Celebrated as one of the preeminent American string quartets of the twenty-first century, the prizewinning Jasper String Quartet is hailed as being “flawless in ensemble and intonation, expressively assured and beautifully balanced” (Gramophone). The Quartet is highly regarded for its “programming savvy” (ClevelandClassical.com), which strives to evocatively connect the music of underrepresented and living composers to the canonical repertoire through thoughtful programs that appeal to a wide variety of audiences.
A recipient of Chamber Music America’s prestigious Cleveland Quartet Award (2012), the Quartet’s playing has been described as “sonically delightful and expressively compelling” (The Strad). The ensemble has released eight albums, including its most recent release, Insects and Machines: Quartets of Vivian Fung, named CMA’s 2025 Album of the Year. Strings Magazine praised the Quartet on the album as “intensely dramatic throughout demonstrating both their advocacy of new music and their transcendent mastery.” The Quartet’s 2017 release, Unbound, was named by The New York Times as one of the year’s 25 Best Classical Recordings.
The Quartet regularly collaborates with some of today’s leading artists, including tenor Nicholas Phan, clarinetist Derek Bermel, pianists Amy Yang, Natalie Zhu and Myra Huang, and the Jupiter String Quartet. Collaborations and commissions with living composers include Lera Auerbach, Derek Bermel, Patrick Castillo, Vivian Fung, Brittany J. Green, Aaron Jay Kernis, Akira Nishimura, Reinaldo Moya, Michelle Ross, Caroline Shaw and Joan Tower.
The Quartet will release new recordings in 2026, including Lamenting Earth with tenor Nicholas Phan and pianist Myra Huang, Reinaldo Moya’s Pájaros Garabatos with soprano Maria Brea, and an album of chamber works by Richard Festinger. In celebration of its Twentieth Anniversary in 2026-27, the Quartet has commissioned new works from composers Patrick Castillo, Brittany J. Green, Reinaldo Moya and Michelle Ross.
The Jasper String Quartet is passionate about connecting with audiences beyond the concert hall and has performed hundreds of outreach programs in schools and community centers across the US. The Quartet is the Professional Quartet-in-Residence at Temple University’s Center for Gifted Young Musicians and is also Director of the annual Saint Paul Chamber Music Institute. In addition, the Quartet is regularly invited to conduct short-term residencies at colleges and universities, and in partnership with presenters. Past residencies include those at Trinity University (San Antonio), Michigan State University, BYU Idaho, Swarthmore College, Oberlin Conservatory, Credo Music, Caramoor Center for Music and Arts, and the University of Iowa.
The Quartet is Artistic Director of Jasper Chamber Concerts, a series in Philadelphia dedicated to encouraging curiosity, community, and inclusivity through world-class chamber performances. With decades of experience in designing and presenting educational programs, the Quartet added its Community Connections program to the series in 2023, which brings performances to underserved schools and community centers throughout the greater Philadelphia metropolitan area. Additionally, the Quartet continues its residency at Arlington High School in New York State, now in its fourteenth year. Generously supported by the Howland Chamber Music Circle, the Quartet performs and works with the school’s orchestras and chamber music ensembles twice yearly.
Formed at Oberlin Conservatory, the Jasper String Quartet launched their professional career in 2006 while studying with James Dunham, Norman Fischer, and Kenneth Goldsmith as Graduate Quartet-in-Residence at Rice University. In 2008, the Quartet continued its training with the Tokyo String Quartet as Yale University’s Graduate Quartet-in-Residence. That same year, the Quartet swept through the competition circuit, winning the Grand Prize and the Audience Prize in the Plowman Chamber Music Competition, the Grand Prize at the Coleman Competition, First Prize at Chamber Music Yellow Springs, and the Silver Medal at the 2008 and 2009 Fischoff Chamber Music Competitions. They were the first ensemble honored with Yale School of Music’s Horatio Parker Memorial Prize, an award established in 1945, and selected by the faculty for “best fulfilling…lofty musical ideals.” In 2010, they joined the roster of Astral Artists after winning their national auditions.
