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x2: Jake Heggie & Brahms Piano Quintet

x2 Series

Apprentice meets Legend

Imagine as an aspiring tennis pro, you get an hour on the court with Venus Williams or Rafael Nadal. Or, as an early career golf talent, hitting the links with Tiger Woods? x2 is the classical music version of this dream – realized before a live audience. This unique series features our Academy Artists paired with the brilliant 2023 fellows – the energy is explosive as emerging talents dance with legends.

Program

Ahmed AL ABACA

Mere Mortals

Tim Day flute, Kaitlin Miller harp

John CORIGLIANO

Voyage

Tessa Vermeulen flute, Nico Abondolo double bass, Harin Kang violin, Aaron You-Xin Li violin, Vincenzo Keawe Calcagno viola, Hamzah Zaidi cello

Jake HEGGIE

Here and Gone

Cole McIlquham tenor, Hans Grunwald baritone, Sibbi Bernhardsson violin, Zitian Lyu viola, Jiho Seo cello, Maureen Zoltek piano

Johannes BRAHMS

Piano Quintet in F Minor, Op. 34

Glenn Dicterow violin, Sarah Beth Overcash violin, Karen Dreyfus viola, David Geber cello, Paul Williamson piano

Artists

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Sibbi Bernhardsson

violin

ABOUT
Residency
Festival weeks 4-8

Icelandic violinist Sibbi Bernhardsson joined the Oberlin Conservatory faculty in 2017 after performing for the previous 17 years with the Pacifica Quartet, with which he won a Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance, Musical America Ensemble of the Year honors, and the Avery Fisher Career Grant.

As a member of the Pacifica Quartet, Bernhardsson appeared in more than 90 concerts worldwide each year, including engagements in Wigmore Hall (London), the Vienna Konzerthaus, Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), Suntory Hall (Tokyo), Alice Tully Hall and Carnegie Hall (New York), and other major venues. He has performed at the Edinburgh Festival, Ravinia, Music@Menlo, and the Reykjavík Arts Festival, and has collaborated with Menahem Pressler, Yo-Yo Ma, Jörg Widmann, Lynn Harrell, Leon Fleisher, the Emerson String Quartet, Johannes Moser, and members of the Guarneri and Cleveland quartets. His television appearances include The Tonight ShowSaturday Night Live, and the MTV Europe Music Awards with Icelandic artist Björk. He appears on 16 recordings with the Pacifica Quartet and has recorded the violin music of Þorkell Sigurbjörnsson and the sonatas for violin and piano by Franz Schubert.

Bernhardsson serves as director of the Cooper International Violin Competition at Oberlin and as artistic director of Iceland’s Harpa International Music Academy. He gives regular concerts and master classes in the United States, Europe, and Asia, and has appeared as a soloist with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, the Reykjavík Chamber Orchestra, CityMusic Cleveland, and other ensembles.

Bernhardsson is a 1995 graduate of Oberlin Conservatory. His teachers include Guðný Guðmundsdóttir, Almita and Roland Vamos, Mathias Tacke, and Shmuel Ashkenasi. He previously served on the faculty of the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University.

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Timothy Day

flute

ABOUT
Residency
Festival weeks 3-8

Timothy Day was appointed principal flute of the San Francisco Symphony in 2006 and occupies the symphony’s Caroline H. Hume Chair. Previously, he served as principal flute with the Baltimore Symphony for 12 seasons.

Mr. Day has served as acting principal flute for the Minnesota Orchestra and the Boston Symphony. In addition to participating in festivals in Moab, Mohonk, and Montreal, he has been a featured soloist during San Diego’s Mainly Mozart Festival and has appeared many times as part of the San Francisco Symphony Chamber Music Series.

A graduate of Oberlin Conservatory, where he studied with Robert Willoughby. Mr. Day taught at the Peabody Conservatory for ten years, and since 1987, he has been on the faculty of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. He also has served as a wind coach with the New World Symphony.

Mr. Day has been a member of the Music Academy faculty since 1992.

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Glenn Dicterow

violin

ABOUT
Residency
Festival weeks 1-4

Violinist Glenn Dicterow has established himself worldwide as one of the most prominent American concert artists of his generation.

