Betty Woo

Hong-Kong born pianist Betty Woo received her D.M.A. degree in performance practice from Stanford University and the Artist Diploma from the Royal Academy of Music in London where she also received the MacFarren gold medal, the highest honor bestowed to a piano student. She also received a special prize for the best performance of a twentieth-century piece at the Gina Bachauer International Competition and a special award at the Carnegie Hall International American Music Competition. She has made major solo appearances in London and New York, conducted masterclasses, gave lectures at conservatories in Hong Kong and Shanghai, and appeared in such festivals as The Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Olympics in Washington, Yachats in Oregon and Music in the Mountain in California. In December 2019, she collaborated with other pianists to celebration the 30th anniversary of the Cultural Center in Hong Kong. She has also collaborated with many diverse groups and performers, such as the contemporary music groups Earplay and the San Francisco Contemporary Chamber Players, the dance companies Oakland Ballet, Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company Group and the Paul Taylor Dance Company. A very successful teacher, she was on the faculty of Holy Names University and San Francisco Conservatory for many years. At present, Ms. Woo teaches piano at University of California, Berkeley, and frequently gives talks to various music teacher groups in the Bay Area. She is a board member of the MTAC Alameda County Branch, and has judged in numerous competitions.

Grace Yu

After graduating and receiving her BA in Music from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, Grace Yu joined the Shanghai Conservatory's faculty as an assistant professor. She then went on and receive her MA at the Winthrop University School of Music in South Carolina. Grace continued her studies at Boston's Longy School of Music, where she focused on chamber music. In 1993, she joined the San Francisco Community Music Center's Piano Department faculty and has been teaching there ever since. Grace has also held positions as the MTAC Certificate of Merit Chair for Alameda Branch and State VOCE Chair North. She was on the MTAC CM Council as the Piano Panel Regional North Coordinator. Besides teaching and overseeing various programs, Grace also enjoys her time as a pianist for CCUMC, a local church.

Lena Schuman

Lena Schuman was born in Baku, Azerbaijan and began her music studies at the age of 5. Lena quickly developed into an accomplished pianist, performing with the Azerbaijan Symphony Orchestra multiple times during her teenage years.
Lena graduated from Junior Music College in Baku, before immigrating to the US in 1981 where she earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Music Performance and Pedagogy from SFCM. While pursuing her studies, Lena developed a love for teaching and has been raising wonderful young musicians ever since. She excels in mentoring students in solid technical preparation, and is dedicated to building a deep understanding of musical style, form and performance techniques.
Most of all, Lena loves sharing her passion for classical music with her students.

Namik Sultanov

Namik Sultanov is well-known as a distinguished pianist and pedagogue with exceptional lyrical gifts and a distinctive performance style. Born in Baku, Azerbaijan, he showed extraordinary musical talent from a very early age. Playing violin and flute, he was a serious student of composition in his youth, composing more than 150 pieces that were featured at music school concerts. Although at that time a string student, he won first prize in the music school’s piano competition. At 12, deeply impressed by Van Cliburn’s stunning performance at the First Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition, he began to self-study Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto. Practicing day and night, he soon played all three movements for Ahad Israfilzade, chief conductor of the Azerbaijan Philharmonic Orchestra. Mr. Israfilzade immediately asked him to play with the Philharmonic, and the triumphant concert was a big sensation in the musical life of this capital city.

After this success, the Azerbaijan government sponsored Namik at Russia’s most prestigious conservatory, Moscow’s Central Special Music School. He studied under Professor Lev Naumov, a follower of the legendary Heinrich Neuhaus. Continuing his education under Professor Naumov’s supervision at the Moscow State Conservatory, he received his doctorate in performance in 1973. After graduation, he was invited to join the faculty of the Azerbaijan State Conservatory, soon appointed an associate professor with the added title “Honor Artist of the Azerbaijan Republic”.

Participating in numerous national festivals throughout Eastern Europe, Dr. Sultanov represented his country at the International Music Festivals in Moscow,in Istanbul , in Mexico and in Germany .He has performed in various concert venues including Great Hall of the Moscow Conseravatory, in San Francisco Bay Area, in New York City ( Carnegie Hall), Vancouver, Cemal Resit Rey Concert Hall in Istanbul , Izmir, Ankara, Mexico City, St. Petersburg, Kiev, Minsk, Alma-Ata, Tallinn, and Baku.

In 1991, Dr. Sultanov was invited to join the piano faculty of Turkey’s Bilkent University, where he chaired the Piano Department and was Vice Dean of the Faculty of Music and Performing Arts. During his teaching years in Azerbaijan, Turkey, and the United States, he nurtured many students who have become winners and laureates in regional, national, and international piano competitions. In 1999, the Turkish Ministry of Culture formally recognized his distinguished teaching. Dr. Sultanov has been invited to serve on juries for national and international competitions and is sought for master classes in Europe and USA . Since 2003 for more than 15 years he has been annually invited as a jury member of San Jose International Piano competition in San Jose, California. He recorded several CDs. Currently, he is a faculty member in San Jose State University ,School of Music and Dance.

Natsuki Fukasawa

Steinway Artist Natsuki Fukasawa's has performed in Australia, Brazil, China, Denmark, England, Hong Kong, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the U.S. She is a recipient of the Best Chamber Music Recording of the Year from the Danish Music Awards.

