SLLMF Artists 2022

Artists

Here are the world-renowned artists joining us in 2023. Many have been with us for years and love returning to this area to perform for you.

Strings

Violins, Violas, Cellos, and Basses

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Jonathan Bagg
Jonathan Bagg is Professor and Music Department Chair at Duke University. He is violist with Duke’s Ciompi String Quartet, with whom he has performed hundreds of concerts in the U.S. and around the world. He is founding Artistic Director of Electric Earth Concerts in New Hampshire, and he directed the Monadnock Music festival from 2006-2011. As an artistic director he has organized many creative collaborations with composers, authors, poets, and choreographers, resulting in a unique multi-media works.

Jonathan has performed at the Portland Chamber Music Festival, the Sebago-Long Lake festival, the Great Lakes Festival, the Eastern Music Festival, the Highlands-Cashiers festival, the Mohawk Trail and Castle Hill festivals.

From 2015 he was principal violist and appeared as soloist with the CityMusic Cleveland chamber orchestra. As an orchestral player he performed with the Boston Symphony and held principal jobs at the Handel and Haydn Society, the New Haven Symphony, and the New Hampshire Symphony.

Jonathan’s most recent solo CD on the Albany label, titled “Elation,” brings together several works he commissioned, including works by Duke colleagues Stephen Jaffe and Scott Lindroth. Other solo discs contain music for viola and piano by Robert and Clara Schumann, and by the Viennese composer Robert Fuchs. Contemporary solo works by Robert Ward, Arthur Levering, Malcolm Peyton, and Donald Wheelock are on Bridge, Albany, Centaur and Gasparo Records. He has also made dozens of CDs with the Ciompi Quartet. He has performed at the SLLMF since 2019.

Eliot Bailen

Eliot Bailen has an active career as an artistic director, cellist, composer and teacher. Strings Magazine writes, “At Merkin Hall ‘cellist Eliot Bailen displayed a warm focused tone, concentrated expressiveness and admirable technical command always at the service of the music.” Founder and Artistic Director of the Sherman Chamber Ensemble, now celebrating its 40th year, whose performances the New York Times has described as “the Platonic ideal of a chamber music concert,” Eliot is also Founder and Artistic Director of Chamber Music at Rodeph Sholom in New York and Artistic Director of the New York Chamber Ensemble.

Principal Cello of the New Jersey Festival Orchestra, New York Chamber Ensemble, Orchestra New England, Teatro Grattacielo and the New Choral Society (The Michael B. Packer Chair), Eliot has performed regularly with the Saratoga Chamber Players, Cape May Music Festival, Sebago-Long Lake Chamber Music Festival as well as with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, New York City Opera and Ballet, Oratorio Society, American Symphony, Stamford Symphony, New Jersey Symphony and is heard frequently in numerous Broadway shows.

Among Eliot’s commissions are an Octet, a Double Concerto for Flute and Cello, Perhaps a Butterfly, Saratoga Sextet, The Tiny Mustache (a musical) and recently a Dectet (“Inclusion”) commissioned by the New Choral Society. He is recipient of over forty commissions for his “Song to Symphony” for schools (subject of a NY Times feature article Sept. 2006 and winner of a Yale Alumni Grant). In 2002 he received the Norman Vincent Peale Award for Positive Thinking.

Eliot received his Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) from Yale University and an M.B.A. from NYU. He is on the cello and chamber music faculty at Columbia University and Teachers College. He has performed at the SLLMF since 1994.

Gabriela Diaz, Violin

Gabriela Díaz began her musical training at the age of five, studying piano with her mother, and the next year, violin with her father. A childhood cancer survivor, Gabriela is committed to supporting cancer research and treatment as a musician. In 2004, she was awarded a grant from the Albert Schweitzer Foundation to organize a series of chamber music concerts in cancer units at various hospitals in Boston, this project is now a part of her chamber music organization, Winsor Music (winsormusic.org).

A fierce champion of contemporary music, Gabriela has worked closely with many significant composers, including Pierre Boulez, Joan Tower, Jessie Montgomery, Tania León, and Helmut Lachenmann. Gabriela is a member of The International Contemporary Ensemble, A Far Cry, Castle of Our Skins, Sound Icon, and appears frequently with other chamber music ensembles throughout the United States.

Gabriela teaches at Wellesley College and the Longy School of Music at Bard College. Critics have acclaimed Gabriela as “a young violin master,” and “one of Boston’s most valuable players.” Lloyd Schwartz of the Boston Phoenix noted, “…Gabriela Diaz in a bewitching performance of Pierre Boulez’s 1991 Anthèmes. The come-hither meow of Diaz’s upward slides and her sustained pianissimo fade-out were miracles of color, texture, and feeling.” Others have remarked on her “indefatigably expressive” playing, “polished technique,” and “vivid and elegant playing.” Gabriela can be heard on New World, Centaur, BMOPSound, Mode, Naxos, and Tzadik records. Her recording of Lou Harrison’s Suite for Violin and American Gamelan was highlighted in the New York Times Article, “5 Minutes That Will Make You Love Classical Music.”

