A major force in 21st century music, composer Victoria Bond is known for her melodic gift and dramatic flair. Her works for orchestra, chamber ensemble and opera have been lauded by the New York Times as "powerful, stylistically varied and technically demanding."

In addition to Soul of a Nation, the four presidential portraits on the Albany label, highlights of Ms. Bond’s catalogue include the operas Mrs. President, Clara and The Miracle of Light; ballets Equinox and Other Selves; orchestral works Thinking like a Mountain, Bridges and Urban Bird; and chamber works Dreams of Flying, Frescoes and Ash and Instruments of Revelation, among many others. Her compositions have been performed by the New York City Opera, Shanghai, Dallas and Houston Symphonies, members of the Chicago Symphony and New York Philharmonic, American Ballet Theater and the Cassatt and Audubon Quartets.

The New York Times praised Victoria Bond’s conducting as “full of energy and fervor.” She has served as principal guest conductor of Chamber Opera Chicago since 2005. Prior positions include Assistant Conductor of Pittsburgh Symphony and New York City Opera and Music Director of the Roanoke Symphony and Opera, Bel Canto Opera and Harrisburg Opera. Ms. Bond has guest conducted throughout the United States, Europe, South America and Asia. She is the first woman awarded a doctorate in orchestral conducting from the Juilliard School.

Ms. Bond is Artistic Director of Cutting Edge Concerts New Music Festival in New York, which she founded in 1998, and is a frequent lecturer at the Metropolitan Opera and has lectured for the New York Philharmonic. The Wall Street Journal, NBC’s Today Show, the New York Times and other national publications have profiled Ms. Bond

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In June of 2015, André Gremillet joined the Cleveland Orchestra as President and CEO, which according to the Plain Dealer, was “flourishing and in many ways served as a model” institutionally in the classical music world. Previously, Gremillet served as Managing Director of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra since November 2012. During his tenure, the MSO greatly deepened its engagement with the Melbourne community, resulting in a significant increase in ticket sales and fundraising, and completed a highly successful European Tour with performances at the BBC Proms in London, the Edinburgh Festival, and the Royal Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, among others. Under his leadership, the MSO recently extended the contract of its Chief Conductor Sir Andrew Davis, with whom it has made several critically-acclaimed recordings including the first installment of a Charles Ives orchestral works cycle on Chandos. Other highlights under Gremillet’s tenure also feature initiatives such as the MSO’s Chinese New Year concerts and the introduction of MSO Connect, a partnership between the Orchestra and several of Melbourne’s secondary schools.

From 2007 to 2012, André Gremillet was President and CEO of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra (NJSO) where his tenure marked a financial turnaround for the organization. Under Gremillet’s leadership, the NJSO appointed Jacques Lacombe as Music Director, strengthened its Board of Trustees, and greatly increased its national visibility and artistic reputation.

Prior to joining the NJSO, Mr. Gremillet served for four years as President of the internationally-renowned pipe organ building company Casavant Frères. A native of Québec, Canada, and a conservatory-trained pianist, André Gremillet holds a Master’s degree from the Mannes College of Music and an MBA from McGill University.

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David Alan Harrell joined The Cleveland Orchestra in 1995. Prior to this appointment, he was a member of the Virginia Symphony and the Canton Symphony Orchestra, and served as assistant principal cellist of the National Repertory Orchestra. He has also performed with the Erie Philharmonic, the Tuscaloosa Symphony, and Sir Georg Solti’s Carnegie Hall Project.

Born in Spartanburg, South Carolina, Mr. Harrell received his bachelor of music degree from the University of Alabama, where he studied with Carlton McCreery and was named one of the university’s most outstanding undergraduate scholars. Mr. Harrell received his master of music degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music, where he studied with former Cleveland Orchestra principal cellist Stephen Geber and was awarded the Cello Prize in 1994. Mr. Harrell has been the winner of numerous competitions, including the Phi Kappa Phi National Fellowship, the top prize at the Birmingham Music Clubs, the Alabama Federation of Music Clubs, and the MTNA National Scholarship. In 1998, he received the Alabama Society for the Fine Arts Emerging Artist Award. His other teachers have included Hans Schmettau and Michael Bell.

