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2009 Artist
Roster
 Amadi Azikiwe, viola, has been heard in recital throughout the
U.S. Israel, Canada, South America, Central America, India, Japan, Hong
Kong, and the Caribbean. He has been a guest of the Lincoln
Center Chamber Music Society and performed on the Kennedy Center and La
Jolla “Discovery” series. Mr. Azikiwe has appeared as soloist with the
Virginia, North Carolina, Roanoke, Winston-Salem, and Salisbury
Symphonies. He has performed at the Marlboro, Tanglewood, Aspen, and
Norfolk Festivals, and his performances have been broadcast on radio
and television in the U.S., England, Israel and South America. Among
his awards are those from the New York Philharmonic, Concert Artists
Guild, North Carolina Symphony. Mr. Azikiwe is on the faculty of James
Madison University, and has taught at Brevard Music Center. He is also
the Director of Program Development for the Gateways Music Festival. He
attended the NC School of the Arts, New England Conservatory and
Indiana University.
 Melvin
Chen, piano and violin, has
received acclaim for performances on both violin and piano throughout
the United States and abroad. As a soloist and chamber musician
Mr. Chen has performed at major venues in the United States, Canada and
Asia, and at U.S. festivals including Bravo! Vail Valley, Chautauqua,
Norfolk, Chamber Music Northwest, Bard, and Music from Angel
Fire. An enthusiastic chamber musician, Mr. Chen was selected to
be a member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center: Chamber
Music Two. He has collaborated with such artists as Ida Kavafian,
David Shifrin, Pamela Frank, and members of the St. Lawrence,
Mendelssohn, Miami, Orion, Borromeo, and Arditti quartets. Mr. Chen is
Associate Director of the Bard College Conservatory of
Music.
 Catherine
French,
violin, is a
member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra,
a position she has held since 1994. A native of Victoria, British
Columbia, Ms. French has appeared with orchestras throughout Canada and
the United States, and made her Carnegie Hall debut in 1992. She has
been a participant in the Marlboro Music Festival, and holds degrees
with distinction from Indiana University and the Julliard School. Ms.
French is also a member of Collage New Music, the Boston Artists
Ensemble, the Calyx Trio, and is the concertmaster of the Chamber
Orchestra of Boston.
 Jennifer
Lucht, cello and
Artistic Director, was raised in
Greenville North Carolina. She began her musical training at the
age of three on violin as a student of Joanne Bath and switched to
cello at age eleven under the tutelage of North Carolina Symphony
cellist Leonid Zilper. A performer with the Boston Pops Esplanade
Orchestra on tours throughout the US, Canada, and Japan, she has been
heard in chamber music performances at the Kennedy Center, Weill
Recital Hall, Tanglewood, the Ravinia and Bravo! Vail Festivals, and on
the Greater Philadelphia Performing Artists Series and NPR’s live
broadcast “Performance Today”. She has performed as concerto
soloist with the Metamorphosen Chamber Orchestra and Vermont Symphony
and is currently a member of the Calyx Piano Trio and guest faculty at
the Longy School of Music. Ms. Lucht received her
Bachelor and Masters degrees from Indiana University, continuing with
post-graduate studies at the New England Conservatory of Music.
