iPalpiti Artists 2006

July 2006 Festival | Press Release

Bassiona Amorosa
Artem Chirkov, Mavzhida Gimaletdinova (piano), Jan Jirmasek, Ljubinko Lazic, Roman Patkolo, George Makhoshvili, Andrei Shynkevich

Guest Artists
Tibi Cziger, Marcia Dickstein, Adrian Spence

Featured Artist                                              

Kristaps Bergs, Latvia/cello
Born in Riga, Latvia, Kristaps Bergs studied cello at the E. Darzins Music School in Latvia from 1995 to 2002 with Diana Ozolina and Ligita Zemberga.  He is currently studying with Professor Eleonora Testelec, graduating in the summer of 2006.  In addition, Kristaps has attended master classes given by Mstislav Rostropovich and David Geringas, among others.

In his first international competition experience, Mr. Bergs was the semi-finalist at the 5^th International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians in Japan in 2004 and later that year became a First Prize winner at the Karl Davidoff International Cello competition.  In his home country, he has been a top prize-winner in several national competitions.

As a soloist, Kristaps has appeared with the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra and the Vidzeme Chamber Orchestra, as well as performing regularly as a member of various chamber ensembles. Kristaps was selected by Young Artists International for the 2005 International Laureates Festival as a member of the iPalpiti Orchestra, and went on tour the following year to Israel, performing solo and with iPalpiti at the Red Sea Eilat Chamber Music Festival in Jerusalem.

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Henri Bonamy, France
Henri Bonamy completed his Formation Supérieure de Piano at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Paris in 1999 where he studied with Jacques Rouvier and Brigitte Engerer. A precocious pianist, Henri was a prizewinner at several international competitions including First Prize at the International Takasaki Competition (Japan), the Franco-Italian Competition of Saint Germain-en-Laye, the  Steinway "Young Talents" Competition and Third Prize at the International Piano Competition Alessandro Casagrande in Terni, Italy.  He is a much appreciated soloist and chamber music partner.  Currently, he is continuing his studies in piano with Elisso Virsaladzé  and in orchestra conducting with Bruno Weil at the Musikhochschule of Münich. His mentors in chamber music are Christian Ivaldi, Itamar Golan and he works on occasion with Radu Lupu and Stephen Kovacevic.
Born in 1979 to a family of musicians, Henri showed an early interest in the piano. At age twelve, he won the First Prize of the European "Young Soloists" Competition at Château Maisons-Lafitte and was immediately invited to perform the title-role in "Mozart, The Child” at the Grévin Theatre in Paris in the overall frame of the Mozart year. The following year he became a scholar at the Mozarteum Académie in Salzburg where he worked with Dmitri Bashkirov, a regular mentor ever since. From 1999 to 2002, a scholarship from the Isaac Albeniz Foundation allowed him to study at the Escuela Superior de Musica Reina Sofia in Madrid in the class of Dmitri Bashkirov whereupon Henri was presented to the Queen of Spain as the best piano student.
Henri’s Third Prize at the Casagrande Piano Competition put him on the short list of musical performers.  He has been invited by the Gstaad Menuhin Festival and by the festivals of Vorpommern-Mecklenburg and Hong Kong. He has given many recitals and performed as a soloist in France, Spain, Germany, England, Hungary, Rumania and Japan with such conductors as Jesus Lopez-Cobos and Andrey Boreyko. A fervent chamber musician, he has had the opportunity to collaborate with Marina Chiche, Julia Fischer, Tatiana Samouil and the cellist Alban Gerhardt.

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Nabih Bulos, Jordan
Nabih Bulos has performed with artists such as Daniel Barenboim, Leon Fleisher, and Ivry Gitlis. He was selected to perform with Yo-yo Ma, Pinchas Zukerman, Jaime Laredo, and Bono as soloist in Carnegie Hall in December 2003, and with Grammy-award-winning Youssou N'Dour in 2005. A student of Choong-Jin Chang, Nabih completed his Master’s Degree at Temple University where he held the position of Concertmaster of the Temple Symphony Orchestra. Nabih received his Graduate Performance Diploma from the Peabody Conservatory where he studied with Violaine Melancon, Herbert Greenberg, and Michael Kannen. He received his Bachelor's Degree in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania. Active as an orchestral player, chamber musician, and soloist, Nabih is a member of the Haddonfield Symphony and continues to teach and perform in his native Jordan.

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Catharina Chen, Norway
Catharina Chen was born in Oslo, Norway in 1985 and started playing violin at age of five with her father. She continued her studies with Alf Richard Kraggerud and since 1997 with Stephan Barratt-Due. A soloist since the age of eight, she has soloed with all major orchestras in Norway, and in 2004 and 2005 with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra.
A Grand Prize-Winner of the 3rd International Gnessin Violin Competition in Moscow, Russia, Catharina is the recipient of numerous awards in Norway including: “Prize of Honour” by the Norwegian Music Publisher Union in 2002 and “Karoline Prize” in 2003; as well as National violin competitions in Norway 1996-2002, and Sparre Olsen competitions in 1997, 1998 and 2002.   
A musical celebrity in Norway, Catharina is also known to Norwegians through television and radio broadcasting programs including Penguin (1995), Bravo Bravissimo from Italy (1996), NRK’s Big Stage with The Norwegian Radio Orchestra (1998), Arve Tellefsen as soloist (1999), Young Musicians (2001), Eurovision with Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra (2002) and at the Norwegian Prime Ministers New Year Speech (2003). In 2003 she was the youngest winner of the Norwegian National Television program, Great Opportunity – Live, a competition program of selected young artists from around the country. Catharina was the youngest musician in Norway to be awarded the highly respected and prestigious Oslo City Culture Prize (2004).
Catharina participates in different international arts festivals in Norway and around the world.  She has given solo and chamber concerts in Norway (North Festival, Stavanger International Music festival, Oslo Chamber Festival, Bergen International Festival etc), as well as in Italy, China, Malaysia, Austria, Switzerland, Sweden, France and South Africa. During this season she performed Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra and has been invited back to solo with Beethoven Concerto in the next season. Currently, she works with Professor Eduard Schmieder in the Artist Certificate Program at the Meadows School of the Arts in Dallas. In her 2nd year as an iPalpiti member with Young Artists International, she toured Slovenia, Carinthia and performed in the Mozarteum in Salzburg. In the summer of 2005, Catharina was a soloist with the Beverly Hills Symphony Orchestra.

