Winner of a 2009 Avery Fisher Career Grant, Arnaud Sussmann has distinguished himself with his unique sound, bravura and profound musicianship. Minnesota’s Pioneer Press writes, “Sussmann has an old-school sound reminiscent of what you’ll hear on vintage recordings by Jascha Heifetz or Fritz Kreisler, a rare combination of sweet and smooth that can hypnotize a listener. His clear tone [is] a thing of awe-inspiring beauty, his phrasing spellbinding.” 

A thrilling young musician capturing the attention of classical critics and audiences around the world, Arnaud Sussmann has appeared with the American Symphony Orchestra, Buffalo Philharmonic, New World Symphony, Pacific Symphony, Paris Chamber Orchestra, Jerusalem Symphony and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. Further solo appearances have included a tour of Israel and concerts at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, Dresden Music Festival in Germany and at the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C. Mr. Sussmann has been presented in recital in Omaha on the Tuesday Musical Club series, New Orleans by the Friends of Music, Tel Aviv at the Museum of Art and at the Louvre Museum in Paris. He has also given concerts at the OK Mozart, Chamber Music Northwest and Moritzburg festivals and appears regularly at the Caramoor, Music@Menlo, La Jolla SummerFest, Seattle Chamber Music, Moab Music and Saratoga Springs Chamber Music festivals. 

Recent concerto appearances include performances with Maestro Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Orchestra at the White Nights Festival in St Petersburg, the Santa Rosa Symphony, the Albany Symphony, the Jacksonville Symphony and the Grand Rapids Symphony. This past season, chamber music performances included tours with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center to Korea’s LG Arts Center, Shanghai’s Oriental Center and Hong Kong’s Music Academy.

Arnaud Sussmann has performed with many of today’s leading artists including Itzhak Perlman, Menahem Pressler, Gary Hoffman, Shmuel Ashkenazi, Wu Han, David Finckel, Jan Vogler and members of the Emerson String Quartet. He has worked with conductors such as Cristian Macelaru, Marcelo Lehninger, Rune Bergmann and Leon Botstein. A dedicated chamber musician, he has been a member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center since 2006 and has regularly appeared with them in New York and on tour, including a recent concert at London’s Wigmore Hall. 

A frequent recording artist, Arnaud Sussmann has released albums on Deutsche Grammophon’s DG Concert Series, Naxos, Albany Records and CMS Studio Recordings labels. His solo debut disc, featuring three Brahms Violin Sonatas with pianist Orion Weiss, was released in December 2014 on the Telos Music Label. He has been featured on multiple PBS’ Live from Lincoln Center broadcasts alongside Itzhak Perlman and the Perlman Music Program and with musicians of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. 

Born in Strasbourg, France and based now in New York City, Arnaud Sussmann trained at the Conservatoire de Paris and the Juilliard School with Boris Garlitsky and Itzhak Perlman. Winner of several international competitions, including the Andrea Postacchini of Italy and Vatelot/Rampal of France, he was named a Starling Fellow in 2006, an honor which allowed him to be Mr. Perlman’s teaching assistant for two years. Mr. Sussmann now teaches at Stony Brook University on Long Island and was recently named Co-Artistic Director of Music@Menlo’s International Music Program.

Hailed by the New York Times as “a brilliant soloist,” who “played with extraordinary precision and luminosity,” violinist Fabiola Kim enjoys a dynamic and versatile career as a soloist, chamber musician, recording artist, and pedagogue. Her recent album, “1939,” with the Munich Symphony and Kevin John Edusei, has received international acclaim from BBC magazine, The Strad Magazine, Gramophone, American Record Guide and many others. Ms. Kim made her concerto debut with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra at the age of seven, just three years after beginning to play the violin. Ms. Kim is the winner of various awards and competitions, including being the youngest in history to win the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra’s Concerto Competition. Other competition wins include the Aspen Music Festival Violin Concerto Competition, The Juilliard Concerto Competition, Livingston Symphony Orchestra Young Artists Concerto Competition, the Kumho Prodigy Music Award, an award given to the most promising young musicians in Korea, and also was a prize winner at Corpus Christi International Competition and the Irving M. Klein International Competition for Strings.

