Also an active conductor, he is a fervent proponent of American music and has conducted more than 100 world premiere performance and has 30 CDs in his rapidly expanding discography.

...Mr. Díaz has already had a significant impact on American musical life and will continue to do so in his dual roles as performer and educator. Some of Mr. Díaz's recent and upcoming performances include the Kansas City Symphony with Michael Stern, New World Symphony with Michael Tilson Thomas, Netherlands Philharmonic with Yakov Kreizberg, Philadelphia Orchestra with Gilbert Varga and the Bilbao Symphony with Juanjo Mena. In May 2007, Roberto Díaz will perform the Penderecki concerto at Carnegie Hall with Christoph Eschenbach and the Curtis Symphony Orchestra. An active chamber musician, Roberto Díaz has performed with artists such as the Emerson String Quartet, Emanuel Ax, Yefim Bronfman, Christoph Eschenbach, Yo-Yo Ma, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Isaac Stern and as a member of the Díaz Trio, with violinist Andrés Cárdenes and cellist Andrés Díaz. Mr. Díaz’s recording of transcriptions by William Primrose with Robert Koenig (Naxos) has been nominated for a 2006 Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Soloist Performance Without Orchestra. Also for the Naxos label, he has recorded works for viola and piano by Henri Vieuxtemps (2004). New World Records has released a critically acclaimed live recording of the Jacob Druckman Viola Concerto with Mr. Díaz and The Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Wolfgang Sawallisch. Roberto Díaz was principal violist of the National Symphony under Mstislav Rostropovich, a member of the Boston Symphony under Seiji Ozawa, and a member of the Minnesota Orchestra under Sir Neville Marriner.
 

Ms. Kopec completed her MM and BM at The Julliard and studied with Dorothy DeLay, Ivan Galamian, and William Lincer. She has performed at Aspen Music Festival, Carnegie Recital Hall, Town Hall, Down East Festival (NY), Killington Music Festival, and the Southern Vermont Festival. She was formerly artist in residence with the Andreas Quartet (viola) for 10 years and was on the faculties of Queens College, Interlochen Arts Academy, Sarah Lawrence College, SUNY Purchase, Thurnauer School of Music at the JCC of the Palisades (NJ), and Hoff-Barthelson Music School. She has given Master Classes in Tel Aviv, Prague, Shanghai, Miyazaki (Japan), Ottawa, and the US. Her students have placed in international competitions such as the Menuhin, Stolberg, and the Young Concert Artist and many of her students now hold teaching positions.

Mr. Levine has held the positions of Music Director and Conductor of the Norwalk Symphony Orchestra, the Orquesta del Principado de Asturias in Spain, the Chappaqua Orchestra and the Feld Ballet. A noted violist as well as conductor Mr. Levine has been Principal Violist of the Buffalo, Dallas, Baltimore and New Jersey symphony orchestras and has appeared as conductor or as viola soloist, recitalist and chamber musician in Europe, South America, Israel, Australia, Mexico and throughout the United States. As an active guest conductor some of the many orchestras directed by Mr. Levine include the Puerto Rico Symphony, the Granada Symphony Orchestra (Spain), the Rochester Philharmonic, the Brooklyn Philharmonic, the Buffalo Philharmonic, the Orchestra of the Kennedy Center, the National Orchestral Association at Carnegie Hall, the Ives Center Orchestra, the Colorado Music Festival Orchestra, the New World Symphony, the Texas Festival Orchestra at the Round Top Festival, the Orchestras of Paraiba and San Paulo (Brazil), the Orchestre Symphonique Francaise in Paris and the New York Chamber Symphony at Lincoln Center. Mr. Levine, known for his work in contemporary music, had frequently been invited to conduct the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra in its annual North American New Music Festival, and continues to participate in the annual June-in-Buffalo Festival, both Festivals devoted to the performance of new music. With the June-in-Buffalo Festival Orchestra he recently recorded Morton Feldman’s “The Viola in my Life” (IV), the first recording of this major work, for EMF. In the dual role as Conductor/Teacher Mr. Levine has conducted the National Youth Orchestra of Spain in Madrid, the Youth Orchestra of Andalucia in Seville, and the Youth Orchestra of Catalonia in Barcelona, Spain. As a member of the Bruch Trio he has recorded the music of Max Bruch, Rebecca Clarke, Jean Francaix, Gordon Jacob and Mozart for Summit Records. In addition to his active performing schedule as conductor and violist Mr. Levine has been a member of the faculties of the State University of New York at Buffalo and Stony Brook, and at the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore. Frequently invited to present Master Classes in viola, Mr. Levine has offered these Classes at Festivals in Madrid, Valencia, Barcelona, Morella, Segorbe, San Sebastian, Cartagena and Vitoria (Spain), Festival Flaine Musique (France), and the Paris and Lyon Conservatories of Music.
 

Ms. Oh has held recitals in Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Munich, Osaka, and Kyoto, Japan. She has also performed with the KBS (Korean Broadcasting System) Symphony Orchestra, Pusan Philharmonic Orchestra, Korean Chamber Ensemble, and the Juilliard Symphony Orchestra. Soon-wha Oh is currently a professor of the Korean National University of Arts, School of Music.
 

She has served on the faculty of the annual “Karen Tuttle Workshop.” A frequent chamber collaborator, she performs and records regularly with the Azure Ensemble. She has served as Principal Violist of the American Composers Orchestra, the Brooklyn Philharmonic, the Houston Grand Opera and the Dallas Opera. Ms. Ritscher has commissioned and/or premiered works from many composers including Bruce Adolphe, Wendy Mae Chambers, Linda Bouchard, Tan Dun, Chen Yi, Bright Sheng and Alice Shields. She recently recorded her first CD of the complete works for Viola and Piano by Ernest Bloch. Ms. Ritscher was the string consultant for the award-winning new book by Madeline Bruser, The Art of Practicing; a Guide to Making Music from the Heart. She is the Education Editor of the Journal of the American Viola Society.

...been broadcast on various radio and television stations. Currently, Mr. Watson is on the faculty of the Music Conservatory of Westchester and is a string teacher in the Clarkstown Public Schools in New City, New York. He is also currently principal second violin with the Greater Bridgeport Symphony Orchestra.
 

His recent performances include a solo performance of Martinu’s Concerto for String Quartet with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and collaborations with well-known chamber ensembles such as the Tokyo String Quartet, the Ying String Quartet, the Chester String Quartet, the Ciompi String Quartet, and with members of the Cleveland String Quartet. He was recorded and broadcast by the BBC, CBC, NPR, and the Israeli Broadcast Authority. He won the first prize of the Paul Ben-Haim competition for contemporary music performance and the Israeli National Music Foundation award. Mr. Youngerman is a former member of the internationally award winning Amernet String Quartet. He is professor of viola and director of the Chamber Music Program at East Carolina University, and the conductor and artistic director of the Mallarmé Youth Chamber Orchestra in Durham, NC.