CMNC

CMNC's Workshop Coaches

left to right: Zakarias Grafilo, violin; Sandy Wilson, cello; Frederick Lifsitz, violin; Paul Yarbrough, viola. Photo credit: Shirley Singer

Mary Artmann, cello, is an active chamber musician, recitalist, and freelancer in the Bay Area. She currently performs with the Orland/Artmann cello/piano duo and with and with the SoMa Piano Trio. Before returning to the Bay Area, Ms. Artmann was a member of the award-winning Veronika String Quartet, artists-in-residence at Colorado State University-Pueblo. She also spent numerous years living in upstate New York where she was a member of the Syracuse Symphony, the Buffalo Philharmonic, and the Slee Sinfonietta. As a devoted performer of new music, she has performed with the Empyrean Ensemble, the SF Contemporary Music Players, and the June in Buffalo Festival.
Ms. Artmann is on the chamber music and cello faculty at the Crowden Music Center. Many of her collaborative performance projects have been sponsored by grants from the Colorado Council on the Arts and the New York State Council of the Arts. She has recorded for Colorado Public Radio, Radio Nuevo Leon, Radio France, WDR (Cologne, Germany) and WBFO’s Opus Classics Series (Buffalo, NY).
Education highlights include a high distinction award upon graduation from the University of California at Berkeley, a Master of Music degree from the University of Southern California, and Artist Diploma studies at Oberlin. She was twice the recipient of the Alfred Hertz Memorial Traveling Fellowship, sponsoring intensive study with the legendary Siegfried Palm in Cologne, Germany and Ron Leonard in Los Angeles.
Ms. Artmann maintains private teaching studios in Richmond and Berkeley. She is an avid hiker and is a member of the Sierra Club. She currently spends most of her waking hours strategizing about how to use her skills to combat our global climate emergency.
www.maryartmann.com
Bio added 2019 ♪ ♪ Workshop: Oct 2019, Sept 2023

Terrie Baune, violin
In addition to being a member of Earplay, she is co-concertmaster of the Oakland-East Bay Symphony, concertmaster of the North State Symphony, and a former member of the Empyrean Ensemble. Her professional credits include concertmaster positions with the Women’s Philharmonic, Fresno Philharmonic, Santa Cruz County Symphony, and Rohnert Park Symphony. A member of the National Symphony Orchestra for four years, she also spent two years as a member of the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra of New Zealand, where she toured and recorded for Radio New Zealand with the Gabrielli Trio and performed with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. CMNC Workshop Director June 2022. CMNC workshop assignments 2023 and beyond.
Bio added 2019 ♪ ♪ Workshop: several, including June 2019, June 2022, Sept 2023, March & June, 2024

Amy Brodo, cello: I grew up in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and studied cello with the great Orlando Cole. His appreciation and love for music, not just cello music, was so inspiring, and I often hear his words in my head when I'm teaching. After I graduated from the Curtis Institute, I went to Italy to play for 5 years. During that time, I started to study baroque cello, and played many operas, ballets and symphony concerts with excellent conductors and soloists. Then after short tours with other groups, I joined the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and travelled with them for 4 years. Then off to England to study and play more Baroque music and learn viola da gamba. In 1993, I moved to California where I play and teach and am still enthusiastic and approach each new student with joy and love.
Bio added 2019 ♪ ♪ Workshop: Feb 2019

Michelle Caimoto, flute is principal flutist of the Festival Opera and West Bay Opera Orchestras, piccoloist of the California Symphony and a member of the Symphony Silicon Valley. As a free lance musician, Ms. Caimotto performs with the San Francisco Symphony, Opera, and Ballet Orchestras. Active in the recording industry, her credits include motion picture soundtracks for Fox, Merchant-Ivory, Miramax, and Paramount as well as projects for ABC, NBC, Nickelodeon, PBS television, and National Public Radio. She can be heard on the CBS/Sony Classics CD Music from the Star Wars Trilogy conducted by John Williams as well as on the original cast soundtrack to Baz Luhrmann's La Bohème and in the Disney/Pixar animated short film Exploring the Reef, which is included on all Finding Nemo DVDs.
    Ms. Caimotto studied with Barbara Breeden and Paul Renzi in San Francisco, and with William Bennett in London, England. Ms. Caimotto is on the faculties of California State University, East Bay; Mills College, Oakland; and the Northern California Flute Camp in Carmel Valley. Her students' accomplishments include positions with many local youth orchestras, Command Performances in the CMEA Solo and Ensemble Festival, winners of the Oakland East Bay Symphony Young Artist Competition, participation in All City, All County, All State Bands and in the National Wind Ensemble in Carnegie Hall. In addition, her students have gone on to study at prestigious institutions including the Oberlin College-Conservatory, Peabody Conservatory, Yale University, and Trevor Wye's postgraduate flute studio in England.
Bio added 2023 ♪ ♪ Workshop: Mar 2023

John Chernoff, piano,
has performed across the United States, including appearances at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., the Legion of Honor in San Francisco, and Symphony Space in New York City. He has worked with a variety of renowned artists such as Libby Larsen, Chen Yi, Amit Peled, Ian Swensen, and Mark Sokol and currently serves as Staff Accompanist at Humboldt State University. John holds degrees from San Francisco Conservatory of Music and the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University, and has served as a performer, accompanist and coach at the Heifetz International Music Institute and Sequoia Chamber Music Workshop. Mr. Chernoff is also a frequent soloist and lecturer with the Eureka Symphony and regularly appears with concertmaster Terrie Baune and cellist/conductor Carol Jacobson for chamber music performances throughout Humboldt County.
Bio added 2024 ♪ ♪ Workshop: June 2024

