LEWIS
KAPLAN
Director
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.
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.
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.
DEAN STEIN
Violin
Violinist Dean Stein has performed throughout the world in recital, with orchestras, chamber music ensembles, and as soloist. His performances frequently garner critical acclaim, as in a recording of which ‘The Strad’ magazine wrote, “Dean Arthur Stein excels in the first violin’s improvisatory cadenza, his fierce yet luxuriant tone setting the mood…”
Mr. Stein was honored to be chosen as first violinist of the Portland String Quartet in 2013, the first change of personnel in the distinguished PSQ’s history since it’s formation in 1969.
SEBASTIAN GOTTSCHICK
Viola
SEBASTIAN GOTTSCHICK was born in Düsseldorf to a family of church musicians. He studied violin, composition and conducting in Cologne, Berlin, Hamburg and at the Juilliard School in New York. The broad spectrum of his interests and experience – in contemporary and early music, as conductor, composer and arranger, violinist, violist and teacher at the Cologne Conservatory (HfMT Köln) – is reflected in his compositions.
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…
NATHAN WHITTAKER
Cello
NATHAN WHITTAKER, violoncello, enjoys a unique and diverse career as a concert soloist, chamber musician, recitalist, teacher, and historical cello specialist with concert stops ranging from New York to Seattle to Dubai. He is the Artistic Director of Gallery Concerts (Seattle), a concert series of chamber music on period instruments, and regularly performs with the Trinity Baroque Orchestra, Pacific Baroque Orchestra, New York Baroque Incorporated, ARTek, El Mundo, Fort Greene Chamber Music Society, Byron Schenkman and Friends, and the Pacific Northwest Ballet.
PETE WALSH
Double Bass
Pete Walsh is a double bass player and educator based in Boston, MA. He enjoys a vibrant, musically diverse career that consists of orchestral work, historical performance, chamber music, jazz and electric bass, and everything in between.
As an orchestral musician he has performed with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Boston Pops, Boston Lyric Opera, Odyssey Opera, Boston Modern Orchestra Project. Pete is Principal Bass of the Boston Festival Orchestra and New Bedford Symphony Orchestra and Assistant Principal Bass of the Cape Cod Symphony, where he also plays electric bass.
JORDAN FRAZIER
Double Bass
Jordan Frazier has performed worldwide with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra since 1993 and was appointed a member of the orchestra in 2006. He is a former member of L’Orquestra Ciutat de Barcelona, and currently is a member of the American Symphony Orchestra, American Composers Orchestra, and is Principal Bass of the Westchester Philharmonic, Little Orchestra Society, and the Carmel Bach Festival Orchestra in California. Jordan has performed as Principal Bass with the St. Paul and Australian Chamber Orchestras…
NATHAN VARGA
Double Bass
Nathan Varga maintains a vibrant career as a double bassist in the Boston area. His experience ranges from orchestral and chamber music to period performance, opera, and theater. He holds degrees from Boston University and Baldwin Wallace College. Desiring to engage a diverse audience, he also enjoys playing original music and arranging covers with friends. Other interests include cycling, woodworking, synthesis and electronic music, and bicycle and auto-mechanics.
PABLO KENNEDY
Double Bass
Pablo Kennedy is a Boston-based multi-instrumentalist with a love for historical performance on double bass, theorbo, and other lute-family instruments. He earned his Bachelor of Music in Performance from Boston University, studying double bass with Edwin Barker and lutes with Catherine Liddell.
Pablo’s recent ensemble experience includes collaborations with the Ashmont Hill Bach Project, Cappella Clausura, the Marsh Chapel Collegium, and the Worcester Chorus. He frequently also performs as a recital accompanist with plucked strings.
