Music Beyond The Chamber

www.musicbeyondthechamber.org [email protected] (832) 372-3286

ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION:

Music Beyond the Chamber is a organization that brings together some of our generation’s most innovative and sought after chamber musicians from around the world for various performance, education and network strengthening possibilities within a community. These musicians perform in some of the world’s most celebrated concert halls, such as Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Wigmore Hall, Royal Albert Hall, the Mozarteum and the Gewandhaus. They are equally invested in music education, looking to introduce communities to the advantages of a classical music education for K-12 students, providing an environment of excellence to raise the current level of existing music students, and supporting the bond between amateur and professional musicians. This is all done in order to ensure the longevity and relevance of chamber music across the US.

The artists from Music Beyond the Chamber are all musicians trained in some of the world’s most prestigious institutions such as the , Curtis Institute, Guildhall School, New England Conservatory, , Rice University and Cleveland Institute of Music, and they have garnered awards from major international competitions such as the Stradivarious International Violin Competition, the Beijing International Competition, Canadian Music Competition, the Holland America Music Society Competition and the Tunnel Trust in England. Each member of Music Beyond the Chamber is also a dedicated chamber musician, making regular festival appearances at Ravinia, Marlboro, Taos, Music@Menlo and Tanglewood, often collaborating with mentors such as , Pinchas Zuckerman, Pamela Frank and Midori Goto.

In addition to being active performers, the musicians from Beyond the Chamber are equally accomplished scholars, having earned a multitude of grants and scholarships from the Fulbright Commission, the Council for the Arts, the Virtu Foundation, the Deutsche Akademische Austtausch Dienst (DAAD) and the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation. Several members also hold academic degrees in Music Education, Classics and Renaissance Studies, and others are accomplished visual artists and writers, with works appearing in visual art and literary magazines at Yale, the North Central Review, CRED Magazine, the America Library of Poetry, and the American Literacy Council.

Music Beyond the Chamber members are equally passionate about the importance of arts in education. Members have worked with institutions such as the William Penn Foundation, an organization hoping to improve youth access to quality arts education; Carnegie Hall’s Academy Program, a fellowship program designed to prepare the world’s finest young professional musicians for careers that combine musical excellence with teaching, community outreach, advocacy, and leadership; and the Perlman Music Program Suncoast Residency, a project catered towards increasing music education awareness and level in the Sarasota counties of Florida. On top of being sought-after performers, the members of Beyond the Chamber are also dedicated teachers, professors, music education clinicians and arts advocates.

Chamber music is named as such due to the origins of the small ensembles being able to fit inside the privacy of a single palace chamber. Music Beyond the Chamber aims to bring this wonderful genre outside of the “chamber” by bringing the music directly into the community.

For more information about the artists from Music Beyond the Chamber, please visit the website at http://www.musicbeyondthechamber.org/about-us.html Our Programs

Performances:

Artists from Music Beyond the Chamber have performed all over the world in venues ranging from the world's most prestigious concert halls such as Carnegie Hall, the Gewandhaus, Wigmore Hall and the Mozarteum, to living rooms, classrooms, churches, school gyms and even downtown bars. We are committed to bringing the joy of music making into all communities and breaking down perceived barriers between the music, the performer and the audience.

For K-12 School Settings:

- interactive 45 minute assembly program aimed at between 1-3 grade levels ranging in age-appropriate material between K-12 students. Introduces tools for active listening and music from a variety of composers and periods

- workshops in school orchestra classrooms covering skills for personal practice, personal responsibility, team work, cuing, following, group dynamics, intonation, tone, etc.

- workshops in non-music classrooms relating a variety of academic subjects to musical concepts and ideas

For Young Instrumental Students:

- master classes for individual instrumentalist as well as chamber groups

- introduction to chamber music: providing tools for effective rehearsal techniques.

- brief motivational performances for students and their parents

- career workshops: describing to students what it's like to be a professional performing musician and advice on how to become a professional

For College Music Students:

- master classes for individual instrumentalists as well as chamber groups

-workshops teaching performance majors how to conduct outreach in their own community

- advanced chamber music skills: rhythmic integrity in a group, cuing, balance, intonation, etc.

For Adult Amateur Chamber Players:

We are committed that music is a life-long passion and learning experience. We have helped initiate several yearly adult amateur workshops including USF ChamberFest, held at the University of South Florida, and Chamber Music of the Rockies in Beaver Creek, Colorado. We have also performed soiree concerts to give communities an opportunity to develop and foster adult amateur chamber music players' communities and networks. Soirees are hosted in private homes and begin with Music Beyond the Chamber artists performing an intimate concert. Followed by this performance, adult amateur musicians are invited to bring their own instruments and chamber music repertoire to read with other adults from the community side-by-side with the artists from Music Beyond the Chamber. This side-by-side reading is informal, for fun, and also helps to develop musical relationships between adults in each community. These soirees are also set up to act as a fundraiser for Music Beyond the Chamber and attendees are encouraged to make tax deductible donations to the programs.

For video and audio clips of Music Beyond the Chamber’s performances and various teaching sessions and workshops, please visit the website at: http://www.musicbeyondthechamber.org/programs.html.

