Tünde Szabóki
Hungarian State Opera
soprano

The outstanding dramatic soprano studied piano n Franz Liszt Music Academy in Budapest , then singing in Graz and summer academy of Bayerische Staatsoper in München under Astrid Varnay. Her career as opera- and concert-singer started in Austria, one of her most memorable performance was in the world-premier of Schubert's opera Der Graf von Gleichen in Styriarte Festival leading by Nikolaus Harnoncourt. With Graz Philharmonic Orchestra she sang among others in Mahler's Symphony VIII., under the baton of Fabio Luisi. She is a regular guest in famous concert halls in Vienna, Musikverein and Konzerthaus. She often serves in Stephansdom in Vienna, she participated in high mass celebrated by Pope Benedict XVI. In Hungary after a successful career as an oratorio-singer she debuted in Fidelio-premier of Hungarian State Opera with Thomas Moser under the baton of Ádám Fischer. In the Palace of Arts in Budapest in June 2009 she sang more roles in the Ring with Ádám Fischer, and in September 2009 she appeared in Britten's The Death in Venice in Theater an der Wien under the baton of Donald C. Runnicles.

Andrea Meláth
Hungarian State Opera
mezzo-soprano

The famous mezzo-soprano won III. Prize of Wigmore Hall International Song Competition and appeared in Europalia in Bruxelles with the Hungarian Radio Orchestra under the baton of Tamás Vásáry in 1999. Her most famous role is Judit in Duke Bluebeard's Castle: she often portrays it all over Europe and the world (among others in Teatro Massimo in Palermo, in Barbican Hall in London, in the Palace of Arts and from the last season in Stuttgart Opera) and she sings in the Naxos-recording published in 2007. She sings in Hungarian State Opera from 1998, beside Judit she often sings Dorabellát, Sesto, Rosina and Orlovsky. Newly she had outstanding successes in Serse and in Die Rosenkavalier. Among her numerous CD Galuppi's La clemenza di Tito (under the baton of Fabio Pirona, Hungaroton) and Mozart's Don Giovanni (with Ferruccio Furlanetto and László Polgár, under the baton of György Győriványi Ráth György, Vox Artis) could be excepted. She is a significant artist as an oratorio-soloist, she won Artisjus-prize for 8 times for her commanding activity in the field of contemporary Hungarian music's interpretation. From January 2009 she is a department chief in University of Pécs.

Timothy Bentch
Tenor, Artistic dierctor of the Crescendo Summer Institute

Tenor Timothy Bentch, a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, lived in Hungary for twelve years where critics referred to him as “a treasure in today’s Hungarian musical life” naming him the most significant “Hungarian” lyric tenor of this generation.  He has performed over 40 operatic roles at the Hungarian State Opera and in many other opera houses throughout Europe.  He has performed such roles as Alfredo in La Traviata.  Nemorino in L’Elisir d’amore, Edguardo in Lucia, Ismaele in Nabucco, Fenton in Falstaff, Tom Rakewell in The Rake’s Progress, four roles by Benjamin Britten, and numerous baroque operas – Jupiter in Semele, Nero in The Coronation of Poppea, Monteverdi’s Ulyssis, and Orfeo – a performance that marked the opening of the new theater in the Budapest Palace of the Arts in 2005.  His has been particularly praised for his interpretation of Mozart roles. 

In symphonic repertoire, he regularly sings repertoire from renaissance and baroque to the large works of Mahler and Verdi.  In 2013 he returns to the Hungarian State Opera to sing the Evangelist in a semi-staged first ever production of Bach’s Saint Matthew Passion at the Hungarian State Opera.  He also returns to the Hungarian National Philharmonic to sing Britten’s War Requiem.  He has sung with the philharmonic orchestras of Lille, Strasbourg, Avignon, Saint Petersburg, Sofia, Warsaw, the Israeli Chamber Orchestra, the Ars Nova Symphony in Chicago. A recent review in the BBC Music Magazine praised Timothy Bentch’s “heroic tenor” as one of the saving graces of a recent recording of Janacek’s Glagolitic Mass.  The Stereophile Magazine named his recording of Mahler’s 8th symphony the ‘Recording of the Month,’ writing, “I dare say you've never heard in this music a tenor like Timothy Bentch.  Bentch's top B-flats and Bs are as heroic as his sweet singing is sweet. His "Blicket auf," a moment that can cause fear and trembling, is stirring in all the right ways.”

Beáta Trubin
soprano

COACHES

Erika Dallos

She is a musical assistant in Hungarian State Opera. After her studies as chorus master and cemballist she became the member of her mother-theater in 1990. She is also active in early music and plays regularly with the Capella Savaria Baroque Ensemble and Aura Musicale Baroque Ensemble in addition to many concerts of chamber music and song. She often participates in concerts as cemballist and pianist. In 2009 she was artistic leader and conductor of the production of Crescendo Summer Institute, Haydn's Le pescatrici in Ede Paulay Theater in Tokaj.

