Mallarmé Chamber Players is a nationally acclaimed Durham-based ensemble of twenty-five professional musicians, performing in mixed ensembles of three to seven artists.
Created in 1984 by musicians Jane Hawkins and Anna Ludwig Wilson (pictured below, second from left, in both photos) working with poet and arts administrator Margaret Demott, the ensemble's name comes from Stéphane Mallarmé, the 19th-century French poet and philosopher who believed that true art is created through a unity of music, dance, literature and the visual arts. In keeping with their namesake, Mallarmé performances are often interdisciplinary and have been praised by critics and audiences as innovative, eclectic, and of the highest artistic quality.
Mallarmé Chamber Players performs programs that include rarely heard works
from the traditional chamber music repertoire, and celebrates the diversity in
our community by featuring the music of African-American, Asian, Latino, Indian
and women composers. Mallarmé regularly commissions new works by American
composers, in their quest to create new contours in the landscape of chamber
music, and develop new models for community based arts organizations.
Our Ensemble and Guest Artists
SUSAN BABINI, cello, is a recent graduate of the San Francisco Conservatory
of Music, where she studied with Bonnie Hampton and received a B.M. in cello
performance and M.M. in chamber music. She has performed with Menahem Pressler,
Bernard Greenhouse, Gilbert Kalish, and Ian Swenson. As the first place winner
of the SFCM Concerto Competition, she gave a solo performance with the San
Francisco Conservatory Orchestra. She has participated in the Tanglewood
Music Center, Yellow Barn Festival, and Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival.
Ms. Babini has performed in several master classes including the Kronberg
Academy Master Classes in Germany, where she worked with Bernard Greenhouse.
She is currently pursuing her post-graduate studies with Bonnie Hampton at
The Juilliard School.
JONATHAN BAGG, viola, is with the Ciompi String Quartet and a professor
at Duke University, where he teaches viola and chamber music. As a chamber
musician he performs widely in the U.S. and has appeared in Europe, Israel,
South America, and China. Recent solo recitals include a critically acclaimed
appearance at the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C. Mr. Bagg has a
particular interest in bringing new and unfamiliar works to life, and he
has had a number of new works dedicated to him. In addition to numerous CD
recordings as a member of the Ciompi Quartet, he has recorded solo works
on the Centaur and Gasparo labels. In the summers he plays at the Monadnock
Music Festival in New Hampshire and Highlands Festival in North Carolina.
He is a graduate of Yale University and holds an M.M. from the New England
Conservatory, where he was a student of Walter Trampler.
JACQUELYN BARTLETT, harp, began her musical studies at age six with her
mother, who was harpist with the Detroit Symphony. She continued with world
renowned harpists Carlos Salzedo and Alice Chalifoux. Ms. Bartlett graduated
with honors from the Interlochen Arts Academy and attended the Oberlin Conservatory
of Music. She made her solo debut at Chicago's Orchestra Hall in a highly
acclaimed performance. Ms. Bartlett has performed with many of this country's
most distinguished conductors including Eugene Ormandy, Sixten Ehrling, Aaron
Copland, Thor Johnson, and Pierre Boulez. While maintaining an orchestral
career, she has sought new challenges in solo recitals and classical and
contemporary chamber music concerts. Ms. Bartlett is Professor of Harp at
Appalachian State University and the North Carolina School of the Arts. Academy
and attended the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. She made her solo debut at
Chicago's Orchestra Hall in a highly acclaimed performance. Ms. Bartlett
has performed with many of this country's most distinguished conductors including
Eugene Ormandy, Sixten Ehrling, Aaron Copland, Thor Johnson, and Pierre Boulez.
While maintaining an orchestral career, she has sought new challenges in
solo recitals and classical and contemporary chamber music concerts. Ms.
Bartlett is Professor of Harp at Appalachian State University and the North
Carolina School of the Arts.
PETRA BERENYI, violin, pursues a dual career as a violist and cimbalom player,
having taken degrees in both instruments. In Hungary she performed as a violist
with different symphonic and chamber orchestras. She was also a guest at
festivals in Hungary, performing as a chamber musician. She was honored with
Award of Artisjus Foundation for contemporary performances on cimbalom in
2001. Ms. Berényi played the cimbalom at the "Kurtág Festival" in
London, 2002. She also took second prize at "Pál Lukács
Viola Competition" in the same year. She graduated with honors from
the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music in 2003. Petra received a full scholarship
to the Colorado College Summer Music Festival in both 2004 and 2005 where
she was principal viola in the Festival Orchestra. She currently lives in
Carrboro, NC where she teaches violin and viola and plays in the Raleigh
Symphony.
