The Opera House is located in City Hall, 381 E. Main Street.
740 University Avenue, Madison
Trumpet MATTHEW ONSTAD A Wisconsin native, Dr. Onstad serves as assistant professor of trumpet at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he teaches applied trumpet, coaches chamber music, and performs with the Whitewater Brass Quintet. While earning his Doctor of Musical Arts and Master of Music degrees from UW-Madison, Dr. Onstad performed with the Wisconsin Brass Quintet, a faculty ensemble-in-residence. He holds the rank of staff sergeant in the 132nd Wisconsin Army National Guard Band and has performed with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, ProMusica Chamber Orchestra, Milwaukee Ballet Orchestra, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra Iowa, Illinois Symphony Orchestra, and the Isthmus Brass. He held the position of principal trumpet with the Quad City Symphony Orchestra from 2016-2021. Dr. Onstad has previously taught trumpet at St. Ambrose University, UW-La Crosse, and UW-Oshkosh. He has served as a master clinician with the Wisconsin Brass Quintet, the 132nd Army Band, and the Quad City Symphony Orchestra. Dr. Onstad received his Bachelor of Music degree from UW-Oshkosh. matthewonstad.com
Bassoonist ADRIAN MOREJON is a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral musician based in New York City. As a soloist, Mr. Morejon has appeared with the Talea Ensemble (New York City), the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, and the Miami Symphony, and has also performed in Vienna, Prague, and Memphis. He is co-principal of IRIS Orchestra and a member of the Dorian Wind Quintet, Talea Ensemble, and Radius Ensemble, and he has appeared with many other ensembles and festivals. Mr. Morejon is a prize-winner of the IDRS Gillet-Fox and Moscow Conservatory international competitions and a recipient of a Theodore Presser Foundation grant. He holds degrees from the Curtis Institute of Music and Yale School of Music and currently teaches at the Curtis Institute of Music, the Longy School of Music of Bard College, Purchase College Conservatory of Music, and Brooklyn College. (Website)
Teri Venker has led arts marketing as the director of marketing for the Madison Symphony Orchestra, from which she recently retired, and for the Wisconsin Union Theater. Teri enjoys bicycling and international travel. She also volunteers at Lakeview Elementary School and with the Madison Trust for Historic Preservation.
Larry Bechler grew up playing music: first piano, then trumpet all the way through college marching band and into post-college bands. He has a love of live chamber music, spawned by BDDS and the Spoleto Festival in Charleston. He practices law at Murphy Desmond S.C and has served on various committees and commissions throughout his life.
Miriam Simmons served as the Assistant Dean for Professional Development in the Graduate School at UW-Madison. A major responsibility was directing the Wisconsin Idea Seminar, a five-day tour of the state that immerses forty faculty and academic staff members in the realities of Wisconsin. She is on the board of the Madison Civic Club and considers BDDS her new BFF.
Violinist Paran Amirinazari, an avid chamber musician, is a founding member and artistic drector of the Willy Street Chamber Players. She is a former member of the Hunt String Quartet and has recently earned her Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Cello TRACE JOHNSON, a native of Madison, Wisconsin, has appeared as a chamber musician, soloist, and orchestral musician in a wide variety of settings in the U.S. and around the world. He is a cellist in the Sarasota Orchestra in Sarasota, Florida, and recently performed with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, and the Madison Symphony Orchestra. He has also performed in chamber recitals with faculty from SUNY Purchase, the University of Toronto, Florida Atlantic University, Palm Beach Atlantic University, Florida International University, Shenandoah University, and Queens College in New York City. traceljohnson.com
Pianist RANDALL HODGKINSON, grand prize winner of the International American Music Competition sponsored by Carnegie Hall and the Rockefeller Foundation, has performed with orchestras in Atlanta, Philadelphia, Buffalo, Boston, and Cleveland, and abroad in Italy and Iceland. In addition, he has performed numerous recital programs spanning the repertoire from J.S. Bach to Donald Martino. He is an artist member of the Boston Chamber Music Society and performs the four-hand and two-piano repertoire with his wife, Leslie Amper. Festival appearances include Blue Hill (Maine), Bargemusic, Chestnut Hill Concerts (Madison, Connecticut), Seattle Chamber Music Festival, Chamber Music Northwest (Portland, Oregon), and Mainly Mozart in San Diego. Mr. Hodgkinson recently released a CD of solo piano music on the Ongaku label. Other recordings include a live world premiere of the Gardner Read Piano Concerto for Albany records. Mr. Hodgkinson is on the faculties of the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston and the Longy School in Cambridge, Massachusetts. (Website)
Pianist CHRISTOPHER TAYLOR is known for his advocacy of music written in the past 100 years, but his repertoire spans four centuries and includes the complete Beethoven sonatas, the Liszt Transcendental Etudes, and Bach’s Goldberg Variations. Mr. Taylor has concertized around the globe, with his most recent international tours taking him to Korea, China, Singapore, Italy, and Venezuela. In the U.S. he has appeared with the New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Detroit Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Houston Symphony, and the Milwaukee Symphony. As a soloist he has performed in New York’s Carnegie and Alice Tully Halls, in Washington’s Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and at the Ravinia and Aspen festivals. His recordings have featured works by Liszt, Messiaen, and present-day Americans William Bolcom and Derek Bermel. Mr. Taylor serves as Paul Collins associate professor of piano performance at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where a current project involves building a modernized version of a unique double-manual Steinway piano. He pursues a variety of other interests, including mathematics, philosophy, computing, linguistics, and biking, which is his primary means of commuting. Mr. Taylor lives in Middleton, Wisconsin, with his wife and two daughters.
