STEPHANIE JUTT AND JEFFREY SYKES - ARTISTIC DIRECTORS

Reviews

Project: Music Heals Us Collaboration

From 2020 to 2023, BDDS performed virtual one-on-one concerts for patients in hospitals, hospice, and memory care. We performed over 208 concerts with our five partners: Oakwood Village University Woods Memory Care Center, SSM Health/St. Mary’s Hospital and Care Center, Agrace Hospice, and Capitol Lakes Memory Care Center, and UW Health/University Hospital. BDDS was selected to be one of eight grant recipients to participate in Project: Music Heals Us Vital Sounds Initiative, a non-profit organization whose mission is to provide encouragement, education and healing by bringing high-quality live music performances and interactive programming to marginalized communities with limited ability to access it themselves, with a focus on elderly, disabled, rehabilitating, incarcerated, and homeless populations.

Virtual Concerts Bring Music to Bedsides of Ailing Patients in Madison, Wisconsin State Journal

“We loved it, we had some staff listening at the door of the room. The concert felt personal and intimate despite a clinical setting with masks and big plastic screen.”
Volunteer staff members

“Absolutely FABULOUS. The musician’s playing really touched my heart. My dad was awake and alert for the whole 30 minutes, so I believe it touched his soul, too. Many thanks! 💕”
Family member

“We have been blessed by your music, empathy, and wonderful presence for our patients over the last two years.”
Agrace

The project was a welcome piece of news during the pandemic, providing useful employment for the likes of me, but it was also an opportunity to do something for other people, people confined to hospital situations, and to bring the joy of music to them in a very personal way. For all of that, I am very thankful for BDDS’s leadership and splendid organizational skills to make this possible, and for your “grace under duress” whenever the technical issues presented challenges. Mille Grazie!
Pablo Zinger, pianist

2022

I noticed more whoo-hooing and bravos from the audience than usual. Also, I spied more younger people than usual. I thought the concerts last weekend were terrific, and we really liked hearing work from unknown (to us) composers.
Audience member

The concert on Sunday was just amazing. Such a variety and each with an interesting story to go with each. Inna Faliks was stunning and the four-hands and the Mozart great to watch on the screen. Love Timothy Jones also.  So many special things.
Audience member

OUTSTANDING EVENING…THE WHOLE THING!!!
Audience member

2021

Summer concert series takes professional music to Madison Parks by Gayle Worland of the Wisconsin State Journal: 

It’s such a luxury to have BDDS on demand! We loved having our season start now when we’re at the lake and finally can “attend” the season in peace!! What a beautiful production you created!!
Audience member

Just wanted to write a note of congratulations for your digital season. Kristina and I got together and watched concerts 2 & 3 last night and were super impressed. We especially loved the postcard idea and the bayan set–it was just so fun. Bravo!
Caitlyn Mead, Madison New Music Festival Director

Bandwagon was terrific. We swooped in and took them (mostly) by surprise in non-traditional venues. It was a remarkable and extraordinary season. We spent months trying to anticipate multiple variables in an unknown future. Because of our financial strength and the imagination and determination of Stephanie, Jeffrey, and Sam we pulled it off and then some! Many people said the Bandwagon concerts were the first live music they’d heard in well over a year.
Audience member

2019

“This serious, witty, zany, brainy festival…”
Sandy Tabachnick, The Isthmus

“The six-player web of interactions and complexities was quite different from that of any other chamber music form, and these performers beautifully delivered the special qualities I find particularly fascinating.”
John Barker, The Isthmus

From our fans:

A great season for BDDS, don’t you think!  Each performance had me near tears with the beauty of the music, and the usual high jinks were delightful.   Must also say that Carolyn’s creative backdrop with the changing lighting was absolutely the BEST EVER.  The lighting changed so gradually that I never noticed it in motion––just became aware that it was a different color.  Perfect!

Last night’s concert was wonderful. Exquisite. I was surprised a few people came up to us on Saturday to thank us for sponsoring the Fauré. I loved that piece. They did, too. I was unfamiliar with most of the classical works on the program— always a good sign that BDDS is broadening our musical minds.

