2024 The SPSV Music Festival Faculty
Florence Millet
Chair of Piano department,
Piano Professor at Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln (Germany)
Florence Millet, of Franco-German descent, performs with orchestra, in recitals and ensembles in venues across Europe, Asia and the Americas. Conductors she worked with include Pierre Boulez, Charles Dutoit, Elena Schwarz, David Robertson, Simon Blech, Heinz Holliger, Julia Jones, Jonathan Darlington, David Marlow.
Her recordings for the labels Centaur, Sony, DG, Wergo,Triton, Accord and Erato were praised on both sides of the Atlantic.
In 2023 the new releases include trios by Ligeti, Abrahamsen, Koechlin, Schroeder and Cage for Deutsche Grammophon; the rediscovered piano concerto op.31 by Adolph Busch, along with his Solo and Duo piano music for CPO; Morton Feldmann’s « Piano and String Quartet » (with the Jack Quartet) for Bastille, a monographic John Cage CD for Deutsche Grammophon and a thematic solo recording including Bach, Janacek, Kurtag, Aperghis, Kapralova, Rihm, Satie, Ablinger, Maminova, Mompou.
She is a founding member of the Lions Gate Trio since 1988. Residencies were held in Tanglewood Festival, Yale University, U. of N.Carolina-Greensboro, the Fairfield Library and University of W. Hartford, CT, where they created the « Ode to Joy » Festival.
She plays Chamber Music with members of Berlin Philharmonic, Paris or WDR orchestras, and the Sine Nomine, Miami, Tbilissi, Jack and Danel String Quartets.
She has worked closely with main voices in composition: Luciano Berio, Elliott Carter, Pierre Boulez, George Crumb, Johannes Schöllhorn, Jörg Widman, Hans Werner Henze, Hans Abrahamsen, Philippe Manoury, Steve Reich, Henri Dutilleux, George Crumb und Tristan Murail.
She played with the Ensemble Intercontemporain from 1992-2000.
A graduate of the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Paris, Millet received her Masters and Doctoral Degrees at State University of New York at Stony Brook where she studied under Gilbert Kalish. Her other mentors were Leon Fleisher, Paul Badura Skoda, Peter Serkin and Jean Hubeau.
Florence Millet ist artistic adviser for the Lichterfeld Foundation, promoting tolerance, intercultural understanding and creator of the Echospore.de platform which propagates music from persecuted composers. Recordings, videos and concerts are planed internationally with partners Musica non Grata Prag, Deutsche Bank Stiftung and German Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
She curated « Cité des Dames » and explores multidisciplinary concert formats with actors, choreography and dance (Pina Bausch Tanztheater Wuppertal) and Arts at the Tony Cragg Foundation, Van der Heydt Museum, Phillipps Collection or in lecture recitals.
Her voice and playing can be heard in radio presentations on France Musique, WDR , NDR, Deutschlandfunk, RYTBF or in lecture recitals.
A film is currently in the making about the IRCAM commission and recording of a large work for piano and electronic written for her.
Graham Scott
Head of Keyboard Studies at Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM), an honorary fellow of the RNCM (UK)
Hailed by the Gramophone magazine as ‘an exceptional talent,’ Graham Scott has performed extensively throughout the world notably in London (Wigmore Hall, Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall and Barbican Centre,) New York (92nd St. Y), Washington DC (Kennedy Center), Los Angeles (Ambassador Auditorium), Beijing (Beijing Concert Hall and Forbidden City Concert Hall), Paris (Bagatelle) and Tokyo (Suntory Hall),
He has performed as soloist with many of the world’s leading orchestras, notably the London Philharmonic, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Royal Scottish National, Monte Carlo Philharmonic, Belgium National Symphony, Staatsphilharmonie Rheinlandpfalz (standing in for Martha Argerich), South African National Symphony Orchestra, Cape Town Symphony, Singapore Symphony, St Louis Symphony, Ulster Orchestra and the New York Chamber Symphony under such conductors as Sir Charles Groves, Marin Alsop, Paul Daniel, Bernhard Klee, Barry Wordsworth, Nicholas Cleobury, Gregorz Nowak and Alexander Lazarev. His numerous chamber music appearances include performances with members of the Australian Chamber Orchestra in the Huntingdon Festival in New South Wales, Australia. He has also collaborated with the Chillingirian, Heath and Vertavo quartets.
Graham’s discography includes CDs of works by Scriabin, Gershwin, Chisholm, Macmillan (with French cellist Henri Demarquette) and a live recital CD from Los Angeles. He has broadcast extensively on BBC Radio and National Public Radio in the USA. He has previously collaborated with actor Sir Ian McKellen in a masterclass situation play for BBC Drama.
Graham studied with Professor Ryszard Bakst at both Chetham’s School of Music and the RNCM. He became the first artist to win both the YCA Inc. auditions in New York and the YCAT auditions in London. He also won the Dudley National Piano Competition, the Jaen International Piano Competition in Spain and the Stefania Niekrasz Prize (awarded every 5 years to an outstanding exponent of Chopin.)
Since 2007 he has held the position of Head of Keyboard Studies at the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) and is Artistic Director of the RNCM James Mottram International Piano Competition. As a committed teacher many of his students have gone on to win top prizes in celebrated competitions including the ‘Top of the World’ competition in Norway, Rina Salo Gallo Competition in Monza, Jaen International Piano Competition, Hastings International Concerto Competition and the Harbin International Piano Competition in China to name a few. As an artistic director he has directed 12 piano festivals at the RNCM including the complete works of Frederic Chopin in his anniversary year with 153 pianists taking part.
Graham has been a member of the jury of the Horowitz Competition in Kiev, the Gilels Competition in Odessa, the Alessandro Casagrande Competition in Terni Italy, the Rina Salo Gallo Competition in Monza Italy, the Jaen International Piano Competition in Spain, the Robert Schumann International Piano Competition in Dusseldorf and the YCAT auditions in London. Graham has performed and taught at many summer schools most notably Musicfest Perugia in Italy, the Colburn Festival Academy in Los Angeles, Kei Arts (Taiwan), the Duszniki International Chopin Festival in Poland, Mantta Festival in Finland, Malaga International Piano Festival in Spain, Kyungsung International Piano Academy in Pusan Korea, Chetham’s International Piano Summer School in Manchester, Pianale 2023 in Fulda, Germany and the Beijing International Music Festival and Academy. In 2023 he was made an honorary fellow of the RNCM.