What Others Are Saying About Music Beyond the Chamber Events:

"We would like to thank you for the enthusiasm, professionalism, and great talent you've engaged our students and listeners with during both outreach events, as well as our public at the performance--we all loved it, and I've personally heard high words of praise from several of the attendants." - Raffaele M., Co-Artistic Director at Community Concerts (TX)

"The students expressed how much they learned from your presentation and how much they enjoyed your enthusiasm and energy." - Michael W., Professor of Music at Rice University and Music Director of Houston Youth Symphony (TX)

"I had such an amazing time playing together and listening to your performance. Thank you for helping out the octet and [the Governor's School for the Arts] as a whole by sharing your time and knowledge with us." -Jason A., student (VA)

"The students were enthralled by your performance, and amazed that they too could implement some aspects of your musicianship into their own playing in such a short time. Beyond the Chamber has a refreshing approach to physically communicate through music. I have always told my students that no matter how big the group, they should always play like they are in a chamber group. Your clinic really reinforced that notion!" -Teresa N., Orchestra Director at Clark High School (TX)

"Thank you SO MUCH for hosting the Chamber Music Party! It was such a wonderful evening and I really appreciate your mission and I wish you success along the way. Playing the Brandenburg #5 with new and supportive friends was a HIGHLIGHT of my life! What a gift!!!! THANK YOU!" -Kit W. , Adult Amateur Musician (CO)

"Thank you for continuing to expose 6th graders to so many wonderful programs...[the assembly] met state standards [and] it helped to introduce and reinforce the idea of variables for the students as they are completing their science fair projects. Listening is a language arts standards and the students were paying attention....On a scale from 1 to 10 [I'd] rate the performance a 10!"

-Gayla H., 6th grade science teacher from Lander (WY)

"One of the things that the students constantly mentioned was how amazing it was to hear how different playing styles can convey different emotions. This was a good reminder of the importance of what music means... the musicians were wonderful, had a great attitude and were great teachers!" -Tim Logan, Orchestra Director at Vale Middle School (TX)

“Thanks for a great assembly. It was fun, educational and age appropriate. The feedback I received throughout the day from the students and faculty was very positive!" -Tony C. , Fine Arts Teacher at Graland Academy (CO)

"Your chamber concert was awesome! It was a real treat to hear you play. I admire your energy!" -Mary S., participant at USF ChamberFest Adult Amateur Workshop (FL)

Music Beyond the Chamber Collaborations Include:

Universities: Rice University (TX) University of Portland (OR) Denver University (CO) Virginia Commonwealth University (VA) University of Southern Florida (FL) University of the Pacific (CA) University of Florida (FL)

K-12 Schools: Governor's School for the Arts (VA) Lander Middle School (WY) Northglenn High School (CO) Douglas Anderson School for the Arts (FL) Fiest Elementary School (TX) Matoaca Middle School (VA) Clark High School (TX) Hickory High School (VA) Vale Middle School (TX) Harrison School for the Arts (FL) Vero Beach High School (FL) West Salem High School (OR) Freedom High School (FL) Klickitat School (WA) Freedom Middle School (FL) Archbishop Mitty School (CA) Graland Academy (CO) Eden High School (CA) Gifford Middle School (FL) Los Gatos High School (CA) Colorado Academy (CO) Other Organizations: Denver Children's Hospital (CO) Classical Revolution Boulder (CO) Berkshire School of Music (MA) Fairmont Chamber Concerts (WV) Stockbridge (MA) Houston Youth Orchestra (TX) P.A.L.S. - Performing Arts in Lander (WY) Denver South Seventh-Day Adventist Church (CO) String Academy of Wyoming (WY) Houston Youth Orchestra (TX) Community Chamber Concert Series (TX) Denver Seventh-Day Adventist Church (CO) Symphonicity (VA) Tampa Metropolitan Youth Orchestra (FL) First Christian Church of Vero Beach (FL) Abbey Delray Concerts (FL) Community Concerts of Lander (WY) Freedom Village Center (FL) Classical Revolution Boulder (CO) Regional Orchestra Association of Virginia (VA) Fairmont Chamber Concerts (CO) Pelican Cove Concert Series (FL) Chamber Music of the Rockies (CO) Sarasota Bay Club (FL) ProQuartet (France) Bay Village Concerts (FL) A.C.C.R. (Association des centres culturels de rencontre) The Villages Center (FL) Rencontres Seine-et-Marne Festival (France) Music @ Noon Series (OR) Community Concerts of Lander (WY) The ACMP Chamber Music Network Foundation

Music Beyond the Chamber runs several longterm workshops, festivals and projects. Please visit the website at http://www.musicbeyondthechamber.org/current-projects.html for more information.

About the Individual Artists:

Jessica Tong, Violinist and Artistic Director

Lauded for her "lyrical intensity" (Baltimore Sun) and her "performances to remember" (Woodstock Times), violinist Jessica Tong has garnered international acclaim as a soloist, recitalist and chamber musician. A recipient of the prestigious Canada Council for the Arts Grant for Musicians, she has been a top prizewinner at the Eckhardt-Gramatte Competition, the Toronto Symphony and Canadian Music Competitions as well as the beneficiary of both the Elizabeth Massey and David Ouchterlony Awards. Ms. Tong has performed as a soloist both as a violinist and pianist with the Toronto Philharmonia, the Waterloo Chamber Orchestra, Cathedral Bluffs Symphony, and the Oshawa-Durham Symphony on multiple occasions, and has appeared frequently in nationally broadcasted radio performances on CBC, WAMC, KZYX and WVIA public radio across Canada and the US.

