STEPHANIE JUTT AND JEFFREY SYKES - ARTISTIC DIRECTORS

Press Release

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FOR RELEASE April1, 2026​
Samantha Crownover, Executive Director
608.255.9866
Crownover@bachdancinganddynamite.org

BACH DANCING & DYNAMITE SOCIETY
35th CHAMBER MUSIC FESTIVAL: NEVER SAY NEVER
Chamber Music Festival, Madison, June 5 – 28, 2026

Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society (BDDS) celebrates its 35th summer season with NEVER SAY NEVER, a chamber music festival running June 5–28, 2026. This milestone season features nine concerts across three weekends, with performances held in Collins Hall at the Hamel Music Center on the UW–Madison campus, as well as the Stoughton Opera House and Hillside Theater at Taliesin in Spring Green.

They said no one would ever understand a name like Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society. They said chamber music was Serious Business—and that door prizes, mystery guests, playful titles, and a little audience mischief had no place in it. They said a festival like this wouldn’t last.

Thirty-five summers later, BDDS is still here—still surprising itself, still chasing curiosity, and still proving that chamber music can be both passionately committed and Serious Fun. What began as a leap of faith has become a tradition built on trust: trust in great music, fearless artists, and an audience always ready for adventure.

And while BDDS embraces the spirit of “never say never,” there are a few things it will always stand by: never programming music that doesn’t make hearts race, never giving anything less than its all, never losing its sense of humor, and never taking its audience for granted.

After all, audiences return year after year for that familiar thrill: “They’ll never do that.”

FESTIVAL HIGHLIGHTS

BDDS’s beloved Incendiary Artist Spotlight series returns with intimate, one-hour concerts featuring dynamic performances and lively on-stage conversations, followed by receptions where audiences can meet the artists.

Incendiary Artist Spotlight: THOUGHT YOU’D NEVER ASK (aka SALLY FORTH)
Friday, June 5, 7:30 pm (Reception follows)
A long-overdue spotlight on violist Sally Chisholm celebrates one of BDDS’s most beloved artists with a program of depth, daring, and unmistakable personality.

NEVER A DULL MOMENT
Saturday, June 6, 7:30 pm
A vibrant, fast-moving program featuring Dvořák, Berio’s Folk Songs, moonlit art songs, and theatrical works by Stravinsky and Rossini.

NOW OR NEVER
Sunday, June 7, 2:30 pm
From Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet to John Harbison’s Mirabai Songs and Mozart at his most dramatic, this program captures urgency, risk, and emotional intensity.

One week off to participate in the Madison Symphony Orchestra’s 100th celebration. BDDS will participate by way of offering a free concert by Stephane Jutt, Jeffrey Sykes, and accordion legend, Stas Venglevski, on Sunday, June 14, from 1:45 – 2:30 pm, in Promenade Hall, Overture Center.

Incendiary Artist Spotlight: NEVERLAND
Friday, June 19, 7:30 pm (Reception follows)
Brahms’s Magelone songs unfold through narration and projected imagery in a sweeping, multimedia tale of love and adventure.

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER
Saturday, June 20, 7:30 pm
Featuring Brahms’s late chamber works, a concerto by C.P.E. Bach, and the playful originality of Schulhoff.

NEVER LET ME GO
Sunday, June 21, 2:30 pm
An elegiac and deeply moving program with music by Kevin Puts and Shostakovich’s gripping Piano Quintet. Also, six members of the Wisconsin Youth Symphony (WYSO) will make an appearance.

WELL, I NEVER!
Friday, June 26, 7:30 pm
(Stoughton Opera House – no intermission)
A compact, high-energy concert pairing Rossini, Beethoven, and Haydn’s witty Symphony No. 97.

NEVER LOOK BACK
Saturday, June 27, 7:30 pm
From Mozart’s youthful brilliance to Brahms’s stormy Piano Quartet in C minor, this program balances bold beginnings with profound reflection.

