VAN ARMENIAN, violin
Having served as concertmaster of two of the top orchestras of its category, the Pacific Music Festival Orchestra in Japan (under Charles Dutoit) and the National Repertory Orchestra in Colorado, Van Armenian is currently a principal substitute with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra and a member of Musica Camerata de Montréal. Born in Alberta, to Armenian parents, Van completed his "premier prix" at the Conservatoire de musique de Québec, with highest honours. Van has taken part in several international music festivals, including the Orford Arts Centre, SHIRA (Israel) and the Sarasota Music Festival (Florida). Solo appearances include performances with the Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra and the National Repertory Orchestra in Colorado. He has served as guest concertmaster with the Albany Symphony Orchestra, the New England Conservatory Orchestra and the Vermont Symphony Orchestra. Van has performed in Europe, Japan, the Caribbean, Canada, and the U.S.as a recitalist. 

ANDREW BEER, violin
Violinist Andrew Beer has been described as a “virtuoso soloist” by the San Francisco Classical Voice, as possessing a “glorious string tone” and by Strad Magazine, as a performer displaying “accuracy and subtle charisma”.  He has performed extensively throughout North America, Europe and Asia, and his performances have been broadcast on NHK Japan, Vietnamese television, CBC Radio-Canada, Minnesota Public Radio and WQXR New York. As a soloist, he has performed with leading orchestras in Vancouver, Montreal, New York, and Boston.  As a chamber musician, he has performed at the Banff, Orford, Domaine Forget, Tanglewood, Aspen, and Music@Menlo, and has appeared in concert with Midori and members of the Emerson String Quartet. Mr. Beer holds a BA magna cum laude from Stony Brook University, as well as an MM and GD from the New England Conservatory of Music. He served as a performing and teaching fellow at Carnegie Hall and the Juilliard School from 2007-2008, and since September 2008 he has held the post of 2nd assistant principal, 2nd violins in the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. He performs on a Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume violin, made in 1845.

MARIEVE BOCK, cello
Marieve Bock studied at the Conservatoire de Musique de Montréal with Denis Brott, where she received the Prix avec Grande Distinction à l’unanimité in 2002. She then pursued her studies at Rice University Shepherd School of Music in Houston (Texas) with professor Norman Fischer and obtained the Master of Music Degree (2005). Marieve worked with members of the Juilliard, Concord, Emerson and Cleveland String Quartets during summer sessions of the Tanglewood Music Center and California’s Music Academy of the West. She recently played in masterclass for Lynn Harrell, Yoyo Ma and Pieter Wispelwey. She premiered several Canadian works for string quartet with Espace Music Society in Ottawa and won top prizes at the Canadian Music Competition, the Festival Concours and CBC’s Jeunes Artistes. Recently, she performed with visual artists and with the Mark Morris Dance Group-New York. Last August, she had the chance to play in Japan with the Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II.

MARY BONHAG, soprano    
Mary Bonhag made her Carnegie Hall solo debut in 2009 singing in David T. Little’s new chamber opera Dog Days and in 2007, she created the role of “Eve” for the Pine Mountain Music Festival premiere of The Diaries of Adam and Eve, a new chamber opera by Evan Premo.  Ms. Bonhag has performed as part of the Fontana Chamber Arts Festival of Kalamazoo, MI, the Maui Classical Music Festival, Strings in the Mountains, Cactus Pear Music Festival, the Lancaster Music Festival, and SongFest as a Stern Fellow. She has also been featured on the NPR show Performance Today. After studying at the University of Michigan, she earned her Master’s degree at Dawn Upshaw’s graduate vocal program at Bard College, winning concerto competitions at both institutions. She lives in the woods of Vermont, and teaches at Johnson State College.

