<Walden Chamber Players>

About Walden

2007/08 Season

The Artists

Outreach & Education

Walden News

Recordings

Sound Samples

WaldenBlog

Contact Us

NEW! 2008 Young Artists Competition

 



The Walden Chamber Players are current and former members of such prestigious musical organizations as as the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Pops, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, the Vienna State Opera, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra, and the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. Artistic Director Christof Huebner also performs and records with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. Members of the ensemble perform at leading festivals throughout the United States and abroad. Ensemble members are on the faculty of many of New England’s premier musical teaching institutions, such as the New England Conservatory of Music, Boston University, and the Boston Conservatory of Music.

Tatiana Dimitriades, violin, was born and raised in New York and attended the Pre-college Division of the Julliard School.  She earned her Bachelor's and Master's degrees in music, and an Artist diploma from the Indiana School of Music, where she was awarded the Professor's Certificate in recognition of outstanding musical performance.  A recipient of the Lili Boulanger Memorial Award, Ms. Dimitriades has also won the Guido Chigi Saracini Prize presented by the Academia Musicale Chigiana of Siena, Italy, on the occasion of the Paganini Centenary, and the Mischa Pelz Prize of the National Young Musicians Foundations Debut Competition in Los Angeles.  Ms. Dimitriades joined the Boston Symphony Orchestra at the beginning of the 1987-88 season.  An active chamber musician, she is a member of the Boston Artists' Ensemble, and of the Boston Conservatory Chamber Ensemble. She now teaches at the Boston Conservatory of Music, and is a founding member of the Walden Chamber Players.  She was concertmaster of the Newton Symphony Orchestra, with which she often appeared as a soloist, and continues to perform frequently in recital and chamber music throughout New England. Other solo performances have included a Carnegie Recital Hall appearance sponsored by the Associated Music Teachers of New York and an appearance as soloist in the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto at the Grand Teton Music Festival.

Irina Muresanu, violin, has won international acclaim as an outstanding young soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician having achieved top prizes in numerous international violin competitions. These include the Montreal International, Queen Elizabeth Violin, UNISA International String, Washington International, and the Schadt String Competitions. She is the winner of the Pro Musicis International Award, the Presser Music Award and the Arthur Foote Award from the Harvard Musical Association. Her engagements as soloist include concerts with the Boston Pops, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande (Geneva), the Syracuse Symphony, the Metropolitan Orchestra (Montreal), the Transvaal Philharmonic (Pretoria), the Orchestre de la Radio Flamande  (Brussels), the Boston Philharmonic, the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra, the Romanian National Radio Orchestra, and the Miami Symphony Orchestra among others. Irina Muresanu’s talents have been sought out for collaboration with such noted performers as Kim Kashkashian, Cynthia Phelps, Sharon Robinson, Ronald Thomas, Andres Cardenes, Ilya Kaler, and Nathaniel Rosen. An active chamber musician, Ms. Muresanu has appeared in such festivals and venues as Bargemusic in New York; the Rockport Festival in Massachusetts; Bay Chambers concert series and Bowdoin Festival in Maine; the Strings in the Mountains festival in Colorado; Maui Chamber Music Festival in Hawaii, Reizend Music festival in Netherlands; Festival van de Leie in Belgium; and the Renncontres des Musiciennes festival in France. Ms. Muresanu's discography includes the Guillaume Lekeu and Alberic Magnard late Romantic violin and piano sonatas (with the pianist Dana Ciocarlie) for the AR RE-SE French label. She has also recorded the world premiere recording of Marion Bauer's Sonata for Violin and Piano (with pianist Virginia Eskin) on Albany Records, a CD with works of Andy Vores, and a CD featuring chamber works of Erich Korngold released by the VPRO  Radio Amsterdam. Irina Muresanu currently serves on both the faculties of the Boston Conservatory and the Music Department at MIT. She was appointed Artist-in-Residence as a member of the Lewin-Muresanu Duo at the Boston Conservatory, as well as at the New England Conservatory’s Preparatory Division as a member of the Boston Trio. A native of Bucharest, Romania, she received the prestigious Artist Diploma from the New England Conservatory in 1999, where she is currently a candidate for her Doctorate in Musical Arts.

