Violin
Christina bouey, Concertmaster
Lifetime Chair Goldberg Charitable Trust
Canadian/American violinist, Christina Bouey, is hailed by the New York Times for playing “beautifully,” the New York Post, “When violinist Christina Bouey spun out that shimmering tune, I thought I died and went to heaven,” and by Opera News, for playing “with exquisite, quivering beauty.” She is praised by Seen and Heard International, “Bouey responded with the kind of beguiling poetry that technical brilliance alone cannot liberate.” Christina most recently won 1st prize at the Waldo Mayo Violin Competition which resulted in her concerto debut at Carnegie Hall. Other prizes include the Grand Prize at the Vietnam International Chamber Competition, 1st Prize at the Schoenfeld International String Competition in the chamber division, Grand Prize at the Fischoff Competition, 1st place in the American Prize, and 2nd prize at the Osaka International Chamber Competition. Among her other top awards include the “Rooted to the Island Award” from Music PEI, Hugo Kortchak Award for outstanding achievement in chamber music, Heida Hermann International, Canadian National Music Festival, Queens Concerto Competition, and the Balsam Duo Competition. In addition, her ensemble, the Ulysses Quartet were Lisa Arnhold Fellows at the Juilliard School, serving as the School’s Graduate Resident String Quartet, from 2019-22.
Christina made her solo debut in Carnegie Hall, Stern Auditorium playing Tchaikovsky Concerto with the Senior Concert Orchestra of NY in the fall of 2022 under the baton of Maestro David Gilbert. She has performed as soloist with the Greenwich Symphony, Cayuga Chamber Orchestra, Salina Symphony, River Cities Symphony, Symphony of the Mountains, Tonkünstler Ensemble, Metro Chamber Orchestra, Bergen Symphony, Prince Edward Island Symphony, Ithaca College Orchestra and the Banff Orchestra to name a few.
Christina graduated from Manhattan School of Music (2013) with a Professional Studies Certificate in Orchestral Performance, studying with Glenn Dicterow and Lisa Kim as a full scholarship student, (2012) with a Professional Studies Certificate, studying with Laurie Smukler, and in 2011 she received a Master of Music, while studying with Nicholas Mann. Her Bachelor of Music (Magna cum laude) is from The Boston Conservatory; where she studied with Irina Muresanu as a full-scholarship student.
Christina is currently serving as concertmaster of the Cayuga Chamber Orchestra, and is a member/founder of the Ulysses String Quartet which holds the Quartet-In-Residence position at WGBH. In addition, Christina was recently appointed Assistant Professor of Violin at Ithaca College. She plays a 1790 Storioni violin on generous loan from a private donor. Christina is very excited to announce her debut album being released later this year including the premiere of her own composition “Orpheus Romps Through The Underworld.” as well as the violin sonata “The Tempest” by GRAMMY nominated composer Joseph Summer.
Eiko Kano, assistant concertmaster
Praised as an artist with “electrifying intensity and lyrical expression” by Kyoto Newspaper and “mesmerizing interpreter” by Ongakuno-Tomo Magazine, Japanese violinist Eiko Kano is known for her sensational and dynamic performances. Eiko has a thriving international career as a soloist as well as a chamber musician frequently collaborating with distinguished artists such as principal oboist of the Berlin Philharmonic Albrecht Meyer, Eugene Drucker of the Emerson Quartet and Ani Kavafian while working closely with living composers premiering new works.
She is a top prizewinner of multiple international competitions such as the 4th International Competition of Tokyo among others. As a result of winning the prestigious Forval Scholarship, Eiko was granted the Stradivarius “Reinville” violin for 2 years. She currently serves as an assistant concertmaster in GRAMMY Award-winning Albany Symphony Orchestra as well as regularly plays in the New York Philharmonic. Eiko is the concertmaster and senior artistic advisor of Pegasus: The Orchestra based in New York. Eiko has received BM and MM degrees from Manhattan School of Music and is a long-time resident of New York.
In 2016, she launched the critically acclaimed production titled “A Manhattan Story” (unique style of violin music with original storytelling). “Winter” was released in 2017 followed by “Spring” in 2018 and both CDs have been featured in the audio program on all international JAL flights. In 2018, Eiko founded a dynamic new ensemble, The New Yorkers, featuring Karén Hakobyan as her duo partner. Since then they have been performing extensively in USA and touring Japan for three consecutive seasons
As a recognition of her remarkable performances, Eiko was loaned the precious “Wilhelmj” Stradivarius violin by Nippon Music Foundation. Her rare and mesmerizing video production of Bach Chaconne filmed in the prestigious Kyoto temple Zenrin-ji (Eikando) with a costume designed by Junko Koshino will be featured on all JAL International flights starting May 2020.