Dr. Fukasawa teaches at both University of the Pacific Conservatory of Music and at UC Davis, and serves on the artist faculty for the Talis Festival and Academy in Bosnia. She also enjoys nurturing young talents in her own private studio, where her students’ accomplishments include appearances in the NPR show From the Top, winning top prizes in Chopin National Competition, MTAC Young Artist Guild, Philadelphia International Competition, and go on to pursue music in college.
Dr. Fukasawa’s teachers include Mark Richman in Los Angeles, Tim Fredericksen in Denmark and Ferenc Rados in Hungary. She has received degrees from the Juilliard School and the University of Maryland and Prague Academy of Music as a Fulbright Scholar.

Dr. Fukasawa enjoys the outdoors, tap dancing and playing with her two kitties.

Dr. Weicong Zhang

Pianist Weicong Zhang, a native of Shanghai, has shared the stage with many distinguished artists, including violinists Pierre Amoyal, Ian Swensen, Feng Ning, violists Nobuko Imai, Teng Li, cellist Wen-Sinn Yang, Haiye Ni, flutist Emmanuel Pahud.

She has toured in the United States and Canada, performing at the Stern Auditorium at the Carnegie Hall, Weill Recital Hall, Vancouver Playhouse etc. Since she returned to China in 2008, she has performed in almost every major venue such as China National Center for the Performing Arts, Beijing Concert Hall, Shanghai Concert Hall, Shanghai Oriental Art Center, Shanghai Symphony Concert Hall, Guangzhou Xinhai Concert Hall, Xian Concert Hall, Wuhan Qintai Concert Hall, Shenzhen Concert Hall, Hongkong Cultural Center.  Ms. Zhang has been a guest artist in Morningside Music Bridge, Young Euro Classic Festival Ensemble, Beijing International Music Festival, Shanghai Conservatory of Music and San Francisco Conservatory of Music International Chamber music Festival and International Violin Master classes and Sonata Competition of Shanghai Conservatory of Music. She gave masterclasses in accompanying and chamber music at Manhattan School of Music, San Francisco Conservatory of Music, The Middle School affiliated with Shanghai Conservatory of Music，Xian Conservatory of Music and Zhejiang Conservatory of Music. Her recording with violinist Feng Ning “ French Violin Sonatas and Miniatures” was released in 2020.

Ms. Zhang received her bachelor degree at UT Austin and both master degree and doctoral degree in collaborative piano from Manhattan School of Music where she studied with Dr. Heasook Rhee.  She taught both piano solo and chamber music at Shanghai Conservatory of music for ten years.  Currently she is guest professor of chamber music at Tianjin Juilliard School Pre College.

Victor Rosenbaum

Internationally known pianist and teacher, Victor Rosenbaum, has received critical acclaim since his first Boston debut recital after joining the New England Conservatory faculty in 1967. Of that Boston performance the Boston Globe wrote: Rosenbaum “makes up for all the drudgery the habitual concert-goer has to endure in the hope of finding the occasional real, right thing”. His critical praise continues to this day. Describing his most recent CD, “Brahms: The Last Piano Pieces” (Bridge), which was released in fall 2020, Glyn Pursglove of MusicWeb International said: “Rosenbaum’s account of of these pieces seems to me impeccable. The whole disc is magisterial; a mature pianist bringing deep thought and empathy to a series of mature pieces which stand revealed, as clearly as I have heard, as masterpieces. This will be the disc I turn to when I next want to hear any of these remarkable pieces”. Since leaving New England Conservatory after 53 years of consecutive teaching, Rosenbaum has had guest teaching and performing residencies in Puerto Rico, Israel, Japan, Korea, Austria, Bulgaria, and Taiwan, where he was recently appointed Visiting Professor of Piano and Chamber Music at National Taiwan Normal University.

Over more than five decades, Rosenbaum has concertized widely as soloist and chamber musician in the United States, Europe, Israel, Brazil, Russia, and Asia (including 25 annual trips to Japan) in such prestigious halls as Tully Hall in New York and the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, Russia. A committed chamber music performer, he has collaborated with such artists as Leonard Rose, Paul Katz, Laurence Lesser, Arnold Steinhardt, Robert Mann, Joseph Silverstein, James Buswell, Malcolm Lowe, Walter Trampler, and the Brentano, Borromeo, and Cleveland String Quartets, and was a member of two trios: The Wheaton Trio and The Figaro Trio. Rosenbaum has played and/or taught at many summer festivals, among them Tanglewood, the Rockport Chamber Music Festival, Kfar Blum and Tel Hai (in Israel), Yellow Barn, Kneisel Hall (Blue Hill), Musicorda, Masters de Pontlevoy (France), the Heifetz Institute, the International Keyboard Institute and Festival in New York, the International Music Seminar in Vienna, the Bowdoin International Music Festival, the Festival at Walnut Hill School, the Puerto Rico International Piano Festival,The Art of the Piano Festival in Cincinnati, the Atlantic Music Festival, Piano Texas, the Adamant Music School, the Lancaster International Piano Festival, and the Eastern Music Festival, where he headed the piano department for five years. Rosenbaum is also a contributor to the online site “Musicale” (WeAreMusicale.com).