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Aisha Dossumova, Kazakhstan
Aisha was born in 1980 in Almaty, Kazakhstan. She started studying violin in 1987 at K.Baiseitova under Prof. Alma Abatova.  From 1998 - 2002 she continued her studies at Kazakh National Academy of Music where she studied with Professor Aiman Mussakhodjayeva.
She continued her studies in the Artist Diploma Program at the Meadows School of the Arts in Dallas in the class of Dr. Eduard Schmieder, graduating in the spring of 2006.
In 2002, Aisha won the 2nd prize in the Michellangello Abbado International violin competition in Italy, and the 1st prize in the International Competition ‘Shabyt’ in Kazakhstan. In 2002 she received a diploma in the W.A. Mozart International competition (Austria). 
Aisha soloed with Kazakh National Symphony Orchestra performing Prokofiev Concerto no.1, Saint-Saens’Introduction and Rondo-Capriccioso, Chausson’Poeme. From 1998 until 1999 she was the principal with the Kazakh National Symphony Orchestra and with Kazakh Chamber Orchestra “Academy of Soloists” from 2000-2002. She also soloed with "Academy of Soloists" and in 2006 will appear again, in Kazakhstan, performing Mozart's Concerto no.3, conducted by Robert Canetti from Israel. She is an avid chamber musician and also participated in the summer festivals at the Mozarteum Summer Academy Salzburg, Ost-West Musikfest (Austria), Musica in Laguna (Italy), International Laureates Festival in Taos, NM and in Los Angeles.  Aisha has played as the soloist with orchestras and as recitalist in Austria, Italy, France, England, Russia and Kazakhstan.

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Vladimir Dyo, Kazakhstan
Vladimir Dyo is the winner of numerous competitions including first prize in the Michelangelo Abbado International Competition in Milan, Italy, Grand prize in the International Violin Competition in Astana, Kazakhstan, second prize in the International Yampolsky Competition in Russia including awards from the International Program “New Names” and Dubna’s Foundation of Arts for “Sincere and Artistic” performance in the competition. Born in Almaty, Kazakhstan, he began studying violin at age seven at the State’s Special Music School for gifted children, and at age 14, won first prize in the National Competition of Kazakhstan where he was the youngest participant. Vladimir Dyo received a President’s stipend awarded by the State Secretary of Republic of Kazakhstan. He has participated in various international music festivals as a soloist and chamber musician, including the Graduates of the Moscow Conservatory, Ost-West Musikfest, Prague-Vienna-Budapest, Mozarteum and the Cliburn Institute, and has been invited to give master classes and perform in the International Music Festival in Seoul, Korea. As a soloist and the concertmaster of the Kazakh State Chamber Orchestra “The Academy of Soloist” Vladimir has toured and performed in many countries including Austria, Italy, France, England, Japan, South Korea, Poland, Russia and USA. After graduation from Kazakh National Academy of Music in Astana, Kazakhstan Vladimir continued his study at the SMU Meadows School of the Arts in Dallas under Professor Eduard Schmieder.

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Sasha Fedosova, Ukraine
Born in Poltava, Ukraine in 1989, Sasha began studying violin at the age six and began studying in the Lysenko Special School for Gifted Children, a school affiliated with the Kiev National Music Academy.  She continues her studies now in the class of professor Ovcharenko. 
Sasha is a two-time Grand Prize winner in the Virtuosi Jeunesse regional competition. Beginning in 2003, she successfully moved on the international arena, becoming a prize-winner in the 4^th International Jeunesse Competition “Silver Bells.” She also received the 2^nd prize in the competition of the International Association “Art and Education in the XXI Century,” as well as the Laureate Diploma in the chamber ensemble category in the same competition.  In 2005, she received a First Prize in the 6^th “Silver Bells” competition and as a result, toured Germany in November 2005 and Hungary in March-April 2005.  It was during this time that YAI’s artistic advisor, violinist Gidon Kremer, heard Sacha’s playing and recommended her to participate in their programs.  Sasha’s participation in this year’s Laureates Festival marks her first major outing in the “big” world.

