Violinist Julia Cash has recently returned to Louisville after some 25 years pursuing an exciting musical career in New England and Europe. Brought back to Louisville by her family and her husband’s career, she was named Interim Principal 2nd violin of the Louisville Orchestra by Teddy Abrams. Also in the 21-22 season Ms Cash performed Mozart 5th Violin Concerto in Boston with Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra this last summer, that was hailed for “heroic presence, sparkling accuracy and delicacy of her silvery tone ” (Musical Intelligencer)

Ms. Cash left Louisville for Boston to work with legendary violinist James Buswell at age 15 to pursue an already promising musical future. Winner of the National Music Club Prize as a Tanglewood fellow, and a two-time Outstanding Performer award winner at the Academia Chigiana in Siena, Italy, Ms. Cash has performed all over the United States and Europe as a chamber musician and recitalist. In Boston, she performs with the Boston Ballet, Boston Pops, and has served as concertmaster for many prominent Boston musical groups such as Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra and Chamber Orchestra of Boston.  A huge new music advocate, Ms. Cash served as concertmaster of Alea III under Gunther Schuller to high accolades. Early in her career, she served as principal second of Opera Boston and won a Pulitzer and has been on many Grammy nominated albums through her extensive recording career. Ms. Cash holds degrees from New England Conservatory of Music, the Staatliche Hochschule fur Musik in Germany and the Royal Conservatory of the Netherlands. In addition to James Buswell, other notable musical mentors include Pamela Frank, Vera Beths and Federico Agostini.

Ms. Cash is also an avid teacher and music educator.  Along with her private studio, she has taught chamber music, orchestral coaching and lessons at Harvard, Boston College and Boston Latin School.  She is currently on faculty at New England Conservatory and maintains a competitive studio of award winning students.  Currently she spends summers teaching for Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras and serves as Music Director at Point Counter Point Chamber Music Camp in Vermont. She currently lives in Crescent Hill with her 3 daughters and violist/physician husband Tom, and is splitting her performing obligations between Louisville and Boston.  

Paola Caballero has now chosen to return to Boston after spending more than a decade in Barcelona performing as member of the Chamber Orquestra de Cadaques and the Orquestra Sinfonica de Barcelona y Nacional de Catalunya, (OBC). She has performed with renowned soloists including Joshua Bell, Hilary Hahn, Janine Jansen, Isabelle Faust, Ray Chen, Martin Frost, Maria Joao Pires, Lang Lang, Angela Gheorgiu, Placido Domingo, Jonas Kaufmann and also worked under the baton of Giaandrea Noseda, Semyon Bychkov, Eliahu Inbal, Vasily Petrenko, and composer John Adams to name a few.

Aside from the numerous tours around Europe finest concert halls with both the Orquestra de Cadaques and the Orquestra Sinfonica de Barcelona, Ms. Caballero has made numerous recordings on Naxos, Trito, BMOP/sound label and can also bee seen on Medici.TV, one of the world's leading classical music streaming platform.

Ms. Caballero is very happy to be back in Boston. As an educator, she divides her time between the Lexington Chamber Music Center, Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, maintains a private studio and served as Music Director of Symphonia at Phillips Exeter Academy for three seasons. Paola has just appointed as Interim Artistic Director for “Session 3” at Point Counterpoint Music Festival where she has been on faculty for the past ten seasons.

Paola Caballero can be seen performing and recording with the Grammy Award-winning Boston Modern Orchestra Project, (BMOP/sound), Odyssey Opera, Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, Back Bay Choral, the Bach, Beethoven and Brahms Society and Boston Ballet. She has just recently joined the Chamber Orchestra of the United Nations with its debut performance at Carnegie Hall.

In other genres of music, Paola has performed with Michael Buble, Chaka Khan, Madeleine Peyroux, Antony and the Johnsons, Bjork, Joni Mitchell, Andrea Bocelli and Father John Misty at venues including Sonar, Electronic Music Festival, Primavera Sound and the Jazz Festival at the Palau de la Musica Catalana.

Ms. Caballero holds a Postgraduate Diploma from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama as well as both Masters and Bachelor degrees from the New England Conservatory in Boston. She has studied with David Takeno, Masuko Ushioda, Eric Rosenblith, Lucy Chapman, and has worked with Lorand Fenyves and Erika Raum at the Royal Conservatory, the institution that sponsored the use of the1686 Nicolo Amati instrument.

Native Louisvillian Alice Culin-Ellison, violin, is a versatile performer specializing in historical performance with a special interest in late 16th/early 17th century repertoire. She is a founding member of Incantare, an ensemble of violins and sackbuts focusing on musical and cultural connections of under-explored musicians. Alice performs around the country with groups including The Newberry Consort, Atlanta Baroque Orchestra, and the Apollo’s Fire, and was the Artistic Director of Bourbon Baroque from 2017-2022. Also passionate about education and scholarship, her research focuses on 19th-century American chamber music, with a on music from Kentucky, and she has lectured and given masterclasses on Historical Performance. Alice received her Doctorate from Case Western Reserve University in Historical Performance, and also holds degrees from the University of Michigan and Indiana University. In her free time, Alice is an avid adventurer and outdoorswoman.

Praised for her “nuanced Mozartian phrasing” and her “delicacy and, when needed, force” (Boston Musical Intelligencer), Amy Galluzzo enjoys an active career as both a chamber musician and soloist. Amy was a member of the Carpe Diem String Quartet for many years, touring around the United States and internationally, performing a wide range of repertoire, and is a founding member of Trio Flamecrest.  Amy has performed at several prestigious summer festivals, including the Tanglewood Music Festival, Chelsea Music Festival, Taos, and Sarasota Music Festival, and has collaborated with artists such as Masuko Ushioda, John Ferrillo, Shem Guibbory, James Buswell and Carol Ou. More unusual collaborations include Yihan Chen, pipa, Scott McConnell, steel pan, and Dariush Saghafi, santoor.

