Untitled Document


	ARTISTS/FACULTY David Halen, Artistic Director \| violin Concertmaster of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, David Halen is also a frequent soloist with many orchestras around the world. At 19, he graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Central Missouri State University, later completing a master’s at the University of Illinois. In 1979, he became the youngest recipient ever of a Fulbright Scholarship, for study at Freiburg Hochschule for Music in Germany. Prior to coming to Saint Louis, he served as assistant concertmaster of the Houston Symphony. Halen’s leadership in the arts brought him an A&E Arts Award in 2002. He has served as concertmaster at the Aspen Music Festival for four years. Julie Albers \| cello Cellist Julie Albers is recognized for her superlative artistry, intense musicianship, and her charismatic performing style. She made her major orchestral debut with the Cleveland Orchestra in 1998, and since has performed in recital and with orchestras in the U.S., Europe, Korea, Taiwan and New Zealand. In addition to solo performances, Julie regularly participates in chamber music festivals around the world. In 2006 she began a three-year residency with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Two. She is currently active with the Albers String Trio and the cello quartet, CELLO. She is also on the faculty of Kean University. Find out more about Julie at www.cellistjuliealbers.com Rebecca Albers — viola Violist Rebecca Albers has performed throughout North America, Asia and Western Europe. Her performances have been seen on national television in the United States and China and heard on National Public Radio and French National Radio. Ms. Albers currently resides in Ann Arbor, MI as the newest member of the University of Michigan’s viola faculty. She also tours extensively with the Albers Trio, a string trio formed with her sisters Laura and Julie Albers and with fiddler Mark O’Connor’s Appalachia Waltz Trio. As the winner of the Juilliard School’s 2002/03 viola competition, Ms. Albers made her New York solo debut with the Juilliard Orchestra performing the New York premiere of Samuel Adler’s Viola Concerto in Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center. Find out more about Rebecca Wendy Chen \| piano At 15, Wendy Chen debuted with the Los Angeles Philharmonic under conductor Andre Previn. In 1990 she became the youngest winner ever of the National Chopin Competition, was one of the inaugural recipients of the Irving S. Gilmore Young Artists Award, and was named a Presidential Scholar by the National Foundation for the Arts. Ms. Chen has performed with leading orchestras and concert halls worldwide. Her orchestral appearances have included the New York Chamber Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony and Chamber Orchestra, Phoenix Symphony, Baltimore Chamber Orchestra, New Zealand’s Auckland Philharmonia and Wellington Sinfonia, Montreal’s I Musici and many others. Grace Fong \| piano American pianist Grace Fong’s performances have been hailed as “positively magical.” She has gained critical acclaim in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia, making appearances at major venues around the world, including Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Phillips Collection, Great Hall in Leeds, UK, Reinberger Hall at Severance Hall, the Liszt Academy in Budapest, Konzerthaus Dortmund, Germany, among others. Dr. Fong is currently the Director of Keyboard Studies at Chapman University Conservatory of Music (California) where she was recently awarded the 2008 faculty excellence award at the Conservatory of Music. Find out more about Grace Fong at www.pianistgracefong.com. Peter Henderson \| piano Peter Henderson is equally active as an orchestral, chamber, solo and teaching artist. He is a keyboardist and frequent pre-concert lecturer with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra and Assistant Professor of Music at Maryville University (St. Louis). He is a presently a member of the St. Louis-based Ilex Piano Trio and has been a member of the Garth Newell Piano Quartet and keyboardist with the Sun Valley Summer Symphony. Peter holds a Doctorate in Piano Performance from Indiana University. The Jupiter Quartet The Jupiter String Quartet, formed in 2001, consists of violinists Nelson Lee and Megan Freivogel, violist Liz Freivogel, and cellist Daniel McDonough. The Jupiter’s have received several chamber music honors, including first prize in the Banff International String Quartet Competition, grand prize in the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, membership in Lincoln Center’s Chamber Music Society Two, and Chamber Music America’s Cleveland Quartet Award. The quartet also won the 2005 Young Concert Artists International auditions and now holds YCA’s Helen F. Whitaker Chamber Music Chair. Most recently, they were honored to receive an Avery Fisher Career Grant. The quartet has performed across the United States, Canada, Europe, Mexico, and South America. Find out more about the quartet at www.jupiterquartet.com Melissa Reardon \| viola First Prize Winner of the Washington International Competition, violist Melissa Reardon is the only violist to also win top prizes in consecutive HAMS International Viola Competitions, including the prize for the "best performance of a newly commissioned piece." As a member of the acclaimed Enso String Quartet, Melissa performs internationally. The quartet is currently Quartet-in-Residence with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra in its 2008-2009 season. Melissa is a founding member of the East Coast Chamber Orchestra (ECCO) and is Assistant Professor of Viola at East Carolina University. A frequent collaborative musician, Melissa has performed in numerous festivals across the US, Europe, India and Korea. She has toured the US and France with Musicians from Marlboro and toured with Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Ensemble. In May 2006, Melissa was chosen to participate in Chamber Music Connects the World with Gidon Kremer in Kronberg, Germany. Melissa holds degrees from the Curtis Institute of Music and the New England