Storm King Music Festival 1999 Biographies
		Biographies 1999 Program 1999 Program Notes 1999 Home

The Composers

Sidney Corbett - Major Commissions from IKAB Berlin, Schwetzinger Festival, Rascher Saxophone Quartet. Orchestral Performances include RSO Stuttgart, South German Radio Chorus, Festivals such as Gaudeamus Music Week, Amsterdam, The Zurich Festival, Wien Modern Festival, Vienna etc. He is currently at work on an opera commissioned by the Bremen Theater.

Stefania de Kenessey - Professor of Music at the New School (Lang College). Artistic director of the Derriere Guard an alliance of Traditionalist contemporary artists, architects, poets and composers. Recordings on Opus One, E.R.M., North/South and Leonarda Records.

Eric Ewazen - Faculty, The Juilliard School. Most recently composer in residence with the Orchestra of St. Lukes Recent and upcoming premieres include American Brass Quintet, Orquesta sinfonica Carlos Chavez, Tenerife Symphony, West Point Wind Ensemble. Guest composer at the Eastman School, Florida State University, and with Musique en Euroregion, Lille, France. He is a lecturer for the New York Philharmonic's Encounter Series.

Bruce Lazarus - Composer in Residence, New World School of the Arts. Commissions from many major dance choreographers and companies.

Tania Leon - Composer and Conductor Tania Leon is one of the most vital personalities on today's music scene. In 1993 she was appointed Revson Composer Fellow by the NY Philharmonic, in which she advised Music Director, Kurt Masur on contemporary music. She is artistic advisor of the American Composers Orchestra's annual festival Sonidas de las Americas. Commission's and performances by , Hamburg Festival, Berlin's Ensemble Modern, Chanticleer, and the Munich Biennale. She has conducted the Metropolitan Opera, Louisville Symphony, New World Symphony, Beethovenhalle Orchestra (Bonn) among others. She is Professor of Music at Brooklyn College and has been visiting Professor at both Harvard and Yale Universities. Awards include American Academy of Arts and Letters, NEA and residencies at Yaddo and Bellagio Festival in Italy.

Zhou Long - Honors include NEA, Guggenheim and Rockefeller Foundations. Awards from Mary Cary Trust and the Aaron Copland Fund . Commissions include Bavarian Radio Symphony, Brooklyn Philharmonic, New Music Consort, Kronos Quartet, YoYo Ma, and American Composers Orchestra. Recordings on EMI. CRI, Teldec, Delos etc. His works have been performed by L.A. Philharmonic, London Symphony among others.

Milica Paranosic is the Director of Electronic Music at The Juilliard School. She holds a degree from Belgrade University where she studied with one of the pioneers of Serbian electro-acoustic music, Srdjan Hofman. With support from the Soros Foundation and a scholarship to Juilliard, she studied with Robert Beaser and in 1998 formalized her relationship with D'Divaz - a musical ensemble known for its fusion of ethnic, ambient classical music - comprised of Danijela Popovic, Aleksandra Vojcic and Paranosic, herself. This summer D'DIVAZ will return to Yugoslavia for a series of performances after which they plan to work on a new original performance and multimedia show.

Elena Ruehr - Lecturer in Music, MIT, DMA The Juilliard School, works performed by Shanghai quartet, Orchestra of St. Lukes, Metamorphosen Chamber Ensemble, Continuum. Awards from Cincinnati Symphony, NY Youth Symphony, Omaha Symphony.

Eric Somers - Professor of Design and Communication and Chair of Department of Performing and Visual Arts, Dutchess Community College (SUNY) Television Producer of Fine Arts programs. Collaborated on sonic environments and algorithmically generated musical compositions for dance, theatre, video, film and art gallery installations with noted painter and performance artist Ann Wilson. Executive editor for newsletter of the Society for Electro-Acoustic Music. Runs Sandbook Studio, engaged in multi-media programming and sound design.

