...with some of the world's most prestigious orchestras and conductors. This season's highlights include a residency at Frankfurt's Alte Oper, who prominently feature Isserlis as their 'Auftakt' artist, incorporating a concert with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe; and performances with the Orchestre de Paris under Christoph Eschenbach at the Enescu Festival in Bucharest. Isserlis appears with the Philharmonia under Paavo Järvi, the Philadelphia Orchestra under Charles Dutoit and tours with both the City of Birmingham Symphony and the Australian Chamber orchestras. He also participates in a Gala Concert with the Israel Philharmonic to mark the 50th anniversary of the Mann Auditorium, performing Bloch's Schelomo under Zubin Mehta's baton; and later in the season re-joins the orchestra for a period of concerts under the direction of Kurt Masur.

British-born Isserlis takes a strong interest in authentic performance, playing with many of the foremost period instrument orchestras. Recent seasons have seen Isserlis perform all Beethoven's works for cello with fortepianist Robert Levin both in Boston and at London¹s Wigmore Hall. Last season he performed the Dvorák Cello Concerto with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment under Sir Simon Rattle.

The chamber concerts of Isserlis' devising are renowned, not only for the quality of performance, but also for his ingenuity and innovation in programming. Schumann is a particular passion for Isserlis, and last season he performed Schumann's Cello Concerto on a major tour of Germany with the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie under Marc Albrecht, spearheaded a Schumann project in Japan, and performed in an evening of words and music dedicated to the story of Schumann and Brahms ­ with a script written by Isserlis ­ in London and New York. This season, Isserlis presents a Russian series of his own devising at the Wigmore Hall, French and Russian programmes as part of his residency at Frankfurt's Alte Oper, and a series of chamber music and educational events at the New Zealand International Arts Festival.

Writing and playing for children is another major interest for Isserlis. His first book, a children's history of the lives of six great composers, Why Beethoven Threw the Stew, was published by Faber and Faber in October 2001, and a sequel, entitled Why Handel Waggled his Wig, was published in 2006; both books have been met with high critical acclaim, and are translated into many languages. With his fresh, inimitable style and approachable personality, Steven Isserlis is ever popular with children and enjoys giving concerts especially for them.

Last season, he launched his own series at the 92nd St Y in New York; such was its success that the series continues and develops in the present season. Isserlis¹s interest in musical education has another outlet in the masterclasses he gives regularly all over the world; and for the past ten years he has been Artistic Director of the masterclass and chamber music seminar IMS Prussia Cove. He has also published several editions and arrangements, principally for Faber Music.

Steven Isserlis is a keen exponent of contemporary music and works with many composers on new commissions. He recently gave the world première of Wolfgang Rihm¹s Cello Concerto at the Salzburg Festival, and future plans include the remière performances of works written for him by Mikhail Pletnev and Thomas Adès.

With an award-winning discography, Isserlis' recordings reflect his diverse interests in repertoire. His most recent release is of the complete Solo Cello Suites by Bach on the Hyperion label, which has been met with the highest critical acclaim and won many awards: "Isserlis and Hyperion provide a completely new and inspiring benchmark for this unique tour de force" ­ BBC Music Magazine "This recording is probably the most important since Cassado and Casals fifty years ago"­ Welt Kompakt

Other recent releases include two recordings with Stephen Hough: the Brahms sonatas, coupled with works by Dvorák and Suk, for Hyperion Records, voted Listeners' Disc of the Year on BBC Radio 3's CD review; and a highly-acclaimed disc of children's cello music for BIS Records.

Awarded a CBE in 1998 in recognition of his services to music, Steven Isserlis has received many honours, including in 2000 the Schumann Prize of the City of Zwickau (Schumann's birthplace); previous recipients include Gilels, Masur, Richter and Fischer-Dieskau.

Steven Isserlis plays the Feuermann Stradivarius of 1730, kindly loaned by The Nippon Music Foundation of Japan.

...earning enthusiastic praise in both traditional and contemporary repertoire. Born in Yerevan, Armenia, Mr. Bagratuni began his musical education there at the age of seven. After winning several national and international competitions he continued his studies at the Moscow Conservatory and later in the United States, at the New England Conservatory of Music.

His teachers include such legendary names as Daniel Shafran, Natalia Shakhovskaya and Laurence Lesser. Suren Bagratuni began performing at age ten, and by age fourteen appeared as a concerto soloist. He has performed with all the major orchestras in the former Soviet Union, including the Moscow Philharmonic (under the direction of Valery Gergiev), and has also appeared with the Boston Pops, L’Orchestre Jeune Philharmonie in Paris, the Weimar Staatskapelle, the Philharmonic Orchestras of Rostok, Erfurt and Halle, Stuttgarter Kammerorchester, Symphony Orchestras of Chile, Guatemala, Dominican Republic to name a few.

