LEWIS
KAPLAN

Director, Violin and Conductor

A multi-talented, extraordinary musician, teacher, conductor and visionary. These words best describe Lewis Kaplan, who has contributed a significant amount to the Classical music landscape for over 50 years. Considered a leading interpreter of the music of Bach, in particular the Six Solo Sonatas and Partitas, Lewis Kaplan founded and is the Director of the Bach Virtuosi Festival in Portland, Maine. His titles are many. He currently serves as Senior Professor of Violin and Chamber Music at The Juilliard School.
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ARIADNE
DASKALAKIS

Violin

Ariadne Daskalakis is a unique performer of both baroque and modern violin. The American violinist of Greek descent studied in Germany, where she currently resides. She has concertized in major venues around the world, appearing as soloist with ensembles including the Dortmund Philharmonic, the Akademie for Ancient Music Berlin, the Norwegian Baroque Orchestra, the English Chamber Orchestra, the Prague Chamber Orchestra, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Munich, the New Bedford Symphony Orchestra, the Brünn Philharmonic and the Athens National State Orchestra.
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RENÉE JOLLES

Violin

Renée Jolles, violinist, enjoys an eclectic career as soloist and chamber artist specializing in a wide variety of styles from the Baroque to the contemporary. Hailed as a “real star” by The New York Times for her New York concerto debut in Alice Tully Hall, she has premiered hundreds of works, including the American premiere of Schnittke’s Violin Concerto No. 2. Her concerto engagements have included orchestras such as Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, the Philharmonic Orchestra of New Jersey, the Cape May Festival Orchestra, and the Salisbury Symphony.
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YIBIN LI

Violin

Yibin Li was born in China in a small city near the Gobi Desert and began studying the violin at age five with her father. She was admitted to the prestigious Shanghai Conservatory at age 12 where upon graduation she was named to the Violin Faculty. After teaching at the Shanghai Conservatory for six years as a tenured violin professor, she felt the need to continue her studies in New York. She was admitted to The Juilliard School and gained her graduate diploma. Ms. Li earned a second Masters of Music degree from Mannes School of Music.
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KARINA SCHMITZ

Viola

Karina Schmitz holds degrees from New England Conservatory and the Cleveland Institute of Music. Her early music studies began at Oberlin Conservatory with Marilyn McDonald, Miho Hashizume and David Breitman. She continued her training in the Apollo’s Fire Apprentice Program in Cleveland while serving as concertmaster of the Case Western Reserve University Baroque Orchestra.
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BEILIANG ZHU

Cello

Beiliang Zhu won the 1st prize and the Audience Award at the XVIII International Bach Competition in Leipzig 2012 (Violoncello/Baroque Violoncello) as the first string player to have received this honor on a baroque instrument. She received her Master of Music from the Juilliard School in Historical Performance with Phoebe Carrai (Baroque cello) and Sarah Cunningham (Viola da Gamba), Bachelor of Music Degree and Performer’s Certificate from the Eastman School of Music.
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PAUL DWYER

Cello

Cellist Paul Dwyer was born in Munster, Indiana, but spent the most formative years of his life (according to Freud) in Vienna, where he decided to play the double bass, but was told he’s too small. At age eight his family moved to Munich, where Paul spent most of his time playing soccer, running subversive school newspapers and transcribing Metallica songs for a heavy metal cello quartet he formed with his best friends. In 12th grade, he made his opera debut singing the role of Polyphemus in Handel’s Acis and Galatea.
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KURT MUROKI

Double Bass

Former Artist Member with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Professor Kurt Muroki began his musical studies on the violin at the age of six and subsequently performed concerti with the Honolulu Symphony and the Maui Symphony. Mr. Muroki went on to study the Double bass at the age of 13 and entered the Juilliard School of Music at 17 studying with his teacher / mentor Homer R. Mensch. At the age of 21 Kurt began performing with the internationally renowned Sejong Soloists under ICM Management.
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PETER FERRETTI

Baroque Bass

American Double bassist and violone player Peter Ferretti enjoys an international career performing on the most exciting bass instruments that the field has to offer. He began his studies as a 90’s child in the bustling metropolis of Charlotte, North Carolina with Jeff Ferdon. Mr. Ferdon imparted a lifelong passion for early music from the very beginning of their relationship.
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ARTHUR HAAS