Composer JOHN WINEGLASS has written several scores for shows on MSNBC, CNN, NBC, CBS and ABC as well as documentaries. He is a recipient of three Emmy Awards for outstanding achievement in music direction and composition for a drama series, and three ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards. He has received commissions from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Pittsburgh Foundation, and The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, along with a wide cadre of private sponsors. Recent commissioned works in the 2018-2019 season included four symphonic works, two with full chorus. His latest symphonic 2019 premiere of three movements, Unburied, Unmourned, Unmarked: Requiem for Rice, was dedicated to the lives of African and African-American forced laborers who cultivated the rice economy in the Lowcountry and based on research in South Carolina, Senegal, Guinea-Bissau and The Gambia. Mr. Wineglass is currently serving as composer-in-residence with the Monterey Symphony, where both of his pandemic response works, Alone for Solo Violin, Live EFX and Electronica and Alone Together for Percussion, Harp and Strings have been curated to be included in the permanent collection of COVID-19 response art at the Library of Congress. (website)
Cellist BION TSANG is the winner of an Avery Fisher Career Grant and bronze medal in the International Tchaikovsky Competition. Mr. Tsang has appeared with the New York, Mexico City, Moscow, Busan, and Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestras, the Atlanta, Pacific, Civic, American and National Symphony Orchestras, the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, the Saint Paul and Stuttgart Chamber Orchestras, and the Taiwan National Orchestra. He has been a guest of the Chamber Music Societies of Boston, Brooklyn and Fort Worth, Chamber Music International (Dallas), Da Camera of Houston and Camerata Pacifica (Los Angeles), and has performed at the festivals of Marlboro, Portland, and Tucson, the Bard Festival, Bravo! Colorado, and the Laurel Festival of the Arts, where he served as Artistic Director for ten years. Mr. Tsang’s discography includes three live recordings: Beethoven: Sonatas and Variations for Cello and Piano (Artek), Brahms: Cello Sonatas and Four Hungarian Dances (Artek), and Bion Tsang and Adam Neiman: Live at Jordan Hall (BHM). Mr. Tsang released The Blue Rock Sessions (BHM) in 2017, featuring eighteen virtuoso cello and piano miniatures, Dvořák and Enescu Cello Concertos (Sony) in 2019, and Bach Cello Suites (Sony) in 2021. Mr. Tsang holds the Long Chair in Cello at the University of Texas-Austin.
Percussionist MIKE KOSZEWSKI is a member of Mr. Chair, Madison's genre-defying quartet, which recently released its second original album Better Days. With this ensemble he has toured extensively, held residence at Caroga Lake Music Festival, collaborated with Filipina vocalist and visual artist Leslie Demaso, created and performed a rearrangement of Stravinsky's Pulcinella Suite, and is currently producing the debut album for hip hop/spoken word artist Dequadray. After graduating from the University of Wisconsin-Madison percussion studio, Mr, Koszewski performed, taught, and lectured throughout the Midwest and East Coast in the 2010s with the percussion ensemble Clocks in Motion. He is a member of the band Lovely Socialite, plays drum kit in the Ben Ferris Octet, and in recent years has performed with Oakwood Chamber Players, LunArt Festival, and Dubuque Symphony Orchestra. Mr, Koszewsk is also a versatile pit orchestra musician, performing regularly with Four Seasons Theatre, Forward Theater Company, Capital City Theatre, and Children's Theater of Madison.
