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Our
Artists
Painting by Lory Williams Winford
CHRIS ALBANESE, TENOR
Chris Albanese is Pam and Jack Burks Associate Professor of Choral Conducting at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where he conducts the Grammy-nominated Singing Hoosiers and teaches courses in choral conducting.
Under his direction, the Singing Hoosiers were invited to perform at the 2021 National Convention of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA). He has led and prepared the ensemble for collaborations with notable guests including Sylvia McNair and Sandi Patty.
Prior to IU, Albanese was a member of the Grammy Award-winning ensemble Chanticleer, with which he performed across the United States and abroad, including at Los Angeles’ Disney Concert Hall, Vienna’s Musikverein, Prague’s Rudolfinum, Paris’s Oratorie du Louvre, and St. Petersburg’s Mariinsky Theater. His performances have been broadcast by public radio affiliates in Minneapolis, New York, Seattle, Denver, and Cincinnati, and he appeared with Chanticleer as a featured guest on the Hallmark Network’s Home and Family.
Albanese also serves as music director of the Akron Symphony Chorus. He has prepared the chorus to critical acclaim for numerous collaborations with the symphony, most recently for performances of Haydn’s The Creation, Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, and the world premiere of Julia Perry’s Frammenti dale lettere di Santa Caterina.
An active performer, Albanese’s solo credits include performances with the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Akron Symphony Orchestra, Columbus Indiana Philharmonic, Dayton Opera, Cincinnati Bach Festival, Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, Bloomington Early Music Festival, Ars Musica Chicago, and Castleton Festival under the baton of Lorin Maazel.
Albanese is in demand as a clinician and guest conductor, having presented workshops and master classes across the United States and abroad, including at a national ACDA conference. He is frequently engaged to speak on the topic of vocal production and resonance building in the choral setting. In recognition of his excellence in teaching, he was awarded IU’s Trustees Teaching Award during the 2021-22 academic year.
He earned a B.M. in Music Education and Vocal Performance from the University of Dayton, an M.M. in Vocal Performance from Northwestern University, and a D.M.A. in Choral Conducting from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. His doctoral research centered on the double choir masses of Ibero-American composer Juan Gutierrez de Padilla.
ARIEL QUARTET
“...a gripping and often very subtle reading, setting ear-melting tenderness against seething passion with adeft and precise touch.” –The Washington Post
Distinguished by its virtuosity, probing musical insight, and impassioned, fiery performances, the Ariel Quartet has garnered critical praise worldwide for more than twenty years. Formed when the members were just teenagers studying at the Jerusalem Academy Middle School of Music and Dance in Israel, the Ariel Quartet was named a recipient of the prestigious Cleveland Quartet Award, granted by Chamber Music America in recognition of artistic achievement and career support. The Quartet serves as the Faculty Quartet-in-Residence at the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music, where they direct the chamber music program and present a concert series in addition to maintaining a busy touring schedule in the United States and abroad.
Recent highlights include the Ariel Quartet’s Carnegie Hall debut, a series of performances at Lincoln Center together with pianist Inon Barnatan and the Mark Morris Dance Group, as well as the release of a Brahms and Bartók album for Avie Records. In 2020, the Ariel Quartet gave the U.S. premiere of the Quintet for Piano and Strings by Daniil Trifonov, with the composer as pianist for the Linton Chamber Music Series in Cincinnati.
In their 2023-24 season, the Ariel Quartet presents performances of an anniversary commission by Matan Porat. A longstanding friend of the Ariel Quartet, Matan Porat’s new work is a universally relatable journey about the complexities of string-quartet-life over the years. Upcoming performances include ones for the Aspect Chamber Music Series, Perlman Music Program, Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival, Charleston Chamber Music Society, and the Chamber Music Society of Central Kentucky.
The Quartet has dedicated much of its artistic energy and musical prowess to the groundbreaking Beethoven quartets and has performed the complete Beethoven cycle on five occasions throughout the United States and Europe. The Ariel Quartet regularly collaborates with today’s eminent and rising young musicians and ensembles, including pianist Orion Weiss, cellist Paul Katz, and the American, Pacifica, and Jerusalem String Quartets. The Quartet has toured with cellist Alisa Weilerstein and performed frequently with pianists Jeremy Denk and Menahem Pressler. In addition, the Ariel served as Quartet-in-Residencefor the Steans Music Institute at the Ravinia Festival, the Yellow Barn Music Festival, and the Perlman Music Program,as well as the Ernst Stiefel String Quartet-in-Residence at the Caramoor Festival.
Formerly the resident ensemble of the Professional String Quartet Training Program at the New EnglandConservatory, from which the players obtained their undergraduate and graduate degrees, the Ariel wasmentored extensively by acclaimed string quartet giants Walter Levin and Paul Katz. It has won numerous international prizes in addition to the Cleveland Quartet Award: Grand Prize at the 2006 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and the Székely Prize for the performance of Bartók’s String Quartet No. 4, and Third Prize at the Banff International String Quartet Competition. About its performances at the Banff competition, the American Record Guide described the group as “a consummate ensemble gifted with utter musicality and remarkable interpretive power” and noted, in particular, their playing of Beethoven’s monumental Quartet in A minor, op. 132, as “the pinnacle of the competition.”
The Ariel Quartet has received significant support for its studies in the United States from the American-Israel Cultural Foundation, Dov and Rachel Gottesman, and the Legacy Heritage Fund. Most recently, they were awarded a grant from the A.N. and Pearl G. Barnett Family Foundation.