The Jasper String Quartet is named after Jasper National Park in Alberta, Canada and is represented by Suòno Artist Management. For more information, please visit jasperquartet.com.
Celebrating nearly three decades of transformative music-making, the GRAMMY®-winning and four-time nominated Imani Winds has led both a revolution and an evolution of the wind quintet. Known for their dynamic playing, adventurous programming, imaginative collaborations, and impactful outreach, they have inspired audiences of all ages around the globe.
Imani Winds’ repertoire bridges the traditional and the contemporary, featuring core chamber works, reimagined arrangements, and newly commissioned pieces by both renowned and rising composers. Their programming reflects the urgency and diversity of our times, amplifying stories and voices too often left unheard.
Their 2024 release, BeLonging, a collaboration with composer Andy Akiho exploring the issue of mass incarceration, earned a 2025 GRAMMY® nomination. Other recent highlights include a double quintet by Arturo Sandoval featuring Boston Brass; Jessie Montgomery’s work inspired by her great-grandfather’s migration north; and Carlos Simon’s tribute to African American icons. These works are part of the ensemble’s ongoing Legacy Commissioning Project, encompassing dozens of world premieres.
Now in their 29th touring season, Imani Winds regularly appears on major chamber music series and at leading performing arts centers and summer festivals, including Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, Chamber Music Northwest, Banff Centre, and Chautauqua Institution. Internationally, their reach extends across Asia, Europe, South America, Australia, and New Zealand.
Education is central to Imani Winds’ mission. Appointed in 2021 as the Curtis Institute of Music’s first ever Faculty Wind Quintet, they also lead residencies and masterclasses nationwide, reaching thousands of students annually at institutions such as the University of Chicago, Eastman School of Music, and Duke University.
In 2010, they launched the Imani Winds Chamber Music Festival, an acclaimed summer program nurturing the next generation of professional musicians through mentorship, masterclasses, and entrepreneurial training. In 2019, they deepened their mission by founding the Imani Winds Foundation, followed by the creation of Imani Winds Media, a record label spotlighting artists of color. Its first release, Jeff Scott’s Passion for Bach and Coltrane, won a GRAMMY® in 2024.
Imani Winds’ deep connection to jazz is reflected in collaborations with legends such as Wayne Shorter, Paquito D’Rivera, and Jason Moran. Their multidisciplinary project Josephine Baker: A Life of Le Jazz Hot! featuring jazz vocalist René Marie earned rave reviews in cities across the U.S.
Their 2021 album Bruits (Bright Shiny Things) was nominated for a 2022 GRAMMY® Award for Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance. Gramophone praised the ensemble’s “hot rapport [that] churns with conviction throughout.”
With recordings on Koch, Naxos, Blue Note, and Warner Classics, including a celebrated arrangement of The Rite of Spring and their 2006 GRAMMY®-nominated album The Classical Underground, Imani Winds is frequently featured on NPR, BBC, SiriusXM, and in publications such as The New York Times and The Philadelphia Inquirer.
One of their most meaningful honors is a permanent installation in the classical music section of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, a fitting tribute to their enduring impact on the American musical landscape.
Ricardo Morales is one of the most sought after clarinetists of today. He joined The Philadelphia Orchestra as principal clarinet in 2003. Prior to this he was principal clarinet of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, a position he assumed at the age of 21. His virtuosity and artistry as a soloist, chamber, and orchestral musician has been hailed and recognized in concert halls around the world. He has been asked to perform as principal clarinet with the New York Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony, and at the invitation of Sir Simon Rattle, performed as guest principal clarinet with the Berlin Philharmonic. He also performs as principal clarinet with the Saito Kinen Festival Orchestra and the Mito Chamber Orchestra, at the invitation of Maestro Seiji Ozawa.
A native of San Juan, Puerto Rico, Mr. Morales began his studies at the Escuela Libre de Musica along with his five siblings, who are all distinguished musicians. He continued his studies at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music and Indiana University, where he received his Artist Diploma.