Elizabeth Futral
Chair of Vocal Studies at John Hopkins Peabody Institute, and Grammy Award Winner for Best Opera Recording (US)
Elizabeth Futral is one of the world’s leading sopranos. With her stunning vocalism and vast dramatic range, she has embraced a repertoire that ranges from the Baroque to world premieres. She has collaborated with the great conductors of our time, including Zubin Mehta, Claudio Abbado, Sir Colin Davis, Daniel Barenboim, Sir Charles Mackerras, Loren Maazel, Michael Tilson Thomas, and Sir Neville Marriner. She has been acclaimed for her performances in the world’s leading opera houses, including the Metropolitan Opera, Covent Garden, Deutsche Oper Berlin, San Francisco, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Theatre an der Wien. Futral has appeared with the Berlin Philharmonic, London Symphony, New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Israel Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, London Philharmonic, Hannover Band, Boston Symphony, Munich Radio Orchestra, and many others.
Reared in Louisiana, Futral studied with Virginia Zeani at Indiana University. She joined the Lyric Opera Center for American Artists at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, won the Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions in 1991, and was catapulted to stardom with critically acclaimed performances of Delibes’ Lakmé at the New York City Opera in 1994. Career milestones soon followed, cementing her star status: a win in Placido Domingo’s Operalia Competition, the title role in Rossini’s Matilde di Shabran in Pesaro, her debut at the San Francisco Opera as Stella in the world premiere of André Previn’s A Streetcar Named Desire, and her Metropolitan Opera debut in a new production of Lucia di Lammermoor.“
Since that time she has returned to the Metropolitan Opera as Princess Eudoxie in a new production of La Juive, Princess Yeuyang in the world premiere of Tan Dun’s The First Emperor, Elvira in I Puritani, and additional performances of Lucia. With the Lyric Opera of Chicago she has sung a vast range of roles including Cunegonde in Candide, Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro, Handel’s Partenope, La Traviata, and The Merry Widow. She has notable relationships with the Washington, Houston, Santa Fe, Los Angeles, New York City, Vancouver, and Minnesota opera companies. Internationally, she has been heard at the Royal Opera Covent Garden, the Bayerische Staatsoper, Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Theater an der Wien, the Grand Theatre de Genève, the Gran Teatre del Liceu, and Hamburg Staatsoper.
Futral debuted with the New York Philharmonic in Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 under Zubin Mehta and has returned there for Handel’s Messiah with Sir Neville Marriner and Mozart’s Abduction from the Seraglio with Sir Colin Davis. Other orchestral highlights include Berlioz’s Benvenuto Cellini with Sir Colin Davis and the London Symphony, To Be Certain of the Dawn with Osmo Vänskä and the Minnesota Orchestra, the Brahms Requiem with Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony, arias and duets with Placido Domingo and the Chicago Symphony led by Daniel Barenboim, and a New Year’s Eve Gala with Claudio Abbado and the Berlin Philharmonic.
In demand for contemporary repertoire, Futral has sung the world premieres of Ricky Ian Gordon’s 27 at the Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Tobias Picker’s Dolores Claiborne at the San Francisco Opera, Andre Previn’s Brief Encounter at the Houston Grand Opera, Philip Glass’ Orphée for the American Repertory Theatre, Ricky Ian Gordon’s Orpheus and Euridice for Great Performers at Lincoln Center, Dominic Argento’s Evensong: Of Love and Angels at the National Cathedral, and Stephen Paulus’ Three Poems of Dylan Thomas with the Tuscon Symphony. Other notable performances include concerts and recording of Paulus’ To Be Certain of the Dawn with the Minnesota Orchestra and Osma Vänskä, Ricky Ian Gordon’s The Grapes of Wrath at Carnegie Hall, and Carlisle Floyd’s Of Mice and Men at the Houston Grand Opera.
Futral’s most recent recording release is Gordon’s 27 with the Opera Theatre of St. Louis on Albany Records. Other operatic recordings include Previn’s Brief Encounter and A Streetcar Named Desire as well as Ravel’s L’enfant et les sortilèges for Deutsche Grammophon, Rossini’s Otello and Zelmira, Pacini’s Carlo di Borgogna for Opera Rara, Lucia di Lammermoor for Chandos as part of their “Opera in English” series, Of Mice and Men on Albany Records, Six Characters in Search of An Authoron New World Records, and Philip Glass’ chamber opera Hydrogen Jukebox for Euphorbia Records. Additional recordings include a solo aria recital for Chandos’ “Opera in English” series; Mozart The Supreme Decorator, a collection of arias by Mozart and CPE Bach on Opera Rara; Sweethearts, a collection of operetta favorites on Newport Classics; Solo Bach Cantatas with the Washington Bach Consort for Lyrichord Discs; Argento’s Evensong with the Cathedral Choral Society for Gothic Records; Paulus’ To Be Certain of the Dawn on BIS records; and Ricky Ian Gordon’s Orpheus and Euridice.
Futral appears as Elvira in Kasper Holten’s film Juan a modern retelling of Don Giovanni. Other DVD releases include Tan Dun’s The First Emperor on EMI and A Streetcar Named Desire on Image Entertainment.