Kristin Ditlow
vocal coach

 Kristin  Ditlow, piano, vocal coach, is a graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and Westminster Choir College. She has performed as a soloist and collaborative pianist throughout the United States and abroad, including appearances at Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, Lincoln Center, Tanglewood, and Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall. She is the winner of the 2004 Peggy Rockefeller Memorial Fellowship at the Tanglewood Music Center, and the Princeton-Pettoranello Sister City Foundation Baccalaureate Grant, and has studied and performed in both England and Italy. In addition to her solo appearances and recordings, Kristin performs with the Lukens Piano Trio, teaches at the Curtis Institute of Music, and works with the Opera Company of Philadelphia.

She played at the National Theater of Nagyvárad (Szigligeti company) and the Oberon Alternative Theater. After these theater experiences she decided to study acting at the University of Theater – Marosvásárhely (Romania).  She graduated in 2008 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Acting, and she won the Studio Award, offered by the University of Theater – Marosvásárhely for the most talented graduate student.  Her favourite roles: Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery: Little prince – Director: Lóránt Csatlós), Agnes –(Agnes of God by John Pielmeyer – Director: Marius Oltean), Beatrice – ( Much ado about nothing by William Shakespeare –  Director: István Kövesdi) Girl 2 –( Greener Grass by Faith Withacre and Krisztina Tarjányi) – professor Willard (Our town by Thorton Wilder – director: John Kirby).

She is the writer, the editor and the speaker of several radio broadcasts along with the Mustard Seed Renewal Ministry and Radio Maria from Transylvania.
She has initiated and organized the Prayer-week for Artists of Marosvásárhely in 2010 – Romania.
She lead several theatre workshops at different Christian venues. Lately she wrote a few scenes and one short drama. These were mainly requested by different Christian ministries (Hungarian Crescendo - Easter performance in 2011, and To the Cross Youth Ministry – Transylvania) She has also directed a Musical Gala for the Catholic Students Organization of Marosvásárhely.

COREOGRAPHER

Tina Bailey
choreographer

DON GIOVANNI

Teresa Moyer

opera director, Don Giovanni

Moyer is a Professor of Music and the Associate Director of Theatre, specializing in Vocal Studies at Eastern University. She holds a Master of Music degree in Opera Performance and an Artist’s Diploma in Voice from the Curtis Institute of Music, as well as a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music Education from Rutgers University. Ms. Moyer has performed the roles of Cousin in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, and a Witch in Verdi’s Macbeth Opera Company of Philadelphia, where is a twenty two year veteran of the opera chorus. Ms. Moyer also performs regularly with The Philadelphia Singers Chorale, the symphonic chorus of the Philadelphia Orchestra. She participated for several years in Il Festivale dei due Mondi in Spoleto, Italy, under the Artistic Direction of Gian Carlo Menotti. While in Spoleto, she also performed the role of Maid in Stravinsky's The Nose. Professor Moyer initiated and leads the Opera Workshop and Musical Theater program at Eastern University where she has directed numerous productions. She was the director of the two opera performances in the Crescendo Summer Institue, Haydn's Le Pescatrici in 2008 and Donizeti's L'Elisir D'Amore in 2011. In addition to her work at Eastern, Ms Moyer maintains a private voice studio in her home in West Conshohocken. She is a member of the Vineyard Community Church in Chester Springs, PA, where she and her husband Stephen serve on the worship and church leadership teams.

Paolo Paroni

Gergely Kaposi

choral conducting

 

SOLO INSTRUMENTS

VIOLIN

David Danel

violonist

The violinist of Prague Philharmonic, David Danel has a significant career also as a soloist: he appeared with Janacek Philharmonic Orchestra, Ostrava Orchestra, Capella Istropolitana in Slovakia, Prague Philharmonic Chamber Soloists and Talich Chamber Orchestra in Prague. He has made many recordings of solo and chamber music for the Czech Radio and Slovart Records. He has received prizes in several national and international competitions including the Ludwig van Beethoven International Violin Competition and the Leos Janacek Violin Competition. He enjoys looking for ways to bring the violin into new mediums, and often cooperates with dancers, choreographers, visual artists and narrators, and frequently premieres new works by Czech composers. Beside his artistic career he teaches at the University of Ostrava.

