Artists
Frank Almond
Violin/Tango
Violinist Frank Almond holds the Charles and Marie Caestaker Concertmaster chair at the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. He returned to the MSO after holding positions as Concertmaster of the Rotterdam Philharmonic with Valery Gergiev, and Concertmaster of the London Philharmonic with Kurt Masur, and continues an active schedule of solo and chamber music performances in the US and abroad. He has been a member of the New York chamber group An die Musik since 1997, and is also the Artistic Director of Frankly Music, his acclaimed chamber music series.
A past prizewinner of both the Paganini Competition in Genoa and the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, he has recorded extensively and has appeared numerous times on NPR's Performance Today. He is also regularly featured as a soloist on the MSO's nationally syndicated radio broadcasts.
His recordings with An die Musik were twice nominated for Grammys, and his 2007 CD on the AVIE label with pianist William Wolfram was named a "Best of 2007" by the American Record Guide. His new recording with pianist Brian Zeger was recently released to much acclaim on the Innova label. In 2008 he began writing the popular online column nondivisi.
Mr. Almond holds two degrees from the Juilliard School, where he studied with Dorothy Delay. He plays on a violin crafted by Antonio Stradivari from 1715, the "Lipinski".
Please visit http://www.frankalmond.com
Clifton P. Antoine III
Viola-Resident Chamber Musician/Belden Piano Quartet
Violist Clifton P Antoine III maintains an active career as a violist, chamber musician and teacher. A native of Beaumont, Texas, he began his musical career outside of high school with solo performances in Germany and Belgium.
He has also performed with Agora and DePaul Graduate String Quartets. In 2007 Clifton performed JS Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No.6 with Rami Solomonow of the Chicago String Quartet at North Shore Center for the Performaning Arts in Chicago Illinois. In 2009 Clifton performed with Angela Fuller Concertmaster of the Houston Symphony at Weber Music Hall in Duluth Minnesota.
In Los Angeles, he is Assistant Principal of the Southeast Symphony, which includes members of the LA Philharmonic and Pacific Symphony who wish to promote classical music in the Inner City. Clifton also founded the Belden Piano Quartet of Los Angeles, CA. Recently he began performing with the San Bernardino Symphony and Redlands Symphony.
Linda Baker
Clarinet-opera orchestra
A native of Alexandria, VA, Linda Baker moved west, first to attend Indiana University, then to Chicago where she joined the orchestra of the Lyric Opera of Chicago as its bass clarinetist in 1978. She has also performed with the Baltimore Symphony, the Milwaukee Symphony, the Indianapolis Symphony, and the Cincinnati Symphony orchestras. Linda is also co-principal clarinet of the Chicago Philharmonic. Otherwise, she enjoys bicycling, tennis, and looking after her husband Eric Wicks and their two cats.
Glenn Basham
Violin/Bergonzi String Quartet
Glenn Basham is concertmaster of the Naples Philharmonic Orchestra and Associate Professor at the University of Miami (FL) where he teaches not only violin, but also one of the few courses in the country in improvisation for string players. He has performed as a soloist with the Keweenaw Symphony Orchestra, the Miami City Ballet, and Naples Philharmonic, among others, and has served as concertmaster of the Fort Wayne Philharmonic and performed with the Chester String Quartet. As a jazz player, Glenn has performed with Ira Sullivan, Simon Salz and John Blake, and is featured on the Miami Saxophone Quartet's recording "Four More Giant Steps." Educated at the North Carolina School of the Arts and Indiana University, he received First Prize in the Renaud National Honors Competition and was the only American violinist invited to compete in the 1988 International Bach competition in Leipzig, Germany. His compact disc "Aria"was released in 2006. Glenn plays a G.B. Ceruti violin made in Cremona, Italy, in 1810.
Belden Piano Quartet
Resident Chamber Musician Ensemble
The Belden Piano Quartet is a newly formed group based in Los Angeles. Three of its members-Antoine, Crosby and Yi-first met and began playing chamber music in Chicago, where they attended DePaul University's School of Music on Belden Avenue (from which the piano quartet derives its name). During their time in Chicago, Antoine, Crosby, and Yi were among the founding members of an informal chamber music society, the mission of which was to provide for participating musicians an outlet through which to create the highest possible level of artistic expression in a freer and more spontaneous setting than is typically available to the classical musician of today. The intention of the group from the outset was to return to the intimacy of the environment from whence chamber music evolved-smaller gatherings in smaller venues-thereby taking it off of the removed and too often impersonal pedestal of the stage and allowing it once again to exist as a live and interactive encounter for both performers and music lovers. This society has since evolved into a group called Anaphora, which continues to perform actively in Chicago.
Antoine, Crosby and Yi parted ways in 2007 when they left Chicago, but were reunited in 2009 in Los Angeles where the three now reside. They have joined forces with violinist Matthew Detrick, and are proud to announce the birth of the Belden Quartet.
Edward Benton-Banai
Guest Artist/In the Beginning . . .
Edward Benton-Banai is Ojibwe-Anishinabe from Lac Courte Oreilles Reservation. Benton-Banai is Grand Chief of Three Fires Midewiwin Lodge. An educator with degrees in Education, U-Minn. an MBA, U-Cal. and currently a Ph.D.candidate, he is a pioneer in culture-based curriculum built on heritage and cultural identity. He is a founder of the American Indian Movement and author of The Mishomis Book, that provides an understanding of sacred Midewiwin teachings. Banai is Academic/Spiritual Advisor for Shingwauk Kinoomaage Gamig/Shingwauk University in Sault Ste. Marie, Canada.
The Bergonzi String Quartet
Chamber Musicians
The Bergonzi String Quartet, named for the famous violinmaker, Carlo Bergonzi, has been Quartet-in-Residence at PMMF since 1995. The Bergonzi Quartet was formed in 1992 and is Quartet-in-Residence at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, FL, where they are all faculty members. Prior to forming the Bergonzi Quartet, the members were part of the New World, Rowe, Chester and Ellis String Quartets and have extensive collective experience, performing in virtually every major center in the world, with concerts throughout Europe, North and South America, New Zealand and Asia. The quartet has generated enormous excitement around the world for their superb blend of seasoned and sensitive virtuosity. Each year, they appear in the internationally acclaimed Festival Miami and the Mainly Mozart Series in Coral Gables. Known for their unusual repertoire, the Bergonzi performances often include Latin American music and American jazz. Hailed by critics as "electrifying" and "masterful," the ensemble is an important cultural asset for PMMF and the Upper Peninsula.
Mary Bonhag
Eve/The Diaries of Adam & Eve
Mary Bonhag is a 2009 winner of the Bard College concerto competition and a 2007 winner of the University of Michigan Concerto Competition. She has worked closely with numerous composers to premier new works, frequently with Michigan-based composer Curtis Curtis-Smith. In May 2009 she made her Carnegie Hall solo debut singing in David T. Little's new chamber opera Dog Days. In 2007, she created the role of "Eve" for the Pine Mountain Music Festival premiere of The Diaries of Adam and Eve, a new chamber opera by Evan Premo. Ms. Bonhag has performed as part of the Fontana Chamber Arts Festival of Kalamazoo, MI, the Maui Classical Music Festival, Strings in the Mountains, Cactus Pear Music Festival, the Lancaster Music Festival, and SongFest as a full-scholarship Stern Fellow. She has also been featured on the NPR show Performance Today. Ms. Bonhag is co-founder of "Duo Borealis" with double bassist/composer Evan Premo, performing eclectic concerts of folk, classical, and original music. She is a recent graduate from the University of Michigan, currently earning her Master's Degree at Dawn Upshaw's graduate voice program at Bard College. She studies with Edith Bers.
