2026 CONCERT PROGRAM BOOK

2026 Summer Concert Season

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The Music at Tippet Rise

2026 Summer Concert Season This year’s concert season at Tippet Rise takes place

over five weekends from August 14 through September 13.

The season features more than 30 internationally acclaimed musicians, playing music ranging from J. S. Bach and Franz Liszt to John Lennon, Fleet Foxes, and Allison Loggins-Hull, and the world premiere of a Tippet Rise Commission by composer Jessica Meyer. Thank you for joining us in celebrating music and art beneath the beautiful Montana sky.

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Co-Founders, Cathy and Peter Halstead

Cathy and Peter Halstead have known each other since they were 16.

Cathy is an abstract painter, whose work explores the similarities between the infinitesimal and the infinite, between the repetition of invisible but essential patterns in nature. Examples of her work are available online at cathyhalstead.com.

Peter is a pianist, photographer, novelist, and poet. He has published 17 volumes of poems, as well as the novel Bug the Great. In recent years he has published A Winter Ride, which combines prose, photos, and poetry to create a sense of the anticipation of winter in Montana. The two-volume series, Tippet Rise Beginnings, describes the personal journey that brought Cathy and Peter Halstead to realize their dream of creating Tippet Rise.

Several of Peter’s piano recordings are available in the Tippet Rise Music Download Library, including Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata, The Tempest, and his multi-album piano series, The Himalaya Sessions. In addition to Tippet Rise, Cathy and Peter are founders of the Adrian Brinkerhoff Poetry Foundation, which gathers poems from across places, eras, and traditions for audiences worldwide. They are also trustees of the Sidney E. Frank Foundation, which makes grants in the arts, education, and medical and life sciences.

Cathy is on the boards of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, of Storm King Art Center, and is a trustee emeritus of Brown University.

Cathy and Peter have two wonderful daughters and two adorable grandchildren.

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The Music at Tippet Rise

Artistic Advisor, Pedja Mužijević

P

ianist Pedja Mužijević has been the artistic advisor for Tippet Rise since 2018.

He has defined his career with creative programming, unusual combinations and new and old music, and lasting collaborations with artists and ensembles. Pedja’s symphonic engagements include performances with the Atlanta Symphony, Dresden Philharmonic, New Jersey Symphony, Residentie Orkest in The Hague, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and Shinsei Nihon Orchestra in Tokyo. Pedja has played solo recitals at Alice Tully Hall, 92Y and The Frick Collection in New York, Terrace Theater at Kennedy Center, Dumbarton Oaks and Phillips Collection in Washington, DC, Casals Hall and Bunka Kaikan in Tokyo, and many others.

Pedja’s interdisciplinary projects include touring with Mikhail Baryshnikov throughout the United States, South America, Europe, and Asia and with Simon Keenlyside in Trisha Brown’s staged version of Schubert’s Winterreise at Lincoln Center in New York, Barbican in London, La Monnaie in Brussels, Opera National de Paris, as well as Holland, Lucerne, and Melbourne festivals.

Pedja is the artistic administrator at Baryshnikov Arts in New York, and he also directs workshops for young musicians from Verbier Festival Academy and Banff Center to Colburn and Longy schools, in which he looks at the concert experience, both in programming and presentation, in an attempt to make it more accessible and relevant today.

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2026 Concert Season At A Glance

FRIDAY, AUGUST 14, 5:30 PM

The Olivier Music Barn

Yasmina Spiegelberg, clarinet Eleni Katz, bassoon Alexi Kenney, violin Yura Lee, violin Natalie Loughran, viola Oliver Herbert, cello Nina Bernat, bass Pedja Mužijević, piano

SUNDAY, AUGUST 16, 11:00 AM

The Olivier Music Barn

Yasmina Spiegelberg, clarinet Eleni Katz, bassoon David Byrd-Marrow, horn Alexi Kenney, violin Yura Lee, violin Natalie Loughran, viola Oliver Herbert, cello Nina Bernat, bass

FRIDAY, AUGUST 21, 5:30 PM

Will’s Shed

Mireille Asselin, soprano Jesse Blumberg, baritone Richard Pearson Thomas, piano SATURDAY, AUGUST 22, 11:00 AM

The Olivier Music Barn Yekwon Sunwoo, piano

SATURDAY, AUGUST 22, 2:00 PM

SATURDAY, AUGUST 15, 11:00 AM

The Domo

Yasmina Spiegelberg, clarinet Eleni Katz, bassoon David Byrd-Marrow, horn Yura Lee, violin Natalie Loughran, viola Oliver Herbert, cello Nina Bernat, bass

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The Music at Tippet Rise

The Geode

Trio Azura Duncan McDougall, violin Yejin Hong, cello Yanfeng (Tony) Bai, piano

SUNDAY, AUGUST 23, 11:00 AM

The Olivier Music Barn

Trio Azura Duncan McDougall, violin Yejin Hong, cello Yanfeng (Tony) Bai, piano

*Artists and/or programs subject to change without notice.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 28, 5:30 PM

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 5:30 PM

The Olivier Music Barn

The Olivier Music Barn

Yulianna Avdeeva, piano

SATURDAY, AUGUST 29, 11:00 AM

The Domo

The Westerlies Riley Mulherkar, trumpet Chloe Rowlands, trumpet Andy Clausen, trombone Addison Maye-Saxon, trombone

Anderson & Roe Greg Anderson, piano Elizabeth Joy Roe, piano

The Olivier Music Barn

Camille Thomas, cello Julien Brocal, piano

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 11:00 AM SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 11:00 AM

The Olivier Music Barn

SUNDAY, AUGUST 30, 11:00 AM

Takács Quartet Edward Dusinberre, violin Harumi Rhodes, violin Richard O’Neill, viola Mihai Marica, cello

Radu Ratoi, accordion

Will’s Shed

Cottonwood Campus — Wander Concert

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 5:30 PM

Will’s Shed

Jessica Sindell, flute Gabrielle Després, violin Nathan Meltzer, violin Laura Liu, viola Samuel Rosenthal, viola Arlen Hlusko, cello Sydney Lee, cello

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 3:00 PM Anderson & Roe Greg Anderson, piano Elizabeth Joy Roe, piano

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 11:00 AM

The Olivier Music Barn Jonathan Biss, piano

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 11:00 AM

The Olivier Music Barn Danny Driver, piano

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2026 TABLE OF CONTENTS WEEK ONE August 14-16 11

WEEK TWO August 21-23 17

WEEK THREE August 28-30 25

CLICK ON ANY PHOTO TO ADVANCE TO 8

The Music at Tippet Rise

TIPPET RISE ART CENTER WEEK FOUR September 4-6 31

WEEK FIVE September 11-13 39

2026 Performing Artists 44

O THE CORRESPONDING PAGE NUMBER 2026 Summer Season

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WEEK ONE

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The Music at Tippet Rise

FRIDAY, AUGUST 14, 5:30 PM The Olivier Music Barn

Yasmina Spiegelberg, clarinet Eleni Katz, bassoon Alexi Kenney, violin Yura Lee, violin Natalie Loughran, viola Oliver Herbert, cello Nina Bernat, bass Pedja Mužijević, piano

DOBRINKA TABAKOVA: Moreni for clarinet, string quartet, and piano Spiegelberg, Kenney, Lee, Loughran, Herbert, Mužijević