Robert Ian Winstin - has had works performed and recorded by the BBC Symphony, Shanghai Symphony among others. Many recordings including Centurion, CMP, Avante and E.R.M. Labels. Commissions include Beijing and Shanghai Symphonies, Itzak Pearlmen, etc. He is active as a composer and performer and is music director of the Millennium Orchestra. He is Director of E.R.M. Label.

Chen Yi - Distinguished Professor of Composition at the Conservatory of the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Major Commissions from Koussevitzky, Fromm, Ford , Rockefeller Foundations, Los Angeles, Brooklyn Philharmonics, Yo-Yo Ma, Yehudi Menuhin, Kronos Quartet, James Galway. Recent performances ; Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, Singapore Symphony (Evelyn Glennie), National Symphony Orchestra. Recorded by New Albion, CRI, Teldec, Nimbus etc.

The Performers

Lois Anderson - Pianist, currently on the faculty of New Jersey City University. Has performed with New Jersey Symphony and Chamber Music Society. As a composer and arranger her scores have been heard on ABC-TV and PBS.

David Calhoun - Cellist, An active chamber musician he has appeared nationally and abroad. He has played Principal cello with the Brooklyn Philharmonic, American Ballet Theater among others.

Lydia Adams Davis - Singer, Songwriter, Puppeteer, Lydia has been entertaining family audiences for over 15 years with original works and songs-on-the-spot.

Emily Faxon - Violinist, Assistant Concertmaster, Hudson Valley Philharmonic, Hudson Valley String Quartet, Artist in Residence State University of New York at New Paltz. PONE Ensemble for New Music. Festival including Music in the Mountains and the Bach festival.

Nina Kogan - Pianist, A top prize winner of the M. Long Piano competition in Paris she began concertizing at the age of 12 and for 16 years was her father's (Leonid Kogan) only pianist. She has performed with the Moscow Philharmonic, Orchestra National de Paris, Dresden Philharmonic, Stockholm Symphony among others. She performs a vast variety of chamber music and gives master classes all over the world. She has recorded for Deutsche Gramophone, EMI Sony, Phillips, Chant du Monde.

Julian Milkis- Clarinet, As soloist he as appeared with the Toronto Symphony, Moscow State Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Hamburg Mozarteum, L'Orchestra Nationale de Lyon and others. Chamber music collaborations have included Yuri Bashmet, Misha Maisky, the Borodin Quartet, St Petersburg String Quartet and appearances on Sviatoslav Richter's famous chamber music festival in Moscow. He has recorded for St Petersburg Classics (Sony) and Melodiya. Mr. Milkis was the only student of Benny Goodman and is a "Buffet Artist".

The Modern Brass Quintet - The Modern Brass Quintet in addition to performing standard works for brass quintet is committed to the commissioning and performing of new music. By playing an active role and working closely with the composer, the group integrated the new work into its permanent repertory. The group has appeared in recital at Merkin Concert Hall, Kaufman Hall and Storm King Arts Center. They have performed at Carnegie Hall, Ticonderoga Arts Festival, Lake George Festival and in a weeklong residency at the Arcady Festival. They have been on the "Meet the Virtuoso" series at the Tisch Center and in recital at the "Principally Poulenc Festival" at Cooper Union. During their Maine Tour they appeared in recital, Master Classes and were heard on Maine Public Radio. They will appear for their third consecutive year at the Storm King Arts summer performance series.

Robert Osborne - Baritone,

Danijela Popovic. Pianist, is a graduate of The Belgrade Academy of Music and the Juilliard School, where she received her M.A. and Advanced Certificate in Accompanying. She has been chosen by many leading performing artists for joint performances in the United States, Switzerland, and Yugoslavia. Presently, Ms. Popovic is a member of the D'Divaz, and Pianist of The Girls Choir of Harlem. She has also been accompanist for Mr. Paul Sperry and Mrs. Gloria Marina, where she acquired a specialized knowledge of different styles of Spanish dance music. She was a recipient of the J.B. Tito fellowship and a full scholarship to the Juilliard School.