Roza Borisova
Cello/Tango
Roza Borisova, cello, a native of Ioshkar-Ola, Russia, has been teaching at the Academy of Music since 2003. Ms. Borisova began studies on the cello at the age of seven. After receiving her B. A. in Music Performance from the Ioshkar-Ola State Music College, she moved to Moscow where she earned a M. M. in Performance Pedagogy and a D.M.A. in String Quartet Performance from the Russian State Academy of Music (formerly Gnesin's Institute) in Moscow.
In 1989 Ms. Borisova was selected to be cellist of the Veronika String Quartet (newly formed by Valentine Berlinsky, cellist of the Borodin String Quartet). The Quartet's international tours resulted in numerous prizes including the Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition, the Shostakovich String Quartet Competition, and the Russian National Competition. As an award of the Shostakovich Competition, in 1993 the Quartet was invited to study with the Fine Arts Quartet at the University of Wisconsin/Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and relocated to the U.S. Ms. Borisova served as Artist-in-Residence and graduate teaching assistant at various institutions in Wisconsin, Ohio, Illinois, and Colorado and earned a second M.M. in Music Performance.
As part of the Veronika String Quartet, Ms. Borisova performed regularly as cellist with various symphony orchestras and at many festivals and institutes around the world including the Steans Institute for Young Artists at Ravinia Festival in Chicago, the Second Jerusalem Chamber Music Encounters in Israel, the Britten-Pears School of Music in England, and the Lancaster Music Festival in Ohio. She currently performs with the Green Bay Symphony Orchestra, and the Woodstock Mozart Festival Orchestra, Woodstock, IL. She takes pleasure in teaching aspiring cellists and has taught at several major music institutions in the U.S.
Nathan Brian
Adam/The Diaries Of Adam & Eve
Nate Brian is thrilled to be returning to Pine Mountain Music Festival to reprise the role of Adam, which Evan Premo wrote specifically for him. PMMF audiences will also remember Nate as Papageno in The Magic Flute, Dandini in La Cenerentola, Sam in Trouble in Tahiti, and Maximilian in Candide. Nate has also performed with The Minnesota Opera, Johannesburg Symphony, The Ohio Light Opera, Sarasota Opera, The International Symphony Orchestra, and New York City Operetta Society. With performance degrees from the University of Michigan and the University of Utah, Nate now lives in New York City.
Nell Buchman
Piano/Tango
Nell Jorgensen Buchman, native of North Carolina, is a well-known Fox Valley accompanist, adjudicator, performer, and teacher. Since receiving a Master of Music degree in piano performance and pedagogy from The University of Oklahoma in 1994, Ms. Buchman has pursued an active teaching, performing, and adjudicating career at Lawrence University, Academy of Music, and throughout Wisconsin. She has a private studio, teaches class piano, music for the very young, and coordinated the Lawrence Academy of Music’s Piano Festival for several years. She has played with the Raleigh Symphony, the Cimarron Opera Company, the Brevard Music Center Orchestra and was a guest on North Carolina Public Radio’s lunchtime concert series. She has also performed at music conventions such as MTNA and MENC. Her teachers include James Clyburn, Walter Hautzig, Andrew Cooperstock and Louis Nagel and she has participated in masterclasses with John Perry, Robert Weirich, Ruth Laredo, Paul Schenly, John Browning, and Gary Graffman.
Susan Byykkonen
Accompanist/Gala Events
Susan Byykkonen is an independent music teacher whose studio includes both piano and flute students. She is Associate Director of the Michigan Tech Concert Choir, which she has accompanied since 1994. Susan has performed with PMMF as accompanist for vocal masterclasses and for the winter concert in 2007. From 2000-2004, she served as choir director and piano instructor at Lakeland Christian School in Florida. She performs regularly in the MTU Visual & Performing Arts Department's Chamber Music Series, and plays flute and keyboard instruments for the Keweenaw Symphony Orchestra. She is also active in her local church, as pianist and choir director. Susan received her bachelor of arts in music degree from Cedarville University. Susan resides in Calumet with husband, Eric and children April and Mitchell.
Jessica Rose Cambio
Soprano-Violetta/La Traviata
Italian-American Soprano Jessica Rose Cambio made her professional debut singing Mimì in scenes from Puccini's La Bohème with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at Walt Disney Concert Hall, and she recently made her European debut in the role in Como, Brescia, Pavia, and Cremona, Italy, with both Mirella Freni and Renata Scotto in the audience. Ms. Cambio also recently sang the title role in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor with both the New Jersey Association of Verismo Opera and as a Resident Artist at the Academy of Vocal Arts. Last summer she made her debut as Magda in Puccini's La Rondine and covered the role of Violetta in Verdi's La Traviata with the International Vocal Arts Institute in Tel Aviv, Israel. She also sang in a concert in honor of the 70th Birthday Celebration of Elena Obratszova in St. Petersburg, Russia with the St. Petersburg Philharmonic. This spring she joined the Professional Development Studies program at Mannes College the New School for Music in New York City as a student of Ruth Falcon. A regular on the competition circuit, Ms. Cambio was selected as a National Semi-Finalist in the 2009 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and has won numerous prizes in several competitions in both the US and Europe. She has had the opportunity to collaborate closely with many esteemed musicians including Joan Dornemann, Sherrill Milnes, and Renata Scotto.
Ann Campbell
Chorus Master/La Traviata
Ann Campbell, Chorus master, received her B.M.E. from Northern Michigan University and her M.A. in Music Education from Appalachian State University in North Carolina. She has taught vocal music in the Houghton-Portage Township Schools since 1981 and is an active recitalist. As a PMMF performer, Ms. Campbell has sung the roles of Mrs. Gleaton in Carlisle Floyd's Susannah, Berta in Rossini's Il Barbieri di Siviglia, Annina in Verdi's La Traviata and Mother in Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel. She created the role of Polly in the world premiere production of The Children of the Keweenaw by Paul Seitz and Kathleen Masterson. Ms. Campbell has also served the Pine Mountain Music Festival as the Children's Chorus Master for Puccini's La Bohème and Hansel and Gretel as well as preparing adult choruses for Mozart's The Magic Flute and Bernstein's Candide. Since 2002, she has been program director of OPERAtion Imagination, an outreach program for schools which is a part of the Pine Mountain Music Festival. Ms. Campbell maintains a private vocal studio in Houghton/Hancock and studies voice with founding PMMF opera director, Christine Seitz.
Maria Crosby
Cello-Resident Chamber Musician/Belden Piano Quartet
Maria Crosby began studying the cello at the age of six in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She continued her private studies under the tutelage of Allison Eldredge at the Preparatory Division of the New England Conservatory in Boston, Massachusetts, and in the studio of Tanya Carey at DePaul University in Chicago, where she completed her undergraduate studies. Ms. Crosby has since performed on stages across the USA, Canada, Germany, France, Lithuania, Armenia, Greece, Russia, Japan and Brazil, and has attended a variety of orchestral and chamber music festivals, including the Aegean Verdi Festival, the Schleswig Holstein Musik Festival, the Pacific Music Festival, the Banff Chamber Music Residency, and the Recontres Franco-Américaines de Musique de Chambre. Ms. Crosby is currently completing her Masters Degree in cello performance at the University of Southern California, where she studies with Peter Stumpf.