NEVER ENOUGH
Sunday, June 28, 3:00 pm
(Hillside Theater, Taliesin, Spring Green)
The season finale features Milhaud’s La création du monde and Bloch’s powerful Piano Quintet, followed by a reception for all.

ARTISTS

Artistic Co-Directors Stephanie Jutt, flute (principal flute of the Madison Symphony Orchestra and professor emerita at the UW–Madison) and Jeffrey Sykes, piano (a University of California, Berkeley faculty member) lead a roster of exceptional returning and guest artists from across the country and abroad. They are joined by violinist Suzanne Beia (concertmaster of the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and member of the Pro Arte Quartet); violist Madlen Breckbill (founder of the Samtalä Chamber Music Festival); violist Sally Chisholm (Pro Arte Quartet and UW–Madison faculty); percussionist Anthony Di Sanza (Madison Symphony Orchestra and UW-Madison faculty); violinist/violist Michael Gurevich (London Haydn Quartet); cellist Trace Johnson (Sarasota and Madison Symphony Orchestras); bass-baritone Timothy Jones (University of Houston); clarinetist Alan Kay (Orpheus Chamber Orchestra); cellist Lachezar Kostov (Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra); violinist Emily Nebel (Lyric Opera of Chicago); cellist Kenneth Olsen (Chicago Symphony Orchestra); violist Aurelien Pederzoli (Lyric Opera of Chicago); violinist Stephanie Sant’Ambrogio (concertmaster of the Fresno Philharmonic); bassist David Scholl (Madison Symphony Orchestra); violist, poet, and photographer Katrin Talbot; harpist Johanna Wienholts (Madison Symphony Orchestra); and violinist Carmit Zori (Brooklyn Chamber Music Society), among others.

Executive Director Samantha Crownover marks her 28th season with BDDS, continuing to shape the festival’s distinctive blend of artistry, innovation, and audience connection.

TICKETS

TICKETS ON SALE NOW

Single tickets and series packages are available online from Campus Arts Ticketing or by calling (608)265-2787. Student tickets are always $10.

For additional information, visit www.bachdancing.org or call (608) 255-9866.

Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society continues to present chamber music with joy, creativity, spontaneity, and exceptional artistry. BDDS is for audiences who are curious, open-minded, and ready for anything—people who believe in having Serious Fun.

Double bassist DAVID SCHOLL leads an active career as a performer and educator. He is principal bass of both the Madison and Quad City Symphonies. Previously he was a member of the Illinois and Dubuque Symphonies. Chamber music highlights include: Midsummer’s Music Festival, University of Wisconsin-Madison faculty recitals, Chicago Symphony’s MusicNOW series, University of Chicago’s Contempo series, Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society, as well as concerts with the Pro Arte and Spektral Quartets. A dedicated teacher, Mr. Scholl enjoys teaching in a wide array of settings. In addition to maintaining a private studio, he can be found presenting bass classes and coaching sectionals across the midwest. He served as interim bass instructor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison from 2017-2020. Currently he is the Wisconsin Youth Symphony’s sectional coach, in addition to being on the faculty of the Music Makers program and the Madison Conservatory. Mr. Scholl earned his bachelor and master of music degrees from Indiana University, where he studied with Bruce Bransby. Additional training comes from his time as principal bass of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, Aspen Music Festival, and Alex Hanna.

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)

Violist PETER DUDEK is a faculty member of the Merit School of Music in Chicago. He also teaches violin, viola, and music theory to students in Kenya and Kurdistan through Project: Music Heals Us. He was a member of the award-winning Ulysses Quartet, the 2023-2025 quartet-in-residence at Boston’s WGBH. He has performed throughout the United States and abroad, appearing alongside artists including Itzhak Perlman, Pinchas Zukerman, Areta Zhulla, Roger Tapping, and others. He has performed in the Verbier Festival (Switzerland), Keshet Eilon Mastercourse (Israel), the NAC Young Artists Program (Canada), Premiere Performances (Hong Kong), and at the National Gallery of Art (Washington, D.C.), the Beijing Modern Music Festival (China), and the Perlman Music Program (New York and Florida). As an orchestral musician, Mr. Dudek has performed in such venues as Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Merkin Hall, Hill Auditorium, Ravinia Festival, and Chicago Symphony Center. He holds bachelor and master degrees from The Juilliard School. He also has a New York-based private violin/viola studio.