DUŠAN BALARIN
Lute
Dušan Balarin is a Peruvian-Croatian soloist and accompanist on historical lutes and guitars, residing in the United States. Known for his artistic curiosity and versatility, Dušan has performed alongside renowned artists and ensembles, including Les Arts Florissants, The Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Cécile McLorin Salvant, Rachel Podger, Bruce Dickey, Lionel Meunier, and Stephan MacLeod. He also regularly collaborates with leading Early Music organizations in North America, such as The Washington Bach Consort, The Newberry Consort, Chatham Baroque, Early Music New York, Ruckus, ARTEK, TENET, and Harmonia Stellarum.
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.
HENTUS VAN ROOYEN
Organ
Hentus van Rooyen, a native of South Africa, is Director of Music Ministries at St. Alban’s Episcopal Church, Cape Elizabeth, ME. Prior to his relocation to Maine in 2022, van Rooyen served as Assistant Professor of Music, Sacred Music Coordinator and College Organist at Bethany College in Lindsborg KS, where he taught organ, music history, music theory, aural skills, and directed the Bethany College Handbell Ensemble. He also served as the Director of Music and Organist at Christ Episcopal Cathedral in Salina, KS.
JONATHAN SALAMON
Harpsichord
Jonathan (Jon) Salamon is a harpsichordist, pianist, and composer based in New York City. He has performed at festivals in the U.S. and abroad including the International Baroque Institute at Longy, Cambridge, MA, and at the Virtuoso & Bel Canto Festival in Lucca, Italy, among others.
Jonathan is currently the Principal Harpsichordist/Keyboardist with the Chamber Orchestra of New York, with whom he made his sold-out Carnegie Weill Hall debut in 2021 as soloist in Bach’s D-minor harpsichord concerto. A Fulbright Scholar, he studied and performed eighteenth-century music of Amsterdam’s Sephardic synagogue.
SAM CHILDERS
Bassoon
Sam Childers began teaching private students in his hometown of Missoula, MT, during college. He currently teaches talented young bassoonists and coaches chamber music at the Boston University Tanglewood Institute, and assists students of all levels, as well as professionals, with reed making. Sam’s primary mentors have included Roger McDonald and Richard Beene, and he has also been a frequent attendee at the Tanglewood masterclasses of the Boston Symphony bassoon section.
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.
NA’AMA LION
Flute
Na’ama Lion is well known in the Boston area as a versatile performer on historical flutes. She has explored Baroque, Classical and Romantic music with numerous groups and period orchestras, including La Donna Musicale, Boston Baroque, Handel and Haydn Society, Boston Cecilia, Arcadia Players, Grand Harmonie, and overseas with Academia Daniel and Barrocade orchestra.
AMANDA HARDY
Oboe
Amanda Hardy, oboe, joined the Portland (Maine) Symphony Orchestra as principal oboe in November 2013 where she occupies the Clinton Graffam Chair. As a recipient of the the Gillet Scholarship and Tourjée Alumni Scholarship Award, Amanda studied with BSO principal oboist John Ferrillo at the New England Conservatory (NEC).
JOHN FERRILLO
Oboe
John Ferrillo joined the Boston Symphony Orchestra as principal oboe at the start of the 2001 Tanglewood season, having appeared with the orchestra several times as a guest performer in previous seasons. From 1986 to 2001 he was principal oboe of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. Mr. Ferrillo grew up in Bedford, Massachusetts, and played in the Greater Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra.
CATHERINE WEINFIELD-ZELL
Oboe
Described as an “arresting” (Boston Globe) and “strikingly beautiful” (Miami Herald) musician, Catherine Weinfield-Zell served as second Oboe and English Horn with the Florida Grand Opera in Miami, FL from 2012-2016. From 2009 – 2013, Ms. Weinfield held the position of both Assistant Principal Oboe and principal English Hornist with the Honolulu (now Hawaii) Symphony and the Hawaii Opera Theater.
