Artist-Faculty

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Carla Rae Cook, Mezzo-Soprano

Carla Rae Cook is "one of the world's great upcoming Wagnerians." Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, Miss Cook began singing in youth choirs and studying piano at the age of five. She received her Bachelors of Music Education from the University of Utah, Masters of Music in Vocal Performance from Boston University, and postgraduate studies at the Manhattan School of Music. She received full scholarships to study at the Tanglewood Music Center, The Music Academy of the West, and Zurich Opera Studios.

Miss Cook won the Rotary International Young Artists Vocal Competition in Fresno, California, and the San Francisco Opera Auditions. She participated in the Merola Program and was awarded the second highest award, the Jean Connell Memorial Award, and a debut contract with San Francisco Opera in Die Walküre. She won two other prestigious competitions: the Metropolitan Opera National Auditions and the Munich International Vocal Competition. The Metropolitan Opera presented her in her Carnegie Hall debut with the National Orchestra of New York. She made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Girl of Mahagonny in Weill's The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny.

Miss Cook began performing Wagnerian roles with the Metropolitan Opera. She sang Waltraute in Die Walküre while on tour. She began performing leading Wagnerian roles with the Seattle Opera. She created Venus in a new production of Tannhaüser, sung Waltraute, Flosshilde, and Siegrune in Seattle's Ring Cycles. She made her European opera debut singing Venus in Tannhaüser with the Bremen Opera and created such a sensation that she was hailed to become "one of the world's leading Wagnerians."

Miss Cook has performed many times with the San Francisco Opera as Annina in Der Rosenkavalier, Larina in Eugene Onegin, Flora in La Traviata, Charlotte in La Grande Duchesse, Glasha in Katya Kabanova, Kunstgewerblerin in Lulu, Die Aufseherin in Elektra, and Rossweisse in Die Walküre. She has sung Judith in Bluebeard's Castle with Kent Nagano conducting the Berkeley Symphony Orchestra. She has performed Waltraute and Zweite Norn in the Arizona Opera Ring Cycles. She sang Marcellina in Le Nozzi di Figaro with the Washington Opera and Die Aufseherin in Elektra with Baltimore Opera. Miss Cook has sung Kundry and worked with the Chicago Lyric Opera in their production of Parsifal, and Waltraute in Die Walküre with the Washington Opera. Recently, she sang seven performances of Azucena with Utah Festival Opera.

She has also appeared on PBS National Television and radio, performing Oenone in the world premiere of Phaedra with Opera San Jose, opera and concerts with the San Francisco Opera, and the Metropolitan Opera. She has been recorded worldwide singing opera, oratorio and song repertoire with major orchestras and conductors.

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Anton Belov, Baritone

Baritone Anton Belov is quickly earning recognition from audiences and critics alike. His voice has been called that of an emerging star by the Philadelphia Inquirer and rich and mellifluous by the New York Times, while the Opera News describes his performance as that of great emotional honesty; singing straight from the heart. Mr. Belov's recent operatic appearance include roles of Count di Luna (Il Trovatore) and Escamillo (Carmen) with the Anchorage Opera, John Sorel (The Consul) and Doctor (The Nose) with Opera Boston, Count Almaviva (Le nozze di Figaro), Don Giovanni and Ping (Turandot) with the Opera New Jersey, Figaro (Le nozze di Figaro) with the Helena Symphony, Ping with the Connecticut Grand Opera, Malatesta (Don Pasquale) with Opera Providence, Silvio (Pagliacci) with the Belleayre Festival, Masetto (Don Giovanni) with Boston Baroque, and the title role in Delaware Opera’s production of Don Giovanni. In the upcoming season Mr. Belov returns to Anchorage Opera as Eugene Onegin and Escamillo (Carmen) with the Amherst Symphony. He is also scheduled to appear with numerous orchestras around the country.

Mr. Belov is the first-place winner of eight vocal competitions including the George London Competition, Licia Albanese—Puccini Foundation International Competition, and Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions (Eastern Regional Winner) as well as the second-place winner of Classical Singer Magazine Competition. As the winner of Young Concert Artists International Auditions, Mr. Belov has appeared in over forty recitals throughout the United States. A native of Moscow, Anton Belov holds a Bachelor of Music Degree from The New England Conservatory, an Artist's Diploma and a Master of Music Degree from The Juilliard School. Currently, Mr. Belov is in the process of completing a Doctor of Music degree at the Boston University. A specialist in Russian lyric diction, he is the author of Russian Opera Libretti in Word-to-Word Translation and IPA Transcription and the Anthology of Russian Arias (Leyerle Publications 2004-06).

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Arlene Shrut, Vocal Coach

A faculty member of The Juilliard School and Manhattan School of Music, Arlene is an admired keyboard performer, hailed as a "strong and sensitive pianist" by the New York Times. She was honored in 2003 as the inaugural "Coach of the Year" in Classical Singer Magazine. Arlene has collaborated with such vocal artists as Renée Fleming and Thomas Hampson and has recorded on the Dorian, Centaur, Orion, Summit, and Albany Records labels. Among her credits is Songs of Hugo Wolf (with Daniel Lichti on Dorian CDs), which received a Canadian Grammy nomination. Arlene often serves as official pianist for many of New York's top vocal events and has performed in such venues as Weill (Carnegie) Recital Hall, Alice Tully Hall, the National Gallery, the Phillips Collection, and the Kennedy Center. She has toured extensively in Europe and across North America.

Arlene created New Triad in an effort to promote a new approach to enhancing collaboration in intimate performing-arts forms. In terms of revitalizing the song recital, Arlene is dedicated to unlocking the universal messages in poems set to music, creating dramatically synthesized programs and forging fully collaborative musical partnerships to yield ultimate expression of the art and deeper connection between performers and audience. Over the last twenty years she has been involved with coproducing innovative programs. Among them are New Triad's "Coming Home" Song Salon, which premiered in December 2003. Others include "Lieder across the Sundial," "Women's Words: An American Songbook," "Forever: Enduring Poems in American Song," "Days of a Man," "Cubism/Synchronism in Song," and "A Musical Banquet: from Hors d’Oeuvres to Espresso."

In addition to New Triad, Arlene founded the National Association of Accompanists and Coaches, cofounded the Seal Bay Festival in Maine, and personally authored an entire series of multimedia scripts under the name Classical Concepts. She formerly served on the faculties of Syracuse University, Mannes College of Music, and the Aspen Music School.

Arlene Shrut earned two solo piano degrees from the Eastman School of Music and a doctorate in accompanying from the University of Southern California. In 1981, she received a Fulbright grant to Germany in vocal coaching, and has been mentored by the most distinguished teachers of her time. She makes her home on the Upper West Side of New York City.

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Benjamin Hochman, Pianist

Pianist Benjamin Hochman is achieving widespread acclaim for his performances as orchestral soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician. He is an extremely mature artist with an exciting interpretive depth. Mr. Hochman has performed with the New York Philharmonic, Chicago, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati Symphony Orchestras, Seattle Symphony, New Jersey Symphony, Portland Symphony and the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Canada under eminent conductors such as Pinchas Zukerman, Jaime Laredo, Jun Märkl, Bramwell Tovey, Leon Botstein, Lucas Richman, Arthur Post and Nir Kabaretti. Mr. Hochman made his Carnegie Hall debut with Pinchas Zukerman and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra in 2004 and has subsequently made regular appearances in Israel with the IPO, Jerusalem Symphony and Raanana Symphonette among others.

