collaborated with Martha Argerich, Leif Ove Andsnes, Emanuel Ax, Joshua Bell, Yefim Bronfman, Edgar Meyer, Truls Mørk, Menahem Pressler, Vadim Repin, Alisa Weilerstein, Kim Kashkashian and Maxim Vengerov in performances at festivals in Aspen, Santa Fe, Caramoor, La Jolla, Stavanger, and throughout Spain, Portugal, Turkey, Switzerland, Austria and the Netherlands.

Mr. Kerr’s CD releases include the Dvorak Piano Quintet with Sarah Chang and Leif Ove Andsnes on the EMI label, music by Dutch composer Julius Röntgen on the NM Classics label, and the Shostakovich Romance on a series of discs including “Violin Adagios” and “Evening Adagios” released by Decca. A live DVD and CD recording of Strauss’ Ein Heldenleben with Mr. Kerr, the RCO and Maestro Mariss Jansons was released in 2005 on the RCO’s own label: RCOLive!

Raised in Alexandria, Virginia, Mr. Kerr began his studies at age seven with members of the National Symphony Orchestra. He went on to study with Sally Thomas at the Juilliard School, and with Aaron Rosand at the Curtis Institute of Music where he received his Bachelor of Music degree in 1992.

Joy Payton-Stevens Cellist, Seattle Symphony Co-founder and cellist, BetaSounds

Joy Payton-Stevens began playing the cello in her hometown of Cleveland when she was just four years old. She attended Interlochen Arts Academy for high school, and then continued her studies at the University of Southern California under the tutelage of Ronald Leonard. She has been a member of the New World Symphony in Miami, Florida, and the Charlotte Symphony in North Carolina, and joined the Seattle Symphony in the fall of 2014.

In addition to performing music, Joy is passionate about teaching music and has participated in several programs to bring music education to underserved communities. Payton-Stevens conceived and founded BetaSounds, a classical chamber music series focused on the cultivation of diverse audiences. BetaSounds performs in unique venues throughout Seattle, and is committed to building relationships with youth groups in underserved areas who would otherwise go without exposure to classical music.

Outside of music, her other interests include cooking, reading and most sports.