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ATAR ARAD, VIOLA
Israeli-born violist and composer Atar Arad is a faculty member at the Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University, Bloomington. His summer activities include teaching at Keshet Eilon, Israel, Domaine Forget, Canada, Heifetz Institute and the Steans Music Institute (where he is serving as faculty since 1991). A Cum Laude First Prize winner at the Geneva International Music Competition (1972), he has performed worldwide in recitals and as a soloist with major orchestras and, for seven years, a sa member of the celebrated Cleveland Quartet. His recordings with the quartet and as a soloist for labels such as Teldec, Telarc, RCA and RIAX are widely acclaimed. His performance of Paganini’s Sonata Per La Grand’ Viola e Orchestra in particular is considered by many as a landmark in the history of the viola. A “late bloomer” composer, Arad’s compositions include a Solo Sonata for Viola, two String Quartets, a Viola Concerto (which he premiered in Bloomington, Brussels and in Stockholm) and more. His Tikvah for Viola Solo was commissioned for the 2008 Munich International Viola Competition by the ARD. His Listen (three poems by W.S. Merwin) for tenor, clarinet, viola, cello and bass was written for the International Musicians Seminar’s concert tour in England with singer Mark Padmore. Epitaph for cello and string orchestra was written for cellist Gary Hoffman who premiered it in Kronberg, Germany, with the Kremerata Baltica Orchestra (Arad performed the viola version of this piece at the International Viola Congress in Rochester, NY). Arad performed and presented his Twelve Caprices for Viola on several USA, Canada, Israel and European concert tours. The Caprices are published by Hofmeister Musikverlag, Leipzig. Recent performances include the Primrose Memorial Concert at BYU and, as a part of his services as the Lorand Fenyves Distinguished Visitor, in Toronto.In November 2018, Arad was a featured artist at the International Viola Congress in Rotterdam, premiering his new concerto for viola and strings, titled “Ceci n’est pas un Bach”.Atar Arad is a recipient of the American Viola Society’s Career Achievement Award (June 2018) and theInternational Viola Society’s Silver Alto Clef 2018 “in recognition for his outstanding contributions to the viola” (November2018). In 2021, Arad composed his Chaconne for solo viola, commissioned by the International Hindemith Viola Competition. Arad plays on a viola by Niccolo Amati. He uses a set of PI strings by Thomastik.
CARLOS BENDOYA, GUITAR
"A complete musician that excels in all range of styles.”(Ernesto Bitetti), Colombian guitarist Carlos Bedoya is a rising concert artist currently pursuing a D.M degree at the prestigious Jacobs School of Music where he also serves as Associate Instructor. Apart from performing, Bedoya also enjoys teaching, collaborating through chamber music, and furthering cultural enrichment through community engagement and volunteering opportunities.
Some of his most significant concert engagements include performances for the Wilmington Classical Guitar Society, Universidad Autonoma de Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, Florida State University, Philadelphia Classical Guitar Society, Antioquia Music Fest, the Cape Classical Artist concert series, Uniquindio Guit-Art Festival, and special appearances at the International Clarinet Association, the Cartagena Music Festival, and at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. In addition, he has performed as soloist with the Bloomington Symphony Orchestra, the Schwob Philharmonic Orchestra, the Northern Lights Music Festival Philharmonic Orchestra, the Ocean City Pops Orchestra, and the Rowan University Orchestra.
As an avid competitor, Bedoya has garnered more than 20 top prizes in national and international competitions including: Chicago Guitar Festival, Art Farm at Serenbe Guitar Competition, Appalachian State Guitar Competition, University of Memphis International Guitar Competition, Sinaloa International Guitar Competition, Hong Kong IFA Guitar Competition, Florida State University Guitar Competition, Southern Guitar Festival, Sarajevo International Guitar Festival, Philadelphia Classical Guitar Competition, amongst others.
Aside from his career as a performer, Bedoya maintains a busy teaching schedule and has an avid enthusiasm for singing and conducting. Bedoya is also an occasional composer and arranger and is currently a Yamaha classical guitar ambassador.
TINA BERGMANN, HAMMERED DULCIMER
Hailed by Pete Seeger as “the best hammered dulcimer player I’ve heard in my life”, Tina Bergmann has been performing concerts, and teaching workshops and private lessons from an early age. A fourth-generation musician, Bergmann began playing music at age eight, learning the mountain dulcimer from her mother in the aural tradition and hammered dulcimer at the knee of West Virginia-native builder and performer Loy Swiger. She established a thriving teaching studio at age12, and went on to be in high demand at festivals and camps across the US. Demonstrating gifts for both performance and teaching, she has been a featured performer across the United States, performing solo; as a duo with her husband, bassist Bryan Thomas; with her string band Hu$hmoney; and touring the US, England, Germany and Ireland as a member of Apollo’s Fire, Cleveland’s world renowned Baroque Orchestra.
WILLIAM BUCHMAN, BASSOON
William Buchman joined the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1992 after two seasons with the Dallas Symphony. He was appointed assistant principal bassoon in 1996 and has served as acting principal on multiple occasions, including all overseas tours between 2007 and 2014. In 2008 he performed and toured as guest principal bassoon with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Bill has played chamber music with pianists Daniel Barenboim, Christoph Eschenbach, Yefim Bronfman and Emanuel Ax; performed and toured with the Chicago Chamber Musicians, Chicago Pro Musica, and the Chicago Symphony Winds; and plays regularly with Music of the Baroque. He was a soloist at the1998 Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center and first appeared as soloist with the CSO in 2002; he has performed as a soloist on multiple occasions with Music of the Baroque and DePaul University ensembles. He also has appeared at the Eastern Shore Chamber Music Festival in Maryland, the Grand Teton Music Festival in Wyoming and the Saint Bart’s Music Festival in the Caribbean. He was awarded first prize in the 1990 Gillet Competition of the International Double Reed Society and has performed at several IDRS conferences since then. A native of Canton, Ohio, Bill earned a bachelor of science degree in physics magna cum laude from Brown University in 1987. With the support of a DAAD fellowship, he continued his physics studies the following year at the Universität Fridericiana Karlsruhe in Germany. On returning to the United States, Bill studied bassoon performance at the Yale University School of Music with Arthur Weisberg and at the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music with Norman Herzberg. A member of the DePaul University School of Music faculty since 1998, Bill also coaches the bassoon section of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and has presented master classes throughout the United States and in Brazil, China, Canada and Germany. He lives with his husband Lee Lichamer in Chicago’s Ravenswood neighborhood.
