Meet Our Chamber Musicians

We’re honored to be joined by these wonderful musicians from around the world for our 20th season, It Is Music.

VIOLIN

  • Grace Kawamura Stubbart

    Violin

  • Kiarra Saito-Beckman

    Violin II, Clurie Bennis Children’s Outreach

  • Masha Andreini

    Violin

  • Konrad Kowal

    Violin

  • Minchae Kim

    Violin, Clurie Bennis Children’s Outreach

  • Miho Hashizume

    Violin

  • Cher Liu

    Violin

  • Shreya Sachdev

    Violin

  • Bruno Lunkes

    Violin

  • Grace Kawamura Stubbart is a violinist and educator of the Metro-Atlanta area. Prior to her studies with Andrew Jennings at the University of Michigan’s Masters program, she completed her undergraduate studies under the tutelage of Helen Hwaya Kim at Kennesaw State University.

    Grace has performed with orchestras such as the Atlanta Opera Orchestra, Georgia Symphony Orchestra, Hawai’i Symphony Orchestra, and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, and currently holds the Assistant Principal Second Violin chair of CityMusic Cleveland Chamber Orchestra. A strong advocate for new music, Grace has premiered and performed many works of composers from the Metro-Detroit and Atlanta areas.

    Grace is currently the Middle School Orchestra Director and private violin instructor of the Lovett School in Atlanta, GA. In her spare time, she enjoys going to the yoga studio and spending time at the stables learning the equestrian sport of dressage. She also loves exploring new restaurants in town and spending time with her husband, timpanist/percussionist Michael Stubbart, and their two bunnies (Mochi and Nori), Great Pyrenees dog (Andre), and cat (Evelyn).

  • Kiarra Saito-Beckman is a Vietnamese-American violinist from Cleveland, Ohio. She received her Graduate Artist Diploma, Graduate Diploma in Performance, and Master of Music degree from McGill University studying with Jinjoo Cho, and her Bachelor of Music degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music, studying with Jaime Laredo and Jan Mark Sloman. She is currently studying with Jinjoo Cho and also receives mentorship from pianist Hyunsoo Kim.

    Kiarra has won numerous awards and competitions. Her accolades include being a quarterfinalist in the 2019 Sendai International Music Competition, a prize-winner in the 2017 Thomas & Evon Cooper International Violin Competition, and a semifinalist in the 2016 Stulberg International String Competition. Nationally, she placed first in the 2015 Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) Senior Strings Competition, and was named the PepsiCo National Young Artist of the Year as the first-prize winner of the Charleston Symphony Orchestra’s National Young Artist Competition in South Carolina in 2014.

    Kiarra has appeared as a guest soloist with the Charleston Symphony Orchestra, Las Colinas Symphony Orchestra, Symphony Arlington, Garland Symphony, Coeur d’Alene Symphony Orchestra, Central Oregon Symphony, and an orchestra composed of members of the Oregon Symphony and the Oregon Ballet Theater Orchestra. Kiarra has been a featured guest on NPR's From the Top, TedX, Oregon Public Broadcasting, as well as a number of local and regional radio stations.

    She has attended many renowned music festivals and programs around the globe. Kiarra has twice participated in the IMS Prussia Cove Masterclasses held in Cornwall, England, and has been invited back for the IMS Open Chamber Music sessions. In 2018, Kiarra was a member of the 50th New York String Orchestra Seminar under the direction of Maestro Jaime Laredo and traveled to Vevey, Switzerland to attend the Académie de Musique Riviera masterclasses studying with Pierre Amoyal. During her summers, Kiarra has attended ENCORE String Quartet Intensive and Summer Academy programs, Heifetz International Music Institute, and the Meadowmount School of Music.

    She has performed in solo master classes for Mihaela Martin, Gerhard Schulz, Joseph Silverstein, Paul Kantor, Robert Chen, Pierre Amoyal, Arnold Steinhardt, Anthony Marwood, Cho-Liang Lin, Jennifer Koh, Ivan Zenaty, Haik Kazazyan and Tong Wei-Dong, as well as in chamber music master classes for members of the Guarneri, Cleveland, Ébène, Belcea, Signum, Emerson, Juilliard, and Ying quartets

    In addition to performing standard repertoire, Kiarra’s interests lie in championing music of female and contemporary composers, as well as exploring other genres of music.

  • Born and raised in Moscow, Russia, violinist Masha Andreini studied at Moscow Central Special Music School and the Moscow Conservatory. In 1990, she received a full scholarship to study with Almita and Roland Vamos at the University of Minnesota. During her studies, she won several concerto competitions and participated in the Paganini Competition in Genoa, Italy and the Bach Competition in Germany.

    Andreini has concertized across Russia, Europe, and the United States as a soloist and chamber musician. She has performed with prominent orchestras as both a soloist and an orchestra member, including the Gorky Symphony in Russia, Orquesta de Julian Orbon in Spain, and the Moscow Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra..

    Andreini joined CityMusic Cleveland in 2006, and is the orchestra’s Assistant Concertmaster.

  • Konrad Kowal is a Chicago born Polish-American violinist. He currently studies at the Cleveland Institute of Music (CIM) with Dr. Olga Kaler and Professor Malcolm Lowe, working towards a Doctor of Musical Arts Degree.

