Festival Artists
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR: ARNAUD SUSSMANN
Winner of a 2009 Avery Fisher Career Grant, Arnaud Sussmann has distinguished himself with his unique sound, bravura, and profound musicianship. Minnesota’s Pioneer Press writes, “Sussmann has an old-school sound reminiscent of what you’ll hear on vintage recordings by Jascha Heifetz or Fritz Kreisler, a rare combination of sweet and smooth that can hypnotize a listener.”
A thrilling musician capturing the attention of classical critics and audiences around the world, he has recently appeared as a soloist with the Mariinsky Orchestra under Valery Gergiev, the Vancouver Symphony, and the New World Symphony. As a chamber musician, he has performed at the Tel Aviv Museum in Israel, London’s Wigmore Hall, Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, the White Nights Festival in Saint Petersburg, the Dresden Music Festival in Germany, and the Phillips Collection in Washington, DC. He has been presented in recital in Omaha on the Tuesday Musical Club series, New Orleans by the Friends of Music, and at the Louvre Museum in Paris.
An alum of CMS’s Bowers Program, Sussmann is Artistic Director of the Chamber Music Society of Palm Beach, Co-Director of Music@Menlo’s International Program, and teaches at Stony Brook University.
JENNIFER FRAUTSCHI, Violin
Two-time GRAMMY nominee and Avery Fisher career grant recipient violinist Jennifer Frautschi has appeared as soloist with innumerable orchestras including the Cincinnati Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Milwaukee Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, and St Paul Chamber Orchestra. As chamber musician she has performed with the Boston Chamber Music Society and Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and appeared at Chamber Music Northwest, La Jolla Summerfest, Music@Menlo, Tippet Rise Art Center, Toronto Summer Music, and the Bridgehampton, Charlottesville, Lake Champlain, Moab, Ojai, Santa Fe, Seattle, and Spoleto Music Festivals.
Her extensive discography includes several discs for Naxos: the Stravinsky Violin Concerto with the Philharmonia Orchestra of London and two GRAMMY-nominated recordings with the Fred Sherry Quartet, of Schoenberg’s Concerto for String Quartet and Orchestra, and the Schoenberg Third String Quartet. Her most recent releases are with pianist John Blacklow on Albany Records featuring sonatas of Robert Schumann and American Duos, an exploration of recent additions to the violin and piano repertoire.
She performs on a 1722 Antonio Stradivarius violin known as the “ex-Cadiz,” on generous loan from a private American foundation with support from Rare Violins In Consortium. She currently teaches in the graduate program at Stony Brook University.
MILENA PAJARO-VAN DE STADT, Viola
Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt has appeared as a soloist with the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Jacksonville Symphony, and the Sphinx Chamber Orchestra; and has performed in recitals and chamber music concerts throughout the United States, Latin America, and Europe.
As violist of the Dover Quartet, ensemble in Residence at the Curtis Institute of Music, Ms. Pajaro-van de Stadt won first prize at the Banff International String Quartet Competition in 2013, and the grand prize in the 2010 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. Her numerous awards also include top prizes at the Tokyo International Viola Competition and the Sphinx Competition.
Ms. Pajaro-van de Stadt graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music, where she studied with Roberto Díaz, Michael Tree, Misha Amory, and Joseph de Pasquale. She received a master’s degree in string quartet performance from Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, where she studied with James Dunham. Ms. Pajaro-van de Stadt was appointed to faculty at the Curtis Institute of Music and teaches at Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music.
NICK CANELLAKIS, Cello
Nicholas Canellakis has become one of the most sought-after and innovative cellists of his generation. The New York Times praises his playing as “impassioned … the audience seduced by Mr. Canellakis’s rich, alluring tone.”
Canellakis’s recent highlights include concerto appearances with the Albany, Delaware, and Lansing Symphonies, and the New Haven Symphony as Artist-in-Residence; international tours with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, with appearances in London’s Wigmore Hall, the Louvre in Paris, and Shanghai’s National Concert Hall; and recitals throughout the United States.
