Vadim Gluzman, violin
Israeli violinist Vadim Gluzman has been described as harkening back to the 19th century Golden Age of violinists in technique and sensibility while exhibiting the passion and energy of the 21st century. Winner of the prestigious Henryk Szeryng Foundation Career Award and a regular soloist with major orchestras (London Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Israel Philharmonic, San Francisco, Cincinnati, Detroit, Houston, Vancouver and Seattle Symphony Orchestras, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Deutsches Symphonie Orchester Berlin, Minnesota Orchestra, Munich, Dresden and Czech Philharmonic Orchestras, the Stuttgart Radio Orchestra, NHK and KBS Orchestras, among others), he plays the 1690 ex-Leopold Auer Stradivarius, on extended loan to him through the generosity of the Stradivari Society of Chicago. Mr. Gluzman’s recordings are released exclusively on BIS Records. His recent albums include the extraordinary release of the Glazunov and Tchaikovsky violin concertos with Andrew Litton conducting the Bergen Philharmonic, which won ClassicFM magazine’s coveted Disc of the Month award as well as the Selection of the Month designation in Strad magazine; and Fireworks!, a collection of virtuoso violin show pieces. Born in 1973 in Ukraine, Vadim Gluzman began studying the violin at the age of seven. Before moving to Israel in 1990, he studied under Zakhar Bron and later under Yair Kless in Tel Aviv. He also studied in the United States under Arkady Fomin and at The Juilliard School under the late Dorothy DeLay and Masao Kawasaki.

Check out his website at www.vadimgluzman.com.

Leor Maltinski, violin
Born in Tel Aviv in 1976, Leor Maltinski began playing the violin at age six. While a student of Igor Polesitsky in Florence, Italy from 1985 to 1993, he exhibited an extraordinary gift that caught the attention of the Italian musical establishment and public alike and enabled him to commence an early concert career. In 1993 he moved to the United States to continue his musical education first at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia and then at Indiana University in Bloomington, where he received an Artist Diploma, Bachelor's Degree, and Master's Degree under the guidance of Nelli Shkolnikova. He subsequently studied with Dorothy DeLay and Masao Kawasaki at the Juilliard School, and with Herbert Greenberg at the Peabody Conservatory of Music. Mr. Maltinski was a multiple prizewinner at Indiana as well as at the Paganini and Thibaud competitions, and won first prize in the Carl Nielsen International Violin Competition (Special Edition New York City) in 1999. He is a member of the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, currently sitting in the Isaac Stern Chair. He is frequently invited to participate in international music festivals both as soloist and as an ensemble player.

Limor Toren-Immerman, violin
Limor Toren-Immerman has won numerous regional and national competitions and has appeared as soloist with orchestras throughout Russia, Israel, and the United States. She recently performed the American premiere of Leonid Desyatnikov’s Russian Seasons, and violin concerti of Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Vivaldi, and Bach, as well as major chamber music recitals in collaboration with Bernadene Blaha, Kevin Fitz-Gerald, Patrick Gallois, and many others. Dr. Toren-Immerman began her formal musical education in Russia, at the Moscow Gnessins College of Music. She holds Bachelor of Music and Artist Diploma from Jerusalem Rubin Academy of Music and Dance, Israel, and Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees from University of Southern California Thornton School of Music. Currently Dr. Toren-Immerman is on the faculty at California State University Fresno and the Shepherds University School of Music. She also serves as Concertmaster for the Mozart Classical Orchestra, Assistant Concertmaster for the Chamber Orchestra of South Bay, and Assistant Principal for the New West Symphony Orchestra, and performs with Pacific Symphony, Long Beach Symphony, and California Philharmonic.

Evan N. Wilson, viola
Evan N. Wilson was appointed Principal Violist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic in November 1991, after having served as a member of the Orchestra since 1984. Widely regarded as one of the world’s leading violists, Mr. Wilson has earned high praise from audiences and critics alike for his lush sound, masterful technique, and compelling musicianship. He attended The Juilliard School of Music in New York where he played Principal Viola and also served as Principal with the National Orchestra of New York. Mr. Wilson most recently served as Guest Principal Viola with the Boston Symphony Orchestra in the 1994/1995 and 1995/96 seasons. During that time, he participated in recordings of music by Bernstein, Foss, and Barber with Itzhak Perlman and Seiji Ozawa (for x) and music by Maurice Ravel conducted by Bernard Haitink (for Philips). Mr. Wilson's international engagements have taken him to the Festivals of Salzburg, Luzern, Berlin, Flanders, Edinburgh, Helsinki, Settembre Musica (Toronto), and the BBC Proms (London). During the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s 1996 Paris residency, Mr. Wilson appeared as soloist in the Theatre du Chalet, performing Stravinsky’s Elegy for Solo Viola, as well as in several works for chamber ensemble. Mr. Wilson has participated in numerous music festivals in the United States, including La Jolla Summerfest, Marlboro, Newport, Grand Canyon, Steamboat Springs, Kingston, and Chautauqua, where he has been on the faculty since 1997. He has been on the faculties of UCLA, USC, UCSB where he was named Distinguished Artist/Teacher, a Master Teacher at the Colburn School and the Crossroads School.