    Konrad serves as the concertmaster of the Canton Symphony Orchestra and the Lexington Bach Festival Orchestra. He also performs with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Columbus Symphony Orchestra, and CityMusic Cleveland. He has previously served as concertmaster of the DePaul Symphony Orchestra, Chautauqua Music Festival Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Opera, and the CIM Orchestra, working with conductors such as Cliff Colnot, Timothy Muffitt, and Carlos Kalmar among others.

    As a soloist, Konrad was a winner of the Park Ridge Civic Orchestra Scholarship Competition, received honorable mention in the DePaul Concerto Competition, and was a semi-finalist in the Kosciuszko Foundation Wieniawski Competition. He has had lessons and masterclasses with world-renowned artists such as Ilya Kaler, Robert Chen, Konstanty Andrzej Kulka, and Yo-Yo Ma among others and regularly performs solo and chamber music recitals in Chicago and Cleveland.

    2022-23 Season highlights include performing as concertmaster of the CIM Orchestra at Severance Hall, performing Scheherazade with the Canton Symphony Orchestra, and a Recital Tour of Texas.

    In addition to performance, Konrad is a dedicated teacher, who has taught privately since 2014, and since 2019 has been the teaching assistant of Dr. Olga Kaler.

    Konrad plays on a violin made by Joseph Curtin.

  • Born in South Korea, Minchae Kim began playing the violin at age seven. She gave her debut concert at age nine with the Jeonju Philharmonic Orchestra and her debut recital at age 14 in the Kumho Art Hall as a Kumho Young Artist. She has performed as a soloist with the Gloria String Orchestra, Moldova Radio Symphony Orchestra, and Gimpo Philharmonic Orchestra and recently appeared as a guest artist at Music for Food in Cleveland, the Heifetz Ensemble-in-Residence (HEIR), program, and Music from the Western Reserve. Kim also performed in Severance Hall as a winner of the 2021 Cleveland Institute of Music Concerto Competition.

    Chamber music is a major part of Kim’s musical life, and she is a founding member of the award-winning Kyklos Quartet, which has won prizes at the WDAV and Toledo chamber music competitions. She has collaborated with Nicholas Kitchen, Yeesun Kim, Philip Setzer, and Todd Phillips, and her festival appearances include the Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival; the International Musicians Seminar, Prussia Cove; and the Heifetz Institute Chamber Music Seminar. Kim received her B.M., M.M., and G.D. degrees from the New England Conservatory, where she studied with Miriam Fried, Donald Weilerstein, and Soovin Kim.

    Kim is an Artist-Diploma candidate at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she studies with Jaime Laredo as a recipient of the Joan A. Siegel Violin Scholarship.

  • Born and raised in Tokyo, Miho Hashizume joined The Cleveland Orchestra in 1995, after serving as a member of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. A member of the first violin section, she also is a longtime member of Apollo’s Fire/The Cleveland Baroque Orchestra and has appeared as a soloist with the group at festivals in Aspen, Boston, Detroit, and Indianapolis, as well as at the Idea Center at PlayhouseSquare. She has also appeared as a soloist with the Fort Collins Symphony and the Toronto Symphony.

    Ms. Hashizume performs with Cleveland Orchestra colleagues in the Amici String Quartet. She has taught at the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music and coached students at Case Western Reserve University. She is the Concertmaster of CityMusic Cleveland Chamber orchestra

    Educated at the Toho School of Music in Tokyo, Ms. Hashizume earned both a high-school diploma and a bachelor of music degree from the institution. She also studied at the University of Wyoming and at the Cleveland Institute of Music. Her teachers were Masahiro Arita, Angela Eto, Toshiya Eto, Brian Hanly, David Updegraff, Ami Watanabe, and Natsumi Wakamatsu. Miho Hashizume plays an A&H Amati violin. She and her husband, Paul Meyer, have a daughter, Natsumi Lynne Meyer.

  • Born in Houston to a musical family, Cher Liu started her piano studies at age three with her mother, and violin studies at age six. Under the guidance of Fredell Lack, she decided to pursue music as a career at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she received her two Bachelors’ and Masters’ of Music degrees in violin and piano performance. Her past teachers and mentors have included violinists Ilya Kaler, Ivan Zenaty, Joan Kwuon, Fredell Lack, and Yongchun Li, and pianists Daniel Shapiro, Yigong Shen, Dr. Andrew Parr, Nancy Chin, and Rong Cindy Tan. She has also played for artists Paul Kantor, Michael Frischenschlager, Jinjoo Cho, Dami Kim, Kevork Mardirossian, Kikuei Ikeda and Joela Jones.

    An avid chamber musician, Cher has participated in masterclasses with members of the Emerson String Quartet, Danish String Quartet, and Ehnes Quartet. Former chamber music mentors include Si-Yan Li, Annie Fullard, Mari Sato and Eric Wong of the Cavani String Quartet and Peter Salaff of the Cleveland Quartet. In 2019, she was invited to play for the Cleveland branch of Music for Food with her quartet. She also participated as a fellow at Musikiwest Chamber Music Festival and Centrum Chamber Music Festival. Sheis a performer at Opus 216, an ensemble in Cleveland, Ohio.