Elizabeth Silver
Violinist Elizabeth Silver is a member of the Albany Symphony and Glimmerglass Festival orchestras, and is the concertmaster and artistic advisor of the Kinderhook based Broad Street Orchestra. She has appeared as a soloist with the Albany Symphony, Broad Street Orchestra, and Siena College Orchestra. An active chamber musician, Ms. Silver is a founding member of the Eribeth Chamber Players, a trio specializing in innovative educational programming and enjoying a busy performance schedule in the Capital District and beyond.
Ms. Silver holds a bachelor’s degree from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, a master’s degree from Syracuse University, and has done post-graduate study with Burton Kaplan and Samuel Kissel. A faculty member at the Emma Willard school, Ms. Silver teaches private lessons, conducts the orchestra and coaches chamber music. She also teaches beginning composition and strongly believes in the importance of encouraging all students to create music as well as perform it.
Jamecyn Morey
Jamecyn Morey joined the First Violin section of the Albany Symphony in 2012. Ms. Morey also currently serves as Violin Faculty at The College of Saint Rose, is the Co-founder and Director of the Academy for Strings in Albany, and is an active solo, chamber, and orchestral musician.
Ms. Morey appeared as a soloist with orchestra at Lincoln Center as part of their Distinguished Concerts International New York series in 2010. She has also appeared as a soloist with the Glens Falls Symphony Orchestra, the Young Musicians and Artists Festival Orchestra in Oregon playing the Beethoven Violin Concerto, and served as solo violin with Project Copernicus, a new music ensemble in Miami, FL.
In December of 2009, Jamecyn Morey joined the Hyperion String Quartet as second violinist. Praised by The Strad magazine for their “uncommonly high level of homogeneity and confidence”, the Hyperion String Quartet has performed throughout the United States and Japan, and has held residencies with the Sembrich Opera Museum in Bolton Landing, NY and the Empire State Youth Orchestra. Ms. Morey has also performed in a Violin/Cello Duo “The Copernicus Duo” with her husband, David Bebe, for the past ten years. This ensemble was featured as part of the National Foundation for the Advancement of the Arts “National Showcase”, and premiered a commissioned work as part of Festival Miami.
Before moving to Albany, Ms. Morey was a member of the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, FL under the direction of Michael Tilson-Thomas, where she led the orchestra as Concertmaster with soloists including Gil Shaham and Itzhak Perlman. In Miami, Ms. Morey also served as Violin Faculty at the New World School of the Arts, was the first violinist of the Miami Music Project String Quartet and was a member of the Florida Grand Opera Orchestra.
Ms. Morey began her studies in Violin Performance at the Interlochen Arts Academy High School, and received degrees from Indiana University, studying with Yuval Yaron and Ilya Kaler, and Roosevelt University in Chicago. While in Chicago, she studied with Robert Chen, Concertmaster of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and was a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago. As a member of the Civic Orchestra’s MusiCorp program, she held chamber music residencies with the Chicago City Colleges and Chicago Public Elementary Schools.
When not performing or teaching, Ms. Morey is busy with her two young sons, Augustin and Quentin. Her family enjoys living in Upstate New York because of the beautiful hiking, the vibrant cultural community, and the local food movement.
Paula Oakes
Paula Oakes has been a member of the Albany Symphony Orchestra first violin section since 1986. In 2006, she was awarded a stationary position and has been a recipient of Vanguard scholarships in 1987, ’90, ’94, ’96, 2004, and 2023. Currently living in Boston, Paula performs regularly with the Boston Ballet Orchestra, the Portland Symphony Orchestra, the Pro-Arte Chamber Orchestra, and is Principle Second of the Boston Landmarks Orchestra. An active chamber musician, Paula just completed an eighteen year tenure with the Lavazza Chamber Ensemble and currently performs with the Landmarks Principles String Quartet. The Quartet has garnered a reputation in the greater Boston area for its Music and Memory initiative, performing especially designed programs that foster connections with the memory impaired at retirement communities and nursing home facilities.
When not performing, Paula devotes time to her extensive flower gardens which now include over two-hundred different varieties of Daylilies. Currently, Paula is working toward a Bachelors degree in Political Science at Southern New Hampshire University.