Recital appearances have brought him to Chicago, Minneapolis, Tokyo, Taipei, Vienna, Beijing, St. Petersburg (Russia), Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and New York, among others.  In addition to his absorption in the music of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries (in particular Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin, and Brahms), Rosenbaum has performed and given premieres of works by many 20th and 21st Century composers, including John Harbison, John Heiss, Peter Westergaard, Norman Dinerstein, Arlene Zallman, Donald Harris, Daniel Pinkham, Miriam Gideon, Stephen Albert, and many others.  A musician of diverse talents, Rosenbaum is also a composer and has frequently conducted in the Boston area and beyond.

Rosenbaum, who studied with Elizabeth Brock and Martin Marks while growing up in Indianapolis, and went on to study with Rosina Lhevinne at the Aspen Festival and Leonard Shure in New York (while earning degrees at Brandeis University and Princeton), has become a renowned teacher himself. During his long tenure on the faculty of New England Conservatory, he chaired its piano department for more than a decade, and was also Chair of Chamber Music. On the faculty of Mannes School of Music in New York from 2004-2017, he has also been Visiting Professor of Piano at the Eastman School of Music, a guest teacher at Juilliard, and presents lectures, workshops, and master classes for teachers’ groups and schools both in the U. S. and abroad, including at London’s Royal Academy of Music, Royal College of Music, and Guildhall School, the conservatories of St. Petersburg and Moscow, Beijing Central Conservatory, Shanghai Conservatory, the Toho School in Tokyo, Tokyo Ondai, Seoul National University, most major schools in Taiwan, and other institutions such as the Menuhin School near London, and the Jerusalem Music Center. Rosenbaum’s students have established teaching and performing careers in the US and abroad, and have won top prizes in such competitions as the Young Concerts Artists, Charles Wadsworth International Competition, New Orleans International Competition, Casagrande International Piano Competition, Gina Bachauer Competition, and the New York International Competition, among others. Rosenbaum’s sixteen years as Director and President of the Longy School of Music (1985-2001) transformed the school into a full-fledged degree granting conservatory as well as a thriving community music school.

In addition to his Brahms disc, Rosenbaum’s recordings on the Bridge and Fleur de Son labels include a Mozart CD, three Schubert discs, one of which was described as “a poignant record of human experience”, and two recordings of Beethoven which the American Record Guide named as among the top classical recordings of 2020.
The New York Times put it succinctly after his performance at Tully Hall: Rosenbaum “could not have been better”. And a headline in the Boston Globe summed up the appeal of Rosenbaum’s playing: “Fervor and Gentleness Combined”.

Dr. Ming-Hui Kuo

Dr. Ming-Hui Kuo is an Assistant Professor at DePauw University. She is a former intern performing member of the Ju Percussion Group from 1993 to 2002. During her time with JPG, she performed in hundreds of concerts, including the Annual seasonal concerts at Taiwan National Concert Hall and Taipei International Percussion Convention, and international performances with JPG, including engagements in China, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Macao, Spain, Hungary, Australia, Canada and the United States.

She holds a Doctoral of Musical Arts in Percussion Performance from the University of Kentucky. Kuo is an endorser of Yamaha Percussion, Innovative Percussion, Remo Drumheads, and Zildjian Cymbals.

Dr. Kumiko Ito

Dr. Kumiko Ito Kumiko Ito is currently serving as a Principal Timpanist with the Sacramento Philharmonic and Opera. She has served as a Timpanist and Percussionist with various orchestras such as the Stockton Symphony, Santa Cruz Symphony, Modesto Symphony, Monterey Symphony, Bay Philharmonic, Oakland Symphony, California Symphony, Santa Rosa Symphony, Berkeley Symphony, Opera San Jose, Symphony Silicon Valley, and more groups in the area. She previously held the Principal Timpani position with the Eugene Symphony (Oregon), Principal Percussion positions with the Owensboro Symphony Orchestra (Kentucky), Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra, and Terre Haute Symphony Orchestra, and also held the Section Percussion position with the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic (Indiana). In addition, she has performed with the Sendai Philharmonic Orchestra (Sendai, Japan), Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra (Guangzhou, China), and Russian National Orchestra. Dr. Ito has degrees and a diploma in Percussion Performance. She earned a D.M., a M.M., and a P.D., all at Indiana University. She also earned a B.A. from the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music. As an active educator, she has presented many clinics in the United States and Japan. She is the Percussion coach for Golden State Youth Orchestra and Lynbrook High School, served as an Associate Instructor at Indiana University, and has taught numerous students privately and in small groups since 1996. Dr. Ito was awarded the Zildjian Scholarship in 2003 and attended the Aspen Music Festival in 2002. As a solo percussionist, she performed Ney Rosauro’s Marimba Concerto with the IU Philharmonic Orchestra as winner of the Indiana University Concerto Competition in 2002, earned a Performer’s Certificate from Indiana University in 2001, and held a Solo Recital in her hometown Akita, Japan in 2000. Her major teachers include John Tafoya, Gerald Carlyss, Anthony J. Cirone, Craig Hetrick, Douglas Howard, Thomas Stubbs, and David Herbert.