Recent highlights include the 2022 formation of Trio Flamecrest, Amy’s 2017 Carnegie Hall debut with Carpe Diem String Quartet and the release of the CD of the Peracchio and Castelnuovo-Tedesco piano quintets on the DaVinci label.  Amy’s other CDs include: Longing (MSR), The Art of Calligraphy (Albany Records), Volumes 4 and 5 of the complete String Quartets of Sergei Taneyev (Naxos Records), and Music for Mandolin and String Quartet by Jeff Midkiff.

Amy teaches through the New England Conservatory Preparatory School and Continuing Education department. She has given masterclasses and workshops at Florida State University, Palm Beach University, University of Washington, Carnegie Mellon University, Eastern Arizona College and numerous music programs for students of all ages and is Associate Music Director of the Chamber Music Conference of the East.

Violinist Geoffrey Herd leads a varied and impactful career as a soloist and chamber musician, artistic director, and pedagogue. He has performed throughout the United States, Latin America, and Asia at venues including the Isabel Stewart Gardner Museum of Art in Boston and Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, as well as at universities and conservatories globally. An avid chamber musician, Dr. Herd has collaborated with prominent musicians including Ettore Causa, Jinjoo Cho, James Dunham, Clive Greensmith, Ani Kavafian, and Jon Kimura Parker. Dr. Herd has performed concertos with numerous orchestras including the Rochester Philharmonic, the Thailand Philharmonic, the Cayuga Chamber Orchestra, the Ithaca College Symphony, the Amherst Symphony, the Finger Lakes Symphony, the University of Tennessee Symphony Orchestra, and the Longmont Symphony. 



Dr. Herd is the founder and director of the Geneva Music Festival, currently celebrating its 12th annual season. Each summer, the festival gathers many of the nation’s finest performers of classical music and jazz for a month-long series of concerts. The festival is recognized as a leader in innovative programming and promotion of diversity and inclusivity in the arts. By celebrating and highlighting the contributions of African-American, Women, and Latinx artists to the field of music, the festival has given recognition to composers and musicians who have often been neglected on the concert stage. Recordings from the festival are broadcast frequently on American Public Radio’s Performance Today and other stations around the region and country.

As a pedagogue, Dr. Herd is on faculty at the University of Louisville School of Music where he has built a thriving studio, attracting students from around the globe. His students frequently participate in prestigious festivals including the Aspen, Brevard, Killington, Sarasota, and Wintergreen festivals, have gone on to graduate school at the Yale School of Music, McGill University, and the Cincinnati Conservatory, and are frequent competition winners throughout the country. Mr. Herd has also been on faculty at the Killington and Sewanee Music Festivals, and a guest artist at Encore Chamber Music and Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival. He is co-director of the Knoxville Suzuki Academy and immediate past president of the Tennessee Chapter of the American String Teacher Association. Mr. Herd studied at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University, the Yale School of Music and the Cleveland Institute of Music with Ani Kavafian, Paul Kantor, William Preucil and David Updegraff. He plays on the “Berkic-Pennington” Carlo Bergonzi made in Cremona in 1737.

American violinist, Jae Cosmos Lee, who's performances have been acclaimed as "Delicate and beautiful" (Syracuse Post-Standard) and "Bursting with color" (Boston Globe), is Concertmaster of the Cape Symphony (Cape Cod, MA), and co-founder of A Far Cry, the two time Grammy nominated, self conducted, democratically run chamber orchestra in Boston. He is also first violinist of the Pedroia String Quartet and a podcast enthusiast, moonlighting as the writer & producer of the podcast, Beethoven Bad Boy. Jae has been a guest artist with the Audubon, Borromeo and Jupiter String Quartets, Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, ECCO, Boston Musica Viva, Sound Impact, The Knights, the Firebird and Radius Ensembles, and has performed in concert halls throughout Europe, the United States, Canada and Asia. He is a recipient of numerous awards and honors, and has performed in many of the finest music festivals including Apple Hill, Aspen, Chautauqua, Norfolk, Sarasota, Vail, Banff, Seoul, Scotia, New South, Skaneateles, Salzburg, Ottawa, Prussia Cove and Kneisel Hall. Jae has worked closely with the members of the Cleveland, Juilliard, Takács and Tokyo String Quartets and holds degrees from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, the Cleveland Institute of Music, and the New England Conservatory. His performances have been heard widely on American Public Media's Performance Today, Boston's WGBH and New York's WQXR, along with public radio stations across Georgia, Maine & Vermont.

Brittany MacWilliams has a rich and diverse career both as performer and educator. She made her professional violin debut at age ten with the Louisville Orchestra and went on to win numerous competitions including the Music Teachers National Association competition. Since then, Ms. MacWilliams has performed extensively as soloist and concertmaster in such diverse locales as Istanbul, Beijing, Salzburg, Munich, Lisbon, and New York. She has had solo engagements with such orchestras as the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Louisville Orchestra, Munich Hochshule Orchestra, Kentucky Symphony, and Aspen Chamber Symphony. Ms. MacWilliams can be heard as soloist on two critically acclaimed compact discs of Giornovichi Violin Concerti for the Arte Nova Classics/BMG label.

Ms. MacWilliams is a passionate educator and has an active and varied teaching background. She has been a professor of violin and viola at the University of Louisville School of Music for fourteen years. She has also been the Director of the UofL String Academy, a program for talented and dedicated pre-college students, and founder and director of the Oldham County Chamber Ensemble, for ten years.Under her direction, the UofL String Academy was awarded a $240,000 grant from the prestigious Dorothy Richard Starling Foundation, providing scholarships for deserving young musicians.

