The Trout

Abigail Evans Kreuzer

Abigail Evans Kreuzer began playing with the National Symphony Orchestra in January of 2005. She was appointed assistant principal viola in May of 2006. Before coming to Washington, she spent four months in the viola section of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. She attended the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she was a student of Jeffrey Irvine and Lynne Ramsey.

Abigail is a member of the Manchester String Quartet and has also performed with other D.C. area ensembles, including the 21st Century Consort, Eclipse Chamber Orchestra, and Kennedy Center Chamber Players.

Anthony Manzo

Anthony Manzo’s vibrantly interactive and highly communicative music making has made him a ubiquitous figure in the upper echelons of classical music, performing regularly at noted venues including Lincoln Center in NYC, Boston’s Symphony Hall, and the Spoleto Festival in Charleston. He appears regularly with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, both in NY and across the country. He serves as the solo bassist of San Francisco’s New Century Chamber Orchestra and as a guest with the East Coast Chamber Orchestra, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and A Far Cry in Boston. He is also a regular guest with the National Symphony Orchestra, the Smithsonian Chamber Society, and the Baltimore Symphony when he happens to be near his home in Washington, DC. Formerly the solo bassist of the Munich Chamber Orchestra in Germany, Mr. Manzo has also been guest principal with Camerata Salzburg in Austria, where collaborations have included a summer residency at the Salzburg Festival and two tours as soloist alongside bass/baritone Thomas Quasthoff, performing Mozart's “Per questa bella mano.” He is an active performer on period instruments, with groups including The Handel & Haydn Society of Boston (where his playing was lauded as “endowed with beautiful and unexpected plaintiveness” by the Boston Musical Intelligencer), Philharmonia Baroque in San Francisco, and Opera Lafayette in Washington, DC. A passionate teacher, he serves on the double bass and chamber music faculty of the University of Maryland.

Audrey Wright

Violinist Audrey Wright is Associate Concertmaster of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and Concertmaster of the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra. A versatile performer in solo, chamber music, and orchestral realms, Audrey has previously held positions with the Excelsa Quartet (2014-16) and New World Symphony (2013-14). Her repertoire spans the early 17th century to modern day, and her performing experience includes the full spectrum of these musical styles from Baroque performance practice to the premiering of new and personally commissioned works. While a member of the Excelsa Quartet, Audrey traveled throughout North America and Europe giving concerts and competing in international competitions. The quartet worked closely with members of the Guarneri, Emerson, St. Lawrence, and Juilliard quartets, and in 2015 commissioned and gave the world premiere of John Heiss's Microcosms. As a participant of the Verbier Festival since 2012, Audrey performed with the Verbier Festival Orchestra and Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra and was concertmaster under the direction of Gábor Takács-Nagy, Kent Nagano, Iván Fischer, and Charles Dutoit. Audrey has made solo appearances with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore Chamber Orchestra, New World Symphony, and Cape Cod Symphony Orchestra. Other collaborations include artists Mayron Tsong, Paul Watkins, Roberto González-Monjas, Russell Hartenberger, Roger Tapping, John Heiss, John Gibbons, and Christopher O’Riley on the national radio program “From the Top”, as well as chamber ensembles such as the St. Lawrence String Quartet, Axelrod String Quartet, Borromeo String Quartet, and Boston Trio. Most recent festival appearances include the Verbier Festival (Verbier, CH), Manchester Summer Chamber Music (Ipwich, MA), Great Lakes Summer Chamber Music Festival (Detroit, MI), Kneisel Hall School of Music (Blue Hill, ME), and the McGill International String Quartet Academy (Montreal, QC). Audrey appears on many concert series in the greater Baltimore area, including Community Concerts at Second, Pro Musica Rara, Hood College Chamber Music, and the Smithsonian Chamber Society, where she has performed on the exquisite instruments within the Smithsonian Instrument Collection.

