Strings
Photo by Zara Tzanev
Gergana Haralampieva, violin
Violinist Gergana Haralampieva is a passionate chamber musician, educator, soloist, and speaker. Gergana’s goal as a musician is to be an advocate for humanizing the classical musician and preserving tradition, while also presenting it in new mediums. Gergana has participated in the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival and Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute, and also attended the Verbier Festival Academy. As a soloist, she has appeared with the Boston Pops Orchestra as well as on NPR’s From the Top and Czech Radio. In addition to recognitions from several international competitions, she was a recipient of the Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Award. In 2016, Gergana received her bachelor’s degree from the Curtis Institute of Music, where she studied with Ida Kavafian and Pamela Frank. She recently obtained her master’s degree at the New England Conservatory as a student of Miriam Fried and is currently a member of Carnegie Hall’s Ensemble Connect.
Harriet Langley, violin
Born in Sydney, Australia, Harriet Langley is the Laureate or Finalist of many competitions, including the 2016 Leopold Mozart Competition, 2006 Yehudi Menuhin International Competition, the 2010 Tibor Varga Competition and the 2011 Andrea Postacchini International Competition. Since she made her professional debut with the Reno Philharmonic of Nevada at the age of 13, Harriet has performed as a soloist with the London Chamber Orchestra, the Verbier Festival Orchestra, Sinfonia Varsovia, Vienna Chamber Orchestra, the Gyeonggi Philharmonic of Korea, Orchestre National de Belgique, l’Orchestre Royal Philharmonique de Liège, Bruno Walter Orchestra of Germany, Orchestre Royal de Chambre de Wallonie of Belgium, Ridgefield Symphony Orchestra of Connecticut, and others. She has participated in festivals such as the Seiji Ozawa International Music Academy Switzerland, Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute, Yellow Barn and Prussia Cove. She has recorded two CDs with the Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège. She completed her Bachelor’s degree at the New England Conservatory as a student of Miriam Fried and Lucy Chapman, and is currently completing her Master’s degree at The Juilliard School as a student of Catherine Cho and Daniel Phillips.
MattHEW Cohen, Viola
American violist Matthew Cohen is a dynamic and versatile artist whose captivating performances have made him one of the most sought-after violists of his generation. A recipient of numerous accolades and prizes, he has been awarded the 2018 Center for Musical Excellence International Performing Arts Grant, top prizes at the 2018 Art of Duo: Boulder International Chamber Music Competition, the 2016 “Citta di Cremona” International Viola Competition in Cremona, Italy, the 2016 Juilliard Concerto Competition and 2015 Vivo International Music Competition and the “Best Performance of Commissioned Work” prize at the 2014 Primrose International Viola Competition.
Photo by Chris Lee
Leah Ferguson, viola
Violist Leah Ferguson joined the New York Philharmonic in October 2018, having previously served in the Boston Symphony Orchestra since 2016. Originally from Chicago, Ms. Ferguson received her early training from Roland Vamos. She went on to earn a bachelor’s degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she studied with Robert Vernon and Mark Jackobs, and a graduate diploma from The Juilliard School as a recipient of the Kovner Fellowship, studying with Heidi Castleman and Philharmonic Principal Viola Cynthia Phelps. Ms. Ferguson has participated in festivals including Music@Menlo, Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute, the Verbier Festival, and the Perlman Music Program. She has toured with Musicians from Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute, performed as a guest artist with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields Chamber Ensemble, and appeared at The Greene Space with violinist Joshua Bell and other musicians from the YoungArts Foundation. Leah Ferguson has also performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, The Cleveland Orchestra, Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra as assistant principal, and Montreal Symphony Orchestra as guest associate principal. Her performances have been featured on WCLV Cleveland, WFMT Chicago, and HBO’s documentary television series Masterclass.
Sarah Ghandour, cello
Sarah Ghandour is currently a doctoral student at Stony Brooke University, where she also completed her master's degree with Cellist Colin Carr in May 2020. She completed undergraduate education at Bard Conservatory, earning a Bachelor of Music under the tutelage of Cellist Peter Wiley and a Bachelor in Mathematics. Sarah was then the honored recipient of the 2017-2018 Harriet Hale Woolley-Fulbright Scholarship and one year artist residency in Paris, France. She enjoyed collaborating with the Ensemble Calliopée, performing the Korngold Sextet and other repertoire, at the Fondation des États-Unis. Sarah has collaborated with renowned artists, including Peter Wiley, Peter Serkin, Dawn Upshaw and Emerson Quartet members. She has participated in music festivals such as Rencontres Musical de Saint-Cézaire-sur-Siagne, Encore String Quartet Intensive, Yellow Barn, and Music@Menlo. Most recently, Sarah participated in the Pablo Casals Festival, where she also won the solo competition, culminating in her performance in 9th century Abbey of Saint Michel de Cuxa, Prades, France.
