2008 Artist Roster
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Stephanie Arado, violin Violinist Stephanie Arado joined the Minnesota Orchestra as Assistant Concertmaster in 1991. A Chicago native, Ms. Arado attended Western Illinois University where she studied with Roland and Almita Vamos. She went on to receive a Masters Degree from the Juilliard School as a student of Dorothy Delay. She has performed as soloist with numerous orchestras including the Chicago, St. Louis, Detroit and Minnesota Orchestras. Ms. Arado is a member of the Bakken Trio, which regularly performs chamber music in the Twin Cities. In 2004, Ms. Arado was awarded the prestigious McKnight Performing Artists Fellowship. |
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Christina Baldwin, mezzo-soprano Christina Baldwin is a singer and actor employing integrated ways of storytelling through theater, opera, and concert performance. She has collaborated with Theatre de la Jeune Lune over the last 8 years in productions such as: Don Juan Giovanni, Figaro, the Astor Piazzolla tango opera Maria de Buenos Aires, and playing the title role in their critically-acclaimed Carmen. At the Guthrie Theater, she created the role of Myrtle Wilson in the world premier of The Great Gatsby. Christina’s Guthrie collaborations range from Edith in The Pirates of Penzance to playing the Courtesan in Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors. She recently performed as the featured vocalist in Lorie Line’s Holiday Show. Christina has performed with William Bolcom during VocalEssence’s Illuminating Bolcom Festival and has been a featured soloist with the Minnesota Orchestra, taking part in their world premiere and later recording of Steven Paulus' To Be Certain of the Dawn. Also with the Minnesota Orchestra she played Hansel in their staging of Hansel and Gretel with The Heart of the Beast Puppet Theater. Last year, she sang the music of Robert Schumann during the Schubert Club’s 2006 Summer Song Festival. Christina has appeared as a guest on Garrison Keillor's "A Prairie Home Companion," and has lent her voice to animated short films by the Dutch filmmaker Rosto A.D (Cannes Film Festival award-winner). Other companies that Christina has collaborated with include: American Repertory Theatre; The Minnesota Opera; Skylark Opera; the Kansas City Repertory Theater; Ex-Machina; The History Theater; Nautilus Music-Theater; and New Breath Productions. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Lawrence University Conservatory of Music and a Master of Music degree from the University of Minnesota.
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Susan Billmeyer, piano Increasingly in demand as a chamber musician, Susan Billmeyer has performed throughout the U.S. as a recitalist and collaborative pianist. Dr. Billmeyer has given concerts with members of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony, and she appears regularly with the Minnesota Orchestra, having served three seasons as the orchestra’s pianist and performed with them in 2006 on a tour of Europe. She is also half of the Billmeyer Duo, a partnership dedicated to performance and commissioning of organ and piano duo repertoire. Her commitment to bringing compositions of recent times to a wider audience has led to numerous world premieres and collaborations, including tours and guest performances with ICE (the Intergalactic Contemporary Ensemble), Zeitgeist, Present Music, the Indiana University New Music Ensemble, and CURRENTS, a contemporary music group based in Richmond, Virginia. Billmeyer holds degrees in piano performance from Oberlin Conservatory, Indiana University, and the University of Minnesota. In addition to her musical training, she also holds a degree in East Asian Studies from Oberlin College, and is a specialist in Japanese language and literature. This specialization led her to pursue research on the chamber music of Toru Takemitsu. Currently she lives and teaches in Minneapolis. |