 Ron
Raines, baritone, for 15 years headed the cast of CBS-TV’s
longest running daytime series Guiding
Light. For his work as “Alan Spaulding” Mr. Raines was nominated
for 2003, 2004, and 2006 Emmy Awards as Outstanding Lead Actor and was
nominated three times for the "Soap Opera Digest" Award as “Outstanding
Villain”. Ron is well known to theater audiences in New York and around
the country as one of America’s leading musical theater performers most
recently starring on Broadway as Billy Flynn in Chicago. He made his debut at New
York City Opera as Danilo in The
Merry Widow, a role he has played opposite some of the best
leading ladies, including Roberta Peters and jazz singer Cleo
Lane. He also starred in NYCO’s production of Offenbach’s The Duchess of Gerolstein. Most
recently, Ron starred as Frederik Egerman in A Little Night Music at the
Michigan Opera Theatre. As a concert performer, Ron has appeared as
soloist with the symphony orchestras in Atlanta, Alabama, Baltimore,
Baton Rouge, Chicago, Cleveland, Columbus, Dubuque, Minnesota, Omaha,
Pittsburgh (with Marvin Hamlisch), Philadelphia Pops (with Peter Nero),
Philadelphia Orchestra, Portland, ME, Rochester, Richardson, San Diego,
San Francisco, Tulsa, Washington DC’s National Symphony, and the Boston
Pops (with John Williams). Mr. Raines has also had the privilege of
performing with BBC Concert Orchestra, the Jerusalem Symphony and the
Israeli Philharmonic. Ron has had the honor of singing for two of
Americas first ladies: Nancy Regan’s White House luncheon for the
Senate wives and Ladybird Johnson’s National Wildlife Federation gala
in Austin, Texas. Mr. Raines recently completed his second solo album So in Love With Broadway (Jay
Records) after releasing Ron Raines:
Broadway Passion, recorded with the National Symphony Orchestra
of London, both available at Amazon.com. Ron has appeared in three of
PBS’s Great Performances including Gershwin
at 100 (Carnegie Hall); The Rodgers and Hart Story: Thou Swell, Thou
Witty; My Favorite Broadway, The Love Songs and A Tribute to Richard Rodgers with
Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops. Born in Texas City, TX and raised
mainly in Nacogdoches, TX, he attended five high schools and three
Universities, before completing his degree in Music from Oklahoma City
University in 1975. Ron was then invited to join the graduate program
at the American Opera Center at the Juilliard School. Summers were
spent apprenticing and performing roles at Santa Fe Opera and at Wolf
Trap where he came to the attention of the late baritone John Reardon
who served as his mentor.
 Anna Reinersman, harp and
Artistic Director, praised
by The New
York Times as "an elegant harpist", was the harpist
for the full run of the Broadway smash hit “The Producers”. Anna
has performed
with
the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, the Orchestra of St. Luke's, the
Brooklyn Philharmonic, and the Boston Pops, and is an active chamber
musician and solo recitalist. A graduate of Yale University and
the Manhattan School of Music, Anna has also performed with such
popular artists as Joni Mitchell, Diana Krall and Alicia Keyes.
 Jim
Wann, Composer In Residence, is the principal author/composer of
Broadway’s Tony-nominated (Best Musical) "Pump Boys and Dinettes" in
which he appeared, originating the role of “Jim”. The London
production of "Pump Boys" received an Olivier nomination for Best
Musical, and the Toronto version won Canada’s Best Musical (Dora
Award). The longest-running musical in Chicago theatre history,
"Pump Boys" continues to be produced around the country and around the
world, most recently in South Korea. Off-Broadway, Mr. Wann co-wrote
(with Bland Simpson) "Diamond Studs: The Life Of Jesse James"; "King
Mackerel & The Blues Are Running: Songs And Stories Of The Carolina
Coast" (with Mr. Simpson, Don Dixon, and Jake Mills); and "The People
vs. Mona: A Musical Mystery Screwball Comedy" (with Patricia
Miller). The new "Mona" cast recording (JAY Records, London)
features Broadway singers Marc Kudisch, Christiane Noll, Lillias White,
Natalie Toro, and Ron Raines. Songs from "King Mackerel" and its
cd followup, "Wild Ponies", are being performed in concert by the
COASTAL COHORTS (Wann, Simpson, and Dixon), on tour in North Carolina
in 2010 to benefit N.C. Coastal Federation and Core Sound Waterfowl
Museum. Mr. Wann has recorded a cd of Johnny Mercer songs ("Pardon My
Southern Accent, Vol. 1") and one of his own songs (Vol. 2), and acted
as host of "Farmer's Almanac TV", a 'green' lifestyle show on
PBS. A Morehead Scholar graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill, Mr. Wann was
elected to the Order Of The Golden Fleece, the University’s honor
society dedicated to unity, harmony, and service. He lives in New
York’s Hudson Valley and on Tybee Island, GA, with his wife Patricia,
three silly dogs and a fine fat cat.
CCMF
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organization
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