    Recent awards include second prize at the MTNA Young Artist Strings Contest (2021), the JCCAA Scholarship (2017), and first prize at the TMTA Instrumental Competition (2016), and the Dorothy Kelley Competition Scholarship (2015). She made her orchestral debut with the Fort Bend Symphony Orchestra playing Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 9 in 2011 and with the Houston Civic Symphony playing Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 2 in 2014.

  • A Connecticut born violinist, Shreya Sachdev began her studies at the Hartt School of Music, and now holds degrees from both the Oberlin Conservatory and the Cleveland Institute of Music, under the guidance of teachers David Bowlin and Stephen Rose.

    She currently enjoys an active orchestral, chamber, and freelance career all over Ohio, where she regularly performs with the BlueWater Chamber Orchestra, Canton Symphony, and is now joining CityMusic Cleveland Orchestra starting 2023. She’s also more recently played with the Erie Philharmonic, Buffalo Philharmonic, ProMusica Chamber Orchestra, Symphoria, Akron Symphony, Firelands Symphony, Cleveland Opera Theatre Orchestra, and formerly the Suburban Symphony Orchestra, where she served as Principal Second Violin during their 2016-2017 season.

    Prior to making a home in Cleveland, she’s had the pleasure of sharing the stage with conductors and soloists Robert Spano, Vasily Petrenko, Yefim Bronfman, Garrick Ohlsson, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Jane Glover, Lawrence Power, Conrad Tao, and Leonard Slatkin, amongst others as a fellowship student at the Aspen Music Festival and School.

    She also has a passion for social work; her work with the nonprofit organization Concerts for Hope has led to performances in several rehabilitation centers for drug and alcohol addiction, schools, homeless shelters, and prisons throughout the country, including Sing Sing Correctional Facility in September 2023.

  • Bruno Lunkes joined City Music Cleveland in 2022.

    A native of Brazil, he holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, where he studied with Hella Frank and Fredi Gerling, and both a Master of Music and a Doctor of Musical Arts degrees from Texas Tech University, where he was a teaching assistant to Annie Chalex Boyle.

    While still an undergraduate student, Bruno won a full time position with the Caxias do Sul Symphony in Brazil, while also performing regularly with the Theatro São Pedro Chamber Orchestra and the Unisinos Anchieta Orchestra. In the US, he has performed with the symphonies of Akron, Firelands, Mansfield, Lubbock, Amarillo, West Texas, Big Spring, the ballets of Lubbock, Midland, and San Angelo, the Lubbock Chamber Orchestra, and with Chamber Music Amarillo.

    As a soloist, he has performed the works of Mozart, Bach, and others in Texas, Colorado, Ohio, and Brazil. Festival appearances include the Oregon Bach Festival as student of the Berwick Academy, Sewanee Summer Music Festival as a teaching fellow, and Hot Springs Music Festival as concertmaster of the festival orchestra.

    An avid chamber musician, Dr. Lunkes has performed works ranging from the Renaissance to the present day in Georgia, Tennessee, Arkansas, Texas, New Mexico, Ohio, Oregon, and has been coached by members of the Vermeer, Axelrod, Arianna, and Marian Anderson string quartets.

    In 2022, Bruno joins the prestigious Historical Performance Practice program at Case Western

    Reserve University in Cleveland, where he will be studying baroque violin with Dr. Julie Andrijeski and harpsichord with Dr. Peter Bennett.

    Bruno’s recordings have been released by the Sony Classical, OSESP Digital, and UCS labels.

VIOLA

  • Yaël Senamaud-Cohen

    Viola

  • Brian Slawta

    Viola

  • Colin Henley

    Viola, Clurie Bennis Children’s Outreach

  • Patrick Prejean

    Viola

  • French-born violist Yael Senamaud was a member of the Chamber Orchestra of Paris and Palau De Les Artes Reina Sofia Opera in Valencia, Spain, and has performed with the Orchestra of Paris and the National Opera. An avid chamber musician, she was a founding member of the Alizes Quartet and the Trio Interlude (flute, viola, and harp). An abiding interest in different styles of music led Yael to perform contemporary music with the Ensemble Intercontemporain under the baton of Pierre Boulez. She is a graduate of the Conservatoire National de Paris and Peabody Institute, where her teachers included Bruno Pasquier and Paul Coletti.

    In pursuing her desire to expand in repertoire and style, Yael studied the Baroque violin with Patrick Bismuth and has been performing on the baroque violin, viola, and viola d’amore since. After moving to the United States, Yael served as Principal viola of the Kentucky Symphony Orchestra and has played with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, ProMusica Chamber Orchestra, CityMusic Cleveland.

    As a Baroque player, Yael has performed in various ensembles including Bourbon Baroque, Indianapolis Baroque, and Apollo’s Fire.

  • Brian Slawta, hailing from Bethesda, MD, is in his third year studying with Jeffrey Irvine at the Cleveland Institute of Music. Brian is currently a member of the Corylus Quartet as well as the Fae Trio at CIM. Before attending CIM, Brian was a member of the Liedergeld Quartet, one of the 2016 semifinalists in the Fischoff, St. Paul, and Misbin competitions.

