​Violinist Philip Setzer, a founding member of the Emerson String Quartet, was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and began studying violin at the age of five with his parents, both former violinists in the Cleveland Orchestra. He continued his studies with Josef Gingold and Rafael Druian, and later at the Juilliard School with Oscar Shumsky. In 1967, Mr. Setzer won second prize at the Marjorie Merriweather Post Competition in Washington, DC, and in 1976 received a Bronze Medal at the Queen Elisabeth International Competition in Brussels.

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He has appeared with the National Symphony, Aspen Chamber Symphony (David Robertson, conductor), Memphis Symphony (Michael Stern), New Mexico and Puerto Rico Symphonies (Guillermo Figueroa), Omaha and Anchorage Symphonies (David Loebel) and on several occasions with the Cleveland Orchestra (Louis Lane). He has also participated in the Marlboro Music Festival.

 

Mr. Setzer has been a regular faculty member of the Isaac Stern Chamber Music Workshops at Carnegie Hall and the Jerusalem Music Center. His article about those workshops appeared in The New York Times on the occasion of Isaac Stern's 80th birthday celebration. MORE

Award-winning musician Adrian Sylveen enjoys a performing career in the United States and Europe. He is a founder and artistic director of the Connecticut Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra (USA) and the Greve Opera Academy and Chamber Music Festival (Italy). He also appears frequently with Teatro Lirico D’Europa (USA) and Camerata Gdynia (Poland).

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Mr. Sylveen has conducted approximately 35 operatic titles and has an extensive orchestral and oratorio repertoire. He has conducted and performed concerts in the United States, Poland, Italy, Israel, Cuba, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, and the former Soviet Union.

Between 2004 and 2024, Mr. Sylveen was a co-founder, artistic director, and the principal conductor of the Connecticut Lyric Opera.

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He worked with such ensembles as the Israeli Chamber Orchestra, the Olsztyn Philharmonic, the Elbląg Chamber Orchestra, the Classical Orchestra of Piła (Poland), Associazione Il Contrappunto (Italy), Holguín Symphony Orchestra (Cuba), Orchestra da Camera di Greve-In-Chianti (Italy), Central Massachusetts Symphony Orchestra, the New Britain Chorale, Coro di teatro Garibaldi, Chór Akademii Staszica (Piła, Poland), among others. MORE

Praised in Gramophone magazine for “disciplined virtuosity,” violinist Joanna Kurkowicz enjoys an active and versatile career as an award-winning soloist, recitalist, chamber musician and concertmistress. She has performed on many of the great concert stages of the world, including Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Jordan Hall, Boston and the Grosse Saal, Salzburg, and has appeared as a soloist with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Boston Philharmonic,  Brussels Philharmonic, Metamorphosen Chamber Orchestra, the Jefferson Symphony, the San Luis Obispo Symphony, the New England String Ensemble, the Berkshire Symphony, the Poznan Philharmonic, the Polish National Radio Orchestra in Katowice and Warsaw, and others.

 

She has received awards from the Samuel Chester, Presser, Saint Botolph, Kosciuszko, and Olevsky Foundations, the Harvard Musical Association, the Irving McKlein International Competition, the Carmel and Coleman Chamber Music Competitions, and in Poland, the Henryk Wieniawski and Tadeusz Wronski International Competitions. She was a recipient of the New England Conservatory Outstanding Alumni Award in 2008. MORE