Violin

Viola

Cello

Chamber Music

Collaborative Pianists

Comprehensive Music Skills

Scale Techniques

Director of Recreation

Head Counselor

The Faculty

The Cavani String Quartet, winner of the prestigious Naumberg Chamber Music Award, has been described by The Washington Post as "completely engrossing, powerful and elegant." Members include Annie Fullard and Mari Sato, violins; Kirsten Docter, viola; and Merry Peckham, cello. In addition to receiving the Naumberg Award, the Cavani Quartet has been a top prize winner in numerous competitions, including the Coleman, Fischoff, Banff International and Cleveland Quartet Competitions, and is a recipient of the ASCAP-Chamber Music America Award for Adventurous Programming of Contemporary Music. In 2005, the Cavani Quartet was the first recipient of the Guarneri String Quartet Residency Award from Chamber Music America. The Quartet performs regularly on major concert series and festivals throughout North America and Europe. Appearances include the Carnegie Hall Centennial Series and Alice Tully Hall in New York, the Corcoran Gallery of Art and Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, the Ambassador Series in Los Angeles, Muziekcentrum De Ijsbreker in Amsterdam, and Festival de L'Epau in France. Deeply committed to the teaching of chamber music, the Cavani Quartet has served on the faculty of the Cleveland Institute of Music as Quartet-in-Residence since 1988. Their students have gone on to have careers as members of award-winning chamber ensembles, major orchestras, and faculty at universities across the country. The Cavani Quartet joined the chamber music faculty of ENCORE in 2002.

David Cerone has been president of the Cleveland Institute of Music since 1985, where he holds the Mary Elizabeth Callahan President's Chair. He serves as a juror for many prominent national and international violin competitions and presents master classes around the world. An active chamber musician, he toured extensively with the Canterbury Trio from 1984 to1989, under Columbia Management. He was a Director of the Meadowmount School of Music and member of its faculty for 19 summers. Mr. Cerone is a board member of University Circle, Inc. and the Avery Fisher Artist Program. He is an Auxiliary Director of the International Board of the Suzuki Association. He was Professor of Violin at Oberlin Conservatory (1962 to1971), Chairman of the String Department and Kulas Professor at CIM (1971 to1981), and a member of the violin faculty at the Curtis Institute of Music (1975 to 1985; head of violin department 1981 to1985). Mr. Cerone's extremely popular recordings of the Suzuki Violin Method Books I through IV have been reissued by Warner/Chapell. He recently presented a series of master classes, lectures and a recital for the Talent Education Research Institute's Teachers Convention in Hamamatsu, Japan, the first foreigner to address this illustrious group. Mr. Cerone has performed in the St. Bart's Music Festival.

Linda Sharon Cerone is professor of violin at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she is also artistic director of the preparatory string department. She is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, where she was a student of Ivan Galamian. She has also studied with violinist and conductor Paul Katz, and Walter Levin of the La Salle Quartet. She has appeared both in recital and as soloist with orchestras throughout the U.S., including performances with Max Rudolf and Eugene Ormandy. She was principal second violin of the Dartmouth Festival Orchestra, served on the faculty of the Oberlin Conservatory, was professor of violin at the New School in Philadelphia and, for 19 years, was a member of the faculty at the Meadowmount School of Music. She has been a participant in the St. Bart's Musical Festival, and has served as adjudicator of many national competitions. Her former students hold important positions in orchestras throughout the world and enjoy successful careers in chamber ensembles and as touring soloists.

Ivan Chan, a native of Hong Kong, is first violinist of the Miami String Quartet, Quartet-in-Residence at Kent State University. The quartet served as Quartet-in-Residence at the Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society Two from 1999 to 2001 and as visiting Quartet-in-Residence at the Hartt School. Prior to joining the quartet, Mr. Chan performed extensively as a soloist and chamber musician throughout the United States, Europe and Hong Kong. He was the recipient of top prizes in numerous competitions including the Third Quadrennial Indianapolis International Violin Competition, Ima Hogg Young Artists Auditions, Washington International Competition and the Julius Stulberg Auditions. As a soloist, he has appeared with orchestras such as the Hong Kong Philharmonic, Hong Kong Sinfonietta, and the Detroit, Houston, Indianapolis and New World Symphonies. Mr. Chan was a frequent participant at the Marlboro Music Festival and has toured extensively with "Musicians from Marlboro." He received his education at the Curtis Institute of Music. Principal teachers include Thomas Wang, Jascha Brodsky, David Cerone, Miriam Fried, Felix Galimir and Jaime Laredo. Mr. Chan is a distinguished ENCORE alumnus.

