Summer 2025 Festival Artists
Nicholas DiEugenio, violin (Week 4)
Violinist Nicholas DiEugenio has been heralded for his “excellent...evocative” playing(The New York Times), full of “rapturous poetry” (American Record Guide). Nicholas is in-demand as a soloist, chamber musician, and ensemble leader, creatingpowerful sharedexperiences in music ranging from early baroque to contemporary commissions. Hisaward-winning album "Unraveling Beethoven" with pianist and wife Mimi Solomon wasreleased in 2018 by New Focus Recordings, and other recordings include the completeViolin Sonatas of Robert Schumann (Musica Omnia) as well as a tribute to Pulitzerprizewinner Steven Stucky (New Focus). Nicholas is a core member of The Sebastians aswell as Associate Professor of Music at UNC Chapel Hill.He has performed as guestPrincipal Second Violinist with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra.Nicholas plays a J.B.Vuillaume violin (1835) as well as a Karl Dennis baroque violin (2011).
www.nicholasdieugenio.com
Brandon Patrick George, flute (Week 2)
Brandon Patrick George is a GRAMMY-winning flutist whose repertoire extends from the Baroque era to today. He is the flutist of Imani Winds and has appeared as a soloist with the Atlanta, Baltimore, and Albany symphonies, American Composers Orchestra, and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, among others. He has been praised as “elegant” by The New York Times, as a “virtuoso” by The Washington Post, and as a “knockout musician with a gorgeous sound” by The Philadelphia Inquirer.
www.brandonpatrickgeorge.com
Kara Poorbaugh, viola (Week 4)
Kara Poorbaugh is the violist of the Opal String Quartet and Principal Violist of the Asheville Symphony.
Raman Ramakrishnan, cello (Week 1)
CMS Carolinas favorite and Bard Conservatory faculty member Raman Ramakrishnan has performed across North America, Europe, India, Japan, and in Hong Kong while a member of the Horszowski Trio. In addition to solo recitals in New York, Boston, Seattle, and Washington, D.C., he has performed chamber music at Caramoor, at Bargemusic, with the Chicago Chamber Musicians, and at the Aspen, Bard, Charlottesville, Four Seasons, Kingston, Lincolnshire (UK), Marlboro, Mehli Mehta (India), Oklahoma Mozart, and Vail Music Festivals. He has toured with Musicians from Marlboro and has performed, as guest principal cellist, with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. As a guest member of Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble, he has performed in New Delhi and Agra, India and in Cairo, Egypt. He has served on the faculties of the Taconic and Norfolk Chamber Music Festivals, as well as at Columbia University. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in physics from Harvard University and a Master’s degree in music from The Juilliard School. His principal teachers have been Fred Sherry, Andrés Díaz, and André Emelianoff.
Mimi Solomon, piano (Week 4)
American pianist Mimi Solomon brings warmth, sensitivity and curiosity to her multifaceted career as a chamber musician, soloist, teacher, and artistic director. She has performed throughout the United States, China, Japan and Europe, has appeared as soloist with orchestras including Shanghai Symphony, Philharmonia Virtuosi, and Yale Symphony Orchestra, and has been featured on numerous radio and television broadcasts including the McGraw-Hill Young Artist’s Showcase, France 3, France Inter, and National Public Radio. An avid chamber musician, she has appeared at music festivals on both sides of the Atlantic such as Santander, IMS Prussia Cove, Lockenhaus, Rencontres de Bel-Air, Ravinia, Taos, Norfolk, Yellow Barn, Charlottesville, and La Loingtaine. Mimi is also an enthusiastic and dedicated pedagogue: she is co-artistic director of MYCO Chamber Players and she is currently on the faculty of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
www.mimisolomon.com
Jasper String Quartet
www.jasperquartet.com
J Freivogel & Karen Kim violins
Andrew Gonzalez viola
Rachel Henderson Freivogel cello
Jasper String Quartet (Week 1 and 2)
Celebrated as one of the preeminent American string quartets of the twenty-first century, the prizewinning Jasper String Quartet is hailed as being “flawless in ensemble and intonation, expressively assured and beautifully balanced” (Gramophone). The Quartet is highly regarded for its “programming savvy” (ClevelandClassical.com), which strives to evocatively connect the music of underrepresented and living composers to the canonical repertoire through thoughtful programs that appeal to a wide variety of audiences.
A recipient of Chamber Music America’s Album of the Year (2025) and Cleveland Quartet Award (2012), the Quartet’s playing has been described as “sonically delightful and expressively compelling” (The Strad). The ensemble has released eight albums, including its most recent release, Insects and Machines: Quartets of Vivian Fung (2023) which Strings Magazine praised as being “intensely dramatic throughout demonstrating both their advocacy of new music and their transcendent mastery.” The Quartet’s 2017 release, Unbound, was named by The New York Times as one of the year’s 25 Best Classical Recordings.
The Jasper String Quartet is the Founder and Artistic Director of Jasper Chamber Concerts, the Director of the Saint Paul Chamber Music Institute, and the Professional Quartet-in-Residence at Temple University's Center for Gifted Young Musicians.