Funda Cizmecioglu, Principal Second Violin
Photo Credit: Gary Gold Photography
Violinist Funda Cizmecioglu performs across a broad musical spectrum and maintains extensive collaborations in the classical and interdisciplinary experimental music scenes in New York City. Funda frequently performs in both pop-up style nontraditional concert venues and renowned traditional concert halls such as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and the Feldstein Immersion Room at the Avery Fisher Center for Music and Media. Recent solo and chamber projects involve several world and USA premieres by composers Marina Vesic, Magnus Martensson, Hafliði Hallgrímsson. In April 2023, Funda launched and curated first concert series, entitled “Funda-mentals”, dedicated to giving opportunity to artists with collaborations of music, poetry and visual arts including commissions by composers around the globe.
Funda made her concerto debut with Albany Symphony Orchestra in 2022. She currently holds the position Assistant Concertmaster of Mid America Productions’ Carnegie Hall series And performs with Composers Concordance Ensemble, New York Composers Circle and several Broadway productions frequently. Crossing over into the rock, pop and dance world, she has toured with Pink Martini, Peter Gabriel, Gloria Gaynor, Kishi Bashi, Frank Sinatra Jr., Johnny Mathis, Kanye West, Suzanne Vega , and Max Pollak. Funda holds a Master of Music degree and a Professional Studies Diploma in Violin Performance from Mannes College of The New School University in New York City. She earned her Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance from the State Conservatory of Mimar Sinan University in Istanbul, Turkey and a Performance Diploma from the International Academy at Mozarteum University in Salzburg, Austria. Funda is an avid swimmer, managing to fit miles of swimming into her everyday routine in New York City.
Mitsuko Suzuki, assistant principal second violin
Mitsuko Suzuki’s passion for the instrument has taken her across the globe. A native of Japan, Ms. Suzuki studied music at Tokyo College of Music, and later at the Royal Academy of Music in London. While in the UK, she won the Rowsby Woof Prize and the Winifred Small Solo Violin Prize and became a member of the Royal Academy Soloists – the institute’s celebrated ensemble that toured concert halls at festivals throughout England. After graduating the Academy, Ms. Suzuki moved to the United States to pursue her Master degree at the Manhattan School of Music, and her contemporary music ensemble was featured on NBC’s Today Show.
Now based in the Capital Region, Ms. Suzuki performs numerous orchestral and chamber music engagements throughout the Northeastern U.S., as well as touring Broadway productions coming through the Proctors Theater in Schenectady, NY. In the last few years, she has also ventured into the contemporary jazz local scene as a member of the Red Canna Trio.
Ms. Suzuki currently serves as Asst. Concertmaster of both the Catskill Symphony and the Berkshire Opera Festival, as well as Asst. Principal Violin of the Albany (NY) Symphony. She is also a member of the Springfield Symphony and the Hudson Valley Philharmonic. In-between professional engagements, she devotes her time to teaching young Violin and Viola students, and learning the game of tennis.
Barbara Lapidus
Endowed by Marisa & Allan Eisemann
Barbara Lapidus is a graduate of the Crane School of Music, Potsdam, NY and has completed selected graduate curricula in music from Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY. Ms. Lapidus is currently a violinist with the Albany Symphony Orchestra and has been awarded a stationary position in the orchestra. She has performed with the St. Cecilia Orchestra, the Berkshire Opera Festival and the Schenectady Symphony. She has performed in a broad range of settings including: orchestral backup for Broadway-on-Tours, popular concerts at Saratoga Performing Arts Center, the Schenectady Light Opera and local choral societies. She has played numerous weddings and functions in the Capital Region.
Ms. Lapidus teaches violin in her studio in Niskayuna, NY.
Amelia Bailey
Amelia Bailey moved to NYC to attend the Manhattan School of Music, where she completed a Master of Music in 2023, studying under Sheryl Staples. A native of Virginia, she graduated from the University of Virginia in 2021 with degrees in Music Performance and Environmental Science. Amelia began violin at age 3 and studied with members of the National Symphony, as well as participated in the NSO’s Youth Fellowship program growing up. She has attended festivals such as the National Repertory Orchestra, National Orchestral Institute, Robert Mann String Quartet Institute, Curtis Young Artist Summer Program, and others. Outside of music, Amelia enjoys plant-keeping, photography, and spending time on her family’s farm.