During the 2008-2009 season Benjamin Hochman appears at the Bard Music Festival, Bridgehampton Music Festival and perform Bach's Goldberg Variations at the Santa Fe Chamber Muisc Festival. He collaborates with the Daedalus Quartet at Spivey Hall in Atlanta, performs Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 9 with the Vancouver Symphony and Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4 with the Ft. Wayne Philharmonic. International performances are planned for London, Barcelona, and Amsterdam's Concertgebouw. Mr. Hochman has also been invited by the eminent Kalichstein'Laredo-Robinson Trio and the Tokyo String Quartet to appear in their respective series at the 92nd Street Y in New York. He will also return to his native Israel for concerts and masterclasses in May 2009.

Mr. Hochman came into prominence with his New York solo recital debut at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the 2006-2007 season. That season he performed Bernstein's Symphony No. 2 Age of Anxiety with the American Symphony Orchestra under Leon Botstein and toured with pianist Jonathan Biss. He also appeared at the Kennedy Center and 92nd Street Y with the Zukerman ChamberPlayers, and participated in the world renowned Carnegie Hall Young Artists workshops with Osvaldo Golijov and Dawn Upshaw. He maintains an affinity with living composers and programs works by Carter, Kurtag, Penderecki, Tania Leon, Phillippe Hurel and William Bolcom, among others.

Benjamin Hochman has performed at the Marlboro, Ravinia, Santa Fe, Spoleto/Italy, Lucerne, Verbier, Bravo! Vail, Eastern Shore, Prussia Cove and Vancouver festivals. A passionate chamber musician, Mr. Hochman enjoyed an inspiring relationship with Lincoln Center's prestigious "Chamber Music Society Two." He has collaborated with members of the Guarneri, Orion, Mendelssohn, Prazak, and Daedalus Quartets and with Jaime Laredo, Sharon Robinson, Cho-Liang Lin, Ani Kavafian, and Ralph Kirshbaum. In recent seasons, he has played recitals at Vancouver's Recital Society, Ravinia and the Gilmore Keyboard Festivals' 'Rising Star' series, Santa Fe's "Artist Circle" series, New York's Town Hall, Italy's Spoleto Festival, and the Louvre.

Benjamin Hochman's previous seasons included many important orchestral debuts and re-engagements, as well as recital and chamber music projects. He performed Beethoven's First Piano Concerto in his Seattle Symphony debut (described by The Seattle Times as "remarkably poetic") with conductor Jun Märkl and joined conductor Pinchas Zukerman and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in a Mozart Piano Concerto project with Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. He made his Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra debut under Jaime Laredo and also appeared with him at the Vermont Symphony. In May 2006 he was re-engaged by the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa for an all-Mozart program led by Pinchas Zukerman. He also gave recitals at the Klavier-Festival Ruhr (Germany), Israel's Voice of Music Series, and the Brattleboro Music Center in Vermont, among others.

The pianist's honors include the "Outstanding Pianist" citation at the Verbier Academy, the Festorazzi Award given by the faculty of the Curtis Institute of Music, second prize at the Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition, the "Partosh Prize" awarded by the Israeli Minister of Culture for best performance of an Israeli work, and first prize at the National Piano Competition of the Rubin Academy of Music in Jerusalem. His performances have been broadcast on National Public Radio's Young Artist Showcase and Performance Today, CBC (Canada), ABC (Australia), Radio France, and Israel's Voice of Music radio station, as well as on the European television network, Mezzo.

Born in Jerusalem, Benjamin Hochman is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music and the Mannes College of Music where his principal teachers were Claude Frank and Richard Goode. His studies were supported by the America-Israel Cultural Foundation.

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David Ludwig, Composer

David Ludwig's music has been performed internationally by leading musicians of our time in some of the world's most prestigious locations. His music has been called “entrancing,” and that it “promises to speak for the sorrows of this generation,” (Philadelphia Inquirer). It has further gained recognition for its “expressive directness” (The New York Times) and has been noted for “a yearning, poetic quality” (Baltimore Sun). His works have been performed in such venues in the United States as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and the Library of Congress, and have been heard on PBS and NPR's Weekend Edition.

Ludwig has received commissions from many prominent artists and ensembles. The Grammy Award-winning “eighth blackbird” ensemble premiered his new work Haiku Catharsis at the Kimmel Center in 2004. Also in 2004, the Vermont Symphony Orchestra premiered Ludwig's Concerto for Cello and Orchestra for their 70th Anniversary concert. In 2005, Ludwig continued his residency with the VSO after writing a new work for violinist Jaime Laredo that the composer conducted on a tour of a dozen concert halls. His Concertino was one of the top ten most frequently performed orchestra works by a living composer that year according to the American Symphony Orchestra League. He will go on tour again this year as his work From the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayám with the Curtis On Tour Ensemble, on the East and West Coasts.

Other commissions have been received from important musicians including pianist Jonathan Biss, flutist Jeffrey Khaner, violinist Soovin Kim, violist Michael Tree, and guitarist Jason Vieaux. The 2007-2008 Season features commissions from the Minnesota Orchestra, Concert Artists Guild, The Choral Arts Society of Philadelphia, the University of Michigan Wind Ensemble, and the Detroit Chamber Winds ensemble, as well as a double concerto for violinist Jaime Laredo and cellist Sharon Robinson to be premiered in January of 2009.

Recipient of the First Music Award, an Independence Foundation Fellowship, and a Theodore Presser Foundation Career Grant, Ludwig has been twice nominated for the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Stoeger Award. He has received awards from the American Composers Forum, American Music Center, and has a three-year residency with the Vermont Symphony Orchestra funded by the prestigious Meet The Composer “Music Alive!” program.

Ludwig was the Young Composer in residence at the Marlboro Music School for three consecutive years. In addition to Marlboro, he has been in residence at the Yaddo and MacDowell artist colonies. He is a resident artist at the Isabella Gardner Museum, is the resident composer and permanent New Music Advisor of the Vermont Symphony, and is the director of the Contemporary Music Program at The New York Summer Music Festival.

Born in Bucks County, P.A., Ludwig received a B.M. from the Oberlin Conservatory studying with Richard Hoffmann and his M.M. from The Manhattan School of Music. He continued post-graduate work at The Curtis Institute with Richard Danielpour, Jennifer Higdon and Ned Rorem, and at the Juilliard School with John Corigliano. He is currently the George Crumb Fellow in the University of Pennsylvania PhD program. Ludwig joined the faculty of Curtis in 2002 where he serves on the composition faculty, as the acting chair of musical studies, and as the artistic director of the 20/21 New Music Ensemble.

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Robert Cuckson, Composer

Robert Cuckson was born in 1942 in the U.K., and grew up in Australia. He is a U.S. citizen and lives in New York City. His works have been performed in the U.S., Australia, the Far East, Europe, and Israel.