JOHN BROWN, double bassist, is a native of Fayetteville, NC, who has performed
all over the world with renowned artists such as Wynton, Ellis and Delfeayo
Marsalis, Nnenna Freelon, Rosemary Clooney and Elvin Jones at major venues
in the US, Europe, Asia and South America. John holds degrees from the UNC-Greensboro
School of Music and the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Law. He currently serves
as Professor and Director of the Duke University Jazz Program and teaches
part time at UNC-Chapel Hill and NC State University. In addition, he performs
regularly as a substitute with the North Carolina Symphony and directs the
Triangle Youth Jazz Ensemble. John headlines the award-winning touring and
recording band, the John Brown Quintet. Their latest recording is a tribute
to the great Art Blakey and is due out this fall.
KELLY BURKE, clarinet, is a faculty member at The University of North Carolina
at Greensboro. She is currently the principal clarinetist of the Greensboro
Symphony Orchestra and bass clarinetist of the Eastern Music Festival Orchestra.
Equally at home playing baroque to be-bop, she has appeared in recitals and
as a soloist with symphony orchestras throughout the United States, Canada,
Germany, New Zealand, Australia, and Russia. An avid chamber musician, Burke
is frequently heard in concert with the Mallarmé Chamber Players,
for whom she plays both clarinet and bass clarinet, the East Wind Trio d'Anches,
and the Cascade Wind Quintet. Burke is an artist/clinician for Rico International
and Buffet Clarinets.
JENNIFER CHANG, guzheng, received a graduate degree in traditional music
from the Xi'an Conservatory of Music, in Shanxi Province in China. She studied
guzheng with Grand Master Zhou Yan Jia and General Master Gao Zi Cheng. Ms.
Chang is a former member of the Association of China Musicians and the Chinese
Symphony Conservatory Orchestra, the Chinese Symphony Orchestra of Xi'an,
and the Shaanxi Opera and Ballet Theatre. In addition, she has received many
awards, recording contracts for CDs and movie soundtracks and has been featured
on Chinese television. A celebrated performer at many Chinese art festivals
and important national and international events, she has performed throughout
Southeast Asia and more recently here in the United States. She was a featured
soloist for the emperor of Japan as well as former President Bill Clinton.
She moved to the United States in 2001, where she has been in great demand
as both performer and instructor of guzheng.
CAROL CHUNG, violin, is currently an adjunct instructor of violin at Meredith
College. She also plays regularly with the North Carolina Symphony and delights
in performing chamber music. One of her career highlights was to perform
with members of the Vermeer and Chicago String Quartets as well as to work
with the Tokyo String Quartet while a Fellow at the Norfolk Chamber Music
Festival/Yale Summer School of Music. Ms. Chung began studies on both the
violin and piano at the age of 5. She continued studying both instruments
until her enrollment at the Cleveland Institute of Music, choosing violin
as her major instrument. Her major teachers were David Updegraff, Violin
Department Head, and the late Bernhard Goldschmidt, former Principal Second
Violin of the Cleveland Orchestra. Ms. Chung holds both Bachelor and Master
of Music degrees in violin performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music.
Formerly a member of the Canton (OH) and Virginia Symphonies, she resides
in Raleigh with her husband, Jason Wilson.
JENNIFER CURTIS, violin, a recent graduate of the Juilliard School, gave
her New York Debut at Carnegie Hall's Weil Recital Hall on May 6th, 2006.
Winner of Astral Artistic services' 2006 national auditions, Jennifer was
also the recipient of the Milka/Astral grand prize for violin. Jennifer recently
performed Dutilleux's violin concert l'Arbre des Songes, in Alice Tully Hall
with the Juilliard orchestra. Last fall the New York Times recognized Ms.
Curtis’ "fine solos" from her performance as concertmaster
of the Juilliard Orchestra for Mahler's 9th Symphony in Avery Fisher Hall.