She has collaborated with conductors such as Alan Gilbert, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Gilbert Varga, Jane Glover, and Nicholas McGegan. Her past solo performances include engagements with the Seoul Philharmonic, Suwon Philharmonic, Korean Chamber Orchestra, Kangnam Symphony, Korean Symphony, Orquestra Sinfonica OSUANL, Budapest Symphony Orchestra MAV, North Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Hofer Sinfoniker, Berlin Symphoniker, Westdeutche Sinfionia, Munich Chamber Orchestra, Colburn Orchestra, Juilliard Orchestra, Aspen Philharmonia and American Academy of Conducting at Aspen.

Violin Jessica Lee has built a multi-faceted career as soloist, chamber musician, and now as Assistant Concertmaster of the Cleveland Orchestra since 2016.  She was the Grand Prize Winner of the 2005 Concert Artists Guild International Competition and has been hailed as “a soloist which one should make a special effort to hear, wherever she plays”. Her international appearances include solo performances with the Plzen Philharmonic, Gangnam Symphony, Malaysia Festival Orchestra, and at the Rudolfinum in Prague. At home, she has appeared with orchestras such as the Houston, Grand Rapids, and Spokane symphonies.  

Jessica has performed in recital at venues including Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall, Ravinia “Rising Stars”, the Phillips Collection in Washington DC, and the Kennedy Center. 

A long-time member of the Johannes Quartet as well as of the The Bowers Program (formerly the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Two), Jessica has also toured frequently with ‘Musicians from Marlboro’, including appearances at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Boston’s Gardner Museum.  She toured with the Guarneri Quartet in their final two seasons in a special octet collaboration with the Johannes Quartet. Her chamber music festival appearances include Bridgehampton, Santa Fe, Seoul Spring, Caramoor, Chamber Music Northwest, and Music@Menlo.    

Jessica has always had a passion for teaching and has served on the faculties of Vassar College and Oberlin College, and now teaches at the Cleveland Institute of Music as head of the violin department. She was accepted to the Curtis Institute of Music at age fourteen following studies with Weigang Li, and graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree under Robert Mann and Ida Kavafian.  She completed her studies for a Master’s Degree at the Juilliard School.  

Victoria Chiang has performed as soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician across North America, Europe, and Asia. Her most recent recording of the viola concertos of Stamitz and Hoffmeister was released by Naxos to critical acclaim. Other recordings include Pleyel Sinfonia Concertante for Violin and Viola also on Naxos as well as a recording of Shostakovich and Roslavets Viola sonatas. She has performed as soloist with the National Philharmonic Orchestra, The National Gallery of Art Orchestra, the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, the Romanian State Philharmonics of Constantsa and Tirgu Muresh, the Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra, the Acadiana Symphony (Lafayette, LA) and the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra. Chiang has collaborated as guest artist with Guarneri, Takacs, Tokyo, American, Arianna and Pro Arte String Quartets, and with members of the Emerson, Cleveland, and Juilliard String Quartets. She has been a regular guest artist at the Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival, a frequent guest on the Bargemusic series, and has given solo performances in Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall and at the XXV, XXXVIII and XL International Viola Congresses.

Chiang is a founding member of The Aspen String Trio. The group concertizes internationally, and was Ensemble in Residence at the University of Baltimore. Currently a member of the artist/faculty of the Peabody Conservatory and the Aspen Music Festival, Chiang has given master classes throughout the world. Formerly on the faculty of The Juilliard School and the Hartt School of Music, and a former member of the board of the American Viola Society, her students hold significant positions in orchestras, in string quartets, and on conservatory faculties across the US and in Europe. Additionally, Chiang has taught at the Perlman Music Program: Winter Residency in Sarasota, Madeline Island Chamber Music Festival, Heifetz International Music Institute, Domaine Forget, Great Wall Festival (Beijing) among others.

