GABRIELLE DESPRÉS

Canadian violinist GABRIELLE DESPRÉS has garnered numerous awards, including first prizes in the Irving M. Klein International String Competition and the Juilliard Concerto Competition. She also earned top prizes in the Michael Hill, Elmar Oliveira and Washington International Violin Competitions. As a soloist, she has performed with orchestras including the Juilliard Orchestra, the Spokane Symphony, the Chamber Orchestra of Edmonton, and the Peninsula Symphony. An avid chamber musician, she recently performed at Music in the Vineyards, Schiermonnikoog Festival, and the Edmonton Summer Solstice Music Festival.

Gabrielle received a Bachelor of Music and Master of Music at the Juilliard School as a proud recipient of the Kovner Fellowship. She is currently pursuing her Artist Diploma at Juilliard, studying with Catherine Cho. Her past mentors include Donald Weilerstein, Joseph Lin, Masao Kawasaki, Robert Uchida, and James Keene.

Gabrielle currently plays on a violin of Zosimo Bergonzi and a bow of Étienne Pajeot, graciously provided to her by CANIMEX INC., from Drummondville, Quebec, Canada.

About our Rising Stars
ChamberFest Cleveland’s Rising Stars are recognized for their extraordinary talent. They are invited to deepen their connection to the art of chamber music by immersing themselves in the festival, rehearsing side by side with the leading chamber musicians of our time, and performing in a professional concert setting for discerning audiences and critics alike.

The Rising Stars program is generously sponsored by Michael Frank and the late Pat Snyder.

FRANCESCA DEPASQUALE

Celebrated for “sincerity, intensity, and individual voice” (Philadelphia Inquirer) as well as “immaculate and discreet phrasing” (Strad Magazine), violinist FRANCESCA DEPASQUALE is the first prize winner of the 2010 Irving M. Klein International String Competition, as well as recipient of the 2014-2016 Leonore Annenberg Fellowship Fund for the Performing and Visual Arts and 2015 Classical Recording Foundation Young Artist Award.

Violinist of the Aletheia Piano Trio alongside pianist Fei-Fei and cellist Juliette Herlin, Francesca is also a member of the artist roster for Manhattan Chamber Players and Chameleon Arts Ensemble of Boston.

Francesca is a member of the violin faculty at Oberlin Conservatory of Music, having previously served on the faculty of the Juilliard School Pre-College Program. In addition to performing and teaching, Francesca is the creator of Hypermobile Musician (hypermobilemusician.com), a free, online resource for musicians with hypermobility and educators who wish to learn more about teaching hypermobile musicians.

Francesca dePasquale is generously sponsored by Morton and Judith Levin.

STEVEN COPES

Violinist STEVEN COPES leads a diverse and enthusiastic musical life as soloist, chamber musician and orchestral leader. He joined the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra as Concertmaster in 1998, and since then has led the SPCO from the first chair in many highly acclaimed, eclectic programs. He appears frequently as soloist with the SPCO, having performed concerti by Bach, Beethoven, Berg, Brahms, Hartmann, Hindemith, Kirchner, Korngold, Lutoslawski, Martin, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Piazzolla, Prokofiev, Schnittke and Weill. In addition, he has performed as soloist with the Philharmonia Orchestra of London, the Colorado Symphony, Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra in Boston, the Sao Paolo State Symphony, the Orlando Philharmonic, The Knights, and the Mexico City Philharmonic.

A zealous advocate of the music of today, he gave the world premiere of George Tsontakis’ Grammy-nominated Violin Concerto No. 2 (2003), which won the 2005 Grawemeyer award and has been recorded for KOCH Records, and also gave the NY premiere of Lutoslawski’s Subito (1992) for Violin and Piano. In June of 2017 he gave the World Premiere of Pierre Jalbert’s Violin Concerto with Thomas Zehetmair conducting the SPCO. He performed John Novacek’s Four Rags with the composer on NPR’s Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor, and has also appeared on the PBS series Now Hear This.

Other recent and upcoming solo engagements include the Berg Chamber Concerto with pianist Kirill Gerstein at the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Hartmann’s Concerto Funebre with the SPCO, the Berg Violin Concerto with the Orlando Philharmonic and Eric Jacobsen, Frank Martin’s Polyptyque with Josh Weilerstein and the SPCO, the Bartok Violin Concerto # 2 with the Colorado College Summer Music Festival Orchestra, the Shostakovich Violin Concerto #1 with Scott Yoo and the Mexico City Philharmonic, and a new arrangement of Prokofiev’s Violin and Piano Sonata #1 (for solo violin and Chamber orchestra) by Stephen Prutsman, which will be recorded with the SPCO for Phenotypic Records. He recently led a program with the New World Symphony in Miami which included Hartmann’s Concerto Funebre, and also performed the Brahms Violin Concerto with the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra in Boston and the SPCO last spring. In June , he performed Berg’s Violin Concerto (in a reduction for chamber orchestra) with Gabor Takacs-Nagy conducting the SPCO, and recently played Mozart‘s Sinfonia Concertante with violist and SPCO Artistic Partner Tabea Zimmerman.

