2023-2024 Musicians | Four Seasons Chamber Music Festival

Ara Gregorian

Violinist/violist ARA GREGORIAN made his debut as soloist with the Boston Pops Orchestra in Symphony Hall and has appeared at Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall and the Kennedy Center, and in cities throughout the world including Boston, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Vancouver, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, Ulaanbaatar, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Helsinki. Gregorian is the founder and artistic director of Four Seasons and has appeared at the SpringLight (Finland), Storioni (Holland), Casals (Puerto Rico), Intimacy of Creativity (Hong Kong), Voice of Music (Israel), Vail, Taos and Sante Fe festivals. He has performed extensively as a member of the Cooperstown and Daedalus quartets and the chamber music ensemble Concertante. Gregorian is the Four Seasons Chamber Music Festival Distinguished Professor in Music at East Carolina University where he has been on the violin/viola faculty since 1998.

Rieko Aizawa

Praised by the NY Times for her “impressive musicality, a crisp touch and expressive phrasing”, Japanese pianist RIEKO AIZAWA made her debut at the Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall with the New York String Orchestra, conducted by Alexander Schneider. She has since established her own unique musical voice, performing at New York City’s Lincoln Center, Boston’s Symphony Hall, Chicago’s Orchestra Hall, Vienna’s Konzerthaus, and Wigmore Hall in London, among others. The youngest-ever participant at the Marlboro Music Festival, she has performed as guest with such string quartets as the Guarneri and Orion quartets. She is a founding member of the Horszowski Trio and of prize-winning Duo Prism, and she is artistic director of the Alpenglow Chamber Music Festival. Ms. Aizawa is a graduate of the Curtis Institute and the Juilliard School. She was the last pupil of Mieczyslaw Horszowski and she also studied with Seymour Lipkin and Peter Serkin. She is on the faculty at the Bard College and Brooklyn College.

Christopher Buddo

Double bassist J. CHRISTOPHER BUDDO has performed at the Birch Creek Summer Music Festival, the Bedford Springs Music Festival, the Vivace International Music Festival and the Four Seasons Chamber Music Festival. He has appeared with the Fort Worth, Waco, Des Moines, Quad-City, Cedar Rapids, Waterloo-Cedar Falls and Roanoke symphony orchestras. As a conductor, Buddo has directed the Iowa City Youth Orchestra and was the founding conductor of the Waco Symphony Youth Orchestra. Buddo served as Dean of the College of Fine Arts and Communication at East Carolina University from 2012-2021 and as Director of the School of Music at ECU from 2006-2012. He previously held positions at Baylor University and the University of Northern Iowa, and is currently Professor of Double Bass at East Carolina University.

Colin Carr

COLIN CARR appears throughout the world as a soloist, chamber musician, recording artist, and teacher. He has played with major orchestras worldwide, including the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, The Philharmonia, Royal Philharmonic, BBC Symphony, the orchestras of Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington, Philadelphia, Montréal and all the major orchestras of Australia and New Zealand. Conductors with whom he has worked include Rattle, Gergiev, Dutoit, Elder, Skrowasczewski and Marriner. Chamber music plays an important role in his musical life. He is a frequent visitor to international festivals and has appeared often as a guest with the Guarneri and Emerson string quartets and with New York’s Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. He has held teaching positions at the New England Conservatory and the Royal Academy of Music. St John’s College, Oxford created the post of “Musician in Residence” for him. Since 2002 he been a professor at Stony Brook University in New York.

Catherine Cho

CATHERINE CHO draws upon her experiences as a soloist, chamber musician, pedagogue, and artistic director to support and mentor artists in their quests to engage and enrich their high values as future leaders. She is devoted to fostering the next generation of performers and teachers through the development of artistic excellence, inspired curiosity, and clarity of vision through a holistic view of the whole person. Her work as a teacher in the Juilliard Community Engagement Seminar highlights her passion for connection through art and communication. Cho has served on the Violin and Chamber Music Faculty of the Juilliard School since 1994. When away from her teaching and performing, you may find her tending her Zen garden, practicing yoga, or catching up with the Times. She lives in Brooklyn, NY with her husband, Todd Phillips, and son, Brandon.

