Performer, Violinist
Yevgenia Strenger joined the New York City Opera orchestra in 1979 and became the concertmaster of the NYCO in 2001. She is also a member of the New York City Ballet and has been a frequent player with the New York Philharmonic for many years. Ms. Strenger made her debut with the Lvov Symphony (Ukraine) when she was thirteen, performing concertos by Conus and Sibelius. Upon graduating with honors from the Moscow State Conservatory she toured the Soviet Union as a member of the Kalinin String Quartet. Ms. Strenger, in addition to orchestral playing, has appeared on television, radio and in recitals and chamber music concerts in USA, Russia and Belarus.
Performer, Pianist
David Oei was a soloist with the Hong Kong Philharmonic at the age of nine and has since performed with major orchestras including the New York Philharmonic, Pittsburgh, and Baltimore Symphonies. Mr. Oei is the winner of five Interlochen Concerto Competitions and the Concert Artists Guild, WQXR Young Artists, Young Musicians Foundation and Paul Ulanowsky Chamber Pianists Awards. A perennial fixture on the New York City chamber music scene he has made guest appearances with the Audubon Quartet, Strathmere Ensemble, Claring Chamber Players, Friends of Mozart, Da Capo Chamber Players, New York Philharmonic Ensembles, St. Luke’s and Orpheus Chamber Ensembles and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. In 2012 he performed the Mozart Concerto K.466 and the Brahms Concerto No. 1 with the Strathmere Festival Orchestra.
Founding director of the Salon Chamber Soloists and a founding member of the Aspen Soloists, Festival Chamber Music and the Intimate P.D.Q. Bach he is also currently a member of the Elysium Chamber Ensemble, LED Trio and the HD Duo with pianist Helene Jeanney besides enjoying a longtime collaboration with violinist Chin Kim. A former regular artist at Bargemusic and Chamber Music Northwest he has performed at various festivals including Caramoor, Sitka, Bard, Gretna, Seattle, Washington Square and Kuhmo (Finland). Mr. Oei is an Affiliate Artist of Innovative Music Programs, a company that develops and implements creative ideas with people in the visual and performing arts the world over.
His television credits include “Leonard Bernstein’s Young People’s Concerts”, “CBS News Sunday Morning” and the “Today Show”. He has recorded a wide range of chamber works for Delos, ADDA, Vanguard, CRI, Pro Arte, Arabesque, Albany, Grenadilla, Festival Chamber Music and New World Records. Mr. Oei was the Music Director and Production Advisor for Music-Theatre Group’s productions of Stanley Silverman and Richard Foreman’s “Africanis Instructus” and “Love and Science”. He was also the Music Director for the Sundance Theater Workshop production of the Wallace/Foreman opera “Yiddisher Teddy Bears”. In the summer of ’07 he conducted the Washington Square Festival Chamber Orchestra in a Gershwin/Weill concert titled “Music as Political Statement” and has since recorded the Strauss and Rachmaninoff Sonatas for cello and piano with Ruth Sommers and “The Lay of Love and Death of the Cornet Christoph Rilke” by Viktor Ullmann for piano and speaker with Lutz Rath. His first duo CD with Eriko Sato titled “Five Not-So-Easy Pieces” has been release on their new label Prestissimo.
A former affiliated teacher at SUNY Purchase and the Volunteers Coordinator and Head Coach for Manhattan Special Olympics, Mr. Oei is a faculty member of Summertrios, Bennington Chamber Music Conference, Hoff-Barthelson Music School and the Mannes College Of Music. He is also a member of Alaria, Mannes Extension Division’s ensemble-in-residence, which has offered the Chamber Music At Mannes program and an annual Weill Recital Hall series for over two decades. Mr. Oei lives in NYC with his wife, violinist Eriko Sato, and their pit bull mix, Jazz.
www.davidoei.weebly.com
Performer, Violinist
Violinist Tzu-En Lee was born in Tainan, Taiwan, where she began studying violin when she was only five years of age. From ages seven to seventeen, she won numerous local and national competitions, foremost of which was the Taiwan National Violin Competition. At the local level, she won the Tainan County and City Competitions, the Kao-Hsiung County and City (2008) Competitions, the Kao-Hsiung City Gun-Du-Bae Competition (1998), and the Yunlin County Competition. She studied in the Music Department of the Tainan University of Technology, where she was the principal second violin in the school’s orchestra, conducted by Huei-Ming Twu.
