Sherman Chamber Ensemble P.O. Box 578 Sherman, CT 06784 860-355-5930

Sarah Adams, viola, performs locally with the New York Chamber Ensemble, the Claring Chamber Players, the Sherman Chamber Ensemble, the Friends of Mozart, and the Saratoga Chamber Players. She is principal violist of the Brooklyn Philharmonic and the Riverside Symphony. She is the violist of the Roerich Quartet, performing and recording in NYC, upstate New York and Vermont. Formerly violist with the Cassatt Quartet and assistant principal violist with the Houston Symphony Orchestra, Ms. Adams is a member of the American Ballet Theatre, and performs with Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, the American Symphony Orchestra, the New York City Opera Orchestra, and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, among others. She has performed as soloist with the Jupiter and Riverside Symphonies in Alice Tully Hall as well as in recital with the New York Viola Society. Ms. Adams’ festival appearances include the Bard Music Festival, the Cape May Music Festival, the Windham Music Festival, the Sherman Chamber Music Festival, and the Catskill Mountain Foundation concerts. Ms. Adams has been teaching viola and chamber music at Columbia University since 1993. A long-time member of the Sherman Chamber Ensemble, Sarah plays on our opening and closing programs this summer..

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Eliot Bailen, cello. Strings Magazine writes, "At Merkin Hall (NYC) ‘cellist Eliot Bailen displayed a warm focused tone, concentrated expressiveness and admirable technical command always at the service of the music” (July ’99). Eliot Bailen is principal cello of the New York Chamber Ensemble, Westfield Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra New England, Teatro Grattacielo and the New Choral Society. Founder and Artistic Director of the Sherman Chamber Ensemble whose performances the New York Times has described as “the Platonic ideal of a chamber music concert.” Mr. Bailen also performs regularly with the Saratoga Chamber Players, Modern Works, the Sebago-Long Lake and Cape May Chamber Music Festivals and is founder of Chamber Music at Rodeph Sholom in New York. He is assistant-principal cello of the Stamford Symphony and appears frequently with leading New York area orchestras such as New Jersey Symphony, New York City Opera, American Symphony and the Orchestra of St. Luke's. He has recorded for Nonesuch, Koch International, Deutsche Grammophon, Delos, New World, Beanstalk and Flying Dutchman Records and has been heard as solo cello in numerous Broadway shows. Mr. Bailen received his Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) from Yale University and is on the cello and chamber music faculty at Columbia University. He was awarded the 2002 Norman Vincent Peale Arts Award for Positive Thinking, the Slater Entrepreneurial Prize from NYU Stern School, a 1990 Parent’s Choice Award and numerous ASCAP Popular Awards. Mr. Bailen has also received national attention as a prize-winning songwriter for children; his Song to Symphony project which presents children's original work in an orchestral setting was the subject of a 2006 New York Times feature article. Eliot can be heard on all of this summer’s programs..

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Eric Bartlett, cello. Before joining the New York Philharmonic in 1997, cellist Eric Bartlett had already established himself as an artist of formidable talent and artistic integrity. He served as principal cellist of Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra and co-principal of The Orpheus Chamber Orchestra for 14 years. Mr. Bartlett appeared frequently as a member soloist with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and is featured on several of their Deutsche Grammophon recordings. In addition to Orpheus, his solo appearances include the Cabrillo Festival, the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, the Anchorage Symphony, the Hartford Chamber Orchestra, the Aspen and Juilliard Orchestras and the New York Philharmonic's Horizons '84 series. Mr. Bartlett is the recipient of a Solo Recitalist's Award from the National Endowment for the Arts and a special Performance Award as a finalist of the 1987 New England Conservatory / Piatigorsky Award. Recent solo appearances include the Cabrillo Music Festival, and the Brattleboro Music Center in Vermont.

