2018-19 SEASON ARTISTS
The Aeolus Quartet is committed to presenting masterworks and new cutting-edge works to diverse audiences. Violinists Nicholas Tavani and Rachel Shapiro and cellist Alan Richardson formed the Aeolus Quartet in 2008 at the Cleveland Institute of Music. Since its inception, the group has been awarded prizes at nearly every major competition in the United States and performed across the globe. Notable venues in North America, Europe, and Asia where the quartet has appeared include New York’s Alice Tully Hall and Weill Recital Hall; Reinberger Recital Hall, Severance Hall; The Library of Congress; Renwick Gallery; St. Martin-in-the-Fields; and the Shanghai Oriental Arts Center. Dedicated to bringing music into the community, the Aeolus Quartet has been recognized for their highly innovative and engaging outreach programs. The quartet is the recipient of a CMA Residency Partnership Grant and was named the 2015-2016 Guarneri Quartet Residency in recognition of artistic achievement. The Aeolus Quartet has studied extensively with the Miró, Guarneri, and Juilliard quartets and served as Graduate Resident String Quartet at the Juilliard School. The quartet is named for the Greek god Aeolus, who governed the four winds. This idea of a single spirit uniting four individual forces serves as an inspiration to the members of the Aeolus Quartet as they pursue their art. https://www.aeolusquartet.com
The Aizuri Quartet was awarded the Grand Prize at the 2018 M Prize Chamber Arts Competition, First Prize at the 2017 Osaka International Chamber Music Competition in Japan, and Third Prize at the 2015 Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition in London. Based in New York City, the Aizuri Quartet is the 2017-2018 MetLiveArts String Quartet-in-Residence at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, presenting five unique programs throughout the season. Previously the Quartet was the 2015-2016 Ernst Stiefel String Quartet-in-Residence at the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts, and from 2014-2016, the String Quartet-in-Residence at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. The Quartet has performed extensively throughout the United States, Japan, Mexico, Chile, Costa Rica, Paris, Dresden, Bremen, Salzburg and Abu Dhabi, and has commissioned and premiered new works by Pulitzer Prize-winner Caroline Shaw, Lembit Beecher, Paul Wiancko, Yevgeniy Sharlat, Gabriella Smith, Rene Orth, and Alyssa Weinberg. Formed in 2012, the Aizuri Quartet draws its name from “aizuri-e,” a style of predominantly blue Japanese woodblock printing that is noted for its vibrancy and incredible detail. https://www.aizuriquartet.com
Composer and performer Eve Beglarian, “humane, idealistic rebel and a musical sensualist” (Los Angeles Times), is the winner of the 2017 Alpert Award in the Arts and 2015 Robert Rauschenberg Prize from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts. Eve’s chamber, choral, and orchestral music has been commissioned and performed by groups including the Los Angeles Master Chorale, the American Composers Orchestra, the Bang on a Can All-Stars, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, the Ekmeles Vocal Ensemble and individual performers including Maya Beiser, Sarah Cahill, Lauren Flanigan, Marya Martin, and Mary Rowell. Highlights of Eve’s work in music theater include music for Mabou Mines’ Dollhouse, Animal Magnetism, Ecco Porco, Choephorai, and Shalom Shanghai, all directed by Lee Breuer; Forgiveness, a collaboration with Chen Shi-Zheng and noh master Akira Matsui; and the China National Beijing Opera Theater’s production of The Bacchae, also directed by Chen Shi-Zheng. She has collaborated with choreographers and with visual and video artists. Performance projects include Brim, Songs from a Book of Days, The Story of B, Open Secrets, Hildegurls’ Ordo Virtutum, twisted tutu, and typOpera. Recordings of Eve’s music are available on ECM, Koch, New World, Canteloupe, Innova, Naxos, Kill Rock Stars, CDBaby, and Bandcamp. https://evbvd.com
