Past Faculty
JENNIFER CULP / CELLO • Jennifer Culp has been an active chamber musician for the past 25 years. She was a member of the Kronos Quartet for seven years beginning in 1998, during which time she performed at Sydney Opera House, Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall, London’s Barbican Centre, Walt Disney Hall in Los Angeles, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and WOMAD Festival in New Zealand. The quartet won many awards, including Musical America’s 2003 “Musicians of the Year” and a Grammy award for Best Chamber Music Performance of Berg’s Lyric Suite in 2004. Culp has collaborated with artists such as Zakir Hussein, Dawn Upshaw, Tom Waits, Sandor Vegh, Asha Bhosle and Irina Schnittke and is currently a member of the Feinsmith Quartet. She received bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the San Francisco and New England Conservatories, studying with Bonnie Hampton and Laurence Lesser. Culp was also cellist with the Dunsmuir Piano Quartet, Empyrean Ensemble, Philadelphia String Quartet, San Francisco Opera Orchestra and Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and has recorded numerous world premieres for Nonesuch, New Albion, CRI, Orion, New World and Sony. She is professor of Cello and Chamber music at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
MARIANNE CHEN / CELLO • Marianne Chen began studying the cello at the pre-university program of the Juilliard School of Music under the guidance of Toby Saks, Michael Rudiakov, Channing Robins, and Jerome Carrington. She continued her studies at the Juilliard School with Lorne Munroe, and studied chamber music with Robert Mann and Felix Galimir, graduating with the prize "Mu Phi Epsilon". She furthered her studies under the master Antonio Janigro in Stuttgart and at the Mozarteum in Salzburg. She also studied at the "Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena, where she received the Diploma of Merit. Marianne Chen has performed in major theaters and symphonic festivals in Europe, Asia, and the United States. She has made recordings for Dynamic and Tactus, including first performances of contemporary music. She regularly gives master classes in Italy, Greece, Slovenia, and the United States. She was invited to teach at the Garden State Music Festival (New Jersey), the Academy Gustav Mahler Bolzano, the School of Music of Fiesole, and the Juilliard School. She has participated as a judge in many prestigious international competitions and is professor of cello at the Istituto Superiore di Musica in Modena.
BONNIE HAMPTON / CELLO • A founding member of the Naumburg Award-winning Francesco Trio, Bonnie Hampton also has performed as part of the Hampton-Schwartz Duo with her late husband, pianist Nathan Schwartz. Her chamber music guest artist appearances have included performances with the Juilliard, Guarneri, Cleveland, Mendelssohn, Alexander, Budapest and Griller String Quartets. A student of Pablo Casals, she participated for many years in the Casals and Marlboro festivals. Currently she is involved in the summer programs at the Tanglewood Music Center and the Yellow Barn Festival. Her early studies were with Margaret Rowell, the Griller String Quartet and Zara Nelsova. Ms. Hampton has taught at Mills College, Grinnell College, Stanford University, University of California at Berkeley, and at the San Francisco Conservatory for thirty years. She is a past president of Chamber Music America. In September 2003 she joined the faculty at the Juilliard School.
ELLEN JEWETT / VIOLIN • Ellen Jewett has performed throughout the United States, Europe, Japan and New Zealand, both as recitalist and with groups such as the New England String Quartet, the American Chamber Players, the New York Chamber Soloists, the Apple Hill Chamber Players, the Thaikovsky Chamber Orchestra and the American Symphony. She is a founding member of Ensemble X as well as the Taliesin Trio with whom she has been in residence at the Tanglewood Institute, the Spoleto Festival in Italy and at the Olympic Festival. For the last three years she has been performing with the Audubon String Quartet. Chamber music collaborations include performances with Yo Yo Ma, James Buswell, Eugenia Zuckerman, Anthony Newman and Marcus Thompson. She is currently a member of the string faculty at SUNY Stony Brook.