You guys were heroes yesterday afternoon. You dealt with a wandering piano and an injured cellist! Yet the show went on beautifully; the Franck was beyond wonderful. Every year I say Its better than ever, and every year that’s true!  Thank you, thank you.

We thoroughly enjoyed last night’s concert; looking forward to tonight’s.  Talent, fun, venue––perfect!

2018

In a city known for consistently imaginative programming from every classical music group in town, the one that set the tone first, and might well remain the best, is the Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society.
— Greg Hettmansberger, Madison Magazine

This concert exemplified what BDDS does best: give exemplary performances of interesting music in an unstuffy atmosphere.
— Jessica Courtier, The Cap Times

They had diverse singers, musicians, and dancers, which I was very pleased to see.  It was an enjoyable evening of chamber music, dancing, and friendship.
— Oscar Mireles, Madison Poet Laureate

We absolutely love the relationship we have with BDDS and love hosting any time.
— Lisa Olson, Capitol Lakes Retirement Community

Add a dash of whimsy and a penchant to surprise and the result has been a loyal audience returning year after year.
— Greg Hettmansberger, Madison Magazine

It was brilliant.
— Jessica Courtier, The Cap Times

Phenomenal and educational performance! This program is also incredibly thoughtful and engaging: I learned about the Andes, several female composers, and even how to make a paper airplane. I’m smiling just typing this…as it was such a fun experience. Bringing this sort of variety to Madison through its culturally and historically dynamic programing is a great service to the community.
— Mel Becker Solomon, Madison Museum of Contemporary Art

Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society has always cultivated a playful attitude toward classical music.
— Jessica Courtier, The Cap Times

2017

Recent critical review of Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society by John Barker from the Isthmus:
https://isthmus.com/music/music-for-the-ages/

“And thanks to all of you talented ones who brought us sterling music making on a highly-polished silver platter! We loved it!”
— Audience member

“[BDDS] will bring something to Madison’s musical life that at this point we just can’t do without. Bravi, one and all.”
— Greg Hettmansberger, What Greg Says

“Let’s have another 25, and maybe still another 25 after that — maintaining one of the happy mainstays of Madison’s summer musical life!”
— John W. Barker, guest review from the Well-Tempered Ear

“New attendees instantly love BDDS including the perfect Madison opportunity to be up close and totally embraced. I love that every time.”
— Audience member

“There have been recent discussions about the decline and death of Classical music — to me, the Bach Dynamite & Dancing Society is well nigh a perfect example of how to counter that trend. Tightly focused, innovative programming, targeted within a timeframe in which not much else is happening, multiple venues, an overarching theme that changes each year — these are marketing features that IMO other providers of Classical music need to more fully embrace. Another very good idea has been the multi-media presentations of given masterworks, placed in their historical perspective. I’m afraid that JUST the solo or orchestral concert by itself is no longer a sufficient guarantee of adequate support — those business models are getting dated.
”
— Audience member

“Another one of my standard comments about BDDS concerts is that the performers’ joy is palpable.  This sentiment was echoed in John Barker’s review of the Mendelssohn octet.  I was seated to the performers’ right about five or six rows above the floor, and I loved watching each one give heart and soul to his or her highlight before passing the lead on to a colleague.  One of my mother’s memorable old sayings was, “The higher, the fewer.”  I saw this in action Friday night when those eight players who clearly are the higher and the fewer found such joy in making music.  It is the gift of a lifetime, both for them and for us who were there to hear them play.”
— Audience member

2016

“The second of six concerts last Saturday night was dubbed “Silver Threads Among the Gold,” but truly the results were more golden than anything else.”
— Jake Stockinger, Well-Tempered Ear

“And thanks to all of you talented ones who brought us sterling music making on a highly-polished silver platter! We loved it!”
— Audience member

“And so while we might wish for another 25, we happily begin to look ahead to just the 26th next year, knowing they will bring something to Madison’s musical life that at this point we just can’t do without. Bravi, one and all.”
— Greg Hettmansberger, What Greg Says

“Let’s have another 25, and maybe still another 25 after that — maintaining one of the happy mainstays of Madison’s summer musical life!”
— John W. Barker, guest review from the Well-Tempered Ear