Canellakis is an artist of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and a regular guest artist at many of the world’s leading music festivals, including Santa Fe, Ravinia, Music@Menlo, Bard, and Bridgehampton. He was recently named Artistic Director of Chamber Music Sedona, in Arizona.
A graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music and New England Conservatory, his teachers have included Orlando Cole, Peter Wiley, Paul Katz, and Madeleine Golz.
DAVID REQUIRO, Cello
First Prize winner of the 2008 Naumburg International Violoncello Competition, David Requiro (pronounced re-KEER-oh) has emerged as one of today’s finest American cellists. Mr. Requiro has made concerto appearances with the National Symphony Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, Tokyo Philharmonic, and the Oakland Symphonies. He has collaborated with composers such as Krzysztof Penderecki, Bright Sheng, and Tan Dun, giving the Aspen Music Festival premiere of Dun’s concerto, Elegy: Snow in June, for cello and percussion.
An avid chamber musician, Mr. Requiro is a founding member of the Baumer String Quartet and frequently performs with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Takács String Quartet, and the Seattle Chamber Music Society.
Mr. Requiro is Assistant Professor at the University of Colorado Boulder. His artist faculty appointments include the Music@Menlo Festival, Bowdoin International Music Festival, Seattle Chamber Music Society Summer Festival, and others. Along with duo partner Meta Weiss, he co-founded the Boulder Cello Festival in 2020.
BENJAMIN BEILMAN, Violin
American violinist Benjamin Beilman is winning plaudits across the globe for his compelling and impassioned performances, his deep rich tone and searing lyricism. The Scotsman has described him as “a remarkable talent, delivering playing of rare insight and generosity, as captivating as it is gloriously entertaining” and the New York Times has praised his “handsome technique, burnished sound, and quiet confidence [which] showed why he has come so far so fast”.
Recent highlights include solo performances with Budapest Festival Orchestra conducted by Janowski, the Wroclaw Philharmonic, Rotterdam Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, Sydney Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, Houston Symphony and Philadelphia Orchestra.
In recital and chamber music, Beilman performs regularly at the major halls across the world, including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Wigmore Hall, Louvre (Paris), Philharmonie (Berlin), and Concertgebouw (Amsterdam).
Beilman studied with Almita and Roland Vamos at the Music Institute of Chicago, Ida Kavafian and Pamela Frank at the Curtis Institute of Music, and Christian Tetzlaff at the Kronberg Academy, and has received many prestigious accolades including a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship, an Avery Fisher Career Grant and a London Music Masters Award. Beilman plays the “Engleman” Stradivarius from 1709 generously on loan from the Nippon Music Foundation.
JONATHAN VINCOUR, Viola
Jonathan Vinocour was appointed principal viola of the San Francisco Symphony in 2009, having previously served as principal viola of the St. Louis Symphony and guest principal of the Gewandhaus Orchestra of Leipzig. Vinocour has appeared frequently as soloist with the San Francisco and St. Louis Symphonies and recently collaborated with Yo-Yo Ma in a performance of Strauss’s Don Quixote with the New World Symphony under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas. As a chamber musician, he is a regular guest of festivals such as the Marlboro, Bridgehampton, Salt Bay and Cleveland Chamberfest.
Vinocour graduated from Princeton University with a degree in chemistry and from the New England Conservatory where he studied with Kim Kashkashian. A dedicated teacher, he serves on the faculty of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music as well as the Aspen Music Festival and School. Vinocour plays on a 1784 Lorenzo Storioni viola on loan from the San Francisco Symphony.
MICHAEL STEPHEN BROWN, Piano
Michael Brown has been hailed by The New York Times as “one of the leading figures in the current renaissance of performer-composers.” His artistry is shaped by his creative voice as a pianist and composer, praised for his “fearless performances” (The New York Times) and “exceptionally beautiful” compositions (The Washington Post).
