Artistic Director

Artistic Director Melissa Reardon is an internationally renowned performer whose solo and chamber playing spans all musical genres. Founding member of the East Coast Chamber Orchestra (ECCO) and a sought-after collaborative musician, the Massachusetts native has been lauded for her “elegant” and “virtuosic” performances. She performed around the world as a member of the Ensō String Quartet from 2006 until its final season in 2018, has appeared in numerous festivals nationally and internationally, and toured with Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble and with Musicians from Marlboro. First prize winner at the Washington International Competition and the only violist to win top prizes in consecutive HAMS International viola competitions, Melissa is married to the cellist Raman Ramakrishnan, and they live in New York with their son Linus.

Piano, Clarinet

An unusually versatile musician, Teddy Abrams is the widely acclaimed Music Director of the Louisville Orchestra, where he has fostered interdisciplinary collaborations across the city. In Louisville, Teddy led the world premieres of his own piano concerto written for Yuja Wang and a concerto for timba band and orchestra composed by GRAMMY winner Dafnis Prieto. He collaborated with Jim James, vocalist and guitarist for My Morning Jacket, on the song cycle The Order of Nature, which they premiered and recorded with the Louisville Orchestra in 2018. His rap-opera, The Greatest: Muhammad Ali, premiered in 2017, celebrating Louisville’s hometown hero with an all-star cast that included Rhiannon Giddens and Jubilant Sykes, as well as Jecorey “1200” Arthur, with whom he started the Louisville Orchestra Rap School. In recognition of his groundbreaking work, Teddy Abrams was named Musical America’s 2022 Conductor of the Year.

String Quartet

Since its inception in 1992, the Brentano String Quartet has appeared throughout the world to popular and critical acclaim. “Passionate, uninhibited and spellbinding,” raves the London Independent; The New York Times extols its “luxuriously warm sound [and] yearning lyricism," and the Philadelphia Inquirer praises its “seemingly infallible instincts for finding the center of gravity in every phrase and musical gesture.” Within a few years of its formation, the Quartet garnered the first Cleveland Quartet Award and the Naumburg Chamber Music Award; and in 1996 the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center invited them to be the inaugural members of Chamber Music Society Two. The Quartet is named for Antonie Brentano, whom many scholars consider to be Beethoven’s “Immortal Beloved,” the intended recipient of his famous love confession. 

Mezzo Soprano

Mezzo soprano Kara Dugan has been praised by The New York Times for her “vocal warmth and rich character.” Her diverse career ranges from baroque oratorio to world premieres. Her work with living composers includes In a New York Minute: Miniatures for Voice and Piano, her newly commissioned song cycle for WQXR, which highlights the voices and perspectives of women and everyday New Yorkers. This spring she will make her Kennedy Center debut singing Michael Tilson Thomas’ Four Preludes on Playthings of the Wind with the National Symphony and the composer at the podium. Recently, Ms. Dugan won first place in the Rochester International Vocal Competition and was selected to be a member of WQXR’s Artist Propulsion Lab.

Piano

Pianist Peter Dugan has appeared as a soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician across North America and abroad. Prizing versatility as the key to the future of classical music, Peter is equally at home in classical, jazz, and pop idioms. The Wall Street Journal described his collaboration with violinist Charles Yang as a “classical-meets-rockstar duo.” His recent chamber music recitals include the Chamber Music Society of Palm Beach, Music at Menlo, St. John’s College Recital Series, and a Weill Hall debut presented by Carnegie Hall. Peter was also recently named the new host of NPR's From the Top.

Ensemble

The critically acclaimed East Coast Chamber Orchestra (ECCO) is a collective of dynamic like-minded artists who convene for select periods each year to explore musical works and perform concerts of the highest artistic quality. Drawing from some of the world's finest orchestras, chamber groups, and young soloists, ECCO strives for vitality and musical integrity; a self-governing organization, each member is equal and has a voice in every step of the artistic process, from programming to performance. ECCO believes that the best musical experience can speak to all audiences regardless of age or socioeconomic background and performs accordingly across a wide range of venues.

