- Community School
- Music lessons, classes, and programs for all ages and skill levels
- The Academy
- A comprehensive program for advanced pre-college musicians
- Creative Arts Therapy
- Expressive art therapies for children, adults, and families
- Cultural Events
- Concerts series and events in the critically acclaimed Nichols Concert Hall
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Virginia Dixon | Extension: 701 | email: Send email
String Bass (Suzuki)
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Claire Neiweem | Extension: 475 | email: Send email
Piano
MM, Northwestern University; BM, The New England Conservatory; Performer’s Certificate, Villa Schifanoia, Florence Italy; five Diplomas of Merit, International Master Classes, Arezzo, Italy; attended Peabody Institute of Music; student of Ylda Novik, TheodorLettvin, Orazio Frugoni; master classes with Irwin Freundlich, Leon Fleisher, John Browning; winner in National Arts and Letters competition, Three Rivers Competition; member, with husband Ralph Neiweem, of award-winning duo-piano team of Aebersold and Neiweem; annual tours throughout U.S. and Europe, including six concert tours of Italy; numerousperformances for WFMT radio; live performances for PBS TV, Radio Italiana Television; 5 commercial CDs on the Summit label, including the first recording of Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 15 for piano 4-hands; co-founder, Chicago Duo-Piano Festival, held annually at the Music Institute of Chicago.
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Ralph Neiweem | Extension: 476 | email: Send email
Piano
Doctoral studies, MM, Northwestern University; BM,The Juilliard School; Performer’s Certificate, Villa Schifanoia (Florence, Italy); attended the North Carolina School of the Arts; studies with Emilio del Rosario, Olegna Fuschi, Irwin Freundlich, Orazi Frugoni; master classes with John Browning; chamber music studies with Felix Galimir, Leon Fleisher; major articles for Clavier Magazine; “Edpress” award for 1987 article on the Piano Duo; member, with wife Claire Aebersold, of award-winning duo-piano team of Aebersold and Neiweem; annual international tours throughout U.S. and Europe, including six concert tours of Italy; numerous performances for WFMT radio; performances for PBS TV, Radio Italiana Television; 5 commercial CDS on the Summit label, including the first recording of Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 15 for piano 4-hands; co-founder, Chicago Duo-Piano Festival, held annually at the Music Institute of Chicago.
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Desiree Ruhstrat | Extension: 491 | email: Send email
Violin; Lincoln Trio; Chamber Music; String Dept. Chair
Graduate of Curtis Institute of Music and Indiana University; student of Aaron Rosand, Joseph Gingold, Dorothy Delay, Harold Wippler; soloist with orchestras including Milwaukee, Chicago Civic, Denver, Oregon, Debut Orchestra Los Angeles, Concerto Soloists Of Philadelphia, Concertante di Chicago, Orchestra de Aguascalientes, Gottingen Symphony, Philharmonia da Camera and Berlin Radio Symphony; top prize winner in Carl Flesch International, Tibor Varga, Mozart Festival and Julius Stulberg Competitions; chamber music performances include Philadelphia Orchestra Chamber Series, Laurel Festival, Colorado Chamber Players, Pacifica Quartet, Utah Music Festival; Artist in Residence, Oklahoma University, University of Tennessee; faculty, Utah Music Festival, University of Wisconsin Chamber Festival.
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Almita Vamos | Extension: 502 | email: Send email
Image courtesy Mike Canale
Violin
Graduate of The Juilliard School; studies with Mischa Mischakoff and Louis Persinger; recipient Chautauqua, Juilliard Orchestra Competition, and Concert Artist Guild Competition awards; students have won top prizes including Tchaikovsky, Tchaikowsky Youth, Carl Flesch, Menuhin, Bach (Leipzig), Szigeti, Kreisler, Neilsen, Paganini, Montreal and others, and are members of the New York Philharmonic, Boston, St. Louis, San Fransisco, Los Angeles, Washington, Minnesota, Chautauqua, Hong Kong, Oslo Philharmonic; five time recipient, Presidential Award for Excellence in Teaching; recipient, ASTA Distinguished Teacher of the Year Award; featured on “Sunday Morning” CBS; co-recipient, Rachel Barton Pine Violin Chair; Distinguished Professor at Northwestern University.