OTO CARRILLO, HORN
Oto Carrillo was appointed to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) horn section by Daniel Barenboim in 2000. A native of Guatemala, Carrillo grew up in Chicago admiring the CSO and its wonderful horn section while receiving a Bachelor’s degree in music performance from DePaul University and a Master’s degree in both music performance and musicology from Northwestern University. His teachers were Jon Boen, principal horn of the Lyric Opera of Chicago and Gail Williams, former associate principal of the CSO. After graduating, he won positions with the Memphis and Cedar Rapids orchestras, and was able to continue playing in Chicago for two seasons as a member of the Civic Orchestra, coached by the legendary retired principal horn of the CSO, Dale Clevenger. He also has performed with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and the Metropolitana Orchestra of Lisbon, Portugal as well as having had featured roles in Chicago based ensembles such as the Chicago Sinfonietta, the Chicago Philharmonic, the Lyric Opera of Chicago and Music of the Baroque where he is now its principal horn. In addition, Oto has played in various summer festivals with such orchestras as the National Repertory Orchestra, the National Orchestral Institute, the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra, the Grant ParkOrchestra, the Mostly Mozart Festival in Woodstock, Illinois, and the Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra. Prior to his appointment to the CSO, Carrillo held positions in the South Bend and Southwest Michigan Symphony Orchestras. Oto has collaborated with numerous chamber groups such as Civitas, Dempster Street Pro Musica, TheChicago Chamber Musicians, musicians from the Music Now series, and as a member of the Millar Brass Ensemble. Carrillo has been a soloist with various groups in and outside the Chicago area performing works by Bach, Strauss,Mozart,Britten, and Gliere as well as giving the Chicago premiere of Augusta Read Thomas’Silver Chants the Litaniesfor horn and chamber orchestra.Recently, Oto gave a series of recitals in Vancouver, Canada and served as guest principal horn of the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de México as well as the Utah Symphony. He has collaborated with his colleagues in the CSO horn section to perform Schumann’s Konzertstücke For Four Horns with the Chicago Youth Symphony, the Civic Orchestra, and most recently, the CSO. As an instructor, Carrillo has given many master classes around the globe. He has been on faculty at DePaul University since 2003 and in 2013, was awarded its Distinguished Alumnus Award. In addition, he served as the horn professor for 10 years at thePacific Regional International Summer Music Academy (PRISMA), formerly SOAP, a unique summer training program for aspiring young orchestral musicians set in British Columbia. Outside of playing horn, Oto enjoys savoring and occasionally brewing excellent craft beer, woodworking, playing sports of all types, traveling to beautiful places around the world, and the company of his wife Sarah, a free-lance trumpet player, and their two college aged children, Lucas and Isabelle.
ANTHONY CLARK EVANS, BARITONE
Lauded for his “stentorian Verdi style” by the Chicago Tribune and as “warm-toned, vivacious and humane” by the San Francisco Chronicle, baritone Anthony Clark Evans is quickly gaining recognition as one of the most promising Verdi baritones of his generation.
FERNANDA GHI, DANCER
Fernanda Ghi has been dancing from a very early age and chose tango dance as her only form of artistic expression. She has traveled the world for more than 3 decades, creating, producing and teaching, and stands out as one of the artists of the hinge generation between the tango of the 1980s and the 2000s. Her teaching has been continuously evolving along with her personal growth, adapting the dance to each social moment without losing its essence. Fernanda maintains that tango is based on three fundamental pillars: a clear definition of the partners’ roles; a constant and active embrace; and a common axis of the dancing couple. The starting point is the music, which determines the dynamics of expression, and thus creates a “style”, but the “style” is never the starting point. A clear understanding of the mechanics ensures that no undue stress is placed on the body and each movement is a response to a partner’s movement. The Tango that Fernanda teaches is based on a deep understanding of the essence of the dance and allows each student to find their own personal manner of expression, without losing the universal language of Tango and the culture from which it comes. Fernanda Ghi is a true legend in the world of Argentine tango. Celebrated for her elegant style, unique interpretation, creative choreography and powerful command of the stage, she has toured internationally for over two decades. Ghi performed in countless shows and exhibitions and became the World Argentine Tango Champion in 1999. Ghi and her partner were the first non-Asians ever invited to perform at the Imperial Theater in Tokyo and were the feature dancers on the PBS special ‘Tango Magic’ with Pablo Ziegler and the Orpheus Orchestra. Ghi has performed in concert with several Symphony Orchestras (NewMexico, Long Beach, Costa Mesa, Cincinnati) and was commissioned the creation of a tango ballet for the Tulsa Ballet Dance Company. In 2017 and 2018, Ghi served as a judge at the ‘Tango Mundial,’ the World Competition for Argentine Tango. Ghi’s new performance company creates a fusion between Argentine Tango and other art forms, such as theater, visual arts, opera and other styles of dance. Ghi is the Founder of a Boston-based academy that trains amateur and professional dancers.
