Jan Wagner - Artistic Director and Conductor, Shenandoah Performs
Jan Wagner, a native of Caracas, Venezuela, has been stunningly successful since winning First Prize at the 1995 Nicolai Malko International Conductors’ Competition in Denmark. In 2002 he completed a five-year tenure with the Odense Symphony Orchestra in Denmark which he led in more than 200 performances conducting more than 200 works both on subscription concerts and on tours to the U.S.A. and Spain. Mr. Wagner has maintained a close affiliation with that orchestra since then and has also been a regular guest conductor of the Orquesta Sinfonica Venezuela, that country's national symphony orchestra, since 1998.

Simultaneous with his appointment in Denmark, Jan Wagner regularly conducted the Danish National Radio Symphony, the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, the Helsinki Philharmonic and the Danish Royal Theater as well as most of the principal Danish and Scandinavian orchestras. Other notable orchestras he has worked with include the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Stuttgart Radio Symphony, the Halle Orchestra, the Netherlands Radio Symphony and the Melbourne Symphony and West Australian Symphony. In North and South America, Wagner has appeared with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, the Jacksonville Symphony in Florida, the Aspen Festival Orchestra and the Aspen Chamber Symphony, the Minnesota Orchestra (where he was assistant to Edo de Waart), the Philharmonic Orchestra of the U.N.A.M in Mexico City, the Orquesta Sinfonica Venezuela and the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela (whose previous conductor was the late Eduardo Mata).

Throughout his career Jan Wagner has collaborated with many distinguished artists such as clarinetists Richard Stolzman and Sabine Meyer, singers Anne Larson, Bo Skovhus and Yvonne Kenny, cellists Ralph Kirshbaum and David Geringas, violists Nobuko Imai, pianists John Browning, Ivan Moravec, Grigory Sokolov, Andrei Gavrilov, Nikolai Demidenko, violinists Mark Kaplan and Arve Tellefsen, and trumpeter Håkan Hardenberger. Future collaborations will include violinist Anne Akiko Meyers, trumpeter Jens Lindemann and pianist John O'Conor.

Jan Wagner has also been very active recording for labels such as Denon (Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring-DVD audio), DaCapo (works by Paul von Klenau which received a Danish Grammy nomination), Classico (world premier of Poulenc’s Les animaux modele), Bridge Records in the U.S.A. (world premier of Poul Ruders’ Guitar Concerto, works by Ginastera, world premiere of Villa-Lobos’ ballet Emperor Jones, and Carl Nielsen’s Violin Concerto) and Silverline (Strauss’ Ein Heldenleben-DVD audio). His recordings are frequently heard on NPR's "Performance Today" and BBC Radio 3

Wagner currently holds the position of associate professor of music at Shenandoah University where leads several instrumental ensembles. He has also been serving as the artistic director of the Shenandoah Conservatory Performing Arts Festival, Shenandoah Performs, since the summer of 2004.

He is a graduate of the Academy of Music in Vienna, Austria, where he completed his studies with Karl Österreicher and Günther Theuring. He has furthered his studies with Murry Sidlin and Lawrence Foster as a Fellow Conductor at the Aspen Music Festival, and has participated in master classes with John Nelson, Leonard Slatkin and James Conlon. Following his studies, he was the Top-Prize Winner at the 1994 Leopold Stokowski International Conducting Competition in New York and was the recipient of the 1994 Conducting Prize at the Aspen Music Festival. He has also served as assistant conductor to Lawrence Foster at the Aspen Music Festival and as assistant conductor to Kurt Masur at the New York Philharmonic.
 

Anne Akiko Meyers
Anne Akiko Meyers is recognized as one of today’s most inspiring and sought after violinists for her impassioned performances and mastery of a wide-ranging selection of music. Hailed by critics, media, conductors and audiences worldwide, she has continually sold out performances of classical standards and new music. Her passionate and enchanting communication to audiences of all ages has inspired composers to specifically write works for her.

The New York Times hailed Ms. Meyers's artistry as "playing that flows from the heart" and music that was "unspooled with impressive refinement, emotional freedom and tonal depth." The Minneapolis-St. Paul Pioneer Press said, “her breakneck brilliance completed an awe-inspiring interpretation.” The Philadelphia Inquirer summed up her playing as "deeply poetic." The Cleveland Plain Dealer wrote, “…the performance wove a magical spell that took the audience to another sonic realm.”