Alexander Velinzon, violin, is a native of St. Petersburg, Russia and Assistant Concertmaster of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Velinzon started playing the violin at the age of six, and graduated from the Leningrad School for Gifted Children. After coming to the United States he continued his studies at the Manhattan School of Music as a scholarship student of Albert Markov. Mr. Velinzon received his Bachelor’s degree in 1996 from the Julliard School, and received his Master’s degree from Julliard as well. He won The Artist International 1996 Young Artist Auditions and was presented in his New York recital debut at Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall. Mr. Velinzon often appears as a soloist with orchestras, including The Rondo Chamber Orchestra on its tour to Venezuela, The Absolute Ensemble and The Metamorphoses Orchestra of New York. Mr. Velinzon has been heard at the City Center playing J.S. Bach Violin Concertos for the Paul Taylor Dance Company on its critically acclaimed New York season.  Prizewinner of The Heida Hermann Competition in Pennsylvania and the Tibor Varga International Violin Competition in Sion, Switzerland, Mr. Velinzon has appeared in Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and Russia, as well as throughout the USA. Mr. Velinzon joined the Walden Chamber Players in 2001.

Joel Pitchon, violin, is active as a soloist, concertmaster, and chamber music player and has received acclaim for his performances with nationally and internationally renowned ensembles.  Mr. Pitchon received his BA and MA in Music from The Juilliard School, where he studied with Oscar Shumsky and Joseph Fuchs. He has served as the concertmaster of numerous orchestras, including the Orquestra Ciutat de Barcelona (Spain), the New York Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra, the Colorado Music Festival Orchestra, the New Zealand Symphony (guest), the National Arts Centre Orchestra (Ottawa, Canada, guest) and the EOS Orchestra (NY). He has participated in many concerts in the US and abroad with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. Mr. Pitchon has been a member of the Wave Hill Piano Trio, the Andiamo Chamber Players, and the Kinor String Quartet among other groups. He frequently performs at the Monadnock Music Festival (NH) and this summer (’07) will participate in a new series of concerts in Salisbury, Connecticut. Mr. Pitchon is currently a member of the Forster String Trio, and the Smith Chamber Ensemble. As a soloist he has performed with the Orquestra Ciutat de Barcelona, Philharmonia Virtuosi, and the EOS Orchestra among others.  He has appeared on numerous radio and television broadcasts including WGBH, WNYC, and PBS. Mr. Pitchon was featured on the TV3 Catalunya program Cadencia, and has been interviewed about his work for STRAD Magazine. He has recorded for Deutsche Grammophon, CBS Masterworks, and Vox Cum Laude among others. Mr. Pitchon has recently made a CD of four Sonatas for violin and piano by Clifton J. Noble with the composer at the piano for the Gasparo label. His latest CD, New England Legacy, is of works by Quincy Porter, Walter Piston, and Amy Beach also recorded for the Gasparo label with pianist Jonathan Bass. Mr. Pitchon is an Associate Professor of Violin and Chamber Music at Smith College in Northampton, MA. His violin is a 1686 Andreas Guarnerius.

Christof Huebner, viola, Artistic Director of the Walden Chamber Players and a member of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra was born in Vienna, where he attended the Vienna Conservatory and subsequently the Wiener Musikhochschule. Mr. Huebner studied with Hatto Beyerle, violist of the Alban Berg Quartet, and was the recipient of a grant by the Alban Berg Foundation. Continuing his studies with Michael Tree at the Saint Louis Conservatory as a Fulbright Scholar, he received his artist diploma. Before coming to the US, he played with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, the Vienna State Opera Orchestra, and the Vienna Chamber Orchestra. He is a frequent performer at music festivals such as Marlboro Festival, Seattle Chamber Music Festival, Rockport Chamber Music Festival, Salzburg Festival, Wiener Festwochen and he is on the faculty of the Killington Music Festival in VT. Mr. Huebner has performed with members of the Guarneri Quartet, Alban Berg Quartet and the Boston Chamber Music Society. He has appeared as a guest artist with the American String Quartet and the New World String Quartet and frequently tours with Musicians from Marlboro. He has recorded for BMG/Harmonia Mundi, EMI, Deutsche Grammophon, Koch International and Nonesuch Recording Co. Mr. Huebner is currently a member of the Handel and Haydn Society Orchestra and has performed with the Smithsonian Chamber Players, Concert Royal and Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra of Canada. Christof Huebner is a founding member of the Walden Chamber Players.