    Despite his dedication to chamber music, Brian is also an accomplished soloist, having won first prize in the Advanced Viola Division of the 44th Annual Washington Performing Arts Feder Memorial String Competition in Washington, DC in the spring of 2015. At summer festivals, Brian has had the opportunity to study with violists such as principal of the Boston Symphony, Steven Ansell, Mattieu Herzog previous violist of the Quatuor Ebène, and Mai Motobuchi of the Borromeo Quartet.

  • Recently graduating with a Master’s degree in viola performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music and winner of Baldwin Wallace University's 2020 Lauria Concerto Competition, Colin Henley is a rising violist who aims to achieve excellence in his craft. Colin has had the opportunity to work with some of the premiere musicians in the United States, performing in masterclasses/workshops with Robert Vernon, Masumi Rostad, Lynne Ramsey, Stanley Konopka, Mark Jackobs, Phillip Ying, and Takako Masame, and more.

    During his study at Baldwin Wallace University, Colin was featured at the annual Viola day Masterclass. He has also had an enriching chamber music experience playing with dozens of chamber groups in his career, including being selected through audition to play Shostakovich's Piano Quintet with the resident chamber group of Baldwin Wallace Elysian. Throughout his summers he has studied at the Zodiac, Miami Classical, and Green Mountain Chamber Music Festivals.

    Colin has held principal positions in the Mansfield Symphony Youth and Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestras, as well as the Baldwin Wallace Symphony Orchestra. Off of the stage Colin also teaches violin and viola lessons privately, through the Westlake Music Academy, and the Aurora School of Music. He is also an enthusiastic collaborator with other freelance and amateur musicians. Colin won the 2022 CityMusic Cleveland Diversity Fellowship.

  • Born in Lafayette, Louisiana, Patrick Prejean first started his studies at age 8 at the Acadiana Conservatory. Prejean recalls about his beginnings saying, “My mother was against me playing the viola initially. Her exact words were: Black people don’t play that instrument.” It was the spark needed to prove a point for him.

    Since then, he has gone on to graduate from Interlochen Arts Academy and has won orchestral positions with Lake Charles Symphony Orchestra, Firelands Symphony Orchestra, and Acadiana Symphony Orchestra as their youngest member at age 18. In 2014, he moved to study at the Cleveland Institute of Music under Stanley Konopka. It was here that his interest in composition started to take root and subsequently his “String Quintet” was premiered at the request of former 2nd violinist of the Cleveland Quartet, Peter Salaff. Since then, he has gone on to win the call for scores submission from PARMA Recordings for his "Violin Sonata" and tie for 3rd place in the Kings Peak International Competition.

    Prejean plans to continue his pursuit of an orchestral position with a major orchestra and performing and composing contemporary music.

CELLO

  • Anna Kuo

    Cello

  • Mingyao Zhao

    Cello

  • Trevor Kazarian

    Cello, Clurie Bennis Children’s Outreach

  • Jane Leggiero

    Cello

  • Macarena Sanchez

    Cello

  • Anna Kuo is an award winning cellist and versatile artist who has performed across the nation. She has appeared as soloist, chamber, and orchestra musician in venues across the world, including Carnegie Hall and Severance Hall. She has performed on various concert series including Schneider Concerts in New York and is a prize winner in the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition.

    Passionate about chamber music and chamber orchestras, Anna has served as principal cellist of CityMusic Cleveland and Ballet West, and performs regularly with Opus 216 amongst other ensembles across Northeast Ohio. She earned her Master’s degree at The Cleveland Institute of Music studying with Grammy nominated cellist Sharon Robinson, and her undergraduate degree studying with Merry Peckham.

  • Mingyao Zhao, a cellist from China, started to play cello at the age of 5. Mingyao studied with several phenomenal teachers, including Mula Na from Central Conservatory of Music, Jesus Castro-Balbi from Texas Christian University and Aldo Parisot from Yale University School of Music. Most recently, she has been pursuing Professional Studies Diploma at Cleveland Institute of Music in the studio of Mark Kosower, principal cellist of The Cleveland Orchestra.

    Mingyao Zhao has performed extensively as soloist and recitalist in her native China, US, Canada, Korean and Poland.

    Winner of numerous prizes, Mingyao was awarded First Price of Haydn Competition at Fort Worth Cellofest, Aldo Parisot Award, Silver Medal at the Texas Young Artist Music Competition, second price at the Aiqin Bei International Competition, and is the winner of Cleveland Institute of Music Concerto competition in 2018. She has participated masterclasses with as David Garingas, Lynn Harrell, Bernard Greenhousen, Ralph Kirshbaum. As a chamber musician, Mingyao was inspired by such luminaries as Peter Oundjian, Peter Francl, Edward Schmieder, members from Brentano Quartet, Weiyi Yang and Syoko Aki.

  • Trevor Kazarian was born in Chicago and raised in Oak Park, Illinois. He comes from a family of musicians and began playing cello at age six. Trevor’s passion for classical music became apparent while attending the Interlochen Summer Arts Academy. That experience was the start of a goal and determination to become a professional cellist.

