Polish-American pianist Adam Golka (born 1987) first performed all of Beethoven's Piano Sonatas when he was 18 years-old, and in 2020-2021 Adam Golka performed the cycle of Beethoven's 32 Sonatas at the Bach Festival Society of Winter Park (Florida) and at Saint Thomas Church Fifth Avenue (NYC), in socially-distanced and live-stream formats. Adam's performances of each Sonata were complemented by 32 short films he created, known as 32@32 (available on YouTube), documenting his preparation for climbing the Everest of piano literature and featuring an amalgam of distinguished guests, from an astrophysicist to Alfred Brendel.

Adam Golka's principal teachers have been José Feghali, with whom he studied at Texas Christian University, and Leon Fleisher, at the Peabody Conservatory. Since finishing his formal studies, Adam has continued to develop his artistry through mentorship from Alfred Brendel, Richard Goode, Murray Perahia, Mitsuko Uchida, Evelyne Crochet, Ferenc Rados, Rita Wagner, and Sir András Schiff, who invited Adam to give recitals at the Klavier-Festival Ruhr and Tonhalle Zürich, for the "Sir András Schiff Selects" concert series. Adam has also given solo recitals in Tokyo's Musashino Hall, New York's Alice Tully Hall (presented by the Musicians Emergency Fund), and Amsterdam's Kleine Zaal in Het Concertgebouw.

As a concerto soloist, he has appeared with dozens of orchestras, including the BBC Scottish Symphony, NACO (Ottawa), Warsaw Philharmonic, NFM Leopoldinum, Shanghai Philharmonic, as well as the San Francisco, Atlanta, Houston, Dallas, Milwaukee, Indianapolis, New Jersey, and San Diego symphonies in the US, among many others. Adam has enjoyed collaborations with conductors such as Joseph Swensen, Donald Runnicles, Pinchas Zukerman, Mark Wigglesworth, and his brother, conductor Tomasz Golka. Adam gave his Carnegie Stern Auditorium début in 2010 with the New York Youth Symphony.

Chamber music is an integral part of Adam Golka's life, and he has performed repeatedly at the Krzyżowa-Music "Music for Europe" festival, which has included tour performances at the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and the Beethoven Bonn festivals, as well as Konzerthaus Berlin. He also performed at the Marlboro, Ravinia, Caramoor chamber music festivals in the US. Adam collaborates regularly with the Manhattan Chamber Players and in recital with baritone John Moore, pianist Yannick Rafalimanana, cellist Jonathan Swensen and violinist Itamar Zorman, with whom he recently debuted at The Wigmore Hall in London.

Adam's professional life began when he was awarded the first prize and audience prize at the 2nd China Shanghai International Piano Competition. In 2009, he won the Max I. Allen Fellowship from American Pianists Association. As a pedagogue, he acted as Artist-in-Residence for six school years at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts. Adam has recorded works by Beethoven, Schumann, and Brahms for London-based First Hand Records and he has premiered works composed for him by Richard Danielpour, Michael Brown, and Jarosław Gołębiowski.

With a distinguished career of broad versatility, violinist Amy Schwartz Moretti is equally accomplished as chamber musician, concertmaster, soloist, and educator. Recognized as a deeply expressive artist, she appears as soloist and chamber music artist at music festivals and concert series internationally. She is a member of the Ehnes Quartet, touring and recording with violinist James Ehnes, violist Che-Yen Chen, and cellist Edward Arron. In 2007, she became the inaugural Director of the Robert McDuffie Center for Strings at Mercer University in Georgia, leading their new string program for gifted young artists within the School of Music supported by full-tuition scholarships. Since then, together with founder Robert McDuffie, she has developed and guided this unique program. She has established and expanded the Fabian Concert Series bringing esteemed artists to campus for performances and classes.

As professor and Director of the McDuffie Center at Mercer University, she is honored to hold the Caroline Paul King Chair in Strings and teach the violinists of the Center. Before joining Mercer University, Amy was concertmaster of the Oregon Symphony in Portland. Her professional career began as concertmaster of The Florida Orchestra in Tampa, St. Petersburg, and Clearwater. She has served as guest concertmaster for the Atlanta, Houston, and Pittsburgh symphony orchestras, The New York Pops and Hawaii Pops, and the festival orchestras of Brevard, Colorado, Grant Park and Grand Teton.

