2010 Festival Musicians
Thursday, July 29 to Saturday, August 7th, 2010

Stephen Beus | Nicholas Canellakis | Eugenia Choi | Mara Gearman | Artur Girsky | Christopher Hahn | Simon James | Kevin Krentz | Martin Kuuskmann | Jonathan Lewis | Neil Miskey |Yuri Namkung | George Shangrow | Craig Sheppard | Jonathan Silvia | Jing Wang | Verne Windham | Lynette Westendorf

Stephen Beus, piano

“Mesmerizing… explosive… intelligent… he belongs on the world stage” (Salt Lake Tribune).  In the space of four months, American pianist Stephen Beus won first prize in the 2006 Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition, first place in the Vendome Prize International Competition (Lisbon) and he was awarded the Max I. Allen Fellowship of the American Pianists Association (Indianapolis).

As a result of winning the Juilliard School Concerto Competition Mr. Beus made his Carnegie Hall debut with the Juilliard Orchestra and James DePreist, playing Prokofiev Concerto No. 3. He has also performed as guest soloist with the Gulbenkian Symphony (Lisbon), Oxford Philomusica, the Tivoli Symphony (Copenhagen), the Northwest Sinfonietta (Seattle), the Royal Philharmonic of Morocco (Casablanca), the Vaasa Symphony Orchestra (Finland) as well as with the Hamburg, Indianapolis, Nashville, Santa Fe, Utah, Fort Worth, Tucson, Yakima, Bellevue, Salt Lake, Eastern Sierra, Corvallis and Walla Walla Symphonies.

Equally active as a soloist, Mr. Beus has performed in the Salle Gaveau and Salle Cortot (Paris), Merkin Hall, the Shanghai Oriental Arts Center, the Central Conservatory (Beijing), Teatro San Carlo (Naples), Carnegie Hall (Weill Recital Hall), the Queluz Palace (Lisbon) and has performed for the Dame Myra Hess and Fazioli Salon series (Chicago), the International Keyboard Institute and Festival (New York City) and has given recitals across the United States as well as in Kazakhstan, Russia, Finland, Denmark, Switzerland, Germany and Morocco. 

Mr. Beus was born and raised in eastern Washington.  After showing unusual talent at an early age, Mr. Beus began lessons at age 5 and made his orchestral debut four years later. He went on to win numerous national and international competitions throughout his youth, capturing the attention of both audiences and critics. Commenting on Mr. Beus’ competition success, Fanfare magazine writes: “In some ways Beus doesn’t fit the mold of the typical competition winner.  His playing is strikingly original and, despite his youth, he has an interpretive voice all his own… Above all, his playing is so natural as to seem effortless and the sound he produces has extraordinary richness and depth, not quite like anyone else’s.”

 Mr. Beus holds degrees from Whitman College and The Juilliard School where his teachers have included Leonard Richter and Robert McDonald. He has recorded on the Endeavor Classics and Harmonia Mundi labels.  Stephen Beus is a Steinway Artist. 

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Nicholas Canellakis, cello

Cellist Nicholas Canellakis has performed throughout the United States and Europe to critical acclaim.  In The New York Times his playing was praised as "impassioned," with "the audience seduced by Mr. Canellakis' rich, alluring tone."  In The New York Sun he was noted for his "eloquence and fire."

Mr. Canellakis is a member of the prestigious Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society Two.  He is also a member of Ensemble ACJW, in which he performs regularly at Carnegie Hall and brings music to New York City public schools.  He is on the faculty of the Manhattan School of Music Precollege.

Mr. Canellakis has performed at the festivals of Santa Fe, Ravinia, Music@Menlo, Sarasota, Verbier, Aspen, and Music from Angel Fire. A regular performer at Bargemusic in New York City, he has also concertized in venues such as Weill and Zankel Hall, Alice Tully Hall, the Kennedy Center, Jordan Hall, and Disney Hall.

Mr. Canellakis was a founding member of the Vertigo String Quartet, which received First Prize in the Musicatri International Competition in Italy in 2006. The group received a Barrymore Award by the Theatre Alliance of Philadelphia for unusual collaboration with the Arden Theatre in the production of the acclaimed play“>Opus. During the 2007-08 season, the Vertigo Quartet was in residence at Bargemusic and made its New York debut on the New School concert series.