Ana kim, cello
Indiana-native Ana Kim is a versatile cellist based in New York, who actively performs on modern and historical instruments with various ensembles throughout the United States, United Kingdom, and France. Baroque ensembles include Les Arts Florissants, the Sebastians, Musica Angelica; classical/romantic-practice groups Valley of the Moon Festival, American Classical Orchestra, and Teatro Nuovo. On modern cello, she has worked with ensembles as Shattered Glass and the Halle Orchestra.
Ana has participated in festivals such as Yellow Barn, Verbier Academy, Music@ Menlo, and International Musicians Seminar at Prussia Cove. She has received a Doctorate at the University of Southern California and has studied Historical Performance at Juilliard. Her teachers include János Starker, Ralph Kirshbaum, Laurence Lesser, and Phoebe Carrai.
With a keen interest in education and interacting with different communities, Ana has participated in outreach residencies with Kneisel Hall Festival in Maine and Listen Closely in New York, and has worked with Boston-based Music for Food. She has also taught in Pacific Union College and public schools in Napa Valley.
Woodwinds
Hae jee (Ashley) Cho, Flute
Flutist Hae Jee (Ashley) Cho is a soloist, chamber musician and orchestral player. She has earned both a Bachelors of Music and Masters of Music degree at The Juilliard School. A passionate soloist and laureate of top prizes in national competitions, Ms. Cho’s brilliant artistry has been recognized by the National Society of Arts and Letters, San Diego Young Artist competition, The Flute Society of Washington, The New York Flute Club. She is currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts at Stony Brook University as a teaching assistant to Carol Wincenc. Recently winning the school’s concerto competition, she will be performing Lowell Liebermann’s Flute Concerto with the Stony Brook Symphony Orchestra in the upcoming season.
Photo by Ryan Brandenburg
Beomjae Kim, flute
Beomjae Kim has appeared at the Seoul Arts Center, Lincoln Center, SubCulture, National Sawdust, (Le) Poisson Rouge, Trinity Wall Street, the Guggenheim Museum, Brooklyn Museum, and Carnegie’s Zankel, Weill, and Stern halls. He was a fellow of Ensemble Connect (formerly Ensemble ACJW), a program of Carnegie Hall, The Juilliard School, and Weill Music Institute. He has been featured at Italy’s Alba Music Festival, the Artosphere Festival, the Naumburg Orchestral Concerts, “Concerts at One” at Trinity Wall Street, and with the New York String Orchestra Seminar. He earned a Bachelor’s degree from Oberlin College, and holds both a Master’s degree and an Artist Diploma from the Manhattan School of Music.
Tamara Benitez Winston, Oboe
Paraguayan/American oboist Tamara Benitez Winston is the recently appointed English Horn/Oboe of the Nashville Symphony Orchestra. As a recent alum of Carnegie Hall’s Ensemble Connect, Tamara enjoys a busy orchestral career and performs regularly with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, the New York City Ballet, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, and the Montclair Orchestra.
As a teaching artist, Tamara is passionate about sharing music with a wide range of audiences and promoting inclusivity in arts education. She is the Associate Director of MusicAlly, an organization that serves children in need of art and connection, by providing video music lessons with the nation’s best music teachers, and creating an online community of peers. She is on the oboe faculty at the Conservatory of Music at Brooklyn College.
Graeme Steele Johnson, Clarinet
Winner of the Hellam Young Artists' Competition, the Yamaha Young Performing Artists Competition and the Center for Musical Excellence's inaugural Lee Memorial Scholarship, Graeme Steele Johnson has established a multifaceted career as a clarinetist, writer and arranger and earned praise for his "elegant and rounded sound" and "gentle lyricism" (Albany Times Union). His diverse artistic endeavors range from a TEDx talk comparing Mozart and Seinfeld, to his reconstruction of a forgotten 125-year-old work by Charles Martin Loeffler, to his performances of Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto on a rare elongated clarinet that he commissioned. He has appeared in recital at The Kennedy Center and Chicago's Dame Myra Hess series, as a chamber musician at Carnegie Hall, the Ravinia Festival, Phoenix Chamber Music Festival and Chamber Music Northwest, and as concerto soloist with the Vienna International Orchestra, Springfield Symphony Orchestra, Caroga Lake and Vermont Mozart Festival Orchestras and the CME Chamber Orchestra. Upcoming engagements include performances with the Miró Quartet, David Shifrin and Valerie Coleman, and at the Yellow Barn festival.