Winner of the 2018 Emerging Artist Award from Lincoln Center and a 2015 Avery Fisher Career Grant, Brown has recently performed as soloist with the Seattle Symphony, the National Philharmonic, the Grand Rapids symphony, and many others. He has given recitals at Carnegie Hall, the Mostly Mozart Festival, and Caramoor. Brown is an artist of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, performing frequently at Alice Tully Hall and on tour. He regularly performs recitals with his longtime duo partner, cellist Nicholas Canellakis, and has appeared at numerous festivals including Tanglewood, Marlboro, and Music@Menlo.
Brown was First Prize winner of the Concert Artists Guild Competition, a winner of the Bowers Residency from the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (formerly CMS Two), a recipient of the Juilliard Petschek Award, and is a Steinway Artist. He earned dual bachelor’s and master’s degrees in piano and composition from The Juilliard School, where he studied with pianists Jerome Lowenthal and Robert McDonald and composers Samuel Adler and Robert Beaser.
A native New Yorker, he lives there with his two 19th century Steinway D’s, Octavia and Daria.
JAMES EHNES, Violin
James Ehnes has established himself as one of the most sought-after violinists on the international stage. Gifted with a rare combination of stunning virtuosity, serene lyricism and an unfaltering musicality, Ehnes is a favorite guest of many of the world’s most respected conductors. Ehnes’s long list of orchestras includes, amongst others, the Boston, Chicago, and London Symphony Orchestras, the Los Angeles and New York Philharmonics, and the Cleveland, and Philadelphia orchestras. Alongside his concerto work, James Ehnes maintains a busy recital schedule. He performs regularly at the Wigmore Hall, Carnegie Hall, Symphony Center Chicago, Ravinia, Montreux, and Verbier Festivals.
As a chamber musician, he has collaborated with leading artists such as Andsnes, Capucon, Lortie, Lugansky, Yo-Yo Ma, Tamestit, Vogler and Yuja Wang. In 2010, he formally established the Ehnes Quartet, with whom he has performed in Europe at venues including the Wigmore Hall, Auditorium du Louvre in Paris and Théâtre du Jeu de Paume in Aix, amongst others. Ehnes is the Artistic Director of the Seattle Chamber Music Society.
AMY SCHWARTZ MORETTI, Violin
Amy Schwartz Moretti has a musical career of broad versatility that spans nearly two decades. Former Concertmaster of the Oregon Symphony and Florida Orchestra, Amy has served as guest concertmaster for the symphony orchestras of Houston, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, CityMusic Cleveland, New York Pops and Hawaii Pops, and the festival orchestras of Brevard, Colorado and Grand Teton. Director of the McDuffie Center for Strings since its inception in the Mercer University Townsend School of Music, Ms. Moretti has developed the Fabian Concert Series and holds the Caroline Paul King Chair in Strings. A performing artist with an affinity for chamber music, Amy maintains an active schedule of solo, chamber and concertmaster appearances and is a member of the Ehnes Quartet. She has recorded for Chandos, Harmonia Mundi, Onyx Classics, CBC Records, BCMF/Naxos and Sono Luminus.
The Cleveland Institute of Music has recognized Schwartz Moretti with an Alumni Achievement Award and she is the 2014 San Francisco Conservatory of Music Fanfare Honoree, their first Precollege graduate to be recognized. Born in Wisconsin, raised in North Carolina and California, Amy lives in Georgia with her husband and two sons, enjoying all aspects of motherhood, especially their soccer and tennis activities. Recent performances include appearances at the Rome Chamber Music Festival, ChamberFest Cleveland, Les Rencontres Musicales d’Evian, Music@Menlo, Seattle Chamber Music Society, and Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festivals. (amyschwartzmoretti.com)
BRIAN CHEN, Viola
Award-winning violist Brian Chen is a founding member of the Formosa Quartet. After winning First Prize in the 2003 Primrose International Viola Competition, he and his quartet won the Grand Prize of the 2006 London International String Quartet Competition. San Diego Union-Tribune described him as an artist who finds “not just the subtle emotion, but the humanity hidden in the music.” He has recorded on EMI, Delos, New World Records, and Aeolian Classics. His recording with the Formosa Quartet, From Hungary to Taiwan, released by Bridge Records, was named one of “The Best Classical Releases of January 2019” by WQXR.