She is also a composer whose music has been performed throughout the United
States, Central America and Europe. Her recent endeavor, Tres Americas Project,
began with a tour in Panama, where she performed several of her own works
for violin, mandolin, guitar and vocals. In 2000-2001 Curtis was the percussionist
for Strong Current Dance Company in San Francisco, California. This is her
second season with the Mark Morris Dance Group Music Ensemble in New York.
NNENNA FREELON, vocal, five-time Grammy Award nominee, has earned a well-deserved
reputation as a compelling and captivating live performer, a skillful interpreter
of even the most familiar chestnuts. She has also appeared with the legendary
Julie Andrews at the Society of Singers' "Ella Awards," as a featured
vocalist at the Stephen Sondheim Tribute at Carnegie Hall, and at the most
famous jazz festivals around the globe. Freelon has won the Billie Holiday
Award from the Academie du Jazz and the Eubie Blake Award. With eight recordings
to her name, her latest release is Blueprint of a Lady, Sketches of Billy
Holliday. As a result of her dedication and hard work in the schools and
other non-traditional community venues, Ms. Freelon has been appointed the
national spokesperson for the National Association of Partners in Education.
Her collaborations with Mallarmé Chamber Players began in the 1980's
in the ensemble's early explorations of recognizing the great impact
of jazz on classical composers. Since then she has premiered works with Mallarmé by
the noted composers T. J. Anderson and William Banfield, commissioned for
her by Mallarmé Chamber Players.
ELAINE FUNARO, harpsichord, received the bachelor of music degree from Oberlin
College and the master of music in harpsichord performance from the New England
Conservatory of Music, with further study at the Sweelinck Conservatory in
Amsterdam under Gustav Leonhardt and Ton Koopman. A past president of the
Southeastern Historical Keyboard Society and currently executive director
of the Aliénor Harpsichord Composition Competition, she has appeared
at Festivals in Amherst, Amsterdam, Berkeley, Bloomington, Boston, Breckenridge,
Charleston and Iowa as well as solo recitals at the Smithsonian Institution,
Library of Congress, and Spivey Hall in Atlanta. In addition to her performances
with original instruments in the baroque and classical styles, Ms. Funaro
is active in pioneering performances of contemporary works for harpsichord
and has performed them on four continents. She has solo recordings on the
Gasparo, Wildboar and Centaur labels.
JANE HAWKINS, piano, graduated with distinction from the Royal Academy of
Music in London. Her extensive experience as a chamber musician includes
appearances with the Dorian Wind Quintet, the Chicago Symphony Chamber Players,
and the Ciompi Quartet. Other appearances include recitals at the Library
of Congress with the American Chamber Players and summer festivals such as
Monadnock Music and Music at Gretna. She has collaborated with singers Susan
Larson, Jeanne Ommerle, Penelope Jensen, and Fredric Moses. She is a founding
member of the Mallarmé Chamber Players, with whom she performs regularly.
Ms. Hawkins is currently on the piano faculty of Duke University.
THE JANUS DUO, piano, was formed in 1992 by BARBARA ROWAN WHANG and FRANCIS
WHANG to offer innovative programs of music written for solo piano, piano
four-hands and two pianos. They received degrees from Mills College and San
Francisco Conservatory, respectively, with further studies by Rowan at the
Juilliard School of Music. Coming from separate solo, chamber music, and
teaching careers with performances worldwide, The Janus Trio has continued
to perform, lecture and conduct master classes in England, Wales, Belgium,
the Czech Republic, Hawaii and throughout the United States. The Whangs recently
retired from the piano faculty of the University of North Carolina, and continue
to perform there on a regular basis. Their concerts include much of the four-hand
repertoire from Schubert, Brahms, and Mendelssohn, but also includes modern
composers, such as John Corigliano, Francis Poulenc, Darius Milhaud, William
Bolcom, and Stephen Jaffe.
JAMES KETCH, trumpet, is Professor of Music at the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill and Chair of the Department of Music. A gifted and
versatile trumpeter, Mr. Ketch enjoys a varied career in both the classical
and jazz idioms. As a Bach trumpet clinician he is in demand as a classical
and jazz soloist, clinician, jazz conductor, and adjudicator. Mr. Ketch has
performed in Carnegie Hall and appeared in concert at over one dozen conferences
of the International Trumpet Guild. He has recorded on the Crystal, Albany,
and Metro Record labels. For ten years he has served as Music Director and
jazz trumpet soloist of the North Carolina Jazz Repertory Orchestra one of
the premier jazz orchestras in the nation. Mr. Ketch has served as a soloist
on numerous occasions with the Mallerme Chamber Players having previously
performed works by J.S. Bach, Herbert L. Clarke, George Gershwin, and Ellen
Zwilich, plus numerous chamber scores.
