Andrew Schwartz

Andrew Schwartz (bassoon) has a wide-ranging career, encompassing frequent appearances with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Jazz recordings with Wynton Marsalis. He has also appeared with such ensembles as the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, the Orpheus Ensemble, the New York Chamber Symphony, and with many of the finest period-instrument ensembles, such as Boston’s Handel and Haydn Society, San Francisco’s Philharmonia Baroque, and the Wien Akademie in Austria. His extensive catalogue of recordings includes Mozart’s complete works for wind ensemble on the Decca/L’oiseau Lyre label.

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Gil Shohat

Artistic Director/Chief Conductor – Israel Chamber Orchestra

Head of Music – Israel Festival, Jerusalem

Both at home and abroad, audiences and critics alike regard the youthful Gil Shohat as one of the leading Israeli musicians of his generation. All three of Israel’s major newspapers have declared Shohat to be “The most important and influential personality in classical music in Israel.”

He is the composer of nine large-scale symphonies, ten concertos for various instruments, three operas, various oratorios, cantatas, solo vocal pieces, and dozens of chamber and piano pieces, as well as the performer of more than 80 concerts a year worldwide, both as conductor and pianist. He is the Artistic Director of the Israel Festival and former Artistic Director of the Israel Chamber Orchestra.

Shohat came to local and international attention with his opera Alpha and Omega (2001) – the largest original opera production ever staged in Israel – receiving enthusiastic reviews worldwide. This was followed by the operas Tyre and Jerusalem (2002) and Badenheim (2005); Shohat has also written musical and theater pieces for children, including the musical Max and Moritz (2004). All these compositions have enjoyed world premieres, with most receiving repeat performances throughout Israel as well as Europe.

Gil Shohat was born in Israel in 1973. He began his musical studies at the age of 7, and by 12 was composing and performing his own piano pieces. Shohat’s first orchestral composition was commissioned by the Israel Chamber Orchestra when he was just 18. He is a graduate of the Israel Conservatory of Music, Tel Aviv (1984-1990). He received his first and second degrees (BM, MM) from the Mehta-Buchman School of Music at Tel Aviv University (1991-1995) and holds two post-graduate diplomas (piano and composition) from the Santa Cecilia National Academy in Rome (1995-1997). He pursued advanced studies with Prof. Alexander Goehr of Cambridge University in England (1997-1998). All of his degrees were awarded summa cum laude.

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Harumi Rhodes

Harumi Rhodes - Violin

A leading young artist of today, violinist Harumi Rhodes has been performing extensively with some of the most prestigious musicians worldwide. Having just completed her residency at Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society II, she has also joined the Boston, Philadelphia, Minnesota, and Seattle Chamber Music Societies. As an avid supporter of contemporary music, Rhodes had a solo violin piece dedicated to her by composer Benjamin Lees. She has also recorded Milton Babbitt's Sixth String Quartet and performed at Zankel Hall in a tribute to George Perle.

As a member of the Marlboro Music Festival, Rhodes has toured with "Musicians from Marlboro," giving concerts at New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art, Washington D.C.'s Freer Gallery, Philadelphia's Convention Center, and Boston's Isabella Gardner Museum. In addition, Rhodes has performed with the Walden Chamber Players, the North Country Chamber Players, the Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival, and the Saito Kinen Festival in Japan.

Rhodes received her Bachelor of Music from The Juilliard School studying with Ronald Copes, Earl Carlyss, and Shirley Givens. She then received her Master of Music from the New England Conservatory studying with Donald Weilerstein and graduated with the highest honor as the recipient of the Gunther Schuller Award.

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Jean-François Latour

The vibrant young Canadian pianist Jean-François Latour has established a reputation as a poetic and imaginative artist with brilliant technique and a strong personal voice who can communicate across cultures and generations. Leon Fleisher, with whom he studied at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, calls Latour “a highly gifted and intelligent young artist with fine musical instincts.” Recognized as one of Canada's most talented young pianists, Jean-François Latour has performed throughout Canada at major venues such as the Institut Canadien in Québec City, the National Arts Center in Ottawa, and the Place des Arts in Montréal and in many major cities of Europe and North America, including Paris, Toulouse, Geneva, Hamburg, Brussels, Washington, D.C., Baltimore and Chicago. He was named Young Soloist of the Year 1998 by the French Language Public Radio Network, and as a result, Latour's performances have been broadcast by the Radio Suisse-Romande, Italian National Radio-RAI, Belgian Radio-Television, and the Société Radio-Canada.