Chiang earned the Master of Music degree and Performer’s Certificate from the Eastman School of Music, and the Bachelor of Music degree from the Cincinnati College‐Conservatory of Music. Her principal teachers include Heidi Castleman and Masao Kawasaki, viola; and Dorothy DeLay and Kurt Sassmannshaus, violin.

​​Yi-Fang Huang, a native of Taiwan, began playing the piano at age seven and viola at age nine. She received both Bachelor and Master of Music degrees in piano performance at the Juilliard School and Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Rutgers University. Her teachers and mentors include Martin Canin, Heidi Castleman, Susan Starr, and Steven Tenenbom. As soloist, chamber musician and collaborative pianist, Ms. Huang has performed in venues including Merkin Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Louvre Museum, Grenoble Museum, Walt Disney Concert Hall and National Concert Hall in Taiwan. She performed at the New York Philharmonic Ensembles at Merkin Hall, Perlman Music Program, OK Mozart Festival, International Viola Congress, Interlochen Viola Institute, Great Mountains Festival, Sarasota Music Festival, Bowdoin Summer Music Festival and Music Academy of the West, and has premiered works by contemporary composers Somei Satao, Stuart Smith and Alessandro Solbiati.
In 2008, Ms. Huang was both guest lecturer and collaborative pianist at the International Viola Congress. She has worked with top prize winners in the William Primrose Viola Competition, Lionel Tertis Viola Competition, Munich Viola Competition and with musicians from the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra and Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Her radio credits include WQXR; Radio France; WWFM 89.1, The Classical Network; and Public Radio Tulsa. She recorded the Loeffler Two Rhapsodies with New York Philharmonic principal violist Cynthia Phelps and associate principal oboist Sherry Sylar.
Viola has been the focus of her pedagogy for the past 13 years. She is a member of the Juilliard Pre-College viola faculty and the artistic administrator and repertoire coach of the ACHT viola studio at the Juilliard college division. In addition, she serves on the viola faculty and is a chamber music coach at the Special Music School at the Kaufman Music Center.

Chinese violist Wenting Kang appeared as an “excellent violist” who “possesses a dark glowing sound” in the New York Times after her performance at Carnegie Hall. Kang’s playing also has been lauded as “elegant”, “precise”  as well as “pure”, “tone-passionate without ever losing a sense of control” in the Boston Musical Intelligencer.

Her debut CD recording with pianist Sergei Kvitko “Mosaic” was released in 2022. Among many positive reviews, Gramophone Magazine noted “Part of the allure is her golden and glowing tone but the subtlety of her shading is just as transfixing.” “Her technique is close to flawless” “A terrific programme in every way”. It has won the gold medal as recommended CD on the Melómano Magazine in Spain. Its tracks were selected to be on the “Best New Classical Music” playlist on Spotify as well as the “New Music Friday” playlist of American Society of Composers and Publishers.

Ms. Kang appeared as soloist collaborating with major orchestras such as Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid, Malaga Philharmonic Orchestra, Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, Nagoya Philhamonic Orchestra working with renowned conductos including Ivor Bolton, MichiyoshiInoue, and José María Moreno.

She studied at Central Conservatory in Beijing, the New England Conservatory in Boston, and, as a young soloist for further master degree at the Kronberg Academy in Germany, under the guidance of renowned teachers such as Nobuko Imai, Kim Kashkashian, Garth Knox, Donald Weilerstein, Miriam Fried, and Changhai Wang.  

Ms. Kang has been appointed as Viola Faculty to take over Kim Kashkashian’s post at the New England Conservatory in Boston from September 2024. Since 2016, Kang has been active as assistant professor alongside the renowned Nobuko Imai at the Escuela Superior de Musica Reina Sofia in Madrid. Most recent, she opened her class as professor at Escuela Superior de Música Forum Musikae in Madrid. In recent years, Kang has taught masterclasses for viola and chamber music in prestigious institutions such as Conservatorium van Amsterdam and Franz Liszt Academy of Music. She was invited to give masterclasses in various festivals throughout Europe and Asia.