| photo coming soon | Richard Bock, cello Richard Bock, in his 12th season as principal cellist with The Phoenix Symphony, began his cello studies at the age of 12 with Harvey Shapiro at The Juilliard School. Leopold Stokowski chose Bock, at age 18, to be principal cellist of the American Symphony Orchestra, making him the youngest principal player in the orchestra's history. Following his tenure with the ASO, Riccardo Muti, conductor of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Orchestra in Florence, Italy, chose Bock as his principal cellist. Bock remained in that position for eight years. It was during that time that he was asked to join the prestigious Musicus Concentus Chamber players as solo cellist, touring throughout Italy and Germany. Upon returning to the United States, Bock joined the Pro-Arte Chamber Orchestra, the first string orchestra to tour the Soviet Union under the auspices of the State Department. Bock was the featured soloist, playing the C major Concerto of Haydn to critical acclaim in Leningrad, Moscow, Kiev, Riga and Vilna. Following this tour, Bock joined the Soviet Emigre Orchestra and toured North and South America. In 1981, Julius Rudel chose Bock to be the principal cellist of the Buffalo Philharmonic. It was during his stay in Buffalo that Bock founded the Westminster Chamber Orchestra. His orchestra was described by the Buffalo News as a group whose “dynamics, balance, intonation and the like displayed an almost magical perfection and focus.” While with The Phoenix Symphony, Bock performed Don Quixote by Strauss in November 1995 and Shostakovich's Concerto No. 1 in April 1996, both under conductor James Sedares. He also appeared as soloist with the Mainly Mozart Festival Orchestra directed by Jeffrey Siegel. In 1994-95, Bock was the artist in residence at the School of Fine Arts at the University of Arizona and held a similar position at Arizona State University's School of Music in 1995-96. Recent recordings of Bock include Mosaic, a collection of Yiddish songs and music of the royal courts of Europe. Additional recordings include the Rozsa Simphonia Concertante with the New Zealand Symphony, The Paul Winter Consort on A&M Records and Three Intermezzi for Cello on CRI Records. |
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Dan Dressen, tenorDan Dressen keeps himself engaged in a variety of functions. He is a professor of music and Associate Dean for the Fine Arts at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, where he also is building a center for Nordic art song. He edited a seven-volume anthology of opera arias by Benjamin Britten for Boosey & Hawkes and currently serves on the Commission on Accreditation for the National Association of Schools of Music and recently began duties as a site visit panelist for the Minnesota States Arts Board. Formerly president of the Minnesota chapter of the National Association of Teachers of Singing and the Minnesota College and University Council on Music, he currently serves on the Northfield Arts and Culture Commission and on the board for the Minneapolis/St. Paul chapter of the Edvard Grieg Society. Mr. Dressen’s career as a tenor spans nearly thirty year. His operatic performances include appearances with Washington Opera in its production of CARMEN and the world premiere of Dominick Argento's opera, THE DREAM OF VALENTINO. He has numerous Minnesota Opera productions to his credit including the role of Flute in its production of Benjamin Britten's A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM, Basilio in Mozart's THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, Gastone in LA TRAVIATA, Sellem in THE RAKE’S PROGRESS and Valzacchi in DER ROSENKAVALIER. Recently he was seen as the Doctor in Poul Ruder’s A HANDMAID’S TALE and in the world premier of THE GRAPES OF WRATH by Ricky Ian Gordon. This season he performed the role of Elcius in the American premier of THE FORTUNES OF CROESUS by Reinhard Keiser. An active concert performer and recitalist, Mr. Dressen has performed in Minneapolis and St. Paul with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Minnesota Chorale, Dale Warland Singers, Bach Society, and most recently in the Schubert Club’s Summer Art Song Festival. He has a long and active relationship with VocalEssence of Minneapolis, with whom he is heard as Martin in the recording of Aaron Copland's opera, THE TENDERLAND, and as Johnny Inkslinger in PAUL BUNYAN by Benjamin Britten. Other appearances with VocalEssence include the title roles in Britten's ST. NICOLAS CANTATA, Handel's SAMSON, Elgar's DREAM OF GERONTIUS, Dominick Argento's REVELATIONS OF ST. JOHN and JONAH AND THE WHALE, Dame Ethel Smythe’s MASS IN D, the role of Rajar in the world premiere of THE FOURTH WISEMAN by Randall Davidson. Most recently he performed with VocalEssence in the world premier of THE PASSION OF CHRIST by Francis Grier and THE SONGS OF INNOCENSE AND EXPERIENCE by William Bolcom. Mr. Dressen has performed in several Aldeburgh Festivals in England. Performances there include the tenor solos in Britten's THE COMPANY OF HEAVEN, which he also recorded in London. He is the tenor soloist at Plymouth Congregational Church in Minneapolis. This year marks his fifth appearance with the Festival of the Lakes in Alexandria, MN. |