MARC MELLITS: Black for bassoon and double bass Katz, Bernat

FRANZ SCHUBERT: Piano Sonata in A Major, D. 959 Allegro Andantino Scherzo. Allegro vivace – Trio. Un poco più lento Rondo. Allegretto

Mužijević

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WEEK ONE

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The Music at Tippet Rise

SATURDAY, AUGUST 15, 11:00 AM

The Domo

Yasmina Spiegelberg, clarinet Eleni Katz, bassoon David Byrd-Marrow, horn Yura Lee, violin Natalie Loughran, viola Oliver Herbert, cello Nina Bernat, bass

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN: Septet in E-flat Major, Op. 20 Adagio – Allegro con brio Adagio cantabile

Spiegelberg, Katz, Byrd-Marrow, Lee, Loughran, Herbert, Bernat

CAROLINE SHAW: Limestone & Felt for viola and cello BEETHOVEN: Septet in E-flat Major, Op. 20 Tempo di menuetto

Loughran, Herbert

Spiegelberg, Katz, Byrd-Marrow, Lee, Loughran, Herbert, Bernat

SVANTE HENRYSON: “Powder Ballad” from Suite Off Pist for clarinet and cello BEETHOVEN: Septet in E-flat Major, Op. 20 Tema con variazioni: Andante

Spiegelberg, Herbert

Spiegelberg, Katz, Byrd-Marrow, Lee, Loughran, Herbert, Bernat

JESSICA MEYER: Portal to the Prodigious Plains for violin, horn, bassoon, and bass (2026)— Tippet Rise Commission and World Premiere

Lee, Byrd-Marrow, Katz, Bernat

BEETHOVEN: Septet in E-flat Major, Op. 20 Scherzo: Allegro molto e vivace Andante con moto alla marcia – Presto

Spiegelberg, Katz, Byrd-Marrow, Lee, Loughran, Herbert, Bernat 2026 Summer Season

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WEEK ONE

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The Music at Tippet Rise

SUNDAY, AUGUST 16, 11:00 AM

The Olivier Music Barn

Yasmina Spiegelberg, clarinet Eleni Katz, bassoon David Byrd-Marrow, horn Alexi Kenney, violin Yura Lee, violin Natalie Loughran, viola Oliver Herbert, cello Nina Bernat, bass

FRANZ SCHUBERT: Octet in F Major, D. 803 Adagio – Allegro – Più allegro Adagio Allegro vivace – Trio – Allegro vivace Andante – variations. Un poco più mosso – Più lento Menuetto. Allegretto – Trio – Menuetto – Coda Andante molto – Allegro – Andante molto – Allegro molto

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WEEK TWO

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The Music at Tippet Rise

FRIDAY, AUGUST 21, 5:30 PM Will’s Shed

Mireille Asselin, soprano Jesse Blumberg, baritone Richard Pearson Thomas, piano

AMERICAN SONGBOOK Songs by Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Marc Blitzstein, Kurt Weill, and more.

This program is a joyful celebration of the Great American Songbook, bringing together beloved popular songs, jazz standards, and classic theater tunes. From familiar favorites such as “I’ve Got Rhythm” and “Don’t Fence Me In” to lesser-known gems, the program pays tribute to one of America’s most enduring and influential musical legacies.

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WEEK TWO

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The Music at Tippet Rise

SATURDAY, AUGUST 22, 11:00 AM

The Olivier Music Barn Yekwon Sunwoo, piano

OTTORINO RESPIGHI: Six Pieces Caressing waltz Canon Nocturne Minuet Study Intermezzo – Serenata SERGEI RACHMANINOFF: Six moments musicaux, Op. 16 FRANZ LISZT: Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 (Cadenza by Rachmaninoff)

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WEEK TWO

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The Music at Tippet Rise

SATURDAY, AUGUST 22, 2:00 PM The Geode

Trio Azura Duncan McDougall, violin Yejin Hong, cello Yanfeng (Tony) Bai, piano

SERGEI RACHMANINOFF: Trio élégiaque No. 1 in G Minor JENNIFER HIGDON: Piano Trio I. Pale Yellow II. Fiery Red

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WEEK TWO

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The Music at Tippet Rise

SUNDAY, AUGUST 23, 11:00 AM

The Olivier Music Barn

Trio Azura Duncan McDougall, violin Yejin Hong, cello Yanfeng (Tony) Bai, piano

JOHN HARBISON: Trio No. 2 (“Short Stories”) Tale Ballad Rumors and Reports Enigma

FRANZ SCHUBERT: Notturno in E-flat Major, Op. 148, D. 897 MAURICE RAVEL: Piano Trio in A Minor, M. 67 Modéré Pantoum Passacaille Final

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WEEK THREE

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The Music at Tippet Rise

FRIDAY, AUGUST 28, 5:30 PM The Olivier Music Barn Yulianna Avdeeva, piano

FRÉDÉRIC CHOPIN: Four Mazurkas, Op. 30 CHOPIN: 12 Études, Op. 25 CHOPIN: Andante spianato et Grande polonaise brillante, Op. 22

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WEEK THREE

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The Music at Tippet Rise

SATURDAY, AUGUST 29, 11:00 AM

The Domo

The Westerlies Riley Mulherkar, trumpet Chloe Rowlands, trumpet Andy Clausen, trombone Addison Maye-Saxon, trombone

The program includes selections from The Westerlies’ “Songbook” recording project of American music over the past century, including Fleet Foxes, Joanna Newsom, Aoife O’Donovan, Anaïs Mitchell, Samora Pinderhughes, and more.

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WEEK THREE

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The Music at Tippet Rise

SUNDAY, AUGUST 30, 11:00 AM Cottonwood Campus Radu Ratoi, accordion

WANDER CONCERT JEAN-PHILIPPE RAMEAU: Overture from the ballet Pygmalion, RTC52 (arr. R. Ratoi) FRANÇOIS COUPERIN: Les Roseaux (arr. R. Ratoi) J. S. BACH: English Suite No. 3: Prelude, Sarabande, and Gigue, BWV808 (arr. R. Ratoi) CAMILLE SAINT-SAËNS: Danse macabre, Op. 40 (arr. R. Ratoi) FRANZ LISZT: Transcendental Études: 10. Appassionata, S. 139 (arr. R. Ratoi) VLADIMIR VLASOV: Phantasy on Brahms’s Hungarian Dance No. 5 PAUL DESMOND: “Take Five” (arr. R. Ratoi) ASTOR PIAZZOLLA: “Libertango”

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WEEK FOUR

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The Music at Tippet Rise

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 5:30 PM The Olivier Music Barn Anderson & Roe

Greg Anderson, piano Elizabeth Joy Roe, piano

FRANZ SCHUBERT / ANDERSON & ROE: Ave Maria, D. 839 SCHUBERT: Allegro in A Minor (Lebensstürme) (Storms of Life), D. 947 JOHANNES BRAHMS: Liebeslieder Waltzes (Love Song Waltzes), Op. 52b JOHANN STRAUSS, JR. / ANDERSON & ROE: Blue Danube Fantasy

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WEEK FOUR

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The Music at Tippet Rise

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 5, 11:00 AM The Olivier Music Barn

Takács Quartet Edward Dusinberre, violin Harumi Rhodes, violin Richard O’Neill, viola Mihai Marica, cello

JOSEPH HAYDN: String Quartet in C Major, Op. 20 No. 2 Moderato Capriccio. Adagio – Cantabile Minuet. Allegretto – Trio Fuga a 4 soggetti. Allegro

