Complete Brandenburg Concertos - Part I

Artists

Kit Armstrong Piano/Harpsichord

Ever since Kit Armstrong entered the international music stage twenty years ago, his activities have exerted an enduring fascination upon music lovers. He performs recitals in major series, appears with the world’s finest orchestras, and has developed close artistic partnerships with leading instrumentalists and vocalists. He has held artist-in-residence appointments incorporating a wide spectrum of musical formats, combining his roles as composer, pianist, conductor, and organist. His project, Expedition Mozart, traverses Mozart’s music in various genres with an international group of distinguished chamber musicians and soloists—and has become a main feature at prestigious festivals and venues.

Armstrong came to classical music through composition at the age of five. He has since created a broad oeuvre of vocal, instrumental, chamber, and symphonic works, many of which have been commissioned by notable European cultural institutions. His compositions are published by Edition Peters.

Born in 1992 in California, USA, Armstrong pursued undergraduate studies in physics at California State University, chemistry, and mathematics at the University of Pennsylvania and mathematics at Imperial College London. Alfred Brendel has guided Armstrong as a musical mentor since 2005. In 2008, he earned a bachelor’s degree in music at the Royal Academy of Music, London, and in 2012 a master’s degree in pure mathematics at the University of Paris VI.

In 2012, Kit Armstrong purchased the Church of Sainte-Thérèse in Hirson, France, and transformed it into a hall for concerts, exhibitions, and outreach. This cultural centre has become home to interdisciplinary projects, reaching a regional as well as cosmopolitan public.

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Edward Arron 2025 YAI Faculty, cello

A native of Cincinnati, Ohio, cellist Edward Arron made his New York recital debut in 2000 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Since that time, he has appeared in recital, as a soloist with major orchestras, and as a chamber musician throughout North America, Europe, and Asia.

The 2024-25 season marks Mr. Arron’s 12th season as the co-artistic director with his wife, Jeewon Park, of the Performing Artists in Residence series at the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Mr. Arron tours and records as a member of the renowned Ehnes String Quartet and he is a regular performer at the Boston and Seattle Chamber Music Societies, the Brooklyn Chamber Music Society, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Bargemusic, Caramoor, Bowdoin International Music Festival, Charlottesville Chamber Music Festival, Seoul Spring Festival in Korea, Music in the Vineyards Festival, Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival, Manchester Music Festival, and the Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival in Finland. Other festival appearances include Salzburg, Ravinia, Tanglewood, Mostly Mozart, PyeongChang, Bridgehampton, Spoleto USA, Santa Fe, Evian, La Jolla Summerfest, Chamber Music Northwest, Chesapeake Chamber Music, and the Bard Music Festival. Mr. Arron’s performances are frequently broadcast on American Public Media’s Performance Today.

In 2021, Mr. Arron’s recording, Beethoven Complete Works for Cello and Piano with pianist Jeewon Park, was released on the Aeolian Classics Record Label. The recording received the Samuel Sanders Collaborative Artists Award from the Classical Recording Foundation. A graduate of the Juilliard School, Mr. Arron currently serves on the faculty of the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

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Jenna Breen Horn

Australian French horn player Jenna Breen obtained her Bachelor of Music Performance from the Queensland Conservatorium of Music where she studied under Peter Luff on an Academic Scholarship. During her degree she received the Kurt Blumenthal Music Scholarship and the Yvonne Haysom Women in Music Bursary. Additional study was undertaken for 1 year at the Australian National Academy of Music in Melbourne.

Since completing her studies, Jenna has held permanent positions in the West Australian Symphony Orchestra, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, and now the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, where she has been a member since 2016.

In 2014 she was awarded a Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Fellowship to study with some of the best low horn players across the globe, visiting Berlin, Chicago, London, Los Angeles, New York and Philadelphia. Breen has also worked with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Queensland, Adelaide and New Zealand Symphony Orchestras, the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra and the Australian Chamber Orchestra.

In her spare time she enjoys flying single engine planes around the beautiful Pacific Northwest.

