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 more than 50 years. Considered a leading interpreter of the music of Bach, in particular the Six Solo Sonatas and Partitas, Mr. Kaplan is the founder and director of the Bach Virtuosi Festival in Portland, Maine, and New York City.
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.
LYDIA BECKER
Violin
French-American violinist Lydia Becker unites historical performance practices with creativity and curiosity. She regularly plays with leading forces in the early music field, including Les Arts Florissants, Paul O’Dette, Twelfth Night, and the Sebastians. An avid fiddler, Ms. Becker is a founding member of New Amsterdam String Band, as well as the Berwick Fiddle Consort, an ensemble that explores historical fiddling traditions of the British Isles. She has collaborated with Rhiannon Giddens and Paul Simon and co-leads traditional music sessions at the Juilliard School.
KEATS DIEFFENBACH
Violin
Equally comfortable on the stages of Carnegie Hall and the set of Saturday Night Live, Keats Dieffenbach (they/any) is a unique artist with infinitely varied interests and abilities. Lauded by The New York Times as an “impressive performer,” Dieffenbach’s dual specialization in contemporary and historical performance on both violin and viola keeps them in demand as concertmaster, chamber musician, and soloist with many leading ensembles.
RAFA PRENDERGAST
Violin
Brooklyn-based violinist Rafa Prendergast is an active performer of works dating from the early 17th century through the present day. Prendergast is a guest concertmaster with the Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado and performs frequently with Handel and Haydn Society, Twelfth Night, Theotokos, Upper Valley Baroque, Nuova Pratica, The Smithsonian Academy Orchestra, New York Baroque Incorporated, and ARTEK, among many others.
MELANIE RIORDAN
Violin
Houston violinist Melanie Riordan began playing the violin at the age of 10 in her hometown of New Rochelle, NY. After graduating from the Manhattan School of Music Pre-College, Melanie received her BFA from Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) where she studied with esteemed pedagogue Cyrus Forough. While at CMU, Ms. Riordan received the Harry G. Archer Award for Excellence in violin studies. She received her master’s in music at McGill University, studying with Toronto Symphony concertmaster Jonathan Crow. Riordan has attended the Spoleto Festival USA, Orchestre de la Francophonie, National Repertory Orchestra, and the Bowdoin International Music Festival, among others.
MAURYCY BANASZEK
Viola
Maurycy Banaszek was born in Warsaw, Poland. He has performed at the Marlboro, Seattle, Santa Fe, Aldeburgh, Moritzburg, Mozart, Kingston, Martha’s Vineyard, and Warsaw Autumn festivals. He regularly tours with the Musicians from Marlboro and appears at the Barge Music in New York. As a founding member of The Elsner String Quartet, he has played in such prestigious venues as Carnegie Hall in New York, Wigmore Hall in London, and Gewandhaus in Leipzig, among others.
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.
WILLIAM HAKIM
Viola
William Hakim has performed extensively throughout the United States and abroad. Praised for his “warmth of tone and musicality” (Leipziger Volkszeitung), he enjoys playing, writing, and arranging music in many styles. He has recorded for Albany Records, Decca, and Nonesuch for various artists including Renee Fleming; served as Billy Joel’s violist for his Madison Square Garden residency; had numerous TV appearances with Josh Groban; and toured the country with Branford Marsalis and the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia.
JESSICA TROY
Viola
Jessica Troy wears a wide variety of freelance hats. She performs extensively on period instruments—Baroque ensembles of which she is a member or frequent guest include Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra (San Francisco), Handel and Haydn Society (Boston), Opera Lafayette (Washington, D.C.), Trinity Baroque Orchestra, the Sebastians, New York Baroque Inc., and American Classical Orchestra, and she has performed as a substitute with the European ensembles Il Pomo d’Oro and Anima Eterna Brugge.
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.
OLIVER WESTON
Cello
Oliver Weston is a cellist and violist da gamba specializing in historical performance. He began his studies close to home at North Carolina School of the Arts before continuing at The Juilliard School, where he earned a Master of Music in Historical Performance under the guidance of Phoebe Carrai and Sarah Cunningham.
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.
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.
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.
STEPHEN BARD
Oboe
Oboist Stephen Bard has performed internationally with period instrument orchestras and chamber ensembles including Tafelmusik, Philharmonia Baroque, Portland Baroque, Arion, Le Concert d’Astrée, American Bach Soloists, Tempesta di Mare, Washington Bach Consort, Folger Consort, Chicago Opera Theater, Les Boréades, REBEL, Musica Angelica, and Aradia Ensemble. He has appeared at the Oregon Bach Festival, Vancouver Early Music Festival, Mostly Mozart Festival, Klang & Raum Musikfestival, Festival Internacional de las Artes de Castilla y León, and the Huntsville Festival of the Arts (Ontario).
DAN BATES
Oboe
Daniel Bates was born in London but now lives in Washington, D.C. He is principal oboe of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (London, UK) and the National Philharmonic Orchestra (D.C., USA.) He recently received his doctoral degree from Stony Brook and Princeton Universities. His wedding was featured by Martha Stewart, and he has a Pomeranian dog called Fitz.