JULIE BOULIANNE, mezzo-soprano 
Winner of the Prix Lyrique Français, French-Canadian Julie Boulianne has been acclaimed for the agility and expressive power of her dark-hued mezzo-soprano in a wide repertoire, with a special focus on the music of Mozart and Rossini. Possessing a voice The New York Times calls "subtle and pure," she distinguished herself in the role of Isolier in Rossini’s Le Comte Ory while still a member of the Juilliard Opera Center. After summer performances of Elisa in Handel’s Tolomeo at Glimmerglass Opera, directed by Chas Rader-Shieber, Julie Boulianne opens the 2010/2011 season of Pacific Opera Victoria in her signature role of Rossini’s La Cenerentola. She makes her Metropolitan Opera debut as Diane in Stephen Wadsworth’s production of Iphigénie en Tauride, conducted by Patrick Summers, and returns to that company as Stéphano in Roméo et Juliette, under the baton of Plácido Domingo. During the 2009/2010 season, Ms. Boulianne made her New York City Opera debut as the wily Lazuli in Chabrier’s comedic opera L’Étoile,  sang Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro at Vancouver Opera, and portrayed the title role in Massenet’s Cendrillon at l’Opéra de Montréal and at l’Opéra de Marseille. Her concert calendar included Ravel’s Shéhérazade with Emmanuel Villaume and the Utah Symphony and Berlioz’s Les Nuits d’Été with l’Orchestre Symphonique du Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean. Julie Bouliane has appeared frequently at Montreal Opera, Quebec Opera, and McGill Opera. In March 2009, Naxos Records released a recording of Shéhérazade and L’enfant et les sortileges featuring Julie Boulianne and the Nashville Symphony, which was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Classical Album. A graduate of McGill University’s Schulich School of Music, Julie Boulianne won the First Prize in both the Canadian Music Competition and the Joy of Singing Competition in New York. She has also been awarded the International Vocal Arts Institute’s Silverman Prize, and in 2007, the Prix de la Chambre des Directeurs for Most Promising Career at the Concours International de Chant de Montréal.

LAMBERT CHEN ,viola
Critically acclaimed violist LAMBERT CHEN is a member of the viola section of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. As chamber musician, he is currently the violist of the Musica Camerata of Montreal, and has participated as guest artist of the Montreal Chamber Music Festival, the Orford Arts Center, and Music and Beyond. He has appeared as soloist with ensembles such as I Musici de Montreal, Symphony Pro Musica, the New England Conservatory Symphony Orchestra, and the Contemporary Music Ensemble of McGill.  Mr. Chen has received prizes and honours from the Primrose International Viola Competition, the OSM Standard Life Competition, the New England Conservatory Competition and the Sylva Gelber Foundation. Lambert holds degrees from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University and the New England Conservatory of Music, where he graduated with distinction in performance and academic honors. He has also completed a doctoral program at the Schulich School of McGill University, and pursued additional studies in Salzburg and Paris. 

KURT COBLE, violin
Violinist/Composer KURT COBLE grew up in rural Northwest Pennsylvania, in a tiny town called Weedville. Born with big ideas and a solid work ethic, he managed to create a new vocabulary of musical expression that is getting international attention. Professor Coble is the Artistic Director of the University of Bridgeport Robotic Laboratory, home of his unique invention, the P.A.M. Band, a collection of robotic musicians that feature several innovative uses of new technology to compose and perform his cutting-edge music, dedicated to the spirit of interdisciplinary art. Devoted to his profound respect for the traditional violin repertoire, Mr. Cobleperforms in recital frequently with Boston Symphony pianist, Vytas Baksys. He has performed his own works in Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Newark Symphony Hall, and in concert tours from Miami to Tokyo. He has received commissions from Meet the Composers, New York Council on the Arts, Dodge Foundation, and the NEA. He is Concertmaster of the Philadelphia Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra, and Miami Symphonic Ensemble.