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William Eddins, piano William Eddins is the Music Director of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, Principal Guest Conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland and a frequent guest conductor of major orchestras throughout the world. He has served consecutively as Assistant, Associate and Resident Conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra over the last ten seasons. Recent engagements include the New York Philharmonic, St. Louis Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, as well as the symphony orchestras of San Francisco, Minnesota, Cincinnati, Atlanta, New Jersey, Detroit, Dallas, Baltimore, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Houston, San Antonio, Colorado, as well as the Los Angeles, Jacksonville and Tulsa Philharmonics. Although focusing on his career as a conductor, Mr. Eddins continues his work as a pianist and chamber musician. He regularly conducts from the piano in works by Mozart, Beethoven, Gershwin and Ravel. He has performed on the prestigious Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s “Symphony Center Presents” piano recital series. Mr. Eddins released a compact disc recording on his own label (Ahkenaton Production, Inc) which includes Beethoven’s Hammer-Klavier Sonata, Five Preludes from Book I by Debussy and William Albright’s The Nightmare Fantasy Rag. Mr. Eddins has performed at the Ravinia Festival with both the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Ravinia Festival Orchestra. He has also conducted the orchestras of the Chautauqua Festival, Aspen Music Festival, the Hollywood Bowl, the Boston University Tanglewood Institute and the Civic Orchestra of Chicago. In 2000 Mr. Eddins received the Seaver/NEA Conducting Award, a triennial grant of $50,000 awarded to exceptionally gifted young American conductors. A native of Buffalo, NY, (born in December 1964) Mr. Eddins attended the Eastman School of Music, studying with David Effron and graduating at age eighteen, making him the youngest graduate in the history of the institution. Previous positions include the Associate Conductor of the Minnesota Orchestra and assistant to Daniel Barenboim at the Berlin State Opera. He also studied conducting with Daniel Lewis at the University of Southern California and was a founding member of the New World Symphony in Miami, FL. |
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Jennifer Gerth, clarinet
Principal clarinet of the Duluth-Superior Symphony and an active member of the Twin Cities musical community, Jennifer Gerth frequently performs with the Minnesota Orchestra, VocalEssence and the Minnesota Dance Theatre. Jennifer is on the faculty at Augsburg College, the University of St. Thomas, and teaches and performs at Birch Creek Performance Center in Door County, WI.
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Bill Goldman, cello
Bill Goldman began studying cello at age eight under the instruction of Thaddeus Markevitch, Assistant Principal Cellist with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, continuing with members of the Minnesota Orchestra and SPCO after moving to the Twin Cities in 1963. He served for many years as Principal Cellist of the Minneapolis Civic Orchestra, has been the Assistant Principal Cellist of the Minnesota Sinfonia since 1989 and is also serving as Principal Cellist of a newly organized professional string orchestra, Vox Corda. As a very active free-lance musician, Bill performs in a wide variety of musical venues, including Broadway shows, opera, ballet and numerous other concert performances. Passionate about playing as much varied chamber music as his schedule can hold, Bill has worked for years in an unusual venue for a cellist---a jazz quartet, finding improvisational playing incredibly fun and musically rewarding.