She has taught at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music as a member of the violin faculty for eleven years and was a member of the string faculty at Xavier University, where she taught violin, viola, and chamber music for six years. She has been a member of the string faculty at Campbellsville University and at the Oldham County Schools Arts Center. She was also the director and a member of the violin faculty of the Starling Preparatory String Project at the University of Cincinnati for twelve years.

During the summers, Ms. MacWilliams has served on the faculties of the Aspen Music Festival and the Great Wall International Music Academy in Beijing, and she currently teaches at the Sewanee Summer Music Festival, where she has been a member of the artist faculty for nine years.

As a frequent recitalist and avid chamber musician, Ms. MacWilliams performs in duos, piano trios, and string quartets throughout the United States. She is a founding member of the Baur Quartet and the Xavier Trio and has recorded four compact discs for the Vital Sounds label, including the Ten Celebrated String Quartets of W.A. Mozart. She can also be heard on “Passion from the Romantic Era,” a CD featuring Brahms’ Violin and Piano Sonatas. She was chosen as resident artist for the Next Generation Music Festival where she toured and performed with pianist Awadagin Pratt.

In 2001, Ms. MacWilliams was the first winner of the prestigious Dorothy Richard Starling Teaching Fellowship, and over the years her students have won national competitions, performed with major orchestras, won teaching positions at numerous institutions, and received music scholarships to many top universities and conservatories.

Originally from Worcester, MA, violinist Julia Noone is the Associate Concertmaster of the Louisville Orchestra. She has appeared as soloist with the LO on multiple occasions, including performances of Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante, Korngold’s Violin Concerto, various Baroque concerti, and more. In 2019, Julia performed on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon with LO music director Teddy Abrams, Jim James, and several LO colleagues to promote the orchestra’s album The Order of Nature.

Julia has performed as a guest Concertmaster with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the Jacksonville Symphony, the Lakes Area Music Festival, and Orchestra Kentucky, and as a guest Principal Second with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. She has additionally performed with the Boston, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, and St. Louis Symphony Orchestras as an auxiliary musician. Julia spends her summers performing with the Sun Valley Music Festival in Sun Valley, Idaho.

Prior to Louisville, Julia was a fellow at the New World Symphony in Miami, where she regularly performed as Concertmaster and was the featured soloist in Szymanowski’s Second Violin Concerto after winning the NWS Concerto Competition. Also while at New World, Julia traveled to Medellín, Colombia to perform Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto as part of the NWS’s exchange with Iberacademy.

Julia spent multiple summers performing with the Moritzburg Academy, the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, and the Tanglewood Music Center, where she was awarded the Jules C. Reiner Violin Prize and served as Concertmaster regularly, including a performance of Strauss’ Also Sprach Zarathustra. Other summer festival engagements include a performance as Concertmaster for Bach’s St. Matthew Passion with the Spoleto Festival USA and two seasons as Assistant Concertmaster of Charlottesville Opera.

Julia received her bachelor’s degree from the New England Conservatory, where she was a student of Masuko Ushioda.

From Louisville, Kentucky, Christopher Robinson is a violinist, educator and Founder/Co-Artistic Director of VIA Academy, a free music program for pre-college youth from remote and underrepresented communities in classical music. Recognized as a 2021 Knight Arts Champion by The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Christopher is a forward thinking innovator in classical music with 10 years of experience as an educator and entrepreneur. As a firm believer in creating inclusive music education models, he has been recognized nationally for community impact in the arts through unique experience designing and implementing programs that create immediate impact. With years of professional experience in globally recognized music programs, he is a known arts leader in the music education profession. 

As a violinist, Christopher is a recent alumnus of the New World Symphony where he regularly served as principal and concertmaster. He currently performs in the second violin section of the Louisville Orchestra. Also, Christopher has performed with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Nashville Symphony Orchestra, Charlotte Symphony and the Jacksonville Symphony as well as chamber music collaborations with members of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. 

Christopher is a passionate educator and mentor for young musicians all across the US. In 2020, he founded VIA Academy, which since its founding has already reached more than 250 students from 37 states, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico, Guatemala, Bolivia, Chile, and Serbia. Christopher has also been a frequent faculty member in programs at Carnegie Hall’s NYO/NYO2  Summer Programs, Miami Music Project, Nashville Symphony’s Accelerando Program, Atlanta Symphony’s Talent Development Program, University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music's Pre-College Department, and the Iberacademy in Medellín, Colombia.

Christopher began studying the violin at age 10 and later continued violin studies at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music with Kurt Sassmannshaus, earning his bachelor of music degree in 2015. He earned his master of music degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music studying under Joan Kwuon.

As an outdoorsman and Eagle Scout, Mr. Robinson enjoys cycling, backpacking, hiking, kayaking and canoeing. During the summer of 2015, he joined his family on a 221-mile backpacking trip on the John Muir Trail in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California. Mr. Robinson most recently summited Mt. Fuji in Japan and hopes to continue exploring the vast landscapes our world has to offer.

Liana Zaretsky is an active chamber and orchestral musician in the Boston area. She is a member of Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra and Chamber Orchestra Boston. She is the former principal second violinist of Portland, ME Symphony and appears regularly with the Boston Ballet, Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra and the Boston Symphony.

An avid chamber musician, Ms. Zaretsky was one of the original and former member of the Radius Ensemble. She has collaborated with faculty from Longy School of Music, New England Conservatory, as well as with Boston Symphony members to perform frequently. Ms. Zaretsky holds a Masters degree in music from Northwestern University and a Graduate Diploma degree from the New England Conservatory. Between degrees, she was a member of the New World Symphony where she had a rotating Concertmaster position under Michael Tilson Thomas.

Ms. Zaretsky is currently a string faculty member for the Preparatory and School of Continuing Education at the New England Conservatory, Project STEP. ant the Rivers School Conservatory. She continues to actively work with the Boston Youth Symphonies coaching chamber music and leading orchestra repertoire sectionals.