Mr. Dicterow has enjoyed a storied career. The concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic for 34 years, an all-time record in that major orchestral position, he became the first holder of the Robert Mann Chair in Strings and Chamber Music at the USC Thornton School of Music in 2013. He is also the Chairman of the Orchestral Performance Program at New York’s Manhattan School of Music. More than ever before, Dicterow performs as a soloist with orchestras around the nation and beyond, while participating in musical festivals and chamber music, teaching in musical academies and leading masterclasses around the world, while adjudicating competitions, among a plethora of musical assignments in a “second act” easily as active as his much lauded years with the Philharmonic.

Glenn Dicterow first came to prominence at the age of 11, making his solo debut in Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, where his father, Harold Dicterow, served as principal of the second violin section for 52 years. He first appeared with the New York Philharmonic in 1967, at the age of 18, performing the Tchaikovsky Concerto under the baton of André Kostelanetz.

Dicterow joined the Los Angeles Philharmonic as Associate Concertmaster in 1971, becoming Concertmaster there before turning 25. He came to New York as that orchestra’s Concertmaster in 1980, while soloing annually with the Philharmonic in each of his 34 years. In that time, he served as the orchestra’s “leader” (to use the British term) in collaboration with four very different music directors, Zubin Mehta, Kurt Masur, Lorin Maazel and Alan Gilbert

In a New York Philharmonic concert tour Dicterow was featured as the soloist in Leonard Bernstein’s Serenade After Plato’s Symposium, with Bernstein himself conducting. He performed the Waxman/Bizet Carmen Fantasy under Zubin Mehta as part of the New York Philharmonic’s “Live From Lincoln Center” telecast, and he was a soloist in the orchestra’s 1982 concert at the White House. Another career highlight was his performance of the Barber Violin Concerto at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China during the Philharmonic’s 1998 tour of Asia.

His shelf of recordings is endless, as the Philharmonic’s Concertmaster, in a large array of solo assignments, both of the great romantic concerti and of the 20th Century classics that he has championed, and in a wide range of chamber music. He has twice recorded Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade with the New York Philharmonic, once with Yuri Temirkanov conducting, once with Kurt Masur. He and his wife, violist Karen Dreyfus, have committed Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante to disc, alongside the Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra, led by Carl St.Clair. He has recorded violin sonatas by such heroes of American music as Ives, Copland, Bernstein, and John Corigliano.

“The Glenn Dicterow Collection,” a three-CD set on the New York Philharmonic label, surveys his career with the orchestra, in performances spanning thirty years, from 1982 - 2012, featuring his performances of concerti by Bruch, Bartok, Barber, Korngold, Prokofiev, Shostakovich and Szymanowski, plus the Bernstein Serenade, Kernis’s Lament and Prayer, and John Williams’s Theme From Schindler’s List, among many highlights.

As a sidelight, Dicterow has also provided the violin solos for numerous Hollywood films, including such modern classics as The Turning Point, The Untouchables, Altered States, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and Interview With the Vampire, among others.

A graduate of The Juilliard School, where he was a student of Ivan Galamian, he also studied with Joachim Chassman, Naoum Blinder, Manuel Compinsky, Erno Neufeld, Gerald Vinci, Eudice Shapiro, Jascha Heifetz and Henryk Szeryng.

Today, Dicterow is as committed to passing on the great musical legacy that spurred his own career as he once was in his orchestral duties. Beside his endowed chair at the USC-Thornton School and his innovative work in the Manhattan School’s orchestral program, he is the leader of the String Leadership Program at Santa Barbara’s Music Academy of the West, training new generations of concertmasters and principal second violinists.

Among his many honors, the Young Musicians Foundation, a Los Angeles institution which has spurred the careers of innumerable artists, honored Dicterow in February 2015 with its “Living the Legacy Award.” It should be noted that in his early teens, Dicterow, who is now on the YMF Advisory Board, won that organization’s Debut Concerto Competition in 1963.

Glenn Dicterow and his wife, Karen Dreyfus, are founding members of the Lyric Piano Quartet and the Amerigo Trio, performing, recording, teaching and proselytizing at leading festivals and musical institutions around the world.

He joined the Music Academy faculty in 2014.

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Karen Dreyfus

viola

ABOUT
Residency
Festival weeks 1-4

Karen Dreyfus enjoys a wide-ranging career as a noted soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician and as a pedagogue. She has performed extensively in the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia, and South America, and has toured with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Musicians from Marlboro, and the New York Philharmonic. Her numerous honors include prizes at the Naumburg, Lionel Tertis, Washington International, and the Hudson Valley competitions. Along with her work in the classical music field, Dreyfus has performed on many film scores, pop, jazz, and rock recordings.

The recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Solo Recitalist Award, Ms. Dreyfus has recorded many CDs as a soloist and chamber musician. Her premiere recording with Bridge Records, Romanze, met with considerable critical acclaim. She has recorded William Walton’s Viola Concerto, Mozart’s “Sinfonia Concertante”, as well as solo works by American composers. Such composers as Ezra Laderman, Jon Deak, George Tsontakis, Paul Chihara, William Thomas McKinley, Elizabeth Brown, and others have written works expressly for her. Dreyfus has toured with jazz pianist/composer Chick Corea and recorded a Grammy- nominated work entitled “Lyric Suite for Sextet.”

In 2014 Ms. Dreyfus was invited to teach on the faculty of the USC Thornton School of Music where she continues to teach viola, chamber music, and orchestral studies. Dreyfus has taught on the faculties of The Juilliard School, Mannes School along with the Manhattan School of Music where she was honored with an Emerita Award in 2022 after more than 30 years on faculty. Many of Karen Dreyfus’ students have gone on to win positions in orchestras, teach on university faculties, as well as play in chamber ensembles.

Karen Dreyfus is a founding member of the Lyric Piano Quartet and the Amerigo Trio.

She has been a Music Academy teaching artist since 2014.

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Maureen Zoltek

piano

ABOUT
Alumni
2010, 2012
Residency
Festival weeks 2-4

Collaborative pianist Maureen Zoltek enjoys a diverse career working with leading vocalists, instrumentalists, orchestras, and opera companies across the United States.

Dr. Zoltek currently serves as the Music Director of the Houston Grand Opera Studio. She was previouly an assistant conductor, vocal coach, and orchestral keyboardist on the staff of San Francisco Opera and as a member of the Vocal Institute Faculty at the Music Academy of the West. Her 2020-21 scheduled engagements (pre-Covid cancellations) included a return to San Francisco Opera for productions of ErnaniRigolettoThe Handmaid’s Tale, and Der Zwerg, to Opera Omaha for Eugene Onegin, and to the Music Academy of the West for Ellen Reid’s Odysseus Cycle and Philip Glass’ Les Enfants Terribles. An active proponent of new music, she recently served on the music staff for the world premieres of Mark Adamo’s The Gospel of Mary Magdalene, Bright Sheng’s Dream of the Red Chamber, and John Adams’ Girls of the Golden West, as well as the west coast premiere of Jake Heggie’s It’s a Wonderful Life.

Dr. Zoltek is a graduate of the Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center and has collaborated with the Lyric Opera of Chicago on several productions, including La clemenza di TitoToscaIdomeneo, and the world premiere workshop of Jimmy López and Nilo Cruz’s Bel Canto. At the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis she served as music staff, pre-concert lecturer, and keyboardist for Puccini’s La rondine, as well as a coach for Tobias Picker’s Emmeline. Dr. Zoltek has also been an assistant conductor at Canadian Opera Company (Elektra) and Opera Omaha (Les enfants terribles, Die Enfürung aus dem Serail).

As an orchestral keyboardist, Dr. Zoltek has performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra with major conductors including Boulez, Salonen, Conlon, Dudamel, Gilbert, and Gergiev, in addition to premiering works by composers-in-residence of the CSO Augusta Read Thomas and Marc Anthony Turnage. She has appeared with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, the Elgin Symphony Orchestra, Chicago’s Latino Music Festival, and at the 2010 Fischoff Competition, in which she was a semi-finalist.

Dr. Zoltek attended both the Aspen Music Festival and School (2009) and Music Academy of the West (2010, 2012). During her second summer as a fellow at the Music Academy, she won first prize in the pianist division of the Marilyn Horne Song Competition. Her association with Marilyn Horne also includes participation in the legendary mezzo-soprano’s series “The Song Continues” (2011, 2012), with performances and masterclasses held through Carnegie Hall’s “Marilyn Horne Legacy” program. Among the other star performers with whom Zoltek has recently collaborated are mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato, soprano Patricia Racette, bass-baritone Eric Owens, and Welsh singer-songwriter Katherine Jenkins. Ms. Zoltek is also featured alongside mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges in Nicole Miller’s new commission and installation, “To the Stars,” a multi-sensory work that weaves together film, sound, and laser light at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art’s Phyllis Wattis Theater.