Cellist LACHEZAR KOSTOV is associate principal cello of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. He made his debut at Carnegie Hall in 2009, performing rarely heard works for cello and piano by Ellen Zwilich, Nikolay Roslavets, and Dimitri Kabalevsky. Mr. Kostov was the national winner at the 2006 MTNA Young Artists Competition and has won the cello award at the Kingsville Competition, the grand prix at the International Music and Earth Competition in Bulgaria, and the concerto competitions at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts and Rice University. With pianist Viktor Valkov, he won the first prize and all the special prizes at the Third International Liszt-Garrison Piano and Duo Competition. Prior to his appointment with the Baltimore Symphony Mr. Kostov was a tenured member of the San Antonio Symphony, and also performed with the Houston Symphony. He has appeared as a soloist at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and the Gewandhaus (Leipzig, Germany), and as a guest soloist and chamber musician throughout the U.S, Japan, Italy, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Bulgaria, and has performed at La Jolla Summer Fest and Cactus Pear Music Festival, and is a guest on faculty at the Texas Music Festival.
Oboeist LINDSAY FLOWERS is the assistant professor of oboe at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Mead Witter School of Music, where she is a member of the Wingra Wind Quintet and guides student-generated community engagement projects. She received a Doctor of Music degree from Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music. Her background in athletics distinguishes her pedagogical approach in her emphasis on performance visualization, disciplined commitment, and supportive teamwork. Dr. Flowers is an oboist and English hornist with the Madison Symphony Orchestra, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, and Quad Cities Symphony Orchestra. She previously was a member of the Milwaukee Ballet Orchestra, New Mexico Philharmonic, and Civic Orchestra of Chicago. Dr. Flowers was a founding member of the Arundo Donax Reed Quintet, bronze medal winners of the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, and has recorded a duo album with Dr. Andrew Parker to be released in 2023.. She has performed with the Milwaukee, Chicago, Indianapolis, Utah, and Nashville Symphony Orchestras and during recent summers with the Santa Fe Opera, Grant Park, Midsummer’s, Lakes Area, Apollo, Lake George, Castleton, Aspen, and Banff Music Festivals. In addition to performing and teaching, she is recognized for her maintenance and repair of oboe and English horn gouging machines.
Violist MADLEN BRECKBILL learned to play the violin in the Madison music scene—with the Suzuki Strings of Madison, the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestra, and Gene Purdue of the Buddy Conservatory of Music. She continued her studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and then at the Glenn Gould School of Music in Toronto, Ontario. For four years, Ms. Breckbill lived in Berlin (Germany) working as an orchestral trainee with Konzerthaus Berlin, as the violist of the TAIGA String Quartet in Denmark, and as a chamber music player for Villa-Musica in Rheinland Pfalz. Since her early years, Madlen has developed a love for the many-layered, communicative world of chamber music. She has participated in the Jupiter String Quartet at Madeline Island Music Camp, performed with violist Steve Dann at Domaine Forget (Quebec), and with Music by the Sea (British Columbia). In the summer of 2019, Ms. Breckbill started the Stoughton Chamber Music Festival. She enjoys working with both children and adults as a Suzuki teacher.
Percussionist DAVE ALCORN is a founding member of the percussion group, Clocks in Motion, committed to performing classic percussion literature and chamber music, as well as commissioning new repertoire. He was the principal timpanist of the Wyoming Symphony Orchestra and has performed on a regular basis with the Lansing Symphony Orchestra and Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra. In addition to western classical music, he is also active in music from various other cultures. He is the former president of the Brazilian Samba group Vencedores, located in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Mr. Alcon has studied instruments of the Middle East and is a former member of the University of Michigan Arabic Ensemble. Since 2007, he has been a staff arranger and composer for the Mt. Lebanon Percussion Ensemble. His arrangements and compositions have been performed by groups throughout the United States, including at the University of Michigan and the University of California-Los Angeles. Mr. Alcorn’s diverse background includes video and audio recording and editing of live concerts, closed studio sessions, and documentaries. He regularly records recitals and other musical events in the Madison, WI area. Mr. Alcorn holds a Master of Music degree in Percussion Performance from UW-Madison and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Michigan.