Clarinet

Clarinetist Alexander Fiterstein is considered one of today’s most exceptional artists. Fiterstein has performed in recital, with distinguished orchestras, and with chamber music ensembles throughout the world. He won first prize at the Carl Nielsen International Clarinet Competition and received the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant Award. A dedicated performer of chamber music, Alex frequently collaborates with distinguished artists and ensembles and regularly performs with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. He has a prolific recording career and has worked with composers John Corigliano and Osvaldo Golijov and had pieces written for him by Samuel Adler, Mason Bates, Paul Schoenfield, and Chris Brubeck, among others.

Bass

Nathan Farrington is a bassist, singer, and composer living in Los Angeles. He regularly appears in the bass sections of many of America's top orchestras, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony, the New York Philharmonic, the Cleveland Orchestra, the East Coast Chamber Orchestra, and the Seattle Symphony. In 2016, Nathan was named the Principal Bass of the Los Angeles Opera Orchestra under James Conlon. He has appeared at the Marlboro Music Festival, the Aspen Music Festival, the Olympic Music Festival, ChemberFest Cleveland, and at the Da Camera Society. Wherever he is performing, Nathan makes sure to take along his trusty guitar and pairs singing and playing operatic arias and folk songs alongside his bass playing.

Violin

J Freivogel is the founding and current first violinist of the Jasper String Quartet, winner of the prestigious CMA Cleveland Quartet Award and the Professional Quartet in Residence at Temple University's Center for Gifted Young Musicians. With the Quartet, J has released 6 albums, commissioned numerous string quartets, performed across the globe, won the Grand Prize and the Audience Prize in the Plowman Chamber Music Competition, the Grand Prize at the Coleman Competition, First Prize at Chamber Music Yellow Springs, and the Silver Medal at the 2008 and 2009 Fischoff Chamber Music Competitions. An active chamber musician and teacher, J is also a core member of the East Coast Chamber Orchestra (ECCO). 

Viola

Liz Freivogel is the violist of the Jupiter String Quartet, with which she has spent much of the past twenty years performing across the United States and abroad. She maintains a private studio of violists at the University of Illinois, where the Jupiters are Artists-in-Residence, and also helps to run the chamber music program. In addition to winning top prizes in the Banff International and Fischoff National Chamber Music competitions with the Jupiter Quartet, Ms. Freivogel individually won prizes in the Primrose International Viola Competition, Oberlin Concerto Competition, and the American String Teachers Association Competition. She has taught at the Bowdoin International Music Festival, Aspen Music Festival and Madeline Island Chamber Music.

Violin

Meg Freivogel McDonough, second violinist and founding member of the Jupiter String Quartet, grew up playing chamber music with her siblings. Since finishing her studies, she has traveled the world concertizing and teaching with the Jupiter String Quartet, and is also a founding member of East Coast Chamber Orchestra (ECCO). Inspired by how music has shaped her life, Meg wishes to share her belief that creating art through music can provide tools useful in life in general. She wishes to keep chamber music easily accessible, current and interesting to young and old audiences alike. Her husband, Daniel McDonough, plays cello in the quartet, and her sister, Elizabeth Freivogel, plays viola.

Violin

Grammy award-winning violinist and producer Johnny Gandelsman's musical voice reflects the artistic collaborations he has been a part of since moving to the United States in 1995. Richard Brody of The New Yorker has called Gandelsman "revelatory" in concert, placing him in the company of "radically transformative" performers like Maurizio Pollini, Peter Serkin and Christian Zacharias. As a founding member of Brooklyn Rider and a member of the Silkroad Ensemble, Johnny has closely worked with such luminaries as Bela Fleck, Kayhan Kalhor, Yo-Yo Ma, Mark Morris, Anne Sofie Van Otter, Alim Qasimov & Fargana Qasimova, Abigail Washburn and Damian Woetzel. He has appeared with Bono, David Byrne, Renee Fleming, Rhiannon Giddens, I'm With Her, Christian McBride, and many others.     