Mr. Morales has been a featured soloist with many orchestras, including the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony, the Cincinnati Symphony, the Indianapolis Symphony, the Seoul Philharmonic, and the Flemish Radio Symphony. During his tenure with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, he soloed in Carnegie Hall and on two European tours. He made his solo debut with The Philadelphia Orchestra in 2004 and has since performed as soloist on numerous occasions. Ricardo performed the world premiere of the Clarinet Concerto by Jonathan Leshnoff, commissioned for him by the Philadelphia Orchestra.
An active chamber musician, Mr. Morales has performed in the MET Chamber Ensemble series at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, at the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, the Seattle Chamber Music Summer Festival, and the Saratoga Chamber Music Festival, on NBC’s The Today Show, and with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. He has performed with many distinguished ensembles, such as the Juilliard Quartet, the Pacifica Quartet, the Miró Quartet, the Leipzig Quartet, and the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio. He has also collaborated with Christoph Eschenbach, André Watts, Emanuel Ax, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, James Ehnes, Gil Shaham, and Kathleen Battle. Mr. Morales is highly sought after for his recitals and master classes, which have taken him throughout North America, Europe and Asia. In addition, he currently serves on the faculty of Temple University.
Mr. Morales’s performances have been met with critical acclaim. The Philadelphia Inquirer hailed his appointment to The Philadelphia Orchestra, stating that “… in fact, may represent the most salutary personnel event of the orchestra’s last decade.” He was praised by the New York Times as having “ … fleet technique, utterly natural musical grace, and the lyricism and breath control of a fine opera singer.” Mr. Morales was also singled out in the New York Times review of the Metropolitan Opera’s production of Berlioz’s Les Troyens, describing his playing as “exquisite” and declaring that he “deserved a place onstage during curtain calls.”
Mr. Morales’s debut solo recording, French Portraits, is available on the Boston Records label. His recent recordings include performances with the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio, with the Pacifica Quartet, which was nominated for a Latin Grammy Award, as well as the Mozart Concerto with the Mito Chamber Orchestra for DECCA. Ricardo is a sought after consultant and designer of musical instruments and accessories, and enjoys a musical partnership with F. Arthur Uebel, a world renowned manufacturer of artist level clarinets.
Nurit Bar-Josef was appointed Concertmaster of the National Symphony Orchestra in 2001 (then the youngest such appointee to a major U.S. orchestra) by Maestro Leonard Slatkin. She was previously Assistant Concertmaster of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Boston Pops from 1998-2001 and Assistant Principal Second Violin of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra from 1997-1998. She studied with Aaron Rosand at The Curtis Institute of Music and continued her studies at the Juilliard School with Robert Mann.
Ms. Bar-Josef’s solo appearances have included the National Symphony, Boston Symphony, Boston Pops, St. Louis Symphony, National Philharmonic, and Britt Festival Orchestras, among others. An active chamber musician, she has performed at the Seattle Chamber Music Festival, Bay Chamber Festival (ME) and Aspen Music Festival, and festivals in Tanglewood, Portland (ME), Kingston (RI), Steamboat Springs, Garth Newel, and Caramoor, where she performed piano quartets with Andre Previn at his Rising Stars Festival. She was a founding member of the Kennedy Center Chamber Players for nine years, and is a founding member of the Dryden Quartet.
Nurit has performed as guest concertmaster with the Seattle and Houston Symphonies.
Ms. Bar-Josef has been a featured guest on National Public Radio’s Weekend Edition and has had the honor of performing at the White House with Maestro Christoph Eschenbach. She is currently playing on a G.B. Guadagnini, 1773 Turin, the "ex-Grumiaux" "ex-Silverstein".
Nurit resides in the Washington, DC, area and enjoys long bike rides and hiking with her husband and dog in her free time.