She has received multiple Juno awards for her recordings with James Ehnes and has also recorded for Chandos, Harmonia Mundi, Onyx Classics, CBC Records, BCMF/Naxos and Sono Luminus. Recent projects include the 2024 recording of a concerto written for her by composer Christopher Schmitz, and the filming of the documentary, “Chaos Becomes Order,” illuminating the process of the concerto's collaboration with the prestigious London Symphony Orchestra and conductor Stefan Sanderling.

The Cleveland Institute of Music has recognized her with an Alumni Achievement Award and she is the 2014 San Francisco Conservatory of Music Fanfare Honoree. In 2018, Moretti was selected as one of Musical America’s Top 30 Professionals of the Year, and in 2022, she received the Macon Arts Alliance Cultural Award, given to individuals and organizations who have made significant contributions to the cultural life of Central Georgia. Amy lives in Georgia with her husband and two sons. She performs on her treasured Jean Baptiste Vuillaume violin made in Paris in 1874.

Brittany MacWilliams has a rich and diverse career both as performer and educator. She made her professional solo debut at age ten with the Louisville Orchestra and went on to win numerous competitions including the Music Teachers National Association competition. Ms. MacWilliams has performed extensively as soloist and concertmaster in such diverse locales as Istanbul, Beijing, Salzburg, Munich, Lisbon, and New York. She has had solo engagements with such orchestras as the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Louisville Orchestra, Munich Hochshule Orchestra, Kentucky Symphony, and Aspen Chamber Symphony. Ms. MacWilliams can be heard as soloist on two critically acclaimed compact discs of Giornovichi Violin Concerti for the Arte Nova Classics/BMG label. Ms. MacWilliams is a passionate educator and has an active and varied teaching background. She has been a professor of violin and viola at the University of Louisville School of Music for fourteen years. She has also been the Director of the UofL String Academy, a program for talented and dedicated pre-college students, and is founder and director of LaPS (Leadership and Performance for Strings) at the Oldham County Schools Arts Center. She taught as a member of the collegiate violin faculty at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and taught violin, viola and chamber music at Xavier University. She served as director and a member of the violin faculty of the Starling Preparatory String Project at the University of Cincinnati for twelve years. During the summers, Ms. MacWilliams has served on the faculties of the Aspen Music Festival and the Great Wall International Music Academy in Beijing, and she currently teaches at the Sewanee Summer Music Festival, where she has been a member of the artist faculty for ten years. In 2001, Ms. MacWilliams was the first winner of the prestigious Dorothy Richard Starling Teaching Fellowship, and over the years her students have won national competitions, performed with major orchestras, won teaching positions at numerous institutions, and received music scholarships to many top universities and conservatories. Ms. MacWilliams’ teachers include Kurt Sassmannshaus, Dorothy Delay, David Updegraff, Peter Oundjean, Henri Meyer, Virginia Schneider, Peter McHugh, Hiroko Driver and Cho-Liang Lin.

A Pacific Northwest native, Dillon Welch has been a member of the Louisville Orchestra since February 2023. Previously, he was a member of the Louisiana Philharmonic and a fellow at the New World Symphony. He has also been a member of the Canton Symphony, the Akron Symphony, the Firelands Symphony, and the Round Rock Symphony, where he served as Concertmaster. He has performed with the Rochester Philharmonic, the Erie Philharmonic, and has spent summers playing with the Britt, Spoleto, and Round Top Festivals, along with the National Repertory Orchestra. Mr. Welch began playing the violin at the age of five in Olympia, Washington. He later took lessons with Jan and Kent Coleman in the Seattle area, followed by former Seattle Symphony Second Assistant Concertmaster Simon James. He received a Bachelors in Violin Performance from the University of Texas at Austin, studying with Brian Lewis. He went on to get a Masters from the Cleveland Institute of Music, where he studied with former Cleveland Orchestra Concertmaster William Preucil. In his spare time, Mr. Welch loves reading, seeing how fast he can do the New York Times Crossword, and exploring the Louisville area on his bike.