JODI LEVITZ / VIOLA • Jodi Levitz, Professor of Viola at the Frost School of Music and Artistic Coordinator of Stamps Ensembles at the University of Miami, boasts an international reputation as a consummate artist and a passionate advocate of exploring new musical possibilities for the viola. She brings that energy and experience to the classroom, having spent twelve years as principal viola and soloist with the critically acclaimed Italian chamber group I Solisti Veneti, a position she attained while still a student at The Juilliard School of Music.
Professor Levitz's career has been built on stellar accomplishments. She has performed as soloist throughout Europe, South America, North America and Asia, and has recorded her music for such distinguished record labels as Concerto, Dynamic, Naxos and Erato. A highly regarded educator and pedagogue, she was on the faculties of the Ars Musica Academy at Imola and Progetto Orchestra, and she presently serves as co-artistic director of the Zephyr International Chamber Music Festival in Courmayeur, Italy. As Professor of Viola and Chamber Music at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, she served as both Chair of Strings and Chair of Chamber Music. An avid chamber musician and violist of the Ives Quartet from 2007-2015, she has collaborated with Menahem Pressler, Peter Frankl, Gil Kalish, Robert Mann, Norman Fisher, Joel Krosnick, Geoff Nuttall, amongst many others.
A 2011 recipient of the Sarlo Family Foundation Award for Excellence in Teaching, Professor Levitz has helped her students achieve a number of notable accomplishments. As a result of her guidance and encouragement, her students have claimed first prize awards from the Walter W. Naumburg and Fischoff chamber music competitions, while others have been recruited for positions in major orchestras and teaching institutions both here and abroad. In addition, her influence has motivated many of her students to become music activists throughout the world.
Professor Levitz herself was awarded first prize in the D'Angelo and Hudson Valley competitions, among many others. She entered The Juilliard School Pre-College Division at age 12, and holds a BM. and MM. from Juilliard. In addition to her principal teachers, Margaret Pardee, Paul Doctor, William Lincer and Dorothy DeLay, she studied chamber music with members of the Juilliard Quartet, Felix Galimir, and Josef Gingold.
FELICIA MOYE / VIOLIN • Felicia Moye has performed throughout Europe, Asia, North and South America as soloist and chamber musician with groups such as the Miami String Quartet, Orpheus and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. She was first violinist of the Miami String Quartet when the group won top prizes in both the Evian and London International Quartet Competitions and recorded with the group under the Pyramid Records label. Currently, she is a founding member of Trio Amade who records under the Klavier Records Label. Felicia Moye has also performed chamber music in collaboration with YoYo Ma, James Buswell, the Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society, the Blossom Music Festival and the Mostly Mozart Festival in Avery Fischer Hall. She has served as concertmaster of the Santa Fe Opera, Honolulu Symphony and as acting associate concertmaster of the San Francisco Symphony. A frequent guest artist and coach of the New World Symphony, she is currently professor of violin at the UW-Madison School of Music, concertmaster of the Oklahoma City Philharmonic, and also on the faculty at the ARIA International Summer Music Festival.
IRINA MURESANU / VIOLIN • Irina Muresanu won the Montreal International Violin, Queen Elizabeth Violin, George Enescuâ International 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. Recent 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 Phiharmonic, the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra, the Romanian National Radio Orchestra, and the Miami Symphony Orchestra among others. An active chamber musician, Ms. Muresanu is a member of the Lewin-Muresanu Duo and the Boston Trio. She 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. www.irinamuresanu.com
BETTINA MUSSUMELI / VIOLIN • Violin soloist, pedagogue, and clinician Bettina Mussumeli enjoys a storied and varied career as a concert artist on the great stages of the world. While completing her artist diploma at the Juilliard School, in addition to being selected as a finalist at the New York Philharmonic violin auditions, she was offered the position of co-concertmaster and violin soloist of the Italian chamber orchestra “I Solisti Veneti”, a world famous chamber orchestra which performed over 200 concerts yearly around the world. With this orchestra, she toured for nine years as featured soloist, and recorded numerous discs, including seminal recordings of the Pergolesi violin concerto and Vivaldi “L’estero Armonico”, still frequently heard on classical radio stations today. A gifted performer on original instruments, she also recorded works by Salomone Rossi, Alessandro Scarlatti and Arcangelo Corelli with noted harpsichordist and scholar Emanuela Marcante.