Hannah Davis, soprano, is a versatile vocalist whose artistry spans classical, jazz, musical theatre, pop, and gospel music. Originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, she earned a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from West Virginia University and a Master of Music degree from the Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University.
Ms. Davis serves as a soprano vocalist with The President's Own United States Marine Band, where she performs at some of the nation's most distinguished ceremonial and public events. Her career has afforded her the opportunity to perform throughout the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area for high-profile audiences and distinguished leaders, earning recognition for her exceptional musicianship, vocal artistry, and commanding stage presence.
In addition to her performance career, Ms. Davis is a dedicated educator who offers private voice lessons and vocal coachings throughout the DMV area. She is passionate about helping singers of all levels develop healthy vocal technique, musical confidence, and expressive artistry, drawing on her extensive training and professional experience to mentor the next generation of performers.
Known for her expressive performances and remarkable stylistic versatility, Ms. Davis brings both technical excellence and heartfelt interpretation to every performance. Whether presenting beloved classical repertoire, captivating jazz standards, inspiring gospel selections, contemporary pop, or musical theatre favorites, she connects with audiences through artistry, authenticity, and passion.
Cellist Carrie Bean Stute is co-founder and co-artistic director of the Washington, DC-based Chiarina Chamber Players, a chamber music series and flexible ensemble that has won critical acclaim for its artistry and innovative programming. Carrie’s chamber music performances have been broadcast on Classical WETA’s Front Row Washington. In DC, she performs with the National Symphony Orchestra, has served as an adjunct professor of music at George Washington University, and is currently assistant principal cellist of “The President’s Own” Marine Chamber Orchestra, where she performs in such diverse settings as the White House, area public schools, and for events hosted by the United Nations and State Department.
A performer who seeks out the voices of today, she collaborates with a growing set of composers, including Reinaldo Moya, Mary Kouyoumdjian, Juhi Bansal, and Kennedy Center composer-in-residence Carlos Simon. Carrie authored a doctoral dissertation on the cello works of Pēteris Vasks and in 2021 performed as soloist in the North American premiere of his Cello Concerto No. 2. She took part in the Carnegie Hall workshop “New Voices, New Music” and has performed chamber music at such venues as the Phillips Collection, Zankel Hall, Le Poisson Rouge, Roulette, and an in-house educational residency at the 92nd Street Y.
Carrie holds degrees from The Graduate Center at the City University of New York (Doctor of Musical Arts), Indiana University, and the Eastman School of Music. She was a fellow at the New World Symphony and Tanglewood Music Center. Forthcoming in 2024-25 are recordings of chamber music by Carlos Simon (with Domenic Salerni, Efi Hackmey, and Carl DuPont) and clarinet trios by Brahms and Beethoven (with Robert DiLutis and Rita Sloan).
Mimi Stillman, one of the foremost flutists of her generation, captivates audiences with her technical prowess, insightful interpretation, and compelling artistry. Praised by The New York Times as “not only a consummate and charismatic performer, but also a scholar, whose programs tend to activate ear, heart, and brain.”
Mimi Stillman began flute study at age six. Recognized by the legendary flutist Julius Baker as a prodigious talent, she was admitted to the Curtis Institute of Music at age 12, the youngest wind player ever accepted, where she studied with Baker and Jeffrey Khaner.
She won the prestigious Young Concert Artists International Auditions at age 17, launching her career as soloist with major orchestras and recitalist and chamber musician at distinguished venues and festivals internationally. She has performed as soloist with The Philadelphia Orchestra, The President’s Own Marine Chamber Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfónica de Yucatán, Bach Collegium Stuttgart, recitals and chamber music at Carnegie Hall, the Library of Congress, the Kennedy Center, La Jolla Chamber Music Society, Verbier Festival (Switzerland), and Kol HaMusica (Israel).