Jean-François Latour made his orchestral debut at the age of eleven with the Orchestre Symphonique de Trois-Rivières. Since then, he has performed with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the Victoria Symphony, the Orchestre Métropolitain du Grand Montréal, the Orchestre Symphonique de Québec, the Hilton Head Orchestra and the Orchestre Symphonique de la Montérégie among others. He has played under the direction of Timothy Vernon, Christopher Wilkins, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Victor Pull, Marc David, Christopher Warren-Green, and Lara Webber. His festival appearances include the Orford Music Festival, the Festival d'été de Québec, the Festival du Domaine Forget, the Festival de Lanaudière, the Fontana Chamber Music Festival in Michigan, and the Vermont Mozart Festival. As a chamber musician, Latour has collaborated with Alain Trudel, Philippe Magnan, Yehonatan Berick, and the Pacifica Quartet.

In 2005, Latour played the piano on stage in performances of Les 24 Préludes de Chopin by the Marie Chouinard Dance Company in both Tokyo and Montréal. He also made his debut of China with a recital and master classes at the Wuhan Conservatory of Music. A documentary film of his visit was made for national broadcast.

His first recording, released in 2007 by ATMA Classique, was all-Chopin.

Latour's honors include several first prizes in the Canadian Music Competition, a top prize in the Stepping Stones Competition, and first prize in the Concours National de Piano de Sucy-en-Brie in France. He served as a member of the jury for the 2004 and 2007 Canadian Music Competition.

In May 2002, Latour completed the prestigious Artist Diploma program at the Peabody Conservatory of Music, where he was a full scholarship student of Leon Fleisher. He also holds a Graduate Performance Diploma from Peabody and an Artist Diploma from the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, where he was a student of Marc Durand and Leon Fleisher. He earned his Bachelor's and Master's degrees at the University of Montréal, where he studied with Marc Durand. Latour has also worked with John Perry, André Laplante, Ellen Mack, Marek Jablonsky and Gilbert Kalish.

Latour, who resides in Montreal, teaches piano at the Université de Sherbrooke. He is the recipient of a Career Grant from the Canadian Council for the Arts.

Visit the Jean-François Latour web site

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John Tiranno

American tenor John Tiranno has proven to be a versatile artist throughout the United States and in Canada with repertoire spanning the Baroque, Classical, Verismo, and Contemporary genres. The New York Times has called his singing “ardent and mellifluous” and Seen and Heard International labeled him a “very good” Alfredo in La Traviata.

2009 engagements include Haydn’s Theresienmesse (Distinguished Concerts International New York), 2nd Jew in Salome (Toledo Opera), Puccini Gala Concerts (Harrisburg Opera Association), Haydn’s Creation (Vermont Mozart Festival), Wolf-Ferrari Gala Concert (Teatro Grattacielo), the roles of Moussah and Ferkamnat in Fervaal (American Symphony Orchestra), Dr. Caius in Falstaff (Toledo Opera), and Handel’s Messiah (Dayton Philharmonic and Vermont Mozart Festival). For 2010 his schedule consists of Belmonte in Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail (Concert Opera of Philadelphia) and Totonno in Wolf-Ferrari’s I Gioielli della Madonna (Teatro Grattacielo) in addition to return appearances with Light Opera of New York, the Vermont Mozart Festival, and the National Academy Orchestra of Canada.

His 2008 appearances included the aforementioned Alfredo in Verdi’s La Traviata (Granite State Opera), Frederic in Pirates of Penzance, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, and Bach’s Christmas Oratorio (all with the Vermont Mozart Festival), as well as a Gala Concert with the National Academy Orchestra of Canada.

His 2007 schedule included Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 in Hamilton, Ontario (The National Academy Orchestra of Canada), his Avery Fisher Hall debut singing L’Indovino in Leoni’s L’Oracolo (Teatro Grattacielo), a return to Carnegie Hall as tenor soloist in Imant Raminsh’s The Peace of Wild Things (a New York Premiere with MidAmerica Productions), Marco in The Gondoliers (Vermont Mozart Festival), Handel’s Messiah in Newark, NJ (The Discovery Orchestra, formerly The Philharmonic Orchestra of New Jersey), and Arturo in Lucia di Lammermoor (Connecticut Grand Opera).

2006 highlights include Lord Tolloller in Iolanthe (Nashville Opera), Beppe in Pagliacci (New York Grand Opera), Mozart’s Missa Brevis, K.275 (MidAmerica Productions), Giacomino in La Farsa Amorosa (Teatro Grattacielo), and Opera Gala concerts with Boheme Opera of New Jersey and The National Academy Orchestra of Canada.

