A native of Louisville, Kentucky, cellist Anne Richardson began musical studies with Wayne Krigger and Louise Harris at the age of 6. Since then, she has embarked on a versatile and international career as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral musician. A graduate of the Juilliard School under the tutelage of Richard Aaron, Anne made her Lincoln Center debut at the age of 19, performing Henri Dutilleux's Cello Concerto, "Tout un monde lointain..", with the Juilliard Orchestra under the baton of Alan Gilbert at David Geffen Hall. Additional solo appearances include concerts with the Louisville Orchestra, Massapequa Philharmonic, Bryan Symphony Orchestra, and Juilliard’s Pre-College Symphony, among others. She has been a featured soloist at the Juilliard in Aiken Festival, Lincoln Center’s Great Performance Circle, and Vail International Dance Festival. She was also named the Kentucky Center’s Gheens Artist in Residency in 2019 and was honored to be a guest faculty member and artist in residence at the 2018 Tennessee Cello Workshop. Anne has performed extensively as a chamber musician, collaborating with many inspiring colleagues at Nymphenburger Sommer in Munich, Tegernsee International Music Festival, Rome Chamber Music Festival, Kneisel Hall, United Nations Chamber Music Society, and Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players. As an orchestral player, she has performed with the Aspen Chamber Symphony, Verbier Festival Orchestra, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, and enjoys regularly subbing with the Pittsburgh Symphony. From 2022-2024, Anne was an akademist with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, a position which she held while simultaneously completing her Doctor of Musical Arts at the University of Michigan. She held a temporary contract with the Gewandhausorchester in Leipzig before recently moving back to the States. Anne is excited to join the San Francisco Symphony next season as their Associate Principal Cellist.

Praised for his “fluid virtuosity” and “soulful melodies,” Los Angeles native Brook Speltz is the cellist of the internationally renowned Escher String Quartet – Quartet-in-Residence at Southern Methodist University – and an artist of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. An extremely versatile cellist, Mr. Speltz has performed as a soloist, chamber musician, and recitalist throughout the U.S., Canada, Latin America, Europe, and Asia. First Prize winner of the prestigious Ima Hogg Competition, he has performed as a soloist with the Houston Symphony, Colorado Music Festival Orchestra, and International Contemporary Ensemble, and is a regular performer at England’s IMS Prussia Cove and on tour with Musicians from Marlboro. Mr. Speltz has been personally invited by Itzhak Perlman and Richard Goode to collaborate in chamber music recitals throughout the country, and as a result of these collaborations, has been nominated for the inaugural Warner Music Prize presented by Warner Music and Carnegie Hall. A lover of all facets of the music world, Mr. Speltz has enjoyed performing on tour with the cello rock band Break of Reality, whose recent U.S. tour raised funds and awareness for music programs in public schools all around the country. Mr. Speltz studied at the Curtis Institute of Music with Peter Wiley and at The Juilliard School with Joel Krosnick, after his formative years of study with Eleanor Schoenfeld in Los Angeles. He performs on a 1756 J.C. Gigli on loan from his father, a cellist and his first inspiration in a family of professional musicians.

Described as “an assured soloist” with “fearless technique,” Dr. Cecilia Huerta-Lauf brings passion and heart to her performances as an accomplished cellist. A native of Dickson, Tennessee, she made her solo debut with the Nashville Symphony Orchestra at age 16. Cecilia has enjoyed tenures with groups such as the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, the Discovery Ensemble, Florida Grand Opera, and the Henry Mancini Institute Orchestra & founding String Quartet, and founding administrative director/principal cellist of the Boston Latin-American Orchestra. In 2012, Cecilia was a semi-finalist in the Carlos Prieto International Cello Competition. Currently, Cecilia is the founder, co-director, & cellist of NouLou Chamber Players; and substitutes with the Louisville Orchestra. She also served as President of the Chamber Music Society of Louisville Board. Cecilia has participated in music festivals across the United States, Canada, France, and Italy. Degrees include pre-college at Vanderbilt University, B.M. at DePaul University in Chicago, M.M. at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, and her D.M.A. at University of Miami in FL.

Since performing as a concerto soloist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at age 18, cellist Nicholas Finch has established himself as an artist of great depth and diversity, both within and beyond the classical genre. This season, Finch will lead the third year of the Derby City Chamber Music Festival as its Artistic Director, featuring some of the best chamber musicians from Louisville and around the country, including members of the Escher String Quartet, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Dover Quartet, and many more. Last year Finch recorded his debut album "Nou Edition" with the NouLou Chamber Players, featuring three world-premiere cello concertos written for him by composers Lev “Ljova” Zhurbin, Alyssa Weinberg, and Dorian Wallace, to be released in the fall of 2024. He served as a secondary soloist with cellist Yo-Yo Ma in Teddy Abrams' 'Mammoth', and performed by the Louisville Orchestra in Mammoth Cave National Park, and performed the American premiere of Kelly-Marie Murphy's concerto for cello and harp with the Skagit Symphony in Mt. Vernon, Washington. He served as cello artist-faculty at the Eastern Music Festival in the Summer of 2022, and will return in this role the summer of 2023. In recent seasons, Finch has collaborated with musicians from the Louisville Orchestra and others in the role of conductor, in works by Copland, Glinka, Saint-Saens, Elgar, Dvorak, and more. Just months prior to the onset of COVID-19, he appeared as cello soloist in Richard Strauss's "Don Quixote" with the Louisville Orchestra. Finch was appointed Principal Cellist of the Louisville Orchestra during the 2013-2014 season by music director Teddy Abrams. He has appeared with the Boston-based chamber orchestra ‘A Far Cry’ on numerous concerts and recordings, one recording having been nominated for a Grammy Award. He has additionally appeared numerous times with the Jupiter Chamber Players in New York City. A native of Boston, Finch began his cello studies at the age of 12. He attended Harvard, Juilliard, the University of Michigan, and the Mannes College of Music, studying the cello with Andrew Mark, David Soyer, Harvey Shapiro, Richard Aaron, and Marcy Rosen. He has studied orchestral conducting with Markand Thakar, Kenneth Kiesler, and with Michael Jinbo and Ludovic Morlot at the Pierre Monteux School. During the 2023-24 season, Finch will attend the University of Michigan again, this time to earn a Masters Degree in Orchestral Conducting.</p/>