Cooperstown Quartet

The Cooperstown Quartet brings together four of the chamber music world’s most exciting and experienced performers. Its members – violinists Ara Gregorian and Hye-Jin Kim, violist Maria Lambros and cellist Michael Kannen – are former members of some of this country’s most respected ensembles: the Brentano, Daedalus, Meliora, Mendelssohn and Ridge string quartets as well as the string sextet, Concertante. From this wealth of experience comes a brilliant new string quartet. These musicians have performed in the world’s most prestigious venues including New York’s Carnegie and Alice Tully halls, London’s Wigmore Hall, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw and Vienna’s Konzerthaus; won international competitions including the Yehudi Menuhin International and Concert Artists Guild International competitions; performed throughout Asia, Australia, Europe and North America; and are veterans of the Four Seasons, Marlboro, Santa Fe, Ravinia, Yellow Barn, Chamber Music Northwest and Prussia Cove chamber music festivals. In addition to their extensive music-making careers, they are all dedicated teachers, with appointments at the Peabody Conservatory and East Carolina University. In short, four consummate musicians come together to form one dynamic string quartet.

Micaela Fruend Haimov

Dr. MICAELA FRUEND HAIMOV, a passionate violinist and violist, is dedicated to teaching, performing, and fostering enthusiasm among classical musicians and their community. As a founding member and Executive Director of NYC-based classical orchestra Kollective366, she aims to introduce new audiences to historically informed performances. Micaela has performed at Carnegie Hall with New Music for Strings Festival Orchestra, collaborated with members of the Emerson String Quartet, and previously served as Artistic Director and violist with Three Village Chamber Players on Long Island during her Musicivic Artist residency. Micaela holds a Bachelor’s in violin performance and an Advanced Performance Studies Certificate in viola performance from East Carolina University, where she studied with Ara Gregorian and Melissa Reardon. She obtained her Master’s and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees in viola performance from Stony Brook University, having studied with Lawrence Dutton, Nicholas Cords, and Matthew Lipman.

Emanuel Gruber

Cellist EMANUEL GRUBER has been principal cellist of the Israel Chamber Orchestra and co-principal of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra; a member of the Sequoia Quartet and the Tel Aviv Piano Quartet; and leader of the Israel Cello Ensemble. He has performed at the Salzburg (Austria), Bath (England), San Sebastian (Spain), Eilat (Israel), Musical Spring (St. Petersburg) and Rostropovich Cello (Riga) festivals, and has served on the jury of the Davidoff International Cello Competition. Gruber has collaborated with artists such as Sir Neville Marriner, Rudolf Barshai, Philippe Entremont and Janos Starker, and was awarded the Pablo Casals Prize by the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and first prize in the Concert Artist Guild Auditions. Gruber has been visiting professor at Indiana University, has taught at the Academies of Music of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem and is currently professor of cello at East Carolina University.

Márta Hortobágyi Lambert

MÁRTA HORTOBÁGYI LAMBERT was born in Greenville, North Carolina, and began her musical studies on piano and violin, later developing a love for viola. A passionate educator and advocate for the arts, Márta has held fellowship positions at The Juilliard School, and is currently on faculty at Queens Pre-College, Suzuki on the Island, and Kinhaven Music School. Márta’s devotion to chamber music has created opportunities to perform with members of the Cleveland, Orien, and Cooperstown Quartets, including performances with Miriam Fried, Ida Kavafian, and Colin Carr. Márta has also performed at music festivals including Donaueschingen Musiktage with Talea Ensemble, Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute, Prussia Cove, and Kneisel Hall, where she was a founding member of the prize-winning Blue Hill String Quartet. Márta was recently awarded The Presser Foundation Graduate Music Award from The Juilliard School in March 2021, the Dean’s Prize at Yale University in May 2019, and is a current recipient of the C.V. Starr Fellowship for doctoral studies at The Juilliard School.