Mimi’s intellectual curiosity and spirit of innovation have resulted in remarkable artistic achievements. She is founding Artistic Director of the renowned Dolce Suono Ensemble (DSE), a Philadelphia-based chamber music group whose projects include repertoire from Baroque to contemporary. With DSE, Mimi has given 73 world premières in 21 seasons, including commissioned works by Jennifer Higdon, Richard Danielpour, David Serkin Ludwig, Steven Mackey, Shulamit Ran, and Zhou Tian. These composers and others who have written for her have been inspired by her virtuosity, emotional depth, and charismatic stage presence – leading to important new repertoire and a testament to her influence on the music world. A Spanish speaker, she is passionate about Dolce Suono Ensemble’s Música en tus Manos (Music in Your Hands) engagement initiative with Philadelphia’s Latino communities, featuring chamber and popular music by Latino and Latin American composers.
Mimi is a highly effective educator who has taught masterclasses for the National Flute Association, Eastman School of Music, École Normale de Musique de Paris, and universities and conservatories throughout the United States, Europe, and Latin America. Ms. Stillman has performed and taught in residencies at the Universities of California, Arizona, Virginia, Texas, Delaware, Florida, Michigan, at Brandeis University, Princeton University, and Bard College. She is faculty Artist-in-Residence at Temple University’s Boyer College of Music and Dance.
A prolific recording artist, Mimi’s albums are critically acclaimed. She is the producer of her popular livestream Tea with Mimi, appears frequently on radio and online broadcasts for her music and commentary, and offers flute tips on her social media platforms.
A talented writer, she has contributed to publications including The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern World and authored a book of her arrangements of Debussy songs published by the Theodore Presser Company. She is Instructor in music and art at the celebrated Barnes Foundation. She holds a BM from the Curtis Institute of Music, and an MA in history from the University of Pennsylvania.
Baritone Randall Scarlata has been praised by the New York Times as "an intelligent and communicative singer" with a "compelling desire to bring texts to life." He has also been acclaimed for his "extraordinary vocal range and colour palette" and "ability to traverse so many different singing styles" (MusicWeb International). The Daily Telegraph (London) adds "Randall Scarlata sings with the assurance of one with nothing to prove."
Known for his versatility and consummate musicianship, Randall Scarlata's repertoire spans five centuries and sixteen languages. A sought-after interpreter of new music, he has given world premieres of works by George Crumb, Paul Moravec, Richard Danielpour, Ned Rorem, Benjamin CS Boyle, Lori Laitman, Thea Musgrave, Samuel Adler, Hilda Paredes, Daron Hagen, Wolfram Wagner and Christopher Theofanidis. He regularly performs the major German song cycles with pianists such as Cameron Stowe, Gilbert Kalish, Jeremy Denk, Jonathan Biss, Inon Barnatan, Peter Frankl, and Laura Ward. He is a regular guest with Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, the Isabelle Stewart Gardner Museum, Lyric Fest, Chamber Music Northwest, the Seattle Chamber Music Festival, Kneisel Hall Festival, the Skaneateles Chamber Music Festival, among many others. In addition, Mr. Scarlata's extensive recording catalog appears on the Chandos, Naxos, CRI, Gasparo, Arabesque, Bridge, Albany and Sono Luminus labels. His recording of Schubert's Winterreise with pianist Gilbert Kalish was honored with a Grammy nomination for Best Classical Vocal Solo.
Randall Scarlata has appeared on concert stages throughout Europe, North America, South America, Australia, and Asia. He has been a soloist with the Philadelphia and Minnesota Orchestras, and with the Pittsburgh, San Francisco, American, Sydney, Ulster, Tonkünstler, National, New World, and BBC Symphonies, as well as the early music groups Wiener Akademie, Grand Tour, Tempesta di Mare, and Musica Angelica, among others. Many of the world's great music festivals have sought him out as a soloist, including the Ravinia, Marlboro, Edinburgh, Norfolk, Vienna, Music at Menlo, Gilmore, Salzburg, Norfolk, Aspen, and Spoleto (Italy) festivals.