FRANZ SCHUBERT: String Quartet No. 14 in D Minor, D. 810, “Death and the Maiden” Allegro Andante con moto Scherzo. Allegro molto Presto

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WEEK FOUR

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The Music at Tippet Rise

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 5, 3:00 PM Will’s Shed

Anderson & Roe Greg Anderson, piano Elizabeth Joy Roe, piano

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH / CHARLES GOUNOD / ANDERSON & ROE: “Ave Maria” (based on Prelude No. 1 in C Major, BWV 846) MAURICE RAVEL / VYACHESLAV GRYAZNOV: “Daybreak” from Daphnis et Chloé GUSTAV HOLST / ANDERSON & ROE: Nocturne on Neptune (based on “Neptune” from The Planets) ANDERSON & ROE: Hallelujah Variations (Variations on a Theme by Leonard Cohen) RADIOHEAD / ANDERSON & ROE: “Pyramid Song” from Amnesiac JOHANNES BRAHMS / ANDERSON & ROE: “Lerchengesang” (The Lark’s Song), Op. 70, No. 2 SIGUR RÓS / ANDERSON & ROE: “Glósóli” (“Glowing Sun”) from Takk…

JOHN LENNON & PAUL MCCARTNEY / ANDERSON & ROE: “Let It Be” from Let It Be

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WEEK FOUR

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The Music at Tippet Rise

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 11:00 AM The Olivier Music Barn Danny Driver, piano

CLAUDE DEBUSSY: “Reflets dans l’eau” (Reflections in the water) from Images GYÖRGY LIGETI: “Galamb Borong”, “Fém”, “Der Zauberlehrling” (The Sorcerer’s Apprentice) from Études DEBUSSY: “Et la lune descend sur le temple qui fût” (And the Moon Descends on the Temple that Was) from Images LIGETI: “Automne à Varsovie” (Autumn in Warsaw), “Entrelacs” from Études DEBUSSY: “Mouvement” from Images LIGETI: “Arc-en-ciel” (Rainbow), “Fanfares” from Études DEBUSSY: “Cloches à travers les feuilles” (Bells Through the Leaves) from Images LIGETI: “Cordes-à-Vide” (Open Strings), “L’éscalier du diable” (The Devil’s Staircase) from Études

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WEEK FIVE

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The Music at Tippet Rise

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 5:30 PM

The Olivier Music Barn Camille Thomas, cello Julien Brocal, piano

GRACE JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH / CHARLES GOUNOD: Ave Maria, CG 89 JULIEN BROCAL / CAMILLE THOMAS: Reflection No. 1 (Paix – Shanti) FRÉDÉRIC CHOPIN: Introduction et Polonaise brillante, Op. 3 CHIMERA CAMILLE SAINT-SAËNS: The Swan ERIK SATIE: Gymnopédie No. 1 BROCAL / THOMAS: Reflection No. 2 EDVARD GRIEG: Cello Sonata, Op. 36 Allegro agitato Andante molto tranquillo Allegro molto e marcato

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WEEK FIVE

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The Music at Tippet Rise

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 12, 11:00 AM Will’s Shed

Jessica Sindell, flute Gabrielle Després, violin Nathan Meltzer, violin Laura Liu, viola Samuel Rosenthal, viola Arlen Hlusko, cello Sydney Lee, cello

WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART: Quartet for flute, violin, viola, and cello in D Major, K. 285 Allegro Adagio Rondo

Sindell, Després, Rosenthal, Hlusko

ALLISON LOGGINS-HULL: Homeland for flute

Sindell

JESSE MONTGOMERY: Selections from Musings for two violins

Després, Meltzer

PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY: Souvenir de Florence for two violins, two violas, and two cellos, Op. 70 Allegro con spirito Adagio cantabile e con moto Allegro moderato Allegro vivace

Meltzer, Després, Liu, Rosenthal, Lee, Hlusko

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WEEK FIVE

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The Music at Tippet Rise

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 11:00 AM The Olivier Music Barn Jonathan Biss, piano

ROBERT SCHUMANN: Geistervariationen (Ghost Variations), WoO 24 GYÖRGY KURTÁG: “Silence” and “Quiet Talk with the Devil” from Játékok (Games) AMY BETH KIRSTEN: (speak to me) (Deceit) (Curse) (Longing)

ROBERT SCHUMANN: Fantasie in C Major, Op. 17

Durchaus phantastisch und leidenschaftlich vorzutragen (Fantastic and passionate) Mässig. Durchaus energisch. (Moderate. Quite energetic) Langsam getragen. Durchweg leise zu halten (Slowly. Consistently quiet)

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2026 Artists

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The Music at Tippet Rise

Anderson & Roe Mireille Asselin, soprano Yulianna Avdeeva, piano Nina Bernat, bass Jonathan Biss, piano Jesse Blumberg, baritone Julien Brocal, piano David Byrd-Marrow, horn Gabrielle Després, violin Danny Driver, piano Oliver Herbert, cello Arlen Hlusko, cello Eleni Katz, bassoon Alexi Kenney, violin Sydney Lee, cello Yura Lee, violin Laura Liu, viola Natalie Loughran, viola Nathan Meltzer, violin Pedja Mužijević, piano Radu Ratoi, accordion Samuel Rosenthal, viola Jessica Sindell, flute Yasmina Spiegelberg, clarinet Yekwon Sunwoo, piano Takács Quartet Camille Thomas, cello Richard Pearson Thomas, piano Trio Azura The Westerlies

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ANDERSON & ROE C

alled “the most dynamic duo of this generation” (San Francisco Classical Voice) and “rock stars of the classical music world” (Miami Herald), Greg Anderson and Elizabeth Joy Roe work in sync to unearth the essence of each piece they play from their genre-transcending repertoire, testing the boundaries of their instrument. That special alchemy immediately captivates audiences all over the world.

Anderson & Roe have redefined the model of the piano duo through a two-decade-long partnership that has been nothing short of pioneering. Their original compositions— from re-imaginings of the classical canon to arrangements of pop music through a classical lens—reflect their belief that all music has something to say to all people. Their five critically acclaimed albums have spent dozens of weeks atop the Billboard classical charts, and their music videos have racked up millions of views, securing them an Emmy nomination. They have collaborated with Augustin Hadelich, Time For Three, MasterVoices, and the Alvin Ailey Dance Company. As media personalities, they have appeared on MTV, NPR, PBS, and the BBC and have hosted the webcasts of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, one of the most-watched classical musical events in the world.

Greg Anderson and Elizabeth Joy Roe are Steinway Artists.

PIANO DUO

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The Music at Tippet Rise

D

eemed “a treasure” by The Toronto Star, soprano Mireille Asselin enjoys a diverse international career that spans concert, opera, and recital work. As a member of the Metropolitan Opera’s roster for five years, she performed Adele in Die Fledermaus and Poussette in Manon, in addition to covering many other lead roles.

This season she had her London West End debut, starring in Handel’s Giustino at the Royal Opera House. She is a respected interpreter of contemporary and early music and performs regularly with leading orchestras and period ensembles in North America and Europe.

MIREILLE ASSELIN

In recent seasons Asselin has sung with the Théâtre des Champs Elysées, Garsington Opera, and the Orchestre de Chambre de Paris and at Carnegie Hall. Up next, she looks forward to performing the lead role of Nellie in 10 Days in a Madhouse, with Tapestry Opera and the Luminato Festival, and releasing a new album of works that were written for her by composer Tom Cipullo. Asselin is a graduate of the Canadian Opera Company Studio, Yale University, and the Royal Conservatory of Music. She has recorded for the Marquis Classics, Centrediscs, and CORO labels.