His principal compositions include three chamber operas and several orchestral works, including the Variations for Orchestra, three tone-poems, Concerti for Cello, Saxophone and Guitar, and a Rhapsody for Viola and Chamber Orchestra. He has written many chamber works, including a number of works with trombone. His piano works and violin works have received numerous performances in the U.S. and in Europe. In January, 2007, a concert of his chamber works was presented in the North River Music series at the Greenwich House Music School in New York City.In 2004, a concert of his vocal and chamber works was given by the Bach Society of Columbia University, conducted by David Rosenmeyer. His Piano Trio has been performed by the Mannes Trio on several occasions, including performances for the Philadelphia Chamber Society and at the Salt Bay Festival in Maine. A recording by Harvey Pittel of his Saxophone Concerto was released by the Contemporary Record Society in June, 2007.

He studied composition and piano in Australia, in the U.K., and the U.S., and holds a D.M.A. degree in Composition from Yale University (1978). He teaches at The Mannes College of Music in New York City and The Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. He is represented by the Australian Music Centre, Sydney.

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Richard Danielpour, Composer

Richard Danielpour has become one of the most sought-after composers of his generation – a composer whose distinctive American voice is part of a rich neo-Romantic heritage with influences from pivotal composers like Britten, Copland, Bernstein, and Barber. His works are "solidly rooted in the soil of tradition, yet [sing] with an optimistic voice for today... [they] speak to the heart as well as the mind."

Danielpour has commented that "music [must] have an immediate visceral impact and elicit a visceral response." This visceral element can indeed be heard throughout Danielpour's œvre: expansive, sweeping, romantic gestures; energetic rhythmic accentuations; contrasting stylistic characters; arresting, introspective, melodic beauty; rich, enticing orchestrations; and brilliantly juxtaposed, yet cohesive harmonic angles. His impact on the contemporary music scene stands firm, with an illustrious array of international champions and a reputation as a devoted mentor and educator.

Danielpour has been commissioned by some of the world’s leading musical institutions: The New York Philharmonic (Toward the Splendid City and Through the Ancient Valley); The Philadelphia Orchestra (Violin Concerto); the San Francisco Symphony (Symphony No. 2,Song of Remembrance, and the Cello Concerto); Pittsburgh Symphony (Concerto for Orchestra, celebrating the orchestra's centennial); Baltimore Symphony (The Awakened Heart); National Symphony (Voices of Remembrance); Pacific Symphony (An American Requiem, and the newly orchestrated version of A Child’s Reliquary); the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (Piano Quintet and Sonnets to Orpheus, Book I, for Dawn Upshaw); Absolute Vodka (Piano Concerto No. 2); the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival (Sonnets to Orpheus, Book 2); and most recently the Isaac and Linda Stern Foundation (River of Light, for violinist Sarah Chang).

Forays into the world of theatre have yielded two ballet commissions: Urban Dances for the New York City Ballet’s “Diamond Project,” and Anima Mundi for the Pacific Northwest Ballet. And in the world of opera, Danielpour’s first opera Margaret Garner (written in collaboration with Nobel Laureate librettist Toni Morrison) achieved critical acclaim upon its premiere in May 2005 at the Michigan Opera Theatre. Directed by Kenny Leon and conducted by Stefan Lano, Margaret Garner featured celebrated mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves in the title role, and continued through the following season with subsequent performances mounted by co-commissioners Cincinnati Opera and Opera Company of Philadelphia.

Among Danielpour's awards are a Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship, the Charles Ives Fellowship and a Lifetime Achievement Award – both from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, five Macdowell Colony Fellowships, a Jerome Foundation Award, and a Rockefellar Foundation Grant.

As an educator, Danielpour serves on the faculties of both the Curtis Institute of Music and the Manhattan School of Music, while also participating in master classes and residencies around the country.

Danielpour studied at the New England Conservatory and at the Juilliard School. His teachers have been: Vincent Persichetti, Peter Mennin, and John Heiss (composition), Benjamin Zander (conducting), and Lorin Hollander, Veronica Jochum, and Gabriel Chodos (piano).

His music is published by Associated Music Publishers.

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George Tsontakis, Composer

George Tsontakis has been the recipient of the two richest prizes awarded in all of classical music; the international Grawemeyer Award, in 2005, for his Second Violin Concerto and the 2007 Ives Living, awarded every three years by the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He studied with Roger Sessions at Juilliard and in Rome, with Franco Donatoni. Born in Astoria, NY into a strongly Cretan heritage, he has, in recent years, become an important figure in the music of Greece and his music is increasingly performed abroad, with dozens of performances in Europe every season. Most of his music, including eleven major orchestral works and four concertos have been recorded by Hyperion and Koch, leading to two Grammy Nominations for Best Classical Composition, in 2009 and 1999. He is Distinguished Composer-in-Residence at the Bard Conservatory and Composer-in-Residence with the Aspen Music Festival for decades, where he was founding director of the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble, from 1991-99. He served for three years as Composer-in-Residence with the Oxford (England) Philomusica and is continuing a six-year Music Alive residency with the Albany Symphony and is the featured Composer-In-Residence with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, 2008-09 season. He lives in New York State’s Catskill Mountains, in Shokan.

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Sang Woo Kang, Pianist

Cited by the Los Angeles Times as "Prodigiously talented pianist with great technical virtuosity and interpretive gifts,” Sang Woo Kang has drawn attention as a captivating musician, who thrills audiences with interpretive clarity and vision.

Native of Seoul, Korea, Mr. Kang made his orchestral debut with Colorado Youth Symphony Orchestra at the Age of 9, and accolades soon followed with prizes at the Los Angeles Scholarship Competition, CSMTA competition, MTNA competition, and the Mozart Festival Young Artist International Competition among others. In 1999, he was awarded Eastman Professional fellowship and made his debut at the Moulin d’Ande Music Festival in France, and Concert Hall in St. Petersburg Conservatory, Russia to critical acclaim.

As an active performer, his concert itinerary in 2008-2009 include recitals in Boston, Carnegie Hall, Juilliard School, Steinway Hall in New York City, Sejong Concert Hall in Seoul Korea, and performances in Osaka and Hikone, Japan among others. Starting fall of 2008, he will be added as part of music management sponsored by DUMBO (Down Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass) Space in New York City.

His most recent recordings include Brahms Clarinet Sonatas and song transcription, Zigeunerlieder released on the EMI/Stomp Classics label, recorded at the Curtis Institute of Music.

Sang Woo Kang earned a Bachelor's and Doctorate degree from the Eastman School of Music, and holds a Master's degree from the Juilliard School. Currently, he is on the piano faculty at Providence College.

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Sean Duggan, Pianist

FATHER SEAN BRETT DUGGAN, O.S.B., was born on October 11, 1954 in Jersey City, New Jersey. He attended Loyola University in New Orleans and received a Bachelor of Music degree in piano performance. Upon graduation he also received the University's Male Student of the Year award and the College of Music's Most Valuable Graduate award. After obtaining a Master of Fine Arts degree at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh in 1979, he was employed by the Pittsburgh Opera Company for three years as pianist and assistant chorus master. He also taught piano at Carnegie Mellon and was a member of the Carnegie Mellon Trio. In 1982 he entered the Benedictine order at St. Joseph Abbey near Covington, Louisiana. He graduated summa cum laude with a Master of Arts degree in Theology from Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans and was ordained to the priesthood on April 16, 1988. He served as Spiritual Director at St. Joseph Seminary College where he taught courses in music, religion and Latin, and as Director of Music and principal organist at St. Joseph Abbey.