HSIAO-MEI KU, violin, is a member of Duke University's Ciompi Quartet and
has been Associate Professor in Duke's Department of Music since 1990. A
native of China, Ms. Ku began her violin studies at age six. She was chosen
to study at Central Conservatory in Beijing when she was only ten. Ms. Ku
received her Master's of Music degree with distinction from Indiana
University, where she studied with Franco Gulli and Rostislav Dubinsky. She
was Associate Concertmaster of the North Carolina Symphony from 1987-1990
and has since performed with numerous orchestras as soloist. She has toured
extensively and with the Ciompi Quartet has performed at Carnegie Hall, Merkin
Recital Hall in New York City, and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.
Ms. Ku has several chamber music CD recordings to her credit on the Albany,
Arabesque, CRO, and Gasparo labels.
NATHAN LEYLAND, cello, attended the Manhattan School of Music, where he
studied with Nathaniel Rosen. Before moving to the Triangle, he was principal
cellist of the Des Moines Symphony and member of the Pioneer String Quartet.
Mr. Leyland has performed as soloist with symphony orchestras in Ohio, New
York and Connecticut, and as recitalist and chamber musician in much of the
United States. He is currently an active freelancer in North Carolina, performing
with the North Carolina Symphony, Mallarmé Chamber Players, the Carolina
Ballet Orchestra and others. His hobbies include spending time with his family
and playing golf.
RICHARD LUBY, violin, has a career that extends from Baroque and classical
music on historical instruments through the newest repertoire for modern
violin. He has appeared as soloist with the Rochester Philharmonic, the North
Carolina Symphony, the National Symphony, and others. He has given recital/surveys
of the complete works for violin and piano of Stravinsky, Ives, and Prokofiev.
Mr. Luby has been a featured artist with numerous period instrument ensembles
and has performed throughout the world as a member of the Orchestra of the
Eighteenth Century. He has been a guest clinician at universities and conservatories
around the country. Formerly a faculty member at the Eastman School of Music,
he is currently Associate Professor of Music at the University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill, where he performs with the resident contemporary music ensemble
27514 and co-directs Ensemble Courant, an original instrument ensemble.
BO NEWSOME, oboe, graduated from the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music with
a Bachelor of Arts degree and an artist diploma. He was a resident artist
at the Banff Center for the Arts in 1992 and 1993 and a visiting artist in
North Carolina through the North Carolina Arts Council's Visiting Artists
Program. He has received emerging artist grants from the Durham Arts Council.
Mr. Newsome teaches at East Carolina University, performs with the Tar River
Orchestra in Rocky Mount and the Chamber Orchestra of the Triangle, and maintains
a private studio in Durham. He has composed for the UNC Center for Public
Television productions, the Mallarmé Chamber Players, and others.
ERIC PRITCHARD, violin, was appointed first violinist of the Ciompi String
Quartet and Associate Professor of violin at Duke University in 1995. Before
moving to Durham, Mr. Pritchard performed as first violinist for the Oxford
Quartet at Miami University in Ohio and for the Alexander Quartet in California.
A graduate of Indiana University and the Julliard School, he has won numerous
prestigious awards including first prize in the City of Portsmouth International
String Quartet Competition. He has taught at San Francisco State University,
City University of New York, and the North Carolina School of the Arts. Mr.
Pritchard has performed with numerous orchestras including the Boston Pops
and the National Orchestra of San Juan, Argentina.
FRED RAIMI, cello, was born in Detroit. He studied at Cass Technical High
School, Johns Hopkins University, and the Juilliard School, where his cello
teachers were Paul Olefsky and Maurice Eisenberg. He has been on the Duke
University faculty and a member of the Ciompi Quartet since 1974. He has
performed at Marlboro, Spoleto (Italy), Monadnock Music, and Highlands Music
Festivals. With the Ciompi Quartet, Raimi has toured in Europe, Asia, South
America, and Australia, as well as in most major cities of the United States.
He also performs frequently with his wife, pianist Jane Hawkins.