RICARDO COBO, guitar 
Colombia-born RICARDO COBO is recognized as one of the world's leading  virtuosi of the new classic guitar generation. He made his astonishing debut to American audiences as the first Hispanic ever to win consecutive medals at the Guitar Foundation of America’s Solo International Competition.  He gave his professional debut with the Orquesta Filarmónica de Bogotá at age seventeen on a nationwide telecast  for an audience of over nine million. Equally in demand as chamber musician, pedagogue and recording artist, Cobo's busy touring schedule has taken him from New York's Carnegie Hall and Alice Tully Hall to Korea's Ho Ham Hall, Los Angeles' Ambassador Auditorium, Madrid's Teatro Real, and Zaragoza's Palacio Real, to Venezuela's Teresa Carreño, and his native Colombia's National Library, among hundreds of others. His diverse and innovative programming ranges from solo concerti with orchestra to historical chamber settings as well as Tango and Flamenco dance ensembles to Latin and world music concerts.  His performance of the historic American Premiere of Leo Brouwer's Concerto de Toronto under the composer's own baton with the San Antonio Symphony was called  "extrovert, lyrical and rhythmically alive...Cobo's performance was characterized by generosity of spirit, to say nothing of knockout virtuosity," added the San Antonio Express News. Cobo has been decorated by the Colombian government on numerous occasions, receiving Colombia's "Order of Cañasgordas" and the "Order of Belacazar" for outstanding merit in cultural affairs.  He chairs the Classical Guitar department at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas, and is cofounder of the “Guitar Series at UNLV”, now on its eighth consecutive season. 

DANIEL GILBERT, clarinet 
Clarinetist DANIEL GILBERT joined the faculty at the University of Michigan as Associate Professor of Clarinet in 2007. Previously, he held the position of Second Clarinet in the Cleveland Orchestra from 1995 to 2007. Mr. Gilbert teaches at the State University of New York at Stony Brook and he also served as the Associate Professor of Clarinet at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music from 2000 to 2001. A native of New York City, Mr. Gilbert received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Yale University and both a Master of Music degree and a Professional Studies Certificate from The Juilliard School. Before joining the Cleveland Orchestra, Mr. Gilbert was active as a freelancer in New York City, appearing regularly with groups including: The Metropolitan Opera, American Ballet Theater, New Jersey Symphony, Solisti New York, the Stamford Symphony and the New Haven Symphony, where he played principal clarinet from 1992 to 1995. He has appeared as soloist with the Cleveland Orchestra, the Cleveland Heights Chamber Orchestra, the New Haven Symphony, Solisti New York, and the Aspen Mozart Orchestra. He is an active chamber musician, playing regularly on the Cleveland Orchestra Chamber Series, the Cleveland Museum of Art Chamber Series and the Oberlin Chamber Music series. Mr. Gilbert’s master classes and recitals have received critical acclaim throughout the world. His teachers have included David Weber, Robert Marcellus, Stanley Hasty, Richard Waller, Burt Hara and Judith Kalin-Freeman.
 

LEO GRINHAUZ, cello
Over the past thirty years, Leo Grinhauz has performed throughout the Americas as a soloist, recitalist and ensemblist including the international festivals at Marlboro, Ottawa, and Lanaudiere. Heard frequently over the airwaves of the CBC, Leo's discography includes several recorded for that company. One of them is Musique Des Ameriques, a disc for cello and piano, and includes Leo's mother, Berta Rosenohl. Leo has been cultivating a diverse musical career in the New York metropolitan area. As a cellist on Broadway, Leo's last shows include Jane Eyre, and The Producers. Currently, Leo enjoys touring and recording with The Philadelphia Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra as their principal cellist.

LUIS GRINHAUZ,violin
Luis Grinhauz was born in Entre Rios, Argentina. After receiving his diplomas and the gold medal from the Conservatory of Buenos Aires, and with the support of scholarships from the Fulbright Foundation and the American States Organization, he resumed his studies at Indiana University with Josef Gingold, where he obtained the Performer's Diploma in 1969. The next year, Mr. Grinhauz won the first prize at the Aspen Music Festival in Colorado. Since 1970, Mr. Grinhauz has lived in Montreal, where he is assistant concertmaster of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. He has performed widely as soloist and chamber music player in Canada, the United States, Mexico, Argentina, Israel, Switzerland, and Germany and as a guest concertmaster in Spain. He is a founding member of Musica Camerata Montréal and of the Trio de Montréal. He has recorded several CDs with both groups and he is a frequent performer on both the CBC and Radio-Canada broadcasting networks.