Other credits include the world premiere of Gregory Walker’s The Passion According to St. Toscanini (Boulder Philharmonic), the title role in Gounod’s Faust (Opera in the Heights), Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni (Opera Colorado), as well as appearances with Sarasota Opera, Lake George Opera, Augusta Opera, and the Ash Lawn Opera. Mr. Tiranno holds a BM from S.U.N.Y. Fredonia, and a MM from West Virginia University, both in Vocal Performance.

John Tiranno currently resides in New York City.

Visit the John Tiranno web site

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Marc Schachman

Oboist MARC SCHACHMAN was born in Berkeley, California and received his education at Stanford University and the Juilliard School where he was awarded the B.S., M.S., and D.M.A. degrees. He has performed as soloist and principal oboe with "original instrument" orchestras throughout America including Philharmonia Baroque (San Francisco), Handel and Haydn Society and Boston Baroque (Boston), Smithsonian Chamber Orchestra (Washington) and The American Classical Orchestra (New York). He is a founding member of the Helicon Winds, and performs often with groups such as Aston Magna, Orchestra of St. Lukes and the New York Chamber Soloists. His recordings can be heard on the MHS/Musicmasters, Harmonia Mundi, Sony, L'Oiseau-Lyre, and Nonesuch labels. He has served on the faculties of Vassar College and the Oberlin Baroque Performance Institute, and has given masterclasses and workshops in baroque performance practice at the Juilliard School, Curtis Institute, and at universities throughout the U.S. He is currently on the faculty at Boston University in the department of Historical Performance.

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Menahem Pressler

Honored and decorated by the French and German governments with the highest honors those countries award to civilians, Menahem Pressler was made a Commander of Arts and Letters by France, and from Germany received the Deutsche Bundesdienstverkreuz, Erste Klasse. A famous solo pianist as well as a founding member of the Beaux Arts Trio, he has established himself among the world’s most distinguished and honored musicians, with a career that spans more than five decades. Both an outstanding chamber and solo performer, Pressler’s talents have brought him to all of the world’s major music capitals. His musical precision and overwhelming knowledge of piano and chamber music literature have also gained him an international reputation as a remarkable teacher.

Born in Magdeburg, Germany, in 1923, Menahem Pressler received most of his musical training in Israel, to which his family, fleeing the Nazis, immigrated in 1939. His career was launched after he was awarded first prize at the Debussy International Piano Competition in San Francisco in 1946. This was followed by his successful American debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra under the baton of Maestro Eugene Ormandy, and appearances with the New York, Washington, Cleveland, Chicago, Pittsburgh, London, and Paris Symphony Orchestras. He also became a recording artist for MGM. Since then, Pressler’s extensive tours of North America and Europe have included performances with the orchestras of New York, Chicago, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Dallas, San Francisco, London, Paris, Brussels, Oslo, Helsinki, and many others.

In 1955 he co-founded the Beaux Arts Trio with Daniel Guilet and Bernard Greenhouse. It became one of the most enduring and widely acclaimed chamber music ensembles, and has been credited with giving rise to the enormous popularity of the piano trio repertoire. The Trio had a worldwide schedule of over 100 concerts per year, and recorded and re-recorded almost the entire piano chamber music literature. The Trio had its final performance at Tanglewood – where the Trio had its debut in 1955 – on August 21, 2008.

When not on tour or teaching master classes, Pressler can be found in his studio at Indiana University in Bloomington, where he holds the rank of Distinguished Professor. In 1994, Pressler was honored with Chamber Music America’s Distinguished Service Award and in 1998 he received the prestigious Gramophone Lifetime Achievement Award. Menahem Pressler was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in October 2000.

Visit the Menahem Pressler web site

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Robert White

The singing of tenor Robert White is applauded by audiences in prestigious concert halls around the world, including Carnegie Hall, London’s Wingmore Hall and Westminster Abbey. He has sung for five U.S. Presidents, England’s and Monaco’s Royal Families, as well as for Pope John Paul II.

White’s lifelong artistic versatility is expressed in a vast range of song and performance. He performs in festivals from New York to Prague, with major orchestras and in chamber music series, in recital on tours throughout America, Europe and the Far East, and in operatic and concert repertoire ranging from baroque and Mozart operas to 20th century composers.

He has been a member of the voice faculty of The Juilliard School of Music since 1992. Last spring, Juilliard honored him with the William Schumann Scholars Chair. In addition to his position on the Juilliard voice faculty, White is a member of the Director’s Council of the New York City Opera.