American violist Matthew Lipman has been praised by the New York Times for his “rich tone and elegant phrasing,” and by the Chicago Tribune for a “splendid technique and musical sensitivity.” Lipman has become one of the most sought after instrumentalists of his generation, frequently appearing as both a soloist and chamber musician.   

Lipman recently debuted with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at the Ravinia Festival, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe at the Rheingau Music Festival, and the American Symphony Orchestra at Jazz at Lincoln Center, with additional appearances including the Munich Symphony Orchestra, the Minnesota Orchestra, the Colorado Springs Philharmonic, the Brevard Sinfonia, and Ensemble Resonanz. He has collaborated with leading conductors including the late Sir Neville Marriner, Edward Gardner, Osmo Vänskä, Nicholas McGegan, Leon Botstein, Josep Caballé-Domenech, and Yue Bao. Additionally, he has performed solo recitals at Carnegie Hall, the Aspen Music Festival, and the Zürich Tonhalle, among others, and has been a featured soloist at Chicago’s Orchestra Hall, the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, the Wigmore Hall in London, Seoul’s Kumho Art Hall, and at Michael Tilson Thomas’s Viola Visions Festival at the New World Symphony in Miami. 

In 2023, Lipman performed chamber music by André Previn with violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter at Carnegie Hall, and on tour at the Berlin Philharmonie, Frankfurt Alte Oper, and the Vienna Musikverein, the latter of which was recorded and released on Deutsche Grammophon and DG STAGE+. With pianist Jeremy Denk, he produced Nightwanderer, an interactive viola and piano recital based on the poetry of Joseph von Eichendorff and Alfred de Musset, which was filmed and released by Dreamstage LIVE. He performed Clarice Assad’s Metamorfose (a piece composed for him in 2018) in a live WQXR broadcast celebrating pride hosted by drag queen Thorgy Thor, and, together with violinist Stella Chen, curated a boundary-breaking solo/duo concert experience that was presented on the Violin Channel’s Vanguard Concerts Series II. Additionally, Lipman appeared on Season 48 of PBS Great Performances, where he performed and discussed Schubert’s “Arpeggione” Sonata on the show Now Hear This. 

In 2019, Lipman released the world premiere recording of the newly discovered Shostakovich Impromptu for viola and piano, which was a feature of his debut solo album, Ascent, with pianist Henry Kramer. The album was celebrated as “most impressive” by The Strad Magazine and was released by Cedille Records. In 2022, he recorded The Dvořák Album, an album released by Sony Classical and performed by musicians from the Moritzburg Festival, and in 2015, when he was 22 years old, he was featured as soloist on a Billboard Classical chart-topping recording of Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante with violinist Rachel Barton Pine and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, conducted by Sir Neville Marriner and released by Avie Records. 

As a proponent of performing the music of living composers, Lipman has premiered works by Clarice Assad, Helen Grime, Malika Kishino, and David Ludwig, and has worked closely with Andreia Pinto Correia, Brett Dean, Gabriela Lena Frank, the late Kaija Saariaho, and Richard Wernick. Next season, he will premiere a piece by Joel Thompson for mezzo soprano, viola, and piano with singer Jamie Barton and pianist Tamara Sanikidze at Boston’s Celebrity Series, the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, and others, as commissioned by the Music Accord consortium.