Alexander Rees - Violist, as a chamber musician he has performed with the Borodin Quartet, Sviatoslav Richter Bach Ensemble among others. He has been principal Violist with numerous orchestra's including Moscow Symphony Orchestra, Symphony Orchestra of Russia, New American Chamber Orchestra, Bronx Arts Ensemble etc. For over 25 years he was professor of Viola ,Chamber Music and String quartet at the Gnesin Institute(Moscow). He has recorded for the BBC and Moscow Radio and television. Mr. Rees has over 20 published articles on subjects including pedagogy, music history and performance . His editions and transcriptions for Viola include Bach, the Organ Sonata's, Telemann, six Canonical Sonatas for Two Violins etc.

Ruthanne Schempf - Pianist, Probably the most sought after Pianist in the Hudson Valley
She is a Pianist for the West Point Glee Club with which she performs worldwide and is on the faculties of Marist College and SUNY New Paltz. She has performed with the Hudson Valley Philharmonic, The Hudson Valley String Quartet among others. As a soloist she has performed with the West Point Band and Wind Ensemble.

Deborah Schmidt - French Horn, has played with the National Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, New Jersey Symphony, and was Principal Horn with the Filharmonica de Cuidad de Mexico. She has appeared as soloist at the Bard Festival, Westchester Chamber Orchestra and can be heard on Television as the French horn soloist on the theme for CNBC. She is a founding member of the Modern Brass Quintet.

Barbara Siesel - Flutist, Artistic Director Storm King Music Festival. A soloist and chamber musician she has appeared in major halls of Russia, China, Spain, Japan and the United States. As founder and artistic director of the Andiamo chamber ensemble she has commissioned and premiered works by noted American composers including Aaron Kernis, Zhou Long, Ronald Caltabiano and Chen Yi among others. Her new CD of American Music for Flute will be released by E.R.M. in the Fall 2001. As Artistic Director of Art Culture and Technology (ACT) she has created classical music installations at the United Nations Conference on Women in Beijing and the Atlanta Olympiad. She has taught at The New World School of the Arts and held Residencies at both Florida International University and The New School. Her chamber music collaborations have included, Violist Atar Arrad, Violinist Erik Friedman, Clarinetist Julian Milkis, Pianist Sara Davis Buechner and Nina Kogan among others. She is currently on the faculty of Marist College.

John Charles Thomas- Trumpet, has performed with the New York Philharmonic, American Symphony, Vienna Symphony, and the San Francisco Symphony. He has played with James Taylor, Nancy Wilson and the Temptation. He can be heard as the Trumpet soloist on the Bill Moyers, Joseph Campbell PBS series "The Power of Myth". He has toured the world with the NY Ragtime Orchestra and is a founding member of the Modern Brass Quintet.

Aleksandra Vojcic - Pianist, A native of Belgrade Yugoslavia, Ms.Vojcic was a first prize winner in several Festivals of Music and National Piano Competitions. Ms. Vojcic has extensive performance experience in 20th century music and, has participated in various orchestras and in small ensembles. She premiered many works. She was among the original members of the New Juilliard Ensemble and an annual participant of The Focus! Festival of Contemporary Music. Ms. Vojcic is currently on the faculty at Juilliard, where she teaches core curriculum courses in the Literature and Materials of Music.

George Whetstone - Violist, Active in the NY metropolitan area as a chamber musician and Orchestral player. He has played with the Albany Symphony, Hudson Valley Philharmonic, Principal Viola with the Sarasota Opera and Associate Principal Viola with the Mexico Opera. He devotes much of his time to teaching and chamber music.

Marka Young - Violinist, performs with The American Classical Orchestra, Artek, Concert Royal and the Hudson Valley Philharmonic. She has participated in the Banff Winter Artist-in-Residence program. Festival appearances include the Blossom Festival, Bach Aria Festival and the New England Bach festival. Dr Young is the Director of String Ensembles at Lafayette College and on the faculty of the Manhattan School of Music Preparatory Division.

Visual Artist

Donna Cameron - NY based filmmaker and painter. Numerous one-person screenings at the Museum of Modern Art in NY. Produced more than 80 short films and videos. Teaches production at School of Visual Arts. Recipient of many awards including two Jerome Foundation Fellowships.

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