Cynthia Clayton
Professor of Voice, Voice Division Head at University of Houston Moores School of Music (US)
Cynthia Clayton, soprano, is an audience favorite in opera houses throughout the United States and overseas for her critically acclaimed performances of roles including Puccini heroines Tosca, Manon Lescaut, Mimi, Musetta, Liù, and Madama Butterfly; Mozart heroines Donna Anna, Donna Elvira, Pamina, Countess Almaviva, and Fiordiligi; and numerous others, such as Leonora in Il Trovatore, Nedda in Pagliacci, Violetta in La Traviata, Micaela in Carmen, Marguerite in Faust, Janáček’s Jenůfa, Floyd’s Susannah, and Catán’s Florencia (Florencia en el Amazonas). She has bowed in leading roles at New York City Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Dallas Opera, San Diego Opera, Utah Opera, Cleveland Opera, Opéra en Plein Air (Belgium), Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Opera Grand Rapids, Anchorage Opera, Central City Opera, Opera Delaware, Arizona Opera, Fort Worth Opera, Knoxville Opera, Orlando Opera, Cedar Rapids Opera Theater, Opera Santa Barbara, Intermountain Opera, Festival Opera of Walnut Creek, and Opera San José, where she was a Principal Artist in Residence for four seasons. Ms. Clayton’s concert performances have included appearances with orchestras across the country, in Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915, Verdi’s Requiem, Mahler’s Second Symphony, Britten’s War Requiem, Handel’s Messiah, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Mozart’s Requiem and Solemn Vespers, Brahms’ Requiem, Poulenc’s Gloria, and Debussy’s La Damoiselle Élue. In addition, she is an avid performer of recitals and chamber music, including, most recently, Schönberg’s Pierrot Lunaire and a collection of Brahms Lieder. She has been a member of the faculty at the Moores School of Music at the University of Houston since 2005, and has earned the rank of Professor. She performed and produced an EP of Daniel Catán’s music in 2017, issued on the Albany label.
Gabrielle Lester
Assistant Head of Strings department, Violin Professor at Royal College of Music (UK)
Gabrielle (Gaby) Lester was born in London and studied at The Yehudi Menuhin School, The Royal College of Music and at The Mozarteum in Salzburg with Sandor Vegh.
Gaby became principal second violin in The Chamber Orchestra of Europe, The Scottish Chamber Orchestra and The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra at the invitation of Sir Simon Rattle. The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra then appointed Gaby as their assistant leader. A member of the Barbican Piano Trio and The Michael Nyman Band with whom she made many cd recordings, she is a regular participant at IMS Open Chamber Music at Prussia Cove and is often in the recording studio, playing and leading soundtracks such as Harry Potter and The Lord of The Rings.
As a mentor and coach, Gaby has worked with Australian Youth Orchestra. Youth Orchestra of Catalonia, National Youth orchestra of Spain and on Mendelssohn on Mull chamber music.
For the past ten years Gaby has been professor of violin at the RCM and Assistant Head of Strings, Orchestral Strings coaching sectionals, tutti strings and orchestral excerpts.
She has recorded the Amy Beech violin sonata and String Quartet for Chandos and Shnittke and Tanyeyev piano trios, quartets, and Quintets. Last year she recorded all the Beethoven Piano and Violin Sonatas with the pianist Caroline Palmer.
Nicholas Jones
Cello Professor at Royal Northern College of Music, and the Head of Strings at Chetham’s School of Music (UK)
Nicholas Jones has a distinguished career as performer and teacher. As soloist, chamber musician and principal cellist, he has performed throughout Europe and the USA. As well as teaching Cello at RNCM, he is Head of Strings at Chetham’s School of Music.
From 1989 – 1997 he was cellist of the Bochmann Quartet, giving concerts and recording with them at many of the major UK festivals and concert halls. He was also principal cellist of the English String Orchestra, with whom he was a frequent soloist and director, performing with the orchestra throughout Europe and the USA with Lord Yehudi Menuhin, including Berlin Philharmonie and many times at the Gstaad Festival.
From 2001 – 2006 he was a teacher/performing artist at the Bowdoin International Music Festival, USA. He also appeared in the Festival’s Winter Series in New York.
Recent performances have included the St. Cyprien Festival – France, Valdres Festival – Norway, Siena Quatro Quarto Music Festival – Italy (2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2017), the Arona Festival, Tenerife, with the Chamber Music Society of Korea and recitals in the National Philharmonic Chamber Series, Vilnius and the Kaunas Philharmonic Chamber Series and at the Philharmonic Hall, Minsk.
With colleagues Franco Mezzena and Stefano Giovazzi he has also given trio recitals in Italy; recently performing the Beethoven Triple Concerto with the Mantua Festival Orchestra, Bari Symphony Orchestra and Collegium Symphonium Veneto.
His most recent recording was of Peter Lieuwen’s Cello Concerto, with the Slovak National Symphony Orchestra.
Masterclasses have included at all the Conservatoires of the UK, Barratt-Due Institute and the State Academy in Norway, St. Petersburg Special Music Schools and Conservatoire, Tallinn, Vilnius and Riga, Zilina and Bratislava Music Academies, conservatoires in the USA, Belarus and Germany and Salzburg Mozarteum. Nicholas has also been a regular teacher at the Astona Summer Festival, Switzerland.
In May 2018, he was a member of the the jury and gave masterclasses at the Carl Davidoff International Cello Competition in Latvia and will join the jury again in 2020. Since 2009 he has been chair of the cello jury at the Young Musician Competition in Tallinn and this year he is on the cello jury of the Talents for Europe Competition in Slovakia.
Ilya Kondratiev
Piano Professor at Royal College of Music (UK)
A critically acclaimed pianist, Ilya Kondratiev is the prize-winner of several renowned international music competitions, including Franz Liszt Budapest 2011, Franz Liszt Weimar 2011, the Fifth Tbilisi 2013, Brant Birmingham 2015 and Chappell Gold Medal in 2016. Born in Russia, he studied from the age of seven in Samara with the distinguished teacher Victoria Soifer and, from the age of 16, at the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory with the People’s Artist of Russia Zinaida Ignatieva. In 2014 he moved to London in order to further his studies at the Royal College of Music under Vanessa Latarche and Sofia Gulyak, graduating with a Master of Performance and an Artist Diploma.
Ilya performs extensively as a soloist and chamber music player at venues such as the Great Hall of Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, Gasteig Munich, Weimarhalle, Palacio de Festivales de Santander, the Palaceof Arts in Budapest and the Great Hall of the Tbilisi Conservatoire. In 2011 Ilya was invited to work with Elisabeth Leonskaya at the Franz Liszt Piano Academy in Schilllingfurst, Germany and with Pavel Gililov at the Eppan Piano Academy in Italy. He has also worked with Dina Yoffe, Konstantin Shcherbakov, Willem Brons, Dmitry Bashkirov, Jerome Rose, Leslie Howard, Lang Lang and Arie Vardi. His repertoire is mostly based on classical and romantic music, but also includes many contemporary works. Recent performances featured Ilya performing all Beethoven violin sonatas.