Ms. Mussumeli returned to the United States in 2001 to join the faculty of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music as professor of violin and chamber music. Her students at SFCM include winners and finalists of numerous competitions, including the Menuhin, Paganini and Stradivarius competitions, as well as outstanding professional violinists working throughout the United States, Europe, and South America. While in San Francisco, Bettina was first violinist of the Ives Quartet for 10 years, with whom she recorded a benchmark collection of the Quincy Porter quartets for the Naxos label, as well as commissioning over 10 new string quartets and performing throughout the United States.
Commuting between her homes in Miami and Northern Italy, she is currently serving on the faculty of the Frost School of Music and the Zephyr Chamber Music Festival, and she maintains a varied concert calendar as both soloist and chamber musician.
MARTIN OSTEN / CELLO • Martin Osten has been a soloist with the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Warsaw, the Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra and the Hungarian Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra in Budapest, Christchurch Symphony Orchestra in New Zealand and the Vogtland Philharmonie in Thuringia. He has performed recitals and chamber music concerts in Europe, the USA and Asia, and has been a participant at Tanglewood and Ravinia festivals, IMS Prussia Cove Festival in England, and the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival. His principal teachers have been Wolfgang Boettcher, Lynn Harrell, Norman Fischer and David Geringas (plus master classes and lessons with Heinrich Schiff and Yoyo Ma). Among the honors he has received is First Prize at the German national competition "Jugend musizert" in Nordrhein-Westfalen, Second Prize and a special prize at the National Lions Cello Competition, and Second Prize at the International Australasian Cello Competition in New Zealand. Mr. Osten has made recordings with SŸddeutscher Rundfunk, Polish Radio, Hungarian Radio and Television and Radio New Zealand. Orchestral experience includes performances and recordings with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. He has been an Associate Instructor for Cello at Rice University, Houston, and a member of the faculty at the Musikschule Ostholstein, Germany.
MARK RUDOFF / CELLO • Applauded by critics as "an exceptionally gifted cellist" and "a charismatic performer," Mark Rudoff has performed in solo recitals and with orchestras in Canada and the United States, with performances recorded for broadcast on CBC. A respected chamber and orchestra musician, he performs with the Galileo Trio and Chiarina Piano Quartet, and has served as principal cello of the Calgary Philharmonic and Saskatoon Symphony Orchestras. Mark is currently professor of cello and chamber music at Ohio State University, and was previously cello professor and orchestra director at Brandon University. He also teaches at the Castleman Quartet Program. Mark earned B.M. and M.M. degrees at Juilliard, studying under Lynn Harrell, Harvey Shapiro, Joel Krosnick and Lorne Munroe. Mark also holds an LL.B. from University of Saskatchewan. He enjoys the distinction of an article about music in the Alberta Law Review, and one with a legal slant in American String Teacher.
BENJAMIN SIMON / VIOLA • Benjamin Simon has performed around the world as a violist with the New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Music from Marlboro, and the Naumburg Award-winning New World String Quartet. He has served as principal violist with the Buffalo Philharmonic as well as the Los Angeles and New Century Chamber Orchestras. Mr. Simon has recorded for MCA Classics, Vox, Musical Heritage Society, Centaur, CRI, and Laurel Records, and was awarded Grand Prix du Disque in 1991 with the New World String Quartet. He has taught at Harvard University and joined the faculty of Stanford University in 1992 as a member of the Stanford String Quartet. Director of the Crowden School in Berkeley, California from 1999-2002, he is currently on the chamber music faculty at UC Berkeley and the Music Director for the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra and the Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra.