Gabriela is proud to be a core member of the team that created Boston Hope Music, bringing music to patients and frontline workers during the pandemic. Her last appearance at the Festival was in 2010. More info can be found at gabrieladiazviolin.com.

Jennifer Elowitch

Violinist Jennifer Elowitch is Founder and Artistic Director Emerita of the Portland Chamber Music Festival. Over the 25 years of her tenure, PCMF evolved into a cornerstone of Portland’s vibrant arts community. She is currently Director of Music at Walnut Hill School for the Arts in Massachusetts, where she was the recipient of E.E. Ford Faculty Awards for Exceptional Merit in 2016 and 2021. A noted chamber musician, she has appeared as a guest artist with Electric Earth Concerts, the Mark Morris Dance Group, Winsor Music, and Music from Salem. She has also performed with well-known contemporary ensembles including Boston Musica Viva, Collage New Music, and the Fromm Players at Harvard.

Jennifer is the Assistant Principal Second Violinist of the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra and performs often with the Boston Symphony, with whom she has toured Europe and Japan. In addition to her work at Walnut Hill, she has served on the faculties of the Longy School of Music, the New England Conservatory Preparatory School, and the University of New Hampshire. Jennifer has presented workshops and masterclasses as a guest at New England Conservatory and the Curtis Institute of Music, and recently served as a guest teacher at the Yehudi Menuhin School in the UK. She performed at the Festival in 2005, 2022 and now 2023. 

Emilie-Anne Gendron, violin

Lauded by the New York Times as a “brilliant soloist” and by Strad Magazine for her “marvelous and lyrical playing,” violinist Emilie-Anne Gendron enjoys an active and versatile career based in New York City. A deeply committed chamber musician, she is a member of the Momenta Quartet (currently Artists-in-Residence at Binghamton University), whose eclectic vision encompasses contemporary music of all aesthetic backgrounds alongside great music from the past. Emilie has been on the roster of the Marlboro Music Festival and the touring Musicians from Marlboro since 2011, and appears with A Far Cry, Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Talea Ensemble, Sejong Soloists, and the IRIS Orchestra (as one of its concertmasters). She is a founding member of Ensemble Échappé, a new-music sinfonietta, as well as the Gamut Bach Ensemble, in residence with the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society. Her extensively varied international appearances have included recitals in Sweden and at the Louvre in Paris; festivals in Russia, Finland, and Jordan; and recently, major venues in China, South Korea, Argentina, Chile, and Colombia, in collaboration with such artists as Bruno Canino, Leon Fleisher, Richard Goode, Edgar Meyer, and Gil Shaham, among many others.

A dual citizen of the U.S. and Canada, Emilie was trained at the Juilliard School where her teachers were Won Bin Yim, Dorothy DeLay, David Chan, Hyo Kang, and Axel Strauss. She holds the distinction of being the first person in Juilliard’s history to be accepted simultaneously to its two most selective courses of study, the Doctor of Musical Arts and the Artist Diploma. She holds a B.A. in Classics from Columbia University (magna cum laude and with Phi Beta Kappa honors), and a Master of Music degree and the coveted Artist Diploma from Juilliard. For more information, please visit www.emilieannegendron.com. This is her first appearance at the Festival.

Brian Hong, Viola

Korean-American violinist and violist Brian Hong has performed as soloist with such orchestras as the Juilliard Orchestra, Fairfax Symphony, American Youth Philharmonic, Chesapeake Orchestra, US Army Orchestra, National Philharmonic, and the Springfield Symphony. A dedicated chamber musician, Brian’s festival credits include Marlboro, Yellow Barn, Bowdoin International Music Festival, Music Academy of the West, the Taos School of Music, Kneisel Hall, and the Perlman Music Program.

Brian is gaining recognition for his thoughtful and empathetic approach to teaching, joining the esteemed faculty at Bard College Conservatory of Music as a violist in Fall 2022. As a guest artist, he has taught private lessons, public masterclasses, and chamber coachings on both violin and viola at George Mason University’s Reva and Sid Dewberry Family School of Music, Missouri State University, and The Juilliard School. He has also taught live virtual masterclasses for the Joven Camerata de El Salvador as well as the Edward Said National Conservatory of Palestine through the Project: Music Heals Us – Novel Voices Distance Learning Program.

Brian is a graduate of Juilliard’s Artist Diploma program under the guidance of Laurie Smukler and Catherine Cho. As a Fellow of Carnegie Hall’s Ensemble Connect, he performed in a variety of venues in New York City and abroad, as well as maintaining a two-year teaching-artist partnership with Celia Cruz High School for Music in the Bronx. Brian also holds a Master’s degree from The Juilliard School, where he was awarded a prestigious Kovner Fellowship.