Mr. Scarlata is co-artistic director of the Alpenkammermusik Chamber Music Festival in Carinthia, Austria during the summer, and gives masterclasses throughout the United States and abroad. This summer he joins the faculty of the Tanglewood Music Center, and in the fall joins the faculty of the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University. He has also served on the faculties of West Chester University and SUNY Stony Brook.
Acclaimed a “marvelous violinist” by the Washington Post, violinist, composer, and arranger Domenic Salerni is a member of the two-time Grammy Award-winning Attacca Quartet. Attacca was featured on Billie Eilish’s most recent album “Hit Me Hard and Soft,” and can be heard on the soundtrack to Alfonso Cuarón’s seven-part film series on Apple TV+ “Disclaimer,” playing the music of Finneas. They are also featured, alongside Sō Percussion and Roomful of Teeth, in Caroline Shaw’s film score to Ken Burns’ newest PBS documentary, “Leonardo da Vinci.” Attacca released Maurice Ravel’s “String Quartet” in March on Platoon in honor of his 150th birthday.
Domenic arranged 60s Civil Rights era protest songs for the Palaver Strings’ album “a change is gonna come,” featuring tenor Nicholas Phan and jazz vocalist Farayi Malek, released on Azica Records, which was nominated for a Grammy Award this year. The Belvedere Series, Richmond, Virginia’s new salon series, commissioned Salerni’s “Seven Meditations” for piano trio last season thanks to a grant from the Allan and Margot Blank Foundation.
In 2022, Attacca created and recorded original music for the podcast “The Sound: Mystery of Havana Syndrome,” which was featured in the New York Times’ Best Podcasts of 2023. Domenic’s first string quartet commission, “Trilobites: a Musical Excavation,” was made possible by the Appalachian Chamber Music Festival, founded in 2021 by cellist Katie Terrell, and is featured on West Virginia Public Television.
A graduate of the Yale School of Music and the Cleveland Institute of Music, Domenic regularly performs with the Chiarina Chamber Players in Capitol Hill, DC. Recipient of the 2020 CMA Commissioning Grant, Chiarina looks forward to its debut album in its 10th season of the music of Carlos Simon, including the commissioned work, “The Best Cuisine,” featuring co-artistic directors Efi Hackmey and Carrie Bean Stute and bass-baritone Carl DuPont.
Praised for his highly personal interpretations and “feather-light pianism” (Washington Classical Review), Efi Hackmey is recognized for his lyricism and beauty of tone. As Co-Founder and Co-Artistic Director of Chiarina Chamber Players he performs regularly on Chiarina’s concert series, which has won critical acclaim for its artistry and innovative programming, called “some of the most compelling chamber programs in town” by the Washington Post.
Efi has performed at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center’s Rose Studio, the Kennedy Center and Bargemusic, and in the Friends of Mozart series in NYC. In his native Israel he performed as soloist with the Haifa Symphony Orchestra, as well as at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art and Jerusalem Music Center. Efi is often featured on WETA Classical’s Front Row Washington.
A passionate chamber musician, Efi has collaborated with the Attacca Quartet, Imani Winds, clarinetists Ricardo Morales and Charles Neidich, baritone Randall Scarlata, cellist Marcy Rosen and violinists Catherine Cho, Todd Phillips and Nurit Bar-Josef, among others.
Efi’s recordings include the 2025 release of The Best Cuisine: Music of Carlos Simon on the Azica label, and the 2013 album Polish Violin Music on the Naxos label, among others.
Efi has served on the piano faculty at DePauw University, and he also taught at the Indiana University system. He holds a Doctor of Music degree from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, and degrees in piano and conducting from Tel Aviv University. He studied with Menahem Pressler, Pnina Salzman and Dina Turgeman, and has had additional coaching with Lazar Berman, Emanuel Ax, Richard Goode, Janos Starker and Jaime Laredo.
Violist Dana Kelley is an active chamber musician and member of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble. She is also a member of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra for the 2021-2022 season. Praised for her rich and beautiful tone, Dana has been a top prizewinner in the Sphinx Music Competition, the Irving M. Klein International String Competition, the M-Prize Chamber Arts Competition and the Concert Artists Guild Victor Elmaleh Competition. She also serves on the viola faculty of the Mannes School of Music at the New School.
