Since its inception in 1974, when its original members were students at The Juilliard School, The American String Quartet has performed in all fifty states and appeared in virtually every important concert hall throughout the world. Their innovative and thoughtful approach to concert programming has won them a number of notable residencies in recent years, including Beethoven the Contemporary at the University of Michigan; The Six Mozart Viola Quintets at the Aspen Music Festival with Guarneri Quartet violist Michael Tree (broadcast live nationally via Chicago superstation WFMT); and a just−concluded 4−year cycle titled 4−5−6. at Princeton University, where the Quartet performed the complete quintets and sextets of Mozart and Brahms, joined in each concert by renowned guest artists. Resident quartet at the Aspen Music Festival since 1974 and the Manhattan School of Music in New York since 1984, the American has also served as resident quartet at the Peabody Conservatory and the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. In addition, the Quartet’s diverse activities have included numerous international radio and television broadcasts, tours of Asia, and performances with the New York City Ballet, the Montreal Symphony and the Philadelphia Orchestra.

Doris Allen was a member of the first violin section of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra for 29 years. Prior to that, she was a soloist with the New York Philharmonic, Queens Symphony and Saranac Symphony. As a chamber musician, Allen was a member of the Center for New Music at Columbia University, The Group for Contemporary Music at the University of Iowa, and the Blair, Alexandria and Camerata String Quartets. While on a Fulbright Scholarship to London, Allen was a founding member of the Nash Chamber Ensemble. She has participated in many music festivals, including the Aspen, Grand Teton and Berkshire Festivals in the US, and the Darrington Festival in England.

Born in Joao Pessoa, Brazil, in 1981, violinist Roberta Arruda received her Bachelor’s degree in music from the State University of Campinas in 2002. Sponsored by Vitae Foundation she studied at the F. Liszt Academy of Music of Budapest from 2003 to 2005. She is currently seeking a degree in Music Performance at the University of New Mexico where she leads the UNM Orchestra. Arruda performs frequently as a soloist and chamber musician in Brazil.

Allegra Faith Askew won the Houston Symphony Young Artist Competition and made her solo debut with the Houston Symphony at the age of 16. She holds a Bachelor of Music Degree from the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where she studied with Max Aronoff and Joseph de Pasquale and served as teaching assistant to Mr. Aronoff. In Philadelphia Askew was a substitute in the Philadelphia Orchestra and was Principal Viola for the Concerto Soloists of Philadelphia, the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, Opera Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Opera Theater, The Pennsylvania Ballet, and the Philly Pops. In New York City, she played with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, and served as Principal Viola for the American Symphony Orchestra. Askew was Assistant Principal Viola for the Santa Fe Opera from 1982- 2006 and Principal Viola in 2007.

Martha Caplin, violinist, has been a member of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra since 1982 and has participated on its Board of Directors. A frequent concertmaster, she has performed as soloist and has led the conductorless group in many Deutsche Grammophon recordings including their Copland recording, which was nominated for a Grammy Award. Of particular interest is the collaboration of Orpheus with Caplin as concertmaster with Herbie Hancock (Gershwin’s World on the Verve label). Caplin was also acting concertmaster for the recording with Branford Marsalis (Creation on the Sony Classical label) and Orpheus. In addition she gave the world premiere of Susan Botti’s Within Darkness, which was performed at Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center, and dedicated to Caplin by the composer. As part of the Orpheus educational program she has given master classes in chamber music at UCLA and was invited by Michael Tilson Thomas to work with the young musicians of the New World Symphony. Currently she is participating as a coach in the training program at both the Juilliard School and the Manhattan School of Music. Also active as a soloist and chamber musician in Santa Fe and Albuquerque, Caplin has performed with the 20th Century Unlimited Chamber Music Series, the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival (performance and outreach), Serenata of Santa Fe, and the Placitas Arts Chamber Music Series. She was a founding member and first violinist of the Primavera String Quartet which won the Naumburg Award for Chamber Music, the violinist of the Amabile Piano Quartet, and the concertmaster of the Atlantic Sinfonietta in New York. Caplin recorded the premiere performance of Jongen’s Concert a Cinq for Koch International Classics under the auspices of the Atlantic Sinfonietta. She received her Bachelor of Music degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music and her Master of Music degree from The Juilliard School.