Conservatory; her principal teachers include: Kim Kashkashian, Michael Tree, Joseph dePasquale, Karen Tuttle, Samuel Rhodes, and Hsin-Yun Huang. David Requiro \| cello David Requiro, a first prize winner of the 2008 Naumburg International Cello Award, is one of today’s most promising young cellists. At 23, he has already captured first prizes in the Irving M. Klein and Washington International String Competitions as well as the Inaugural National Symphony Orchestra Young Soloists’ Competition. In addition, he won a top prize at the Gaspar Cassadó International Violoncello Competition in Hachioji, Japan. As a former member of the Kashii String Quartet, he has served on faculty at the Innsbrook Institute, was the winner of Silver Medals in both the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and Yellow Springs Chamber Music Competition. Mr. Requiro is currently pursuing his Master of Music degree at the University of Michigan under the tutelage of Richard Aaron. He received his Bachelor of Music degree at the Cleveland Institute of Music. Find out more about Mr. Requiro at www.davidrequiro.com Mark Sparks \| flute Mark Sparks was appointed principal flute of the Saint Louis Symphony in September 2000. Recognized for his colorful tone and spirited phrasing, he has performed as soloist in major venues in the U.S. and Japan, including Carnegie, CAMI, and Weill halls. He has presented master classes at top schools and training programs on several continents. He has performed with the New York Philharmonic, Detroit Symphony, and is the former associate principal flutist of the Baltimore Symphony. Sparks is a graduate of Oberlin Conservatory, where he studied with Robert Willoughby. Other teachers include Ransom Wilson, Fenwick Smith, Nadine Asin, Jan Gippo, and Jacob Berg. Jonathan Swartz \| violin A native of Toronto, violinist Jonathan Swartz has distinguished himself throughout North America both as a performer and pedagogue. While serving on the faculties at Arizona State University, the Rocky Mountain Summer Conservatory, the Domaine Forget Academy, and the Innsbrook Institute, Swartz has managed to maintain a prolific performing career. He collaborates often with his sister, Jennifer Swartz, principal harpist of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, and his wife, American pianist Wendy Chen. Swartz has appeared at the Smithsonian Chamber Music Society, Colorado’s Strings in the Mountains Chamber Festival, the Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival, the Mooredale Concert Series, and the Artists Series at Roy Thompson Hall, in addition to several venues under the auspices of Les Jeunesses Musicales du Canada. He is also a member of the IRIS Chamber Orchestra in Tennessee, under conductor Michael Stern, an ensemble that regularly performs with the world’s leading artists, including Gil Shaham, Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma, Jaime Laredo, Joshua Bell, Midori, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, and Yefim Bronfman. Sought after as a master clinician, and frequent presenter at the American String Teachers’ Association National Conferences, Swartz was interviewed by STRINGS magazine for an article in the October 2006 issue, based on his presentation Conceptualizing Arm Weight at the 2006 ASTA Conference. He has given master classes throughout North America, including at Vanderbilt University, Bowling Green State University, Florida State University, the Interlochen Arts Academy, and Stanford University. In addition, Swartz is the founder and Artistic Director of the Visiting Quartet Residency Program at ASU, a chamber music program that integrates visiting resident artists with a comprehensive chamber music curriculum. Quartets in this residency have included the St. Lawrence, Juilliard, Brentano, and Tokyo String Quartets. Swartz is also co-creator of the Violinists’ Seminar at Domaine Forget in Quebec, Canada – a team-taught intensive training program for advanced violinists. Swartz has a Bachelor of Music cum laude from Rice University, a Master of Music from the Mannes College of Music, and a Doctor of Musical Arts from Rice University. His doctoral thesis is titled, Perspectives of Violin Pedagogy: A Study of the Treatises of Francesco Geminiani, Pierre Baillot, and Ivan Galamian, and a Working Manual by Jonathan Swartz. Isabel Trautwein \| violin Isabel Trautwein has been a member of the first violin section of the Cleveland Orchestra since 2002. She was previously a member of the Saint Louis Symphony. She has held positions as Concertmaster of the New World Symphony in Miami and as a member of the Houston Symphony. During the 1999-2000 season she was a member of the Pacifica Quartet. She received her BA from Musikhochschule Lubeck and continued her graduate studies at Cleveland Institute under Donald Weilerstein. Jonathan Vinocour \| viola Principal Violist with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra Jonathan Vinocour is also an avid chamber musician and has appeared with Musicians from Marlboro, the Boston Chamber Music Society, International Sejong Soloists and Richardson Chamber Players. He has also performed at the Aspen, Marlboro, Portland, Prussia Cove, and Tanglewood festivals where he received the Henri Kohn Memorial Prize. Joanthan completed a graduate degree at New England Conservatory, and holds a degree in chemistry from Princeton University. Chee-Yun \| violin Violinist Chee-Yun’s flawless technique, dazzling tone and compelling artistry have enraptured audiences on five continents. Chee-Yun performs regularly with the world’s foremost orchestras, and is a solo and chamber music recitalist in major venues internationally. In addition to her active performance and recording schedule, Chee-Yun is a dedicated and enthusiastic educator. She gives master classes around the world and has held several teaching posts at notable music schools and universities, including University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and Indiana University. In August 2007, she was appointed Artist-in-Residence and Professor of Violin at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. Find out more about Chee-Yun at www.chee-yun.net