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Felipe Rodríguez García, Spain
Felipé Rodríguez was born in Salamanca, Spain, in 1982. He began his music studies at the age of seven at the Music Conservatory of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, under the supervision of Elías Rodríguez.  Continuing on from there, he studied at the Conservatory of Cartagena with Prof. Katalin Pétrik, and finally in Madrid under the guidance of the Maestros José Luis García Asensio and Vicente Huerta. Currently, he is completing his training under the guidance of Prof. Mari Tampere – Bezrodny. Felipé has received tutoring from violinists such as Pinchas Zukerman, Maxim Vengerov, Vadim Repin, Mikhail Kopelman and Mauricio Fuks among others. In chamber music, he has worked with virtuosos such as Sir Yehudi Menuhin, Luciano Berio, Walter Levine, Rainer Schmidt and Piero Farulli.
He has given acclaimed recitals with the Orchestra of Spanish Radio and Television, the Symphonic Orchestra of the Principality of Asturias, the Symphonic Orchestra of the Region of Murcia, and the “Freixenet” Chamber Music Orchestra of the Reina Sofia Music School, at the National Music Auditorium in Madrid and at the Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona. He has also made several recordings for SONY, the Spanish National Radio and for Spanish Television as well.
Throughout his musical career, Felipé he has accumulated awards at the “Ciutat de Xátiva” National Competition for Young Soloists (Valencia, 2003); the “III Villa de Llanes” International Violinists Award (Asturias, 2003); the “Primer Palau” (Barcelona, 2000); the “Festival International for Youth Orchestras” (Murcia, 1997); the “Ruperto Chapi” Award for Young Interpreters (Alicante, 1996); the “Guadamora” International Chamber Music Award (Córdoba, 2000); and the “Juventudes Musicales” Permanent Award for Chamber Music (Toledo, 1999).  In April 2004, he was the grand-prize winner of the 2nd “Joaquín Rodrigo” International Music Competition (Violin), and also was given the best J. Rodrigo Works Performance Prize and the Best Spanish Clasificated Prize.  He also received 4th prize in the “Tibor Varga” International Violinists Award 2004 (Switzerland). Of special note are the awards received from Her Majesty Queen Sofía of Spain to the best string quartet for 1998/99 and 1999/00 (first violin) at the Music School Reina Sofia.
Recently, Felipé has collaborated with the UBS Verbier Orchestra, under the supervision of maestros James Levine, Cristoph Von Dohnány and Yuri Temirkanov, and with artists  Barbara Hendricks, Thomas Quasthoff, Marta Argerich and Yuri Bashmet to name an important few. 
Felipe is a member of the Málaga Philarmonic Orchestra and Principal Violinist of the City of Birmingham Symphony.

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Nora Hapca, Romania
Nora was born in 1986 in Romania.  She attended The Music High School in Baia Mare from 1992-2000 where she studied under Prof. Ludovic Gebe. Currently, she studies at The George Enescu Music School in Bucharest with Professor Mihaela Tomescu.

Nora has given concerts and recitals in Belgium, Bulgaria, Italy and Romania, and on a concert tour with the Lyceum Strings Chamber Orchestra in France. She was invited to perform in festivals and in master classes for Liviu Ghitea in 1997 and 1998 (Romania), Sherban Lupu in 2001 (USA), Semion Yaroshevich in 2002 and 2003 (Israel), and for Alexandru Tomescu in 2003 (Romania).

Nora has won 20 national and international competitions, including 2nd Grand prize at the Remember Enescu International Competition in 2003, and the Special Artist Prize from Young Artists International in 2004 and 2005. This is her third season with iPalpiti.

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Robert Kowalski, Poland
Robert Kowalski was born in Gdansk, Poland in 1985.  He began his music education at the age of seven studying violin at the Nowowiejski Academy of Music. In 2003, he graduated from the Academy, and continued at the Mannheim University of Music and Performing Arts with Professor Waleri Gradow.
As a soloist and chamber musician, Kowalski is a winner of a number of awards and scholarships from numerous regional and national competitions. In 2004, he received an honorary diploma at the Alexander Tansman International Competition in Lódź, Poland.  He was also the first winner of the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage’s Young Artist and Scientist Award, presented to him by the president of the city of Danzig. Throughout the years Kowalski has received support from the government-sponsored National Foundation for Gifted Children.
Robert has participated in master courses under the direction of renowned violin instructors Konstanty Kulka, Wanda Willkomirska, Marina Jaschwili, Krzysztof Wegrzyn, and Petru Monteanu. At home and abroad he gives recitals and has performed with orchestras such as the Capella Gedaniensis and the Baltic States Opera House.  Robert has appeared at music festivals in Switzerland and Italy and has made numerous recordings for television and radio. Winner of the 1st prize in the International “Contessa Tina Orsi Anguissola Scotti” Chamber Music Competition in Italy, Robert has played chamber music with such artists as Bernard Greenhouse, Michael Flaksman, Joshua Epstein, and Jose Gallardo.

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Mari-Liis Pakk, Estonia
Born in Tartu, Estonia in 1984, Mari-Liis Pakk began her first violin lessons at the age of four. In 2003 she graduated Tallinn Music High School and currently studies with Professor  Eduard Schmieder at the Meadows School of the Arts, Southern Methodist University in Dallas.
Mari-Liis has participated in many national and international competitions. As the 1^st prize winner in the European String Teachers Association competition (2003), Mari-Liis was invited to perform a solo program in Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique in Paris during the ESTA conference.  Mari-Liis is the two-time winner of a full scholarship for the international master class, The International Holland Music Sessions – (2002), with Eduard Schmieder and Gyorgy Pauk, and in 2003 with Anatoly Resnikovsky. She has performed solo with orchestras in Estonia and with the Meadows Symphony in Dallas as the winner of the concerto competition.  As a soloist and chamber musician, Mari-Liis has performed in Finland, Germany, Holland, Austria, France, Israel and the United States.  In 2006, she took part in the 1^st International Chamber Music Festival in Eilat, Israel as a member of the iPalpiti chamber orchestra.

Peter Rainer, Germany (Concertmaster)
A concertmaster of the Kammerakademie Potsdam since 2000, Rainer has developed an active career as a chamber musician, soloist and teacher in his native Germany. He is the founder and leader of the popular Persius Ensemble, focusing mainly on a repertoire written for the classical nonett, releasing two CDs. With this group of mixed string and wind players he is touring throughout all of Europe. He was also a concertmaster of the Berlin Chamber Orchestra, Deutsches Kammerorchester, Kurpfälzisches Kammerorchester Mannheim and has appeared with these ensembles as the soloist.
His musical interests are quite broad. He is continuously experimenting with specialists of period music as well as premiering new music.
Peter studied violin in the United States at the Meadows School of the Arts with Professor Eduard Schmieder where he received the Artist Certificate in 1994 and Master of Violin Performance in 1995. Upon return to Germany, he was concertmaster of the Brandenburgische Philharmonie in Potsdam from 1996 to 2000.
Peter has been a faculty member at the Universitat Potsdam since 1997 and has worked as the assistant to Professor Schmieder at the Holland Music Sessions and at the Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.  Peter has been a member and leader of iPalpiti since 1994. In 2005, Peter received a commendation from the City of Los Angeles for the leadership of iPalpiti and his contributions to the culture.