Peter Slowik
violist

Recently profiled by the Strad magazine as “a man of limitless energy and purpose – he mentors high achievers who make their mark in top positions the world over,” Peter Slowik is in high demand as an artist-teacher.  He has been a featured performer and teacher at six International Viola Congresses, and has recorded on the Deutsche Grammophon, deutsche harmonia mundi/BMG, American Grammophone, Erato and Cedille labels.  An active chamber musician, Mr. Slowik has performed with William Preucil, Anner Bylsma, and Leonard Rose, the Mirecourt Trio, the Jasper, Saint Petersburg and Vermeer Quartets, the Smithsonian Chamber Players, and members of the Cleveland, Chester, Orford, and Smithson quartets. Past orchestral associations include service as Principal Violist of the Smithsonian Chamber Orchestra, Concertante di Chicago, and the American Sinfonietta.  Recent master class appearances have taken him to Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, England, Europe, New Zealand, and most of the significant US conservatories. Mr. Slowik is Chairman of Strings and Robert W. Wheeler Professor of Viola at Oberlin College, and also as Artistic Director for the chamber music program Credo.   Past teaching posts include Northwestern University, Indiana University, the Cleveland Institute of Music, and the Eastman School of Music.  He has been named to the highest teaching awards at both Oberlin (Teaching Excellence Award 2009)  and Northwestern, (the McCormick Professorship for Teaching Excellence 1999).   In 2002 Mr. Slowik was the recipient of the Maurice Riley Viola Award from the American Viola Society for "outstanding teaching, scholarship, and performance.” His viola students have won first prize in numerous competitions, including the ASTA National Solo Competition, the Johannsen International Competition, the Ohio and Chicago Viola Society Solo Competitions, the Juilliard Concerto Competition, and the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition.  They perform in such major American orchestras as the Chicago Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, and National Symphony, and in university appointments throughout the country.

Ellen Rose 

Principal, Dallas Symphony Orchestra

violist

Ellen Rose, a Juilliard School graduate, has served as Principal Violist of the Dallas Symphony since 1980. She has performed as recitalist throughout America and Europe, and she has appeared in chamber music performances with Itzhak Perlman, Pinchas Zukerman, Yo Yo Ma, Lynn Harrell and Ralph Kirschbaum. She premiered and recorded numerous contemporary works. As a fund raiser, her annual "Ellen Rose and Firends" chamber music concerts has raised funds for the cancer unit at Children's Medical Center of Dallas and her group is currently benefiting The Nelson Center, a home for abandoned, abused and neglected children. She is on the Viola Faculty at Southern Methodist University and teaches professional musicians throughout the country. She is on the Advisory Council for the DSO'S Young Strings Project. Some master classes include The Juilliard School, Cleveland Institute of Music, Oberlin Conservatory, University of Michigan, and The Manhattan School of Music. She has written several transcriptions and arrangements, magazine articles, and has written two books, Viola Excerpts PLUS, and a scale book called EXTREME VIOLA.

Eszter Füzesséryné Dudás 
violist, Artistic Director of CSI

Eszter Dudás violist, she received her diploma from the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music in 1999, as the student of László Bársony. She played in National Philharmonic Orchestra and in the MATÁV Symphonic Orchestra, she often participated their European concert-tours. Currently she is a section leader and soloist of Pest County Symphonic Orchestra and member of the HÍD Chamber Ensemble, Sárospatak String Quartett and the Violinetta Duo founded with his husband, Attila Füzesséry. The Violinetta Duo won the prize of ARTISJUS Musical Foundation for their commanding activity in the field of contemporary Hungarian music's interpretation. She taught at the Vác Music Conservatory from 2000 to 2004, from where her students got into the Franz Liszt Music Academy in Budapest and its departments in Debrecen and Szeged. How she teaches viola at the Kőbánya Music School where she is also the conductor of the orchestra. Her students won numerous prizes in solo- and chamber music-competitions in Budapest and Hungary. In 2004 from the initiation of Timothy Bentch, in her native town, Sárospatak, they founded Crescendo Summer Institute, in which she is a leading teacher. From September 2006 she is the director of Song for the Nations Cultural Foundation organizing the Summer Institute. With the support of Royalty-base of Performers he was invited in East-Helsinki Music Institute.

CELLO

Hannu Kiiski

Cello

A Finnish national, Hannu Kiiski (b. 1956) began to play the cello at the age of eight at the Tampere Conservatory of Music. At the age of 15 he moved on to the Sibelius Academy, pursuing studies under Erkki Rautio and Arto Noras, two of the foremost cellists in the country. Mr. Kiiski was the youngest student ever to complete a diploma at the Sibelius Academy. He was just 17 at the time. In 1978 he reached the semifinals of the prestigious Tchaikovsky Cello Competition in Moscow.

At present he is assistant professor of cello at the Sibelius Academy, one of the biggest music universities in Europe. Beginning at the age of 21, he has taught at the Academy for more than three decades. For years, his students have been successful in cello competitions and gained leader positions in major orchestras.

In 1994 he founded the Total Cello Ensemble, in which he joins five others chosen from among his top students. An unofficial ”calling card” of the Sibelius Academy, the Ensemble frequently performs abroad, continuing to surprise and delight audiences with its creative and whimsical programs combining Bach with Villa-Lobos, Sibelius with the haunting calls of whooper swans, and Pärt with Piazzolla.

For the past more than ten years, Mr. Kiiski has taught and performed regularly at the two-week Naantali Music Festival, which is held in June. He has also conducted numerous cello master classes in Tallinn, Estonia, and Aarhus and Odense, Denmark. 