ZACHARY GOOD, CLARINET
Zachary Good is a multifaceted clarinetist, chamber musician, and composer based in Chicago. He navigates Classical, historically-informed, and contemporary performance practices in chamber music, solo, orchestral, experimental, and collaborative spaces. Zachary is the clarinetist of the sextet Eighth Blackbird, a member of Ensemble Dal Niente, and a founding Co-Artistic Director and member of the eccentric performance collective Mocrep. He has frequently performed with International Contemporary Ensemble, Music of the Baroque Chicago, and the puppet company Manual Cinema. As an improviser, he performs and records with the trio ZRL and the amplified acoustic and synthetic quintet Honestly Same, as well as regularly appearing on improvised music series throughout Chicago. He has been a featured solo artist with the International Contemporary Ensemble, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s All Access Chamber Series, the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series, the University of Louisville’s New Music Festival, the Washington Arts Ensemble, DePaul University's Ensemble 20+, and at The Phillips Collection. With Eighth Blackbird, Zachary has notably appeared as a soloist with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the US Navy Band, the Dallas Winds, and the Pacific Symphony. As a collaborator, Zachary works closely with composers to bring new work to life, having premiered over 125 compositions to date. As a composer, Zachary explores contrapuntal possibilities on the soprano clarinet with small–interval multiphonics (“close dyads”), creating the illusion of multiple clarinetists playing simultaneously. His music is quietly virtuosic, inspired by the intricacies of the clarinet and a love for Baroque nuance and form. Zachary’s compositions and intersecting multiphonic research are the focus of his dissertation, “Add Dye: Dyadic Perspectives on Close Dyad Multiphonics for the Soprano Clarinet”. Zachary is a graduate of Northwestern University (DMA), Oberlin Conservatory, and DePaul University. He is the recipient of the 2021 Luminarts Classical Winds Fellowship. Zachary has participated in fellowships with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and the Aspen Contemporary Music program. Zachary is a D’Addario Woodwinds Artist.zacharygood.com
ALEXANDER HANNA, DOUBLE BASS
Alexander Hanna was appointed Principal Bass of the Chicago SymphonyOrchestra by Riccardo Muti in the spring of 2012. Prior to his Chicagoappointment, he served asPrincipal Bass of the Detroit Symphony Orchestrafor four years.A 2008 graduate from the Curtis Institute of Music, Hanna has performed assoloist, chamber musician, teacher, lecturer and orchestral musician aroundthe world.His passion for chamber musichas led to collaborations with Yo-Yo Ma,Mitsuko Uchida and Jeremy Denk among many others. He has performed atseveral of the world’s finest music festivals including the Great LakesChamber Music Festival and the Bellingham Festival of Music, where he wasfeatured as a concerto soloist in the summer of 2015. Additionally, Hanna hasperformed with the Australian Chamber Orchestra and the East CoastChamber Orchestra. Also an accomplished soloist, Hanna made his CSO solodebut in Vanhal’s Double Bass Concerto under conductor James Conlon in2015.In addition to classical music, Hanna is devoted to new music and makesfrequent appearances on the CSO’s MusicNOW series. He has alsoperformed with New Music Detroit.A dedicated teacher, Hanna serves on the faculty of DePaul University andcoaches the bass section of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago. He has taughtmaster classes at many of the world’s finest universities and conservatories,several international conventions and symposia.Hanna’s primary teachers have included Hal Robinson, Edgar Meyer, ScottHaigh, Kay Moore and Virginia Marks.
ANDREAS IOANNIDES, PIANO
"Throughout his musical path Andreas has maintained the highest artistic standards. He is an outstanding pianist” – Menahem Pressler
Cypriot pianist Andreas Ioannides seeks to share his passion for great music and music-making through a multifaceted career dedicated to performance, interpretation, and teaching of the piano.
He has made concert appearances throughout Europe, Asia, North and South America. Highlights include performances at Boston Symphony Hall, the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., the Berlin Konzerthaus, the Seoul Arts Center, the Temppeliaukio Kirkko in Helsinki and the Municipal Theater of Rio de Janeiro. As soloist he has performed under such maestros as Neil Varon, David Effron, Paul Nadler and Roberto Tibiriçá. A devoted chamber musician, he has collaborated with esteemed artists including John Sharp, Joseph Swensen, Atar Arad, Mark Kaplan, Peter Stumpf, the Fry Street Quartet, and composer PQ Phan.
Andreas has received enthusiastic reviews by the Boston Globe and his performances have been broadcast on television and radio across three continents. Having been a prize winner in the BNDES International Piano Competition in Rio de Janeiro and the Hastings International Piano Competition in the UK, he more recently turned his attention to recording projects, including a 2-disc album released by NAXOS in 2020 in honor of the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth.
Andreas is currently Lecturer of Piano and Chamber Music at the Technological University of Dublin and has previously served as Lecturer of Piano at Indiana State University, USA and at the Munster Technological University in Cork, Ireland. He is also the founder and Artistic Director of ChamberFest Brown County, a chamber music festival that seeks to inspire audiences in rural Indiana through classical music performance and education of the highest caliber.
Andreas holds a Doctor of Music degree from Indiana University, mentored by legendary pianist Menahem Pressler.
KEVIN LIN, VIOLIN
Originally from New York, violinist Kevin Lin has received international recognition for his musicianship and “soulful” playing (The Arts Desk). Lin currently serves as Concertmaster of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra.
Lin is a highly sought after Concert master, previously holding the position of Co-Leader in the London Philharmonic Orchestra. His Guest Concertmaster appearances have included the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Houston Symphony, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London, and the Singapore Symphony Orchestra.
Lin has performed as a soloist and recitalist across the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Taiwan, and South Korea. In recent years, Lin has received prizes from the Irving M.Klein International Competition (Fourth Prize) and the Schmidbauer International Competition (First Prize), as well as competed in the George Enescu International Violin Competition and Menuhin International Violin Competition.