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Yulia Sakharova, Moldova
Julia has appeared as an orchestral soloist, chamber musician and recitalist in the United States and Europe, including debuts at major venues and collaborations with well-known artists. In recent and forthcoming seasons, Ms. Sakharova has been invited to tour extensively throughout her native Russia, as well as to Slovenia, Austria, Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland and Japan. Her New York orchestral debut under the baton of Maestro Mark Stringer (2004), and the West Coast debut at the Getty Center with composer/conductor John Williams, were met with great success. She has performed with Vladimir Spivakov & The Moscow Symphony Orchestra, the Moldavian Symphony and Kislovodsk Symphony Orchestras, the Juilliard Orchestra, and the Oberlin Orchestra.
Ms. Sakharova’s New York recital debut at Steinway Hall, (March 2006) sponsored by the Musician’s Club of New York, featured a premiere of Ampersand by the award-winning composer Sean Hickey, dedicated to her and whose other works she has previously recorded on Naxos label. Other recitals include such venues as Alice Tully Hall, the Bösendorfer New York Show Room, and the Grand Hall of Moscow  Tchaikovsky Conservatory.  In addition, Ms. Sakharova has been featured several times on WQXR’s Young Artists Showcase, and Live on Cleveland’s WCLV Classical Music Station. Ms. Sakharova has received rave reviews of her 2001 recording of Rachmaninoff’s Elegiaque Piano Trios on Tavros Records.  Ms. Sakharova was also appointed a representative of the Vladimir Spivakov Charity Foundation which took her on several concert tours to promote the international endorsement of the arts.
Ms. Sakharova was a First Prize winner at the International Competition for Music of Eastern & Central Europe, Top Prize at the Olga Koussevitzky Competition for Strings, and the laureate of the Jeunesses Musicales Montreal International Competition. A recipient of the Louis Kaufman Prize for Outstanding Performance in Chamber Music three years in a row, she also won the First Prize in the Coleman Chamber Ensemble Competition in 2001, leading the Erato String Quartet as first violinist, and with quartet has performed for the Cincinnati Chamber Music Society, Smithsonian Institution, Phoenix Chamber Music Society and other cities throughout the United States. She has appeared at such festivals as the Music Academy of the West, le Festival International de Colmar, the Verbier Festival and Academy, the Keshet Eilon Violin Mastercourse and the Bowdoin International Music Festival.
Born in Zheleznovodsk, Russia, Ms. Sakharova gave her first public solo performance at the age of eight.  In 1999, she graduated from the Moscow Central Special Music School of the famed Tchaikovsky Conservatory and later completed her undergraduate studies at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music.  In May of 2006, Ms. Sakharova graduated from the Juilliard School of Music with a Masters in Music and this coming fall, she will attend the Manhattan School of Music working under the mentorship of Glenn Dicterow, Concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic. 
The October 2003 issue of The Strad commented on the “conviction and intensity” of her performance, as well as the “pleasing delicacy of [her] phrasing.” The French L’Alsace noted her “incredible temperament...” and her “...very fine sensitivity and remarkable colors.”

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Misa Yamuro, Japan
Misa was born in Japan and started studying Violin at the age of three.  She graduated from the Tokyo National Fine Art University where she studied with Professors Takashi Shimizu and Gerhard Bosse. In 1999 she was awarded a full scholarship to study in the class of Dr. Eduard Schmieder at the Meadows School of Arts, in Dallas, Texas (USA) in the Artist Certificate Program, where she graduated in 2001.  Misa continued her studies in Europe and was awarded Diploma di Merito from Accademia Musicale Chigiana, Italy (2003), and received a Performance Diploma from Lausanne Académie, Switzerland  (2004).
Ms. Yamuro was the winner of the Japan Classical Music Competition and was awarded special prize of the Kirishima International Music Festival. While in Dallas, she won the Concerto Competition and performed with the Meadows Symphony Orchestra.
In 2001 she began her orchestral career as a Concertmaster of the New World Symphony in Miami, FL. The following year, she moved to Germany and accepted 2nd Violin Tutti player of Munchner Philharmoniker, under the director of James Levine.  Since 2004, she has been a member of the Rundfunk Sinfonie orchestera in Berlin as 1^st Violinist.  
Ms. Yamuro frequently performs recitals in Japan, Holland, the United States, and in Germany. She has also been giving concerts as a soloist, chamber and orchestral musician in numerous music festivals including the Okinawa Chamber Music Festival, the Hokkaido Music Festival, the Holland Music Sessions, the Asian Youth Orchestra, the Eilat Chamber Music Festival, the London Proms Festival, and the Berlin Music Festival. Since 1999, she has been a member of the iPalpiti chamber orchestra sponsored by Young Artists International, and most recently toured Israel. To fulfill her love for chamber music, she formed a Duo with pianist Hiroko Koseki, performing through many cities such as Siena, Trieste, Toddi, Padova (Italy), Lausanne (Switzerland), Mannheim, and Berlin (Germany).

Violists                                                                

Jubel Chen, Taiwan
Violist Jubel Chen was born in Taipei, Taiwan and started studying in the U.S. at the age of 13.  A graduate from Idyllwild Arts Academy in California, he later received a Bachelor of Music from Indiana University and Master of Music from University of Michigan. In 2005 he earned an Artist’s Certificate from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Jubel has studied with Alan de Veritch, Yizhak Schotten and Jodi Levitz. 