An active recitalist and deeply committed chamber musician, she has been a regular guest at the Aspen Music Festival, Beijing Music Festival, Hollywood Bowl, Ishikawa Music Festival, Mainly Mozart, Miyazaki Music Festival, Moritzburg Festival, Mostly Mozart, Ravinia, Seattle Chamber Music Society, SummerFest La Jolla, Tanglewood, and Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival. An avid supporter of contemporary music, she has premiered a number of works by composers such as Nathan Currier, Roddy Ellias, Jennifer Higdon, Somei Satoh, Teddy Shapiro, Joseph Schwantner, and Ezequiel Viñao.

A native of California of American and Japanese heritage, Ms. Meyers’ dynamic and compelling music making has catapulted her to the top of her generation. At the age of 15, she joined the Young Concert Artists roster. At 23, she was awarded the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant, the only artist to be the sole recipient of this annual award. Today she performs around the globe as a featured soloist with the most recognized names in classical music.

Ms. Meyers’ current musical activities include a Lincoln Center performance of the Manuel Ponce Concerto with Leon Botstein and the American Symphony Orchestra, a return to the Netherlands with the North Netherlands Orchestra, a return to the Gran Canaria Symphony performing the Hartmann Concerto, a recital in Bergamo, Italy and televised performances with the Slovenian Philharmonic with George Pehlivanian conducting. In the United States, Ms. Meyers has return engagements with the Colorado Symphony with Peter Oundjian, Florida Orchestra with Stefan Sanderling and the Minnesota Orchestra with Andrew Litton. Ms.Meyers celebrated Suntory Hall's 19th anniversary with the New Japan Philharmonic, toured Japan and Korea with the Hiroshima Symphony, made a guest appearance with the BBC Scottish Symphony performing Bernstein's 'Serenade' which was broadcast on Britain's Radio 3, and performed with the Rochester Philharmonic featuring the 'Chaccone' from John Corigliano’s film score, The Red Violin, a score she will repeat this year in Colorado and California.

Ms. Meyers has appeared with an outstanding number of American orchestras such as (partial list): the Baltimore Symphony, Boston Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Minnesota Orchestra, National Symphony, New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Saint Louis Symphony, and Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. Global demand has led to appearances and tours with (partial list) the Australian Chamber Orchestra, the Berlin Radio Orchestra, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Buenos Aires’ Teatro Colon Symphony, the English Chamber Orchestra, the Hamburg Symphony, the Montreal Symphony, the Moscow Philharmonic, the Netherlands Radio Symphony Orchestra, l’Orchestre de Paris, the Polish National Radio Symphony, the Prague Symphony Orchestra, the Jerusalem Symphony, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic, the Singapore Symphony, the Swedish Radio Orchestra, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo’s NHK Symphony, the Toronto Symphony, the Vienna Symphony, and the Warsaw Philharmonic.

Her extensive discography can be found on the Hyperion, RCA Victor Red Seal and RPO labels. Her debut disc, at the age of 18, included the Barber Violin Concerto and the Bruch Violin Concerto No.1 with Christopher Seaman and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and sonatas of Saint-Saëns and Fauré for RPO Records. Her RCA catalogue is comprehensive and includes Lalo’s Symphonie Espagnole and Bruch’s Scottish Fantasy with Jesus Lopez-Cobos and the Royal Philharmonic; the Franck and Strauss sonatas; the Mendelssohn Concerto and a selection of other works with Andrew Litton and the Philharmonia Orchestra and Prokofiev Violin Concertos with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony under Dmitri Kitaenko. Sonata albums include Salut d’Amour featuring many encore pieces with classic Japanese folksongs and an album featuring works by Copland, Ives, Piston, and David Baker with pianist André-Michel Schub. Her most recent recordings include works by Debussy, Messiaen, Ravel, Satoh and Takemitsu for the AVIE label.

Also recorded are two works written expressly for Ms. Meyers that includes a live performance of the Somei Satoh Violin Concerto with Tetsuji Honna and the Tokyo Metropolitan Orchestra on the Camerata label and 'Angelfire,’ by Pulitzer-prize winning composer Joseph Schwantner with Andrew Litton and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra on Hyperion. She gave the world premiere of 'Angelfire' at the Kennedy Center with Marin Alsop and the National Symphony Orchestra. This fall, Naxos will be releasing a performance of Jennifer Higdon's piano trio live from the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival.