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Paul Hogle was appointed as the ninth president and chief executive officer of the venerable Cleveland Institute of Music in July 2016, following a three-decade career of successful executive leadership for America’s most respected, innovative, and accomplished classical music institutions. With an enviable track record of pursuing mission-centered strategy, Hogle has developed a vast network of leaders in the performing arts community having worked, partnered, and consulted in America, Australia, and Japan.

Prior to joining CIM, Hogle served as Executive Vice President of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. During one of the most tumultuous times in its storied history, Hogle helped architect the DSO’s unprecedented, highly-publicized turnaround which has resulted in a previously unimaginable renaissance in Detroit.

With Hogle’s arrival in Cleveland, CIM began a journey of engagement, conversation, and planning prompted by the ambitious assignment of crafting a new strategic plan for a new century. The results have been remarkable, including the highest-rated incoming classes in a generation and a 235% increase in African American and Latinx students, recruiting top faculty and administrative talent, growing annual support by 70% while adding over $10 million of new commitments to the endowment, breaking ground on a state-of-the-art student housing complex, increasing the school’s marketing and presence in Cleveland, recruiting a nationally significant roster of guest conductors to lead the CIM orchestra, building and strengthening alliances with conservatories across China and Europe, and, in pursuit of paying CIM’s civic rent, inaugurating an annual day of service — all while opening the CIM campus to new and legacy arts and community partners, lowering tuition by 15%, increasing scholarship funds by $1 million annually, and strengthening fiscal equilibrium.

Before joining the Detroit executive team in 2010, Hogle served in senior staff posts for the Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, and Indianapolis symphony orchestras. He was a founder of The Stewardship Group, a consulting and executive recruitment firm that facilitated the building of resources for a national client base. His career began as Executive Director of the Evansville Philharmonic (Indiana), one of the great regional orchestras in America.

A native of Northeast Ohio, Hogle earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Music Management from the University of Evansville, a joint business and music degree program where he also studied trombone performance. He has served on the faculty of the Orchestra Leadership Academy of the League of American Orchestras and as a professor at Wayne State University in Detroit. He is a founding and current faculty member for the Masters in Arts Administration program at Chicago’s Roosevelt University.

Hogle serves as a trustee of University Circle, Inc. and a member of the board of directors with the Northeast Ohio Council on Higher Education (NOCHE). In 2019, he was elected to The 50 Club of Cleveland.

Hogle and his wife Dr. Lauri Hogle, professor of music education at Oakland University (MI), make their home in Shaker Heights, OH. They have three adult children

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Cellist BenHong joined the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 1993, at age 24, as Assistant Principal Cello. He currently serves as Associate Principal Cello, appointed in 2015 by Music Director Gustavo Dudamel. Hong also performs frequently as soloist and as a member of chamber music ensembles. He has collaborated with such artists as Emanuel Ax, Yefim Bronfman, Janine Jansen, Lang Lang, Sir Simon Rattle, and Esa-Pekka Salonen. Concerto appearances with the LA Phil have included the U.S. premiere of Mark-Anthony Turnage’s cello concerto Kai, with Rattle conducting at the Ojai Music Festival, and the LA Phil premiere of Tan Dun’s Crouching Tiger Concerto, conducted by Long Yu at the Hollywood Bowl.

In 2009, Hong was hired by DreamWorks Pictures to train several members of the cast of the movie The Soloist, including Jamie Foxx. In addition, he was the featured soloist on the soundtrack, which was released on the Deutsche Grammophon label.

Born in Taipei, Taiwan, Hong won his native country’s National Cello Competition three years in a row before leaving home, at age 13, for the Juilliard School. Later he studied with Lynn Harrell at the University of Southern California’s School of Music before joining the LA Phil. In 2012, Hong joined the faculty of USC’s Thornton School of Music as an Adjunct Professor. Additionally, he frequently presents clinics and masterclasses in the U.S. and abroad.