In various years Ilya was invited to different festivals such as ‘Encuentro’ Festival in Santander, Gumusluk Festival in Turkey, Beethoven Music Festival and Academy in Altaussee in Austria and New Millennium festival in Bulgaria.
Together with the performing, Ilya is developing his teaching career and in 2019 he was appointed piano professor at the Royal College of Music London. Since autumn 2023 he’s also teaching at the Purcell School for young musicians.
Misha Namirovsky
Associate Professor at Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing (China)
Russian-American pianist and pedagogue has been praised as a “master of his art” (TThe Norderstedter Zeitung Hamburg), and a “lyrical poet” (DieRheinpfalz– Frankfurt); his playing hailed as “incredibly musical and sensitive, yet at the same time transparent and precise (Klassik.TV).” His vivid and sensitive performances are appreciated by critics and audiences alike–following a recent recital in Paris, French pianist and musicologist Eric Heidsieck wrote of Namirovsky’s “colors and clarity” and “extreme virtuosity and controlled passion.”
Namirovsky is a laureate of several international competitions, including the prestigious German Piano Award in Frankfurt, Chopin Koscuiszco Foundation Competition in New York, the Pro Musicis award in Paris, the Gran Prix at Italy’s Cantu Competition and first prize at the Louisiana International Piano Competition, among others. He has appeared in the world’s most renowned concert halls, including Carnegie Hall in New York, Jordan Hall in Boston, Salle Cortot in Paris, Great Conservatory Hall in Moscow, Alte Oper in Frankfurt, Shanghai Symphony Hall, and Mirai Hall in Yokohama, Japan as well as the prestigious Miami International Piano Festival. He has collaborated, among others, with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra; The Conservatory Orchestra of Cuba; Sendai Philharmonic Orchestra in Japan; Novaya Rossiya Symphony, Nizhnii Novgorod Philharmonic, and the Capella Symphony Orchestra in Russia; the Niederbayernphilharmonie in Germany; and New Britain and Atlantic Symphony Orchestras in Boston. Recent performances included a solo tour in China titled “tribute to my teachers” and another upcoming tour will focus on Rachmaninoff as composer, pianist, arranger.
A passionate and prolific chamber musician, Namirovsky has participated in the celebrated Marlboro Festival in Vermont and the Eastern Music Festival in North Carolina. As the pianist in Namirovsky-Lark-Pae trio alongside violinist Tessa Lark and cellist Deborah Pae, Namirovsky won the silver prize at the preeminent Fischoff Chamber Music Competition in Indiana and the trio has performed at New York’s Chamber Music Live concerts as well as for the Music for Food Foundation in Boston. As a recipient of the Tarisio Grant, the trio recorded their debut album for the TYXart label, featuring trios by Frank Bridge and Johannes Brahms, which has earned the destination as the best chamber music album from Fono Forum Magazine in Germany. Other prominent collaborations include Lu Siding, Peter Wiley, Arnold Steinhardt, Sarah Beaty, Amir Eldan, and Alexander Suleiman.
A devoted teacher, Namirovsky is steeped in the illustrious Russian pedagogical tradition.
Former professor Hung-Kuan Chen called Namirovsky “a serious musician and excellent pianist; in addition he is a wonderful teacher with marvelous energy and awareness.” Other important teachers include Solomon Mikowsky and Eliso Virsaladze (herself a student of Yakov Zak and Heinrich Neuhaus); further influences are Mitsuko Uchida, Alfred Brendel and Peter Weiley.
Namirovsky regularly gives masterclasses in the USA (Oberlin College, Northwestern University of Louisiana, Queens College), Spain (Santander Conservatory), and China (Xinghai Conservatory, Xian Conservatory, and others). Namirovsly is a regular guest at several summer festivals including Neuburg Academy (Germany) Noja Festival and Gijon Piano Festival (Spain).
Misha Namirovsky holds degrees from the Manhattan School of Music, Yale University and Munich Musikhochschule. He completed his D.M.A at the New England Conservatory with a dissertation focusing on the piano works of British composer Frank Bridge. Namirovsky will present several lectures on the same topic in the near future. Namirovsky is currently professor of piano at the Central Conservator in Beijing.
FACULTY of the Previous Years
Amir Eldan performs as a soloist, chamber musician and as guest principal cellist. In 2011-12, he served as Principal Cellist of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra by invitation from Zubin Mehta and a year later, as guest Principal Cellist with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. At age 22, he became the youngest member of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in New York, when he won the position of Associate Principal Cellist and was invited by James Levine to perform with the MET Chamber Ensemble in Carnegie Hall.
As the winner of the Juilliard Competition, Mr. Eldan made his New York debut with the Brahms Double concerto in Lincoln Center and has performed the Six Bach Suites in a series of concerts worldwide.
Mr. Eldan was appointed Cello Professor at the Oberlin Conservatory in 2006 and serves as Chair of the String Department. He joined the Oberlin Trio in 2007 and has performed with the Trio throughout the U.S. and South Korea. Mr. Eldan holds a Doctor of Music degree and Master of Music degree, both from Juilliard where he also served as a guest teacher. His performances have been featured on public television and radio in the U.S., Europe and in Israel.
Amir Eldan
Cello Professor at Oberlin Conservatory of Music
The critics have praised Vladimir Valjarevic for his “caressing legato,” “silk-on-velvet seductiveness” (Fanfare Magazine), “beautiful lyricism and . . . wide variety of tones and colorings, perceptively applied with care” (All Music Guide). He has also been called “an outstandingly responsive partner and superb tonalist” (The Strad). He has distinguished himself as performer, educator, and administrator – a result of his diverse interests and versatility. Some of Valjarevic’s solo and chamber performances include appearances at the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing, Sumida Triphony Chamber Hall in Tokyo, Leiszhalle in Hamburg, Conservatory Hall in Geneva, Heilig-Kreuz-Kirche in Berlin, Concert Hall “Bulgaria” in Sofia, Conservatory of Music in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Manchester Music Festival in Vermont, Southwest Virginia Festival for the Arts, and the French and Swiss Embassies in Washington, D.C. In New York, he has performed at Bargemusic, “Concerts at One” at Trinity Church, the “Meet the Virtuoso” at the 92nd Street Y, the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Merkin Hall, Steinway Hall, the Yamaha Salon, The United Nations, and the New School’s Tishman Auditorium, among others. Committed to exploration of the contemporary repertoire, Valjarevic has worked under the direction of various composers and has taken part in numerous world premieres. In addition, he appeared in the European premiere of Cage’s dance drama “Four Walls” in Berlin and then Hamburg.