Harpsichord

Arthur Haas is one of the most sought after performers and teachers of Baroque music in the United States today. He received the top prize in the Paris International Harpsichord Competition in 1975 and then stayed in France for a number of years as an active member of the growing European early music scene. While in Paris, he joined the Five Centuries Ensemble, a group acclaimed for its performances and recordings of Baroque and contemporary music.
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GABRIEL SHUFORD

Harpsichord

Gabriel Shuford is the recipient of the 2011 Baron Prize from Stony Brook University, and top prize at the 2007 Mae and Irving Jurow International Harpsichord Competition. He is a member of Repast Baroque Ensemble and has performed with A Far Cry, The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Dorian Baroque, Antioch Chamber Ensemble, Speculum Musicae, and The St. Petersburg Chamber Philharmonic.
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EMI FERGUSON

Flute

Hailed by critics for her “tonal bloom” and “hauntingly beautiful performances,” English-American performer and composer Emi Ferguson can be heard playing modern and baroque flutes live in concerts and festivals around the world as well as at home in New York City where she is a member of the New York New Music Ensemble, NYBI, Argento Ensemble, and New Vintage Baroque.
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LAURA DEL SOL
JIMÉNEZ

Flute

Flutist Laura del Sol Jiménez has won numerous awards throughout her career, highlighted by the expressiveness and poised technical accuracy of her performances. Currently based in New York City, Laura frequently performs as a soloist and chamber musician. She was a prizewinner in the Gran Premio de Santiago Flute competition in Chile, Colombia’s Concurso Universitario de Flauta de Bogotá, Ciudad de Bogotá Woodwind Competition, and selected five times for the roster of the Biblioteca Luis Ángel Arango Concert Series.
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JOHN THIESSEN

Trumpet

Described by the New York Times as “the gold standard of Baroque trumpet playing in this country”, John Thiessen’s performances combine beauty of sound with brilliance and virtuosity for 17th-19th century clarino repertoire. He appears regularly as soloist and principal trumpet with North America’s foremost early music ensembles, including American Bach Soloists, Tafelmusik, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Juilliard Baroque, Trinity Baroque Orchestra, the Boston Early Music Festival, and Early Music Vancouver.
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PRISCILLA HERREID

Oboe

Priscilla Herreid plays period oboes, recorders, and a multitude of renaissance wind instruments with some of the finest ensembles in the US and abroad. She appears regularly with Piffaro, The Handel + Haydn Society, Trinity Baroque Orchestra, Hesperus, Tempesta di Mare, The Sebastians, and Boston Baroque, and can often be seen with Portland Baroque, Tenet, Venice Baroque, Philharmonia Baroque, Ex Umbris, The Waverly Consort, New York Baroque Inc., and The City Musick.
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HENRY KRAMER

Piano

The winner of the Second Prize at the 2016 Queen Elisabeth Competition and the 2015 William Petschek Recital Debut Award from The Juilliard School, pianist Henry Kramer is establishing himself as one of the most exciting American musicians of his generation. His performances have been praised by critics as “triumphant” and “thrilling” (The New York Times), and “technically effortless” (La Presse, Montreal). A Maine native, Mr. Kramer has also earned top prizes in the 2015 Honens International Piano Competition, the 2011 Montreal International Music Competition, and the 6th China Shanghai International Piano Competition.
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KATELYN EMERSON

Organ

Organist Katelyn Emerson performs throughout North America and Europe, showcasing repertoire from the 14th-21st centuries with “impressive technical facility and musicianship” in performances that are “thrilling from beginning to end” (Cleveland Classical). Upcoming and past recital venues include such illustrious locations as Walt Disney Hall (Los Angeles, California), Hallgrímskirkja (Reykjavík, Iceland), Cathédrale Saint-Omer (France), Kurhaus Wiesbaden (Germany), the Riverside Church (New York, New York) ....
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SHEREZADE PANTHAKI

