MUSICIAN BIOS for the 2008-09 Season

 

Jonathan Miller- Artistic Director

Tatiana Dimitriades, violin
Edward Gazouleas, viola
Rebecca Gitter, viola
Beth Guterman, viola
Randall Hodgkinson, piano
Bayla Keys, violin
Julianne Lee, violin
Sharan Leventhal, violin
Zina Schiff, violin
Alexander Velinzon, violin
Wendy Warner, cello

Jonathan Miller (Artistic Director, cello) studied literature at the University of California at Berkeley. After attending a Pablo Casal’s master class, he dropped out of school to study the cello. Two years later was accepted as a scholarship student at Juilliard School, and then became a pupil of Bernard Greenhouse. Mr. Miller has performed as soloist with the Hartford Symphony; The Boston Pops; The Cape Ann and Newton Symphonys; and the Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra of Boston. Miller won the Jeunesses Musicales auditions, twice toured the US with the New York String Sextet, and appeared as a member of the Fine Arts Quartet. He performed as a featured soloist at the American Cello Congress in the spring of 1990 at the invitation of Rostropovitch, and also a soloist at the 1996 Congress. Miller has over the years collaborated in many chamber music concerts with distinguished musicians including: violinists Renaud Capucon, Eugene Drucker, Hillary Hahn, Daniel Phillips, Gil Shaham and Joel Smirnoff; violists Yuri Bashment, Roberto Diaz, Paul Doktor, James Dunham, and Kim Kashkashian; and pianists Emanuel Ax and Garrick Ohlson. He is a member of the Gramercy Trio, which has twice received glowing reviews in the New York Times for its New York City performances. The Gramercy Trio has recorded for Naxos, Navona, and Newport Classics labels. Miller has recorded the complete Beethoven Sonatas with Randall Hodgkinson for the Centaur label. He performs on the ex-D,Archambeau Goffriller cello which was made in Venice around 1698. (Back to top)

Born and raised in New York, Tatiana Dimitriades earned her bachelor's and master's degrees, and an Artist Diploma, from the Indiana University School of Music, where she was awarded the Performer'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, and the Mischa Pelz Prize. Ms. Dimitriades joined the BSO in 1987. She teaches at the Boston Conservatory of Music, and is the concertmaster of the New Philharmonia Orchestra. Her 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. (Back to top)

Violist Edward Gazouleas joined the BSO in 1990. After viola studies with Raphael Hillyer and Steven Ansell at Yale University, he received his bachelor's degree in 1984 from the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied viola with Michael Tree and Karen Tuttle. He has been a member of the Pittsburgh Symphony and has performed with the Concerto Soloists of Philadelphia, the New Haven Symphony Orchestra, the Chamber Orchestra of New England, and as first-desk player with the New York String Orchestra. Mr. Gazouleas was winner of the Eighth International String Quartet Competition in Evian, France, as a member of the Nisaika Quartet and made his Carnegie Hall recital debut as a member of the Cezanne Quartet in 1982. He has taught viola as an instructor at Temple University and privately at Swarthmore College. (Back to top)

Rebecca Gitter began violin studies at the age of seven and viola studies at thirteen. In May 2001 she received her bachelor of music degree from The Cleveland Institute of Music where she was a student of Robert Vernon. While at CIM, she was the recipient of The Institute’s Annual Viola Prize and the Robert Vernon Prize in Viola. Among other honors, she was the 2000 recipient of Toronto’s Ben Steinberg Jewish Musical Legacy Award. Rebecca joined the viola section of The BSO in August 2001. (Back to top)

A native of Belmont, MA, Beth Guterman has performed across North America, Europe, and Asia. As a member of the International Sejong Soloists, she has toured extensively in the US and Asia. Last November, radio audiences heard Ms. Guterman performing Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 6 live on NPR with this ensemble. Some of her past collaborators include Lynn Harrell, Masao Kawasaki, and Alexander Kerr. Ms. Guterman has performed concertos with the Spoleto USA Orchestra, the Juilliard Symphony, and Aspen’s Sinfonia Orchestra. She has performed as principal violist with the IRIS Chamber Orchestra, Metamorphosen Chamber Orchestra, Juilliard Symphony and Orchestra, Aspen Sinfonia Orchestra, and the Spoleto USA Orchestra. She recently recorded Brad Lubman’s Quartet for strings and electronics for Tzadik, which will be released in October and can be heard on Naxos performing chamber works by Stephen Hartke. Ms. Guterman received top prize in the Juilliard Viola Competition and in the first-ever Aspen Nakamichi Lower Strings Competition. She was the recipient of the 1999 Eugene Lehner Chamber Music Award for Excellence from the New England Conservatory. (Back to top)

Randall Hodgkinson (piano) won the International American Music Competition in 1981 and his October 1986 formal New York recital debut at Alice Tully Hall under the competition’s auspices was greeted with critical acclaim. Mr. Hodgkinson has, in recent years, performed with orchestras including those of Philadelphia, Atlanta, Albany, Buffalo, Westchester, Oakland, and Caramoor and has collaborated with such conductors as Leonard Bernstein and Gunther Schuller. 1985 saw his European orchestral debut with the Santa Cecilia Orchestra of Rome. He is a featured artist on the Bosendorfer Concert Series aired over WNYC - FM in New York City and has recorded for the Nonesuch, CRI and New World labels. Mr Hodgkinson studied with Veronica Jochum and Russell Sherman at the New England Conservatory where he now serves on the faculty. He is a member of the Gramercy Trio. (Back to top)