Currently, he is a member of the Taiwan's National Symphony Orchestra where he works under such conductors as Myung-Whun Chang, Christoph Eschenbach, Hans Graf, Paavo Järvi,  Lorin Maazel, Sir Neville Marriner, Robert Spano, Michael TilsonThomas, Yan Pascal Tortelier and others.  Prior to his current post, he had been a principal of New World Symphony in Miami Beach, Florida for four seasons.  In addition, Mr. Chen is an active chamber musician,performing in festivals and concert series,  and has worked under the tutelage of Rostislav Dubinsky, founder of the Borodin Quartet, and Mark Sokol of the Concord String Quartet while collaborated with artists such as Gilbert Kalish, and Robert Mann. 

Rumen Cvetkov, Bulgaria
Since his solo debut at age of eight, Bulgarian-born violist Rumen Cvetkov has performed throughout Europe, Asia, the Middle-East, South America, and the United States.  As a soloist and as member of many chamber ensembles, he has appeared at venues such as the Bulgaria Concert Hall, the Walt Disney Concert Hall (LA), St.Micheli Cathedral (Brussels), Desingel Concert Hall (Antwerp) and has collaborated with such artists as Mikhail Muntian, Sir Harold Martina, Jose Feghali, Mincho Minchev, Daniel Binelli, Stoika Milanova, and members of Borromeo and Kronos Quartets. His festival appearances include Red Sea Festival, iPalpiti, Mimir, Bruman, Athens, as well as the “Music in the Old City” Festival and “European Culture Month.” He has been a guest artist for the Van Cliburn Institute and most recently, he was invited to become a faculty member of the Chamber Music Roundup in Fort Worth.
Mr. Cvetkov delivered the premieres of several pieces such as: "Capriccio" for viola solo, dedicated to him by the Bulgarian composer Dimiter Shatrowski, as well as the World premiere of Kostas Nikitas's Sonata for violin and cello (as violinist).  Educated in both Bulgaria and the United States, Mr. Cvetkov was one of the few students of the late professor Georgy Naidenoff, pupil of renowned Feodor Druzhinin.  Later, he studied with the Israeli violist Misha Galaganov. In 2006 he will move to Chicago to continue studying with Roger Chase. Mr. Cvetkov performs on a rare viola made by Simon Schodler in 1785 and named, “The Time.”

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Kinga Maria Roesler, Poland
A violist in the award-winning DAFO String Quartet since 1997, Ms. Roesler sustains an active performing and recording schedule.  After graduation from the Music Academy in Warsaw in the viola class of Professor Kamasa (2001), Kinga has studied with renown violists such as Tabea Zimmerman (Acadenie Musicale Viellecroze) and Yuri Bashmet and has studied chamber music at the Academia Chigiana in the Quartet Class of Professor Farulli. She currently mentors with Wielfried Strehle, solo viola of Berliner Philharmonie.
Kinga enjoys freelance work with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (under Haitink, Abbado, Barenboim, Harnoncourt, Ozawa, Rattle) and the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra,  (Hickox, Al­brecht, K. Jarvi, Janowski, Maxwell Davies) and is a member of the Heidelberg Symphony Orchestra. In chamber repertoire, she performs with the Chopin Academy in Warsaw, the Bietigheimer Chamber Orchestra and the Camerata Stuttgart.
The DAFO Quartet is the recipient of numerous prizes such as the 1st and Special Prizes at the International K Penderecki Competition for Contemporary Chamber Music in Krakow, 2nd Prize at both the International Chamber Music Competition in Cremona and at the International String Quartet Com­petition Bubenreuth, and she was awarded Special Prize at the International Chamber Music Competition in Weimar.
Kinga was also awarded the Polish Record Album Prize “Fryderyk” in 1999 and 2002 for CD recordings of Polish Composers of the 20th Century. DAFO premiered string quartets by K. Meyer (11.), H. SChanderl, J. Widmann, J. Kmitova, D. Cemeryte, T. Topp, P. Sydor, Z. Bujarski, W. Ratusinska.  She also premiered viola solo of A. Sadikova’  Entfernung, dedicated to K.M. Roesler.
Ms. Roesler performed in summer festivals at Kissingen, Schleswig-Holstein, Warsaw Fall, Ludwigsburg, New Europe - New York, Oberstdorf Music Summer, Europalia - Belgium, Forum East-West Bergisch-Gladbach, Uckermark Music Festival, and at concerts in the Romer Concert Hall Frankfurt/Maine.  Other collaborative performances include: Louis Spohr Concerto for String Quartet and Orchestra with Loh-Orchester Sondershausen, Bela Bartok Viola Concerto, as well as Chamber Music Appearances with Peter Buck, Gerhard Voss, Hermann Voss, Mischa Muntyan, Stamitz-Quartet, Robert Morawski, Silesian Quartet.  In 2002, Ms. Roesler gave a Workshop and Concert Series on the theme “Ludwig van Beethoven and His String Quartets” at the Stuttgart Music Institute. Most recently she won the position of Solo Viola in Kammerakademie Potsdam.