The “extraordinary” (Classical Voice North America) soprano Mary Bonhag captivates audiences around the country with her “marvelous versatility” and “supple, expressive” voice (San Antonio News). Mary made her Carnegie Hall solo debut in 2009 and orchestral debut with the American Symphony Orchestra in the same year. A consummate collaborator, Mary has performed with the Aizuri Quartet, Decoda, Spektral Quartet, as well as chamber music festivals around the country. As a recitalist, she has been presented at Dartmouth, Smith, and Goucher Colleges, and the University of Vermont, and has had fellowships at SongFest and Tanglewood. Mary has premiered and commissioned works by Lembit Beecher, C. Curtis-Smith, Evan Premo, Shawn Jaeger, and Evan Chambers. She has been featured on the NPR shows Performance Today and From the Top and appears on Albany Records. Mary resides in Vermont where she is an active concretizer and is Founder and co-Artistic Director of Scrag Mountain Music with her husband, composer/double bassist Evan Premo. http://www.marybonhagsoprano.com
Violist Margaret Dyer Harris currently holds positions as Principal Violist in the New Mexico Philharmonic, Assistant Principal violist in the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra, violist in Wicked on Broadway, and member of The Knights chamber orchestra. Margaret was a founding member of the Grammy-nominated chamber orchestra A Far Cry and has performed with many other chamber groups including The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, ECCO, Decoda, and the Moscow Chamber Orchestra. She has been a guest artist and teacher at the Guildhall School in London, The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, and Yellow Barn Young Artists Festival and has given masterclasses in Mexico City, Lima, Abu Dhabi, as well as cities across the United States. In 2010, Margaret participated in the Carnegie Hall Ensemble Connect program. Recent career highlights include appearances with the Daedalus Quartet, the Amphion Quartet, the Parker Quartet, the Hausmann Quartet, the Peabody Trio and Emanuel Ax. She can be heard on recordings by NEOS Label, Iris Records, Crier Records, and Fortune Records. http://www.margaretdyer.org
Violinist Anna Elashvili, hailed as "riveting" (The New York Times), has appeared as a soloist, chamber musician. and concertmaster around the world. Anna has collaborated with artists including Lynn Harrell, Dawn Upshaw, Daniel Hope, and Maxim Vengerov and is currently a Co-Artistic Director and violinist of Decoda, an affiliate ensemble of Carnegie Hall, and performer with the East Coast Chamber Orchestra, NOVUS NY, and the Mark Morris Dance Orchestra. After receiving her BA and MA from Juilliard, Anna completed a fellowship with Carnegie Hall’s Ensemble Connect. Anna has been a guest artist at Princeton, DePauw, Lawrence, and Cornell Universities and Vassar and Skidmore Colleges. Anna has performed internationally in England, Mexico, Germany, Canada, Israel, Iceland and Abu Dhabi, and has attended Yellow Barn, Perlman Music Program, Tanglewood and the Verbier Music Festival. Anna also teaches at the Special Music School High School, the New York Youth Symphony Chamber Music Program, the Young Artist Program at Yellow Barn and the Decoda/Skidmore Chamber Music Institute. http://www.annaviolin.com
Priscilla Herreid plays period oboes, recorders, and a multitude of renaissance wind instruments with ensembles in the United States and abroad. She appears regularly with Piffaro, The Handel + Haydn Society, Trinity Baroque Orchestra, Tempesta di Mare, The Sebastians, Boston Baroque, and Hesperus, and can often be seen with Portland Baroque, Tenet, Venice Baroque, Philharmonia Baroque, Ex Umbris, The Waverly Consort, New York Baroque Inc., and The City Musick. Priscilla was part of the onstage band for the Shakespeare on Broadway productions of Twelfth Night and Richard III, starring Mark Rylance. She is former director of the Early Music Ensemble at Temple University and is on the faculty of the Madison (WI) Early Music Festival. Priscilla was recently featured as guest recorder soloist in Vivaldi's C Major concerto (RV 443) with the Portland Baroque Orchestra. Priscilla's playing has been called “downright amazing” by the Philadelphia Inquirer, “particularly fine” by the Washington Post, and the New York Times has praised her “soaring recorder, gorgeously played...” She is a graduate of Temple University and The Juilliard School. www.priscillaherreid.com