Victor Danchenko is a graduate of The Moscow Conservatory, where he studied with David Oistrakh. Awards include the gold medal in the Soviet National Competition and Ysaÿe Gold Medal. Prior to his emigration to Canada, he was engaged in a distinguished solo career, appearing with orchestras and in recitals throughout the U.S.S.R. and abroad. Since then, he has performed as soloist in the U.S., Canada, Europe and South America while developing a highly successful teaching career as one of the most sought-after teachers today. His students have won a number of major awards and competitions, and have appeared as soloists with many orchestras and in recitals in the United States, Canada, South America and Europe. Several of his students are concertmasters of various orchestras, and others are teaching in major conservatories. Mr. Danchenko is a former faculty member of the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, the Cleveland Institute of Music, and the Meadowmount School. Mr. Danchenko has conducted master classes in the U.S., Canada, South America, Europe, Israel, and Japan. He has served as a jury member of major international competitions, and now serves on the faculties of the Peabody Conservatory of Music and the Curtis Institute of Music.

Nicholas DiEugenio is an active performer and teacher in New York as the first violinist of the iO String Quartet and as a faculty member of the Music Conservatory of Westchester. He received Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music, where he studied with David Cerone, Linda Cerone and Paul Kantor. Additionally, he has studied with Ani Kavafian at the Yale School of Music, and with Laurie Smukler and Cal Weirsma at Purchase College. He has performed and coached chamber music with members of the Cavani String Quartet, along with Peter Salaff, and has been a prize winner in the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition. As a soloist, Mr. DiEugenio has performed with orchestras including the CIM Orchestra, the Cleveland Pops, the Long Bay Symphony, the Cleveland Bach Consort and the National Repertory Orchestra, for which he also served two summers as concertmaster. An ENCORE alumnus, he has been David and Linda Cerone's teaching assistant for the past two summers.

Rossitza Jekova-Goza teaches violin, viola and chamber music at the University of Arkansas, where she is a member of the Fulbright Trio and is concertmaster of the North Arkansas Symphony Orchestra. A native of Bulgaria, she holds Bachelor and Master of Music degrees in violin performance from Louisiana State University, where she studied with Kevork Mardirossian. She recently received a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the Cleveland Institute of Music under the tutelage of Linda Cerone. Dr. Goza has appeared numerous times as a soloist in the U.S. and Bulgaria. She served as concertmaster of the Baton Rouge Symphony and the Verbier Festival Orchestra in Switzerland. Dr. Goza joined the faculty of ENCORE in 2002. She was formerly a faculty member of Mercyhurst College in Pennsylvania.

Marshall Griffith received Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees in composition from the Cleveland Institute of Music, as well as a Doctor of Music degree from Indiana University. He studied composition with Eugene O'Brien, Donald Erb and John Eaton, and was the recipient of The Music Teachers National Association Award in composition in 1976. His works have been published by Theodore Presser and Belle Press, and recorded on Crystal Records. He served as chairman of the Cleveland Composers Guild from 1991 until 1995. His music has been performed by the Baton Rouge Symphony, the Amici, Bel Arte and Coleridge String Quartets, the 20th Century Consort and the Black Earth Percussion Group. Active as a jazz and classical pianist, he has also been soloist with the Canton Symphony, Ohio Chamber Orchestra, Cleveland Pops, Suburban Symphony, CIM Orchestra, CIM Woodwind Ensemble, Cleveland Youth Wind Symphony, and the Case Jazz Band. He performed in a professional two-piano team, the Fine Arts Duo, from 1980 until 1990. He has participated as a chamber music coach for the CIM Chamber Music Festival, and served as dean of student affairs at CIM from 1994 until 1997. He served as development manager, responsible for alumni relations and individual giving, from 1997 until 2000. Dr. Griffith was appointed to the ENCORE faculty in 1988.