After the tragic passing of Los Angeles Lakers Kobe Bryant, Kobe’s 13-year daughter Gianna, and seven other individuals, the Lakers asked Ben to perform at the Kobe Bryant Tribute along with Usher and Boyz II Men. This global appearance occured just a few weeks after a recital/screening for the Aronson Cello Festival (ACF) at the Colburn School honoring Ben’s best friend, Laura Liepins.

https://music.usc.edu/ben-hong/

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Famed Cellist, Teacher and Impresario, Marta Casals Istomin has devoted her life to expanding access to classical music—not only for those who already know it and love it, but to young and in many cases disadvantaged people who would not otherwise have found the beauty it has brought to their lives.

Istomin (née Marta Angélica Montáñez Martínez) was introduced to the violin during her childhood in Humacao, Puerto Rico, and soon after switched to cello. She continued her musical education at the Marymount School in New York. She became the student of the famed cellist Pablo Casals, and later married him; together they founded the Casals Festival in San Juan, Puerto Rico, the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra and, in 1959, the Puerto Rico Conservatory of Music. When her husband died in 1973, she took over the management of the Casals Festival, started a stringed-instrument program for local youngsters and also taught cello as a visiting professor at the Curtis School of Music in Philadelphia. She married the pianist Eugene Istomin in 1975.

From 1980 to 1990 Marta Casals Istomin served as artistic director of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. There, she founded the center’s Terrace Concerts and began the largest ballet series in the U.S. In France, from 1990 to 1997, she directed the Rencontres Musicales D’Evian Festival International, which offered master classes with visiting artists. From 1992-2005 she was president of the Manhattan School of Music. During her tenure, the school grew in stature from a leading U.S. conservatory of music to a place of international eminence. She helped lead a capital campaign that doubled the size of its campus.

Istomin has also been a board member of the Marlboro School of Music and served as a member of the National Council on the Arts, as a Delegate to the World Arts Forum in Geneva in 1998 and 1990, as a member of the U.S. Advisory Board on Culture for UNESCO in Mexico City and Paris, and as a member of the first U.S. cultural delegation to the Republic of China in 1980. She also served as vice-president of the Casals Foundation and Museum in Barcelona.

Istomin received the Living Legend Award from the Library of Congress on November 2, 2015. The first Living Legend awards were given in 2000 during the Library’s bicentennial (1800-2000) celebration. Recipients through the years have included artists, writers, filmmakers, physicians, entertainers, sports figures, public servants and musicians who have enriched the nation through their professional accomplishments and personal excellence. Madeleine Albright, Katharine Graham, B.B. King, David McCullough, Gordon Parks, Alan Lomax, I.M. Pei, Sally Ride, Martin Scorsese, Yo Yo Ma and Mario Andretti are among the more than 100 recipients

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American cellist Dane Johansen performs extensively throughout the world as a soloist with orchestra, in recital and as a chamber musician. Praised for his "brave virtuosity" and "staggering aplomb" (The New York Times, New York Magazine), Johansen made his debut at Lincoln Center, performing Elliott Carter's Cello Concerto with James Levine in celebration of the composer's centennial. The first winner of the Juilliard Leo Ruiz Memorial Award, Johansen made his Carnegie Hall debut, and as winner of Juilliard’s Sanders Prize, Johansen traveled to Israel where he performed with the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Formerly the cellist of the Escher String Quartet, Johansen and his colleagues were BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists, and were recipients of the Avery Fischer Career Grant.

Johansen has now performed on five continents, in more than 20 countries, and on the leading stages of the world including Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, the Concertgebouw, Konzerthaus Berlin, Alice Tully Hall, and the Kennedy Center. He has collaborated with leading artists such as Pinchas Zukerman, David Shifrin, Richard Goode, David Finkel, Wu Han, and Mitsuko Uchida. He is a regular Artist of the Chamber Music Society of the Lincoln Center and has performed at The Marlboro Music Festival, Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival, Seattle Chamber Music Festival and the London Proms. Dane performed the New York première of the "Crouching Tiger" Concerto with composer Tan Dun and the Metropolis Ensemble at the Lincoln Center Outdoor Festival.