Ieva Jokubaviciute

Pianist IEVA JOKUBAVICIUTE made her Chicago Symphony debut at the Ravinia Festival in 2005 and was honored as a recipient of a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship in 2006. She has performed concerti with orchestras in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Montevideo, Uruguay; Washington, DC; and Fargo, ND and has appeared at the Marlboro, Ravinia, Four Seasons, Bard, Caramoor, La Lointaine (France) and Prussia Cove (England) festivals. Jokubaviciute won the 2009 Naumburg International Chamber Music Competition as a member of Trio Cavatina and has toured with violinist Midori in Europe, Japan, India, North and South America. She has performed at Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall and the Kennedy Center; with Musicians from Marlboro; and at the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society. Jokubaviciute received degrees from the Curtis Institute of Music and the Mannes College of Music and is Associate Professor of the Practice of Music at Duke University.

Michael Kannen

Cellist MICHAEL KANNEN was a founding member of the Brentano String Quartet and for seven years performed with that group on concert stages around the world. During those seven years, the Brentano Quartet was awarded the first Cleveland Quartet Award, the Naumburg Chamber Music Award and the Martin E. Segal Award from Lincoln Center, and appeared regularly in venues such as Alice Tully Hall, the Library of Congress, Wigmore Hall, the Concertgebouw and the Sydney Opera House. Kannen has been a member of the Apollo Trio and the Meliora and Cooperstown string quartets, has appeared at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and has performed at the Spoleto Festivals in Charleston, Italy and Australia. Kannen is a member of the faculty of the Yellow Barn Music Festival and is currently the Director of Chamber Music at the Peabody Conservatory.

Ani Kavafian

Violinist ANI KAVAFIAN has performed as soloist with virtually all of America’s leading orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and the Cleveland, Philadelphia, Detroit, San Francisco and Seattle symphony orchestras. She has appeared at the White House on three separate occasions for three different presidents. Kavafian has performed with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center since 1979, performs frequently with her sister, Ida Kavafian, and has appeared in solo recitals at New York’s Carnegie and Alice Tully halls. She has appeared at the Four Seasons, Music from Angel Fire, Bravo! Vail and Bridgehampton festivals, and recorded the Mozart violin concerti with the New Haven Symphony Orchestra. Kavafian has held teaching positions at Mannes College, Manhattan School of Music, McGill University in Montreal and Stony Brook University. She is currently full professor at the Yale University School of Music.

Ida Kavafian

The versatile violinist/violist IDA KAVAFIAN recently completed her 35th year and final year as Artistic Director of Music from Angel Fire. She is co-founder of Tashi, OPUS ONE, Trio Valtorna and Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival (running it for ten years), frequent artist at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, former violinist of the Beaux Arts Trio and faculty member of The Curtis Institute (where she holds the Nina von Maltzahn Violin Chair). She has premiered numerous new works including concerti by Toru Takemitsu and Michael Daugherty, toured and recorded with jazz greats Chick Corea, Wynton Marsalis and Fiddler/Composer Mark O’Connor, appeared with the Guarneri, Orion, Shanghai and American String Quartets (as violist), and has had a solo feature on CBS Sunday Morning. A graduate of Juilliard studying with Oscar Shumsky, she made her NY debut under Young Concert Artists with the pianist Peter Serkin. Together with her husband, violist Steven Tenenbom, she breeds, trains and shows prize-winning Vizsla dogs, which presently include a Gold Grand Champion as well as a Master Hunter.

