Berkshire Chamber Players Concert

Come enjoy an afternoon of music by Mozart, Beethoven, John Harbison, and Haydn.

Robyn Quinnett was born on the island of Montserrat in the Caribbean and began playing violin at eight years old. She has won several competitions including the National Mariam Hayes and Ruth Kern Competitions.

Robyn earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from The Juilliard School studying with Naoko Tanaka and the late Stephen Clapp. In 2019, Robyn completed her DMA from Stony Brook University studying with Hagai Shaham. She has attended the Tanglewood Music Center, Aspen Music Festival, Colorado College Music Festival, and Festival Internacional de Inverno de Campos do Jordão in Brazil. She has performed with ensembles such as the American Symphony Orchestra, Knoxville Symphony, Hudson Valley Philharmonic, New Haven Symphony, American Ballet Theatre Orchestra, and has recently joined Opera Philadelphia. Robyn is now the violin professor at Smith College.

Joel Pitchon is active as a soloist, concertmaster and chamber music player. He has received acclaim for his performances with nationally and internationally renowned ensembles. Pitchon studied with Lewis Kaplan, Oscar Shumsky and Joseph Fuchs, and received his degrees from The Juilliard School. He has served as the concertmaster of numerous orchestras, including the Orquestra Ciutat de Barcelona (Spain), the New York Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra, the Colorado Music Festival Orchestra, the New Zealand Symphony (guest), the National Arts Centre Orchestra (Ottawa, Canada, guest) and the EOS Orchestra (NY). He has participated in many concerts in the United States and abroad with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic.Mr. Pitchon also works extensively in chamber ensembles. He has been a member of the Forster String Trio, the Walden Chamber Players and the Kinor String Quartet, among other groups. Each summer he participates in a series of concerts as leader of the New Baroque Soloists. Mr. Pitchon is currently a member of the Sage Chamber Music Society. As a soloist he has performed with the Orquestra Ciutat de Barcelona, Philharmonia Virtuosi, and the EOS Orchestra among others. The New York Times wrote of his playing in the EOS production of Stravinsky’s L’Histoire du Soldat “…superb playing by Joel Pitchon….”He has appeared on numerous radio and television broadcasts including WGBH, WNYC and PBS. Mr. Pitchon was featured on the TV3 Catalunya program Cadencia, and has been interviewed about his work for The Strad magazine. He has recorded for Deutsche Grammophone, CBS Masterworks and Vox Cum Laude, among others. Recordings include a CD of four Sonatas for violin and piano by Clifton J. Noble, with the composer at the piano for the Gasparo label; New England Legacy, with pianist Jonathan Bass of works by Quincy Porter, Walter Piston and Amy Beach, also recorded for the Gasparo label; Sun Threads, a recording of the chamber music of Augusta Read Thomas, made with the Walden Chamber Players, is available on the ARTCD label; works of composer Donald Wheelock, also with the Walden Chamber Players, is available on the Albany label, and a further edition of works by Piston, Perera and Bernstein for piano trio, New England Trios has been released on the Bridge Records label to positive critical review.

Rachel Fagerburg joined the viola section of the Boston Symphony Orchestra in December 1989. She can be heard frequently in prelude concerts at Symphony Hall and in chamber music performances in the Boston area and in the Berkshires. She was a member of the Renard String Quartet with fellow BSO members and has been a soloist with the Boston Pops under both John Williams and Keith Lockhart. A graduate of New England Conservatory of Music, she was a Fellow at Tanglewood Music Center in 1980. Fagerburg’s teachers included Heidi Castleman and Eugene Lehner at New England Conservatory and Abraham Skernick at the Cleveland Institute of Music. Before joining the Boston Symphony Orchestra, she was a member of the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra, Opera Company of Boston, Emmanuel Music, and Boston Ballet Orchestra.

Ronald Feldman – Two-time winner of the League of American Orchestras’
ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming of Contemporary Music,
Ronald Feldman has achieved critical acclaim for his work as a conductor
and cellist. He has appeared as guest conductor with major orchestras,
including the London Symphony Orchestra, the Rochester Philharmonic
Orchestra, the St. Louis Symphony, and the Quebec Symphony. He served
as assistant to Boston Pops Principal Conductor and composer John
Williams from 1989 to 1993. Seiji Ozawa, Conductor Laureate of the
Boston Symphony Orchestra, called Feldman “an outstanding
conductor…with a deep musical mind, which is clearly conveyed through
his performances.” John Williams regarded Feldman as “a brilliant
conductor who displays the best leadership qualities…and an
outstandingly high level of musicianship that imbues his conducting style
with strength, taste, and imagination.” Feldman joined the Boston Symphony at the age of 19. He has appeared as a soloist in concerto repertoire from Dvořák to Ligeti. Chamber music affiliations have included performances with the Boston Symphony
ChamberPlayers, Collage New Music, and the Williams Chamber Players.
Other performances have included collaborations with violinist Gil
Shaham, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, and pianists Emanuel Ax and Garrick Ohlsson.
In 2001, Feldman left the Boston Symphony Orchestra to pursue other
musical interests. He was appointed Music Director of Longwood
Symphony Orchestra in July 2012. He also served as Music Director of the Berkshire Symphony Orchestra, a regional orchestra in residence at
Williams College. He is Artist in Residence and Lecturer in Music at Williams College.

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