For many years, Dane has dedicated great energy to exploring and developing his performance of J.S. Bach’s Six Suites for Solo Cello. This led not only to a performance at Alice Tully Hall in 2010, but ultimately after years of dedicated preparation, to an unforgettable musical pilgrimage: The Walk to Fisterra. In May 2014, he walked 580 miles along the Camino de Santiago in Northern Spain with his cello on his back, performing Bach’s Suites in 36 concerts along the way. The story of his adventure on the Camino with Bach will be made into a documentary film and accompanying recording.

A native of Fairbanks, Alaska, Johansen studied at The Cleveland Institute of Music, The Conservatoire National Superieur de Paris, and The Juilliard School where he earned his Artist Diploma. Johansen had the privilege of studying privately with Bernard Greenhouse who was the most significant student of Pablo Casals and Emanuel Feuermann. Johansen is a passionate teacher and values the opportunity to share lessons from these legendary cellists with future generations. He is currently on faculty as assistant to Joel Krosnick at The Juilliard School and Juilliard’s Pre-College. He plays a cello made for him by Stefan Valcuha in 2014, a beautiful copy of the ‘Countess of Stanlein’ Stradivarius formerly owned by his teacher, Bernard Greenhouse.

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Joan Katz Napoli serves as Director of Education and Community Engagement for The Cleveland Orchestra whose education and outreach programs serve more than 70,000 annually. In addition to school fieldtrip concerts and an outstanding Youth Orchestra, Music Study Groups for adults, and Music Mentors and Music Masters that support instrumental music programs in local schools, The Cleveland Orchestra was one of the first in the country to implement an arts integration program, Learning Through Music (now in its 14th year) which uses music to support learning across the K-5 curriculum, and has recently established a Musical Neighborhoods program in partnership with local Head Start sites, using music to build school readiness skills. Prior to The Cleveland Orchestra, Joan worked in public television, first with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), then with the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) where she was the national Director of K-12 Learning Services. Joan managed several award winning educational television programs and series for the PBS network including: Good Morning Ms. Toliver (Peabody Award 1993); Who Will Teach for America? (1992 Emmy-nominee); Futures with Jaime Escalante (Peabody Award 1991); and a prime-time special, Math: Who Needs It?

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Ty has more than two decades of experience as a journalist working in network, cable and local television, film, radio and print. For his work in television news, Ty earned six Los Angeles Emmys, the National Edward R. Murrow Award, nine Golden Mikes, and the Associated Press Award for California. He honed his storytelling craft working closely for years with Mike Wallace and Ed Bradley at CBS News/60 Minutes where Ty specialized in hard news, investigative reporting. He later served as managing editor for KPIX Television in San Francisco. He also launched and ran an investigative unit for KNBC in Los Angeles for four years as its founding executive producer.

Among Ty’s recent work includes a documentary about the renowned cellist Lynn Harrell and his 60-year journey through music. The film includes fresh interviews with Oscar-winning composers John Williams and André Previn (his last filmed interview), virtuoso violinists Itzhak Perlman and Anne-Sophie Mutter, the celebrated cellist Yo-Yo Ma, and others. The film was invited to be shown at the Aronson Cello Festival at Southern Methodist University (SMU), The Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, The Bing Concert Hall at Stanford University and other major venues.

In 2018, Ty directed and produced a series of short films about the life and students of Lev Aronson which premiered at the Sixth Aronson Cello Festival. These short films profiled Christopher Adkins (principal cellist of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra), Mitchell Maxwell (principal cellist of the Dallas Opera Orchestra), Brian Thornton (of the Cleveland Orchestra), the leading expert on Lev Aronson author Frances Brent, the two step-daughters of Lev Aronson (Joy Jamerson and Cheryl Surana), Victoria Bond, Dr. Melissa Kraut, and many other lifetime artists.

For his work on behalf of The Aronson Cello Festival (ACF), Ty was a recipient of the Aronson “A” Award. Ty serves as the organization’s inaugural board chairman. Some of his early accomplishments as Board Chair included recruiting the inaugural board and launching a series of fundraisers around the United States to build awareness of ACF, relaunching and helping redesign the ACF website and creating a new slate of programming for the upcoming festival.