Ms. Meyers' numerous television credits include an A&E Network telecast from the Casals Festival with the Montreal Symphony and Krzysztof Penderecki, a PBS broadcast with the Boston Pops Orchestra and John Williams. Her appearances on “The Tonight Show” with Johnny Carson and the "Emmy Award Show" attracted national attention. Ms. Meyers’ performances of the Sibelius Concerto led by James DePreist, the Bruch Concerto with Leopold Hager and the Mendelssohn Concerto led by Adrian Leaper with the RTVE Orchestra were televised across Europe. She was also featured performing with Keith Lockhart and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra that attracted an audience of 10,000 and was broadcast live on the Internet around the world.

An outstanding public speaker, she has been featured in numerous print and television commercials and in 1998, was selected to be photographed by Annie Leibovitz for the Anne Klein “Women of Substance” fashion campaign that appeared in magazines around the world. She has been on many magazine covers, most recently of the popular UK-based magazine, Muso.

A committed advocate of music education, she has led numerous masterclasses and lectures across the US and Japan, been a panelist at the Juilliard hosted Starling-DeLay Symposium and has been an adjudicator at many competitions.

Ms. Meyers studied with Alice and Eleanor Schoenfeld at the Colburn School of Performing Arts in Los Angeles, Josef Gingold at Indiana University, and Felix Galimir, Masao Kawasaki and the late Dorothy DeLay at the Juilliard School. She performs on a magnificent Antonius Stradivarius violin dated 1730.

Jens Lindemann
Trumpeter Jens Lindemann is hailed as one of the most celebrated soloists in his instrument's history. Jens has played in every major concert venue in the world; from the Philharmonics of New York, Los Angeles, London, Manchester, Munich, Hamburg, Lucerne and Berlin to Tokyo's Suntory Hall and even the Great Wall of China. His career has ranged from appearing internationally as an orchestral soloist, recording with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, being heralded as an official trumpeter for the N.H.L. Stanley Cup finals to playing lead trumpet with the renowned Canadian Brass. Jens has also won major awards ranging from Grammy and Juno nominations to winning the prestigious Echo Klassik in Germany as well as receiving an honorary doctorate. He has won first prizes in the most important classical trumpet competitions in the world, made numerous television and film appearances and performed at London's 'Last Night of the Proms' for over 40,000 people. In addition to his concertizing, Jens has also performed in football and baseball stadiums in the United States for over 70,000 fans!

Classically trained at the renowned Juilliard School in New York, Jens' proven ability to perform as a diverse artist places him at the front of a new generation of musicians. He has performed as soloist and recording artist with classical stars such as Sir Neville Marriner, Sir Angel Romero, Doc Severinsen, Charles Dutoit, Gerard Schwarz, Eiji Oue, Bramwell Tovey, Mario Bernardi and Jukka Pekka Saraste. Having recorded with BMG, EMI, CBC and the BBC, Jens is helping to redefine the idea of the concert artist by transcending stylistic genres and the very stereotype of his instrument by performing with "impeccable attacks, agility, and amazing smoothness" (The Clarin, Buenos Aires).

A prodigious talent, Jens Lindemann performed as a soloist with orchestras and won accolades at numerous jazz festivals while still in his teens. A prizewinner at numerous competitions including the prestigious ARD in Munich, Jens also placed first, by unanimous juries, at both the Prague and Ellsworth Smith (Florida) International Trumpet Competitions in 1992. Since then, he continues to perform with orchestras including, the London Symphony, Philadelphia, Beijing, Auckland, Bayerischer Rundfunk, Buenos Aires Chamber, Atlanta, Washington, Seattle, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, Montreal, Toronto, National Arts Centre, Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Warsaw, Welsh Chamber, I Musici de Montreal, I Virtuosi di Roma, St. Louis, and Mostly Mozart at Lincoln Center.