An avid chamber musician, Copes has performed at festivals and concert series such as Aspen, Boston Chamber Music Society, Bravo! Vail, Caramoor, Cartagena, Chamber Music Northwest, Chestnut Hill, La Jolla Summerfest, Mainly Mozart, Marlboro, Moritzburg, Mozaic, Norfolk, Olympic Music Festival, Piccolo Spoleto, Salt Bay Chamberfest, Santa Fe, Seattle Chamber Music Society, Styriarte, and at other festivals across the globe. He co-founded the Alpenglow Chamber Music Festival in Colorado as well as Accordo, a chamber music collective in the Twin Cities made up of musicians from the SPCO and the Minnesota Orchestra, now nearing the end of its second decade.

A frequent guest Concertmaster/Leader, Copes has recorded and toured extensively throughout Europe, Asia and the US with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, the Budapest Festival Orchestra, and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra and has performed in the same capacity with the Baltimore Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, Halle Orchestra, Houston Symphony, London Philharmonic, Melbourne Symphony, NDR ElbPhilharmonie Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, and the San Francisco Symphony under conductors such as Haitink, Temirkanov, I. Fischer, Masur, Nezet-Seguin, Gilbert, Harding, Jurowski, Nelsons, Ades, Tilson Thomas, Elder and Pappano.

A dedicated teacher as well, he has taught and coached at the Banff Centre in Canada, Curtis Institute of Music Summerfest, New World Symphony in Miami, Colorado College Summer Festival, East Carolina University, University of South Carolina, (Columbia), National Orchestral Institute in Maryland, Western Michigan University, Indiana University, University of Minnesota, University of Texas (Austin), Roosevelt University in Chicago, and Orford Academy in Quebec.

A native of Los Angeles, he holds degrees from The Curtis Institute and Juilliard, and his main teachers include Robert Lipsett, Aaron Rosand, Robert Mann and Felix Galimir for chamber music. He lives in St. Paul with his wife, two daughters and their 100-pound Bernese Mountain dog.

DIANA COHEN

Violinist DIANA COHEN leads a multi-faceted career as a concertmaster, chamber musician, curator, and soloist. Appointed Concertmaster of the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra in 2012, she has served in the same role with orchestras all over the United States. She has appeared as soloist with numerous orchestras, including Holland Symphony, Richmond Symphony, Rochester Symphony, and symphony orchestras including Lansing, Grand Rapids, and Charleston, among others. As a chamber musician, she has performed at some of the most prestigious festivals including Marlboro Music Festival, Ravinia Festival, and La Jolla Chamber Music Festival, and collaborated with renowned artists including Garrick Ohlsson, Mitsuko Uchida, Jonathan Biss, and members of the Dover, Guarneri, Juilliard, Miro, Parker, and Cleveland Quartets.

Diana has toured and recorded with the GRAMMY®-winning Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and performed with the East Coast Chamber Orchestra, Sejong Soloists, The Knights, Cleveland Orchestra, and New York Philharmonic. A graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Music, she was awarded the Jerome Gross Prize in Violin and this year is the recipient of the 2023 Alumni Achievement Award. She was also inducted this year into the Cleveland Heights Distinguished Alumni Hall of Fame.

Diana comes from a musical family and performs worldwide with her husband, esteemed concert pianist Roman Rabinovich, as well as her father, Franklin Cohen, longtime principal clarinet of The Cleveland Orchestra. Her brother Alexander is Principal Timpanist of the Calgary Philharmonic, and her late mother, Lynette Diers Cohen, was a distinguished bassoonist. Diana is also the mother of Noa Lynette Cohen Rabinovich, an avid 3-year old music lover.

Diana is co-Founder of ChamberFest Cleveland, now one of the most lauded chamber music festivals in North America, attracting the most exciting musicians from around the globe. This past summer, Diana and Roman founded Calgary’s first international chamber festival, ChamberFest West.

DANIEL CHONG

GRAMMY® Award-winning violinist DANIEL CHONG is one of the most exciting and versatile musicians of his generation. Since 2002, as the founding first violinist of the Parker Quartet, he has garnered wide recognition for his performances in such venues as Carnegie Hall, the Library of Congress, the Musikverein, and Wigmore Hall. Additionally, recent solo engagements include appearances at National Sawdust in New York City, Seoul Arts Center, and Jordan Hall in Boston. Mr. Chong has received several awards and prizes such as the Cleveland Quartet Award and top prizes at the Concert Artists Guild Competition and the Bordeaux International String Quartet Competition. In the recording realm, he can be heard on the Zig-Zag Territoires, Naxos, and Nimbus Records labels. Mr. Chong’s newest album was released on the ECM New Series featuring the Parker Quartet and Kim Kashkashian.
 
