Full Biography: Edgar Meyer Double bass/composer

Prominently established as a unique and masterful instrumentalist, Edgar Meyer delights his audiences both as a vibrant performer and an innovative composer.  Hailed by the New Yorker as, “...the most remarkable virtuoso in the relatively unchronicled history of his instrument,” Mr. Meyer’s unparalleled technique and musicianship in combination with his gift for composition have brought him to the fore, where he is appreciated by a vast, varied audience.  His uniqueness in the field was recognized by a MacArthur Award in 2002.

As a solo classical bassist, Mr. Meyer has released a concerto album with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra featuring Bottesini’s Gran Duo with Joshua Bell; Meyer’s Double Concerto for Bass and Cello with Yo-Yo Ma; Bottesini’s Bass Concerto  No. 2 and Meyer’s Concerto in D for Bass along with an acclaimed album of Bach’s Unaccompanied Suites for Cello.

Fruitful collaborations are the cornerstone of Mr. Meyer’s work.  The recently released Music for Two is the latest collaboration with banjoist Béla Fleck and features live performances from the duo’s tours together from October 2001 to September 2003.  The recording also features a DVD with footage documenting the tour and the development of their collaboration on specific works in the program.  Prior to that, Mr. Meyer joined with violinist Joshua Bell and legendary bluegrass musicians Sam Bush and Mike Marshall to form a quartet featuring a unique fusion of classical and bluegrass musical styles.  Their first performances were in June of 1998 at the Aspen Music Festival and at Indiana University.  They made their New York debut at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center following an extensive North American tour.  The album, Short Trip Home, released in Fall 1999, was nominated for a Grammy award in the category of Best Classical Crossover album and the group was subsequently invited to perform live at the 42n^d annual Grammy Awards.  Shortly before this collaboration, Mr. Meyer was involved in an inventive trio project with Béla Fleck on banjo and Mike Marshall on mandolin, performing original compositions marrying bluegrass, classical and other traditional styles.  In October 1997, the Fleck/Marshall/Meyer trio opened the 1997-98 season of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in conjunction with the release of their SONY disc, Uncommon Ritual.  Earlier in Mr. Meyer’s career, from 1986-1992, he was a member of the progressive bluegrass band “Strength in Numbers,” whose members included Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas, Béla Fleck, and Mark O’Connor.  Mr. Meyer also works with pianist Amy Dorfman, his longtime accompanist for solo recitals, featuring both classical repertoire and his own compositions. To further explore his interests in a variety of musical genres, Mr. Meyer’s vast musical interests have also led him to be a widely sought after guest bass player for an assortment of recording artists, such as Garth Brooks, Bruce Cockburn, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Hank Williams, Jr., Emmylou Harris, James Taylor, Lyle Lovett, T-Bone Burnett, Reba McIntyre, the Indigo Girls, Travis Tritt and the Chieftains.

An exclusive SONY artist who is ever involved in imaginative projects, Mr. Meyer and colleagues Yo-Yo Ma and Mark O’ Connor have been widely acclaimed for the Sony release of Appalachia Waltz, which soared to the top of the charts and remained there for 16 weeks.  Appalachia Waltz toured extensively in the U.S., and the trio was featured both on the David Letterman Show and the televised 1997 Inaugural Gala.  Joining with Yo-Yo Ma and Mark O’Connor for a second time, Appalachian Journey, the follow-up to Appalachia Waltz, was released in March 2000.  This time, their tour took them not only to major venues across the U.S. but also to Europe and parts of Asia.  Appalachian Journey won the Grammy Award for Best Classical Crossover Album that season.  In October 1999, Mr. Meyer’s violin concerto written for violinist Hilary Hahn was premiered and recorded by Ms. Hahn with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra led by Hugh Wolff.

Mr. Meyer began studying bass at the age of five under the instruction of his father, and continued further to study with Stuart Sankey.  He is the winner of numerous competitions.  In 1994 he became the only bassist to receive the Avery Fisher Career Grant and in 2000 became the only bassist to receive the Avery Fisher Prize.  Mr. Meyer premiered his bass concerto in 1993 with Edo de Waart and the Minnesota Orchestra, and in 1995, he premiered his Quintet for Bass and String Quartet in collaboration with the Emerson String Quartet, which was later recorded on the Deutsche Grammophon label.  Also, in 1995, he premiered his Double Concerto for Bass and Cello, in collaboration with Carter Brey, cello and Jeffrey Kahane conducting the San Luis Obispo Mozart Festival Orchestra. Mr. Meyer has also performed with the Boston Symphony under Seiji Ozawa, featuring the premiere of one of his own works, the Meyer Double Concerto for Bass and Cello with Yo-Yo Ma, and most recently premiered an exciting new concerto for Banjo and Double Bass with co-composer Bela Fleck and the Nashville Symphony Orchestra.