Leslie Chin, flute, has lived and worked in the Bay Area as a professional freelance flutist for over 30 years, performing with SF Ballet, SF Opera, Oakland Symphony, Fremont Symphony, Pacific Chamber Symphony, Marin Symphony, Santa Rosa Symphony and West Edge Opera. She has recorded music for video games and movies. She also plays in the pit for Broadway shows ("Porgy and Bess," "American in Paris," "The King and I," "Wicked," "Beauty and the Beast," "Cinderella," and "Lion King.") Leslie plays lots of instruments in the flute family: piccolo, alto flute, recorder, pennywhistle, ditzu (chinese bamboo flute), pan pipes, bansuri. She performs on the pennywhistle with a local Pogues cover band. Leslie is grateful to have played flute at Burning Man 2019 with ArtHaus Collective's full-length performance of Stravinsky's Firebird ballet. She enjoys playing chamber music and has performed with the Bellavente Wind Quintet in the SF Symphony's AIM program for over 20 seasons.
Bio added 2024 ♪ ♪ Workshop: March 2024

Wendy Clymer, viola and violin, holds a BA from Brown University and MM from San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where she studied with Jodi Levitz. She has also studied with Karen Tuttle at the Juilliard School. Ms. Clymer was awarded a fellowship to pursue doctoral studies at the University of Oklahoma where she performed as violist of the MacArthur String Quartet and the Oklahoma City Philharmonic, taught at the Sooner String Project and Oklahoma Baptist University and served as teaching assistant at the University of Oklahoma. She is on the faculty of the Crowden Center for Music in the Community and has coached chamber music and sectionals for the Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra. In addition to her musical activities, she has been a translator and tour guide in Berlin, Germany; a financial aid counselor and paralegal.
Bio added 2019 ♪ ♪ Workshop: Feb 2019, Mar 2023

Cynthia Darby, piano
Among the many noted composers Cynthia has worked with are Elliott Carter, George Crumb and Steve Reich. In San Francisco she has performed in Davies Symphony Hall and the DeYoung Museum, and was a member of the New And Unusual Music Series under the direction of John Adams. Other recital venues include the Gardner Museum in Boston and Sundays At Four in Los Angeles, in addition to several concerto appearances as guest artist.
Cynthia studied at New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, with Russell Sherman and Laurence Lesser being major influences, and was a fellowship recipient to Tanglewood.
She has taught at MIT, San Diego State University and University of San Diego.
Bio added 2019 ♪ ♪ Workshop: several, including June 2019, June 2023

Troy Davis, oboe, is the Director of Instrumental Music and Jazz Studies and West Valley College in Saratoga, California. He is also the Director Emeritus of the Oakland Municipal Band, Wind Ensemble Director at Hayward-La Honda Music Camp, and guest conducts many regional honor bands, orchestras, and jazz bands. Troy was honored as the California Music Educators Association (CMEA) "Music Educator of the Year" in 2017 and as a "Distinguished Music Educator" by Yale University in 2011. He earned his Master’s Degree in music education from Notre Dame de Namur University, his Bachelor of Music in oboe performance from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and is working on completing his Doctoral Degree in music education from Boston University.
Bio added 2019 ♪ ♪ Workshop: Feb 2019, Oct 2019

Asher Davison, clarinet
added 2019 ♪ ♪ Workshop: several, including Oct 2019, June 2022

Karla Ekholm, bassoon, has been on faculty at EMF since 1984. She enjoys an active career performing around the San Francisco Bay Area as principal bassoonist of San Francisco Chamber Orchestra and Pacific Chamber Symphony and member of Santa Rosa Symphony and Marin Symphony.
    As featured soloist she has performed Daugherty's "Dead Elvis" with Vallejo Symphony as well as the Francaix "Divertissement" with the Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra and San Francisco Chamber Orchestra where SF Classical Voice noted "Ekholm sold the perky themes and twirling embellishments with light-fingered conviction, tossing off Francaix's sometimes lengthy chromatic sentences and cleverly italicizing their syncopations with accents and elastic timing."
    Ms. Ekholm started her career as principal bassoonist with San Francisco Opera's National Touring Company, with whom she toured until 2002 and where she developed her love of opera. She is a founding member of the Five Chairs Wind Quintet with whom she has performed over 1000 programs for students in the schools. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and a Master of Music degree from Temple University. Her teachers include Benjamin Kamins, Bernard Garfield, Stephen Paulson and Walter Green. Ms. Ekholm is featured in the documentary "Freeway Philharmonic."
Bio added 2019 ♪ ♪ Workshop: several, including Feb 2019, Sept 2023, March 2024

Randy Fisher, viola, violin
Committed to chamber music since 1973, Randy Fisher’s ensembles bore chamber music traditions from coachings with members of the Juilliard, Cleveland and Budapest quartets as well as Lillian Fuchs and Joseph Gingold. Since moving to California, Fisher has coached regularly at Humboldt, CalCap, SoCal, CMNC, Santa Barbara, Golden Gate and Grand Pacific workshops. Previously, he played in symphonies and string quartets based in seven states and five countries, taught chamber music at colleges in Colorado, Virginia and Hong Kong, and served as Director of Education and Community Outreach for five symphonies.
Bio added 2019 ♪ ♪ Workshop: many, including June 2019, June 2022, Mar, June & Sept 2023, Mar & June 2024