A consummate chamber musician, Ms. Tong has performed in major international concert halls including Carnegie Hall (), the Kennedy Center (Washington DC), les Invalides (Paris) and the Gewandhaus (), and collaborated with artists such as Pamela Frank, Leon Fleisher, Cho-Liang Lin, and members of the Cleveland, Concord, Vogler, Brentano and Borromeo Quartets. She is an equally strong advocate of contemporary music, performing in the Syzygy and Musiqa concert series in Houston, and the CAGE and Evolution series in Baltimore and collaborating with members of the critically acclaimed new music ensemble Alarm Will Sound. Most recently, Ms. Tong worked as the first violinist of the Vinca Quartet- the first ever to receive four simultaneous DAAD grants from the German government, in order to pursue graduate studies under the mentorship of the Vogler Quartet.

Dedicated to finding innovative ways to make the chamber music art form relevant and understood by current society, Ms Tong is also a passionate advocate for music education and humanizing the concert experience. As a member of the Vinca Quartet, she was a resident artist of Perlman Music Program Suncoast (a residency created to help increase classical music awareness in the Sarasota and Manatee counties in Florida),as well as the Gorgeous Sounds Residency (designed to help initiate a school strings program in the Columbia River Gorge region). She is also the only two-time recipient of the ProQuartet Odyssee Grant, a project that has brought her to France to perform and teach in the Paris, Seine-et-Marneand Provence regions of France.

A pupil and assistant to Pamela Frank, Ms. Tong has also studied with Kathleen Winkler, Donald Weilerstein, and Zhang yun Zhang, and has been mentored as a chamber musician by founding members of the Alban Berg, Artemis, Vogler and Brentano Quartets. Always a proponent for expanding one's horizons, in her spare moments, Ms. Tong loves to pursue her love of languages and marathon running. Her ongoing fascination with mind-body connection and its relevance to music performance has also led her to explore the science of yoga and complete her teacher certification at the Kripalu Center in Lenox, Massachussetts.

Laura Seay, Violist

As a performer, violist Laura Seay has been characterized as “a burst of unbound energy” (The East Hampton Star), and her enthusiasm for classical music continues to attract audiences across the globe. Laura first won national recognition in performance with Itzhak Perlman and members of the Perlman Music Program for a nationally televised broadcast of the 2003 “Live from Lincoln Center." Since then, she has appeared in performance at the in Washington, D.C., Carnegie Hall in , Nichols Concert Hall in Chicago, and yearly performances throughout North America and Europe. As a soloist with orchestra, Laura has performed with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, University of Northern Colorado Wind Ensemble, and the Denver Young Artists Orchestra.

An avid chamber musician, Laura has collaborated in performance with renowned artists such as Itzhak Perlman, Paul Katz, Donald Weilerstein, Roger Tapping, Jeremy Denk and Jennifer Frautschi. Most recently, Laura was the recipient of the coveted DAAD scholarship, an honor which allowed her to pursue further graduate quartet studies with the Vinca Quartet at the Hochschule fuer Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Germany under the mentorship of the Vogler Quartett.

Laura has won multiple national awards including the William C. Byrd Young Artists Competition, National Foundation for the ARTS, and the Jeff Bradley Young Musicians Award, and has worked as a faculty member at the Juilliard School Pre- College, The Perlman Music Program, the Lucy Moses Scool, Chamber Music of the Rockies, and as a teaching assistant at the Juilliard School College Division. Ms. Seay holds a Bachelor and Masters Degree in Performance from the Juilliard School as well as a Master of Education Degree from Columbia University Teacher's College. Her solo and chamber music teachers include renowned viola pedagogue Heidi Castleman, Steven Tenenbom, Hsin-Yun Huang, and David Soyer.

Raised in Denver, Colorado, Laura takes a lot of interest in making classical music accessible and enjoyable for diverse audiences, especially to her peer group, by talking with audiences about music in a way that is understandable and appreciated on a high and universal level.

Karen Kang, cellist

Winner of the Holland America Music Society Competition, Korean born Canadian cellist Karen Kang is an avid soloist and chamber musician. Karen has performed in numerous venues including the Mozarteum Recital Hall in Salzburg, Mozartsaal in Hamburg, and gave recitals at the Chicago Cultural Centre as part of the 'Dame Myra Hess Concert Series'. She can be heard on Chicago's 'live from WFMT', which was recorded and broadcasted nationwide on 98.7 WFMT-FM. Her Summer festival performances include Ravinia Steans Institute for young artists, Orford Arts Centre, Banff Centre for the Arts, National Young Artist Program, Holland Music Sessions and Internationale Sommerakademie 'Mozarteum'.

Equally as impressive in her young career, Karen has garnered top prizes in numerous competition prizes, awards, and scholarships, including first prizes at the Kiwanis Music Festival Provincials, Canadian Music Competition Nationals, Johann Strauss Scholarship Foundation, Hudson Valley String Competition, Concours de L’Orchestra Symphonique de Montreal, and in 2010 she was a finalist at the International Stepping Stone Competition.