A frequent guest at music festivals, Mr. Meyer has appeared as performer and composer at Aspen, Tanglewood, Caramoor, Chamber Music Northwest, and Marlboro.  At the Sante Fe Chamber Music Festival, he was a regular guest from 1985-1993, and composed six works for the festival during that time.  In 1994, Mr. Meyer joined the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and continues to perform regularly with this ensemble. Currently, he is also Visiting Professor of Double Bass at the Royal Academy of Music and at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia.
Date Last Edited: 11th February 2005

Full Biographies: Emerging Artists

Kathryn Eberle, violin     Kathryn Eberle, whose playing has been described as one with “flawless technique and passionate musicality,” began her violin studies on her third birthday.  Since then, this twenty-three-year-old has concertized in the US and Europe and has captured numerous awards and competitions. Two of her most recent honors include the Grand Prize in the 2004 Pasadena Instrumental Competition and Grand Prize in the 2005 YMF National Debut Competition.  Other prizes include First Place in the University of Southern California Concerto Competition; First place in the  Montgomery (AL) Symphony Young Artists Competition; First Place in the Curb Records/Nashville Symphony Competition; and Silver Medal at the Stulberg International String Competition.  She was also a top prizewinner at the Irving M. Klein International String Competition in San Francisco.
        In April of 2006 Ms. Eberle will be featured as soloist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.  She will also solo with the YMF Debut Orchestra in May.   Eberle made her solo orchestral debut at age 11 and has since soloed with the Nashville, Montgomery, Sewanee, Middle Tennessee, USC, Colburn, and Colonial (NJ) Symphonies as well as the Starling Chamber Orchestra of Cincinnati.  At the age of seventeen, she gave the world premier of Michael Kurek’s Violin Concerto with the Nashville Symphony.  This past spring, Eberle had the rare experience of performing the Vivaldi Concerto for Two Violins in A minor alongside the celebrated violinist Jaime Laredo.     She has collaborated with many distinguished conductors including the late Sergiu Comissiona, the late Kenneth Schermerhorn, Yehuda Gilad, and Kenneth Kiesler.  Eberle has given numerous recitals, including performances at the Harlem School of the Arts, the Fontana (MI) Chamber Arts Summer Festival, as well as guest appearances at Baylor and Emory Universities.   She has participated in the New York String Orchestra Seminar, The Encore School for Strings where she was awarded the Kay Logan Chamber Music Award, as well as the Aspen, Banff, Missillac (France), and Yellow Barn Festivals.  
        Kathryn Eberle was a full scholarship student at USC’s Thornton School of Music receiving the String Department and Symphony Awards upon graduation in 2004.  She is currently pursuing an Artist Diploma at the Colburn School of Performing Arts in Los Angeles continuing her studies with Robert Lipsett.   She has previously studied with Cornelia Heard at Vanderbilt’s Blair School of Music.  Ms. Eberle plays  a J.B. Vuillaume, Paris, 1870. 

Katie Hyun, violin      Violinist Katie Hyun is pursuing her Masters at the State University of New York in Stony Brook.  She currently studies with Pamela Frank, Ani Kavafian, and Philip Setzer.  She studied with Aaron Rosand and Pamela Frank at the Curtis Institute of Music where she received her Bachelors degree.  Ms. Hyun started violin at the age of five and made her recital debut in 1994.  She has performed as a soloist with the Houston Symphony, Dallas Chamber orchestra, Concerto Soloists Orchestra in Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and "Up Close and Musical," a string orchestra composed of members of the Colorado Symphony. 
            Winner of the Philadelphia Orchestra Albert M. Greenfield Student Competition, she has also won the 2004 Aspen Academy Orchestra Concerto Competition, 2003 Music Academy of the West Concerto Competition, 2000 Concerto Soloists Young Artists Competition, the 1996 gold medal in the Houston Symphony League Competition, and the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra Concerto Competition at age 11.  Ms. Hyun has appeared on a Prairie Home Companion, NPR, with bassist Nathan Farrington.  During the summer, she has attended the Weathersfield Music Festival, Encore School for Strings, Kneisel Hall, Music Academy of the West, Aspen, and Taos Festival of Music. 