JACQUELINE SAED WOLBORSKY, violin, is the Assistant Principal Second Violinist
of the North Carolina Symphony. She played with the Charleston Symphony and
has spent summers at music festivals in Chautauqua, NY, Verbier, Switzerland,
Israel, Italy, Greece, the Norfolk Chamber Music Academy and the Steans Institute
for Young Artists. She was a member of the international orchestra that toured
ten different countries in Europe with James Levine of the Boston Symphony
and Metropolitan Opera and Mstislav Rostropovich. In additin, she has worked
with Kurt Masur, the Tokyo and Vermeer String Quartets, William Preucil of
the Cleveland Orchestra, Paul Katz of the Cleveland Quartet, Joseph Silverstein
and Claude Frank. She received her Bachelors of Music from the Oberlin Conservatory
as a student of Roland and Almita Vamos and graduated from the Cleveland
Institute of Music with a Masters of Music as a student of Donald Weilerstein.
BONNIE THRON, cello, is the principal cellist of the North Carolina Symphony.
She performs chamber music and recitals throughout North Carolina and the
east coast. Thorn was a member of the Peabody Trio, in residence at the Peabody
Institute, from 1987 to 1991. Previously she was the assistant principal
cellist of the Denver Symphony Orchestra. For several years Thron freelanced
in New York City with many groups such as the Orpheus Chamber ensemble, Speculum
Musicae and the Herrick Quartet. She has joined the Apple Hill Chamber Players
many times as a guest artist and frequently returns to the Apple Hill Center
of Chamber Music in NH to teach and perform with her husband Fred Jacobowitz,
a clarinetist. She also participates in the Sebago Long Lake Chamber Music
Festival in Harrison, Maryland. Thorn has performed concerti with the North
Carolina Symphony, Orpheus Chamber Ensemble, the Juilliard Orchestra, the
Panama National Orchestra, the Vermont Symphony Orchestra and various other
orchestras in her home state of New Hampshire. She received Bachelor's
and Maste's degrees from the Juilliard School. Her teachers include
Lynn Harrell, Norman Fischer and Elsa Hilger.
LOUISE TOPPIN, soprano, has received critical acclaim for her operatic,
orchestral, and oratorio performances in the United States, Czech Republic,
Sweden, Uruguay, Scotland, China, England, New Zealand, the Caribbean, Bermuda,
Japan and Spain. She has appeared in recital on many concert series including
Carnegie Hall, Merkin Hall, Kennedy Center and Lincoln Center. Represented
by Joanne Rile Artist Management, she tours in "Gershwin on Broadway" with
pianist Leon Bates. Dr. Toppin has recorded thirteen compact discs of American
Music on many well-known labels. She is the director of Videmus Records,
which focuses on recording works by composers and artists of color. She is
the author of three publications including A Hall Johnson collection published
by Carl Fisher. Dr. Toppin is a Professor of Voice on the faculty of East
Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina.
REBECCA TROXLER, flute, has been on the faculty of the Duke University Music
Department since 1981. She received her training at the North Carolina School
of the Arts and the Juilliard School of Music. Her teachers include Philip
Dunigan, Michel Debost, Jean-Pierre Rampal, and Julius Baker. She was a member
of the Orpheus Orchestra, with which she appeared as soloist. A specialist
on historic flutes, Ms. Troxler was the flutist with the Mozartean Players,
with whom she recorded two volumes of Haydn trios on the Arabesque label.
Her recording of flute sonatas of the sons of J. S. Bach will be released
in 2006 on the Centaur label. Ms. Troxler lives on a farm north of Durham
with her husband and two children.
JONATHAN WACKER, percussion, is a member of the faculty of the School of
Music at East Carolina University. He serves as the director for percussion
studies, assists in the jazz area and has many years of professional experience
in all areas of percussion. In the classical genre, he has worked with, the
Charleston Symphony, Reno Symphony Orchestra, Savannah Symphony Orchestra
and the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra to name but a few. As a jazz performer,
Wacker has performed or recorded with a wide variety of artists including
Clark Terry, Bob Berg, Arturo Sandoval, Carl Fontana, Bobby Shew, Milt Hinton,
Rosemary Clooney, Diane Schur and the Dominic Spera Big Band. For seven years
Dr. Wacker was the house drummer for the Harrah's and MGM casinos in
Reno and Lake Tahoe, Nevada.