As an orchestral musician, he served as principal violist of the San Diego Symphony and the Mainly Mozart Festival Orchestra and has appeared as guest principal viola with major orchestras across North America. His solo, chamber, and orchestral career, combined with his passion for education, led him to establish the Formosa Chamber Music Festival in Taiwan together with his quartet. He is a former member of CMS’s Bowers Program. His other chamber music projects include Camera Lucida and The Myriad Trio. He has given master classes across North America and Asia and served on the faculty of the University of Southern California until 2019. Chen joined the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music as professor of viola in 2018.
EDWARD ARRON, Cello
Cellist Edward Arron has garnered recognition worldwide for his elegant musicianship,
impassioned performances, and creative programming. He has appeared in recital, as a soloist with major orchestras, and as a chamber musician throughout North America, Europe and Asia.
Mr. Arron has performed numerous times at Carnegie’s Weill and Zankel Halls, Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully and Avery Fisher Halls, New York’s Town Hall, and the 92nd Street Y. Festival appearances include Ravinia, Salzburg, Mostly Mozart, Bravo! Vail, Tanglewood, Bridgehampton, Spoleto USA, Santa Fe, and Seattle Chamber Music. He has participated in Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Project as well as Isaac Stern’s Jerusalem Chamber Music Encounters.
Mr. Arron served 13 seasons as the artistic director and host of the acclaimed Musical Masterworks concert series in Old Lyme, Connecticut. He is also co-artistic director with his wife, pianist Jeewon Park, of the Performing Artists in Residence series at the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Mr. Arron tours and records as a member of the renowned Ehnes Quartet, and he appears regularly at the Caramoor International Music Festival, where he has been a resident performer and curator of chamber music concerts for over a quarter of a century.
In 2016, Mr. Arron joined the faculty at University of Massachusetts Amherst, after having served on the faculty of New York University from 2009 to 2016.
SAMUEL ZYGMUNTOWICZ, Master Luthier
Samuel Zygmuntowicz (born 1956) is a contemporary luthier and is widely regarded as one of the finest violin makers of his generation. He began his instrument making training at age 13, and studied making and restoration under Peter Prier, Carl Becker and René Morel. Since 1985 he has been based in Brooklyn, New York. His early work demonstrates expert skill as a copyist of classic instruments. Later work includes personal models informed by intensive advanced research. Findings from this research have been published in numerous print and digital media.
Zygmuntowicz is a graduate of the Violin Making School of America in Salt Lake City during which time he also worked for Carl Becker. In 1980, a Becker-style Stradivari violin copy made by Zygmuntowicz won two gold medals – for violin workmanship and tone – at the Violin Society of America Competition. Isaac Stern owned two Zygmuntowicz violins. After Stern died in 2001, both violins were sold at a Tarisio auction in 2003, each violin surpassing the previous record for the highest price paid for a string instrument by a living maker at auction, until the record was broken in October 2013.[7] His clients include Leila Josefowicz, Yo-Yo Ma, David Finckel, Cho-Liang Lin, Maxim Vengerov, Joshua Bell, and the Emerson String Quartet.
Chamber Music Society of Palm Beach
Led by Artistic Director Arnaud Sussmann, the Chamber Music Society of Palm Beach (CMSPB) has been bringing world class chamber music performances and educational programming to Palm Beach County and the wider south Florida region for nearly a decade.
Founded in 2012 by arts leader, chamber music lover, and violinist Vicki Kellogg, CMSPB was created with the belief that a great performance can move the human spirit and transform the listener regardless of musical background or education.
Over its first nine seasons CMSPB has presented over 100 artists including the Emerson, Ehnes, and Harlem string quartets, Inon Barnatan, Milos Karadaglic, and members of the New York Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, and Philadelphia Orchestra, among many others. In 2019 CMSPB introduced frequent guest artist and acclaimed violinist Arnaud Sussmann as Artistic Director, an appointment that would prove timely as Sussmann would lead a transition to digital programming, keeping audiences engaged when in-person performances could not be possible, and opening access to viewers around the globe.