Jared Turner, viola Jared Turner is a young violist who is beginning an exciting professional career.  He has performed in orchestras and as a chamber musician in Orange County & Los Angeles, California; Austin, Texas; Mill Creek & Bellingham, Washington; Dublin, Ireland; Budapest Hungary; Vienna, Austria; and Prague, Czech Republic.  Recently he has performed with the Pacific Symphony and Opera Pacific and was named assistant teacher for the Viola Workout.  He has been the recipient of the 2003 Marshall F. Wells Fellowship (University of Texas at Austin), the 2001 & 2002 Chapman University School of Music Orchestra Award and the 1999 & 2001 Rhodes Award Scholarship (Chapman University).  He also enjoys teaching viola and chamber music and looks forward to a future encompassing many aspects of the music world.

Soyeon Lee, piano     "Irresistible... intelligence... utter sincerity." These words from the Cleveland Plain Dealer help illuminate the rare passion and grace of pianist Soyeon Lee. Indeed, her rapturous playing has brought numerous accolades and successes including a victory at the 2004 Concert Artists Guild International Competition, as well as Second Prize and the Mozart Prize at the 2003 Cleveland International Piano Competition. At 26, having already worked with conductors such as Jahja Ling, Otto-Werner Mueller and Rafael Fr?hbeck de Burgos and orchestras such as the Cleveland Orchestra and London Symphony, Ms. Lee continues to bring her unique power and sensitivity to audiences around the world.
            Recently described by The New York Times as a pianist with "a huge, richly varied sound, a lively imagination and a firm sense of style," her 2005-06 itinerary includes recitals in New York, Connecticut, Harrisburg, and Pittsburgh, PA and orchestral highlights include Beethoven's Emperor Concerto with the Park Avenue Chamber Symphony at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall. Also, in fall 2005, she records her first CD, featuring sonatas of Scarlatti, for the Naxos label.
            Ms. Lee's 2004-05 season featured recital performances at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Severance Hall in Cleveland and Madrid's Auditorio Nacional de Musica. Seasonal orchestral highlights included her debut with the San Diego Symphony performing Rachmaninoff's Variations on a Theme by Paganini under the baton of Maestro Mueller.
            In addition to a management contract and an appearance on Concert Artists Guild series in New York, other prizes Ms. Lee garnered at the CAG 2004 Competition include the R.G. Niederhoffer Audience Prize, The Park Avenue Chamber Symphony Concerto Prize and the opportunity to commission a new work for solo piano. The resulting work, Tree Without Wind by emerging composer Huang Ruo, received its premiere in March 2005 at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall.
            In the spring of 2004 Soyeon Lee made her Lincoln Center recital debut at Alice Tully Hall as the recipient of The Juilliard School's prestigious William Petschek Piano Debut Award. Additionally her 2003-04 season featured a thirteen-city recital tour of Spain, as a result of her Bronze Medal in the 2002 Paloma O'Shea Santander             International Piano Competition, in addition to recitals at University of Tennessee, New York's Rockefeller University and Emelin Theater, and a concerto performance with the Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional in the Dominican Republic.
            Ms. Lee's appearances on radio include WQXR New York's McGraw-Hill Young Artists Showcase, Washington, DC's WGMS and Cleveland's WCLV. A classical music documentary featuring Soyeon Lee airs on the Japanese television network NHK this season.
            Soyeon Lee began studying piano at the age of five in Korea. She moved to the United States at the age of nine and attended the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan, graduating with highest honors in music. Her early teachers included Victoria Mushkatkol and Marina di Pretoro. Ms. Lee earned her Bachelor's and Master's degrees from The Juilliard School, studying with Jerome Lowenthal and Robert McDonald. Most recently she earned Juilliard's distinguished Artist Diploma, studying with Mr. McDonald, upon completion of which she was awarded with the Arthur Rubinstein Prize, Juilliard's highest honor for graduating pianists.  

Kevin Kwan Loucks, piano         Pianist Kevin Kwan Loucks maintains an active career as a soloist, chamber musician, and music educator. He has performed in Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, Harris Concert Hall, The Kennedy Center, and Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. Recent solo performances include collaborations with the Bratislava Chamber and the U.C. Irvine Symphony Orchestras, and a solo recital in Prösels Castle, Italy. A prize winner in numerous competitions, Mr. Loucks most recently won the grand prize at the 2004 Schlern International Competition in Italy, and first prize at the National Piano-Duo Competition in California.
            He has performed chamber music with members of the New York Philharmonic and principle members of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, and is also a founding member of the Clarion Piano Trio, established at The Juilliard School in 2005. The trio won the grand prize at the 2005 International Chamber Ensemble Competition in Boston, and will be performing in Boston, California, and New York’s Barge music series during the 2005-2006 season.
            Mr. Loucks has participated in numerous festivals including Chamberfest at The Juilliard School, Piano-fest Austria, the Aspen Music Festival, and Music@Menlo. He has performed on NPR’s Performance Today and St. Paul Sunday, and appeared in Lincoln Center’s Wednesdays at One. In 2005, he was a member of the artist faculty in residence at ChamberArtsFest in Irvine, California, and also appeared in the Music at the Grazhda series in New York. Mr. Loucks received his Bachelor of Music degree as Rawlins scholarship recipient at the University of California, Irvine where he was a student of Nina Scolnik. He is currently completing his graduate studies at The Juilliard School where he is a Rose and Goldberg scholarship recipient studying with Julian Martin.

