Festival 2006 Summer Roster

VIOLINIST CHARLES CASTLEMAN A wunderkind almost from the cradle and prizewinner in the Tchaikowsky and Brussels competitions, Charles Castleman has soloed with the Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago, Hong Kong, Moscow, Mexico City, New York, San Francisco, Seoul and Shanghai Orchestras. Featured in the CD set of the best prizewinning performances of the Brussels Concours’ 50 year history, Mr. Castleman’s CDs include 10 Sarasate virtuoso cameos, 8 Hubay Csardases, and Ysaye’s Solo Sonatas on Music and Arts, Gershwin and Antheil on Musicmasters, and 20th Century violin and harpsichord music for Albany. As a Ford Foundation Concert Artist he commissioned the David Amram Concerto, premiering it with Leonard Slatkin and St. Louis, recording for Newport Classic. He is dedicatee of "Lares Hercii" by Pulitzer prizewinner Christopher Rouse. He has participated in the Marlboro, Grant Park, Great Woods, Las Vegas, Newport, Round Top, Sarasota, Saratoga, AFCM-Australia, Budapest, Fuefukigawa, Montreux, Shanghai, Sheffield, and Vienna Festwoche music festivals. His recitals have been broadcast on NPR, BBC, in Berlin and Paris.With the Raphael Trio he recorded Dvorak for Nonesuch and SONY, Mendelssohn, Beethoven, Wolf-Ferrari, and performed premieres of Bischof’s "Trio 89" for Vienna Festival and Rzewski’s "Trio" for Kennedy Center. As Chair of Eastman’s String Department, he’s has given master classes in Hong Kong, Kiev, London, Melbourne, Salzburg, Seoul, Shanghai, Tokyo, Toronto, and Vienna. He founded/directs The Quartet Program: an intensive solo and chamber performance camp. The Tokyo and Cleveland Quartets, Itzhak Perlman and Yo-Yo Ma have donated masterclasses- Mr. Ma praised it as "the best program of its kind." Castleman earned degrees from Harvard, Curtis, and Pennsylvania University. His teachers were Emmanuel Ondricek (Sevcik’s assistant, Ysaye student) and Ivan Galamian, with coaches David Oistrakh, Szeryng, and Gingold. He plays a Stradivarius from 1708.

VIOLINIST DARA MORALES has performed in the United States, Mexico, Venzuela, Puerto Rico, Portugal, St. Thomas, France and Belgium. Solo appearances include the Cincinnati, the Puerto Rico, the Bangor, the Lancaster, the Utah and the Aspen Institute Artists Symphony Orchestras. Ms. Morales has participated in the Festival Casals in Prades, France and the Alfred Summer Chamber Music Institute. Ms. Morales is Principal Second Violinist for the Utah Symphony with previous positions as Puero Rico Symphony’s Principal Second Violin and Professor at the Puerto Rico Conservatory and Concertmaster of the Northern Kentucky and the Puerto Rico Symphonies. Ms. Morales holds degrees at the Cincinnati Conservatory, has been a fellowship student at the Aspen and the Norfolk Music Festivals.

VIOLINIST MONTE BELKNAP’s performing career spans 30 years with notable solo performances and accomplished mentors. He won the International Starling Violin Competition in Aspen, Colorado in 1989. This honor awarded full scholarship to the College-Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati, where he earned his Bachelors and Masters degrees in violin performance as a student of Kurt Sassmannshaus and Dorothy Delay. Mr. Belknap served as concertmaster of the Illinois Symphony and Chamber Orchestras, the Knox-Galesburg Symphony, and other respected ensembles. He studied chamber music with some of the world’s leading performing ensembles including the Juilliard, Tokyo, and LaSalle String Quartets and the Beaux Arts Piano Trio. He currently performs across the United States and Europe and after judging and performing in Romania was asked to be the first violinist to record all of Enesco’s violin music. His students have won numerous competitions, and he is the developer of the www.theviolinsite.com website which has received rave reviews for it’s information on technique and violin pedagogy. He is on the faculty of Brigham Young University