His solo appearances have included recitals in Moscow, St.Petersburg, Paris, Geneva, Leipzig, Dresden, Berlin, Munchen, Seoul, Cairo, Cape Town, Johannesburg, Pretoria, Taipei, Carnegie Hall’s Weill recital hall, Worcester’s Mechanics Hall, Jordan hall in Boston. A performance there of the Shostakovich d minor Sonata prompted the Boston Globe to call it “one of the best performances of the year”. At Weill recital Hall in New York, he performed a suite for cello and piano by Ned Rorem (with the composer as pianist).

Chamber music appearances have included guest invitations with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Newport Music Festival, the “Russian Winter” festival in Moscow, the El Paso Pro Musica International festival, Bargemusic, international festivals in Italy, Switzerland, France, Germany, Canada, Australia, Mexico, Brazil and Taiwan.

Suren Bagratuni won critical acclaim for his CD releases on the Ongaku label, featuring works for solo cello and Sonatas by Prokofiev and Shostakovich. Mr. Bagratuni also appears on Marco Polo, Russian Disc, BGR, Cambria and CMH labels. He has recorded for “Melodiya”, and has been featured on CBC Radio Canada, WNYC in New York, NPR, and NHK TV Japan.

In addition to his solo activities, Mr. Bagratuni is a member of the Nobilis; Artistic director of “Cello Plus…” music festival; Professor of cello at the Michigan State University and conducts master classes Worldwide.

As a member of the Da Capo Chamber Players, winner of the Naumburg Award and in residence at Bard College, he has participated in over 60 premiers and recorded Schönberg ’s Pierrot Lunatre. A winner of a 1985 NEA Solo Recitalists award, Mr. Emelianoff has recorded for RCA and other labels. He is on the cello and chamber music faculty of the Juilliard School of Music and its Pre- College Division.

...New York (1975). Mr. Gruber served on the faculty of the Rubin Academy of Music in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem as well as the principal cellist of the Israel Chamber Orchestra. In the US, Mr. Gruber was a visiting professor at Indiana University School of Music, Bloomington, and performed and conducted master classes at various universities. He has participated in the St. Petersburg Spring MusicFestival, the Rostropovich Cello Festival in Riga, and adjudicated at the Davidoff International Cello Competition in Kuldiga, Latvia. As of 2004, Mr. Gruber teaches Cello and Chamber Music at East Carolina University, Greenville.
 

...for the new millennium," commencing his 50-state "Anthem" tour on September 11, 2003 in celebration of living American composers. Since his 1984 debut with the Israel Philharmonic and Zubin Mehta, Mr. Haimovitz has performed with such conductors as James Levine, Daniel Barenboim, Semyon Bychkov, Myung-Whun Chung, Charles Dutoit, Sir Neville Marriner, Seiji Ozawa, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Leonard Slatkin, Michael Tilson Thomas,and David Zinman. He has appeared in North America with many of the great symphonies and philharmonics, including Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Los Angeles, Montreal, New York, Philadelphia, and San Francisco, and internationally with the Berlin Philharmonic, the Orchestre de Paris, the Philharmonia Orchestra of London, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, the Radio Orchestras of Frankfurt, Cologne, Leipzig and Hanover, the Israel Philharmonic, the New Japan Philharmonic, the Beijing Opera Orchestra, and many others. Matt Haimovitz is currently Professor of Cello at McGill University in Montreal and plays a 1710 Matteo Gofriller cello.
 

...Broadcasting Symphony of China. Ms. Ko has collaborated with world renowned artists including Mstislav Rostropovich, Sir Georg Solti, Leonard Stein, Gunther Schuller and Semyon Bychkov. Music festivals include Seoul International (Korea), Schleswig-Holstein, Kronberg Cello, 1999 Berlin Wall 10th Anniversary Concert, Rostropovich & Friends Concert (Germany), Beausolei (France), American Cello Congress (US). As a recipient of the Dong-A Gold Award (highest performance honor in Korea) she was selected to perform the Asian premier of a new concerto by Bernard Rands dedicated to celebrate the 70th birthday of Mstislav Rostropovich in 1997. She appears regularly on the Sundays Live Broadcast Concert Series (FM 105.1 Los Angeles & FM1050 San Francisco). Ms. Ko is cello professor at California State University, Fullerton and a Guest Exchange Faculty at Emmanuel Feuermann Conservatory in Germany.
 