DAFO Recordings:
Schubert String Quintett (DAFO-String Quartet, Peter Buck, Violoncello)
K. Szymanowski, H. Gorecky (SUdwestrundfunk Baden Baden 2000)
Bacewic, Lason, Lukaszewski, Buyarski (Dux, DAFO Streichquartett 1999)
Penderecki, Meyer, Knapik, Baird, Zielinski (Dux, DAFO String Quartet 2002)
Schanderl, Debussy, Mozart, Penderecki (ORB Radio 3, DAFO String Quartet, 2001) Ratusinska (RBB Radio 3, DAFO String Quartet, 2003), Sadikova (RBB Radio 3, Z003)

Thomas Weilbach, Germany
Thomas Weilbach, born in Munich, Germany, received his first violin lesson at the age of six.  He later earned the German university degree of “Diplommusiker.”  Mr. Weilbach studied with Professor Urs Stiehler in Munich, and in 1991, continued as a student of violin and viola at the Richard Strauss Conservatory in Munich. He received his Diploma of Arts at the Munich College of Music.  Further participation in master classes of solo and chamber music with Professor Eduard Schmieder, USA; Sandor Devich, Budapest; Madeleine Mitchell, London; and M.A. Rhode, Munich among others allowed him to expand his expertise in performance and repertoire.
His orchestral experience was accomplished through a long-standing membership in the German Federal Youth Orchestra, in the Young German Philharmonic Orchestra, and participation in youth concerts with the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra in national and international performances.
Thomas is focused on his career as a chamber and orchestral musician, as well as on being a teacher of violin & viola. Mr. Weilbach has taught violin since 2001 at the Erding School of Music. In November 2003, he received a university teaching position in the Augsburg College of Music. In that same year, he founded the Preysing String Quartet and has been playing ever since as first violin at numerous venues. As a chamber musician, he performs with the Amati Ensemble Munich, and the Augsburg Chamber Soloists, and often freelances with the Munich Chamber Orchestra. In 2006, he soloed with the Bartók Concerto for Viola, and Sinfonia Concertante by W. A. Mozart. He has been a member of iPalpiti since 2004.

Cellists                                                               

Georgi Anichenko, Belarus-France
Born in 1985 in Minsk, Bielorussia, Georgi Anichenko began playing the cello at the age of five at the State Music College with the renowned cellist, Vladimir Perlin.  By the age of eight, Georgi was performing with the Minsk State Music College Orchestra during their European tour.  In 1996, Georgi received First Prize at the International Competition for the Young Musicians in Moscow and a year later, he took the Virtuosity Prize at the Junior International Tchaikovsky Competition in St.Petersburg. 
Georgi’s first visit to France involved a solist performance in Paris at the Salle Cortot Auditorium des Halles.  That same year he took part in the tournée in the Royal Kingdom where he performed also as a soloist with the Minsk State Music College Orchestra.  In 1999, Georgi received the Vladimir Spivakov Foundation Scholarship and was invited by Vladimir Spivakov to take part in the Master-Classes with E. Finke in Swizerland and perform recital at the International Music Festival in Colmar, France. 
Georgi entered the Paris National Superior Conservatory at the age of fifteen and placed first in the cello class of Philippe Muller. He received a French Government Scholarship for the following three years.  During his studies in Paris, he was a recipient of the Tarrazzi Foundation Scholarship as well as the Meyer Foundation Scholarship.  Georgi also won Second Prize at the Lions Club International Cello Competition in Nantes, France and in 2004, Georgi graduated, with honors, from the Paris National Conservatory of Music.
Winner of the European Young Concert Artists Audition in Paris and Finalist of the same competition in New-York, Georgi has achieved success in France and beyond.  He regularly gives solo recitals and takes part in chamber music concerts in France and around the world including season performances at the Theatre Mogador (Paris), Palais des Congrès (Lille), the Flagey Music Studio (Brussels), and at Concertgebouw (Amsterdam). Georgi was invited to perform at the La Folle Journée music festival in Tokyo and at various festivals in France.  He performed for the first time last year all six  J. S. Bach cello suites in two recitals in Saint-Benoit, France and during the 2005-2006 season, Georgi will be performing at the Auditorium du Louvre in Paris.

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Jason Calloway, USA
Cellist Jason Calloway has performed to great acclaim throughout North America, the Caribbean, Europe and the Middle East as a soloist and chamber musician.  He has appeared at festivals internationally, including Lucerne Festival with Pierre Boulez and the Ensemble Intercontemporain. Mr. Calloway has collaborated in chamber music with members of the Curtis, Juilliard, Miami, and Amernet String Quartets and has appeared across the United States as a member of Animato!, a duo with pianist Christopher Weldon.   He gave a debut recital at Carnegie Hall under the auspices of Artists International. As a soloist, he has performed with the Casals Festival Orchestra in Puerto Rico’s Centro de Bellas Artes, as well as with various orchestras throughout the northeast.  He has appeared live on WQXR in NYC, on WFLN in Philadelphia and on RAI television in Italy.
A devoted advocate of new music, Mr. Calloway has performed with leading ensembles on both coasts and with the New Juilliard Ensemble both in New York City and abroad.  Among the hundreds of premieres he has presented are solo and ensemble works of Berio, Knussen, and Lachenmann, and has collaborated with some of today’s most important composers including Birtwistle, Carter, Davidovsky, Dusapin, Henze, Husa, Franke, and Rihm.  This season he presents a concert and seminar at Harvard University of solo cello works newly composed for him. He also appears at Darmstadt and Vienna and returns to Spoleto USA where he gives the premiere of Yanov-Yanovsky’s “Hearing Solutions” for cello and ensemble performances. 
A native of Philadelphia, Jason Calloway is a recent graduate of the Juilliard School and the University of Southern California.  His teachers have included Ronald Leonard, Lynn Harrell, Fred Sherry, Orlando Cole, Robert Cafaro, Joel Sachs, Felix Galimir, Luis Biava, and Seymour Lipkin.  Mr. Calloway is grateful for the assistance of the Maestro Foundation.