SOPRANO

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Y U L I A N N A AV D E E VA Yulianna Avdeeva burst onto the international stage after

winning the gold medal in the 2010 International Chopin Piano Competition. Now acknowledged around the world, Avdeeva appears this season with Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchester and Andris Nelsons in Leipzig, Vienna, Frankfurt, Beijing, and Shanghai. Her tour itinerary includes concerts with Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester and Santtu-Matias Rouvali in Berlin, and Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal under the baton of Simone Young. Other North American engagements include the Pittsburgh and Seattle symphonies with Rafael Payare and David Danzmayr, respectively.

Avdeeva’s current and recurring recital engagements include Vienna Konzerthaus, Tokyo’s Suntory Hall, Pierre Boulez Saal Berlin, and Warsaw Philharmonic, as well as tours of Asia and North America and return visits to Tippet Rise and Carnegie Hall. A prolific recording artist of works

by Chopin, Mozart, Schubert, Bach, and Weinberg, her most recent recordings on the Pentatone label are Resilience (2023), featuring compositions by Weinberg, Szpilman, Prokofiev, and Shostakovich; Chopin: Voyage (2024), for which she received the 2025 Diapason d’Or award;

PI A N O

and a complete recording of Shostakovich’s Preludes and Fugues, Op. 87 (2025). An album of works by Franz Liszt arrives in 2026. Avdeeva is a Steinway Artist.

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Acclaimed for her interpretive maturity, expressive depth,

and technical clarity, the American double bassist Nina Bernat has redefined the role of her instrument on the world stage. The Star Tribune praised her recent “standout” concerto debut with the Minnesota Orchestra, calling the performance “exhilarating, lovely and lyrical… technically precise and impressively emotive.”

NINA B E R N AT

In 2023 Bernat was awarded both the Avery Fisher Career Grant and first prize at the Concert Artists Guild Victor Elmaleh Competition. Other recent accolades include top prizes at the Barbash J.S. Bach String Competition, Minnesota Orchestra Young Artist Competition, Juilliard Double Bass Competition, and the International Society of Bassists Solo Competition. She has given New York recital debuts at Weill Recital Hall and Merkin Hall and has appeared as soloist with the Minnesota Orchestra and Brooklyn Symphony Orchestra.

Bernat has served as guest principal bassist with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and Oslo Philharmonic. She also performs with New York—based chamber orchestra Sejong Soloists. She is a member of the Bowers Program of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and regularly appears at the leading chamber music festivals.

Bernat has given masterclasses at several institutions and currently serves on the faculty of Stony Brook University.

She performs on an instrument passed down from her father, Mark Bernat, attributed to Guadagnini.

DOUBLE BASS

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The globally recognized pianist Jonathan Biss was

J O N AT H A N B I S S

praised by The New Yorker for his “impeccable taste and a formidable technique.” A multifaceted artist, he is equally celebrated for his performance career, his pedagogical contributions, and his eloquent and insightful musical scholarship.

Throughout the 2025–26 season, Biss maintains a prolific schedule of recitals, chamber music, and concerto engagements across the United States and Europe. As a soloist, he performs with many of the world’s premier orchestras, including the New York and Los Angeles philharmonics, the Boston and London symphonies, and the Royal Concertgebouw. He has also collaborated with artists ranging from Midori to Mark Padmore.

Since 2018 Biss has served as the co-artistic director of the Marlboro Music School and Festival alongside Mitsuko Uchida. His commitment to education includes a decade on the faculty of the Curtis Institute of Music and guest professorships at the New England Conservatory and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

PIANO

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A champion of new music, Biss has commissioned works

by Alvin Singleton, Tyshawn Sorey, and Tyson Gholston Davis. In 2020 he recorded Beethoven’s complete piano sonatas and reached more than 150,000 students via his related Coursera series. His fourth book, Unquiet: My Life with Beethoven, was published that same year. A third-generation musician, Biss studied at Indiana University and the Curtis Institute of Music.

The American baritone Jesse Blumberg enjoys a busy

schedule of operas, concerts, and recitals, performing repertoire from the Renaissance era to the 21st centuries. He has performed featured roles at Minnesota Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, Atlanta Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, Boston Early Music Festival, Opera Atelier, Château de Versailles Spectacles, and Royal Festival Hall. He has sung major concert works with Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, American Bach Soloists, Boston Baroque, Carmel Bach Festival, Apollo’s Fire, Oratorio Society of New York, and The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, as well as on Lincoln Center’s American Songbook series. Recent recital highlights include appearances with the New York Festival of Song, Marilyn Horne Foundation, and University Musical Society in Ann Arbor.

In addition to teaching and performing residencies at song festivals, Blumberg has participated in the world premieres of several acclaimed American operas and song cycles. As a member of the Mirror Visions Ensemble, he works closely with many renowned composers.

Among his many recordings are Grammy-winning and Grammy-nominated performances of Charpentier chamber operas with Boston Early Music Festival. He received undergraduate degrees in history and music from the University of Michigan and a Master of Music degree from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music before completing young artist programs at Santa Fe Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, the Ravinia Festival, and Chicago Opera Theater.

JESSE BLUMBERG

BARITONE

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JULIEN BROCAL

Julien Brocal is a French pianist, composer, and

improviser whose poetic and contemporary voice has distinguished him on the international stage.

Trained by Erik Berchot and later by the renowned pedagogue Rena Shereshevskaya, Brocal developed a playing style marked by depth, narrative intensity, and tonal refinement. A decisive encounter with Maria João Pires further shaped his artistic path; she invited him to tour internationally alongside her, nurturing a profoundly humanistic vision of interpretation.

His recordings devoted to Chopin, Ravel, and Mompou have been widely acclaimed by the international press. Gramophone praised his artistry, calling him “a singular talent.”

Alongside his solo career, Brocal maintains a close collaboration with cellist Camille Thomas. Together they created and recorded Rendez-vous at Tippet Rise Art Center, an iconic American arts center with which Brocal has formed a deep artistic bond.

As the founder of Jardin Musical in Brussels, Brocal has created a space dedicated to artistic creation and dialogue, where music meets other disciplines and new formats emerge. Through performance, composition, and cultural initiatives, he reimagines music as a living, shared experience.

PI A N O

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Hailed as “stunning and assured” by The New York

Times, Atlanta native David Byrd-Marrow is a member of the International Contemporary Ensemble, as well as The Knights. Working with a uniquely wide range of performers, he has premiered works by Anna Webber, Hilda Paredes, George Lewis, Paul Wiancko, Du Yun, Marcos Balter, Eric Wubbels and Jörg Widmann.

DAV I D BYRD-MARROW

Byrd-Marrow has performed at the Ojai Music Festival, the Spoleto Music Festival, the Mostly Mozart Festival, the Tanglewood Music Center, Summerfest! at the La Jolla Music Society, the Denver Chamber Music Festival, Tippet Rise, and the Bang on a Can Summer Festival.

He is an alumnus of Carnegie Hall’s Ensemble Connect and has also made appearances with the New York Philharmonic; the Cleveland Orchestra; the Atlanta, Seattle, and Tokyo symphony orchestras; the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra; the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra; the Washington National Opera; the Metropolitan Opera; and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. He has recorded on many labels, including Tundra, More Is More, Nonesuch, EMI, Deutsche Grammophon, and Naxos.

