Arash
Amini, cello
Cellist of the Mark O’Connor Trio, Arash Amini has performed as soloist, chamber, and orchestral musician throughout the U.S., including in Carnegie Hall, Weill Recital Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, and the Kennedy Center, and throughout Switzerland, France, Germany, Canada, Japan, and Botswana. He has performed at two Isaac Stern Chamber Music Workshops in Carnegie Hall, the 1999 Irene Diamond Concert with André Watts in Alice Tully Hall, the Ravinia Festival, the Bard Music Festival, the Verbier Festival and Academy in Switzerland, the Rencontres Musicales d’Evian, the Smithsonian Institution, and Juilliard’s FOCUS! Festival; and on Great Performers at Lincoln Center, the Alexander Schneider Young Artists Series in Weill Recital Hall, the Schneider Concerts at The New School, Trinity Church’s Concerts at One, the Museum of Modern Art’s Summergarden series, and the Curtis Alumni Recital series; and for the 100th Anniversary of the Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress, The Creative Coalition, and the Americans for the Arts Gala- honoring Isaac Stern. He has also performed chamber music with Barbara Hendricks, Nigel Kennedy, Cho-Liang Lin, Mischa Maisky, Julian Lloyd Webber, and David Geringas. A graduate of The Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied with David Soyer, and The Juilliard School, where he studied with Aldo Parisot, Arash Amini is a co-founder, the Artistic Director, and an Artist Member of the New York-based chamber music society, America’s Dream Chamber Artists (ADCA). The 2006-07 season marked the debut collaboration of the Mark O’Connor Trio with Rosanne Cash and her band, in Merkin Concert Hall. Arash Amini’s 2007-08 season includes solo and chamber music performances throughout New York and Pennsylvania and performances throughout the country in ADCA- including in New York in collaboration with Mark O’Connor, and of the Mark O’Connor Trio, including with Rosanne Cash and her band.
Arash Amini also performs frequently in the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, as a member of the Brooklyn Philharmonic and the Lenape Chamber Ensemble, and as cellist of Avian Music and Trio Galleria. He has also performed on numerous occasions in the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, American Symphony Orchestra, American Composers Orchestra, Speculum Musicae, and as Principal of the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic, Long Island Philharmonic, Riverside Symphony, New Juilliard Ensemble, Amici New York at the OK Mozart Festival, and Juilliard’s and The Curtis Institute’s Orchestras. He has performed countless world and U.S. premieres of solo and chamber music works; his performances have been heard on WQXR and National Public Radio; he has been featured in The New York Times, The New York Sun, Chamber Music, The Strad, and MUSO magazines, on the Arte television network in Europe, and on Voice of America television and Internet broadcasts worldwide; and he has recorded for the EMI, Naxos, New World Records, Bridge Records, and Albany Records labels.www.adcany.org
Donald Berman, piano/keyboards
Donald Berman is a champion of new works by living composers, overlooked music by twentieth century masters, and recitals that link classical and modern repertoires. His recent CDs "The Unknown Ives volumes 1 & 2," and "The Uncovered Ruggles" on New World Records have been internationally acclaimed. He is the Artistic Director for the American Academy in Rome Concert series in New York and subsequent four-volume CD on Bridge Records. He has presented recitals, lectures, and masterclasses recently in Israel, Italy, and throughout the United States. He has performed to critical acclaim in New York City at Miller Theater, Zankel Hall, Merkin Hall, and Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall. Other recent work has ranged from Mozart concertos with the Columbus Symphony to American music retrospectives, to recitals linking Haydn and Schubert with new music, called "thrillingly clear" (NYTimes). He is a prizewinner of the 1991 Schubert International Competition and a member of the Dinosaur Annex New Music Ensemble since 1987. Berman has been presented by League/ISCM, Masters of Tomorrow in Germany, French Cultural Services (Fauré Sesquicentennial), and many others. He has premiered concertos, solo and ensemble works with many organizations including Collage, Real Art Ways, Pro Musica Symphony, and on his series Firstworks and Pioneers and Premieres.
Berman co-directs the New Music Ensemble at Tufts University. He studied with Leonard Shure, John Kirkpatrick, George Barth, and Mildred Victor.
Blair
McMillen, piano/keyboards
Blair
McMillen has established himself as one of the most versatile and
sought-after young pianists today. The New York Times has described
his playing as "riveting,” “brilliant,” and "prodigiously
accomplished and exciting." Known for imaginative and
daring programming, his repertoire spans from late-medieval keyboard
manuscripts to the 21st century. Recent recitals include
Miller Theatre’s 15th-anniversary “Piano Revolution” series,
the Moscow Conservatory, Caramoor, CalArts, Dartmouth College,
the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton NJ, and the Musica
Antica e Nuova series at Columbia University.