    Trevor completed his Bachelor’s degree at DePaul University School of Music. He studied under Stephen Balderston and occasionally had lessons with Brant Taylor and Richard Hirschl, of the Chicago Symphony. During his undergraduate studies, Trevor was Runner-up for the school’s annual concerto competition, resulting in the opportunity to record the Elgar cello concerto with the DePaul Symphony Orchestra, under Maestro Cliff Colnot. He was also chosen among his studio to perform for Lynn Harell in the Guest Artist Master Class.

    Trevor’s Graduate studies were completed at the Cleveland Institute of Music where he was a student of the former Principal Cellist of the Cleveland Orchestra, Stephen Geber. He also studied with Mark Kosower, the Principal Cellist of the Cleveland after he graduated from CIM. While a student at CIM, Trevor performed in the “Commodore Quartet” and they were selected to be a part of the INtensive String Quartet Seminar Program. The seminar was directed by the Cavani String Quartet and Cleveland Quartet member Peter Salaff. In 2012, Trevor was selected to be the Assistant Principal Cellist of the National Repertory Orchestra in Breckinridge, Colorado, At NRO, he was a featured soloist for a performance of Dvorak’s Rondo in G minor, Op. 94.

    Growing up in a diverse city introduced Trevor to various styles and genres of music and this influenced him to start composing. Today, Trevor is the Co-Founder/Cellist of the group IN2ATIVE, with flutist, Kimberly Zaleski. IN2ATIVE was chosen to be on the Artist Roster for Center for Art-Inspired Learning Agency, (CAL). As artists for CAL, they perform weekly and give workshops to students across Ohio.

    Outside of CAL, IN2ATIVE was invited to be a Guest Artist for Penn State University’s Annual Flute Day in the fall of 2016, giving a performance and Master Class. Shortly Thereafter, IN2ATIVE had their first interdisciplinary arts collaboration with Cleveland’s renowned dance company, Dancing Wheels (Jan. 2017). The program was entitled, “Bloom” and consisted of dance choreographies set to original and live music of IN2ATIVE. That same year, IN2ATIVE performed on air for Cleveland’s Classical Radio station, WCLV 104.9RM for their First Friday’s Radio feature. A fun fact- when IN2ATIVE first formed, they were audition finalists for the television show, “America’s Got Talent”.

  • Cellist Jane Leggiero is a native Clevelander and a candidate in the DMA program in Historical Performance Practice at Case Western Reserve University. She received her undergraduate degree in music from Oberlin College and did her master’s work at Boston University in Historical Performance and Musicology.

    Jane has worked as a freelancer for many years as a modern and baroque cellist as well as playing viola da gamba. She was a member of the Governor’s Musick, the ensemble in residence at Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia, where she enjoyed the opportunity to share music with people visiting from all over the world.

    As an educator, she has worked privately with cello and viol students of all ages, as a coach for a variety of amateur ensembles, and has served on faculty at the Texas Toot and the Armstrong Community Music School. Jane is thrilled to be joining CityMusic for her first season.

  • Macarena Sánchez is an award-winning cellist from Spain. She graduated with honors in cello performance by the Professional Conservatory of Music in Madrid and holds degrees in Romantic cello from The Superior Conservatory of Music of Castilla y León and in Baroque cello from The Royal Music Conservatory in Madrid. In 2009 she was recognized for her outstanding performance at the Community of Madrid Music Performance Competition.

    Over the course of her musical career, she has received Master Classes by renowned cellists as Maria Kliegel (Cologne), Peter Bruns (Leipzig), Roel Dieltiens (Zurich), Marc Coppey (Paris) and Jaap ter Linden (The Hague) among others.

    Macarena has offered many baroque concerts and workshops in Germany, Italy and Spain. She has collaborated on several performance projects with Transbaroque Ensemble, Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, Community of Madrid Symphony Orchestra and Camerata Musicalis Symphony Orchestra, to name a few, and was awarded first prize at the FEMUBA Baroque Festival Competition with her Ensemble, “La Rejouissance”. Solo performances include the Vivaldi Cello Concerto RV418 with the Royal Conservatory of Music in Madrid Baroque Orchestra in 2017.

    Macarena moved recently to Georgia, where she intends to continue her career as a musician and where she collaborates with Amethyst Baroque Ensemble and the Georgia Symphony Orchestra.

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DOUBLE BASS

  • Tracy Rowell

    Double Bass

  • Joel Negus

    Double Bass

  • Tracy Rowell is on the faculty of the Oberlin Conservatory and the Cleveland Institute of Music. An active performer on modern and historical bass, Tracy is the former Assistant Principal Bass of the National Arts Centre Orchestra, a major Canadian ensemble. Currently the principal bassist of Citymusic Cleveland Chamber Orchestra, she also performs with Apollo’s Fire, Cleveland’s Baroque Orchestra. A founding member of the Pantheon Ensemble, Tracy has also performed with groups such as the Cavani, St. Lawrence, Pacifica, Jasper, Jupiter and Parker Quartets.

    Serving on the Board of Directors for the International Society of Bassists as Education Chair, Ms. Rowell co-directed the Young Bassists Program at ISB Convention 2019 and for the 2021 virtual ISB YB. She led the fundraising effort in 2019 to create the George Wellington and George Vance Scholarship Fund for young bassists. Tracy is a founding member of the Project for All Gender Equality (PAGE).