Gary Decker
Lighting Designer/La Traviata
Gary Decker (lighting designer/La Traviata)is a member of the University of Michigan Department of Theatre and Drama faculty. A scenery and lighting designer, he teaches classes in theatre production, the history of décor, and the history of theatre architecture and stage design. He has been a visiting faculty member at the Central-St. Martins School of Design in London, England, a faculty member and designer for the Classic Theatre Institute in Athens, Greece, and program and technical consultant for Universidad Cecilio Acosta in Maracaibo, Venezuela. Mr. Decker has designed scenery and lighting more than eighty professional theatre productions. Past Pine Mountain Music Festival designs include Don Pasquale, La Cenerentola, and The Magic Flute. Recent designs include Guys on Ice at the Plymouth Playhouse in Minneapolis, and the national tour of Same Time, Next Year. His scenic design for Fully Committed at The Century Theatre earned him the Detroit Free Press Theatre Design Excellence Award. Mr. Decker has been twice named Theatre Designer of the Year by the Detroit News, and has received 2 International Illumination Design Awards from the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America. Additionally Mr. Decker has designed scenery and exhibition display for many Fortune 500 corporations including AT&T, Lincoln-Mercury, Buick and Oldsmobile. He has designed interiors or lighting for commercial projects including: On Stage- A Restaurant and The Elwood Grill both in Detroit, The Fashion Cafe in New York City, and The Arndale Centre in Manchester, UK.
Jerry DePuit
Director/Jerome Kern and Irving Berlin in Revue
Jerry DePuit graduated from the University of Michigan in 1972, and spent the next twelve years in New York City. As a vocal coach, he taught at New York University, the American Academy of Vocal Arts, in the studios of Ora Witte and Felix Knight, and privately. As a musical director/pianist, he worked for many New York cabarets and theatrical organizations including the Grand Finale, the Ballroom, Reno Sweeney's, the Manhattan Theatre Club, and the Player's Club. He has also musical directed and played in numerous regional theatres in Connecticut, Kentucky, and Michigan; and twice for the Smithsonian Festival of American Folklife in Washington, D.C. He has appeared nationwide with cabaret artists from New York City to San Francisco, on the Holland America cruise line, and on the Tomorrow and Today shows. He has accompanied artists in pop concerts and classical recitals in venues including the Little Carnegie Recital Hall. His work as an arranger and orchestrator has been heard on recordings, in pops concerts, theatres, and at the Metropolitan Opera House and Radio City Music Hall. He has written a film score, orchestrated three original musicals (one by Joe Raposo and Sheldon Harnick), arranged and orchestrated four full-scale revues and many smaller ones, helped reconstruct the score of a 1948 musical by Alan Jay Lerner and Kurt Weill, written arrangements for recordings, and done many new arrangements of extant works-both choral and instrumental. Since 1985 he has been on the faculty of the Musical Theatre Department at the University of Michigan.
Matthew Detrick
Violin-Resident Chamber Musician/Belden Piano Quartet
Violinist and Artistic Director Matthew Detrick, who received a Bachelor's and a Master's Degree of Music from Rice University in 2003 and 2005, respectively, enjoys an active performing career. He is frequent concertmaster and principal second of the Symphony of Southeast Texas, in Beaumont, and he performs regularly with the Houston Grand Opera and Ballet Orchestras, Mercury Baroque, Opera in the Heights, and other Houston-based ensembles.
Outside of Houston, Matt frequently plays with the Charleston Symphony Orchestra, the Jacksonville Symphony, and the New World Symphony Orchestra in Miami, Fl. In 2008 and 2009, he joined the Sarasota Opera Orchestra for their annual two-month winter season in Sarasota, Fl. An avid traveler, he savored the opportunity to perform and travel with the AIMS Festival Orchestra in Graz, Austria in the summers of 2006 and 2007. Additionally, he has collaborated with the artists of the Zepher Ensemble for recent tours thoughout Japan and Panama, where the group conducted masterclasses and concertized.
In past summers, Matt has participated in the Aspen Music Festival, the National Orchestral Institute, and Spoleto Festival USA.
As winner of the symphony's concerto competition, Matthew performed Concerto No. 3 by Camille Saint-Saens with the York Symphony Orchestra in the winter of 2002.
In addition to his performing activities, Matt maintains a private violin studio at Klein Intermediate School, as well as in the Houston area.
Matt's primary teachers include Kenneth Goldsmith, the late Raphael Fliegel, and Collette Wichert. He is eternally grateful to them all!
Duo Piacevole
Resident Chamber Musician Ensemble
Fangye Sun, violinist, and Daniel Tressel, cellist formed Duo Piacevole in 2008 after meeting at Michigan State University, where they are both currently Doctoral candidates. A native of China, Fangye was previously appointed to a violin faculty position at Xi'an Conservatory of Music, and is currently a teaching assistant of Walter Verdehr and violin faculty at MSU Community Music School. Prizewinner of numerous competitions, Fangye holds leadership positions in several orchestras, and has performed in Japan, Canada, USA and throughout China. Daniel, a Doctoral candidate in music composition, balances his life between composing music and performing as a cellist. In addition to performing in numerous orchestras, Daniel was recently commissioned to write an orchestral work for the Mason Symphony, and his compositions have been performed in Michigan, Illinois and Nevada.
Since its inception, Duo Piacevole has worked with Walter Verdehr, Yuri Gandelsman and Diane Monroe. Continuing to explore the string duo repertoire, Duo Piacevole has actively performed in concerts and other engagements throughout the mid-Michigan area.
Leah Edmondson Dyer
Soprano-Annina/La Traviata
Leah Edmondson Dyer has been described as someone who "sing[s] with lyrical flow and technical prowess" as she "ranges easily through many moods, adapting her light, agile soprano to convey them in the notes as well as her acting," (The Columbus Dispatch).
Ms. Dyer's operatic roles include Pamina (The Magic Flute), Calisto (La Calisto), Susanna (Marriage of Figaro), Zerlina (Don Giovanni), and Tatiana (Eugene Onegin).
Ms. Dyer's oratorio solo work includes the requiems of Brahms, Fauré, and Mozart, Haydn's Theresa Mass and Paukenmesse, the Dvorak Stabat Mater, Bach Magnificat, and Handel's Messiah. She also performed in Carnegie Hall with the New York Pops for their Holiday Celebration Concert in 2005.
Leah's performance as Luisa (The Fantasticks) drew glowing reviews from the Fort Worth Star Telegram for her "gorgeous light-but-sturdy soprano, with a glorious youthful glow." In May 2010, she will play Cinderella in a Pittsburgh production of Into the Woods.
Leah received her Master's in Music at The Ohio State University, where she studied with Dr. Karen Peeler. She received her Bachelor's in Music Education at Texas Christian University, where she studied with Nancy Elledge.
Ms. Dyer currently resides in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where she teaches over thirty private voice students.
Scott Flavin
Violin/Bergonzi String Quartet
Scott Flavin is Director of the Frost Chamber Orchestra and the UM Baroque Ensemble at the University of Miami (FL), where he is also a professor. He is concertmaster of the Florida Grand Opera, Miami City Ballet orchestras, and Florida Classical Orchestra. Prior to joining the Bergonzi Quartet, Scott was a founding member of the Ellis String Quartet, which toured the United States and Germany and was a Quartet-in-Residence at the Aspen Music Festival. He has been heard on National Public Radio and Armed Forces Radio and is a voting member of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. His recordings include chamber music on the Centaur and Naxos labels. He can also be heard on commercial recordings for Sony, EMI, and Warner Brothers, including over a dozen Grammy award-winning albums. Mr. Flavin performs on a rare Italian violin made in 1780 by Tomaso Eberle.