The maiden recipient of the Susan S. and Kenneth L. Wallach Artists Chair, Lipman performs regularly in New York and on tour with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and regularly collaborates with violinists Itzhak Perlman, Pinchas Zukerman, James Ehnes, Augustin Hadelich, and Benjamin Beilman; violists Tabea Zimmermann, Antoine Tamestit, and Timothy Ridout; cellists David Finckel and Jan Vogler; pianists Jeremy Denk, Igor Levit, Sir András Schiff, Mitsuko Uchida, and Wu Han; and the Calidore and Dover String Quartets. Additionally, Lipman is a frequent guest artist at the Bridgehampton, Bad Kissingen, Kronberg, La Jolla, Marlboro, Menlo, Ravinia, Reno, Rheingau, Saratoga, Seattle, and Wolf Trap music festivals. 

In 2023, together with the acclaimed violinist Stella Chen and cellist Brannon Cho, Lipman formed a string trio that performed for the first time at the Casals Forum in Kronberg, Germany, and has since debuted in New York, Boston, Toronto, and Chicago (Ravinia). 

Lipman has been featured as Artist-in-Residence for the American Viola Society, on the Violin Channel as a “VC Artist”, and on WFMT Chicago’s list, “30 Under 30”, of the world’s top classical musicians. He has been a published contributor to The Strad, Strings and BBC Music magazines, and has been a guest on the MusicianCentric, Together with Classical, and Mind Over Finger podcasts. Lipman is the recipient of a 2015 Avery Fisher Career Grant, has won top prizes in the Primrose, Tertis, Washington, Johansen, and Stulberg International competitions, and is an alumni of the Bowers Program. He attended the Juilliard School as the recipient of the inaugural Kovner Fellowship, where he studied with viola pedagogue Heidi Castleman, and was further mentored by renowned violist Tabea Zimmermann at the Kronberg Academy in Germany. 

A native of Chicago, Matthew Lipman is on faculty at Stony Brook University in New York, where he teaches viola to graduate students. When he’s not practicing or performing on the viola made for him in 2021 in Brooklyn by Samuel Zygmuntowicz, he’s probably eating donuts, drawing floor plans, or watching tennis matches. 

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Named Artist Teacher of the Year for 2020 by the American String Teachers Association, Jeffrey Irvine joined the faculty of the Cleveland Institute of Music as the Fynette H. Kulas Professor of Viola in September of 1999.  He is currently Co-Head of the Viola Department. He was Professor of Viola at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music from 1983 to 1999 and was chair of Oberlin’s String Division for 7 years. His students have gone on to major orchestral, teaching and chamber music posts across the country and around the world. His students have often been First Prize Winners in major viola competitions, including the Primrose Competition, the ASTA National Solo Competition, and the Washington International Competition. Mr. Irvine previously taught at the Eastman School of Music and Wichita State University.

During the summer, Mr. Irvine is on the Artist Faculty of the Aspen Music Festival and the Interlochen Viola Workshop. He was previously taught at the Bowdoin International Music Festival, the Heifetz International Music Institute, the ENCORE School for Strings, the Meadowmount School of Music, the Killington Music Festival, the Park City Chamber Music Festival, Idyllwild School of Music and the Arts, the Castleman Quartet Program, and the Perlman Music Program.

Mr. Irvine is well known as a violist and a chamber musician. As a member of the New World String Quartet Mr. Irvine performed throughout the United States and Europe, including concerts at Carnegie Recital Hall and the Kennedy Center. Mr. Irvine was the Principal Violist of the Wichita Symphony from 1977 to 1981, and has also been a member of the Aspen Festival Orchestra and the Aspen Chamber Symphony. He has published numerous articles on viola pedagogy in American String Teacher  and the Journal of the American Viola Society.

The first-prize winner in both the 1979 Aspen Music Festival Viola Competition and 1976 Cleveland Quartet Competition (as a member of the Carmel Quartet), Mr. Irvine received his Bachelor of Music degree from the Philadelphia Musical Academy and his Master of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music. His teachers have included Heidi Castleman, Charles Castleman, David Cerone, Dorothy DeLay, Martha Katz, William Primrose, Margaret Randall, Karen Tuttle, and Donald Weilerstein. 

He is married to Cleveland Orchestra First Assistant Violist Lynne Ramsey with whom he has two grown children, Hannah and Christopher. He plays a viola by Hiroshi Iizuka, made in 1993. He is also an avid runner.