    Ms. Rowell performs and teaches at summer programs such as Bassworks Maryland, Kansas City Bass Workshop, Milt Hinton Institute, Bass Club (UK), and the Rochester Bass Retreat. She was a faculty member at George Vance’s Summer Bass Workshops. Ms. Rowell regularly presents masterclasses at institutions such as The Colburn School, USC, Northwestern University, and Peabody Conservatory.

    In 2016, Tracy received a grant from Oberlin, to continue her studies in Paris with the acclaimed virtuoso, Francois Rabbath. She received her MMus from Boston University, where she studied with Edwin Barker. She received her BMus from Rice University, as a student of Paul Ellison.

  • Joel Negus is a composer, producer, and mulit-instrumentalist proudly living in Cleveland, OH. With a background in many genres, including jazz, indie/folk, and metal, Joel chose to pursue a degree in Double Bass performance. He completed his undergraduate studies at the Cleveland Institute of Music in 2011.

    Between 2011-2015, Joel founded and operated the Cleveland Music Collaborative, employing classical and jazz musicians in Northeast Ohio to teach and perform, as well as invest in their creative projects. In 2016, Joel began regularly playing with CityMusic. In 2019, Joel began to focus on composition, viewing the home studio as his instrument. This shift combined his passion for sound and recording with his technical ability as a performer.

    Having worked on a number of licensing projects for television and film, most of Joel's compositional work is focused on the intersection of acoustic and electronically-produced sounds. You'll regularly find him hiring (and celebrating!) Cleveland musicians for his own creative projects, as well producing for others. Joel also serves as the worship pastor at City Church in Coventry Village.

FLUTE, OBOE, CLARINET, & BASSOON

  • Kimberly Zaleski

    Flute, Clurie Bennis Children’s Outreach

  • Virginia Kao

    Oboe

  • Daniel Gilbert

    Clarinet

  • Justin Wisner

    Clarinet

  • Laura Henning

    Bassoon

  • A native of Garrison, New York, flutist Kimberly Zaleski has dedicated her career to performing, composing and teaching music. An active promoter of chamber music, she is the Touring Flutist with “David Arkenstone and Friends,” a five-piece band that performs music throughout the United States composed by five-time Grammy-nominated composer, David Arkenstone. She is a member of the North Coast Winds, Cleveland's Premier Woodwind Quintet and is also the Co-Founder of the flute, cello, and percussion trio, IN2ATIVE, known for their engaging performances of original compositions. Kimberly is a Performing and Teaching Artist on the Roster of the Center for Arts-Inspired Learning Agency.

    Ms. Zaleski is the Principal Flutist of the Firelands Symphony Orchestra and Second Flutist with the CityMusic Cleveland Chamber Orchestra and has performed with The Cleveland Orchestra, Blossom Festival Band, The Cleveland Pops Orchestra, Akron Symphony, Toledo Symphony, Erie Philharmonic, New World Symphony, and Canton Symphony. She is a substitute musician for The Pittsburgh Opera, Columbus Symphony, and West Virginia Symphony. Ms. Zaleski was a finalist of both Astral Artists Musical Agency and Carnegie Hall’s Ensemble ACJW Program at The Juilliard School. She holds the distinction of being the first piccoloist on the nationally broadcast radio show, "From the Top."

    Ms. Zaleski was a student of Renee Siebert, the former Second Flutist of The New York Philharmonic throughout her high school years. In addition, she studied at the Juilliard School under the instruction of Bradley Garner before pursuing her Bachelor's at the Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University as a student of renowned soloist, Marina Piccinini. She is a graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Music where she received her Master’s Degree as a student of Joshua Smith, Principal Flutist of the Cleveland Orchestra.

    In addition to her performance career, she holds the title of Adjunct Professor of Flute at The College of Wooster, and Assistant Lecturer of Flute at The University of Akron, and has given performances and masterclasses at Arizona State University and Penn State University.

  • A native of New Jersey, Virginia Kao is a dedicated orchestral and chamber musician. She has enjoyed performing in traditional and contemporary ensembles around the country, such as the CIM New Music Ensemble, Haddonfield Symphony (now Symphony in C), Camerata Notturna, Symphony Parnassus, Philharmonic of Southern New Jersey, Mozart and Friends Opera Festival, and the Viva Vivaldi All Girls Orchestra. She has performed as a soloist with Camerata Notturna as well as participated in the Kent Blossom, Domaine Forget, and Hidden Valley music festivals.

    Virginia is currently pursuing a Professional Studies Diploma in oboe performance at the Cleveland Institute of Music under the tutelage of Jeffrey Rathbun, Assistant Principal Oboe of The Cleveland Orchestra. Virginia earned her Artist Diploma from CIM, Master of Music degree from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and Bachelor of Arts degree cum laude from Princeton University. Her major teachers include Russell deLuna, Mingjia Liu, Christopher Gaudi, and Louis Rosenblatt.

    Between her undergraduate and graduate studies, Virginia worked as an intellectual property paralegal at law firms and Fortune 100 companies in New York City for over a decade. When not making reeds, Virginia enjoys exploring the outdoors with her husband and two dogs.