Vladimir Valjarevic
Piano Professor at Mannes School of Music
Elizabeth Futral is one of the world’s leading sopranos. With her stunning vocalism and vast dramatic range, she has embraced a repertoire that ranges from the Baroque to world premieres. She has collaborated with the great conductors of our time, including Zubin Mehta, Claudio Abbado, Sir Colin Davis, Daniel Barenboim, Sir Charles Mackerras, Loren Maazel, Michael Tilson Thomas, and Sir Neville Marriner. She has been acclaimed for her performances in the world’s leading opera houses, including the Metropolitan Opera, Covent Garden, Deutsche Oper Berlin, San Francisco, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Theatre an der Wien. Futral has appeared with the Berlin Philharmonic, London Symphony, New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Israel Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, London Philharmonic, Hannover Band, Boston Symphony, Munich Radio Orchestra, and many others.
Futral appears as Elvira in Kasper Holten’s film Juan a modern retelling of Don Giovanni. Other DVD releases include Tan Dun’s The First Emperor on EMI and A Streetcar Named Desire on Image Entertainment.
ELIZABETH FUTRAL
Voice Professor at Peabody Institute of Music
Award-winning violinist Wendy Sharp performs frequently as a recitalist and a chamber musician. In demand as a teacher and chamber music coach, she is on the faculties of the Yale School of Music and California Summer Music, and maintains a private studio.
For nearly a decade, Ms. Sharp was the first violinist and a founding member of the highly acclaimed Franciscan String Quartet. As a member of the quartet she toured the USA, Canada, Europe, and Asia, and was honored with many awards including first prize in the Banff International String Quartet Competition and the Press and City of Evian prizes at the Evian International String Quartet Competition.
A native of the San Francisco Bay area, she attended Yale University, graduating summa cum laude with distinction in music, and received her Master of Music degree from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Ms. Sharp has served on the faculties of the Mannes College of Music, Dartmouth College, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and Choate Rosemary Hall, and has participated in the Aspen, Tanglewood, Chamber Music West, Norfolk, Britten-Pears, and Music Academy of the West festivals. Ms. Sharp is currently the director of chamber music at the Yale School of Music, where she has also served on the violin faculty since 1997. Ms. Sharp lives with her husband and their two children in North Haven, Connecticut.
Wendy Sharp
Violin Professor at Yale School of Music
Internationally acclaimed pianist Silvan Negruţiu has performed concerts around the world, from the Kennedy Center in Washington DC to Ireland’s National Concert Hall, the Romanian Athenaeum in Bucharest, and the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. He appeared as soloist with prestigious orchestras including the Romanian Radio Chamber Orchestra, Alicante Philharmonic, George Enescu Philharmonic and Dublin Symphony Orchestra. Some of his concerts have included live television and radio broadcasts. He is a laureate of numerous international competitions, including the “Roma 2000” and Salerno “Beethoven e i classici” in Italy; the “Seiler” in Sofia, Bulgaria; the “Feis Ceoil” in Dublin, Ireland; and the “Konzerteum” in Pireas, Greece. Mr. Negruţiu has completed his Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance degree at Shenandoah University in Virginia, under the guidance of internationally acclaimed pianist and pedagogue John O’Conor. At Shenandoah he was a piano instructor between 2010-13. He currently resides in Decatur, Illinois, where he holds the position of Assistant Professor of Piano and Coordinator of Keyboard Studies at Millikin University School of Music.
Silvan Negruţiu
Piano Professor at Millikin University School of Music
Russian-American pianist and pedagogue Misha Namirovsky has been praised as a “master of his art” (The Norderstedter Zeitung – Hamburg), and a “lyrical poet” (Die Rheinpfalz – Frankfurt); his playing hailed as “incredibly musical and sensitive, yet at the same time transparent and precise (Klassik.TV).” His vivid and sensitive performances are appreciated by critics and audiences alike–following a recent recital in Paris, French pianist and musicologist Eric Heidsieck wrote of Namirovsky’s “colors and clarity” and “extreme virtuosity and controlled passion.”
Misha Namirovsky holds degrees from the Manhattan School of Music, Yale University and Munich Musikhochschule. He completed his D.M.A at the New England Conservatory with a dissertation focusing on the piano works of British composer Frank Bridge. Namirovsky will present several lectures on the same topic in the near future. Namirovsky is currently professor of piano at the Soochow University in Suzhou, China.
Misha Namirovsky
Piano Professor at Suzhou University School of Music
Dr. Zhao Xiaoyang, a lyric baritone singer, graduated from Northeast Normal University College of Music in 2001 and later learnt vocal music from professor Nan Christie, soprano singer of Royal Opera House at University of London. In 2003, he taught lessons at Art College of Xiamen University after getting his Master’s drgree from the University of London. He learnt vocal music at Music College of San Diego State University with full scholarship from professor Mary Mackenzie, a world-renowned vocal music educationist, vice president of the American Association of Vocal Music Teachers, and also an alto singer at Metropolitan Opera in 2005 and acquired his Artist Diploma in Opera Performance in 2007. In 2008 he was admitted to Shenandoah College of Music, one of the earliest music institutes in America to study under PH.D. program of vocal music performance and meanwhile he taught the undergraduates vocal music. In this period, he learnt from professor Michael Forest, tenor at the United States Metropolitan, also a PH.D. advisor. He got the Doctor’s degree in vocal music performance at Shenandoah College of Music in 2012.