Lynne Ramsey has been First Assistant Principal Viola of the Cleveland Orchestra for 35 years and is the holder of the Charles and Janet Kimball Chair, the first woman to hold that position.

Prior to this appointment she was Principal Viola of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and Principal Viola of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra.

During her tenure in the SPCO she performed concerti and chamber music with Pinchas Zuckerman in Carnegie Hall and the Ravinia Festival.

She has performed concerti with The Cleveland Orchestra including the world premiere of the Richard Sortomme Concerto  for Two Violas with Robert Vernon. In addition, she performed the Cleveland premiere of the Harbison Viola Concerto with the Cleveland Chamber Symphony.

In 1986 she was the first foreigner to perform the Walton Concerto with the Beijing Central Philharmonic in their then new Concert Hall.

She is in great demand as a teacher, having taught at the Oberlin College Conservatory, Duquesne University and presently at The Cleveland Institute of Music.

During the summers she teaches and performs regularly in summer festivals including Domaine Forget the Chautauqua Insitute, Encore for Strings, the Interlochen Intensive viola week and the Tuttle Workshop. She formerly taught at the Aspen Music Festival, performed as Principal Viola in the Aspen Festival Orchestra, and also performed frequently on their chamber music series.

She has won prizes in international competitions including The Lionel Tertis Competition on the Isle of Man, the Bryan Young Artist Competition as well as winning the Juilliard Concerto Competition.

A member of the Amici String Quartet for over thirty years she has performed the entire Beethoven cycle and given concerts in the United States, Japan and Europe.

She has students in the Detroit Symphony, National Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra, Hong Kong Philharmonic and the Columbus Symphonyamong others. Two of her students have also received Fulbright Scholarships.

Violist Hanna Lee has performed throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia in such venues as Carnegie Hall, Kimmel Center, Jordan Hall, Suntory Hall, and Seoul Arts Center.  

Lee has appeared as a soloist with the KBS Symphony Orchestra, Korean Symphony, Fairbanks Symphony Orchestra, Frankfurt Jungen Symphony Orchestra and the Sungnam City Orchestra. As an avid chamber musician, she was invited to perform at Ravinia, Verbier, Kronberg, and Marlboro Festivals. As a member of the Kallaci String Quartet, she has performed complete string quartet works by Shostakovich and Beethoven and has toured in Korea and abroad. As a recitalist, she has appeared at Kumho Cultural Foundation and the Seoul Arts Center Series. 

A recipient of many honors and prizes, Lee’s awards include major prizes at the International Young Artist Competition (USA) and the Osaka International Competition (Japan). She is a graduate of Korea National University of Arts, Curtis Institute of Music, New England Conservatory, and Kronberg Academy. She has been invited to festivals worldwide, such as Music Alp Festival, Seoul Spring Festival, Pyeongchang Music Festival, and Seoul International Music Festival. She is also a member of the Kallaci String Quartet, Kumho soloists, Ensemble Opus, and guest principal violist at Australian Chamber Orchestra. Ms. Lee is currently on faculty at Korea National University of Arts, Yonsei University and Korea National Institute for the Gifted in Arts. 