Dr. Karine St-Pierre

A native of Montreal, Dr. Karine St-Pierre has performed with Summer Lyric Opera Theatre, the Théâtre lyrique de la Montérégie, the Théâtre d’art lyrique de Laval, and the Productions Belle-Lurette. In 2014, she premiered Quatre chansons québécoises, a song cycle by composer Matthew de Lacey Davidson, in Toronto. As a soloist, she has sung in recitals in Canada, France, and the United States.

Dr. St-Pierre’s research centers on French and French-Canadian vocal repertoire. As part of her doctoral work, she developed A Pedagogical Guide to the Interpretation of Nineteenth-Century French Canadian Songs for Voice and Piano, a project supported by the Government of Quebec’s Fonds de Recherche – Société et Culture. She has presented her research at conferences across North America, and has been invited to speak on French operatic repertoire at the Canadian Opera Company.

She has served as a voice instructor for the Toronto Chamber Choir and the Canadian Opera Company’s Summer Youth Intensive Program. Dr. St-Pierre is a former president of the San Francisco Bay Area Chapter of the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS), and a founding member of the University of Toronto’s Student Chapter of NATS.

She holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Voice Performance and Vocal Pedagogy from the University of Toronto.

Emily Sinclair

Soprano Emily Sinclair has performed with opera companies across the United States, including Central City Opera, Opera Colorado, Kentucky Opera and DuPage Opera. At the Caramoor International Festival, she sang Roggiero in Rossini’s Tancredi opposite Ewa Podles, and covered Sumi Jo as Elvira in I Puritani. In the Bay Area, Emily has performed with the San Francisco Choral Society at Davies Hall (Mozart Requiem), West Bay Opera, and with Cantare Chorale in Walnut Creek (Verdi Requiem, Poulenc Gloria). Emily was a Regional Finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, and has been awarded prizes by the Gerda Lissner Foundation and Washington International Competition. She received a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Colorado in Vocal Performance and Pedagogy, and holds additional degrees from Northwestern University, Manhattan School of Music and Yale University. Emily currently teaches at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and is the Auditions Chair for the Cal-Western Region of the National Association of Teachers of Singing.

Cecilia Cai

Chinese American soprano Cecilia Cai travels frequently between Europe, Asia, and North America.

She earned B.A. in Music with minors in Italian Studies and Urban Education from Santa Clara University. She also studied in the Santa Clara University School of Education for her Master’s degree in teaching. After her education in California, she then completed her Master's degree in Opera Singing from the Conservatory of Music in Cremona, Italy.

As an opera singer, Ms.Cai has performed principal roles in major productions including Leonora from Il Trovatore, Nedda from “I Pagliacci”, Suor Angelica from "Suor Angelica", Cio Cio San from "Madama Butterfly", Santuzza from "Cavalleria Rusticana", Leonora from "La forza del destino", ioletta Valery from “La Traviata”, Carmen and Micaela from "Carmen", Desdemona in a concert version of "Otello", and Tosca from a concert version of "Tosca".

She was the soprano soloist in Verdi's Requiem, and had held numerous recitals and concerts in Beijing, Zhuhai, Shenyang, Milano, Cremona and the San Francisco Bay Area.

Wai U Wong

王蔚宇 出生于上海，五岁开始学习扬琴，九岁考入上海音乐学院附属小学。九六年上海音乐学院扬琴本科毕业后在澳门工作，任职澳门中乐团扬琴首席及澳门演艺学院老师。九七年更受聘为香港演艺学院老师，。二零零一来美国攻读音乐教育硕士学位。之后活跃于湾区的音乐舞台,全心致力於音乐演奏及教育工作。 王蔚宇師承洪聖茂 , 郭敏清教授 , 曾參加上海之春演出和比賽 , 獲得優異成績 。九三年參加澳門青年音樂比賽，榮獲冠軍及榮譽獎，並獲邀赴日本作交流演出。九四年至九九年期間，多次赴葡萄牙作循回演出。九七年應邀參加香港市政府主辦之中國器樂之揚琴獨奏專場，与北京、廣州、珠海、台灣及香港之揚琴演奏家同台演出獲得好評。同年更與中央音乐学院合作揚琴協奏曲，並灌錄CD。此外還於九六至零零年間多次參加澳門國際音樂節，與上海、廣州、北京及澳門中乐团合作，演奏揚琴協奏曲。二零零零年，舉辦了個人獨奏音樂會。現任廣州揚琴學會理事長。

Born in Shanghai, Wai U Wong began studying the yangqin (Chinese hammered dulcimer) at the age of five. By nine, she enrolled in the primary school affiliated with the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. After graduating from the Conservatory in 1996, she worked in Macau as the principal yangqin player for the Macau Chinese Orchestra and also served as a faculty member at the Macau Academy of Performing Arts. In 1997, Wai Wong was invited to teach at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. She later moved to the United States in 2001 to pursue a Master’s degree in Music Education. Since then, she has become an active performer and educator in the Bay Area music scene. Wai U Wong studied under Professors Hong Shengmao and Guo Minqing. She has received numerous accolades, including winning awards at the Shanghai Spring Festival performances and competitions. In 1993, she won the championship and honorary award at the Macau Youth Music Competition, which led to an invitation to perform in Japan as part of a cultural exchange. Between 1994 and 1999, she toured Portugal with several performances. In 1997, she was invited to perform a yangqin solo concert organized by the Hong Kong Government, where she shared the stage with yangqin artists from Beijing, Guangzhou, Zhuhai, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, earning critical acclaim. That same year, she collaborated with the Central Conservatory of Music to perform a yangqin concerto and recorded a CD. Between 1996 and 2000, Wai participated in the Macau International Music Festival, performing yangqin concertos with orchestras from Shanghai, Guangzhou, Beijing, and Macau. In 2000, she held a personal solo recital. Wai is currently the president of the Guangzhou Yangqin Association.