Mark Fry
Trombone-opera orchestra
Mark Fry is currently the bass trombonist of the Elgin Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Opera Theater, Ars Viva Symphony Orchestra and Lake Forest Symphony. He has performed with numerous orchestras in the United States, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Grant Park Orchestra, Joffrey Ballet Chicago, Chicago Sinfonietta, Houston Symphony Orchestra, Colorado Symphony Orchestra, San Antonio Symphony, Charleston Symphony Orchestra, Sarasota Opera, and Spoleto Festival - Italy. Before moving to Chicago, he was the bass trombonist of the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra in Honolulu. He has long been involved with contemporary music, performing with such groups as Fulcrum Point New Music Project and on the Chicago Symphony's Music Now series. Mr. Fry has recorded with the Houston Symphony Orchestra, Mannheim Steamroller and the Spoleto Festival Orchestra, as well as for radio and television commercials and for several music publishers.
Eric Greene
Guest Artist-Germont/La Traviata
Baritone Eric Greene has made debuts around the world with noted companies such as Théâtre National de l'Opéra-Comique, the Granada International Festival in Spain, Grand Théâtre in Luxembourg, Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, Opera Company of Philadelphia, Washington National Opera, Santa Fe Symphony, and Los Angeles Opera as Jake in Porgy and Bess. Additional recent performances include Ping in Turandot with Opera Company of Philadelphia and Opera Carolina; Escamillo in Carmen with Virginia Opera and Amarillo Opera; Escamillo in La Tradegie de Carmen with Augusta Opera;Schaunard in La Bohème at Opera Carolina; Sharpless in Madama Butterfly with Eugene Opera; Robert Garner in the world premiere of Richard Danielpour's Margaret Garner at the Michigan Opera Theater, Opera Company of Philadelphia and Opera Carolina; and baritone soloist in Richard Danielpour's Pastime at Northwestern University. In concert and recital, Mr. Greene has performed in countries such as Australia, Fiji, Manilla, Guam, Hong Kong and the Soloman Islands, the Virgin Islands, and with Manny Fox in Puerto Rico. He was the winner in the Leontyne Price Vocal Competition in Maryland, the first place winner in Rosa Ponselle's All Marylanders Competition, the first place in the NAACP ACT-SO competition, and was awarded the Gluck Foundation scholarship. Next, he makes his role debut as Crown in Porgy and Bess at the Dayton Opera.
Rakefet Hak
Coach/pianist
RAKEFET HAK, one of the youngest pianists ever to join the Metropolitan Opera music staff, has coached and/or performed in recital with such notable singers as Cecilia Bartoli, Placido Domingo, Rene Fleming, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Simon Keenleyside, and Bryn Terfel. After graduating with excellence in piano performance from the conservatory of Music in her native country Israel, Ms. Hak worked as coach/accompanist for the New Israeli Opera. She then travelled to the US to pursue further studies at the Hartt School, and Manhattan School of Music. In 1997 Ms. Hak began her tenure at the Metropolitan Opera as coach for the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, and as assistant conductor and coach on a variety of productions for the main stage. Since 2000, Ms. Hak has been working as guest coach/pianist for LA Opera, Seattle Opera, and Opera Cleveland, as well as other companies throughout the US and abroad. Currently, Ms. Hak is Music Director of the UCLA Opera Studio, and coach for the USC Thornton School of Music Opera Program. Other performances include recitals at Italy's Teatro La Fenice, Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, New York's Town Hall, and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.
Ross Harbaugh
Cello/Bergonzi String Quartet
Ross Harbaugh (cello/Bergonzi String Quartet) is Professor of Cello and Chamber Music at the University of Miami (FL). He studied with Janos Starker, Leonard Rose, Peter Howard in the United States, and Andre Navarra at the Paris Conservatory. Ross won the Naumburg Chamber Music Prize and a Prix du Disque with the New World Quartet, and has performed in Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, and London's Wigmore Hall. He has appeared as soloist with many orchestras, including the Atlanta, Cincinnati, Keweenaw, Grand Rapids, and Canadian Chamber Orchestras. He has recorded for VOX, CRI, Musical Heritage, MCA Classics, Centaur, Fleur de Son, and IMP Masters. Ross was formerly principal cellist of the Grand Rapids and Toledo Symphonies, artist in residence at Harvard University, and has published articles on Ensemble Communication and "Tai Chi for Cellists," which explores balance, natural movement, and momentum in string playing. Ross performs on a Domenico Montagnana made in Venice in 1734.
Stephen Hargreaves
Conductor/La Traviata
Stephen Hargreaves divides his professional work between conducting and solo performance. He possesses a particular love for the old and the new, specializing in baroque and contemporary music. Hargreaves was recently seen conducting Chicago Opera Theater's performance of Jake Heggie's Three Decembers. Prior to that, Hargreaves was at Opera Omaha where he led performances of le nozze di Figaro from a replica of Mozart's fortepiano; at Marion Philharmonic where he performed Rachmaninoff's 3rd piano concerto; and in Green Bay where he was the soloist in the world premiere of the Parmentier 3rd Piano Concerto. He has performed at the Maverick Concerts in Woodstock, New York and various other venues including the Macau International Music Festival, Wigmore Hall, and the Bonn Beethoven Festival. As a harpsichordist, Stephen performed Rameau's Platée and Handel's Radamisto with Santa Fe Opera and was heard at the Inaugural Gala of the Harris Theater in Chicago which was subsequently broadcast on WFMT. Hargreaves has conducted at the opera companies of Festival Lyrique de Belle-île-en-mer, Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Des Moines Metro, Union Avenue, and Pamiro. Hargreaves has assisted at Santa Fe, Washington National, and Chicago Opera Theater with conductors including Jane Glover, Julius Rudel, Harry Bicket, and Stuart Bedford. Hargreaves is very pleased to be making his Pine Mountain Music Festival debut.
Bernard Damon Holcomb
Tenor- Alfredo/La Traviata
Bernard D. Holcomb will be recognized as a 2009 Pine Mountain Music Festival Resident Opera Artist, and is excited to be back for another season. He was recently an Apprentice with the Sarasota Opera where he sang the role of the Villager in I Pagliacci, and performed in several scenes concerts. He was featured as Federico in L'Amico Fritz with Sarasota last season. Bernard has performed several roles with the University of Michigan Opera Theatre including Rodolfo in La Bohème, Jenik in The Bartered Bride, Lyric Tenor in Postcard from Morocco, and Lensky in Eugene Onegin. Bernard was also featured in the roles of Nelson and Crabman in Michigan Opera Theater's main stage production of Porgy & Bess, as well as Gastone in La Traviata. In the summer of 2008 he was featured in an international tour of Porgy & Bess which toured Russia, Poland, Greece, Latvia, Estonia, and Germany. Orchestral engagements include performances of the Verdi Requiem with the University Symphony Orchestra (Michigan), the Holland Symphony, the Pontiac-Oakland Symphony, scenes from Die Zauberflöte with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as his Detroit Symphony Orchestra debut.