In his “spare time”, Bill serves as Director of Finance of NParallel, LLC, and resides in St. Louis Park with his wife Nanette, also an active professional musician (violin and viola) and Professor of Classical Languages at Macalester College in St. Paul. |
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Tracey Gorman, soprano
With a voice the Boston Globe called “extraordinary in range, tonal quality, musicianship, and dramatic effect,” soprano Tracey Gorman has gained a reputation for excellence in opera, recital, and concert. In the spring of 2003, Ms. Gorman made her professional opera debut with the Minnesota Opera as Ofglen in the North American premiere of The Handmaid’s Tale by Poul Rouders. In June of 2003, Ms. Gorman appeared with the Chicago Chamber Musicians as soloist performing Two Poems from the Sung Dynasty with conductor and composer Bright Sheng and returned to the Minnesota Opera in November as the Page in Rigoletto. In 2004, Ms. Gorman made numerous recital appearances and shared the stage with famed soprano Dawn Upshaw and the Los Angeles Philharmonic in a production of Ainadamar. In January of 2003, Ms. Gorman was named the winner and “audience choice” of the Austin Lyric Opera Young Artist Competition in Austin, Texas and was a regional finalist in the 2002-2003 Metropolitan Opera Auditions. Other awards include 1st place in the Milwaukee Bel Canto Chorus Regional Artist Competition, which earned her the solos in their presentation of Poulenc’s Gloria and Vaughan Williams’ Hodie, the Minnesota NATSAA 1st place award in 2002, and the coveted Schuessler Prize at the University of Minnesota. A very busy 2005 found Ms. Gorman performing the soprano solos in Orff’s Catulli Carmina with the Milwaukee Bel Canto Chorus, and a week later making her New York City debut at Alice Tully Hall singing the songs of Edvard Grieg with the St. Olaf Orchestra. Other solo performances also include Britten’s War Requiem with the St. Olaf College Choirs and Orchestra, the role of Norina in Don Pasquale with the Rochester Aria Group, a preview performance of The Grapes of Wrath with the Minnesota Opera and composer Ricky Ian Gordan, and appearances with the Minnesota Opera in Nixon in China. Past performances include Poulenc’s Gloria with the Minnesota Choral Union and Symphony, the chamber work The Sonnets of the Portuguese by Libby Larsen, several engagements as soloist for the Schubert Club Courtroom Concert Series, as well as recital performances at St. Olaf College and the University of Minnesota. In May 2002, Ms. Gorman was one of ten singer/pianist teams from around the country chosen to participate in the Art Song Festival at the Cleveland Institute of Music. Ms. Gorman also spent two summers as a Vocal Fellow at the famed Tanglewood Music Center where she participated in opera, solo and chamber music performances and has studied at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria. Performances in 2006 include Mozart’s Coronation Mass, Regina Coeli, Solemn Vespers and Exultate, Jubilate with the Valley Chamber Chorale and a guest recital at Hope College in Michigan. Ms. Gorman also performed several concerts with the Rochester Aria Group, and in July, Ms. Gorman was a featured performer at the National Association of Teachers of Singing national convention in Minneapolis performing songs of Swedish composers. Engagements in 2007 include Mendelssohn’s Psalm 42 and Barber’s Prayers of Kierkegaard at St. Olaf College and the Mass of the Children and Rejoice in the Lamb with the Valley Chamber Chorale. Ms. Gorman will spent her summer performing Sigmund Romberg’s operettas The Student Prince with Skylark Opera and The New Moon with Music by the Lake. In August, Ms. Gorman traveled to Seattle Washington to perform as a finalist in the Sun Valley Opera Competition. |
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Bradley Greenwald, baritone
Bradley Greenwald performs opera, theater, music-theater, concert and recital repertoire with several Twin Cities’ arts organizations, including Theatre de la Jeune Lune (Figaro, Don Juan Giovanni, Mefistofele, Carmen, Marìa de Buenos Aires, Cosi fan tutte, Magic Flute), Guthrie Theater (1776, She Loves Me, The Comedy of Errors), Children’s Theatre Company (A Year with Frog and Toad, Aladdin, The Wizard of Oz, The Snow Queen), Jungle Theater (I Am My Own Wife, Under Milk Wood, Torch Song Trilogy), Nautilus Music-Theater (Man of La Mancha, Carousel), Minnesota Dance Theatre (Carmina Burana, Rumblings), VocalEssence, Minnesota Orchestra, Lyra Baroque Orchestra, 10,000 Things, Skylark Opera and Ballet of the Dolls. Bradley is the recipient of a Minnesota State Arts Board Fellowship in music, the McKnight Fellowship for Theater Artists, and a 2006 Ivey Award. |