Heralded internationally as an outstanding artist, critics have stated; "one of the most memorable recitals in ITG history" (International Trumpet Guild '03), "performed brilliantly in the North American premiere of Bernd Alois Zimmermann's Concerto with the Toronto Symphony (Toronto Star), "gave the virtuoso highlight of the evening on piccolo trumpet with the Montreal Symphony (Montreal Gazette), and "was absolutely riveting" in Los Angeles (LA Variety).

As one of the world's most exciting young trumpet soloists, the Los Angeles based Lindemann is internationally endorsed by the Yamaha Corporation and performs exclusively on 24K gold plated trumpets.

"The trumpet is capable of being played with the virtuosity of a violin, the tenderness of the human voice and the stylistic flexibility of the piano. It allows me an endless range of communication with audiences."- Jens Lindemann

Frances Lapp Averitt - Flute
Frances Lapp Averitt, professor of flute at Shenandoah Conservatory of Shenandoah University since 1973, received her doctorate in flute performance from Florida State University, where she was a student of Albert Tipton. She also studied extensively in the summers with Marcel Moyse, both privately and in flute and woodwind quintet seminars.

Dr. Averitt has performed in summer music festivals and seminars including Aspen, the Shenandoah Valley Music Festival, Blanche Moyse's Bach and Chamber Music Seminars, the Stephen Preston Baroque Seminar, the Rome Festival Orchestra (Italy), the Haydn Performance Seminar (Austria), the Academia Musicale Chigiana (Siena, Italy) and the Yale Summer School of Music and Art. From 1978 to 1985, she was a member of the artist faculty of the Sewanee Summer Music Center in Tennessee.

Her orchestral experience includes the position of principal flute and soloist with the Meridian (Miss.) Symphony Orchestra, with the Fairfax (Va.) Symphony Orchestra and for 21 years with the Maryland Symphony Orchestra (under conductors Barry Tuckwell and Elizabeth Schultz) where she was a featured soloist in 2003 performing Melinda Wagner’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Concerto for Flute, Strings and Percussion.

She has recorded with Maddie MacNeil (hammer dulcimer) and can be heard on the sound tracks of films by the award-winning filmmaker Tom Davenport and television documentaries by Cottrell-Mangum Music Inc. including the Emmy Award-winning "Stalking Leopards."

While on sabbatical in 1987, she attended 20 flute classes at the Paris Conservatoire and wrote three articles about this experience, which were published in Flute Talk. She is also a published author (on whistle tones and difference tones) in Flute Talk and The Instrumentalist and contributed to the Marcel Moyse Commemorative issue of The Flutist Quarterly. In 2005, Traversières, the journal of the French Flute Society, published an interview/article featuring her research and teaching on intonation. She has served as recording secretary and treasurer of the Marcel Moyse Society. In 1995, she adjudicated the Collegiate Artist Competition and presented a master class for junior and senior high school students at the Mid-Atlantic Flute Fair in College Park, Md.

From 1963 to 1984, she performed throughout the south with harpist Marjorie Tyre. She has performed in the Kennedy Center and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and as a member of the National Flute Association (N.F.A.) Delegation, she performed in the Moscow and Leningrad Conservatories (May 1989). She was selected to perform music by William Averitt at the 1991, 1994 and 1998 N.F.A. conventions and also performed in a concert and program tribute to her teacher, Albert Tipton, at the 1995 convention. In October 2003, she was the featured soloist for the premiere of William Averitt’s Lacrymae for chorus, solo flute, and string orchestra with The Bach Choir of Pittsburgh under the direction of Brady Allred, and in July 2004, she performed a work by William Averitt at the N.A.T.S. Convention in New Orleans with colleagues Edrie Means Weekly, soprano, and Elizabeth Temple, piano. She has performed in Germany, Ireland, England, Scotland and Trinidad with Shenandoah Conservatory faculty ensembles.

She is married to composer William Averitt who is professor of music composition and theory at Shenandoah University.

James Dickey - Oboe
In 1977, James Dickey accepted a position as oboist and solo English horn with the United States Marine Band. During his 28 year career with the Marine Band, he was a frequent soloist with the Chamber Orchestra in concerts and engagements at the White House. He also performed with the Marine Band Woodwind Quintet in recitals as well as clinics throughout the United States.
While serving in the band he also had a varied free-lance career in the Baltimore-Washington area. He is principal oboist and orchestra manager of the Annapolis Chamber Orchestra. He has appeared with the Baltimore Symphony, Baltimore Opera Orchestra, the Washington Opera Company, and in many historic performances at the Library of Congress. He currently performs with the Conservatory’s Van Buren Woodwind Quintet.
Joseph Eckert recently retired from a 20-year career as lead alto saxophonist/woodwind specialist and music director for the USAF Airmen of Note in Washington, DC.

