2018-2019 Artists

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Theodore Arm

Theodore Arm has delighted audiences throughout the United States, Canada, Europe and Asia with his artistry. He has appeared as soloist, recitalist and guest artist with such well-known organizations as The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. In 2011 Mr. Arm conducted master classes in Korea and performed as a guest artist at the opening concert of the new Chamber Music Hall at the Seoul Arts Center. Since 1976 he has performed with the highly acclaimed chamber group TASHI and has toured with Lukas Foss, Chick Corea and Gary Burton throughout Europe and Asia. He has had several works written for him, including a violin chamber suite by Gabriela Frank that was premiered at Carnegie Hall in November 2004. In 2007 he concertized in Poland and Russia during a two-week tour at the invitation of the Moscow Conservatory.

Mr. Arm is a favorite with summer chamber music festival audiences. He is a regular featured artist at Chamber Music Northwest in Portland, Oregon, and Music from Angel Fire, New Mexico. He has recorded for RCA, Delos, Koch, Musical Heritage Society and ECM. Mr. Arm is currently Adjunct Professor of Violin at Connecticut College. He holds a Doctorate in Performance from The Juilliard School, where he studied with Christine Dethier and Joseph Fuchs.

Michael Arnowitt 

Pianist, composer, and event organizer Michael Arnowitt is one of the most creative musicians of today. His imaginative musical landscapes and extraordinary sense of touch at the piano have delighted audiences in concert halls around the world, from his home base in Vermont and Toronto to Korea, Russia, and many countries all over Europe. 
 
In 1989 Michael Arnowitt began his novel, 26-year long presentation of the complete 32 Beethoven piano sonatas, matching up his age as he performed the various sonatas with Beethoven's age as Beethoven composed them. The eight concerts in the project, spaced out over 26 years, thereby became a study in the psychology of aging and development. 
 
Other creative projects have included “If Music Be the Food of Love,” a
performance of classical and jazz music about food with the simultaneous serving to the audience of the food tastes that inspired the composers, and a 2013 composition Haiku Textures for three cello soloists and orchestra, where the three cellos symbolize the three lines of a Japanese haiku poem. A 2 CD set of 14 of his jazz compositions, Sweet Spontaneous, was released by Parma Recordings in July of this
year. 
 
Arnowitt has also been the principal organizer of several large-scale fundraisers for humanitarian aid, including a 2016 benefit concert of Syrian music and literary readings involving 30 performers that raised $14,000 in aid for Syrian refugees. Website: Michael Arnowitt and can be found on Facebook under his name and on Twitter at Piano_MA.

EDWARD ARRON

A native of Cincinnati, Ohio, cellist Edward Arron has appeared in recital, as a soloist with major orchestras, and as a chamber musician throughout North America, Europe and Asia. In 2013, Mr. Arron completed a ten-year residency as the artistic director of the critically acclaimed chamber music series, Metropolitan Museum Artists in Concert. Currently, he is the artistic director, host, and resident performer of the Musical Masterworks concert series in Old Lyme, Connecticut, as well as the Festival Series in Beaufort, South Carolina, and Chamber Music on Main at the Columbia Museum in Columbia, SC.

​Mr. Arron has performed numerous times at Carnegie’s Weill and Zankel Halls, Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully and Avery Fisher Halls, New York’s Town Hall, and the 92nd Street Y, and is a frequent performer at Bargemusic. Festival appearances include Ravinia, Salzburg, Mostly Mozart, BRAVO! Colorado, Tanglewood, Bridgehampton, Spoleto USA, Santa Fe, Seattle Chamber Music, Great Mountains, Charlottesville, Telluride Musicfest, Seoul Spring, Lake Champlain Chamber Music, and Bard Music Festival. He has participated in Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Project as well as Isaac Stern’s Jerusalem Chamber Music Encounters. A graduate of the Juilliard School, Mr. Arron has served on the faculty of New York University since 2009.​​

Julie Boulianne

French-Canadian mezzo-soprano 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. The New York Times said of her performances of Rossini’s La Cenerentola, “Julie Boulianne made Angelina a girl of honesty and spirit, ready to battle for her right to go to the ball and to forgive her obnoxious family. Her warm, flexible mezzo came into its own in her final, triumphant rondo.”
 