Xiaoyang Zhao
China’s famous lyric baritone singer
Dan Zhang graduated from Central Conservatory of Music of China, taught by the viola professor Wang Changhai. In 2007, in the first National Viola Competition, she won the best performance prize with superb skills and unique music performance charm. In 2009, Dan Zhang was awarded with full-scholarship and went to the United States to receive further education. She was taught by the famous US viola educator Doris Lederer, and obtained the diploma of violist. During the school time, she had won the first prize in the concerto competition held by the school, and performed the viola concerto of Bartok with the orchestra. In 2011, Dan Zhang was admitted by Yale University with full scholarship, majored in viola performance and awarded with full scholarship, and was taught by the famous Italian violist Ettore Causa living in the United States. Now, she receives further education at Benjamin T. Roman School of Music in Washington, for Doctoral Degree. She has founded a music studio at Virginia, and has engaged in music education for several years. Besides, several of her students have been admitted by the U.S. state orchestra, made outstanding achievements in competitions, and served as the chief position of the school orchestra.
Dan Zhang
US-BASED VIOLA SOLOIST, CHAMBER MUSICIAN, MUSIC DIRECTOR OF MTSY STUDIO
Hailed by the New York Times as “prodigiously accomplished and exciting,” as one of the piano’s “brilliant stars,” pianist Blair McMillen has forged a busy musical life that is unbounded by convention. He is well-known for his advocacy of living composers and contemporary music, as well as championing very early keyboard music and more recent neglected masterpieces.For the past 15 years, McMillen has divided his time as soloist, chamber musician, music festival director, and educator.
McMillen has performed in all the major concert venues in New York City, throughout the United States, and around the world. Recent appearances include concertos with the American Symphony Orchestra in Carnegie Hall, solo appearances with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and the Albany Symphony, and a 3-week solo tour of Brazil sponsored by the US State Department. He is a member of several prominent ensembles, including the American Modern Ensemble, the Bardian Ensemble, the six-piano “supergroup” Grand Band, and the Perspectives Ensemble, among others. For 12 years he was pianist for the Naumburg Award-winning Da Capo Chamber Players.
Blair McMillen
Christine Anderson, soprano, is Associate Professor of Vocal Studies and the Coordinator of the Voice and Opera Area at the Boyer College of Music and Dance of Temple University in Philadelphia, PA. She holds a B.M. in Voice from Illinois Wesleyan University and earned both M.M. and D.M.A. degrees in Voice at the College-Conservatory of Music of the University of Cincinnati. Dr. Anderson has sung numerous performances as soprano soloist with several prestigious contemporary music ensembles and has worked with such composers as Lukas Foss and Kristof Penderecki. In addition, she has had extensive performing experience as a recitalist in programs featuring the premieres of new works. Dr. Anderson received the 2014 Distinguished Teaching Award from the Music and Dance Teaching Academy Committee of Temple University’s Boyer College of Music and Dance.
Dr. Anderson also taught in the Musical Theater Department at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. An active pedagogue, Dr. Anderson has presented masterclasses and papers at national and international conferences such as the Australia Voice Symposium, the Music Teacher’s National Association, and The National Association of Teachers of Singing.
Christine Anderson
Akemi Takayama is a world-renowned musician, known for the extensive range and versatility of her repertoire. She has performed throughout Japan, France, England, Turkey, Israel, and the U.S. Currently the concertmaster of both the Roanoke Symphony and the Williamsburg Symphonia, Ms. Takayama is also an Associate Professor of Violin in the Shenandoah Conservatory at Shenandoah University, where she works with her private students and chamber groups.
A native of Japan, Akemi Takayama showed promise as a violinist from an early age, beginning her performance career at age 15. In Japan, she studied with Toshiya Eto and Ryosaku Kubota at the Toho School of Music in Tokyo, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in music performance. She later traveled to America and earned her Professional Studies degree with Brian Hanly at the University of Wyoming. During her graduate studies, Ms. Takayama was a teaching assistant to famed violinist and pedagogue Donald Weilerstein at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she earned both the Artist Diploma and a Master of Music degree.
Akemi Takayama
Internationally active as performer, recording artist, pedagogue, and artistic director, American pianist Dmitry Samogray is rapidly establishing himself as an important figure amongst the new generation of classical music artists. Samogray is the founder and co-director of Audeamus International Music Festival in Zagreb, Croatia, as well as a founding member of Ensemble Accendo and the Racz-Samogray Duo.
As performer, Samogray concertizes regularly throughout Europe, as well as North and South America, to critical and public acclaim. In 2016, along with cellist Dorotea Racz, Samogray completed a tour of Peru, Chile, and Argentina, with concerts in Lima, Santiago, and Buenos Aires, amongst others, and master-classes at the Universidad Nacional de las Artes (Argentina) and Universidad de Antofagasta (Chile). Festival appearances include L’Infinito Festival (Italy), Festival Rovinj (Croatia), PagArt Festival (Croatia), KD Festival (Croatia), International Festival “Umbria Classica” (Italy), and Leonardo De Lorenzo Festival (Italy), and European Month of Culture (USA).
Dmitry Samogray
Croatian cellist, Dorotea Rácz, has collected over thirty international prizes, including the Grand Prize at International Competition “Casarza Ligure” (Italy), 1st prizes at International Competition “Antionio Janigro” for young cellists (Croatia), International Competition “Valsesia Musica” (Italy), International Competition Alpe-Adria “Alfredo e Vanda Marcosig” (Italy), as well as the 2nd prize at the AFAF International Concerto Competition (USA), to mention a few.
Dorotea has performed in Croatia, Slovenia, Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Latvia, Hungary, Austria, Germany, Italy, Malta and the United States, in prestigious venues such as the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Konzerthaus Klagenfurt, Millennium Stage at Kennedy Center, Lisinski Hall in Zagreb, and Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. Festival appearances include the PagArt Festival (Croatia), American Fine Arts Festival (USA), International Festival “Umbria Classica” (Italy), and Leonardo De Lorenzo Festival (Italy).