RONI GAL-ED
Oboe
Described as ”one of the finest oboe players in the country” – The Jerusalem Post; ”Expressive, wonderful player” – SZ Magazine, Germany; ”Virtuoso and Elegant” – Double Reed Magazine, Germany; and ”Outstanding” and “the star soloist of the evening”– The New York Times — Roni Gal-Ed is a first prize winner at the International Lauschmann Oboe Competition in Mannheim, Germany, and a recipient of scholarships from the America-Israel Cultural Foundation, and from the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra.
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.
RACHEL CHILDERS
French Horn
Michigan native Rachel Childers has been a member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra
since 2011. As Second Horn of the BSO, she occupies the John P. II and Nancy S. Eustis
chair. She is notably the first female member of the Boston Symphony brass section.
Prior to moving to Boston, Ms. Childers was the Acting Assistant Principal/Utility Horn of
the Colorado Symphony Orchestra. She also held several positions in orchestras
throughout California, affectionately referred to as the Freeway Philharmonic. Rachel
holds the distinction of being in the first class of admitted horn players to the Colburn
School, in Los Angeles, where she studied with David Jolley and David Krehbiel.
RICHARD “GUS” SEBRING
French Horn
Richard Sebring is the BSO’s associate principal horn and principal horn of the Boston Pops. At the BSO, he occupies the Margaret Andersen Congleton chair. He was formerly the principal horn of the Rochester Philharmonic.
Born and raised in Concord, Massachusetts, he studied at Indiana University, New England Conservatory, the University of Washington, and the Tanglewood Music Center. Previously principal horn of the Rochester Philharmonic, he joined the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1981.
Vocalists
SHEREZADE PANTHAKI
Soprano
Soprano Sherezade Panthaki enjoys ongoing international collaborations with many of the world’s leading conductors including Nicholas McGegan, Masaaki Suzuki, Martin Haselböck, Mark Morris, Nicholas Kraemer, Matthew Halls, Stephen Stubbs, and Gary Wedow. Celebrated for her “full, luxuriously toned upper range” (The Los Angeles Times), and “astonishing coloratura with radiant top notes” (Calgary Herald) particularly in the music of Bach and Handel, recent seasons have included performances with the New York Philharmonic
HELEN KARLOSKI
Mezzo
Mezzo-soprano Helen Karloski has been praised for her “genuine mezzo timbre” (Opera News) and a voice “beautifully suited for oratorio” (Santa Fe New Mexican). She has been gaining recognition particularly in her portrayal of the oratorio repertoire. Ms. Karloski’s 2023-24 season includes performances with the New York City Ballet, Skylark Vocal Ensemble, Voices of Ascension, the Choral Society of Grace Church, Artefact Ensemble, and Musica Sacra.
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.
BRIAN GIEBLER
Tenor
Praised for his “lovely tone and deep expressivity” by The New York Times, GRAMMY® nominated tenor Brian Giebler radiates “shine and clarity” (Opera News) in every phrase using “his high-placed tenor with great skill” (Opera Magazine). His debut solo album a lad’s love garnered high praise from Gramophone, Opera News, and San Francisco Classical Voice, and earned him his first GRAMMY® Award nomination for Best Classical Solo Vocal Album.
STEVEN CALDICOTT WILSON
Tenor
Chicago-based oratorio tenor Steven Caldicott Wilson has been a member of the classical a cappella vocal quartet New York Polyphony since 2011 and the Handel + Haydn Society chorus since 2015, and is a tenured member of the Grant Park Music Festival chorus.
In 2023, he returned to Carnegie Hall NYC to sing Messiah solos with Musica Sacra, and he was the soloist for Messiah with the Johnstown, PA Symphony Orchestra and The Cathedral of All Saints, Albany.
JACOB PERRY
Tenor
Jacob Perry, tenor, is lauded for his stylish interpretations of early music. As a soloist, he lends his graceful sense of phrasing and luminous tone to engagements with Apollo’s Fire, Bach Collegium San Diego, Jacksonville Symphony, Philharmonia Baroque, Portland Baroque Orchestra, Tempesta di Mare, Washington Bach Consort, and the Washington National Cathedral. Jacob joined the Carmel Bach Festival in 2022 as the tenor participant in the Virginia Adams Best Masterclass.