In the 2016-2017 season, Julie Boulianne will debut at the Aix-en-Provence Festival in the world premiere of Philippe Boesmans Pinocchio, return to Théâtre des Champs–Elysées for Donna Elvira, a debut role in Don Giovanni, make her house and role debut with the Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse as Béatrice in Béatrice et Bénédict, perform the title role of La Cenerentola for her debut with Opéra–Théâtre de Limoges and return to Opéra de Québec as Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia. Recital and symphonic highlights include Chausson’s Poeme de l’ amour and Beethoven’s Egmont Schauspielmusik with the Bamberg Symphony, and sing recitals with the Tuesday Music Club in San Antonio and in Québec.
 
In past seasons, Julie has enjoyed several appearances at the Metropolitan Opera singing Siébel in Faust, Stéphano in Roméo et Juliette conducted by Plácido Domingo, Diane in Stephen Wadsworth’s production of Iphigénie en Tauride, conducted by Patrick Summers, the Kitchen-Boy inRusalkaalongside Renée Fleming, and Ascanio in Francesca Zambello’s production of Les Troyens, conducted by Fabio Luisi, which was seen internationally as part of the Met Live in HD cinema cast series. Ms. Boulianne made her role debut as Miranda in a new production by Robert Lepage of Thomas Adès’s modern masterpiece The Tempest, under the baton of the composer at the Festival Opéra de Québec. In past seasons she made her New York City Opera debut as the wily Lazuli in L’Étoile, directed by Mark Lamos; Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro at Vancouver Opera and at Opéra de Montréal; the title role in Massenet’s Cendrillonat Opéra de Montréal and at l’Opéra de Marseille; Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia for her debut at Minnesota Opera; and the title role in La Cenerentola at Aspen Opera Theater, Florida Grand Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, and Pacific Opera Victoria, as well as Fragoletto, the young hero of Offenbach’s Les Brigands, at both Opéra de Toulon and Opéra Comique in Paris.
 
A graduate of McGill University’s Schulich School of Music, she 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.

lucy chapman

Violinist Lucy Chapman has pursued an eclectic career spanning many musical worlds. A graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, where she studied with Arnold Steinhardt of the Guarneri Quartet, she became Acting Associate Concertmaster of the San Francisco Symphony at the age of twenty-nine; from that position, she moved on to play two seasons as first violin of the award-winning Muir String Quartet. She
played solo and chamber music concerts throughout the USA, Europe, Korea, and Japan. Her recording of Bartok, Stravinsky, and Ives with clarinetist Richard Stoltzman and pianist Richard Goode won a Grammy nomination, and she also recorded with Keith Jarrett, whose solo sonata she premiered in Chicago’s Orchestra Hall.
 
Ms Chapman is a former faculty member at the University of California at Santa Cruz, Boston University, Harvard University, and the New England Conservatory, where she served for many years as Chair of the Chamber Music and Strings. She taught for ten summers at Kneisel Hall in Blue Hill, Maine, and is a regular senior participant at the Marlboro Music Festival in Marlboro, Vermont. Chapman holds a Masters degree in Education from the Antioch New England Graduate School, where she specialized in Waldorf Education.
 
Ms. Chapman has recently moved full-time to Vermont, where she continues performing and teaching privately, and also helps her daughter run an organic farm. 

Josh collier

Joshua Collier (Tenor) was hailed as “a great Italian tenor on the make” by The Boston Musical Intelligencer for his performance of Roméo in Roméo et Juliette and lauded by the Classical Voice of North Carolina for his “exceptionally pleasing tone and excellent command of [his] high range.” The 2018 season features Mr Collier as B.F. Pinkerton in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly (Raylynmor Opera and BARN OPERA), Eisenstein in Strauss’ Die Fledermaus (Opera Wilmington), Rodolfo in Puccini’s La Bohème (Boston Civic Symphony in Jordan Hall of New England Conservatory as well as BARN OPERA), Alfredo in Verdi’s La Traviata (Southern Vermont Lyric Theatre), Britten’s Serenade for Tenor, Horn, and Strings (Guilford Orchestra), The tenor soloist with the Burlington Choral Society in "A Baltic Heartbeat," in Garuta's oratorio "Dievs, Tava Zeme Deg," and Nemorino in Donizetti’s L’Elisir D’Amore (Opera Company of Middlebury) in a Vermont tour, a role he reprises from the same production from fall 2017. As the most recent operatic Vermont resident, Mr. Collier is Artistic Director of BARN OPERA, based in Brandon, VT. He is internationally represented by Berger Artist Management. More information of Mr. Collier’s schedule, media, and reviews can be found his personal website: jrctenor.com