Sunmi Chang Violin

As the laureate of both the 2007 International Markneukirchen and Sion-Valais International Violin Competitions, Korean-born violinist Sunmi Chang has performed widely to much acclaim throughout North America and Europe as a soloist and chamber musician.

At the age of 17, she toured with the Yehudi Menuhin School Orchestra playing Bach’s Concerto for Two Violins in D minor, conducted by Lord Menuhin in UNESCO Headquarters and Guildford Cathedral in England. In 2008, Sunmi was the soloist on Yale Philharmonia’s tour to Seoul, Beijing, and Shanghai, performing the Beethoven Violin Concerto. To celebrate Beethoven’s 250th birthday, she returned to Yale, performing Beethoven’s Triple Concerto with cellist Paul Watkins and pianist Melvin Chen, conducted by Peter Oundjian.

An active chamber musician, she has performed in various chamber music festival, including the Rising Stars Series at Caramoor, Vivace Music Festival, Music@Menlo, Music in the Vineyards, and Chamber Music Northwest. Sunmi is also the Founder & Artistic Director of Summit Chamber Music Series—committed to bringing world-class chamber music to West Virginia.

In December 2023, Sunmi recently released Mother Tales under the PARMA recording label with pianist Clara Yang—an album that pays tribute to four remarkable women composers Florence Price, Gabriela Lena Frank, Liliya Ugay, and Amy Beach.

Sunmi received her Bachelor’s degree at the Hanns Eisler Musikhochschule in Berlin, a Master’s degree and an Artist Diploma at the Yale School of Music, and a Doctoral degree from the University of Michigan. Her principal teachers have included Eberhard Feltz, Peter Oundjian, Soovin Kim, Ani Kavafian. She recently joined as the violin faculty at the School of Music at the University of Oregon.

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Joyce Chen Harpsichord

A native of Taiwan, Dr. Joyce Wei-Jo Chen 陳瑋若 is Assistant Professor of Historical Keyboards at the University of Oregon. She is also a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Music (Historical Musicology) and the Interdisciplinary Doctoral Program in Humanities at Princeton University. Dr. Chen holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in Harpsichord Performance from Stony Brook University and a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from UC Berkeley.

As a solo harpsichordist, Dr. Chen has performed throughout the United States, Europe, and Taiwan. Dr. Chen received the 2018 Individual Artist Fellowship from the Delaware Division of the Arts and was a featured soloist in the 2019 Emerging Artist Showcase by Early Music America. She has performed as a soloist in the Musica Antica Festival in Belgium (2018), the International Normandy Baroque Competition in France (2018), and the Prix Annelie de Man in Amsterdam (2023). In addition, Dr. Chen is releasing her first solo harpsichord album featuring English virginalist music in 2025. She just finished building her first harpsichord from a Troubadour Virginal Kit.

Outside academia, Dr. Chen is a dedicated church musician with over 13 years of experience. As an organist specializing in the baroque repertoire, Dr. Chen recently received the Colleague certification from the American Guild of Organists. Since August 2024, she has been serving as Music Director at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Mt. Angel.

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Marilyn de Oliveira Cello

Brazilian cellist Marilyn de Oliveira enjoys an active career as a symphonic and chamber musician. Since joining the Oregon Symphony as the Assistant Principal cellist in 2009, Marilyn has been a founding member of Mousai Remix and Pyxis String Quartets, cellist of Third Angle and 45th Parallel Music, and a guest with prestigious festivals such as Grand Teton Music Festival, Oregon Bach Festival and Chamber Music Northwest.

In addition to her many performance engagements, Mrs. de Oliveira is also an educator, orchestral coach and music activist. She is part of the music faculty at Reed College, maintains a private studio with graduates now in renowned music schools worldwide, and founded the Oregon Symphony Musician’s Caroling Project— a collaborative effort which has brought music to those in need during the holidays for over a decade.

Prior to joining the OSO, Marilyn served as Acting Assistant Principal cellist and section member of the San Antonio Symphony and was a fellow at the New World Symphony in Miami, FL. She received her Bachelor of Music degree from Indiana University, her Master of Music degree at Rice University and was the Bronze Award Winner in the senior division of The Sphinx Competition in 2006.

