James Tocco, Artistic Director and piano Sponsored by Rayna & Natalio Kogan
In frequent demand worldwide as a recitalist, orchestral soloist, chamber music collaborator and pedagogue, Tocco is Eminent Scholar/Artist-in-Residence at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. He has been Artistic Director of the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival since its birth.
Jeremy Denk, piano Sponsored by Gail and Ira Mondry
Known as one of today’s most compelling artists, Denk has appeared with the Philadelphia Orchestra and the St. Louis, Houston, Detroit and San Francisco symphonies, among others. He is currently collaborating with violinist Joshua Bell.
Anton Nel, piano Eugene Istomin Endowed Piano Chair
Anton Nel, winner of the 1987 Naumburg International Piano Competition, enjoys a remarkable and versatile career that has taken him throughout the Americas, Europe, Asia, and South Africa. Nel is professor of piano and chamber music at the University of Texas at Austin.
Pei-Shan Lee, piano Ruth Laredo Endowed Piano Chair
In high demand as a duo and chamber music partner, Lee has toured the world in recitals with international artists from America’s leading artist management companies. Her hometown is Boston, where she teaches Collaborative Piano at the New England Conservatory. Lee is also on the faculty of the Perlman Music Program in Sarasota.
Emmanuelle Boisvert, violin
Detroit Symphony Orchestra Concertmaster Emmanuelle Boisvert was just twenty-five-years old when she became the first woman to win the post of concertmaster in the United States. Boisvert began her studies at age three at the Conservatoire de Musique de Québec. She attended the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where she was a student of Ivan Galamian and David Cerone.
Kimberly Kaloyanides Kennedy, violin
Associate Concertmaster of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Kennedy was a winner of the 1998 University of Michigan Concerto Competition, Grand Prize winner in the state round of the 1997 ASTA Competition and first prize recipient in the National Round of the 1996 ASTA Competition.
Soovin Kim, violin Supported by the Henry Meyer Fund
Soovin Kim is an exciting young player who has built on the early successes of his prize-winning years to emerge as a mature artist equally gifted in concerto, recital, and chamber music repertoire.
Yehonatan Berick, violin Sponsored by Florence Brownfain and Marguerite Munson Lentz & David Lentz
A prizewinner at the 1993 Naumburg Competition and a recipient of the 1996-97 Prix Opus, Berick is in high demand internationally as a soloist, recitalist, chamber musician (on violin as well as viola) and pedagogue. He is Associate Professor of Violin at the University of Michigan.
Kim Kashkashian, viola
Established as one of the most accomplished artists of her generation, Kashkashian has extensively enlarged the repertoire for the viola through her intense and continuous work with such composers as Gubaidulina, Kancheli, Kurtág, Mansurian and Penderecki.
Andrés Díaz, cello Paul Katz Endowed Cello Chair
Andrés Díaz is winner the First Prize in the 1986 Naumburg International Cello Competition. His numerous orchestral appearances include engagements with the Atlanta Symphony, performances with the American Symphony at Carnegie Hall, the symphony orchestras of Milwaukee, Seattle, Rochester, the Boston Pops and Esplanade Orchestras, the Chicago Symphony at the Ravinia Festival and the National Symphony Orchestra. Currently, he is Associate Professor at Southern Methodist University.
Yehuda Hanani, cello Sponsored by Nancy & William Duffy
Yehuda Hanani is a Professor of Cello at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and an international master class teacher. Hanani studied with Leonard Rose at Juilliard and with Pablo Casals.
Paul Katz, cello Sponsored by Cecilia Benner
Known to concertgoers around the world as cellist of the Cleveland Quartet, Katz is Professor of Cello and Chamber Music and Director of the Professional String Quartet Training Program at The New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. He is the Director of the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival’s Shouse Institute.
Xiao Dong Wei, erhu
Born in Jixi, China, Xiao Dong has studied the erhu since the age of five. She has held positions at the China Motion Picture Orchestra and appeared as a guest soloist with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and Great Lakes Symphony.
Wei Yang, pipa
Wei made his solo debut on the pipa with the National Shanghai Orchestra when he was 18. Since 2000, Wei has toured with the acclaimed Silk Road Project, performing alongside world famous cellist Yo Yo Ma.
Lauren Skuce, soprano
Skuce has been distinguished for her versatility on both the opera and concert stages. She received the prestigious Prix du Public in the Montreal International Singing Competition and in April 2007 she was the first place winner of the International Concert Alliance Competition in both the aria and art song categories. Skuce has performed with many of the world’s top musical organizations, including the New York City Opera and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.
Daniel Gross, baritone
Currently the cantor at Adat Shalom Synagogue in Farmington Hills, MI, Gross has performed with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Chamber Music Northwest, the Pittsburgh Opera, the Los Angeles Symphony, and the National Symphony Orchestra, among others. The New York Times has described his lyric baritone voice as “fine and creamy.”
eighth blackbird Beverly Franzblau Baker Endowed Young Artist Chair
eighth blackbird is a Grammy Award-winning contemporary music sextet founded in 1996. The group derives its name from the Wallace Stevens poem "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird."
Detroit Chamber Winds & Strings
With an international reputation established through performances, touring and recording, the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival’s host ensemble is committed to bringing to life the wonderful body of repertoire that utilizes between 6 and 20 musicians.