Violist LYDIA GRIMES joined the Minnesota Orchestra in 2022. Ms. Grimes has performed frequently at Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival in Blue Hill, Maine, and currently performs with the Bakken Ensemble, Lakes Area Music Festival, the New York Philharmonic, APEX Ensemble, and the Cabrillo Festival Orchestra. She received her bachelor and master degrees from The Juilliard School where she studied with Hsin-Yun Huang, Misha Amory and Cynthia Phelps.

Dutch violinist and violist MICHAEL GUREVICH enjoys a varied performing career. As a member of the London Haydn Quartet, he appears on their recordings of the complete quartets by Haydn. With them, as well as with the Nash Ensemble and other chamber groups, he has performed worldwide, including at Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, the Sydney Opera House and the Edinburgh, Verbier, Aix-en-Provence, and Aldeburgh Festivals, with frequent BBC Radio 3 broadcasts. He has led numerous productions with the early music ensemble Arcangelo, performing at the BBC Proms and the Vienna Konzerthaus and recording albums on Hyperion and Alpha. As guest concertmaster he has performed with a wide range of ensembles including the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Dunedin Consort, Haydn Philharmonie, and Concerto Copenhagen, on occasion also appearing as director and soloist. Mr. Gurevich studied at the Royal Northern College of Music and attended masterclasses at the Britten-Pears School, IMS Prussia Cove, and the Aix-en-Provence and Verbier Academies. He taught at Chetham’s School of Music following teaching fellowships at the RNCM and Guildhall School of Music and Drama and continues to teach chamber music and violin masterclasses worldwide.

Mezzo-soprano CHRISTINE ABRAHAM has performed a varied operatic and orchestral repertoire. She has appeared as featured soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Saint Louis Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, and many others in works ranging from Monteverdi to Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony to the music of today. As an advocate of contemporary works, she has participated in a number of world premieres, including David Carlson’s Anna Karenina with Florida Grand Opera and Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Stephen Hartke’s The Greater Good, or the Passion of Boule de Suif with Glimmerglass Opera, and Peter Lieberson’s Ashoka’s Dream with the Santa Fe Opera. Other career highlights include her Metropolitan Opera debut as Ida in Die Fledermaus; the roles of Zerlina in Don Giovanni and Nicklausse and the Muse in Les Contes d'Hoffmann at New York City Opera; and her debut with the Spoleto Festival USA as Stephano in Roméo et Juliette.  She has performed the title role in Cenerentola with Dallas Opera, Blanche in Dialogues des Carmelites with Palm Beach Opera, and Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni with Lyric Opera of Kansas City. Currently, Ms. Abraham is on the Pre-College and Continuing Education faculty at San Francisco Conservatory of Music and the collegiate faculty at California State University East Bay.

Michael Bridgeman is the retired Communications Director for Wisconsin Public Television where he oversaw promotion, public relations, design, special events and online services. He has been active in historic preservation and neighborhood organizations and served for ten years on the Madison Arts Commission, including two as chair. Michael has attended BDDS concerts since the first season and also enjoys orchestral music, opera and theater.

Violinist EMILY NEBEL is assistant concertmaster of the Lyric Opera of Chicago and associate concertmaster of the Festival Orchestra of Lincoln Center. She has appeared as guest concertmaster with a range of companies such as the Royal Ballet and Opera at Covent Garden, Staatstheater Darmstadt, Welsh National Opera, and Opera North, and was recently invited to guest lead the Korea National Opera’s production of Die Tote Stadt on a South Korean tour. She has also regularly worked with symphonic orchestras, guest leading the London Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, and BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestras. Originally from Arizona, Ms. Nebel got her start playing old time fiddle and bluegrass, winning the state fiddle championship at age 12. She maintained her love of folk music and improvisation while pursuing a career in classical music, studying in the U.S., Paris, Frankfurt, and London. Ms. Nebel has performed at numerous festivals worldwide, such as IMS Prussia Cove, Domaine Forget, and Krzyzowa Music Festival, and has recorded an album of French sonatas with Jean-Sélim Abdelmoula for Linn Records.