Paul Dwyer Cello

Cellist Paul Dwyer brings to life everything from early music on Baroque cello to brand new works by young composers. He has appeared as a soloist and chamber musician in the US, Europe, and Asia, and has performed with Menahem Pressler, Jordi Savall, and artist-faculty of the Juilliard School and Aspen Music Festival. A prize-winner of numerous competitions, Paul is also the recipient of the Javits Fellowship, Presser Award, and a Fulbright Fellowship for studies with Anner Bylsma and Frances-Marie Uitti in Amsterdam. Paul holds degrees from Oberlin Conservatory, The Juilliard School, and the University of Michigan, where he was teaching assistant to Richard Aaron. Paul is a founding member of Diderot String Quartet, ACRONYM, The Colonials, and joined Lyric Opera of Chicago as Assistant Principal cellist this fall.

Growing up in Vienna and Munich, Paul originally wanted to play the double bass, but was told he was too short. His varied musical explorations began soon thereafter: as a teenager, he co-founded a heavy metal cello quartet and sang the role of Polyphemus in Handel’s Acis and Galatea. In his free time, he enjoys playing soccer, biking, and brewing beer.

Emi Ferguson Flute

A 2023 recipient of the Avery Fisher Career Grant, Emi Ferguson can be heard live in concerts and festivals with groups including the Handel and Haydn Society, AMOC*, Ruckus, the New York New Music Ensemble, the Manhattan Chamber Players, and as the music director of Camerata Pacifica Baroque.

Her recordings By George!, Amour Cruel, and Fly the Coop: Bach Sonatas and Preludes, celebrate her fascination with reinvigorating music and instruments of the past for the present and have been called “blindingly impressive ... a fizzing, daring display of personality and imagination” by The New York Times.

Emi has spoken and performed at TEDx events and has been featured on the Discovery Channel, Amazon Prime, WQXR, and Vox talking about how music relates to our world today. As part of WQXR’s Artist Propulsion Lab, she created the series “This Composer is SICK!” with Max Fine, exploring the impact of Syphilis on composers Franz Schubert, Bedřich Smetana, and Scott Joplin. She is also a host of WQXR’s Young Artists Showcase and Once Upon A Composer. Her book, Iconic Composers, co-written with Nicholas Csicsko with artwork by David Lee Csicsko, was released in 2023.

Born in Japan and raised in London and Boston, she now resides in New York.

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Jordan Frazier Bass

Double Bassist Jordan Frazier has performed worldwide with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra since 1993 and was appointed a member of the orchestra in 2006. He is a former member of L’Orquestra Ciutat de Barcelona, and currently is a member of the American Symphony Orchestra, American Composers Orchestra, and is Principal Bass of the Westchester Philharmonic, Little Orchestra Society, Bard Festival Orchestra, and at the Carmel Bach Festival in California. Jordan has also performed as Principal Bass with the St. Paul and Australian Chamber Orchestras, as well as the Pittsburgh and Cincinnati Symphonies, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, among many others. He has also performed and recorded with the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, both in Toronto and in Europe.

As a Chamber musician, he has performed with the Helicon Ensemble, Speculum Musicae, Los Angeles Piano Quartet, Horozowski Trio, Amani Winds and the Corigliano, Jupiter, Parker, and Daedalus Quartets.

His recording credits include Sony Classical, Harmonium Mundi, Nonesuch, London, Decca/Argo, EMI, Koch, Musical Heritage Society, Blue Note, and Deutsche Grammophon, including two Grammy Award-winning recordings with Orpheus (Shadow Dances) and with the Wayne Shorter Quartet (Emanon). Jordan is a founding member of The All-Star Orchestra, recording more than 20 episodes for Naxos and PBS.