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Roland Vamos | Extension: 503 | email: Send email
Image courtesy Mike Canale
Violin; Viola; Chamber Music; Conductor, American Academy Chamber Orchestra
Doctorate, MS, BS,The Juilliard School; studies with Oscar Shumsky and William Lincer; conductor and soloist throughout Europe, Asia, Canada and the United States; presents master classes worldwide; serves as adjudicator for many national and international competitions; students are laureates of numerous national and international competitions, including the Tchaikovsky, Tchaikovsky Youth, Sibelius, Lexus, IM Klein, Queen Elizabeth, Folkestone, and Paganin; co-founder Weathersfield Music Festival (2003); former professor, Oberlin College and University of Minnesota; Distinguished Professor, Northwestern University; co-recipient, Rachel Barton Pine Violin Chair.
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Marta Aznavoorian | Extension: 480 | email: Send email
Image courtesy Mike Canale
Piano; Chamber Music; Lincoln Trio
MM, New England Conservatory; BM, Indiana University; 1994 Performer’s Certificate; Presidential Scholar in the Arts; student of Lev Vlasenko, Patricia Zander, Menachem Pressler, Evelyn Brancart, Carolyn McCracken; chamber music coachings with Leon Fleischer and Gilbert Kalish; solo performances with Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Sydney Symphony, New World Symphony, Aspen Orchestra, San Angelo Symphony, and Tanglewood Music Festival; recitals at Kennedy Center, Jordan Hall, Weill Hall, Caramoor Festival, Music in the Loft, Dame Myra Hess Series and Green Lake Music Festival; collaborative pianist with Pacifica Quartet, Julian Rachlin, Robert Chen, Colin Carr and Jennifer Frautschi; top prizewinner in Aspen Music Festival Piano Competition, Union League competition and Young Performer’s Competition; recording of Sonatas for violin and piano under ARTEC label.
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Marko Dreher | Extension: 430 | email: Send email
Violin; Viola; Chamber Music
MM, Cleveland Institute of Music; BM, violin and viola performance, Oberlin Conservatory of Music; student of Roland and Almita Vamos, Rachel Barton, Stanley Konopka; performances at the Kennedy Center, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Severance Hall, Symphony Center, Powell Hall, Vienna Conservatory; member, Illinois Symphony Orchestra; principal violist, Oberlin Conservatory Orchestra, Cleveland Institute of Music Symphony Orchestra; recorded for Traditional Crossroads, Smithsonian Folkways, National Endowment for the Arts record label, Omnium; Premier Artist, Ohio Arts Council; alumnus, Music Institute of Chicago, Weathersfield Music Festival, Bowdoin Music Festival; currently teaching assistant to Roland and Almita Vamos; tours US with the world-renowned ensemble Harmonia.
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Micah Yui | Extension: 509 | email: Send email
Piano; Chamber Music; Coordinator, Academy Chamber Music
MM, University of Toronto; Artist Diploma, Royal Conservatory of Music; Graduate Performance Diploma, Peabody Conservatory; BM, The Juilliard School; studies with Bella Davidovich and Leon Fleisher; additional studies with Boris Zarankin, Ernesto Lejano, and Marietta Orlov; recitals in Zurich, Copenhagen, Tokyo, Toronto, New York; soloist with Edmonton, Victoria, Syracuse, Montreal Metropolitan Orchestras; collaborations with Matthew Haimovitz, Andy Simionescu, Daniel Heifetz, Victor Danchenko, Paul Coletti, St. Lawrence Quartet; recording with London Symphony named “Record to die for” in Stereophile Magazine; faculty, Heifetz International Music Institute; former faculty, Peabody Preparatory and Royal Conservatory of Music.
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Hans Jensen | Extension: 519 | email: Send email
Cello
Soloist diploma, Royal Academy of Music, Denmark; studies at the Juilliard School with Leonard Rose and Channing Robbins; private studies and master classes with Pierre Fournier; faculty, Northwestern University, Meadowmount School of Music; soloist, Copenhagen Symphony, Danish Radio Orchestra, Irish Radio Orchestra, Basel Symphony Orchestra; winner, Jacob Gades Prize, Danish Ministry of Cultural Affairs Grant for Musicians, Copenhagen Music Critics Prize of Honor, Artist International Competition (NY); named Outstanding Studio Teacher of the Year by Illinois chapter, American String Teachers Association; recipient, U.S. Presidential Scholar Teacher Recognition Award, U.S. Department of Education; students have won prizes in numerous national and international competitions.