Violinist David Felberg is currently the associate concertmaster of the New Mexico Symphony, with which he has also played as a concerto soloist. In addition, he has appeared as soloist with the Tuscon Symphony, Albuquerque Philharmonic, Noisy Neighbors, and at the Chautauqua Music Festival. Felberg’s recitals and chamber music performances have taken him around the country, notably Colorado, Arizona, Apple Hill (NH), and Sky Meadow (VT). He appears regularly with the Albuquerque Chamber Soloists, Los Alamos Coffee Concerts, the Placitas Artists Series, and with his group Chatter, a chamber ensemble dedicated to 20th and 21th century music. Active as a conductor as well, Felberg has led the Emerald City Opera in Steamboat Springs, CO, the New Mexico Symphony, Santa Fe Symphony, and is music director of the Albuquerque Philharmonic Orchestra. He was a participant in the American Academy of Conducting at the Aspen Music Festival in the summer of 2000. Felberg attended the University of Arizona where he received a degree in history in 1993, and went on to earn a Masters of Music degree from the University of New Mexico in 1997. In addition, he took advanced string quartet studies at the University of Colorado with the Takacs Quartet. Felberg made his New York City recital debut in Merkin Hall in June of 2005 and plays an 1829 J.B. Vuillaume violin.

Paul Festa was born in San Francisco and educated at the Juilliard School, where he studied violin with Robert Mann, and Yale University, where he graduated in English with honors and academic and musical prizes. His first film Apparition of the Eternal Church apparitionfilm.com has screened throughout the United States and in Europe, and was named Best North American Independent Feature Film at the 2006 Indianapolis International Film Festival, and received the Special Director’s Award at the 2006 Santa Cruz Film Festival and the Gold Medal for Excellence at the Park City Film Music Festival also in 2006. Festa’s essays have appeared in Nerve, Salon, Best Sex Writing 2005, and Best Sex Writing 2006. As a violin soloist and recitalist, he has toured extensively and this year gave the Boston premiere of Messiaen’s Fantaisie for violin and piano. He is currently revising a novel and can be found online at paulfesta.com. (Photo credit: Greg Gorman)

Paul Fowler is a classically trained vocalist and composer, improvising pianist, and producer who received his training at Ithaca College and the University of Michigan. His concert music has been performed around the world, including the Borealis Festival of Norway, Japan’s Suntory Hall, the Belgium International Marimba Festival, the Kennedy Center, and New York City’s MATA festival. This year has brought premieres by the Taiwan’s Ju Percussion Group and as a recipient of the First Music Award, the New York Youth Symphony at Carnegie Hall. The New York Times hailed Fowler’s orchestral work Tapu’at as "...colorful, attractive music that was an ideal showcase for these accomplished players" with "sections that were radiant, ghostly and shimmering by turns." Fowler’s artistic output explores the human spirit and its path through time — covering subjects as disparate as Japanese bunraku, jazz in Nazi−occupied France, and the Hopi labyrinth (tapu’at). Having spent the last six years in Taos, NM, Fowler has worked extensively in the community, playing jazz clubs, conducting the community chorus and collaborating with Taos Pueblo musician, Robert Mirabal. He recently associate produced Mirabal’s newest record, In The Blood, and will tour with his band throughout the year. Fowler has several planned projects for the year, among them, a marimba concerto, a choral work commisisoned by the Milwaukee Choral Artists, and a new album of original tunes.

Cellist Sally Guenther received her Bachelors and Masters of Music degrees at Indiana University and the Julliard School of Music and attended the Taos School of Music, Music Academy of the West and International Congress of Strings. Guenther has performed with the Cincinnati, Fort Worth and Syracuse Symphonies (as principal cellist), and the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. She spent twenty years as solo cellist with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra in Norway where she also served on the faculty of the Grieg Academy of Music and toured Europe with the contemporary ensemble BIT 20. As a concerto soloist, Guenther has performed with Bergen Philharmonic, Collegium Musicum and University of Bergen Symphony Orchestra. After returning to the US, Guenther was a freelance musician in New York City where she played with the American Symphony Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony and on Broadway for a production of Les Miserables. In New Mexico Guenther has performed for the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival Outreach program, and with the Santa Fe, New Mexico and Santa Fe Opera Orchestras.