ARTISTS/FACULTY

David Halen, Artistic Director | violin
Concertmaster of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, David Halen is also a frequent soloist with many orchestras around the world. At 19, he graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Central Missouri State University, later completing a master’s at the University of Illinois. In 1979, he became the youngest recipient ever of a Fulbright Scholarship, for study at Freiburg Hochschule for Music in Germany. Prior to coming to Saint Louis, he served as assistant concertmaster of the Houston Symphony. Halen’s leadership in the arts brought him an A&E Arts Award in 2002. He has served as concertmaster at the Aspen Music Festival for four years.

Julie Albers | cello
Cellist Julie Albers is recognized for her superlative artistry, intense musicianship, and her charismatic performing style. She made her major orchestral debut with the Cleveland Orchestra in 1998, and since has performed in recital and with orchestras in the U.S., Europe, Korea, Taiwan and New Zealand. In addition to solo performances, Julie regularly participates in chamber music festivals around the world. In 2006 she began a three-year residency with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Two. She is currently active with the Albers String Trio and the cello quartet, CELLO. She is also on the faculty of Kean University. Find out more about Julie at www.cellistjuliealbers.com

Rebecca Albers — viola
Violist Rebecca Albers has performed throughout North America, Asia and Western Europe. Her performances have been seen on national television in the United States and China and heard on National Public Radio and French National Radio. Ms. Albers currently resides in Ann Arbor, MI as the newest member of the University of Michigan’s viola faculty. She also tours extensively with the Albers Trio, a string trio formed with her sisters Laura and Julie Albers and with fiddler Mark O’Connor’s Appalachia Waltz Trio. As the winner of the Juilliard School’s 2002/03 viola competition, Ms. Albers made her New York solo debut with the Juilliard Orchestra performing the New York premiere of Samuel Adler’s Viola Concerto in Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center. Find out more about Rebecca

Wendy Chen | piano
At 15, Wendy Chen debuted with the Los Angeles Philharmonic under conductor Andre Previn. In 1990 she became the youngest winner ever of the National Chopin Competition, was one of the inaugural recipients of the Irving S. Gilmore Young Artists Award, and was named a Presidential Scholar by the National Foundation for the Arts. Ms. Chen has performed with leading orchestras and concert halls worldwide. Her orchestral appearances have included the New York Chamber Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony and Chamber Orchestra, Phoenix Symphony, Baltimore Chamber Orchestra, New Zealand’s Auckland Philharmonia and Wellington Sinfonia, Montreal’s I Musici and many others.