Soprano

Soprano Sherezade Panthaki’s international success has been fueled by superbly honed musicianship; “astonishing coloratura with radiant top notes” (Calgary Herald); “a full, luxuriously toned upper range” (The Los Angeles Times), a vocal color “combining brilliance with a dark, plumlike tone” (The Wall Street Journal), and passionately informed interpretations, “mining deep emotion from the subtle shaping of the lines” (The New York Times).
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JAY CARTER

Countertenor

American countertenor Jay Carter has gained recognition as one of the nation’s finest. A frequent collaborator with period and modern ensembles, Carter is recognized as a leading interpreter of late Baroque repertoire and has been lauded for his luminous tone, stylish interpretations, and clarion delivery.
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BRIAN GIEBLER

Tenor

Garnering praise for his “most impressive… bright, clear tone and lively personality” (New York Times), American tenor Brian Giebler is a “faultless high tenor” (Seattle Times) with “great elegance of tone and phrasing” (Baltimore Sun). From Evangelist in Bach’s St. Matthew Passion with the GRAMMY®-nominated Choir of Trinity Wall Street under Julian Wachner to Stravinsky with The Cleveland Orchestra under Franz Welser-Möst, Mr. Giebler’s “lovely tone and deep expressivity” (New York Times) and "expressive and elegant phrasing" (Cleveland Classical) is well-suited to a variety of music.
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DASHON BURTON

Baritone

Praised for his "nobility and rich tone," (The New York Times) and his "enormous, thrilling voice seemingly capable ... [of] raising the dead;" (Wall Street Journal), bass-baritone Dashon Burton has appeared in the Brahms Requiem and Beethoven 9 with Franz Welser-Möst and the Cleveland Orchestra in the last two seasons; also the Mozart Requiem in the summer season at Severance Hall. He joins forces with Cleveland and Welser-Möst again in 2017/18 for reprise performances of their groundbreaking production of Janacek’s Cunning Little Vixen and for performances of Beethoven 9 in their Prometheus Project, at home and abroad in Vienna and Japan.
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Bach Chamber Chorus

ELISABETH MARSHALL

Soprano

Soprano Elisabeth Marshall has been praised for her “admirably flexible, gilt-edged voice” of “resonance and beauty” and “radiant sheen”, particularly in the works of Bach, Handel, Haydn, and Mozart. A 2016 finalist in The American Prize Friedrich and Victoria Schorr Award in Art Song and Oratorio, she was awarded their Special Citation for “Outstanding Performance in Music before 1800”.
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MARGARET LIAS

Mezzo-Soprano

Mezzo-soprano, Margaret Lias, has been celebrated for her “warm,” “arresting,” and “rich-toned” singing. Since her Boston Symphony Hall debut in 2011 with Handel and Haydn Society (Handel, Israel in Egypt), Margaret has been a frequent soloist under the baton of Harry Christophers. In 2015, Margaret received praise for her Lincoln Center solo debut singing Mozart’s Requiem. Select solo appearances in 2017 and 2018 include Portland Symphony Orchestra (Beethoven, Symphony No. 9, Choral, in D minor, op.125), Handel and Haydn Society (Bach, Mass in B Minor), Masterworks Chorale (Beethoven, Mass in C, Op. 86), ....
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MATTHEW ANDERSON

Tenor

Matthew Anderson has been praised for the warm tenor voice and polished musicality he brings to oratorio, opera, and musical theater. An accomplished interpreter of the music of Bach, Mr. Anderson sings regularly as a soloist in Boston’s renowned Emmanuel Music Bach Cantata Series. He appeared at the Aldeburgh Festival as a soloist in the Saint Matthew Passion and spent several summers at the Carmel Bach Festival, where he was featured as a Virginia Best Adams Fellow and aria soloist in the Saint John Passion.
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PAUL MAX TIPTON

Baritone

Described by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution as a dignified and beautiful singer, Paul Max Tipton, baritone, performs nationally to acclaim in repertoire ranging from Schütz and Monteverdi to Britten and Bolcom. He solos under such notable figures as Masaaki Suzuki, Matthias Pintscher, Nicholas McGegan, Leonard Slatkin, Ton Koopman, Helmuth Rilling and Martin Katz, and has performed with the Bach Collegium Japan, New York Philharmonic, Apollo’s Fire, Seraphic Fire, and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s.
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