 Mihai Marica, cello        Cellist Mihai Marica has performed around the world with orchestras such as, the Stuttgart Youth Orchestra, and most recently, in South Korea with the Daejeon Philharmonic Orchestra. In his homeland, he has soloed extensively with the major orchestras such as, the Transilvania Philharmonic Orchestra, and the National Radio Orchestra. He has also appeared in recital performances in Austria, Hungary, Germany, Spain, Holland, South Korea, the United States and Canada. In the summer of 2003, he performed a live recital for the National Romanian Radio, and has performed in several festivals, including the Banff Music Festival and the Great Mountains Music Festival.
            Mr. Marica began his studies at the age of seven at the Music High School in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, and is currently studying with renowned cellist and pedagogue, Aldo Parisot. At the age of fourteen, he won the First Prize and the award for the interpretation of a commissioned work at the J.F. Dotzauer International Cello Competition in Dresden, Germany. Other prizes include third place in the Schadt String Competition, where he also received the audience choice award. Most recently, he received the First Prize, and the award for the best performance of a commissioned work by Jeffrey Miller, in the Irvin M. Klein International String Competition.
            Upcoming engagements include recitals at the Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts, the Ralston Concerts Series at Notre Dame de Namurs University, Belmont, CA. He will also appear as soloist with the Santa Cruz Symphony and the Peninsula Symphony, among others.

The California Quartet     Since its formation in the millennium year 2000, the California Quartet has emerged as one of the most promising young chamber ensembles of the United States. Audience response to the CQ is always positively tremendous. In particular, the quartet is noted for their spirited musicality, lyric and soulful playing ability, charismatic onstage demeanor, and interactive ensemble style.
            Passionate and personable, the members of the CQ naturally bring the audience and performer closer through thoughtful and convincing musical interpretations, and by integrating lively and relevant commentary about each work they perform. Besides embracing and presenting traditional quartet repertoire, it is of great interest to the group to build audience appreciation and understanding of twentieth and twenty-first century works. This commitment to bringing new and interesting ideas to audiences has already led to commissions by professional composers.
            For the summer of 2005, the quartet has been invited to attend the Shouse Institute at the Great Lakes Music Festival, the Lake Tahoe Music Festival Academy, The Yehudi Menuhin Chamber Music Seminar, and the Banff Art Centre Chamber Music Seminar. Last summer, the quartet participated in the Juilliard Quartet Seminar in New York, the Lake Tahoe Music Festival Academy, and the Banff Short-term Career Residency Program. In addition to their numerous concert appearances, the California Quartet is strongly committed to school education and outreach projects. Other recent quartet projects include the recording of their first CD, currently in the final stages of production, as well as an ongoing collaboration with USC faculty pianist Kevin Fitz-Gerald.
            The artists of the California Quartet collectively perform, often in principal positions, in numerous professional ensembles including the Pacific Symphony Orchestra, San Diego Symphony, San Diego Opera, Opera Pacific Orchestra, and the San Diego Chamber Orchestra. Their educational backgrounds include the Juilliard School, Manhattan School of Music, Rice University, and the University of Southern California. Individual musical experiences are far-reaching and include performances with violinist Mark O'Connor, pianist Claude Frank, principal players of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, solo electric fiddle performances with the Pacific Symphony Orchestra, participation in summer festivals such as Tanglewood, Aspen, Taos, Meadowmount, Schleswig-Holstein, and Spoleto, as well as appearances in New York's Alice Tully Hall, Merkin Hall, the Barge Music Series, and Carnegie Hall. Members of the California Quartet have won Grand Prize in the Coleman National Chamber Music Competition, First Prize in the Ulrich Competition, Second Prize in the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition, and the distinction of Finalist in the Concert Artist's Guild International Competition.
            The California Quartet comprises artists of great individuality and widespread artistic backgrounds. In joining musical forces, they have found a single point of inspiration in which to blend their talents and well-rounded experiences. With energetic intensity and musical sincerity, the California Quartet will continue to delight audiences across the country.            