Check out his website at www.evanwilson.com.

Bruce Bransby, bass
Bruce Bransby is Professor of Double Bass at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. He has also taught at California State University, Northridge, the University of Missouri at Kansas City, the California Music Center, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Institute, and has been a performing member of the faculty of the Aspen Music Festival since 1987. His students hold positions in many of the world's finest symphony orchestras. Mr. Bransby served as principal double bass with the Los Angeles Philharmonic under Zubin Mehta, Carlo Maria Giulini, and Andre Previn, and before that was principal double bass with the Kansas City Symphony. He studied with Nat Gangursky, Peter Mercurio, and Stuart Sankey. Professor Bransby performs widely as soloist and chamber player and has premiered numerous works, including several concertos for the double bass. Chamber music activities over the years have led to collaborations with some of the world's finest musicians, including Joshua Bell, Robert McDuffie, Miriam Fried, Alex Kerr, Adele Anthony, James Dunham, Atar Arad, Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi, Joseph Kalichstein, Leon Fleischer, Menahem Pressler, Dawn Upshaw and Osvaldo Golijov, James Campbell, members of the Emerson String Quartet, the American String Quartet, and the American Brass Quintet. Mr. Bransby has published several transcriptions for the double bass, and he is also the composer (as Roland E. Curb) of Prelude, Valse, and Tango for double bass and piano.

Antoinette Perry, piano
Antoinette Perry, was born into a family of professional musicians and gave her first public performance at age four. She has since appeared throughout the United States and Europe as soloist and chamber musician, collaborating with numerous notable artists, including Leon Fleisher, Ralph Kirshbaum, Ronald Leonard, Brooks Smith, Carol Wincenc, Froydis Ree Wekre, David Shifrin, John Perry, Gabor Rejto, Nathaniel Rosen, Jeffrey Solow, Henri Temianka, Eugene Fodor, and actors Michael York and Walter Matthau. Ms. Perry has performed with members of the American, Chicago, Cleveland, Emerson, Juilliard, Paganini, and Sequoia string quartets and with concertmasters and principals of major orchestras worldwide. A performer in festivals throughout the United States, she has been heard frequently on NPR’s Performance Today, Bravo, and Continental Airlines in-flight programming. Ms. Perry’s recordings with flutist David Shostac have been issued by Harmonie and Excelsior. As a teacher Ms. Perry served for twelve years on the University of California, Los Angeles piano faculty before joining the faculty of the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music in 1996. An alumna of the Aspen Music Festival and School, she became an artist-faculty member in 1985 and has since performed in over one hundred festival concerts.

Christopher Guerriero, festival accompanist
American pianist Christopher Guerriero was born in Los Angeles in 1979. During his father's military career, which involved frequent family relocation, Christopher had the privilege of excellent musical instruction. His principle teachers include Jane Bastien, Ellen Masaki, Andreas Werz, Hans Boepple, Sharon Mann, and Gary Amano. Public success at an early age led to a college career in music, with continued study and numerous solo and concerto performances at the University of California Berkeley, Utah State University, and Ohio University. His experience also includes an extensive professional career in collaborative piano. Mr. Guerriero is currently working with Professor Andreas Werz at the California State University Fresno, where he is pursuing his Master's degree in performance.

Thomas Loewenheim, cello
Thomas Loewenheim is currently Head of Strings, Professor of Cello, and Conductor of the University Orchestra at California State University, Fresno. He is also the conductor of the Symphony Orchestra of the Youth Orchestras of Fresno. He has toured the world as a chamber musician and soloist. Highlights from past seasons include performances of the two concerti for cello by Haydn, as well as works for cello and orchestra by Davidoff, Goltermann, Mozart, and Tchaikovsky with chamber orchestras in Canada and in Israel. With pianist Christopher Harding, Dr. Loewenheim toured the United States and Israel, offering master classes and conducting youth orchestras. He earned a doctorate in cello performance from the renowned Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, where he studied with Janos Starker and Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi, and was mentored in conducting by David Effron. Dr. Loewenheim also took part in master classes with Yo-Yo Ma, Mischa Maisky, Antonio Meneses, Arto Noras, Aldo Parisot, William Pleeth, and Menahem Pressler, among others. He plays a Jean Baptiste Vuillaume cello, made in 1848.

Check out his website at www.cellosuite.com.