“New attendees instantly love BDDS including the perfect Madison opportunity to be up close and totally embraced. I love that every time.”
— Audience member

“There have been recent discussions about the decline and death of Classical music — to me, the Bach Dynamite & Dancing Society is well nigh a perfect example of how to counter that trend. Tightly focused, innovative programming, targeted within a timeframe in which not much else is happening, multiple venues, an overarching theme that changes each year — these are marketing features that IMO other providers of Classical music need to more fully embrace. Another very good idea has been the multi-media presentations of given masterworks, placed in their historical perspective. I’m afraid that JUST the solo or orchestral concert by itself is no longer a sufficient guarantee of adequate support — those business models are getting dated.”
— Audience member

“Another one of my standard comments about BDDS concerts is that the performers’ joy is palpable.  This sentiment was echoed in John Barker’s review of the Mendelssohn octet.  I was seated to the performers’ right about five or six rows above the floor, and I loved watching each one give heart and soul to his or her highlight before passing the lead on to a colleague.  One of my mother’s memorable old sayings was, “The higher, the fewer.”  I saw this in action Friday night when those eight players who clearly are the higher and the fewer found such joy in making music.  It is the gift of a lifetime, both for them and for us who were there to hear them play.”
— Audience member

2015

“The Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society continues to be incapable of being boring, ordinary or mediocre. It’s just not in their genes or DNA.”
— Jake Stockinger, The Well-Tempered Ear Blog

Taking Music to Illegal Limits
“Beethoven stole a lot of music — from himself. Bach was imprisoned for having the gall to quit one job to take another. Mozart was a victim of artistic crimes, and died with debts while others became rich off his immense talents. Who knew such shadiness could be so much fun?”
— Gayle Worland, Wisconsin State Journal

“But nonetheless it is largely thanks to the Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society that listeners can make their way through the 27 piano concertos by Mozart and the 104 symphonies by Franz Joseph Haydn -– to say nothing of the many Baroque, Classical, Romantic and modern works that must already exist in similar arrangements or could be rearranged on demand.
To which The Ear simply says: Bravo! Do more of them!”
— Jake Stockinger, The Well-Tempered Ear Blog

2014

“Some people might refer to it as one of the highlights of the summer music season in Madison. The Ear prefers to think of it as a high point of the entire season in Madison. He waits all fall, winter and spring to find out the next theme, the next repertoire, the next performers…. And this summer series shows no sign of disappointing.”
— Jake Stockinger, The Well-Tempered Ear Blog

“Much of the BDDS concert format or formula will remain the same: familiar classics of the repertoire mixed in with rarely heard artists and works, including commissions and a world or local premiere; familiar local performers mixed in with imported top-flight imported musicians; and the signature atmosphere that combines chatty levity with serious first-rate music-making.”

“Am I excited? You bet! And should you be too.”
— Jake Stockinger, The Well-Tempered Ear Blog

“But you can check out the programs for yourself. I challenge you to find one that just doesn’t interest and impress you.”

“This summer, The Ear has yet to see a missed opportunity or hear a false note from the Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society, which seems headed for a perfect season.”

“I find the Bach Dancing and Dynamite programs extremely well planned and then extremely well executed. And I am not alone, as repeated standing ovations demonstrate. To miss music and performances as fine as these is to cheat yourself. And that just doesn’t make sense, does it?”
— Jake Stockinger, The Well-Tempered Ear Blog

2013

“If you love classical music, to miss these BDDS performances is to deprive yourself of great pleasure and great insight, of new exposure to works both well-known and neglected. Why would you want to do that?”
— Jake Stockinger, The Well-Tempered Ear

“On a warm summer night sparkling with fireflies, there is something magical about a BDDS performance.”
— Michael Muckian, Wisconsin Gazette

“Exquisite nuance, tender emotion and graceful expressiveness made this performance meaningful and moving, a true lost-in-the-moment experience. It is clear that these players adore their work. Each was thoroughly engrossed in the act of music making.”
— Marie Loeffler, Isthmus