A native of Cleveland, Jordan received his musical training at the Interlochen Arts Academy and the Manhattan School of Music. He has been on the faculty of the Mannes College of Music and has given masterclasses at Interlochen, Yale, and Rice Universities and at the National Orchestral Institute

Jeff Garza Horn

Jeff Garza was appointed Principal Horn of the Oregon Symphony in October 2019. He has previously held principal positions with the San Antonio Symphony, Houston Grand Opera, Britt Festival Orchestra, and Festival Mozaic. Jeff has served as guest principal in dozens of orchestras, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Utah Symphony, New Zealand Symphony, and Melbourne Symphony. During the summer festival season, he is principal horn of the Bellingham Festival of Music.

As a chamber musician and soloist, Jeff has performed at festivals, workshops and concert series throughout the United States including Concordia Chamber Players, Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival, and Cactus Pear Music Festival. He is a core member and former Artistic Director of Olmos Ensemble, a chamber music group based in San Antonio, Texas.

His recent recording credits include chamber music by composers Mark Abel (Spectrum, Delos Productions) and Andrew Lewinter (Music for Brass and Piano, Novona Records).

Jeff is a graduate of Interlochen Arts Academy and the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University. He received additional musical training as a fellow with the New World Symphony and the Tanglewood Music Center. Jeff is currently Adjunct Professor of Horn and a chamber music coach at Oregon State University and the University of Portland. He has previously held faculty positions at Brevard Music Center, Interlochen Center for the Arts, St. Mary’s University, San Antonio College, and Trinity University.

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Matthew Hudgens Oboe

Matthew Hudgens picked up the oboe at 11—arguably the most rebellious choice a middle schooler can make—and never looked back. Trained at East Tennessee State University, the University of North Texas, and The Juilliard School, he began his career steeped in classical tradition until early music hijacked his grad-school plans. One listen to a Baroque oboe’s reedy charm, and he was a goner.

These days he’s like a modern-day minstrel, performing with period ensembles across North America—including Philharmonie Austin, American Bach Soloists, Cantata Collective, Lyra Baroque, Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado, Seattle Bach Festival, Portland Baroque, Hawaii Performing Arts Festival, and more. Matthew can be seen performing oboes from the baroque to late romantic; and, yes, even modern oboe, if the mood strikes.

When not nerding out over historical temperaments or debating reed setups with colleagues, Matthew is probably curled up with a good book and a coffee, hiking through the Pacific Northwest with his partner, or pretending to “unplug” while secretly brainstorming his next reed adjustment. Based in Portland, he’s equally at home enjoying the incredible food scene the city offers or exploring a sunlit forest—just don’t ask him to choose between the two.

Braizahn Jones Bass

Braizahn Jones is the Assistant Principal Bassist of the Oregon Symphony and a graduate of The Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied with Hal Robinson and Edgar Meyer. Originally from Las Vegas, NV, he began his studies with Paul Firak before attending The Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University under Jeffrey Weisner, later transferring to Curtis in 2014.

Braizahn has performed and toured with the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Seattle Symphony and is an active freelance musician, appearing at Chamber Music Northwest, the Oregon Bach Festival, the Bellingham Music Festival, and the Jackson Hole Chamber Music Festival.

A dedicated educator, he serves on the faculty of the National Orchestral Institute and Reed College, maintains a full private studio, and has taught at the Pacific Music Institute in Honolulu as well as various international double bass workshops.

Upcoming Concerts & Events

• Loeffler’s Lost Octet, Debussy & Schumann

Wenting Kang 2025 YAI Faculty, Viola

Chinese violist Wenting Kang appeared as an “excellent violist” who “possesses a dark glowing sound” in The New York Times after her performance at Carnegie Hall. Kang’s playing also has been lauded as “elegant”, “precise,”  as well as “pure” and “tone-passionate without ever losing a sense of control” in the Boston Musical Intelligencer.

Her debut CD recording with pianist Sergei Kvitko, Mosaic, received many positive reviews, among which Gramophone Magazine noted “Part of the allure is her golden and glowing tone, but the subtlety of her shading is just as transfixing.” It has won the gold medal as a recommended CD on the Melómano Magazine in Spain.