White’s frequent appearances on BBC radio and television led to his own BBC series, and he has recorded more than a dozen solo albums. Recent CDs include Hyperion’s “Bird Songs at Eventide” with pianist Stephen Hough; Irving Berlin Songs and duets with in “Berlin Lieder” with Marilyn Horne and pianist Dick Hyman, plus the RCA/BMG “Great Irish Tenors” series, featuring Robert White, John McCormack and Frank Patterson. Another solo CD is entitled “Songs of Lowell Liebermann,” with the distinguished composer at the piano.

White was born into a New York family that enjoys a strong tradition of song. As a youngster, White sang on New York radio with such luminaries of his childhood as Bing Crosby, Fred Allen, Frank Sinatra, Humphrey Bogart, Beatrice Lillie, and Kate Smith. He went on to earn a Master’s degree in voice from The Julliard School. Further studies in Europe have given the tenor fluency in six languages.

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Scott Thornburg

Scott Thornburg has been Principal Trumpet with the New York City Symphony, the Summerfare Opera Festival Orchestra at SUNY-Purchase, the Philharmonia Virtuosi, the Stamford Symphony, Musica Sacra, the New York Chamber Players, and the Hartford Symphony Orchestra.

As Principal Trumpet with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s Scott performed at the Caramoor Festival and he has toured South America, Europe, and the United States with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra.

Scott is a member of the New York Trumpet Ensemble, and has performed with the Canadian Brass, Parnassus, the New York Brass, and the American Brass Quintet.

Thornburg was featured as soloist with Philharmonia Virtuosi, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and the Juilliard Symphony.

His teachers have included William Vacchiano, Gilbert Johnson, Raymond Mase, Richard Giangiulio, and Mel Broiles.

Thornburg can heard on Centaur Records CD recordings with pianist Silvia Roederer.

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Steve Wilson

STEVE WILSON has earned a prominent position on the bandstand and in the studio with the greatest names in jazz, as well as critical acclaim as a bandleader in his own right. A musician’s musician, Wilson has brought his distinctive sound to more than 100 recordings led by such celebrated and wide-ranging artists as Chick Corea, George Duke, Michael Brecker, Dave Holland, Dianne Reeves, Bill Bruford, Gerald Wilson, Maria Schneider, Joe Henderson, Charlie Byrd, Billy Childs, Karrin Allyson, Don Byron, Bill Stewart, James Williams, and Mulgrew Miller among many others. Wilson has seven recordings under his own name, leading and collaborating with such stellar musicians as Lewis Nash, Carl Allen, Steve Nelson, Cyrus Chestnut, Greg Hutchinson, Dennis Irwin, James Genus, Larry Grenadier, Ray Drummond, Ben Riley, and Nicholas Payton.

A native of Hampton, Virginia, Wilson began his formal training at age 12. Playing saxophone, oboe, and drums in school bands, he also played in various R&B and funk bands throughout his teens, and went on to a year-long stint with singer Stephanie Mills. He then decided to major in music at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, affording him opportunities to perform and/or study with Jimmy and Percy Heath, Jon Hendricks, Jaki Byard, John Hicks, Frank Foster and Ellis Marsalis. In 1986, he landed a chair with O.T.B (Out of the Blue), a sextet of promising young players recording on Blue Note Records. In 1987 he moved to New York and the following year toured the US and Europe with Lionel Hampton. Becoming a first-call choice for veteran and emerging artists alike, Wilson was the subject of a New York Times profile “A Sideman’s Life”, highlighting his work with Ralph Peterson, Jr., Michele Rosewoman, Renee Rosnes, Marvin “Smitty” Smith, Joanne Brackeen, The American Jazz Orchestra, The Mingus Big Band, The Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra, Leon Parker, and Buster Williams’ Quintet “Something More”. In 1996 he joined the acclaimed Dave Holland Quintet, and from 1998-2001 he was a member of Chick Corea’s Grammy winning sextet “Origin”.

Having been cited by his peers in a New York Times poll as one of the artists most likely to break out [on his own] as an established leader, Wilson recorded four CDs (New York Summit, Step Lively, Blues for Marcus and Four For Time) on the Criss Cross label. He then debuted on Stretch Records with Generations, his multi-generational quartet with Mulgrew Miller, Ray Drummond and Ben Riley. His second Stretch release Passages features his working quartet–Bruce Barth, Ed Howard and Adam Cruz, and special guest Nicholas Payton. Containing nine original compositions Passages established Wilson as a leader whose vision reveres the past, creates a soundscape of the present, and reaches toward the future.