Dana’s performance schedule has brought her to many prestigious venues and festivals, including multiple recitals at Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Merkin Recital Hall at New York’s Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, the Ravinia Festival, and Bravo! Vail. Dana has collaborated with artists such as Ralph Kirshbaum, Nobuko Imai and Miriam Fried, pianists Leon Fleisher, Anne-Marie MacDermott and Misha Dichter, and cellist Astrid Schween of the Juilliard String Quartet.
Dana received an Artist Diploma in String Quartet Studies with the Argus String Quartet as the 2017-2019 Graduate Quartet in Residence at The Juilliard School. Dana was a 2014-2016 Fellow in Ensemble Connect - a performance and teaching program of Carnegie Hall, The Juilliard School, and The Weill Music Institute. She received her Bachelor’s of Music from the Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt University, studying violin with Cornelia Heard and viola with Kathryn Plummer, and completed her Master’s of Music degree at the New England Conservatory as a student of Kim Kashkashian.
Amy Oshiro-Morales joined The Philadelphia Orchestra’s second violin section in January 2008; she was previously assistant concertmaster of the Saint Louis Symphony. She also previously held the associate concertmaster chair of the Colorado Symphony and was assistant concertmaster of the Grant Park (IL) Orchestra. She has also performed as a guest musician with the New York Philharmonic.
Ms. Oshiro-Morales made her debut with the Chicago Symphony at the age of 12 and has appeared numerous times as a soloist with the Saint Louis Symphony, the Napa Valley Symphony, the Minnesota Sinfonia, and others. She has collaborated with such artists as Vadim Repin, Alban Gerhardt, Jason Vieaux, and Gil Shaham.
Ms. Oshiro-Morales began violin studies when she was three years old. She studied with Almita and Roland Vamos at Oberlin Conservatory, where she received the Dean’s Talent Award scholarship. She continued her studies at the Juilliard School with Robert Mann, the founder and former first violinist of the Juilliard Quartet.
In the summers Ms. Oshiro-Morales has been a guest artist at the Sun Valley Summer (ID) Symphony, the Cactus Pear Music Festival (TX), the Grand Teton Music Festival (WY), the National Orchestral Institute (MD), and the Innsbrook Institute (MO), among others.
Aside from music Ms. Oshiro-Morales enjoys hiking and running and has completed the Chicago Marathon and the New York City Marathon.
National Symphony Orchestra Principal Violist Daniel Foster’s varied career encompasses orchestral, chamber and solo playing, as well as teaching. Since capturing the First Prize in both the William Primrose and Washington International Competitions, he has appeared in recital and as soloist with orchestra in Washington, DC and throughout the United States. After Studying with Jeffrey Irvine and Lynne Ramsey at Oberlin Conservatory and with Karen Tuttle at The Curtis Institute, Mr. Foster joined the National Symphony’s viola section in 1993, and was appointed Principal by Music Director Leonard Slatkin in 1995. Mr. Foster has appeared frequently as soloist with the National Symphony since his appointment.
Mr. Foster was a member of the critically acclaimed Dryden Quartet, which he founded along with his cousins Nicolas and Yumi Kendall and National Symphony Concertmaster Nurit Bar-Josef. He is currently a member of the 21st Century Consort, and is a founding member of the Kennedy Center Chamber Players. Mr. Foster has performed chamber music at the Marlboro, Bowdoin, Killington and Alpenglow Festivals, and at Strings in the Mountains. Mr. Foster appears regularly on a number of chamber music series in the Washington, DC area.
Mr. Foster is on the faculty at the University of Maryland, where his former students have gone on to major orchestral and university positions, and he has been a faculty member at the Bowdoin and Killington festivals. Mr. Foster has given master classes at Oberlin and Peabody Conservatories, the University of Michigan and the Cleveland Institute of Music, and is a member of the “International Principals” faculty at the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, Japan.