MATTHEW TRUSLER / VIOLIN • Winner of numerous awards and prizes in England and abroad, Matthew Trusler has been invited to perform as a recitalist and concerto soloist throughout Europe, Australia and the USA. He has performed with most of the UK’s major orchestras, including the London Philharmonic, BBC Concert, City of Birmingham Symphony, Hallé, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Royal Scottish National and Bournemouth Symphony orchestras. Recent British and European concert engagements have included appearances with the London Mozart Players, the Ulster Orchestra, a tour of German festivals with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields under Sir Neville Marriner, as well as his debut with the Deutschland Radio and the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin. An avid chamber musician, Trusler has recently teamed up with Wayne Marshall with whom he is performing classical and Broadway repertoire. Collaborations with other eminent musicians include Leon McCawley, Martin Roscoe, Peter Donohoe, Adrian Brendel, Lynn Harrell, Imogen Cooper and Joseph Silverstein. Future engagements include concerto performances with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, the NDR Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonie Südwestfalen, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, and the Johannesburg Philharmonic. His new recital disc, the violin sonatas of Elgar, Janacek and Debussy with pianist Martin Roscoe was the launch CD of Orchid Classics, released in 2005. Matthew teaches regularly at the Royal Academy of Music in London, the Malmö Academy of Music in Sweden, and the Dartington International Summer School.
Visiting Guest Artists-in-Residence:
GIACOMO AGAZZINI, VIOLIN • Born into a family of musicians, Giacomo Agazzini, studied at the Turin Conservatoire , graduating in 1982 from the class of Massimo Marin. He furthered his studies with Corrado Romano,Salvatore Accardo Peiro Farulli, Milan Skampa and Gyorgy Kurtag. • In 1988 he founded the “Quartetto d’archi di Torino” and for some 20 years, as the quartet’s leader, he performed in the most prestigious concert halls and seasons in Italy and throughout the world, making many recordings and radio broadcasts. With the Quartet he collaborated with such important figures as Aldo Ciccolini, Valentin Berlinsky, Enrico Dindo and Ezio Bosso. • Agazzini has been much involved in contemporary music, and has given many first performances, including Sylvano Bussoti’s violin concerto for Radio France, the first string quartet by Fabio Vacchi and all of Ezio Bosso’s violin works, which he has recorded in a set of 6 CDs for iTunes. • In his explorations of electronic music, Agazzini collaborate with Andrea Chenna, and with Claudio Lugo and Andrea Lanza has created the “Agalula” project of improvisations in trio, where he plays electric violin. • Agazzini is currently Professor of violin at the Verdi Conservatoire in Turin.
CLAUDIA RAVETTO, CELLO • Claudia Ravetto studied cello with Sergio Patria at the Turin Conservatoire, graduating in 1988 with top marks. She continued her studies with Michael Flaksman at the Stuttgart and Mannheim Hochschules, obtaining masters’ diplomas from both institutions. • As a soloist she was awarded the “Giovanni Camerana” and “Luigino Tandura” scholarships at the 10th Vittorio Veneto Cello Series 1988 , while in 1989 she won the Settembre Musica Prize in Turin and the linked master courses at Portogruaro. In 1992, as member of a cello-piano duo, she received 3rd prize at the International Chamber music competition at Caltanissetta. • In 1993 she won a competition organised by the Mannheim Hochschule for the award of the loan of an instrument from the Baden-Wurttemberg collection, and in 1994 she won the European section, which allowed her to participate in the Piatigorsky Seminars at the Music department of the University of Southern California. • From 1990-2005 she was the cellist of the Borciani String quartet, with which she performed at prestigious festivals and concert seasons throughout Italy(Settembre Musica , Turin, La Scala and the Società del Quartetto in Milan, the Venice Biennale to name but a few), as well as throughout Europe and the USA(for example, at Mozart festivals at the Mozarteum, Salzburg and in San Luis Obispo,California, the Chamber Music hall of the Bonn Beethoven House, the Purcell Room, London ). The quartet was chosen to play at a direct broadcasted concert at the Quirinale Palace in Rome in honour of the 80th anniversary of the founding of the RAI (Italian Radio) in the presence of the President of Italy, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi. Furthermore, with the Borciani quartet she has performed the complete cycle of Beethoven quartets at the Teatro Sociale in Como, as well as the complete Schumann quartets at the San Carlo Theatre Naples. • The quartet’s large discography includes: Boccherini’s quartets Op 32 and Op 39 for Naxos, which won the Vivaldi prize of the Cini Foundation in Venice for best recording of the year 2001, a Schubert CD album for Amadeus, including the great G major quartet D 887 and the C major string quintet with the cellist Enrico Dindo , as well as various CDs of contemporary music for Stradivarius, including Donatoni’s The Heart’s Eye and Alessandro Solbiati’s Quartetto con Lied.