Mr. Canellakis graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied with Orlando Cole and Peter Wiley and was principal cellist of the Curtis Symphony Orchestra. He holds a Masters degree from New England Conservatory, where he worked with Paul Katz and was the recipient of the Gregor Piatigorsky Award. Mr. Canellakis was a top prizewinner in the Johansen International Competition in Washington, D.C., and has been principal cellist of the New York String Orchestra and the Haddonfield Symphony.

Filmmaking is a special interest of Mr. Canellakis. He has produced, directed and written several short films. Mr. Canellakis lives in New York City, where he grew up.

Described by the world’s press as "a sensational force” (La République, France), and "a technical virtuoso" (Berliner Morgenpost, Germany), violinist Eugenia Choi has been attracting international recognition since her solo concerto debut with orchestra at age ten. Miss Choi regularly performs at major performing arts centers such as Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall in New York, Kimmel Center’s Verizon Hall in Philadelphia, Symphony Hall in Boston, Kravis Center in Palm Beach, Dame Myra Hess Series in Chicago, Benaroya Hall in Seattle, Vienna Saal-Mozarteum in Austria, Teatro Municipale in Santiago, Chile, Tokyo International Forum in Japan, Palais de Fontainebleau in France, and others worldwide.

In recent seasons, Miss Choi has performed as soloist with orchestras in Europe, Asia, North America, and South America, and has an upcoming tour with the National Broadcast Orchestra of Canada in the fall of 2010.  Her performances are often heard on BBC, CBC, Canal+, Sender Freies Berlin, Bravo!. An avid supporter of contemporary music, Miss Choi has given the world première performances of new works by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Roger Reynolds, a commissioned Canadian work by Allan Gordon Bell, and rediscovered Viennese serialist composer Adolph Loos. A particular highlight has been performances at Lincoln Center for Elliott Carter of his own solo violin works. Constantly expanding her musical milieu, she collaborates with a wide range of artists, including soprano Dawn Upshaw, tap artist Savion Glover, Lincoln Center’s “Great Performances” series, Ondine Musique in Paris, major motion picture recordings for 20th Century Fox and Sony Pictures, on tour as guest first violinist of the Borealis String Quartet and currently in the Monte Verdi String Quartet. She has also recorded in collaboration with the American String Project and the Turning Point Ensemble on MSR Classics and ATMA Classique labels.

Dedicated to community outreach through music, Eugenia has represented New York’s Lincoln Center for six years by bringing concerts to urban health-care facilities, and co-founded the ArtsWay Music Ambassadors program to present concerts at hospitals in Canada. Miss Choi is dedicated to bridging music, and art with nature conservation as founding chair of The Nature Conservancy’s  Young Professionals Board.  Eugenia was recently invited by National Geographic, Aspen Institute, and Lindblad Expeditions to perform concerts as part of an elite American delegation at a climate change summit in Norway alongside leaders in politics, business, and philanthropy including President Carter, Madeleine Albright, Ted Turner, CEOs and founders of Google, DuPont, eBay, and others. Highlights included performing for the Norwegian government in Oslo’s Nobel Peace Prize Hall, a concert on the Arctic ice filmed for National Geographic, and concerts for the dignitaries playing the 1714 Stradivarius “General Kyd” violin.

 Born in Canada from Korean parents, Miss Choi began the violin at age three. Her performing career was mentored at an early age by renowned concert violinist Ruggiero Ricci in Austria, and pianist-conductor Philippe Entremont in France, with whom she still collaborates. In 2007, she received a Doctorate degree in music from The Juilliard School as a C.V. Starr Foundation Fellow. Dr. Choi also holds Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from Juilliard and was a Government major at Dartmouth College.  In 2004, Dr. Choi was appointed Assistant Professor of Music at the University of British Columbia as one of the youngest members to join in the faculty’s history and in 2010 joined the violin faculty at New York University.  Miss Choi performs on a 1694 Stradivari violin and a 1699 Rogeri violin, both generously on loan from a private collector.

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Mara Gearman, viola

“A busy violist abut town” Mara Gearman is already accomplished in chamber music, orchestral, and solo settings. She regularly performs with the Seattle based mavericks the American String Project and Simple Measures. Upcoming concerts will include the Olympic Music Festival, Methow Music Festival, Eastern Music Festival, and a debut with the Barston String Quartet and pianist Simon Trcepski at Benaroya

Gearman won Principal Viola (at age twenty) with the former Haddonfield Symphony, and recently with the Kansas City Symphony.    Previously a tenured member of the  Oregon Symphony, Mara has been appointed Third Chair Viola with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra beginning 2009-2010.

