Berkshire Chamber Players Concert – SOLD OUT!

SOLD OUT! Join us on Sunday, November 13 at 2:00 p.m. for the return of the Berkshire Chamber Players! Space is limited! Please email info@stockbridgelibrary.org or call (413) 298-5501 to reserve your spot!

This community concert is free to all with a suggested donation of $25.00. Click to donate.  

Featuring Joel Pitchon and Robyn Quinnett, violins; Marka Gustavsson, viola; and Ronald Feldman, cello.

About the Musicians

Joel Pitchon is an active soloist, concertmaster, chamber music player, and Professor of Music at Smith College. Mr. Pitchon studied with Lewis Kaplan, Oscar Shumsky and Joseph Fuchs and received his degrees from The Juilliard School. He has served as the concertmaster for numerous orchestras, including the Orquestra Ciutat de Barcelona (Spain), the EOS Chamber Orchestra (NY), the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra (guest), and the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra (guest). As a soloist and collaborator, he frequently performs with the New Baroque Soloists.

The New York Times noted his playing in the EOS production of Stravinsky’s L’Histoire du Soldat as “…superb…” He has recorded two CDs for the Gasparo label: Four Sonatas for violin and piano, with the composer Clifton J. Noble, Jr. and New England Legacy, works by Quincy Porter, Walter Piston, and Amy Beach with pianist Jonathan Bass. Sun Threads, the chamber music of Augusta Read Thomas, was recorded with the Walden Chamber Players for ARTCD and New England Trios is his most recent critically acclaimed CD released by Bridge Records. 

Mr. Pitchon is currently the co-director of the Sage Chamber Music Society at Smith College, and a member of the Elm Chamber Ensemble.

Robyn Quinnett – Born on the island of Montserrat in the Caribbean, Robyn Quinnett 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, Princeton Symphony, Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic, New Haven Symphony, American Ballet Theatre Orchestra, and has recently joined Opera Philadelphia. Robyn is dedicated to community engagement and pedagogy. She founded The Montserrat Music Festival, a summer teaching and performing festival, bringing music education and live chamber music to Montserrat. Her other teaching includes serving as a Violin Faculty at the Sphinx Performance Academy. Robyn also enjoys her position as Violin Teacher at The Chapin School in New York City.  

Marka Gustavsson – A dedicated chamber musician, violist Marka Gustavsson spent 3 summers as a Tanglewood Fellow, 91-93. Since that time, Marka has pursued a rich and varied performance life both internationally and in the US. She has been a guest artist at the Bard Music Festival, Mostly Mozart, Vancouver’s Music in the Morning, the Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society, WQXR’s Showcase Concerts, Yale Faculty Artists’ Series, Eastman, and Banff. Marka has premiered and recorded solo and chamber music of composers John Halle, Joan Tower, Kyle Gann, George Tsontakis, Martin Bresnick, Richard Wernick, Laura Kaminsky, Tania Leon, and Tan Dun. From 1999 through 2014, Marka served as violist of the Colorado Quartet, a group that toured extensively and founded the Soundfest Quartet Festival on Cape Cod. Their Complete Beethoven Quartets are available on Parnassus Records.

As a teacher, Marka Gustavsson has given master classes at Yale, Eastman, Indiana University, Hartt, and Oberlin, and adjudicated competitions at Juilliard, Hartt, Yale, Astral Artists, and Banff. She has taught for several summers at the Yellow Barn YAP in Putney, VT. A graduate of Indiana University, Mannes College, and CUNY, her formative teachers include Joseph Gingold, Mimi Zweig, Felix Galimir, Michele Auclair, Viktor Liberman, Julius Levine, and Daniel Phillips. Ms. Gustavsson is on the faculty at Bard College and Conservatory, where she performs with the Blithewood Ensemble and also serves as Associate Director and Coordinator of Chamber Music.  

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 Chamber Players, Collage New Music, and the Williams Chamber Players. Other performances have included collaborations with violinist Gil Shaham, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, and pianists Emmanuel 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 serves 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.

Share & Save This Event