...a student of Aldo Parisot. He pursued doctoral studies at Indiana University where he studied with Janos Starker and became principal cellist with the university symphony orchestra. After moving to the New York area, he served as principal cellist of the Westchester Symphony. He has toured extensively in Europe and the U. S. As co-founder of the prestigious Emelin Trio, he has performed extensively in Westchester. Mr. Krieger presently serves on the music faculty of the Music Conservatory of Westchester, Fordham University, and is affiliated with Columbia University and Purchase College (SUNY). Cello Faculty
 

...was awarded a special prize as the Most Outstanding cellist at the Verbier Festival in Switzerland. She started her studies with her father and also took lessons with Natalia Shahovskaya in Moscow. Miss Nassidze graduated in 1999 from the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia where she studied with David Soyer, and did Chamber music studies with Felix Galimir. From 1999 through 2002 Inna was the cellist of the Gilead String Quartet . She has participated at the Ravinia Festival in 1994 and 1995 and was invited to perform at the prestigious Dame Myra Hess memorial concerts series in Chicago, performing live on radio. In 1997 she attended the Piatigorsky Seminar in Los Angeles, and the Isaac Stern Chamber Music Seminar in New York, where she consequently performed at Carnegie Hall. Inna has performed under the baton of Otto Werner-Muller, Akira Endo, Camille Kalchinsky, Francisco Savin, Carlos Miguel Prieto, Christopher Zimmerman, Carlos Riazuelo, Jorge Mester and Luis Herrera de la Fuente, among others, and collaborated with members of the Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society such as Ida Kavafian, Steve Tenenbom and Kerry McDermott. In December of 2005 Inna was invited to perform at the Christmas Gala Concert in Mexico City which was recorded for National television and for BBC. For 2006-2007 seasons, Inna is invited to perform Dvorak and Schumann Cello Concertos as well as participate in several concert series, festivals such as “Cervantino” in Mexico, “Riva Del Garda” in Italy and “Festival Musique de Chambre Montreal” in Canada among others, and offer Master Classes in Mexico,Belgium and Italy. She plays on the cello given to her by the wish of the late renowned cellist Raya Garbousova.

...Summer Cello Clinic. He makes frequent appearances at the Bargemusic Series in Brooklyn, the Autumn Classic series in Anchorage, Chamber Music International in Dallas, and International Niagara Music Festival, Canada, to name a few. Mr. Osadchy participates in many festivals around the world. Graduating from The Special Music School for Talented and Gifted Children, he went on to the Kiev State Conservatory of Music and graduated with honors. He became a Laureate of Republic of Ukraine Cello Competition. Other music credits include more then 60 arrangements for cello ensembles, composition of two film scores and releases of several CD’s on Melodia label featuring his own compositions and arrangements. His recordings with CBC Radio Orchestra received numerous Juno awards.

Mr. Rosen began studying the cello at age six;while studying with Gregor Piatigorsky, Rosen also enjoyed a close association with Jascha Heifetz and participated frequently as cellist in chamber ensembles under the great violinist's tutelage. Mr. Rosen's New York debut occurred in 1970 as winner of the Piatigorsky Award of the New York Violoncello Society. Other career highlights include two seasons as principal cellist of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and principal cellist of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. Mr. Rosen currently teaches at the Manhattan School of Music and also holds the Hauncey Devereux Stillman Chair for Distinguished Visiting Artist at Thomas More College in New Hampshire. He is also Professor at Medow School of Music at South Methodist University in Dallas. He plays a 1738 Montagnana cello.

...and currently serves as principal cellist of the Garden State Philharmonic. For several years he was a member of the HELIX! New Music Ensemble and premiered several new compositions. Recent performances include a performance of the Bach Suites in Trinity Church and Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations with the South Orange Symphony. His past teachers have included David Krieger, Harvey Shapiro, Peter Wiley, and Zara Nelsova (and served as Ms. Nelsova’s teaching assistant) and has participated in the master classes of Janos Starker. He has studied chamber music with the Guarneri and Tokyo String Quartets.