Ty’s pro bono work on behalf of the organization includes directing and producing original short films about major classical music artists. His most recent film which profiles the renowned cellist Ben Hong will premiere at the next Aronson Cello Festival in June of 2020. Ty’s continuing work also includes launching two new short film series: “Women and Classical Music” as well as an ongoing series entitled “The Greatest Cellists” which will kick-off with a short film about Emanuel Feuermann.

Ty is a member of the national advisory council for the Boston University Tanglewood Institute. He earned his MBA from Harvard Business School and runs a private consulting practice that specializes in branding, entrepreneurial marketing and media consulting. His pro bono work also includes running “The Andrew B. Kim and Wan Kyun Rha Kim Family Foundation, Inc.” which supports the arts and education on a national level.

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Co-head of the cello department at the Cleveland Institute of Music (CIM), Melissa is recognized as one of the leading pedagogues of her generation. With degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music, the University of Iowa and Northwestern University, Melissa has had the opportunity to study with the great pedagogues Alan Harris and Hans-Jorgen Jensen as well as summer study/master classes with cellists such as Aldo Parisot, Frank Miller, Yo-Yo Ma, Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi and David Soyer. As a student, she participated in the Aspen Music Festival, Banff Center for the Arts and the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival in Europe. An active performer, Melissa has led a diverse career on stage with solo and chamber performances throughout the United States and Europe.

She has held leadership positions in several orchestras, and has played under the baton of conductors such as Sir Georg Solti, Valery Gergiev and Semyon Bychkov. Melissa currently enjoys performing chamber music with her friends and colleagues throughout the world. Melissa enjoys reaching students from all over the world through master classes and workshops. Her status as a Suzuki Teacher Trainer, enables her to pass on her love of pedagogy to the next generation of teachers. In addition, she is passionate about public speaking and the ability to reach audiences of a larger scope, about topics broader than cello.

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Praised for his expressive, virtuoso and poetic music making, Belgian cellist Tom Landschoot enjoys an international career as a concert and recording artist and pedagogue. He has toured North America, Europe, South America and Asia and has appeared on national radio and television worldwide.

His solo career started after taking a top prize at the International Cello Competition ‘Jeunesse Musicales’ in 1995 in Bucharest, Romania. He has performed with the National Orchestra of Belgium, the Frankfurt Chamber Orchestra, Tempe Symphony, Prima la Musica, the Symphony of the Southwest, Shieh Chien Symphony Orchestra, Scottsdale Philharmonic, Flemish Symphony Orchestra, Kaohsiung City Symphony, Loja Symphony Orchestra in Ecuador and the Orchestra of the United States Army Band and has appeared at Barge Music, Park City, Santa Barbara, Mammoth Lakes, Eureka, Utah, Red Rock, Park City, Manchester, Fresno, Madeline Island, Waterloo, Killington and Texas Music Festivals. His recordings are available on Summit, Organic, Kokopelli, ArchiMusic and Centaur Records.

Since 2013, he is a member of the Rossetti Quartet. He has also performed with the Takacs, Dover and Arianna Quartets and members of the Cleveland, Vermeer, Tokyo, and Orion Quartets. Past collaborations include Lynn Harrell, Peter Wiley, Gilbert Kalich, Cho-Liang Lin, Martin Beaver and Martin Katz. An avid promoter of music of our time, he has commissioned and premiered over 20 new works for cello, including a concerto by Dirk Brosse. Resent engagements included several concerts with the Symphony Orchestra of Flanders with a new concerto of Belgian composer Frank Nuyts.

Tom Landschoot has been involved in interdisciplinary public service projects through his music, such as raising funds and awareness for the need of building an orphanage and hospital in Tamil Nadu, India. As part of this humanitarian project, Landschoot was featured in a documentary film of a cellist performing across India, integrating photography, culinary, journalism and original music compositions.

He has served as a faculty member at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, Castleman Quartet Program in New York, Killington Music Festival, Meadowmount School of Music, Foulger International Music Festival, High Peaks, Madeline Island, Manchester, Montecito and Texas Music Festival. Landschoot has given master classes at conservatories and universities throughout Asia, the U.S. and Europe and South America.