As a solo performer Gearman has won awards at the Primrose and Tertis International Viola Competitions and performed solo compositions ranging from American Alan Shulman to Hungarian Miklos Rozca.  Mara recently perfomed Bartok Concerto with the New Symphony, BULGARIA, and is featured in Harold in Italy this fall with the Cascade Symphony.

 A graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, her primary teachers included Roberto Diaz, Pinchas Zukerman, and Karen Tuttle.  Gearman is a recent addition to the faculty of the Cornish College of the Arts, Seattle.

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Artur Girsky, violin

Artur Girsky, violinist, was born in Riga, Latvia into a family of violinists. He began playing violin at the age of five. He later entered the Special Music School in Riga studying for seven years, and moved to Moscow 1989 where he was accepted in the class of Prof. Maya Glezarova at the Moscow Central Music School. A year later Girsky won the third prize in International Violin Competition of Naples in Italy (Alberto Curci). From 1991 to 1993 he took part in a postgraduate program in Royal College of Music in London, working with Prof. Felix Andrievsky. After returning to Moscow, Girsky became the Concertmaster of the well known '' Moscow Soloists"' Chamber Orchestra under the baton of the world renowned violist Yuri Bashmet. In 1997 Girsky moved to the US where he joined Florida Orchestra in Tampa as Principal Second Violin. He has been a member of Seattle Symphony Orchestra since 2006.

Recent tours with the ODEONQUARTET include a trip to Odessa, Ukraine, and appearance with Gennady Filimonov as soloists with the Odessa Philharmonic at the Philharmonic Hall in Odessa, Ukraine.

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Christopher Hahn, piano

Christopher Hahn has performed as a solo and collaborative artist throughout North America and Europe.  As a guest of the American Embassy in Sarajevo, Dr. Hahn gave a concert tour of Bosnia-Herzgovenia with performances in Sarajevo, Banja Luka, and at the Luciano Pavarotti Center in Mostar.  The recitals were highly anticipated and elicited enthusiastic responses: “a stellar performance...combining technical proficiency with a mature musicality.”  [Vercernje Novosti, Sarajevo].

Christopher has been featured in recital at The Music Gallery in Toronto, the Methow Valley Chamber Music Festival, the National Saxophone Conference at Northwestern University, the International Horn Competition of America, and the Society of Composers, Inc. National and Regional Conferences.  He has been invited to present recitals and master classes at Interlochen Arts Academy, Stanford University, Ithaca College, North Carolina School of the Arts, Wilfrid Laurier University, Idaho State University, and the University of Wisconsin—Eau Claire.  Christopher will make his New York debut in March 2008 at Carnegie-Weill Recital Hall. 

He was honored to collaborate with the Metropolitan Opera’s Leona Mitchell in a performance for the Archbishop Desmond Tutu.  Christopher has also collaborated with such recognized artists as flutist Christina Jennings, trumpet/piano virtuoso Guy Few, pianist Lydia Brown, and Russian dissident poet, Evgeny Yevtushenko. An avid supporter of contemporary music, he was a winner of the NUMUS Chamber Music Competition for New Music in Canada.  At the composer’s behest, Christopher recently collaborated with Libby Larsen in a recording of her duet, Gavel Patter.

As a member of the CanAm Piano Duo, Christopher performs frequently with his duo partner, Karen Beres throughout the US and in Canada.  They perform a varied repertoire of new works and masterpieces of the twentieth century alongside more traditional works for the genre, and are actively involved in promoting and performing contemporary composers, including a recent commissioning project for two pianos and percussion from internationally renowned composer David Maslanka.  Please visit www.canampianoduo.com for more information.

Christopher is an assistant professor of piano at the University of Montana where he teaches applied and group piano, pedagogy, accompanying, and is the artistic director of the UM Contemporary Chamber Players.

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Simon James, violin

Australian violinist Simon James performed around the world as a soloist and chamber musician. He has been a member of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Mostly Mozart Orchestra, and is currently the Second Assistant Concertmaster of the Seattle Symphony Orchestra.  In addition, he serves as concertmaster of the Seattle Chamber Orchestra and has performed as guest concertmaster of the Vancouver Symphony and the Bolshoi Theatre’s production of Swan Lake.