Since coming to the United States, Tzu-En Lee has studied violin performance at Mannes College, The New School for Music, in Manhattan. She graduated with a diploma in the Spring of 2012 and is currently pursuing further studies in the graduate program at Mannes under the tutelage of violinist Yuri Vodovoz. She is a member of the Mannes Community Orchestra, playing first violin, second stand. In addition to her studies, Ms. Lee has enjoyed taking part in the musical life of NYC as a free-lance musician. Since the founding in 2009 of the Pocket Opera of New York, she has performed with its orchestra on two productions (Mozart’s “Cosi fan tutti” and Handel’s “Messiah”), under the artistic leadership of its conductor Wei-En Hsu. Violinist Tzu-En Lee has also sought out opportunities for performing music by contemporary composers. She has participated in the Second and Third Annual Social Networking Concerts, produced and curated by American composer Douglas Townsend at Saint Peter’s Church in Manhattan. (In the 2011 concert she was part of an ensemble led by pianist David Oei which performed a new piano reduction of Townsend’s triple violin concerto. In the 2012 concert she was part of a string quartet which included violinist Muneyoshi Takahashi and which world-premiered a work by Australian composer Houston Dunleavy. Both performances were audio podcast and videotaped for YouTube.)
Performer, Violinist
Polish-born and New York City-based violinist Kinga Augustyn has been described as “an adventurous performer valuable to New York’s scene” (NY Concert Review), “a violinist for whom nothing seems too difficult” (Nowy Dziennik Polish Daily News), “stylish and vibrant” (The Strad Magazine).
She has performed as a soloist with orchestras in the United States and Europe. Among them are the Magdeburg Philharmonic Orchestra, the Chamber Orchestra Leopoldinum, the Wroclaw Philharmonic Orchestra, the American Academy of Conducting Orchestra at the Aspen Music Festival, the Empire State Sinfonia, the Gateway Classical Music Society Orchestra, the Broadway Bach Ensemble, the Glacier Symphony, and the Augusta Symphony Orchestra.
In addition to her many orchestra appearances, she maintains a busy concert schedule as a recitalist and chamber musician with appearances at Carnegie Hall (in both the Stern Auditorium and the Weill Recital Hall), Alice Tully Hall, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Merkin Hall, The Kosciuszko Foundation, 7 World Trade Center, Bargemusic, Polish and Hungarian Embassies in Washington, DC, The Aspen Music Festival, and the Ethical Society in Philadelphia. She has also performed as a featured artist at music festivals such as the Paderewski Festival, the Sevenars Music Festival, and the Chopin & Friends Festival.
Her recent prestigious collaborations include solo performances with The Jose Limon Dance Company at the Joyce Theater in NYC. Ms. Augustyn is also a member of pianist Jeffrey Biegel’s Trio 21 with cellist Robert deMaine. The ensemble has recently recorded Glen Roven’s Runaway Bunny CD for GPR Records, with Catherine Zeta- Jones as a narrator, as well as Kenneth Fuchs’ Falling Trio for Naxos. Ms. Augustyn’s Album of Polish music, was just released in June 2013 on Naxos.
Ms. Augustyn is committed to increasing awareness of music by Polish composers, as well as promoting contemporary music. She has premiered Michael White’s Sonata for Violin and Piano and his Trio Sonata, which were composed especially for her. She has also recorded his Quartet for Piano and Strings. Ms. Augustyn’s new album of contemporary music is coming out very soon on GPR Records. Her former discography includes a CD of Niccolo Paganini 24 Caprices for Solo Violin.
Ms. Augustyn has won international awards, including First Prizes at the Alexander & Buono International String Competition (NYC), Artist International Presentations (NYC), J.S. Bach String Competition (Zielona Gora, Poland), and Ackerman Chamber Music Competition at Stony Brook, NY. Other top honors include prizes at the Kosciuszko Foundation Wieniawski Violin Competition (NYC), the Johannes Brahms International Competition (Poertschach, Austria), and the Kloster Schoental International Young Artist Competition (Kloster Scheontal, Germany).