Desmond Hoebig was appointed principal cello of The Cleveland Orchestra, effective with the 2003-2004 season. He is also a member of the cello faculty at the Cleveland Institute of Music. Prior to joining The Cleveland Orchestra, he served as principal cello of the Houston Symphony Orchestra from 1991 to 2003. From 1989 to 1991, he was a member of the Orford String Quartet and associate professor at the University of Toronto. From 1987 to 1989, he was principal cello of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, and from 1984 to 1987 he was associate principal cello of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Hoebig has appeared as soloist in cello concertos and other concerted works by Barber, Beethoven, Boccherini, Brahms, Dutilleux, Dvořák, Elgar, Haydn, Saint-Saëns, Shostakovich, Tchaikovsky and Walton. He studied at the Curtis Institute of Music with David Soyer and subsequently received Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from The Juilliard School, where his teachers were Leonard Rose and Channing Robbins.

Jeffrey Irvine is Fynette H. Kulas Professor of Viola at the Cleveland Institute of Music. He was professor of viola at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music from 1983 to 1999 and was chair of the string division there from 1992 to 1999. His students have gone on to major orchestral, teaching and chamber music posts across the country and around the world. His students have often been first prize winners in major viola competitions, including the Primrose Competition, the ASTA National Solo Competition, and the Washington International Competition. Mr. Irvine has given master classes at major music schools in the U.S. and in 1985 gave master classes in Beijing and Shanghai in the People's Republic of China. Mr. Irvine previously taught at Wichita State University and the Eastman School of Music. During the summer Mr. Irvine is on the faculty of the ENCORE School for Strings and the Aspen Music Festival and has also taught at Meadowmount and the Quartet Program at Bucknell. He was formerly a member of the New World String Quartet, with whom he toured the U.S. and Europe. Mr. Irvine received his Bachelor of Music degree from the Philadelphia Musical Academy and his Master of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music. His teachers have included Heidi Castleman, Dorothy DeLay, Martha Katz, William Primrose, Margaret Randall, and Karen Tuttle.

Mark Jackobs is fourth chair viola of The Cleveland Orchestra, where he holds the Jean Wall Bennett Chair. Previously, he served for three years as fourth chair in the Pittsburgh Symphony. Mr. Jackobs has given recital and chamber music performances in the Reinberger Chamber Music Series at Severance Hall; with the Myriad Ensemble; and at the summer festivals of Aspen, Edinburgh, Mainly Mozart, American, Heidelberg Schlosspeile, Interlochen and Kent/Blossom. He has been an adjunct faculty member of the Peabody Conservatory of Music and the Oberlin Conservatory. He has given master classes at the Cleveland Institute of Music, the Peabody Conservatory, Oberlin Conservatory, University of Colorado at Boulder, The Music Institute of Chicago, Ohio Viola Society, Rocky Mountain Viola Society and the Interlochen Arts Camp. Mr. Jackobs received a Bachelor of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music and an Artist Diploma from the Cleveland Institute of Music. He is a graduate of the Interlochen Arts Academy. Teachers include Rosemary Malocsay, William Preucil, Sr., Heidi Castleman and Robert Vernon.

Stanley Konopka has been a member of The Cleveland Orchestra since 1991; he was appointed assistant principal viola in 1993. He is on the faculty at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where he received an Undergraduate Diploma. He is a former member of the Pittsburgh Symphony and a graduate of the Interlochen Arts Academy. Former teachers include David Holland, Milton Preves and Robert Vernon. Mr. Konopka has performed with Myriad, a local chamber ensemble, and at chamber music festivals including Banff, Taos, Pensacola and Lakes, with a number of the concerts being broadcast live on National Public Radio. He has performed as soloist on numerous occasions with the orchestras of Interlochen, CIM, NRO, Masterworks Festival, and The Cleveland Orchestra. He has recorded chamber music with Telarc and, as a composer, has won an award from BMI. He has also written and arranged pieces for the orchestras of Interlochen and Contemporary Youth Orchestra.