Mr. James is a graduate of the Manhattan School of Music where his teachers include Erick Friedman and Syzmon Goldberg. While attending the Manhattan School he performed in the Master Classes of Henryk Szeryng, Joseph Gingold, the Tokyo Quartet, the American Quartet and members of the Beaux Arts Trio.

Mr James has performed as soloist with the Seattle Symphony on many occasions, and has acted as Concertmaster on many occasions. He has also lead the orchestra of the Seattle Opera in recent productions of “Der Rosenkavalier”, “La Boeheme”, “Julius Ceasar”, the “Flying Dutchman”, ‘Iphegenie en Tauride”, “I Paggliaci”, “I Puritani” and “Aida”

Mr James is an active teacher with a large studio of gifted students and is the newest addition to the highly regarded “Coleman Studio”.

 Mr. James is an active recitalist, chamber musician, and recording artist. In addition to countless motion picture sound tracks, he has recorded concerti with the Seattle Symphony, the Premiere of the Richard Englefield violin concerto with the Bratislava Radio Symphony and several acclaimed chamber music albums with Harpist Juliet Stratton and clarinetist Sean Osborn. He is married to Flutist Erin James and is the proud father of Felicity and Bronwyn James. He performs on a violin made by J.B.Vuillaume made in Paris in 1860.

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Kevin Krentz, Artistic Director, Cello

Cellist Kevin Krentz is an award-winning performer in a wide variety of styles of music including classical, crossover, many popular styles, and amplified on his electric cello. 

A native of Atlanta, Georgia, he began his musical life as a cellist at 12, but soon dropped the cello to sing for the rest of his youth.  Picking up the cello in college, he has gone on to perform solo, chamber and contemporary music with various groups, bands, and orchestral ensembles across North America and Europe.

A devoted chamber musician, Kevin is Artistic Director of the Methow Valley Chamber Music Festival in Washington state.  He has been a winner in the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition with his trio In Flight 3 and winner in the Zinetti International Chamber Music Competition in Verona, Italy and the Greenlake National Chamber Music Competition with Finisterra Trio.  He has played at the Ann Arbor, Seattle, San Juan and Seasons Fall Festivals as well as the Icebreaker IV Festival at On the Boards with the Seattle Chamber Players. 

 With Finisterra Trio, Kevin is devoted to performing contemporary works as well as the standard repertoire.  The trio has commissioned new works by Daron Hagen, Gilda Lyons, Roger Zahab, Beth Wieman, David Rakovski, Daniel Gilliam and others including the chamber opera, “Cradle Song” and Trios 3 and 4 by Daron Hagen which were subsequently recorded for the Naxos label along with Hagen’s Trios 1 and 2.  Finisterra Trio are Artists In Residence at the Phoenix Series in New York as well the Seasons Fall Festival in Yakima, Washington where Kevin is also Director of Chamber Music Studies.  Finisterra has also collaborated with jazz artists like Chris Brubeck and the Bill Mays Trio including free improvisation with famed jazz drummer Matt Wilson in a performance that was later broadcast nationally on many NPR affiliates.  Finisterra Trio has also collaborated with the Florestan Trio in London where they were presented in several concerts. 

His teachers have included Florian Kitt and Jontscho Bayrov in Vienna, and Gary Hardie, Owen Carman, and Toby Saks in the US.  Masterclass performances include Janos Starker, Matt Haimovitz, Paul Katz, and Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi.  Chamber music studies include the Florestan Trio, Elsa Verdehr, Stephen Shipps, Ron Patterson and Ralph Votapek; masterclasses with Josef Ginglod, the Cleveland, Vermeer, and Lark Quartets and the Eroica Trio. 

Kevin is also inventor of the only technology to actually play the strings of violin family instruments for weeks at a time in order to ‘play them in,’ or bring them to their potential far faster than the normal period of many years.  www.Violinplay-in.com  

 Kevin plays cellos by Robert Brewer Young on models originated by Stradivari and Testore.  His bows were made by Robert Morrow and Robert Shallock. 

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Martin Kuuskmann, bassoon

Estonian born bassoon virtuoso, Martin Kuuskmann is a commanding force bent on redefining the bassoon as a top caliber solo instrument. His charismatic and entertaining performances throughout the world have earned him repute as one of the leading instrumentalists around. The New York Times praised Kuuskmann¹s playing as “dynamic...amazing...gripping...” and in 2007 he received a Grammy Nomination for his recording of Chesky’s bassoon concerto.