  • 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. 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 Professional Studies Certificate from The Juilliard School. Prior to joining the Cleveland Orchestra, Mr. Gilbert was an active 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. Mr. Gilbert was a member of the Quintet of the Americas in 1994-1995. The group toured throughout the United States and was in residence at Northwestern University.

    An active soloist and chamber musician, Mr. Gilbert has appeared at the Classical Tahoe festival, Aspen Music Festival, Maui Chamber Music Festival, St. Barth’s Music Festival, Music on the Hill, Rhode Island and Cape Cod Music Festival, among others. He has appeared as soloist with orchestras that include the Cleveland Orchestra, Classical Tahoe orchestra, Reno Chamber orchestra, City Music Cleveland Cleveland Heights Chamber orchestra, the Suburban Symphony Orchestra, the New Haven Symphony, Solisti New York and the Aspen Mozart Orchestra.

    Mr. Gilbert is an artist/clinician for Backun Musical, Canada and Vandoren companies. He is featured as a soloist and clinician throughout the US, Canada and Europe and his recitals and classes have received critical acclaim. Aside from his position at the University of Michigan, he also serves on the faculty of Case Western Reserve University. In addition, Mr. Gilbert holds the position of principal clarinet of the chamber orchestra, CityMusic Cleveland, Principal clarinet of the Classical Tahoe festival, the Napa Festival Orchestra and second clarinet of the All Star orchestra that is currently recording its third season for PBS. He formerly served on the faculties at the State University of New York at Stony Brook and Oberlin Conservatory of Music. His teachers have included David Weber, Robert Marcellus, Stanley Hasty, Richard Waller, Burt Hara and Judith Kalin-Freeman. Mr. Gilbert plays exclusively on Backun and Vandoren products.

  • American clarinetist Justin Wisner is completing his second year in the Artist Diploma Program at the Glenn Gould School at the Royal Conservatory of Music (Toronto, ON), under the tutelage of Joaquin Valdepeñas. There he has collaborated with performers from the Royal Academy of Music in London. Justin has appeared on world-renowned stages including The New World Center, Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, and the “Temple of Tone” Koerner Hall, and he recently toured with the Royal Conservatory Orchestra to the Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts.

    In addition to CityMusic, Justin Wisner has performed with the American Modern Orchestra at the Mostly Modern Music Festival in Saratoga Springs, New York USA. He has also participated in the Miami Music Festival and Henri Selmer Clarinet Academy, receiving Third Place in the International Solo Competition.

    Mr. Wisner holds Bachelor’s degrees in Music Education and Clarinet Performance from Michigan State University. While residing in Michigan, Justin also taught middle school instrumental music and private music lessons. His principal teachers have included Joaquin Valdepeñas, Mingzhe Wang, and Tasha Warren-Yehuda.

    Music is only one of many of Justin Wisner’s passions; his other interests include cooking, biking, botany, and his cat, Sheba.

  • Lauren Henning is a bassoonist originally from Western New York, and is currently a freelance musician in the Cleveland, Ohio area. In 2021 she participated in the Meg Quigley Vivaldi Competition and Symposium where she was named one of ten finalists in the competition. Again as a soloist, Ms. Henning was named a winner of The Fredonia School of Music Concerto Competition in 2020 after being named a finalist in the prior competition. Also in 2020, she was awarded the coveted Performer’s Certificate from The Fredonia School of Music based on judged recital performances.

    As an orchestral musician, she is currently an active substitute in Western New York, Erie, Pennsylvania, and Cleveland, Ohio.

    She has performed with the Erie Philharmonic, Cleveland Pops Orchestra, Youngstown Symphony and Ashland Symphony, to name a few. Contributing to her orchestral experience, Ms. Henning was selected as a participant in The Cleveland Institute of Music Bassoon Audition Intensive (2020) where she was one of twelve students invited to play in the master classes that covered major orchestral bassoon excerpts. She received her undergraduate degree in Music Education and Bassoon Performance from The State University of New York at Fredonia in 2021 where she studied with Laura Koepke.

    Currently, Ms. Henning is pursuing her Masters Degree in Bassoon Performance from The Cleveland Institute of Music while studying with Barrick Stees. During the summer season you can find her working at Chautauqua Institution as a member of the Music and Audio/Visual Production crew, where she enjoys working with the members of the orchestra, guest artists, and music festival students.

TRUMPET

  • Riley Conley

    Trumpet

  • Riley Conley joined the CityMusic Cleveland Chamber Orchestra as principal trumpet in 2022, and is the Instructor of Trumpet at Denison University. A native of Pennsylvania, he earned a Bachelor of Music degree at Baldwin Wallace University and a Master of Music degree at The Colburn School. His primary teachers are Jack Sutte and James Wilt.

    Mr. Conley has frequently performed throughout Ohio with the Akron Symphony, Canton Symphony, Youngstown Symphony, Firelands Symphony, Mansfield Symphony, Ashland Symphony, the Cincinnati Opera, and most recently made his international debut in Anguilla as principal trumpet with the World Doctors Orchestra. He has been fortunate to work with esteemed conductors Esa-Pekka Salonen, Rossen Milanov, Rafael Payare, Robert Spano, and Patrick Summers.