VIOLIST LESLIE HARLOW has directed and performed in over 500 Festival chamber music and chamber orchestra concerts as founder/director of the Park City Music Festival. A graduate of the Juilliard School, she has performed with the Sitka, Skaneateles and Eastern Music Festivals, the Piatigorsky Foundation, Lyrica Chamber Music and Ling Concert Series, the Elements Quartet, Raphael Trio, Leonore Trio, Muir String Quartet and in chamber concerts with many of today’s most acclaimed artists. Ms. Harlow can also be heard as soloist on a number of major movie soundtracks including “Surviving Picasso” and “Murder in the First”. Ms. Harlow also serves as artistic director of the Virtuoso Series, one of Utah’s premier concert series.

CELLIST JESUS MORALES has served as Principal Cellist of the Puerto Rico Symphony and Professor of Cello at the Puerto Rico Conservatory and toured with the Utah Symphony in Europe. Mr. Morales won prizes in the Camerata Solo, the Eastern Connecticut Young Artist and the Grace Vamos Competitions and has soloed with the Orquesta Sinfonica de Puerto Rico, the Camerata Symphony, the National Repertory and Starling Chamber orchestras and the Festival de Orquestas Sinfonica Juvenil de las Americas. A participant at Banff, Kneisel Hall, Bowdoin and Eastern Music Festivals, Mr. Morales graduated from the Cleveland Institute of Music and has done post-graduate work at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. He studied with Dr. Ronald Crutcher, Alan Harris, Helga Winold and chamber music with Peter Oundjian.

CELLIST SCOTT BALLANTYNE While a student of Leonard Rose at Juilliard, he made his debut at age 15 with Maurice Abravanel and the Utah Symphony, also soloing with orchestras in the U.S., Brazil, Canada and Mexico. After graduation he joined the Juilliard faculty, devoting himself primarily to teaching. His students now populate orchestras from the New York Philharmonic to the Seoul, Korea Philharmonic and are members of the Lark Quartet and the Carnegie Chamber Players, or are rising soloists (Sun-ju Kim). In the 1990's he returned to performing. In 2001 he made the first recording of the Frank Levy and Ernst Levy cello concerti and gave the world premiers of both works in a sold out concert in Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center in 2002. In a combined review of both recording and concert, Robert Lenz writes: "...one of the most impressive events I've seen in over 30 years of concert going. The cellist, Scott Ballantyne, possesses a rich full sound that completely filled the hall and a flawless technique. And he played both of these difficult modern works in one night, from memory. It was an amazing feat. The last time I saw anything comparable was many years ago when Rostropovich played a similar concert at Carnegie Hall." Other recent appearances include the Beethoven Triple with the Atlantic Chamber Symphony with Michael Guttman, violinist and Lukas Foss, conductor, his first performances in Iceland, and return appearances in Europe and Asia. In 2003 he also gave the New York premiere of Jack Gottlieb's "Fantasy on High Holy Day Themes for solo cello". A passionate devotee of chamber music he has been privileged to work with some of the finest chamber musicians of the day, (such as pianist Claude Frank and violinists Charles Libove, Arturo Delmoni and Arnold Steinhardt), and often appears at such festivals as "Mostly Mozart", The Park City International Festival, The Grand Teton Music Festival and The Music Festival of the Hamptons. His many awards include the $50,000 Morgan Foundation Career development grant.