“BDDS has been performing to audiences of increasing size in the lovely restored Stoughton Opera House for a number of years. It is a privilege to be able to attend these concerts right here in Stoughton.”
— John Beutel, Stoughtonite

“Trio in B-flat for piano and strings (Op.97), known as the “Archduke” is the grandest of Beethoven’s compositions. The San Francisco Piano Trio (Sykes with Axel Strauss and Jean-Michel Fonteneau) are long-established performing partners. Their performance was strong-limbed and communicative, an example of the level of excellence we have come to expect from Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society.”
— John Barker, Isthmus

“On Friday or Sunday we alternately head to a program at the Stoughton Opera House or to Hillside Theater at Taliesin. We can’t get enough of these talented musicians or the magically innovative programs they put together. Each year we wonder how they can possibly outdo themselves the next year. They always do. As their literature says, it’s Music with a Bang.”
— Dan Baumann, Spring Green

“Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society triumphs and gets a standing ovation from a full house for bringing dramatic story-telling to the romantic music of Robert Schumann, Clara Schumann and Johannes Brahms.”
— Jake Stockinger, The Well-Tempered Ear

“It is a rare and wonderful opportunity for Stoughtonites to have such great music played by such outstanding musicians of national reputation here in our community.”
— John Beutel, Stoughtonite

“I don’t know which tune to hum on the way out?”
— Middleton Glen resident

“The nine-day, six-program festival…simply continues to be an unbeatable mixture of world-class playing, stimulating repertoire and about as much fun as you’re likely to have at any classical event.”
— Greg Hettmansberger, Madison Magazine

“Quite simply, BDDS amazes me in their unflagging and enthusiastic effort to bring chamber music of the highest caliber, which is performed by musicians nationally-known, to as wide an audience as possible. They perform a vital function for the Dane County Arts Scene.”
— John Beutel, Stoughtonite

2012

Classical music: Madison’s Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society is Musician of the Year for 2012
“Even as so many other newer and younger groups are trying to innovate in untraditional ways and untraditional venues in the hopes of drumming up new and younger audiences for classical music […] BDDS has been trying to achieve the very same goal for 21 years now. And they do it successfully…”
“Still young at heart and rebellious, BDDS nonetheless has a history, a long and distinguished record…”
Read the full review…
Jack Stockinger, Well Tempered Ear blog, December 31, 2012

Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society again mix it up masterfully
“It’s too easy to come up with metaphors that extend the mixology theme — we can raise a glass to BDDS’s musical accomplishments, compare the group to a wine that’s aging well, or note that like a good cocktail, their performance is complex and multi-faceted, a little sweetness here a little unexpected punch there. So be it. All of those things are true.
Read the full review…
Jessica Courtier, Capital Times, June 30, 2012

Stage Presence: Flutist finds inspiration in classical, pop music
“Most inspiring moment on stage: Most recently, at BDDS, we’ve performed Astor Piazzolla’s music with live tango dancers in front of a beautiful stage set designed by Carolyn Kallenborn. The combination of incredible lighting, the dancers, the set design and Piazzolla’s music was one I’ll never forget. It brought the house down.”
Read the full review…
Gayle Worland, Wisconsin State Journal, June 16, 2012

Blockbuster Tchaikovsky trio opens Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society series
“I must say that many of the most memorable performances of chamber works I have ever heard have been at BDDS programs…”
Read the full review…
John Barker, Isthmus, June 16, 2012

2011

Bach Dancing & Dynamite Performs Bach, Vaughan Williams, Bermel, and Haydn in Striking 20th Anniversary Series Opener
Read the review…
Isthmus
by Sandy Tabachnick

Look Who’s Bach In Town: Chamber Festival Celebrates 20 Years
Read the review…
Wisconsin State Journal
by Lindsay Christians

Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society Knows How to Reel Them In
Read the review…
Wisconsin State Journal
by Jessica Courtier

Sounds of the Summer
Read the review…
Isthmus
by John Barker

Classical Connections: Bach to Bach Explosions
Read the review…
and
Twenty Candles, Please: “Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society” Celebrates Two Decades
Read the review…
Dane 101
by Greg Hettmansberger