American-Israeli violinist Giora Schmidt has been captivating audiences with his “lyricism, tonal warmth, and boundless enthusiasm" over the span of his career. As featured guest artist, he has appeared with the globally renowned Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and the symphony orchestras of Atlanta, Detroit, Chicago, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Toronto, Vancouver, and Ottawa’s National Arts Centre. Giora Schmidt’s symphonic collaborations include those conducted by Andreas Delfs, Asher Fish, Miguel Harth-Bedoya, Domingo Hindoyan, Jun Märkl, Itzhak Perlman, Carlo Rizzi, James DePriest, Grant Llewellyn, Alexander Mickelthwate, Thomas Wilkins, and since 2023 with Yaniv Attar, Dirk Kaftan, Tito Muñoz, Zbyněk Müller, Gerard Schwarz, Andrew Sewell and Yoel Levi. In 2024-2025, Mr. Schmidt will be featured by the Rockford Symphony Orchestra, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, and Haifa Symphony Orchestra in Israel. As violin soloist, Giora has also appeared in front of nationally renowned symphony orchestras in San Diego, Fort Worth, Knoxville, Naples, Louisville, Columbus (OH), North Carolina, Arkansas, Charleston, Anchorage, Santa Barbara, Sarasota, Las Vegas, Albany, San Luis Obispo and Bellingham (WA), as well as the ABT Orchestra; abroad, with Orchestre Symphonique et Lyrique de Nancy, Israel Chamber Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfónica de Chile, and Orquesta Filarmónica de la UNAM in Mexico. Born in Philadelphia, Giora began playing the violin at the age of four. A graduate of the Juilliard School, he is the recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant, The Classical Recording Foundation's Samuel Sanders award, and was a Starling Fellow at the Juilliard School. As an educator, Mr. Schmidt is currently on the artist faculty at New York University (NYU Steinhardt). Giora plays a c. 1830 violin by Giuseppe Rocca and strings kindly sponsored by Thomastik-Infeld, Vienna.

Violinist Heather Thomas is a member of the Louisville Orchestra, the NouLou Chamber Players, and also performs as Duo Criquet with her partner violinist James McFadden-Talbot. Previously, she was a Fellow with the New World Symphony founded and directed by Michael Tilson Thomas. Heather received her Master of Music degree from Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music studying with Kathleen Winkler and a Bachelor of Music degree from CSU’s Schwob School of Music studying with Sergiu Schwartz. Over the summers, she has attended the Bowdoin International Music Festival, Music Academy of the West, Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, Tanglewood Music Festival, and the Lakes Area Music Festival. Heather is from Northeast Harbor, Maine.

Violinist James McFadden-Talbot joined the Louisville Orchestra in 2018 and became Assistant Concertmaster in 2023. In 2020, he gave his solo debut on Vivaldi’s Spring Concerto from the Four Seasons with Teddy Abrams conducting. Also a chamber musician, James performs in Duo Criquet with violinist Heather Thomas. The duo recently performed at the Opus 74 Festival in Flaine, France, and with the National Youth Ballet of Germany in Hamburg. James studied with Midori Goto at the University of Southern California where he won First Place in the 2018 Bach Solo Competition. He received a Master of Music degree in Germany from the Hamburg Hochschule für Musik und Theater with Tanja Becker-Bender. During his graduate years, he attended Tanglewood Music Center, and was a substitute in New World Symphony. Before college, he studied violin at the Colburn School of Performing Arts with Henry Gronnier while studying composition with Steven Stucky in the Los Angeles Philharmonic Composer Fellowship Program. His foundational teachers were Frank Becker, Cara Chang, and Philip & Natalia Vaiman.