Dedicated to contemporary music, Mr. Bartlett has participated in over 90 premieres and has commissioned new works for the cello. In 1986 he gave the Warsaw premiere of Elliott Carter's Sonata for Cello and Piano. He has recorded the cello music of Larry Bell on a CD entitled River of Ponds for North-South Records, and he has been a member of Speculum Musicae since 1982. Mr. Bartlett teaches Orchestral Performance classes at both the Manhattan and Juilliard Schools of music. He lives in Bergen County, New Jersey with his wife, Orpheus violist Sarah Clarke and their son, Cory. Eric plays his first concert with the Sherman Chamber Ensemble in July.

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Amy Burton, soprano, is one of New York’s most notable singers, at the Metropolitan Opera from 1993 to the present, and as one of New York City Opera’s leading sopranos in over a dozen productions. From her New York debut recital at the 92nd Street Y in 1997 to her appearance with Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center this season, Amy Burton is a vital part of New York’s cultural scene, performing with Lincoln Center Festival, The Great Performer Series, Miller Theater, Mostly Mozart Festival, The Morgan Library, Brooklyn Philharmonic, New York City Ballet, New York Festival of Song, L’Opéra Français de New York, and many appearances at Carnegie Hall, Weill Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Walter Reade Auditorium, Merkin Hall and Joe’s Pub, to name a few.

Amy Burton’s diverse musical life encompasses opera, chamber music, recitals, orchestral concerts and cabaret, with a special affinity for Mozart, Handel and French repertoire. Career highlights include operas and concerts in Zürich, Bern, Nice, Paris, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Wexford (Ireland), Tokyo, Rome, Tel Aviv and Jerusalem as well as with American opera companies and orchestras in San Francisco, Boston, Atlanta, Miami, Chicago, Houston, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Diego and Washington, among others. In 2002 Amy Burton was invited to sing at the White House, a performance that was broadcast nationally. A champion of new music, Ms. Burton has performed works by American composers such as John Musto, John Corigliano, Derek Bermel and William Bolcom, and premiered pieces by Musto, Paul Moravec, Lee Hoiby, John Harbison, Richard Festinger, Michael Cohen, Richard Danielpour, Richard Wilson and Glen Cortese.

Ms. Burton’s frequent collaborations with composer-pianist John Musto include concerts at the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, and cities throughout the United States. In March 2009, they performed two sold-out evenings of music written for French diva Yvonne Printemps in arrangements by Musto, at the Foyer in Barcelona’s Liceu Opera House. Amy Burton has been the muse for many of John Musto’s works, including Quiet Songs, recently recorded for Bridge records and released in March 2009. Other recordings include Souvenir de Printemps (Harbinger, with Yvel Abel and Musto at the piano), Fond Affection (CRI), songs of Ernst Bacon, Gershwin’s one-act jazz opera Blue Monday (with Marin Alsop, Angel/EMI) and Richard Wilson’s Persuasions (Albany). Silver medalist in the 1995 Marian Anderson International Vocal Competition, Ms. Burton has also been awarded the 2006 Artist Advocate Award from Opera America, the 2005 Diva Award from New York City Opera, as well as major prizes from the George London, Gerda Lissner and Sullivan Foundations. A graduate of Northwestern University, Ms. Burton lives in New York with Mr. Musto and their son, Joshua, and is on the Voice faculty at the Mannes College of Music and Songfest in Malibu, California. Amy Burton is also a proud member of the New York Festival of Song’s Artist Council.

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Cynde Iverson, bassoon, is recognized as one of the finest bassoonists today. She is the Principal Bassoonist of the New Haven Symphony as well as continuing to perform with many of New York ’s most prestigious ensembles, including the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, the American Symphony Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony and The American Ballet Theatre among many others. As a soloist Ms. Iverson recently completed highly successful tours of the US, Europe, Japan, and Southeast Asia with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. In the summer months she has performed at the Caramoor Music Festival, North Country Chamber Players Festival, Moab Music Festival, Waterloo Music Festival, Talcott Mountain Festival, Summer Music at Harkness and the Colorado Music Festival. In addition, she has held principal positions with the Rhode Island Philharmonic and the Connecticut Orchestra.