In addition to regularly giving solo recitals and appearing as a soloist with orchestra, Mr. Kiiski uses his musical talents in a number of voluntary capacities. Each year, he takes time to go salmon-fishing and hiking over fells in Finnish Lapland. Birdwatching, centering on migratory birds, is yet another of his long-time avocations.

Tamás Koó

cello

- teaches on the first week of CSI - 

He has been a teacher at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music since 1975; since 1990, as an associate professor and has been a member of the National Philharmonic Orchestra (previously: Hungarian State Orchestra) since September 1, 1974. He has been solo cellist of the orchestra since April 1, 1975.

 Since September 1974, he has been soloist of the National Philharmonic Orchestra. AWARDS AND DECORATIONS: 1973: International Pablo Casals Cello Competition, Budapest – 2^nd Prize, 1976: International J. S. Bach Cello Competition, Leipzig – 4^th Prize. As a member of the New Budapest String Quartet: 1970: Carlo Jachino Competition, Rome – 2^nd Prize, 1973: International Weiner Competition, Budapest – 3^rd Prize

Norbert Duka was born in Hungary in 1941 and began to study the double bass at the age of fourteen. At sixteen he entered the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest and studied with Zoltan Tibay, winning first prize of the academy’s competition the following year. He went on to perform at several jazz festivals in Europe with amongst others Leo Wright, Carmell Jones and Slide Hampton and finally continued his studies of classical double bass at the Berlin Musikhochschule with, amongst others, Rainer Zepperitz. Norbert Duka is double-bass player with the German Opera Berlin, where he was appointed Chamber Musician in 1984. His career has brought recitals at home and abroad, with performances of original works, transcriptions and new compositions dedicated to him. He plays a fine eighteenth-century Italian instrument. for more click here

FLUTE

Christian Studler
Academy of Music and Symphony Orchestra Bern
flute

The well-known Swiss flautist, Christian Studler is a winner of numerous competitions earlier in his career, he studied with Aurele Nicolet, Marcel Moyse, and James Galway. As a flute soloist he has played under such conductors as Marcello Viotti, Okko Kamu, Gustav Kuhn, Peter Gülke, and Ivan Anguélov. He has been the solo flutist with the Bern Symphonic Orchestra since 1979 and also professor of music at the Music University Bern since the same year.

OBOE

József Kiss
Hochschule für Musik, Detmold
oboist

József Kiss was born in Sátoraljaújhely, Hungary in 1961. He graduated from the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music in 1986 where he studied with Péter Pongrácz. He has taught at the same institution for over 20 years. In 1984 he won the "Bronz Medaille" in the Touloni International Oboe Competition and he won the Grand Prix of the Hungarian Radio National Woodwinds Competition. He was the first oboist with the Hungarian Radio Symphonic Orchestra for almost ten years. From 1992 to 2009 he was the principal oboist with the Hungarian National Philharmonic where he was twice awarded "Artist of the Year" in 1998 and 2001. Since 1997 he has been a guest professor at the Tokyo Musashino Academy of Music. He was a member of the Budapest Woodwind Ensemble and the New Budapest Woodwind Quintet. In 2005 he was awarded the prestigious Liszt Prize by the Hungarian Government. Until 2010 he was a tenured professor at the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music. Now József Kiss is professor at the Detmold Hochschule für Musik. He has made many solo and chamber music recordings with the Naxos and Hungaroton recording labels some of which can be heard with the partnership of pianist Jenő Jandó. He has worked with the many prestigious conductors including George Solti, Antal Doráti, János Ferencsik, György Lehel, Zoltán Peskó, Gennagyij Roysgzesytvensykij, Lamberto Gardellivel, Giuseppe Patané, Kobayashi Ken-Ichiro and Ádám Fischer.

Eszter Pap

oboist of the Hungarian National Philharmonic

Eszter Pap was born in 1967 in Budapest and studied at the Ferenc Liszt Music Academy. During her studies started to play in  the National State Opera of Hungary. After her studies was requested to play first oboe in Hungarian National Philharmonic. Since than she is faithful to the orchestra. 

CLARINET

Brian Hysong

clarinet

Brian Hysong is in his 27th season as bass clarinetist of the New York City Ballet Orchestra. He was a full scholarship student at the Julliard School where he studied with Vincent Abato and Joe Allard. Additionally he was a member of the National Orchestra Association where he worked regularly with such outstanding musicians as Max Rudolph, Joseph Silverstein, and Gunther Schuller. Mr. Hysong has appeared as a guest artist, at home and on tour with the Pittsburgh Symphony (1986-2000), under Micheal Tilson Thomas, Andre Previn, Bernhard Klee, Donald Runnicles, John Williams, Lorin Maazel, Maxim Shostakovich, Mariss Jansons, Yoel Levy, and James Conlon, among others. In addition, he has served as bass clarinetist with the New Jersey Symphony (1994-1998), the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, American Symphony, American Composers Orchestra, the Brooklyn Philharmonic, and the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. He has also performed with the San Francisco, Seattle, Stuttgart, Erick Hawkins and American Ballet Theatre Orchestras. During the summers of 2000-2002, Mr. Hysong was invited to participate as a performing artist at Marlboro. Most recently, he was invited to perform and teach at Crescendo Hungary in Sarospatak, Hungary during the summer of 2012.  