Mark Friedman - Clarinet
Born and raised in New York City, clarinetist Mark Friedman studied at the Juilliard and Manhattan Schools of Music. Winner of a nation-wide competition, during two consecutive summers he participated at the Young Artist Program at Tanglewood in Lenox, Massachusetts, summer home of the Boston Symphony, where he performed under some of the world's greatest conductors such as Seiji Ozawa, Leonard Bernstein, Colin Davis, Neville Mariner, George Solti and André Previn, among many others. Friedman was principal clarinet of the New York Youth Symphony for four years, culminating with a special performance of Aaron Copland's concerto for clarinet and orchestra under the baton of the composer at Carnegie Hall in 1980.

In 1981 Friedman came to Venezuela as a member of the Caracas Philharmonic Orchestra. He has been principal clarinet of the Orquesta Sinfónica Venezuela (OSV), the oldest and most important of Venezuela's numerous symphony orchestras, since 1982. Since then, he has been an active soloist and chamber musician performing with a variety of different ensembles, one in particular being the Academic Wind Octet of Caracas (Octeto Académico de Caracas), in which he is the clarinet soloist as well as its international representative. With the Octeto, he has recorded seven cd's and participated in more than twenty international tours around Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe and the U.S.A.

Between 1992 and '93 Friedman created and directed the OSV Big Band and started his own Big Band Orchestra, which specializes in the interpretation of the original arrangements of the Big Bands of the 1930's and 40's.

As a clarinet soloist his opening recital inaugurated the first Clarinet Festival for young Venezuelan clarinetists back in 1987. He has premiered in Venezuela many of the most important concertos for clarinet and orchestra by such composers as Rossini, Bruch, Stravinsky, Jean Francaix, Leonard Bernstein as well as works by Venezuelan composers like Ricardo Lorenz Abreu, Jorge Castillo, Juan Carlos Núñez, Alfredo Rugeles, Eduardo Marturet, Aldemaro Romero, among others. As a teacher, he continues to teach clarinet and chamber music at the Instituto Universitario de Estudios Musicales (IUDEM), where he is a founding professor since 1985. In 1995 he was named Artistic Director of the first International Music Festival in El Morro-Lechería at Puerto La Cruz, where he was responsible for bringing together for the first time Eddie Daniels and Arturo Sandoval in two historic concerts. In 1998 Friedman was named as musical consultant as well as principal clarinetist of the new Municipal Orchestra of the City of Valencia. In December of 2000 he was elected as a board member and secretary of advertising and publicity of the Orquesta Sinfónica Venezuela.


Catherine Lindquist - Bassoon
Catherine Lindquist has just recently been appointed to the faculty of music at Shenandoah University. She currently plays bassoon with the National Philharmonic and the Annapolis Symphony. Catherine has also performed with the Houston Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Jacksonville Symphony, Spoleto Festival Orchestra, and the Verbier Festival Orchestra.

Upon graduation from the Curtis Institute of Music, Catherine earned her master's degree from Rice University's Shepherd School of Music. Her major teachers include Mr. Bernard Garfield and Mr. Benjamin Kamins.

Julia Martin - Harp
Julia Martin, harpist, studied under Alice Chalifoux at the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music, where she completed degrees in both Music Performance and Art History. Ms. Martin completed her Master’s Degree in Music under Jeanne Chalifoux at the Peabody Institute of Music of the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. As both an accomplished soloist and orchestral musician, Ms. Martin has worked with various orchestras and opera companies locally and internationally. Appearances include the US State Department Recital Series, the Kennedy Center, the Baltimore Symphony, the Fairfax Symphony, the Annapolis Symphony, the Annapolis Opera, and the Ohio Light Opera Company. Julia has been the featured harpist at both the Ritz-Carlton Hotel and the historic Willard Hotel in Washington DC, and currently freelances and teaches regularly in the Baltimore/Washington area.