MARY CICCONETTI
Oboe
Praised for her “virtuosic execution” (The Boston Music Intelligencer), Boston-based Mary Cicconetti maintains an active career as a musician on historical and modern oboes. She performs throughout the United States on the Baroque oboe with the Handel and Haydn Society, American Bach Soloists, Boston Baroque, Washington Bach Consort, and the Bloomington Bach Cantata Project.
DAVID DICKEY
Oboe
David Dickey earned his Master of Music degree in historical performance in Baroque oboe from The Juilliard School. During his two-year program, he played with the school’s premier period instrument ensemble, Juilliard415, and toured through England and Germany, playing in J.S. Bach’s own Thomaskirche at Bachfest in Leipzig, as well as at The Boston Early Music Festival under Masaaki Suzuki. Upon graduation, he received the Norman Benzaquen Career Advancement Grant, awarded to five students graduating from Juilliard, and was one of four graduates to be given a year-long contract to appear in recitals and orchestral performances with The English Concert in America.
PABLO O’CONNELL
Oboe
Pablo O’Connell is a NYC-based modern and historical oboist. Highly in-demand as a freelance musician, Mr. O’Connell performs with the Trinity Wall St Baroque Orchestra, Heartbeat Opera, Tafelmusik, Carmel Bach Festival, Mercury Chamber Orchestra, Cantata Collective, New York Baroque Incorporated, Opera Neo, Twelfth Night, and Musica Angelica. He is passionate about contemporary music and performs regularly with SEM Ensemble and the Metropolis Ensemble, where has curated a series of pop-up concerts of open-score music annually since 2022 as part of the Biophony festival.
Voice
EMILY DONATO
Soprano
Emily Donato has performed as a soloist in Handel’s Messiah with Colorado Bach Ensemble and St. Thomas Church Fifth Avenue, as well as soloist in Faure’s Requiem at Carnegie Hall. In 2023, she was awarded first prize in the 2023 Handel Aria Competition and that same year was a vocal fellow at the Carmel Bach Festival. After winning the Lyndon Woodside Oratorio Competition in 2021, Ms. Donato appeared as soloist with the Oratorio Society of New York in Bach’s B Minor Mass.
SARAH BAILEY
Soprano
Sarah Bailey is a well-known classical soprano in southern Maine. She has appeared with Maine Music Society (Beethoven’s Mass in C, Mozart’s Requiem, Solemn Vespers KV 321, White Mountain Bach Festival (multiple Bach cantatas), Midcoast Symphony Orchestra (Handel’s Messiah), and many solo appearances with ChoralART, including soloist on tour in Europe (Schubert’s 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.”
KIRSTEN SOLLEK
Alto
Called “ …an appealingly rich alto…” by The New York Times and “…an ideal Bach alto…” with “…elemental tone quality…” by The Philadelphia Inquirer, contralto Kirsten Sollek is known for her unique sound and compelling performance style. Concert highlights include the role of Holofernes in Vivaldi’s Juditha Triumphans with Philadelphia’s Tempesta di Mare, Pierre Boulez’ Le Marteau Sans Maître with Novus New York at Trinity Wall Street, the role of the Amnesiac in Luna Pearl Woolf’s oratorio Number Our Days, Händel’s Messiah with Musica Sacra in NYC, Händel’s Resurezzione with the Helicon Foundation, Duruflé’s Requiem and Vivaldi’s Stabat Mater with Great Music in a Great Space, and Brahms’ Alto Rhapsody and Elgar’s Sea Pictures with the String Orchestra of Brooklyn.
ELISA SUTHERLAND
Mezzo-Soprano
Mezzo-soprano Elisa Sutherland gives detailed, stylistic performances of early and new music with “soul-infused expressiveness and unselfconscious joie de vivre” (New York Music Daily). She is a core member of Ekmeles, a sextet dedicated to exploring microtonal tuning and extended vocal techniques, as well as Alkemie, an ensemble made up of medieval specialists that celebrates the vibrant and timeless sounds of the past and present.
ANDREA GRAICHEN
Alto
Andrea Graichen is a frequent soloist in the Greater Portland area, performing a wide variety of alto and mezzo-soprano repertoire. She sang the mezzo-soprano solo in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 in the gala opening concerts of the Portland Symphony Orchestra’s (PSO) 100th anniversary season. She also sang the role of Mother Jeanne in the PSO’s presentation of Poulenc’s opera Dialogues of the Carmelites. Ms. Graichen appeared as the alto soloist with Portland’s ChoralArt in a 2025 concert featuring Mozart’s Credomesse and the world premiere of the organization’s innovative commission on an historic event in Portland’s history, FIRE!