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Jelena Ocich, Croatia
Jelena Ochich was born in Zagreb, Croatia. Early recognition of her talent led to prizes and concert successes in the former Yugoslavia and subsequently in other European countries.  Her career as a cello soloist is rapidly developing and she has made a name for herself in the area of new music as numerous composers have dedicated works to her.
Jelena is a frequent performer at music festivals that include Portogruaro, Arco, Cividale, Ascoli Piceno, Kronberg, Heidelberg, Gegenwelten for new music (Germany) and Gstaad in Switzerland as well as various festivals in Hungary and Poland.
As a chamber musician, she has performed with leading instrumentalists among which include the great cellist Bernard Greenhouse. As part of the Mozart celebrations 2006, she is playing the E.Feuermann­ / G.Szell transcription of the Mozart concerto K.314 with the chamber orchestras of Padua, L`Aquila and Seoul.
Jelena Ochich began playing cello at the age of seven. She received her diploma at the Music Academy in Zagreb, Croatia and continued postgraduate studies in cello and chamber music with Prof. Michael Flaksman at the Musikhochschule in Mannheim, Germany.  She attended master classes with Arto Noras, Antonio Meneses, Heinrich Schiff, Leslie Parnas and Siegfried Palm. Currently she receives private coaching from Bernard Greenhouse in the United States and teaches at the Musikhochschule in Mannheim. She has numerous radio and television recordings to her credit.

Double Bassists                                              

Ljubinko Lazic, Serbia
Born in Vojka, Serbia in 1979 to a family of musicians, Ljubinko took his first double bass lesson in 1993 with Professor Goran Kerleta Kerleta in Novi Sad University of Music.  Five years later, he was accepted to the Montenegro University of Music where he studied with Professor Pavel Askamit.  In 2001, he received his first diploma in music with honors and in that same year, Ljubinko took Third Prize in the International Double Bass Competition in Kromeriz, Czech Republic.  He was also a first prize winner of four national contests in his native Serbia. In 2002, Mr. Lazic was accepted into a class of Professor Trumpf in the University of Music and Theater in Munich, Germany.
As a member of the renowned double bass quartet, Bassiona Amorosa, Mr. Lazic received a Prize from the European Culture given by the president of Germany Johannes Rau.  In addition to his soloist appearances, Lubinko has played in such orchestras as Philharmonic of the Nations, Belgrade Plimony, Chamber Orchestra of Austria and the Symphony Orchestra of Munich.
In March 2004, Lubinko performed in a trio ensemble with violinist Maxim Vengerov and Double Bassist Roman Patkoló. Upon recommendation of his colleague and friend Roman Patkolo, Ljubinko was invited as a member of iPalpiti  at the 7th International Laureates Festival in 2004.

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Roman Patkoló, Slovakia
Born in 1982 in Zilina, Slovakia, Roman Patkoló had his first double bass lesson at age thirteen at the Zilina Conservatoire. In 1995 he became a First Prize winner of the Slovak National Competition for double bass in Bratislava.  Roman has been living in Germany since 1997 where he studied under Prof. Klaus Trumpf (1997-2003) at the University of Theater and Music in Munich.  Roman became a scholar of the Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation in 1998 and is the winner of two international double bass competitions as well as First Prize at ISB International Double Bass Contest in Iowa City (USA), First Prize together with five special prizes at J.M. Sperger International Double Bass Competition, the ARD competition in Munich.
Roman Patkoló is a leader of the internationally renowned virtuoso Bass Sextet Bassiona Amorosa. Roman was a “double recipient” of the European Culture Prize from German President, Mr. Johannes Rau along with recognition as an outstanding soloist and leader of Bassiona Amorosa. Mr. Patkoló has performed as a soloist with many orchestras including the Russian Camerata of Moscow.  Placido Domingo has praised his virtuosity and he has worked with the world’s famous musicians and conductors such as Krzysztof Penderecki, Sir Andre Previn, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Maxim Vengerov, Daniel Barenboim, James Levine and Zubin Mehta to name an important few. 
In 2004, Roman was selected by Young Artists International for the International Laureates Festival in Los Angeles and performed as a soloist and and as a member of iPalpiti Orchestral Ensemble of International Soloists at the Walt Disney Concert Hall.  Currently, Mr. Patkoló combines his solo career with work as a principal in the Zurich Opera. Roman plays an Antonio Gagliano double bass (1725) given to him by Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation in 2002.

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Bassiona Amorosa  International Double Bass Ensemble 

“You have to hear Bassiona Amorosa to Believe it”
Having thrilled audiences worldwide, these six virtuoso musicians from Munich arriving soon for their West Coast debut. BASSIONA AMOROSA - named after the charming virtuoso composition of Giovanni Bottesini "Passione Amorosa" ("passion of love") - was founded in 1996 with prize-winning students from the Master Class of Prof. Klaus Trumpf at the State Conservatory of Music in Munich. In no time it was playing to enthusiastic audiences in national and international concerts.
The fascination of this ensemble is bent on the element of surprise because of the setting with six string basses on the absolutely perfect command of technique, a convincing musicality, unmistakable sound refinement, and interesting arrangements (mainly from Klaus Trumpf, the leaderof the sextet), shaping the artistic level of the ensemble.
                                       “Enormous musicality, lots of wit, grandiose virtuosity”
The sense of the "special touch" that these exceptional artists bring along from their home countries of Slovakia, Russia, Czech Republic, Belarus, Serbia, Georgia and Ukraine, comes with musicianship, Slav melancholy, and classical education - formed through the same school - merging in unique symbiosis. Endless temperament and charm charge the audience.
The Bassiona creates full programs as well as solo performances within the scope of concerts, and collaboration with a pianist (also a multiple prize winner of international music competitions). In its eight-year history, BASSIONA AMOROSA performed in more than 200 concerts; seven CDs have been published so far; three short films released by the Bavarian Television Station and the WDR (West German Broadcasting Company). The third USA tour in June 2003 received a sensational reception by the audience.
BASSIONA AMOROSA is a recipient of “EUROPEAN PRIZE 2003” from the European Culture Foundation PRO EUROPA. Ensemble had  the honor of performing at the European Cultural Presentation of Prizes for Placido Domingo and Wolfgang Wagner. As the audience thanked BASSIONA AMOROSA for several minutes with standing ovations, the ensemble was assured to be on the right track with its program.
Original works for the ensemble of well ­known composers are in the process of development. To win people over and make friends with the string bass, the group’ mission stands on the idea "popular-classical to classical-popular.”

