Performers

Hailed in the LA Times as offering a “stunning rendition” of the Mozart Clarinet Concerto, and an “exciting” version of the Copland Clarinet Concerto, Joshua Ranz is Principal Clarinet of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra (LACO). In addition, he holds the chair of Principal Clarinet of the New West Symphony and the position of Bass Clarinet with the Pacific Symphony.

Nada Radulovich is a dynamic and versatile artist who combines her skills as a cellist, transcriber and concert organizer to present unique concerts that synthesize the familiar and unfamiliar in a way that both entertains and educates the audience. A native of Detroit, she developed her artistry and craft at Smith College, the Manhattan School of Music and The Peabody Institute.

Driven to create a musical bond with her listeners, saxophonist Heidi Radtke is attracted to the many musical traditions that claim the saxophone as their own. With influences ranging from contemporary classical to jazz and popular genres, Radtke gravitates towards music that dances, sings, and tells a story. As a performing artist, Radtke seeks to entertain, provide emotional connection and release, stir creativity, pique curiosity, generate compassion, and above all, inspire the artistic voice in others.

The Canadian Encyclopedia calls Christina Petrowska Quilico, C.M., O.Ont, FRSC, “one of Canada’s most celebrated pianists. Equally adept at Classical, Romantic and Contemporary repertoires… she is also a noted champion of Canadian composers.” She was appointed to the Order of Canada in 2020 “for her celebrated career as a classical and contemporary pianist, and for championing Canadian music” and to the Order of Ontario in 2022 “for opening the ears of music lovers through her performances and recordings, her teaching at York University and her establishment of The Christina and Louis Quilico Award at the Ontario Arts Foundation and Canadian Opera Company.”

Zephyr Quartet are Australia’s leading genre-defying explorers of dynamic cross-artform, music-focused collaborations. They are an award-winning string ensemble whose musicians compose, arrange, and improvise. This unique skill set, together with Zephyr’s open-minded approach, allows them to skillfully traverse musical worlds and gives them their own distinct voice.

The Axiom Quartet is a dynamic professional ensemble based in Houston, TX. The group is known for creating and performing programs that mix traditional string quartet repertoire and transcriptions of works from a variety of genres (including jazz, electronic, rock, indie, etc.). By combining these genres, the quartet exposes classical music audiences to extraordinary music from different genres, and creates new fans of the classical repertoire.

Internationally acclaimed veterans of contemporary music, Sirius Quartet combines exhilarating repertoire with unequalled improvisational fire. These conservatory-trained performer-composers shine with precision, soul and a raw energy rarely witnessed on stage, championing a forward-thinking, genre-defying approach that makes labels like 'New Music' sound tame.

With an intense and beautiful blend of freshness and experience, the Pedroia String Quartet is bursting onto the Boston scene. To the unified and persuasive core of Peter Sulski and Rohan Gregory’s ten years of quartet playing together, add the power and fire of first violinist Jae Cosmos Lee, and the consummate beauty and flexibility of cellist Jaques Lee Wood, and you have the Pedroia Quartet.

Taking its inspiration from the exquisite rugged natural beauty of the Pacific Northwest, the Saint Helens String Quartet embraces a sense of musical adventure, exploring an often uncharted sonic territory in which contemporary classical music intersects with genres including jazz, pop, rock, folk and world music. Called the "Saint Helens adventurous four" by the Seattle Weekly, the group makes a practice of commissioning and performing works by 20th century composers.

This remarkable quartet - hailed as "a triumph of ensemble playing" by the New York Times - is a multi-faceted ensemble taking chamber music in new directions. Touring music of the masters as well as original works from visionary composers of our time, the Fry Street Quartet has perfected a "blend of technical precision and scorching spontaneity" (Strad). Since securing the Grand Prize at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, the quartet has reached audiences from across the globe exploring the medium of the string quartet and its life-affirming potential with "profound understanding...depth of expression, and stunning technical astuteness" (Deseret Morning News).

The Colorado-based Altius Quartet has dedicated itself to expanding traditional notions of the string quartet. Members Hannah Kennedy and Andrew Giordano (violins), Allyson Stibbards (viola), and Erin Patterson (cello) are equally at home as performers, mentors, and educators, and strive to fulfill each of those roles at the highest possible level. Altius has received critical acclaim for their recordings, including Fanfare Magazine describing their 2017 release Shostakovich: String Quartets Nos. 7, 8, and 9” as “visceral and wrenching”. Altius was also hailed as “rich” and “captivating” by the renowned music blog I Care If You Listen.