Alan Rafferty has firmly established himself as a preeminent cellist, educator, arts leader and entrepreneur.  In demand as a clinician around the world, Mr. Rafferty is regularly invited to give Master Classes at prestigious conservatories and music schools all over the world.  He has been a visiting faculty member for the Cleveland Institute of Music, for the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra and makes yearly visits to work with the Fellows at the New World Symphony.  He  currently holds the position of Associate Professor, Educator of Cello at the University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music
    A member of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra since 2007, Mr. Rafferty holds the Ruth F. Rosevear cello chair.  In addition to playing over 1000 concerts as a member of the orchestra both in Cincinnati and around the world on tour, he has been a regular performer on the CSO Chamber Players Series and narrated Education Concerts. 
    Mr. Rafferty made his solo debut with orchestra at the age of 16 and has been a featured soloist on numerous occasions since.  Recent solo appearances have included the North American premiere of Victor Herbert’s first published work, the Suite for Cello and Orchestra, Op. 3 and Don Quixote with the CCM Philharmonia.  He can be heard on recordings for Telarc, Sono Luminus, CR and for WGUC Radio Station.
    As a chamber musician, Mr. Rafferty regularly collaborates with the likes of Leon Fleisher, Cho-Liang Lin, Matt Haimovitz and the Miró Quartet to name a few.  In the summers, he is the Artistic Director of the Ascent International Chamber Music Festival. Summer of 2023 sees Alan join the faculty of the International Cello Institute and return to the Interlochen Arts Camp.  Other summer festival engagements have included Meadowmount, Madeline Island, Green Mountain, Brancaleoni (Italy), Aria, the Aronson Cello Festival and the Great Wall International Music Academy in Beijing.  Each January, he goes to Brazil as a core artist-faculty member of the Festival de Music de Santa Catarina.
    Current and former students have played as soloist with the Cincinnati Symphony, Louisville Orchestra and Dayton Philharmonic and have been 1st prize winners in the MTNA National Solo Competition, Louisville Orchestra Competition, Cleveland Cello Society and Tennessee Cello Workshop.  Former students hold positions in orchestras throughout the US and all over the world including recent appointments to the Atlanta Symphony and Berlin Philharmonic Academy.  As Cello/Chamber Music Faculty for the Starling Program at CCM, Alan has coached groups that have won the Junior Division Gold Medal and Silver Medal of the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition among others.
    As a leader in the arts, he has cofounded the Cincinnati Young Artists and Ascent Music with his wife, cellist Dr. Sarah Kim.  Additional appointments include as Co-Board Chair for the Aronson Cello Festival.  
    For 12 years, the Cincinnati Young Artists held numerous chamber music and cello festivals throughout the tri-state area, reaching thousands of students not only locally but from all over the world.  When the pandemic struck, CYA was at the forefront of online learning, presenting 4 weeks of Virtual Cello Academy festivals in 2020 with over 200 cellists participating from all over the world.  
    In 2022, Ascent Music was founded as a 501c3 non-profit.  Alan serves as Artistic Director for the Ascent International Chamber Music and Cello Festivals, 4 weeks of intensive study at the University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music.  Ascent Music is committed to guiding young artists to become 21st century musicians, able to thrive in any environment.

Cellist Julie Albers is recognized for her superlative artistry, her charismatic and radiant performing style, and her intense musicianship. Born into a musical family in Longmont, Colorado, she began violin studies at the age of two with her mother, switching to cello at four. She moved to Cleveland during her junior year of high school to pursue studies through the Young Artist Program at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she studied with Richard Aaron. Ms. Albers soon was awarded the Grand Prize at the XIII International Competition for Young Musicians in Douai, France, and as a result toured France as soloist with Orchestre Symphonique de Douai.

Ms. Albers made her major orchestral debut with the Cleveland Orchestra at the age of 17 and thereafter has performed in recital and with orchestras throughout North America, Europe, Korea, Taiwan, Australia, and New Zealand. Past seasons have included performances with the symphony orchestras of Colorado, Grant Park Music Festival, Indianapolis, Munchener Kammerorchester, Rochester, San Diego, Seattle, Vancouver, and St. Paul Chamber Orchestra among others. In 2001, she won Second Prize in Munich’s Internationalen Musikwettbewerbes der ARD, and was also awarded the Wilhelm-Weichsler-Musikpreis der Stadt Osnabruch. While in Germany, she recorded solo and chamber music of Kodaly for the Bavarian Radio, performances that have been heard throughout Europe. In 2003, she was named the first Gold Medal Laureate of South Korea’s Gyeongnam International Music Competition.