FULVIO SCHIAVONETTI, CLARINET • Fulvio Schiavonetti graduated with honors in 1978 from the Conservatory of Turin under the guidance of M. Raffaele Annunziata. Subsequently he played with the Italian Chamber Orchestra directed by Salvatore Accardo, the Contemporary Music Group of RAI in Turin with Giampiero Taverna, the Cameristi di Torino, the Classical Instrumental Group, the Accademia Verdi Ensemble of Asti, the Classical Orchestra of Alessandria , Orchestra Asti Filarmonica, the Pops Harmonic orchestra and the Turin Symphony Orchestra of RAI under the guidance of important Directors such as Maag, Bertini, Ceccato, Berio, Gavazzeni, Martin, Sinopoli and soloists such as Radu Lupu and Salvatore Accardo. • He has dedicated himself particularly to chamber music, performing the most important literature for clarinet. He received the Diploma of Honor at the Tradate "International Music Competition for Young Musicians” (1986), at the "Cittá di Tortona International Music Competition" (1994), and at the National Music Competition, Cittá di Asti (1992). • He has always been involved in artistic activity as an instructor in conservatories (Turin, Cuneo, Trieste, Castelfranco Veneto, Novara) and Civic Schools (Asti, Turin). From 2001 to 2017 he was the coordinator of the educational-artistic activities of the Civic Institute of Music G. Verdi of Asti. He is a clarinet teacher at the Conservatory "G. Verdi" of Turin.
MANUEL ZIGANTE / CELLO • Manuel Zigante graduated with top marks at the Rome Conservatory Santa Cecilia as a student of Amedeo Baldovino, then studying chamber music with the composer Gyorgy Kurtag and Piero Farulli. In 1988 he founded the Quartetto d’Archi di Torino, which has played in important festivals and halls throughout the world. He is also active as a soloist, in duo with piano, in Baroque ensembles and with jazz artists such as Claudio Chiara and Giorgio Licalzi. Maestro Zigante was Piero Farulli's assistant at the Scuola di Musica di Fiesole for 10 years. Now he is a professor at the Conservatorio G. Verdi in Torino, where he teaches quartet. He plays a Joseph Dall'Aglio cello of 1831.
Associate Instructors
FUMINO ANDO / VIOLIN • Born in Japan, Fumino Ando graduated from Toho Gakuen University of Music in Tokyo, received an artist diploma at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, and her master of music degree at Oklahoma University. In 1992, she became a member of the Bettina String Quartet which concertized through Japan and performed in the Santa Fe and La Jolla chamber music festivals. Ms. Ando received a fellowship at the Tanglewood music festival and was given a chamber music "Diploma Honor Prize" at the Chigiana Music Academy in Italy. She has been a member of the New World Symphony in Miami, Assistant Concertmaster of Oklahoma City Philharmonic Orchestra and was a member of the Crouse String Quartet. She has played chamber music through the United States and performed as a soloist with the Fort Smith Symphony Orchestra in Arkansas. She has been a member of the Oregon Symphony since 2002.