From summer of 1992 to 2011 Ms. Zaretsky was a regular member of the Peninsula Music Festival Orchestra in Wisconsin, holding positions in the viola and violin section under conductor Victor Yampolsky. She spent several summers teaching at Music on the Hill (MOTH) at the Powers Music School, eventually co-directing the program. From 2018 to 2021, she directed the Summer Music Program at the Rivers School Conservatory. She recently joined the faculty at Point Counterpoint, teaching and performing at the Prelude session.

Jonathan Mueller has been a member of the Louisville Orchestra since 2006 and Adjunct Professor of Viola at Bellarmine University since 2009. Mr. Mueller finished his Masters in Viola Performance at Rice University in 2006 under the instruction of James Dunham and his Bachelors from Indiana University where he studied with Alan DeVeritch. Mr. Mueller lives in the Highlands with his wife Krista, son Everett and daughter Coral.

Since performing as a concerto soloist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at age 18, cellist Nicholas Finch has established himself as an artist of great depth and diversity, both within and beyond the classical genre. Finch recently performed three new cello concerti written for him by composers Lev “Ljova” Zhurbin, Alyssa Weinberg, and Dorian Wallace on one concert, and will record them during the 2022/2023 season for his debut recording. He also appeared as cello soloist in Richard Strauss's "Don Quixote" with the Louisville Orchestra during the 2019/2020 season.

Finch was appointed Principal Cellist of the Louisville Orchestra during the 2013-2014 season by music director Teddy Abrams.  He has appeared with the Boston-based chamber orchestra ‘A Far Cry’ on numerous concerts and recordings, one recording having been nominated for the 2015 Grammy awards. He has additionally appeared numerous times with the Jupiter Chamber Players in New York City.

Finch has collaborated with some of the most prominent artists of today, including cellist Yo-Yo Ma and his Silk Road Ensemble, pianist Joyce Yang, members of the Dover and Escher String Quartets, and many more.

A native of Boston, Finch began his cello studies at the age of 12. He attended Harvard, Juilliard, the University of Michigan, and the Mannes College of Music. Finch has additionally recently pursued studies as a conductor, recently making his debut with members of the Louisville Orchestra, leading works by Aaron Copland and more. He has studied conducting with Markand Thakar, Kenneth Kiesler, and with Michael Jinbo and Ludovic Morlot at the Pierre Monteux School.  Finch currently splits his residence between Louisville and New York City.

Praised for his "impassioned performance" (Boston Globe) and playing "with remarkable ease and clarity, while maintaining a graceful—if vociferous—line that fit well into the narrative" (The Boston Musical Intelligencer), cellist Sam Ou enjoys an active musical life in the Greater Boston area. A recipient of the Rosemary Scales Prize for best cello concerto performance at the Kingsville International Young Performers Competition, Mr. Ou has performed at several prestigious summer venues including Tanglewood, Sarasota, Musicorda, Santa Fe, and La Jolla music festivals. In 2012, he gave the world premiere performance of Larry Bell’s Cello Concerto entitled The Triumph of Lightness with the Boston Civic Symphony at New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall (NEC). An avid chamber musician, Mr. Ou has collaborated and performed with the Borromeo String Quartet, James Buswell, Hung-Kuan Chen, Pi-Hsien Chen, James Dunham, Thomas Hill, Patricia McCarty, Paul Neubauer, Heiichiro Ohyama, Lois Shapiro, and Marcus Thompson. He performed Yehudi Wyner's Tanz and Maissele with violinist Lucy Chapman, clarinetist Bruce Creditor, and the Pulitzer prize-winning composer at the piano at The Center for Jewish History in New York. As one-half of the Formosa Duo, he performs regularly with pianist Chi-Chen Wu. Also, as one-half of the Ou Cello Duo, Mr. Ou collaborates frequently with his sister, cellist Carol Ou. Symphonically, Mr. Ou has played in the Boston Pops, Boston Landmarks, Boston Ballet, Boston Lyric Opera, and Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestras.

Mr. Ou came to the United States from Taiwan at age 4 and began his cello studies at age 9. He has been a pupil of several renowned cello teachers, including Gretchen Geber, Eleonore Schoenfeld, and Aldo Parisot. After completing his Bachelor of Arts and Master of Music degrees in New York from Columbia University and The Juilliard School in their double degree program, Mr. Ou moved to Boston to study with Laurence Lesser at NEC, where he graduated with a Doctorate of Musical Arts. His dissertation was entitled "In Felix's Footsteps: An Examination of Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel's Approach to Her Chamber Music."

While a student at NEC, Mr. Ou founded the NEC String Trio, which won the NEC Honors Ensemble Competition, was featured on Boston’s WGBH radio station, and was the resident chamber ensemble at the Musicorda Music Festival. As a former member of the Huntington Piano Trio, he performed extensively throughout New England and traveled to Poland, giving concerts in Poznan and Zakopane. He has studied with several inspiring chamber music coaches including Toby Appel, Emanuel Ax, Neil Black, James Buswell, Earl Carlyss, Lucy Chapman, Norman Fischer, Felix Galimir, Christoph Henkel, Lewis Kaplan, and Emma Tahmisian.

In addition to being a prize recipient at the Kingsville International Young Performers Competition, Mr. Ou has also been awarded the Rome Festival Concerto Soloist Award, the Chi-Mei Music Scholarship from Taiwan, the ARTS Level II Award from the National Foundation for the Advancement in the Arts, and the Joseph Schuster Memorial Cello Scholarship from the Young Musicians' Foundation. Mr. Ou has been a visiting lecturer, performer, and cello teacher at Fu-Jen University in Taiwan, where he conducted solo and chamber music masterclasses and performed with Fu-Jen faculty musicians. As a participant of Fu-Jen’s 18th Century Piano Literature Symposium and the International Strings Literature Symposium, he presented papers on the chamber music of Beethoven and Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel. Mr. Ou has also coached undergraduate chamber ensembles and orchestral cello sectionals at Tufts University. In 2016, he was invited to México City to conduct masterclasses and give a solo recital at the National University of México's School of Music as part of the School's "5th National Cello Encounter" Conference. In summer 2018, he gave a recital at the Sejong Cultural Arts Center and taught a cello masterclass at Sejong University in Seoul, Korea.