Scott Nelson - Trumpet
Scott A. Nelson has performed with the Cincinnati Symphony, the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra (Telarc recording Time Warp), Cincinnati Ballet Orchestra, Kennedy Center Ballet Orchestra, Washington Oratorio Orchestra, Washington Choral Arts Orchestra, Akron Symphony, Canton Symphony, Erie Symphony, and is currently Second Trumpet (Robert W. Grab Chair) with the Maryland Symphony, Elizabeth Schulze, Music Director. Noted artists he has performed with include Dave Brubeck, Danny Thomas, and Phyllis Diller, Chet Adkins, Herbie Mann, Doc Severinson, Vincent DiMartino, Isaac Hayes, Clark Terry, Barry Tuckwell and others.
Performances with Kennedy Center Ballet Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, Cincinnati Opera Orchestra, Cincinnati Ballet Orchestra, Akron Symphony, Canton Symphony, Erie Symphony and the Winchester Chamber Orchestra.
He has conducted numerous All-County, All-District, All-Region, and All- State Bands along with the SU Wind Ensemble on tours throughout the US including performances at the Kennedy Center, Disney World, and Heinz Hall, home of The Pittsburgh Symphony.

As an author and clinician, he has presented his book titled, Breathing for Musicians, Reinhardt & Still Publishers, based on research completed at the Pulmonary Functions Laboratory of Cincinnati’s University Hospital, at the International Trumpet Guild Conference in Richmond VA, The International Women’s Brass Conference in Cincinnati OH, The International Conference on Lung Sounds (Pulmonary Functions Conference) in Paris, France, and many other venues.

Scott Nelson is the Worship Director at Fellowship Bible Church in Winchester, where he conducts the adult choir and orchestra and coordinates the worship activities of the church.

Clyde T. Shaw - Cello
Mr. Shaw joined the Shenandoah Conservatory faculty in 2004. Prior to his appointment as cello professor, he founded the Audubon String Quartet and has served as its cellist since 1974. During the last three decades, he has made approximately 2000 appearances worldwide as the cellist of the Audubon Quartet and has recorded for the RCA, Telarc, Centaur, CRI and Opus One recording companies. His appearances include featured performances on CBS Sunday Morning, Recitals at Alice Tully, Avery Fischer, Carnegie and Town Halls in New York, Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, Curtis Hall in Philadelphia, Symphony Hall in Chicago, Wilshire Ebel Theater in Los Angeles, Wigmore Hall in London, Academy of Santa Cecilia in Rome, Red Tower Theater in Beijing, Bavarian Radio in Munich, Swiss TV in Geneva, Tel Aviv Museum in Israel, several tours abroad for the United States Department of State, and performance at the White House.

Donovan Stokes - Double Bass
Fluent on electric bass and double bass, Dr. Donovan Stokes currently teaches bass and composition in the Department of Music at Valdosta State University in Valdosta, GA and bass at Darton College in Albany, GA. and bass in the Schwob School of Music at Columbus State University in Columbus, GA. An active soloist, composer, and clinician Stokes is a specialist in the use of amplified and electronically manipulated double bass and performs regularly both as a soloist and a sideman in a wide variety of musical genres.

His 2006 CD of unamplified solo bass works, “Gadaha,” compelled one critic to state that Stokes “is to the string bass as Basquiat was to canvas”, while Vince Pinedo of Slow Burn says “it sounds like they handed out cellos at the asylum”. Stokes has received recent commissions from the Young Bassist’s Division of the International Society of Bassists, Musical Arts Society of Chicago and the Valdosta Symphony Orchestra. His recent Titanium Jr. for intermediate level bass and string orchestra, will receive it’s premiere performance by Ken Fuller in Evanston, Il in May of 2007.

His most recent concert work Caoineadh Mhná na Neachtlanna Mhaigdiléana (Lament for the Women of the Magdalene Laundries) for Solo Double Bass and Orchestra was premiered by the composer in October 2006 with the Valdosta Symphony Orchestra. Stokes' recent work "Feel of the Steel" was selected for performance by the 2007 "One Minute Wonders" Project in the United Kingdom.

Donovan Stokes can be found teaching and performing each year at the Golden Gate Bass Camp (Oakland, CA), and the Richard Davis Bass Weekend (Madison, WI). Stokes is married to fellow bassist, and International Society of Bassists Young Bass Ambassador for 2001, “Sweet Mama Low Tones,” Inez Wyrick.

