Sherman Chamber Ensemble P.O. Box 578 Sherman, CT 06784 860-355-5930

Sarah Adams, viola, is well known to Ensemble audiences. She began her musical training in Cleveland, Ohio, where her first teachers were members of the Cleveland Orchestra and the Cleveland Quartet. She is a member of the New York Chamber Ensemble and the resident ensemble at the Cape May Chamber Music Festival, as well as the violist of Parnassus, a contemporary chamber music group that performs and records in NYC. She performs frequently with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and has performed and recorded with the Smithsonian Chamber Ensemble.

Ms. Adams is presently principal violist of the Riverside Symphony, as well as assistant principal violist of the Brooklyn Philharmonic. She performs frequently with the New York Philharmonic, the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, American Ballet Theatre, and the New York Chamber Symphony, and appears with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, American Symphony and American Composers Orchestra.

Sarah has been on the faculty of Long Island University and Queens College and teaches viola and chamber music at Columbia University. She joins SCE for our 1st and 3rd concerts of the summer.

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Eliot T. Bailen, cello. Strings Magazine writes, "At Merkin Hall (NYC) 'cellist Eliot Bailen displayed a warm focused tone, concentrated expressiveness and admirable technical command always at the service of the music" (July, '99). The New Haven Register described Eliot Bailen's solo cello work as "impressive and inspiring...giving ample evidence of his unusual sensitivity and accomplishment." Regarded as one of the finest cellists in the tri-state region, Eliot Bailen is principal cello of numerous chamber ensembles and orchestras and appears frequently in major New York concert halls. Principal cello and Associate Director of the New York Chamber Ensemble, Mr. Bailen also holds the principal chairs of the Westfield Symphony Orchestra, Teatro Grattacielo Orchestra, Garrett Lakes Arts Festival Orchestra, New Choral Society and has served as principal cello of the Long Island Philharmonic and the Cape May Festival Orchestra. In Connecticut, Mr. Bailen is co-principal cello and a frequent soloist with Orchestra New England as well as assistant-principal cello of the Stamford Symphony.

Mr. Bailen performs regularly with such groups as New Jersey Symphony, Orchestra of St. Luke's, American Symphony, New York City Opera and has been heard as solo cellist in numerous Broadway shows. He has recorded for Nonesuch, Koch International, Deutche Grammophon, Delos, New World, Beanstalk and Flying Dutchman Records and has appeared as soloist with the Stamford, Westfield, Bay Atlantic Symphonies, Cape May Festival Orchestra, Garret Lakes Arts Festival Orchestra and Orchestra New England.

A chamber music enthusiast, Mr. Bailen is the Founder and Artistic director of the critically acclaimed Sherman Chamber Ensemble in Sherman, CT, whose performances the New York Times has described as "the platonic ideal of a chamber music concert." (July, 2005) Mr. Bailen is also a member of the "Modern Works" cello quartet in New York City and a regular guest artist with the Saratoga Chamber Players (NY) and the Sebago-Long Lake Chamber Music Festival (ME). In addition, he has participated in the Caramoor, Grand Teton, O.K. Mozart, Norfolk, Aspen, Banff, Bach Aria, Cape May and New England Bach, Berkshire Bach, Westfield Bach festivals, the Mohawk Chamber Concerts and has performed with the Amadeus Trio. An avid teacher, Mr. Bailen teaches cello and chamber music on the faculty at Columbia University and has served on the faculties of S.U.N.Y. at Purchase, NY and the 92nd Street Y in New York.

Mr. Bailen received his Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) from the Yale School of Music in 1990 where, as a student of Aldo Parisot, he was awarded the Lucy B. Moses Fellowship. Graduating in 1977 with High Honors in Music and French Literature from Wesleyan University in Connecticut, Mr. Bailen also holds an M.B.A. in Finance from New York University where he was awarded the coveted Slater Prize for Entrepreneurship. In 2002, he was awarded the Norman Vincent Peale Arts Award for Positive Thinking.