Byrd-Marrow received his Bachelor of Music degree from The Juilliard School and his Master of Music from Stony Brook University. He is the Associate Professor of Horn at the Oberlin Conservatory.

HORN

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GABRIELLE DESPRÉS P

raised for her “gorgeous, rich tone” and fresh, insightful interpretations, Gabrielle Després has emerged as one of Canada’s most compelling young artists. As a recent finalist of the 2025 Sibelius International Violin Competition, she was also first prize winner of the Irving M. Klein International String Competition and the Juilliard Concer to Competition, and a top prize recipient at the Michael Hill, Elmar Oliveira, and Washington International Violin Competitions.

As a soloist, Després has appeared with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Helsinki Philharmonic, Juilliard Orchestra, Spokane Symphony, and Peninsula Symphony, among others. A passionate chamber musician, she has performed at the Marlboro Music Festival, ChamberFest Cleveland, Chamber Music Society of Palm Beach, and Music in the Vineyards. Committed to using music as a force for connection, she has collaborated with Project: Music Heals Us, teaching and performing for incarcerated individuals in California.

A proud recipient of the Kovner Fellowship, Després earned her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees at The Juilliard School, where she is now pursuing an Artist Diploma, studying with Catherine Cho. Formative mentors include Donald Weilerstein, Joseph Lin, Masao Kawasaki, Robert Uchida, and James Keene.

Després performs on a violin of Zosimo Bergonzi and a bow of Étienne Pajeot, graciously provided to her by CANIMEX INC., from Drummondville, Quebec, Canada.

VIOLIN

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One of Britain’s most respected pianists, Danny Driver

is recognized internationally for his sophistication, insight, and musical depth, with a holistic approach inspired by studies at Cambridge University and the Royal College of Music. His concert programs and recordings reflect his breadth of repertoire and musical curiosity, exploring mainstream and neglected music from the Baroque period to the present day.

DANNY DRIVER

Recent concerto engagements include the BBC Scottish Symphony, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, The Hallé, Minnesota Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, London Philharmonic, American Symphony, and many others. Driver’s many collaborations with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra include performances throughout the United Kingdom, at London’s Cadogan Hall, and at the BBC Proms.

Among Driver’s recital highlights are frequent visits to London’s Wigmore Hall, among them a series focused on György Ligeti and a “Variations” series spanning the 2025–26 and 2026–27 seasons. Driver also gave solo recitals at the Southbank Centre’s international Piano Series, Carnegie Hall, Music Toronto, San Francisco Performances, Montreal’s Salle Bourgie, and Klavierraritäten Husum, while enjoying long-term associations with festivals such as Lammermuir, Lichfield, and the Bard Music Festival.

PIANO

A Gramophone Award–nominated artist, Driver has released many acclaimed recital and concerto recordings on the Hyperion Records label.

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OLIVER HERBERT

The recipient of a 2021 Avery Fisher Career Grant,

Oliver Herbert is a concert cellist whose performances combine intensity, clarity, and a strong sense of musical direction. As a soloist, he performs with leading orchestras such as the San Francisco Symphony and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, working with Michael Tilson Thomas, Giancarlo Guerrero, Juanjo Mena, and other distinguished conductors.

Herbert approaches his projects with wide-ranging curiosity, exploring lesser-known repertoire, contemporary music, and connections that cast familiar works in a new light. His projects include concert curations for Deutschlandfunk and the TICA Festival in Hong Kong, as well as premieres of works by Andrew Moses, Žibuoklė Martinaitytė, and Helena Winkelman.

As a chamber musician, he appears at the world’s foremost festivals and venues. One recent highlight was a North American tour with Mitsuko Uchida and musicians from Marlboro Music. Recordings include Haydn’s D Major Cello Concerto with the San Francisco Symphony and his 2020 debut album with pianist Xiaohui Yang, Frame of Mind: Fauré and Janáček.

CELLO

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A graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music and Colburn School, Herbert also completed studies with Frans Helmerson in the Professional Studies program at the Kronberg Academy, generously supported by the Nanno Lenz Patronage. He plays a Guadagnini cello that once belonged to Antonio Janigro, on generous loan from the Janigro family.

Hailed for her prowess and originality, the internationally

ARLEN H LUSKO

acclaimed cellist Arlen Hlusko has performed extensively across North and South America, Asia, and Europe.According to Textura, she is “capable of playing with great delicacy but also fearlessness; regardless of the character of the material, she executes it with authority and conviction [...] and open-hearted expression is present throughout.”

She has performed solo recitals across three continents, serves as the current artist in residence at Grace Farms, and plays cello in the Bang on a Can All-Stars Connect. A recent alumna of the Curtis Institute of Music and Carnegie Hall’s Ensemble Connect, she performs with The Knights, Dolce Suono Ensemble, and Manhattan Chamber Players.

Hlusko has collaborated closely with many leading artists, including Jordi Savall, Midori, Meredith Monk, and David Byrne. She won a Grammy award for her collaboration with The Crossing. She has performed as soloist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, BBC Concert Orchestra, and the Calgary Philharmonic, among others, and performs regularly at Spoleto USA, Tippet Rise, Bay Chamber, Rockport Music, and Music from Angel Fire. Committed to connecting with and serving her community through music, Hlusko is the founding director of Philadelphia Performances for Autism. She is also involved in Carnegie Hall’s “Musical Connections” at Sing Sing Correctional Facility.

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E L E N I K AT Z

Hailed for her virtuosity and vibrant musical spirit,

Eleni Katz has established herself as a prominent soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral player. Praised by The San Diego Union-Tribune for her “thoughtful and expressive” approach to music-making, Katz has gone from performing by the bright blue waters of Bermuda to the lights of Carnegie Hall. She is a winner of the 2022 Concert Artist Guild Victor Elmaleh Competition and has performed with several leading ensembles, including the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, La Jolla Music Society’s SummerFest, and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. In the 2025–26 academic year, she began her role as a member of the bassoon teaching faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music. Among Katz’s 2025–26 season highlights are performances with Camerata Pacifica, Charlottesville Chamber Music Festival, Artist Series Concerts of Sarasota, and a return to Phoenix Chamber Music Society. Her approach to playing the bassoon has been described by The Royal Gazette as “uncannily human,” and she has always believed that the bassoon should strive to emulate the organic resonance of the human voice.

BAS S O O N

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V

ALEXI KENNEY

iolinist Alexi Kenney is forging a career that defies categorization, following his interests, intuition, and heart.

He is equally at home creating experimental programs, commissioning new works, soloing with major orchestras around the world, and collaborating with some of the most celebrated musicians of our time. He is the recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant and a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award.

Kenney began the 2025–26 season with his return to the Pittsburgh Symphony, performing the Sibelius Violin Concerto with Manfred Honeck. He also returns to the San Francisco Symphony in a program of his own curation as soloist and leader, as well as to the Dallas Symphony playing Barber’s Violin Concerto with Daniele Rustioni. Kenney debuts with the Houston Symphony and Slovak Philharmonic, performing Sofia Gubaidulina’s Violin Concerto “in tempus praesens” with Juraj Valčuha, as well as with Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, the Santa Barbara Symphony, Wichita Symphony, and Erie Philharmonic.

Recent and upcoming recital and chamber appearances include the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society in a program celebrating queer composers on National Coming Out Day, the Phillips Collection, 92nd Street Y, and Spoleto Festival. He is a founding member of the quartet Owls. He plays a violin made in London by Stefan-Peter Greiner in 2009 and a bow made in Port Townsend, Washington, by Charles Espey in 2024.