Nina Flyer, cello was a lecturer in cello and chamber music at the University of the Pacific Conservatory of Music from 1997 to 2017. While there she founded the New Pacific Trio, which subsequently became Trio 180. She was also a lecturer in Cello at Cal State East Bay and taught at the Reykjavik School of Music. She holds a B.M. from the University of Southern California and has also studied at the Eastman School of Music and the Vienna Academy of Music. Her major teachers include Ronald Leonard, Gabor Rejto, Vladmir Orloff and Frank Miller. Ms. Flyer has been principal cellist of the Jerusalem Symphony, the Iceland Symphony, the Bergen (Norway) Symphony, acting principal in the San Diego Symphony, and principal of the Women's Philharmonic. She is currently principal cello of the Pacific Chamber Symphony. She performed on a regular basis with the San Francisco Symphony and still records for the TV and Motion Picture Industry. Ms. Flyer is an active and touring solo and chamber music performer both in the U.S. and abroad. She has an established reputation for playing contemporary music and performs regularly with Composer's Inc. She is featured on two CD's that have been nominated for Grammys. One CD features a cello work by Shulamit Ran, recorded with the English Chamber Orchestra, and the other CD includes two cello suites by Lou Harrison. The following quote is from Strings Magazine in 2001: ..........hauntingly beautiful performance............ (Lou Harrison CD review) Another of Ms. Flyer's CD's, featuring original and arranged works for cello and piano and narrated by David Ogden Stiers won the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio, Best Audio of 2010 award. She recorded a piece called Flyer for cello and orchestra, composed by Allan Crossman and dedicated to her, with the North/South Consonance in New York; the CD was released in 2008. Trio 180 came out with their first CD in the fall of 2015 which includes trios by Dvorak and Schumann. Ms Flyer is now a member of Trio Foss which has had a piece written for them by noted composer Robert Greenberg, and has concertized throughout Northern California.

there's always room for cello

http://www.ninaflyer.com
Bio added 2019 ♪ ♪ Workshop: several, including Oct 2019

Zakarias Grafilo, violin, joined the Alexander String Quartet in July 2002. Prior to that he served as Principal Second Violinist of the Pacific Symphony, and Concertmaster of the Stockton Symphony. Mr. Grafilo was co-founder of the Chamberlain String Quartet, which was Assistant Quartet-in-Residence to the Alexander String Quartet at San Francisco State University. He received his early musical training at the Preparatory Division of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and was later admitted into the Marin Music Conservatory where he studied with Serban Rusu. He received his early orchestral training with the world-renowned San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra where he was Concertmaster in 1992. Mr. Grafilo continued his studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, studying with Alexander Treger, Concertmaster of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Liberal Studies from San Francisco State University
Bio added 2019 ♪ ♪ Workshop: many, including Oct 2018

Victoria “Tori” Hauk, flutist,
originally from San Diego, has been performing and teaching in the Bay Area since 2013. She is an avid chamber musician and can be seen performing with groups including: flute duo Siroko Duo, woodwind quintet Avenue Winds, and One Found Sound. Orchestras she has worked with include: Marin Symphony, Stockton Symphony, Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, and New World Symphony. She teaches privately and at San Francisco Conservatory’s Pre-College. She is the winner of the University of Arizona President’s Concerto Competition and Arizona Flute Society Competition and is an award winner of the Musical Merit Foundation of Greater San Diego, MTNA Southwest Regional Competition, San Diego Flute Guild Young Artist Competition and has received the Presser Foundation Award. She received her Professional Studies Diploma at the San Francisco Conservatory studying with Tim Day, M.M. at Lynn Conservatory studying with Jeffrey Khaner and Renée Siebert, and B.M. at the University of Arizona studying with Brian Luce.
Bio added 2019 ♪ ♪ Workshop: June 2019

Emily Hayes, piano,
began studying classical piano at age 5, and she had her piano concerto debut performance at age thirteen with the Northstate Symphony. Emily has over 11 years of private teaching experience and enjoys sharing her love of music through teaching. When not teaching, Emily continues to focus on furthering her own musical education. She earned her BM and Master of Music degree in piano performance at USC's Thornton School of Music under the instruction of Vice Dean of Classical Performance and Composition, Dr. Lucinda Carver.
Bio added 2023 ♪ ♪ Workshops: Mar & June 2023, Mar & June 2024

Carol Jacobson, cello,
has been the Music Director and Conductor of the Eureka Symphony for more than a decade. Teacher and conductor of the Arcata -McKinleyville High School Orchestra and Madrigal Choir for 20 years, she has inspired numerous young people to excel. She says, “Once you have experienced the magic of exceeding your expectations, your life is never the same again.” The North Coast Journal has referred to Ms. Jacobson as a “force of nature.”
An accomplished cellist, Ms. Jacobson earned her bachelor’s degree at Humboldt State University, with further studies at the Salzburg Mozarteum, The Royal Danish Conservatory and the Netherlands Royal Conservatory in The Hague. She was a member of the Netherlands National Ballet Orchestra in Amsterdam, the Netherlands Radio Symphony, the Oslo Opera Orchestra and the Netherlands Strijkers Ensemble.
She has worked with many conductors, including, Valerie Gergiev, Kent Nagano, Jaap van Zweden, Sixten Ehrling and Edo deWaart. She is currently studying conducting with Scott Seaton. She was conductor of the Humboldt State University Orchestra and directed the Humboldt Music Academy. She plays in the Temporary Resonance Ensemble with Terrie Baune and John Chernoff and is principal cellist in the North State Symphony.
Bio added 2023 ♪ ♪ Workshop: Mar & JUne,2024

Shawn Jones, bassoonist,
is a graduate of the Juilliard School and Rice University. He has performed as a member of the Colorado and Detroit Symphonies as both a bassoonist and contrabassoonist. During the summers, he has taught at the renowned Interlochen Arts Camp, performed with the Colorado Music Festival, Grand Tetons Music Festival Orchestra, traveled to Japan to perform with the Pacific Music Festival, and toured Russia with the American Russian Youth Orchestra. Shawn is also very active as a freelance musician in the San Francisco Bay area. He is a member of the Santa Rosa Symphony and Berkeley Symphony as well as a frequent Substitute with the San Francisco Symphony, San Francisco Ballet and Opera Orchestras, Symphony Silicon Valley, Modesto Symphony, Oakland Symphony, California Symphony, and others. In addition to his extensive orchestral experience, he is a longstanding member of Quinteto Latino, a woodwind quintet that performs classical and contemporary music by Latino composers. He is also the bassoon professor at Santa Clara University and Cal State East Bay. Shawn’s principal teachers have been Manuel Zegler, Frank Morelli, Ben Kamins, Robert Williams, and Marcus Schoon.
Bio added 2019 ♪ ♪ Workshop: June 2019