In September 1983 Father Duggan won first prize in the Johann Sebastian Bach International Competition for pianists in Washington D.C. which entitled him, among other honors, to various concerts around the country and a two-month tour of Germany. In the "Bach Year", 1985, he gave complete performances of Bach's The Well-tempered Clavier in New Orleans, Pittsburgh and Birmingham to critical acclaim. In 1991 he participated again in the Bach Competition in Washington D.C.; this time he was one of three first-place winners, which entitled him to another round of concert engagements and a second tour of Germany.

Father Duggan has studied piano with Barbara Heartz, Maryanne Nagy, James Bastien, Joan Purswell, Nelson Whitaker, William Masselos and Paul Maillet. He has appeared with various orchestras including the Pennsylvania Sinfonia Orchestra, New Orleans Philharmonic and the American Chamber Orchestra. Guest performances at numerous summer festivals have included piano and chamber music festival in La Gesse, France, the Villa Chopin near Malaga, Spain, the Taubman Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts and Lecce, Italy. Throughout the year 2000, which was the 250th anniversary of Bach's death, Father Duggan performed the complete cycle of Bach's keyboard works eight times in a series of fifteen recitals entitled Bach On the Threshold of Hope. The series was repeated in Marseilles, France, Rome, Italy and across the United States. For five weeks during July and August, Father Duggan performed his series in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania to "standing room only" crowds at Wesley Church, to high critical acclaim and extraordinary enthusiasm of audiences that totaled over 5,400 people.

Father Duggan's liturgical compositions have appeared in hymnals published by The Liturgical Press and G.I.A. For five years he was the host of a weekly two-hour radio program entitled "Bach on Sunday," broadcast on the New Orleans' NPR station WWNO-FM. He has just completed a three-year residency as Visiting Professor of Piano at the University of Michigan and has accepted a position on the piano faculty at the State University of New York at Fredonia. Father Duggan is in the midst of recording the complete (non-organ) keyboard works of Bach for commercial release.

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Martin Canin, Pianist

Faculty, The Juilliard School. Artist-in-residence, SUNY at Stony Brook. Prof. Canin was the winner of the Loeb Prize and the National Music League Award. Frequent judge of national and international piano competitions. Performances as soloist and in chamber ensembles in Europe, the U.S., and Japan. Masterclasses throughout the U.S. and in Japan, Korea, and Taiwan. Contributing editor, Piano Quarterly Magazine. Editor of piano works for Lee Roberts Publications and Editions Salabert.

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Natalya Antonova, Pianist

Natalya Antonova made her debut with the Leningrad Philarmonic at the age of 16. As a soloist of two major concert managements, "State Concert" and "Soviet Union Concert", she concertized in Russia, Estonia, Georgia, Latvia, Ukraine, Armenia, Byelorussia, and other countries like Germany, France, Bulgaria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, South Korea, etc.

When she accepted an invitation from the Leningrad Conservatory, she became the youngest professor ever appointed for this position in the history of the school. After 10 years of serving, she accepted a position of Professor of Piano in the Russian Academy of Music in Moscow (formerly the Gnessin Institute of Music).

Antonova has given hundreds of master classes and lectures throughout the world including the Moscow Academy of Music, Paris Conservatory, Budapest Conservatory, Peabody Conservatory, New England Conservatory, and Seoul National University.

She has participated in many International Festivals in such countries as Hungary, Germany, South Korea, USA, Russia, etc. Each summer she conducts piano classes in the frame of the International Festival in Paris, France.

Antonova has judged numerous competitions such as Gina Bachauer in Utah, Corpous Christi International Competition in Texas, Sibelius International Competition in Ohio, Hilton Head International Competition and Missouri International Competition.

She is currently a tenured professor at the Eastman School of Music.

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Solbong Kim, Composer

Still in his twenties, Korean American composer Solbong Kim continues to broaden his diverse body of work – from War Requiem(2007), an epic hour-long piece performed by the Prime Philharmonic(Sarah Hicks, Conductor), New Person Chorus, Academy Children's Choir, and Four Soloists, to Rooftop Fantasy(2008), a piece for solo violin recently commissioned by the 5th Seoul International Music Competition.

Highlights of performances and premieres in 2009 include performance of Concerto for Viola and Orchestra(2004) with violist Sangjin Kim and Cheongju City Philharmonic Orchestra at Symphonic Festival in April, followed by the premiere of Sundial Chronicles(2009) as the composer-in-residence at Seoul Spring Festival in May. That month, Godiva Miniatures(2005) will be performed by Koreana Chamber Music Society. In June, his Concerto for Viola and Orchestra will be performed at the 2009 Atlantic Music Festival.

Kim grabbed the spotlight of the industry when media giant Bertelsmann Group (now SONY/BMG) announced that his Music for Orchestra(1998) was the grand-prize winner of 2000 World of Expression Awards while he was still a student at The Juilliard School Pre-College Division. Chosen among 3,000 submissions, his work was dubbed, "a sophisticated piece of music that is a listening adventure." Billboard Magazine called him "Bertelsmann’s finest."

The following year, Kim entered the world-renowned Curtis Institute of Music. While at Curtis, he was named the composer-in-residence by the New York Sinfonietta and received the prestigious Presser Music Award in 2005.

Kim made his Korean debut in 2004 with his Credo(2004), a work written for the Euro-Asian Philharmonic and Chorus, generating great enthusiasm from both the audience and the critics. Credo was praised for its freedom and originality as well as its spiritual inspiration and religious poise. The success of the Credo was followed by his orchestral work Illumination(2004), performed by the Korean Symphony under the direction of the composer Andrew Thomas and Gotham Loops(2007), performed at the 2007 Symphonic Festival in Seoul. His Piano Quartets From The Sixth Hour and Postcard were recorded by the MIK Ensemble followed by a recording of his orchestral works Gotham Loops, Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra(2007), Ash Tree Song(2003), and Sacred Meadow(2005) for Stomp/EMI Label.

In 2009, Kim is serving as the Artistic Director of Dumbo Space, a world class 200-seat theater and post-production facility currently under construction in New York City as well as the 2009 Atlantic Music Festival, a six-week event to be held in Maine from June 22 to July 31, 2009.

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Margo Drakos, Cellist

Margo Tatgenhorst Drakos is one of the most recognized young cellists in America. She has performed as a soloist and chamber musician throughout the United States, Europe, South America, and Asia. In April 2007 Ms. Drakos was appointed Chief Operating Officer of InstantEncore.com, a digital music and social networking site for live classical music. Margo’s focus on the 21st musician in the internet age has been featured in Strings Magazine and the Los Angeles Times. Maintaining an active performance career, this season Margo will be a guest principal of the Seattle Symphony. Ms. Drakos served as the cellist of the American String Quartet from 2002-2006. During her time with the quartet, she recorded the Richard Danielpour’s String Quartets for Arabesque Records. Ms. Drakos has served as Associate/Assistant Principal Cellist of the Pittsburgh Symphony, and Principal Cellist of the San Diego and Oregon Symphonies. Margo served on the faculty of the Manhattan School of Music from 2002-2008.

Margo has pursued a variety of musical interests since her childhood. At age five she first captured attention as a singer on a White Castle commercial, resulting in numerous national radio and television commercials ranging from McDonald's to Wonderbread. Shifting her focus, at 16 Margo entered the Cleveland Institute of Music as a double major studying cello with Richard Aaron and composition with Donald Erb. She completed her education at the Curtis Institute of Music where she studied with David Soyer, founding cellist of the Guarneri Quartet.