Cynde Iverson received her B.M. (cum laude) from Indiana University as a student of Leonard Sharrow and her M.M. (cum laude) from the Juilliard School as a student of Stephen Maxym. Ms. Iverson is on the Faculty at SUNY Purchase. She can be heard on our Labor Day weekend program.

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Alan R. Kay, clarinet, joined Orpheus Chamber Orchestra in 2002 and serves as Principal Clarinet with the Riverside Symphony and the Little Orchestra Society. His honors include the C.D. Jackson Award at Tanglewood, a Presidential Scholars Teacher Recognition Award, Juilliard’s 1980 Clarinet Competition, and the 1989 Young Concert Artists Award with the sextet Hexagon featured in the documentary film, Debut. A founding member of Windscape, he appears with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and as a guest of numerous ensembles and music festivals, including the Bravo! Vail Valley Music and Yellow Barn Festivals. A veteran concert programmer, his series at the Cape May Music Festival continue to be popular, while his series of New Brandenburg composer commissions at Orpheus has won national attention. Mr. Kay teaches at the Manhattan and Juilliard Schools and at Stony Brook University. He has served on the juries of the International Chamber Music Competition in Trapani, Italy, Young Concert Artists International Auditions, and the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition. Mr. Kay has recorded CDs with Hexagon, Windscape, the Sylvan Winds and many other ensembles. He lives with his two boys, Noah and Jonathan, ages 16 and 13, in Leonia, New Jersey. Mr. Kay was featured in SCE’s 2008 world premiere of Excursions and Impressions, commissioned by the group from composer Ted Rosenthal. He will take part in this summer’s closing concerts in September.

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Chris Komer, horn. Kansas native Chris Komer is a uniquely versatile musician who is as at home in the concert hall (New York Philharmonic, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra) and the recording studio (Barbra Streisand, Natalie Cole) as he is in the jazz club (Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, Chuck Mangione) Also a highly sought after chamber music artist, he has performed with the Canadian Brass, the Burning River Brass, Music from Marlboro, and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center among many others. He currently plays principal horn in the current Broadway production of West Side Story and Third/Associate Principal horn with the New Jersey Symphony. He is also the Professor of Horn at Princeton University and has just released his first solo piano CD of all original and improvised music entitled Travlin' Music. He makes his SCE debut on our Labor Day program.

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Jill Levy, violin, is concertmaster of the Albany Symphony Orchestra. She has made numerous solo appearances with them including the premiere performance of the Concerto for Irish Fiddle and Violin by Evan Chambers, which she has recorded on the Albany Records label. Ms. Levy is also the music director of the Saratoga Chamber Players, bringing together musicians from the United States, Canada and Europe to perform in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. In addition to being heard regularly with the Sherman Chamber Ensemble she has been a participant in the Blossom Music Festival and the Sebago-Long Lake Region Festival. Ms. Levy is a former member of the Pittsburgh Symphony under the direction of Andre Previn; the Pittsburgh Chamber Players; the Orchestre del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in Florence, Italy, directed by Zubin Mehta; and the Brooklyn Philharmonic, directed by Lukas Foss. Ms. Levy is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music where she studied violin with Arnold Steinhardt and Jascha Brodsky and chamber music with Felix Galimir and the Guarneri Quartet. She also worked with Franco Gulli at the Academia Musicale Chigiana in Siena, Italy. As a winner of student competitions she was soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra at the ages of 11 and 16. Currently Ms. Levy lives in the Adirondack Mountains of New York with her husband and daughter where she is an active and sought-after teacher. She performs on all three programs this summer.

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John Musto, pianist/composer. Though now known as one of our busiest opera composers, John Musto's reputation as a master of the concert song has long been secure, both as composer and as a performer at the piano. His highly refined playing is featured in song recitals (often with the soprano Amy Burton), chamber music, concertos, and solo works. His interpretations of his own music and that of other composers are rivaled by his extraordinary gifts as an improviser.