Martin Kuuskmann’s 2009/2010 season includes solo appearances in festivals and concert halls worldwide including Gaia Festival (Switzerland), Nargen Festival (Estonia), Victoria Summer Music Festival (Canada), and radio broadcast recitals in Estonia, Switzerland and Chicago. His current season’s recital programs vary from J. S. Bach to Schumann to Berio; concertos by Christopher Theofanidis, Gene Pritsker, and the J. S. Bach Double Concerto BWV 1060 for bassoon and viola. In the summer of 2010 Kuuskmann will be premiering the Elegies for solo bassoon and chamber choir by Tõnu Kõrvits (written especially for him) with the Bellingham Chamber Chorale (Washington).

Kuuskmann’s last season’s engagements included the Seoul Philharmonic at the invitation of Myung-Whun Chung, as soloist with the Yale Philharmonia with Christopher Theofanidisn’ Bassoon Concerto, and numerous recitals in European summer festivals. He has appeared as soloist with the New York Philharmonic series performing the Sequenza XII for bassoon solo by Luciano Berio, the Macao Orchestra, Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, Nordic Symphony Orchestra, Riga Sinfonietta, Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, and Symphony Orchestra of the Norrlandsoperan in Sweden, among many others. Kuuskmann conducts master classes and is the woodwind coach with the Baltic Youth Philharmonic at the Usedom Music Festival in Germany at the invitation of Kristjan Järvi.

Mr. Kuuskmann recently completed the recording of his solo album “Nonstop” on ERP record label, containing works by J. S. Bach, Berio, Schnyder, Jobim, Pärt, Kertsman and others, which will be released in February 2010.

Mr. Kuuskmann’s ambitions to explore contemporary music have led to the premieres of eight new bassoon concerti to date written exclusively for him by leading composers of our time such as Erkki-Sven Tüür, Eino Tamberg, Tõnu Kõrvits, Gregor Huebner, Christopher Theofanidis, Charles Coleman, Gene Pritsker and most recently David Chesky. Kuuskmann is currently working on new bassoon concerto with Swiss composer Daniel Schnyder (for the 2010/2011 season) and a full concert length multi media project with Brazilian composer, Miguel Kertsman.

His collaboration with the jazz legend, John Patitucci, led to the creation of Caprice No. 1 for bassoon and strings by Patitucci which he has performed in several venues across the world. His work with composers Daniel Schnyder, Randall Woolf, Gene Pritsker, Matt Herskowitz, Robert Martin has produced an array of works from acoustic to amplified and electronically enhanced compositions. Kuuskmann’s rendition of Daniel Schndyer’s Bassoon Sonata (also for clarinet, oboe and soprano saxophone) was recently published by the Editions Kunzelmann.

A highly sought-after chamber musician, Kuuskmann’s chamber music partners have included a broad spectrum ranging from trombonist David Taylor, Gregor Huebner, Meta4 String Quartet, Goran Söllscher, Kirill Gerstein, Patrick Gallois, Paquito D’Rivera, Ronald and Roxanna Patterson, Patricia Kostek, among many other distinguished artists. Kuuskmann has been a guest at numerous international music festivals including Bremen, Hamburg, Kuhmo, Oulunsalo, Nargen, Menuhin Festival Gstaad, Umeå, Kristiansand, Banff and Hong Kong World Music Days.

A founding member of the Grammy nominated Absolute Ensemble, Martin Kuuskmann has been a featured soloist in Absolute’s recordings “Absolute Mix,” winner of the 2001 German Record Critics Award, and “Fix” performing Michael Daugherty’s virtuosic and madcap concerto, Dead Elvis, a work Kuuskmann has performed nearly 50 times around the world receiving wide critical acclaim.

Born in Tallinn, Estonia, Martin Kuuskmann graduated from Tallinn Music High School and received degrees at Manhattan School of Music and Yale University School of Music. His mentors include Stephen Maxym, Frank Morelli, Rufus Olivier, Vernon Read and Ilmar Aasmets. He has and continues to give lectures as well as conducting master classes in major conservatories and universities in North-America and Europe. Kuuskmann is a member of a New York based new music ensemble Sequitur, and a former member of the New York Lyric Chamber Music Society, where he has premiered numerous solo chamber works and conducted educational projects. Mr. Kuuskmann is a faculty at the Manhattan School of Music Contemporary Performance Program.