Mr. Chong has performed at major music festivals including the Marlboro Music Festival, Mostly Mozart, Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and the Perigord Noir Music Festival. In addition to the core repertoire, Daniel is a strong advocate for new music. Some of the composers he has worked closely with are György Kurtág, Augusta Read Thomas, Helmut Lachenmann, and Chaya Czernowin. In 2011, he won a GRAMMY Award with the Parker Quartet for their recording of György Ligeti’s string quartets.
 
Actively engaged in pedagogy, Mr. Chong currently serves as Professor of the Practice at Harvard University.

DAVID BOWLIN

Violinist DAVID BOWLIN is on the violin and chamber music faculty at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, where he also serves as Chair of Strings. First prize winner of the 2003 Washington International Competition, Bowlin has performed extensively as a soloist, with premieres of violin concertos written for him at Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival, at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, and at the Aspen Music Festival. As a chamber musician, Bowlin has made many tours with Musicians from Marlboro, and performs regularly with both the Oberlin Trio and the Bowlin-Cho Duo with pianist Tony Cho. Bowlin is a founding member of the highly acclaimed International Contemporary Ensemble and a former member of the Naumburg Award-winning Da Capo Chamber Players. 

Bowlin has performed as guest concertmaster with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Marlboro Festival Orchestra, and the IRIS Orchestra.  In addition to Marlboro, he has appeared at the Banff, Bowdoin, Bridgehampton, Chesapeake, Olympic, and Ojai festivals, ChamberFest Cleveland, with the Boston Chamber Music Society, and at the Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival, where he has been faculty artist since 2013.  His recordings can be found on the Bridge, Naxos, Arsis, New Focus, Mode, Tundra, and Oberlin Music labels.

MARK ALMOND
horn

MARK ALMOND joined the San Francisco Symphony as Associate Principal Horn during the 2020–21 season. He joined the San Francisco Opera Orchestra as Co-Principal Horn in 2016 and before that held the position of 3rd Horn with the Philharmonia Orchestra of London. Growing up in Bolton, England, Almond was taught to play horn primarily by Christopher Wormald, his local high school music teacher, and subsequently won principal horn positions with the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain and the European Union Youth Orchestra. He made his professional debut playing with the London Symphony Orchestra, at age 19, and has since performed as guest principal with numerous ensembles including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. In addition to playing the horn, Almond is an experienced hospital physician and has a PhD in immunology and virology from Imperial College, London. He is currently researching COVID-19 as a Post-Doctoral Research Scholar at UCSF.

ANI AZNAVOORIAN
cello

The Strad magazine describes cellist ANI AZNAVOORIAN as having “Scorchingly committed performances that wring every last drop of emotion out of the music. Her technique is well-nigh immaculate, she has a natural sense of theater, and her tone is astonishingly responsive.” Ms. Aznavoorian is in demand as a soloist and chamber musician with some of the most recognized ensembles, and she has appeared with many of the world’s leading orchestras including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Pops, the Tokyo Philharmonic, the Helsinki Philharmonic, the Finnish Radio Symphony, the International Sejong Soloists, the Belgrade Philharmonic, the Juilliard Orchestra, and the Edmonton Symphony. This season marks Ms. Aznavoorian’s thirteenth year as Principal Cellist with Camerata Pacifica. 

Ms. Aznavoorian received the prestigious Bunkamura Orchard Hall Award for her outstanding cello playing and artistry. Some of her other awards include first prizes in the Illinois Young Performers Competition (televised live on PBS with the Chicago Symphony), the Chicago Cello Society National Competition, the Julius Stulberg Competition, and the American String Teachers Association Competition. She was a top prizewinner in the 1996 International Paulo Competition, held in Helsinki, Finland. As a recipient of the Level I Award in the National Foundation for the Arts Recognition and Talent Search, Ms. Aznavoorian was named a Presidential Scholar in the Arts and performed as soloist at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. where she met former U.S. President Bill Clinton.

As a first-year student at The Juilliard School, Ms. Aznavoorian won first prize in the institution’s concerto competition—the youngest cellist in the history of the school’s cello competitions to do so. As a result, she performed with the Juilliard Orchestra in a concert with conductor Gerard Schwarz at Avery Fisher Hall. With only 12 hours notice, Ms. Aznavoorian stepped in to replace Natalia Gutman in three performances of the Shostakovich Cello Concerto No. 1 with the San Jose Symphony—concerts that were hailed by the San Jose Press. Other notable appearances include concerts at Weill Hall and Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Ravinia’s Bennett Hall, Aspen’s Harris Hall, the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series, WFMT Live from Studio 1, and NPR’s Performance Today. She has been a member of the renowned string ensemble the International Sejong Soloists, and also performs frequently on the Jupiter Chamber Music series in New York. Ms. Aznavoorian received both her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from the Juilliard School where she studied with Aldo Parisot.