MATTHEW NEWHOUSE
Tenor
A sought-after soloist, Matthew Newhouse has performed with the Tucson Symphony for Handel’s Messiah, Utah Symphony and the Rochester Philharmonicfor their respective performances of Mozart’s Requiem, and the Baltimore Symphonyin Dame Ethyl Smith’s Mass in D. Mr. Newhouse also performs with Apollo’s Fire, ARTEK Early Music, Ars Lyrica Houston, Emmanuel Music Boston, Duke Chapel Music Series, and the Bach Virtuosi Festival.
BEN MCVETY
Tenor
Ben McVety holds a Master of Science in Music Education and is an accomplished choral musician with experience performing across a wide range of ensembles. He has sung with esteemed groups such as ChoralArt, the Renaissance Voices, Aurora Camerata, and the Bach Virtuosi Festival. His versatility extends beyond classical choral music—he has also performed with mid-coast Maine’s Opus One Jazz ensemble as both a vocalist and trombonist.
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.
PAUL JESSEN
Bass
Paul Jessen currently sings with a wide range of southern Maine ensembles: Aurora Camerata, ChoralArt Singers, ChoralArt Camerata, Amethyst Chamber Ensemble, the Maine Gay Men’s Chorus, and the St. Alban’s Chancel Choir in Cape Elizabeth. This is his third time performing as part of the Bach Virtuosi Festival choral ensemble. When he’s not singing or working his day job in marketing at Tom’s of Maine, he spends time with his partner, either in Scarborough or out on North Haven Island.
ANNETTE JOLLES
Stage Direction
Annette Jolles has created a diverse body of work as a director and producer for theater and television and is the recipient of 29 Emmy Awards. She has directed numerous Live From Lincoln Center broadcasts including solo concerts starring Cynthia Erivo, Sutton Foster, Leslie Odom, Jr., Norm Lewis, and Patina Miller; concerts for Mostly Mozart and the NY Philharmonic; and three Richard Tucker galas. She also produced PBS’ Stars on Stage, directing episodes starring Brandon Victor Dixon and Shoshana Bean.
Festival Chorus
ELLEN ROBERTSON
Soprano
Ellen Robertson is a versatile soprano from Murfreesboro, Tennessee, equally at home in early music, opera, and choral singing. A graduate of Yale’s Institute of Sacred Music, she has appeared as a soloist in major works by Bach, Handel, Haydn, and Dvořák, and made her Carnegie Hall debut in 2024. Her operatic roles include Mimì (La bohème), Diana (If I Were You), and Euridice (Orfeo ed Euridice), with training at programs such as Sarasota Opera and Finger Lakes Opera.
VERONICA ROAN
Mezzo-Soprano
Cultivating a versatility of style, Veronica Roan is comfortable with a wide variety of concert and chamber music. Her solo work includes J.S. Bach’s Köthener Trauermusik under the direction of Masaaki Suzuki, songs of Charles Ives in Generations of Music at Yale in Weill Hall, and Haydn’s Stabat Mater under the direction of Stefan Parkman. In the spring of 2024 she toured with Juilliard415 and Yale Schola Cantorum as the alto soloist in Bach’s Mass in B Minor under the direction of David Hill, after she placed second in the Colorado Bach Ensemble’s national Bach Competition for Young Artists.
ALEX LONGNECKER
Tenor
Renowned for his poignant artistry and thoughtful musicianship, Alex Longnecker is a sought-after interpreter of Baroque and chamber solo works. He has brought his nuanced storytelling and vibrant tone to performances with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Princeton Pro Musica, Hudson Valley Symphony Orchestra, Hudson Baroque, Oregon Bach Festival, and the Yale Schola Cantorum at Lincoln Center with Julliard415.
WILL DOREZA
Baritone
Baritone Will Doreza is a multifaceted musician and artist who performs professionally as a singer, conductor, and voice teacher in New Haven, Connecticut. He has collaborated with nationally acclaimed choral ensembles, including The Thirteen, The Crossing, Santa Fe Desert Chorale, True Concord Voices and Orchestra, and Yale Choral Artists. Notable festival appearances include Bachfest Leipzig, Staunton Music Festival, the Uncommon Music Festival, Hartford Women Composers Festival, and Spoleto Festival USA.
Festival Associates
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.
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.
WEIKUAN WANG
Viola
Weikuan Wang was admitted into The Juilliard School in 2025 as a double major for violin and viola, under the studio of violin professor Lewis Kaplan and viola professor Samuel Rhodes.
Mr. Wang began violin studies at the age of four under famous violin educator and jury of the Paganini and Tchaikovsky International competitions Taras Gabora. He was admitted into the Yehudi Menuhin School Qingdao as a full scholarship student in 2023, studying with President Siqing Lu.
NOAH KOH
Cello
Noah Koh is a cellist and chamber musician born and raised in Queens, New York City. He has completed bachelor’s and master’s degrees at The Juilliard School, studying under Darrett Adkins and Natasha Brofsky; earned a performance diploma at the Manhattan School of Music with Julia Lichten; and is continuing his education at Stony Brook University with Colin Carr toward a Doctorate in Musical Arts. He has attended many summer festivals over the years, such as Music Academy of the West, Yellow Barn Young Artists Program, and Kneisel Hall.