Art Smarts
Read the review…
Madison Magazine
by Katie Vaughn

2010

“Real people are creating art right in front of you. No re-mixing. No dubbing. No second chances. Each musician has practiced and trained. Every audience is different. Each concert is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, valuable, and fleeting.
Audiences can be coaxed, coached, stretched, and delighted simultaneously. Their music changes lives for the better.”
—Pat McCorkle, audience member

“…each time, the BDDS concert proved a winner – offering a superbly planned and well executed event that should leave no doubt in anyone’s mind about the artistic merits and audience pleasures offered by the BDDS. BDDS is, in a word, first-rate.”
“BDDS’ trademark informal approach to serious art couldn’t have worked better.”
“The BDDS concerts must now be considered as a highlight on the entire concert season. Period. Winter or summer, it doesn’t matter. BDDS easily stands comparison with the best classical music-making you’ll find in the Madison area.”
—Jake Stockinger, The Well-Tempered Ear Blog

“This was a very impressive concert, no surprise for BDDS. BDDS presents a diverse array of chamber music in a very welcoming, friendly context… They consistently provide outstanding musical and artistic experiences and make classical music very accessible.”
—audience member

“What separates the Milwaukee Symphony from the Madison Symphony? I’d venture the names of two mesmerizing Milwaukee musicians as the difference: Frank Almond and Joe Johnson. Violinist Almond and cellist Johnson (who’s since moved on to the Toronto Symphony) are elite musicians, and it’s why I so anticipated their appearance with BDDS’ regulars Stephanie Jutt and Jeffrey Sykes. Wow! Almond, who has a star’s haughty confidence, captured the drama of Schumann’s Violin Sonata in D minor from the very first note, while the churning dynamics of Mendelssohn’s Piano Quartet in B Minor had me on seat’s edge. String ensembles never sound as good recorded as they do when the music swirls up in a live moment like this.”
—Marc Eisen, The Isthmus from “My 17 favorite concerts of 2010, from Milwaukee to Stoughton to Madison 14. Dynamite for sure Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society, June 11, Stoughton Opera House”

2009

“Thanks for coming to Capitol Lakes! We truly appreciate your beautiful music!”
—Mary Hanson, Capitol Lakes Retirement Community

“From ‘Leapfrog’ to ‘The Dating Game,’ [BDDS] chamber music festival focuses on fun.”
—Lindsay Christians, The Capital Times

“We are SOOOOO spoiled!
—BDDS fan

“Dear Stephanie: I think about you and Jeffrey every day. The reason: you pulled my name out of the door prize basket at your concert in Overture!”
—Bea Dewey, Lucky Audience Member

“Once again, the stars came out and gave us a wonderful series of chamber music concerts… Not only was the music and the musicianship excellent, but the lighthearted banter that opens each half of the concert makes this a distinctively SUMMER chamber music series.”
—BDDS audience member

“Maurice Ravel’s Trio of 1914 was given a dashing performance by our three players, as a superb sendoff for the season ahead.”
—John Barker, Isthmus

“There is nothing else quite like it in Madison or the surrounding community.”
—BDDS audience member

2008

“Among the joys of the Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society’s annual operations has been their outreach beyond Madison. I love their performances at the Stoughton Opera House, a restored jewel.”
—John Barker, Isthmus

“If you want up-to-the-minute news on what composers are writing, a Bach Dancing & Dynamite concert is the place to start. But it’s not limited to au courant.”
—Sandy Rucker-Tabachnick, Wisconsin State Journal

2007

“The audience was in awe of the skill and passion evidenced in Saturday’s concert. Several curtain calls brought the musicians back before admiring fans. Chamber playing doesn’t get much better than this.”
—Sandy Rucker-Tabachnick, Isthmus

“And the people stood in noisy ovation after hearing duet and ensemble instrumentals played with such joy, dynamism, and skill as to rattle the pressed-metal ceiling in the old theater.”
—David Giffey, Home News, Spring Green

2006

“BDDS rocks!”
—Hillside Theater audience member

“BDDS’s formula for chamber music festivals has always been a volatile mix of highbrow artistry and sideways-brow attitude. That approach has earned it a reputation of a group that seesaws gleefully from the ridiculous to the sublime.”
—Kevin Lynch, The Capital Times

