Taiwanese born violist and erhuist (Chinese violin), Wei-Yang Andy Lin, is recognized as one of the most promising and the only active performers who specialized in both western and eastern instruments. Praised by The Strad “The great Molto adagio…..elicited some of the night’s most sensitive work, especially from Wei-Yang Andy Lin on viola.” and New York Times “Taiwanese-born violist Wei-Yang Andy Lin..…is also a virtuoso on the erhu, and he gave a brilliant performance.” He is the artistic director and co-founder of the New Asia Chamber Music Society.
Violinist Joanna Frankel joined the Columbus Symphony on appointment as concertmaster in September of 2016 for the 2016/17 season. She officially assumed the role of concertmaster for the start of the 2017/18 season. Born in Philadelphia in 1982, Ms. Frankel began studying the violin at age 3 with The Suzuki Method. She trained in New York at The Juilliard School and received the prestigious ‘William Schuman Prize’ upon graduation.
Hailed for her "sweeping and bristling" sound and “impassioned” playing by the New York Times, Tema Watstein is an active chamber musician, educator, and psychology student based in New York City. Formerly a violinist in ETHEL, New York's premier "downtown" string quartet, she took great pride in her mission as a cultural and musical “pollinator,” bringing collaborative discoveries to audiences through multi-dimensional musical repertoire and community engagement. Through her tenure, ETHEL served as Ensemble in Residence at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and at Denison University. Tema also composed and performed works for the world premiere of Documerica at BAM.
David Kaplan, pianist, has been called “excellent and adventurous” by The New York Times, and praised by the Boston Globe for “grace and fire” at the keyboard. He has appeared at London’s Barbican Centre, at Miami’s Arsht Center.
Born and raised in Calgary, Alberta, cellist Estelle Choi has garnered top prizes as a soloist and as a chamber musician. She has gained international recognition as a founding member of the Calidore String Quartet, praised by the New York Times for its “deep reserves of virtuosity and irrepressible dramatic instinct.”
Mike Tierney is a Brooklyn-based, three time Grammy nominated audio engineer and producer. He has worked with a wide range of groups and genres, pulling from a diverse taste and experience to bring a unique musicality to each project.
Praised for his “excellent” and “precisely attuned” performances by the New York Times, percussionist Ian David Rosenbaum has developed a musical breadth far beyond his years.