Praised for his “sweet, luxurious” sound (Fanfare), and the “thoughtfulness and seriousness” (Nashville Scene) of his interpretations, Stephen Miahky is the Joseph Joachim Professor of Violin at Vanderbilt University and first violin of the Blair String Quartet. He has garnered acclaim for his performances throughout North America, South America, Europe, and Asia in concert halls and music festivals. Some of his recent engagements include performances at New York City’s Merkin Hall, Symphony Space, and Bargemusic, Atlanta’s ProMozart Society, the Princeton Chamber Music Society, the American Academies in Rome and Berlin, and NPR’s Performance Today. He has been featured in chamber music performances with musicians such as Lynn Harrell, Joseph Silverstein, Andres Cardenes, Glenn Dicterow, Steven Doane, and Jinjoo Cho. Miahky is a member of Brave New Works and a rotating concertmaster of the IRIS Orchestra, based in Memphis, Tennessee. He has also performed as guest concertmaster of the Illinois Symphony, the Columbus ProMusica Chamber Orchestra, Houston’s River Oaks Chamber Orchestra, and the Kansas City Symphony. As a recording artist, Miahky can be heard on numerous world-premiere recordings on the AMP, New Dynamic, Edition Modern, Albany, and Naxos record labels. Originally from Akron, Ohio, Miahky earned B.M. and M.M. degrees from the University of Michigan and a D.M.A. degree from Rutgers University. He studied violin with Arnold Steinhardt, Paul Kantor, and Alan Bodman, and chamber music with Andrew Jennings, Martin Katz, and members of the Cleveland, Brentano, Emerson, Juilliard, American, and Tokyo String Quartets. He received additional training at the Aspen Music Festival, Canada’s National Arts Centre, the Perlman Music Program, and the Meadowmount School of Music, where he was recently recognized as a distinguished alumnus. Miahky spends his summers teaching and performing at ENCORE Chamber Music in northeast Ohio and the Walla Walla Chamber Music Festival in eastern Washington.

Evan Vicic has been the Assistant Principal Violist of the Louisville Orchestra since January 2014. He frequently appears as a substitute with the Minnesota Orchestra, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. In the summers of 2017 and 2019, Evan had the honor of playing in the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music in Santa Cruz, California. In October 2021, Evan was featured as the violist in Erwin Schulhoff's Concerto for String Quartet & Wind Orchestra with the Louisville Orchestra. Originally hailing from Minnesota, Evan grew up studying the violin. He switched to viola prior to attending Northwestern University to study with Dr. Roland Vamos. After attaining his Bachelor’s in Music, he continued studies at Indiana University with Stephen Wyrczynski. Evan is interested in many different genres of music and performed on the NPR nationally broadcast radio show "Live From Here" with Bruce Hornsby and Chris Thile. Evan is a proud member of the NouLou Chamber Players in Louisville, KY. Evan is available to teach both violin, and viola. He also is a recording/mixing engineer and producer. See Vicic Audio & Media for details.

Jonathan Mueller, Viola, has been a member of the Louisville Orchestra since the 2006-2007 season. Mr. Mueller completed a Master of Music in Viola Performance at Rice University's Shepherd School in May of 2006 under the instruction of former Cleveland Quartet Violist, James Dunham. While at the Shepherd School, Mr. Mueller performed in master classes for the Tokyo, American, and Mendelssohn Quartets. During his time at Rice, Mr. Mueller's orchestral experience was with the Austin Symphony and the Symphony of Southeast Texas in Beaumont. Before attending Rice University, Mr. Mueller received his Bachelor of Music from Indiana University where he studied with former L.A. Philharmonic Principal Violist, Alan DeVeritch. While at IU, Mr. Mueller performed with the Evansville Philharmonic for two seasons. Mr. Mueller currently teaches Violin and Viola at Bellarmine University and lives in the Highlands with his wife, Krista, son, Everett and daughter, Coral.

Praised for her warm and beautiful sound, Laura brings enthusiasm and energy to her performances. She has enjoyed performing with acclaimed ensembles such as Chattanooga Symphony, Lexington Philharmonic, Quad City Symphony, Mankato Symphony, and is a tenured member of the Duluth-Superior Symphony. Currently, Laura holds a position with the Paducah Symphony and regularly performs with Orchestra Kentucky in Bowling Green. Laura has performed with Roberto Diaz, Leon Fleischer, Sharon Isbin, Jennifer Koh, Itzhak Perlman, Christopher O’Reilly, and The Joffrey Ballet. As a soloist, she has performed Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante at the University of Minnesota with conductor, Dr. Jeffrey Specht.