His students can be found among the ranks of national and international competition winners, occupy principal positions in major orchestras and teach at Universities around the US and abroad.

Tom Landschoot is currently Professor of Cello at Arizona State University, one of the top schools of music in the United States. Prior to joining the music faculty at Arizona State University, Landschoot taught at the University of Michigan. He is the recipient of ASU’s prestigious Herberger College of Fine Arts Distinguished Teaching Award. Landschoot has served on the faculty of the Shieh Chien University in Taipei since 2008.

Tom Landschoot is the founder and the Artistic Director of the Sonoran Chamber Music Festival (www.sonoranchambermusic.com), as well as the President of the Arizona Cello Society.

He Performs on a cello by Tomaso Balestrieri (1776) and a Dominique Pecatte bow

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In her 29 years at Telarc as Executive Vice President of Production, Elaine Martone built the finest audio production team in the industry, garnering praise for excellence in all major audio publications. She led the Production Department of 12 highly motivated creative individuals who worked seamlessly to achieve the company’s goals and mission of audio excellence while adhering to the highest standards of integrity. She was responsible for post-production audio direction and approval for every Telarc release. As a key executive in planning and creative decision making, she managed more than 1,500 projects on-time and on-budget, accountable for more than $6 million annually in production costs, and $15 million in sales.

As a world-class producer, she is a 5-time Grammy Award winner in both Classical and Jazz, and a 8-time Grammy nominee; is a member of the Grammy Producers and Engineers Wing Committee and a Chicago Chapter Board of Governors. As head of Artist Relations, Elaine collaborated with artists and organizations on a daily basis to determine the concept and repertoire for each project using clear and concise written and verbal communications, to ensure a smooth recording process and the highest possible quality result for the artist.

She began her career in 1980 when Telarc was in its infancy. Born in Rochester, New York and reared on Long Island, Elaine moved to Cleveland to study oboe with aspirations of playing with a symphony orchestra. A graduate of Ithaca College with a Bachelor of Music degree, she was a novice to the recording business. Taught the basics of the industry by Telarc founders Robert Woods and Jack Renner, Elaine quickly grasped what determined the Telarc sound, becoming an accomplished editor, and then recording producer and an integral part of the management team.

Elaine has served as producer on award winning recordings of both classical and jazz, including those by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra with Robert Spano, Donald Runnicles, Yoel Levi, and Robert Shaw, The Cleveland Orchestra with Franz Welser-Möst, the Philharmonia Orchestra with Ben Zander, Empire Brass Quintet, classical guitarist David Russell, and jazz greats Geri Allen, Ray Brown, Ann Hampton Callaway, Michel Camilo, Oscar Peterson, Tierney Sutton, and McCoy Tyner to name a few.

Elaine was Executive Producer for Spring for Music, an orchestral music festival produced at Carnegie Hall with founding directors Thomas W. Morris, David V. Foster and Mary Lou Falcone. The festival took place each May from 2011 through 2014 at the iconic hall, with orchestras invited to perform based on their innovative programming. She is Festival Producer for the world-renowned Ojai Music Festival, one of the most exciting and creative music festivals in the field, having been appointed to that position in January 2012.

From September 2009 through June 2010, Elaine was engaged as Interim Artistic Administrator for The Cleveland Orchestra. In that position, she managed all aspects of artistic planning and programming, collaborating with the Music Director, Executive Director and General Manager. During those ten months Elaine guided the artistic profile of the Orchestra, and initiated, developed and maintained the Orchestra’s relationships with major conductors, composers, guest artists and managers.

With her husband, Robert Woods, she has formed a music enterprise, Sonarc Music and is pursuing her passion, producing great music and musicians, as well as working with talented young people.