Branden C.S. Hood
Baritone-Marquis/La Traviata
Branden C.S. Hood earned his Bachelor of Music in Opera Emphasis/ Vocal Performance at The Boston Conservatory in 2005. While there he received The Presser Foundation Award and won the Encouragement Award from the Mario Lanza Institute. For both his Master of Music and Specialist Degree, Mr. Hood received four years of full fellowship with The University of Michigan. While at the University he created the roles of the Overseer in De Organizer, Signor Deluso in Signor Deluso, and Guglielmo in Così fan tutte. In March of 2008, Mr. Hood performed Petrus, Pilatus, Judas, and Pontifex, in St. Matthew's Passion with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.
In the fall and spring seasons of 2008-2009 with the University, Mr. Hood also performed the roles of Ben in The Telephone, and Mr. Gedge, the Vicar in Albert Herring. Mr. Hood has recently received his Specialist Degree from the University studying with Prof. Stephen West. Just this past summer, Mr. Hood received full tuition to attended Siena Summer Music, in Siena, Italy.
From September through November 2009, Mr. Hood was an Artist-in-Residence with Dayton Opera. This past winter, Mr. Hood was an Outreach Young Artist at Lake George Opera at Saratoga.
Karen Jenks
Violin-opera orchestra/concertmaster
Karen Jenks is in high demand as an orchestral and chamber musician. After getting an MM in Violin Performance from the University of Michigan in 2006, Ms. Jenks embarked on a performance career in the Ann Arbor area. She is a contract member of the Ann Arbor, Flint, and Saginaw Bay Symphonies, and plays regularly with various other ensembles including the Lansing and Kalamazoo Symphonies. Ms. Jenks also maintains a private studio out of her home in Ypsilanti, MI, and teaches at Kerrytown Concert House in Ann Arbor, MI.
Ms. Jenks is also an enthusiastic chamber musician. While in college, she was a founding member of the Bryn Mawr-Haverford Faculty-Student Chamber Ensemble. For 4 years, she was a member of a piano-violin duo that performed regularly in Michigan and Ohio. This August, she will be performing with a quartet at Strings On The Bay, a chamber music series in the Upper Peninsula.
Corina Lobont
Violin-opera orchestra
Currently playing in the Chicago Civic Symphony Orchestra, violinist Corina Lobont has performed professionally in orchestras across the country and Europe. In addition to serving ten years as the Assistant Concertmaster of the Quad City Symphony Orchestra, Mrs. Lobont has performed in the Illinois Symphony Orchestra, the Pine Mountain Music Festival Orchestra, the Peoria Symphony Orchestra, the Transylvania Symphony Orchestra (Romania), and the State Hungarian Opera (Romania). She has served on the faculties of the DePaul University Community Program and Music Art Lyceum of Cluj (Romania), as well as being a doctoral teaching assistant at Northwestern University. As a member of the Transylvania Symphony Orchestra she participated in European Tour with Transylvania Symphony including Munich, Madrid, and Barcelona with former Berlin Philharmonic's conductor Erich Bergel. In the area of contemporary music, Corina Lobont has taken a particular interest in music from Eastern Europe, particularly Romanian folk music influences on Béla Bartók's compositions, which was the subject of her doctoral project. Mrs. Lobont received her Bachelor of Music degree from the "G. Dima" Music Academy of Cluj (Romania), her Master of Music degree from Western Illinois University, and her Doctorate (DMA) degree from Northwestern University. Her teachers have included Roland and Almita Vamos, Casiu Barbu, Nicolae Victoria, and Shmuel Ashkenasi.
Jon Luebke
Bass-opera orchestra
A native of Wisconsin, Jon Luebke holds Bachelor's and Masters Degrees in performance from Michigan State University, where he studied with Jack Budrow and Peter Dominguez. At Michigan State, Jon was a three-time concerto competition finalist and a member of the Symphony, Chamber Orchestra and Contemporary Music Ensemble. He continued his studies with Eugene Levinson at the Aspen Music Festival.
Jon was a concerto competition finalist for Milwaukee's Concord Chamber Orchestra, with whom he performed as soloist. After graduating from Michigan State, he moved to the Detroit area and won positions in several orchestras. Today, in addition to freelance work, he is a member of the Ann Arbor and Saginaw Bay Symphony Orchestras, is Assistant Principal of the Flint Symphony Orchestra, and serves as Principal bassist of the Warren Symphony.
John Madison
Viola-opera orchestra
John Madison received Bachelor and Masters Degrees in Viola Performance from the University of Michigan and is currently the Principal violist of the Michigan Opera Theater Orchestra, a regular substitute with the Detroit Symphony, Principal violist of the Sphinx Symphony, and Co founder and coordinator of The Cassini Ensemble, an award winning Ann Arbor based chamber group that has performed extensively throughout the United States. Mr. Madison recently toured as a guest with the Chamber Orchestra of France and has performed with the New York City Opera Company, the Toledo Symphony and Toledo Opera Orchestra, and has appeared as soloist with The Toledo Symphony, The Southfield Philharmonic, The Jackson Symphony, The Adrian Symphony and The Cassini Ensemble. As an educator, he is currently the Dean of the Sphinx Preparatory Music Institute, and has taught on staff at The University of Michigan, Sienna Heights College, and he regularly coaches privately, and in workshops and clinics.
Joshua Major
Artistic Director
Toronto-born Joshua Major (Artistic Director) began his opera stage directing career at the age of 23 with La Cenerentola for Opera Omaha. Soon after, Mr. Major worked as an assistant to Rhoda Levine at Juilliard, Cynthia Auerbach at both Chautauqua Opera and New York City Opera and William Gaskill at the Welsh National Opera. Mr. Major has worked as a stage director for over 25 years throughout the United States and Canada developing an impressive repertoire of productions. Recent engagements include The Cunning Little Vixen for the Cape Town Opera; Lucia di Lammermoor for the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia, L'Impressions de Pelleas in Tel Aviv, La Traviata for the Jacksonville Symphony; L'elisir d'amore for Cleveland Opera; The Tales of Hoffmann and Lucia di Lammermoor for Indianapolis Opera. Mr. Major is in his 18th year on the faculty of the University of Michigan where he oversees the Opera Program, both teaching and directing. Recent productions at the University of Michigan include, Armide, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Eugene Onegin, L'Amico Fritz, and Postcard from Morocco. He continues to be a stage director and faculty member with the Israel Vocal Arts Institute in Tel Aviv, where he has directed annually since 1993. Mr. Major currently resides in Ann Arbor, MI.
Pamela McConnell
Viola/Bergonzi String Quartet
Pamela McConnell (Professor of Viola at the University of Miami, Florida), is recognized as a concert violist, an adjudicator and master teacher. She has recently gained notoriety as a result of her arrangements for String quartet of the much loved orchestral works, Saint Seans' Carnival of the Animals, and Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf. She has performed as soloist and chamber musician throughout North and South America, Europe, South Africa, Australia, Japan, and Korea, and in the United States at such prestigious venues as the Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, the Gardiner Museum of Boston, the Free Library of Philadelphia, Carnegie Hall in Pittsburgh, and Kleinhans Hall in Buffalo. She has been a member of the faculties of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and the State University of New York at Buffalo, where, as a member of the Rowe Quartet, she shared a Peabody Award. McConnell serves as violist in the Bergonzi String Quartet, the quartet in residence at the University of Miami, Frost School of Music in Coral Gables, Florida, the Pine Mountain Music Festival in Upper Peninsula Michigan, Music Mountain Chamber Music Festival in Connecticut, Rocky Mountain Music Conservatory in Colorado. She has also been a resident faculty performer at Sewanee Summer Music Center in Tennessee and Bowdoin Music Festival in Maine. She serves as Coordinator of String Chamber Music at the University of Miami. She is Founder and Director of The University of Miami String Academy, a preparatory department at the Frost School of Music. She received a Bachelor of Music degree from Northwestern University and an M.M. degree from the University of Texas at Austin, studying under such luminaries as Walter Trampler, Leonard Shure, George Neikrug, and Andor Toth. Ms. McConnell can be heard on the Orion, Fleur de son, Naxos, Living Artist, Audiofon, and Centaur labels.
