Chamber Music Aspen - Sybarite Quintet

Laura Metcalf, cello

Laura Metcalf, Cello

Cellist Laura Metcalf enjoys an active performing career in and around New York city, having been heard recently such venues as Weill Recital Hall and Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall, the French Consulate of New York, the Tenri Cultural Institute, the J.P. Morgan Library, St. John the Divine Cathedral, and Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall. As a member of the Stella Piano Trio, she gave her Carnegie Hall debut at Weill Recital Hall in 2006, and in 2007 participated in the ARD Competition in Munich, Germany, where the trio was the top-ranked North American ensemble. She gave her New York concerto debut in 2007 performing Beethoven’s Triple Concerto with the Ensemble 212 Orchestra, and was named a semi-finalist in the 2007 Hudson Valley Concerto Competition. Laura has performed at music festivals including Taos, IMS Prussia Cove, Sarasota, Aspen, and Fontainebleau (France). As an orchestral musician, she was recently appointed assistant principal cellist of the Chamber Orchestra of New York, and performs regularly as a member of Michael Tilson Thomas’s New World Symphony. She studied with Timothy Eddy and Michael Reynolds, and is a faculty member at the Opus 118 Harlem School of Music.

Sarah Whitney, violin

Sarah Whitney, an active solo, and chamber musician, has been heard worldwide across stages in Europe, Asia, South America and the United States. As a chamber musician, Ms. Whitney has performed as guest artist on the Cleveland Institute of Music Faculty Concert Series, the Cleveland Composer’s Guild and the Memphis Chamber Music Society Solo Concert Series As a soloist she received second prize in the 2000 Philharmonic Society of Arlington, MA Young Artists Competition. Most recently, Ms. Whitney led the Cleveland Central Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra as concertmaster on tour to Carnegie Hall and again returned to the stage with the New World Symphony. She has participated in festivals in Italy, France, and China as well as the Aspen Music Festival, the Music Academy of the West and the Spoleto Music Festival. She has also collaborated with the Josh Ritter Band and can be heard of their latest album, The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter, produced by Sony Music BMG. Ms. Whitney received her M.M. from the Cleveland Institute of Music and her B.M with honors from the University of Michigan. Her teachers include Kathleen Winkler, Aaron Berfosky, Cyrus Forough, Stephen Shipps, Paul Kantor and William Preucil. Ms. Whitney plays on a Luigi Sofritti violin made in 1885.

Angela Pickett, viola

Angela Pickett, Viola

Photo- Brian D Braun

Angela Pickett has performed as a violist, violinist, and fiddler throughout North America, Europe. A member of the Princeton Symphony, Angela has also performed with Wet Ink Music, Ne(x)tworks, Continuum, and recently premiered a new version of Helmut Lachenmann’s Mouvement with the Argento Chamber Ensemble. In 2006, Angela performed Ann Southam’s Re-Tuning for viola and tape at the 34th International Viola Congress, and a subsequent performance of Re-Tuning at the 2006 International Sound Symposium was recorded for national radio broadcast. As a fiddler she has perfromed with Irish tenor John McDermott, the Chieftains, and appeared on numerous recordings of Irish/Newfoundland traditional music. A doctoral candidate in viola performance at the Manhattan School of Music, Angela completed a Masters degree from the Juilliard School and a Bachelor of Music in her hometown of St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada. Angela has attended Tanglewood Music Centre, Aldeburgh Festival, Banff Centre for the Arts, Centre d’Arts Orford, and has twice been a recipient of the Canada Council for the Arts’ Grant for Classical Musicians. Angela’s principal teachers include Michael Tree, Samuel Rhodes, Karen Tuttle and Karen Dreyfus.

Louis Levitt, double bass

Louis Levitt, double bass

Louis Levitt has performed with the Pittsburgh Symphony, the New World Symphony, Sarasota Orchestra, Orchestra of the S.E.M. and was principal of the Springfield Symphony. An active chamber musician Mr Levitt has performed along side the Grammy nominated Quartet San Francisco, and multiple Grammy winning composer Bob James. Other chamber music appearances include the Aspen Music Festival Salida Chamber Series, Aspen Inside Music Series, LaSalle Chamber Music Series in Cincinnati Ohio, as well as the Telluride Music Festival. He has appeared as a soloist performing Frank Proto's Carmen Fantasy with orchestra and Jean Francaix's Mozart New Look. Mr. Levitt received his degrees from the Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music where he studied with Albert Laszlo. He has also received multiple fellowships to the Aspen Music Festival where he studied with Paul Ellison, Albert Laszlo, Eugene Levinson, Bruce Bransby, and Stuart Sankey. Mr. Levitt is originally from Sarasota Florida, where he studied with John Miller.

Sami Merdinian, violin

Sami Merdinian, Violin

Photo- Brian D Braun

Argentinian violinist Sami Merdinian has received worldwide recognition for his outstanding performances as a soloist and chamber musician. Sami has recently appeared as a soloist with the Montevideo Philharmonic, the Argentinian National Symphony, The Charlemagne Orchestre, Symphony Pro Musica, The Gagneung Philharmonic in South Korea, and Philharmonia of the Nations at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. As chamber musician, Mr. Merdinian has performed in Spoleto, Italy, The Perlman Chamber Music Workshop, The Festival of The Hamptons, Bargemusic, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Concertgebouw, among other venues. Also a member of Sejong Soloists since 2008, Sami has performed throughout the United States and Asia, including a West Coast Tour with Gil Shaham, and has recorded for Universal Records. Mr.Merdinian has been prize winner in several international competitions including Gold Medal in the XII International Young Solo Instrumentalists Competition in Argentina and the New Talent Competition in Slovakia organized by the European Radio. He has also received the Rising Star Award by Tiffany & Co. and was named Outstanding Artist of the Year by the Argentinian Press.While at The Juilliard School and Yale University, Mr.Merdinian was a pupil of Dorothy Delay, Naoko Tanaka and Peter Oundjian, and has participated in masterclasses for artists such as Itzahk Perlman, Ruggiero Ricci, Emmanuel Ax, Pamela Frank and members of the Tokyo, Cleveland and Guarnieri String Quartets.