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Marina Hoover | Extension: 512 | email: Send email
Cello; Chamber Music
MM Yale University, BM Curtis Institute, founding cellist of the St. Lawrence Quartet which won the Banff International String Quartet competition and Young Concert Artist auditions in 1992; numerous performances with the Quartet including the 92nd Street YMCA, Kennedy Center, the White House and Lincoln Center, Concertgebouw and Wigmore Hall; serves as Artist in Residence at Stanford University, Banff School of Fine Arts; String Quartet in Residence at Spoleto Festival and visiting Professor of Music at University of Toronto; taught chamber music at Northwestern University as part of Chicago String Quartet; judge at Banff International String Quartet Competition and appeared in the movie, Illuminata by John Turturro.
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Yu Xi Wang | Extension: 516 | email: Send email
Image courtesy Mike Canale
Piano; Musicianship
DMA candidate, MM and BM in piano performance, The Juilliard School; student of Jerome Lowenthal, Julian Martin and Herbert Stessin; received early education from Central Conservatory of Beijing, China, under Hui-Su Chen; solo and chamber performances at Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall and Peter J. Sharp Theater at Lincoln Center, Forbidden City Concert Hall in Beijing, also venues in Aspen, Chicago, Philadelphia, as well as Singapore and Japan; broadcasted by Aspen Public Radio KAJX; CD released in China, 2006; winner of 2002’s Artist International Competition; received teaching fellowships from The Juilliard School for Theory, Ear Training and Piano Minor; former faculty, Juilliard Pre-College, Solfege department.
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Cyrus Forough | Extension: 543 | email: Send email
Violin
Student of David Oistrakh, Moscow Conservatory; Josef Gingold, Indiana University; Arthur Grumiaux, Royal Conservatory of Music; Chapelle Musicale Reine Elisabeth, Brussels. Laureate Tchaikovsky Competition; United States Artistic Ambassador with pianist Carolyn McCracken, winners of State Department National Duo Competition. Performances: Europe, Asia, the Americas; for international dignitaries; Weimar Festival, E. Germany; Ploudiv Music Festival, Bulgaria; International Schubert Festival; Kennedy Center; National Gallery; Phillips Collection; Theatre Colon, Buenos Aires; etc. Professor: Carnegie-Mellon U.; Roosevelt U.; faculty: Inter. Music Academy, Czech Republic; Bowdoin Inter. Music Festival; Beverly Hills Inter. Chamber Music Festival; Meadowmount; Indiana U. String Academy. Adjudicator nat./inter. competitions. Master classes: Cleveland Institute; Mount Royal College Gifted Youth Program, Canada; Glenn Gould School of Toronto Royal Conservatory; colleges/academies throughout Asia, Americas, Europe. Students: numerous nat./inter. 1st & other prizes include: Washington; Stulberg; Schadt; IM Klein; Yehudi Menuhin; Soratin; Johansen; Corpus Christi; Fischoff Chamber Music; NFAA Arts Recognition; American String Teacher’s Assoc.; Ilinois Bell Young Performers, etc.
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Winnie Cheung | Extension: 576 | email: Send email
Musicianship; Composition; MIC Children's Choir Accompanist
DMA, MM, Eastman School of Music in composition; teachers include John Eaton, Augusta Read Thomas, Robert Morris, David Liptak and Douglas Humpherys; BA, University of Chicago. Work with composers Bernard Rands, Louis Andriessen, and Harrison Birtwistle, among others. As both a composer and pianist Cheung sought after as a performer of contemporary music and has participated in numerous performances challenging works including Charles Wuorinen’s New York Notes, Harrison Birtwistle’s Secret Theater, and Wolfgang Rihm’s Chiffre II, Silence to be Beaten. Performances of Cheung’s compositions have been performed widely throughout the United States, Canada and Southeast Asia. She has written numerous chamber and solo works, including works for non-Western instruments and has collaborated frequently with dancers, choreographers and film-makers on a variety of multi-media and electro-acoustic works projects. Pianist for the new music ensemble The Fire Wire Ensemble.