John Peiffer
Horn-opera orchestra
John Peiffer has been Assistant Principal Horn of the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra since 1999. Prior to that, he was Principal Horn with the Delaware Symphony Orchestra. He is an award winning chamber musician and recitalist. With the "Atlantic Winds," he was twice the recipient of the Baltimore Chamber Music Award. As both a soloist and chamber musician, he was awarded appearances on the Montpelier Cultural Arts Center's Recital Series Competition. Above and beyond the classical concert stage, John has enjoyed a colorful musical career involving work as an arranger, singer, and multi-instrumentalist in jazz, western swing, and popular styles of music. This included appearances as a soloist with the Delaware and Fairfax Symphony orchestras, performing one of his own arrangements for jazz horn and orchestra. With his group, "the Peiffer Ensemble," He has had performances at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage, and on various Washington, D.C. metropolitan area concert series. John has performed and recorded with the National Symphony Orchestra and with the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra. He is also an American Canoe Association certified Open Water Sea Kayak Instructor.
Brian Pettey
Baritone-Baron/La Traviata
Brian Pettey, from Niceville, FL, is a lyric baritone whose performances have garnered praise for his "honest" and "altogether human" delivery, and especially his "dazzling coloratura" in works of Handel and Rossini. Along with performances at the Peabody Conservatory, where he received his BM, he has sung roles with Baltimore's Opera Vivente, and Young Victorian Theater Company. While pursuing his MM at the University of Texas at Austin, he has appeared in concert and on stage with the Butler Opera Center, Bach Cantata Project, and UT New Music Ensemble under the batons of Dan Welcher, James Morrow, and Joseph Flummerfelt. When not singing or playing, Brian enjoys cooking and crossword puzzles-he even picks at his banjo once in a while... all those quaint domestic pastimes at which a person from "Niceville" should excel.
Alicia Poot
Flute-opera orchestra
Flutist Alicia Poot has performed with the Kalamazoo, Battle Creek, Southwest Michigan, and Northwest Indiana Symphonies as well as the Pine Mountain Music Festival, the Lira Ensemble in Chicago, and The Irish Tenors. An avid supporter of new music, she is a member of Palomar Ensemble, the performing ensemble of Chicago's "Accessible Contemporary Music," an organization promoting music of living composers. A faculty member at Merit School of Music in Chicago, she also administrates for Merit's community outreach program, "Bridges: Partners in Music," which delivers music instruction to 70 schools and community centers throughout Chicago. A winner or finalist in several competitions, she has also performed in festivals in Canada and Italy: Orford Arts Centre, Symphony Orchestra Academy of the Pacific, Rome Festival, and the Julius Baker Masterclasses. She has studied at DePaul University, The University of Akron (MM), Western Michigan University (BM), and The Catholic University of America.
Evan Premo
Double Bass/Composer/Guest Artist/In the Beginning . . .
Double bassist and composer Evan Premo is an active chamber musician performing regularly at Carnegie Hall, Juilliard, and doing outreach performances around New York City as a member of Ensemble ACJW. Evan has performed concerti with numerous orchestras including the 2009 world premiere of his own double concerto for violin and double bass with Andres Cardenes and the Pittsburgh Symphony Chamber Orchestra. Evan has also collaborated with Yizhak Schotten, Katherine Collier, the Bergonzi string quartet and the Formosa String Quartet, in addition to performing his own arrangements for piano and double bass at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. Upon graduation from the University of Michigan where he earned degrees in double bass performance and composition, Evan was awarded the prestigious Albert A. Stanley Medal. Evan also won the school's concerto competition in 2006 and, that same year, premiered his own Concertino for Bass Fiddle and Winds with the University of Michigan's Symphony Band under Michael Haithcock. Evan's double bass teachers include virtuosos Diana Gannett and Gary Karr, and he has studied composition with Michael Daugherty, Susan Botti, and Evan Chambers. He is also a member of Duo Borealis with soprano Mary Bonhag.
Alexander Scopino
Basso-Doctor/La Traviata
Alexander Scopino is very excited to be joining Pine Mountain this summer. A native of New York, Alex was recently a Young Artist with Opera Colorado performing Schlemil in Tales of Hoffmann, Basilio in the student matinee of Barber of Seville and Angelotti in Tosca as well as Capulet and Friar Laurent in the Romeo and Juliet tour. While living in New York he was a resident artist with Tri Cities Opera where he performed a number of roles including Zuniga in Carmen, Commendatore in Don Giovanni, Sparafucile in Rigoletto and Méphistofélès in Faust, among others. He has been a young artist with Chautauqua Opera and Caramoor Opera. In 2011 Alex will be making his debut with Opera in the Heights as Méphistofélès.
Carolyn Jeanette Stein
Mezzo-Flora/La Traviata
Carolyn Jeanette Stein hails from the suburbs of Chicago where she made her singing debut at the age of 12 in a production of Fiddler on the Roof. More recently, Ms. Stein created the title role in the U.S. Premiere of Silla by G.F. Handel. Carolyn holds a Masters degree from the New England Conservatory, where she was awarded the Helen Haxton Stare Presidential Scholarship. While attending NEC, Ms. Stein studied with Luretta Bybee, was featured in a masterclass with Renée Fleming, and played the roles of Clori in L'Egisto, Dorothée in Cendrillon and Rosa Gonzales in Summer and Smoke. Prior to her work at NEC, Carolyn studied at the Manhattan School of Music and the Salzburg Mozarteum. A champion of contemporary composers, she performed Four Songs From Delmore Schwartz by Rodney Lister at The Arthur Berger Memorial Concert. At the Chautauqua Institution, Carolyn played Mother Goose in Rake's Progress and Annina in La Traviata. Ms. Stein also sang for Mstislav Rostropovich at The Music Institute of Chicago Gala in his honor. In addition to her classical roles, Carolyn was a member of the American Musical Theater Ensemble in New York for the 2005-2006 season under the direction of Carolyn Marlow. Currently, Ms. Stein resides in Boston where she sings with the Boston Lyric Opera and Opera Boston companies.
Stephen Sulich
Guest Artist/Art Song Recital
Stephen Sulich returns to Pine Mountain after serving as Musical Director and Conductor for the festival's Young Artist's Program for three years. Maestro Sulich boasts a broad repertoire of almost fifty operas and operettas and has conducted for more than twenty opera companies across the United States, including The Lyric Opera of Chicago, New York City Opera, Houston Grand Opera, and Texas Opera Theater. During the past three years, he has been busy as a guest faculty member at Concordia College (Minnesota), Hunter College in New York City, and The Eastman School of Music where he conducted performances of The Secret Garden. He returns to Italy this year for his third summer on the faculty of The Amalfi Coast Music and Arts Festival in Vietri sul Mare. Recent recordings include a collaboration with soprano Lucy Thrasher: Cabaret: Songs from Schoenberg to Sondheim (Concordia Label).