Nancy Laupheimer founded the Taos Chamber Music Group in 1993 and serves as its Artistic and Executive Director. She has played flute, alto flute and piccolo with the Santa Fe Symphony, Musica de Camera Orchestra, Santa Fe Festival Ballet, Desert Chorale, New Mexico Music Festival, Serenata of Santa Fe, Music from Angel Fire, the Dorian Wind Quintet, and the American and Helios String Quartets. Other chamber music collaborations have included concerts on the Dolores and Green Rivers with members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. In 2004 Laupheimer played for the Foundation for Modern Music’s Music of Today Series in Houston where her composition BitterSweet was given its Texas premiere. In addition, she taught a masterclass for flute students at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music. Active as a music educator, flute teacher and composer as well as performer, Laupheimer has participated in the Sante Fe Chamber Music Festival’s Educational Outreach Program. She holds BA and MM degrees from Vassar College and Boston University’s School for the Arts, and received fellowships to the Tanglewood and Aspen Music Festivals.

Violinist Kerri Nanelle Lay is a long−standing member of many of New Mexico’s professional music organizations, including the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra, Santa Fe Opera Orchestra, Santa Fe Pro Musica Chamber Orchestra and Baroque Players, and the Serenata of Santa Fe. She has also performed with the San Francisco and San Jose Symphonies, Santa Fe New Music, Placitas Artist Series, Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Zia Singers, Theaterworks , National Dance Institute, Austin Symphony, Laredo Philharmonic, and the Victoria Bach Festival. Lay studied violin at the University of Texas (Austin) and Indiana University. She is the founder of Bellissima, a music contracting service specializing in weddings and special events and also shares her love of music through private violin lessons and coaching young musicians in chamber music. In addition Lay has taught violin at New Mexico Highlands University, the Armand Hammer United World College and the Santa Fe Waldorf School.

Mezzo’soprano Kirsten Lear has led an active performing career singing in opera, musical theater, recitals, and with symphony orchestras. She was raised in Amalia, NM and currently resides in Santa Fe. Lear has been a frequently featured soloist with the Santa Fe Symphony and Santa Fe Pro Musica. In addition, last season she appeared as Elsa in Theatreworks’ The Sound of Music at the Lensic, as a soloist in Santa Fe New Music’s John Cage Evening, in Berio’s Folksongs with the contemporary ensemble Chatter, and with her husband Robert Tweten in a voice recital on the St. John’s College Recital Series. Lear was an apprentice artist with the Santa Fe Opera for two seasons and recently sang with the company as Jenny in The Beggar’s Opera and Cousin Hebe in H.M.S. Pinafore. Lear’s other operatic roles have included: Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia with Shreveport Opera, Suzuki in Madama Butterfly with Pacific Opera Victoria, Flora in La Traviata with the Vancouver Opera, Prince Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus with Des Moines Metro Opera, Hansel in Hansel and Gretel with Theatreworks, and Costanza in L’Isola disabitata with the Canadian Opera Company. At the Banff Center of Fine Arts, Lear appeared as Polly in Weill’s Threepenny Opera as well as creating five new roles with their Music Theater Studio Ensemble, one of which was filmed by Rhombus Media and broadcast on PBS. With the Houston Grand Opera, Lear performed in Dialogues des Carmelites and Showboat which toured to the Cairo Opera House in Egypt. Other musical theater roles include Madame Giry in the Toronto Broadway production of Phantom of the Opera.