BASSOON

Koji Okazaki

bassoon

Born in Hiroshima, Koji Okazaki began his study of the bassoon at the age of sixteen and had his professional training from 1968 to 1972 at the Musashino Academy of Music, thereafter joining the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra. A second prize winner at two of the NHK/MaiNichi Music Competitions, he was awarded the Deutsche Akademische Austauschen Dienst Fellowship in 1974 and embarked on a course of study at the Nordwestdeutsche Musikakademie in Detmold, undertaking concert-tours and recordings as a member of the Detmold Wind Ensemble. A prize- winner in the Trio Class at the Colmar International Chamber Music Competition, he graduated with the highest distinction in 1978 and was immediately invited to take up his present position as principal bassoonist of the NHK Symphony Orchestra (the top orchestra in Japan) in Tokyo. He also serves as a member of the teaching staffs of the Musashino Academy of Music, Elizabeth Music University, and is professor of bassoon at the Tokyo Univeristy of the Arts.

TRUMPET

Richard Stoelzel
trumpet

Hailed as “one of the foremost performers and teachers of trumpet in the U.S.” and “one of the greatest trumpet players of our time,” Richard Stoelzel maintains an active career as an international soloist, chamber and orchestral musician. Reviewers have called his trumpet player, “virtuosic and lyrical,” “liquid like tone,” “his bel canto style gave this reviewer chills.” He began his career as solo cornet with the United States Coast Guard Band, a presidential band. In this position he performed throughout the U.S. and gave numerous command performances for Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush.  As a soloist he has performed throughout the U.S. and abroad including five highly successful tours of China and as a result earned the title of “Distinguished Visiting Professor” at the Shen Yang Conservatory of Music and other schools throughout China. Stoelzel has performed as a soloist at the 2003, 2007, and 2009 International Trumpet Guild Conference. At the 2009 conference, he was a featured soloist with the Keystone Wind Ensemble as well as performing with the Aries Trio. for more click here

FRENCH HORN

Maria Serkin

horn

Maria Serkin is the Horn Professor at the New World School of the Arts in Miami, Florida, and the Principal Horn of the Florida Grand Opera and Palm Beach Symphony. She was previously the Co-Principal Horn with the Sarasota Orchestra, and a fellow with the New World Symphony in Miami Beach. An avid educator, Professor Serkin has taught horn master classes extending from the University of Arkansas to The Juilliard School. Her research established a progressive method of transposition--a first in the advancement of horn methodology. 

While earning degrees from Eastman School of Music, New England Conservatory and the Manhattan School of Music, Professor Serkin performed with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra, Naples Philharmonic, Hartford Symphony Orchestra, Kansas City Symphony and the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. She also performed with the prestigious Spoleto Festival USA, National Repertory Orchestra, Boston Early Music Festival, Pacific Music Festival, Kent/Blossom Music Festival, National Orchestral Institute, Palm Beach Chamber Music Festival and was a fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center. 

TROMBONE

Ben Osborne

trombone

R. Benjamin Osborne began his studies in music with the piano at age 5, and then on trombone at the age of 12. He grew up in Lubbock, TX, where he also received his bachelor's degree in music performance from Texas Tech University in 2002 studying under Don Lucas.

After completing his Bachelor’s degree, Ben took a brief respite from music, spending one year of urban ministry in Chicago and then two years of full-time study at Dallas Theological Seminary, earning a certificate of graduate studies.  In 2007 Ben completed a master’s degree in trombone performance at Southern Methodist University where he studied with John Kitzman.

Ben has served as second trombone of the Austin Symphony Orchestra since 2008.  He has performed on numerous occasions with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra and has served as faculty at the MasterWorks Festival in Winona Lake, Indiana and The Festival Institute at Round Top.  In August of 2010 Ben was appointed as Adjunct Instructor of Trombone at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas where he currently teaches.

As a soloist Ben has performed with the Metropolitan Winds in the Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas, Texas, with the SHSU Symphonic Band, and in recital as guest artist at Baylor University, Texas State University, the University of Texas, Southern Methodist University, and at the 2010 Junior International Trombone Festival in Austin, TX. Ben is an artist and clinician with the Edwards Instrument Company.

Ben currently resides in Austin, Texas with his wife Rachel.