Percussion

Percussionist Gabriel Globus-Hoenich blends a multitude of musical influences together in his work as a performer and educator. Gabriel has performed with a wide variety of artists including Morgan James, Jim James, Arturo O'Farrill and the Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra, Omara Portuondo, Telmary Diaz, Roberto Fonseca, Tirso Duarte, Steve Hackman, Tessa Lark, the Philly Pops, Pittsburgh Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Louisville Orchestra, among others. An active composer and arranger, Gabriel has written orchestral arrangements for Grammy-award winners Sam Bush, Cory Henry, and Sara Jarosz, as well as Achilles Liarmakopolous of the Canadian Brass, Grammy nominated Tiempo Libre, and the Louisville Orchestra. In 2017 Gabriel founded People of Earth, a 15 person Latin fusion group filled with some of NYC's best musicians representing a myriad of countries.

Piano

Benjamin Hochman is a musician of exceptional versatility who regularly appears in multiple guises as orchestral soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician. Since making his Carnegie Hall debut as soloist with the Israel Philharmonic, Hochman has enjoyed an international performing career, appearing as soloist with the New York and Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestras, and the Chicago, Pittsburgh and San Francisco Symphony Orchestras, among others. His discography for Avie Records includes Mozart Piano Concertos No. 17 and No. 24, Homage to Schubert, and Variations, which was selected by The New York Times as one of the best recordings of 2015. Hochman is a Steinway Artist and Avery Fisher Career Grant recipient. 

Violin

Nelson Lee is first violinist of the Jupiter String Quartet, which has performed extensively throughout North America and abroad. The Quartet is in residence at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign where each member teaches and jointly coordinates the chamber music program. As a soloist, Nelson has appeared with the Cleveland Institute Symphony Orchestra, Yale Symphony Orchestra, Eastern Connecticut Symphony Orchestra, Ann Arbor Symphony, and University of Illinois
Symphony Orchestra. He also performs regularly with the East Coast Chamber Orchestra (ECCO), and has performed with the Boston Chamber Music Society, Park City Chamber Music Society and has also been heard at the Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival. 

Violin

Praised by The New York Times for his "aptly traversed palette of emotions, from languid introspection to fevered intensity with gorgeous tone and an edge-of-seat intensity,” Israeli violinist Kobi Malkin is making his mark as an exciting soloist and a perceptive chamber musician. He is the winner of the prestigious Ilona Kornhauser Prize and the Canetti International Violin Competition, and appears regularly in such venues as New York’s Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, Boston’s Jordan Hall, Vienna Konzerthaus, Mexico City’s Palacio de Bellas Artes, and the Tel Aviv Museum of Art. An avid chamber musician, Kobi has collaborated with Frans Helmerson, Kim Kashkashian, Mitsuko Uchida, and Peter Wiley, among others.

Violin

Anthony Marwood enjoys a wide-ranging international career as soloist, director and chamber musician, and has performed concertos with many leading ensembles, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, St Louis Symphony, London Philharmonic, and Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. Highlights in 2021 included his debut at the Tanglewood Festival, playing Ligeti’s violin concerto, conducted by Thomas Adès. Anthony is also a prolific recording artist, and has recorded 50 CDs for the Hyperion label, alongside many recordings for other labels. He was the violinist of the Florestan Trio for sixteen years and won the Royal Philharmonic Society Instrumentalist Award in 2006. Anthony was awarded an MBE in the Queen’s 2018 New Year Honours list.

Cello

Cellist Daniel McDonough has performed across the U.S. and abroad as a chamber musician and recitalist. He is best known as a founding member of the award-winning Jupiter String Quartet. In addition to his regular appearances with the Jupiter String Quartet, Daniel is a founding member of the innovative East Coast Chamber Orchestra. Daniel has been heard repeatedly on NPR's Performance Today and seen on Live from Lincoln Center.  He has appeared as soloist with the Asheville (NC) Symphony, the CMS of Lincoln Center, the Austin Symphony, the Cleveland Institute of Music Orchestra, and is heard regularly at many of the country's premiere summer music festivals.