Violist Ayane Kozasa enjoys a career that spans a broad spectrum of musical personas. Winner of the 2011 Primrose International Viola Competition, the 2012 S&R Washington Award, and the 2015 career grant recipient from the Musical Fund Society of Philadelphia, she has devoted her life to the advancement of both solo viola and chamber music repertoire. She is a founding member of the Aizuri Quartet. The quartet has garnered critical acclaim for their innovative programming, and has collaborated with venerable artists such as Silkroad shakuhachi player Kojiro Umezaki, cellist Peter Wiley, and violist Roberto Dìaz. In addition to the quartet, Ayane is also a member of “Ayane & Paul,” a viola/cello duo and the electro-acoustic string trio “Bird’s-Eye Trio”. Ayane has played with notable ensembles such as The Philadelphia Orchestra, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. She received her undergraduate degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music, and diplomas from the Curtis Institute of Music and Kronberg Academy in Germany. She is grateful for the mentorship she received from her past teachers, Nobuko Imai, Kirsten Docter, Roberto Diaz, Misha Amory, and Michael Tree. http://ayanekozasa.com
Composer and violist Jessica Meyer is a soloist and member of the contemporary music collective counter)induction. Jessica has premiered pieces for solo viola internationally – expanding the repertoire for viola by championing new works while also composing her own. Meyer’s compositions explore the wide palette of emotionally expressive colors available to each instrument while using traditional and extended techniques inspired by her varied experiences as a contemporary and period instrumentalist. Recent premieres include performances by Roomful of Teeth, cellist Amanda Gookin, soprano Melissa Wimbish, Sybarite 5, PUBLIQuartet, and NOVUS NY of Trinity Wall Street. Jessica’s solo show has been featured at venues such as BAMcafé, Joe’s Pub, the Andy Warhol Museum, and in Paris at Sunset Sunside. She is also committed to creating site-specific solo performances inspired by intriguing acoustical spaces, historic places, galleries of visual art, and unlikely concert venues that can provide a rich narrative context in relation to the surrounding community. Jessica can regularly be seen performing on Baroque viola, improvising with jazz musicians, or collaborating with other performer/composers. http://jessicameyermusic.com
Paul Holmes Morton studied classical guitar under the instruction of Ernesto Tamayo, Marc Teicholz, and Sergio Assad. While attending the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, he studied lute with Richard Savino and continuo with Corey Jamason. Perpetually inspired by music as a vehicle to transport oneself across time and culture, Paul can be found in a variety of venues from cathedrals and concert halls to smoky bars and country barns, anywhere that allows performance to lend harmony to the present noise. As a lutenist Morton performs across the North America in the practice of a baroque continuo player, regularly performing with Ruckus, New Vintage Baroque, and The Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado. An active recording artist, his musicianship can be found on Oracle Hysterical’s “Passionate Pilgrim”, Emi Ferguson’s “Amour Cruel”, and “Arcangelo’s Circle”, by the Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado to be released in 2019. Paul recently completed his studies in historical performance at The Juilliard School instructed by Daniel Swenberg and Charles Weaver.