Xiaoqing Yu

Xiaoqing Yu is a well-known Chinese bamboo flute artist, soloist of folk music troupe in China National Opera and Dance Drama Theater. In 2001, Yu graduated from China Conservatory of Music, which is the highest institution of traditional Chinese music.

Yu has performed in more than 30 countries and regions all over the world and is one of the most active young folk musicians. In hundreds of performances, he has won praise from both inside and outside the industry for his superb skills, profound expression and elegant temperament. He has successively released his personal CD "Summer Wind" and "Zen Tea", etc., and has written many professional books.

In 2007, he won the Gold medal in the Instrumental Music Group of Singapore International Professional Music and Dance Competition.

In 2018, he successfully held a Chinese flute solo concert of Elegance and Charm --- The Sound of Bamboo and Jade in San Jose, California, USA. At the same time, he held a lecture of Understanding Oriental Culture through Chinese Flute Art at Santa Clara University.

In July 2019, he served as a judge of the bamboo flute professional group in the "China Instrumental Music Competition" held by China Media Group.

He recorded many performances and interviews for such top media platforms as CCTV, Beijing TV, China International Radio, San Francisco Chinese Radio, World Journal, Sing Tao Daily, etc.

LARISA ELISHA

Russian-American violinist, Larisa Elisha, is an internationally acclaimed soloist, chamber musician and pedagogue, having performed and taught extensively throughout Russia, Poland, Italy, Germany, France, Spain, Denmark, Switzerland, Holland, Norway, Taiwan, Lithuania, Israel and the United States. Dr. Elisha was the Concertmaster of the Witold Lutoslawski State Philharmonic, Principal Violinist of the Leopoldinum Chamber Orchestra and Artistic Director and First Violinist of the Wratislavia String Quartet. She was Professor of Violin, Chamber Music and Pedagogy at the K. Lipinski Academy of Music in Wroclaw, Poland.

Dr. Elisha has performed recitals at prestigious European chamber music festivals that include International Festival Wratislavia Cantans and Contemporary Music Festival Musica Polonica Nova in Wroclaw, Poland, Draeseke’s Festival in Germany, Gioventi Musicale d’Italia in Bergamo, Wieniawski Festival in Poland and the Mozart Festival in Copenhagen, Denmark. She has performed at the Concertgebouw, Warsaw National Philharmonic, Karajan Hall of the Berlin Philharmonie, and has made numerous CD, radio and television recordings. Her solo performances of the Shostakovich Violin concerto with the Wroclaw Philharmonic and Koszalin Symphony Orchestras, solo recitals in Krakow and at the Wieniawski Festival in Szczawno Zdroj (Poland) drew critical acclaim.

Dr. Elisha was Violin Artist-in-Residence at Washburn University and Concertmaster of the Topeka Symphony Orchestra. As Concertmaster of the Wichita Grand Opera, she performed featured solos with Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo and Joyce DiDonato. Dr. Elisha is heard regularly in solo and chamber music performances, including Summit, Sunflower and other national and international music festivals. Larisa Elisha is the Violinist and Co-founder of the Elaris Duo with Cellist, Steven Elisha. The Duo performs extensively nationally and internationally. As winners of the prestigious Global Music Award for MSR- Classics Releases DUO VIRTUOSO II (2018) and  DUO VIRTUOSO (2020), the Elaris Duo has received critical acclaim and was featured in Fanfare, Gramophone, American Record Guide, Atlanta Audio Society, Malcolm Tattersall’s “Music & Vision,” Turok’s Choice and BBC Music.

As a master teacher, performer and clinician, Dr Elisha frequently presents lectures and Master Classes at national and international festivals, conferences, universities, including the Jerusalem Academy of Music, University of Haifa, Summit Music Festival, Charleston International Music School Summer Festival, Lithuania Music and Theatre Academy, National Taiwan University of the Arts, American String Teachers Association, Georgia Music Teachers Association and College Music Society. Continuing the tradition of Russian violinist David Oistrakh and Yuri Yankelevich, she holds Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from the Belarus State Academy of Music in Minsk, where she was a student and Teaching Assistant of Professor Olga Parkhomienko, one of Oistrakh’s noted protégés. Larisa Elisha earned her Doctorate degree at the K. Lipinski Academy of Music in Wroclaw.

Currently, she is Professor of Music and Coordinator of Upper String Studies at Georgia Southern University

Dr. Ann Miller

Celebrated violinist Dr. Ann Miller has appeared in concert halls throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. At home performing music spanning the Baroque era to the present day, Ms. Miller enjoys a varied career as a chamber musician, soloist, and educator.