Ashima Scripp, cello, is a native of Boston and has performed with orchestras, ensembles and in recital in major concert halls around the world including New York’s Carnegie Hall, Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall, Boston’s Symphony Hall, Chicago’s Symphony Center and Boston’s Jordan Hall. She has been a featured soloist with the Skokie Valley Symphony, the Northwestern University Symphony Orchestra and in Chicago’s Playing French Festival, and has been featured on Los Angeles’ KMozart, Boston’s WGBH, and in the Pioneer Press. Ms. Scripp has received top prizes at many competitions including the First Prize of the Union League Civic and Arts Foundation String Scholarship Competition, winner of the Eleanor Thaviu String Competition, winner of the Northwestern University Concerto Competition, and at the William C. Byrd Young Artist Competition. This past summer she was invited as one of only three national semi-finalists to the National Federation of Music Clubs Young Artist Competition. Ms. Scripp is in demand as a chamber musician and has been performing with the Walden Chamber Players since 2004. She is also a member of the Phoenix Ensemble in Ann Arbor, MI. She has studied chamber music with members of the Juilliard, Cleveland, American, Muir, Chicago, Mendelssohn, Pacifica Quartets, and the Beaux Arts Trio and has participated in numerous chamber music festivals in the US and abroad. She holds degrees from the Manhattan School of Music and Northwestern University and is on the cello faculty of Concord Academy and the Longy School of Music.

Donald Palma, bass, is a founding member of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. He received his formal education at the Juilliard School and joined Leopold Stokowski's American Symphony Orchestra at the age of twenty. At age twenty-four, he joined the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and later joined Canada's National Arts Centre Orchestra as principal bass. He recorded the complete Wagner Ring Cycle with James Levine and the Metropolitan Opera, and has made over fifty recordings with Orpheus for Deutsche Grammophon including a Grammy award winning Stravinsky CD. Palma was principal bassist for Leonard Bernstein in his recoding of West Side Story, and was a featured artist on Kathleen Battle's CD Grace. As a chamber musician, he has appeared in recital with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Jean-Pierre Rampal, Jan DeGaetani and Jorge Bolet, and has performed with the Nash Ensemble, the Juilliard Quartet, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and the Da Camera Society of Houston. Palma was music director of the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, and won two ASCAP-Chamber Music America Awards for adventurous programming. With the contemporary music group Speculum Musicae, he serves a double function as bassist and conductor, having appeared in both capacities at the Warsaw Autumn Festival, the Geneva Festival, the Miami Festival, the New York Philharmonic Horizons Festival, and the Library of Congress. He has conducted critically acclaimed recordings of works by Poul Ruders, Lee Hyla, Elliott Carter, Peter Lieberson, Stephen Jaffe, and has recorded over thirty CDs of contemporary works. Palma has given master classes at Rice University, the Hart School, the Juilliard School, the Manhattan School of Music, Mannes College, and the Toho School.

Marianne Gedigian, flute, was appointed Associate Professor of Flute at The University of Texas at Austin in 2004. Prior to that, Ms. Gedigian was a regular performer with the Boston Symphony Orchestra for over a decade, including several seasons as Acting Principal Flute under Seiji Ozawa. As Principal Flute with the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra and Guest Principal Flute with the Boston Pops, Ms. Gedigian has been heard on dozens of recordings and Evening at Pops television broadcasts as well as the nationally broadcast Fourth of July specials. She has also been heard on several John Williams’ movie scores, including Saving Private Ryan and Schindler’s List. In the 2000 - 2001 season, Ms. Gedigian was invited by Mariss Jansons to perform as Acting Principal Flute with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.  She has appeared twice as soloist with the Boston Pops under the directions of John Williams and Bruce Hangen performing Ibert’s Concerto for Flute and Aram Khachaturian’s flute adaptation of his Concerto for Violin. She has appeared numerous times as a soloist, including performances in Japan and in Erevan, Armenia where she performed with the Armenian Philharmonic under the direction of Loris Tjeknavorian. She was featured, in Boston, with Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull fame in a performance at the Berklee College of Music. Ms. Gedigian has been first-prize winner in the National Flute Association’s Young Artist Competition and the James Pappoutsakis Memorial Flute Competition. She keeps an active schedule as a chamber musician as a founding member of the Boston-based Walden Chamber Players and was formerly a member of the Dorian Wind Quintet. Ms. Gedigian has served on the faculties of Boston University’s College of Fine Arts, The Boston Conservatory, Boston University’s Tanglewood Institute and the Round Top Institute.

Laura Ahlbeck, oboe, grew up in Ohio and attended Ohio State University where she studied with William Baker. While pursuing her graduate degree at the Manhattan School of Music, she continued her studies with Elaine Douvas. Ms. Ahlbeck has been a member of the Columbus Symphony Orchestra, the Orcestra Sinfonica de Maracaibo, and the Eastern Music Festival Orchestra. She was a member of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra for eight years. In Boston she is Principal Oboe of the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra, Bard Festival and Lyric Opera, and is frequently heard in a variety of groups including the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Boston Pops, Emmanuel Church, the Boston Lyric Opera and in chamber groups throughout the city. She teaches oboe at Boston University, New England Conservatory of Music, and Boston Conservatory of Music. Ms. Ahlbeck is a founding member of the Walden Chamber Players.