Clarinetist Keith Lemmons serves as a Presidential Teaching Fellow and the Professor of Clarinet at The University of New Mexico. At UNM since 1984, he combines an international reputation as a sought after soloist, clinician, chamber and orchestral musician with his love of teaching. Concerts in Sweden, Brazil, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Canada, as well as throughout the U.S. have all met with rave reviews. "Lemmons had them in ecstasy" wrote El Sol de Mexico City. "Sheer virtuosity" wrote The Clarinet. He was recently a judge for the 2007 International Clarinet Performance Competition in Vancouver and this season has concerts in Michigan, California, Ohio, Kansas, Montana, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Louisiana, Nevada and Florida. His recent 2007 solo CD release, with the UNM Wind Symphony on the Summit label, and 2006 CD release of the New Mexico Winds on the Centaur label have been critically acclaimed. Lemmons is a member of the New Mexico Winds, Trio New Mexico and Trio Clarivoce, all artist faculty ensembles−in−residence at UNM. He regularly performs with Santa Fe Pro Musica, New Mexico Symphony, Santa Fe Symphony, Serenata of Santa Fe, and the Los Alamos Fuller Lodge Ensemble. His UNM clarinet studio is renowned for its large size with students from Mexico, Canada, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Many of his students now teach at the college level and play in orchestras and military bands throughout the US. His numerous recordings are also found on the AlbuZERKque, UNM, TCMG and Katson Production labels. His degrees are from Pittsburg State University (KS) with Robert Schott and Michigan State University with Elsa Ludewig−Verdehre. He has additional extensive study with Larry Combs (Chicago Symphony), Charles Neidich (Julliard School) and Thea King (English Chamber Orchestra).

Harpsichordist Kathleen McIntosh performs regularly with Santa Fe Pro Musica, Serenata de Santa Fe, the Angeles Consort in Los Angeles, and as half of the duo McFish, with violist Marlow Fisher. She has appeared as soloist with the Solistas de La Habana in Havana, Chamber Orchestra Kremlin in Moscow, National Symphony Orchestra of Vietnam in Hanoi, Sinfonica de Santiago in Santiago de Cuba, New American Chamber Orchestra in Spain, Camerata de la Casa del Lago in Mexico City, and with chamber orchestras throughout the western United States. She is the frequent guest of Conjunto Ars Longa in Havana, and of the Deya International Festival in Mallorca. McIntosh has played regularly in the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival since 1996, and in the Bravo! Vail Valley Festival since 1999. She has also been featured in the Tsuyama All−Round International Festival (Japan), LaJolla Summerfest (California) San Anselmo Organ Festival (California), New Texas Festival and Music from Angel Fire (NM) among others. An exponent of contemporary music, McIntosh appeared regularly on the series 20th Century Unlimited, and has been a guest of John Kennedy’s Santa Fe New Music. She has premiered works by Alex Shapiro, Tomiko Kohjiba and many others, with violinist Robin Lorentz, and of John Steinmetz and Carl Mansker with Marlow Fisher. In summer 2005 she played the first performance of a work by Melinda Wagner (commissioned by the Bravo Festival) with the Rossetti String Quartet. In November 2007, she will premier a work by Augusta Read Thomas with the Walden Chamber Players. The Los Angeles Reader wrote of her performance of the J.S.Bach Goldberg Variations that "her nearly flawless technique and understated eloquence produced revelatory results." Of her recording of the complete keyboard works of Boismortier, Continuo Magazine said, "A breathtakingly beautiful performance." Heard frequently on NPR’s Performance Today, she records for Gasparo CDs on harpsichords by John Phillips.

Robert Mirabal is one of the leaders of the Native American flute resurgence. He builds his melodies from the rituals that have surrounded him all his life at Taos Pueblo. Described as an indigenous Renaissance man, musician, composer, painter, master craftsman, poet, actor, horseman and farmer Mirabal has traveled extensively and played his music all over the world. A leading proponent of world music, he has merged his American sound with those of Africa, Asia and the Caribbean, tapping into a planetary pulse with a style that defies categorization. His nine albums of traditional music, rock and roll, and spoken word present a contemporary view of American Indian life that is unequaled. As a composer, songwriter or musician, Mirabal has won many honors including two−time Native American Artist of the Year, three−time Songwriter of the Year, and a 2006 Grammy Award for Sacred Ground, Best Native American Album of the Year. His 2001 PBS special, Music From a Painted Cave remains a benchmark of Native American entertainment. His newest release, In the Blood, blends scenes from the American experience−past, present and futureÑwith themes from contemporary Native life. Sung both in English and Tiwa, Mirabal’s native tongue, love songs merge with ghost songs that roll into Americana ballads and full−on tribal rockers.