Baritone

American baritone Thomas Meglioranza was a winner of the Walter W. Naumburg, Concert Artists Guild, Franz Schubert/Music of Modernity, and Joy In Singing competitions. Described in The New Yorker as an “immaculate and inventive recitalist”, his Songs from the WWI Era program was named one of the "Top Ten Best Classical Performances of the Year" in the Philadelphia Inquirer. His discography includes the Schubert cycles and assorted lieder, and French mélodies with pianist Reiko Uchida, songs of Virgil Thomson with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, and Bach cantatas with the Taverner Consort.

Violin

Winner of an Avery Fisher Career Grant in 2004, Tai Murray was named a BBC New Generation Artist (2008 through 2010). She has performed as guest soloist on the stages of such halls as the Barbican, Chicago’s Orchestra Hall, Copenhagen’s Tivoli Gardens, and Shanghai’s Concert Hall, performing with such ensembles as the Atlanta Symphony, BBC Scottish Symphony, and Orquesta Sinfónica Simón Bolívar. As a recitalist Tai has appeared in Berlin, Chicago, Hamburg, London, New York, and Washington D.C. among many others. As a chamber musician, she toured with Musicians from Marlboro and was a member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s prestigious CMS Two program. 

Cello

Cellist Clancy Newman has enjoyed an extraordinarily wide-ranging career, not only as a cellist, but  also as a composer, producer, writer, and guest lecturer. First prize winner of the Naumburg  International Competition and recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant, he has performed as soloist  throughout the United States, as well as in Europe, Asia, Canada, and Australia. He can often be heard  on NPR’s “Performance Today” and has been featured on A&E and PBS. As a composer, he has  expanded cello technique in ways heretofore thought unimaginable, particularly in his "Pop-Unpopped" project, and he has been featured on series by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and the  Chicago Chamber Musicians. 

Violin

Winner of numerous prizes including the Walter Naumburg International Competition, violinist Ayano Ninomiya has performed with orchestras across the U.S., Switzerland, Bulgaria, and most recently in Carnegie Hall. Praised for her "deeply communicative and engrossing" (The New York Times) performances, she has performed at the Marlboro, Ravinia, Moab, Bowdoin, Adams (New Zealand), and Prussia Cove (England) festivals. She has been featured on Musicians from Marlboro tours in the U.S. and France, and gave a TEDx talk in 2012 at the University of Tokyo. She was first violinist of the Ying Quartet and was Associate Professor at the Eastman School of Music until 2015 when she joined the violin faculty of the New England Conservatory of Music.  

Cello

Kenneth Olsen joined the Chicago Symphony Orchestra as Assistant Principal Cello in 2005. He is a graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Music and a winner of the school’s prestigious concerto competition. Ken's other awards include first prize in the Nakamichi Cello Competition at the Aspen Music Festival and second prize at the 2002 Holland-America Music Society Competition. His teachers have included Richard Aaron at the Cleveland Institute of Music, Joel Krosnick at the Juilliard School of Music and Luis Garcia-Renart at Bard College. He also has been a participant at the Steans Institute for Young Artists (the Ravinia Festival’s professional studies program for young musicians) and at Boston University’s Tanglewood Institute.

Violin

Hailed as “prodigiously talented” (Washington Post), Australian violinist Susie Park has established a reputation as an artist who combines expansive emotive range and dynamic stage presence. As violinist of the Eroica Trio from 2006 to 2012, she performed around the world, and released a Grammy-nominated album on EMI Classics. As soloist, she has performed with the Vienna Symphony, Royal Philharmonic, San Francisco and Indianapolis Symphonies, and the major Australian orchestras. A former member of Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society Two, she is a founding member of ECCO, was first violinist of the Ensō String Quartet during their final season in 2018, and is currently First Associate Concertmaster of the Minnesota Orchestra.

Cello

As a member of the Horszowski Trio, cellist Raman Ramakrishnan has performed across North America, Europe, India, Japan, and in Hong Kong, and recorded for Bridge Records and Avie Records. For eleven seasons, as a founding member of the Daedalus Quartet, he performed around the world. Mr. Ramakrishnan is currently an artist member of the Boston Chamber Music Society, has toured with Musicians from Marlboro, and has performed, as guest principal cellist, with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. As a guest member of Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble, he has performed in New Delhi and Agra, India and in Cairo, Egypt.