Ms. Kang has appeared as a soloist, collaborating with major orchestras such as Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, Nagoya Philharmonic Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid, and Malaga Philharmonic Orchestra—working with renowned conductors including Ivor Bolton, Michiyoshi Inoue, and José María Moreno.

Ms. Kang was appointed as Viola Faculty at the New England Conservatory in Boston in September 2024. Since 2016, Kang has been active as assistant professor alongside the renowned Nobuko Imai at the Escuela Superior de Musica Reina Sofia in Madrid. In recent years, Kang has taught masterclasses for viola and chamber music in prestigious institutions such as University Mozarteum, University of Graz, Conservatorium van Amsterdam, and Franz Liszt Academy of Music.

Jessica Lee Violin

Violinist Jessica Lee has built a multifaceted career as soloist, chamber musician, and now as Assistant Concertmaster of the Cleveland Orchestra since 2016. She was the Grand Prize Winner of the 2005 Concert Artists Guild International Competition and has been hailed as “a soloist which one should make a special effort to hear, wherever she plays.” Her international appearances include solo performances with the Plzen Philharmonic, Gangnam Symphony, Malaysia Festival Orchestra, and at the Rudolfinum in Prague. At home, she has appeared with orchestras such as the Houston, Grand Rapids, and Spokane symphonies. 

Jessica has performed in recital at venues including Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall, Ravinia “Rising Stars,” the Phillips Collection in Washington DC, and the Kennedy Center.

A long-time member of the Johannes Quartet as well as of the The Bowers Program (formerly the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Two), Jessica has also toured frequently with Musicians from Marlboro, including appearances at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Boston’s Gardner Museum, and with the Guarneri Quartet in their farewell season. Her chamber music festival appearances include Bridgehampton, Santa Fe, Seoul Spring, Caramoor, Olympic, and Music@Menlo. She also put together a six-video chamber music series during the pandemic which was a collaboration between the Cleveland Orchestra and the Cleveland Clinic to bring chamber music from iconic spaces in Cleveland to the greater Cleveland community.

Jessica has always had a passion for teaching and has served on the faculties of Vassar College and Oberlin College, and now is on violin faculty at the Cleveland Institute of Music. She was accepted to the Curtis Institute of Music at age fourteen following studies with Weigang Li, and graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree under Robert Mann and Ida Kavafian. She completed her studies for a Master’s Degree at the Juilliard School.

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Johanna Novom Violin

Johanna Novom grew up in the woods of New Hampshire, and is currently based in Brooklyn. Her unusual schooling encouraged a variety of artistic inclinations that she thrives on to this day. She began playing violin at age 10, and the collaborative, communicative aspects of music have always inspired her, making chamber music an obvious priority.

Johanna discovered baroque violin while pursuing her BM with Marilyn McDonald at Oberlin, and went on to achieve a Master’s in Historical Performance. She also spent a fellowship year in the Yale Baroque Ensemble under Robert Mealy.

First prize winner of ABS’ 2008 International Young Artists’ Competition, Johanna is Associate Concertmaster of Apollo’s Fire, and performs with many period ensembles, including Trinity Wall Street Choir and Baroque Orchestra, Boston Early Music Festival Orchestra, TENET, Concert Royal, Washington National Cathedral Baroque Orchestra, ACRONYM, and the Sebastian Chamber Players.

Recent festival engagements include the Carmel Bach Festival, the Boston Early Music Festival, the Tanglewood Festival, and the BBC Proms.

Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt Viola

Praised by The Strad magazine as having “lyricism that stood out…a silky tone and beautiful, supple lines,” Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt has established herself as one of the most sought-after violists of her generation. In addition to appearances as soloist with the New York String Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, the Tokyo Philharmonic, the Jacksonville Symphony, the Sphinx Chamber Orchestra, and Symphony in C, she has performed in recitals and chamber-music concerts throughout the United States, Latin America, Europe and Asia, including an acclaimed 2011 debut recital at London’s Wigmore Hall, which was described in The Strad as being “fleet and energetic…powerful and focused.” 