CELLIST EVAN DRACHMAN combines artistic talent with great personal warmth and compassion to create a distinctive musical career. Mr. Drachman is sought-after both for his solo and chamber music, and as one of the most respected authorities on the presentation of classical music for diverse audiences. He is Founder/Artistic Director of the Piatigorsky Foundation whose mission is to make live classical music a part of the fabric of everyday life, especially for communities who would otherwise not have the opportunity to hear it. The organization is named for Drachman's grandfather, cellist Gregor Piatigorsky. In 1999, Mr. Drachman released his first solo CD, A Frog He Went a Courting. The Baltimore Sun wrote of the recording: "Drachman possesses in abundance two qualities for which his grandfather was revered: the ability to make the cello imitate the human singing voice and, even more important, the ability to tell a story". A graduate of the Curtis Institute, Mr. Drachman has appeared as soloist with orchestras, in recitals and chamber music performances across the United States and recitals in India, Great Britain, Sweden, Italy and Canada. He toured the Far East with the Chinese-American Symphony in Taipei,giving recitals in Hong Kong and Macau. He performed with the Odessa Philharmonic in Odessa and Kiev. In July 1997, at the invitation of Mstislav Rostropovich, he returned to Russia to perform as soloist with the St. Petersburg Philharmonic under Rostropovich at the Second World Cello Congress. Mr. Drachman studied at Peabody Conservatory, New England Conservatory, and the Curtis Institute of Music with Stephen Kates, Laurence Lesser, Luis Garcia-Renart, William Pleeth, and Orlando Cole. He has performed with the Aspen, Yale at Norfolk, the Park City International , the Banff, Prussia Cove in England and at Italy’s Cennina Music Festivals. Mr. Drachman performs frequently for Alaska’s Sitka Summer Music Festival at the invitation of the Festival's founder, violinist Paul Rosenthal.

PIANIST DORIS STEVENSON serves as Artist In Residence at Williams College and divides her time between Williamstown, Massachusetts, and New York City. She has performed at Carnegie Hall and Alice Tully Hall in New York, the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., Salle Pleyel in Paris, Suntory Hall in Tokyo and Sala Arongo in Bogota, Columbia. Early in her career Miss Stevenson was invited by Jascha Heifetz and Gregor Piatigorsky to perform with them. She played for the famed Piatigorsky master classes. Piatigorsky describe her as "an artist of the highest order." Miss Stevenson has appeared as soloist with the Boston Pops Orchestra and as collaborative partner with Piatigorsky, Ruggiero Ricci and Paul Tortelier. Other leading instrumentalists and chamber music ensembles include cellists Andre Navarra, Leslie Parnas and Gary Hoffman, violinists Elmar Oliveira, Ida Levin, Mark Peskanov and Carmit Zori, violists Walter Trampler, Paul Neubauer and Toby Appel, and singers Kaaren Erickson, Carmen Pelton, Robert Hale and Catherine Malfitano. Miss Stevenson is a founding member of the Sitka Summer Music Festival in Alaska and has toured throughout Alaska playing concerts in Eskimo and Indian villages. Recordings include 3 CD's with cellist Nathaniel Rosen, the Saint-Saëns violin sonatas with violinist Andres Cardenes for Arabesque and the complete works for cello and piano of Mendelssohn with Jeffrey Solow for Centaur.

PIANIST JOHN JENSEN Pianist John Jensen combines the virtuosity of a fine classical musician with the imagination of a great jazz pianist. He is an avant-garde keyboard player who masters the most complex and esoteric styles. Referring to Mr. Jensen’s New York debut recital performance of Charles Ives’ mammoth “Concord” Sonata, New York Times critic Raymond Ericson said, “A first-rate performance of a great work.” Mr. Jensen works regularly with the Minnesota Orchestra and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and he is much sought after as a collaborative pianist, playing with fine artists in concerts and music festivals across the United States. He often appears on St. Paul Sunday Morning and A Prairie Home Companion, and he has performed with popular artists such as Doc Severinsen, Andy Williams, and Nancy Wilson. Mr. Jensen is the pianist of the Mirecourt Trio, and with that ensemble he toured the United States, Europe, and China to great critical acclaim. In 1976, the Mirecourt Trio was a finalist in the prestigious Naumberg Chamber Music Competition. Mr. Jensen is also pianist of Trio Minnesota, he is co-founder of Helios, a classical-jazz quartet, and he is pianist in a jazz-only quartet of musicians from the Twin Cities. In addition, he teaches at St. Olaf College, and is Music Director of the First Universalist Church of Minneapolis.