Mr. Bailen has also gained national attention as a writer and producer of children's music. Winner of the 1990 Parent's Choice Gold Medal and winner of numerous ASCAP Popular Awards, Mr. Bailen's duo,"Karen and Tommy," were featured guest artists on Nickelodeon's "Eureeka's Castle" airing from 1993 through 1997. Their work is also featured on Scholastic Production's music video "Song City U.S.A." and on BMG Records series for children, "Early Ears." "Dinosaur Rap" was voted the #1 song of the year in 1987 on the Peabody Award winning radio show "Kid's America." In 1999, Mr. Bailen was a winner in the John Lennon Songwriting Contest and in 2000 the first of his "Song to Symphony" projects, Rainbow Crow, written by Mr. Bailen in collaboration with elementary school children in Stamford, CT, was premiered by the Stamford Symphony Orchestra at the Palace Theater in Stamford. Success of the "Song to Symphony" project has led to numerous additional productions of these large-scale, one of a kind events in 2001-2005. Mr. Bailen is on the roster of Young Audiences New York.

Mr. Bailen and his wife, the flutist, Susan Rotholz, live in New York City with their twin sons David and Daniel and their daughter Julia.

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Kenneth Cooper, harpsichord. As a harpsichordist, pianist, musicologist and conductor, Kenneth Cooper is one of the world's leading specialists in the music of the 18th century and one of America's most exciting and versatile performers. Renowned for his improvisations and his expertise in ornamentation, long-lost 18th century arts, he has revived countless musical works, lending them extraordinary authenticity as well as great vitality. The possessor of a PhD in musicology from Columbia University, Kenneth Cooper is on the faculty there as well as at the Manhattan School of Music, where he is Chair of the Harpsichord Department and Director of the Baroque Aria Ensemble.

As Music Director of the Berkshire Bach Ensemble, Kenneth Cooper has made a tradition of the New Years performances of the Bach Brandenburg Concerti and has instituted a series of Concertofests in the style of Bach's Collegium Concerts at Zimmermann's Coffee-Haus. He has been co-director (with the late Henry Schuman) of the legendary Our Bach Concerts and was featured on Live From Lincoln Center as soloist in Bach's Brandenburg No.5 with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.

Kenneth Cooper is heard regularly at the Temple of Dendur (Metropolitan Museum of Art) with Paula Robison, the Grand Canyon Music Festival, the Washington Square Park Concerts, the Sherman Chamber Ensemble, the Yale-Norfolk Summer Chamber Music Festival and the Little Orchestra Society's Vivaldi Festivals at Alice Tully Hall; most recently he has appeared with the Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival and with Music at Menlo. He has been heard as soloist and guest conductor with the American Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Ohio Chamber Orchestra, Northwest Chamber Orchestra and Mostly Mozart Festival.

Among Kenneth Cooper's extensive musical writings is his 1984 Playbill article "Bach's Call to Action," in which he wrote: "How Bach regarded [his mentor] Buxtehude is how we might well recognize Bach: as a master, not a god; filled with delight, respect and admiration, not worship; and stimulated to a human response, not a mindless, mechanical or methodological one…The great master would have desired us to be fired into action, not awed into obedience."

Over the past four decades, Kenneth Cooper has made dozens of recordings and soundtracks, among them Bach's Gamba-Harpsichord Sonatas (CBS, with Yo Yo Ma), Scarlatti Sonatas for Harpsichord (Vanguard) and Bach Brandenburg Concerti and Goldberg Variations (Berkshire Bach Society, S. Egremont, MA); his spectacular versions of ragtime and other American delights may be heard on Silks and Rags (EMI) and Should Auld Acquaintance be Forgot (Musical Heritage Society). He is heard also on Mother Goose and More (UNIFEM/Classic Raps), on the video game Louis Cat Orze, on the documentary Van Gogh Revisited, and on the soundtracks of Before Sunrise and Valmont.

Most recently, Kenneth Cooper has recorded (on fortepiano) the complete Bach Flute and Keyboard Sonatas with Susan Rotholz (Bridge), and the Six Bach Sonatas for Violin and Fortepiano with violinist Ani Kavafian (Helicon). His 2004 edition of Bach's Two-Part Inventions (International Music Company) has won a first prize Paul Revere Award. He returns to SCE for the opening concerts of the 2005 season.