Mr. Foster comes from a musical family. In addition to his violinist and cellist cousins, his father William was also a violist with the National Symphony from 1968-2018, and his grandfather John Kendall was a renowned violin pedagogue. His wife Adria Sternstein Foster is the Principal Flutist of the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra.
Meredith Riley is a Canadian-American violinist from Ithaca, NY, currently residing in Alexandria, VA. She graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Music from the University of Texas at Austin, and completed her graduate studies under violinist Andrés Cárdenas at Carnegie Mellon University. Riley studied with Linda Case, Laura Bossert, and Margaret Pressley during her pre-college years.
For five years, Meredith was Associate Principal second violin for the Richmond Symphony in Richmond, VA. While in Graduate school, she was Principal second of the Erie Philharmonic, and she performed as acting concertmaster for the Johnstown Symphony. In recent years, she has free-lanced with Pittsburgh Symphony, Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, Philly pops!, Richmond Symphony, Williamsburg Symphony, and the National Symphony Orchestra. She has been a member of Sphinx Virtuosi for six National tours, recently serving as principal second. Meredith was also excited to join the Gateways Music Festival in 2022, participating in GMF's Carnegie Hall debut with Jon Batiste in 2022, and still continues to collaborate with the Gateways Festival. She joined the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, DC for a one year contract in the ‘22-’23 season, and will be joining the NSO on their upcoming European tour in 2024.
Riley’s solo performance experiences include solo appearances with the Cayuga Chamber Orchestra, Syracuse Symphony Orchestra, New England String Orchestra, University of Texas Symphony Orchestras, and in 2022, the Wintergreen and Sunflower Festival Orchestras. Other awards include Young Artist for the Starling Delay Symposium at the Juilliard School, junior semi-finalist in the National Sphinx Competitions, second place in Young Texas Artists Competition. In 2022, and again in 2023, Meredith won first place in the strings division of the Sphinx Orchestra Partners for Auditions [SOPA] competition.
Meredith plays chamber music whenever she can and has appeared twice on the Smithsonian Chamber Players series, as well as on numerous CMSCVA events in Richmond. Her intensive chamber experiences include Wintergreen Music Festival, the Sunflower Music Festival, Toronto Summer Music Festival, NewPark Chamber Music Festival, Domaine Forget’s intensive chamber music program, Music by the Sea in Bamfield, BC, Steamboat Strings Music Festival Heifetz International Music Festival, Chautauqua MSFO, the International Music Academy of Plzen in Czech Republic, St. Lawrence String Seminar, the International Musical Enghien Encounters in Belgium, the Boston Festival Orchestra, and Encore School for Strings,
In 2021, Meredith was appointed as an Adjunct Professor of Violin at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA. She also teaches a small number of private students in Alexandria and Richmond. She will be joining the faculty of the 2023 Gingold Festival in Miami as part of the Artistic Advising team.
In her free time, Meredith loves to spend time with her husband, family, and dogs. She is constantly sampling new hot sauces, singing and laughing loudly, and improvising vocally or on her violin.
Patrick Morgan’s playing has been praised by the Washington Post as “riveting” and “...a mystical experience.” He has been performing in the DC area since 2008. Patrick accepted a position with the United States Marine Band and Chamber Orchestra at the age of 22; he was appointed Assistant Principal Clarinet in 2012 and has been the Principal Clarinet since 2015. As a frequently featured soloist he has performed many works, including his live recording of Carl Nielsen’s Clarinet Concerto. He was appointed Principal Clarinet of the Fairfax Symphony Orchestra in 2019. He was a Featured Artist for the 2021 virtual ClarinetFest.
As a teacher, he has given masterclasses at prestigious universities across the country, including Indiana University, Eastman School of Music, and Louisiana State University. He received a Bachelor of Music degree in Clarinet Performance from Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music in 2008, where he was a student of Howard Klug. Patrick is a Yamaha Performing Artist and performs exclusively on their clarinets.