A proponent of new music, Ms. Miller made her New York debut as a soloist with the New Juilliard Ensemble in Alice Tully Hall in the North American premiere of David Matthews' Concerto No. 2. An avid chamber musician, she is a member of Trio 180, the piano trio-in-residence at the University of the Pacific. In addition to performing in Canada, Mexico, and many venues throughout the U.S., the trio continued to perform online concerts during the pandemic. As part of its 20th anniversary in 2022, the trio commissioned and premiered works by Dorothy Chang, Cindy Cox, Andrew Conklin, Richard Einhorn, and Reinaldo Moya.

Recent solo appearances include performances of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto with the Zion Chamber Orchestra, the Barber Violin Concerto with the Dinu Lipatti Philharmonic Orchestra in Satu Mare, Romania, and the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto with the Mariposa Symphony in Yosemite National Park. As a recitalist, Ms. Miller frequently collaborates with pianist Sonia Leong and has appeared on Old First Concerts in San Francisco and the University of the Pacific's Resident Artist Series. Their debut album, Perspectives on Light and Shadow, features sonatas by Beaser, Ysaÿe, and Bartók.

Ms. Miller is an associate professor of violin at the Conservatory of Music of the University of the Pacific. She holds her Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees from the Juilliard School, and she received her Bachelor of Music, summa cum laude, from Rice University. Her teachers have included Ronald Copes and Kathleen Winkler, and her chamber music coaches have included Jerome Lowenthal, Seymour Lipkin, Robert McDonald, Norman Fischer, James Dunham, Paul Katz, and members of the Juilliard and Tokyo string quartets. In addition to her passion for music, she enjoys hiking and reading.

Dr. Steven Elisha

“in the front ranks of his generation’s musicians” - Janos Starker

“above all else, Elisha’s playing is the voice of candor. It is honest and enthusiastic. He courageously takes chances, decidedly unwilling to hide behind conventional musical gestures” - The New Haven Register

“a flexibly nuanced, burnished tone… Lightning-swift left hand and deft bow arm”
     - New York Concert Review

Internationally acclaimed cellist, Steven Elisha, has performed as a soloist and chamber musician throughout Europe, Norway, China, Taiwan, Brazil, Israel and the United States. He first attracted attention at the age of fifteen when he gave solo performances with the Albany and Schenectady (New York) Symphonies. Elisha’s New York debut at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall and premiere performance of Cry of the Dove (a cello concerto written by his sister, Adrienne Elisha) received critical acclaim. As an honorary member and returned guest of the Beijing Cello Society, he has extensively toured mainland China, performing recitals and teaching master classes at the Shanghai, Canton, Xian, Jinan and Beijing conservatories. Featured solo appearances have included the Beijing Central Philharmonic and Symphonies of Beijing, Xian, Jinan, and Canton, Toledo Symphony, Connecticut Chamber Orchestra, Cleveland Chamber Symphony, Topeka Symphony, Gulf Coast Symphony, Grand Rapids Symphony and Highland Park Strings. Formerly, Director of String Studies at Washburn University, Principal Cellist of the Topeka Symphony, and Conductor of the Topeka Symphony Youth Orchestra, Elisha was also the Artistic Director/ Conductor of the Lawrence Chamber Orchestra. Dr. Elisha regularly gives master classes, workshops and residencies throughout the United States, including his fun-loving and innovative “Mr. Cello Stories” program for audiences of all ages. Elisha frequently presents workshops, teaches and performs at national and international festivals, conferences and summer music programs, including the Summit Music Festival, Sunflower Music Festival, Washington Square Music Festival, Charleston International Music School, Omaha Conservatory Summer Institute, College Music Society and American String Teachers National Conference. Elisha is the Regional Representative of the American String Teachers Association Georgia Chapter. Elisha is co-founder and cellist of the Elaris Duo, with violinist Larisa Elisha. As a recording artist, Elisha is heard on a Grammy-nominated Musical Heritage Society recording of New England piano trios, Yale Cellos of Aldo Parisot on Delos. MSR-Classics releases, DUO VIRTUOSO and DUO VIRTUOSO won Global Music Awards and received acclaim in reviews appearing in Fanfare Magazine, Gramophone American Record Guide and other leading music publications. Currently, Dr. Elisha is Professor of Music, Director of Strings and Director of Orchestras at the Fred and Dinah Gretsch School of Music at Georgia Southern University.

Dawn Harm

Dawn Harms' diverse career, ranges from being a chamber musician, violin soloist, and concertmaster, to being a music director and conductor. She is a first violinist in the San Francisco Opera Orchestra, Associate Concertmaster for the New Century Chamber Orchestra, and Co-Concertmaster with the Oakland Symphony. She also records regularly at Skywalker Studios for movies and video games.

She teaches and coaches chamber music at Stanford University, and is the conductor of the pre-college string orchestra, at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

Dawn was music director for 11 seasons, as Music Director and conductor of the Bay Area Rainbow Symphony.

Harms was chosen as a Fellow at the exclusive American Academy of Conducting at the Aspen Music Festival, where she worked with some of the top conductors of the world. She has recently conducted the San Francisco Opera orchestra 3 times in special concert events, and is often invited to be a guest conductor for high school honor orchestras around the US.