Kinga Augustyn began her music studies at the age of seven in her native Poland. She eventually went on to study at The Juilliard School, where she worked with Dorothy DeLay, Cho-Liang Lin and Naoko Tanaka, and earned both the bachelor’s and the master’s degrees. She also holds a doctorate from the State University of New York at Stony Brook, where she took lessons from Phil Setzer and Pamela Frank.
As a teacher, Ms. Augustyn has served as a Violin Faculty for The Alexander & Buono Festival of Music. She has also conducted various violin and chamber music masterclasses and workshops in the United States and Poland.
Kinga Augustyn is thrilled to perform again with the Broadway Bach Ensemble!
Performer, Violinist
Violinist Muneyoshi Takahashi is an active freelancer in New York area. He is currently a member of Albany Symphony Orchestra and Iris String Quartet. He has been concertmaster of Ensemble du Monde, Nova Philharmonic, One World Symphony, Toho Gakuen Orchestra Academy, and guest concertmaster of the Japan Philharmonic. He has also played with orchestras such as the American Symphony, Charleston Symphony, Izmir Symphony(Turkey), New Japan Philharmonic, NHK Symphony, and the Rochester Philharmonic.
A graduate of Eastman School and the top honor recipient from Toho Gakuen School of Music in Tokyo, he has studied violin with Koichiro Harada, founder of the Tokyo String Quartet and Mikhail Kopelman, former leader of the Borodin String Quartet. He was semi-finalist of Japan Music Competition and Grand-Prix winner of Toho Transcendental Technique Competition.
He had master classes with Thomas Brandis, Zakhar Bron, Vadim Gluzman, Rainer Küchl, Philippe Quint, Shinichi Suzuki and Zvi Zeitlin. He has participated in renowned festivals such as Pacific Music Festival, Takefu International Music Festival and Miyazaki International Music Festival, where he had opportunities to work with artists such as Charles Dutoit, Valery Gergiev, Bernard Haitink, and Toshio Hosokawa.
Mr. Takahashi is also devoted in education. He has been Director of Hamilton-Madison House Music School. He also coaches Trinity-Florentine Orchestra of Inter School Orchestras of New York.
Performer
One of Russia’s most gifted conductors, Leytush has directed orchestras in Europe and the United States to great acclaim. Critics as have described him as “a conductor in the Grand Russian Tradition” and his dynamic interpretations have made him an audience favourite. Leytush’s artistry is known throughout the former Soviet Union, but it was not until 1994 that he gained recognition in the United States when he, on a week’s notice, made a stunning debut with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, replacing Yuri Temirkanov.
Since 1980 Leytush has worked with a wide variety of Orchestras including Novosibirsk Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre (Russia), New World Symphony Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, New York Chamber Symphony, Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra, Orquestra Filarmonic De Buenos Aires, Orquestra Nacional Do Porto, Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, St. Petersburg Philharmonic Academic Symphony Orchestra, Plovdiv Philharmonic, Kremlin Orchestra, Varna and Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra. Mr. Leytush is Artistic Director/Conductor of The New Symphony Orchestra of Israel and Artistic Director/Conductor of Ridgewood Symphony Orchestra, Principal Guest Conductor of National Orchestra of Ukraine, Music Director of Interfaith Committee of Remembrance (Brooklyn Philharmonic)
Arkady Leytush made numerous transcriptions and orchestrations of music by composers such as Bach, Buxtehude, Mussorgsky, Rachmaninoff, Chopin, Albeniz, Sisler, Czerny, Guastavino, Shostakovich, Borodin, Liadov, Cui, Rimsky-Korsakov, Glazunov, Dargomyzhski, Artsibushev, Sokolov, Mayer.
Composer, Performer
Douglas Townsend was actively composing, teaching, coaching ensembles and producing concerts until shortly before his death, on August 1, 2012, at the age of 90. Townsend was a native New Yorker. After graduating on the eve of WWII from Manhattan’s High School of Music and Art, he studied composition with a succession of well-known composers: Aaron Copland (on a scholarship to Tanglewood), Stefan Wolpe (for five years), Otto Luening (on two scholarships to the Middlebury Composers’ Conference), Tibor Serly (a friend of Béla Bartók’s) and Felix Greissle (Arnold Schoenberg’s son-in-law).