Dedicated to new and groundbreaking projects, Mr. McMillen is committed
to performing the music of today. A founding member of the
new-music ensemble counter)induction and pianist for the Naumburg
Award-winning Da Capo Chamber Players; he has recently given US premieres
of solo piano works by Frederic Rzewski and Giacinto Scelsi. An
improviser and self-taught jazz pianist, he is regularly involved
in improvisation projects ranging from the straight-ahead to the
avant-garde.
A solo CD “Soundings;” featuring music of Debussy, Scriabin,
Liszt, and Bolcom; was released to critical acclaim in 2004. Mr.
McMillen holds degrees from Oberlin College, the Manhattan School
of Music, and the Juilliard School, and he serves on the piano faculty
at Bard College. www.blairmcmillen.com
Chris
Nappi, percussion
Chris
Nappi has
performed and recorded with Steve Reich and Musicians, the SEM Ensemble,
Newband, Ben E. King. As a composer he has created music for
the dance,
theatrical productions and multi-media installations and has recorded
for the Ear-Rational, Mode, New Tone, Renè Block Editions,
Tzadìk, Wergo, and Zuma labels. He is on the faculties
of Adelphi University, The Manhattan School of Music, Preparatory
Division, and
has been a guest lecturer/performer at the Ostrava Center for New
Music, Czech Republic.
Sarah
Schwartz, violin
Violinist Sarah
Schwartz is an active performer in the New York area.
She performs with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, the Brooklyn
Philharmonic Orchestra, the American Symphony Orchestra, and
the North/South Consonance
Contemporary Chamber Ensemble. Her summer festival appearances include
the Grand Teton Music Festival, Caramoor Festival, Bard Music
Festival,
Music From Salem Contemporary Chamber Music Festival, Kneisel Hall
Chamber Music Festival, and the Aspen Music Festival. Recent
recitals
include performances at the Morgan Library, Bloomingdale School of
Music, Donnell Library and St. Peter’s Church in New York
City, and the South Presbyterian Church in Dobbs Ferry, NY.
Ms. Schwartz
currently teaches at the Bloomingdale School of Music and has taught
at P.S. 160 and P.S. 34 in New York City. She has taught at
the Cleveland
Institute of Music as a teaching assistant, and the Cleveland School
of the Arts. Ms. Schwartz graduated from Oberlin College and
earned
a Master of Music from The Cleveland Institute of Music.
Andrew
Sterman, woodwinds
Andrew
Sterman (saxophones & bass clarinet) has attracted praise from
New York (NYTimes: "beautiful and sensitive playing")
to Paris (Liberation: "Fabuleuse") and Australia (The
Age: "a sound as pure as moonlight"). In addition to
presenting his original ensembles, Sterman has performed with a
huge variety of major jazz and classical artists from Frank Sinatra,
Freddie Hubbard, Dizzy Gillespie, Sarah Vaughan, Aretha Franklin,
to New York's premier new music ensembles, ISCM, EOS Orchestra,
Bang On A Can, MATA, and of course he is well known for his work
in the Philip Glass Ensemble.
Mr Sterman has recently completed a major new piece of music for
dance, based on the life of Gandhi, which will be released later
this Spring on CD and premiered on stage in the Fall. His Trio
for Flute, Cello & Piano will receive its world premiere on April
29. Between writing projects Mr Sterman maintains a hectic
performing and recording schedule, including a pair of duo recitals
with Philip
Glass and overseas concerts.
Visit Andrew on the web at www.andrewsterman.com.
Ann
Cecil Sterman, flute
Ann’s
four solo CDs released on the EMI and ABC labels in Australia,
New Zealand and Hong Kong have sold over 60000 copies. She has
been a regular guest on television on Good Morning Australia and
on national radio and has won nine major solo competition in Australia.
She has a particular interest in new music, having premiered many
new Australian works for Contemporary Menu, Musicus Novus, and
with her own ensemble Newbridge whose novel performances of Pierrot
Lunaire, in which all the musicians were directed and choreographed,
received rave reviews in the Melbourne Age. She has premiered new
works in three MATA festivals in New York and regularly appears
with the Avian orchestra which she loves. She has played principal
flute with the Philip Glass Ensemble on tours of Greece, Italy
and Australia. Ann has appeared on the Carnegie Hall stage as soloist
with Trey Anastasio and Patti Smith. Last year she recorded a new
CD for Avian and an opera by Doug Cuomo. She also gave a solo recital
in New York. She has recorded for Avian, Sony, EMI, ABC, Disney,
CBS-TV and Warner Bros, and recently co-produced her husband’s
new album “The Path to Peace”. Her teachers included
Julius Baker and Jean-Pierre Rampal.
Avian Music:New American Music