Dorotea Rácz
Praised by the Italian press as being “one of the most interesting talents of her generation”, and described as having “a beautiful phrasing, brilliant virtuosity and a legato worthy of a great singer” by The Flutist Quarterly, Ginevra Petrucci has performed in some of the most prestigious concert halls throughout Europe (Sala Accademica di Santa Cecilia and Villa Medici, Rome; Teatro La Fenice, Venice; Sala Maffeiana, Verona; Villa Pignatelli, Naples; Salle Cortot, Paris; Liszt Academy, Budapest; Chopin Academy, Warsaw), America (Carnegie Hall, New York; Kennedy Center, Washington D.C.), Japan (Ohji Hall, Tokyo), South America and Middle East.She performs regularly with artists such as Bruno Canino, Rocco Filippini, Paolo Carlini, Luca Vignali, Boris Berman, David Radzynski, Emmanuel Ceysson, Jory Vinikour and with the ensembles I Virtuosi Italiani, I Pomeriggi Musicali, I Musici di Roma, and the Kodály Quartet. Her recordings include Giulio Briccialdi’s four flute Concerti with I Virtuosi Italiani, Friedrich Kuhlau’s quintets with the Kodály Quartet, Haydn’s flute Duets, the recital CD “The World of Yesterday” with Bruno Canino, Dupuy and Büchner’s Concerti with I Pomeriggi Musicali, the first CD entirely dedicated to the flauto d’amore and an all-Muczynski album with Ensemble Accendo.
Ginevra Petrucci
A native Californian, soprano Karen Vuong joined the ensemble at Oper Frankfurt in 2013/14. During the 2015/16 season roles include the Countess in Die Hochzeit des Figaro/Le nozze di Figaro, Agata in Fioravanti’s La cantatrici villane, Nella / Suor Genovieffa in Gianni Schicchi, Imelda in concert performances of Oberto, Gerhilde in Die Walküre and Micaëla in a new production of Carmen. During the 2016/17 season she sings in a new production of Mozart’s Betulia liberata, 1st Lady in Die Zauberflöte, Micaëla in Carmen, the young girl in Eötvös’ Der Goldene Drache/The Golden Dragon and Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni.
The American soprano’s other roles for the company were Mimì (La Bohème), Gretel (Hänsel und Gretel), Mrs. Julian (Owen Wingrave), a Flower Maiden (Parsifal), Donna Elvira (role debut) in Don Giovanni and she enjoyed great success with the title role in Dvořáks Rusalka.
Other past engagements include: Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro) at Santa Barbara Opera, Donna Anna (Don Giovanni), Zhou (Kommilitonen!), and Fox Goldenstripe (The Cunning Little Vixen) at the Juilliard School of Music, Trang / Nurse, in the world premiere of Daron Hagen’s Amelia, at Seattle Opera and Sophie (Massenet’s Werther) at Kentucky Opera.
Karen Vuong
Described as “brilliant” by the San Francisco Classical Voice, pianist Allegra Chapman is dedicated to engaging with new audiences as performer and presenter. As a soloist and chamber musician, she has performed at Alice Tully Hall, in the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series, and at festivals including New York City Center’s Fall for Dance Festival and Bard Music Festival. Her performances have been featured on WQXR New York, WFMT Chicago, and KALW San Francisco. Allegra performs regularly with local San Francisco ensembles and has collaborated with musicians Blair McMillan, Ian Swensen, and members of International Contemporary Ensemble and the Orion String Quartet. In addition to her performing career, Allegra enjoys a thriving teaching studio and has coached chamber music ensembles at many insitutions, including San Francisco State University and the Bryanston School in England. She is also founder and Artistic Director of Bard Music Festival West, an innovative new branch of Bard Music Festival that will explore the life and influences of a single 20th-century or contemporary composer each year. BMF West will open in San Francisco in 2017.
Allegra Chapman
Xi Lu is an associate professor at Xing Hai Conservatory of Music, violin doctor at Russia jose sol, the National College of Music, executive member of the Violin Institute in Guangdong Province.
Her footprints went throughout Europe and Asia. She has been invited to attend the Cremona International Violin Music Festival in Italy and often holds personal solo concerts at home and abroad. She was the solo in the performance for the reception of Jiang Zemin in 2007. She acted as judges at various competitions like the Hong Kong Youth Music Performance, the Finland International Musical Instruments Competition and the Hong Kong International String Music Competition, etc. and her students have won awards at such competitions. Graduates under her direction have been recommended to study abroad or played key roles in symphony orchestras.
During 2006 to 2008 she was invited twice by the Russian Urals National Symphony Orchestra to give douring performance of violin solo in over 10 cities like Yekaterinburg, Tyumen, Ohm,etc. after which she was interviewed by Novosibirsk Chinese TV column and many other media and was highly praised by China Pictorial(Russian).
Xi Lu
Prize winner of international piano competitions and a Bösendorfer Concert Artist, pianist Ivo Kaltchev has enjoyed a successful performing career as recitalist, soloist with orchestras, chamber musician, and recording artist. “Formidable technique” (Piano Journal, England), “possesses the genius of rubato” (Diapason, France), “distinctive and original” (Soviet Culture, Russia), “impressive” (Frankfurter Neue Presse, Germany), “most beautifully and idiomatically played” (International Record Review, England), “glittering,” “big technique” (WashingtonPost, U.S.), “a master of the whole range of pianistic attacks and coloristic effects” (The Star Ledger, U.S.)—these are some of the words that music critics have used to describe Dr. Kaltchev’s artistry.Currently, Dr. Kaltchev is Professor of Piano and Head of the Piano Division at The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. He is co-director and co-founder of the Washington International Piano Festival, as well as the Artistic Director of the Bulgarian Music Society Concert Series at the Bulgarian Embassy in Washington, DC. He has taught as a Visiting Piano Professor at the Beijing China Conservatory of Music and the Yale University School of Music.
Ivo Kaltchev
As a member of the Audubon Quartet since 1976, Doris Lederer has performed extensively throughout the world and given master classes at Cleveland Institute of Music, Eastman School of Music, Oberlin Conservatory, Shanghai and Beijing Conservatories, Yale School of Music, The Chautauqua Institute, as well as the Audubon Quartet’s annual String Quartet Seminar.
In 1981, Doris Lederer visited Mainland China in a ground-breaking tour as a member of the Audubon Quartet, the first American string quartet to be so honored. Performing and giving masterclasses in Beijing and Shanghai, Ms. Lederer helped open the door wider to other Western musicians worldwide. Since her first visit as an artist, teacher and cultural ambassador, Ms. Lederer has returned to China on subsequent visits, not only as an artist-teacher, but as a distinquished representative of Shenandoah University Conservatory.