Jun-Ching Lin joined the Atlanta Symphony as assistant concertmaster in 1988. Prior to coming to Atlanta he was concertmaster of the Augusta Symphony Orchestra for a year. Very active as a chamber musician, he is a founding member of the Emory Chamber Music Society of Atlanta. He plays violin and viola with Trillium, a trio with flute and harp and with the contemporary music ensemble, Thamyris. Mr. Lin has participated in chamber music festivals in Maine, San Diego, La Jolla, and Highlands-Cashiers, North Carolina. Born in Taipei, Taiwan, Mr. Lin grew up in Boston. He studied with Sara Scriven, Roman Totenberg, and Robert Koff. As a high-school senior, he was named one of the first Presidential Scholars in the Arts. He earned degrees at the Curtis Institute of Music as a student of Ivan Galamian, Jascha Brodsky and David Cerone and at the Cleveland Institute of Music with Mr. Cerone.

Robert Lipsett has devoted himself to teaching for more than two decades. His students have appeared as soloists with major symphony orchestras, performed on national television and have consistently won major competitions. He has taught at numerous colleges and universities, including California State University, from which he holds the Bachelor of Music degree. Presently, he is a member of the music faculty at the Colburn School for the Performing Arts and the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Mr. Lipsett has worked in virtually every facet of performance as either solo artist, chamber music performer, orchestral or commercial musician. He resides in Southern California where, in addition to teaching, he is busy as a freelance musician in the recording, television and motion picture industries. Mr. Lipsett studied with Ruth Lasley, Zelman Brunoff, Melvin Ritter, Endre Granat and Ivan Galamian.

Eliesha Nelson joined The Cleveland Orchestra in the fall of 2000. Born and raised in Alaska, she studied at the Royal Academy of Music and earned her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music. Her teachers have included Robert Vernon, Linda Cerone and Gyorgy Pauk. Ms. Nelson previously served as acting principal violist for the Florida Philharmonic Orchestra and has appeared as soloist with The Cleveland Orchestra, the Ohio Chamber Orchestra, the Florida Philharmonic and the San Antonio Symphony. Ms. Nelson is a distinguished ENCORE alumna.

Elizabeth Pitcairn is a lecturer at the USC Thornton School of Music and the Colburn School for Performing Arts and serves as concertmaster of the New West Symphony. She made her New York debut in 2000 at Alice Tully Hall and her Canadian debut in 2001. A student of Robert Lipsett, she has also worked with Jascha Brodsky and Shmuel Ashkenasi of the Vermeer Quartet. Ms. Pitcairn has performed at the Marlboro Music Festival with members of the Guarneri and Juilliard String Quartets, at the St. Bart's Music Festival, and with Orchestra 2001 in Perlman Hall at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia. Her debut CD of Mozart and Tchaikovsky Violin Concertos was recorded with the Slovenia Radio Television Orchestra. She premiered a concerto written for her by Tommie Hagland in Sweden in 2004. Ms. Pitcairn is an alumna of ENCORE.

William Preucil was named concertmaster of The Cleveland Orchestra in 1995 and appointed to the violin faculty of the Cleveland Institute of Music the same year. Previously, he was first violinist of the Cleveland Quartet from 1989 to1995. He was concertmaster of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra from 1982 to1989, as well as the Utah Symphony and Nashville Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Preucil has appeared frequently as a recitalist, chamber musician and soloist with orchestras and at major chamber music festivals in the U.S. and abroad. He first studied violin with his mother, Doris Preucil, one of the first Suzuki Method teachers in the U.S. He attended the Interlochen Arts Academy at age 14 and earned his degree from Indiana University as a student of Josef Gingold. Mr. Preucil was on the Eastman School of Music faculty while the Cleveland Quartet was in residence there. Among his numerous recordings, Mr. Preucil is featured on the New World Records release of Stephen Paulus' Violin Concerto, dedicated to him, with the Atlanta Symphony. He has also recorded on Telarc with the Cleveland Quartet, including the complete Beethoven string quartets. As a member of the Lanier Trio, Mr. Preucil recorded the complete Dvořák piano trios, named one of the top ten records of 1993 by Time Magazine.