Grace Fong | piano
American pianist Grace Fong’s performances have been hailed as “positively magical.” She has gained critical acclaim in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia, making appearances at major venues around the world, including Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Phillips Collection, Great Hall in Leeds, UK, Reinberger Hall at Severance Hall, the Liszt Academy in Budapest, Konzerthaus Dortmund, Germany, among others. Dr. Fong is currently the Director of Keyboard Studies at Chapman University Conservatory of Music (California) where she was recently awarded the 2008 faculty excellence award at the Conservatory of Music. Find out more about Grace Fong at www.pianistgracefong.com.

Peter Henderson | piano
Peter Henderson is equally active as an orchestral, chamber, solo and teaching artist. He is a keyboardist and frequent pre-concert lecturer with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra and Assistant Professor of Music at Maryville University (St. Louis). He is a presently a member of the St. Louis-based Ilex Piano Trio and has been a member of the Garth Newell Piano Quartet and keyboardist with the Sun Valley Summer Symphony. Peter holds a Doctorate in Piano Performance from Indiana University.

The Jupiter Quartet
The Jupiter String Quartet, formed in 2001, consists of violinists Nelson Lee and Megan Freivogel, violist Liz Freivogel, and cellist Daniel McDonough. The Jupiter’s have received several chamber music honors, including first prize in the Banff International String Quartet Competition, grand prize in the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, membership in Lincoln Center’s Chamber Music Society Two, and Chamber Music America’s Cleveland Quartet Award. The quartet also won the 2005 Young Concert Artists International auditions and now holds YCA’s Helen F. Whitaker Chamber Music Chair. Most recently, they were honored to receive an Avery Fisher Career Grant. The quartet has performed across the United States, Canada, Europe, Mexico, and South America. Find out more about the quartet at www.jupiterquartet.com

Melissa Reardon | viola
First Prize Winner of the Washington International Competition, violist Melissa Reardon is the only violist to also win top prizes in consecutive HAMS International Viola Competitions, including the prize for the "best performance of a newly commissioned piece." As a member of the acclaimed Enso String Quartet, Melissa performs internationally. The quartet is currently Quartet-in-Residence with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra in its 2008-2009 season. Melissa is a founding member of the East Coast Chamber Orchestra (ECCO) and is Assistant Professor of Viola at East Carolina University. A frequent collaborative musician, Melissa has performed in numerous festivals across the US, Europe, India and Korea. She has toured the US and France with Musicians from Marlboro and toured with Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Ensemble. In May 2006, Melissa was chosen to participate in Chamber Music Connects the World with Gidon Kremer in Kronberg, Germany. Melissa holds degrees from the Curtis Institute of Music and the New England Conservatory; her principal teachers include: Kim Kashkashian, Michael Tree, Joseph dePasquale, Karen Tuttle, Samuel Rhodes, and Hsin-Yun Huang.

David Requiro | cello
David Requiro, a first prize winner of the 2008 Naumburg International Cello Award, is one of today’s most promising young cellists. At 23, he has already captured first prizes in the Irving M. Klein and Washington International String Competitions as well as the Inaugural National Symphony Orchestra Young Soloists’ Competition. In addition, he won a top prize at the Gaspar Cassadó International Violoncello Competition in Hachioji, Japan. As a former member of the Kashii String Quartet, he has served on faculty at the Innsbrook Institute, was the winner of Silver Medals in both the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and Yellow Springs Chamber Music Competition. Mr. Requiro is currently pursuing his Master of Music degree at the University of Michigan under the tutelage of Richard Aaron. He received his Bachelor of Music degree at the Cleveland Institute of Music. Find out more about Mr. Requiro at www.davidrequiro.com

Mark Sparks | flute
Mark Sparks was appointed principal flute of the Saint Louis Symphony in September 2000. Recognized for his colorful tone and spirited phrasing, he has performed as soloist in major venues in the U.S. and Japan, including Carnegie, CAMI, and Weill halls. He has presented master classes at top schools and training programs on several continents. He has performed with the New York Philharmonic, Detroit Symphony, and is the former associate principal flutist of the Baltimore Symphony. Sparks is a graduate of Oberlin Conservatory, where he studied with Robert Willoughby. Other teachers include Ransom Wilson, Fenwick Smith, Nadine Asin, Jan Gippo, and Jacob Berg.