Violinist DAWN DONGEUN WOHN has performed in concert halls across five continents, including Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, and has appeared as a soloist on live-broadcast radio performances with the Korean Broadcasting Symphony, the New York Sinfonietta, and Japan’s Telemann Ensemble. Her debut solo album, Perspectives, featuring works by women composers, was chosen by New York's classical station WQXR as one of the best albums of the year. Her recent release, Unbounded, explores music by American women. Ms. Wohn often performs with new music ensembles, with recent projects including international tours with DJ Kid Koala and the Afiara Quartet as part of an interdisciplinary show Nufonia Must Fall. As a chamber musician, Ms. Wohn has performed at the Banff Centre, Music@Menlo, and Aspen music festivals. She holds degrees from The Juilliard School, Yale University, and Stony Brook University. She is currently on the faculty of the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music. Previously, she was associate professor of violin at Ohio University’s School of Music and associate concertmaster of the Harrisburg Symphony. She is the artistic director and co-creator of Coppia Concerts, a multi-sensory concert series that combines music with wine and food. Ms. Wohn performs on a 1732 Nicolo Gagliano violin.

Cellist WILHELMINA SMITH was awarded a 2015-2016 McKnight Artist Fellowship for Performing Musicians. She made her solo debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra while a student at the Curtis Institute of Music and in 1997 was a prizewinner in the Leonard Rose International Cello Competition. She has been a soloist with orchestras nationally and internationally, including the Orquesta Millenium of Guatemala and the Ural Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia, and has performed recitals across the U.S. and Japan. She has been a guest artist with the Philadelphia and Boston Chamber Music Societies, and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and is a founding member of Music from Copland House. She has performed regularly at the Marlboro Music Festival and Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival. In 2005, she formed the Variation String Trio with violinist Jennifer Koh and violist Hsin-Yun Huang; in 2012 she formed a piano trio with pianist Lydia Artymiw and violinist Erin Keefe; and she is the founder and artistic director of Salt Bay Chamberfest, on the coast of Maine. Ms. Smith’s solo CD of sonatas by Britten and Schnittke with pianist Thomas Sauer was released in 2006. Her recordings of chamber music include the complete chamber works of Aaron Copland and works by Jennifer Higdon, Osvaldo Golijov, and Aaron Jay Kernis. (Website)

Violist AURELIEN PEDERZOLI is one of the founders of the Musique dans le Gers music festival, based in southwest France. In 2008, he founded the Anaphora Ensemble, a chamber music project, which appeared frequently on national radio and performed in venues ranging from a jazz club to a symphony hall. From 2008 to 2012, Mr. Pederzoli was first violinist of the Corky Siegel Chamber Blues band and toured nationally and internationally with them. He has also collaborated with Rachel Kolly, Christian Chamorel, Daniel Barenboim, Kent Nagano, the Ysaye Quartet, H.J Lim, members of Eighth Blackbird, Shmuel Ashkenasi, the Lincoln Trio and Mathieu Dufour. From 2009 to 2014, Mr. Pederzoli performed as a founding member with the Grammy-nominated Spektral Quartet, in residence at the University of Chicago. In 2015, he co-founded the Black Oak Ensemble, a string trio at its core, and has been performing with them ever since. 2018 marked the release of their debut album Silenced Voices on the Cedille label. Mr. Pederzoli is a graduate of the Paris Conservatory and also attended the Bern Hochschule in Switzerland.