In addition to performing, teaching plays an important part in Ms. Aznavoorian’s career. She has been a member of the distinguished music faculty at the University of Illinois in Champaign/Urbana, and in the summers has served on the faculty of the Great Mountains Music Festival in South Korea. Ms. Aznavoorian enjoys performing new music and has made the world premiers of many important pieces in the cello repertoire. Some of these include Ezra Laderman’s Concerto No. 2 with the Colorado Springs Philharmonic under the baton of Lawrence Leighton Smith, Lera Auerbach’s 24 Preludes for Cello and Piano on stage at the Hamburg Staatsoper with the Hamburg State Ballet—choreographed by John Neumeier, and Lera Auerbach’s Dreammusik for Cello and Chamber Orchestra, which was written for her and commissioned by Camerata Pacifica and Sandra Svoboda. In addition to return engagements at chamber music festivals around the globe, the 2017-2018 season included a debut concert tour of Armenia, the country of her ancestors.

Ms. Aznavoorian records for Cedille Records, and she proudly performs on a cello made by her father Peter Aznavoorian in Chicago.

BRANDON RIDENOUR

BRANDON RIDENOUR is a stylistically diverse trumpet soloist, collaborative artist, composer, and arranger. He began learning about the wonders of music at age 5, studying piano under the tutelage of his father. This morphed into “tootelage” when he picked up the trumpet in 5th grade band class in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Upon graduating from the Juilliard School, he immediately began touring with the Canadian Brass and embarked on a solo career. 

Brandon has won competitions ranging from the International Trumpet Guild Solo Competition to the American Composers Forum. In 2014, he was a winner of the Concert Artist Guild competition, becoming the first trumpeter to win the competition in 30 years and join their artist roster. Emphasizing the role of performer-composer, he assembled a group of similar-minded musicians based in Brooklyn called Founders. He has worked with a diverse array of musicians including Sting, James Taylor, Marvin Hamlisch, Yo-Yo Ma, Esperanza Spalding, Bruce Cockburn, Caroline Shaw, Vienna Teng, and esteemed ensembles such as the New York Philharmonic, International Contemporary Ensemble, the Knights, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Ymusic, Publiquartet, and many others. He’s been a featured soloist with the National Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and many more.

In 2023, Brandon came full circle, joining the American Brass Quintet and becoming faculty at his alma mater The Juilliard School of Music. He is also on faculty at The New School and the Manhattan School of Music, where he is passionate about developing a new model of education for a well-rounded, progressive musician of the future. Aside from music, Brandon enjoys playing tennis and has taken courses at Upright Citizen’s Brigade in NYC. He isn’t very good at either.

HEIDI ELISE BEARCROFT
harp

Harpist Heidi Elise Bearcroft is considered one of the most outstanding solo, chamber, and orchestral musicians of her generation, her playing described as having a “wonderful sense of phrasing, balance, and musical sense” (The Globe and Mail).

She has performed solo recitals everywhere from New York to Los Angeles, Vancouver to Vienna, and has collaborated with many world-class musicians at the Strings Chamber Music Festival (Steamboat Springs, Colorado), Aspen Music Festival (Colorado), Tanglewood (Lenox, Massachusetts), and St. Barth’s Music Festival (French West Indies). Principal Harp with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra since 2011, Heidi previously performed as a member of the Hartford Symphony Orchestra and Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (with which she has also appeared as a soloist). She has been a member of the Sun Valley Summer Symphony since 2001.

Ms. Bearcroft has two degrees in harp performance from The Juilliard School, where she studied with Nancy Allen. She is the winner of many competitions, including first prizes at the 2009 American Harp Society (AHS) National Competition and the 2004 American String Teachers Association (ASTA) National Solo Competition, and is the recipient of the Anne Adams Award (2010) and the Victor Salvi Award (2008). She has been featured twice as a soloist on NPR’s From the Top. In 2015, she released Genetic Harps, a recording of harp duets with her mother, Gretchen Van Hoesen.

An active and enthusiastic teacher, Heidi is currently in the faculty at The Glenn Gould School at The Royal Conservatory in Toronto. She is also highly sought-after as a guest lecturer and masterclass clinician in Canada and the United States.
Heidi is “owned by” a boxer named Frank, and two cats named Dewey and Bee Bee. She enjoys reading, traveling, trying new restaurants, and is an advocate and educator on safer skincare options.