Fangye Sun
Violin-Resident Chamber Musician/Duo Piacevole
A native of China, Violinist Fangye Sun holds a Bachelor's of Music from Xi'an Conservatory of Music and a Master of Music from Michigan State University. Her primary teachers include Walter Verdehr, Yuri Gandelsman, Yaoji Lin and Xie Min. Upon completion of her Bachelor's degree, she was appointed to a violin faculty position at Xi'an Conservatory of Music.
Ms. Sun won the gold medal at the "Gao Hua" Chinese Youth Violin Competition at the age of eleven, and has won numerous prizes including the Best Performing Prize at the Seventh National Youth Violin Performing Competition, the Bronze Medal at the "Golden Bell Award" National Violin Competition, and the winner of the 2007 Michigan State University Honors Concert Competition. She has also been recognized as one of few semifinalists in the Houston Symphony Ima Hogg Young Artist Competition, the International William C. Byrd Young Artist Competition, and the Schadt String Competition.
As a soloist, Ms. Sun has made solo appearances with the Xi'an Conservatory of Music Symphony Orchestra, Jiao Tong University Symphony Orchestra, Michigan State University Symphony Orchestra, and National Repertory Orchestra, performing in Hong Kong, Japan, Canada, the United States and throughout China. The former assistant concertmaster of the National Repertory Orchestra, Ms. Sun currently performs as concertmaster of the MSU Symphony Orchestra, associate concertmaster of the Southwest Michigan Symphony, and principal second violinist of the Lansing Symphony. As a chamber musician, she has performed in the Pacific Music Festival in Japan, and was a member of the resident String Quartet at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp. In addition to founding Duo Piacevole with cellist and composer, Daniel Tressel in 2008, she has collaborated with musicians such as Yuri Gandelsman and Suren Bargatuni.
Ms. Sun is currently a Doctoral candidate at Michigan State University, where she is a teaching assistant of Walter Verdehr and violin faculty at MSU Community Music School and Jackson Symphony Community Music School.
Jeffrey Abel Taveras
Tenor-Gastone/La Traviata
Jeffrey Abel Taveras is from Long Island, New York. He received his Bachelors Degree at S.U.N.Y Purchase Conservatory of Music, and is attending Boston University for his Masters Degree in Music in Voice Performance.
Mr. Taveras' past roles include Rinuccio from Puccini's Gianni Schicchi and Haimon in Merryman's Antigone with The Opera Program at Boston University. Other roles include The Uncle in the World Premiere opera Confession by Raphaël Lucas, libretto by Margaret Vignola and Jacque Trussel; Ferrando in Così fan tutte; the East Coast premiere of Lord Gonzalo in Hoiby's The Tempest, and also the World Premiere recording with Albany Records 2009; Lucano and Liberto in Monteverdi's L'incoronazione di Poppea; and King Kaspar in Menotti's Amahl and The Night Visitors, with Purchase College Opera. Mr. Taveras has also covered the role of Sam Polk in Floyd's Susannah.
As an oratorio soloist Jeffrey has performed Handel's As Pants the Hart, Bach's Magnificat with the Wall to Wall Bach Symphony Space, Mozart's Regina Coeli, and Handel's Messiah. Opera scenes include Alfredo in Strauss' Die Fledermaus, Tamino in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, and Alfredo in Verdi's La Traviata. This is Jeffrey's debut season with Pine Mountain Music Festival.
Judith Teasdle
Violin-opera orchestra
Born and raised in Pontiac, Michigan, Judith Teasdle graduated from the Interlochen Arts Academy and completed her Bachelor of Music at Oakland University, having studied with the Lafayette String Quartet and Elizabeth Rowin. She then earned a Master's in violin performance at Michigan State University where she studied with Dr. Walter Verdehr. A private instructor for over 15 years, Judith now teaches in Oakland University's Preparatory Division. An avid chamber musician, she also freelances with numerous orchestras including the Warren, Dearborn, Saginaw, Ann Arbor, and Flint symphonies. Judith is also a founding member of the jazz fusion group "The Leigh Daniel's Ensemble". Judith lives with her husband and 3 cats in Dearborn.
Daniel Thomas
Cello-opera orchestra
Cellist Daniel Thomas maintains an active and fulfilling musical career as both a performer and a pedagogue. As the recipient of full-tuition scholarships throughout his education, Daniel earned his BM from the University of Wisconsin and MM from the University of Michigan, studying under the tutelage of renowned cellists Uri Vardi and Anthony Elliott, respectively. Immediately following his education, Mr. Thomas won a position in the New World Symphony (in Miami, FL), and during his tenure there he collaborated with countless top-tier artists, such as being featured as the principal cellist for a Carnegie Hall concert tour with Yo-Yo Ma as guest soloist. Upon returning to Ann Arbor in 2007, Mr. Thomas quickly established an extremely busy performing career by winning auditions for five local orchestras, including two principal positions. Pedagogy has also always been a huge passion for Daniel, and he maintains a very active local cello studio, with many students holding positions in top youth orchestras in the Ann Arbor area. Future performances for Mr. Thomas in the Upper Peninsula include playing in the "Strings on the Bay" chamber music series in August 2010.
Lucy Thrasher
ROA Program Director
Soprano Lucy Thrasher has performed throughout the Upper Midwest as soloist in opera, oratorio, recital and symphonic works. Favorite opera roles include Susanna (Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro), Musetta (Puccini's La Bohème), Gretel (Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel) and the title role in Lehar's The Merry Widow. She is assistant professor of voice and opera workshop at Concordia College, Moorhead, MN and since 1998 has also been the Director of the Resident Opera Artist Program at the Pine Mountain Music Festival. At PMMF, Lucy has been heard as Susanna and Musetta, and as soloist in Sibelius' Luonnotar with the Pine Mountain Symphony. Recently Lucy has sung the roles of Zerlina and Frasquita with the Fargo-Moorhead Opera, and appeared as soprano soloist in Mahler Symphony #4 with the Fargo-Moorhead Symphony.
Daniel Tressel
Cello-Resident Chamber Musician/Duo Piacevole
Growing up in the Chicago area, Daniel Tressel began studying cello at the age of eight with Nina Wallenberg. His talent began to flourish in high school and was honored with several awards including the opportunity to perform Saint-Saens' Cello Concerto No. 1, with the Glenbrook Symphony Orchestra in 2000.
Daniel began his undergraduate studies in the fall of 2000 at the University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign studying cello performance. He was awarded the prestigious Advocate for Young Artists Scholarship and studied with cellists KoIwasaki, Christopher Costanza, Emilio Colon, and Brandon Vamos. After graduating in 2004, Daniel began his Master's degree in Orchestral Career Studies at the University of Nevada, Reno. In Reno, Daniel studied cello with John Lenz and studied orchestral excerpts with Philip Ruder. He performed with the Reno Philharmonic Orchestra, the Nevada Opera Orchestra, and the Nightengale String Quartet. He won 3rd prize in the 2006 Reno Chamber Orchestra Concerto Competition, and was invited twice to perform as a soloist with the University of Nevada Symphony Orchestra performing Brahms' "Double Concerto" in A minor and Dvorak's "Silent Woods." During this time, Daniel also began to pursue music composition seriously. He studied composition with Dr. James Winn, and premiered two new compositions for solo piano.