Clarinetist ALICIA LEE, as a resident of New York City for over a decade, performed and toured regularly with The Knights, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Alarm Will Sound, and NOVUS NY. Since 2015, she has been a member of NOW Ensemble, with whom she has premiered dozens of new works written for the group. She is a founding member of Decoda, the affiliate ensemble of Carnegie Hall, whose artists are committed equally to virtuosic performance and audience engagement. She also serves as co-director of the Decoda Chamber Music Festival, one of the ensemble’s flagship educational programs. Her festival appearances include Marlboro, Lucerne, Spoleto USA, Yellow Barn, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and Bay Chamber Concerts. Ms. Lee is formerly the associate principal clarinetist of the Santa Barbara Symphony, a position she held for seven seasons. She also performed as solo bass clarinetist of the Bergen Philharmonic in Norway during the 2013-14 season. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in French Language and Literature from Columbia University and pursued musical studies at The Juilliard School. She earned additional degrees from the University of Southern California and The Colburn School, where she was a student of Yehuda Gilad. She is assistant professor of clarinet at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she also performs with the Wingra Wind Quintet.

Oboeist IZUMI AMEMIYA is principal oboe of the Madison Symphony Orchestra. A native of Honolulu, Hawaii, Ms. Amemiya began her musical studies on the piano at the age of eight, and started playing the oboe three years later. In 2018, she made her solo debut at the Sewanee Summer Music Festival as a winner of the SSMF Jacqueline Avent Concerto Competition. Before moving to Madison, she completed her graduate degree at the New England Conservatory with John Ferrillo in 2022, and her undergraduate degree at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music with Linda Strommen in 2020. Ms. Amemiya also performs with the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and is a private instructor of oboe in Madison.

Harpist JOHANNA WIENHOLTS is principal harp of the Madison Symphony Orchestra. She regularly performs with Madison Opera and the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, and has been a featured soloist with the Madison Symphony Orchestra. She is also lecturer of harp at the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Mead Witter School of Music. Before moving to Madison in 2017, Ms. Wienholts was a freelance harpist in New York City and Toronto and has performed with orchestras all over the U.S. and Canada. She is an avid performer of both the standard symphonic repertoire and contemporary music, and has performed with numerous contemporary ensembles in New York. She has recorded for musical artists of other genres and has been featured on hip-hop, pop, and folk albums. Ms. Wienholts holds a bachelor’s degree in classical harp performance from the University of Toronto and a master’s degree in performance from the Manhattan School of Music. She attended Interlochen Arts Academy, where she studied with Joan Holland, professor of harp at the University of Michigan. In Toronto, Ms. Wienholts studied with Judy Loman, one of the last pupils of Carlos Salzedo, a founder of the modern harp technique.

Horn player DAFYDD BEVIL is Acting Principal Horn of the Madison Symphony Orchestra and La Crosse Symphony. He is also Associate Lecturer of Horn at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, performs with the Whitewater Brass, and is the director of the UW-Whitewater Fall Horn Festival. He performs throughout the Upper Midwest as a symphonic, chamber, and solo musician. Dr. Bevil has performed at regional and international conferences of the International Horn Society and maintains an active recital schedule, performing for audiences throughout southern Wisconsin and at universities throughout the country. In 2019, Dr. Bevil completed an album titled “From Screen to Concert Hall” as part of his doctoral research. It is a collection of concert works for horn written by prominent film composers. The album includes the debut recording of Timeline (1945- ), a trio for horn, viola, and piano by Emmy-winning composer Bruce Broughton, as well as seldom recorded works by Nino Rota, Ennio Morricone, and John Williams. He plays on Jungwirth horns crafted in Freischling, Austria. (Website)

Norma Sober, now retired, had a long career as an arts administrator in Madison as the director of outreach at the Madison Civic Center and as director of development and education at Madison Repertory Theatre. She is a member of the Madison Arts Commission and is an occasional consultant to cultural organizations, for which she sometimes gets paid.