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Jonathan Lewis, cello

A native of Kentucky, cellist Jonathan Lewis began his musical studies at the age of four, and he has since gone on to give concerts throughout the United States and beyond.  He gave his orchestral debut with the Louisville Symphony Orchestra at the age of fourteen and has appeared, in recent seasons, with the Allentown Symphony, Shreveport Symphony, Starling Chamber Orchestra, and Jefferson Symphony. Mr. Lewis has also performed as a recitalist throughout the country, including performances in New York’s Zankel and Weill Recital Halls, and Boston’s Jordan Hall.

Jonathan has been an active competitor and a major prizewinner in music competitions across the country.   He is the grand prize winner of the Schadt International String Competition and  the Society of American Musician’s Competition, and received top prizes at the Holland-America Music Society’s Competition in Chicago.

Neil Miskey, viola

Currently Principal Violist with both the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and the CBC Radio Orchestra, Neil began his career in Vancouver after winning first prize in the CBC National Competition. He has appeared as soloist with the VSO and the CBC Orchestra, and has been featured on CBC radio broadcasts. A native of Edmonton, he received music performance degrees from the University of Alberta and the University of Michigan, and also studied at the Banff Centre. He has appeared as a guest artist with the Ottawa Chamber Music Festival, Festival Vancouver, the San Juan Summer Music Festival, and also in various groups in Vancouver.

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Yuri Namkung, violin

Violinist Yuri Namkung was born in Seattle, Washington where she made debut appearances with the Northwest Chamber Orchestra at the age of nine and was subsequently and twice invited by Gerard Schwarz to perform with the Seattle Symphony.  In 2002, she made her European debut with the Zürich-Tonhalle Orchestra in Switzerland under the direction and invitation of David Zinman.  In 2004 and 2005, Violinist Cho-Liang Lin asked her to join him in performances of the Bach Double Concerto with the Seattle Symphony and with the Orchestra of St.Luke’s in Alice Tully Hall in New York.  She will make her Latin American debut appearance with the Simon Bolivar Orchestra during the 2009/2010 season in Caracas, Venezuela and with the Städtisches Orchestra in Bremerhaven, Germany.

Festival appearances have included La Jolla Chamber Music Society’s SummerFest, Music@Menlo, Ravinia Festival-Steans Institute, Virginia Arts Festival, Verbier, Salzburg-Mozarteum Academy, Music Mountain, Perlman Music Program, and Ottawa Chamber Music Festivals.  A member of the Moët Trio, the trio recently completed a 2-year Professional Piano Trio Residency Program at the New England Conservatory.  Recent and upcoming performances include the Kennedy Center, Jordan Hall, Gardner Museum, New School: Schneider Concert Series, Carnegie Hall’s Neighborhood Series, Virginia Arts Festival, Music on MacDougal, Rhinebeck Chamber Music Society, Gardner Museum, and extensive educational outreach through the Astral Artistic Series in Philadelphia.  The San Francisco Classical Voice had this to say of them: “Separately and together, these are musicians you will want to hear repeatedly in coming years.”

Passionate about sharing music throughout the world, she was invited to teach and coach at Music@Menlo by David Finckel and Wu Han, directors of Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and Music@Menlo.  She has begun and maintains a regular relationship with El Sistema in Venezuela and in January 2009, was invited to Panama for the Panama Jazz Festival.  At the invitation and guidance of pianist and Unicef Ambassador Danilo Perez, she will continue her work in Panama as educator, performer, and head of the string department through Fundacion Danilo Perez.

In May, 2005, she graduated from Columbia University with a BA in Psychology.  As a participant of Columbia’s Joint Program with the Juilliard School, she received her MM from Juilliard the following year where she studied with Cho-Liang Lin and Donald Weilerstein.  She completed her studies with Donald Weilerstein and with Miriam Fried in the Graduate Diploma Program at the New England Conservatory in May of 2009.  In August of 2009, she was appointed Instructor of Violin at The University of Alabama.

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George Shangrow, Host

A musician with a broad range of skills, Conductor and Music Director George Shangrow founded the Seattle Chamber Singers in 1969 and Orchestra Seattle (formerly the Broadway Symphony) in 1979. Mr. Shangrow received his academic musical training at the University of Washington, where he studied conducting, baroque performance practice, harpsichord, and composition. He began his professional conducting career at age 18 and has concentrated his musical efforts these 37 years with Orchestra Seattle and the Seattle Chamber Singers. He has also appeared as guest conductor with the Seattle Symphony, Northwest Chamber Orchestra, Tacoma Opera, Rudolf Nureyev and Friends, East Texas University Opera, Oregon Symphony and the Sapporo (Japan) Symphony. Shangrow particularly relishes bringing newly composed works to the stage and has conducted world premieres of many operas, orchestral, and choral works.