An avid chamber musician, Karen performed the Mendelssohn Octet with violinist Pinchas Zukerman during the 2004 National Young Artist Program in Ottawa. In 2008, her NEC String Quartet traveled to Washington D.C. in collaboration with the Borromeo String Quartet and Grammy Award-winning Parker Quartet, for an artistic residency and workshop at the Library of Congress. To advance the musical tradition, she collaborated with composers and Allan Gordon Bell. Until recently, Karen was a cellist of the Saguaro Trio, where they resided in Hamburg while giving performances in Germany, and worked closely with cellist Niklas Schmidt at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg.

Karen has appeared in masterclasses with some of the most distinguished musicians today including, , Peter Wispelwey, Bernard Greenhouse, Pinchas Zukerman, Gary Hoffman, Frans Helmerson, Lluis Claret, Lynn Harrell, and . As a full scholarship student, Karen holds a Bachelors Degree in Cello Performance from the New England Conservatory of Music under the tutelage of Laurence Lesser, and a Masters Degree from Northwestern University where she studied with Hans Jørgen Jensen.

Reinoud Ford, cellist

A native of the UK, cellist Reinoud Ford has demonstrated his versatility as a soloist and chamber musician, performing in some of the most prestigious concert halls including Wigmore Hall, Royal Albert Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall and the Purcell Room. He has appeared as a guest soloist numerous times with the Jupiter Chamber Orchestra and the Menuhin School Orchestra, and was invited in 2006, to give an exclusive recital for the diplomatic community in Doha, Qatar. As a chamber musician, Mr. Ford has performed extensively across England and Scotland, and has made numerous festival appearances in the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Switzerland and Brazil.

Shortly after beginning to play the cello at the age of eight, Mr. Ford was selected to attend the venerated School of Music under the tutelage of Louise Hopkins. He then continued his studies at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, graduating with top honours with two post-graduate degrees in solo and chamber music performance. On top of being a finalist of the 2006 Royal Overseas League, Mr. Ford is the winner of the Flame Competition in France, the Gwyneth George Prize from the Beethoven Piano Society of Europe and the Guilhermina Suggia Gift for a Gifted Young Cellist. He is also the recipient of one of England’s coveted Tunnell Trust Prizes, an award that resulted in debut concerts in Wigmore Hall and the Purcell Room as a Park Lane Group Artist.

A current member of the Cellophony cello octet, Mr. Ford also served as a founding member of the Idomeneo Quartet, an ensemble mentored by members of the Vogler, Hagen and Alban Berg Quartets. Other musical studies include working with Sir Yehudi Menuhin, Bernard Greenhouse, Mstislav Rostropovich, Gary Hoffman, , Gunther Pichler (Alban Berg Quartet), Martin Lovett (), Johannes Goritzki, Lynn Harrell, Heime Muller (Artemis Quartet), Paul Katz (Cleveland Quartet) and .

Sharon Park, Violinist

Originally from Southern California, violinist Sharon Park has been a top prize winner in the Stradivarius International Violin Competition, as well as a recipient of the Emerging Young Artist Award and the ARTS Award in music by the National Foundation of Advancement in the Arts. Ms. Park has been a featured soloist with the American Youth Symphony, Herbert Zipper Orchestra, and the YMF Debut Orchestra.

An active member of the new music community with a focus on performing works by living composers, Ms. Park has given numerous performances of works by Pozzi Escot, composer and theory professor at The New England Conservatory. In January 2011, Ms. Park was invited by the University of Hawaii, Manoa, as a member of a chamber ensemble for a week long residency bringing works by living composers in concert, lecture, and master class to the students at the University and residents of HI.

Equally adept as an orchestral musician, Ms. Park has served as Assistant Concertmaster of the American Youth Symphony and Principal Violist of the Crossroads Chamber Orchestra. In 2009, Ms. Park was a fellow at the Aspen Music Festival for Maestro ’s prestigious program American Academy of , serving as Principal Second Violin. Adding variety to her summer, she was invited to accompany Italian pop pianist sensation Giovanni Allevi for his concert in Arena di Verona, Italy.

Ms. Park holds a Master of Music degree from The Juilliard School and a Bachelor of Music degree from the New England Conservatory, and has studied with Ronald Copes, Donald Weilerstein,Robert Lipsett, Michelle Kim, and Alice Schoenfeld.

David Kaplan, pianist Since his debut as a soloist at the age of 9, pianist David Kaplan has been lauded for his “grace and fire” at the keyboard, and most recently by The New York Times for “striking imagination and creativity.” First appearing in recital at the Bard Festival in 1994, he has performed in such prestigious venues as Weill and Avery Fisher halls. In recent seasons, he performed as recitalist in , Barcelona, Chicago, and New York, and as a chamber musician in the US, Germany, Italy, Switzerland and . Having collaborated from an early age with his father, the violinist Mark Kaplan, David is a veteran of many distinguished chamber music festivals and series: he has appeared at the Seattle Chamber Music Festival, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Chamber Music Northwest, Barge Music, and the Canadian festivals of Banff and Orford. In addition, he has been a guest at Ravinia, Tanglewood, and the Mostly Mozart Festival, where he performed at the invitation of Itzhak Perlman.