Ariana Cappon
Since her solo debut at age 14, violinist Ariana Cappon has actively performed as a recitalist and collaborator. She has been featured on series such as the Young Arts Showcase at Lincoln Center, Richardson Chamber Players at Princeton University, St. Paul’s Chapel at Columbia University, Downtown at Grace in White Plains, Riverside Arts, among others. She is currently a grant recipient of Chamber Music America as a member of the Ondine String Quartet. In 2019-2020, she toured in a quintet for Holland America’s “Lincoln Center Stage”. She has appeared in numerous festivals, including the Maine Chamber Music Seminar as a fellow, Orford Musique, Fontainebleau Academie, and the Heifetz Institute. As a New York City based freelancer, she performs regularly with Greenwich Symphony Orchestra, the Harrisburg Symphony, and the North-Eastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic. In addition to classical violin, she enjoys playing baroque, tango, and Afro-Cuban Charanga. She completed both her bachelor’s degree in performance and mathematics and master’s degree in performance at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music under Mark Kaplan and Mauricio Fuks, with secondary study under Stanley Ritchie, the Pacifica Quartet, Menahem Pressler, and Andre Watts. Her previous teachers include Grigory Kalinovsky and Dorothy Roffman in the Manhattan School of Music Precollege Division.
Ouisa Fohrhaltz
Ouisa Fohrhaltz, violinist, has been a member of the Albany Symphony since 1990 and the Berkshire Symphony Orchestra since 1979. Ms. Fohrhaltz is also Orchestra Director and Strings Teacher at Mt. Greylock Regional High School in Williamstown, MA, a position she has held since 1979. Ms. Fohrhaltz has a Bachelor of Music in Violin and Bachelor of Music in Education from Hartt College of Music, West Hartford, Connecticut (1973), and received her master’s degree in violin performance from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst (1985), where she was a Graduate String Quartet member and teaching assistant. Ms. Fohrhaltz is a violin and viola teacher at the Berkshire Music School in Pittsfield, MA, and a member of the Vivante Trio.
heather frank-olsen
Heather Frank-Olsen has been playing with the Albany Symphony Orchestra since 2004. Heather attended Swarthmore College and then completed her master’s degree and artist diploma at SUNY Purchase. She performs with several orchestras, including the Harrisburg Symphony, The Orchestra Now, New England Symphonic Ensemble, The Washington Heights Chamber Orchestra, New Camerata Opera, the New Jersey Festival Orchestra, and many more. She enjoys having a varied freelance career that includes regularly performing at venues such as Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center. When not playing or teaching violin, Heather enjoys reading, cooking, baking, traveling, and running marathons. She lives in New York City in a household with teenage kids, cats, a dog, and never a dull moment.
EMILY garrison
Violinist Emily Garrison is a multi-faceted freelance performer based in the Lower Hudson Valley/New York City area. She has performed in renowned venues such as Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center, and the Kennedy Center. Emily regularly performs with orchestras all over the Tri-State area, including the Albany Symphony, Hudson Valley Philharmonic, Binghamton Philharmonic, and the NEPA Philharmonic, where she sits assistant principal 2nd violin. Her role as an orchestral musician includes the GRAMMY Award-Winning recording of Christopher Theofanidis’ Concerto for Viola and Chamber Orchestra with the Albany Symphony and the premiere of Wayne Shorter’s opera “Iphigenia”.
In addition to her orchestral career, Emily has had the honor of participating in chamber music projects throughout the northeast, including the NEPA Philharmonic’s chamber series, where she has performed challenging works such as Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time. She is an active member of the NYC-based Lotus Chamber Music Collective, a string quartet featuring female/female identifying composers, as well as POC and LGBTQ+ artists and community members, at the forefront of their programming.
At home, Emily enjoys exploring unconventional instrumentation with husband and jazz saxophonist/composer Matt Garrison. Together they formed Scroll & Reed in 2019, a duo which features unique arrangements of jazz standards and pop tunes, as well as original compositions.
ROWAN HARVEY
Rowan is an Australian violinist who currently lives in New York City. She was awarded the Licentiate of Music with distinction from the Australian Music Examinations Board at the age of 16. Her other achievements include 1st prize in the Gisborne International Music Competition (1996) and the Nescafe Big Break Award. She has been awarded grants from the Australia Council for the Arts, the Queen Elizabeth II Trust, the Ian Potter Foundation, the PPCA Performer’s Trust and the Dame Joan Sutherland Fund. After moving to New York, she obtained a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in violin performance from Stony Brook University. As an orchestral violinist, Rowan has performed with the Opera Australia Orchestra and Australian Chamber Orchestra and has been a member of the Sydney String Quartet, the West Michigan Symphony and the Civic Orchestra of Chicago. She has taught for many organizations including the Phil Ramone Orchestra for Children, the Harmony Program and the Children’s Aid Society.