This coming season, Mr. Musto embarks on a recording project with conductor Glen Cortese and the Greeley Philharmonic to perform and record both his piano concerti for Bridge records. He will also serve this season as composer-in-residence at the Mannes College the New School for Music.

In the past four years, he has seen the production of three new operas (two of them already enjoying a second new production), with a fourth currently being composed for the Wolf Trap Opera company. Wolf Trap had also commissioned his first opera, Volpone, whose success was a highlight of the 2004 season.

That comic opera's second production was quickly followed by the premiere in November 2007 of the genial drama Later the Same Evening at the National Gallery of Art in Washington and the University of Maryland Opera Theater, the co-commissioners of the work. That enthusiastically received, innovative opera had its New York premiere in December 2008 at the Manhattan School of Music. Only four months after that Washington premiere, New York and Caramoor audiences saw the lively new one-act comedy, Bastianello, commissioned to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the New York Festival of Song, presented in three New York performances and in a second production in the summer of 2008 at the Moab Music Festival in Utah. While the earlier operas had been characterized by their colorful orchestration, the NYFOS work explored the potential of two concert-grand pianos as luxurious and eloquent pit instruments.

All these operas involve collaboration with the librettist Mark Campbell. A master both of light verse and affecting prose, Campbell is a creator who understands the forms that give composers the best opportunities for effective stage works.

One recently issued recording entirely devoted to instrumental music by John Musto is a revelatory chamber-music release from the Copland House. The last few months have seen the release of the first stand-alone collection of his songs by Bridge records (with the composer at the piano), and recordings of both Volpone (released by Wolf Trap) and Later the Same Evening (Albany Records). The premiere recording of Bastianello (Bridge) will appear in the fall, along with another recording devoted to his songs by baritone Alexander Hurd and pianist Jacob Greenberg on the Centaur label. The release of the song discs is accompanied by Peermusic’s publication of Musto’s Collected Songs for voice and piano.

In November, soprano Amy Burton will give the first orchestral performance of Quiet Songs (originally with piano), a cycle written for her in 1990.

Musto's new Improvisation and Fugue for piano was featured in June at the fourth New York Piano Competition, which commissioned it. It then was the piece played by the Van Cliburn International Competition Gold Medalist Nobuyuki Tsujii when he carried off the prize for best performance of a modern work. That work of Musto, too, will appear as a recording, in Nobuyuki Tsujii’s prize-winning performance on a Harmonia Mundi disc in late summer. He has already performed it in a much-celebrated nation-wide television performance in Japan.

Besides being a guest composer during the 2008 Ravinia Festival (coaching singers in his songs) and SongFest at Pepperdine University (which presented the West-Coast premiere of his cycle The Book of Uncommon Prayer, where he gave other concerts and masterclasses, and where he returned for a return engagement in 2009), an active concert schedule includes scheduled appearances around the United States and in Europe, playing repertory extending from Bach keyboard to French cabaret (notably in a concert at Barcelona’s Gran Teatre del Liceu), to the Gershwin Piano Concerto -- and, as always, appearing as pianist in his own compositions.

John Musto earned degrees in piano performance at the Manhattan School of Music under Seymour Lipkin. He also pursued studies with pianists Michael Rogers and Paul Jacobs. He has been a visiting professor at Brooklyn College and is a frequent guest lecturer at the Juilliard School and the Manhattan School of Music. As a pianist, Musto has recorded for Bridge, Harmonia Mundi, Nonesuch. The Milken Archive, Naxos, Harbinger, CRI and EMI, and his compositions have been recorded for Hyperion, Harmonia Mundi, MusicMasters, Innova, Channel Classics, Albany Records and New World Records.