Les Délices (Week 3)
Les Délices (pronounced Lay day-lease) brings long-forgotten music alive for contemporary audiences. Founded by baroque oboist Debra Nagy in 2009, Les Délices has established a reputation for unique programs that “can’t help but get one listening and thinking in fresh ways” (San Francisco Classical Voice). The New York Times observed that “Concerts and recordings by Les Délices are journeys of discovery,” while UK Classical Source added, “The centuries roll away when the members of Les Délices bring this long-existing music to communicative and sparkling life.” Touring highlights for Les Délices include performances for Music Before 1800 (New York City), the Boston Early Music Festival, Da Camera Society (Los Angeles), Houston Early Music Society, Early Music Hawaii, Morrison Chamber Music Center at San Francisco State University, Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, San Francisco Early Music Society, the Yale Collection of Musical Instruments, and Columbia University’s Miller Theatre. Les Délices also presents its own annual four-concert series in Ohio and produces SalonEra, an acclaimed webseries and podcast for early music. Known for their adventurous, thematic programming, Les Délices recently launched a multi-year commissioning project exploring myth and its impact on our lives that runs through 2027.
Les Délices
www.lesdelices.org
Debra Nagy oboe
Shelby Yamin violin
Allison Monroe viola
Rebecca Landell cello
Debra Nagy, oboe (Week 3)
A baroque oboist of consummate taste and expressivity” (Cleveland Plain Dealer) with a musical approach that’s “distinctly sensual…pliant, warm, and sweet,” (New York Times), Debra Nagy, director, is one of North America’s leading performers on the baroque oboe. In addition to her work with Les Délices, Debra plays principal oboe with Boston’s Handel & Haydn Society, Apollo’s Fire, and many other ensembles. She also indulges her love of late-medieval music as a regular collaborator with Boston’s Blue Heron and Chicago’s Newberry Consort. Inspired by a creative process that brings together research, composition in historical styles, improvisation, and artistic collaboration, Debra was recently recognized with a Cleveland Arts Prize (Mid-Career Artist) and Early Music America’s Laurette Goldberg Award. Debra is an unabashed foodie and loves commuting by bike from her home in the heart of Cleveland’s historic Ohio City neighborhood.
Shelby Yamin, Violin (Week 3)
Violinist Shelby Yamin brings signature vivacity to performances across the globe, from the historic state rooms of George Washington's Mount Vernon to the storied chapel at Versailles. Equally adept on modern and baroque violin, Shelby has appeared as a soloist with Philharmonia Baroque Chamber Players, the San Francisco Academy Orchestra, Tafelmusik Winter Institute, and as guest concertmaster of the 2019 Berwick Academy of the Oregon Bach Festival. An active chamber musician, she regularly collaborates with a wide range of New York based ensembles and Cleveland's Les Délices. In addition to her active performance and teaching career, Shelby is the Associate Producer of SalonEra. She currently resides in New York City.
Allison Monroe, viola (Week 3)
Allison Monroe specializes in Renaissance, Baroque, and Classical violin and viola, viols, vielle, rebec, medieval harp, and voice. She holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in Historical Performance Practice from Case Western Reserve University, where she directed the Collegium Museum from 2018 to 2023. She is a co-founder and Director of Programming for Trobár, a trio of voices and instruments dedicated to bringing medieval music to modern audiences. Dr. Monroe also performs regularly with Newberry Consort, Boston Camerata, Apollo’s Fire, Les Délices, and numerous other early music orchestras and ensembles.
Rebecca Landell, cello (Week 3)
Cellist and gambist Rebecca Landell’s “luminous” (Cleveland.com) and “notable” (The New York Times) sound elicits a range of expression “from classically evocative to Hitchcock horrifying” (Washingtonian). Her solo appearances include performances with Apollo’s Fire, Atlanta Baroque Orchestra, Les Delices, The Smithsonian, and Batzdorfer Hofkapelle. Rebecca will be working on a Beethoven recording at the Smithsonian this season, along with continued collaborations with Apollo's Fire and Les Delices. Rebecca's teaching career includes her faculty position at the Baroque Performance Institute and at Oberlin Conservatory teaching baroque cello and viola da gamba.
Opal String Quartet
at The Gray Eagle co-presented with the Asheville Chamber Music Society
The Opal String Quartet, born in Asheville in 2006, is the only local ensemble of its kind, performing masterworks of the string quartet repertoire and collaborating with living composers to premiere new works. Known for its polished precision, fiery intensity, and richness of tone, Opal is dedicated to bringing the art of chamber music to the people by performing in all kinds of venues, from schools, bars, and art galleries, to street corners and concert halls.
The quartet has performed throughout Western North Carolina and with the Asheville, Greenville, and Charlotte Symphonies. Each member of the Opal String Quartet assists school string instructors by providing “hands on” instruction, as well as inspiring performances to teach students, keeping chamber music exciting for the next generation.
Opal String Quartet
www.opalstringquartet.com
Mariya Potapova & Karen Pommerich violins
Kara Poorbaugh viola
Franklin Keel cello