Margret Hickey
Margret Hickey has been a member of the Albany Symphony since 1977. After graduating from the Crane School of Music in 1972, she moved to the Capital District to begin a teaching career in string instrument instruction in North Colonie and ending in South Colonie in 2010. Since retiring she has become active in the Suzuki Association of the Capital District and has a Violin/Viola Studio in her home in Clifton Park. She has been an active professional musician throughout these years and performed in the Schenectady, Skidmore, Berkshire, and Glens Falls Symphonies. Chamber music groups include the St. Cecelia Chamber Orchestra, Winds and Strings and Congress Strings. She was a guest artist with the Saratoga Chamber Players and performed a series of piano quintets at the Shenendehowa Methodist Church. Her freelance work includes work with local choral groups, Colonie Coliseum (Starlight Theatre), Washington Park Playhouse, Berkshire Opera, Cohoes Music Hall, Mac-Hayden Theatre, and SPAC.
Her teachers at Crane were Bernard Eichen and Charles Libove and 5 study grants from the Albany Symphony allowed her to do advanced work with Lilo Glick, Joseph MGauley, Gregory Fulkerson, Victor Romanul, and Carrie Reuning-Hummel.
Christine Kim
Christine Kim is a violinist with the Albany Symphony. She is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music where she received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in violin performance. Her principal teachers include Camilla Wicks, Mitchell Stern, Oleh Krysa and Ilya Kaler. She studied chamber music with members of the Cleveland and Ying Quartets. She has performed with orchestras throughout the Northeast including the New Haven Symphony, Allentown Symphony, and the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic. She also is a neurologist on faculty at the Yale School of Medicine, specializing in Movement Disorders. She has a particular interest in treating neurological disorders affecting performing artists. She enjoys running, hiking, and spending time with friends and family.
Aleksandra Labinska
Aleksandra Labinska is a versatile violinist performing as a soloist, chamber musician and orchestral player throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia. She is an eager collaborator on contemporary music projects and is a highly sought-after violinist for solo recitals, recording and educational outreach concerts. Aleksandra frequently ventures outside of the classical music realm to pop and rock concerts, video game music and film scoring recordings. She has collaborated with artists such as Hansen String Theory, Evanescence, Irish Thunder, Trans Siberian Orchestra, Andrea Bocelli, Placido Domingo, Kygo, Game of Thrones production, and Il Volo to name a few. Aleksandra is a section member of the GRAMMY award-winning Albany Symphony, Vermont Symphony and Symphony New Hampshire. She frequently performs with the Hartford Symphony as well as Cape Cod Symphony. As a chamber musician she is a member of Virtuoso Soloists of New York and Voyage Piano Trio as well as the Mirage Violin Duo. Aleksandra’s toured with the Boston Chamber Orchestra in southern Japan and participated in the World Music Festival performing throughout mainland China. She had the privilege of participating in festivals including Banff Center Music Festival, Toronto Summer Music Academy and Festival, International Bach Festival with Helmuth Rilling at University of Toronto, Lancut International Music Courses In Poland, St. Lawrence String Quartet Chamber Music Seminar at Stanford University, Castleton Music Festival in Virginia under the direction of Maestro Lorin Maazel, and AIMS festival in Graz, Austria. She frequently collaborates with the Boston String Ensemble as well as Atlantic Strings on performing projects and can be heard on BMOP/sound, Naxos recording and WGBH broadcasting. Aleksandra appeared as a soloist with the Mooredale Concerto Players in Toronto, and Ostinato Chamber Orchestra in Poland. Her concert activities have taken her to Stefaniensaal in Austria, Roy Thomson Hall (Toronto) and Fukuoka Symphony Hall (Japan) as well as TD Gardens, Boston’s Symphony Hall, Kennedy Center (Washington DC), New York Town Hall, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Mohegan Sun and large arenas across New England.