Alexander Davis, Bassoon
Alexander Davis is a New York City based freelance bassoonist whose artistic practice centers healing, connecting, and building community within classical music. He has played with orchestras and series such as Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Princeton Symphony Orchestra, Albany Symphony, Erie Philharmonic, CityMusic Cleveland, Harlem Chamber Players, Symphony in C, Symphoria, and Sherman Chamber Ensemble to name a few. He has performed in summer festivals such as Tanglewood, Ensemble Evolution, Banff Music Festival, Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, Maine Chamber Music Seminar, and the Imani Winds Chamber Music Festival. In addition to performing, Alexander is founder of Sugar Hill Salon Chamber Music in Harlem, bassoon faculty at Montclair State University, administrative manager for the Imani Winds Chamber Music Festival, and a teaching artist at the Park Avenue Armory.
Yen-chen wu, bassoon
Hailing from Tainan, Taiwan, Yen-Chen Wu began studying bassoon at the age of nine. After performing as a concerto soloist with the University of Taipei and Taipei Wind Orchestra, she received second prize in the Asian Double Reed Association International Solo Competition. As a result, she performed Weber’s Andante e rondo ongarese with the Taipei Symphony Orchestra. Yen-Chen’s concert activities have taken her to Japan, Thailand, Germany, Canada, and the US.
In 2015, Yen-Chen became the first bassoonist to win the Serge and Olga Koussevitzky Young Artist Award for woodwinds and brass instruments since 1983. In addition, she has won many other prizes at student competitions at Tainan and Taipei, as well as at the Yale School of Music and the University of Taipei. She was recognized at the Taipei Wind Orchestra’s national concerto competition.
Brass
Atse Theodros, trumpet
Atse Theodros, born and raised in Orlando, Florida, is currently a musician in the New York City area. Atse holds a Bachelor’s in Music Education degree from the University of Florida, earning certification to teach K-12 in the state. Atse earned a Master of Music degree as well as a Professional Studies Certificate at Manhattan School of Music in the Orchestral Performance Program, studying under Mark Gould and Ethan Bensdorf. Other primary teachers include Vincent Penzarella, Thomas Smith, and Dr. Joyce Davis. Orchestral experience includes a position with the Ocala Symphony Orchestra as well as performances with the Tucson Symphony and The Orchestra Now. Atse has performed under the baton of such conductors as Leonard Slatkin and Kurt Masur. Atse maintains an active lifestyle, enjoying various sports such as football and basketball in time outside of music as well.
Photo by Ryan Brandenburg
Eric Huckins, Horn
Eric Huckins is a New York-based horn player, educator, and arranger. Passionately striving to connect with audiences in creative musical mediums, he regularly incorporates commissioning, improvisation, and his own compositions into his various musical and social projects. As a new music enthusiast, Eric has commissioned and premiered over 50 works for solo horn and horn in chamber settings in the past two years alone. Eric was a founding member of several ensembles, including The Brass Project and Tangent Winds, which received the Bronze Medal at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. Eric has been featured as a chamber musician at such festivals as Music from Angel Fire and the Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival. In 2015 and 2018, he held the Brass Quintet Fellowship at the Aspen Music Festival. He has also appeared with the American Brass Quintet, the Philadelphia Orchestra, American Ballet Theater, and has performed as guest Principal Horn with the Netanya Kibbutz Chamber Orchestra. Eric holds a Bachelor’s degree from Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied with Jennifer Montone and Jeffrey Lang, and a Master’s degree from The Juilliard School, under Julie Landsman. He has also studied historical performance extensively with R.J. Kelley.Eric Huckins is a New York based french horn player and brass educator dedicated to creatively sharing music through diverse musical styles. A winner of Astral Artist’s 2018 National Auditions, Eric is the first horn player to be a part of their roster.
Burt Mason, Trombone
Burt Mason performs regularly with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, serves on faculty at the Juilliard School’s Preparatory Division and is Principal Trombone of the Chamber Orchestra of New York. He has appeared as guest artist with the NY Philharmonic, the Metropolitan Opera Brass, the Utah Symphony and as a soloist Internationally. Mr. Mason made his Carnegie Hall solo debut in March 2018 performing Albrechtsberger’s Concerto for Alto Trombone in Weill Recital hall with the Chamber Orchestra of New York. He has also appeared as soloist with numerous ensembles throughout North America, the United Kingdom, Europe and Australia.