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A native of Abilene, Texas, Mitch is Principal Cellist with the Dallas Opera Orchestra. A long-time student of the late Lev Aronson, Mitch is an active chamber music performer in the Dallas area and is one of the founding members of the Trinity Chamber Players. Mitch was a faculty member and the Assistant Principal Cellist in the Eastern Philharmonic Orchestra at North Carolina's Eastern Music Festival. He also holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of North Texas and a Master of Music degree from Southern Methodist University. Mitch has been a beloved and consistent supporter of the Aronson Cello Festival since its inception. His keynote address as a featured and honored speaker at the Aronson Cello Festival (ACF) along with an emotionally powerful personal story featured in a short film by Ty Kim has been recognized as a source of inspiration for musicians and classical music lovers of all backgrounds and ages.

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Violinist Liba Shacht was born in Vilnius, Lithuania, where she began her musical studies at age five. Shortly thereafter, her family emigrated to Israel. The recipient of an Artist Diploma with distinction from Tel Aviv University, Ms. Shacht appeared as soloist with the Israeli Philharmonic, the Jerusalem Broadcasting Symphony, the Israeli Sinfonietta, and in chamber orchestras and recitals throughout Israel. She represented Israel at the Jeunesses Musicales World Congress in Korea, Japan, and England, where she performed chamber music at the Royal Albert Hall.

Upon the recommendation of Isaac Stern, Ms. Shacht was awarded a special Fellowship by the America-Israel Cultural Foundation to study with Dorothy DeLay at the Juilliard School in New York. She earned a master's degree and a doctorate from Juilliard.

Her New York recital debut at Town Hall was marked by a glowing review from The New York Times : "Miss Shacht plays with Russian intensity, yet her performances are tempered with abundant humor. She delights in her nimble technique, and virtuosic displays present few obstacles. Prokofiev Sonata in D was played with explosive energy, and Schumann's Sonata in a minor was enriched with a dark, songful melancholy."

Ms. Shacht is the winner of several competitions, among them the Artist International Distinguished Artists Award, which led to her first appearance at Carnegie Recital Hall in New York. As the winner of the Affiliated Artists national auditions, she has toured the United States extensively, performing with critical acclaim in recitals, playing with orchestras, and conducting master classes. She later performed as soloist in the rarely-played Glazunov Violin Concerto with the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra.

Ms. Shacht is an avid performer of chamber music. She has participated in the Aspen Music Festival and the Marlboro Music Festival, where she performed with Rudolf Serkin and members of the Guarneri Quartet, as well as the chamber music series at the 92nd Street "Y" in New York.

She is a member of the Lyric Opera of Chicago, as well as principal second violin of the Grant Park Symphony. Ms. Shacht frequently performs with her husband, cellist John Sharp.

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At age 27, John Sharp became one of the youngest principal players in the history of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra when he was appointed to the position in 1986. A top prizewinner of the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, he has appeared as soloist with the CSO in performances of the Britten Symphony for Cello and Orchestra with Mstislav Rostropovich conducting, the Beethoven Triple Concerto with Itzhak Perlman and Daniel Barenboim, several Chicago premieres and in numerous concertos. He has been featured twice as soloist with Music Director Riccardo Muti.

An active chamber musician, Sharp has participated at the festivals of Marlboro, Santa Fe, Vail and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. He has collaborated with the Vermeer Quartet, Mitsuko Uchida, Pinchas Zukerman, Yo-Yo Ma and more.

Born in Texas, Sharp studied the cello with Lev Aronson and later with Lynn Harrell at the Juilliard School where he earned a bachelor's and a master's degree. Prior to his appointment in Chicago, he was a member of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and principal cello of the Cincinnati Symphony. He has given master classes throughout the United States and in Europe and has coached at the New World Symphony, the National Orchestral Association, the National Youth Orchestra of the USA and the Chicago Civic Orchestra. He is currently a professor of cello at Roosevelt University’s Chicago College of Performing Arts.

He plays a rare cello made by Joseph Guarnerius in 1694.

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Myles is a board member of the Aronson Cello Festival (ACF). He also serves as president of the Los Angeles Doctors Symphony Orchestra. Myles has a passion for still photography and has had exhibitions in Los Angeles and Carmel, California.]