Allison Devery steinmetz

Described as, “brilliant, nuanced, and lyrically expressive,” Allison Devery Steinmetz, soprano, spans her vocal artistry in classical, musical theater, and contemporary music. Collaborations and performances of note include creating the role of Nora in the world premiere of Paul Siskind's The Sailorboy and the Falcon, alongside acclaimed mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe, and breathing fresh life into the roles of The Angel in Erik Nielsen's A Fleeting Animal and Amaranth in Steven Serpa's Thyrsis & Amaranth, as well as premiering the role of Aello in Marc Blitzstein's The Harpies in Canada.
 
Along with her operatic and musical theater career, Allison is a highly sought after concert soloist, performing masterworks of Beethoven, Brahms, Handel, Finzi, Mozart, Schubert, Lotti, Vitier, Zelenka, and more. Allison has shared the concert stage with The Manhattan Chamber Orchestra, The Lafayette Symphony Orchestra, the Burlington Choral Society, the Green Mountain Mahler Festival, the Rutland Area Chorus, and the Vermont Collegiate Choral Consortium. Her solo and ensemble experience in Vermont includes performances with The Opera Company of Middlebury, Barn Opera, Counterpoint Chorus, and the Green Mountain Monteverdi Ensemble, and she is a featured soloist on the CD release of Robert De Cormier's Songs of Hope and Freedom with Bella Voce Women's Chorus. Allison received her M.M. From the University of Montreal and her B.M. From the Crane School of Music.

karen kevra

Karen Kevra has won attention as one of the country's outstanding flutists through her distinctive warm and extroverted performances as a soloist and chamber musician, and has been hailed as "having a musical focus and depth seen in few flutists anywhere." Kevra's commitment to expanding the modern flute repertoire includes the premier recording, Works for Flute and Piano of Louis Moyse-CRI which earned a Grammy nomination and accolades from numerous American reviewers. Romantic Music for Flute and Piano, her latest CD was praised by the Boston Musical Intelligencer for “sublimely satisfying flute-playing”, and by flutist Sir James Galway, who wrote "There are special moments which truly touched me. An outstanding performance.” Kevra has performed throughout the U.S., Canada, and Europe including performances at Carnegie Hall, the French Embassy in Washington D.C., and on French National Television, and has shared the stage with Jaime Laredo, the Paris Piano Trio, Borromeo String Quartet, Boston Chamber Music Society, members of the Emerson and Talich String Quartets, and Trey Anastasio of Phish.  A sought-after flute instructor with award-winning students, she maintains teaching studios in Montpelier and Middlebury, Vermont. A passionate and indefatigable gardener she loves preparing home-grown feasts for friends and family. ​​

sycil mathai

​SYCIL MATHAI, trumpeter, enjoys a global musical career that encompasses all genres. The New York Times called him a "terrific trumpeter."  From classical to experimental genres, his work spans ensembles like The Knights Orchestra, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Argento New Music, Dave Sanford's big band Pittsburgh Collective, American Composers Orchestra, artists Carter Burwell, and the dance companies of Merce Cunningham, Mark Morris Dance Group, and movie directors Andy Kaufman, and The Coen Brothers. He has recorded for RCA, PBS, CBS, EA Sports, Warner Classics, and Sirius Satellite Radio.  He has shared the stage with artists ranging from Yo-Yo Ma to Stevie Wonder.  

​Sycil is a graduate of Juilliard as a student of Mark Gould, and Texas Christian University as a student of Steve Weger.  Recently, Sycil served as guest Principal Trumpet for the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, served as Co-Principal Trumpet of the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, and saw the release of a recording he made with The Knights orchestra featuring Yo-Yo Ma. 
As a piccolo trumpet specialist, Mr. Mathai has performed Bach Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 countless times, including a performance with Capital City Concerts in 2014.  He is delighted to return this season to perform for the wonderful audiences in Vermont. 