Conductor KENNETH WOODS was appointed artistic director and principal conductor of the English Symphony Orchestra in 2013, and was recently appointed artistic director of both the Elgar Festival in Worcester, England, and the Colorado MahlerFest. As a guest, Mr. Woods has conducted ensembles including the National Symphony Orchestra (Washington, D.C.), Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Royal Northern Sinfonia, and the English Chamber Orchestra; has been featured on broadcasts for BBC Radio 3, National Public Radio, and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation; and has appeared at music festivals such as Aspen, Scotia and Lucerne. Under Mr. Woods’ leadership, the English Symphony Orchestra responded to the2020 Covid-19 lockdown, “Music from Wyastone," a series of virtual concerts including dozens of world-premieres of new works and new arrangements, such as a chamber version of Mahler’s Ninth Symphony and Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle. Mr. Woods’s blog, “A View from the Podium,” is one of the 25 most popular classical blogs in the world. He has spoken on Mahler on NPR’s All Things Considered and is a regular speaker on BBC radio programs. Kennethwoods.net
Bass NICK MORAN, a veteran of the Madison, Wisconsin, music scene, performs on both electric bass and the double bass in varied genres including jazz, Afro-Latin, hip hop, reggae, and funk. Mr. Moran has toured internationally and performed with a diverse collection of acts, including Ben Sidran, Lee ‘Scratch‘ Perry, Clyde Subblefield, and David ‘Fathead‘ Newman (Ray Charles’s sax player). He has also worked with such Madison music institutions as Harmonious Wail, the Gomers, Tony Casteneda, Anna Laube, Joy and the Boy, and the Tim Whalen Nonet. As a freelance bassist, Mr. Moran has recorded tracks and albums for a wide-ranging roster of artists including Gerri DiMaggio, University of Wisconsin-Madison music professor Les Thimmig, Clyde Stubbelfield, Hanah John Taylor, and reggae giants Natty Nation. His playing can also be heard in various Afro-Cuban, hip hop, R&B and funk loop libraries from Sony Music and Apple. In addition to his music career, Mr. Moran works as a production and development consultant for the Greater Madison Jazz Consortium. In 2014, he was named "Jazz Personality of The Year" at the Isthmus Jazz Festival by mayoral proclamation. In 2016, he joined the UW-Madison School of Music as jazz bass instructor.
Cellist KENNETH OLSEN joined the Chicago Symphony Orchestra as assistant principal cello in 2005. He is a graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Music and a winner of the school's prestigious concerto competition. His other awards include first prize in the Nakamichi Cello Competition at the Aspen Music Festival and second prize at the 2002 Holland-America Music Society Competition. His teachers have included Richard Aaron at the Cleveland Institute of Music, Joel Krosnick at New York's Juilliard School of Music and Luis Garcia-Renart at Bard College. He also has been a participant at the Steans Institute for Young Artists (the Ravinia Festival's professional studies program for young musicians) and at Boston University's Tanglewood Institute. A native of New York, Kenneth Olsen is a founding member of the East Coast Chamber Orchestra, a conductorless string orchestra comprised of young musicians from orchestras and ensembles all over the country.
Baritone TIMOTHY JONES has performed in opera houses and with symphony orchestras in the U.S., Ecuador, Mexico, and the Czech Republic. He has appeared with the Cleveland Orchestra, Dallas Symphony, St. Petersburg Chamber Orchestra, San Antonio Symphony, and the Jacksonville Symphony. In opera houses he has performed leading roles in "The Marriage of Figaro," "Carmen," Die Zauberflöte," "Cosi Fan Tutte," "Don Giovanni," "Don Pasquale," "La Boheme," "Falstaff," "Macbeth," and "La Traviata." He has been a frequent guest with the Victoria Bach Festival, New Texas Festival, Round Top Music Festival, Ars Lyrica Houston, Cactus Pear Music Festival, and the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble. As a committed performer of contemporary music, Mr. Jones has commissioned and premiered numerous compositions by leading composers of our time. He currently lives in Houston, where he serves on the faculty of the University of Houston.
Violin SUZANNE BEIA is co-concertmaster of the Madison Symphony Orchestra, concertmaster of the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, and second violinist in the Pro Arte Quartet. A native of Reno, Nevada, she began her musical studies on the viola at the age of ten. Three years later, she shifted her attention to the violin and made her solo debut at the age of fourteen with the North Lake Tahoe Symphony. Since that time, she has performed as a soloist with orchestras throughout the U.S. and Germany. Before coming to Madison, Ms. Beia held the position of principal second violin in the Wichita Symphony and has held concertmaster positions with the Reno Chamber Orchestra, Bay Area Women's Philharmonic, Spoleto Festival Orchestra, and Chamber Symphony of San Francisco. She also held the assistant concertmaster position in the New World Symphony. Her chamber music experience has been extensive: she has performed at festivals such as Chamber Music West, Telluride Chamber Music Festival, Token Creek, Festival de Prades, and Chamber Music at the Barn. Ms. Beia has served on the faculties of the Rocky Ridge Music Center and Florida International University.