Mr. Ou has just been appointed as the new assistant professor of cello and music theory at Kutztown University in Pennsylvania. For the past two decades, he was a faculty member at NEC's Preparatory School and School of Continuing Education, and he also served as assistant string chair at the Prep School. Additionally, Mr. Ou has coached chamber music and maintained a private teaching studio. In the summer, he has taught at the Kutztown University Summer Music Festival in Pennsylvania, Music on the Hill in Belmont, MA, the Vianden International Music Festival in Luxembourg, the Walnut Hill Music Festival in Natick, MA, and Point Counterpoint in Leicester, VT. Mr. Ou released a CD entitled With String & Pipe, in which he collaborated with the late organist Harry Lyn Huff. He was also featured in Larry Bell’s CDs entitled In a Garden of Dreamers, where he collaborated with recorder player Aldo Abreu and harpsichordist Paul Cienniwa. For more information, please visit his website at samweiou.weebly.com.

Jonathan Ruckman, cellist, is an honors graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Music, where he attended the Young Artist Program before receiving his Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees. Following graduation, Mr. Ruckman was appointed Interim Assistant Principal cellist of the Grammy-winning Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO), where he served as second chair cellist from 2004-2007. During his time with the LPO, Mr. Ruckman served as Principal and Assistant Principal cellist for numerous performances throughout the New Orleans area, received lifetime tenure, and was elected to the Board of Trustees. From 2007 to the present, Mr. Ruckman has been a freelance cellist for countless performances throughout the New Orleans, Washington, D.C., and Louisville areas, including appearances with the Louisville Orchestra, the Musaica Chamber Ensemble, and the NouLou Chamber players. 

Off stage, Mr. Ruckman received a Juris Doctorate from the George Washington University Law School and a Master of Science in Social Work from the Kent School of Social Work where he was awarded the Graduate Dean’s Citation. Mr. Ruckman is the Clinical Director of Maryhurst Renewal, an outpatient mental health program primarily serving youth in the West and South ends of Louisville. From 2013-2018, Mr. Ruckman was an immigration attorney for Catholic Charities of Louisville, where he represented hundreds of refugees and asylees. Mr. Ruckman is a member of the Maryland and Kentucky Bar Associations as well as the Louisville Federation of Musicians. Mr. Ruckman lives in Indian Hills with his wife and three young children.

Tahirah Whittington, native of Houston, TX, and currently residing in Chicago, IL, most recently completed her position as the cellist for the Dear Evan Hansen North American Broadway Tour. Previously, Ms. Whittington was the cellist for Hamilton: An American Musical in Chicago. Television/Film: “Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” and episodes of “Empire”. Studio recordings: The Lion King (2019 – as a member of Re-collective Orchestra), Beyoncé’s The Lion King: The Gift, John Legend’s Big Love and PJ Morton’s Gumbo Unplugged. Tahirah performed the cello solo for Rhiannon Giddens’ “Cry No More” arranged by Michael Abels. As a chamber musician, she is a founding member of both the Ritz Chamber Players in Jacksonville, FL, and D-Composed based in Chicago, IL. Ms. Whittington received her Bachelor’s Degree from New England Conservatory and her Master’s Degree in Cello Performance from The Juilliard School.

Recently hailed by The New York Times for his “warm-toned” performance of Lutosławski’s Grave (Metamorphoses), cellist Paul York is an accomplished soloist, chamber musician, and teacher. He currently serves on the string faculty at the University of Louisville, where he maintains an active teaching and performing schedule. Recent solo appearances include performances of Beethoven’s Triple Concerto in Nanjing, China and Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia and Karel Husa’s Concerto for Violoncello and Orchestra at New York’s Carnegie Hall. He has performed Aaron Jay Kernis’s Colored Field for Cello and Orchestra with the Louisville Orchestra, and Vivaldi’s Double Concerto in G Minor with internationally acclaimed cellist Yo-Yo Ma. Of his performance at Carnegie Hall, New York Concert Review said, “The fiendishly difficult solo part was brilliantly played by cellist Paul York; one had to be in awe of his playing.”

Mr. York serves on the faculty of the ARIA Summer International Academy and has been member of the artist faculty at the Beyond the Music Festival in Benasque, Spain, the Sewanee Summer Music Festival, Strings in the Mountains, and Accent 09 and 11 at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. He served as principal cello with the Des Moines Metro Opera Orchestra and has held principal cello positions with numerous regional orchestras and has performed with the cello section of the Saint Louis Symphony.

Mr. York received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Southern California and his Master of Music degree from the University of California at Santa Barbara, where he studied with Ronald Leonard. Other teachers include Gabor Rejto, and Louis Potter. The recipient of numerous honors and awards, Mr. York was selected to participate in the prestigious Piatigorsky Seminar at the University of Southern California and has received Distinguished Faculty Awards in Teaching and Creative and Research Work from the University of Louisville.

Mr. York can be heard on the Ablaze, Arizona University Press, Centaur, innova, and CRS labels. His recording of works by Debussy, Shostakovich and Faure performed by the York-Biran Duo has recently been released by Centaur. His premiere recording of the Husa Concerto, as well as his recording of solo works entitled Paul York: Soliloquy and the Lutoslawski Cello Concerto, have received critical acclaim

Composer, pianist, arranger, and educator John Kramer has written music for the piano, organ, orchestra, and choir and has received numerous commissions, including A Dream of Hope, a cantata in five movements for choir and orchestra. His recently completed Violin Sonata was premiered by Julia Cash, for whom it was written. A recent choral and orchestral work, The Immigrant Experience, a cantata in seven movements, has been performed across the U.S. As a pianist, John has performed throughout the U.S. and in France. He has two CDs of solo piano music, Orange Earth/Blue Ether and a collection of 24 Meditations. He is an assistant professor in the Harmony & Jazz Composition Department at Berklee School of Music and the Music Director at the Winchester Unitarian Society.