John Musto, amidst all this activity, is at home on the Upper West Side of Manhattan with his wife, Amy Burton of the Metropolitan Opera and New York City Opera companies, and their teenage son, Joshua, an avid guitarist. Mr. Musto appears for the first time with SCE in August.

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Gerard Reuter, oboe. A recipient of the prestigious Pro Musicis International Award, oboist Gerard Reuter has enjoyed a distinguished solo career, touring the United States, Europe, Asia, India and Africa. He has participated as a featured guest artist at many prestigious summer festivals, including Caramoor, Marlboro, the Chamber Music Festival of the Library of Congress, La Jolla, Round Top, Tucson Winter Chamber Music, Market Square Concert's Summerfest and the Bar Harbor Summer Music Festival in the United States, and the Flanders Festival, the Dartington Festival and the International Musicians' Seminar at Prussia Cove in Europe. As a soloist, he has appeared with orchestras throughout the United States, including the Jupiter Symphony, Philharmonia Virtuosi, Riverside Symphony and Orchestra of the Bronx in New York, the National Chamber Orchestra in Washington, DC, the Soviet Emigre Orchestra and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, of which he was a founding member.

Also a dedicated chamber music performer, he is a member of the Dorian Wind Quintet and was a founding member of the ensemble, An die Musik. As a guest, he has performed with many ensembles, including New York Philomusica, Fry Street String Quartet, Colorado String Quartet, Weilerstein Piano Trio, Composers String Quartet, DaVinci String Quartet, Aspen Wind Quintet, American Chamber Players, Divertimento String Trio, Armstrong Chamber Concerts, and I Fiamminghi in Belgium.

Active as a conductor in recent seasons, Mr. Reuter has appeared as guest conductor with the Jupiter Symphony, Riverside Symphony, Claremont Strings, New York Mandolin Orchestra and the Schenectady Symphony. Albany's Times-Union wrote: "The Schenectady Symphony Orchestra under Reuter were in fine form...[he] led a fine, rollicking, crisp performance."

Gerard Reuter has been heard on major radio stations throughout this country and in Europe and has been recorded in concert for worldwide broadcast on The Voice of America. He has recorded for Sony, New World, Telarc, Columbia, BMG-Catalyst, Dorian, Summit and Musical Heritage Society.

Mr. Reuter studied oboe at the Juilliard School with Lois Wann and at the Royal College of Music in London with Terence MacDonagh. Conducting studies were with David Gilbert, Jens Nygaard, John Nelson, Roger Nierenberg, Pascal Verrot and Ki Sun Sung. He will be heard on SCE’s Labor Day weekend programs.

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Susan Rotholz, flute, made her New York debut to critical acclaim in 1981 as a winner of the Concert Artists Guild Award. Since then she has established herself as a soloist, chamber musician, orchestral flutist and teacher. Ms. Rotholz is principal flutist of the Greenwich Symphony Orchestra, the New York Chamber Ensemble. She is a member of Orchestra of St. Luke’s, The New York Pops, The Little Orchestral Society, and has served as principal with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, American Symphony, American Ballet Theater and the Stamford Symphony. Susan was principal flutist for 25 years with the New England Bach Festival under Blanche Moyse and now continues to be a principal flutist for “the hottest tickets in town” revival series, Encores! at New York City Center. Ms. Rotholz has appeared as soloist with the Brandenberg Ensemble, New York String Seminar, New York Chamber Ensemble, Bay Atlantic Symphony, Greenwich Symphony, The New England Bach Festival and the Westmoreland Symphony. She has commissioned and premiered Robert Beaser's Variations for flute and piano, Anthem for flute and orchestra by Elizabeth Brown, Invocation, a flute concerto by Edie Hill and Themes and Moods, a chamber work crossing classical and jazz idioms by Ted Rosenthal. In 2003, Bridge Records released her recordings of the complete Bach Sonatas for Flute and Fortepiano and the Partita for Solo Flute with Kenneth Cooper. The recordings are said to be “irresistible in both music and performance” (The NY Times). In 1988, Ms. Rotholz won the Young Concerts Artists International Competition as a founding member of Hexagon, an ensemble for piano and winds. The group was featured on the nationally aired PBS documentary Debut in 1990.