TUBA

Matthew K. Brown

tuba

Matthew K. Brown, a native of Reading, Pennsylvania, began his musical studies on the classical guitar at the age of seven and started playing the tuba at the age of fifteen. At the age of seventeen he became the grand-prize winner of the Pennsylvania Sinfonia Concerto Competition, and made his concerto debut with the Pennsylvania Sinfonia later that same year to rave reviews: “Brown was exciting…..a tour de force!” (Allentown Morning Call); “The best performance of the {Vaughn Williams} tuba concerto I recall hearing!” (Bethlehem Globe Times).
While a tuba student at Boston University, he began his professional chamber music career as tubist and founding member of the award-winning Paramount Brass Quintet. Mr. Brown went on to study at the Peabody Conservatory of Music at Johns Hopkins University, and he holds degrees from Mansfield University and Michigan State University. His teachers include Sam Pilafian, Phil Sinder, David Fedderly, Robert Shunk, Steve McEuen, and Don Stanley.
A founding member of the Avatar Brass Quintet, he has performed hundreds of concerts throughout the United States, including weekly internationally televised performances from the Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Mr. Brown is an active arranger, having arranged and transcribed over one hundred pieces for various brass ensembles, many of which are published by his own publishing company – Hawkeye Music Publications. He is a member of ASCAP.
Mr. Brown has held the principal tuba position with the Palm Beach Opera Orchestra, and has also performed with the Florida Philharmonic Orchestra, the New World Symphony, the Miami City Ballet, Ballet Florida, the Greater Lansing Symphony Orchestra, the Ann Arbor Symphony, the Philadelphia Big Brass, the Reading Symphony, the Black Pearl Chamber Orchestra, Alea III, and Ensemble 21.
From 1994 through 2000, he served as a member of the Artist Faculty at the prestigious Harid Conservatory of Music (now the Lynn University Conservatory) in Boca Raton, FL, where he taught applied tuba, coached chamber music, and conducted the brass ensemble. He has also served on the faculty at the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, Michigan State University, and Florida Atlantic University where he was a Schmidt Distinguished Teaching Fellow.
Currently, Mr. Brown resides in Reading, Pennsylvania with his wife and three children. In addition to performing and conducting, he is well known as an avid collector and dealer of vintage recordings. He currently teaches tuba at Montclair State University (NJ) and low brass at Franklin and Marshall College (PA). Matt freelances throughout the northeast.

PIANO 

István Dominkó
pianist, DLA

István Dominkó was born in 1971. He graduated from the Liszt Academy of Music in 1996 where he studied with Edit Hambalkó, Kornél Zempléni and Márta Gulyás. Since then he is a professor at the Music Department of the Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest and piano teacher at the Egressy Béni Conservatory of Music. From 2000 to 2004 he won the scholarship of the Liszt Academy to work as a doctoral student under Professor Dezső Ránki. After a profound research he got his doctorate in piano (Doctor of Liberal Arts) in 2008 with Summa cum laude, the title of his dissertation: Memoirs for my children - Robert Schumann’s Jugendalbum.
He is the artistic leader of the HÍD (Bridge) Chamber Ensemble and one of the founder artists of the Crescendo Summer Institute in Sárospatak where he has given masterclasses since 2004. Besides his pedagogical and scholarly work he is active as a soloist and chamber musician throughout the native country, Europe and Asia. He received twice the Scholarship of the Soros Foundation for supporting concert tours. He performs regularly in the Budapest Spring Festival and the Zempléni Festival, numerous of his concerts was broadcasted by the Hungarian Radio, the Romanian Radio and Deutche Welle. He is the founder and music director of the STELLA Recording Studio in Budapest. 

Andreas Henkel

pianist

Piano and piano pedagogy study at Hochschule für Musik Dresden. Major formative influences from the russian pianist Arkadi Zenzipér in Dresden and Aquiles Delle Vigne in Brussels. Afterwards piano teaching position at Heinrich-Schütz-Conservatory Dresden. Continuously masterclasses, amongst others,  for the Crescendo’s Summer Institute in Hungary and in Romania.

International artist with piano solo recitals in many European cities: Dresden, Leipzig, Berlin, Munich (Philharmonic hall “Gasteig”), Brussels (Town Hall Concerts), Paris, Madrid, Barcelona, Zaragoza, Sofia(National Concert Hall “Bulgaria”), Budapest, Bologna, Florence, Naples, Parma, Catania, Zempléni Arts Festival Hungary... Solo recitals as well in the USA, Japan, Corea, Lebanon and Saudi-Arabia. As soloist he appeared with orchestras in Germany, Italy (Orchestra Città di Ravenna), Romania (Philharmonic orchestras in Iasi, Oradea, Tirgu Mures), Spain (Orquesta Sinfonica de Galicia), Moldova (Crescendo Festival Orchestra), Lebanon (Lebanese National Symphony Orchestra Beirut), in the USA with the Westerville Symphony and Columbus Youth Symphony Orchestra, Ohio. Since 2003 regular tours with concerts in Brasil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay with solo recitals in Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paolo,Montevideo and Asuncion as well as orchestra performances with the Orquesta Filarmonica de Montevideo, with the Bachiana Brasileira in Rio de Janeiro at the Sala Cecilia Meireles, with Orquestra Sinfonica de Santo André at the Sala São Paolo.