    Summer engagements include performing with the Lake Tahoe Music Festival Orchestra, as well as fellowships at the Aspen Music Festival, the National Music Festival, the Chosen Vale International Trumpet Seminar, the Detroit Symphony Brass Institute, the Cincinnati Symphony Brass Institute, and the Pierre Monteux School. His additional former teachers include Raymond Mase, Kevin Cobb, Micah Wilkinson, John Brndiar, and Robert Dolwick.

    Riley Conley is a Vincent Bach Performing Artist.

PIANO & HARPSICHORD

  • Elizabeth DeMio

    Piano

  • Donna Lee

    Piano

  • Elizabeth DeMio is well-known as a collaborative pianist, recitalist and soloist in the Cleveland area. Besides appearing in over 100 concerts annually with local aspiring musicians, she performs frequently with renowned soloists such as Triple Grammy winner Zuill Bailey, Massimo La Rosa, John Mack, Andrew Sords, Umberto Clerici, the Cavani Quartet and has appeared in tours and given master classes throughout the U.S., Korea, Mexico and the Carribean.

    In 2008 she was the pianist for two finalists in the Naumberg International Cello Competition, resulting in her Carnegie Hall debut and subsequent U.S. tour with first place winner David Requiro. She performs often as a soloist with the Trinity Cathedral Chamber Orchestra, having performed twenty Mozart concerti and the five Beethoven concerti, among many others. Donald Rosenberg of the Cleveland Plain Dealer called her "a superb interpreter of Mozart" when she appeared as soloist with the Blue Water Chamber Orchestra in 2012. She is a member of the Pantheon Ensemble which has performed for CityMusic Cleveland, bringing classical concerts to underserved areas of Northeast Ohio. Also a frequent performer for El Paso Pro Musica and Northwest Bach Festival, she recently performed the complete sonatas by Beethoven for cello and piano with cellist Zuill Bailey. She has appeared as soloist for the Orquesta Sinfonica de Veracruz and the Orquesta de la UNAM in Mexico.

    As a recording artist she can be heard on Crystal, Yaffe and Azica labels, most recently on the debut album "Cantando" and subsequent album “Sempre Espressivo” with virtuoso trombonist Massimo La Rosa, produced by multiple Grammy winner Thomas Moore. Other recent projects have been a debut album with cellist David Requiro and an album with solo and duo works by Bernard Garfield with Cleveland Orchestra principal bassoonist John Clouser. DeMio is on the collaborative piano faculty of the Cleveland Institute of Music. She is a collaborative pianist for the Stulberg International String Competition, the Sitka Cello Seminar and the John Mack Oboe Camp. She holds degrees from CIM and the University of Michigan. Her teachers have included Vitya Vronsky and Theodore Lettvin.

  • Pianist Donna Lee made her solo debut in 1990 with the National Symphony Orchestra. She has since appeared as a soloist and collaborative artist at Kennedy Center’s Concert Hall and Terrace Theater in Washington, D.C. and Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall in New York City. She has also performed in Asia, Europe, and throughout the US, with performances in Wuhan, China; Brno, Czech Republic; and Maui, Hawaii. Donna made her solo recording debut on the Azica label, with a program titled Scenes from Childhood with works by Schumann, del Tredici, Medtner, and Prokofieff. In 2011, she released a recording on the Blue Griffin label of Felix Mendelssohn’s Complete works for cello and piano with cellist Keith Robinson. Fanfare Magazine called the disc, “…quite simply, amazing.”

    Critics have described Donna Lee’s performances as “elegant and refined” (Il Fronimo, Italy), “engaging” (WCLV-Cleveland), and “brilliant” (Iwate Daily News, Japan). As a soloist and chamber musician, she has performed at the Ameri-China Festival in China, Gotland Chamber Music Festival in Sweden, Brevard Music Center in North Carolina, Interlochen Arts Festival in Michigan, Kent/Blossom Music in Ohio, Maui Classical Music in Hawaii, Music-on-the-Hill in Rhode Island, and Classical Tahoe in Nevada. A frequent collaborator with cellist Keith Robinson, they have performed the complete works of Beethoven and Felix Mendelssohn for cello and piano in recent years. She also performs regularly with her husband, clarinetist Daniel Gilbert. The Gilbert-Lee duo has performed in recitals throughout the United States, including recent performances in Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Michigan, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, and Washington as well as in Chengdu, China.

    A native of Silver Spring, Maryland, Donna Lee earned her doctorate from Peabody Conservatory of The Johns Hopkins University, master’s from The Juilliard School, and Bachelor of Music from the University of Maryland, College Park, where she studied with prominent artist-teachers Julian Martin, the late Rudolf Firkušný, and Thomas Schumacher, respectively. A highly sought-after teacher and clinician, she has had numerous prize-winning students. She has taught at Peabody Conservatory, Bucknell University, and Interlochen Arts Camp in Michigan. Presently, Donna Lee is Professor of Piano at Kent State University; during the summers, she serves as artist-faculty at Brevard Music Center in North Carolina. Donna Lee is a Steinway Artist.