Alan Kay

ALAN R. KAY is Principal Clarinetist and a former Artistic Director of Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. He is the recipient of the Classical Recording Foundation’s Samuel Sanders Award, a Presidential Scholars Teacher Award, and the 1989 Young Concert Artists Award with the sextet Hexagon. A founding member of the Windscape Quintet, he is a regular guest in chamber music venues throughout the world including the Yellow Barn, Orlando (Holland), and Bowdoin festivals and curated a concert series at the Cape May Music Festival for 25 years. Kay teaches at the Manhattan School of Music, The Juilliard School, and Stony Brook University, where he also serves as Executive Director of the Stony Brook Symphony Orchestra. He has served on the juries of Young Concert Artists, Concert Artist Guild, and the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition.

Hee Yeon Kim

Born in South Korea and raised in South Africa and California, violinist HEE YEON KIM has collaborated with world-renowned musicians, including Peter Wiley, Miriam Fried, Michael Kannen, Maria Lambros, Ara Gregorian, Hye-Jin Kim, Zvi Plesser, Xiao Dong Wang and Anthony Ross. She is a winner of the 2017 ECU Concerto Competition and was a featured soloist performing Brahms’ Violin Concerto with the ECU Symphony. She is a passionate teacher and holds a position at NorthShore PianoForte and Ravinia El Sistema Lawndale. She completed her bachelor’s degree from the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University with Mark Kaplan, master’s degree from East Carolina University with Ara Gregorian and Hye-Jin Kim, and doctoral degree from the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance with Aaron Berofsky. Outside of her musical interests, she enjoys playing volleyball, boardgames, and climbing with her friends.

Hye-Jin Kim

Violinist HYE-JIN KIM was awarded first prize at the Yehudi Menuhin International Competition and the Concert Artists Guild Competition. She has performed as soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the New Jersey Symphony, the BBC Concert Orchestra and the Seoul Philharmonic, and has been presented at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall and the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society. Kim has appeared at the Four Seasons, Marlboro, Ravinia, Music from Angel Fire, Prussia Cove and Music@Menlo festivals and was a member of the Cooperstown Quartet. She has toured as a member of Musicians from Marlboro and recently founded “Lullaby Dreams,” an initiative that brings beauty and humanity to babies and families in NICUs and children’s hospitals through music. Kim is associate professor of violin at East Carolina University.

Min-Ji Kim

Winner of the 2003 Astral Artistic Services National Audition, MIN-JI KIM began playing the cello at the young age of 6. At 17, she entered the Korean National University of Arts as a young prodigy. Upon completion of her undergraduate degree, Ms. Kim attended the New England Conservatory, where she earned her Artist Diploma and Graduate Diploma. In 2005, she received a Professional Performance degree from Toulouse Conservatoire in Paris with aid from the Frank Huntington Beebe Fellowship. Ms. Kim has received first prize in many Korean national competitions, including the Dong-Ah Newspaper, Joong-Ang Newspaper, Han-Kook Newspaper, and Cho-sun Newspaper Music Competitions, grand prix at the Nan-Pa Music competition, grand prix at the Seoul Youth Music Competition by KBS, and also first prize at the Korean International Music Foundation Competition in Los Angeles. Currently, she is a member of the Kumho Asiana Soloist and Opus Ensemble and a senior member of the Cellista Cello Ensemble. Ms. Kim was appointed as a professor at Seoul National University’s College of Music. In 2023, she was named the Artistic Director of the 2023 Yeosu Eco International Music Festival.

Yeesun Kim

Cellist YEESUN KIM has performed throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia as a founding member of the Borromeo String Quartet, in duo with violinist Nicholas Kitchen, and as a soloist, including engagements at the Philharmonie in Berlin, the Opera Bastille in Paris, Wigmore Hall in London, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, the Sejong Cultural Center in Seoul, Carnegie Hall in New York, Jordan Hall in Boston, and the Library of Congress and Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. Kim has recorded and performed for NPR’s Performance Today and NHK Radio and Television in Japan, and appeared on Live from Lincoln Center. She currently serves on the faculty of the New England Conservatory in the cello and chamber music departments and teaches each summer at the Taos School of Music and at the Heifetz Institute.