Zvi Plesser is an Israeli cellist who has performed as soloist to critical acclaim throughout North and Central America, Europe and Israel. At the age of 17 he made his U.S. debut with Isaac Stern and Pinchas Zukerman in Carnegie Hall. He has performed with leading orchestras, among them the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, the Israel Chamber Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra, and The Academy of St Martin in the Fields. Mr. Plesser has given recitals in France, Germany, Sweden and Finland. He has participated in many festivals, including the Marlboro Festival, the Cervantino Festival in Mexico, Jerusalem Chamber Music Festival, Kuhmo Festival in Finland and the Montpellier Festival in France. Plesser is a graduate of The Juilliard School as a student of Zara Nelsova. He has also studied with Zvi Harel and David Soyer.

Lynne Ramsey is the first assistant principal violist of The Cleveland Orchestra and holder of the Charles and Janet Kimball Chair. She has also been principal violist of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. She has appeared as soloist with The Cleveland Orchestra, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Cleveland Chamber Symphony, North Carolina Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Arlington Symphony and the Air Force String Orchestra. Ms. Ramsey was invited to perform the Walton Viola Concerto with the Beijing Philharmonic in China in December of 1985 and was the first foreigner to perform in Beijing's new concert hall. She has performed chamber music concerts throughout the U.S. and previously taught at Oberlin Conservatory and the Aspen Music Festival. Ms. Ramsey received Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from The Juilliard School in 1976. Her teachers have included Karen Tuttle, Ramon Scavelli and David Dawson.

Stephen Rose was appointed to the violin section of The Cleveland Orchestra in 1997, and is now principal second violin of the Orchestra. He is a member of the Cleveland Institute of Music violin faculty, where he received a Bachelor of Music degree. Mr. Rose received a Master of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music. Teachers include William Preucil, David Cerone, David Updegraff, and Sally O'Reilly. He has appeared in recital and chamber music concerts throughout North America and Europe. Mr. Rose was the former first violinist of the Everest Quartet, the Resident String Quartet of the Midland-Odessa Symphony, from 1992-1996. The Quartet was a top prize winner at the 1995 Banff International String Quartet Competition and presented concerts and master classes throughout the U.S. He has presented master classes at the National Orchestral Institute and the New World Symphony and has been a faculty member at ENCORE School for Strings and Kent/Blossom. He has been a participant at summer music festivals, including the Mainly Mozart Festival, the Seattle Chamber Music Festival, Orcas Island, Music at Gretna, the Mimir Chamber Music Festival, and the Festival der Zukunft in Switzerland. He received an Alumni Achievement Award from CIM in 2005, and was appointed to the CIM faculty in 2001. Mr. Rose is a distinguished ENCORE alumnus.

David Russell is a member of the violin faculty at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where he received Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees. Mr. Russell's students have distinguished themselves as soloists, chamber and orchestral musicians and teachers and have been heard at venues such as the Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall. He teaches at ARIA International Summer Music Academy in Canada and the Keshet Eilon Violin Mastercourse in Israel. He has been a juror at the Sion-Valais International Violin Competition in Switzerland, as well as numerous other national competitions. He has performed frequently as a recitalist and as soloist with orchestras, been featured on National Public Radio's Performance Today and has performed at the Glenn Gould Studio of the CBC in Toronto. Mr. Russell maintains an active recital schedule and has appeared numerous times as soloist and chamber musician in the U.S. and Canada. He was a featured soloist with the Cleveland Pops Orchestra at Severance Hall. Mr. Russell is founder and former artistic director of the Pensacola Chamber Music Festival in Florida and served on the faculties of the Meadowmount School of Music and the New School of Music.