Ms. Drakos has collaborated with some of the world's leading artists including members of the Emerson, Guarneri, Orion, and Tokyo Quartets, the Beaux Arts Trio, Jonathan Biss, Yefim Bronfman, Roberto Diaz, Joseph Kalichstein, Ida Kavafian, Ralph Kirshbaum, Richard Stoltzman, and Pinchas Zuckerman. Together with Avery Fischer Award winner, violinist Soovin Kim, and the violist of the Guarneri Quartet, Michael Tree, Margo formed the string trio Divertimento. She has also toured the U.S. with Musicians from Marlboro.

Ms. Drakos has spent multiple summers as a participant at the Marlboro Music Festival and has performed as part of the Aspen, Eastern, Kingston, Sarasota and Teton Music Festivals, and Music from Angel Fire and has served on the cello faculty of Aspen and Eastern Music Festivals, and Encore School for Strings.

Ms. Drakos is a 2008 graduate of Columbia University with a Masters Degree in International Affairs. Ms. Drakos is the author of An HRIA: building good corporate citizens from the top down and bottom up, which appears in the International Affairs Review, Winter 2009. She is co-author of a 2008 feature article, Getting Human Rights Right, for The Stanford Social Innovation Review, and of Extracting Corporate Responsibility which appears in the Cornell International Law Journal, Spring 2007. She has presented her academic work at the Yale Law School’s Young Scholars Conference, and the International Human Rights Conference in the Netherlands on Business and Human Rights in November.

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Sarah Hicks, Conductor

Noted in the New York Times as part of “a new wave of female conductors in their late 20’s through early 40’s”, Sarah Hicks‘s versatile and vibrant musicianship has secured her place in “the next generation of up-and-coming American conductors.” She joined the Minnesota Orchestra as Assistant Conductor in the 2006-2007 season, where she is conductor of the innovative new series “Inside the Classics”, and concurrently holds the position of Staff Conductor at the Curtis Institute of Music. Throughout her career she has collaborated with diverse soloists, from Hilary Hahn and Nigel Kennedy to Ben Folds and Pink Martini.

Ms. Hicks has guest conducted extensively both in the States and abroad, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Columbus Symphony, Vermont Symphony, Milwaukee Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Delaware Symphony, South Carolina Philharmonic, Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, Prime Philharmonic (Seoul, Korea) and the Charleston Symphony. Upcoming appearances include performances with the San Francisco Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, and Eastern Connecticut Symphony as well as a return engagement with the National Symphony, whom she has conducted in Millenium Stage, Family and Carter-Barron Concerts. Ms. Hicks’s past positions include Associate Conductor of the Richmond Symphony Orchestra, Resident Conductor of the Florida Philharmonic, Assistant Conductor of the Reading Symphony Orchestra and Assistant Conductor of the Philadelphia Singers, the chorus of the Philadelphia Orchestra, whom she has led in radio broadcasts heard nationwide. She has also been Music Director of the Hawaii Symphony, an ensemble she founded in 1991 in her hometown of Honolulu, which she led for five seasons.

Ms. Hicks was invited to Japan by the New National Theatre Tokyo, where she acted as assistant conductor to a production of Mozart’s Die Zauberflote and has performed Verdi’s Aida with the East Slovak State Opera Theater. Her extensive work with the Curtis Opera Studio include performances of Poulenc’s Dialogue des Carmelites and numerous vocal concerts; she led the Opera Studio’s production of Handel’s Alcina in April 2005.

A committed proponent of the performance of new music, Ms. Hicks regularly leads the Curtis Symphony Orchestra in readings, recordings and performances of contemporary works. In addition to premiering works by young composers from both the Curtis Institute and the University of Pennsylvania (as coordinator and conductor of the Penn Composers Project), she has collaborated with Ned Rorem, Richard Danielpour and Jennifer Higdon. She has also conducted performances with Composers in the Shape of a Pear (Cleveland), premiering avant-garde works, and has conducted the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble.

Ms. Hicks was a member of the Faculty of the Curtis Institute of Music from 2000-2005 and continues her affiliation with Curtis as Staff Conductor. She has prepared the Symphony Orchestra of the Curtis Institute for readings and concerts with leading conductors including Wolfgang Sawallisch and Sir Simon Rattle. Her work with the Curtis Symphony Orchestra led to a one-season appointment as assistant conductor to the UBS Verbier Festival Orchestra, an ensemble that she trained intensively for Music Director James Levine, to whom she acted as assistant conductor.

Sarah Hatsuko Hicks was born in Tokyo, Japan and raised in Honolulu, HI. Trained on both the piano and viola, she was a prizewinning pianist by her early teens. She received her BA magna cum laude from Harvard University in composition; her AIDS Oratorio was premiered at Harvard University in May of 1993 and received a second performance at the Fogg Art Museum. She holds an Artists’ Degree in conducting from the Curtis Institute of Music, where she studied with renowned pedagogue Otto-Werner Mueller. Ms. Hicks’s talents have been recognized with numerous prizes and scholarships; she received the Thomas Hoopes Prize for composition and Doris Cohen Levy Prize for conducting from Harvard University, and she was the recipient of the Helen F. Whitaker Fund Scholarship and a Presser Award during her time at Curtis.

In her spare time, Ms. Hicks enjoys weight lifting, yoga, her two large dogs, cooking (and eating) with her husband, French hornist Paul LaFollette, and songwriting and singing in garage bands.

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Benjamin Shwartz, Conductor

Still in his twenties, Benjamin Shwartz is the Resident Conductor of the San Francisco Symphony and the Wattis Foundation Music Director of the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra.

This season, he will make his subscription debut with the San Francisco Symphony conducting the US premiere of Mark-Anthony Turnage’s Asteroids, in addition to conducting numerous concerts throughout the season. As music director of the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra, Benjamin Shwartz leads the entire season of concerts, and has recently taken them on a European tour.

Benjamin Shwartz has also conducted the New World Symphony, the Symphonies of Delaware, Newark, and Reading, and the Riva Festival Orchestra, Italy and will make his debut with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra this season.

Committed to new music, Benjamin Shwartz has led numerous world premieres of works by composers of his generation. Benjamin is the conductor of Mercury Soul, a new music project, which he curates together with composer Mason Bates and designer Anne Patterson. The ensemble presents new music for acoustic and electronic instruments in clubs and other unusual locations blurring the lines between classical, experimental, and electronic music.

Raised in Los Angeles and Israel, Benjamin Shwartz attended the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where he received the Shanis Fellowship to study conducting. While at Curtis, Benjamin Shwartz worked closely with Christoph Eschenbach in preparing the Curtis Orchestra for concerts. He also studied composition with James Primosch at the University of Pennsylvania, Karlheinz Stockhausen in Germany, and at IRCAM in Paris.

Benjamin Shwartz has received numerous awards for his work including the Presser Music Award and was a prize-winner in the 2007 Bamberg Symphony Gustav Mahler Conducting Competition.

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Ki-Sun Sung, Conductor

Described by New York Times as “an up and coming young professional conductor,” conductor and violist Ki-sun Sung made his formal conducing debut at age 17 with the Seoul Youth Orchestra. Mr. Sung has conducted National Symphony, New Jersey Symphony, Cinccinnati Chamber Orchestra, Curtis Orchestra, Lisbon Metropolitan Orchestra, Carlos Chavez Sinfonica, Nova Filarmonia Portuguesa, New Amsterdam Symphony and most of the major Korean orchestras including Seoul Philharmonic and Korean Symphony Orchestra.