robert mcdonald

​Mr. McDonald has toured extensively as a soloist and chamber musician throughout the United States, Europe, Asia, and South America. He has performed with major orchestras in the United States and was the recital partner for many years to Isaac Stern and other distinguished instrumentalists. He has participated in the Marlboro, Casals, and Luzerne Festivals, the Chamber Music Society at Lincoln Center, and has broadcasted for BBC Television worldwide. He has appeared with the Takács, Vermeer, Juilliard, Brentano, Borromeo, American, Shanghai, and St. Lawrence string quartets as well as with Musicians from Marlboro. His discography includes recordings for Sony Classical, Bridge, Vox, Musical Heritage Society, ASV, and CRI. Mr. McDonald’s prizes include the Gold Medal at the Busoni International Piano Competition, the top prize at the William Kapell International Competition and the Deutsche Schallplatten Critics Award. His teachers include Theodore Rehl, Seymour Lipkin, Rudolf Serkin, Mieczyslaw Horszowski, Beveridge Webster, and Gary Graffman. He holds degrees from Lawrence University, the Curtis Institute of Music, the Juilliard School, and the Manhattan School of Music. A member of the piano faculty at the Juilliard School since 1999, Mr. McDonald joined the faculty of the Curtis Institute of Music in 2007, where he holds the Penelope P. Watkins Chair in Piano Studies. During the summer, he is the artistic director of the Taos School of Music and Chamber Music Festival in New Mexico.

jeewon park

Praised for her “deeply reflective playing” (Indianapolis Star) and “infectious exuberance” (New York Times), Korean-born pianist Jeewon Park has garnered the attention of audiences for her dazzling technique and poetic lyricism. Since making her debut at the age of 12 performing Chopin’s First Concerto with the Korean Symphony Orchestra, Ms. Park has performed in such prestigious venues as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, Merkin Hall, 92nd Street Y, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Kravis Center, and Seoul Arts Center in Korea.
 
In recent seasons, Ms. Park has performed at major concert halls across the U. S. and Korea. She performs as soloist with the Hwa Eum Chamber Orchestra in the Inaugural Festival of the IBK Chamber Hall at the Seoul Arts Center, as well as engagements at venues such as the Metropolitan Museum’s Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, Tilles Center for the Performing Arts, Vilar Performing Arts Center, and Kumho Art Hall in Seoul, among others. In addition, she returns to the Caramoor International Music Festival as a member of Caramoor Virtuosi where she was a Rising Star in 2007, the Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival, and the Seattle Chamber Music Festival, among others.
 
An avid chamber musician,  Jeewon Park has performed at prominent festivals throughout the world, including the Spoleto USA, the Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival, and others. She is regularly invited to collaborate with the members of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic Chamber Ensemble, and has performed with members of the Guarneri, Juilliard, Vermeer, Brentano, Tokyo, Fine Arts, and Miami Quartets.
 
Recent and current highlights include several performances of Mozart Piano Concertos K. 414 and K. 415, a recital of Messiaen Preludes and Kurtag Jatekok, a solo recital at Caramoor, an appearance at Lincoln Center's "What Makes It Great" series, and U.S. tours with the “Charles Wadsworth and Friends” series. As a soloist, she has appeared with the Charleston Symphony, Mexico City Philharmonic, Monterrey Symphony, Mexico State Symphony, and KBS Symphony Orchestra.
 
Ms. Park has been heard in numerous live broadcasts on National Public Radio and New York’s Classical Radio Station, WQXR. Additionally, her performances have been nationally broadcast throughout Korea on KBS television. She came to the U. S. in 2002, after having won all the major competitions in Korea, most notably Joong-Ang and KBS competitions. Ms. Park is a graduate of The Juilliard School and Yale University, where she was awarded the Dean Horatio Parker Prize. She holds the DMA degree from SUNY Stony Brook. Her teachers include Young-Ho Kim, Herbert Stessin, Claude Frank and Gilbert Kalish.

richard riley

​Richard Riley is the Artistic Director of the Burlington Choral Society, Music Director at the Unitarian Church of Montpelier, and guest conductor of the Onion River Chorus. Previously he was on the performance faculty at Cornell University where as director of the Cornell Chorale (1997-99) and Sage Chapel Choir (1999-2006) he conducted performances of large works by Bernstein, Britten, Orff, Stravinsky, Dello Joio, Beethoven, Mozart, Haydn, Handel, Bach, and Purcell as well as premiere performances of works by twelve Cornell-affiliated composers.