The Skyros Quartet has performed extensively, traveling around Asia and North America. In their hometown of Seattle, the quartet has concertized at Benaroya Hall as part of the Seattle Chamber Music Society, has been featured artists numerous times at Resonance at Soma Towers, and are seen in frequent performance around the Puget Sound region. They have been heard at the Aspen Music Festival and School (Aspen, Colorado) and the Sunflower Music Festival (Topeka, Kansas). In 2014, Skyros was invited to Ontario, Canada, where they were guest artists at QuartetFest 2014 at Sir Wilfrid Laurier University (Waterloo, Ontario) and performed at the Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Music Society (Ontario, Canada).

Since the Benda Quartet began performing in 2012 they have achieved a wide variety of musical successes and established themselves among highly respected Czech ensembles. Their first significant landmark was the concert debut they performed at the 60th Jubilee of the Janacek Philharmonic Orchestra in Ostrava in April 2014. The concert was recorded by Czech Radio and garnered a huge audience acclaim. Since then has the collaboration with the studio of Czech Radio continued on regular basis and resulted in a number of publicly appreciated recordings. The Benda Quartet have worked intensively together with the Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra and artist management agency Janáčkův Máj on numerous chamber music and educational projects.

The Ulysses Quartet has been praised for their “textural versatility,” “grave beauty,” and “the kind of chemistry many quartets long for, but rarely achieve” (The Strad), as well as their “avid enthusiasm ... [with] chops to back up their passion” (San Diego Story), “delivered with a blend of exuberance and polished artistry” (The Buffalo News). Founded in the summer of 2015, the group won the grand prize and gold medal in the senior string division of the 2016 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and first prize in the 2018 Schoenfeld International String Competition. In 2017, the quartet finished first in the American Prize and won second prize at the Osaka International Chamber Music Competition.

Viennese born violist Jutta Puchhammer-Sédillot has settled in Canada since 1987 where she now is full professor for viola and chamber music at the Université de Montréal since 1990. She is principal violist of the Laval Symphony Orchestra and has an exhaustive background in chamber music and solo playing, performing in various formations and at various international festivals. Jutta likes to tour the world via the International Viola Congresses, where she shares with passion her new discoveries of forgotten music written for the viola, mainly around the turn of the 20th century.

The Opus Project is a chamber music initiative formed in 2020 in Montréal by Christophe Gauthier and Joanna Marsden. Inspired by the beauty of early musical prints and manuscript sources, the Opus Project explores unsung treasures of the baroque chamber music repertoire by focusing deeply on one collection at a time. 

Eckart Preu is the Music Director of the Portland Symphony Orchestra, the Long Beach Symphony Orchestra (CA), and the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra (OH). Previously, he was the Music Director of the Spokane Symphony (WA) and the Stamford Symphony (CT), Associate Conductor of the Richmond Symphony (VA), and Resident Conductor of the American Symphony Orchestra and the American Russian Young Artists Orchestra. Also, Preu served as Music Director of the Orchestre International de Paris.

The Kühn Choir of Prague is one of the largest Czech choirs and has been part of the musical world for over 60 years. It devotes itself to the choral repertoire of all periods, and its activities include significant performances of contemporary music, performances of large vocal-instrumental works in collaboration with leading Czech orchestras and, last but not least, projects for the performance and recording of film music.

Angelique Poteat (b. 1986) is a native of the Pacific Northwest, and many of her works are inspired by the natural beauty of the region. Her music has been described as “engaging, restless” (New York Times), “serious and nicely crafted” (American Record Guide), and “extremely accomplished and vividly picturesque” (Seattle Times), receiving performances on four continents by ensembles including the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, arx Percussion Duo, Emerald City Music, CernaBella, and Trio Claviola. Poteat is the recipient of the 2015 American Prize in Orchestral Composition for her work Beyond Much Difference (2014), and has held Composer-in-Residence positions with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra and the New Music on the Rock Festival.

Award-winning Armenian-American pianist Kariné Poghosyan has been praised on the world stage for her “ability to get to the heart of the works she performs.” Since her orchestral debut at the age of 14, Poghosyan has been enchanting concert audiences around the globe, with her masterful artistry and exceptional performances that leave them forever transformed.