Benjamin Kreith is violinist in the Del Sol Quartet and an active performer of chamber music in both the United States and Europe. He has played recitals at the Juan March Foundation in Madrid, the Centro Cultural de Belém in Lisbon, and the American Academy in Rome, as well as premiering solo violin works at the contemporary music festivals in Marseille and Strasbourg. His live recording of Christian Lauba’s Kwintus for violin solo was released on the Accord/Universal CD Morphing.
    Kreith co-founded the Ensemble Centro Galego de Arte Contemporánea, a group that was recognized for its innovative chamber series in Santiago de Compostela. He has also played with the Harvard Group for New Music, Barcelona 216, and as guest artist with the Ying Quartet, the Muir Quartet and friends, and the Österriechisches Ensemble für Neue Musik in Salzburg. With Alea III and conductor Gunther Schuller, he appeared as soloist in the US premiere of Schulhoff’s Concerto for string quartet.
    Kreith was 2006 Artist-in-Residence at the University of California, Davis where he performed Alban Berg’s Violin Concerto. He has also been featured as concerto soloist with the Butte, Sacramento, and New England Conservatory symphony orchestras.
    Kreith studied principally with Jorja Fleezanis, Malcolm Lowe, and Lorand Fenyves as well as chamber music with Louis Krasner. He has taught at the Escola de Música de Barcelona and the Escuela Maese Pedro in Madrid.
Bio added 2019 ♪ ♪

Ginger Kroft, clarinet,
is Principal Clarinet of the Sacramento Philharmonic and the Carmel Bach Festival. She is a member of the Oakland Symphony and performed with the San Francisco Ballet for six seasons. Ms. Kroft is on faculty at San Francisco Conservatory of Music and Santa Clara University. An education advocate, she has served on the MTAC Board of Directors, adjudicated numerous music competitions, and coached in Bay Area schools as a clarinet and woodwind specialist. She maintains a pre-college teaching studio, ClarinetStudio.org. Ms. Kroft is an avid chamber musician and, over the years, has performed with Avenue Winds, the Worn Ensemble, the ADORNO ensemble, and the Bridge Players. She holds degrees from Northwestern University and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Ms. Kroft is a Vandoren International Artist and performs on M15 mouthpieces and Traditional reeds.
Bio added 2019 ♪ ♪ Workshop: June 2019

Frederick Lifsitz, violin, studied violin in his native Boston with Marylou Churchill and at Indiana University with Paul Biss. As a member of the Alexander String Quartet he has performed throughout Europe and North America, appearing regularly at halls such as Amsterdam’s Concertebouw and New York City’s Lincoln Center. He has been an Artist in Residence at the Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies in Wye, Maryland and has held similar positions at St. Lawrence University, Baruch College, and North Carolina School of the Arts. Prior to joining the Alexander Quartet Mr. Lifsitz performed over several seasons with the Boston Symphony and taught Chamber Music and Violin at the New England Conservatory Preparatory School. Mr. Lifsitz continues to perform as soloist and in recital.
Bio added 2019 ♪ ♪ Workshop: many, including Oct 2018, Oct 2019

Beverly McChesney, bassoon, is an artist who emerged from the influence of many different genres of music from classical symphony, opera and ballet to Broadway musicals to rock, R&B, Motown and music of the avant-garde. Her story as an artist is about a love of many different styles of music, great respect and admiration for other musical artists, a strong sense of optimism about the importance of music in our daily life and a passionate desire to communicate and bring joy to the listener.
    She is the owner/manager of McChamberMusic and has been teaching and performing in chamber music groups and orchestras in the San Francisco Bay Area for over 30 years. She has a Bachelor of Music degree from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
    During the 1970s, Beverly toured Northern California with the Westwind Trio, performing chamber music with modern dance in grange halls, museums, art festivals and even the Sundown Café in Boonville while sitting on bales of hay.
    Beverly currently plays principal bassoon with the North State Symphony. Over the years, Beverly has performed with nearly every orchestra in the San Francisco Bay Area including San Francisco Opera orchestra, Merola Opera orchestra, San Francisco Ballet orchestra, San Jose Symphony, Oakland Symphony, Berkeley Symphony, Santa Rosa Symphony and Fremont Symphony.
    She is a founding member and the bassoonist of the Bellavente Wind Quintet, which was selected by the San Francisco Symphony to represent the woodwind quintet in both the 2005 & 2007 Adventures in Music programs, performing educational concerts for San Francisco schoolchildren. She was a founding member of the Women’s Philharmonic Woodwind Quintet and was a member of the Twin Pines Woodwind Quintet from 1983 to 1998. In 1996, Beverly founded The Moon Town Schmatts, Bassoons of Distinction, Not Your Everyday Bassoon Ensemble with co-founder and contra-bassoonist Mia Stormer. This ensemble features Beverly and Mia’s arrangements of popular songs for the purpose of raising awareness of the importance of the bassoon in your everyday life.
    Beverly maintains a private teaching studio where her students benefit from her wealth of experience as a teacher and performer and her dedication to the art of bassoon playing.
    Beverly performs on a Heckel #8362 bassoon and a Moosman 222A Artist model bassoon.
Bio added 2019 ♪ ♪

Sandra McPherson, clarinet, graduated with a Bachelor in Music from CSU, Fresno and a Master’s Degree in Clarinet Performance/Musicology from UC Santa Barbara, where she studied clarinet with James Kanter. She performs frequently as principal clarinetist and bass clarinetist in numerous Northern California orchestras, including the Sacramento Philharmonic, Opera, and Choral Society Orchestras. She also has extensive experience as a chamber music performer and coach.
As a member of the Sacramento Philharmonic’s woodwind quintet, she performs educational concerts throughout the region. She has performed with numerous other chamber music ensembles at the Crocker Art Museum Sunday Series, Sacramento State’s Festival of New American Music, Chamber Music Alive!, and the Capital Chamber Players Series.
Ms. McPherson is conductor of clarinet ensembles, rehearsal coach and chamber music instructor for the Sacramento Youth Symphony’s orchestras and Chamber Music Workshops. She maintains an active private teaching studio, is also on the faculty at American River College, and has previously served as clarinet and chamber music instructor at U.C. Davis. Ms. McPherson is also a published author of articles on early-American clarinet literature.
Bio added 2023 ♪ ♪ Workshop: June 2023