Sebastian obtained a B.M. in Composition from the Curtis Institute & a M.M. in Composition from USC.

From ’16-’18, he was Resident Composer of the Louisville Orchestra and currently fulfills their first-call Auxiliary Pianist role.

The Louisville Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Pacific Symphony, the Tokyo Symphony, the Louisville Ballet, the Cleveland Chamber Festival, the Louisville Chamber Choir, and the Britt Festival Orchestra are among the ensembles that have performed his works.

He played keyboard in the Louisville Orchestra in the album “The American Project” featuring Yuja Wang as piano soloist and compositions by Teddy Abrams and Michael Tilson Thomas, which won a ’24 Grammy in the “Best Instrumental Classical Solo” category.

"Between Heaven and Earth", in collaboration with artist Vian Sora, premiered on February 23 & 24, ’18 by the Louisville Orchestra & Louisville Chamber Choir, in Whitney Hall at the Kentucky Center. His Piano Concerto premiered on June 17, '22, in the Britt Festival Pavilion by the Britt Festival Orchestra, in Jacksonville, OR, featuring the composer as pianist. His Piano Trio No. 2 premiered on November 20, ‘22, by Trio Barclay, at the Barclay Theatre, in Irvine, CA, and was also featured in the Derby City Chamber Music Festival on April 28, ’24 at Second Presbyterian Church. His film score for the silent horror film “Nosferatu” premiered October 27 & 28, ’23 by the Louisville Orchestra at Whitney Hall in the Kentucky Center. It was performed again on October 23, ’24 as part of the L.O.’s film series. He conducted the premiere of his Double Concerto for Flute & Cello on Sunday, November 3, ’24, with the Cabrillo Chamber Orchestra, at Incarnation Lutheran Church in Poway, CA.

He played piano solo in Leonard Bernstein’s Symphony No. 2 with the Louisville Orchestra on March 31 & April 1, ’23 at Whitney Hall in the Kentucky Center. He performed Variations on a Theme of Paganini by Rachmaninoff with the Louisville Civic Orchestra on February 19 & 22, at Bellarmine University and Springdale Presbyterian Church respectively.

As a student, he won the BMI Student Composer Awards in ’02, ’05, & ’07, and the ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composers Awards in ’01, ’02, ’04, ’05, & ’06. He is an ‘02 Davidson Fellow Laureate, by the Davidson Institute for Talent Development.

Praised for her “artistic, clear and enlightened” performances (BBC Magazine) of “technical brilliance and complete emotional engagement" (Fanfare Magazine), Bulgarian pianist Anna Petrova embraces a multifaceted career as a soloist, chamber musician, educator, and artistic director. She has been the recipient of top honors and awards at numerous competitions internationally, including the Queen Elisabeth and Jose Roca Competitions, MAW Alumni Enterprise Award, and the Bulgarian Ministry of Culture among many others. Petrova’s latest project is serving as the Co-artistic director of ATX Chamber Music and Jazz: an organization curating extraordinary musical and social experiences, while also offering educational opportunities to the local community.

Petrova serves as the Assistant Professor of Piano at the University of Louisville in Kentucky. She enjoys offering regular masterclasses around the world at institutions from the Beijing Central and Tianjin Conservatories in Asia, to the Jerusalem Music Center and Edward Said National Conservatory of Music in the Middle East, Musical Arts Madrid and FORUM Festival in Spain, Meadowmount School of Music and Manhattan School of Music in the US, and Memorial University in Canada.

In 2018, Petrova was honored at the United Nations for her work with refugees around the globe through the Novel Voices Refugee Aid Project. Currently, she co-directs the Novel Voices Distance Learning branch of the musical non-profit Project: Music Heals Us, bringing weekly virtual lessons, masterclasses, and workshops to underserved students in Kenya, El Salvador and the Middle East.

As a soloist Petrova has appeared with the Virginia Symphony, Monterey Symphony, Manhattan Chamber Sinfonia, Louisville Orchestra, the Iasi and Timisoara Philharmonics, Valencia Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra of Wallonia, as well as all of the major orchestras in her native Bulgaria. She has collaborated with numerous world-renowned conductors including Paul Goodwin, JoAnn Falletta, Philippe Entremont, Roderick Cox, Jonathan Rush, Jonathan Pasternack, Max Bragado-Darman, Bruno Aprea, Ramón Tébar, Francisco Valero–Terribas, and Horia Andresecu.

Highlights of recent seasons include several highly-acclaimed solo and concerto appearances including a return engagement with the Monterey Symphony Orchestra in which Petrova was praised for “the vitality in her crisp playing… [brought out] an impetuous excitement that stirred the audience to its feet!” Other memorable performances include the Karel Husa Concertino for Piano and Wind Ensemble at the Žofín Palace in Prague, Czech Republic; the Grieg Piano Concerto with the Louisville and Port Angeles Orchestras; solo recital tours of China and Chile; the Rachmaninoff Second Piano Concerto and the Rhapsody on a theme by Paganini, Prokofiev First and Third Piano Concertos, Beethoven’s Fourth and Triple Concertos. Petrova has appeared in recitals in such revered venues as Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall, New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Smithsonian Museum, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing, the Jerusalem Music Center, the Oslo Concert Hall, the Auditorio Ciudad de Leon in Spain, and the Palau de la Musica in Valencia, Spain.