MEGAN FERGUSSON / VIOLA • Megan Fergusson is currently Assistant Professor of Viola at Bowling Green State University. She has performed with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra; as chamber musician collaborated with Ida Kavafian, Paul Katz, Yan Wei of the Silk Road Ensemble and performed on numerous occasions with the Michigan Chamber Players presented by University Musical Society. Her festival appearances have included Tanglewood, Aspen, Spoleto USA and Domaine Forget (Canada). Ms. Fergusson holds a DMA from the University of Michigan and degrees from New England Conservatory and Rice University, where her teachers included Yizhak Schotten, Martha Katz, and Karen Ritscher.
TOMOKO FUJITA / CELLO • A recipient of numerous honors including The Edgar Feder Award for the Advancement of the Art of the Cello presented by the Violoncello Society, Inc., of New York and the Henri Kohn Memorial Award given by the Tanglewood Music Center, Tomoko Fujita graduated summa cum laude from Rice University with a double degree: Bachelor of Music degree in cello performance as a student of Norman Fischer; and a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology. She earned a Master of Music degree at The Juilliard School while studying with Joel Krosnick and Darrett Adkins, and is currently working with Colin Carr in the Doctor of Musical Arts program at Stony Brook University. In addition to the Tanglewood Music Center, she has participated in the Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto, Italy , Le Domaine Forget Academy in Quebec, and the Sarasota and Aspen music festivals. Ms. Fujita is currently on the faculty of the Stony Brook University Pre-College Program and the Port Jefferson Music Academy.
SARAH HONG / CELLO • Sarah Hong, cello Born in Korea, Sarah Hong began studying cello at the age of five and was selected as most promising young cellist in the nation at the age of 16, her performance broadcast nationwide by KBS. She made her New York debut at Carnegie's Weill Recital Hall as a winner of Artists International. The winner of numerous national and international awards, Sarah studied at the Juilliard School with Zara Nelsova and Joel Krosnick, and received her artist certificate in chamber music at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music under Bonnie Hampton. She has appeared at international festivals such as Salzburg, Holland Music Session, Seoul International, Nice, Schleswig-Holstein, Bach Academy, Britten Pears, Aspen and the Juilliard String Quartet Seminar. Sarah Hong lives in San Francisco where she balances a busy career as soloist, collaborative artist and teacher. She is currently a member of the New Century Chamber Orchestra, the YE Solisti and the Broderick String Quartet.
ANGELA KRATCHMER, VIOLA • A native of Iowa, violist Angela Kratchmer maintains an international career as a teacher, performer, and arts administrator. Committed to socially-motivated artistic practice, Kratchmer was selected to join the Global Leaders Program as a member of the 2018 Cohort and recently received a certificate in social justice, teaching artistry, cultural agency, and social entrepreneurship with teaching artist residencies in Chile, Paraguay, and Tanzania. • BKratchmer holds degrees from Luther College (BA '13), the Eastman School of Music (MM '16), and is currently pursuing a DMA at the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami as a teaching assistant to Jodi Levitz. Previous teachers have included Spencer Martin and Carol Rodland.
THE LEE TRIO / Lisa Lee, Violin; Angela Lee, Cello; Melinda Lee Masur, Piano • Praised by The STRAD magazine for their "gripping immediacy and freshness" and "rich palette of tone colours," the Lee Trio is made up of sisters Angela, cello; Lisa, violin; and Melinda, piano. The Trio has regularly appeared on both sides of the Atlantic to rave reviews and won top awards at the Gaetano Zinetti and Kuhmo International Chamber Music Competitions in Italy and Finland. During 2005-2006, The Lee Trio performed in Italy under the auspices of Luoghi Di Confine at the Mendelssohn Festival in Leipzig, at Herbst Theatre in San Francisco, and completed their first China tour.