Akemi Takayama Wiencko - Violin, Audubon Quartet
Akemi Takayama, newly appointed concertmaster of the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra, is described by Maestro Wiley as bringing "to the RSO an extraordinary depth of musicianship, glorious solo sound, and vibrant stage presence and leadership qualities." Her professional performance career started at the age of 15 in Japan, and has included extensive performances as an ensemble player, soloist, concertmaster, and recitalist in the United States, Japan, and Europe.

Her solo performances in Japan include numerous world premiere pieces as well as being the featured artist in an edition of "FM Recital" broadcast throughout Japan on NHK Radio. Solo performances in the U.S. include radio and TV appearances in the Cleveland - Akron area, and appearances with the Roanoke Symphony, Cleveland Institute of Music Symphony Orchestra, the Grand Junction Orchestra, and the University of Wyoming Symphony and Chamber Orchestras.

Ms. Takayama has performed as concertmaster in Japan, France and the U.S., including appearances with the Toho School of Music Orchestra, the Shinsei-Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Southwest Virginia Chamber Orchestra, the Roanoke Opera, and Music at Gretna. She also has appeared with the Tokyo Metropolitan Orchestra, the Yomiuri Philharmonic Orchestra in Tokyo, and the New World Symphony in Miami, Fla.

Takayama won a position in the prestigious Marlboro Music Festival, the Isaac Stern Music Workshop, a performance in Carnegie Hall and first prizes in the Northwest Regional Music Teacher National Association and the Grand Junction Young Artist competitions. She has performed at and served on the faculties of the Chautauqua Institute in New York, the Idyllwild School of the Arts in California, Brevard Music Center in North Carolina, and Virginia Tech. Takayama is currently in her seventh year as violinist for the internationally acclaimed Audubon Quartet, based in Blacksburg, Va.

Akemi Takayama was a teaching assistant to the renowned Donald Weilerstein at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she earned an artist diploma and a master of music degree. She also studied with Toshiya Eto and Ryosaku Kubota at the Toho School of Music in Tokyo, Japan, where she earned her bachelor's degree in music performance, and with Brian Hanly at University of Wyoming where she earned her professional studies degree. Her recordings include three CDs with the Audubon Quartet available from the Centaur and Composers Recordings labels. She plays onan 1805 J.B. Ceruti violin made in Cremona, Italy.

Elizabeth Temple - Piano
Elizabeth Temple is a former member of the Craftsbury Chamber Players in Vermont  and has performed numerous concerts with the Lenape Chamber Ensemble in Pennsylvania and held a position as coach/accompanist at Chautauqua School of Music in New York state.

Ms. Temple established the first Artist Series at Shenandoah University and was chair of the committee which developed the Conservatory’s Community Arts Program (now Shenandoah Arts Academy). She is also a founding member of the Conservatory’s resident Shenandoah Trio (violin, cello and piano) with which she has performed extensively.

Elizabeth Temple is the recipient of an “ARTIE” Award by the regional Shenandoah Arts Council in 1990.

Wayne Wells - Trombone
A faculty member of Shenandoah Conservatory since 2002, Dr. Wells holds degrees from Peabody Conservatory and the University of Maryland. He has appeared with the Baltimore Opera, the Washington Opera, Baltimore Symphony, National Chamber Orchestra and Baltimore Chamber Orchestra. Dr. Wells was the former trombonist with the Annapolis Brass Quintet and is currently the principal trombonist of the Maryland Symphony Orchestra.

Earl Yowell - Percussion
Earl Yowell has been Principal Timpanist and Principal Percussionist with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra since 1987. Prior to joining the SPCO, Yowell was the Principal Timpanist with the Fort Wayne Philharmonic. While a member of the SPCO, he has appeared as timpani and percussion soloist, and has toured extensively throughout the United Sates, Europe, and Asia. Yowell has made numerous recordings with the orchestra on the Teldec, London Decca, and Angel EMI labels, and with Bobby McFerrin on the Sony Classical label. In addition, he has also performed on two Grammy award-winning recordings: Samuel Barber's Anthony and Cleopatra and Arleen Auger's The Art of Arleen Auger. He is regularly heard on the national radio broadcasts of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. He has also appeared on the Saint Paul Sunday radio program with Bill McGlaughlin, and on Garrison Keillor's A Prairie Home Companion.

