Musicians

TODD CROW, Music Director and Pianist of the Mt. Desert Festival of Chamber Music since 1996 and Professor Emeritus of Music at Vassar College, has performed extensively in the United States, South America and Europe playing regularly in the major halls of New York, London and elsewhere. He made his Carnegie Hall debut in 1992 as soloist with the American Symphony, and his London orchestral debut at the Barbican Centre with the London Philharmonic in 1986. Among his CDs are recordings of sonatas by Haydn and Schubert, Liszt’s transcription of Berlioz’s “Symphonie Fantastique,” “Todd Crow: The BBC Recordings, Vols. 1 and 2” (featuring various composers), and most recently a solo CD of 21 Chopin Mazurkas. “Heroic…Mr. Crow showed endless flair, color and stamina.” – THE NEW YORK TIMES

Formed in 2012 and combining four distinctive musical personalities into a unique collective, the AIZURI QUARTET draws its name from “aizur-e,” a style of predominately blue Japanese woodblock printing that is noted for its vibrancy and incredible detail. The Quartet has received top prizes at string quartet competitions held in Osaka, at London’s Wigmore Hall, and the M-Prize Chamber Arts Competition. In addition they have held residencies at the Ravinia Festival, Curtis Institute of Music, and Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts. They have performed extensively throughout North America, Europe, and Japan, and have commissioned and premiered new works by Pulitzer Prize-winner Caroline Shaw, Paul Wiancko, Lembit Beecher, Gabriella Smith, Rene Orth and others.

The phenomenal DOVER QUARTET catapulted to international stardom following a stunning sweep of the 2013 Banff International String Quartet Competition at which they won every prize. In the spring of 2016, the Dover Quartet was recognized with the Hunt Family Award, one of the inaugural Lincoln Center Emerging Artists Awards, and in past years has taken top prizes at the Fischoff Competition and Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition. Named the Cleveland Quartet Award winner and honored with the coveted Avery Fisher Career Grant, the Dover Quartet has become one of the most in-demand ensembles in the world. They are currently the Penelope P. Watkins Ensemble-in-Residence at the Curtis Institute of Music and hold residencies at the Kennedy Center and Northwestern University.

The VIANO STRING QUARTET was formed in 2015 at the Colburn Conservatory in Los Angeles where they were ensemble-in-residence through the 2020-21 season. They were the first prize winner of the 2019 Banff International String Quartet Competition and have been the Nina von Maltzahn String Quartet-in-Residence at the Curtis Institute of Music. They held a residency at Southern Methodist University through the 2022-23 season, and in March 2023, began a three-year residency with Music in the Morning in Vancouver, Canada. The 2022-23 season brought extensive tours throughout Europe, Canada, and the USA including performances at the Lucerne Festival in Switzerland, Chamber Music Northwest, Bard Music Festival, and the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity.

Since its inception in 1992, the BRENTANO STRING QUARTET has received major accolades for its technical brilliance, musical insight and stylistic elegance. Within a few years of its debut, the Brentano had garnered multiple awards both in the United States and in Europe. In addition to performing the entire two-century range of the standard quartet repertoire, the Brentano Quartet has a strong interest in both very old and very new music. They currently serve as Artists-in-Residence at the Yale School of Music and spearhead the Norfolk (CT) Chamber Music Festival in the summers. The Quartet is named for Antonie Brentano, whom many scholars consider to be Beethoven’s “Immortal Beloved,” the intended recipient of his famous love confessions.

 STEPHANIE CHASE (Violin) has been a soloist with such orchestras as the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, San Francisco Symphony and the London Philharmonic. Chamber music appearances include concerts at Lincoln Center in New York, as a member of the Boston Chamber Music Society, and such festivals as Caramoor, Marlboro, and Kuhmo (Finland). She made her Carnegie Hall debut at age 18, was a top prize winner at the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, and is a recipient of the Avery Fisher Career Grant.

DOV SCHEINDLIN (Viola), acclaimed by the NEW YORK TIMES as an “extraordinary violist of immense flair,” has been violist with the Arditti, Penderecki and Chester String Quartets. He has appeared as a soloist with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam and has performed in summer festivals in Salzburg, Lucerne and Tanglewood, and with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. He is a member of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and an associate member of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra.

MARK SHUMAN (Cello) was a member of the Composer String Quartet, the founding resident quartet of the Mt. Desert Festival. He has been heard as chamber musician and soloist throughout the world. He was a founding member of the Aulos Ensemble, a period instrument group, a member of the New York City Opera Orchestra, and currently plays with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. His recordings include the complete cello sonatas of Mendelssohn with Todd Crow.

MARIA LAMBROS (Viola) has performed in venues such as the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, London’s Wigmore Hall, the Konzerthaus in Vienna, New York’s Lincoln Center and Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, and the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. She has been a member of the Ridge, Meliora, and Mendelssohn String Quartets, is currently violist with the New York-based chamber ensemble La Fenice, and is on the faculty of the Peabody Conservatory.

MICHAEL KANNEN (Cello) has distinguished himself as a musician and educator of uncommon accomplishment. He was a founding member of the Brentano String Quartet and is currently a member of the Apollo Trio. His activities range from performances on period instruments to premieres of the music of our time. He is currently the Director of Chamber Music at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, where he holds the Sidney M. Friedberg Chair in Chamber Music.

MORAN KATZ (Clarinet) is a native of Israel and performs extensively throughout the United States, Europe and Asia as a soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician. As a prize winner of many competitions and with Bachelor and Master of Music degrees and an Artist Diploma from the Juilliard School, she performs regularly with the ensemble “Continuum,” is a member of Carnegie Hall’s Affiliate Ensemble “Decoda,” and is co-founder of the innovative “SHUFFLE Concert.”