As a teacher, Aleksandra serves as the Violin Faculty at the College of the Holy Cross Music Department and during the summer months at the Luzerne Music Center. Her previous appointments included Boston University Tanglewood Institute Violin Workshop Faculty, South Shore Conservatory, Point CounterPoint Music Center and Boston Suzuki Institute collaboration. Aleksandra holds a Doctorate and Masters degree from the Boston University College of the Arts under the tutelage of Professor Yuri Mazurkevich. Her undergraduate studies were completed at the Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory of Music and University of Toronto, Faculty of Music.
Eliane Menzel
Eliane Menzel, born in 1999 and raised in Germany, was a student of Prof. Katrin Scholz in the pre-college division at the Academy of Arts Bremen from 2008-2017. She was concertmaster of the German Youth String Orchestra from 2014-2018 with which she performed on concert tours throughout Europe. In 2015 she did a broadcast production of S. Saëns, Rondo Capricciso at the NDR Hamburg which was transmitted in 2016. In the same year she won the 1st prize at the VIII. International competition "Szymon Goldberg".
Eliane has attended Festivals such as the "Young Artists Program" founded by Pinchas Zukerman, the “Heifetz International Music Institute" and the “Keshet Eilon Mastercourse“ as well as masterclasses with Rachel Podger, Rainer Honeck, Silvia Marcovici, Igor Ozim, Hagai Shaham, Shmuel Ashkenasy, Ilya Kaler and Itzhak Rashkovsky. She attended the Manhattan School of Music in the "Zukerman Performance Program" with Pinchas Zukerman and Patinka Kopec from 2018 - 2022 and is now, after the completion of her Bachelor of Music degree pursuing her Masters Degree at the Juilliard School of Music with Joel Smirnoff. She is a scholarship recipient from the DAAD and a recipient of the Gluck Fellowship 2023-2024.
As a soloist Eliane Menzel has performed with orchestras such as the Oldenburger Schlossorchester, Kammersinfonie Oldenburg, MainKammerorchester Frankfurt, the Ensemble Bremen-Frankfurt and the Oldenburg State Orchestra. In addition she has also performed at the German Embassy in Ottawa as well as in the German Embassy in New York and recently in Weil Hall, Carnegie Hall.
She regularly performs with her father, oboist Prof. Fabian Menzel. In 2017 they started their own concert series, the “Schlosskonzerte Neuenburg” in the Castle of Neuenburg with numerous performances every year. With the start of the pandemic they started to livestream the concerts. Their repertoire presents music from baroque to modern style, including world premieres of Compositions written for them.
Kae Nakano
Born in Tokyo, Kae Nakano studied violin, chamber music and orchestra at the Toho Gakuen School of Music. She joined the 14th Music Festival Argerich's Meeting Point in Beppu, Pacific Music Festival, Seiji Ozawa Ongaku-Juku (Opera project) XII, Saito Kinen Orchestra (Music Festival), and played with Martha Argerich, Vadim Repin, Seiji Ozawa, members of the Viena Philharmonic, Cleaveland Orchestra, and others. She also won the 3rd place in the “Romania International Music Competition” when she was a college student, and performed concerts for the Embassy of Romania. Ms. Nakano received the President’s Award when she enrolled at the Manhattan School of Music, and additional awards for academic and artistic achievements. She studies with Mr. Koichiro Harada and Ms. Patinka Kopec. Ms. Nakano won the Lilian Fuchs Memorial Chamber Music Series Competition and Ruth Widder String Quartet Award. Her clarinet trio was selected for the CMS master class with Anthony McGill, and playing with Wolfram Koessel and MSM students. She studied chamber music with David Geber, Samuel Rhodes, Wolfram Koessel, and Alan R. Kay. Ms. Nakano attended the Music Academy of the West and was selected by the Takacs quartet for the festival’s string quartet seminar. She has been concert mistress of several orchestras and has performed concerts at the Korean Embassy in NY. She has also been a section violinist of the Albany Symphony and the Berkshire Opera Festival.
Alisa Wyrick
Alisa Wyrick is a violinist and violist and an active orchestral and chamber musician in the New York area. Alisa most recently plays as a guest with the New York Philharmonic since 2016, and was a member of the New York City Opera Orchestra since 2006. She served as Concertmaster of the South Bend Symphony, and has performed a wide variety of chamber music around the world—playing with contemporary ensembles in Japan and Hawaii commemorating the bombing of Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and Pearl Harbor; performing orchestral music all over the US, South America, Europe, China, and Japan; as well as solo performances in the US and Italy.
As a well-rounded musician, Alisa is familiar with orchestral, opera, ballet, contemporary, chamber and solo repertoire while having performance and teaching experience around the world.