Kaplan´s enthusiasm for contemporary music has led him to premiere works of many composers, including Ezra Laderman and Timothy Andres, whose concerto, Home Stretch, was written for him. In their debut recording for Nonesuch, featuring the composer´s two piano suite, Shy and Mighty, he and Andres “dazzle on the ivories.” The highly acclaimed disc has earned them top spots in Alex Ross´s CD Picks. David also drew critical praise from The Globe and The New York Times for his performances at the Tanglewood Festival of Contemporary Music of the complex Piano Concerto. He delights in the unexpected, and his collaborations with Patrick Bernatchez, a French-Canadian artist, have been personal highlights. For exhibitions at the Kunstlerhaus Bethanien in Berlin and Montreal Museum of Modern Art, they created a recording of the Goldberg Variations for a specially prepared piano. This Spring, the pair complete a video piece featuring piano works of Ligeti and Lekeu, sometimes performed upside down.

David spent the past two years in Berlin, where he studied conducting under the auspices of a Fulbright Grant. In the Fall, he returned to New York to join The Academy, a Program of Carnegie Hall, Juilliard, and the Weill Institute. His work for the Academy includes extensive teaching and community outreach as well as a full schedule of appearances with the group’s high profile performing wing, the Ensemble ACJW.

Most recently a student of at the , his principle childhood mentors were Walter Ponce and Miyoko Lotto. In addition, he has had the opportunity to learn from many other distinguished pianists, including , Leon Fleisher, , Anton Kuerti, , Manahem Pressler, and Andre Watts. He has also worked extensively with several renowned new music performers, including Gilbert Kalish, Ursula Oppens and Charles Rosen. Away from the piano, David is a passionate cook, and is mildly obsessed with classic cars.

Jessica Chang, violist Taiwanese-American violist Jessica T. Chang is dedicated to sharing her love for music through expanding educational opportunities in the arts, and by presenting chamber music in accessible ways. As the director of Chamber Music by the Bay (CMB), a chamber music performance and youth education series in the San Francisco Bay Area, Ms. Chang brings chamber music concerts to K-12 public schools, libraries, and hospitals throughout the region. Her commitment to sharing chamber music extends to audiences of all ages across the , from reaching 800 youth and community members in the San Francisco Bay Area in CMB’s 2012 season, to educational concerts with Project 440 in Savannah, GA and performances with ensemble39 in , PA.

Since her debut at Carnegie Hall with the Brunell String Quartet in 2008, Ms. Chang’s chamber music performances have been broadcast on American Public Media’s“Performance Today”, WAMC, WYNC, WHYY, and WQXR. Recent highlights include a European concert tour with Curtis on Tour alongside Roberto Díaz, Pamela Frank, and members of the Berlin Philharmonic; and collaborations with Itzhak Perlman, Joseph Silverstein, Soovin Kim, Anthony McGill, Peter Wiley, Daniel Philips, and Toby Appel. Her festival appearances have included the Verbier Festival in Switzerland; Music from Angel Fire in Angel Fire, NM; International Musicians Seminar Prussia Cove in England; Perlman Chamber Music Workshop in Shelter Island, NY; and the Taos School of Music in Taos, NM. Ms. Chang is an active orchestral musician, and has served as principal viola of the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra, and the Yale Collegium Musicum. Other orchestral engagements have included the Verbier Festival Orchestra; the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, FL; Symphony in C in Camden, NJ; and the Aspen Music Festival Orchestra in Aspen, CO.

Aside from her musical endeavors, Ms. Chang has maintained commitments in Philadelphia toward improving youth access to quality arts education through the School District of Philadelphia’s ArtsRising initiative. Her passion for education has led to teaching engagements for afterschool and enrichment programs at K-8 public schools in New Haven, CT; Palo Alto, CA; San Jose, CA, and San Francisco. Also a writer and an artist, Ms. Chang has been published by art and literary magazines at the North Central Review, CRED Magazine, Yale, and the American Literacy Council.

A native of northern California, Ms. Chang began her studies on the viola at age thirteen. She is a graduate of Yale College, where she received her Bachelor of Arts degree with honors and distinction, and was also the recipient of a Louis B. Sudler Fund Award and the Yale Friends of Music Chamber Music Award. She holds an Artist Diploma from the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where she studied with Roberto Díaz, Misha Amory, and Michael Tree as the recipient of the William A. Loeb Fellowship. Ms. Chang is currently pursuing graduate studies at The Juilliard School under the tutelage of Heidi Castleman and Steven Tenenbom, with gracious support from the Satterthwaite Scholarship Fund and the Irene Diamond Graduate Fellowship.

Lachezar Kostov, cellist Hailed for the “awesome purity of his playing” and described as a “prodigiously skilled protagonist”, Bulgarian cellist Lachezar Kostov has performed as an orchestral soloist, recitalist and chamber musician in USA, Japan and Europe. In 2006 Mr. Kostov was the National Winner at the MTNA competition and in 2009, he gave his Carnegie Hall debut together with his long- time friend and chamber music collaborator pianist Viktor Valkov. Their first commercial CD was released by NAXOS in 2011 and includes the complete music for cello and piano by Nikolai Roslavets. Engagements in the past years include concerts at the Kennedy Center and the Library of Congress, several tours in Japan and series of concerts in Germany devoted to the music of . Mr. Kostov is currently pursuing DMA degree at Rice University. He holds diplomas from Yale University, NCSA and the National Music Academy in Bulgaria. Highlights of the 2012-2013 season include solo appearance at the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, Germany, and a performance of Prokofiev’s “Sinfonia Concertante” with the Orchestra.