Brian is a co-Artistic Director of NEXUS Chamber Music Chicago in Illinois, an artist-driven collective of musicians whose mission is to make classical music culturally relevant through live concerts and multimedia content. In his spare time, he can be found brewing espresso or single origin pour-overs at his home coffee bar. This is Brian’s first appearance at the Festival.

Min-Young Kim, violin

Violinist Min-Young Kim is a founding member and first violinist of the internationally acclaimed Daedalus Quartet, winner of the Banff String Quartet Competition. With the quartet, she performs regularly throughout the United States, Canada, Europe and Asia, and has been presented by many of the world’s leading musical venues including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Library of Congress, the Musikverein in Vienna, the Mozarteum in Salzburg, and the Concertgebeouw in Amsterdam.

She has also toured extensively with Musicians from Marlboro, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and has also collaborated in festivals and performances with members of the Juilliard, Guarneri, Cleveland, Takács and Vermeer Quartets.

An advocate for music of our time, Min-Young enjoys working closely with composers and has premiered and performed many new works. In early music, she has performed and recorded on the baroque violin with Apollo’s Fire, the Cleveland Baroque Orchestra and New York Collegium.

A graduate of Harvard University and the Juilliard School, Ms. Kim teaches violin and chamber music at the University of Pennsylvania, and was formerly on the faculty of Columbia University and the School for Strings in New York. Her major teachers include Donald Weilerstein, Robert Mann and Shirley Givens. Min-Young has performed at the SLLMF since 2016.

Thomas Kraines, Cello

Thomas Kraines, a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music and The Juilliard School, has gained renown as a versatile cellist, composer, and teacher. He performs around the world as the cellist of the Daedalus Quartet, and as a member of a duo with his wife, violinist Juliette Kang, as well as various other ensembles.

Thomas’ solo cello and chamber compositions have been heard around the country. He has performed his own works in collaboration with artists such as Awadagin Pratt, Mimi Stillman, Maria Jette, Ilana Davidson. In February of 2021, he performed his Suite for Two Different Cellos with Kinan Abou-afach as part of an online performance at the Annenberg Center in Philadelphia, and his Hansel and Gretel was recorded by Kenneth Woods and the English Symphony Orchestra, with Henry Goodman narrating.

As a member of the Daedalus Quartet, Thomas has recorded the music of Joan Tower, Brian Buch, Anna Weesner, Vivian Fung, Fred Lerdahl, and George Perle, among others. He can also be heard on the recordings of music by Lori Laitman and Bernard Rands, both for Albany Records; John Musto, with Music from Copland House; and Shulamit Ran, with the Peabody Trio. His recent recording of Fred Lerdahl’s “There and Back Again” for solo cello was released by Bridge Records in February 2020, as part of its survey of Lerdahl’s music.

Thomas has served on the faculty of the Longy School of Music, Princeton University, Peabody Conservatory, Phillips Academy Andover, and Yellow Barn. He currently teaches at the University of Pennsylvania, where he is director of chamber music, and the Settlement Music School in Philadelphia.

Thomas studied cello with Frederic Raimi, Orlando Cole, and Joel Krosnick, and composition with Tom Benjamin. He lives in Philadelphia with his wife Juliette, daughters Rosalie and Clarissa, and two cats. This is his first appearance with the Festival since 2008.

Varty Manouelian

Varty Manouelian made her American Debut in 1993 with the North Carolina Symphony as First Prize winner of the Bryan International Competition. She has also been a prize winner at a number of other competitions in Europe, including the Kotzian International Competition and the Wieniawski International Violin Competition. She has recorded and appeared as a soloist with numerous orchestras in the United States, Bulgaria, Russia, Armenia, Poland, Spain and Italy.
Her chamber music performances include Marlboro Music Festival, Apple Hill Festival, Sebago-Long Lake Music Festival, El Paso Festival, and Olympic Music Festival, among others. She has collaborated as a chamber musician with such artists as Yuja Wang, Kim Kashkashian, Rohan de Saram, Joshua Bell, Nobuko Imai, Thomas Adès, and members of the Juilliard, Guarneri, Tokyo, Brentano, Borromeo, and Mendelssohn string quartets.

Dedicated teacher and educator, Varty is Lecturer of Violin at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, teaches violin and chamber music at the Colburn Academy and CSPA, and spends summers coaching chamber music at the Apple Hill Festival in New Hampshire. She has been an active participant at LA Philharmonic’s Music Outreach programs, having taught at YOLA since its inception. Prior to joining the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 2004, she was a member of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.