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Aaron Grad (b. 1980) is a young American composer and guitarist, whose music embraces both his roots in popular culture and his training in the Western tradition. Born in Alexandria, Virginia, he was a listless student of piano and violin from age five. At ten he started fresh on guitar, and was soon writing songs, forming bands, and playing his first jazz gigs. Grad came to New York in 1998 to study jazz guitar at New York University, but he was quickly seduced by the "downtown" new music scene. While completing his B.M. in three years, he performed with his own groups at The Knitting Factory and Cornelia St. Café, and founded and directed a concert series at Judson Memorial Church. In the past five years Grad's emphasis shifted to composing, and his catalog has grown to include over 80 works.

The 2005-06 season features three world premieres for Mr. Grad. On January 22, 2006 the Jolles Duo performed Whiskey & Fred for violin and harp at the Bayard Cutting Arboretum in Islip, New York. On March 19, 2006, members of the Brooklyn Philharmonic offer Creatures of Kings County, scored for flute, clarinet, piano, bass and percussion, with narration written by the composer. This is the first work ever commissioned by the Brooklyn Philharmonic for their Music Off the Walls chamber music series at the Brooklyn Museum's Cantor Auditorium. In August 2006, the Sherman Chamber Ensemble (CT) presents The Aeolian Harp, for guitar, flute, violin, viola and cello, a new work based on a poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Besides these world premiere performances, this season also brought a New York premiere performance of the song cycle Clear White on texts by Charles Wright, performed at St. Paul's Chapel, as well as Mr. Grad's recording debut, with the piece Lepidopterology for flute, clarinet and piano appearing on the disc "New American Masters, vol. 1" by the Palisades Virtuosi (NJ).

The highlights of 2004-05 included a recital of Mr. Grad's works at the Rose Studio of Lincoln Center. This concert featured world premiere performances of Portria (tenor, oboe and strings), Coo/Rant and Slash Fantasy (acoustic and electric bass) and the Sonata for Violin and Piano, as well as performances by the composer's band Q-Diamond (guitar, saxophone, bass and drums) with the composer on guitar. On June 14, 2005, Grad's Concertino for Clarinet was debuted by Alan R. Kay and the New York Chamber Ensemble at the Cape May Music Festival. Mr. Grad's participation was supported by a Meet the Composer grant.

Mr. Grad is largely self-taught as a composer. He has studied privately with Randall Woolf and Carlos Carrillo, but he credits the bulk of his education and opportunities to his work for orchestras in New York. He first worked as the Production Assistant for the American Composers Orchestra, then moving up to Production Manager for the Brooklyn Philharmonic, and finally serving as Production Manager and Librarian for the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. Starting in 2005, Mr. Grad became the official Program Annotator for Orpheus, writing program notes and performing interviews that appear in the Carnegie Hall house programs. He is a member of ASCAP, American Music Center, American Composers Forum and the American Federation of Musicians Local 802. He lives in Park Slope, Brooklyn with his girlfriend, Jen, and his cat, Cat.

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Benjamin Hochman, piano, is achieving widespread acclaim for his performances as orchestral soloist, recitalist and chamber musician. Though still in his early twenties, he is an imaginatively mature artist with an innate ability to combine beauty of line within the overall shape of a piece. His 2004 recital at the Gilmore International Keyboard Festival showcased his "impeccable technique and abundant musicality,” and distinguished him from other pianists in that "his approach to music making reflects his individualism by letting the music speak for itself" (Kalamazoo Gazette). After hearing Mr. Hochman at the Marlboro Festival, pianist Mitsuko Uchida recommended him to conductor Zubin Mehta, resulting in the pianist’s first orchestral engagement with the Israel Philharmonic in spring 2004 and an immediate re-engagement with the orchestra in December for his Carnegie Hall debut. Pinchas Zukerman has additionally invited Mr. Hochman to perform and record with the Zukerman ChamberPlayers.