Mr. Leonard Slatkin invited him to participate in the National Conducting Institute in Washington D.C. from May-July, 2000. Mr. Sung conducted the Firebird Suite by Stravinsky with the National Symphony to critical acclaim at the Kennedy Center in July 2000. Mr. Sung was Apprentice Conductor of the Chicago Symphony where he rehearsed the ensemble and worked extensively with its music director Daniel Barenboim.

Before coming to America, Mr. Sung was Music Director of Ars Chamber Orchestra in his native country, Korea. Besides regular performances in Seoul, Mr. Sung led many special performances with the ensemble and recorded a CD, released on the SKC label. Later, Mr. Sung is served as Music Director of the New York Sinfonietta and conducting faculty of The Juilliard School, Pre-College division.

Mr. Sung has participated in many international music festivals and summer courses as a conductor and violist. He studied with Myung-Whun Chung and Yuri Temirkanov at the Accademiana Chigiana in Siena, Italy in 1995. He conducted the Sofia Symphony Orchestra and was awarded a Diploma of Merit and scholarship in Siena. He also participated in the Pierre Monteux School in Maine and the Aspen Music Festival.

Ki-Sun Sung received his bachelor’s degree from Seoul National University in Korea. He continued his education and graduated from The Juilliard School where he studied viola with Karen Tuttle and The Curtis Institute where he studied conducting with Otto-Werner Mueller.

As the youngest participant, Mr. Sung won second place in the Pedro Freitas de Branco conducting competition in Lisbon, Portugal. As a part of the prize, he was invited back to Lisbon to conduct four performances with the Lisbon Metropolitan Orchestra.

Mr. Sung has also performed extensively as a viola soloist, chamber musician and orchestra player. He played principal viola under Leonard Bernstein at the Pacific Music Festival in Japan in 1990. He has participated in the1999 Verbier Summer Music Festival in Switzerland as a member of the Curtis Orchestra, where he played under the baton of James Levine, Hans Vonk, Kent Nagano and Neville Marriner.

He was recently awarded by Korean government in its annual “Outstanding young artist of today”.

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Paul LaFollette, Hornist

Paul LaFollette, a native of Philadelphia, is the Acting Principal Horn with the Richmond Symphony. He also plays with the Astral Winds woodwind quintet and is a founding member of the Mico Nonet, an ambient chamber music ensemble with members of the Philadelphia Orchestra, The Berlin Philharmonic, and the Baltimore Symphony. Mr. LaFollette also spent a season as Principal Horn of the Symphony Orchestra of the State of Mexico in Toluca, Mexico. Paul attended the UBS Verbier Festival, Marlboro Music Festival from 2002 through 2005, tours with “Musicians from Marlboro” and has been heard on radio on Saint Paul Sunday Morning, Performance Today and Echoes on NPR. Active also as a teacher, he is a member of the faculty at The University of Richmond and was horn instructor at The University of Pennsylvania, Moravian College and Lehigh University. Equally adept in various genres, Paul plays guitar with the pop/punk band, Cow Path 40. Mr. LaFollette received his B.A. in French Horn Performance from the Curtis Institute of Music, where he was a student of Myron Bloom, Mason Jones and Barry Tuckwell.

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Jasmine Choi, Flutist

Hailed by The Philadelphia Inquirer as “a major talent with a robust tone” and “the rising star we have to watch” (Gramophone Korea), 25-year-old flutist Jasmine Choi is the Associate Principal Flute in the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra under the music director Paavo Jarvi.

Jasmine Choi has appeared as a soloist with The Philadelphia Orchestra, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Salzburg Mozarteum, Czech Philharmonic Chamber, North Czech Philharmonic, Vienna Mozart Orchestra, Vienna Classical Players, Mozart Collegium Vienna, Haddonfield Symphony, Juilliard Symphony, Columbia National Symphony, KBS (Korean Broadcast System) Symphony Orchestra, Euro-Asian Philharmonic Orchestra, Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, Pusan Philharmonic Orchestra, Seoul Symphony Orchestra, Daejon Philharmonic, among others. She also gives numerous recitals and masterclasses throughout the United States, Europe and Korea.

When 16, Jasmine Choi was accepted at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. She was nominated by the Symphony magazine, as one of America’s Emerging Artists 2006 and 2007. She joined the roster of the Astral Artistic Services in 2004, which subsequently presented her in their “Rising Star” series at the Kimmel Center and Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall. Also she has performed concertos and recitals at the Musikverein Golden Hall, Konzerthaus Mozart Hall and Schubert Hall in Vienna, Dvorak Hall and Smetana Hall in Prague, Disney Hall in LA, as well as Academy of Music and Kimmel Center’s Verizon Hall in Philadelphia. She was invited to the Austrian Flute Festival in 2005 as the youngest and the only non-Viennese soloist, where her solo recital and concerto performance received enormous critical acclaim. Among her numerous competition honors are first prizes in the 2005 Juilliard School’s Concerto Competition, the 2004 Yamaha Young Artist Competition and the 2002 Concerto Competition of the Philadelphia Orchestra.

Her musical status in Korea is extremely significant. She has made her career as a soloist in Korea since when she was 14. When 22, Jasmine Choi became the first Korean woodwind player who made the way to a major orchestra in the United States. She makes her solo appearances in various cities in Korea several times a year, and her live performances and recordings are broadcasted nationally on TV and radio. She had written her monthly columns on Joongdo Daily Newspaper in 2007 which expanded the number of fans to a wider distinction. Her fan-site Club Jasmine has its members of more than 300 who publish and share her recent activities up-to-date. In 2007 and 2008, The Gramophone Korea, the Auditorium, and the Coda, magazines have awarded her as the “Rising artist who will lead the 21st century’s classical music scene”. Her interviews had been featured on the Korean, Chosun, and Joongang national newspapers, and the Auditorium, the Music, the Flute and Flutists, and the Chunchu magazines had presented her as their cover stories.

An avid chamber musician, Jasmine Choi served as a member of the Astral Winds and the Trio Morisot for years. She has participated in major festivals such as the Marlboro Music, Pacific Music Festival, Sarasota Music Festival, the National Orchestral Institute, and the Carnegie Hall’s Professional Workshop with Michael Tilson Thomas.

Jasmine Choi holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the Curtis Institute of Music, where she studied with Julius Baker and Jeffrey Khaner. She also holds a Master of Music degree from The Juilliard School. Her recording of the Mozart Flute Concertos(Mozart Collegium Vienna/ Christian Schulz/ Xavier de Maistre) was released in 2006, on the Sony BMG Korea.

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Jaime Laredo, Violinist

In more than forty years before the public, Jaime Laredo has excelled in the multiple roles of soloist, conductor, recitalist and chamber musician. Since his stunning orchestral debut at the age of eleven with the San Francisco Symphony, he has won the admiration and respect of audiences, critics and fellow musicians with his passionate and polished performances. That debut inspired one critic to write: 'In the 1920's it was Yehudi Menuhin; in the 1930's it was Isaac Stern; and last night it was Jaime Laredo.' His education and development were greatly influenced by private coaching with such musicians as Josef Gingold, Pablo Casals, Ivan Galamian and George Szell. At the age of seventeen, Jaime Laredo won the prestigious Queen Elizabeth of Belgium Competition, launching his rise to international prominence.