Lin spent his early years studying with Patinka Kopec in New York, and later with Robert Lipsett at the Colburn School in Los Angeles, where he received his Bachelor of Music degree. He continued his studies at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia as a recipient of the Mark E. Rubenstein Fellowship, under the pedagogy of Aaron Rosand.
LINCOLN STRING QUARTET
The Lincoln String Quartet, now in its 26th season, comprises four members of the Chicago SymphonyOrchestra. The quartet has been heard in venues across Chicago, including the Northwestern WinterChamber Music Festival, the ChicagoSymphony Chamber Music Series, Dempster Street Pro Musica, and on WFMT, and has performed in Santiago, Chile at the invitation of the Fundación Beethoven. Its members have performed chamber music across the U.S., in Europe, and in Asia.
Violinist Qing Hou has been a member of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra since 1997. A native of China, Hou studied at the Central Conservatory in Beijing before coming to the United States in 1988 tocontinue her studies. She holds degrees from the Peabody Conservatory andthe New EnglandConservatory. Before joining the CSO, she was a member of the San Francisco Symphony. An avid chamber musician, Hou has performed on series and at festivals in Boston, Madison, Napa, El Paso andSun Valley as well as in Europe. She has been heard on NPR’s Performance Today and regularly performs in the Chicago area in various ensembles. In 1997, Qing, along with her sister, CSO violinist Lei Hou and CSO violist Lawrence Neuman (now Qing’s husband), founded the Lincoln String Quartet. As a soloist, Hou has appeared with orchestras in Boston, Baltimore, Chicago, and China. In 2003, she made her first appearance as soloist with the Chicago Symphony performing Mozart’s Violin Concerto in G Major conducted by Daniel Barenboim.
Violinist Lei Hou joined the Chicago Symphony in 1997. Prior to her engagement with the CSO, she won a position in the first violin section of the Cleveland Orchestra. She also has served as assistant principal second violin of the National Symphony Orchestra of Washington, D.C., for six years, appointed by Mstislav Rostropovich. As an active chamber musician and soloist, Hou has performed with Pinchas Zukerman at the Ravinia Festival and Northwestern University’s Winter Chamber Music Festival, with Yefim Bronfman at Symphony Center and with members of the Guarneri and Alban Berg quartets at theMarlboro Festival. She also has extensively performed as leading violinist of chamber groups formed with musicians from the Chicago Symphony and the German Radio Orchestra in concert tours in Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland and Luxembourg. Hou has been a featured soloist in concerts forNational Public Radio, WFMT of Chicago and WBJC FM of Baltimore. She has served on the faculties ofthe music schools of the University of Maryland and the American University. A native of Dalian, China, she studied at the Middle School of Music in Shanghai, China. She also attended the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. Hou earned both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in violin performance at the Peabody Conservatory where she was invited to study with Berl Senofsky under full scholarship.
Violist Lawrence Neuman has been a member of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra since 1991. Before coming to Chicago he was violist with the Miami String Quartet. As a chamber musician he frequently isheard throughout the Chicago area and has performed across the United States, in Europe, and in Asia.He has appeared at festivals and chamber music series in Boston, Marlboro, La Jolla, Madison, Napa,Portland and Davenport. Chamber music collaborators have included such artists as Daniel Barenboim, Pinchas Zukerman, Yefim Bronfman, Lydia Artymiw, Gil Shaham, Simone Lamsma, and Aaron Rosand. During the 1998/99 season Neuman took a leave of absence from the CSO to serve as principal viola ofthe Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. For over 20 years he has taught viola and chamber music at the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University. A native of Saint Louis, Missouri, Neuman attended the Eastman School of Music, the University of Southern California and the Cleveland Institute of Music, and he was a student of Heidi Castleman, Donald McInnes and Robert Vernon.
JAAP TER LINDEN, BAROQUE CELLO/VIOLA DA GAMBA
Jaap ter Linden, viola da gamba and baroque cello, is a Dutch pioneer in the world of Early Music. Currently based in the United States, he is on the faculty of the Cleveland Institute of Music and Case Western Reserve University, where he directs ensembles and the baroque Orchestra. His extensive discography includes 2 recordings of the JS Bach suites for cello solo, the complete Mozart symphonies with the Mozart Akademie which he founded and conducted, as well as countless recordings with Musica Antiqua Cologne, the English Concert and the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra. During his performance career he has collaborated with such well known musicians as Andrew Manze, Ton Koopman, Richard Egarr, Reinhard Goebel and the late Gustav Leonhardt to name a few. He joined Elizabeth Wallfisch and David Breitman to perform the fabulous trios of Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert. With David he recorded the complete Beethoven sonatas and variations. As a solo and chamber music player and conductor, Ter Linden has toured throughout Europe, the United States, Australia, China and Japan.
TOMÁS LOZANO, SINGER
Singer, musician, composer, scholar and writer, Tomás Lozano was born in Barcelona, Spain to Andalusian parents. Musically inclined from a young age, he started playing Catalan folk music as a teenager in Barcelona and went on to perform folk, traditional and medieval music at festivals across Europe. In 1993 he toured Canada and the United States with the theatrical troupe Bufons thanks to a sponsorship from the Spanish Ministry of External Affairs. Lozano has since made the U.S. his home base, performing as a soloist and with a variety of musicians and ensembles across the country and internationally. He is known for his eclectic musicianship and his performance of Spanish traditional ballads stands out as iconic. He started singing Argentinian tango eight years ago under the tutelage of his friend and colleague, Alfredo Minetti, and has since been the voice of Tamango, a Bloomington based Argentine tango band, until the present. Lozano has become well-known for his musical compositions set to legendary poets. In 2015 he released the album Eternal Juan Ramón Jiménez, a collection of such compositions, set to the poetry of one of Spain’s best loved and most homespun poets of all time. The album expresses a musically innovative style that marries classical, baroque and modern sounds by way of voice, Spanish and flamenco guitar and baroque bass viola da gamba. Lozano has continued to compose songs out of poems, including the poetic works of Guerau de Liost, Apel.lesMestres, Palmira Jaquetti, Jacint Verdaguer, Josep Carner, Federico GarcíaLorca, Gerardo Diego, Manuel Altoaguirre, Ernestina Champourcin, Juan José Domenchina, Rafael Alberti and Emilo Prados, among others. Lozano has also set to music the poetry of Mexican poet and writer, José Emilio Pacheco when, in2021, The Cervantes Institute of Chicago created a library that bears his name and contacted Lozano to commission a musical program for the inauguration of the library which opened in May 2022. Lozano currently performs with Duo Krupoves Lozano, Salaam and Shakespear's Ear besides pursuing his own musical projects and collaborations with other artists. He has performed around Europe, the United States, Canada, Mexico and Costa Rica.