Mr. Hochman's 2005-2006 season includes many important orchestral debuts and re-engagements, as well as recital and chamber music projects. He performs Beethoven's first piano concerto in his Seattle Symphony debut with conductor Jun Markl and joins conductor Pinchas Zukerman with the Chicago Symphony in a Mozart Piano Concerto project with Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. He makes his Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra debut performing Mozart's Piano Concerto in E-flat Major, K. 271 with Jaime Laredo conducting and also appears with Maestro Laredo and the Vermont Symphony in a performance of Chopin's F minor concerto. The pianist returns to the National Arts Center Orchestra in May 2006 for an all-Mozart program led by Maestro Zukerman. Mr. Hochman gives recitals at the Klavierfestival Ruhr, with Jerusalem's Voice of Music Series and throughout New England, including the Brattleboro Music Center in Vermont.

A passionate chamber musician, Mr. Hochman continues his relationship with Lincoln Center's prestigious “Chamber Music Society Two” program. Additionally, he participates in chamber music projects at the 92nd Street Y and Vancouver Recital Society and performs Dvorák's Piano Quintet with the Zukerman ChamberPlayers at McCarter Theater in Princeton, New Jersey. Mr. Hochman tours with the Jerusalem String Quartet throughout the northeast to include performances in Cleveland and at the 92nd Street Y in New York.

Mr. Hochman has participated in the Marlboro, Ravinia, Santa Fe, Spoleto/Italy, Lucerne, Verbier, Bravo! Vail, Eastern Shore (Maryland), and Vancouver Festivals and the International Chamber Music Encounters under the direction of the late Isaac Stern in Jerusalem. He has collaborated in chamber music performances with members of the Guarneri, Orion, Mendelssohn, Prazak and Jerusalem String Quartets, the Nash Ensemble, Ralph Kirshbaum, Joseph Silverstein and Paula Robison. In recent seasons he has played recitals at Vancouver’s Recital Society, Ravinia and the Gilmore Keyboard Festivals’s “Rising Stars” series, Santa Fe’s “Artist Circle” series, New York’s Town Hall, Italy’s Spoleto Festival and the Louvre in Paris and performed with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Jerusalem Symphony and Holon Orchestras.

Mr. Hochman’s honors include the “Outstanding Pianist” citation at the Verbier Academy, the Festorazzi award given by the faculty of the Curtis Institute of Music, second prize at the Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition, the “Partosh Prize” awarded by the Israeli Minister of Culture for best performance of an Israeli work, and first prize at the National Piano Competition of the Rubin Academy of Music in Jerusalem. His performances have been broadcast on NPR’s Young Artist Showcase and Performance Today, CBC (Canada), ABC (Australia), Radio France and Israel’s Voice of Music radio station, as well as on the European television network, Mezzo.

Born in Jerusalem, Mr. Hochman graduated from the High School Conservatory of the Rubin Academy of Music and studied with Esther Narkiss and Emanuel Krasovsky before arriving in the United States. He is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where he studied with Claude Frank, and of the Mannes College of Music in New York, where he studied with Richard Goode. Mr. Hochman gratefully acknowledges the support of the America Israel Cultural Foundation (1992-2004) and the Chagall Foundation.

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Renee Jolles, violin. Hailed as a "real star" by The New York Times for her New York concerto debut in Alice Tully Hall, violinist, Renee Jolles has enjoyed a varied career as a solo artist and chamber musician. She has premiered hundreds of works, including the American premiere of Schnittke's Violin Concerto No. 2. Her concerto engagements have included orchestras such as The Philharmonic Orchestra of New Jersey, The Cape May Festival Orchestra, The Salisbury Symphony and Orpheus. Ms. Jolles is a member of The Jolles Duo, Continuum, The Roerich Quartet, The New York Chamber Ensemble and is concertmaster of the world-renowned Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. She has performed at festivals such as Marlboro, Cape May, Rockport (Mass.), Norfolk, Taos, Riverrun, and The Chamber Music and Composers' Forum of the East. Committed to recording new music, she has recorded as a chamber artist for the Cambria, CRI, North/South Recordings. Albany Records and New World Records labels. Ms. Jolles is on the faculty of Juilliard, Pre-College Division, The Mannes School of Music Preparatory Division and Sarah Lawrence College. Ms. Jolles received her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from Juilliard where, upon graduation, she was presented with the school's highest award, the William Schumann prize. While at Juilliard, she held teaching fellowships in chamber music as an assistant to The Juilliard Quartet and in ear training. Her teachers have included Lewis Kaplan, Felix Galimir, and members of the Juilliard, Tokyo, and American String Quartets.