“BDDS continues to challenge us with a range of programming choices, bringing us an array of superlative performers both local and imported.”
—John Barker, Isthmus

“The emotion, the drama and the show-stopping beauties in these shows will come not from daytime drama, but from an eclectic range of musical scores.”
—Gayle Worland, Wisconsin State Journal

“The impact/public service value of the BDDS Festival centers around its essential inclusiveness. The Society aims to share music from all corners of the classical universe. It does this with infectious enthusiasm and without pretense.”
—Playhouse audience member/evaluator

2005

“Gripping? Exciting? Darn near exhausting? Yes, and that was just the music…”
—Jay Rath, Wisconsin State Journal

“With the joyous snap, crackle and bang that its name implies, this wonderfully entertaining and skilled group of classical musicians devoted its 2005 summer season to a ‘United Nations’ theme. The final program blew us away, thanks to the BDDS’ selections of “Presto II” and “Salon Buenos Aires” by Uruguayan-born composer Miguel del Aguila. And pow! – the composer was even in the audience.”
—Gayle Worland’s “A Top 10 List The Arts Can Be Proud Of” Wisconsin State Journal

“Whether they’re zany, brainy, old-world or au courant, their musicianship is near flawless and fans keep coming back for more.”
—Sandy Rucker-Tabachnick, Isthmus

2004

“What glorious music—spirited, reflective, joyous. Our five players dug into it with skill and dedication, expertly probing its textures and feelings. These Bach Dancing players truly love their work.”
—John Barker, Isthmus

“This gifted group invariably manages to produce compelling programs, by force of its prodigious collective talent and passion for lusty music making.”
—Kevin Lynch, The Capital Times

“The group’s stellar ensemble performance was rewarded with more shouts of ‘Bravo!’ and a standing ovation.”
—Michael Muckian, The Capital Times

“This year, as it seems every year, the quality of the music-making excels.”
—John Aehl, Wisconsin State Journal

2003

“This summer, Madison’s most interesting music isn’t found on the Square, in the park or at any of the major area music festivals. Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society is once again cutting new turf from a variety of small venues, producing chamber music with an attitude and ear to explore new aural frontiers.”
—Michael Muckian, Special to The Capital Times, 2003

“Expect passionate playing, striking stage visuals and offbeat surprises.”
—Kevin Lynch and Rob Thomas, Capital Times, 2003

“BDDS maintains superlative performance standards — and dares to be off-beat, conceptual, theatrical and entertaining, like the Kronos String Quartet without the quasi-punk attitude.”
—Kevin Lynch, Capital Times, 2003

“After twelve years, BDDS has become a Madison summer tradition.”
—Jacob Stockinger, Wisconsin State Journal, 2003

2002

“BDDS uses irreverence and flair to dust off the classics and broaden their appeal.”
—Jacob Stockinger, Capital Times, 2001

“Bach Dancing, in its 11th summer, still programs lovely and interesting music–and plays the music exceptionally. Very impressive.”
—John Aehl, Wisconsin State Journal, 2002

“[BDDS] left the audience justly wowed.”
—John W. Barker, Isthmus, 2002

2001

“BDDS is known for many things, but most of all for the spontaneity of its outstanding performances that highlight the tightness and vibrancy of ensemble playing. It is also known for exploring the corners of chamber music repertoire.”
—Jacob Stockinger, Capital Times, 2001

2000

“[BDDS] achieved that all too-rare perfection of ensemble and spirit that just carries one away and earned them shouts of ‘Bravo!’ at the end.”
—Jess Anderson, Isthmus, 2000

1999

“[The music] brought the house down in wild applause.”
—Jess Anderson, Isthmus, 1999

“As the massive work [Brahms] unfolded, increasing excitement seemed to grip the players, and by the end of the difficult finale, it’s amazing that everyone, including the audience, didn’t just keel over.”
—Jess Anderson, Isthmus, 1999

1998

“Simply breathtaking playing. It was everything it should be.”
—Jess Anderson, Isthmus, 1998