A strong advocate for music education, Dawn has designed her own family show and has performed it throughout the United States, New Zealand, and Japan. Dawn's family show performances include the Kohl Mansion Family Series, the Lincoln Symphony in Nebraska, the Oakland Symphony, Berkeley Symphony, Merced Symphony, and the Napa Valley Youth Symphony.

She has performed chamber music with Lynn Harrell, Jake Heggie, Frederica von Stadt, and Nadja Salerno Sonnenberg

Dawn plays on her cousin Tom Waits' CDs "Alice," "Blood Money, and Bad Is Me.

Dawn also has two solo CD's, "The Black Swan" and "The Hot Canary" that can be found on Spotify, or www.dawnharms.com.

Dr. Theodore Buchholz

Theodore Buchholz is the cello professor at the University of Arizona. Described by newspaper critics as a “virtuosic cellist” with a “warm beautiful sound,” he has performed in prominent venues from New York’s Lincoln Center to international halls in Italy and Tokyo. Buchholz’s album Afterglow: The Forgotten Works for Cello and Piano by Henry Hadley was released by Centaur Records in 2020. Earning the coveted five-star rating, Fanfare Magazine stated “Afterglow displays the composer’s rich harmonic language, and allows Buchholz to show off his impeccable phrasing during which he caresses each note. Its turns of phrase could simply not be more beautifully conceived and executed.” His recording of Hans Winterberg’s Cello Sonata was released under the Toccata label in 2018. Music for a Prince was released by Toccata Records in 2021, featuring the world premiere of works for cello by Lennox Berkeley, Arthur Bliss, and William Walton. As a nationally recognized researcher, Dr. Buchholz’s book The Cellist’s Guide to Scales and Arpeggios was published and internationally distributed by Mel Bay. A fervent believer in the power of music education to transform lives, he is the Founding Director of the University of Arizona String Project. During the summers he performs and teaches at the Zephyr Music Festival in Italy. Dr. Buchholz's current and former students perform in orchestras and chamber ensembles around the country and they teach private studios and in schools around the world. His students have been awarded scholarships to leading conservatories and universities, and have won awards in national chamber music and solo competitions. Theodore Buchholz is the recipient of the Taubeneck Superior Teaching Award and he received the Charles and Irene Putnam Award, the College’s most prestigious recognition of excellence in teaching.

LIN HE

Violinist LIN HE has performed worldwide as a soloist, chamber
musician, and orchestral leader. Currently, he serves as Associate
Professor of Violin at Louisiana State University School of Music and
Associate Concertmaster of the Baton Rouge Symphony. His Carnegie
Hall solo debut in 2014 followed a performance with principal
players from the Metropolitan Opera, New York Philharmonic, and
Philadelphia Orchestra. He has appeared as a soloist with the Sonoma
County Philharmonic, Rapides Symphony, Shippensburg Symphony,
and Lake Charles Symphony, performing works by Bruch, Chausson,
Korngold, Mendelssohn, and Sibelius. An active chamber musician, He has collaborated with
the Shanghai String Quartet and violinists Charles Castleman and Richard Lin. His 2024-2025
season includes recitals at Oklahoma City University, Houghton University, and the University
of Oklahoma, chamber performances with the LSU Faculty String Quartet, and a concert tour in
Poland as principal second violin of the Acadiana Symphony Orchestra.
He has taught and performed at Arizona State University, Florida State University, San Francisco
Conservatory, and others, while also appearing with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra and
serving as concertmaster of the Toronto Festival Orchestra.Festival appearances include Tanglewood,
Aspen, and Music Academy of the West, and he teaches summers at Las Vegas Chamber Music
Institute, Sewanee, Summit, InterHarmony, Montecito, and BayView festivals. A laureate of the
Padesta and ASTA competitions, he holds a doctorate from Eastman School of Music, studying
under Zvi Zeitlin. His recordings on Centaur Records have received critical acclaim. You can learn
more about him and his recordings at www.linheviolin.com.

Henry Gronnier

Henry Gronnier, is a founding member and the First violinist of the Rossetti String Quartet. Early musical studies took place at the Conservatoire in his native town of Saint Quentin, France, where he was awarded the Premier Prix in both piano and violin. He attended the Conservatoire National de Region de Versailles, receiving the Gold Medal in the class of Madeleine ThuillierDeverge and continued with MichèleAuclair of the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris. He concluded his studies with Nell Gotkovsky, Sally Thomas &ZinoFrancescatti.

Mr. Gronnier has appeared throughout the world in recitals, including his New York debut at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall and his London debut at Wigmore Hall. As a soloist with orchestra and in chamber music ensembles, he has appeared at a number of the world’s most prestigious festivals including the “Festival of Two Worlds”, Spoleto (both in Italy and Charleston, South Carolina), Lucerne Festival (Switzerland), Mostlty Mozart at Lincoln Center (NY), Caramoor (NY), Casals Festival (Puerto Rico), the Festival Méditérranéen (France), Festival Albert Schweitzer, The ZinoFrancescatti festival (France) and the Festival de San Miguel de Allende (Mexico), with such artists as Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Rina Dokshitsky, Katia Skanavi, Ursula Opens, Gautier Capucon, Lukas Foss, Pepe Romero, Paula Robison, Eugenia Zukerman, Patrice Fontanarosa, Chantal Juillet, Claire Désert, Anne Quéffelec, Pierre Barbizet, Carter Brey, Emmanuel Strosser and Stephanie Chase, among others.