Carol Ruzicka is administrative director of the Cleveland Institute of Music's Preparatory Division violin department. She earned Bachelor of Music, Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees from CIM, studying with David Cerone, Koichiro Harada, Erich Eichhorn and Gerald Gelbloom. She also studied at the Cleveland Music School Settlement with Martha Gillespie Shipps, earning a Certificate of Achievement, at the Meadowmount School of Music, and at Tanglewood, where she was a fellowship student. Ms. Ruzicka appears frequently as a recitalist and chamber musician in the Great Lakes area, and undertook a concert tour of Poland in 2005. A noted violin pedagogue, Ms. Ruzicka is a published author in American String Teacher. She is also author of the book Scale Techniques for the Advanced Violinist, pending publication. Ms. Ruzicka is a member of Pi Kappa Lambda and performs with the Cleveland Pops Orchestra.

Margo Tatgenhorst Drakos served as cellist of the American String Quartet from 2002-2006. Prior to that, she was associate/assistant principal cellist of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and principal cellist of the Oregon Symphony. Ms. Drakos studied cello with Richard Aaron and composition with Donald Erb at the Cleveland Institute of Music. She completed her education at the Curtis Institute of Music, where she studied with David Soyer. Ms. Drakos has collaborated with some of the world’s leading artists, including members of the Emerson, Guarneri, Orion and Tokyo Quartets; the Beaux Arts Trio; Jonathan Biss; Yefim Bronfman; Ida Kavafian and Richard Stoltzman. In 1999 she co-founded the string trio Divertimento with violinist Soovin Kim and violist Michael Tree. Ms. Drakos received high acclaim in 2004 after giving the world premiere of David Ludwig’s Cello Concerto with the Vermont Symphony, Jaime Laredo conducting. She has spent multiple summers as a participant at the Marlboro Music Festival and tours with “Musicians from Marlboro.” She has performed as part of the Kingston, Sarasota and Teton Music Festivals and at Music from Angel Fire. She has performed and served on the faculty at the Aspen Music Festival and School and is a faculty member at the Manhattan School for Music.

Bruce Uchimura is professor of cello/chamber music and conductor of the University Symphony Orchestra at Western Michigan University. He is also a member of the acclaimed Merling Trio with pianist Susan Wiersma-Uchimura and violinist Renata Artman-Knific, ensemble-in-residence at WMU, and finalists in the 1994 Naumburg Foundation Chamber Music Award. The Trio has recorded on the Albany record label. Mr. Uchimura maintains an active teaching career and is in demand as a clinician and adjudicator. His principal teachers include Leonard Rose, Channing Robbins, and Alan Harris. Mr. Uchimura is a graduate of both The Juilliard School and the Cleveland Institute of Music. In addition, he has coached chamber music with Robert Mann, Felix Galimir, Joel Krosnick, and Laurence Lesser.

David Updegraff is chairman of the violin department at the Cleveland Institute of Music. He has concertized widely, to critical acclaim, in the United States and Europe. Mr. Updegraff combines his concert activities with frequent appearances as adjudicator and clinician. His students have been winners and laureates in numerous international and national competitions, have appeared as soloists with such orchestras as The Cleveland Orchestra, the Berlin Symphony, the Seattle Symphony, and hold prominent positions in the major symphony orchestras around the world. He taught previously at the University of Louisville and Western Michigan University. Mr. Updegraff studied with Paul Makanowitzky, Phillip Ruder and Paul Kling.

Robert Vernon is serving in his 31st season as principal viola of The Cleveland Orchestra. He is chairman of the viola department at the Cleveland Institute of Music. Mr. Vernon has performed at most of this country's major chamber music festivals, including Aspen, Blossom, La Jolla, Marlboro, Ravinia, Round Top, Sarasota, Tanglewood and Yellow Barn. Mr. Vernon has appeared as soloist with The Cleveland Orchestra in more than 100 concerts throughout the U.S. and abroad. He is a member of the teaching faculties of Kent/ Blossom, the National Orchestral Institute in Maryland, and the New World Symphony in Miami. As a soloist, Mr. Vernon has recorded the Berlioz Harold in Italy, Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante, and Richard Strauss' Don Quixote. In November 2000, he recorded the Schoenfield Viola Concerto with the Berlin Radio Orchestra, a work commissioned in 1998 by the Musical Arts Association for Mr. Vernon and The Cleveland Orchestra. Former students hold positions as chamber musicians, teachers and as players in major orchestras, including Boston, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles, Minnesota, Saint Louis, Houston, Atlanta, Baltimore, Detroit, Montreal and Toronto (to date, more than 50 different orchestras). Mr. Vernon's solo and chamber music recordings appear on Telarc, Innova and Decca/London. He is featured on a CD of orchestral excerpts with spoken commentary, a study tool for young violists on the Orchestra Pro Series for Summit Records. Due to be published soon is a book on orchestral excerpts for viola, "The Essential Orchestral Excerpts for Viola, the Keys to Winning an Audition."