1997

“BDDS concerts have included some of the most virtuosic, subtle and memorable performances of chamber music I have heard anywhere at any time by any one–and that includes prize-winning recordings by superstar names. And I am hardly alone in my assessment. Critic after critic has praised the group for its top-notch performances as well as its ability to attract a crossover audience at a time when many classical music organizations–including major symphonies–are struggling to reverse a decades-long downturn in attendance, especially among young people.”
—Jacob Stockinger, Capital Times, 1997

1996

“Once again, BDDS’s blend of serious music-making and high spirits proved to be an irresistible combination.”
—Christopher Freitag, Capital Times, 1996

1995

“The ensemble [is] renowned for juggling on-stage high-jinks with high-grade, serious chamber music [and with] artistry that is a little eccentric, stubbornly personal, impassioned and committed to invigorating old traditions with an ever-youthful attitude.”
—Kevin Lynch, Capital Times, 1995

“Some think of them as the un-concerts–unusual, untraditional, unplugged. Actually, we’ve never seen chamber music that’s performed in such an unstuffy manner. Or that’s so much fun to participate in.”
—Jen Winiger, Madison Magazine, 1995

“It smoked. It sizzled. It was Brahms–played by BDDS. The cheers and immediate standing ovation from the near sell-out crowd…were well deserved.”
—Elizabeth Brixey, Wisconsin State Journal, 1995

1993

“As for the playing, I’m out of superlatives before I even start; it was just plain fabulous, and it only got better….The ensemble held us spellbound.”
—Jess Anderson, Isthmus, 1993

“While BDDS braved some rough waters, in choosing difficult and often unfamiliar pieces, true to the group’s purpose they brought each piece to life with great precision, great expression, and a little of the smell of ozone…. BDDS zipped into the music with a passion that left everyone in the audience gaping.”
—Pam Chickering, NewsRepublic, 1993

Double bassist DAVID SCHOLL was recently appointed to the faculty of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  He currently serves as principal bassist of the Madison, Quad City, and Dubuque Symphonies and frequently appears with the Elgin, Rockford, and South Bend Symphonies. He is also active in the new music community, including appearances as a guest artist in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s MusicNOW series, the University of Chicago’s Contempo series, and the Spektral Quartet. He also appears as a guest clinician in music programs in and around the Midwest. As a product of the public school system, he makes it a priority to present in public schools and nonprofit music programs, including the UW-Madison’s Summer Music Clinic. Mr. Scholl received both his BA and MA degrees at Indiana University, where he studied bass with Bruce Bransby. While there he also studied historical performance from distinguished professor Stanley Ritchie, and spent the summers studying bass with Owen Lee, Jeff Turner, and Peter Lloyd. He continued studies as a Fellow at the Aspen Music Festival and at the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, where he was principal bassist and studied with 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)

Harpist JOHANNA WEINHOLTS is principal harpist 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 Mead Witter School of Music. Before moving to Madison in 2017, Ms. Weinholts was a freelance harpist in New York City and Toronto and has performed with orchestras all over the United States 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 in other genres and has been featured on hip-hop, pop, and folk albums. Ms. Weinholts holds a BA in classical harp performance from the University of Toronto and a graduate 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. Ms. Weinholts studied in Toronto with the renowned Judy Loman, one of the last pupils of Carlos Salzedo, a founder of the modern harp technique. (Website)

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.

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. (Website)

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, and has performed at La Jolla Summer Fest and Cactus Pear Music Festival, and is a guest on 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.. Breckbill lived in Berlin for four years, 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. (Website)

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.

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 (VT), Ravinia (IL), and Martha's Vineyard (MA). Ms. Kim has also served as a cultural representative for South Korea through concert and outreach engagement in Switzerland, Australia, and Kazakhstans. Awarded first prize at the Yehudi Menuhin Competition at age 19, 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 spring 2014 on CAG Records. Born in Seoul, South Korea, Ms. Kim studied at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia and earned her MA at the New England Conservatory. She is an assistant professor of violin at East Carolina University. She plays a Gioffredo Cappa violin crafted in Saluzzo, Italy, in 1687. (Website)

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 a member of the violin faculty at East Carolina University 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)

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.