David PoletDavid Polet was born in Holland, Michigan into a family of Dutch immigrants.  One of his passions was living in Russia, studying language and literature, and attending the St. Petersburg Philharmonic.  Having worked at Epic Systems, and CUNA Mutual Group, he is currently employed at the State of Wisconsin Investment Board as a project manager.  He likes to attend Chamber Orchestra concerts and is a member of the Salon series at Farley’s House of Pianos.

Beth LarsonBeth Larson has a wealth of experience in nonprofit administration, fundraising, program development, and education as well as performance. As a violinist, Beth has performed with numerous ensembles including the Madison Symphony Orchestra, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Willy Street Chamber Players, and Civic Orchestra of Chicago. She is the former Director of Development-Corporate Partnerships at Overture Center for the Arts in Madison. She is currently Vice President of Development for Habitat for Humanity.

Sarah BestSarah Best is the award winning CEO/chief strategist of Sarah Best Strategy, a social media company.  She has been invited to speak at various conferences around the country, and is an avid traveler, foodie, and multi-faceted creative.  Sarah is also a poet who has been published in The Yale Review.  She is a visual artist and film curator who has shown work at many significant Chicago institutions as well as the Echo Park Film Center, in Los Angeles.  She is a Madison Downtown Rotarian and is secretary of the board of New Harvest Foundation.

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.

Percussionist ANTHONY DI SANZA has performed and presented master classes throughout North America, Asia, and Europe. Mr. Di Sanza serves as percussion professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he was recognized in 2020 with the Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professorship. Active in a variety of Western and non-Western percussive traditions, he has performed on many internationally distributed CDs and videos. In 2020, the electro-acoustic ensemble Curry, Hetzler & Di Sanza released their debut recording titled Don’t Look Down. As member of the global percussion group Ensemble Duniya, he collaborated on the CD Time’s Arc and the group’s many video productions. Mr. Di Sanza has percussion compositions published by Tapspace, Alfred, Bachovich and HoneyRock. He is principal percussionist of the Madison Symphony Orchestra and has signature marimba mallets with Encore Mallets. Mr. Di Sanza has earned degrees from Youngstown State University and the University of Michigan, and is an endorser of Black Swamp Percussion, Sabian Cymbals, Marimba One, Encore Mallets, Remo Drumheads and Pro-Mark Drumsticks.

Horn DANIEL GRABOIS is associate professor of horn at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he plays with the Wisconsin Brass Quintet. He also conducts the UW-Madison Horn Choir; serves as curator of the interdisciplinary series SoundWaves, which he founded in 2012; and directs EARS (Electro-Acoustic Research Space), a research facility for faculty and students. For 30 years, Mr. Grabois has been a member of the Meridian Arts Ensemble, a New York-based new-music brass and percussion ensemble that performs around the world and has released twelve CDs. With Meridian, he has performed in 49 states, given over 75 world premieres, received two ASCAP/CMA awards for adventuresome programming, and has worked with students in the U.S., Europe, Latin America, South America, and Asia. Mr. Grabois has also played with many of the performing ensembles in New York City, including the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, and New York City Ballet. As a composer, Mr. Grabois has published three etude books for horn as well as solo and chamber music. He recently released Air Names, his first solo CD recording, featuring his own compositions for electric horn, bass, and drums. Danielgrabois.com

Piano INNA FALIKS is an Ukrainian-born American pianist and professor of piano at UCLA. After her teenage debuts at the Gilmore Festival and with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, she has performed with numerous orchestras, in solo appearances, and with conductors such as Leonard Slatkin and Keith Lockhart. Highlights of recent seasons include recital tours of China, and performances at the Ravinia Festival, the Festival Internacional de Piano in Mexico, the Fazioli Series in Italy, and Israel’s Tel Aviv Museum. Ms. Faliks collaborates with and premieres music by contemporary composers such as Billy Childs, Richard Danielpour, Timo Andres, and Clarice Assad. She created the poetry-music series Music/Words and regularly tours with her monologue-recital Polonaise-Fantasie, the Story of a Pianist, which tells the story of her immigration to the U.S. from Odessa. Her recordings include all-Beethoven and Rachmaninoff/Ravel/Pasternak discs for MSR Classics. Upcoming recordings include Reimagine Beethoven and Ravel (with nine world premieres) on Parma and the Master and Margarita project, with three world premieres and Liszt's Sonata in b minor, on Sono Luminus. Innafaliks.com