Mr. Riley received his Bachelor’s degree in the Performance of Early Music from the New England Conservatory, studying voice with Susan Clickner and early woodwinds with Nancy Joyce Roth, and his Masters degree in Choral Conducting from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University. A native of Baltimore, he was the first conducting student of Theodore Morrison, founder of the Baltimore Choral Arts Society. Riley has had a parallel career as an arts administrator, serving as executive director of the Brattleboro Music Center, Powers Music School, and Music in Deerfield.

laurie smukler

​Admired for her vivid musical intensity and the beauty of her sound, Laurie Smukler is an artist who is active as soloist and recitalist, as well as being a much sought after chamber musician.  Growing up in Cleveland, she began her studies at the Cleveland Institute of Music, with pedagogue Margaret Randall. She started performing early, winning local competitions, and playing as soloist with the Cleveland Orchestra at the age of fourteen. She received a Bachelor of Music degree from the Juilliard School where she studied with Ivan Galamian. As the original and founding first violinist of the Mendelssohn String Quartet, she spent eight years with that group, traveling and performing internationally. She has performed and toured with the Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society, and Music From Marlboro. With her husband, violist Ira Weller, she directed and performed in the respected series “The Collection in Concert”, at the Pierpont Morgan Library for over ten years. Laurie Smukler is a dedicated and passionate teacher. 
 
​In addition to her appointment to the faculty of the Juilliard School in 2013, she is a respected member of the faculties of the Manhattan School of Music, the Conservatory of Music at Bard College, and until recently, Mannes College. She also spent 18 years as a Professor of Violin and Chamber Music at Purchase College Conservatory of Music. Ms. Smukler plays a Petrus Guarnerius violin made in Venice in 1738 and has recorded for Music Masters. Laurie became the Artistic Director of Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival where she has served on the faculty for 22 years. 

david Tinervia

Baritone David Tinervia has performed as a soloist throughout the United States and Canada. A two-season fellow of the Tanglewood Music Center, Mr. Tinervia recently made his Tanglewood debut as The Traveler in Curlew River in collaboration with the Mark Morris Dance Group. In January, he was a finalist of the 2016 New England Regional Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.
 
Notable engagements this season include the premiere recording of James Kallembach’s Most Sacred Body with Scott Allen Jarrett and Marsh Chapel in Boston, as well as the world premiere of Nina C. Young’s work for baritone and orchestra, “Out of whose womb came the ice,” commissioned by the American Composer’s Orchestra in NYC.

randall wolfgang

​Randall Wolfgang is an acclaimed musician whose career has led him to perform throughout the United States, Europe, South America, and the Far East. He currently holds the position of principal oboist with both the New York
City Ballet and The New York City Opera orchestras. His past accomplishments include many years as principle oboist and faculty member at the Aspen Music Festival and guest artist and faculty member at the Aspen Music Festival in Nagano Japan. He has also appeared at the Marlboro, the Manadnock Music festivals, and the Great Mountains International Festival and School in South Korea. He was on the faculty of Queens College and the Manhattan School of Music. A frequent performer and soloist with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Mr
Wolfgang also enjoys an active freelance career in the New York recording
scene. Mr Wolfgang has recorded extensively on the Deutsche Grammophon, Pro Arte,
and Nonesuch labels, including a recording of the Mozart Oboe Concerto
with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra.

hyunah yu

Soprano Hyunah Yu has received acclaim for her versatility in concert and opera roles of several centuries, for her work in chamber music, for her support of new music written by contemporary composers, and for her recorded and broadcast performances. She is known particularly for her performances of the music of J. S. Bach.  Hyunah Yu appears regularly with esteemed conductors, opera houses, well-known music festivals, and major orchestras throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. A prizewinner at the Walter Naumburg International Competition and a finalist in both the Dutch International Vocal and Concert Artist Guild International competitions, she also received the coveted Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award in 2003.  An avid chamber musician and a recitalist, Ms. Yu enjoys re-engagements with the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Baltimore’s Shriver Hall Concert Series, Musicians from Marlboro, Great Mountain Music Festival, Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, the Vancouver Recital Society, the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C., and many others. She has recorded Bach and Mozart arias for EMI and two solo recitals broadcast for the BBC. Ms. Yu also holds a degree in molecular biology from the University of Texas at Austin.

The concert series is a huge asset to Montpelier, presenting the highest quality chamber and other music to an ever-growing audience. 
--Ellen McCulloch-Lovell

"Treasures" concert, Capital City Concerts, Montpelier, April 2018