Bayla Keys studied at Curtis and Yale was a founding member of the Muir String Quartet. Recent concert highilghts include the Bargemusic series in New York City, solo appearances with the Richmond, Concord, and Ohio Chamber Symphonies, and premiers of concertos by Bernard Hoffer and Richard Festinger. Ms. Keys teaches at Boston University where she is is co-chair of the String Department, and at the Tanglewood and Interlochen Music Festivals. She had recorded for Video Artists International, Ecoclassics, CRI, Musical Heritage, EMI-France and New World Records. (Back to top)

Julianne Lee is a member of the BSO and has recently been awarded the Presser Music Award. Ms. Lee made her solo debut at age 7 with the Lake Placid Symphonietta. She has appeared as soloist with the KBS Symphony Orchestra in Korea and the Baden-Baden Philharmonie in Germany. Ms. Lee has participated at the Marlboro Music Festival, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival and a European tour with the Australian Chamber Orchestra as Guest Principal Violist. She holds a Bachelor's Degree in violin performance and a Diploma in viola performance from the Curtis Institute of Music, studying with Victor Danchenko, Joseph Silverstein and Joseph DePasquale. Currently she is pursuing her Masters Degree as a student of Donald Weilerstein and Kim Kashkashian at the New England Conservatory of Music. (Back to top)

Sharan Leventhal has built an international reputation as a champion of contemporary music. Her more that 100 premieres include works by Schuller, Kraft, Oliveros, and Bainbridge. Her recordings include the entire violin and piano works of Virgil Thomson on the Northeastern Recordings label. Ms. Leventhal has appeared as a soloist with the Boston Pops, the Boston Ballet and the Milwaukee and Vermont Symphonies. She was a founding member of the duo Marimolin, is a member of the Gramercy Trio and has served on the faculty of Michigan State University. (Back to top)

Violinist Zina Schiff, a Heifetz protege was a student of Ivan Galamian at The Curtis Institute of Music, attended Berkeley, and Louisiana State University, where she earned her masters degree in liberal arts. Her many awards include the Young Musicians Foundation Debut Award, the San Francisco Symphony Foundation Award, and a grant from the Martha Baird Rockefeller Fund for Music. Zina was selected as an "Outstanding Young Artist" by Musical America and honored as a "Distinguished Alumna" Zina has performed at such summer festivals as Aspen, Music from Bear Valley, Mendocino, Sewanee and Newport, Rhode Island. Radio listeners are familiar with Zina's appearances on National Public Radio's Performance Today, WGBH's Morning Pro Music in Boston, and New York's WQXR. Television viewers worldwide saw Zina on the PBS "Nova" program entitled "What is Music?" Zina's first recording was the score for the MGM movie, The Fixer, composed for solo violin by Academy-Award winner Maurice Jarre. Her CD debut was with the Israel Philharmonic - a Bach/Vivaldi album and The Lark Ascending, featuring the music of Vaughan Williams. She has recorded on Naxos as well as several CDs on the 4Tay label, most recently Elijah's Violin. (Back to top)

Alexander Velinzon is the Assistant Concertmaster of the BSO and Boston Pops. A native of St. Petersburg, he began playing the violin at six and graduated from the Leningrad School for Gifted Children. After coming to the US, he continued his studies at the Manhattan School of Music and received his master's degree from Juilliard. Mr. Velinson’s appearances as soloist with orchestra have included the Rondo Chamber Orchestra; the Absolute Ensemble, the Metamorphoses Orchestra, and Chappaqua Symphony; and the National Symphony of Santo Domingo. He has also been heard playing violin concertos of J.S. Bach for the Paul Taylor Dance Company. Mr. Velinzon was a prizewinner in the Heida Hermann International Competition in the United States and in the Tibor Varga International Competition in Switzerland. He made his New York recital debut at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall as winner of the Artist International 1996 Young Artists Auditions. (Back to top)

Wendy Warner was first brought to the attention of the world stage when in 1990 she was awarded First Prize in the Fourth International Rostropovich Competition. in Paris. Following that success Ms. Warner made her debut with the National Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Rostropovich and was re-engaged to appear on the orchestra’s North American tour. Ms. Warner has been the featured soloist on tours with the Bamberg Symphony, the Moscow Virtuosi, NHK Symphony and the Japan Philharmonic. She has appeared with the major symphony orchestras of Chicago, Boston, London, Berlin, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, Baltimore, Paris, Iceland and Hong Kong. Recent recordings by Ms. Warner include works for cello by Hindemith on Bridge Records, duos for cello and violin with Rachel Barton on Cedille records, and the Barber Concerto with the Royal Scottish National Philharmonic for the Naxos label. This past season Wendy joined the Anchorage Symphony in its opening concert, performing Prokoviev's Symphonie Concertante. Additional performances included Shostakovich's Cello Concerto No. 1 with the Fresno Philharmonic Orchestra and a recital in Corpus Christi, Texas. (Back to top)