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Jill Levy, violin,is concertmaster of the Albany Symphony Orchestra. She has made numerous solo appearances with them including the premiere performance of the Concerto for Irish Fiddle and Violin by Evan Chambers, which she has recorded on the Albany Records label. Ms. Levy is also the music director of the Saratoga Chamber Players, bringing together musicians from the United States, Canada and Europe to perform in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. In addition to being heard regularly with the Sherman Chamber Ensemble she has been a participant in the Blossom Music Festival and the Sebago-Long Lake Region Festival. Ms. Levy is a former member of the Pittsburgh Symphony under the direction of Andre Previn; the Pittsburgh Chamber Players; the Orchestre del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in Florence, Italy, directed by Zubin Mehta; and the Brooklyn Philharmonic, directed by Lukas Foss. Ms. Levy is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music where she studied violin with Arnold Steinhardt and Jascha Brodsky and chamber music with Felix Galimir and the Guarneri Quartet. She also worked with Franco Gulli at the Academia Musicale Chigiana in Siena, Italy. As a winner of student competitions she was soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra at the ages of 11 and 16. Currently Ms. Levy lives in the Adirondack Mountains of New York with her husband and daughter where she is an active and sought-after teacher. Jill will be on hand for all three programs this summer.

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Josephine Mongiardo, soprano, widely acclaimed for her "extraordinary voice" and "brilliant ornamentation", has been featured in New York stage premieres of several eighteenth-century operas, including Handel's Acis and Galatea, Esther and Susanna, as well as Lully's Acis et Galateé. An accomplished actress, Ms. Mongiardo has commanded attention in such roles as Lucia, Violetta and Rosina, and as she speaks four languages, she has become a renowned recitalist and chamber music artist. Her chamber music and orchestral appearances have taken her throughout the United States, Europe and South America. She has collaborated with such renowned artists as YoYo Ma, Ani Kavafian, Gerard Schwarz and Kenneth Cooper. Her festival appearances include Santa Fe, Waterloo, Chamber Music Northwest, Arcady, Grand Canyon and Mohawk Trail Concerts. Ms. Mongiardo's diverse repertoire includes orchestral works such as Mahler's Symphony No.4, Berlioz' Les Nuits d'Eté and Strauss' Brentano Lieder as well as premieres of pieces by Seymour Barab and Wendy Chambers; she has also been featured as the narrator in Walton's Façade and as the Devil in Stravinsky's L'Histoire du Soldat as well as works by André Caplet and Douglas Moore. She has performed leading roles in the Berkshire Bach Society's staged production of Bach's Hercules at the Crossroads and Over Coffee, with the Columbia Festival Orchestra in Bruce Adolphe's new work Marita and her Heart's Desire, and at Lincoln Center's Tully Hall with The Little Orchestra Society under Dino Anagnost in works of Antonio Vivaldi; Ms. Mongiardo can be heard on the CD Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot (Musical Heritage Society). Ms Mongiardo has a thriving teaching practice in New York City. Her students have been featured at Chautauqua Opera, Seattle Opera, Lake George Opera and in chamber and orchestral appearances throughout the United States. She holds a B.A. from Barnard College and an M.A. in musicology from Columbia University. She appears on the opening bill of this summer's SCE season.

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Ted Rosenthal, piano, entered the international spotlight by winning first prize in the 2nd Thelonious Monk International Jazz Piano Competition. He has since had a prolific recording career, releasing 9 CDs as a leader. His latest, One Night in Vermont (2004), is a duo featuring legendary trombonist Bob Brookmeyer. Together they explore standards in an unusually creative and improvisatory style. All About Jazz calls this CD, "…a stunning album complete with all of jazz's beloved nuances… all those stirring moments that remind you of why you need it in your life." His most recent solo album, The 3 B's (2002) received 4 stars from Down Beat Magazine. It features renditions of the music of Bud Powell, Bill Evans and his strikingly original improvisations on Beethoven themes.