A passionate chamber musician, Petrova has appeared as both a performer and teacher at festivals around the world, including Mozartfest, Musc@Menlo, Music Academy of the West, Virginia Arts Festival, Malaga Clasica, and the Holland Music Sessions among others. She has collaborated with such renowned artists as Andre-Michel Schub, Jinjoo Cho, Alexander Sitkovetsky, as well as members of the Dover, Escher and Juilliard Quartets. She is a member of two award-winning ensembles: the viola-piano Carr-Petrova Duo with violist Molly Carr and the clarinet-viola-piano Iris Trio with clarinetist Christine Carter and violist Zoë Martin-Doike.

Petrova’s debut album, Slavic Heart, released by the German label Solo Musica (2022,) received five-star reviews by Spain’s Ritmo Magazine which commented, “One would think this is an album for a virtuoso, but this Slavic Heart is also full of dreamy moments where the pianist is a narrator and a poet.” Fanfare Magazine also labeled the recording as “superb, a marvelous showcase for Petrova’s splendid pianism and artistry,” giving it the “highest recommendation.”

Additionally, the Carr-Petrova Duo’s debut album Novel Voices, released on the Melos label in 2018, was immediately chosen by Spain’s Classical Music Magazine Ritmo as one of its “Top 10 CDs of the Month,” praising the Duo’s performance of the Rebecca Clarke Sonata as “the best interpretation of this sonata to date.” Codalario Magazine also gave the album its “Superior Quality” award, named it as their “Top Album of 2020,” and stated, “It would be hard to debut better than this.” The Iris Trio’s 2019 release of Hommage and Inspiration on the Coviello Classics label was chosen by CBC as one of its “Top 10 Classical Albums to Get Excited About,” and reviewed by Fanfare as “superb […] a five-star stand-out release, writ large with the spirit of chamber music.” Other discography includes recording of Stravinsky’s Les Noces with the Virginia Symphony and conductor JoAnn Falletta (NAXOS, 2016).

As a musician active in performing, recording, teaching and research, Dr. Chi-Chen Wu is equally at home in the worlds of contemporary and classical music as well as historical performance practice.

Recently making her Carnegie Hall debut with the Helios trio, Wu has appeared as recitalist, chamber musician, and concerto soloist in the United States, Canada, France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Luxembourg, Japan, Taiwan, China, Thailand, among others. She has performed at numerous festivals including Aspen, Monadnock, and the Boston Early Music Festival Fringe Concert Series. Her live performances have been broadcast on NPR’s live performance programs Simply Grand Concert Series, From The Top, and many others.

Chi-Chen’s musical collaborations include performances with Augustin Hadelich, Karl-Heinz Steffens, Jonathan McPhee, Zuill Bailey, Guy Johnston, members of the Juilliard String Quartet, Takács String Quartet, and musicians from the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.

A native of Taiwan and prize winner of several Taiwanese national piano competitions, Wu came to the United States for graduate study at New England Conservatory of Music where she received two master’s degrees, (piano performance and collaborative piano) as well as a doctorate.  Upon her graduation, with Distinction in Performance and Academic Honors, she was appointed Assistant Professor at National Taiwan Normal University.

In 2007, Dr. Wu accepted a position of visiting scholar at Cornell University, where she taught piano, studied fortepiano with Malcolm Bilson, and conducted research on historical performance practice with Neal Zaslaw. 

As an interpreter of contemporary music, Chi-Chen Wu was the pianist of Aggregate, a Boston-based composer group. She premiered the piano version of John Harbison’s The Great Gatsby at Jordan Hall, The Poet and the War by Norber Palej, and Ralf Gawlick’s Herzliche Grüße Bruno, a one-hour electro-acoustic composition. Recent notable contemporary music performances include Piano Concertino by George Perle and Malcolm Williamson’s Concerto No. 2 as soloist with Pacifica Chamber Orchestra in Seattle.

Chi-Chen’s album of Schumann Fantasie and Carnaval on a Graf fortepiano won an award for Best Classical Album in the Global Music Awards. Her recording of Schumann’s complete sonatas for piano and violin also on a Graf fortepiano received two gold medals from the same competition.  American Record Guide selected it as one of the top recordings of this repertoire and recommends its readers to “Stick with Kremer and Argerich or DiEugenio and Wu.” It was also named in the Top 10 "Best Classical Recordings of 2015" by The Big City, New York. Her recital and discussion with Malcolm Bilson on piano collaboration are featured on his DVD “Performing the Score'' released in 2011.

Some highlights of her recent professional activities include a recital with Augustin Hadelich, performances as soloist in Gershwin Concerto in F as well as Wölfl’s Piano Concerto No. 1, and a concert at the Nuremberg Symphony Hall in Germany. In Fall 2021, Chi-Chen was invited by the composition department of the University of Florida to conduct a residency, where she worked with their composers and recorded 6 pieces written for her duo with cellist Sam Ou. In addition to working on contemporary compositions, she and violinist John Fadial recently finished recording the complete duo works by Gabriel Fauré on an 1865 Pleyel in collaboration with Cornell Center for Historical Keyboards. 

Dr. Wu is Associate Professor of Piano and Keyboard Area Chair at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, School of Music. Her students have been prizewinners in international competitions and have been accepted for graduate study to the Juilliard School, New England Conservatory, McGill University, Conservatoire de Paris and other such institutions.