Carol Redman is principal flutist and Associate Artistic Director for Santa Fe Pro Musica, and a member of the New Mexico Woodwind Quintet. She has performed at Le Domaine Forget Music Festival (Canada), Oregon Bach Festival, Oregon Festival of American Music, Smithsonian Chamber Music Society, San Luis Obispo Mozart Festival, Colorado Chamber Players and Opera Troupe, Maryland Handel Festival, Music from Angel Fire, Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, and festivals in Germany, Canada and Japan. She is a former member but still a regular guest with of the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra and a former member (principal flute and piccolo) of the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra. She is a magna cum laude graduate from the University of New Mexico with a B. M. in music performance and performs on baroque and modern flutes and recorders.

Brazilian violinist Cármelo de los Santos is currently Assistant Professor of violin at the University of New Mexico. He was the first prizewinner of the IV Júlio Cardona International Competition held in Covilhã, Portugal, in 2003. He also received the special prize for the best interpretation of the required Portuguese work. In 2002 Cármelo performed at the prestigious Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall with the ARCO Chamber Orchestra, both as a soloist and conductor, and won the first prize at the Music Teachers National Association Collegiate Artist Competition in Cincinnati, Ohio. He came into prominence in 1993 when he won Brazil’s most prestigious music competition, the VII Eldorado Prize, São Paulo. Since then Carmelo has appeared as soloist and recital player with major orchestras in Brazil and South America. Other prizes include the second prize in the VII Young Artist International Competition (1991), Argentina, and first prize in the I Young Talents of MEC Radio Competition (1996), in Rio de Janeiro. In addition Carmelo has recorded many programs for radio and television in Brazil, and in 1994 he made a CD under the Eldorado Radio label which featured Brazilian and other composers of the twentieth century. He graduated from Rio Grande do Sul Federal University, Brazil, and came to America in 1997 to study in New York at the Manhattan School of Music Carmelo earned a Doctoral degree from the University of Georgia.

Rosalind Simpson has toured throughout the Southwest in recital and education. She has worked with all major musical organizations in the area, including the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra, Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Albuquerque’s Chatter, and the New Mexico, El Paso, San Juan and Las Cruces Symphony Orchestras. Recent summer festivals have included Santa Fe, Telluride, Montana Opera and Animas, where she performed the Harp Concerto of Alberto Ginastera in June 2007. She plays annually as a chamber music soloist and in the orchestra of the Music in the Mountains festival in Durango, CO. Before moving to Santa Fe, Rosalind was principal harpist of the Berne (Switzerland) Symphony Orchestra. She was awarded the Premier Prix (Harp and Chamber Music) and the Diplôme Supérieur (Harp) from the Brussels Conservatoire. She plays a Lyon and Healy Concert Grand Style 23 harp.

Welsh−born composer, Hilary Tann, lives near the Hudson River in New York where she is the John Howard Payne Professor of Music at Union College. Her music is influenced by her love of Wales, her strong identification with the natural world, and a deep interest in the traditional music of Japan. She holds degrees in composition from the University of Wales at Cardiff and from Princeton University. Numerous organizations have supported her work, including the Welsh Arts Council, New York State Council on the Arts, National Endowment for the Arts, and Meet the Composer/Arts Endowment Commissioning Music USA. Many of her compositions are available from Capstone, Zimbel, Elmgrove Productions, and North/South Recordings, and her scores are published by Brichtmark Music, Inc., Rowanberry Music, and Oxford University Press. Ensembles that have commissioned and performed Tann’s works include the European Women’s Orchestra, Knoxville Symphony Orchestra, North American Welsh Choir, Presteigne Festival, American Guild of Organists, North American Saxophone Alliance, Swansea Bach Choir, Louisville Symphony Orchestra, Women’s Philharmonic, Meininger Trio, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, and KBS Philharmonic in Seoul, Korea.