Artem Chirkov, Russia
Jan Jirmasek, Czech Republic
Ljubinko Lazic, Serbia
Roman Patkolo, Slovakia
Georgi Makhoshvili, Georgia
Andrei Shynkevich, Belarus
Mavzhida Gimaletdinova, piano/Russia

Guest Artists                     

Tibi Cziger, clarinet/Israel
Cited by the Peninsula Review as “an artist of the highest order”, Tibi Cziger was born in Israel in 1981, and is currently a student of Charles Neidich at The Juilliard School. In 2006-07 he will be the first clarinetist ever to be admitted to the prestigious Artist Diploma program at Juilliard.
Mr. Cziger holds a Master of Music degree from the USC Thornton School of Music where he received an outstanding graduate award, and a B.Mus. degree Magna cum Lauda from the Rubin Music Academy in Tel Aviv.
As a soloist Mr. Cziger has performed with the Israel Chamber Orchestra and The Israel young Philharmonic where he was the principal clarinetist 2000-2002. He was also a substitute clarinetist at the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.  As a very active chamber musician, Mr Cziger has performed most of the chamber literature for the clarinet, with various concerts in live and recorded broadcasts on the Israeli National radio and in tours in Israel and the US. Recent venues include Weill Hall at Carnegie, Alice Tully Hall and the Jerusalem Music Center.
His musical and clarinet studies have been with musicians as Mitchell Lurie, Aurele Nicolet, Haim Taub, Ilan Gronich, Sabine Meyer, Anthony Pay, and Wolfgang Meyer among others.
Mr. Cziger has won many prizes and awards, most recently the Mitchell Lurie Award in Los Angeles and second prize at the Carmel Music Society Competition.
Among the different festivals he participated in are the National Repertory Orchestra in Breckenridge, Colorado, and the West Eastern Divan Workshop under the baton of Daniel Barenboim, in tours around Europe and USA.
Mr. Cziger is a winner of the Leni Fe Bland Foundation Scholarship, Irene Diamond Scholarship, a recipient of the America-Israel Cultural Foundation scholarships 1997-2003, and in 2003-2005 he received the AICF special scholarship for studies abroad.

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Marcia Dickstein, harp /USA
Marcia Dickstein is enticing new audiences to the harp in chamber music and solo with orchestra, and inspiring composers to write new works in classical and jazz genres. As Founder/Artistic Director of The Debussy Trio she has performed worldwide: in 35 states in the United States, Europe and Japan, over 200 NPR radio stations and on commercial & PBS TV networks. With the Trio she has commissioned over 40 works for harp in chamber music and per­formed over 1,000 outreach concerts for 250,000 children and families.
Solo appearances include: Bloch (OR) and Fairbanks (AK) Festivals; Lou­isville, Glendale Symphonies, South Bay Chamber Orchestra (CA) & Northwest Sinfonietta (Seattle); she plays with Los Angeles Music Center Opera and Long Beach Symphony. Over 300 film credits include Toy Story 1-1/, Matrix /-11/, Roya/ Tennenbaums (with screen credit) and Memoirs of a Geisha; CD solos: with Roger Wagner & William Hall Chorales; CDs: Chamber Music of Arno/d Sax and The Debussy Trio's 3 Friends, a "best pick" by Gramophone Magazine of Lon­don, and many others with The Debussy Trio on Koch, RCM and First Edition la­bels.
Adjunct Professor of Harp at Cal State University/Long Beach, Santa Bar­bara City College and Cal Poly/San Luis Obispo, CA, Ms. Dickstein holds Master Classes throughout the USA and maintains a private studio in Los Angeles. Her transcriptions and scholarly editions of solo and chamber music for profes­sional and student level harpists are published by Fatrock Ink of Los Angeles and are available through major music dealers and at www.fatrockink.com.

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Adrian Spence, flute/Ireland-USA
Adrian Spence is the Artistic Director and flute-player of Camerata Pacifica, a Southern Californian chamber music ensemble that he founded in 1990. Drawing musicians from all over the country and beyond the ensemble performs to both audience and critical acclaim.
Camerata Pacifica presents subscription series in four cities and under Spence’s leadership has combined a reputation for artistic excellence, stimulating programming and creating an environment for audiences that is engaging and friendly. With the declared mission statement ‘to affect positively how people experience classical music,’ Spence has created programs designed to complement the formal
concert experience. “A Hitchhiker’s Guide to Classical Music; When to Clap and Other Mysteries Revealed,” is a lecture series held in area bookstores. “The Coffeehouse Series” is a series of informal, informative concerts held in venues from coffee shops to churches to pizza parlors which have proved particularly popular with families.
And most recently “Camerata Pacifica’s Happy Hour” — an interactive discussion/performance series held in restaurants and bars — is proving particularly popular.
Camerata Pacifica performances are regularly broadcast on National Public Radio’s “Performance Today,” and notable musicians who have become friends of and appeared with the Camerata’s notable musicians
include Jean-Pierre Rampal, Eliot Fisk, Robert van Sice, Barry Douglas and Frederica von Stade. With Ms. Von Stade the ensemble premiered a song cycle Winter Roses commissioned from the celebrated American composer Jake Heggie. This season Spence announced the commission of three works from the Belfast composer Ian Wilson, which will be premiered over the next three seasons.
Spence hails from Newtownards in Northern Ireland. He has performed both orchestrally and as a chamber musician in the Europe and the United States, with his performances broadcast on National Public Radio and BBC Radio 3.
 

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