Deborah Pittman
added 2019 ♪ ♪ Workshop: several, including Oct 2019

Yael Ronen, flute,
holds a bachelor of music degree from the Rubin Academy of Music at Tel Aviv University, and a master of music from California State University, Sacramento. She studied with William Bennett and Trevor Wye in London for two years. She has performed as a soloist and chamber musician throughout Europe, including appearances at the Piccadilly Festival, City of London Festival in England and Music Unlimited à La Valette in Belgium. She also has recorded for the BBC, the Australian Broadcasting Commission and Israeli National Radio. In Israel, she performed with the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra and the Israel Philharmonic, under conductors Zubin Mehta and Leonard Bernstein.
    Ms. Ronen lives in California, where she has served as the principal flutist with the Camellia Orchestra in Sacramento. Currently, she is principal flutist with the North State Symphony and is principal flutist and soloist with the Apollo Orchestra. She teaches flute on the faculty at California State University, Chico, as well as maintaining an active career teaching privately and performing recitals and chamber music both in California and Europe. A CD of her recording together with Israeli flutist Idit Shemer of the Six Sonatas for Two Flutes by W.F. Bach was produced by Empire Master Sound, Belgium.
Bio added 2019 ♪ ♪ workshop: many, including June 2019, June 2022

Ellen Ruth Rose, viola, enjoys a varied career as a soloist, ensemble musician and teacher with a strong interest the music of our times. She is a member of Ecoensemble, the professional new music ensemble at UC Berkeley, Empyrean Ensemble, the flagship new music ensemble in residence at UC Davis, and Earplay, the San Francisco-based contemporary ensemble. She has appeared on numerous recordings, including a CD of the chamber music of German composer Caspar Johannes Walter—featuring several pieces written for her—which won the German Recording Critics’ new music prize in 1998.
    Rose holds an M.Mus. in viola performance from the Juilliard School, an artist diploma from the Northwest German Music Academy in Detmold, Germany and a B.A. with honors in English and American history and literature from Harvard University. Her viola teachers have included Heidi Castleman, Nobuko Imai, Marcus Thompson, and Karen Tuttle. She is on the instrumental faculty at UC Berkeley and UC Davis and has taught at the University of the Pacific, the Humboldt Chamber Music Workshop and the Sequoia Chamber Music Workshop. Her students have gone on to masters and doctoral programs in viola performance throughout the country as well as medical school, veterinary school, music history graduate programs and other places where good violists enrich the world.
Bio added 2022 ♪ ♪ Workshop: June 2022, Mar & Sept 2023

Jonathan Russell, bass clarinet, is a composer, clarinetist, and bass clarinetist. He creates music by turns tender and fierce, playful and profound, raw and refined, propulsive and still. In his work, he seeks to embody and express the full range of human experience in a way that speaks directly to people’s hearts, minds, and bodies. The extraordinary sound and spirit of the bass clarinet is a driving force behind much of Jonathan’s work. His numerous compositions for bass clarinet(s) include solo works, sonatas, concertos, duets, trios, quartets, chamber works, and large bass clarinet ensembles. He is half of the Sqwonk bass clarinet duo with Jeff Anderle, and is founder and leader of Improbable Beasts, a 15-member professional bass clarinet ensemble in the Boston area. When not making music, Jonathan loves exploring cities, hiking, reading, playing word games, and improv comedy (both watching it and feebly attempting to do it himself). He currently lives in Cambridge, MA.
Bio added 2023 ♪ ♪ Workshop: Sept 2023

Burke Schuchmann, cello,
studied in London, England with William Pleeth for five years, where he made his debut at the age of 19. He also studied for extended periods with Margaret Rowell and Colin Hampton. After his studies in England, he became principal cellist and soloist with the Salzburger Solisten in Austria. He has performed extensively as a soloist and chamber musician in Europe, the U.S. and Israel. He has also been principal cellist and soloist with the Sacramento Symphony and the Mendocino Festival Orchestra.
    Mr. Schuchmann is known for the beauty and depth of his musical interpretation as a performing soloist as well as chamber musician. He is greatly sought after as a chamber music coach of young musicians and adult amateurs. He was for many years the director of the Mendocino Music Festival's Young Musician's Scholarship program. A gifted teacher, Mr. Schuchmann has taught at the University of California at Berkeley and also CSU Chico. He currently teaches string technique classes, directs the Berkeley and Marin chamber music workshops. He is the artistic director of the Palomarin Chamber Music Foundation and has recently inaugurated an all-cello workshop ("Cello Heaven") in Berkeley, California. He has also been a member of the faculty of the San Domenico High School Conservatory of Music and is presently coaching in the adult chamber music program at the Crowden School.
Bio added 2019 ♪ ♪ Workshop: most, including June 2022, Mar & June 2023, Mar 2024

Ian Scarfe, piano, enjoys a wide ranging career as an advocate for music. Initially following directions to become a piano soloist, he quickly discovered the joys of diversifying his work. As a performer he is equally comfortable as a soloist, accompanying recital partners, or in the mix of a small or large ensemble.
    He is the founder and director of the Trinity Alps Chamber Music Festival. Started in 2011 as a retreat for musicians and composers in the beautiful Trinity Alps region of Northern California, this organization has expanded to become a kind of “touring festival”. It has presented diverse program with dozens of musicians in over 300 free public concerts and school programs across communities and schools in rural Northern California and Oregon.
    He is a founding member of several ensembles, including the Vinifera Trio in California's Bay Area and the Zurich Beethoven Trio in Switzerland. He has supported colleagues in the creation of the Hogtown Chamber Music Festival in Gainesville, Florida, Festival Viana in Portugal, and Festival Rolland in Bourgogne, France. He has served as faculty and guest artist at the Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival in Alaska, the Astoria Music Festival in Oregon, and the Telluride Chamber Music Festival in Colorado.
www.ianscarfe.com
Bio added 2023 ♪ ♪ Workshop: Mar 2023