For several summers, Yowell performed in the Spoleto Festival Orchestra, appearing as a soloist on Italian National Television in 1982. In 1989 and 1990, he was a participant in the Grad Teton Music Festival. He has been a timpani/percussion clinician at many colleges, and universities. In 1995, he was a guest artist at the Tri-College Day of Percussion in Fargo, North Dakota. He has been a timpani/percussion artist for the Clevelander Drum Company since 1995. Yowell received his Bachelor of Music degree from Northwestern University and his Master of Music degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music. His teachers include Cloyd Duff, Richard Weiner, Terry Applebaum, and Glenn Steele.

Mr. Yowell has recently been appointed to the faculty of Shenandoah Conservatory of Music.
 

William Zsembery - French Horn
William Zsembery won a position with the United States Marine Band in May 1980. He served as principal horn of the Marine Band and Chamber Orchestra for 17 of his 23 years in the band. During his tenure in the Marine Band, Mr. Zsembery performed frequently at the White House. He traveled with the Band on 21 national tours and 6 European tours, including a 3 week tour of what was then the Soviet Union. Mr. Zsembery was also a member of the Marine Band Woodwind Quintet.

Prior to joining the Marine Band, Mr. Zsembery was principal horn of the Albany Symphony in New York. He has also been a member of the US Army Band at West Point. He has appeared as horn soloist with the Albany Symphony, the Marine Band, the Marine Chamber Orchestra, the Masterworks Chorale and the International Horn Society Workshop. Mr. Zsembery has served as a clinician in numerous colleges and high schools around the United States. In the Washington area, he has performed with the Baltimore Opera, the Washington National Opera, the Annapolis Chamber Orchestra and the Maryland Symphony.

Currently, Mr. Zsembery, in addition to his duties as horn professor at Shenandoah, is a member of the faculty Woodwind Quintet and Brass Quintet. He is also on the faculty of the University of Mary Washington. He maintains a large private teaching studio and is an active freelance musician.

Garrick Zoeter - Clarinet
The young American clarinetist Garrick Zoeter's passionate and exciting way with the clarinet has been acknowledged around the world. The Boston Globe has described Mr. Zoeter as a clarinetist that "makes every note go through major life changes", while the Yellow Springs News (Ohio) recently wrote that Mr. Zoeter's "breath control, intonation, and range of dynamic shading are simply incredible.”

A native of Alexandria, Virginia, Mr. Zoeter's first serious studies were with Kenneth Lee and NSO clarinetist William Wright. He received his Bachelors degree from the Juilliard School as a student of Charles Neidich and his Masters degree from Yale University as a student of David Shifrin. He made his solo debut at the age of seventeen in Weber's Concerto #1 with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. He has won numerous competitions including first prize in the 2002 Concert Artists Guild Competition and the International Clarinet Society International Clarinet Competition.

Mr. Zoeter is the founding member of the acclaimed multi-award winning clarinet, violin, cello, piano quartet Antares (www.antares-music.com) With Antares he annually gives performances around the United States at such prestigious venues as The Kennedy Center, La Jolla Chamber Music Society, Aspen Music Festival, and Cincinnati Chamber Music Society. His work with Antares has also resulted in the commissioning of new works from several of North America’s top young composers including Mason Bates, John Mackey, Dan Visconti, and Carter Pann. Mr. Zoeter is also a frequent performer with such groups as Trio Solisti, The Ensemble for the Romantic Century, and the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra.

Mr. Zoeter also performs extensively with his wife, soprano Mariana Mihai-Zoeter in concerts featuring a wide repertoire for soprano, piano, and clarinet. They regularly perform throughout the world in such unique venues as the Opera Houses of Manaus and Belem in Brasil.

A committed teacher as well as performer, Mr. Zoeter served on the clarinet and chamber music faculty of Wesleyan University (2002-2007) and from 1997-2003 was the clarinet professor at the Festival Eleazar de Carvalho in the city of Fortaleza, Brasil. In August 2007 he will join the faculty of the Shenandoah Conservatory as assistant professor of clarinet.

Mr. Zoeter has recorded for the CRI, Newport Classics, Bridge, and Innova CD labels.