In Los Angeles, Varty frequently performs at the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Chamber Music Society and Green Umbrella new-music series, as well as at Camerata Pacifica, Monday Evening Concerts, and the Dilijan Series. Her recording credits include archival radio recordings for the Bulgarian State Radio, and CDs on Albany and Bridge Records labels. Her recent CD of Complete Violin Works of Stefan Wolpe (jointly with violinist Movses Pogossian) made the 2015 Top Ten list in Sunday Times (UK). She has performed at the Festival since 2001.

Mihai Marica

Romanian-born cellist Mihai Marica is a First Prize winner of the “Dr. Luis Sigall” International Competition in Viña del Mar, Chile and the Irving M. Klein International Competition.

A recipient of Charlotte White’s Salon de Virtuosi Fellowship Grant, he has performed with orchestras such as the Symphony Orchestra of Chile, Xalapa Symphony in Mexico, the Hermitage State Orchestra of St. Petersburg in Russia, the Jardins Musicaux Festival Orchestra in Switzerland, the Louisville Orchestra, and the Santa Cruz Symphony in the United States.

He has also appeared in recital performances in Austria, Hungary, Germany, Spain, Holland, South Korea, Japan, Chile, the United States, and Canada. A dedicated chamber musician, Mihai has performed at the Chamber Music Northwest, Norfolk, and Aspen music festivals where he has collaborated with such artists as Ani Kavafian, Ida Kavafian, David Shifrin, André Watts, and Edgar Meyer.

He is a founding member of the award-winning Amphion String Quartet and a member of the acclaimed Apollo Trio. A recent collaboration with dancer Lil Buck brought forth new pieces for solo cello written by Yevgeniy Sharlat and Patrick Castillo.

Mihai studied with Gabriela Todor in his native Romania and with Aldo Parisot at the Yale School of Music where he was awarded master’s and artist diploma degrees. He is an alum of The Bowers Program (formerly CMS Two). Mihai has performed at the SLLMF since 2016.

Todd Phillips, Violin

Violinist Todd Phillips made his solo debut with the Pittsburgh Symphony at the age of thirteen and since then has appeared with many orchestras throughout the United States, Europe and Japan including the Brandenburg Ensemble, the Jacksonville and Honolulu symphonies, Camerata Salzburg and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. He made his Carnegie Hall debut in 1982 with the New York String Orchestra and conductor Alexander Schneider. Return engagements at Carnegie Hall soon followed as well as solo performances in Avery Fisher Hall, Alice Tully Hall, the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., Boston’s Symphony Hall and the Frankfurt Opera House.

Todd is a founding member of the highly acclaimed Orion String Quartet which has been the quartet-in-residence at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Mannes College of Music and the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival. The Quartet’s television appearances have included PBS’ “Live from Lincoln Center,” three performances on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” and A&E’s “Breakfast with the Arts.” Their recordings of the complete Beethoven quartets have received unanimous acclaim from critics and audiences alike.

Todd’s experience as a frequent leader of the conductorless Orpheus Chamber Orchestra has led to engagements as conductor/leader with the Camerata Nordica of Sweden, The New World Symphony, Risor Chamber Orchestra in Norway, The Brandenburg Ensemble, the Tapiola Sinfonietta of Finland, and the Mannes Sinfonietta in New York City.

Todd serves on the faculties of the Manhattan School of Music, Mannes College, Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University, Bard College Conservatory of Music and the Cleveland Institute of Music. He lives in Brooklyn, NY with his wife, violinist Catherine Cho and is the father of four children: Lia, Eliza, Jason, and Brandon and is grandfather of Theo. Todd has performed at the SLLMF since 2018.

Movses PogossianMovses Pogossian made his American debut with the Boston Pops in 1990, about which Boston Globe wrote: “There is freedom in his playing, but also taste and discipline. It was a fiery, centered, and highly musical performance…” Prizewinner of several competitions, including the 1986 Tchaikovsky International Competition, he extensively performed as soloist and recitalist worldwide. As chamber musician, Movses has collaborated with such artists as Kim Kashkashian, Alexei Lubimov, Jeremy Denk, Rohan de Saram, and with members of the Tokyo, Kronos, and Brentano string quartets.

Movses is Artistic Director of the acclaimed Dilijan Chamber Music Series, currently in its 15th season (www.dilijan.larkmusicalsociety.org). Champion of new music, he has premiered over 80 works, and worked closely with composers such as Kurtág, Harbison, Saariaho, Mansurian, and Gabriela Lena Frank. His discography includes the Complete Sonatas and Partitas by J. S. Bach, solo violin CDs “Inspired by Bach,” “Blooming Sounds,” and “In Nomine,” and recently released “Con Anima” album of Tigran Mansurian’s music on ECM label. In his review of Kurtág’s “Kafka Fragments” (with soprano Tony Arnold) Paul Griffiths writes: “…remarkable is Pogossian’s contribution, which is always beautiful, across a great range of colors and gestures, and always seems on the edge of speaking—or beyond.”