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SYDNEY LEE

The Korean-American cellist Sydney Lee has

distinguished herself as an artist of refined elegance, expressive depth, and radiant sincerity. Julian Lloyd Webber praised her “mesmerizing” performance of Prokofiev’s Sinfonia Concertante that “surmounted all of its technical challenges with ease and gave us a joyous musical experience... a performance to treasure.” She won first prize at the 2022 Washington International Competition and second prize at the Classic Strings International Competition, and she was the inaugural recipient of Meadowmount School of Music’s Gurrena Fellowship.

She made her orchestral debut at age 13 with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and has since appeared with the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra, New Bedford Symphony Orchestra, New Hampshire Music Festival Orchestra, and the Avanti Orchestra. Recent recital engagements include performances at Carriage House Violins, the Sinebrychoff Museum in Helsinki, Guarneri Hall in Chicago, and the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series.

CELLO

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An avid chamber musician, Lee founded the Galvin Cello Quartet, which received international recognition after winning the silver medal at the 2021 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and being named a winner of the 2022 Concert Artists Guild Victor Elmaleh Competition. A native of New York City, Lee is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music and Northwestern University. She is currently pursuing her Doctor of Musical Arts degree with Hans Jørgen Jensen.

YURA LEE A s a soloist and as a chamber musician, Yura Lee is

one of the few performers in the world who is equally virtuosic on both violin and viola. For more than three decades, she has captivated international audiences with genre-spanning music, from Baroque to modern. She performs with the world’s leading orchestras and gives recitals in Wigmore Hall London, Musikverein Vienna, Mozarteum Salzburg, Palais des Beaux-Arts Brussels, and Concertgebouw Amsterdam, among others. At age 12 she became the youngest-ever recipient of the Debut Artist of the Year prize at the Performance Today awards (National Public Radio).

She received the Avery Fisher Career Grant in 2007.

The only first prize winner in four categories at the 2013 ARD Competition in Germany, Yura Lee has won top prizes in several major international competitions. Her CD Mozart in Paris received the Diapason d’Or Award.

As a chamber musician, she performs in the festivals of Seattle, Marlboro, Salzburg, Verbier, La Jolla, and Caramoor, among others. She plays a Giovanni Grancino violin kindly loaned to her through the Beares International Violin Society by generous sponsors. She plays a viola made in 2002 by Douglas Cox, of Vermont.

A professor at the University of Southern California, Thornton School of Music, she holds the Alice and Eleonore Schoenfeld Endowed Chair. She lives in Los Angeles and Copenhagen, with her dog, Nugget.

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LAURA LIU L

aura Liu, a native of Miami, Florida, lives in New York City, where she studies with Cynthia Phelps and Misha Amory.

Hailed by Classical Voice America as a “standout” with a “sound [that is] deep, warm, and consistently musical,” Liu spent the 2025 summer season as a Junior Artist at Marlboro Music Festival and as a Rising Star at Sunkiss’d Mozart Summerfest. Her ardent love of chamber music has led her to spend summers playing with friends at festivals such as Kronberg Academy’s “Chamber Music Connects the World,” Music@Menlo’s International Program, Olympic Music Festival, Perlman Music Program’s Chamber Music Workshop, Taos School of Music, Kneisel Hall, Music Academy of the West, and Heifetz International Music Institute.

Solo accolades include the Edwin Caplin Foundation Award from the 2024 Verbier Festival Academy and an honorary mention and the Pirastro Prize for outstanding young talent at the 2022 Oskar Nedbal International Viola Competition.

In fall 2025 Liu performed with Jupiter Symphony Players, returned to Music@Menlo for an alumni concert, made her Chicago recital debut, and began working toward her Artist Diploma at The Juilliard School, where she recently earned both her Bachelor of Music and Master of Music as a proud recipient of a Kovner Fellowship.

VIOLA

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The American violist Natalie Loughran is quickly estab-

lishing herself as one of the most versatile young artists of her generation. She won first prize and the Audience Award at the 2021 Primrose International Viola Competition, as well as the BIPOC Composer Prize for her arrangement and performance of William Grant Still’s “Mother and Child.” She previously received the William Schuman Prize for outstanding leadership from The Juilliard School.

N ATA L I E L O U G H R A N

As the former violist of the Castalian String Quartet, Loughran has performed in many major chamber music series, including Konzerthaus Berlin, Wigmore Hall, 92NY, San Francisco Performances, and Dallas Chamber Music Society. She has also appeared at many leading festivals, such as Marlboro, Yellow Barn, and Kronberg’s Chamber Music Connects the World, collaborating with Mitsuko Uchida, Stephen Hough, Itzhak Perlman, Dénes Várjon, Gidon Kremer, Tabea Zimmermann, and other prominent artists.

Alongside her solo and chamber work, Loughran has performed with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, and the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra. She earned her Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees at Juilliard, studying with Roger Tapping and Misha Amory, and recently received a Professional Studies Diploma at the Kronberg Academy with Tabea Zimmermann. She performs on a 1976 viola

by Sergio Peresson.

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N AT H A N M E LT Z E R

Winner of the 2023 Concert Artist Guild Competition,

major prize winner at the 2022 Sibelius and Singapore International Violin Competitions, recipient of the Salon de Virtuosi Career Grant, and youngest-ever winner of the Windsor Festival Competition, violinist Nathan Meltzer is establishing a holistic and multifaceted career as both a soloist and chamber musician, with passions for both standard and contemporary repertoire. As a soloist, he has performed with the Aalborg Symphony; Orchestre national d’Île-de-France; the Philharmonia Orchestra; the Royal Northern Sinfonia; the Finnish RSO; the Helsinki Philharmonic; and the Charlotte, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, and North Carolina symphonies; among others, performing across Europe, Asia, and North and South America.

As a chamber musician, he has performed at many celebrated festivals, including ChamberFest Cleveland, Krzyzowa Music, La Jolla SummerFest, the Montreál and Moritzburg festivals, and Newport Classical. A graduate of The Juilliard School and a student of Li Lin and Itzhak Perlman, Meltzer plays on a Storioni violin on generous loan from the Rin Foundation.

VIOLIN

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P

PEDJA MUŽIJEVIĆ

ianist and curator Pedja Mužijević has defined his career with creative programming, unusual combinations of new and old music, and lasting collaborations with artists and ensembles. He has performed with the Atlanta Symphony, Milwaukee Symphony, New Jersey Symphony, and St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. He has played solo recitals at Alice Tully Hall, 92NY, Piano aux Jacobins in Toulouse, and Casals Hall in Tokyo. His Carnegie Hall concerto debut was recorded live and has been released on the Oberlin Music label.

Pedja’s interdisciplinary projects include touring with Mikhail Baryshnikov and the White Oak Dance Project throughout the United States, South America, Europe, and Asia and with Simon Keenlyside in Trisha Brown’s staged version of Schubert’s Winterreise at Lincoln Center in New York, Barbican in London, La Monnaie in Brussels, and Opera National de Paris, as well as the Holland, Lucerne, and Melbourne festivals.

Highlights of the 2025–26 season include Homage to Mixtapes recital program at UNLTD Powered by Verbier Festival and 92NY, Chopin and Beethoven piano concertos with Fort Worth Symphony and String Orchestra of the Rockies in Missoula, Montana, as well as leading Concert in 21st Century workshops at Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, The Juilliard School in New York, and Colburn School in Los Angeles.