JAMES MAVERICK, PIANO
Since 2021, James Maverick has been pianist and Assistant Chorus Master at Cincinnati Opera, preparing productions of Madama Butterfly, The Pirates of Penzance, and Il barbiere di Siviglia, among others. Other past productions include I pagliacci with Austin Opera and a workshop of Jennifer Higdon's upcoming Woman with Eyes Closed with Opera Philadelphia. He was chorus master and pianist for productions of Bizet's Les pêcheurs des perles and Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia at the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, where he was also a Resident Artist from 2017-2019. While in Kansas City, he served on the coaching faculty at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory, and he has previously been a fellow with Wolf Trap Opera, the Merola Opera Program, and the Tanglewood Music Center. In the fall of 2021, he joined the Collaborative Piano faculty at the University of Texas-Austin Butler School of Music, where he also coaches singers at the Butler Opera Center. He holds degrees in piano performance, choral conducting, and collaborative piano from Lawrence University and Indiana University-Bloomington.
ALFREDO MINETTI, PIANO
A native of Uruguay, Alfredo Minetti moved with his family to Argentina and eventually to Brazil. He studied classical piano in Rio de Janeiro with Ondine de Mello, and also developed an interest for the social and human sciences, earning a PhD in Cultural Anthropology from Indiana University. He is interested in the social aesthetics, collective emotion and group creativity of musical practices as well as in the complexities related to the acquisition of taste. While residing in Bloomington, Indiana, Minetti collaborated regularly with the Latin American Music Center of the Jacobs School of Music, as pianist and arranger. In 2008 Minetti created and produced Singing for Social Justice: 1968’s Legacy in the Americas, a celebratory concert remembering the critical importance of 1968 through a series of protest songs from the Americas. A year later he founded Minetti Productions, a performing arts company, followed by the Zero Hour Festival, and later partnered with dancers Fernanda Ghi and Guillermo Merlo to produce the shows Identidad and Carmen de Buenos Aires. With Identidad the company toured the US and twenty-seven cities in China (2014/2015). In 2015 Minetti formed a duo with bandoneonist and composer Richard Scofano and the duo released their first CD Estaciones in the following year. An accomplished pianist, Minetti has performed in concerts, festivals and tours in Brazil, Argentina, Europe, China, Canada, and the US. He is currently working on a book analyzing the concept of the duende as well as on a solo recording with his own compositions.
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MAURICE NEUMAN, CELLO
Maurice Neuman, age 18, is a senior in high-school at the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools. A native Chicagoan, Maurice began studying cello at age 3 and piano at age 4. He currently is a student of Hans Jensen, professor of cello at Northwestern University. He previously studied with Stephen Balderston and Paula Kosower. Maurice has won top prize in several competitions, including the 2023 George Gershwin International Music Competition; the 2023 19th Century Charleston International Music Competition; the 2023 Lakeview Orchestra Young Artist Competition; the 2023 Paul Vermel Young Artist Award; and the 2023 DePaul Concerto Festival. Maurice is co-principal cello of the top orchestra at the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras, as he was in the 2022-23 season. He was also appointed principal cello of the 2023 ILMEA All-State Honors Orchestra. Maurice earned Honorable Mention at both the 2022 Walgreens National Concerto Competition and the 2023 Chicago Symphony Orchestra Crain-Maling Foundation Young Artists Competition. Active as a chamber musician year round, Maurice has attended Greenwood Music Camp in western Massachusetts for the past 6 years and is the cellist of the U-High Piano Trio.
LEIGHANN DAIHL RAGUSA, BAROQUE FLUTE
Applauded for“some of the most spirited, stylish, and nuanced playing” (Chicago Classical Review) as well as her “invigoratingly fresh and perky interpretation” (Bachtrack), Leighann Daihl Ragusa, is an accomplished musician, performing on both historical and modern flutes. She has concertized throughout central Europe as well as the United States both as a soloist and as a collaborator of chamber and orchestral music. In 2007, Leighann was a major prizewinner in the National Flute Association’s Baroque Flute Competition and has been fortunate to work under such notable conductors as Jeffrey Thomas, Barthold Kuijken, Jeanne Lamon, Stanley Ritchie, Harry Bickett, and Peter Kooij. In addition, her performances can frequently be heard on Chicago’s Classical Radio Station WFMT, 98.7. Based in the midwest, Leighann earned degrees in modern flute from DePauw University and Indiana University as well as degrees in historical flutes from The Royal Conservatory of the Hague (TheNetherlands) and Indiana University. Her primary flute teachers included Wilbert Hazelzet, Michael McCraw, Kate Lukas, Trevor Wye, Anne Reynolds, Barbara Gisler-Haase and Cate Hummel. Leighann has also been the recipient of the prestigious Netherland-American Fulbright grant. In addition to an active performance career, Leighann is an avid studio teacher of aspiring and professional flutists, and offers master classes and workshops on ornamentation and historically informed performance practices.