CD recording for the german label Sächsische Tonträger, radio recordings in Dresden, Berlin, Sofia, TV recordings for Italian, Romanian and Brasilian TV channels. Chamber music with members ofDresden Philharmonic orchestra, Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden and other outstanding soloists. Gospel concerts with Brenda Jackson and Carol Wyatt (both former soloists of the German Opera Berlin). Since 2008 piano duo concerts with his wife Liene Henkel.

Reto Reichenbach 
pianist

Reto Reichenbach has been received by the press and audiences as a musician whose interpretations are particularly intense and sincere. A special focus of his work is directed to the 20th century repertoire, which is reflected in his success at the 2004 international 20th century piano competition in Orléans, France (2nd overall prize and “Nadja Boulanger” special prize). Furthermore, Reto Reichenbach was prizewinner at the international piano competition of the city of Cantú, Italy. For his artistic accomplishments he was given the culture award by the Swiss Bank Corporation and the “Outstanding Young Person Award” by the Swiss Junior Chamber of Commerce. In his widespread musical activities as a soloist, chamber musician and vocal accompanist Reto Reichenbach performed in Switzerland, Germany, France, Italy, Austria, the Netherlands, Moldova, the USA, Canada and Japan. He appeared at the Menuhin Festival Gstaad, the Mozarteum Salzburg, the Salle Cortot in Paris, and the Tonhalle Zurich. for more click here

Klára Körmendi
Liszt Academy of Music, Budapest
pianist

Klára Körmendi was born in Budapest and studied under Kornel Zempleni at the Bartok Conservatory, later becoming a student of Peter Solymos at the Liszt Academy, where she received her diploma with distinction in 1967. She enjoyed early success in a number of national competitions, before embarking on a career that has taken her to the major musical centres of Europe, with broadcasts in Vienna, Paris and London, as well as Basie, Cologne, Lausanne and Lubljana. Klara Kormendi has a wide repertoire, and has always shown particular interest in contemporary repertoire, both Hungarian and foreign. Her recordings for Hungaroton include music by Pierre Boulez, Oliver Messiaen, Luciano Berio and Heinz Hollinger. For Naxos she has recorded works by Debussy and Ravel and the complete piano music of Eric Satie.
Since 1993 she teaches at the Keyboard, Harp and Percussion Department of Franz Liszt Academy of Music.
Awards, honours:Since 1984 for 13 times: Artisjus Music Foundation’s award, 1992: Franz Liszt Award, 1998: László Lajtha Award, 1999: Bartók-Pásztory Award, 2001: Sándor Veress Award, 2009: Artisjus Award for more click here

Mariann Marczi

pianist, chamber music with piano 

Marczi Mariann was born in Hungary in 1977. She began learning to play the piano at the age of four and in 1991 entered the class of Marianne Ábrahám and Gábor Csalog at the Béla Bartók Conservatory in Budapest. She received her Performance Artist Diploma and Master of Music degree in 2000 at the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music in Budapest under Professor Sándor Falvai, Péter Nagy and András Kemenes. She continued her postgraduate studies in Berlin at the Hochschule für Musik „Hannes Eisler”. She also took part in various master classes (György Kurtág, Zoltán Kocsis, Florent Boffard, and Pierre-Laurent Airmad). She completed her studies in 2005, studying in the Doctor of Music (DLA) department under Proffesors Márta Gulyás and Márta Papp at the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music in Budapest. for more click here

 

ORGAN

János Pálúr

organist

During his university studies he won the 1st prize of the Flor Peeters competition in Mechelen and the 1st prize of the first Zoltán Gárdonyi Memorial Competition in Budapest. From 1995 he studied organ with Olivier Latry in the Perfectionnement class of the Conservatory of Paris (CNSM). During these two years he was regularly given organ classes in the Notre Dame. In 1997 he won the Grand Prix of Paris of the second International Organ Competition. Following that he has been invited to perform in the concert series of the greatest French cathedrals.

Since that same year he has been titular organist of the Fasor Reformed Church in Budapest and in 1998 was appointed by competition organ teacher at the Ferenc Liszt Academy of Music. He is the first in Hungary to record Schumann and Duruflé's complete organ works and his improvisation recordings are also remarkable. His concerts were broadcast live by the Hungarian, French and Slovakian radio. The organ reconstruction of the Fasor Reformed church proceeds according to his plans.