Movses is Professor of Violin at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music and also Founding Director of the UCLA Armenian Music Program (https://schoolofmusic.ucla.edu/resources/armenian-music-program/). As Head of the Los Angeles Chapter, he actively participates in the Music for Food project (https://musicforfood.net/) which raises awareness of the hunger problem and gives the opportunity to experience the powerful role music can play as a catalyst for change. Movses has performed at the Festival since 2001.

Matthew Sinno

Matthew Sinno, a Massachusetts native, joined the Dallas Symphony Orchestra as Associate Principal Viola during the 2021-22 season. Prior to that, he served as Associate Principal and Acting Principal Viola with the Kansas City Symphony. He has also performed with the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra and Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra as a substitute player.

Winner of the 2014 Juilliard Concerto Competition, Matthew performed Hindemith’s “Der Schwanendreher” in Alice Tully Hall with the Juilliard Orchestra. Other solo appearances include those with the Kansas City Symphony, Music Academy International Festival Orchestra and Boston Youth Symphony. An avid chamber musician, he performs regularly at Sebago Long Lake Music Festival in Maine.

Matthew received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from The Juilliard School as well as his post- baccalaureate diploma from the Curtis Institute of Music. His primary instructors include Toby Appel, Heidi Castleman, Roberto Diaz and Cynthia Phelps. Matthew has performed at the Festival since 2019.

 

Bonnie Thron

Bonnie Thron joined the North Carolina Symphony as Principal Cellist in 2000. She is an active chamber musician locally and plays frequently with the Mallarme Chamber Players. She is a member of Three For All, a clarinet trio with her husband, clarinetist Fred Jacobowitz and pianist Anatoly Larkin. She has also been a regular guest on the Washington Musica Viva series and has been teaching at the East Carolina University Summer Camp in the summers.

Previously Bonnie was a member of the Peabody Trio, in residence at the Peabody Institute, during which time the group won the Naumberg chamber music competition.  Early in her career Bonnie was Assistant Principal Cellist of the Denver Symphony and played and recorded with the Orpheus Chamber Ensemble. Bonnie has performed concertos with the North Carolina Symphony, the Orpheus Chamber Ensemble, the Juilliard Orchestra, the Panama National Orchestra, the Vermont Symphony Orchestra, and various other orchestras in North Carolina and her native state of New Hampshire.

Bonnie received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from The Juilliard School. Her teachers include Lynn Harrell, Norman Fischer and Elsa Hilger. She also received a BSN from Johns Hopkins School of Nursing and worked as a nurse for several years as a nurse at Johns Hopkins Hospital and as a case manager in home care nursing during which time she was also a cello teacher at the Baltimore School for the Arts. Bonnie has
been performing at the SLLMF since 2002.

Winner of the 2019 GRAMMY Award for Best Chamber Music/ Small Ensemble Performance, violinist Keiko Tokunaga spends most of her days touring and performing globally as a soloist and chamber musician. Keiko has been praised by the Strings Magazine for possessing a sound “with probing quality that is supple and airborne” and for her “pure, pellucid bow strokes”. She has soloed with various orchestras including the Spanish National Orchestra, Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona i Nacional de Catalunya and Virginia Arts Festival Chamber Orchestra.

In 2021, Keiko founded an online concert series, Jukebox Concerts, in order to provide artistic outlets for musicians who lost their engagements due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The performances were made available not only to the subscribers, but also to residents of nursing homes, hospitals and assisted living facilities across the country. Later in the year, she created INTERWOVEN, a multi-cultural ensemble whose mission is to eliminate discrimination against the AAAPI (Asians, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders) community by integrating the musical traditions of the East and West.

While Keiko played with the internationally acclaimed Attacca Quartet between 2005 and 2019, the ensemble won numerous prestigious awards including the GRAMMY Award for Best Small Ensemble Performance; First Prize of the 7th Osaka International Chamber Music Competition in 2011; the Third Prize and the Australian Broadcast Corporation Classic FM Listener’s Choice Award of the 6th Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition in 2011.

Keiko is currently on faculty at Fordham University. Between 2008 and 2019, she taught at The Juilliard School Pre-College Division. She plays on a J. B. Vuillaume violin from 1845, generously loaned by an anonymous donor. She also enjoys playing on a Baroque-style violin made by Antonio Mariani, circa 1669, formerly in the collection of Gabriel Schaff. Her bow was made by Nicolas Maire circa 1850. She has performed at the SLLMF since 2016.

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Yuri Funahashi

Pianist Yuri Funahashi has performed extensively in Europe, Japan, Canada and Australia and in many of the major halls in the U.S. including the Kennedy Center, Orchestra Hall in Chicago, the Music Center in Los Angeles, Jones Hall in Houston and the 92nd Street Y in New York City.