Karen Ouzounian, cellist

Cellist Karen Ouzounian has performed as soloist, recitalist and chamber musician throughout North America and Europe. She has performed with such ensembles as Trio Cavatina, the Tessera Quartet, The Knights, ECCO, A Far Cry, SONYC, the Argento Chamber Ensemble and Continuum. During the 2012-2013 season she will tour with Musicians from Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute and appear on the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts’ Rising Stars series.

She has collaborated with such artists as Richard Goode, , Gilbert Kalish, Charles Neidich, Vera Beths, and members of the Guarneri, Juilliard and St. Lawrence String Quartets. Festivals include Marlboro, Ravinia, the Open Chamber Music Seminar at Prussia Cove (UK), and Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (Germany). She was a prizewinner at the Zara Nelsova Competition for Canadian Cellists in 2011, and is a winner of the 2012 Canada Council for the Arts Musical Instrument Bank Competition. Currently residing in NYC, Ms. Ouzounian holds Master of Music and Bachelor of Music degrees from The Juilliard School, where she was a student of Timothy Eddy.

Laura Gaynon, cellist San Francisco Bay Area native Laura Gaynon is an active performer of both modern and baroque cello and chamber music. She has degrees from Yale University and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where she is pursuing an Artist Certificate in chamber music with Jennifer Culp. Recent performance highlights include the Rachmaninoff sonata at the inaugural Piatigorsky International Cello Festival master classes in February, and this past summer she was one of five cellists chosen for the Taos School of Music's 50th anniversary season. She performs regularly as a founding member of the baroque chamber group MUSA.

Ms. Gaynon's true passion is chamber music, and she has participated in a number of chamber music seminars including the Taos School of Music (NM), Beethoven Institute (NY), Lyricafest (Boston), Zephyr Chamber Music Festival (Italy), and the International Chamber Music Workshop and Festival (Germany). At the Conservatory she has studied extensively with Paul Hersh, Jodi Levitz, Mark Sokol and Ian Swensen.

Her major teachers include Jennifer Culp, Elisabeth Reed, Ole Akahoshi, George Neikrug, Mikhail Gelfandbein, and Irene Sharp, and she has played in master classes for artists including Eva Legêne, Laurence Lesser, Norman Fischer, Menahem Pressler, Matt Haimovitz, and Sir . A devoted teacher herself, Ms. Gaynon has an active studio in the Bay Area and enjoys being a music missionary to local schools with ever-diminishing music programs.

Notwithstanding her musical success, Ms. Gaynon's most prized accomplishment is completing a cross-continent bicycle trip, from New Haven, CT to Portland, OR, because, in her words, "I don't know why I'm still alive." She would love to bike the perpendicular path from Canada to Mexico if someone would be willing to carry her luggage.

Whitney Bullock, violist Violist Whitney Bullock is active as both a performer and teaching artist. She is currently in her fourth season as Principal Viola of the Symphony of Southeast Texas and is on faculty for the Michael P. Hammond Preparatory Department at Rice University's Shepherd School of Music. She has recently been appointed as the newest member of the Apollo Chamber Players, and has also been named one of Da Camera of Houston's 2012-2013 Young Artists.

Ms. Bullock has appeared for eight consecutive summers at the Aspen Music Festival. Highlights of her Aspen activities include performing in the US premiere of Arvo Pärt's chamber work L'Abbé Agathon, appearing with the Sybarite5 on the CBS Early Morning Show, and performing in a Special Event Baroque recital with violinists Gil Shaham, Adele Anthony and conductor Nicholas McGegan.

In addition to her teaching position at Rice's Preparatory Department, she also coaches the Houston Youth Symphony and teaches lessons through the organization's Melody Program, which provides free private lesson instruction for economically disadvantaged musicians.

Sonja Harasim, violinist Versatile violinist Sonja Harasim has toured the United States, Europe, and Asia as a solo, chamber, and orchestral musician, performing on stages such as the Library of Congress, the Kennedy Center and LaJolla Summerfest. Ms. Harasim frequently performs with the Houston Symphony and the Houston Grand Opera, and has made multiple festival appearances at Schleswig-Holstein, International Holland Music Sessions, Tanglewood and Aspen. Recent collaborations include performances with the String Quartet, Cho-Liang Lin, Kenneth Goldsmith, Norman Fischer, James Dunham, Lynn Harrell, Susanne Mentzer, Leone Buyse, and Michael Webster.

A sought after pedagogue, she teaches at Rice University’s Michael P. Hammond Preparatory School, coaches the Houston Youth Symphony, and frequently gives masterclasses at schools nationwide, including St. Olaf and Concordia Colleges. An alumna of the Cleveland Institute of Music, Ms. Harasim is currently a doctoral candidate at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music. She previously studied with Cho-Liang Lin, Kenneth Goldsmith, David Updegraff, and the late Albert Muenzer.