Mr. Mason has performed under the baton of notable conductors such as Michael Tilson Thomas, Kurt Masur, Alan Gilbert, Mstislav Rostropovich, Esa- Pekka Salonen, Skitch Henderson, Gustavo Dudamel, and Yannick Neź et-Seǵ uin amongst others in world-renowned venues such as Royal Albert Hall, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Apollo Theater.
Mr. Mason began playing trombone at age 12 but did not receive any formal lessons until he entered college at the Crane School of Music (SUNY Potsdam). Despite this lack of formal training in his early stages, his natural skills as a trombonist placed him as a finalist in the first annual New York Philharmonic Young Performers Audition, selection for the esteemed NAfME/MENC All-Eastern Band, the NYSSMA All-State Band and Orchestra, as well as winning several local music contests during high school. While in college at the Crane School of Music, Mr. Mason won the school’s most prestigious performing contest, the annual Crane Concerto Competition, as a freshman. Mr. Mason has been featured as a soloist on a variety of recordings with the New York Staff Band on the Triumphonic label. He has also completed several recordings with the Chamber Orchestra of New York on the Naxos label. Mr. has recorded on several motion picture soundtracks including A Dog’s Purpose (Amblin Entertainment) and the Live Action Lion King movie (Disney) released in 2019 and Space Jam 2: A new Legacy (Warner Bros).
As an advocate for Diversity in the Arts, he is founder and director of Ovation Concerts, an organization dedicated to balanced diversity in orchestral music and appeared as a guest on WQXR’s "Conducting Business" with Naomi Lewin to discuss the history and future of classical music and diversity in the orchestral field. He is the Low Brass instructor for the LA Philharmonic’s Youth Orchestra Los Angeles National Festival, a summer music festival led by Gustavo Dudamel, which supports social change through music. Mr. performs regularly with the Gateways Music Festival, Chinike!Orchestra, and other organizations with a mission of increasing diversity in the field of orchestral and classical music.
Mr. Mason holds a BA in Music from the Crane School of Music studying with Mark Hartman, an MBA in Arts Administration from Binghamton University, and an MM in Orchestral Performance from the Manhattan School of Music studying with David Finlayson. He has had additional studies with Joseph Alessi and Weston Sprott. Mr. Mason is a Yamaha Performing Artist and Clinician. www.burtmason.com
Piano and Harp
Chelsea Lane, harp
Brooklyn-based harpist Dr. Chelsea Lane graduated magna cum laude from Yale University with a Bachelor of Arts in Music, completed her Master of Arts in Harp Performance with grote onderscheiding (“high honors”) at the Royal Conservatory in Brussels, and received her D.M.A. in Music Performance from The Graduate Center, CUNY. A versatile musician, Dr. Lane is equally at home performing on Broadway shows such as Tony-nominated musical Paradise Square or in the annual Christmas Spectacular Starring the Radio City Rockettes, as she is in classical symphonic settings as a sub for ensembles such as the Czech Philharmonic, The Metropolitan Opera, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, and Wheeling Symphony Orchestra, among others. As a prizewinner in several national and international competitions, including the American Harp Society’s Young Professional Competition, the Anne Adams Awards, the Minnesota Symphony Orchestra Young Artist Concerto Competition, the Lyon and Healy Awards, and the ASTA National Solo Competition, Dr. Lane is well-equipped to prepare harp students in her private studio and at the university level for musical success. Dr. Lane’s doctoral dissertation “The Feminine Harp as Feminist Tool: Early Professional Footing for Women in Mid-Twentieth-Century America” further informs her teaching as an Adjunct Harp and Music History Lecturer at Rowan University and the College of Staten Island, as well as her innovative solo and chamber concert programming.
Zhenni Li-Cohen, piano
The unanimous First Prize winner of the Concours Musical de France, Zhenni Li also received top prizes from the International Russian, Grieg, Kosciusko Chopin, and Heida Hermanns competitions. She has performed in Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Merkin Concert Hall, Norway’s Grieghallen, and the Berliner Philarmonie, and recently released her debut CD, Melancholie, for the Steinway & Sons label. Upcoming are recording projects including Beethoven’s 65 Variations and works of Sergei Bortkiewicz, entitled Une lettre, also for Steinway & Sons, and performances with the Fairbanks and Knoxville symphony orchestras. She studied at The Juilliard School, Yale School of Music, and McGill University, and is the co-founder and Artistic Director of Philadelphia’s Fishin’ in C chamber music series and The Last Soirée, a multi-genre series in New York.