PIANIST GAIL NIWA Gail Niwa's "brilliant insights" and "power, eloquence and striking sound color" have made her a world audience favorite. She won high praise for recitals at Alice Tully and Chicago’s Orchestra Halls and Pasadena’s Ambassador Auditorium’s Gold Medal Series. She received outstanding reviews for her solos with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, performing the Schumann Concerto with Sir Georg Solti. Ms. Niwa has soloed with the Utah, Memphis, Fort Wayne, Augusta, Columbus, Reno, Evanston and Grant Park Symphonies and given recitals at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Kennedy Center, and in Athens, Montreal, Seoul, and St. Louis and on tour in the Far East. In 1991 Ms. Niwa created a sensation as the first woman to win the Bachauer International Piano Competition, also winning the Audience and the Chamber Music Prizes. She won major prizes in the International Chopin, the Mae Whitaker and the Washington International Competitions. Ms. Niwa toured Holland as a member of the renowned Het Reizend Musik Geselschap and won the prestigious Best Accompanist Award at the 1986 Tchaikovsky Violin Competition. She has been featured soloist with the Kammergild Chamber Players, the Banff Festival Chamber Orchestra, the Highland Park Strings and the Ocean State Chamber Players. She performs with the Kingston, Park City International and Roycroft Music Festivals and can be heard in Fantasia 2000 with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in Saint-Saens "Carnival of the Animals". She recorded with violinist David Kim for Musical Heritage Society and Teldec and with the late bassoonist Bruce Grainger for Centaur. Ms. Niwa made her concerto debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at age eight, earned Bachelors and Masters degrees from Juilliard, and has given master classes at Korea’s Pusan University , the TCU Cliburn Institute, BYU and the University of Oklahoma. From 1999 to 2001 Ms. Niwa served on the faculty of USC and is the founder/ Director of Chamber Music at Great Gorge.

CLARINETIST RUSSELL HARLOW in 1996 performed the New York Premiere of the Cortes Trio for Clarinet, Cello and Piano (a work written for him) and the Brahms Clarinet Quintet at Carnegie's Weill Hall. The same week the Amsterdam Chamber Music Society flew him to Holland to perform for a live broadcast. Harlow has performed as guest artist with the Sitka and Anchorage Autumn Classics Festivals, the Ling Concert Series, Lyrica Chamber Music, the Piatigorsky Foundation, as guest artist for the Puerto Rico Clarinet Festival, and in chamber music with the Leonore Trio, Raphael Trio and the Muir String Quartet. Mr. Harlow founded the Nova Chamber Music Series in Utah, then joined the Park City International Music Festival as co-director, performing the Finzi, Mozart, Finzi and Copland Clarinet Concerti with the Festival Orchestra and Sonolumina Chamber Orchestras in Park City and Salt Lake City. Mr. Harlow can be heard on numerous recordings of the Utah Symphony, Park City Music Festival recordings, recordings with flutist Laurel Maurer, a number of major movie soundtracks and with the Mirecourt Trio.

FLUTIST LAUREL ANN MAURER As an award winner from such organizations as the National Association of Composers USA, the National Flute Association, the National Orchestra of New York, the Chautauqua Institute and the Utah Arts Council, she has appeared as flute soloist throughout the United States and Europe, with performances at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center and the Kennedy Center. At the forefront of her career is her dedication to contemporary music. She has commissioned many works for flute, compelling many fine composers to comment on her performance of their works. Otto Luening wrote, "She projects composers ideas with authority and elegance." Joan Tower has written, "Thanks so much for doing such an outstanding job. . .this performance [was] one of the best I've received." Augusta Read Thomas said, "Bravo! We composers need you." Meyer Kupferman has called her playing "Truly sensational."