After deciding to study music composition further, Daniel began his Doctor of Musical Arts in Music Composition in 2007 at Michigan State University studying composition with Dr. Ricardo Lorenz. In the spring of 2008, Daniel was commissioned to write an orchestral work for the Mason Orchestral Society. He completed the work "Light on the Horizon" in February 2009 and it was premiered on May 8, 2009 by the Mason Symphony Orchestra. While studying composition, Daniel has continued to perform. He is currently a member of the Jackson Symphony orchestra and the Southwest Michigan Symphony Orchestra while also performing regularly with violinist Fangye Sun as the Piacevole Duo.
Nancy Uffner
Stage Manager-The Diaries of Adam and Eve/La Traviata
Nancy Uffner is very happy to be a part of PMMF. Nancy is the Production Stage Manager for University Productions and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Theatre and Drama at the University of Michigan. Her national tour experience includes All Shook Up, Fame, Ken Hill's Phantom of the Opera, South Pacific with the late Robert Goulet, and Camelot with the late Richard Harris. Her regional theatre work includes Music Theatre Wichita, the U-M Festival of New Works, Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Chicago Opera Theatre, Virginia Stage Co., and Baltimore's Center Stage. She works regularly with the Peter Sparling Dance Company, and teaches occasionally for Eastern Michigan University. A Michigan native, Nancy has a Master's degree from University of Michigan and a Bachelor's degree from Eastern Michigan University. Much love and thanks to husband, Scott, and daughters, Kaley and Tessa.
Stas Venglevski
Bayan/Tango
His brilliant artistry, dazzling technical command, and sensitivity have brought "Stas" Venglevski increasing acclaim as a virtuoso of the bayan. Stas' varied repertoire includes a broad range of classical, contemporary and ethnic music plus original compositions.
Two-time first prize winner of bayan competition in his homeland, he graduated from the Russian Academy of Music in Moscow where he received his Master Degree in Music under the tutelage of famed Russian bayanist, Friedrich Lips. In 1992 he immigrated to the U.S., obtained his citizenship, and lives in Brookfield, WI.
He has toured extensively as a soloist throughout the former Soviet Union, Canada, Europe, and the U.S. including performances with Doc Severinsen, the late Steve Allen, Garrison Keillor on the Prairie Home Companion Show, and various symphony orchestras. Performances include the world premiere of Concerto No. 2 by Anthony Galla-Rini as well as several world premieres of music composed specifically for him. Stas is a regular participant of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra's Arts in Community Education Program; has done television commercials and theatre productions; produced 11 recordings including transcription of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite for bayan, and original compositions. Additionally, he has published multiple books of original compositions. He is past president of the Accordionists & Teachers Guild International.
Ralph Votapek
Guest Pianist
Pianist Ralph Votapek's early triumphs - as winner of the prestigious Naumburg Award and gold Medalist in the first Van Cliburn International Piano Competition - were an auspicious prelude to an even more remarkable career.
Mr. Votapek has made literally hundreds of appearances with major American orchestras, partnered by such legendary conductors as Rafael Kubelik, William Steinberg, Joseph Krips and Erich Leinsdorf. Featured no less than sixteen times as the Chicago Symphony's guest soloist, Votapek has frequently played with the Boston Pops, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Pittsburgh Symphony, the San Francisco Symphony, National Symphony, and leading orchestras in St. Louis, Houston Dallas, Louisville and elsewhere.
His hundreds of international appearances have included London, Lisbon, St. Petersburg and into the Far East. Mr. Votapek has made a special commitment to Latin America, where he has toured every other year for more than 42 years, performing in Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, Asunción, Montevideo, São Paolo, Lima, Caracas, Santiago and numerous smaller cities.
Born in Milwaukee, Mr. Votapek began his musical education at age nine, when he enrolled in the Wisconsin Conservatory. Continuing his studies at Northwestern University, he subsequently attended the Manhattan School of Music and The Juilliard School, where his principal teachers were Rosina Lhevinne and Robert Goldsand. He presently serves as Artist-in-Residence at Michigan State University in East Lansing.
He is frequently joined by his wife, Albertine, in two piano and four hand recitals, Ralph Votapek is Professor Emeritus of Piano at the Michigan State University College of Music.
Eric Wicks
Violin-opera orchestra
Born in Brooklyn, NY, Eric Wicks attended New York's High School for Music and Art and the Manhattan School of Music. After graduation he played at the Radio City Music Hall. His military service was at West Point where he played solo violin and string quartets as part of the USMA Band. This was followed by seven years as Assistant Concertmaster in the Baltimore Symphony. Eric then won a position in the Chicago Symphony where he played for 38 years under the direction of Sir Georg Solti and Daniel Barenboim. Still busy in retirement, he now plays in the Ars Viva Symphony Orchestra in Chicago.
Hannah Yi
Piano-Resident Chamber Musician/Belden Piano Quartet
Hannah Yi started playing the piano at age 4. She began her piano studies under Ok Ja Hong, Ick-Choo and Hae-Young Moon, and continued her piano education with Vitaly Margulis, Nelita True, Fernando Laires of the Eastman School of Music and Irina Plotnikova at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory. Ms. Yi has won competitions at all levels, including the Glendale Piano Competition, the Los Angeles Bach Concerto Festival Competition, Russian National Piano Competition, Southwestern Youth Music Festival Competitions, Cypress College Piano Competition, Korean Times Piano Competition, and the MTAC Piano Competition. In 2008, Ms. Yi won the Union League Civic and Arts Scholarship Competition. Ms. Yi also has an established portfolio of live performances, and she has performed with the SYMF Orchestra, Los Angeles Baroque Orchestra, YMF Debut Orchestra, Los Angeles Youth Orchestra, LACHSA Orchestra, Pasadena POPS Orchestra, Antelope Valley Symphony, and the Azusa Pacific Symphony. Ms. Yi received her bachelor's degree in piano performance from Azusa Pacific University, studying with Roza Kostrewska Yoder and her master's degree in piano performance at Depaul University in Chicago, under Eteri Andjaparidze. She has been on the faculty at Depaul University Community Music Division and is currently an adjunct faculty member at Azusa Pacific University in Azusa, CA.
Suzanne Young
Costume Designer/La Traviata
Born in England, Suzanne Young trained as a costumer at the Wimbledon School of Art and Design. She spent a number of years in London working extensively for television, film and stage after which she continued her career in Boston, MA, where she designed "Madama Butterfly" and "The Barber of Seville" for Sarah Caldwell's Opera Company of Boston, Wagner's "Ring Cycle" and "Ariadne Auf Naxos" for John Balme's Boston Lyric Opera, "Hansel and Gretel" for The Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York, "Albert Herring" for The University of Connecticut, and "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" for Boston University among other productions.
Suzanne now resides in Ann Arbor, MI where she designed the Civic Theatre's "The Merchant of Venice", Ann Arbor Dance Works' site-specific dances including "Heathdale Celebration", "In The Garden", and "Mapping The River" for choreographer Jessica Fogel, "Young Mozart" for the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra, Jeff Duncan director, and numerous productions for the Wild Swan Theatre including "A Christmas Carol", "Along the Tracks", "Twelfth Night" , "Treasure Island".
Most recently she designed the University of Michigan Dance Department's "100 Years of Dance" for choreographer Jessica Fogel, Pine Mountain Music Festival's "Il Matrimonio Segreto" for Director Nicholas Olcott, and Wild Swan's
"Little Women" for Director Hilary Cohen.