Viola KATARZYNA BRYLA-WEISS was born into a family of musicians and has gone on to earn more than two dozen prizes and awards in the U.S., France, and her native Poland. Ms. Bryla-Weiss regularly performs with orchestras, chamber groups, and as a soloist in an international career that has taken her across four continents. In 2019 she became a member of St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble, the artistic core of the Orchestra of St. Luke’s in New York City. She is also a member of the New York City Ballet Orchestra and New York Pops Orchestra, and regularly appears with New York City Opera. Ms. Bryla-Weiss was a soloist with the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra in their 2010 tour of China, and was soloist for the Maazel/Vilar Conducting Competition in Cracow in 2001. She has performed in numerous music festivals, including Classical Tahoe, Napa Valley Music Festival, Central Vermont Music Festival, Music@Menlo, Cactus Pear Music Festival, Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society, Singapore Sun Music Festival, and Las Palmas Music Festival in Grand Canary Island, Spain.

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, is committed to music-making of all styles and genres. Johnson has appeared as a chamber musician, soloist, and orchestral musician in a wide variety of settings in the U.S. and around the world. Equally at home teaching in the studio or performing on stage, he enjoys a varied career as a cellist, teacher, and musician. He is a cellist in the Sarasota Orchestra in Sarasota, Florida, the Madison Symphony Orchestra, and the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra. He is a regular substitute with the Milwaukee 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. Johnson is a Collins Fellowship Recipient at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and is pursuing his Doctor of Musical Arts degree.

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 (IL) and Aspen festivals. His recordings have featured works by Liszt, Messiaen, and present-day American composers William Bolcom and Derek Bermel. Mr. Taylor serves as the Paul Collins Associate Professor of Piano Performance at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. (Website)

Cellist JOSEPH JOHNSON has been principal cello of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra since 2009, and previously held the same position with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. He also serves as principal cellist of the Santa Fe Opera. Mr. Jonson was a member of the Minnesota Orchestra for 11 years. He is a founding member of the Prospect Park Players and the Minneapolis Quartet,  which was honored with the McKnight Foundation Award in 2005. He has appeared throughout the world as a soloist, chamber musician, and educator. His festival appearances include performances at Santa Fe, Bard, Cactus Pear, Grand Teton, and Music in the Vineyards as well as the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, Japan, and the Virtuosi Festival in Brazil. Mr. Johnson's recent appearances include the Canadian Première of the Unsuk Chin Cello Concerto with the Esprit Orchestra, as well as Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations with the Kingston Symphony and Etobicoke Philharmonic. He is also Assistant Professor of Cello at the University of Toronto as well as the cello coach for the Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra and the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, FL. Mr. Johnson performs on a magnificent Paolo Castello cello crafted in Genoa in 1780. (Website)

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. He has performed at La Jolla Summer Fest and Cactus Pear Music Festival and is a guest on the faculty at the Texas Music Festival.

Oboist LINDSAY FLOWERS is the assistant professor of oboe at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s 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 through 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 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. (Website)

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. 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. She founded the Samtalä (formerly Stoughton Chamber Music Festival) in 2019. 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 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, Mr. 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.

