Berkshire Chamber Players Concert

Join us on Sunday, April 14 at 2:00 p.m. for the return of the Berkshire Chamber Players. Please email info@stockbridgelibrary.org or call (413) 298-5501 to reserve your spot! This concert will feature Ariana Kim and Robyn Quinnett, violins; Ed Gazouleas and Natalie Rose Kress, violas; Ronald Feldman and Joel Moerschel, Cellos; and Bob Logan, piano.

About the Musicians

Noted by The New York Times for giving “the proceedings an invaluable central thread of integrity and stylishness,” violinist Ariana Kim made her New York recital debut at Carnegie’s Weill Hall during her doctoral studies at Juilliard and is now a tenured a professor at Cornell University.  At 16, Ariana made her debut with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and at 24 was appointed acting concertmaster of the Louisiana Philharmonic in New Orleans; she has since become one of the most respected artists of her generation.

As a violinist of the Aizuri Quartet she was awarded the 2017 Osaka International Competition Grand Prize, the 2018 M-Prize, and a 2019 GRAMMY® nomination for the album Blueprinting.  During her tenure, the ensemble served as a Quartet-in-Residence at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and presented recitals at Suntory Hall Tokyo, the University of Toronto, the Caramoor Center, National Sawdust, Princeton University, and the Kennedy Center.  Equally devoted to contemporary and long-established literature, Ariana held a 10-year position with the New York new music ensemble Ne(x)tworks and is currently in her 17^th season with The Knights; their 2016 recording …the ground beneath our feet… on which Ariana is a featured soloist alongside Guillaume Pirard in Steve Reich’s Duet, was chosen as NPR’s “Songs We Love” for the year.

Recently having returned from a sabbatical year in South Korea, Ariana spent seven months studying the gayageum (an ancient zither-style instrument), performing throughout the country, and presenting master classes at Seoul National University.  She was appointed co-artistic director of the Chamber Music Society of Minnesota and Paesaggi Musicali Toscani in Siena, Italy in 2019.  Current season highlights include the premiere of a new double violin concerto by Laura Schwendinger with the Dubuque and Madison Symphonies, serving as the host for the live PBS broadcast of This Is Minnesota Orchestra, and a solo recital at The Clark Art Institute.  Her upcoming solo album – exploring improvisation through the lens of Mozart and Beethoven sonatas alongside world folk music – is set for release in the fall of 2023.  Learn more about Ariana Kim here

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, Princeton Symphony, Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic, New Haven Symphony, American Ballet Theatre Orchestra, and has recently joined Opera Philadelphia.

Violist Ed Gazouleas has emerged as one of the finest teachers of his generation and his students now populate the viola sections of many orchestras globally. Mr. Gazouleas was a member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra for 24 years, where he held the Lois and Harlan Anderson Viola Chair and often led the viola section. While in Boston, he was active in orchestra governance, chairing the orchestra’s artistic advisory committee. As a chamber music performer, Mr. Gazouleas has appeared with members of the Fine Arts, Pacifica, Muir, Lydian, and Johannes string quartets, among others. A prize-winner at the Eighth International String Quartet Competition in Evian, France, he has also collaborated with such artists as Christian Tetzlaff, Stephanie Blythe, Roberto Díaz, the Boston Symphony Chamber Players, and the principal string players of the Cleveland Orchestra.

Mr. Gazouleas works to expand and promote new works for the viola. In 2019 he performed the North American premiere of Letters from Warsaw by English composer Joseph Phibbs. He has also served on the faculties of Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music as a tenured professor, Boston University College of Fine Arts, Boston Conservatory, Wellesley College, and New England Conservatory. Mr. Gazouleas is a 1984 graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music where he studied viola with Michael Tree and Karen Tuttle. He joined the Curtis faculty in 2017 and was named the Gie and Lisa Liem Artistic Director in 2021 and Provost in 2022. Mr. Gazouleas was recently named the Interim Director of The Tanglewood Music Center.

Natalie Rose Kress has been praised by the New York Times for her “splendid playing,” Natalie Rose Kress enjoys a varied career as both a modern and Baroque chamber musician based in Washington, D.C. Following three summers as a Tanglewood Fellow, working closely with Malcolm Lowe and other Boston Symphony members, she was awarded the Jules C. Reiner Violin Prize from the Tanglewood Music Center and performed with Yo-Yo Ma and Pamela Frank at the Kennedy Center Honors.

Natalie is co-founder, director and executive advisor of Musicivic Inc., a national non-profit arts network supporting local chamber music residencies in towns nationwide.

With a wide-ranging chamber and orchestral repertoire, Natalie performs frequently with Boston’s Handel and Haydn Society; Shanghai Camerata at the Shanghai Conservatory; and La Grande Bande in Minnesota. She has most recently collaborated with William Christie’s Les Arts Florissants and Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra in San Francisco.

Natalie received her Bachelor of Arts in Music and Psychology and Master of Music from Stony Brook University where she studied violin performance with Soovin Kim and Philip Setzer and chamber music with the Emerson String Quartet.

She is currently a full-tuition scholarship student at The Juilliard School studying Historical Performance with Rachel Podger, Cynthia Roberts, and Elizabeth Blumenstock, and tours extensively with Juilliard415.

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.

Joel Moerschel– Born in Oak Park, Illinois, Joel Moerschel received his early musical training from Chicago Symphony cellist Nicolai Zedeler and from Karl Fruh, professor of music at the Chicago Musical College. Studies with Ronald Leonard at the Eastman School of Music led to a Bachelor of Music Degree with distinction and a performer’s certificate. In addition to his commitments with the Boston Symphony Orchestra with which he played for 33 years, retiring in 2003, Joel has performed on numerous occasions as a soloist, chamber musician, and contemporary music cellist with Collage New Music, Boston Musica Viva, the Wheaton Trio, the Francesco and Amici string quartets. He also served on the music faculties at Wellesley College and Wheaton College.

Pianist and composer, Bob Logan, holds a master’s degree from the New England Conservatory, studying under Meng-Chieh Liu. Originally from Wisconsin, he completed a bachelor’s degree in music and computer science and spent two years working full-time as a software engineer before deciding to pursue his lifelong calling and passion as a musician. A sensitive collaborator and in-demand accompanist, Logan is an Artist Associate in Collaborative Piano at Williams College. In early 2020 he joined the Eurythmy Spring Valley Ensemble on their European tour with performances in England, Scotland, Germany, and Switzerland. He was a Tanglewood Music Center Fellow in 2015 and has won prizes in the NEC Piano Honors Competition, the Chicago College of Performing Arts Concerto Competition, and the UW-Madison Beethoven Competition. He currently runs a piano teaching studio in Canaan, NY.

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