2020 ARTISTS
STAS VENGLEVSKI Bayan
His artistry, dazzling technical command, and sensitivity have brought Stanislav, "Stas” Venglevski, a native of the Republic of Moldova, part of the former Soviet Union, increasing acclaim as a virtuoso of the Bayan. A two-time first prize winner of Bayan competition in the Republic of Moldova, Stas is a graduate of the Russian Academy of Music in Moscow where he received his Masters Degree in Music under the tutelage of the famed Russian Bayanist, Friedrich Lips. In 1992 he immigrated to the US. He has toured extensively as a soloist throughout the former Soviet Union, Canada, Europe, and the United States, including numerous performances with Doc Severinsen, Steve Allen and with Garrison Keillor on the Prairie Home Companion Show. He is a regular participant at the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra's Arts in Community Education Program (ACE); has performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Tacoma Symphony Orchestra; has done television commercials and performed in theater productions; produced 15 acclaimed albums including a transcription of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite for Bayan as well as one of his original compositions. www.stasv.com
His artistry, dazzling technical command, and sensitivity have brought Stanislav, "Stas” Venglevski, a native of the Republic of Moldova, part of the former Soviet Union, increasing acclaim as a virtuoso of the Bayan. A two-time first prize winner of Bayan competition in the Republic of Moldova, Stas is a graduate of the Russian Academy of Music in Moscow where he received his Masters Degree in Music under the tutelage of the famed Russian Bayanist, Friedrich Lips. In 1992 he immigrated to the US. He has toured extensively as a soloist throughout the former Soviet Union, Canada, Europe, and the United States, including numerous performances with Doc Severinsen, Steve Allen and with Garrison Keillor on the Prairie Home Companion Show. He is a regular participant at the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra's Arts in Community Education Program (ACE); has performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Tacoma Symphony Orchestra; has done television commercials and performed in theater productions; produced 15 acclaimed albums including a transcription of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite for Bayan as well as one of his original compositions. www.stasv.com
ROZA BORISOVA Cello
Roza Borisova, cello instructor and native of Ioshkar-Ola, Russia, has been teaching at Lawrence Academy of Music since 2003. After receiving her B.A. in music performance from the Ioshkar-Ola State Music College, she moved to Moscow where she earned a M.Mus. in performance pedagogy and a D.M.A. in String Quartet Performance from the Russian State Academy of Music in Moscow. In 1989 Ms. Borisova was selected to be cellist of the Veronika String Quartet (newly formed by Valentine Berlinsky, cellist of the Borodin String Quartet). The Quartet’s international tours resulted in numerous prizes including the Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition, the Shostakovich String Quartet Competition and the Russian National Competition. As an award of the Shostakovich Competition, in 1992 the Quartet was invited to study with the Fine Arts Quartet at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and relocated to the US. As part of the Veronika String Quartet, Ms. Borisova has performed as cellist with various symphony orchestras and at many festivals and institutes around the world including the Steans Institute for Young Artists at Ravinia Festival in Chicago, the Second Jerusalem Chamber Music Encounters in Israel, the Britten-Pears School of Music in England and the Lancaster Music Festival in Ohio.
www.lawrence.edu/s/academy/faculty
Roza Borisova, cello instructor and native of Ioshkar-Ola, Russia, has been teaching at Lawrence Academy of Music since 2003. After receiving her B.A. in music performance from the Ioshkar-Ola State Music College, she moved to Moscow where she earned a M.Mus. in performance pedagogy and a D.M.A. in String Quartet Performance from the Russian State Academy of Music in Moscow. In 1989 Ms. Borisova was selected to be cellist of the Veronika String Quartet (newly formed by Valentine Berlinsky, cellist of the Borodin String Quartet). The Quartet’s international tours resulted in numerous prizes including the Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition, the Shostakovich String Quartet Competition and the Russian National Competition. As an award of the Shostakovich Competition, in 1992 the Quartet was invited to study with the Fine Arts Quartet at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and relocated to the US. As part of the Veronika String Quartet, Ms. Borisova has performed as cellist with various symphony orchestras and at many festivals and institutes around the world including the Steans Institute for Young Artists at Ravinia Festival in Chicago, the Second Jerusalem Chamber Music Encounters in Israel, the Britten-Pears School of Music in England and the Lancaster Music Festival in Ohio.