THOMAS WARBURTON, piano, has been a member of the music faculty at the University
of North Carolina since 1969. He has published on a variety of topics, including
sixteenth-century organ tablature, American opera, and ragtime in the music
of Charles Ives. As a pianist, he has regularly given recitals that feature
contemporary American music, including concerts at the University of Michigan;
Trinity Church, Wall Street, New York; and the National Gallery of Art. He
has performed all the works for solo piano by Elliott Carter, once with the
composer as an appreciative listener. His compact disc of piano music by
William Albright features the composer's Grand Sonata in Rag and the Five
Chromatic Dances, the last commissioned by him in 1976. In October of 1998,
Warburton was soloist in an uncut version of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue
with the North Carolina Jazz Repertory Orchestra.
PAIGE WHITLEY-BAUGUESS, Baroque dancer, interprets, recreates, and performs
Baroque theatre dance in venues all over the world as a soloist and with
her dance partner Thomas Baird. Prior to her fifteen year partnership with
Baird, they were both members of the New York Baroque Dance Company. The
duo's critically acclaimed collaborations have excited and educated audiences
in the US, Canada, and Japan, garnering repeat invitations for the duo to
work with some of the finest Baroque music groups in the world. As a master
teacher, Paige is on the faculty of The East Coast Baroque Dance Workshop
at Rutgers and has given masterclasses and lectures at numerous universities,
conservatories, and museums in Hong Kong, Japan, Canada, and the United States.
Whitley-Bauguess holds an MA in Dance History from the University of California
at Riverside and a BFA in Ballet from the NC School of the Arts where she
also attended high school.
IRA WIGGINS, saxophone, Director of Jazz Studies at North Carolina Central
University, holds a doctorate in music education from the University of North
Carolina at Greensboro. Dr. Wiggins is an active Triangle musician, often
collaborating with faculty at Duke and UNC Chapel Hill. He has shared the
stage with such notables as Jimmy Heath, Kenny Burrell, Benny Carter, Keith
Copeland, Branford Marsalis, Sam and Dave, and the Four Tops. Dr. Wiggins
and the NCCU Jazz Ensemble have been the recipients of two invitations to
the White House, where they performed for the White House's national press
reception and a private audience for former President and Mrs. Clinton.
ANNA LUDWIG WILSON, flute, is artistic director and co-founder of Mallarmé Chamber
Players. Wilson is a renowned advocate of using music as an integral means
of education, and an unfailing tool for building bridges between cultures.
A champion of new music, she has spearheaded numerous commissions and world
premiere performances in both the United States and Vietnam. Ms. Wilson has
been the recipient of two Emerging Artist Grants from the Durham Arts Council,
the Presser Music Prize at Berea College, and the Kathryn H. Wallace Award
for Artists in Community Service by the Triangle Community Foundation. She
received the Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from the University of
North Carolina in Chapel Hill, with post-graduate studies with Thomas Nyfenger.
She is lauded throughout the musical community for her gifts in creative
programming.
YORAM YOUNGERMAN, viola, has performed in major cities worldwide. His collaborations
include working with the Tokyo String Quartet, the Ying String Quartet, and
the Chester String Quartet, as well as solo performances with the Cincinnati
Symphony. He was a violist member of the internationally award winning Amernet
String Quartet, and first violinist with the Jerusalem Academy String Quartet.
As a solo artist, he has received awards including the Paul Ben-Haim first
prize for contemporary music performance, the Israeli National Music Foundation
award, and an annual scholarship from the America-Israel Cultural Foundation.
Mr. Youngerman was Professor of Viola at East Carolina University, and has
also has taught at the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music
and at Northern Kentucky University. In 2005, Youngerman became the founder/director
of the unique Mallarmé Youth Chamber Orchestra for pre-professional
students, ages 11-18.
LEONID ZILPER, cello, was born in Moscow and received the Master of Music
degree in performance from the Moscow Conservatory, where he graduated with
honors and won an all-Soviet string quartet competition. Since 1965, Mr.
Zilper has performed with a wide variety of chamber music groups, the Moscow
Symphony, and the Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra, and has toured throughout the
Soviet Union, Europe, Australia, Africa, South America, and the United States.
Mr. Zilper immigrated to the United States in 1976 and shortly thereafter
joined the North Carolina Symphony, where he holds the Nell Hirschberg Endowed
Chair. He continues to perform extensively throughout the Southeast in recital
and chamber music concerts.