Myles recently retired as a board-certified cardiothoracic surgeon who practiced in Los Angeles, California for forty years. While pursuing a premedical course at Harvard University, Myles obtained a bachelor’s degree, cum laude, in art history, wrote an honors thesis on Chinese landscape painting of the Sung Dynasty, and studied the Korean language. Following Tufts Medical School, he completed an internship and residency in general surgery at Kings County Hospital in Brooklyn, New York, then served for two years as a Major in the U.S. Army Medical Corps at the 121st Evacuation Hospital in Seoul, Korea. Myles began his cardiac surgical career at Cedars Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles.

In May, 2018, Myles and Victoria Bond released the album, Soul of a Nation: Portraits of Presidential Character, featuring soloists from the Chicago and Milwaukee Symphony Orchestras. This prolific duo is now working on the score and libretto of an original musical composition about Winston Churchill which is slated to premiere during the June 2020 Aronson Cello Festival (ACF) in Cleveland, Ohio. Through their research, Victoria and Myles discovered that Mr. Churchill was in fact a cellist.

Myles is a professional abstract expressionist photographer. His most recent exhibit, Nature's Art Unveiled, premiered at the Castelli Art Space in Los Angeles in October 2018. For five years, Myles has served as President of the Los Angeles Doctors Symphony Orchestra. Myles has traveled extensively in South America, Europe, Africa, the South Pacific, and Asia. Some of his more unusual destinations included the Mount Everest base camp in Nepal, Siberia, Vietnam, Laos, the Amazon jungle, and a pilgrimage to the Soviet Union to visit Yasnaya Polyana, the estate of Count Leo Tolstoy.

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Brian Thornton is a multi-faceted musician who has touched the lives of thousands of people through his performances commemorating his teacher, Lev Aronson, and through musical outreach programs around the world.

Mr. Thornton is the founder of the Aronson Cello Festival hosted by Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas, Texas, where renowned cellist Lev Aronson, taught for many years. The festival is dedicated to Maestro Aronson's teaching and philosophy of cello playing.

Mr. Thornton teaches at the Cleveland Institute of Music (CIM) and performs with the Cleveland Orchestra where he has been part of the cello section for twenty-four years. His solo album: Kol Nidrei and Beyond, Lev's Story, is centered on the vocal qualities of the cello, and is dedicated to the memory of Mr. Aronson.

Education is also a focus of Mr. Thornton's life, and he spends part of his time teaching at CIM, conducting young musicians, as well as traveling to teach in different parts of the world.

Mr. Thornton began playing the cello in the public school system of Chicago, giving him a passion for teaching young musicians and public school outreach programs. He has traveled from Kolkata, India to Osaka, Japan, influencing young musicians not only to play better cello, but to use music to positively affect the world around them.

Modern music is of particular interest to Mr. Thornton, and he has premiered more than a hundred new solo cellos works around the world. He has also commissioned many new works, including the Five Works of Shakespeare by the world renown composer Geoffrey Gordon.

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Richard Weiss serves as first assistant principal cello of The Cleveland Orchestra. For the 2009-2010 season, he served as acting principal. A native of Los Angeles, California, he won first prize in the Music Teachers National Association competition. At the Tanglewood Festival, he was the Young Artist contest winner and concerto soloist. While attending the Eastman School on full merit scholarship, he won a position in the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. During his senior year, he was appointed to The Cleveland Orchestra. He has appeared as a soloist many times with The Cleveland Orchestra, and his repertoire includes concertos by Beethoven (Triple), Brahms (Double), Dvořák, Haydn, Lalo, Rósza, Saint-Saëns (both A and D minor), Schumann, and Tchaikovsky. He is a member of the Cleveland Orchestra Piano Trio, which performs both locally and on tour.

Mr. Weiss teaches at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where he is co-chair of the cello department. He also serves as president of the Cleveland Cello Society. He coaches the cello sections of the CIM Orchestras, the New World Symphony in Miami, and the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra. He has performed and taught at several music festivals, including Aspen, Pensacola, Reno, Kent/Blossom, and the Cleveland International Music Festival. With Cleveland Orchestra colleagues Joela Jones, Max Dimoff, and Don Miller, he recorded Claude Bolling’s Suite for Cello and Jazz Piano Trio.

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