Monica Scott, cello, has performed throughout the United States, in almost every European country, Argentina, Canada and South Korea, engaging audiences with her energetic, eloquent playing. After an artist residency at the Banff Centre (Canada) in 1994, Monica performed for four seasons with the Orquestra Metropolitana de Lisboa in Portugal, with whom she also appeared as concerto soloist. Since moving to the Bay Area in 1998, Monica has been actively promoting new music, as a member of the composer/improviser collective sfSoundGroup, and performing with Composers’ Inc., the Composers Alliance, and in numerous chamber music groups; she was the cellist of the award-winning San Francisco-based Del Sol String Quartet from 2001-2005. In 2006 Monica formed the cello-piano duo martha & monica with pianist Hadley McCarroll. They perform regularly throughout the region, presenting ambitious programs of masterworks and challenging contemporary repertoire. Monica is also a devoted teacher, and has especially enjoyed sharing her fascination for the structure and development of the language of music through the ages with her music history classes.
Monicascott.net
Bio added 2023 ♪ ♪ Workshop: Mar 2023

Patricia Shands, clarinet, has appeared to popular and critical acclaim throughout the United States, South America, and Europe. Her performances have been applauded by the critics of such publications as The New Yorker, The Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, Il Giornale (Milan), Fanfare, and The American Record Guide.
    In 1994, she was a featured soloist for composer Luciano Berio’s presentation of the Charles Eliot Norton Lectures at Harvard University. She has appeared at the music festivals festivals of Interharmony and Spoleto (Italy), the Hawaii Performing Arts Festival, Música no Museu (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), Round Top, Chautauqua, Bear Valley, Bellingham, and the National Repertory Orchestra as well as the Wellesley Composers Conference, the New Hampshire Music Festival, the Festival of New American Music in Sacramento, and the April in Santa Cruz New Music Festival.
    A prizewinner in the Concert Artists Guild Competition, Dr. Shands has collaborated in chamber music performances with many of the finest musicians of today and she performed with the Kodály and Stamic Quartets on their American tours. She currently is a member of the Trois Bois Wind Trio and the Pacific Arts Woodwind Quintet, and she was a founding member of the award-winning Block Ensemble.
Patricia Shands
Bio added 2023 ♪ ♪ Workshop: Mar 2023

Thomas Stauffer, cello,
Professor Emeritus of Music at San Diego State University, is a native of Napa County. His first concerto appearance was with the Napa Symphony in 1963. He studied with Margaret Rowell and Gabor Rejto before moving to Europe where he was a Fulbright Fellow in cello at the Music Academy of Zagreb, Croatia and a Student extraordinar in composition at the Academy for Music and Dramatic Arts in Vienna. After returning to the United States, he taught at a number of Bay Area universities from 1976 to 1984 during which time he also served as principal cellist of the Santa Rosa Symphony under Corrick Brown. He was appointed to the faculty at San Diego State University in 1984 and spent twelve years as the principal cellist of the San Diego Chamber orchestra.
Bio added 2019 ♪ ♪ Workshop: several, including June 2019, June 2023

Jeffrey Sykes, piano.
Acclaimed by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung as "a commanding solo player, the most supportive of accompanists, and a leader in chamber music," pianist Jeffrey Sykes has performed across four continents and collaborates regularly with leading instrumentalists and singers. Last fall he gave a recital on Chicago’s prestigious Dame Myra Hess concert series, and he recently returned from a tour of France that culminated in performances of French solo and chamber music at the Musée des Impressionismes in Giverny, home of Claude Monet.
    Together with violinist Axel Strauss and cellist Jean-Michel Fonteneau, Sykes is a founding member of the San Francisco Piano Trio, an ensemble noted for its virtuosic interpretations of works ranging from the trios of Haydn and Beethoven to those of Leon Kirchner and Astor Piazzolla. He is the co-founder and artistic co-director of the Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society of Wisconsin (www.bachdancing.org), a highly-acclaimed and innovative chamber music festival now in its twenty-ninth season. The festival is noted for integrating dance, drama, and visual art into the concert setting and creating an approach to chamber music that makes it more easily accessible to audiences. He is a regular guest artist with the Brooklyn Chamber Music Society; the Cactus Pear Music Festival and the Olmos Ensemble in San Antonio, Texas; and Music in the Vineyards in Napa Valley, California; and in 2007, he served as the guest artistic director of Music in the Vineyards. He has recorded for the Albany, CRI, Mandala, Centaur, and Cactus Pear record labels, and in spring of 2018 released the world premiere recording of Kevin Puts' song cycle In at the Eye on the Albany label.
    For eighteen years, Dr. Sykes served as the Music Director of Opera for the Young, a preeminent producer and presenter of opera for children that has introduced more than two million children to opera. He teaches piano, voice, and chamber music at the University of California at Berkeley and California State University, East Bay. He coaches regularly for CMNC and ACMP and coaches chamber music groups across the Bay Area. A recipient of the Jacob Javits Fellowship from the United States Department of Education, he completed his doctorate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Bio added 2019 ♪ ♪ Workshop: several, including Oct 2019, Sept 2023