Ms. Rotholz is co-founder with Eliot Bailen of the acclaimed Sherman Chamber Ensemble in Sherman, CT, now in its 28th season. They have also co-founded the Rodeph Sholom Chamber Music Series in New York. Ms. Rotholz is a regular performer with the Saratoga Chamber Players, the Sebago Long Lake Chamber Music Festival, The New York Wind Soloists, Greenwich Chamber Players, Cape May and Caramoor festivals and has performed with the Salt Bay, Mostly Mozart, and Marlboro festivals.

Ms. Rotholz holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Queens College and and a Masters of Music from Yale School of Music and is on the faculties of Columbia University, Queens College: Aaron Copland School of Music and Manhattan School of Music pre-college division.

In 2002, Ms. Rotholz was awarded the Norman Vincent Peale Arts Award for Positive Thinking. She lives in New York City with her husband and their three children. She plays in all three concerts this summer.

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Peter Weitzner, double bass, a graduate of the Juilliard School, has performed with Solisti New York, the Jupiter Symphony, EOS Ensemble, SONYC, Philharmonia Virtuosi, Stamford Symphony, Musicians Accord, and the New Jersey Symphony. As soloist, he has appeared with the Baltimore Symphony and performed the New York premiere of Sheila Silver’s Chant for double bass and piano. Mr. Weitzner has been a frequent participant at international music festivals including Mostly Mozart, OK Mozart, Cape May, Festival of the Hamptons, Bratislava Music Festival, and the Bruckner Festival in Linz, Austria.

An avid chamber musician, Mr. Weitzner is currently the curator and host of the BPL Chamber Players in residence at the Central branch (Grand Army Plaza) of the Brooklyn Public Library. He has performed with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Orion Quartet, Enso Quartet, Trio Solisti, New York Chamber Ensemble, Yale at Norfolk, Cooperstown Chamber Music Festival, New York Philomusica, Garden City Chamber Music Society, Sherman Chamber Ensemble and the Berkshire Bach Society.

He has also performed with the dance companies of Lar Lubovitch and David Parsons as well as Merce Cunningham's 80th birthday celebration at the Lincoln Center Festival in the New York premiere of Biped. He also participated in a performance at NJPAC (NJ Performing Arts Center) with the re-emerging Alice Coltrane shortly before her passing. For ten years Mr. Weitzner toured the world as a member of the Giora Feidman Trio. In the spring of 2009, he was invited to become a member of the Quincy Jones Musiq Consortium, an arts education advocacy group comprised of arts related non-profits, musicians and educators.

His work can be heard on the Nonesuch, Albany, Pro Gloria Musicae, New World Records, Musical Heritage Society, Delos, Grenadilla, and Berkshire Bach Society record labels. He has also produced recordings of the Brandenburg Concerti with the Berkshire Bach Society and the critically acclaimed complete flute music of J.S. Bach with flutist Susan Rotholz and Kenneth Cooper, fortepiano, released by Bridge Records. He returns this season for SCE’s Labor Day weekend concerts.
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Calvin Wiersma, violin, has appeared throughout the world as a soloist and chamber musician. He has performed numerous solo recitals, including appearances in Boston, New York, and Chicago, and has appeared with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, The Concerto Company of Boston, and the Lawrence Symphony, among others. In addition to his current membership with the Manhattan String Quartet, he was a founding member of the Meliora Quartet, winner of the Naumberg, Fischoff, Coleman, and Cleveland Quartet competitions, and the Quartet-in-Residence of the Spoleto Festivals of the U.S., Italy, and Australia, and was also a founding member of the Figaro Trio.