Thomas Martin, clarinet, served as Principal Clarinet of the Alabama Symphony Orchestra before joining the Boston Symphony Orchestra in the fall of 1984. He is currently Assistant Principal Clarinet of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Principal Clarinet of the Boston Pops Orchestra. Born in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, Mr. Martin graduated from the Eastman School of Music, where was a student of Stanley Hasty and Peter Hadcock. He participated in master classes with Guy Deplus of the Paris Conservatory. Mr. Martin performs frequently as a recitalist and chamber musician and has been heard on "Morning Pro Musica" on WGBH radio. He has appeared on the Supper Concerts Series at Symphony Hall, on the Friday Preludes at Tanglewood, at the Longy School of Music

Richard Ranti, bassoon, joined the Boston Symphony Orchestra at the start of the 1989-90 season; he is Associate Principal Bassoon of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Principal Bassoon of the Boston Pops Orchestra. Born in Montreal, Mr. Ranti started bassoon at age ten, studying with Sidney Rosenberg and David Carroll. After graduating from Interlochen Arts Academy, he studied with Sol Schoenbach at the Curtis Institute of Music. At the age of nineteen he won the Second Bassoon position in the Philadelphia Orchestra; he spent six years with that orchestra, the last as Acting Associate Principal. A 1982 Fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center, Mr. Ranti has also participated in the Spoleto and Marlboro Festivals. He won second prize in the 1982 Toulon International Bassoon Competition and is the recipient of two Canada Council grants. Mr. Ranti is a founding member of the Walden Chamber Players.

Richard Sebring, horn, is Associate Principal Horn of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Principal Horn of the Boston Pops Orchestra. Born and raised in Concord, Massachusetts, Mr. Sebring studied at Indiana University, the New England Conservatory of Music, and in 1979 he graduated from the University of Washington. In 1979 he was a Fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center, and was appointed Principal Horn of the Rochester Philharmonic for the 1980-81 season. He joined the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1981, and in 1982 was named Associate Principal Horn of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Principal Horn of the Boston Pops Orchestra. Mr. Sebring has been soloist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra in Boston, at Tanglewood, on Tour, and also with the Boston Pops Orchestra. He has also performed with the contemporary chamber ensembles Collage and Musica Viva. Mr. Sebring is on the faculty of the New England Conservatory of Music, and is a founding member of the Walden Chamber Players.

Jonathan Bass, piano, has appeared as a soloist with numerous American orchestras, including the Boston Pops at Symphony Hall. As First Prize Winner of the 1993 Joanna Hodges International Piano Competition, Mr. Bass gave his New York recital debut in Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall. He has also performed throughout the United States, as well as in Russia, Poland, Israel and Spain. He has been the featured on the nationwide “Performance Today” series on National Public Radio. Other prizes include First Prize in the 1984 American National Chopin Competition and First Prize in the 1989 American Pianists Association Competition. A native New Yorker, Mr. Bass received his Bachelor of Music degree from the Juilliard School, and a Doctor of Music degree from Indiana University, where he studied with Menahem Pressler. He has been on the faculty of the Boston Conservatory of Music since 1993 and also teaches at the New England Conservatory of Music in the Division of Preparatory and Continuing Education. Mr. Bass has been performing orchestral keyboard with the Boston Symphony Orchestra in works by Messiaen, Respighi, Debussy Stravinsky, and Bartok at Tanglewood, at Symphony Hall, and on two European Seiji Ozawa and Bernard Haitink. His CD entitled Jonathan Bass plays Bach, Chopin, Scriabin & Pinkham has been praised by Gramophone Magazine as: "Superbly played Bach and Chopin with haunting music by Pinkham." His second CD, "Reminiscences and Reflections", an hour-long solo piano work consisting of twelve preludes and fugues by Larry Bell, was released on North-South Records in 2003. Besides being a founding member of the Walden Chamber Players, Mr. Bass is Co-Music Director of the Curtisville Consortium in Lenox, Massachusetts, and has been a guest of the Boston Symphony Chamber Players, the Boston Artists Ensemble, and the Boston Conservatory Chamber Ensemble.

 

 

<Tatiana Dimitriades>

<Alex Velinzon>

<Irina Muresanu>

<Christof Huebner>

<Ashima Scripp>

<Don Palma>

<M. Gedigian>

<Laura Ahlbeck>

<Tom Martin>

<Rick Ranti>

<Gus Sebring>

<Jonathan Bass>