www.lawrence.edu/s/academy/faculty
ANNA ELASHVILI Violin
Violinist, Anna Elashvili, hailed as "riveting" by the New York Times has appeared as a soloist, chamber musician and concertmaster around the world. She has collaborated with renowned artists such as, Maxim Vengerov, Dawn Upshaw, Daniel Hope and Lynn Harrell. Anna is a violinist of Decoda, an Affiliate Ensemble of Carnegie Hall and also performs with the East Coast and Orpheus Chamber Orchestras, NOVUS NY, and the Mark Morris Orchestra. She also served as Co-Artistic Director of Decoda from 2017-19. For seven years, she was the first violinist of the Bryant Park Quartet. She has been a guest artist at several universities including Princeton, Vassar, Skidmore, DePauw, Lawrence, Johns Hopkins and Cornell Universities. Her international travels include concerts in England, Mexico, Germany, Canada, Israel, Iceland and Abu Dhabi among others. Ms. Elashvili is currently adjunct violin faculty at Vassar College and teaches at Yellow Barn’s Young Artist Program and served as faculty and Recruitment Director at the Decoda|Skidmore Chamber Music Institute for several summers. Ms. Elashvili received her Bachelors and Masters Degrees from The Juilliard School. Ms. Elashvili performs on a Sam Zygmuntowicz violin on a generous extended loan.
www.annaviolin.com
Violinist, Anna Elashvili, hailed as "riveting" by the New York Times has appeared as a soloist, chamber musician and concertmaster around the world. She has collaborated with renowned artists such as, Maxim Vengerov, Dawn Upshaw, Daniel Hope and Lynn Harrell. Anna is a violinist of Decoda, an Affiliate Ensemble of Carnegie Hall and also performs with the East Coast and Orpheus Chamber Orchestras, NOVUS NY, and the Mark Morris Orchestra. She also served as Co-Artistic Director of Decoda from 2017-19. For seven years, she was the first violinist of the Bryant Park Quartet. She has been a guest artist at several universities including Princeton, Vassar, Skidmore, DePauw, Lawrence, Johns Hopkins and Cornell Universities. Her international travels include concerts in England, Mexico, Germany, Canada, Israel, Iceland and Abu Dhabi among others. Ms. Elashvili is currently adjunct violin faculty at Vassar College and teaches at Yellow Barn’s Young Artist Program and served as faculty and Recruitment Director at the Decoda|Skidmore Chamber Music Institute for several summers. Ms. Elashvili received her Bachelors and Masters Degrees from The Juilliard School. Ms. Elashvili performs on a Sam Zygmuntowicz violin on a generous extended loan.
www.annaviolin.com
NATE SCHRAM Viola
Hailed by the New York Times as an “elegant soloist” with a sound “devotional with its liquid intensity,” Nathan Schram is a GRAMMY award-winning composer, entrepreneur, and violist of the Attacca Quartet. Nathan has collaborated with many of the great artists of today including Björk, Itzhak Perlman, Sting, David Crosby, Becca Stevens, David Byrne, Trey Anastasio, Joshua Bell, Simon Rattle, and others. He studied viola at Indiana University with Alan de Veritch and at the Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía in Madrid, Spain with Diemut Poppen and Yuval Gotlibovich. Nathan is also a violist in the Affiliate Ensemble of Carnegie Hall, Decoda, and an Honorary Ambassador to the city of Chuncheon, South Korea. Apart from performing, Nathan is the Founder and Executive Director of Musicambia. Founded in 2013, Musicambia brings music learning and ensemble performance to prisons throughout the United States. www.nathanschramnoise.com
Hailed by the New York Times as an “elegant soloist” with a sound “devotional with its liquid intensity,” Nathan Schram is a GRAMMY award-winning composer, entrepreneur, and violist of the Attacca Quartet. Nathan has collaborated with many of the great artists of today including Björk, Itzhak Perlman, Sting, David Crosby, Becca Stevens, David Byrne, Trey Anastasio, Joshua Bell, Simon Rattle, and others. He studied viola at Indiana University with Alan de Veritch and at the Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía in Madrid, Spain with Diemut Poppen and Yuval Gotlibovich. Nathan is also a violist in the Affiliate Ensemble of Carnegie Hall, Decoda, and an Honorary Ambassador to the city of Chuncheon, South Korea. Apart from performing, Nathan is the Founder and Executive Director of Musicambia. Founded in 2013, Musicambia brings music learning and ensemble performance to prisons throughout the United States. www.nathanschramnoise.com
MARY BONHAG Soprano
The “extraordinary” (Classical Voice N. America) soprano Mary Bonhag is captivating audiences around the country with her “marvelous versatility” and “supple, expressive” voice (San Antonio News). Mary made her Carnegie Hall solo debut in 2009 and orchestral debut with the American Symphony Orchestra in the same year. A consummate collaborator, Mary has performed with the Aizuri Quartet, Decoda, Spektral Quartet, as well as chamber music festivals around the country including Cactus Pear (TX), San Francisco Contemporary Players, 21st Century Consort, and Yellow Barn. Mary has premiered and commissioned works by Lembit Beecher, C. Curtis-Smith, Premo, Shawn Jaeger, and Evan Chambers. This season Mary sings Shawn Jaeger’s The Cold Pane with TURNmusic, St. John Passion with Middlebury Bach Festival, is in residence at the University of Michigan School of Music, sings Mozart’s Mass in c-minor with Onion River Chorus, presents the vocal tour-de-force Sequenza by Luciano Berio with Scrag Mountain Music, and returns to Tanglewood for a second summer as a vocal fellow.