Rosenthal toured and recorded with the Gerry Mulligan Quartet. As a busy sideman, Rosenthal was a member of the Art Farmer Quintet, has performed with the Jon Faddis, Benny Golson and James Moody Quartets, and with the Phil Woods and Joe Chambers Quintets. He has also performed with Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, The Carnegie Hall Jazz Band and the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra. Rosenthal is the pianist of choice for many top jazz vocalists including Helen Merrill, Mark Murphy, and Ann Hampton Callaway. Rosenthal has appeared on Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz on National Public Radio and performed with David Sanborn on NBC's Night Music.

A recipient of three grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, Rosenthal regularly performs and records his compositions, which include jazz tunes and large-scale works. "The Survivor," a concerto for piano and orchestra, has been performed by the Manhattan Jazz Philharmonic and the Rockland Symphony Orchestra, with Rosenthal at the piano. This piece combines written and improvised sections for the piano soloist, reflecting his interest in improvisation within jazz and classical styles. He also performs Gershwin's works for piano and orchestra, with original improvisations adding an extra dimension of vitality and spontaneity to the music.

Other classical/jazz crossover performances include solo and featured appearances with The Boston Pops, The Tucson Symphony, The Greater Palm Beach Symphony, The Baltimore Symphony, The Kansas City Symphony, The Palm Beach Pops, The Rochester Philharmonic and The Indianapolis Symphony. Rosenthal received his Bachelors and Masters degrees from the Manhattan School of Music and subsequently continued his piano studies with Phillip Kawin.

Rosenthal is active in education as a faculty member at The Juilliard School, Manhattan School of Music, Queens College and the New School University. He also presents jazz clinics throughout the world, often in conjunction with his touring. Rosenthal was a contributing editor for Piano and Keyboard magazine and has published piano arrangements and feature articles for Piano Today, and The Piano Stylist. Rosenthal's website is at www.tedrosenthal.com.

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Susan Rotholz, flute, made her New York debut to critical acclaim in 1981 as a winner of the Concert Artists Guild Award. Since then she has performed widely in the U.S., Europe and Japan appearing as soloist with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, New York Chamber Ensemble, New England Bach Festival, Greenwich Symphony, Cape May Festival Orchestra, Gotham City Orchestra, Brandenberg Ensemble, Jupiter Symphony, Solisti New York, Westmoreland Symphony, Bay Atlantic Symphony and the New York String Orchestra at Carnegie Hall under the direction of Jaime Laredo. Ms. Rotholz has been principal flutist of the New England Bach Festival for twenty-five years under Blanche Honneger Moyse, the New York Chamber Ensemble and the Greenwich Symphony. A member of the New York Pops Orchestra since 1981, Ms. Rotholz has served as principal flute with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, American Symphony, American Ballet Theater, the Orchestra of St. Luke's and the Stamford Symphony. She also performs with St. Lukes, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Speculum Musicae, Little Orchestra Society and the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, , the New York City Ballet, New York Philharmonic and in 1983 the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. Recently she was the principal flute for the PBS broadcast performance of Steven Sondheim's 'Passions' for Live from Lincoln Center conducted by Paul Geminiani and was the principal flutist of the 2006 Encore! performances at City Center.

In 1988, Ms. Rotholz won the Young Concerts Artists International Competition as a founding member of Hexagon, a chamber ensemble for piano and winds, which made its New York debut in 1989 and was featured on the nationally aired PBS documentary, "Debut," in 1990. Hexagon's CD, Les Petites Nerveux, was released in 1996 by Bridge Records.

An avid performer of contemporary music, Ms. Rotholz commissioned and premiered Robert Beaser's Variations for flute and piano, gave the second New York performance of the Joan Tower Flute Concerto and with Hexagon premiered numerous commissioned works for piano and winds. Ms. Rotholz gave the world premiere of Anthem for flute and orchestra written for her by Elizabeth Brown and premiered Invocation, a flute concerto written for her by the award winning composer, Edie Hill. Ms. Rotholz has also recorded George Crumb's Night of Four Moons with the acclaimed soprano, Dawn Upshaw, for Nonesuch Records, and has recently recorded the Sonatas and Solo Partita of J.S. Bach with Kenneth Cooper, forte-piano, released in March 2002 by Bridge Records to rave reviews and is available throughout the world.