PAUL MAX TIPTON
Bass-Baritone
Described by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution as a dignified and beautiful singer, bass-baritone Paul Max Tipton performs and records in opera, oratorio, and chamber music throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. Recent engagements include Haydn’s Creation with Pacific Symphony, Christus in Bach’s St. Matthew Passion at Spoleto Festival USA, Plutone in Monteverdi’s Orfeo with Göteborg Baroque, and a recording of Nicolaus Bruhns’s solo cantatas for bass with Masaaki Suzuki. In 2022-2023 he covers the title role in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro at Handel & Haydn Society, makes a solo debut in Tokyo with Bach Collegium Japan in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, and records the Bach Mass in B-Minor with Nicholas McGegan & Cantata Collective. He studied on full-fellowship at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and Yale University.
MATTHEW SCHULTHEIS
Composer
Born in the Washington, D.C. area and based in New York City, composer and pianist Matthew Schultheis (b. 1997) is currently a C. V. Starr Doctoral Fellow at The Juilliard School, having completed his master’s degree there in 2022. For both degrees he studied with Matthias Pintscher. He earned his BM in composition, additionally studying piano full-time, at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. As a composer, Matthew has collaborated with the Tokyo Symphony, Juilliard, and Tonkünstler Orchestras; Ensemble intercontemporain; the Attacca, Mivos, and JACK Quartets; the new music ensembles of Indiana University and the University of Chicago; ECCE Ensemble; and New York Virtuoso Singers.
Festival Chorus
SARAH BAILEY
Soprano
Sarah Bailey is a well-known classical soprano in southern Maine. She has sung with: Maine Music Society (Beethoven: “Mass in C,” Mozart: “Requiem,” “Solemn Vespers KV 321”), White Mountain Bach Festival (multiple Bach cantatas), Midcoast Symphony Orchestra (Handel: “Messiah”), and many solo appearances with ChoralART, including soloist on tour in Europe (Schubert: “Mass in G”). Ms. Bailey has also had the honor of premiering two pieces featuring solo soprano: Nancy Gunn’s “Driving in Maine” and William Pardus’s “Four Songs of the Coast.
NACOLE PALMER
Soprano
A frequent oratorio and concert artist, soprano Nacole Palmer has lived in Maine for 8 years, following 14 years of living and singing in New York City. Carnegie Hall debut: Handel’s Messiah with the Oratorio Society of New York. Lincoln Center debut: Bach’s Christmas Oratorio with the Riverside Choral Society. Other solo credits include acclaimed Bach’s St. John Passion and Orff’s Carmina Burana with Seraphic Fire of Miami; Haydn’s Creation with the Ulster Choral Society; Mozart’s Mass in C Minor with The Choir of Trinity Wall Street, and Graun’s Cleopatra e Cesare with The Clarion Music Society.
ANDREA GRAICHEN
Mezzo
ANDREA GRAICHEN is a frequent soloist in the Greater Portland area, performing a wide variety of alto and mezzo-soprano repertoire. Her most recent appearance featured music for voice and lute by Early Music composers Jean-Baptiste Boësset, Antoine Boësset, Barbara Strozzi, and John Dowland. She sang in Blue Hill Bach’s “Birthday Concert for Johann Sebastian Bach” featuring Jesu, meine Freude BWV 227 and Felix Mendelssohn’s setting of Jesu, meine Freude.
BEN MCVETY
Tenor
Ben McVety has a Bachelor of Arts in music from the College of William and Mary, and a Masters of Science in Music Education from Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music. He has been a high school choral director from 2013-2021, and has recently moved to Maine, where the rest of his family resides. He has made a slight career shift to working in his family’s stove shop business in Yarmouth. He loves performing and is very excited to be able to sing again, despite the pandemic’s best efforts to quell live performances.