When Townsend was 17, his Contra Dances won a nationwide contest for student composers and was performed by the CBS Symphony on a national radio broadcast, with the film composer Bernard Herrmann conducting. His professional career began one day after he turned 24, when his Sonatina No. 1 for Piano Solo was premiered at Carnegie Hall by the internationally known concert pianist Ray Lev. Thereafter, Townsend composed and premiered over 100 works, including several symphonies and concertos, chamber and ballet music, film scores and incidental music for theatrical productions.
His vocal works include operas, operettas and choral music, and he wrote extensively for wind ensembles and symphonic bands. In the last five years of his life, he oversaw 65 performances of his orchestral, band, chamber and choral works in the U.S., Europe and Asia. Through grants for his work as a musicologist, Townsend brought to light, edited and prepared for performance over 60 compositions from the 18th and 19th centuries. Townsend enjoyed having his own YouTube channel and over 2,500 friends on Facebook.
Performer, Violinist
Hailed by the New York press as “a spectacular virtuoso, [playing] with effortless brilliance, unbridled passion, and a remarkable flair,” violinist Olivier Fluchaire has established himself as one of today’s most exciting new violinists.
Performing extensively as featured soloist and chamber musician, he has been concertizing throughout the United States, Austria, Belgium, England, Germany, South Korea, Lithuania, Russia, and his native France.
Mr. Fluchaire was invited to solo with the Camerata Lysy Orchestra, Jupiter Symphony, Hunter Symphony, New York Repertory Orchestra, Manhattanville College Orchestra, The Orchestra of the Bronx, The French Philharmonia Orchestra, Bachanalia Orchestra, Arctic Chamber Orchestra, University of Alaska-Anchorage Sinfonia Orchestra and the Affetti Chamber Orchestra. His most recent concerto tour, performing the Mendelssohn violin concerto throughout Alaska, was reviewed as “a world-class performance […] technical and artistic perfection.”
Olivier Fluchaire was fortunate to perform on many occasions alongside his mentor, Lord Yehudi Menuhin, notably in J.S. Bach’s concerto for two violins and with members of the Guarneri, American, and Emerson string quartets. He has recorded for VOX label and his performances were broadcasted on France 3 Television, Bronxnet Television, the BBC Television, National Educational Television, Radio France, MDR Leipzig, “The Listening Room with Robert Sherman” WQXR-FM and National Public Radio.
Highlights for Mr. Fluchaire’s 2012-13 season include performances of the Sibelius, Mendelssohn and Beethoven violin concerti as well as Bill Whelan’s double concerto for violin and fiddle. He will also perform chamber music on numerous concert series and record for MSR Classics label.
As an avid teacher, Olivier Fluchaire serves on the violin, viola and chamber music faculty at Hunter College, CUNY (New York, NY), Manhattanville College (Purchase, NY) and the College of Staten Island, CUNY (Staten Island, NY). During the summer, he teaches and performs at Summit Music Festival (Purchase, NY) and the Affetti Festival (Anchorage, AK) where he also serves as Associate Music Director.
Olivier Fluchaire studied with Daniel Phillips, Patinka Kopec, Lord Yehudi Menuhin, Guen En Shen and Jacques Ghesthem. He is graduate of the prestigious Yehudi Menuhin School in London UK, completed his bachelors and masters degrees, on a merit scholarship, at the Manhattan School of Music and his doctor of musical arts degree, as a recipient of a New York Times Fellowship, at the City University of New York’s Graduate Center.
Olivier Fluchaire performs on a rare violin by Andreas Gisalberti made in 1720 in Parma, Italy.
Conductor, Performer
Christopher James Hisey has conducted throughout the United States, Europe and in Mexico. He has appeared with the Ruse Philharmonic, and the Plevin Philharmonic in Bulgaria as well as the St. Petersburg “Klassika” Symphony, formerly the Leningrad State Philharmonic Orchestra, in Russia.