Selected Reviews

 “…the soul of the composer resonates with her, as heard in her superb control of rubato rhythm, and the bristling excitement of her melodic phrasing. Her pacing, as well, comes off as intuitively flowing. The second sense is the natural ease of her technique, which is so unforced that it is actually much more astonishing than a casual listening might indicate.” - Fanfare

 “The first two sonatas are interpreted brilliantly, largely thanks to Wu. … If you love these sonatas, this disc is a must-have.” - American Record Guide

 “The blistering speed Ms. Wu adopted in the Scherzo showed her credentials as a pianist to be admired.” “I found pianist Chi-Chen Wu to be extremely virtuosic…” “This journey was gorgeously rendered...” - New York Concert Review

 “The seamless ensemble helps us to hear these works in a single united voice in which the violin provides the intimate, lyric core and the piano an almost symphonic, expansive texture of breathless virtuosity.” -Historical Keyboard Society of North America

 “I know no other music that depends so much on the interpreters for an effective realization. […] Stick with Kremer and Argerich or DiEugenio and Wu for more enthusiastic performances.” - American Record Guide

Robert Walker is the 2nd/Eb Clarinet player with the Louisville Orchestra. He has also appeared with the Cleveland Orchestra and the Saint Louis Symphony. He is a graduate of the University of Southern California and the Juilliard School of Music. In his free time, Robert also writes and arranges music, both acoustic and electronic.

Since 1988, Kathleen Karr has been the Principal Flutist of the Louisville Orchestra. A founding member of the Kentucky Center Chamber Players (a chamber group that was active from 1984-2016), she is currently a member of the NouLou Chamber Players. For 25 years, Kathleen taught applied flute, flute ensemble, flute pedagogy and flute literature at the University of Louisville's School of Music. She was awarded the Distinguished Teaching Professor Award for the University of Louisville in 2012.

A frequent soloist with the Louisville Orchestra, Kathleen most recently performed the J. S. Bach Brandenburg Concerti #2, #4 and #5 during the 2023-2024 season. She has performed recitals and masterclasses in Israel, Mexico and across the U.S.A. She has performed as guest flutist with the Fort Wayne Philharmonic, Chautauqua Symphony and the Orquestra Sinfonica da Mineria in Mexico City.

Kathleen received her Bachelor of Music degree from Northwestern University and her Master of Music degree from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. She is an Altus Flutes Performing Artist.

Joseph Caminiti began his conducting career as the Assistant Conductor of the Ithaca College Symphony and Chamber Orchestras in 1996. After arriving in Philadelphia, he started the professional string ensemble, Solaris, before accepting the Music Director position with the Cairn Symphony Orchestra, 2001–2015. He was appointed Director of Orchestral Studies at West Chester University of Pennsylvania from 2015-2022 where he conducted the Symphony, Chamber, and Opera Orchestras, and taught undergraduate and graduate music courses. He also won the Music Director position of the Delaware County Symphony which he served from 2016–2019. In 2021, he founded and conducted the professional Gateway Ensemble with whom he produced video recordings posted on YouTube to bring music to homes during the COVID shutdown.

Joseph has collaborated with arts and charitable organizations such as Advocates For the Homeless and Those in Need, Esperanza, ARTolerance, Musicopia, the American Red Cross, and West Chester University’s Promise Program to help support underserved communities. He further values his work with living composers including Judith Lang Zaimont, Kile Smith, Raoul Pleskow, Gabriela Lena Frank; international soloists, Ching-Yun Hu, and Elena Urioste; and Philadelphia Orchestra members Ricardo Morales, David Kim, Jennifer Montone, Richard Amoroso, and Udi Bar-David.

Committed to connecting with audiences through dynamic and thoughtful concerts, Joseph has created various performance formats including “Concerts in The Round,” smartphone-friendly features, in-concert conversations, multi-media elements, pre-concert “round-tables,” and family concerts with instrument petting zoos for children. He launched the “Concert on the Quad” series of audience-selected film scores at West Chester University that inspired CBS News to spontaneously run a spot on it.

Compelled by humanitarian needs, Joseph changed careers in 2023 and now serves as the Co-sponsorship and Volunteer Engagement Manager at Kentucky Refugee Ministries., helping to resettle refugees. He lives in Louisville, Kentucky with his wife Kirsten.

Hailed by The New York Times as "delightful and vocally strong and versatile," Emily Albrink is a soprano whose career sports esteemed collaborations with venerable conductors and composers such as Robert Spano, Marin Alsop, Jake Heggie, and John Musto. She just released her debut album Force of Nature on the Lexicon Classics Label with pianist, Kathleen Kelly, featuring world premiere commissions by Jake Heggie, Rene Orth, Nailah Nombeko and Steve Rouse. She has sung leading roles with the Washington National Opera, Kentucky Opera, Charlottesville Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Opera Boston, Indianapolis Opera, and Chicago Opera Theater and has been a featured soloist with orchestras including the Boston Symphony, the Chicago Symphony, the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, the Baltimore Symphony, the Phoenix Symphony, and the Louisville Orchestra. Ms. Albrink has appeared at Alice Tully Hall and Carnegie Hall and has performed internationally in China and France. She is on the voice faculty at the University of Louisville School of Music.

Baritone Edward Caruthers is an active performer, teacher, and clinician. As a performer Mr. Caruthers has been a featured soloist in major works including The Messiah, Magnificat (Bach), and Christmas Oratorio (Bach), The Creation (Haydn), Elijah (Mendelssohn), Ein Deutsches Requiem (Brahms), Five Mystical Songs (Vaughn Williams). Mr. Caruthers was a featured soloist for Requiem (Mozart) at St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna, Austria. Mr. Caruthers is also an active recital artist. He has presented recitals that include the works of Tosti, Donaudy, Bellini, Schubert, Schumann, Brahms, Faure, Hahn, Duparc, Barber, Quilter, Niles, and many other composers. In addition, Mr. Caruthers has performed concerts featuring the music of female, African/Hispanic, Jewish and LGBTQI composers. Mr. Caruthers is a private voice teacher and his students have attended music programs at Julliard, Manhattan School of Music, Oberlin Conservatory, University of Michigan, and Florida State University. As a clinician Mr. Caruthers has adjudicated festivals in Kentucky, Ohio, and Washington. Mr. Caruthers is also the vocal coach for The Youth Performing Arts High School and Western School for the Arts in Louisville, Ky.