Festival Associates
BO PANG
Violin
Bo Pang (born in China, 2002) received his first violin lesson at the age of five with parents and now, he is studying in The Juilliard School with Prof. Lewis Kaplan. During his studies, he won several violin competitions such as: the gold prize of the Beijing Division of the National Youth Artistic Violin Competition in 2011, the gold prize of the Beijing Division of the Fifth China Art Global Competition, the first prize in the violin competition of China Art Park International Festival in 2016.
SEDONA KMEN
Violin
Sedona Kmen started playing violin at the age of six and knew early on that she wanted to pursue a career in classical music. She attended the Idyllwild Arts Academy in California for high school, studying under Todor Pelev, after which she took a gap year to study with Peter Zazofsky and take part in the NEC Preparatory CHIPS piano trio program where she further explored her deep love for chamber music. She is currently an undergraduate student at the Eastman School of Music studying with Renée Jolles.
CHIHIRO KAKISHIMA
Violin
Chihiro Kakishima, violinist, is a young and gifted performer from Ann Arbor, Michigan. Currently residing in Rochester, New York, Chihiro is pursuing her Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the Eastman School of Music under the tutelage of Renée Jolles. Musical highlights in Michigan include concerto appearances with the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra in Hill Auditorium and the Michigan Pops Orchestra. She frequently plays with a wide range of orchestras including the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra, the Lansing Symphony Orchestra, Symphoria in Syracuse, and the Chautauqua Music School Festival Orchestra, of whom she also served as concertmaster.
JESSICA WU
Violin
Jessica Wu, from Queens, NY, is currently pursuing her Bachelor’s degree at Columbia University. She also studies under Lewis Kaplan at the Juilliard School as a student in the Columbia-Juilliard Exchange. An avid chamber musician, Jessica has participated in the New York Youth Symphony (NYYS) Chamber Music Program, Summer Chamber Music Intensive, Chamber Music Center of New York, LaGuardia High School Chamber Music, and Juilliard Pre-College. Highlights include winning the 2022 Lincoln Center Young Ensembles Program and an invitation to perform at Alice Tully Hall.
LEERONE HAKAMI
Violin
Israeli-American violinist, Leerone Hakami, embarked on a campaign of begging her parents to play the violin at age two. It took three years, but by age five, she stood proudly with her 1/8th sized violin that could barely make a sound. This proved to be the right decision on her parents’ part, as the violin took her to Carnegie Hall, three different continents, and Juilliard.
ELIJAH SPIES
Viola
British-American violist Elijah Spies plays in spaces ranging from intimate living rooms and hospital wards to large concert halls. Born and raised in London, he began his formal studies at the junior department of the Royal College of Music. He has since performed at international concert series including the BBC Proms, the Lucerne Festival, and Euro Young Classic. With a particular passion for collaborating with composers and creating new music, he has premiered more than thirty works as a soloist and chamber musician.
LUCY GELBER
Viola
Lucy Gelber recently graduated with a BM from the Eastman School of Music, where she studied with Masumi Rostad. Originally from Atlanta, Georgia, Lucy started on violin but switched to viola, which she felt better suited her. She primarily studied with Joli Wu throughout high school. An avid chamber musician, she performed
frequently with the Andromeda Quartet, founded at Eastman in 2020, working under the guidance of Yoojin Jang and members of the Ying Quartet.
KELCEY HOWELL
Cello
Kelcey Howell recently graduated with a master’s degree from the Juilliard School, where she was a student of Timothy Eddy. A Colorado native, she earned her bachelor’s degree summa cum laude from the University of Denver, where she studied cello with Matthew Zalkind. As a member of the Juilliard Orchestra and various student chamber music ensembles, Kelcey has given performances across New York City in venues such as Carnegie Hall, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and throughout Lincoln Center.