Nicholas Kitchen

NICHOLAS KITCHEN has performed throughout the world both as soloist and chamber musician and as founding first violinist of the Borromeo String Quartet. He has done extensive projects with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Library of Congress, and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. He has performed in some of the world’s great concert halls such as the Berlin Philharmonie, Wigmore Hall in London, the Opera Bastille in Paris, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, the Oriental Arts Center in Shanghai and the Seoul Arts Center in Korea. He is the Artistic Director of the Heifetz International Music Institute and Faculty member at the New England Conservatory of Music. Nicholas is winner of the Arion Award from the Cambridge Society for Early Music, the Evian International Quartet Competition, the Cleveland Quartet Award, the Martin E. Segal Award and the Avery Fisher Career Grant.

Maria Lambros

Violist MARIA LAMBROS has performed as a member of four of the country’s finest string quartets in venues such as the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, London’s Wigmore Hall, the Konzerthaus in Vienna and New York’s Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall. She was a member of the Ridge and Mendelssohn string quartets, a founding member of the Naumburg Award-winning Meliora String Quartet, and is currently a member of the Cooperstown Quartet. Lambros has appeared at the Four Seasons, Helsinki, Yellow Barn, Aspen, Tanglewood, La Jolla, and Chamber Music Northwest festivals. She has performed with the Guarneri, Cleveland, Juilliard, Muir, Brentano, Borromeo, and Orion quartets and was named one of “Montana’s Leading Artists and Entertainers of the 20th Century.” She is founder and artistic director of Our Joyful Noise Baltimore and is on faculty at the Peabody Conservatory.

Yura Lee

Violinist/violist YURA LEE is one of the very few musicians that is equally virtuosic on both violin and viola. She has performed with major orchestras including those of New York, Chicago, Baltimore, Cleveland, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. She has given recitals in London’s Wigmore Hall, Vienna’s Musikverein, Salzburg’s Mozarteum, the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. She is the recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant and has received numerous international prizes, including top prizes in the Mozart, Indianapolis, Hannover, Kreisler, Bashmet, and Paganini competitions. As a chamber musician, she regularly takes part in the festivals of Seattle, Marlboro, Salzburg, Verbier, La Jolla, Caramoor, to name a few. She is a member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center as both violinist and violist; she is also a member of the Boston Chamber Music Society. Lee plays a fine Giovanni Grancino violin kindly loaned to her through the Beares International Violin Society by generous sponsors. Her viola was made in 2002 by Douglas Cox, who resides in Vermont. Lee is a professor at the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music.

Robert McDonald

ROBERT MCDONALD has toured extensively as a soloist and chamber musician throughout the United States, Europe, Asia, and South America. He has performed with major orchestras in the United States and was the recital partner for many years to Isaac Stern and other distinguished instrumentalists. He has participated in the Marlboro, Casals, and Luzerne Festivals, the Chamber Music Society at Lincoln Center, and has broadcasted for BBC Television worldwide. He has appeared with the Takács, Vermeer, Juilliard, Brentano, Borromeo, American, Shanghai, and St. Lawrence string quartets as well as with Musicians from Marlboro. His discography includes recordings for Sony Classical, Bridge, Vox, Musical Heritage Society, ASV, and CRI. Mr. McDonald’s prizes include the Gold Medal at the Busoni International Piano Competition and the Deutsche Schallplatten Critics Award. A member of the piano faculty at the Juilliard School since 1999, Mr. McDonald joined the faculty of the Curtis Institute of Music in 2007, where he holds the Penelope P. Watkins Chair in Piano Studies. During the summer, he is the artistic director of the Taos School of Music and Chamber Music Festival in New Mexico.