Ms. Pajaro-van de Stadt was the founding violist of the twice-Grammy-nominated Dover Quartet, and played in the group from 2008-2022. During her time in the group, the Dover Quartet was the First Prize-winner and recipient of every special award at the Banff International String Quartet Competition 2013, and winner of the Gold Medal and Grand Prize in the 2010 Fischoff Chamber Music Competition. Also during her tenure, the Dover Quartet received the Cleveland Quartet Award and an Avery Fisher Career Grant.  Her numerous awards also include First Prize at the Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition and top prizes at the Sphinx Competition and the Tokyo International Viola Competition.

While in the Dover Quartet, Ms. Pajaro-van de Stadt was on the faculty at The Curtis Institute of Music and Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music, and a part of the Quartet in Residence of the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.  She is now a member of the newly formed piano quartet, Espressivo!, along with acclaimed artists Jaime Laredo, Sharon Robinson, and Anna Polonsky.

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Adriane Post Violin

Sought after as soloist, leader, collaborator and teacher across the US, Adriane Post formed her first string quartet at age eleven and was hooked.

A founding member of Diderot String Quartet and ACRONYM Ensemble, Adriane is leader of Indianapolis Baroque Orchestra and The Thirteen and dedicates her time to performing and teaching Baroque, Classical and Early Romantic repertoire on historical instruments.

She has served as Concertmaster of the Washington National Cathedral Orchestra, tenured member of Handel + Haydn Society,a member of Apollo’s Fire, frequent guest artist and soloist with Four Nations Ensemble, and a regular with Trinity Wall Street Baroque Orchestra. She has appeared with Harry Bicket and The English Concert, with William Christie and Les Arts Florissants in Thiré, France, as guest concertmaster with groups such as Seraphic Fire in Miami, New York Baroque Inc. and with many ensembles across the US. Recent tour and festival appearances include The Proms, Carnegie Hall, Caramoor, Tanglewood, Ravinia, and Carmel Bach Festival.

Teaching has brought her to Oberlin’s Baroque Performance Institute, The Smithsonian, De Paul University, and Cincinnati Conservatory. Post completed a Bachelor of Music at Oberlin Conservatory and a master’s with the inaugural class of The Juilliard School’s Historical Performance program.

Post was born and raised in Vermont.

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Kai Rocke Bassoon

Kai Rocke embraces a varied career as an orchestral performer, chamber musician, and teacher. Originally from Virginia, Mr. Rocke moved to Portland, Oregon in 2021 to fill the role as acting Contrabassoon/ Utility bassoon and has been a full-time member in that role since 2022. He is a graduate of both The New England Conservatory and Rice University, and has also completed the Rosemary and David Good Fellowship with the Minnesota Orchestra. Prior to his fellowship he was an avid teacher in the Houston, Texas area and, prior to that, 2nd bassoon with the New Bedford Symphony.

Mr. Rocke has performed with various ensembles including the Minnesota Orchestra, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Nashville Symphony, Ft. Worth Symphony,  New World Symphony, and the Amici Wind Quintet. His primary teachers include Benjamin Kamins, Gregg Henegar, Sue Heineman and Lewis Lipnick.

In his spare time, Mr. Rocke enjoys spending time with friends and family, practicing capoeira, reading books, and cooking.

Sam Rockwood Oboe

Sam Rockwood is a freelance oboist based in Portland, Oregon. Born and raised in the PNW, Sam has performed with many prominent orchestras in the region, including the Seattle Symphony, Oregon Symphony, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Oregon Ballet Theatre, 45th Parallel Universe, Symphony Tacoma, Vancouver Symphony (USA), Bellingham Symphony, and Juneau Symphony. During his graduate studies, Sam also performed as a substitute for the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Some notable conductors he has collaborated with include Andris Nelsons, Leonard Slatkin, Ludovic Morlot, Karina Canellakis, Michael Stern, David Danzmayr, Mei-Ann Chen, Norman Huynh, Earl Lee, and Hugh Wolff.

Recently Sam was a super-finalist for the Pacific Northwest Ballet Orchestra’s 2nd Oboe/English Horn audition. He has an upcoming trial period with the orchestra.