Denise Ro, cellist

Nova Scotia native cellist Denise Ro has recently finished her graduate studies at the Juilliard School under the tutelage of Timothy Eddy. Her mentors have included Olive Shaw, Shimon Walt, Richard Aaron, Hans Jorgen Jensen, Andre Emelianoff, and Timothy Eddy.

As a recipient of the Golden Jubilee Medal of Queen Elizabeth II, Ms. Ro has received many grants and awards through her Canadian background. For many years, she has been given financial support from the Nova Scotia Talent Trust and the provincial government of Nova Scotia, and was awarded the Raymond Simpson Award for exceptional talent.

Her solo concert engagements have included those with the Mahone Bay Concert Series, the St. Bernard Concert Series, and the St. Cecilia Concert Series. Along with her solo engagements with Symphony Nova Scotia, Ms. Ro has also given concerts in Canada, the US, and Japan. In conjunction with the Juilliard School and the Gluck Community Service Fellowship, Ms. Ro took part in a series of educational outreach concerts within the Metropolitan area. More recently, she has engaged in a series of concerts as part of the Perlman Music Program and Chamber Music America, touring to Princeton University, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. An avid chamber musician, Ms. Ro has spent her summer studies at Kneisel Hall and the Perlman Music Program Chamber Music Workshop. Her chamber music mentors have included Laurie Smukler, Roger Tapping, Paul Katz, Donald Weilerstein, and Annie Fullard.

Tony Rymer, cellist

Cellist Tony Rymer has performed major concerti to critical acclaim with the Atlanta Symphony, Boston Pops, , Detroit Symphony, and Symphony, among others. He was the First Prize Winner of the 2009 Sphinx Competition Senior Division and took 3rd place in the 2009 Stulberg International String Competition.

A native of Boston, Tony began playing cello at age five, attended the Walnut Hill Arts School, was a Project STEP scholarship student from 1996-2007, and was awarded the prestigious Kravitz scholarship in 2007. One of the first recipients of the Jack Kent Cooke Award on the NPR national radio show From the Top, he has also been heard as soloist on WGBH Boston, WCLV Cleveland, and NPR's Performance Today. An avid chamber musician, Tony has collaborated in concert with artists such as violinists , Miriam Fried, Itzhak Perlman, oboist Peggy Pearson, violist Barbara Westphal, and cellist Paul Katz.

Tony has played privately for Yo-Yo Ma and performed in master classes for Anner Bylsma, Jaime Laredo, and Pieter Wispelwey. He completed his undergraduate at the New England Conservatory where he studied with Paul Katz and held the Laurence Lesser Presidential Scholarship. He is currently a MM at NEC as a student of Laurence Lesser.

Heidi Schaul Yoder, violinist

Violinist Heidi Schaul-Yoder is a devoted chamber musician and an advocate for the role of music in education and the community. Ms. Schaul-Yoder has performed chamber works at the Kennedy Center, Zankel Hall, and Merkin Hall, among other venues, and has collaborated with artists Ernst Kovacic and Douglas McNabney. While principal second violinist of the conductorless Juilliard Chamber Orchestra, she worked closely with members of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. She has appeared at such festivals as Kneisel Hall, Domaine Forget, and the Beijing International Festival and Academy, and has studied with the Brentano, Borremeo, Muir, Ying, and Juilliard Quartets.

An enthusiastic performer of contemporary music, Ms. Schaul-Yoder recently appeared at Zankel Hall, premiering Shawn Jaeger’s Letters Made with Gold as part of the Dawn Upshaw and Donnacha Dennehy workshop. Selected as a fellow for the 2011 Bang on a Can Summer Music Festival at Mass MOCA, she collaborated with members of the Bang on a Can All-Stars and Eighth Blackbird, performing new works by composition fellows. She has also performed new chamber compositions by Eleanor Cory, Errollyn Wallen, and David Snow on MOMA’s Summergarden series, and Pozzi Escot’s string quartet Jubilation at the Kennedy Center. Ms. Schaul-Yoder has played with the Continuum, Axiom, and New Juilliard Ensembles.

Committed to bringing music to diverse communities, Ms. Schaul-Yoder has given masterclasses and interactive performances for students of the GURI Santa Marcelina Program in Brazil. She has also worked as a teaching artist in New York public and private schools as a recipient of teaching fellowships through the Juilliard School. She currently serves on the faculty of the Lucy Moses School, and has taught violin and chamber music at the Reveille Festival, the Nosis Institute, and the Shenandoah Conservatory Performing Arts Camp. Ms. Schaul-Yoder holds degrees from Rice University and the Juilliard School, and has studied with Ronald Copes, Sylvia Rosenberg, Laurie Smukler, Naoko Tanaka, and Kathleen Winkler.

Alice Yoo, cellist

Cellist Alice Yoo has performed extensively throughout the United States and abroad as a soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician. An active competitor, she won first prize in the Cleveland Cello Society Competition and the USC 2009 String Concerto Competition, performing Samuel Barber’s under the baton of Jorge Mester. She has won top prizes in the Holland-America Music Society Competition, Schadt International String Competition, Klein International String Competition, and the National Symphony Orchestra’s Young Artist Competition.