Jesse Mills

Since his concerto debut at the Ravinia Festival, violinist JESSE MILLS has established a unique career, performing music from classical to contemporary, as well as composed and improvised music of his own invention. Mills earned two Grammy nominations for his work on several discs of Arnold Schoenberg’s music, released by NAXOS. As a composer and arranger, Mills has been commissioned by Columbia University’s Miller Theatre and Chamber Music Northwest in Portland, Oregon. He is co-founder of the prize-winning Duo Prism, and of the Horszowski Trio. Mills is co-artistic director of the Alpenglow Chamber Music Festival in Silverthorne, Colorado. He studied with Dorothy DeLay, Robert Mann, and Itzhak Perlman at the Juilliard School. He is on the faculty at Brooklyn College and the Longy School of Music. He has received awards for musical achievement from the Third Street Music School in 2010 and from the Chamber Music Center of New York in 2023.

Minji Nam

MINJI NAM, a native of Seoul, is an energetic pianist, chamber musician, vocal, and chamber coach. A graduate of the Eastman School of Music, she has worked for Yale University School of Music, the Washington National Opera, the Aspen Music Festival, Bowdoin International Music Festival, the McDuffie Center for Strings, the Seaside Violin Intensive Program, Florida State University, and the MTNA. Currently, she is faculty at the National Music Festival and VilaCello Music Festival. She has appeared in recital with Hsin-Yun Huang, Demarre McGill, Isabel Bayrakdarian, Eric Silberger, Ignace Jang, Annie Fullard, Daniel Tosky, Amy Schwartz-Morreti, Evan Jones, Robert McDuffie, and Walfrid Kujala. Recent residencies include the Atlanta Chamber players, the Hawaii Chamber Music Festival, and Four Seasons. She has collaborated with Emmanuel Pahud, Hilary Hahn, Augustin Hadelich, Anne Sophie-Mutter, Kyung-Sun Lee, Midori, Robert Lipsett, Lambert Orkis, Renée Fleming, and Jessye Norman. A recording of her recent Carnegie Hall concert, “The Connected Musician,” with longtime duo-partner, Jacqueline Cordova-Arrington will soon be available. She is developing a concert series aimed towards financially supporting and fostering community among young adult cancer patients, with performances scheduled for 2024.

Adam Neiman

American pianist ADAM NEIMAN has performed as soloist with the symphony orchestras of Chicago, Cincinnati, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, Minnesota, Saint Louis, San Francisco, and Utah, as well as with the National Symphony Orchestra. He has performed throughout the US and Canada and internationally in Italy, France, and Japan. In 1995, Neiman became the youngest-ever winner of the Gilmore Young Artist Award, and the following year won the Young Concert Artists Auditions. Neiman’s live performance of the Brahms Rhapsodies at the Gilmore International Keyboard Festival on NPR’s Performance Today was nominated for a Grammy Award. He has received an Avery Fisher Career Grant and is artistic director of the Manchester Music Festival. Neiman is assistant professor of piano at the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University.

Daniel Phillips

Violinist DANIEL PHILLIPS is a founding member of the 30-year-old Orion String Quartet and performs frequently at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. He appears regularly at the Spoleto USA, Santa Fe, Chamber Music Northwest, Chesapeake Chamber Music and Four Seasons festivals and has participated in the International Musicians Seminar in Cornwall, England, since its founding by Sandor Vegh. Phillips was a winner of the 1976 Young Concert Artists Auditions, was a member of the Bach Aria group, and has toured and recorded in a string quartet with Gidon Kremer, Kim Kashkashian, and Yo-Yo Ma. He is a professor at the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College and is on the faculties at the Mannes College of Music, the Bard College Conservatory, and The Juilliard School.