She has also been heard on many college campuses across the U.S., such as the Eastman School of Music, the New England Conservatory, Harvard University, Goucher College, Colby College, Bates College, Kalamazoo College, Tulane University, Michigan State University, University of Wisconsin, University of Louisville, University of Connecticut, University of Southern California, University of Miami, University of Central Florida, and the University of Southern Maine, among others.

As a member of the Festival Chamber Music of New York City, Yuri performs regularly in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall and has been a guest artist at the Seattle Chamber Music Festival, the Vancouver Music Festival, Sebago-Long Lake Music Festival, The Portland Chamber Music Festival, the Windham Chamber Music Festival, the Mediterranean Music Festival and Royal Viking’s Music Festival at Sea. She has collaborated frequently with the Verdehr Trio, has appeared in performances with the Brentano String Quartet, the Cassatt String Quartet, the Daedalus Quartet, and is co-founder and co-director of the Maine Mountain Chamber Music series.

Born in Japan, Yuri moved to the U.S. at a young age with her family and received the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from The Juilliard School. She has recorded for Musical Heritage and John Marks Records and is on the faculty at Colby College in Waterville, Maine. She has performed at the SLLMF since 2006.

Mihae Lee, Music Director & Pianist

Praised by the Boston Globe as “simply dazzling,” Korean-born pianist Mihae Lee maintains a versatile career as soloist, chamber musician, and artistic director. Known for her poetic lyricism and scintillating virtuosity, she has been captivating audiences throughout North and South America, Europe, and Asia in solo and chamber music concerts, in such venues as Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, Jordan Hall, Berlin Philharmonic, Academia Nationale de Santa Cecilia in Rome, Warsaw National Philharmonic Hall, and Taipei National Hall. A devoted chamber musician, Mihae is a founding member of the Triton Horn Trio and was an artist member of the Boston Chamber Music Society for three decades.

In addition, she has appeared frequently at numerous international chamber music festivals including Dubrovnik, Amsterdam, Groningen, Medellin Festicamara, Great Woods, Seattle, OK Mozart, Mainly Mozart, Music from Angel Fire, El Paso, Arizona Friends of Chamber Music, Chamber Music Northwest, Rockport, Bard, Norfolk, Mostly Music, Music Mountain, and Chestnut Hill Concerts. She has also collaborated with the Juilliard, Brentano, Tokyo, Muir, Cassatt, and Manhattan string quartets; has been a guest artist with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Speculum Musicae, and Bargemusic; and has premiered and recorded solo and chamber works by such composers as Gunther Schuller, Ned Rorem, Paul Lansky, Henri Lazarof, Michael Daugherty, and Ezra Laderman.

Mihae made her professional debut at the age of fourteen with the Korean National Orchestra after winning the prestigious May 16th National Competition. In the same year, she came to the United States on a scholarship from The Juilliard School Pre-College, and subsequently won many further awards including First Prize at the Kosciuszko Foundation Chopin Competition, the Juilliard Concerto Competition, and the New England Conservatory Concerto Competition. Mihae received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from The Juilliard School, studying with Martin Canin, and her artist diploma from the New England Conservatory with Russell Sherman.

Mihae is often heard over the airwaves on National Public Radio’s “Performance Today” and on other stations around the country. Her recordings include Paul Lansky’s “Notes to Self,” a solo piano work written for her, as well as Lansky’s “Etudes and Parodies” and “Pieces of Advice.” She has released compact discs on the Etcetera, EDI, Northeastern, BCMS, and Bridge labels. Currently serving as Artistic Director of the Essex Winter Series in Connecticut, Mihae has performed at the SLLMF since 1995 and has been the Music Director since 2016.

Woodwinds

Flutes, Piccolo, Oboes, Clarinets, Bassoons, Contrabassoon, and English Horn.

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Benjamin FinglandBenjamin Fingland interprets a diverse range of clarinet literature, performing with “spiritedness and humor”, “unflagging precision and energy”, “eloquence and passion” (The New York Times) and with playing described as “something magical” (The Boston Globe), “compellingly musical” (The New York Times) and “thoroughly lyrical” (The Philadelphia Inquirer).

A proponent of the music of our time, Benjamin works closely with living composers. In addition to being a founding member of the critically acclaimed new music collective counter)induction, he plays with many of the leading contemporary performance ensembles on the East Coast, including NOVUS NY, Music From Copland House, the International Contemporary Ensemble, the New York New Music Ensemble, the Network for New Music, the Argento Ensemble, and the Locrian Chamber Players. He is an artist faculty member of the annual Composers Conference, and a guest faculty member of the Bennington Chamber Music Conference.