Doris Lederer
During the last three decades, he has made approximately 2000 appearances worldwide as the cellist of the Audubon Quartet and has recorded for the RCA, Telarc, Centaur, CRI and Opus One recording companies. His appearances include featured performances on CBS Sunday Morning, Recitals at Alice Tully, Avery Fischer, Carnegie and Town Halls in New York, Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, Curtis Hall in Philadelphia, Symphony Hall in Chicago, Wilshire Ebel Theater in Los Angeles, Wigmore Hall in London, Academy of Santa Cecilia in Rome, Red Tower Theater in Beijing, Bavarian Radio in Munich, Swiss TV in Geneva, Tel Aviv Museum in Israel, several tours abroad for the United States Department of State, and performance at the White House.
Clyde Thomas Shaw was a founding member of the Audubon String Quartet and has served as its cellist since 1974.
Thomas Shaw
Sharon Christman has soloed and debuted in almost every Lincoln Center venue. She made her Alice Tully Hall debut singing Pergolesi’s Orpheus Cantata with the New York Chamber Orchestra. Immediately following she was engaged with New York City Opera and Opera Orchestra of New York in Carnegie Hall with Maestra Eve Queler. Ms. Christman continued her collaboration with Ms. Queler including a farewell concert with Carlo Bergonzi. For her Metropolitan Opera debut Ms. Christman performed the role of the” Queen of the Night” in Mozart’s Die Zauberflote – a role she has performed with more than twenty opera companies and symphonies across the United Stated, Canada and South America. She may be seen on video with Canadian Broadcasting Company’s production with L’Opera de Montreal, a Maurice Sendak production. Recent engagements include a fifth performance in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall- this time performing the soprano solos in Carmina Burana as part of the fifty year gala anniversary celebration of the Benjamin T. Rome School of Music. Ms. Christman is the Head of the Vocal Division and Opera at the Benjamin T. Rome School of Music at The Catholic University of America.
Sharon Christman
Ji Lin is an associate professor of cello from Orchestral Instruments Department at Xing Hai Conservatory of Music, also the secretary genreal of the Cello Institute in Guangdong Province. Ji Lin earned her Master’s degree of Cello Performing at Musikhochschule Köln and was recommended by the China Scholarship Council as a visiting scholar to Conservatoire royal de Bruxelles in 2014. Ji Lin studied at Musikhochschule Köln in 1999 and learnt from professor Claus Kanngiesser, dean 0f Musikhochschule Köln, also a famous cellist and an educationist. She also learnt chamber music from professor Harald Schoneweg, a renowned viola performer, and orchestra art from Christian Brunnert, chief cellist at Bonn philharmonic. Ji Lin enjoyed great success with her solo concerts at Xing Hai Conservatory of Music in 2004 and 2008. In January 2006, she went to Hong Kong to attend the charity concert themed “Butterfly Lovers’ Music for People’s Health” and performed with Song Fei and He Zhanhao. Since August 2006 she was invited to guide the Youth Symphony Orchestra members in Macao. In 2008 she gave lectures at Yunnan Arts University and was hired as a guest professor. Her students have won awards at national competitions and worked at professional orchestras and higher institutions after graduation.
Lin Ji
Russian born pianist Anna Nizhegorodtseva holds her BM from Nizhny Novgorod College of Music and MM from Nizhniy Novgorod Glinka State Conservatory. Some of the awards in piano and chamber music competitions include the 1st Prize in the International Piano Competition of Kiev, Ukraine (2005), 2nd prize in Moscow Chamber Music Competition (2009), 1st place in MTAC, Los Angeles (2010). She has been finalist in the International piano contest in Malaga, Spain (2008) and in the First American Paderewski Piano Competition in Los Angeles, California (2010). In 2010 Anna obtained 2nd place in the Los Angeles Liszt International Piano Competition. She was a winner of Beverly Hills Auditions in Los Angeles and took part in the Beverly Hills concert series (2012). Anna attended master-classes with well-known pianists such as Dina Yoffe, Natalia Trull, Leonel Morales, and Edward Volanin. In 2012 she obtained the Artist Certificate at Azusa Pacific University (Los Angeles, CA) under the direction of the professor Roza Yoder. . In October 2013 Anna performed both as a soloist and collaborative pianist in a Weill (Carnegie) Recital Hall as a part of La Gesse Foundation. In March 2014 she was awarded 1st price for the Louisville Lake Symphony International Piano Competition in Texas and performed with the Louisville Symphony Orchestra in September 2014.
Anna Nizhegorodtseva
Liang Yu, who owns the doctoral degree, graduated from Xi’An Conservatory of music with the bachelor degree in 2002.
In 2003, Yu Liang left for Germany for further study with an offer from Rostock Musikhochschule, following famous violin professor Petru Munteanu and assistant professor Robert Hille to learn violin. Later, he was working in German Shi Williamham music school as a violin teacher. Meanwhile, he was employed as the violin principal in The United World Philharmonic Youth Orchestra.
In August 2007, Mr. Yu Liang returned China to be a violin professor of Shaanxi Normal University.
Liang Yu
A native of the Czech Republic, violinist Barbora Kolářová is a recent laureate of the New York International Artist Association Competition and the Vadim Repin Master class Scholarship Competition in New York City. Winner of numerous international competitions such as the Remember Enescu and Telemann, she is also a two time winner of the Prague Junior Note and the Grand prize winner of the Michigan ASTA Solo Competition. She appeared numerous times as a soloist with the Czech Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra all over Europe and USA and has also performed solo concertos with the Czech Radio Symphony, the Czech National Theatre Orchestra, the West Bohemia Symphony Orchestra, and the Limoges Orchestra. She was invited to perform at the Haydn Music Festival and the Young Prague and gave a presentation on “Czech Music of the 60’s” in the National Arts Gallery in Washington DC as part of the 2012 Miloš Forman Festival.
Miss Kolářová holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the Curtis Institute of Music and Master of Music degree from the Yale School of Music. Her major teachers include Pavel Prantl, Charles Avsharian, Ida Kavafian, Arnold Steinhardt and Ani Kavafian. Barbora is a visiting performing artist of the Czech Philharmonic and a member of the New Haven Symphony Orchestra. She is a co-founder, artistic director and general manager of the Lake George Music Festival.
Barbora Kolářová