Cello

Before joining the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1998, Brant Taylor was cellist of the award-winning Everest Quartet, prizewinners at the Banff and Fischoff competitions. A faculty member at DePaul University, Mr. Taylor's interest in teaching has taken him to music institutions and festivals around the U.S. A frequent guest at Miami's New World Symphony, he has appeared as soloist with that orchestra and led master classes and audition training seminars. With the band Pink Martini, Brant has appeared on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien," "The Late Show with David Letterman," and in nightclubs and concert halls across North America. He attended the Eastman School of Music and Indiana University, where his teachers were Paul Katz and Janos Starker.

Viola

Violist Jessica Thompson is a passionate chamber musician who performs regularly throughout the United States and abroad as a member of the Daedalus Quartet.  The quartet, Grand Prize winner of the 2001 Banff International String Quartet Competition and resident quartet at Lincoln Center’s Chamber Music Society Two from 2005-07, is currently in residence at the University of Pennsylvania.  As a member of Daedalus, Ms Thompson has premiered works by such composers as Fred Lerdahl, Joan Tower, Richard Wernick, and Vivian Fung.  Ms. Thompson has also toured with Musicians from Marlboro and has performed at numerous festivals, including the Halcyon Music Festival, the Newport Music Festival, and the Charlottesville Chamber Music Festival. 

String Trio

Defying convention and boundaries, Time For Three stands at the busy intersection of Americana, modern pop, and classical music. To experience Time For Three (TF3) live is to hear the various eras, styles, and traditions of Western music fold in on themselves and emerge anew. Bonded by an uncommon blend of their instruments fused together with their voices, Charles Yang (violin, vocals), Nicolas “Nick” Kendall (violin, vocals), and Ranaan Meyer (double bass, vocals), have found a unique voice of expression to share with the world.

Actor

A professional actor in film and television, Walter van Dyk recently filmed with Jodie Foster and Shailene Woodley on The Mauritanian directed by Kevin MacDonald, and with Sienna Guillory and Lindsay Duncan in the UK feature film A Banquet directed by Ruth Paxton. He can be seen in the TV series Mood with Nicole Lecky on BBC America in the Autumn and was seen with David Tennant in the recent PBS TV series Around the World in 80 Days for BBC 1, a France Télévisions co-production as part of Alliance. Other television work in the UK includes Harley and the Davidsons, London's Burning, Birds of a Feather, The Detectives, the Lynda la Plante series Framed and the BBC Screenplay Can't Stop me Dreaming. In theatre has worked extensively in London's West End in Olivier Award nominated shows.

Piano

Pianist Shai Wosner has attracted international recognition for his exceptional artistry, musical integrity, and creative insight. His performances of a broad range of repertoire—from Beethoven and Schubert to Ligeti and the music of today—reflect a degree of virtuosity and intellectual curiosity that has made him a favorite among audiences and critics, who note his “keen musical mind and deep musical soul” (NPR’s All Things Considered). Mr. Wosner’s penchant for eclectic pairings of diverse repertoire was on full display last October, when he performed Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 14 in E-flat major alongside the world premiere of Christopher Cerrone’s new piano concerto Dissolving Margins on tour with ECCO (East Coast Chamber Orchestra) in Memphis, Philadelphia, and New York. 

Violin

Praised by the Seattle Times as “Simply marvelous,” violinist/violist Tien-Hsin Cindy Wu enjoys a versatile career as a soloist, chamber musician, and educator. Cindy has collaborated in concerts with renowned artists such as Yefim Bronfman, James Ehnes, Lynn Harrell, Leila Josefowicz, Cho-Liang Lin, Midori, Thomas Quasthoff, Yuja Wang, and members of the Alban Berg, Guarneri, Orion, and Tokyo string quartets at prominent venues such as the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center. Cindy is a recipient of many awards including the Milka Violin Artist Prize from the Curtis Institute of Music, and third prize at the International Violin Competition of David Oistrakh. She is currently the Music Director of New Asia Chamber Music Society and founded Sunkiss’d Mozart.