As a chamber musician who has performed across the United States and Canada, she has been a participant in chamber music festivals such as The Castleman Quartet Program, Lyricafest, North American Viola Institute, Niagara International Chamber Music Festival, Bravo!, Madeline Island Music Camp, Chamber Music Midwest, and Northern Lights Chamber Music Festival.  In 2014, Laura was the Assistant Dean for The Castleman Quartet Program and has served as junior faculty and counselor at Stringwood Chamber Music Festival and Green Lake Chamber Music Festival. Laura has participated in readings with Natasha Brofsky, Charles Castleman, Norm Fisher and Roger Tapping. She has played in masterclasses for members of Arianna, Artaria, Concord, Emerson, Julliard, Pacifica, Parker and Takács String Quartets, as well as the Minnesota Orchestra and St. Paul Chamber Orchestra.

Since moving to Louisville in March 2015, Laura has kept up a busy schedule including performances with Stevie Wonder at the Yum! Center while on his Tour in the Key of Life, Louisville Ballet, and Louisville Master Chorale. As an educator, she maintains a private studio at Suzuki Stars Music Academy in addition to teaching strings at Montessori School of Louisville.

Laura holds viola performance degrees from Texas Tech University (BM) and the University of Minnesota (MM). She is nearly complete with a Doctorate of Musical Arts also from the U of M. Her most influential teachers and mentors include violists, Alice Preves, Renee Skerik, Korey Konkol; violinist Laura Bossert; and cellist Terry King.

Born in 1978 in Rochester, NY, Michael Klotz made his solo debut with the Rochester Philharmonic at the age of 17 and has since then appeared as soloist with orchestra, recitalist, and chamber musician throughout the world. Of a recent performance of the Brandenburg Concerto No. 6 with violist Roberto Diaz, the Portland Press-Herald proclaimed, “this concert squelched all viola jokes, now and forever, due to the talents of Diaz and Klotz”. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram recently proclaimed Michael Klotz to be “a superb violist, impressive, with an exceptionally attractive sound,” and the Miami Herald has consistently lauded his “burnished, glowing tone and nuanced presence.” Michael Klotz joined the Amernet String Quartet in 2002 and has toured and recorded with the ensemble throughout the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Israel, Japan, South Korea, Romania, Colombia, Belgium, and Spain with the ensemble. Klotz has performed at some of New York’s most important venues, such as Alice Tully Hall, Weill Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, MoMA, Bargemusic, and the Kosciuzsko Foundation. His festival appearances have included Seattle, Newport, Caramoor, ChamberFest Cleveland, Festival Mozaic, Great Lakes, Cervantino, Sunflower, Martha’s Vineyard, Skaneateles, Virginia Tech Vocal Arts and Music Festival, San Miguel de Allende, Beverly Hills, Music Mountain, Bowdoin, Madeline Island, Sarasota, Music Academy of the West, and Miami Mainly Mozart. Passionately dedicated to chamber music, Klotz regularly performs with many of today’s most esteemed artists, having appeared as guest violist with the Shanghai, Ying, and Borromeo String Quartets, and collaborated with artists such as Shmuel Ashkenasi, Arnold Steinhardt, James Ehnes, Vadim Gluzman, Gary Hoffman, Carter Brey, Michael Tree, Robert DeMaine, Andres Diaz, Roberto Diaz, Joseph Kalichstein, and Franklin Cohen, as well as with many principal players from major U.S. orchestras.  In 2015 he was named a Charter Member of the Ensemble with the Chamber Music Society of Fort Worth. In 2002 and 2009, he was was invited by Maestro Jaime Laredo to perform with distinguished alumni at anniversary concerts of the New York String Orchestra Seminar in Carnegie Hall. Michael Klotz is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music, where he was awarded the Performer’s Certificate. In 2002 he became one of the few individuals to be awarded a double Master’s Degree in violin and viola from the Juilliard School. At Juilliard, he was the recipient of the Tokyo Foundation and Gluck Fellowships. His principle teachers and influences include Zvi Zeitlin, Lynn Blakeslee, Lewis Kaplan, Toby Appel, Peter Kamnitzer, and Shmuel Ashkenasi. A dedicated teacher, Klotz is Senior Instructor and Artist-in-Residence at Florida International University in Miami, where he teaches viola and chamber music. Klotz has recently presented highly acclaimed master classes at the Cleveland Institute of Music, University of Michigan, Penn State  University, University of Nevada – Las Vegas, Ithaca College, Texas Christian University, and West Virginia University. Since 2015 he serves as Director of Chamber Music and Viola Instructor for the Miami Summer Music Festival where he curates a highly successful series of chamber music concerts featuring artist faculty of the festival and students at The Betsy Hotel in Miami Beach and Barry University. He has also been a member of the artist faculty of the Bowdoin International Music Festival, the Beverly Hills International Music Festival, and the Killington Music Festival. His former students currently attend and are graduates of prestigious conservatories, including the Curtis Institute of Music, the Juilliard School, Indiana University, and the Cleveland Institute of Music and are already achieving leading roles in the music world. Michael was featured in the November 2013 issue of the “Alumni Spotlight” in the Juilliard Journal and as the subject of Strad Magazine’s “Ask the Teacher” column in the November 2013 issue. Michael Klotz resides in Hallandale Beach, FL with his wife Kelly and sons Jacob and Natan, as well as two dogs and a cat.