Alicia Telford, horn
    A native of Northern California, Alicia completed her college studies when she moved to San Francisco to attend the San Francisco Conservatory of Music where she studied with David Krehbiel, Principal Horn with the SF Symphony, then San Francisco State University for further studies with Bill Klingelhoffer, Principal Horn with the SF Opera.
    Ms. Telford has performed at major music festivals in the United States and abroad, including the Tanglewood Music Center, Music Academy of the West, Sun Valley Music Festival, La Biennale di Venezia, Luzern Festival, BBC Proms and the Edinburgh Festival.
    In addition to her orchestral work, Alicia has been a featured soloist with the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra, Diablo Wind Symphony and SF Contemporary Music Players. She enjoys performing contemporary music and has premiered works by well-known 20th and 21st century composers with ECOensemble, SF Contemporary Music Players, Empyrean Ensemble and Left Coast Ensemble.
    A dedicated educator, Ms. Telford is on the Horn faculty of California State University East Bay, UC Berkeley and Saint Mary’s College. She is a music mentor for the San Francisco Symphony’s education program and the Berkeley High School music program.
    Throughout the Summer of 2020, Alicia and her husband Jeff played Piano and Horn concerts each evening from their deck for their neighborhood. When not playing the Horn, Alicia loves to garden, read and hike with Jeff and their dog, Sophie.
Alicia Telford
Bio added 2023 ♪ ♪ Workshop: Mar 2023, June 2024

Ilana Blumberg Thomas, violin. Since her professional solo debut at age fifteen, Ilana Blumberg Thomas has appeared across the United States and internationally. Highlights have included solo appearances with the San Francisco Symphony and the Albany Symphony (NY), as well as performances at the prestigious Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, the Marlboro Music Festival, the La Jolla Summerfest as a ‘Rising Star’, the Aspen Music Festival, and many others. Ms. Thomas was a three-time fellowship award recipient at the Tanglewood Music Center, where she was rewarded the C.D. Jackson Memorial Prize for outstanding musicianship.
    As an orchestral musician, Ms. Thomas served as a tenured member of the first violin section of the Springfield Symphony Orchestra (MA) from 1996-2005. Ms. Thomas also served as the associate concertmaster of the Albany Symphony Orchestra for seven seasons, including one as acting concertmaster. She has additionally performed as a member of the NYC chamber orchestra Philharmonia Virtuosi, with whom she toured internationally, the Modesto Symphony Orchestra, where she currently serves as assistant concertmaster, the Sacramento Philharmonic, Symphony Silicon Valley, the Marin Symphony, and the California Symphony. Current chamber music projects include regular performances as a member of Golden Gate Music.
    As an educator, Ms. Thomas has maintained a private music studio for the past twenty years, and was formerly an adjunct faculty member at the State University of New York (SUNY) Albany.
Bio added 2019 ♪ ♪ Workshop: Feb 2019

Margaret Thornhill, clarinet, is an artist/teacher of clarinet in Los Angeles who has performed as a clarinet soloist in the United States and Europe. Margaret was for ten years founder/director and clarinetist with the Matrix Chamber Ensemble, a Los Angeles-based 20th century group which won numerous local, state and national grants and awards, was selected for the touring roster of the California Arts Council, and performed for Community Concerts. She collaborates as a chamber musician with Los Angeles Philharmonic, recording studio and LA Opera principals, and is a member of "Category V", a woodwind quintet with oboist David Kossoff, bassoonist John Campbell, hornist Nathan Campbell, and flutist Julie Long. She frequently performs as a duo with pianist Twyla Meyer.
    A native of California, Margaret holds degrees from the University of California and Stanford University, where she earned a DMA in performance practice. Her principal clarinet teacher was the legendary Rosario Mazzeo, with whom she studied for nine years and was his assistant for two. She also studied with Leon Russianoff, of the Juilliard School, with David Breeden, late principal of the San Francisco Symphony, and historical clarinet Colin Lawson, now head of the Royal College of Music.
    A former member of the faculty of UCSC and Stanford University, Margaret was for five years professor of instrumental music at Occidental College, and is Adjunct Professor of Clarinet at Concordia University, Irvine. She coaches chamber music for CMNC (SF Bay Area) and the Chamber Music Society of Santa Barbara, and in the past for the San Diego Chamber Music Workshop and the Cabrillo Summer Academy. In 2006, she founded the the Claremont Clarinet Festival, where she is the master teacher in a summer workshop for advanced adult players in residence at Pomona College the first week of June. She conducts clarinet masterclasses throughout California, and teaches private clarinet lessons to advanced students in her Los Angeles studio, many of whom typically describe their lessons as "transforming."
Bio added 2019 ♪ ♪ Workshop: several, including Feb 2019

Tanya Tomkins, cello
    Artistic Director and Co-Founder of the Valley of the Moon Music Festival, cellist Tanya Tomkins is equally at home on Baroque and modern instruments. She has performed on many chamber music series to critical acclaim, including the Frick Collection, “Great Performances” at Lincoln Center, the 92nd Street Y, San Francisco Performances, and the Concertgebouw Kleine Zaal.
    She is renowned in particular for her interpretation of the Bach Cello Suites, having recorded them for the Avie label and performed them many times at venues such as New York’s Le Poisson Rouge, Seattle Early Music Guild, Vancouver Early Music Society, and The Library of Congress.
    Tanya is one of the principal cellists in San Francisco’s Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and Portland Baroque Orchestra. She is also a member of several groups including Voices of Music and the Benvenue Fortepiano Trio (with Monica Huggett and Eric Zivian). On modern cello, she is a long-time participant at the Moab Music Festival in Utah, Music in the Vineyards in Napa, and a member of the Left Coast Chamber Ensemble. As an educator, Tanya has given master classes at Yale, Juilliard, and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and is devoted to mentoring the next generation of chamber musicians through the Apprenticeship Program at the Valley of the Moon Music Festival.
Tanyatomkins.com
Bio added 2023 ♪ ♪ Workshop: Mar 2023