Bridget Dolkas, first violinist of the California Quartet, is a vibrant member of the musical community in Southern California.  She is the Principal Second Violin of the Pacific Symphony, and frequently performs on the orchestra’s popular chamber music series, Café Ludwig.  In addition, she is a tenured member of the San Diego Opera Orchestra, and plays with the San Diego Symphony. Ms. Dolkas has won First Place in the La Jolla Symphony Young Artist Concerto Competition and the Meadowmount Mozart Concerto Competition, as well as Finalist in the UCLA Concerto Competition.  Her varied musical background has led to interesting and diverse performance opportunities, including concerts with fiddler Mark O’Connor, chamber performances at La Jolla Summerfest, electric fiddle solos with the Pacific Symphony, and an appearance in an MTV video. As a student of Alice Schoenfeld, she earned her BM degree at the University of Southern California and also received the award for Chamber Musician of the Year. Ms. Dolkas continued her studies with Isaac Malkin and completed a MM degree from the Manhattan School of Music.  She is currently a Doctoral candidate at UCLA where she studied with Mark Kaplan. Ms. Dolkas performs on a 1798 Lupot violin that is on loan through the Pacific Symphony. 

Emily Ondracek, 2nd violinist of California Quartet. A native of Chicago, Ms. Ondracek started playing the violin at the age of 5, and began giving public concerts soon thereafter. At 16, Ms. Ondracek gave her solo debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, playing Vivaldi’s Four Seasons Concertos. Since that time, she has performed throughout the United States and Europe, and at festivals such as Aspen, Italy’s Festival de Due Mondi, and the Cleveland Orchestra’s Blossom Summer Music festival, where she was awarded the Joseph Gingold prize for outstanding performance. In New York, Ms. Ondracek frequently gives recitals, recently giving the debut of Histoire de Babar for violin and piano at the Steinway Hall Recital Series. This past fall, she performed in a hurricane benefit concert with Herbie Hancock. As a teacher, Ms. Ondracek has received the Morse Fellowship, a grant for resident teaching artists in the New York Public School system. A certified Suzuki instructor, she teaches at School for Strings and has given violin workshops throughout the country. Ms. Ondracek received both her Bachelor's and Master's Degrees from The Juilliard School, where she studied with Maseo Kawasaki. She currently performs on a violin made by Francois Pique in 1815.

Christine Grossman, violist of the California Quartet, maintains a career as both an orchestral and chamber musician in Southern California. In May 2005, she won positions in both Pacific Symphony and the Opera Pacific Orchestra and has been performing regularly with the San Diego Symphony and San Diego Chamber Orchestra. Ms. Grossman has participated in numerous summer music festivals including The Quartet Program at Bucknell, Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival (Germany), Taos Chamber Music Festival, and Tanglewood Music Center. Her vast orchestral experience includes Principal and Assistant Principal chairs in the Juilliard Orchestra, Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra, Shepherd School Symphony, Schleswig-Holstein Festival Orchestra, New York String Seminar, and the New World Symphony. Raised in New York City, Ms.Grossman began playing the violin at the age of 5, piano at 10, and viola at 16. As a child, she made several television appearances, most notably an MTV music video, and  performances on PBS Sesame Street.  She received both her BM and MM degrees from the Juilliard School where she studied with Heidi Castleman, Misha Amory, and Hsin-Yun Huang.           

Joy Song, cellist of the California Quartet, has performed concerts in the United States, Europe, Japan and Korea. She is the first prize winner in the California Young Artists Competition, Southwestern Music Festival, the John Walker Competition, and has performed concertos with the San Diego Youth Symphony and the Claremont Young Musicians Orchestra. She is also the recipient of the Rotary Club scholarship as well as the Juilliard Community Service Fellowship. Joy has served as principal cellist in the Juilliard Symphony and Juilliard Orchestra, Claremont Young Musicians Orchestra as well as assistant principal in the New York String Seminar and the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival Orchestra. Joy earned a Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree from the Juilliard School, studying with Joel Krosnick and Harvey Shapiro. Afterwards she won a Fulbright grant and spent one year in Berlin, Germany, studying with Troels Svane at the Hochschule für Musik “Hanns Eisler” Berlin and receving a Ferenc Fricsay Stipend of the Deutsches-Sinfonie Orchester Berlin. In the summer of 2005 Joy toured with the DSO Berlin where the orchestra opened the Salzburg Festival. Joy has attended the Taos Chamber Music Festival, the Piatigorsky Seminar, the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival Orchestral Academy, Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival, and the Music Academy of the West.