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.

A “long-admired figure on the New York scene” (New Yorker), cellist Michael Nicolas enjoys a diverse career as chamber musician, soloist, recording artist, improvisor, and teacher. His eclectic tastes and adventurous spirit have led him to forge a musical path of uncommon breadth, where his activities range from performing the masterpieces of the past in the world's most prestigious concert halls, to free improvisation in downtown experimental venues, to working with contemporary composers of all styles, pushing the boundaries of musical expression and meaning.

The ensembles Michael plays in illustrate his commitment to that musical diversity. He is the cellist of the Grammy-nominated string quartet Brooklyn Rider, an intrepid and genre-defying group which has drawn praise from classical, world music, and rock critics alike. As a member of the acclaimed International Contemporary Ensemble, he has worked with countless composers from around the world, premiering and recording dozens of new works. Another group, Third Sound, which Michael helped found, made its debut with an historic residency at the 2015 Havana Contemporary Music Festival, in Cuba. Earlier in his career, he played for almost a decade with the wildly popular Korean chamber group Ensemble Ditto, and also held a post as Associate Principal Cellist of the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal.

As a soloist, Michael has performed recitals and concertos across the globe. His album Transitions, available on the Sono Luminus label, was named Q2 Music Album of the Week at WQXR upon release, and it has since garnered critical acclaim across North America. His discography comprises over 50 recordings as soloist, chamber musician, and sideman.

Of mixed French-Canadian and Taiwanese heritage, Michael was born in Canada, and currently resides in New York City, where he is on the cello faculty at The Mannes School of Music at The New School. He is a graduate of the Juilliard School.

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/>

Kathleen Karr is the Principal Flutist of the Louisville Orchestra and Flute Professor at the University of Louisville. In 2012, she was awarded the Distinguished Teaching Professor Award for the University of Louisville. At the University of Louisville, Kathleen teaches all applied flute students, flute ensemble, flute studio class, flute literature, flute pedagogy, chamber music coaching and performs with the faculty woodwind quintet. A frequent soloist with the Louisville Orchestra, Kathleen has most recently performed the Mozart G Major Flute Concerto with the Louisville Orchestra during the 2014-15 season. Kathleen has taught flute and chamber music at the Interlochen Arts Camp (Interlochen, Michigan), Bellarmine University, Centre College (Danville, Kentucky) and Indiana University Southeast.   Kathleen has twice performed at the National Flute Association’s annual convention (Las Vegas in 2012 and Washington D.C. in 2015), and frequently tours with her flute and guitar duo, The Astral Duo. The Astral Duo has commissioned four pieces for flute and guitar and a CD of the commissioned pieces is in process. She is also a member of the Flutes Fleur de Lis – a two flute and piano trio that most recently commissioned a piece that was performed at the University of Louisville’s New Music Festival in November 2015. A founding member of the Kentucky Center Chamber Players, Kathleen is also the flutist with the Grawemeyer Players. She has performed masterclasses and recitals throughout Israel, Mexico, and the USA. Most recently, Kathleen performed a masterclass and recital in Charleston, South Carolina.   Kathleen has performed as Principal Flute with the Fort Wayne Philharmonic, the Huntsville (Alabama) Symphony, the North Charleston Pops, Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Kentucky, and the Orquestra Sinfonica da Mineria in Mexico City.   Kathleen Karr received her Bachelor of Music degree from Northwestern University and her Master of Music degree from the State University of New York at Stony Brook.   Kathleen Karr is an Altus Flutes Performing Artist.