RICHARD SCOFANO, BANDONEÓN
A master of the bandoneón, Richard Scofano was born in Paso de los Libres, Argentina, and is the descendant of three generations of bandoneonists. Beyond his renowned virtuosity, musicality and sensibility, Scofano is also an accomplished composer, arranger, and musical director. He began his studies at age five, with his father, Ricardo Scofano, himself a landmark in the Argentine musical genre of the Chamamé. Richard grew up in the center of the folk traditions and culture of Northeast Argentina in a home constantly filled with musicians and singers and, nowadays, his artistry is a testimony to his mastering of the genre, to his musical craft, and to his ability to combine both through an exceptional creative genius. Scofano always nurtured interest in the music of neighboring Brazil and is passionate about the study of concert music. With forty years of professional work, Scofano has taken his music literally throughout the world and is held in high esteem by fellow musicians and audiences alike. Richard has played throughout South America, North America, Europe, Japan, China and Australia. In 2014/15 he toured China as director of the show ‘Identidad’, which included some of his music in the program. In 2015 he composed the music for ‘Carmen de Buenos Aires’, an adaptation of the script of the opera Carmen for a tango/flamenco version premiered in Boston in November of that year. Still in 2015 he created a duo with pianist Alfredo Minetti and they toured extensively throughout the US and Puerto Rico, as well as Argentina and Brazil. In October of 2016, he premiered his ‘Iberá’ (concerto for bandoneón and orchestra) with the Oistrakh Symphony of Chicago under the direction of Mina Zikri. This concert has been performed in the US, in Argentina (including the prestigious Sala Ballena Azul, at the CCK in Buenos Aires), as well as in Brazil. The year of 2016 also marked the release of his CD ‘Estaciones’ with his original compositions. In this recording Scofano debuted his original contribution to his native genre. In 2017 he was invited to perform a concert with his music by the Jacobs School of Music, in Bloomington, IN. In 2018 he was invited by Yamandú Costa to perform with him at the Guitar Salon International, in Santa Monica, CA. He performed again with Yamandu in 2019, in New York at the Sony Hall Concert; in Montreal, Canada, at the Montreal Jazz Festival; and at the Vail Jazz Festival, in Vail, Colorado; and once again in 2022 to perform at Yamandu’s American tour. In 2020 he received a commission by the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra (ROCO) and wrote a symphonic poem entitled 'La Tierra Sin Mal' (for bandoneon and orchestra), inspired on a Guarani legend, which he premiered with ROCO, in September of that same year. He’s done numerous TV and Radio appearances, interviews and shows. And his music has been featured on radio, including on Performance Today, conducted by Fred Child. He has participated as producer, arranger and/or performer in many recordings. In September 2022 he performed his concert for bandoneón and orchestra (IBERA) and his symphonic poem (LA TIERRA SIN MAL) with the Orquestra Sinfônica Brasileira (OSB) under the direction of Lanfranco Marcelleti. In November of the same year, he performed his symphonic poem and Astor Piazzolla “Concerto for Bandoneon” (Aconcagua) with the New Mexico Philharmonic under the direction of Roberto Minczuk. In 2023 Richard toured Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo (in Brazil) with Alfredo Minetti, and upon returning to the US he performed ‘La Tierra Sin Mal’ with the Boulder Philharmonic. He also played in Nashville,TN and Tucson,AZ in duo with legendary classical guitarist Sergio Assad
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KATHIE STEWERT, BAROQUE FLUTE
Kathie Stewart is the newly appointed Curator of Historical Keyboards and Visiting Academic Specialist in Historical Performance at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. She is a founding member and principal flutist of the Grammy Award winning Apollo’s Fire: the Cleveland Baroque Orchestra. A faculty member at the Cleveland Institute of Music, she is also a Kulas Visiting Artist at Case Western Reserve University, and former Curator of Harpsichords at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, where she taught baroque flute for nearly twenty years. She is an avid proponent of Celtic music, playing Irish and baroque flutes on several Apollo’s Fire recordings. She has performed with the Cleveland Orchestra, Tafelmusik, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, The Four Nations Ensemble, Oberlin Baroque Ensemble, ARTEK, and the Bach Sinfonia in Washington, D.C. She is also Assistant Director of the Seattle Baroque Flute Workshop.
PETER STUMPF , CELLO
Peter Stumpf is professor of cello at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. Prior to his appointment, he was principal cellist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Stumpf's tenure in Los Angeles followed 12 years as associate principal cellist of the Philadelphia Orchestra. His professional orchestral career began at the age of 16 when he joined the cello section of the Hartford Symphony Orchestra. He received a bachelor's degree from the Curtis Institute of Music and an Artist's Diploma from the New England Conservatory.
A dedicated chamber music musician, he is a member of the Johannes String Quartet and has appeared on the chamber music series at Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, the Boston Celebrity Series, the DaCamera Society in Los Angeles, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Casals Hall in Tokyo, and at the concert halls of Cologne. He has performed with the chamber music societies of Boston and Philadelphia and at the Casals Festival in Puerto Rico as well as the Festivals of Marlboro, Santa Fe, Bridgehampton, Ottawa, Great Lakes, Ojai, Spoleto, and Aspen. He has toured with Music from Marlboro, the Casals Hall Ensemble in Japan, and with pianist Mitsuko Uchida in performances of the complete Mozart Piano Trios. He has collaborated with pianists Leif Ove Andsnes, Emmanuel Ax, Jorge Bolet, Yefim Bronfman, Radu Lupu, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Andras Schiff, Jean Yves Thibaudet, Mitsuko Uchida, and with the Emerson and Guarneri String Quartets. Most recently, the Johannes Quartet has collaborated with the Guarneri Quartet on tour in performances including commissions from composers William Bolcom and Esa Pekka Salonen.