Sam began his oboe studies with Jennifer Weeks in his hometown of Anacortes, WA. He earned his Bachelor of Music degree at the University of Washington, studying with Mary Lynch VanderKolk, and his Master of Music degree at the New England Conservatory, studying with Mark McEwen. Throughout his training, Sam has participated in several summer festivals, including the National Repertory Orchestra and the Marrowstone Music Festival.

Shunske Sato Violin

Shunske Sato is a violinist, conductor, chamber musician, soloist, and teacher. The diversity of his activities reflects his versatile and resourceful nature. Historically-informed performance practice is central to his identity, allowing him to inhabit the music and communicate with audiences in dramatic, revelatory ways.

Shunske directs and appears as soloist with period ensembles as well as symphonic orchestras around the world, and has led several staged productions. Resident in the Netherlands, Shunske has been a faculty member of the Amsterdam Conservatory since 2013.

From 2013 to 2023 Shunske was artistic leader and concertmaster of the Netherlands Bach Society. Since 2011, he has worked closely with Concerto Köln, where he has been making noteworthy strides into the realm of the performance practice of the 19th century.

Highlights of the 2024-2025 season included Shunske’s conducting debut with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and the tour celebrating the release of Bee1h0ven | The Complete Violin Sonatas—Shunske’s recording of Beethoven’s complete violin sonatas with pianist, Shuann Chai.

Born in Tokyo, Shunske immigrated to the US at the age of four. Shunske studied at the Juilliard School in New York, Conservatoire National de Région in Paris, and Die Hochschule für Musik und Theather in Munich.

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John Thiessen Trumpet

Described by The New York Times as “the gold standard of Baroque trumpet playing in this country”, John Thiessen has appeared on period instruments as soloist and principal with Trinity Baroque, Boston Early Music Festival, Tafelmusik, Philharmonia Baroque, Handel and Haydn Society, Boston Baroque, American Bach Soloists, and Opera Lafayette. He has also performed with the Academy of Ancient Music, Taverner Players, the English Baroque Soloists, and the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra.

Mr. Thiessen serves on the faculty of The Juilliard School’s Historical Performance Department, gives masterclasses throughout the US and Canada, and is the Executive Director of Gotham Early Music Scene, New York’s foremost advocate for early music. On modern trumpet, he has performed Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 with the San Francisco Symphony, the Bach Virtuosi Festival, and the Pegasus Orchestra, and was formerly Principal Trumpet of the Toronto Pops Orchestra.

Highlights this season have included Bach projects with the Handel and Haydn Society, New York’s Bach Vespers, Trinity Baroque, and the Bach Virtuosi Festival, as well as Beethoven and Mozart with the American Classical Orchestra, and Handel’s Messiah in New York and Arizona.

Thiessen has recorded extensively for Sony Classical Vivarte, Telarc, EMI, BMG, Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, London Decca, Analekta, CBC, Tafelmusik Media, and Denon, including the major works of J.S. Bach, Handel, Biber, Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven. A forthcoming solo recording, Music from Grace, features 17th Century German repertoire by Schütz and Pezel.

Titus Underwood Oboe

Titus Underwood is the Principal Oboist of the Nashville Symphony Orchestra, Gateways Music Festival, and co-principal of the Chineke! Orchestra. Underwood is also the Associate Professor of Oboe at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. In addition, Titus is a faculty artist at the Aspen Music Festival and National Youth Orchestras at Carnegie Hall. A fierce advocate for amplifying voices of the historically underrepresented, he co-founded the Black Orchestral Network (BON) and Sphinx Orchestral Partners Auditions (SOPA).

His personal endeavors in digital media have led to multiple releases, notably the short film, A Tale of Two Tails. Underwood also holds the honors of a Sphinx Medal of Excellence award for his ongoing commitment to leadership and community, and an Emmy Award for his work executive-producing We Are Nashville with the Nashville Symphony.

Underwood is a graduate of The Juilliard School, The Colburn School, and the Cleveland Institute of Music.

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