ARTIST IN RESIDENCE

Martin Helmchen
artist in residence
pianist

This ‘Moment called Martin Helmchen "one of the most promising young German pianists, whose musicianship is not only shown in his virtuosity but also in his love of chamber music. He plays Mozart’s intimate A major concerto, K. 414 with finesse, with feelings so clear and simple in expression and phrasing that one felt close to the genius of the 26 year old composer himself.” -Badische Zeitung. In September 2006 Martin Helmchen was the recipient of the “Crédit Suisse Award” which was marked by his debut with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra under Valery Gergiev at the Lucerne Festival. In a young career that has already included several significant prizes (he won the Clara-Haskil-Competition in 2001 and was awarded a Fellowship with the Borletti-Buitoni Trust in 2004) this prestigious award has contributed significantly to the increasing profile of this remarkable artist. Born in Berlin, he studied for seven years with Prof. Galina Iwanzowa and since October 2001 Helmchen has been a student of Prof. Arie Vardi at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater, Hanover. for more click here

Marie-Elisabeth Hecker
artist in residence (teaching chamber groups)
cellist

The 23-years-old Marie-Elisabeth Hecker, the winner of Rostropovich-competition in 2005, one of the most celebrated cellist of the young generation. When she was 5 years old, she started her studies in her native town, Zwickau. As 16-years-old she won German National Competition “Jugend” Musiziert, she had numerous concerts in German towns and London. Many of her concerts were supported by Yehudi Menuhin Foundation. From 2001 she in the student of Peter Burns, but she participated in master-classes of Steven Isserlis, Leonid Gorokhov, Daniel Hope, Paul Watkins, Jonathan Tunnel, Gary Hoffman, Philippe Muller and Bernard Greenhouse. Now she appears with the most famous musician of the world, over Europe and the world.  Her most illustrious partners were Claudio Abbado, Jurij Bashmet, Gidon Kremer and the Kremerata Baltika (with whom she is making a CD). She has many recordings, in  2004 she recorded Kodály's Solo-sonata. From November 2008 her master is Frans Helmerson in the Kronberg Academy.

COMPOSER IN RESIDENCE

Gregory Pascuzzi

Born in 1952 in Pittsburgh to musician parents, Gregory Pascuzzi studied composition and conducting with Karel Husa among others, trumpet with Anthony Pasquarelli,  Rob Roy McGregor and Don Tison among others (including brief periods with Ray Crisara and William Vacchiano) and Julio Esteban, piano. He's written for/been performed by noted trumpeters Phil Smith (principal, New York Philharmonic), Ed Hoffman (co-principal, Baltimore Symphony), Dennis Najoom (co-principal, Milwaukee Symphony), Jim Thompson (professor at Eastman) and jazz legends Marvin Stamm and Mike Vax; 'Cellist Anne Martindale Williams (principal, Pittsburgh Symphony), Jose-Luis and JoAnn Garcia (respectively former leader and 'cellist, English Chamber Orchestra), Clarinetists Brian Hysong (New York City Ballet Orchestra) and Karl Herman (principal, New Jersey Symphony) and tubist Patrick Sheridan; The Baltimore, Detroit, Indianapolis and Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestras, the BBC Big Band, the New York Philharmonic Principal Brass/Canadian Brass, Westminster Brass, Volga Wind Band (Saratov, Russia) and major military and Salvation Army Staff bands in the USA, UK, Australia, and Russia. Nine pieces, mostly premiers, have been performed at several conferences of the International Trumpet Guild.
Following a brief stint with the U.S. Military Academy Band at West Point, he served 25 years with the U.S. Army Field Band in Washington, D.C. with which he toured extensively throughout the USA, Europe, Asia and India. In addition to composing/arranging and occasional conducting, he's a freelance musician (classical and jazz) in the Washington DC/Baltimore area. He's served as composer and performer with Crescendo's sister organizations including Christian Performing Artists' Fellowship/Masterworks Festival, Christian Fellowship of Art Music Composers, Face2Face, Wellspring, Oratorium, the All Souls Orchestra and Big Band and the New English and New European Orchestras.

CHAMBER MUSIC

Ellen Rose 
Principal, Dallas Symphony Orchestra
violist

Ellen Rose, a Juilliard School graduate, has served as Principal Violist of the Dallas Symphony since 1980. She has performed as recitalist throughout America and Europe, and she has appeared in chamber music performances with Itzhak Perlman, Pinchas Zukerman, Yo Yo Ma, Lynn Harrell and Ralph Kirschbaum. She premiered and recorded numerous contemporary works. As a fundraiser, her annual "Ellen Rose and Firends" chamber music concerts has raised funds for the cancer unit at Children's Medical Center of Dallas and her group is currently benefiting The Nelson Center, a home for abandoned, abused and neglected children. She is on the Viola Faculty at Southern Methodist University and teaches professional musicians throughout the country. She is on the Advisory Council for the DSO'S Young Strings Project. Some master classes include The Juilliard School, Cleveland Institute of Music, Oberlin Conservatory, University of Michigan, and The Manhattan School of Music. She has written several transcriptions and arrangements, magazine articles, and has written two books, Viola Excerpts PLUS, and a scale book called EXTREME VIOLA.