As an educator, Mr. Shangrow has taught music history, theory, and composition at Seattle University, Seattle Community College, and Seattle Conservatory of Music.  He enjoys lecturing on musical topics and can be frequently heard at musical events and gatherings throughout the Northwest.

Mr. Shangrow performs as pianist and harpsichordist in partnership with flutist Jeffrey Cohan as the Cohan-Shangrow Duo.  He has toured Europe several times as keyboardist and conductor.  Shangrow has appeared in concert on the piano and harpsichord with many noted soloists and ensembles such as El Trio Grande, the Kronos String Quartet, Northwest Chamber Orchestra, the Seattle Symphony, and enjoyed performing at the 2004 Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival in Mozart’s g minor Piano Quartet.  He has recorded with London Records, Voyager Records, edel America, and Sonic Window Records. Seattle-area music lovers also recognize Mr. Shangrow as former announcer and host of the Live! By George radio program on Classical KING-FM.

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Craig Sheppard, piano

The Donald E. Petersen Endowed Professor of Piano at the School of Music of the University of Washington in Seattle, pianist Craig Sheppard has maintained a strong and enduring presence in the classical music world for nearly forty years, with his unique combination of ebullience and passionate energy, allied to a technical mastery and scholarly objectivity. In May, 2008, he gave solo recitals and master classes in four major cities in The Peoples' Republic of China - Beijing, Shanghai, Xiamen and Shenzhen. In March, 2008, Sheppard appeared once again in the Hunter Council Chambers of Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand, performing Book II of Bach's Well Tempered Clavier, a work he recorded subsequently in Seattle's Meany Theater in April (for release on Romeo Records, November, 2008). Craig Sheppard has made seven trips to the Far East since June, 2002 - four to Japan, one to Taiwan, and one each to China and to Korea - giving lectures and concerts in major venues and universities in the region. On May 18th, 2004, he wound up a seven-concert series in Seattle's Meany Theater that was dedicated to the 32 Beethoven Piano Sonatas, a popular series that met with great critical acclaim. In April, 1999, he gave his long-awaited recital debut at the Berlin Philharmonic, also to great critical acclaim. In 1999, he was presented by the Seattle Symphony in a highly acclaimed series of lecture/recitals at the Benaroya Hall. He appeared with the Seattle Symphony in 1998 in their inaugural season at Benaroya, and was also previously featured with the orchestra in the opening concerts of the 1996-97 season at the Opera House, along with the violinist Midori. Sheppard is invited frequently to perform at summer venues such as the Seattle Chamber Music Festival, and has taught and performed for a number of summers at the Heifetz International Music Institute in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire.

Craig Sheppard was born and raised in Philadelphia. Following initial studies with Dr. Lois Hedner and Susan Starr, he attended the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia as a student of Eleanor Sokoloff, and earned both his Bachelors and Masters degrees at the Juilliard School in New York, studying with Sascha Gorodnitzki. In addition to working privately with Claude Frank and Lillian Kallir during summers at Tanglewood, Sheppard studied subsequently with Ilona Kabos, Peter Feuchtwanger, and Sir Clifford Curzon in London, and also worked with Rudolf Serkin and Pablo Casals at the Marlboro Festival.

Following a highly successful New York dbut at the Metropolitan Museum in 1972, Sheppard won the silver medal that year at the Leeds International Pianoforte Competition in England. Moving to London the following year, he quickly established himself through recording and frequent appearances on BBC radio and television as one of the preeminent pianists of his generation, giving cycles of Bach's Klavierbung and the complete solo works of Brahms in London and other musical centers. During the twenty years he lived in England, he also taught at Lancaster University, the Yehudi Menuhin School, and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, in addition to giving master classes at both Oxford and Cambridge universities.

Sheppard has performed with all the major orchestras in Great Britain, as well as those of Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, Atlanta, Dallas, Seattle, Buffalo and Rochester, among others in the United States, and with such conductors as Sir Georg Solti, James Levine, Leonard Slatkin, Michael Tilson Thomas, Sir Andrew Davis, Lord Yehudi Menuhin, Erich Leinsdorf, Kurt Sanderling, Neeme Jrvi, Hans Vonk, Aaron Copland, David Zinman, Gerard Schwarz and Peter Ers.