Wilson’s most recent recording Soulful Song, was released by MAXJAZZ in June 2003. It features his quartet and special guests Rene Marie, Carla Cook, Phillip Manuel, James Genus, Billy Kilson, Paul Bollenback and Wilson “Chembo” Corniel. The recording, which is the debut of the MAXJAZZ horn series, issues forth a powerful and provocative performance from these dynamic and versatile artists. As Wilson explains, ”It’s a tribute Black radio, as it was called then, that was particularly inclusive in its programming and a galvanizing force in the community. On the same station one could hear R&B, jazz, blues, gospel, comedy, local news and affairs, and social commentary”. In addition to new original material the program includes songs by Stevie Wonder, Chick Corea, Abbey Lincoln, Gil Scott Heron, Earth, Wind & Fire, Patrice Rushen, and The Staple Singers.

Wilson was a featured guest with Dr. Billy Taylor in his series “Jazz at the Kennedy Center” which is broadcast on NPR. He was artistic consultant to Harvey Keitel for the film "Lulu On The Bridge” as well as being featured on the soundtrack. He has been Artist-In-Residence at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Hamilton College, Old Dominion University, and for the 2002/2003 season with the award winning arts organization CITYFOLK in Dayton, Ohio which included the performance of a commissioned work. He has been a featured performer, panelist, and clinician at conferences of the International Association of Jazz Educators, Association of Performing Arts Presenters, and Chamber Music of America. Wilson was honored with the Marc Crawford Jazz Educator Award from New York University in 2001, and the Virginia Jazz Award 2003 Musician of the Year presented by the Richmond Jazz Society, recognizing his outstanding service in the advancement of jazz and education in their respective communities. Since 1997 he has been regularly cited in the Downbeat Magazine Critics and Readers Polls in the soprano and alto saxophone categories.

Wilson continues to tour with the Steve Wilson Quartet and Generations. He performs in duo with his long-time friend and colleague Lewis Nash, in the Lewis Nash/Steve Wilson duo. He is also a touring member of the Grammy winning Maria Schneider Jazz Orchestra, The Buster Williams Quartet, and Mulgrew Miller’s Wingspan. In July 2009, Wilson will make his orchestral debut performing the Villa Lobos Fantasia for Soprano Saxophone and Chamber Orchestra with the Vermont Mozart Festival Orchestra, conducted by Gil Shohat, at the Vermont Mozart Festival in Burlington, VT.

Wilson is on the faculty at The Manhattan School of Music, SUNY Purchase, and Columbia University, and is the Artist-in-Residence at the University of Manitoba, Winnipeg (Canada) for the 2008/2009 school year.

Visit the Steve Wilson web site

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Steven Doane

A member of the cello faculty at the Eastman School of Music since 1981, Steven Doane has earned an international reputation both as performer and teacher. Formerly principal cellist of the Milwaukee Symphony and Rochester Philharmonic, and a member of the Naumburg Award-winning New Arts Trio during the 1980s, Doane has since built a performance career as concerto soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician.

He travels frequently to the United Kingdom for recitals, clinics, and master classes, and has performed concertos in recent seasons in Edinburgh, Scotland, and Dublin, Ireland. Recital appearances with pianist Barry Snyder have included concerts at New York's Alice Tully Hall, Boston's Sanders Theater, two recitals at London's Wigmore Hall, and numerous other engagements in the United States and United Kingdom.

The second in a series of recordings for the Bridge label with Mr. Snyder (works by Benjamin Britten and Frank Bridge) won a 1996 NAIRD award from the US music press, and the Bridge Sonata was declared "the best performance on record" by BBC Music Magazine. An earlier disc on the Bridge label of the complete works for cello and piano by Fauré received a "Petit Diapason d'Or" from the French press.

Doane holds the Eisenhart Award for Excellence in Teaching from the Eastman School and the Piatigorsky Commendation for teaching excellence from the New England Conservatory. Appearances as guest teacher and performer have twice taken Doane to the Manchester International Cello Festival, and as guest artist and teacher to most of the major music colleges in England. He is also a regular professor and participant at the International Musician's Seminar in Cornwall, England.

Between 1995 and 1999, Doane was an Associate in Cello at the Royal College of Music in London, and, following a series of master classes at the Royal Academy in London, has been named visiting professor by that institution. In addition to his recordings on the Bridge label, Doane has recorded for Pantheon, Daedmon, Gasparo, and Sony.

Visit the Steven Doane web site