Ms. Yoo has performed concerti with many orchestras including the USC Chamber Orchestra, Cleveland Philharmonic, Billings Symphony, and the Bozeman Symphony. She has performed in such prestigious venues as New York’s Weill Hall, Boston's Hall and The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Ms. Yoo’s performances have been featured and broadcasted on ’ KUSC and Boston’s WGBH. She has participated in master classes with some of the world’s most distinguished artists including Yo-Yo Ma, Steven Isserlis, Frans Helmerson, Leon Fleisher, Anner Bylsma, Boris Pergamenschikow, Claude Frank, and Gary Hoffman.

A passionate chamber musician, Ms. Yoo has collaborated in performance with artists such as Itzhak Perlman, Donald Weilerstein, Pamela Frank, Atar Arad, Miriam Fried, Midori Goto, Ana Chumachenko, and Anthony Marwood. Ms. Yoo’s festival appearances have included. Ravinia Festival’s Steans Institute for Young Artists, Music@Menlo, Yellow Barn Music Festival, Caramoor Virtuosi, IMS Prussia Cove, Sarasota Music Festival, The Perlman Music Program, and The Banff Centre for the Performing Arts. Ms. Yoo will be returning to Caramoor’s “Rising Stars” series in the Fall of 2011.

Ms. Yoo’s string quartet was the 2006 Honors Ensemble at the New England Conservatory of Music, which was invited to study intensively with renowned composer and pedagogue Gyorgy Kurtag at IMS Prussia Cove in Cornwall, England. Ms. Yoo was also a founding member of the Vox Piano Trio, which was selected to participate in May 2010, in a workshop on Brahms' piano chamber music at Carnegie Hall with Leon Fleisher, Yo-Yo Ma, and Pamela Frank. A native of Bozeman, Montana, Ms. Yoo earned a Bachelor of Music Degree from the New England Conservatory and a Post-Graduate Diploma from the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, England. Her teachers included Dr. Ilse-Mari Lee, Richard Aaron, and Paul Katz.

Ms. Yoo recently received her Masters Degree at the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music as a student of Ralph Kirshbaum and currently resides in New York City.

Caleb van der Swaagh, cellist

A native New Yorker, cellist Caleb van der Swaagh, graduated magna cum laude from Columbia University for Classics and Medieval & Renaissance studies, while simultaneously studying cello at the Juilliard School. A multifaceted musician, he has made festival appearances the Taos School of Music, Tanglewood Music Center, American Conservatory at Fontainebleau, the Zephyr International Music Festival and the New York String Orchestra Seminar, and was most recently the recipient of the Tanglewood Karl Zeise Memorial Cello Award and the New England Conservatory Borromeo Quartet Guest Artist Award. He is also the recipient of multiple grants from institutions such as the Williamson Foundation for Music, the Children’s Foundation for the Arts as well as an instrument loan from The Virtu Foundation.

Mr. Van der Swaagh began the cello at The School for Strings with Katherine Brainard, and then continued his studies at the Juilliard Pre-College Division, where he received the special Senior Award of distinction upon graduation. His principal mentors include Bonnie Hampton, Bernard Greenhouse and Laurence Lesser.

Shannon Thomas, violinist A Tennessee native, violinist Shannon Thomas has quickly garnered a reputation for exciting, thoughtful performances as a chamber musician, soloist, and in recital throughout the United States and abroad. Recent performing engagements have taken her to the Kennedy Center, Spoleto Festival USA, Carnegie Hall, and the Banff Centre where she has collaborated with artists such as the St. Lawrence String Quartet, Danny Phillips, Tara O’Connor, Richard King, and Barry Shiffman. In addition to her upcoming concerts with Beyond the Chamber and Isis Chamber Players, Ms. Thomas performs regularly with the IRIS Orchestra under the direction of Michael Stern. She has attended festivals including Kneisel Hall, ENCORE School for Strings, Sarasota Music Festival, and the Aspen Music Festival, working with musicians such as Joseph Silverstein, Laurie Smukler, Robert Lipsett, and members of the Juilliard, Blair, Cavani, and Brentano String Quartets.

An advocate for greater community impact through the arts, Ms. Thomas champions new and old music alike through creative programming, community outreach, and meaningful collaboration. She has worked with contemporary composers across the United States, assisted in the launching of a community violin program in Phoenix, AZ, and is affiliated with Cleveland’s innovative new music ensemble FiveOne. Also interested in sharing her enthusiasm for the arts through teaching, Ms. Thomas has taught and given master classes around the country.

Currently serving as Visiting Instructor of Violin at the University of Southern Mississippi, she has instructed pre-college, undergraduate, and graduate students at various institutions, including the Cleveland Institute of Music, Vanderbilt University, Yale University, Arizona State University, Rocky Mountain Summer Conservatory, Interlochen Arts Camp, Lee University, and the Aspen Music Festival and School.

Ms. Thomas earned a Doctorate of Musical Arts at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she served as Paul Kantor’s teaching assistant. She received a Master of Music at Yale University and a Bachelor of Music at Vanderbilt University, and also pursued graduate work at Arizona State University, where she was the first student to be accepted into the Artist Diploma program. Her teachers have included Paul Kantor, Cornelia Heard, Jonathan Swartz, and Ani Kavafian.