Violinist HYE-JIN KIM has performed as soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the BBC Concert Orchestra, and Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, and has appeared as a recitalist at Weill Recital Hall in Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and London's Wigmore Hall. An active chamber musician, Ms. Kim has toured throughout the U.S. with Musicians from Marlboro, and has made festival appearances at Marlboro, Ravinia, and Martha's Vineyard. Ms. Kim has also served as a cultural representative for South Korea in Switzerland, Australia, and Kazakhstan through concert and outreach engagements. Awarded first prize at the Yehudi Menuhin Competition at age nineteen, Ms. Kim is also the winner of the 2009 Concert Artists Guild Competition and the Philadelphia Orchestra Concerto Competition. Ms. Kim's debut CD, From the Homeland, featuring music by Debussy, Sibelius, Smetana, and Janacek, in a collaboration with pianist Ieva Jokubaviciute, was released in 2014 on CAG Records. Born in Seoul, South Korea, Ms. Kim studied at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia and earned her master's degree at the New England Conservatory. She is assistant professor of violin at East Carolina University. She plays a Gioffredo Cappa violin, crafted in Saluzzo, Italy, in 1687. (Website)

Bass-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.

Violist ARA GREGORIAN made his New Recital Hall debut and his debut as soloist with the Boston Pops Orchestra in 1997. Since then, he has performed in New York's Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, and Alice Tully Hall; Washington D.C.'s Kennedy Center; and in major cities throughout the world, including Boston, Los Angeles, Chicago, Vancouver, Hong Kong, Beijing, Tel Aviv, and Helsinki. Throughout his career, Mr. Gregorian has been active as a performer and presenter of chamber music. He is the founder and artistic director of the Four Seasons Chamber Music Festival in Greenville, North Carolina, and has appeared at festivals worldwide. He has also performed as a member of the Daedalus Quartet, Concertante, and the Arcadian Trio and has recorded for National Public Radio and the Bridge and Kleos labels. Mr. Gregorian is the Chair of String and Piano Chamber Music at New England Conservatory. He is a recent past violin/viola/chamber music faculty member at East Carolina and has created opportunities for established musicians to mentor and perform with talented students through the Four Seasons Chamber Music Festival's Next Generation concerts. Mr. Gregorian received his Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from The Juilliard School. He performs on a Francesco Ruggeri violin from 1690 and a Grubaugh and Seifert viola from 2006. (Website)

Violist SALLY CHISHOLM is a member of the Pro Arte Quartet and professor of viola at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and has had an extensive career in chamber music. She was a founding member of the Thouvenel String Quartet, which won first prize at the Weiner International Chamber Music Competition; was a finalist of New York’s Naumburg Competition; and toured China and Tibet. Since joining the Pro Arte Quartet, Ms. Chisholm has performed in Eastern Europe and North Korea and served as an international juror in Warsaw, Poland. Ms. Chisholm is a permanent member of the Northern Lights Chamber Music Institute and the Chamber Music Society of Minnesota and performs annually in Midsummer's Music in Door County, WI. She frequently serves as principal violist of the Chicago Philharmonic and the Joffrey Ballet. In 2018 and 2019 she performed at the Otaru Festival in Japan, in 2019 gave the world premiere of the John Harbison Viola Sonata, and in 2020 taught viola master classes at the Manhattan School in New York. She returned to Marlboro Music Festival this past summer for her fifteenth season. She performs on the viola formerly owned by violist Georges Janzer.

Violin SUZANNE BEIA is a member of the Pro Arte Quartet, artist in residence, and chamber music coach at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Wisconsin Youth Symphony. Ms. Beia is concertmaster of the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and Madison Opera and co-concertmaster of the Madison Symphony. She performs regularly with the Chicago Philharmonic and with HeartString’s Rhapsodie Quartet, an outreach program of the Madison Symphony. Ms. Beia has also served as assistant concertmaster of the New World Symphony, Florida, and as concertmaster of the Reno Chamber Orchestra, Bay Area Women’s Philharmonic, Spoleto Festival Orchestra, South Carolina, and Chamber Symphony of San Francisco. Festival appearances include Chamber Music West, the Telluride and Token Creek festivals, Chamber Music at the Barn, Festival de Prades, and Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society. She has served on the faculties of Rocky Ridge Music Center and Florida International University, and has performed as soloist with orchestras throughout the U.S. and Germany. Her solo recordings include Katherine Hoover’s double violin concerto on the album Night Skies on Centaur Records. Ms. Beia studied at the Interlochen Arts Academy and the San Francisco Conservatory.