In addition to performing, Audrey is also passionate about teaching and coaching chamber music. She was the Director of the Homewood Chamber Music Seminar at Johns Hopkins University from 2017-18 and maintains a small studio of private students. Previously, she coached chamber music at the University of Maryland School of Music, and held teaching positions at the International School of Music in Bethesda, MD, Beechwood Knoll Elementary School in Quincy, MA, and Panama Jazz Festival in Panama City, Panama.

Audrey holds performance degrees from the New England Conservatory and a D.M.A. from the University of Maryland. Her principal teachers include Lucy Chapman, David Salness, Bayla Keyes, and Magdalena Richter. Audrey plays on a 1763 J.B. Guadagnini violin generously loaned to her by conductor Marin Alsop.

Efi Hackmey

Pianist Efi Hackmey is Co-Founder and Co-Artistic Director of Chiarina Chamber Players, together with cellist Carrie Bean Stute. Mr. Hackmey is an active soloist and chamber musician in NYC and in the DC area. In 2013 he released an album on the Naxos label, which includes several world premiere recordings (Polish Violin Music with violinist Kinga Augustyn). Efi has performed at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center’s Rose Studio, Kennedy Center, Bargemusic, Arion Chamber Music, and the Friends of Mozart series in NYC. He performed many additional concerts in Alabama, California, DC, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Maryland, Montana, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas and Wyoming. In his native Israel he performed as soloist with the Haifa Symphony Orchestra, as well as at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Jerusalem Music Center, and in special concerts presented by the Arthur Rubinstein International Music Society. He has performed on Israeli TV Channel 2, and his recordings have been broadcast on the Israeli National Public Radio,and in the US on WTSU, WRWA and WTJB. A review of one of his New York performances quotes “excellent Israeli musician... under his fingers the piano sounded noble, and each phrase was full of character”, and further praises his “highly personal, thought through interpretation.” (Roman Markowicz, “Nowy Dziennik”).

Mr. Hackmey has served on the piano faculty at DePauw University, and he also taught at the Indiana University system, Montgomery College in Rockville, MD, and Levine School of Music in Washington, DC. He holds a Doctor of Music degree in piano performance 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, David Zinman, Richard Stoltzman and Jaime Laredo.

Rachel Young

A National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) cellist since 1998, Rachel Young brings a diverse musical background to her work, ranging from avid engagement in chamber music to a strong interest in new music. She joins NSO colleagues as a member of the Last Stand Quartet and the 21st Century Consort. Prior to joining the NSO, Young served as principal cello of the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra. An enthusiastic chamber musician, her collaboraitons include appearances with the the Fortas Chamber Music and Mason Bates KC Jukebox series at the John F. Kennedy Center, Smithsonian Chamber Music Society, Jackson Hole Chamber Music, Garth Newel Music Center, the Odeon Chamber Series, the Strathmore Mansion, the White House, and the American Embassy in Madrid, as well as on radio stations WGMS, WETA, and WGBH. Her discography includes performances with the 21st Century Consort and the Smithsonian Chamber Players. Young has also enjoyed occasional forays into new arenas, collaborating with the Paul Taylor Dance Company, movie producer Bill McKenna, songwriter Randy Barrett, and saxophonist Al Regni.

Rachel Young was born and raised in Washington, D.C. She began studying music at the age of four and quickly knew she wanted to become a cellist. In high school, Young trained in the NSO Youth Fellowship Program, studying with Principal Cellist David Hardy. She earned a Bachelor of Music degree from the New England Conservatory of Music, where she studied with Laurence Lesser, and her master's degree in cello performance with Stephen Kates at the Peabody Conservatory. She was a Fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center and attended the Britten-Pears School for Advanced Musical Studies in England, where she studied with William Pleeth. Young is a teaching artist with the National Symphony Orchestra Youth Fellowship and Summer Music Institute programs as well as a chamber coach for the Maryland Classic Youth Orchestra. She serves on the boards of the Kindler Cello Society and the 21st Century Consort. A resident of Maryland, Young shares a house with husband and chamber music collaborator, bassist Anthony Manzo, two teenagers, 3 cats, and a pandemic mouse named Moose.