Cellist Karen Ouzounian, winner of the S&R Foundation's 2016 Washington Award, is at home in diverse musical settings, she has become increasingly drawn towards unusual collaborations and eclectic contemporary repertoire. Karen is a founding member of the Aizuri Quartet. In addition to her work with the Aizuri Quartet, Karen's commitment to adventurous repertoire and the collaborative process has led to her membership in the Grammy-nominated, self-conducted chamber orchestra A Far Cry and the critically-acclaimed new music collective counter)induction, along with regular appearances with the Silkroad Ensemble and The Knights. She holds Master of Music and Bachelor of Music degrees from The Juilliard School, where she was a student of Timothy Eddy. She resides in New York City with her husband, composer Lembit Beecher. www.karenouzounian.com
Composer and Double Bassist Evan Premo creates heart-centered music that inspires audiences and musicians alike. His music has been commissioned by the Pittsburgh Symphony Chamber Orchestra, River Town Duo, Owen Dalby, the International Society of Bassists, Diana Gannett, Paul Dwyer, The Pine Mountain Music Festival, Capitol City Concerts, and the Montpelier Chamber Orchestra. Evan is a member of Decoda with which he has performed in residencies around the world including four he led in Abu Dhabi, UAE. As a member of Ensemble Connect, Evan has performed in concerts at Carnegie Hall and participated in residencies in Europe. As a chamber musician, he has performed at summer music festivals throughout the country and has been featured on National Public Radio’s Performance Today. Evan resides in Vermont where he is active teaching and performing and is Founder co-Artistic Director of Scrag Mountain Music with his wife, soprano Mary Bonhag. He is also Founder and Artistic Director of Beethoven and Banjos, a residency that brings together folk and classical musicians for cross-genre concerts in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. http://www.evanpremo.com
Cellist Emily Taubl has attracted attention for her expressive playing, performing as a concerto soloist with the Hartford Symphony, Boston Virtuosi, Granite State Symphony, Nashua Chamber Orchestra, New England String Ensemble, and the Juilliard Pre- College Symphony. Emily has been featured as a soloist at the Piatigorsky International Cello Festival in Los Angeles, on the Boston Symphony Orchestra's Prelude Concert Series, and for The Colors of Claude Debussy: A 150th Birthday Celebration on Boston’s WGBH that was broadcast internationally. Emily studied at the Juilliard School, Yale School of Music, and the New England Conservatory with major teachers including Paul Katz, Aldo Parisot, and Ardyth Alton. Emily currently lives in Burlington, Vermont where she teaches both at the University of Vermont and privately. She has been published in Strings Magazine on several occasions, and she also founded and runs the Conservatory Audition Workshop that prepares string students for auditions at top music schools. www.emilytaubl.com
Cellist Michael Unterman enjoys a varied performing career on both modern and baroque cello. He currently serves as the principal cellist of Boston Baroque and frequently performs with the Handel and Haydn Society and the Boston Early Music Festival Orchestra. On modern cello he is a core member of the self-directed string chamber orchestra A Far Cry, performing a busy season in Boston as well as tour dates throughout the US, Canada, and Europe. Michael has also recently appeared at the Birdfoot Festival in New Orleans, the Portland Bach Experience in Maine, and the Staunton Music Festival in Virginia. His most recently produced programs include concerts dedicated to explorers and travelers, to an investigation of groove in music through dance suites from the 17th and 21st centuries by Jean-Baptiste Lully and Sufjan Stevens, and a program in which the works become progressively more difficult and dissonant, framed as a challenge to the audience; the program was selected as one of the best concerts of 2017 by the Boston Musical Intelligencer. Underman is a graduate of the New England Conservatory and The Juilliard School, where he studied with Laurence Lesser, Natasha Brofsky, and Phoebe Carrai. He was also a Fulbright scholar in 2008-09, pursuing studies with Lluis Claret and the Quartetto Casals in Barcelona. http://www.michaelunterman.com
Violinist Yonah Zur regularly performs throughout the US, Israel, and Europe as a soloist and chamber musician. He has appeared as a soloist with the Jerusalem Symphony, the Israel Contemporary Players, and the Israel Camerata Jerusalem. Yonah has performed at Marlboro, Yellow Barn, Tanglewood, and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern summer festivals where performed with members of the Guarneri, Juilliard, and Emerson Quartets and pianists Richard Goode, Gilbert Kalish, and Bruno Canino. He was a member of the Carmel Quartet for two seasons and served as assistant principal second violin with the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra for six. Yonah is devoted to new music and has given numerous world premieres, including the premiere performance of the Violin Concerto by his father, Menachem Zur. His recordings of works by Louis Karchin, Chester Biscardi, Paul Moravec and Robert Cuckson have appeared on the Naxos, Albany Records, and ArkivMusic labels. Yonah graduated from the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance having studied with Avi Abramovich and earned his Masters at The Juilliard School with Robert Mann. He was a recipient of the AICF scholarships from 1995-2003.
Header: Artwork by Matthew Monk; Photos: Aeolus Quartet (c) Deborah Feingold; Aizuri Quartet (c) Shervin Lainez; Eve Beglarian (c) Tear-n Tan for Avant Media; Mary Bonhag (c) Ariel Doneson; Priscilla Herreid (c) Jeffrey Hornstein; Karen Ouzouniani (c) Shervin Lainez.