Mark Tatum is he assistant principal double bassist with the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra and a section bassist with the Santa Fe Opera. In addition, he teaches double bass and jazz history at the University of New Mexico and is a visiting faculty member at Fort Lewis College. Tatum has performed with Musicisti Americani in Rome, Italy as well as with many regional orchestras including the Santa Fe Symphony, Colorado Springs Symphony Orchestra, Tucson Symphony Orchestra and the El Paso Symphony Orchestra. He has also appeared with the Moab Music Festival, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Cascade Festival of Music in Bend, Oregon, Flagstaff Festival of the Arts, the Rocky Mountain Opera Festival in Colorado Springs, and the Four Corners Opera in Durango. As a jazz musician Tatum has performed with many notable figures such as Charlie Rouse, Charles McPherson, Tommy Newsome, Richie Cole, Matt Catingub, Gary Willis, Eddie Daniels, Butch Miles, John Lewis, Rosemary Clooney, Herbie Mann and Wynton Marsalis. In recent years he has been involved in recording projects Phil Smith and Joe Alessi from the New York Philharmonic and has been a part of a project to record all of the music of Silvestre Revueltas. Tatum holds a Bachelor of Music degree in performance from Arizona State University and a Masters of Music from the University of Arizona.

A native of Canada, Robert Tweten began his career as a piano soloist after receiving his Associate of Arts Degree from the Victoria Conservatory of Music and winning competitions including the Du Maurier Search for Stars and the Canadian National Piano Championship. His love of the voice led him into the operatic world where he has since enjoyed a busy career as a conductor, accompanist and vocal coach. Tweten is the Head of Music Staff for the Santa Fe Opera and has conducted four productions for the company. He has also been a guest conductor for the Santa Fe Symphony and has conducted operas for Opera Southwest as well as other companies in the US and Canada including the Lyric Opera of Chicago where he is an Assistant Conductor, Utah Opera, Opera Pacific, Madison Opera, Opera Ontario and the Canadian Opera Company. Tweeten has performed in recital with many of today’s most prominent singers including Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, Elizabeth Futral, Catherine Malfitano, Samuel Ramey, Gregory Turay and Suzanne Mentzer in venues including Alice Tully Hall at New York’s Lincoln Center, Chicago’s Orchestra Hall, the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Toronto’s Ford Center, Barcelona’s Gran Teatre del Liceu, La Monnaie in Brussels, the Zurich Opera House, Vienna’s Konzerthaus, Los Angeles’ Disney Hall, London’s Wigmore Hall and the Salzburg Festival. Tweten has also performed with violinist Rachel Barton and the St. Lawrence Quartet.

Originally from Los Angeles, cellist Dana Winograd received her Bachelors and Masters degrees in performance from the Julliard School in New York where she studied with Harvey Shapiro and Channing Robbins, as well as members of the Julliard String Quartet for chamber music. After graduation, Winograd led an active freeelance career in New York City, including performances at Carnegie Hall with the American Composer’s Orchestra, the New Jersey Symphony and the American Symphony. Broadway appearances included (both in the pit and on stage) (with) Phantom of The Opera, Cats, Beauty and the Beast, and Once Upon a Mattress. She also played backup for Rod Stewart, Luther Vandross, Lyle Lovett, Manhattan Transfer, and Harry Connick Jr. Since moving to Santa Fe in 1999, Winograd has been a member of the New Mexico Symphony, (and) is principal cellist of the Santa Fe Symphony, and plays with the Santa Fe Opera. She has appeared as soloist with the Chamber Orchestra of Albuquerque and is very active throughout the state as a chamber musician and teacher. Dana is also the happy owner of a 10−pound dog named Poco, who made his debut with the New Mexico Symphony in 2005.

“One of the great
treasures of Taos!”
—Taos News

“TCMG triumphant!”
—Horse Fly

“Big Magic!”
—Albuquerque Journal

“Silken ensemble playing”
—Albuquerque Journal

“Always terrific”
—Taos News