Ms. Albers was named principal cellist of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra in 2015, a position she currently holds. In addition, she regularly participates in chamber music festivals including ChamberFest Cleveland, La Jolla SummerFest, Rome Chamber Music Festival, Seattle Chamber Music Society, and Toronto Summer Music. 2009 marked the end of a three year residency with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Two. Teaching has also held a very important place in Ms. Albers’ musical life from the age of 12 when she started teaching her first students. She held the position of Assistant Professor at the Robert McDuffie Center for Strings at Mercer University in Macon, Georgia from 2009-2022.

Ms. Albers’ debut album with Orion Weiss includes works by Rachmaninoff, Beethoven, Schumann, Massenet, and Piatiagorsky and is available on the Artek Label. Julie Albers performs on a N.F. Vuillaume cello made in 1872.

Amir Eldan performs as a soloist, chamber musician, and as guest principal cellist. In 2011-12, he served as principal cellist of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra by invitation from Zubin Mehta and a year later, as guest principal cellist with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. At age 22, he became the youngest member of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in New York, when he won the position of associate principal cellist and was invited by James Levine to perform with the MET Chamber Ensemble in Carnegie Hall.

As the winner of the Juilliard Competition, Eldan made his New York debut with the Brahms Double Concerto in Lincoln Center and has performed the six Bach Cello Suites in a series of concerts worldwide.

Eldan has collaborated in chamber music performances with members of the Cleveland, Guarneri, and Juilliard String Quartets and the Beaux Arts Trio, pianist Richard Goode, and cellists Lynn Harrell and Steven Isserlis.

Music festivals appearances include Bowdoin, Giverny (France), La Jolla (California), Pilsen (Czech Republic), Prussia Cove (England), and West Cork (Ireland). He also participated in the Marlboro music festival and toured with Musicians From Marlboro.

In 2006, while working on his doctorate, Eldan was appointed cello professor at the Oberlin Conservatory and served as chair of the String Department from 2015-19. He was a member of the Oberlin Trio and performed with the Trio throughout the U.S. and South Korea.

Professor Eldan holds a DMA and MM, both from Juilliard where he also served as a guest teacher. His performances have been featured on public television and radio in the U.S., Europe, and in Israel.

He was appointed a professor of cello at the University of Michigan in 2019.

Praised for his “burnished tone, spellbinding technique, and probing musical mind” (Boston Classical Review), cellist Brannon Cho has emerged as an outstanding artist of his generation. He is the First Prize winner of the prestigious 6th International Paulo Cello Competition, and is also a top prize winner of the Queen Elisabeth, Naumburg, and Cassadó International Cello Competitions. Most recently, Brannon Cho is the recipient of the 2020 Janos Starker Foundation Award, the Landgraf von Hessen Prize from Kronberg Academy, the 2019 Ivan Galamian Award previously held by James Ehnes, and is a scholarship holder in the Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation.

Brannon Cho has appeared as a soloist with many of the top orchestras around the world, including the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Belgian National Orchestra, Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, and Brussels Philharmonic under world-renowned conductors such as Susanna Mälkki, Stéphane Denève, Christian Arming, and Hugh Wolff. Brannon Cho’s recent and upcoming solo performance highlights include the Cello Biënnale Amsterdam, Armenian State Symphony Orchestra, Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra, Kumho Art Hall in Seoul, Rheingau Musik Festival with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Vancouver Chamber Music Society, and Seoul Arts Center. Recently, he replaced Alisa Weilerstein in Prokofiev’s Sinfonia Concertante with Belgian National Orchestra.

Born in New Jersey, Brannon Cho received his Bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music under Hans Jørgen Jensen. He was awarded the prestigious Artist Diploma from the New England Conservatory, where he studied with Laurence Lesser. Today, he is in the Professional Studies program at the Kronberg Academy, under the tutelage of Frans Helmerson. Brannon Cho is sponsored by Thomastik-Infeld, and performs on a rare cello made by Antonio Casini in 1668 in Modena, Italy.