Familiar to audiences at music festivals around the country, Ms. Rotholz has performed at Marlboro, Caramoor, Mostly Mozart, Grand Teton, OK Mozart, Salt Bay Chamber Fest and Cape May festivals. She also performs with Music from Salem, the Berkshire Bach Society, the Bach Aria Group, the Saratoga Chamber Players and the Sebago Long Lake Chamber Music Festival. Co-founder of the highly acclaimed Sherman Chamber Ensemble summer festival in Sherman, Ct., Ms. Rotholz holds degrees from Queens College (BA) and Yale University (MM) and is on the faculties of Columbia University, Queens College CUNY and Manhattan School of Music pre-college division. Her principal teachers were Marcel Moyse, Thomas Nyfenger and Gerald Beal. Ms. Rotholz has recorded on the Bridge, Deutche Grammophon, Nonesuch, Angel, New World, Marlboro Sound and Music Masters record labels.

In 2002, Ms. Rotholz with her husband, the cellist/song writer Eliot Bailen, were awarded the Norman Vincent Peale Arts Award for Positive Thinking. She taught Art in the highly acclaimed Arts in Action program at PS 87 in New York City for four years, and continues to study Ballet and Yoga. The couple lives in New York City with their three children, Daniel, David and Julia.

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Dov Scheindlin, violist. Acclaimed by the New York Times as an "extraordinary violist" of "immense flair," Dov Scheindlin has been violist of the Arditti, Penderecki and Chester String Quartets. His chamber music career has brought him to 28 counties around the globe, and won him the Siemens Prize in 1999. He has appeared as soloist with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam, the Radio Symphony Orchestra of Berlin, the Paris Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and the Munich Philharmonic. Mr. Scheindlin has recorded extensively for EMI, Teldec, Auvidis, Col Legno, and Mode, and won the Gramophone Award in 2002 for the Arditti Quartet's recording of Sir Harrison Birtwistle's Pulse Shadows. As a member of the Arditti Quartet, he gave nearly 100 world premières, among them new works by Elliott Carter, György Kurtág, Thomas Adès, and Wolfgang Rihm. He has also been broadcast on NPR, BBC, CBC, the German WDR, HR, SWR, NDR, MDR and SFB networks, as well as French, Swiss, Austrian, Dutch and Belgian national radio networks.

Dov Scheindlin was raised in New York City, where he studied with Samuel Rhodes and William Lincer at the Juilliard School. He has taught viola and chamber music at Harvard, Wilfrid Laurier University and Tanglewood, and he has appeared with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and the MET Chamber Ensemble. He has regularly participated in summer festivals such as Salzburg, Tanglewood, and Aspen, and has also been acting violist of the Mendelssohn String Quartet. His chamber music partners have included members of the Juilliard, Alban Berg, Tokyo, and Borodin String Quartets, as well as concertmasters of many major symphony orchestras.

After living six years in London, Dov Scheindlin has recently returned to his hometown of New York. He plays a viola by Francesco Bissolotti of Cremona, made in 1975.

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Stacey Shames is widely recognized as one of today's outstanding concertizing harpists. With performances as soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral principal, she has appeared throughout the United States, Europe and the Far East. She is celebrated for her luxurious tone and a repertoire encompassing Scarlatti to Elliott Carter.

At age fourteen, Ms. Shames made her debut at Carnegie Recital Hall, receiving critical acclaim. She took the First Prize in the American Harp Society Competition (1987), received honors at the International Concours de Geneve, and went on to earn a top prize in the 11th International Harp Contest in Israel (1992). In recent concerto performances, Ms. Shames appeared with the Munich Chamber Orchestra, the Saint Louis Symphony, and the National Chamber Orchestra. She has been heard in recital at Jordan Hall, in Boston, at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and in New York, at Weill Recital Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Bargemusic.

Ms. Shames enjoys a busy schedule of performances, recordings and tours as the harpist of the acclaimed Orpheus Chamber Ensemble. A past principal harpist of the Saint Louis Symphony, Miss Shames performed, recorded and toured under the direction of Leonard Slatkin. She has also been principal of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, under the baton of Claudio Abbado, Mostly Mozart Orchestra, St. Lukes Chamber Ensemble, and the American Symphony Orchestra.