Dr. Zoltek completed her D.M.A. degree at the Manhattan School of Music, and holds a master’s degree in piano performance and musicology from Roosevelt University in addition to a bachelor’s degree in piano performance from DePaul University. Her teachers include Mary Sauer and Warren Jones. When she is not in rehearsal, Zoltek enjoys true crime podcasts, baking various and sundry desserts, and going out and about with her standard poodle and travel companion, Henry.

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Sarah Beth Overcash

violin fellow

ABOUT
Pronouns
she/they
Fellow
2022, 2023
Age
24
Birthplace
Memphis, Tennessee
School
University of Southern California Thornton School of Music
Compeers
Tom and Ellen Orlando; Dorian and Peter Hirth
Scholarship Donor
Ellen and Tom Orlando Scholarship in Violin

Sarah is earning a master’s degree at the University of Southern California, studying with Glenn Dicterow. Awards include first prize in the Memphis Beethoven Club Young Artist Competition. Sarah Beth has performed with California Young Artists Symphony, American Youth Symphony, and Downey Symphony.

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Hans Grunwald

baritone fellow

ABOUT
Fellow
2023
Age
21
Birthplace
Santa Cruz, California
School
University of British Columbia
Compeers
Todd Yancey and David Denniston
Scholarship Donor
Todd Yancey and David Denniston Scholarship in Voice

Hans Grunwald studies with J. Patrick Raftery at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Born and raised in Santa Cruz in northern California, Hans has performed solo recitals, musical theater, and opera. In 2022, Hans was a national finalist in the Schmidt Vocal Arts Undergraduate Competition. Later that year, he was awarded a Schubert Fellowship to attend Songfest at the San Francisco Conservatory.  Hans’ performance experience includes roles in Rossini’s Il Viaggio a Reims, Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro, Giuseppe in Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Gondoliers, as well as a full season with the Santa Cruz Chorale led by renowned conductor Christian Grube. Hans previously studied with Wendy Hillhouse of Stanford University. At the Lehrer Vocal Institute, Hans is looking forward to furthering his training as a recitalist as well as taking on the role of Schaunard in Puccini’s La bohème. In his free time, Hans enjoys cooking, surfing, and hiking in beautiful Northern California.

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Harin Kang

violin fellow

ABOUT
Fellow
2018, 2023, 2024
Age
27
Birthplace
Suwon, South Korea
School
New England Conservatory
Compeers
Margaret Rose
Scholarship
John and Linda Seiter Scholarship

Harin earned her master’s degree from the New England Conservatory and studies with Kristopher Tong, Duekwoo Kim, and Choonsoo Chung. Awards for the multi-year Music Academy alum include 1st Prize in the 2019 Hwasung National Music Competition and 2nd place in the 2014 Sung Jung Competition.

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Vincenzo Keawe Calcagno

viola fellow

ABOUT
Fellow
2022, 2023
Age
20
Birthplace
Greenbrae, California
School
The Juilliard School
Compeers
Mally Chakola and Dean Jackson
Scholarship Donor
Music Academy Scholarship in Viola, anonymous donor

Vincenzo is a bachelor’s degree student at The Juilliard School studying with Heidi Castleman and Misha Amory. He won major prizes in both the 2021 International Grande Music and 2020 Northern California Viola Society Young Violists competitions. Vincenzo is a Gluck Fellow at Juilliard.

 

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Zitian Lyu

viola fellow

ABOUT
Pronouns
She/Her
Fellow
2023
Age
24
Birthplace
Harbin, China
School
The Juilliard School
Compeer
Marina Gutierrez
Scholarship Donor
Music Academy Scholarship in Viola, anonymous donor

Zitian is earning a master’s degree at The Juilliard School, studying with Hsin-Yun Huang and Misha Amory. Zitian has performed in Juilliard ChamberFest, and was recognized as Outstanding Member of Viva La Viola Ensemble. She is a teaching assistant at Julliard.

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Cole McIlquham

tenor fellow

ABOUT
Fellow
2023, 2024
Age
25
Birthplace
Osseo, Wisconsin
School
Southern Methodist University
Compeers
Linda Seltzer Yawitz
Scholarship
Paul Guido and Stephen Blain Scholarship

Cole is a returning 2023 Music Academy Alum who is earning a Performance Diploma from the Southern Methodist University in the studio of Clifton Forbis. Notable roles include Parpignol in the Music Academy’s 2023 production of La bohème, Rinuccio in Puccini's Gianni Schicchi, and Sam Polk in Carlisle Floyd's Susannah. He was also a winner in the Meadows Concerto Competition and Naftzger Concerto Competition. Cole currently resides in Dallas, Texas.