Two of his many recordings were nominated for Grammy Awards. A prolific writer, Strad, Strings, and American String Teacher magazines have published his reviews and articles. Mr. Solow studied with the distinguished cellist Gabor Rejto and he earned a degree in Philosophy magna cum laude from UCLA while studying with and then assisting the legendary Gregor Piatigorsky at USC. Recognized as an authority on healthy and efficient cello playing, Mr. Solow is professor of cello and chair of Instrumental Studies at Temple University in Philadelphia. He is currently president-elect of ASTA (the American String Teachers Association).

and Asia, appearing at the Great Hall of Moscow Conservatory, Osaka Symphony Hall in Japan, New York’s Alice Tully Hall, and Brazil’s Sala Cecilia Mereles with orchestras such as the Sao Paolo Symphony, the Moscow Chamber Orchestra, the Kiev Philharmonic and the Teatro Alfa Symphony. Among his other prizes and awards are the Koussevitsky Cello Competition in New York, the Schadt Competition, Artist International, Premio della Critica in Trieste and the Russian National Competition in Moscow. Since his critically acclaimed debut at Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall, Mr. Tchekmazov has enjoyed an active career as a recitalist and chamber musician, performing at such renowned venues as the Phillips Collection in Washington D.C, Bargemusic, Jupiter Chamber Players, Lukas Foss’s Music Festival at The Hamptons, Lyric Chamber Music Society in New York, Rhode Island Chamber Music Series, Bar Harbor Music Festival, Zankel Hall, Merkin Hall, Caramoor and Hampden Sydney where he was invited to perform by the members of the Emerson String Quartet. Mr. Tchekmazov is a faculty member at the Summit, Waterville Valley and Summertrios Music Festivals. Mr. Tchekmazov’s performances have been featured on WQXR, WGBH, NPR, and other TV and radio stations across Eastern and Western Europe and South America. He has made recordings for the NAXOS label with the Russian National Philharmonic, as well as the Delos label.

He has also pursued post-graduate studies with Linda McKnight, and has participated in summer music festivals in Texas; Hot Springs, Arkansas; and Colorado Springs. Mr. Brown currently serves as principal bass of the Orchestra of St. Peter-by-the-Sea and the Metro Lyric Opera, and is the bassist for the Red Bank Chamber Music Society. Originally from Dallas, Mr. Brown was also principal bass of the Texas Gilbert and Sullivan Company and a member of the Richardson and Sherman Symphonies. He is also a member of the jazz fusion group Monkeyworks, featured as the artists-in-residence at the Guggenheim Museum for the WorldBeat jazz festival, and whose music has been heard on NPR's All Songs Considered as well as ABC's 20/20. An active teacher with fifteen years' experience working with students of all ages, Mr. Brown has conducted master classes and chamber music coaching sessions for the New Jersey State Youth Orchestra, the St. Peter-by-the-Sea Summer Music Camp, and the Toms River school district. He is on the faculty of Georgian Court College, and has a large private studio comprised of students from all over New Jersey.

He has performed in ensembles and orchestras directed by Leonard Bernstein, Pierre Boulez, Mstislav Rostropovich, Aaron Copland, James Conlon, and Jens Nygaard. He is a former member of Musical Elements, the New York Quintet, and the New York Art Ensemble, and has performed in Broadway orchestras for Bernstein’s Candide and Gilbert and Sullivan’s Pirates of Penzance. His performances have been recorded by Columbia, RCA, Elektra-Asylum, Sony Digital, Musical Heritage, MMG, Grenadilla, CRI, Opus One, and for Universal Pictures. In a 1991 review in The Strad, Marcia Young writes, “Eugene Kurtz's 1974 work, The Last Contrabass in Las Vegas, shared a programme with three world premieres in the New York Art Ensemble's February 25 recital at Merkin Hall. Essentially a comic duet for contrabass and actress, Kurtz's work put bassist Dennis Masuzzo and his instrument through their paces thoroughly, using surely every method and device ever conceived for getting sound out of a contrabass. The work's programme—the gushings of a female fan of the instrument who literally goes mad over it—is a clever idea and the occasion of lots of musical jokes. Masuzzo performed masterfully and from memory.” While a double bass student at Juilliard, Mr. Masuzzo was the guitarist with the Juilliard Contemporary Ensemble. He has also studied extensively with Joe Morello, legendary jazz drummer. Mr. Masuzzo freelances in the New York metropolitan area and has been bassist for the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, NJ, since 1991. He teaches privately and is an adjunct faculty member at Seton Hall University in South Orange, NJ and the Montclair State University Preparatory Center in Montclair, NJ. Mr. Masuzzo plays a guitar-shaped double bass made in 1833 by Vincenzo Lucarini and uses a Henk te Hietbrink bow. Mr. Masuzzo lives with his wife Leslie and son Benjamin in Montclair, NJ.