Benjamin has performed worldwide as a recitalist and soloist, and has also collaborated, recorded, and toured with a broad variety of other artists – ranging in scope from the Brooklyn Rider string quartet and the Horszowski Trio to Pierre Boulez and the Ensemble Intercontemporain, to jazz legend Ornette Coleman and pop icon Elton John. He is the principal clarinetist of the New Jersey Festival Orchestra, has held principal positions with the Prometheus Chamber Orchestra and the New Haven Symphony, and has also played with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra.

Benjamin is a member of the renowned Dorian Wind Quintet, which recently celebrated 60 years of groundbreaking commissions and performances of wind chamber music. He has Bachelor and Master of music degrees from The Juilliard School and teaches at Sarah Lawrence College and the Third Street Music School. He has performed at the Festival since 2022.   

www.benjaminfingland.com

Laura Gilbert

Laura Gilbert, flutist, has performed worldwide as chamber musician, soloist, recitalist and guest lecturer. Previously co-artistic director of Monadnock Music, she is co-Founder and co-Artistic Director of Electric Earth Concerts, based in Peterborough, New Hampshire. Laura is a founding member of Auréole, a trio composed of flute, viola and harp; additionally, she has performed with many ensembles including Musicians from Marlboro, Brandenburg Ensemble, the Borromeo, Brentano and Saint Lawrence String Quartets, Chamber Music at the 92nd Street “Y,” Saint Luke’s Ensemble and Orchestra, The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, The New York Philharmonic and Speculum Musicae.

Laura also performs frequently with Greek guitarist, Antigoni Goni: as advocates of folk-inspired classical music, the duo has commissioned many new works, some of which can be heard on their recording “From the New Village,” on Koch International Classics. Her discography includes numerous solo recordings and over 25 chamber music recordings (including a Grammy). She currently holds the principal flute chair of CityMusic, Cleveland and Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic. Laura serves on the faculties of Mannes College of Music and Saint Ann’s School. She has performed at the SLLMF since 1998.

Adrian Morejon

Bassoonist Adrian Morejon has been praised for his “teeming energy” and “precise control” by the New York Times and having “every note varnished to a high gloss” by the Boston Globe. As a soloist, he has appeared throughout the US and Europe with the Talea Ensemble, IRIS Orchestra, Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP), and the Miami Symphony. He will be featured in a recording of Joan Tower’s Bassoon Concerto, Red Maple, to be released by BMOP/Sound in 2022.

An active chamber musician, Adrian is a member of the Dorian Wind Quintet, Talea Ensemble, and Radius Ensemble. He has appeared with such groups as the Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players, the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), the St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble, Imani Winds, Alarm Will Sound, and as a guest artist with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Boston Chamber Music Society, Chamber Music Northwest, and the Essex Winter Series.

An experienced orchestral musician, Adrian is co-principal of IRIS Orchestra and has performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, the Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP), the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and others. He was a recipient of Theodore Presser Foundation Grant, 2nd prize of the Fox-Gillet International Competition, and a shared top prize at the Moscow Conservatory International Competition.

Adrian has participated in many other festivals, including the Composer’s Conference at Brandeis University, Chesapeake Chamber Music Festival, Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society, Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music Summer Music Festival, Bay Chamber Concerts, the Portland Chamber Music Festival, and the Monadnock Music Festival. An alum of the Curtis Institute and Yale School of Music, Adrian is currently on the faculty at SUNY Purchase College, CUNY Brooklyn College and CUNY Hunter College. He has been performing at SLLMF since 2016.

Susan Rotholz

Praised by the New York Times as “irresistible in both music and performance,” flutist, Susan Rotholz continues to be in demand as a soloist, chamber and orchestral musician and teacher. Winner of Young Concert Artists with Hexagon Piano and Winds and of Concert Artists Guild as soloist, Susan is Principal Flute of the Greenwich Symphony, The New York Pops and The New York Chamber Ensemble, and is a member of the Orchestra of St. Luke’s and the Little Orchestra Society. She has performed as soloist and toured nationally and internationally with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra.

Susan is co-founder of the Sherman Chamber Ensemble presenting multi-genre chamber music concerts, and she also appears each season with the Cape May Music Festival, Greenwich Chamber Players, the Sebago-Long Lake Chamber Music Festival, Chamber Music at Rodeph Sholom and the Saratoga Chamber Players. She attended the Yale School of Music from 1979 to 1981 and the Marlboro Music Festival in 1980 and 1981, and through the Marlboro Festival, she became the principal flutist with the New England Bach Festival for the following 25 years.

Susan’s recordings of the complete Bach Flute Sonatas and the Solo Partita with the late forte-pianist, Kenneth Cooper and the more recently released American Tapestry, Duos for Flute and Piano with pianist, Margaret Kampmeier have continually been received with acclaim. Susan is Professor at Vassar College, Columbia University, ACSM at Queens College and Manhattan School of Music Pre-college. She has performed at the SLLMF since 1991.