www.marybonhagsoprano.com
The “extraordinary” (Classical Voice N. America) soprano Mary Bonhag is captivating audiences around the country with her “marvelous versatility” and “supple, expressive” voice (San Antonio News). Mary made her Carnegie Hall solo debut in 2009 and orchestral debut with the American Symphony Orchestra in the same year. A consummate collaborator, Mary has performed with the Aizuri Quartet, Decoda, Spektral Quartet, as well as chamber music festivals around the country including Cactus Pear (TX), San Francisco Contemporary Players, 21st Century Consort, and Yellow Barn. Mary has premiered and commissioned works by Lembit Beecher, C. Curtis-Smith, Premo, Shawn Jaeger, and Evan Chambers. This season Mary sings Shawn Jaeger’s The Cold Pane with TURNmusic, St. John Passion with Middlebury Bach Festival, is in residence at the University of Michigan School of Music, sings Mozart’s Mass in c-minor with Onion River Chorus, presents the vocal tour-de-force Sequenza by Luciano Berio with Scrag Mountain Music, and returns to Tanglewood for a second summer as a vocal fellow.
www.marybonhagsoprano.com
EVAN PREMO Double Bass
U.P. Native Evan Premo is a member of New York City based chamber music collective, DeCoda with whom we performs in residencies around the world including four he led in Abu Dhabi, UAE. As a member of Ensemble ACJW Evan has performed many concerts at Carnegie Hall and participated in residencies in Spain and Germany. Along with the Pittsburgh Symphony Chamber Orchestra, Evan premiered his own double concerto for violin and bass, “Simple Mysteries” inspired by the nature poetry of Mary Oliver. As a soloist, Evan also premiered “Concerto for Bass and Orchestra” by Finnish composer Jukka Linkola. His chamber opera, “The Diaries of Adam and Eve” (text by Mark Twain) was commissioned by the Pine Mountain Music and has been staged several times most recently featuring the Bergonzi String Quartet. Evan with his wife, Mary Bonhag, are also the founders and artistic directors of Scrag Mountain Music, dedicated to presenting innovative, interactive, and affordable performances of chamber music in Vermont. www.evanpremo.com
U.P. Native Evan Premo is a member of New York City based chamber music collective, DeCoda with whom we performs in residencies around the world including four he led in Abu Dhabi, UAE. As a member of Ensemble ACJW Evan has performed many concerts at Carnegie Hall and participated in residencies in Spain and Germany. Along with the Pittsburgh Symphony Chamber Orchestra, Evan premiered his own double concerto for violin and bass, “Simple Mysteries” inspired by the nature poetry of Mary Oliver. As a soloist, Evan also premiered “Concerto for Bass and Orchestra” by Finnish composer Jukka Linkola. His chamber opera, “The Diaries of Adam and Eve” (text by Mark Twain) was commissioned by the Pine Mountain Music and has been staged several times most recently featuring the Bergonzi String Quartet. Evan with his wife, Mary Bonhag, are also the founders and artistic directors of Scrag Mountain Music, dedicated to presenting innovative, interactive, and affordable performances of chamber music in Vermont. www.evanpremo.com
LAUREL PREMO Banjo
Laurel Premo is known for her rhythmically deep and rapt delivery of roots music. For the past 10 years, she’s performed in the nationally touring duo Red Tail Ring, a collaboration with Michael Beauchamp-Cohen that blends traditional American songs with new compositions and features Laurel’s ruminant nature on clawhammer banjo, fiddle, and vocals. Premo graduated with a BFA from the Performing Arts Technology Dept. of the University of Michigan School of Music, and has spent half-year stints at both the Sibelius Academy of Music in Helsinki, Finland and the University College of Southeast Norway in Telemark to study traditional music and dance. Alongside several continuing music projects, she’s an oft-requested recording guest, and is active in organizing community events connecting with folk art and dance. www.laurelpremo.com
Laurel Premo is known for her rhythmically deep and rapt delivery of roots music. For the past 10 years, she’s performed in the nationally touring duo Red Tail Ring, a collaboration with Michael Beauchamp-Cohen that blends traditional American songs with new compositions and features Laurel’s ruminant nature on clawhammer banjo, fiddle, and vocals. Premo graduated with a BFA from the Performing Arts Technology Dept. of the University of Michigan School of Music, and has spent half-year stints at both the Sibelius Academy of Music in Helsinki, Finland and the University College of Southeast Norway in Telemark to study traditional music and dance. Alongside several continuing music projects, she’s an oft-requested recording guest, and is active in organizing community events connecting with folk art and dance. www.laurelpremo.com