Henry Gronnier is the Chair of the strings department at the COLBURN SCHOOL.

He is on the violin faculty of Colburn School as well as the Colburn Academy.

Ryan Chen / 陳任遠 – Violinist

Ryan Chen holds a Master of Music Diploma in Violin Performance from the Rueil-Malmaison National Conservatory in Paris, France. As a versatile musician, he has performed extensively as a soloist and chamber musician, including as a member of the Raspail String Quartet.

Upon returning to Taiwan, Ryan was invited to serve as the Concertmaster of the Taipei Symphony Orchestra. His musical career has taken him across the USA, Taiwan, Russia, China, and other European countries, where he has performed as a recitalist, chamber musician, and orchestra player.

He has also collaborated as a soloist with various orchestras as a soloist, including Ballet San Jose Silicon Valley Orchestra, Taipei Symphony Orchestra, Taipei Chamber Orchestra, and the Chinese Culture University Orchestra.

In addition to performing, he is a dedicated educator and the Music Director of The SoundPost Youth Chamber Orchestra.  Through this initiative, he nurtures young musicians by providing them with opportunities to develop their talents, engage with communities, and cultivate a spirit of generosity and well-rounded living.

Peter Gelfand

Peter Gelfand performed as the Principal Cellist with the San Jose Symphony and Symphony Silicon Valley from the 1985 season until 2017. During his first three
seasons in San Jose, he divided his time equally between the San Jose Symphony and the renowned St. Louis Symphony. From 1988 through the 1998 season, he also served as the Principal Cellist with the Monterey County Symphony. Between 1999-2015, Mr. Gelfand performed regularly with the San Francisco Symphony.

Mr. Gelfand has participated in numerous music festivals including the Banff Festival of the Arts, the Colorado Music Festival, and the Spoleto Festival of the Two Worlds wherehe performed as Principal Cellist both in Charleston, South Carolina and in Spoleto,  Italy.

Mr. Gelfand received his undergraduate and graduate degrees at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where he studied with legendary cellist Janos Starker.

In 2008, Mr. Gelfand was honored with the City of San Jose’s first ever “Champions of Arts Education” Award. He is currently developing a project called pARTners in Arts and Health, an organization that integrates all manner of the Arts into all facets of healthcare.

In 2005, he served as the Artistic Advisor for the Addison-Penzak Jewish Community Center, where his San Jose String Quartet and San Jose Chamber Players served as Artists-in-Residence.

Mr. Gelfand has served on the music faculties at Stanford University, the San Francisco Conservatory, Santa Clara University and San Jose State University since.

As a passionate advocate for the Arts and artists, Mr. Gelfand has served as a member of the Board of Trustees with Arts Council Silicon Valley (Silicon Valley Creates), as a member of the Executive Board of the San Jose Musician’s Union, A.F. of M. Local 153, and as a County Commissioner with the Santa Clara County-Province of Florence, Italy, sister County Commission.

Since 2006, Mr. Gelfand has served as a member of the Board of Directors with the California Music Center and the Irving M. Klein International String Competition.

Rick Vandivier

Professor Rick Vandivier is the Jazz Studies guitar instructor. He has found inspiration in influences that stretch from Andres Segovia to Pat Metheny to Jimi Hendrix. His performances are daring, soulful, and evocative. In a recent concert review, Jean Bartlett (Pacifica Tribune; March 2004) wrote: "the amazing guitar licks provided by Vandivier cultivated a whole new threshold of wow... Vandivier opened the show with a piece that galloped the triumphant poetry of Madrid while caressing the edges of Segovia, Feliciano and Montoya. Extraordinary musicianship with plenty of sweets..." Rick has been performing and recording in the San Francisco Bay Area for the last 25 years. In addition to his work with Nate Pruitt in Primary Colors, Rick has been active in numerous other projects as a guitarist and composer, including leading his own ensemble.

Other artists Professor Vandivier has performed with include Smith Dobson, Albert "Tootie" Heath, Bruce Forman, John Handy, Mose Allison, David Grisman, Richie Cole, and Dr. Lonnie Smith. He has also worked with the San José Symphony Orchestra and the orchestras of the American Musical Theater of San José, Opera San José, and Theaterworks. His performing career has been highlighted by performances in: The Hague, Berlin, Abidjan (Ivory Coast, Africa); the Chicago Opera House; the Wilshire Theatre in Los Angeles; the Berklee Performance Center in Boston; the Great American Music Hall; and the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco; the Seattle Opera House; the Metropolitan Museum of Art; and Carnegie Hall.

Born in Lima, Ohio, Professor Vandivier is a graduate of the Berklee School of Music in Boston as well as San José State University. In addition to private studies with Pat Metheny and Mick Goodrick, Professor Vandivier has taken master classes with Christopher Parkening, Ray de la Torre, Michael Lorimer, Michael Hedges, Tuck Andress, and Manuel Barreuco.

In addition to his performing career, Rick has been active as a teacher, both privately and at San José State University, and as a composer for video soundtracks for clients such as Stanford University, Sun Microsystems, and SyberVision Systems.