KAREN KEVRA, flute
Karen Kevra has been hailed as "having a musical focus and depth seen in few flutists anywhere." Her debut recording "Works for Flute and Piano of Louis Moyse", earned a 2003 Grammy nomination. "Romantic Music for Flute and Piano" her latest CD was praised by the Boston Musical Intelligencer for "sublimely satisfying flute-playing" and by superstar flutist Sir James Galway who wrote "There were many outstanding special moments which truly touched me." Kevra has performed in the U.S., Canada, and Europe and has shared the stage with Jaime Laredo, the Paris Piano Trio, Borromeo String Quartet, and Trey Anastasio of Phish. An active chamber musician and in demand as a soloist, of her 2011 West Coast tour, The San Francisco Voice called her "...a most excellent soloist….elegantly beautiful." The young rising star composer Mohammed Fairouz has been commissioned to write a chamber work based on Arab dance themes for Ms. Kevra in 2012. She is the founder and Artistic Director of Montpelier's Capital City Concerts and just completed her first season as Artistic Director of Summer Music from Greensboro, based in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. When she's not playing the flute, you can find her at home preparing Middle Eastern feasts, digging in the garden, and listening to her beloved Red Sox on the radio. Visit her website KarenKevra.com

MUSICA CAMERATA MONTRÉAL
Hailed as Canada's foremost chamber music ensemble, MUSICA CAMERATA MONTRÉAL will celebrate its 43rd anniversary this season, making it one of the most established chamber music ensembles in Canada. Since its debut in 1970, Musica Camerata Montréal offers programs of rare originality, and has devoted much of its energy to promoting the music of Canadian composers. Musica Camerata continuously seeks new repertoire and has given the Canadian premieres of many unknown musical works. Musica Camerata's repertoire includes more than 300 works from the 18th to the 21st centuries. They have always enjoyed tremendous public and critical acclaim for the high quality of their performances and numerous recordings. Over the last three decades, the musicians of Musica Camerata have developed a unique rapport with the public through the sheer pleasure of making music. On tour, Musica Camerata has given many concerts in Canada, the United States, Costa Rica and Argentina.

BRUNO PASQUIER, viola
Widely recognized as one of today’s great violists, Bruno Pasquier achieves in his playing a perfect synthesis between his musical sensitivity and his impressive technique. Launching his career with first prizes at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Paris (1961) and the International Munich Competition (1965), M. Pasquier became first soloist with theThéâtre National de l’Opéra de Paris in 1965, and the Orchestre National de France in 1985, where he performed under the batons of Böhm, Solti, and Ozawa, among others. Since 1972, when he was selected by Lorin Maazel to tour Japan as soloist with the Orchestre National, his international career as a soloist has taken him to venues across Europe, the United States, Canada, Russia, and China. M. Pasquier is also a sought-after chamber musician. He performs frequently with his brother, violinist Régis Pasquier, and cellist Roland Pidoux as the Pasquier String Trio, and with the Paris Piano Trio in piano quartets. Other collaborations have included such artists as Nadia Boulanger, Salvatore Accardo, Yehudi Menuhin, Jean-PierreRampal, Leonard Rose, Mstislav Rostropovitch, Paul Tortelier, Josef Suk, and Isaac Stern, as well as many of the most prestigious pianists of our era. M. Pasquier teaches viola and chamber music at the Conservatoire National in Paris, and frequently gives master classes in important venues around the world. His extensive discography includes many recordings for Harmonia Mundi and Naxos.

REGIS PASQUIER, violin
The extraordinary talent of Regis Pasquier was recognized early, when he won first prize in both violin and chamber music at the Paris Conservatory at the age of 12. He went on to win many other awards, including the Prize of the Academy of French Recording, the Georges Enesco Prize, the Charles Cros Prize, 1991's "best soloist" award from the Sixièmes Victoires de la Musique, and the Special Prize of the Nouvelle Academie du Disque. He was named an Officier des Artes et Lettres by the French government in 1991. Professor of Violin and Chamber Music at the Paris Conservatory, he performs annually with major orchestras and in recital around the globe. His extensive discography includes the complete Mozart violin concertos on the Auvidis label.

TRIO PASQUIER 
Régis Pasquier-violin, Bruno Pasquier-viola, Roland Pidoux-cello
The children of the original members of the Parisian Trio Pasquier, Bruno and Régis Pasquier and Roland Pidoux expressed very early a taste for chamber music. Having joined forces directly out of the Paris Conservatory, they share a career that puts them at the forefront of chamber music ensembles worldwide. Each member also has an exceptional international solo career. The Trio tours around the world and regularly performs at major international festivals.