Lembi Veskimets is a member of The Cleveland Orchestra. She previously held the positions of principal viola of the Ohio Chamber Orchestra and the National Repertory Orchestra and assistant principal viola of the Canton Symphony Orchestra. She received Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music as a student of Robert Vernon. She has been featured as a soloist with the University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra, Lyra Borealis Chamber Orchestra in Toronto and the National Repertory Orchestra in Colorado. An active chamber musician, she has performed in venues from the Expo in Osaka, Japan, to the Cité de la musique in Paris, France and the National Opera house in Riga, Latvia. She has participated in such events as the Aspen Center for Advanced Quartet Studies, Taos School of Music, Juilliard String Quartet Seminar, Sarasota Music Festival and the Isaac Stern Chamber Music Workshop at Carnegie Hall. Ms. Veskimets also performs in the public schools as an artist-teacher in the orchestra's Learning Through Music program and serves as a board member of the American Viola Society, in addition to being a past president of the Ohio Viola Society. She is also on the faculty of the Cleveland Music School Settlement and the Cleveland Institute of Music's Preparatory Division viola department.

Christopher von Baeyer was professor of violoncello and double bass at Washington State University. He holds undergraduate and graduate degrees from The Juilliard School where he was a student of Leonard Rose. A veteran solo, chamber music and orchestral performer, Mr. von Baeyer has participated in numerous festivals, among them Aspen, Marlboro, Sarasota, Peter Britt, Lake George, Daytona International and Alaska. He has performed throughout South America under U.S. State Department auspices and, as cellist of the Muhlfeld Trio, has recorded on the Laurel Record label and concertized in Europe, Mexico, Canada and the U.S. Mr. von Baeyer, who served on the Peabody Conservatory faculty during the 2000-2001 school year, has been with ENCORE since 1987.

Alison Wells is a member of the cello and chamber music faculties of the Cleveland Institute of Music. She was a founding member of the Pirasti Trio, with whom she toured throughout Europe, performing at venues including London's Wigmore Hall and Purcell Room, Bath International Festival, Schleswig-Holstein Festival and Orlando Festival in Holland. She has been broadcast on BBC Radio 3, Classic FM, Dutch National Radio and WQXR in New York City. CDs on the ASV label have been highly acclaimed and were recommended recordings on BBC's Building a Library, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and North German Radio. Ms. Wells was also featured on a Channel 4 TV documentary on the Chamber Music of Penderecki. In 1988 she joined the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, under Simon Rattle, and in 1989 gave her London recital debut as a result of winning the Maisie Lewis Young Artists Competition. She is a graduate of Cambridge University and the Royal Academy of Music in London, studying with Ralph Kirshbaum. She also holds a doctorate from Yale University, where she studied with Aldo Parisot as a Harkness Fellow. Ms. Wells was a professor at Trinity College of Music and The Purcell School in London. She is a former faculty member of the Dartington and Aberystwyth Festivals in Britain and the Paxos Festival in Greece.

Collaborative Piano

An extraordinary group of professional pianists is on staff at ENCORE to collaborate with students and their teachers in the educational and artistic process. The aim of collaborative piano at ENCORE is to enhance, rather than simply "accompany," rehearsals, lessons and performances. This is an invaluable resource which is provided to each ENCORE participant and is included as part of the ENCORE tuition.