Stephen Taylor, Oboe

Stephen Taylor, one of the most sought-after oboists in the country, holds the Mrs. John D. Rockefeller III Solo Oboe Chair at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. He is a solo oboist with the New York Woodwind Quintet, the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, the St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble (for which he has served as co-director of chamber music), the American Composers Orchestra, the New England Bach Festival Orchestra, and Speculum Musicae, and is co-principal oboist of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra.

His regular festival appearances include Spoleto, Aldeburgh, Caramoor, Bravo! Vail Valley, Music from Angel Fire, Norfolk, Santa Fe, Aspen, and Chamber Music Northwest. Among his more than 300 recordings is Elliott Carter’s Oboe Quartet, for which Stephen received a Grammy nomination. He has performed many of Carter’s works, giving the world premieres of Carter’s A Mirror on Which to Dwell, Syringa, and Tempo e Tempi; and the US premieres of Trilogy for Oboe and Harp, Oboe Quartet, and A 6 Letter Letter.

He is entered in Who’s Who in American Colleges and Universities and has been awarded a performer’s grant from the Fromm Foundation at Harvard University. Trained at The Juilliard School, he is on the faculties of the Yale School of Music and the Manhattan School of Music, and plays rare Caldwell model Lorée oboes.

Being obsessed with buoyancy, he spends as much time as he can on old wooden boats in Maine. He has performed at the SLLMF since 2014.

Pavel Vinnitsky, Clarinet

A native of Ukraine and Israel who has called the US home for the last 20 years, Pavel Vinnitsky is an Associate Professor of Clarinet at the University of
Cincinnati Conservatory College of Music. Pavel has gained international acclaim through numerous solo, chamber music and orchestral appearances at major concert venues around the world and is recognized as one of the most in demand clarinet performers and teachers in the United States. During the 2016-22 seasons he has served as an acting clarinet section member with the New York Philharmonic and as an Associate Clarinetist with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra since 2009.

Pavel regularly appears as a guest clarinetist with the Chicago Symphony, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, the American Symphony and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s. In high demand as a chamber musician, he has been featured in performances with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the New York Philharmonic chamber music series, the Met Chamber Players at Carnegie Hall, as well as with the Wind Soloists of New York, the St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble, the International Contemporary Ensemble and is on the artists roster of many international chamber music festivals.

His discography includes Grammy Award winning recordings for Deutsche Grammophon with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Sonny Classical and Deca Gold albums with the New York Philharmonic. Pavel can be heard on soundtracks for motion picture features produced by Warner Brothers, Universal Studios, Paramount Studios, Disney and 20th Century Fox as well as TV series on Netflix and Amazon. An established educator, Pavel actively appears in master-classes at universities and music schools nation-wide including The Juilliard and Yale School of Music. This is his first appearance at the Festival.

Brass

Horns, Trumpets, Tuba, Trombones, and Bass Trombone.

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William Purvis
William Purvis pursues a multifaceted career both in the U.S. and abroad as horn soloist, chamber musician, and educator. A passionate advocate of new music, he has participated in numerous premieres including horn concerti by Peter Lieberson, Bayan Northcott, Krzysztof Penderecki (New York premiere), and Paul Lansky; horn trios by Poul Ruders and Paul Lansky; Sonate en Forme de Préludes by Steven Stucky; and recent premieres by Elliott Carter, Retracing II for Solo Horn and Nine by Five with the New York Woodwind Quintet.

William is a member of the New York Woodwind Quintet, the Yale Brass Trio, and the Triton Horn Trio, and is an emeritus member of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s. He has been a frequent guest artist with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and the Boston Chamber Music Society, and has collaborated with many of the world’s most esteemed string quartets, including the Brentano, Juilliard, Tokyo, Orion, Mendelssohn, Sibelius, Daedalus, and Fine Arts string quartets. Recent Festival appearances have included the Chamber Music Northwest, Sarasota, Norfolk, Sebago-Long Lake, Chestnut Hill Concerts and Phoenix chamber music festivals in the U.S., the Great Mountain, Busan and Gimhae chamber music festivals in South Korea and the Kitakaruizawa Festival in Japan.

William has participated in performances on historical instruments with the Smithsonian Chamber Players, and a recording of the Quintets for Piano and Winds by Mozart and Beethoven will be released in 2022. He has recorded extensively on numerous labels including Deutsche Grammophon, Sony Classical, Naxos, Koch, and Bridge. He is currently Professor in the Practice of Horn and Chamber Music at the Yale School of Music, where he is also Coordinator of Winds and Brass, and serves as Director of the Morris Steinert Collection of Musical Instruments. He has performed at the Festival since 2000.

Sebago-Long Lake Music Festival