In addition to his worldwide touring with the MSQ, Mr. Wiersma has been heard at numerous summer Chamber Music Festivals including the Aspen Music Festival and the Vancouver, Rockport, Bard, Portland, Crested Butte, North Country, Central Vermont, New Hope, Interlochen, Prairie School, An Appalachian Summer, Cape May, and Music Mountain Festivals to name but a few. Former member of New York Philomusica, and frequent performer at Bargemusic, he has also performed with the Da Camera Society of Houston, the Brandenburg All Stars in sold out performances in New York City, the Sea Cliff Chamber Players, The Festival Chamber Music Society, The Chamber Music Society of New Hope, the Carnegie Chamber Players, and Close Encounters with Music.

Mr. Wiersma's wide range of musical activities have recently involved an international tour soloing with Kathleen Battle, national and international tours with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, appearances at the Berkshire Bach Festival performing the complete Brandenburg concertos, and concerts at the Metropolitan Museum of Art with flutist Paula Robison. His recently completed recordings include Jacob Druckman's Third String Quartet for Philomusica, a recording of Elliott Carter's Syringa, Swan Song by Milton Babbitt, Harold Meltzer’s Brion with the Cygnus Ensmeble, a recording of chamber music of Nils Vigeland, and an album of Chamber Music of Stephen Foster with Ms. Robison for Telarc.

A noted performer of contemporary music, Mr. Wiersma is a member of Cygnus and the Lochrian Chamber Ensemble, and has appeared with Speculum Musicae, Ensemble 21, Parnassus, Ensemble Sospeso, and the New York New Music Ensemble. He has recently completed European tours with Steve Reich and Ensemble 21, and has been featured in solo performances for the International League of Composers of Music.

Mr. Wiersma was the creator of the Music program and initial Music Department chair at the Bard High School Early College, an innovative New York City Public School for gifted students, and has been a music education coordinator for the American Symphony Orchestra.

An active teacher as well as performer, Mr. Wiersma is an Assistant Professor of Violin and Chamber Music at the Purchase Conservatory of Music, and has been on the faculties of the Lawrence Conservatory of Music, Florida State University, Brandeis University, the New England Conservatory, and the Longy School of Music. He has conducted clinics and master classes throughout the world, and has been an artist in residence at numerous institutions, including Middlebury College, Colgate University, the California Summer Arts Program, the Smolny Institute in Moscow, Russia, and the Institute for Chamber Music in Khiryat Shemona, Israel. Mr. Wiersma joins SCE for our July season openers.

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Paul Woodiel, violin, returns to Sherman for our Labor Day chamber music and bluegrass concerts. Leonard Bernstein described Paul Woodiel as "a first-class performer - one who combines spirituality with intellect".  A busy purveyor of a broad range of violin/fiddle music, he has been a featured recitalist at the 92nd St. Y, the Miller Theater at Columbia University, and the New York Festival of Song at Carnegie Hall, and has appeared as soloist at music festivals from Bard College in New York to the red rocks of Moab, Utah. A three-time New England Fiddle Contest champion, he is a noted exponent of traditional fiddle styles, and teaches traditional fiddle at Wesleyan University. In this vein, he performs across the US and abroad with the Scottish dance band Local Hero. An unabashed theater musician and veteran of Broadway orchestra pits, he currently performs in The Look of Love, a revue of the songs of Burt Bacharach and Hal David. In that production, he utilizes the Viper, a seven string electronic instrument created by rock violin innovator Mark Wood. Other artists and organizations with whom he has worked include Steve Reich and Musicians, piano wizard Dick Hyman, Vince Giordano's Nighthawks, the American Composers Orchestra, and the Grammy Awards Orchestra. As a studio player, his fiddling appears in myriad contexts including controversial Woody Allen films, controversial Dixie Chicks releases, and advertisements for controversial weight-loss medications. Current projects include a solo recording of Scottish violin music with pianist Susie Petrov, and a collaboration with composer/pianist Neely Bruce on a new outdoor staged historical event based on the story of Benedict Arnold.

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