The 2005/2005 season is in many ways a high point for Jaime Laredo. Mr. Laredo has accepted a chaired position at the Indiana University School of Music, to being in September 2005. Also this season, as he has for the past twenty-six years, Mr. Laredo will interweave solo and conducting dates with the dense chamber music schedule of the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio, Winner of Musical America's Ensemble of the Year 2002.

Mr. Laredo is in demand worldwide as a conductor and soloist. He has been Music Director of the Vermont Symphony Orchestra since 1999 and is also the Artistic Director of the Brandenberg Ensemble. The 2005/2006 season sees him leading the Detroit Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, New York String Orchestra, and Virginia Symphony, as well as soloing with the St. Louis Symphony in October.

In past seasons Mr. Laredo's guest engagements included a summer 2004 return to the Los Angeles Philharmonic as conductor and soloist, helping to inaugurate the new shell, along with performance with all of America's major orchestras, including Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, New York, and Philadelphia, with such conductors as Barenboim, Mehta, Ozawa, Slatkin, Colin Davis and great conductors of the past, such as Ormandy, Leinsdorf, Stokowski, and Szell. Abroad, Mr. Laredo has performed as soloist and/or conductor with the London Symphony, the BBC Symphony, the English Chamber Orchestra, the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, the Royal Philharmonic, and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, which he led on two American tours and in its Hong Kong Festival debut. He has received the Deutsche Schallplatten Prize and has been awarded seven Grammy nominations. He won the Grammy Award for a disc of Brahms Piano Quartets which he performed with his frequent chamber music collaborators Emanuel Ax, Isaac Stern and Yo-Yo Ma. Mr. Laredo's discs on CBS and RCA have included the complete Bach Sonatas with the late Glenn Gould and an Arabesque Recordings album of duos with his wife, cellist Robinson, featuring works by Handel, Kodaly, Mozart and Ravel.

As Artistic Director of New York's renowned Chamber Music at the Y series, Mr. Laredo has created an important forum for chamber music performances which has developed a devoted following. His stewardships of the annual New York String Orchestra Seminar at Carnegie Hall and International Violin Competition of Indianapolis have become beloved educational pillars of the string community. A principal figure at the Marlboro Music Festival in years past and more recently with the Aspen Music Festival, he is actively involved at Tanglewood, Ravinia, Mostly Mozart, and the Hollywood Bowl, as well as the festivals in Italy, Spain, Finland, Greece, Israel, Austria, Switzerland and England.

Jaime Laredo was born in Bolivia, and currently he and Ms. Robinson reside in Guilford, Vermont.

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Sharon Robinson, Cellist

Winner of the Avery Fisher Recital Award, the Piatigorsky Memorial Award, the Pro Musicis Award, and a Grammy nominee, cellist Sharon Robinson is recognized worldwide as a dynamic artist and one of the most outstanding musicians of our time. Whether as a recitalist, soloist with orchestra, or a member of the renowned Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio, critics, audiences and fellow musicians worldwide respond to what the New York Times called “an artistic personality that vitalizes everything she plays.” Her guest appearances with orchestra include the National Symphony, the Philadelphia and Minnesota Orchestras, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Boston, Baltimore, Dallas, Houston, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, and San Francisco Symphonies, and in Europe, the London Symphony, Helsinki Philharmonic, Zürich’s Tonhalle Orchestra, and the English, Scottish and Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestras.

Appointed to the renowned cello faculty of Indiana University School of Music in 2005, Ms. Robinson divides her time between teaching, solo engagements, performing with her husband, violinist and conductor Jaime Laredo, and touring with the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio. Throughout the 2008-‘09 season, Ms. Robinson will continue to collaborate with her husband Jaime Laredo in several Duo performances, as part of an ambitious project to premiere and record newly commissioned double concerti across the U.S. The Duo will open their season with Miklos Rozsa’s Sinfonia Concertante, with the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra. The world premiere of David Ludwig’s Concerto for Violin, Cello, and Orchestra will be performed with the Vermont Symphony Orchestra under the baton of guest conductor Sarah Hicks. As a special celebration of Ellen Taaffe Zwilich’s 70th birthday, Ms. Robinson and Mr. Laredo will perform the Double Concerto, which was written especially for the Duo, with the Detroit Symphony under the baton of Hans Graf. They will also be performing The Muse and the Poet by Saint-Saens. Additionally, Ms. Robinson will be featured this season in Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 1 with the Fort Wayne Philharmonic Orchestra, and Mr. Laredo conducting.

During the 2007-‘08 season Sharon Robinson and violinist Jaime Laredo performed the world premiere of Daron Aric Hagen’s double concerto Masquerade with the Sacramento Philharmonic. The Duo also presented a recital in New York City featuring Suite for Two by Andy Stein, a work written for their 30th anniversary, while the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio played the New York premiere of Richard Danielpour’s piano quartet Book of Hours at the 92nd Street Y– a special commission for the Trio’s 30th anniversary, which was celebrated during the 2006-‘07 season.

Past seasons have included performances commemorating Ms. Robinson’s and Mr. Laredo’s 30th wedding anniversary, including a newly commissioned work from composer Andy Stein as well as a new double concerto from Richard Danielpour. In addition, Naxos released the Double Concerto by Ned Rorem, also written for Laredo-Robinson, with the Iris Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Michael Stern. The husband-wife team also appeared with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, the Pacific Symphony, the Nashville Symphone, the Austin Symphony, as well as at Carnegie Hall and the Mostly Mozart Festival. 2001 marked the beginning of the tenure of Sharon Robinson and Jaime Laredo as co-artistic directors of the Hudson Valley Chamber Music Circle, the beloved annual summer series at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York.

Ms. Robinson's television appearances have included The Tonight Show, The Today Show, The Kennedy Center Honors on CBS, and a profile on CBS Sunday Morning and the Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor on NPR. Equally impressive are her festival engagements, which have included Spoleto, Mostly Mozart, Aspen, London's South Bank, Madeira, Granada, Edinburgh and Prague's Autumn Festival where she performed the Dvorák Cello Concerto at the famous Dvorák Hall.

Born into a musical family (her father was a bass player, her mother a violinist and all her siblings are string players), Ms. Robinson gave her first concert when she was seven and has since received numerous honors and awards. As winner of the Avery Fisher Recital Award, Ms. Robinson appeared on Lincoln Center's Great Performers series, giving the premiere of Ned Rorem's After Reading Shakespeare, a work she commissioned and performed on the Dick Cavett Show, and recorded for Naxos. Ms. Robinson's close relationships with today's composers have led to numerous commissions for solo and chamber works as well as concerti from Leon Kirchner, Arvo Pärt, Stanley Silverman, Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, David Ott, Katherine Hoover, Richard Danielpour, Andy Stein, Darin Aric Hagan and Ned Rorem.

Renowned for her chamber music performances, Sharon Robinson co-founded the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio thirty-two years ago and has collaborated with Rudolf Serkin and Alexander Schneider at the Marlboro Music Festival, Leon Fleisher, Rudolf Firkušný, Yo-Yo Ma, Eugene Istomin, Itzhak Perlman, Jean-Pierre Rampal, Mstislav Rostropovich, Isaac Stern, Pinchas Zukerman, and the Emerson, Guarneri, Miami, Juilliard, Orion and Tokyo Quartets. In December 2001, Musical America named the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio the 2002 Ensemble of the Year.

The Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio celebrated its 30th anniversary in the 2006-’07 season, with major concerts at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, the 92nd Street Y in New York, and was also heard in Boston, Philadelphia, Fort Worth, Tucson, La Jolla, El Paso, and Lisbon, Hamburg, Copenhagen in Europe and Calgary, Canada. They commissioned the stellar American composer Richard Danielpour for a new Piano Quartet, performed in 10 cities nationwide in 2006-‘07 and 2007-‘08. On the recording front, KOCH International Classics released the Trio’s recording of Arensky & Tchaikovsky trios, as well as re-releases from their vast existing discography.

Sharon Robinson's CDs include the Vivaldi Cello Sonatas on Vox and a Grenadilla disc of solo cello works by Debussy, Fauré, and Rorem. Additionally, KOCH released Conversations, a Laredo/Robinson CD featuring duos by Handel, Gliere, Kodaly, and a work composed for them by David Ott. Ms. Robinson received a Grammy nomination for the Two Brahms Sextets CD with Isaac Stern, Cho-Liang Lin, Jaime Laredo, Michael Tree and Yo-Yo Ma. In August 2002 KOCH released an all-Zwilich Concerto CD (including a double concerto written for Robinson and Laredo, and a triple concerto written for the Trio). In 2006, Naxos released the Double Concerto by Ned Rorem, performed by Ms. Robinson and Mr. Laredo.

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Sheridan Seyfried, Composer

Composer Sheridan Seyfried is a native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Educated at the Curtis Institute of Music, his major mentors include Edward Aldwell, Richard Danielpour, James Grant, Jennifer Higdon and Ned Rorem. Upon graduating from Curtis he received the Alfredo Casella Award in Composition. His diverse body of work includes orchestral, chamber, solo, and film music, and he has received performances throughout the world in major venues, including Prague’s Rudolfinum, Vienna’s Radio Symphony Hall and Salzburg’s Mozarteum. His music has been played by artists including Ida Kavafian, Anne-Marie McDermott, Steve Tenenbom, and Peter Wiley and by orchestras including the Minnesota Orchestra. In 2001, Sheridan was awarded an ASCAP Award for his string quartet, Pro and Contra, and in 2002 he was named a Presidential Scholar in the Arts. A 2006 Presser Music Award recipient, he has also been composer-in-residence at the Music From Angel Fire (NM) festival and with the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra. Also an accomplished pianist, Sheridan has frequently performed his own music, most recently in recital at Washington’s Kennedy Center with violinist Stephanie Jeong.

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Stephen Cabell, Composer

Composer Stephen Cabell has composed a large catalogue of music, notably for brass, percussion, and full orchestra. Highlights of Mr. Cabell's 2008-2009 season include performances of LUX (2008) by the Indianapolis Symphony and the premiere of Disintegration for Twelve, a collaboration with dance. Cabell has received prestigious honors from organizations such as the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) for works including his orchestral Cosmicomic (2004), which also received a Columbia University Joseph H. Bearns Prize in Music. A 2003 Presidential Scholar in the Arts, he was recently honored with the Nadia Boulanger Prize from the American Conservatory of Fontainebleau, France.

Born in Henderson, Kentucky, composer Stephen Cabell later moved to Michigan to attend the Interlochen Arts Academy. In 2008, he graduated from the world renowned Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied with composers Jennifer Higdon and Richard Danielpour. Cabell is now completing graduate studies with Christopher Rouse at the Juilliard School in New York City.

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Sang-Jin Kim, Violist

“a poised, appealing performer with rock-solid technique, warm, powerful, variable tone and a simple, direct expressiveness” (Strings Magazine)

Critically acclaimed violist Sang-Jin Kim has won several solo and chamber music competitions internationally. He travels throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia in more than 70 performances a year. Recent engagements include appearances at the Paris Salle Gaveau, Frankfurt Alte Oper, Carnegie hall, Lincoln center, 92nd Y, Kennedy Center, Ravinia, and Schoenberg Hall among others. He was invited to the Marlboro, Aspen and Musicmountain, Rheingau, Villa Musica and Mach-art, Prague Spring, Cervo festivals and the international Musician's Seminar at Prussia Cove.

A former member of the International Sejong Soloists and Kumho Asiana String Quartet, Sang-Jin is frequently invited as soloist with major symphony orchestras in Korea. He is a founding member of the newly formed M.I.K. Ensemble which is widely anticipated as the vibrant quartet of leaders of the classical music scene. Upon receiving the Presidential Award in 2001, a highest civilian award in Korea, he was subsequently designated as an Embassador of Culture in honor of his achievements. Since then, he performed in many parts of the world including Africa, Middle East, Eastern Europe, Southern Asia in fulfillment of this duty.

Mr. Kim first received musical instructions from his father who was previously the principal violist of Linz Bruckner Symphony orchestra in Austria. He later studied at the Cologne Musik Hochschule in Germany with Rainer Moog and with Samuel Rhodes at the Juilliard school. He is now a professor of viola performance at the Yonsei University in Seoul.

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Dennis Kim, Violinist

Born in Korea, raised in Canada, educated in the United States, and now working in Europe, Dennis Kim is truly a citizen of the world. Dennis Kim was first appointed Concertmaster of the Tucson Symphony Orchestra at the age 22. He has since served as Concertmaster of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, and currently holds this position in the Orquestra Metropolitana de Lisboa under the artistic leadership of Augustin Dumay. Mr Kim has been guest Concertmaster on 4 continents including the orchestras of Malaysia, Western Australia, Macao, Korean Symphony, and is now in great demand as a guest leader in Europe. He has worked with many of today's greatest conductors including Yuri Temirkanov, Mstislav Rostropovich, Andre Previn, Charles Dutoit, Riccardo Chailly, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Riccardo Muti, Simon Rattle, and Myung-Whun Chung.

A dedicated teacher, Mr Kim has been on the faculty of the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts, Korean National University of the Arts, Yonsei University, and the Seoul Arts Academy. His students have been accepted to the Curtis Institute of Music, Colburn School, Juilliard School, Peabody Conservatory, and the Queen Elizabeth College of Music and orchestras around the world. Mr Kim also teaches every summer at the prestigious Bowdoin International Music Festival.

As a chamber musician, Mr Kim has performed with many leading musicians including Pinchas Zuckerman, Jaime Laredo, Carter Brey, John Sharp, Marya Martin, and members of the Orion, Tokyo, and Guarneri string quartets. After making his solo debut at the age of 14, Mr Kim has gone on to perform as a soloist with every major orchestra in China and Korea. Highlights include performing on 10 hours notice to replace an ill William Preucil, performing the Vivaldi 4 Seasons 20 times in 1 week, and touring with the Busan Philharmonic on their Japan Tour in 2008.

A graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music and Yale School of Music, Mr Kim's teachers include Victor Danchenko, Jaime Laredo, Aaron Rosand, Yumi Ninomiya Scott, Peter Oundjian, and Paul Kantor. Dennis Kim plays the 1701 ex-Dushkin Strad, on permanant loan from a generous donor.

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