Jonathan Swartz | violin
A native of Toronto, violinist Jonathan Swartz has distinguished himself throughout North America both as a performer and pedagogue. While serving on the faculties at Arizona State University, the Rocky Mountain Summer Conservatory, the Domaine Forget Academy, and the Innsbrook Institute, Swartz has managed to maintain a prolific performing career. He collaborates often with his sister, Jennifer Swartz, principal harpist of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, and his wife, American pianist Wendy Chen. Swartz has appeared at the Smithsonian Chamber Music Society, Colorado’s Strings in the Mountains Chamber Festival, the Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival, the Mooredale Concert Series, and the Artists Series at Roy Thompson Hall, in addition to several venues under the auspices of Les Jeunesses Musicales du Canada. He is also a member of the IRIS Chamber Orchestra in Tennessee, under conductor Michael Stern, an ensemble that regularly performs with the world’s leading artists, including Gil Shaham, Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma, Jaime Laredo, Joshua Bell, Midori, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, and Yefim Bronfman. Sought after as a master clinician, and frequent presenter at the American String Teachers’ Association National Conferences, Swartz was interviewed by STRINGS magazine for an article in the October 2006 issue, based on his presentation Conceptualizing Arm Weight at the 2006 ASTA Conference. He has given master classes throughout North America, including at Vanderbilt University, Bowling Green State University, Florida State University, the Interlochen Arts Academy, and Stanford University. In addition, Swartz is the founder and Artistic Director of the Visiting Quartet Residency Program at ASU, a chamber music program that integrates visiting resident artists with a comprehensive chamber music curriculum. Quartets in this residency have included the St. Lawrence, Juilliard, Brentano, and Tokyo String Quartets. Swartz is also co-creator of the Violinists’ Seminar at Domaine Forget in Quebec, Canada – a team-taught intensive training program for advanced violinists. Swartz has a Bachelor of Music cum laude from Rice University, a Master of Music from the Mannes College of Music, and a Doctor of Musical Arts from Rice University. His doctoral thesis is titled, Perspectives of Violin Pedagogy: A Study of the Treatises of Francesco Geminiani, Pierre Baillot, and Ivan Galamian, and a Working Manual by Jonathan Swartz.

Isabel Trautwein | violin
Isabel Trautwein has been a member of the first violin section of the Cleveland Orchestra since 2002. She was previously a member of the Saint Louis Symphony. She has held positions as Concertmaster of the New World Symphony in Miami and as a member of the Houston Symphony. During the 1999-2000 season she was a member of the Pacifica Quartet. She received her BA from Musikhochschule Lubeck and continued her graduate studies at Cleveland Institute under Donald Weilerstein.

Jonathan Vinocour | viola
Principal Violist with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra Jonathan Vinocour is also an avid chamber musician and has appeared with Musicians from Marlboro, the Boston Chamber Music Society, International Sejong Soloists and Richardson Chamber Players. He has also performed at the Aspen, Marlboro, Portland, Prussia Cove, and Tanglewood festivals where he received the Henri Kohn Memorial Prize. Joanthan completed a graduate degree at New England Conservatory, and holds a degree in chemistry from Princeton University.

Chee-Yun | violin
Violinist Chee-Yun’s flawless technique, dazzling tone and compelling artistry have enraptured audiences on five continents. Chee-Yun performs regularly with the world’s foremost orchestras, and is a solo and chamber music recitalist in major venues internationally. In addition to her active performance and recording schedule, Chee-Yun is a dedicated and enthusiastic educator. She gives master classes around the world and has held several teaching posts at notable music schools and universities, including University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and Indiana University. In August 2007, she was appointed Artist-in-Residence and Professor of Violin at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. Find out more about Chee-Yun at www.chee-yun.net