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Katja Linfield, cello Katja Linfield, who joined the Minnesota Orchestra in 1990, is an active chamber musician and recitalist who won a McKnight Artist Fellowship in spring 2006. At Sommerfest 2007 she was featured in Tan Dun’s Elegy: Snow in June for cello and four percussion. From 1992 until 2002 she played with the Bakken Trio, during which time the ensemble recorded works of Ives, Pärt and Beethoven. With the Trio, Linfield received a McKnight Artist Fellowship and a Meet the Composer grant. Linfield has performed chamber music at the Marlboro Music Festival, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Tanglewood Festival, Portland Chamber Music Festival and Music in the Vineyards. She has toured the United States with Music from Marlboro, and Europe with the Frankfurt-based Ensemble Modern. Linfield earned a bachelor of music degree from Oberlin College and a master’s degree from the New England Conservatory and Rutgers University. Her teachers included Bernard Greenhouse, Colin Carr, Steven Doane and Richard Kapuscinski. In 2002 Linfield and her husband welcomed their own trio into the world—triplet girls. |
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Sharalee Maslowski, piano
Sharalee Maslowski graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Superior in 2005 with a Bachelor of Music Degree in Piano Performance. Her principal teacher for six years was Dr. Beth Gilbert. Prior to that, Sharalee studied with her mother, Pam Sohriakoff. A four-time concerto winner with the UWS orchestra, she has performed several solo recitals in addition to two four-hand recitals with her mother. In her fourth season as accompanist for the Arrowhead Chorale, Sharalee also accompanies extensively in the Twin Ports area. |
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Peter McGuire, violin Mankato native Peter McGuire began his violin studies as a mature 4 year-old at the Mankato Suzuki School. He completed his musical education at St. Olaf College and the Manhattan School of Music. Peter joined the Minnesota Orchestra first violin section in early 2003. Previous professional orchestral experience includes serving as associate concertmaster of the Cedar Rapids Symphony Orchestra and as guest principal second violin of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. A devoted chamber musician, Peter was first violinist of the Pioneer String Quartet, an ensemble associated with the Des Moines Symphony. Peter was a substitute violinist with the Berlin Philharmonic in the spring of 2007. |
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Dina Michelson Namer, piano
Born in New York City, Dina Namer is now a resident of Ottawa, Canada. She studied both piano and flute from an early age. After winning scholarships for entrance to the Eastman School of Music, she began formal studies in the Bachelor of Music program there. While at Eastman she worked with Armand Basile and Eugene List. She later continued her studies at the Manhattan School of Music where she completed her Bachelor's and Master's Degrees in piano performance. Among her teachers were Robert Goldsand, Benar Heifetz and Artur Balsam (chamber music studies). Later in her career, with the support of the Canada Council, she worked extensively with Menahem Pressler, of the Beaux Arts Trio. An active performer, Dina Namer has diverse experience as both a soloist and chamber musician. She has performed and recorded a wide range of repertoire, from Baroque harpsichord works to contemporary Canadian repertoire. She has a longtime association with the musicians of the National Arts Centre Orchestra of Canada in Ottawa. Through the orchestra's Music for a Sunday Afternoon series, she has collaborated with such artists as Bernard Greenhouse, Andrew Dawes, Paul Tortelier, Felix Galimir, Charles Treger, Timothy Eddy, Leone Buyse, Gail Williams and many others. As a chamber musician, Ms. Namer has been a member of the Aulos Ensemble, a trio for flute, clarinet and piano, the Ottawa Baroque Ensemble, and the Sh’ma Ensemble, a group devoted to performing works of composers who died in the Holocaust. Her work with the Aulos Trio culminated in the release of a CD entitled “Playing Tribute”, which features chamber works of several Canadian composers. As an educator, Dina Namer has taught piano performance at Ottawa, Carleton and Queen's Universities. She also served for a number of years as a senior examiner for RCM Examinations and continues to serve as an adjudicator for music festivals and competitions. Currently Ms. Namer teaches piano performance at Carleton and Queen’s Universities in addition to running a busy private studio Since 1995, Ms. Namer has performed regularly in both the Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival and the Alexandria Festival of the Lakes in Alexandria, Minnesota. Recent performance highlights include the Beethoven Choral Fantasie, the six Brandenburg Concerti (harpsichord) with the Kingston Symphony, and the Franck Piano Quintet with the Penderecki Quartet. Ms. Namer is heard frequently on Minnesota Public Radio, CBC, and “Radio Canada.” |