Sheppard's repertoire is extensive, encompassing over forty solo recital programs and sixty concerti. In the past several seasons, in addition to the both book of Bach's Well Tempered Clavier and the 32 Beethoven sonatas (in a series entitled Beethoven: A Journey, Sheppard's recital programs have included the complete Ėtudes of Chopin, Rachmaninoff, and Debussy, and such major works as the Goldberg and Diabelli Variations, the complete Schumann Novelettes, and Ravel's Miroirs and Gaspard de la Nuit. Over the years, his work with singers such as Victoria de los Angeles, Jos Carreras, and Irina Arkhipova; trumpeter Wynton Marsalis; and ensembles such as the Cleveland, Bartok, and Emerson string quartets, has also constituted an important and ongoing element in his musical life.

Sheppard has recorded on the EMI (Classics for Pleasure), Polygram (Philips), Sony, Chandos and Cirrus labels. Four CDs, all of live performances - including his Berlin performance of the Goldberg Variations, Beethoven's Diabelli Variations plus the Scriabin Fifth Sonata, Chopin and Scriabin Prludes, and Scarlatti Sonatas coupled with the Opus 39 Etudes Tableaux of Rachmaninoff - have recently been issued on the label AT (Annette Tangermann)/Berlin, at-label@gmx.de.

Sheppard has appeared on numerous national and international piano competition juries. He is well known for his broad academic interests, particularly foreign languages.

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Jonathan Silvia, baritone

Jonathan Silvia, bass-baritone, joined Des Moines Metro Opera in the summer of 2010 to perform the title role in Markheim, by Carlisle Floyd, with the composer in attendance. Closer to home in the Pacific Northwest, he debuted on Seattle Opera’s mainstage as Marchese d’Obigny in Traviata. Recently, he has sampled other Verdi repertoire, as Filippo II in Don Carlo with Bellevue Opera, and Fiesco in Simon Boccanegra with Puget Sound Concert Opera. Other opera credits include the title role in Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro with Kitsap Opera, Baron Douphol and Dottore Grenvil in Verdi’s Traviata with Skagit Opera and Lyric Opera Northwest, Sam in Bernstein’s Trouble in Tahiti with Tacoma Opera, and Benoit/Alcindoro in Bohème with Vashon Opera’s inaugural season, and Luther/Crespel in Offenbach’s Tales of Hoffmann, Alidoro in Rossini’s Cenerentola and Colline in Puccini’s Bohème with Bellevue Opera. His next appearance in the Pacific Northwest will be with Vashon Opera as Basilio in Il Barbiere di Siviglia.

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Jing Wang, violin

Twenty-four year-old violinist Jing Wang was born in China and began to study the violin at the age of three. He made his first public appearance at the age of six in Marseilles, France. 

First Prize winner of the 2007 Irving M. Klein competition, Canadian Music Competition, the Montreal Symphony Orchestra Competition and the Concertino Praga, Jing was nominated as “Le Titre de Jeune Soliste” 2003 (Young Soloist Award) of French Public Radio.

Since 9 years old, Jing Wang has made several appearances with the Quebec Symphony Orchestra. He has performed with the Metropolitan Orchestra of Montreal and the Violons du Roy String Orchestra, Sherbrooke Symphony, and he made his debut with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra in 1999.

He also performed as soloist with I Musici Orchestra, the Lorraine Philharmonic Orchestra in France, l’Orchestre de Picardie and l’Orchestre de chambre de Wallonie.  Jing Wang toured the Czech Republic in 2001 and played with the Czech Radio Philharmonic Orchestra in Dvorak Hall. In 2002 he performed with the Moscow State Symphony Orchestra in Tchaikovsky Hall. Wang has collaborated with conductors such as James DePreist, Claus Peter Flor and Yoav Talmi.

As result of the concerto competition First Prize winner, he performed with the Academy Orchestra of the Music Academy of the West in California and the San Angelo Symphony in Texas.

Jing Wang gave recitals for the International Festival of Domain Forget, Music Festival Italy & USA in Italy, Meadowmount Music Festival and Bowdoin Music Festival. Since 1995 Jing’s playing has been broadcasted by Radio-Canada.

For this upcoming season, Jing will have solo appearances with Peninsula Symphony, Santa Cruz Symphony as well a recital tour in California and Mexico.