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Kaitlin Miller

harp fellow

ABOUT
Fellow
2022, 2023
Age
22
Birthplace
Fort Collins, Colorado
School
University of Southern California Thornton School of Music
Compeers
Daryl West
Scholarship Donor
Dorris and Patrick Nielson Scholarship in Harp / Helen Sperry Lea Foundation Scholarship in Harp

Kaitlin is earning her master’s degree at University of Southern California Thornton School of Music, studying with JoAnn Turovsky and serving as a teaching assistant.  She won both the 2020 Anne Adams Award Harp and the 2019 American Harp Society in Dallas Scholarship competitions. Kaitlin has served as a substitute principal with the Pacific Symphony and as principal of the American Youth Symphony.

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Jiho Seo

cello fellow

ABOUT
Pronouns
She/Her
Fellow
2023
Age
24
Birthplace
Seoul, South Korea
School
New England Conservatory of Music
Compeers
Betsy Wise
Scholarship Donor
Gabor Rejto Endowed Scholarship in Cello
Music Academy Award
2023 MAX Fellow

  • Jiho recently received a master’s degree from the New England Conservatory, studying with Lluís Claret;
  • In 2022, she earned first prize in the NEC Tecchler-Forster Cello Competition;
  • She has performed with the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, served as principal cello for the New England Conservatory Philharmonic Orchestra, and appeared with Busan Philharmonic Orchestra as soloist.

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Tessa Vermeulen

flute fellow

ABOUT
Pronouns
She/Her
Fellow
2023
Age
23
Birthplace
Chicago, Illinois
Current School
The Juilliard School
Compeers
Patricia Quealy Moore and Walter Moore; Susan and Peter Tortorici
Scholarship Donor
Dick and Ann Zylstra Scholarship in Flute in Memory of Dr. Meta Schraagen

Tessa is earning her master’s degree at The Juilliard School, studying with Robert Langevin. She was awarded first place in the 2022 Kansas Flute Society Collegiate Competition, as well as the 2019 South Carolina Flute Society Collegiate Competition. She is a member of the Essengi Wind Quintet.

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Paul Williamson

solo piano fellow

ABOUT
Pronouns
He/Him
Area of Study
Solo Piano
Age
27
Birthplace
Abbotsford, British Columbia
YouTube Handle
https://www.youtube.com/@paulwilliamson6216
Compeer
Teddy Muller
Scholarship Donor
Ann Jackson Family Foundation Scholarship in Solo Piano

Paul recently graduated with an artist diploma from the Colburn Conservatory, studying with Fabio Bidini. Paul was awarded first prize in the 2017 CFMTA National Piano Competition, and in 2022, he earned third place in the Shean Piano Competition. He is a sessional instructor at the University of Manitoba, and has performed with the Grand Piano Series.

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Aaron You-Xin Li

violin fellow

ABOUT
Pronouns
He/Him
Fellow
2023
Age
24
Birthplace
Tainan, Taiwan
Current Position
New World Symphony
Compeers
Beth Gates Warren and Robert Boghosian
Scholarship Donor
Zvi Zeitlin Endowed Scholarship in Violin
Music Academy Award
2023 MAX Fellow

  • Born in Tainan, Taiwan, Aaron earned a master’s degree at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music
  • A first-year Fellow at New World Symphony, he has played with the Evansville Philharmonic, Owensboro Symphony, and Terre Haute Symphony
  • He was awarded first prize at the 2023 Indianapolis Matinee Musicale Collegiate Competition

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Hamzah Zaidi

cello fellow

ABOUT
Fellow
2022, 2023
Age
24
Birthplace
New York, New York
School
Eastman School of Music
Compeers
Marnie and Steve Pinsker
Scholarship Donor
Stephen Schaible and Daron Builta Scholarship in Cello

Hamzah earned a master’s degree at Eastman School of Music in cello performance and literature, studying with Steven Doane and Rosemary Elliot. Hamzah has performed with the English National Opera and was a fellow at the Virtuoso e Belcanto Festival in Lucca, Italy. He has played for BBC Radio 3 and as an extra for Rocketman.

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