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R A D U R AT O I

R

adu Ratoi is the winner of the 2024 Susan Wadsworth International Auditions. An extraordinary talent, he has been praised for his originality and virtuosity in the instruments, in both classical and contemporary repertoire. Ratoi continues to push the limits of the instrument through inventive transcriptions of Bach, Scarlatti, Rameau, Liszt, and many more, extending the repertoire possibilities for the accordion.

Ratoi is a graduate of the Royal Danish Academy of Music, where he was awarded the Sonning Music Prize, one of Denmark’s most prestigious honors. He has won many accordion competitions throughout the world, including the Coupe Mondiale and the Klinghenthal Accordion Competition—more than 60 national and international awards in total.

Ratoi has captivated audiences worldwide with his musicality, technical brilliance, and charisma. He has performed in some of the world’s most renowned concert halls, including the Berlin Philharmonic, Kennedy Center, Tivoli Hall Copenhagen, and Merkin Hall, Moscow Conservatory Great Hall, Moscow Conservatory Great Hall, and Harbin Concert Hall. He was awarded the esteemed Moldovan National Distinction “Master in Arts” and is currently the soloist with the National Chamber Orchestra of Moldova.

ACCORDION

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He plays a Pigini Nova ‘RR’—specially built and modified for him. .

I

nternationally acclaimed for his generous musical spirit and his expressive range, violist Samuel Rosenthal delights in sharing music with audiences of all ages and collaborating with some of today’s preeminent artists. The Journal of the American Viola Society praised his performances for their “intimate, personal approach.”

SAMUEL ROSENTHAL

The first prize winner at the 2025 Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition and the silver medalist at the 2021 Primrose International Viola Competition, Rosenthal began his musical studies in Cleveland, where his passion for chamber music was ignited by formative work with the Cavani String Quartet and Cleveland Quartet violinist Peter Salaff. He has since performed at a variety of celebrated festivals across the world, including the Marlboro Music Festival and the Perlman Music Program, and has been fortunate to collaborate with artists such as Itzhak Perlman, Steven Isserlis, Antje Weithaas, and Kirill Gerstein.

Rosenthal is a graduate of The Juilliard School, where he had the honor of studying with Heidi Castleman, Misha Amory, and Hsin-Yun Huang as a proud recipient of a Kovner Fellowship. He is currently studying at the Kronberg Academy under the tutelage of Nobuko Imai and Antoine Tamestit. These studies are funded by the Annika and Wolfgang Fink Patronage.

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JESSICA SINDELL J

essica Sindell joined The Cleveland Orchestra as assistant principal flutist in October 2018. Prior to winning this audition, she served as solo piccolo player of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. After graduating from the Eastman School of Music, she won her very first orchestral audition at the age of 22, becoming principal flute of the Oregon Symphony.

Sindell performed with the Lake Tahoe Music Festival Orchestra from 2012 to 2018 and has served as principal flute with the Mainly Mozart Festival in San Diego and the Colorado Music Festival. She has also appeared as guest principal flutist with several major orchestras, including the San Francisco Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Seattle Symphony, and St. Louis Symphony.

She feels especially grateful to have performed on multiple occasions at the Tippet Rise Arts Center, including during its inaugural summer in 2016. Beyond the classical stage, Sindell’s flute playing can be heard on several recordings by the genre-bending American band Pink Martini.

FLUTE

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Hailed by New York Classical Review for her “enchanting”

YA S M I N A SPIEGELBERG

performances, the Swiss-French clarinetist Yasmina Spiegelberg is the laureate of several international and national competitions, including the Rotary International Competition Madrid Velazquez, the Frances Walton Seattle Competition, and the USC Concerto Competition. She is an alum of Ensemble Connect, the resident ensemble of Carnegie Hall, and has appeared at Avaloch Farm Music Institute, the Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival, Caramoor, Chelsea Music Festival, GatherNYC, Madison Square Garden, North Country Chamber Players, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Rocket City New Music, Tanglewood, TIME:SPANS Festival, and Yellowbarn.

Spiegelberg has performed with A Far Cry, American Modern Opera Company, Argento New Music Project, Manhattan Chamber Players, On Site Opera, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Vulfpeck, and yMusic, among other renowned ensembles. She has premiered works by such distinguished composers as Katherine Balch, Laura Kaminsky, Gabriella Smith, and Michi Wiancko. Spiegelberg is a core member and co-founder of Trio Phōs, a NYC-based clarinet trio and recipient of the 2024 New World Symphony BLUE Grant. She is the Principal Clarinetist of Pegasus: The Orchestra, the Chamber Orchestra of New York, and Paragon Ragtime Orchestra.

She was a substitute on the Broadway show Camelot. She completed an Artist Diploma at the University of Southern California with Yehuda Gilad.

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Hailed by Chicago Tribune as “a pianist who commands

YEKWON SUNWOO

a comprehensive technical arsenal that allows him to thunder without breaking a sweat,” Yekwon Sunwoo is a powerful and virtuosic performer who, in his own words, “strives to reach for the truth and pure beauty in music.”

The first Korean gold medalist in the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, Sunwoo’s 2025–26 itinerary features appearances with Baltimore Symphony, New York Philharmonic, NSO of Uzbekistan, Korean American Music Supporters’ Association, and many others.

Other recent career highlights include concertos with the Ann Arbor Symphony, New York Classical Players, Colorado Springs Philharmonic, Armenian Symphony, Kalamazoo Symphony, Macao Symphony, Victoria Symphony, Slovak Philharmonic, and Orchestre de Chambre de Paris, as well as recitals at the University of Michigan, Bechstein Hall, and Carnegie Hall.

An avid chamber musician, Sunwoo’s collaborators include Clara Jumi Kang, Sebastian Bohren, Benjamin Beilman, Linus Roth, Andrei Ioniță, Sebastian Bohren, lsang Enders, Tobias Feldmann, Gary Hoffman, Anne-Marie McDermott, and the Jerusalem and Brentano quartets.

Born in Anyang, South Korea, Sunwoo began learning the piano at age eight and made his recital and orchestral debuts in Seoul at 15. His teachers include Seymour Lipkin, Robert McDonald, Richard Goode, and Bernd Goetzke.

PIANO

In September 2023, Sunwoo released his second album for Decca Universal Music Korea, featuring works by Rachmaninoff.

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n recognition of its fiftieth anniversary, the world renowned Takács Quartet was recently profiled by the New York Times and featured on the cover of Strad magazine.

The Takács released two anniversary-season albums in 2025 for Hyperion Records to glowing reviews. In August 2025, for Musica Viva in Australia, the ensemble performed a new work, Sonnet of an Emigrant, for quartet and narrator by Cathy Milliken with texts by Bertolt Brecht.

TA K Á C S Q U A R T E T

Recent and upcoming performances throughout the United States include Mozart viola quintets with Jordan Bak and a new string quartet, NEXUS, by Clarice Assad, co-commissioned by leading concert organizations throughout North America.

The Takács Quartet enjoys a busy international touring schedule. As associate artists at London’s Wigmore Hall, the group presented four concerts featuring works

by Haydn, Assad, Debussy, and Beethoven, as well as two Mozart viola quintets with Timothy Ridout that were recorded for Hyperion.

Formed in 1975 at the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest, the Takács Quartet received international attention in 1977, winning first prize and the critics’ prize at the International String Quartet Competition in Evian, France. Members of the quartet are grateful to be the beneficiaries of an instrument loan by the Drake Foundation, and grateful to be Thomastik-Infeld Artists.