Dale Tsang, piano, began her piano studies at the age of four. As a child she won numerous competitions, and performed her concerto debut with orchestra at the age of ten. While still in high school, she gave her first concert series under the auspices of the Young Artists’ Guild, performing solo recitals throughout California. She earned her BM in piano performance from the University of Southern California, her MM from the University of Michigan, and her DMA from Rice University.
    A winner of numerous competitions, she has performed at the Aspen Music Festival, the Holland Music Sessions and the Sarasota Music Festival. Dale is a faculty member at Laney College, teaches an inspiring assortment of adult students, serves as a competition adjudicator for many local and statewide piano competitions, and frequently performs locally and in Europe and Asia. She is a core member of the Ensemble for These Times, focusing on 20th and 21st century music that is relevant, engaging, original, and compelling. She is also a mother to two wonderful young children.
Bio added 2019 ♪ ♪ Workshop: Feb 2019

Sandy Wilson, cello. A native of Northumberland, England, Sandy Wilson completed his graduate studies at the Royal Danish Conservatory in Copenhagen as a recipient of two Danish Government Scholarships and the Sophus Berendsen Award. While performing as a member of the Royal Chapel Orchestra, he studied composition with Niels Vigo Bentzon and cello with Erling Blöndal-Bengtsson. Mr. Wilson was principal cellist at the age of 21 in the Allgemeine Musikgesellschaft Orchestra in Lucerne, Switzerland, at which time he also performed extensively in duo recital with Swiss pianist, Hedy Salquin. In 1979 Mr. Wilson moved to the United States, completing a degree at Yale University as a student of Aldo Parisot, Otto Werner Mueller and the Tokyo Quartet. He cofounded the Alexander String Quartet in 1981 and has since lived in this country, devoting most of his energies to the development of the Quartet. Mr. Wilson has written and frequently participates on panel debates on the subject of chamber music residency development and presentation. He currently serves as an elected board member of Chamber Music America and is a member of the California Cello Club.
Bio added 2019 ♪ ♪ Workshop: many, including Oct 2018, Feb 2019, Oct 2019

Daniel Wood, horn,
is a performer, composer, educator and musical entrepreneur. Prior to joining Avenue Winds, he received his musical training from the University of California, Los Angeles. He is the chair of Musicianship and Composition at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Preparatory Division. His music favors small ensembles, including brass, wind and string chamber music, steel drum ensembles and jazz combos with commissions from Avenue Winds, CSMA Brass, and members of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. He is also a member of Quadre – The Voice of Four Horns and has performed over 1,000 concerts with them and composed for their 4 albums. He writes and performs solo shows as an improvisational musician. As a freelance musician, he has played with chamber ensembles, symphonies, opera & ballet companies and new music groups. Daniel lectures on the “Business of Music” and runs Solid Wood Publishing, offering over 150 titles of horn music. He is the Northern CA rep. for the International Horn Society.
Bio added 2019 ♪ ♪ Workshop: June 2019

Paul Yarbrough, viola, is a native of Clearwater, Florida, and a founding member of the Alexander String Quartet. Mr. Yarbrough’s teachers have included Elaine Lee Richey, Lillian Fuchs, Raymond Page, and Sally Peck. A frequent soloist with orchestras, he has also given numerous solo recitals throughout the United States and was principal violist of the Chamber Orchestra of New England. In 1995, Mr. Yarbrough and his Quartet colleagues received Honorary Doctorates of Fine Arts from Allegheny College for their service to the arts and education and a Honorary Degree from St. Lawrence University. Mr. Yarbrough serves on the board of the San Francisco Friends of Chamber Music.
Bio added 2019 ♪ ♪ Workshop: many, including Oct 2018, Oct 2019

Eric Zivian, piano, was born in Michigan and grew up in Toronto, Canada, where he attended the Royal Conservatory of Music. After receiving a diploma there, he left home at age fifteen to attend the Curtis Institute of Music, where he received a Bachelor of Music degree. He went on to receive graduate degrees from the Juilliard School and the Yale School of Music. He studied piano with Gary Graffman and Peter Serkin and composition with Ned Rorem, Jacob Druckman, and Martin Bresnick. He attended the Tanglewood Music Center both as a performer and as a composer.
    Mr. Zivian has given solo recitals in Toronto, New York, Philadelphia, and the San Francisco Bay Area. He has played concertos with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Santa Rosa Symphony, the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and the Portland Baroque orchestra. Since 2000, Mr. Zivian has performed extensively on original instruments. He is a member of the Zivian-Tomkins Duo, a fortepiano-cello duo that has performed throughout the United States. He is also a member of the Left Coast Chamber Ensemble and has performed with the Empyrean Ensemble and Earplay. He is a frequent guest artist on the San Francisco Conservatory's faculty chamber music series.
    Mr. Zivian's compositions have been performed widely in the United States and in Tokyo, Japan. He was awarded an ASCAP Jacob Druckman Memorial Commission to compose an orchestral work, Three Character Pieces, which was premiered by the Seattle Symphony in March 1998.
Bio added 2019 ♪ ♪ Workshop: several, including June 2022, Mar & Sept 2023, March 2024

Ryan Zwahlen, oboe
In the summer of 2014, oboist Ryan Zwahlen relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area from Southern California. Since arriving in the Bay Area, he’s quickly become a fixture in the music scene. He performs regularly with Opera San Jose, San Jose Chamber Orchestra, One Found Sound, Santa Cruz Symphony and Ballet, and Symphony Silicon Valley. He’s also performed with the Oakland Symphony, Marin Symphony, Pacific Chamber Symphony, Santa Rosa Symphony, California Symphony, Merced Symphony, among others. While in Southern California, he performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic multiple times, recorded and performed with the San Diego Symphony, and performed with numerous orchestras, ballets, and operas. An avid chamber musician, Ryan has been a member of the Vientos Trio (winner of the 2011 Beverly Hills Auditions), West Coast Wind Quintet (Finalist in the 2013 San Diego Chamber Music Competition), Definiens, Santa Monica Symphony Wind Quintet, and many more. Ryan studied oboe with Nancy Ambrose King, Martin Shuring, and Marion Kuszyk.
Bio added 2019 ♪ ♪ Workshop: June 2019