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Gilda Barston | Extension: 125 | email: Send email
Image courtesy Mike Canale
Cello (Suzuki); Director, Suzuki Program
MS, BS, Juilliard School of Music; student of Leonard Rose and Channing Robbins; former principal cellist and founding member, Chicago String Ensemble; former member, American Symphony Orchestra, Mu Phi Epsilon Trio and Lyric Trio; recitals and broadcasts throughout U.S., Canada, Australia, Japan, and Israel; faculty member, Northwestern University, American Suzuki Institute, Fairbanks Suzuki Institute and Ithaca Suzuki Institute; guest clinician, Australian Pan Pacific Suzuki Conference, Korean Suzuki Association Winter Camp, 14th Suzuki World Convention, Turin, Italy; guest soloist, International Suzuki Teachers’ Conference in Matsumoto, Japan; founder, Chicago Junior Cello Club; Board Member of the International Suzuki Association (Chair emeritus); recipient of a Distinguished Service Award from the Suzuki Association of the Americas.
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Blake Brasch | Extension: 409 | email: Send email
Image courtesy Mike Canale
Cello (Suzuki); Chamber Music; Administrator, Suzuki Program
BM, The Cleveland Institute of Music; student of Alan Harris, Mark Schroeder; Suzuki training with Gilda Barston, Tanya Carey, Richard Mooney, Carol Tarr, Catherine Walker; Currently Director, Chicago Suzuki Institute. Clinician at Suzuki institutes throughout the U.S. and Canada.
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David Cunliffe | Extension: 422 | email: Send email
Image courtesy Mike Canale
Cello; Chamber Music; Lincoln Trio
PPRNCM, Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester, England; postgraduate studies, International Yehudi Menuhin Music Academy, Gstaad, Switzerland; student of Margaret Moncreiff, Moray Welsh, Antonio Lysy and Radu Aldulescu; additional studies with William Pleeth, Ralph Kirshbaum and Christopher Bunting; scholarship recipient to the Royal College of Music, Royal Northern College of Music, and the International Menuhin Music Academy; winner, Terrance Weill and Leonard Hirsch Quartet; prizewinner with the Argyll Quartet and recipient of the Lady Barbirolli Prize for Chamber Music; principal cello, RNCM Chamber Orchestra and RNCM Symphony Orchestras; performances with BBC Philharmonic, BBC Scottish and Royal Scottish Symphony Orchestras and Camerata Lysy; former member, Balanescu String Quartet, which performed in Europe, Australia, the Far East and U.S., frequent radio and TV appearances; recorded on the Enja label.
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Emilio del Rosario | Extension: 425 | email: Send email
Piano
MM, Artist’s Diploma, Peabody Conservatory; BM, Santo Tomas Conservatory, Manila; student of Leon Fleisher, Mieczyslaw Munz, Erno Balogh, and Julio Esteban; recitals at Carnegie Recital Hall, Steinway Hall in NY, and National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.; formerly faculty member, Peabody Conservatory and the University of Maryland; solo recitals, chamber concerts, orchestral appearances, and master classes in the U.S., Asia, and Moscow.
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Matthew Hagle | Extension: 443 | email: Send email
Image courtesy Mike Canale
Piano; Musicianship; Composition; Chamber Music; Director, Musicianship Program
DMA, MM, and MMA, Yale University; BM, Peabody Conservatory, receiving prizes in piano, accompanying, and music theory; student of Claude Frank, Robert Weirich, Donald Currier and Maria Curcio Diamand; recipeint, Fulbright Grant to study in London; performs regularly as soloist, with violinist Rachel Barton Pine, members of the CSO, and with his pianist wife Mio Isoda; performances at Ravinia’s Martin Theater, Symphony Center, Chicago Cultural Center, National Gallery of Art, venues in England, Australia, and Japan, and throughout the United States; performances on WFMT, NPR, and on Australian national radio; students have won local, state and national prizes in piano and composition.