Edward Dusinberre, violin Harumi Rhodes, violin Richard O’Neill, viola Mihai Marica, cello

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CAMILLE THOMAS The Franco-Belgian cellist Camille Thomas has been

making music with radiant, instinctive joy since age four.

Her deeply expressive performances—marked by a rare blend of technical refinement and emotional immediacy—have made her one of the most compelling artists of her generation. Highlights of the 2025–26 season include performances with the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Orchestra della Svizzera italiana, Taiwan Philharmonic, Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, Residentie Orkest, Bochum Symphony Orchestra, and a five-city tour with Euskadiko Orkestra. In October 2025 Thomas curated a week of Paris-inspired concerts at the Viva Cello Festival in Switzerland. She embarked on a North American recital tour with pianist-composer Julien Brocal and continues to tour with clarinetist YOM. Since signing exclusively with Deutsche Grammophon in 2017, Thomas has released several critically acclaimed albums. Released in partnership with UNICEF, Voice of Hope (2020) features the world-premiere recording of Fazil Say’s Never Give Up, composed for her in the wake of the terror attacks in Paris and Istanbul. She recorded The Chopin Project (2021) in Paris and Warsaw during the pandemic.

Born in Paris in 1988, Thomas studied with Marcel Bardon before moving to Berlin to work with Stephan Forck and Frans Helmerson at the Hanns Eisler Hochschule für Musik. She continued her training with Wolfgang-Emanuel Schmidt at the Franz Liszt Hochschule für Musik in Weimar.

CELLO

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The composer and pianist Richard Pearson Thomas has

had works performed by the Boston Pops, Covent Garden Festival, Sydney Opera House, Houston Grand Opera, Chautauqua Opera, Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, Banff Centre, Portland Opera, Skylight Opera, and Encompass Opera. His songs have been sung in Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, Merkin Concert Hall, Wigmore Hall, and Joe’s Pub, as well as before the U.S. Congress.

RICHARD PEARSON THOMAS

Thomas has received commissions from the Mirror Visions Ensemble, American Composers’ Forum, Great Falls Symphony Orchestra, Empire State Youth Orchestra, Lebanon Valley College Orchestra, United States Air Force Band of the Golden West, Cal State Fullerton Opera, Westchester Philharmonic Orchestra, and Riverside Philharmonic Orchestra. His work Race for the Sky, a commemoration of the events of 9/11, has been performed in recitals nationwide and abroad.

Thomas’s chamber music has been performed by Five Boroughs Music Festival, Duo Terlano, Trillium Ensemble, and South Country Concerts and recorded by Music of the Spheres Society for broadcast on NPR. As a pianist, Thomas has concertized with singers and chamber musicians worldwide.

Thomas is on faculty at Columbia University Teachers College. He has taught at Yale and the University of Central Florida. A native of Montana, he is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music and the University of Southern California.

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TRIO AZURA

Trio Azura has quickly emerged as one of today’s most

promising young ensembles, praised by Gramophone for its “intelligence and imagination” and “profound emotion.”

Formed in 2022 at the Colburn School, where they are ensemble in residence, the trio studies with Jonathan Brown, Martin Beaver, Clive Greensmith, and Fabio Bidini. The members of Trio Azura were named winners of the 2025 Young Concert Artists Susan Wadsworth International Auditions and appointed YCA Jacobs Fellows, becoming YCA’s first ensemble in residence.

The trio comprises Canadian violinist Duncan McDougall, South Korean cellist Yejin Hong, and Chinese pianist Yanfeng (Tony) Bai. Drawing on their diverse backgrounds, the members bring distinct perspectives to their performances. In 2024 they won the grand prize, gold medal, Lift Every Voice Prize, and Horszowski Trio Prize at the 51st Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, and they were prizewinners at the Schoenfeld International String Competition in Harbin, China.

Duncan McDougall, violin Ye j i n H o n g , c e l l o Ya n f e n g ( To n y ) B a i , p i a n o

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Recent career highlights include their Fischoff Double Gold Tour across the U.S. Midwest, mentoring more than 500 students; a residency at the American University of Sharjah; and performances at La Jolla Music Society, Boston Court Pasadena, Mimir Chamber Music Festival, and Italy’s Emilia Romagna Festival. Upcoming appearances include Brisbane Festival, Nevada Chamber Music Festival, and Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel.

The Westerlies holds a singular space in modern music.

THE WESTERLIES

From Carnegie Hall to Coachella, the Grammy-nominated quartet has upended presumptions of the brass tradition to create music that NPR Music calls “folk-like and composerly, lovely and intellectually rigorous.”

Composed of Riley Mulherkar and Chloe Rowlands on trumpet and Andy Clausen and Addison Maye-Saxon on trombone, the ensemble has relentlessly composed, arranged, adapted, recorded, and toured over the past 15 years with the precision of a string quartet, the audacity of a rock band, and the charm of a family sing-along.

Across 10 critically acclaimed albums, they have championed countless living composers and collaborators, including Caroline Shaw, Nico Muhly, Conrad Tao, Wayne Horvitz, and Robin Holcomb.

2025 saw the release of two major recordings: Paradise, The Westerlies’ Grammy-nominated re-imagining of the shape note choral tradition, and Songbook, Vol. 3, a live EP and concert film celebrating friends and recent collaborators such as Adrianne Lenker, Aoife O’Donovan, and Joanna Newsom.

In 2026 The Westerlies embark on a major retrospective of American music pioneer Bill Frisell, featuring newly composed works and arrangements; an adaptation of Maria Schneider’s song cycle Winter Morning Walks showcasing South African vocalist Vuyo Sotashe; and a new collaboration with Fleet Foxes’ Robin Pecknold, which explores the music of Judee Sill.

R i l e y M u l h e r k a r, t r u m p e t Chloe Rowlands, trumpet Andy Clausen, trombone Addison Maye-Saxon, trombone

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The Tippet Rise Team

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Lindsey Hinmon, Co-Director Pete Hinmon, Co-Director Pedja Mužijević, Artistic Advisor Ben Wynthein, Ranch Manager Kyle Berg, Maintenance and Events Assistant Bryon Best, Facilities Operator Laura Devitt, Guest Services and Safety Team Whitney Hegeman, Editor and Publications Administrator Ben Johnson, Fire Systems Manager Beth Korth, Art Education and Visitor Center Manager Gene Lacombe, Guest Services and Safety Team Brian Langeliers, Digital Experience Specialist Chris Lockhart, Food and Beverage Manager Dan Luttschwager, Maintenance and Facilities Manager Drew Mangus, Maintenance Operations and Sculpture Conservation Assistant Rhema Mangus, Artistic Programs and Production Manager Shannon Mentzer, Guest Services and Safety Team Manager Ralph Millikin, Guest Services and Safety Team Melissa Moore, Communication and Guest Experience Manager Monte Nickles, Audio and Technology Systems Manager Miranda Rhode, Stage Manager Jim Ruberto, Assistant Audio Engineer and Technical Systems Engineer Jenny Van Ooyen, Visitor Experience Manager Ernie Stephens, Guest Services and Safety Team Jesse Vorhes, Ranch Steward Jeanne Reid White, Special Projects Advisor Craig White, Creative Consultant and Graphic Design Photography: James Florio, Kevin Kinzley, Brian Langeliers, Erik Petersen, Yevgeny Sudbin, Craig White Design and Production: McKenzie Designs

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