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Norbert Nielubowski, bassoon
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Michal Sobieski, violin Violinist Michal Sobieski joined The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra in 1979, having previously served as concertmaster of the Canton Symphony Orchestra in Ohio and first violin of the resident string quartet. He has been concertmaster of the Symphony Orchestra of the State of Mexico and co-concertmaster of Venezuela's Maracaibo Symphony Orchestra. Born in Warsaw, Poland, Sobieski graduated from the Warsaw Academy of Music and was a member of the Warsaw Philharmonic Chamber Ensemble, Warsaw Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra, and the leader and soloist with Con Moto Ma Cantabile chamber orchestra. He toured throughout Poland as a soloist and recitalist with the Warsaw Philharmonic Concert Bureau. Upon winning a special diploma of honor at the 1970 Jean Sibelius International Violin Competition, Sobieski studied at Indiana University. Sobieski made five LifeScapes recordings. Currently, Sobieski is concertmaster and soloist with the Minneapolis Parks Pops Orchestra and the North Star Opera Orchestra, and has appeared with the Chamber Music Minnesota, The Schubert Club and Thursday Musical. Sobieski recently collaborated with Layton James on a recording of Brahms’ Sonata in G Major for Violin and Piano. He is founder and first violinist of the Sobieski String Quartet. Formerly the violinist in the Macalester Trio, Sobieski taught at Gustavus Adolphus College from 1992 to 1996. |
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Pam Helander Sohriakoff, piano
Pam Helander Sohriakoff grew up in Alexandria, studying with Sr. Cecile Gertken at St. Benedict’s College, playing and singing with the Reach Out Singers. She is the daughter of Richard and Marlene Helander. Pam is a versatile pianist and respected teacher. She earned a Master of Music degree from the University of Minnesota and is currently based in the Twin Cities area as a freelance artist, teacher and vocal performer and coach. She is an adjunct professor at Bethel University, with a primary emphasis on collaboration with vocalists. She recently completed her third solo piano album called “Reflective Beauty,” which includes two of her own compositions. She specializes in hymn arrangements and improvisation for worship. She leads worship and performs at weddings throughout the area with her husband, Ken, who is an ordained minister. Pam’s music can be obtained at her website: www.filledwithmusic.com. |
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Tamás Strasser, viola In his 33rd season with The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, co-principal viola Tamás Strasser has performed frequently as a soloist with the SPCO. Strasser was previously a member of the Kansas City Philharmonic, the United States Army Strings, the New Art String Quartet, the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra, and Concerto Soloists of Philadelphia. He has served as associate principal viola of the Aspen Chamber Symphony and has recorded as a soloist on the Vox and Lifescapes labels. For several summers, Strasser was principal violist of the Colorado Music Festival in Boulder. He has performed with the Vienna Trio and the Muir and Moscow String Quartets, and performed complete cycles of the Beethoven, Shostakovich, Bartók, and Brahms quartets locally with the Bakken String Quartet. He has also performed works by several members of the American Composers Forum and recorded for the Forum's Innova label. In 1999, he was soloist with the Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra of Minneapolis in György Ligeti's Viola Concerto and reprised his role of "gypsy" violinist in the Santa Fe Opera's production of Emmerich Kálmán's Countess Maritza, a part Strasser first played in the summer of 1995. Strasser has served as artist-in-residence for the North Carolina School of the Arts summer program and on the faculties of Madeline Island Music Camp and Macalester College. He developed the viola curriculum at Augsburg College and has taught master classes at the University of Minnesota and the Kansas City Conservatory, among others. Strasser went to school at the University of Colorado in Boulder where he studied violin with Andor Toth and Wilfred Beal. He completed his undergraduate work at the Kansas City Conservatory in Missouri with Tiberius Klausner as his violin teacher and received his Master's degree at the Catholic University in Washington D.C., studying with Michael Rabin and Dorothy Delay. In addition to his position with the SPCO, Strasser currently serves on the faculty at The University of St. Thomas teaching violin and viola and directing the string ensemble, and is Principal Violist of the Cascade Festival of Music in Bend, Oregon. |