A native of Queens, New York, Andrea Levine was appointed Principal Clarinet of the Louisville Orchestra in 2003.  She also served as Acting Principal Clarinet of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra for the 2017-2018 season. She won the position of interim assistant principal of the Colorado Symphony during the 2011-2012 season. She also won the position of interim second clarinet of the Cleveland Orchestra during the 2007-2008 season and joined them on two European tours. Prior to coming to Louisville, she spent a year as a member of the New World Symphony in Miami, Florida.  Before joining New World, she served as Interim Principal Clarinet of the Akron Symphony while completing a Professional Studies Diploma at the Cleveland Institute of Music.  She completed her undergraduate degree at the Eastman School of Music.  In addition to serving as Principal Clarinet of the Britt Festival Orchestra, she has held the same position at the Artosphere Festival.  She has appeared as guest principal clarinet of the Cincinnati Symphony, the Baltimore Symphony, the Detroit Symphony and the Saint Louis Symphony. She has also appeared as a soloist with the Louisville Orchestra, the Detroit Symphony, the Artosphere Festival Orchestra, the New World Symphony, and with the Eastman Philharmonia. She is also an active teacher, having presented masterclasses at the Eastman School of Music, University of Michigan, University of Florida, Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, University of Tennessee, and the University of Louisville. She recently served as Adjunct Professor at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music. Teachers with whom she has studied include Daniel Gilbert, Kenneth Grant, Franklin Cohen, Yehuda Gilad, Mitchell Estrin, and Ricardo Morales She loves living in Louisville with her husband, Jack Griffin, and their two Cockapoos, Gus and Leo.

Matthew Karr received a bachelors degree from Oberlin Conservatory in 1978 and a Masters degree from SUNY at Stonybrook. In 1979 Mr. Karr won the Principal Bassoon position with the Louisville Orchestra. He has also served as Associate Principal Bassoon with the Houston Symphony during the 2000-01 season, taking a one year leave from the Louisville Orchestra. An active chamber musician, Mr. Karr attended the Marlboro Festival in Vermont in 1989 and 1990. He is a regular guest performer with the Ronen ensemble of Indianapolis (a chamber group made up of members of the Indianapolis Symphony) since 1986. Mr. Karr was a founding member of the Kentucky Center Chamber Players and has performed with the group since its inception in 1983. Matthew has been featured as soloist with the Louisville Orchestra on seven different ocassions, most notably for the North American premieres of both Michael Daugherty’s “Hells Angels” and Simon Bainbridge’s “At an Uncertain Hour.” He has also performed Concerti by Telemann, Mozart, Haydn and Vivaldi. Matthew has performed as soloist with the Civic Orchestra of Louisville, the Manhattan School of Music Symphony Orchestra, the Orquestra Filarmonic UNAM of Mexico City, and the Indiana University SE Orchestra. Mr. Karr began teaching at the University of Louisville in 1979. He has served on the faculties of the Music Academy of the West (Santa Barbara CA.), and the Interlochen Arts Camp (Michigan). His principal teachers include Kenneth Moore, Willard Elliot, Arthur Weisberg and Lou Skinner. Matthew produced a compact disc, “A Bassoonists Voice,” in 1997. The American Record Guide said of this CD: “The Bach Partita is immaculately played… The villa Lobos is given a technically flawless reading… Schumann’s splendid Fantasiestucke is given a fine reading, played on the instrument that is sounds best on.” The international Double Reed Journal said of the CD: “Matthew Karr has a fine, clean technique, and a lovely lyrical style and vibrato. This is a fine, carefully prepared and beautifully performed CD by a talented young artist.”