Recently, Ms. Shames has been accompanist for Renee Fleming, Placido Domingo, Andrea Bocelli, James Galway, Andreas Scholl, and Joshua Bell in numerous recording and television appearances. She has recorded extensively for some of today's most popular artists including Stevie Wonder, Natalie Cole, Gladys Knight, Carly Simon, Elvis Costello, Cyndi Lauper, Harry Connick,Jr., Lauryn Hill, George Michael and Celine Dion. Ms. Shames may be heard on the soundtracks to over 100 films and enjoys a busy schedule in all of the recording and television studios in New York.

Miss Shames is a graduate of the Juilliard School, where she studied with Nancy Allen. She has served as a faculty member of the Aspen Music Festival and School, and the Hartt School of Music, and coaches many young harpists as they transition from conservatory to career. She appears at many summer chamber music festivals, collaborating with celebrated string quartets and musicians from around the world. The varied discography of Ms. Shames may be heard on the Koch, Deutsche Grammophon, RCA, Decca, Blue Note, Bridge and Concord record labels.

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Peter Weitzner, double bass, is a graduate of the Juilliard School and has performed with Solisti New York, the Jupiter Symphony, EOS Ensemble, SONYC, Philharmonia Virtuosi, Stamford Symphony, Musicians Accord, and the New Jersey Symphony. As soloist, he has appeared with the Baltimore Symphony and performed the New York premiere of Sheila Silver’s Chant for bass and piano. Mr. Weitzner has been a frequent participant at international music festivals including Mostly Mozart, OK Mozart, Festival of the Hamptons, Bratislava Music Festival, and the Bruckner Festival in Linz, Austria. An avid chamber musician, he has performed with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Orion Quartet, Enso Quartet, Trio Solisti, Yale at Norfolk, Cooperstown Chamber Music Festival, New York Philomusica, Garden City Chamber Music Society, Sherman Chamber Ensemble and the Berkshire Bach Society. He has also performed with the Lar Lubovitch Dance Company, the Parsons Dance Company and Merce Cunningham's 80th birthday celebration at the Lincoln Center Festival in the New York premiere of Biped. For ten years Mr. Weitzner toured the world as a member of the Giora Feidman Trio. His work can be heard on the Nonesuch, Pro Gloria Musicae, New World Records, Musical Heritage Society, Delos, Grenadilla, and Berkshire Bach Society record labels. He has also produced recordings of the Brandenburg Concerti with the Berkshire Bach Society and the critically acclaimed complete flute music of J.S. Bach with flutist Susan Rotholz and Kenneth Cooper, fortepiano, released by Bridge Records.

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Paul Woodiel, violin/fiddle, was described by Leonard Bernstein as "a first-class performer - one who combines spirituality with intellect." A busy purveyor of a broad range of violin/fiddle music, he has been a featured recitalist at the 92nd St. Y, the Miller Theater at Columbia University, and the New York Festival of Song at Carnegie Hall, and has appeared as soloist at music festivals from Bard College in New York to the red rocks of Moab, Utah. A three-time New Fiddle Contest champion, he is a noted exponent of traditional fiddle styles and teaches traditional fiddle at Wesleyan University. In this vein, he performs across the US and abroad with the Scottish dance band Local Hero. An unabashed theater musician and veteran of Broadway orchestra pits, he performed in The Look of Love, a revue of the songs of Burt Bacharach and Hal David. In that production, he utilized the Viper, a seven string electronic instrument created by rock violin innovator Mark Wood. Other artists and organizations with whom he has worked include Steve Reich and Musicians, piano wizard Dick Hyman, Vince Giordano's Nighthawks, the American Composers Orchestra, and the Grammy Awards Orchestra. As a studio player, his fiddling appears in myriad contexts, including controversial Woody Allen films, controversial Dixie Chicks releases, and advertisements for controversial weight-loss medications. Current projects include a solo recording of Scottish violin music with pianist Susie Petrov, and a collaboration with composer/pianist Neely Bruce on a new outdoor staged historical event based on the story of Benedict Arnold. Returning for a third summer with SCE, he brings both classical and folk talents to SCE’s Labor Day weekend performances for adults and children.

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