Zvi Plesser

Israeli cellist ZVI PLESSER has performed as soloist with the National Symphony Orchestra, the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra, the Academy of Saint Martin in the Fields, the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, collaborating with conductors such as Sir Neville Mariner, David Stern, and Sergiu Comissiona. Plesser won the 41st annual Washington International Competition and has appeared at Paris’ Champs-Elyseess, Musee du Louvre and Salle Pleyel, Vienna’s Konzerthaus, Berlin’s Philahrmonie, and London’s Wigmore Hall. He was a founding member of Concertante and has participated in festivals worldwide including the Four Seasons, Marlboro, Cervantino (Mexico), Ako (Japan), Kuhmo (Finland), and Rolandseck (Germany). He is on the faculties of the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance and the Perlman Music Program.

Yulia Price

YULIA PRICE is a violinist and teacher based in the Boston area. She completed her Bachelor’s of Music in Violin Performance at East Carolina University under the tutelage of Ara Gregorian and Hye-Jin Kim; and completed her Suzuki Pedagogy Certification with Joanne Bath. During her time at ECU, she also obtained a B.S. in Communications and a B.A. in Asian Studies. Yulia completed her Master’s degree of Music in Violin Performance at New England Conservatory, where she studied under Soovin Kim. Yulia is the 2023-2024 Four Seasons Professional Fellow. When Yulia is not teaching/playing the violin, you can find her at a coffee shop, painting, or taking walks.

Raman Ramakrishnan

Cellist RAMAN RAMAKRISHNAN enjoys performing chamber music, old and new, around the world. For two decades, as a founding member of the Horszowski Trio and the Daedalus Quartet, he toured extensively through North and South America, Europe, and Asia and recorded for Bridge Records and Avie Records. Ramakrishnan is currently a member of the Boston Chamber Music Society and is on the faculty of the Bard College Conservatory of Music. He has given solo recitals in New York, Boston, Seattle, and Washington D.C. and has performed chamber music at Caramoor, Bargemusic, with the Chicago Chamber Musicians, and at the Aspen, Four Seasons, Kingston, Lincolnshire (UK), Marlboro, Mehli Mehta (India), Oklahoma Mozart, and Vail festivals. Ramakrishnan has served on the faculties of the Kneisel Hall and Norfolk chamber music festivals.

Jorge Richter

Violist JORGE RICHTER is associate professor of music at East Carolina University. He holds a BM in violin performance from the Parana State School of Music and Fine Arts in Curitiba, Brazil, an MM in conducting from Andrews University, and a DMA in conducting from Michigan State University where he studied with Leon Gregorian. Richter has held similar positions at Truman State University, Oklahoma State University and the University of Tennessee, has performed at the Utah and Four Seasons chamber music festivals, and has served as guest conductor of the Espirito Santo Philharmonic Orchestra. In addition to his conducting duties, Richter teaches violin, viola and chamber music at East Carolina University.

Marcy Rosen

Cellist MARCY ROSEN has collaborated with the world’s finest musicians including Leon Fleisher, Richard Goode, Andras Schiff, Mitsuko Uchida, Isaac Stern, Robert Mann, Sandor Vegh, Kim Kashkashian, Jessye Norman, and the Juilliard, Emerson, and Orion quartets. She is a founding member of La Fenice and the world-renowned Mendelssohn String Quartet, with which she was an artist-in-residence at the North Carolina School of the Arts and the Blodgett Artistin- Residence at Harvard University. The quartet, which disbanded in January of 2010, toured annually throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe for 31 years. Since 1986, Rosen has been the artistic director of the Chesapeake Chamber Music Festival. She is professor of cello at the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College and is on the faculty at the Mannes College of Music.

Thomas Sauer

Pianist THOMAS SAUER has performed at Wigmore Hall, Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium, Merkin Hall, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw and Musikgebouw and at Berlin’s Philharmonie. He has appeared throughout the world with his long-time duo partner Colin Carr, as well as with Midori and the Brentano String Quartet; has performed at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society; has appeared at the Four Seasons, Taos, Portland, Seattle, Marlboro and Music@Menlo festivals; and performed as soloist with the Quad-City and Tallahassee symphonies. Sauer’s varied discography includes recordings of Beethoven and Haydn piano sonatas for MSR Classics, the complete cello and piano works of Mendelssohn with Colin Carr on Cello Classics and a disc of Hindemith sonatas with violist Misha Amory on the Musical Heritage Society label. Sauer is a member of the music faculty of Vassar College and the piano faculty of the Mannes College of Music.