ROLAND PIDOUX, cello
A true Renaissance man, cellist Roland Pidoux has explored every avenue of classical music. Soon after completing his studies with André Navarra, Jean Hubeau and Joseph Calvet, he founded, with Jean-Pierre Wallez, l'Ensemble Instrumental de France. He has been a member of the Quatour Via Nova and the Trio Pasquier, and has performed with Isaac Stern, Pierre Fournier, Mistislav Rostropovitch, and Jean-Pierre Rampal.Previously a member of l'Orchestre de l'Opéra de Paris under the baton of Rolf Leibermann, he also held a soloist chair in l'Orchestre National de France under Lorin Maazel. He served as artistic director for a series of recordings for Harmonia Mundi, and is currently Professor of Cello at the Paris Conservatory.

BERTA ROSENOHL, piano
Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, BERTA ROSENOHL received, a prestigious grant from Mozarteum, an Argentinian organization dedicated to the propagation of music in 1968. This grant allowed her to study music at Indiana University, where she studied piano with Alfonso Montecino and chamber music with Janos Starker and William Primrose. Berta has lived in Montreal since 1970 and has invested much in the city's musical activities. As a soloist, she has often played with the McGill Chamber Orchestra, Pro Arte, and l'Orchestre de chambre de l'Université de Sherbrooke. She has recorded several CDs and she can be heard on both the CBC and Radio-Canada networks. Berta is one of Musica Camerata's co-founders. She has  toured extensively in Europe, the Americas, and Israel. Berta can be heard on the Musica Camerata CD released on the CBC Records label, "Le Grand Tango", as well as "Salon Viennois".

TALICH QUARTET
Jan Talich-violin,  Roman Patocka-violin, Vladimir Bukac-viola,  Petr Prause-cello
For several decades, the Talich Quartet has been recognized internationally as one of Europe’s finest chamber ensembles, and as the embodiment of the great Czech musical tradition. The Quartet was founded in 1964 by Jan Talich, during his studies at the Prague Conservatory, and named for his uncle Vaclav Talich, the renowned chief conductor of the Czech Philharmonic. During the 1990s, there was a gradual and complete change in personnel, rejuvenating the Quartet while continuing the tradition of
its predecessors through involvement in a wide spectrum of musical engagements and recording activities. Jan Talich, the current first violinist, is the son of the Quartet’s founder. The Talich Quartet is regularly invited to prestigious chamber music festivals such as the Pablo Casals Festival in Prades, Printemps des Arts in Monte Carlo, Tibor Varga Festival of Music, and the International String Quartet Festival in Ottawa; and frequently visits such venues as New York’s Carnegie Hall, le Théâtre des Champs-Elysées and Salle Gaveau in Paris, and London’s Wigmore Hall. The Talich’s recordings of the complete string quartets by Felix Mendelssohn, released on the Calliope label between 2001and 2004, have been widely praised. Other recording projects include, also for Calliope, Dvorak’s “American” quartet and viola quintet (2003),  Smetana’s two string quartets (2003), and a live recording of Schubert’s “Death and the Maiden” and the Dvorák Quintet (2004). The Quartet’s Janácek recording was honored by Gramophone with a nomination for the best chamber recording of 2006—the only recording by a string quartet to be selected.

ORLANDO WELLS,viola
Orlando Wells attended the State University of New York at Purchase as a double major on violin and viola.  His primary teachers were Yuval Waldman, and Emmanuel Vardi.  He continued his studies at the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers in New Jersey in the studio of Michael Tree. He has  played with St. Luke’s Chamber Orchestra, Radio City Christmas Spectacular orchestra, Knickerbocker Chamber Orchestra, as well as concertmaster of the Orchestra of the Bronx and principal viola of the Antara Chamber orchestra.  Mr. Wells has performed and recorded with great artists such as Mariah Carey, John Legend, Rihanna, Harry Connick Jr., Dionne Warwick, Elvis Costello, and many others.  Currently, he is the violist of the critically acclaimed Sweet Plantain String Quartet.