Concerto appearances have been with the Boston Symphony, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the LosAngeles Philharmonic, the Boston Philharmonic, the Virginia Symphony, the Vermont Symphony, the Connecticut String Orchestra, the Chamber Orchestra of the South Bay, the American Youth Symphony,and at the Aspen Music Festival. As a recitalist, he has performed at the Universities of Hartford, Syracuse, and Delaware, at Jordan Hall in Boston, and at the Philips and Corcoran Galleries in Washington, D.C. Most recently, he performed the Six Suites for Solo Cello by J. S. Bach on the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society Series and on the Chamber Music in Historic Sites Series in LosAngeles. His awards include first prize in the Washington International Competition, the Graham-Stahl Competition, and the Aspen Concerto Competition and second prize in the Evian International String Quartet Competition.
As a former member of the Boston Musica Viva, he has explored extended techniques, including microtonal compositions and numerous premieres. As a teacher, he has served on the cello faculty of the University of Southern California, Hartt School of Music at the University of Hartford, the New England Conservatory, and guest artist faculty at the Curtis Institute of Music as well as at the Yellow Barn Music Festival and the Musicorda Summer String Program. He has conducted master classes at the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts, Manhattan and Mannes Schools of Music, Iowa and Pennsylvania State Universities, the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, Seoul National University, Temple University, and at the Universities of Delaware and Michigan.
KONSTANTYN TRAVINSKYY, PIANO
Ukrainian pianist, Konstantyn Travinskyy has won prizes in numerous piano competitions across the globe including 1st prize at the Sorantin Music Competition, 3rd prize at the California International Young Artist Competition, 4th prize at the Valesesia-Musica International Competition (Italy) and 1st prize at the International Wideman Piano Competition in Shreveport, Louisiana. Konstantyn was invited to study with Vladimir Viardo, Artist-in Residence of the University of North Texas, where he completed his Master’s degree in May 2010 and is currently pursuing his Doctorate in piano performance. He is a recipient of Toulouse Graduate School scholarship as well as College of Music and Viardo Fellowship Foundation scholarships. In addition to his competition accomplishments, Konstantyn made several major performances in the U.S. including his Chicago debut at the Dame Myra Hess Series which was broadcast live on the city's classical radio station, WFMT. His orchestral performances include appearances with the Domenico Cimarosa Symphony Orchestra in Italy, the National Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine, the University of North Texas Symphony Orchestra and the Shreveport Symphony Orchestra. After his performance with the latter The Shreveport Times stated, “He has a wonderfully precise style of fingering and approach, equally adept at capturing the drama of the work as well as its melodic content."
EDUARDO VILLALBA, DANCER
Eduardo Villalba, a highly respected icon within the Chicago Tango Scene, is a distinguish Argentine tango maestro who currently imparts his dance expertise in his esteemed studio within the Chicago area. Eduardo’s deep-rooted connection to the world of tango began in the vibrant neighborhood of La Boca, where he was raised amidst the rich tapestry of tango culture. La Boca known for its illustrious tango history and cultural significance, provided Eduardo with an immersive tango upbringing. Eduardo’s journey led him to grace the iconic dance floors of Buenos Aires, where he honed his craft and embraced the essence of tango. With over two decades of devotion to his dance form, he has cultivated a unique style that is characterized by elegance, unwavering passion, and an authentic connection to the heart of tango. In 2008, Eduardo embarked on a new chapter in his life by immigrating to the United States. Since then, he has become a cornerstone of the Chicago community, collaborating with numerous prominent tango dancers like Marcela Durán, Lorena Ermocida, and Fernanda Ghi. Together they have orchestrated intense workshops, sharing their collective knowledge and passion for tango in festivals, marathons, studios, and even at renowned Universities across the United States. Eduardo’s mission has been to propagate tango as an integral part of Argentine culture and identity in the United States, solidifying his role as a pillar of the Chicago Tango Community.
ELISABETH WRIGHT, HARPSICHORD
Professor Emerita of harpsichord and fortepiano at the Historical Performance Institute of the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, a post from which she recently retired after 39 years, Elisabeth Wright is noted for her versatility as soloist and chamber musician and for her expertise in the art of basso continuo improvisation. She is in frequent demand for masterclasses and seminars pertaining to performance practices of 16th to 18th century music. Following graduate studies with Gustav Leonhardt at the Amsterdam (now Sweelinck) Conservatory, she has maintained a distinguished international career performing in many noted venues. Soloist with Tafelmusik, Pacifica, Seattle, Portland and Lyra Baroque Orchestras, she has performed for decades as founding member of Duo Geminiani with esteemed Baroque violinist Stanley Ritchie, with other prominent ensembles, and has collaborated with numerous distinguished artists. She has been broadcast on five continents and recorded for Classic Masters, Milan-Jade, Focus, Arion, Arts Music, Música Ficta, ProMúsica Antiqua, and Centaur. A perpetual student of languages and interested in the relationship between text and music, her research on musical settings of the poetry of Giambattista Marino led to writing a chapter in The Sense of Marino: Literature, FineArts and Music published by Legas Press. Founding member of The Seattle Early MusicGuild and Bloomington Early Music Association, she has served on the board of EarlyMusic America and as panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts, PEW and PennPat and for numerous early keyboard societies, conferences, and academies.
Recent activities include concerts in Minnesota for Lyra Baroque, a chamber tour in the Pacific NW for the Salish Sea Festival, performances with Música Ficta in Mexico and in Poland and, in January, concerts and two recording projects, the first with music from the Bogotá Cathedral Archives and the second a solo harpsichord recording of music by Jean Henry D’Anglebert.