Steven Tenenbom

STEVEN TENENBOM is the violist of the Orion String Quartet, which has served as the quartet-in-residence of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Aspen Music Festival, the Mannes College of Music, and the Santa Fe Music Festival. He has appeared with the Guarneri and Emerson string quartets, the Kalichstein-Loredo-Robinson and Beaux Arts trios, TASHI, and as soloist with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and the Brandenburg Ensemble. Tenenbom has had a long association with the Marlboro Music Festival, including many tours across the United States, Japan, and France, and has appeared at the June Music, La Jolla Mostly Mozart, Chamber Music Northwest, Four Seasons, Music from Angel Fire, and Bravo! Colorado festivals. He is co-founder of Opus One and is on the faculties of the Curtis Institute, The Juilliard School, and the Bard College Conservatory of Music.

Gilles Vonsattel

Swiss-born American pianist GILLES VONSATTEL is an artist of extraordinary versatility and originality. He is the recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant and the 2016 Andrew Wolf Chamber Music Award, and a winner of the Naumburg and Geneva competitions. He has appeared with many of the world’s most prestigious orchestras and has performed recitals and chamber music at many major festivals. He has premiered numerous works by composers including Jörg Widmann, Heinz Holliger, Anthony Cheung, and George Benjamin. An alum of the Bowers Program, he holds degrees from Columbia University and the Juilliard School. Vonsattel is Professor of Piano at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and serves on the faculty of Bard College Conservatory of Music.

Wynona Yinuo Wang

WYNONA YINUO WANG launched her career after winning the 2018 Concert Artist Guild International Competition. Her recent North American performances include the Artist Spotlight series presented by the New York Philharmonic, Shriver Hall Discovery Series, as well as concerti with the DuPage Symphony, The Orchestra Now, Northwest Florida Symphony Orchestra, California North State and Meadows Symphony Orchestras. She has also performed with the Academic Symphony Orchestra of the National Philharmonic Society of Ukraine, and the Romanian Mihail Jora Philharmonic Orchestra. She has appeared at major venues including Lincoln Center’s David Geffen Hall, Carnegie’s Weill Hall, the Metropolitan Museum’s Rogers Auditorium, Dallas Opera House, and Merkin Hall at the Kaufman Center. Internationally, she has performed in Ukraine, Italy, China, Spain and Indonesia. Her summer festival performances include Music@Menlo, La Jolla SummerFest, Mostly Mozart Festival, Tippet Rise, International Keyboard Institute and Festival. Wynona currently pursues her Master’s degree at The Juilliard School with Robert McDonald.

Xiao-Dong Wang

Violinist XIAO-DONG WANG was the first prize winner at the Yehudi Menuhin International Violin Competition and the Wieniawski-Lipinski International Violin Competition at the ages of thirteen and fifteen. He has performed with orchestras around the world including the Royal Philharmonic in London, the London Mozart Players, the Adelaide, Perth, and Queensland symphony orchestras and the Sydney Opera Orchestra, and his recording credits include the Bartok Concerto No. 2 and Szymanowski Concerto No. 1 for Polygram Records. Wang has appeared on both violin and viola in chamber music concerts at Lincoln Center and the Kennedy Center and at the Four Seasons, Aspen, Ravinia and Voice of Music in the Upper Galilee festivals. Wang was the resident soloist of the Shanghai Symphony for the 2012-13 season, appearing three times as soloist with the orchestra as well as presenting chamber music concerts and master classes. Wang was a founding member and artistic director of Concertante, where he collaborated with world-renowned musicians and made a vast number of chamber music recordings.