Mr. Hisey is the Music Director and founder of the American Chamber Orchestra. The Orchestra’s mission is to bring high quality music to the people of the community, as well as promote local artists through featuring them as soloists or premiering their work. The Orchestra has given three successful concert tours through Austria, the Czech Republic, Italy and Scotland, with a scheduled concert tour of Spain in the summer of 2012. The American Chamber Orchestra also sponsors a concerto competition every year, in which three young people are given the opportunity to play with an orchestra.
In addition to his duties with the American Chamber Orchestra, Mr. Hisey is the Music Director of the Civic Orchestra of New Haven. The Civic Orchestra was founded over 70 years ago and Mr. Hisey is only the 3rd person to be named as it’s Music Director.
A respected and sought after music educator Mr. Hisey’s is Music Director of the Greater Bridgeport Youth Orchestras and conductor of their Principal Orchestra. The Youth Orchestras program consists of five ensembles and more than 250 young musicians ranging in ages from 4th grade to seniors in high school.
Mr. Hisey is in his second season as Music Director of the Orchestra and Professor of Conducting, and Orchestration at Manhattanville College, in Purchase, NY.
Committed to community service and out reach, Mr. Hisey just completed a project to raise money for the Pilot House, a non-profit organization that helps children with special needs by providing occupational, physical, and music therapy at affordable costs. This joint fundraising effort involved the Greater Bridgeport Youth Orchestras, and the Fairfield County Children’s Choirs and over 400 kids from around Connecticut performed together. Concert costs were covered by a grant from the Ronald McDonald House Charities.
Mr Hisey also serves on the String Faculties of Greens Farms Academy, and the Westport School of Music.
Cellist, Performer
“An emerging star.”
— Richard Dyer, The Boston Globe
Cellist Jacqueline Choi, the 1st place winner of the 2010 Edwin H. & Leigh W. Schadt String Competition, is an active soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician sought after in the United States and abroad. Having made her concerto debut at age 12 in Seoul, Korea, Ms. Choi was invited to solo with the Boston Symphony, Bucheon Philharmonic, Boston Landmarks, Allentown Symphony, and New England Conservatory’s Chamber Orchestras, and toured Brazil and Venezuela as a soloist with NEC’s Youth Philharmonic Orchestra. She recently made her Paris debut with an all-French program at the Musée du Louvre in France, and played in the Kumho-Asiana Rising Star Series in Seoul, Korea. One of the staples of her recital programming is the inclusion of her own transcriptions of 19th century songs, such as those of Brahms, Liszt, Schubert, Schumann, and Strauss.
Ms. Choi is a recipient of the prestigious Kumho Prodigy Concert Award. She won first place in numerous concerto competitions including those held by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Brockton Symphony, the New England Philharmonic, and the New England Conservatory, and was also a prizewinner of the 24th Irving M. Klein International String Competition.
Also a devoted chamber musician, Ms. Choi appeared in concert with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, performing with Itzhak Perlman, and toured major cities of Canada with the Kumho Virtuosi Trio. She is currently active as the founding cellist of her piano trio, Trio Céleste, who have recently been appointed Artists-in-Residence at the Claire Trevor School of the Arts at the University of California, Irvine. Also a member of the Kumho-Asiana Soloists, she performs in their chamber music series and international tours on a regular basis.
Ms. Choi has participated in the International Program at Music@Menlo, Yellow Barn Music Festival, Banff Centre for the Arts, and the Schleswig-Holstein Musikfestival, collaborating with Itzhak Perlman, John Adams, John Harbison, Donald Weilerstein, Stephen Coxe, and other such renowned artists. As a member of the Perlman Music Program, Ms. Choi gives solo and chamber music concerts at major New York venues such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, as well as performing on their international tours.
Jacqueline Choi is currently pursuing her doctor of musical arts degree at the Manhattan School of Music in New York City. She completed her master of music degree at the Juilliard School and her bachelor of music degree at the New England Conservatory in Boston. Her teachers include Clive Greensmith, Timothy Eddy, and Paul Katz. Ms. Choi plays on a 1854 Giuseppe Rocca cello graciously loaned by the Kumho-Asiana Arts Foundation.
