2021 Artists
2021 VBF String Orchestra Artists
Alejandro Hernandez-Valdez, conductor
New York, New York
Esteemed conductor and pianist Dr. Alejandro Hernandez-Valdez was named Artistic Director of Musica Viva NY and Director of Music of the historic Unitarian Church of All Souls in Manhattan in 2015. He is also Co-Founder of the New Orchestra of Washington and Artistic Director of the Victoria Bach Festival. He has earned accolades from The Washington Post as a conductor “with the incisive clarity of someone born to the idiom,” as well as praise from The New York Times for leading “a stirring performance” of Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem.His guest conducting engagements include appearances at The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., Lincoln Center in New York City, and the Degollado Theatre in Guadalajara, Mexico, where he led the Jalisco Philharmonic. As a pianist, Hernandez-Valdez performed for the 2013 Britten100 festival in New York, organized by the Britten-Pears Foundation to honor the 100th anniversary of the titular composer’s birth. Read full bio
Stephen Redfield, concertmaster
Hattiesburg, Mississippi
Violinist Stephen Redfield, D.M.A., has been Professor of Violin at the University of Southern Mississippi School of Music since 1996. Each summer since 1992, Stephen has performed with the Victoria Bach Festival, where his performances as concertmaster and soloist have been produced on discs and broadcast nationally. Stephen is concertmaster of the Santa Fe Pro Musica and the Arizona Bach Festival. He has been concertmaster of the Oregon Bach Festival orchestra, where he recorded the Grammy Award-winning disc Credo.
Stephen performs regularly as a Baroque violinist with the Albuquerque Baroque Players, Nashville’s Music City Baroque, and the Atlanta Baroque Orchestra. Stephen’s Baroque chamber music credits include concerts with Marion Verbruggen, Mary Springfels, Elizabeth Blumenstock and Kenneth Slowik. As a member of the Sebastian Ensemble with harpsichordist Kathleen McIntosh, he has performed throughout the US, and in Spain, Cuba and Peru.
Mario Aschauer, harpsichord
Houston, Texas
- Assistant Professor of Musicology at Sam Houston State University
- Specializes in historically informed performance practice
- Collaborated with early music ensembles such as Ensemble NovAntique Linz, Progetto Semiserio Vienna, Harmony of Nations Baroque Orchestra, Ars Antiqua Austria, and L’Orfeo Baroque Orchestra
Melissa Brewer, viola
Tallahassee, Florida
- Principal Viola with the Atlanta Baroque Orchestra
- Asst. Principal Viola with the Tallahassee Symphony
- Principal and Viola d’amore soloist with Bach Parley
- Performs in regional orchestras throughout the Southeast
Patrice Calixte, violin
Austin, Texas
- Associate concertmaster, Austin Symphony Orchestra
- Formerly worked the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Orchestre Symphonique de Québec, Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra, and Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra
- Member of the Artisan Quartet
Joan Carlson, violin
Austin, Texas
- Tenured violinist in the Austin Symphony Orchestra
- Baroque violinist with La Follia Austin Baroque
- Performed with the Texas Early Music Project and the St. Cecilia Series’ Baroque Festival
- Member of Conspirare since 1998
- Singer, Compline Choir of St. David’s Episcopal Church, Austin
Bruce Colson, violin
Austin, Texas
- Member of the Austin Symphony Orchestra, Austin Opera Orchestra
- Performs with Texas Early Music Project, La Follia Austin Baroque
Susan Doering, violin
Auberry, California
- Teaches at Fresno Pacific University and international masterclasses in Sweden and Germany
- Concertmaster of Tulare County Symphony Orchestra, performs with Fresno Philharmonic, Santa Rosa, Monterey Symphonies
- Co-Founder of Musica Viva Chamber Music series and Emerald Duo
Désirée Elsevier, viola
Dallas, Texas
- Regular member of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra from 1987 to 2021
- Member of the World Orchestra for Peace (founded by Sir Georg Solti, now led by Valery Gergiev)
- Member of the Classical Tahoe summer festival orchestra
Boel Gidholm, violin
Rochester, New York
- Co-Director of the period-instrument ensemble Publick Musick
- Performs with Pegasus Early Music, NYS Baroque
- Appears on recordings with Fiori Musicali-Barockorchester Bremen, Steintor Barock (Bremen), L’Arco (Hannover), Apollo’s Fire, and The Publick Musick
Suzanna Giordano Gignac, viola
Los Angeles, California
- Performs with the Pasadena Symphony, Chamber Orchestra at St. Matthew’s, La Follia Austin Baroque
- Principal Viola: Musica Angelica Baroque Orchestra
- Co-founder of the period ensemble Angeles Consort
- Freelance studio musician recording for motion pictures and television
- Recorded for Harmonia Mundi
Jackson Guillen, violin
Houston, Texas
- Director of the EL Sistema-based CODA Music Program of the Houston Youth Symphony
- Co-founder and Executive Director of “Encuentro Anual de Cuerdas,” a string festival in Tegucigalpa, Honduras
- Member, Terra Nostra Ensemble, dedicated to the performance, promotion, and preservation of music by Latin-American and Iberian composers
Christopher Haritatos, cello
Rochester, New York
- Member of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra
- Performs with early music ensembles including Pegasus Early Music, NYS Baroque, Handel and Haydn Society, and Ars Lyrica
- Co-Director of Publick Musick
- Appears on recordings with Fiori Musicali-Barockorchester Bremen, Apollo’s Fire, Tafelmusik, Fioritura, Publick Musick
Douglas Harvey, cello
Austin, Texas
- Principal cellist of the Austin Symphony Orchestra and Austin Opera
- Performs with Chamber Soloists of Austin, Salon Concerts series and Austin Chamber Players
- Performs as soloist with Central Texas symphony orchestras
- Member of the Artisan Quartet
Juan Jaramillo, violin
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Assistant principal second violin, Pittsburgh Opera
- Principal second violin, Altoona Symphony
- Assistant principal second violin, Wheeling Symphony
Jia Kim, cello
New York, New York
- Artistic Director, Spruce Peak Chamber Music Society, Stowe, VT
- Artistic Director, Central Chamber Series, Central Presbyterian Church, NYC
- Faculty for The Juilliard School’s Pre-College Division, New York Youth Symphony’s Chamber Music program, The Brearley School, and International Music Sessions
Gesa Kordes, violin
Tuscaloosa, Alabama
- Performs with Baroque and Beyond, Ensemble PeriHIPsous, Muses’ Delight, Opera Lafayette, Ensemble Tra i Tempi
- Performs with Tuscaloosa Symphony and Mobile Symphony
- Instructor of Early Music Performance at the University of Alabama
- Recorded for Harmonia Mundi, FONO, Dorian, and Naxos
Caitlin Lynch, violin
New York, New York
- Member, Aeolus Quartet
- Artistic Director, founder, and violist, Project Chamber Music: Willamette Valley
- Faculty member at Third Street Music School and New York Youth Symphony Chamber Music Program
- Performs regularly with the American Contemporary Music Ensemble, Wordless Music, and Metropolis Ensemble
Caleb Polashek, violin
Austin, Texas
- Tenured violinist in the Austin Symphony Orchestra
- Member of the Artisan Quartet
- Featured on acoustic and electric violin on a variety of recordings, including Conspirare’s “The Hope of Loving”
Andrew Potter, double bass
Austin, Texas
- Director of the Westlake High School Orchestra Program
- Founding member of the Texas Hill Country Bass Collective
Melanie Punter, principal double bass
Tallahassee, Florida
- Principal bassist, Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra
- Principal bassist, Tallahassee Bach Parley
- Principal bassist, Atlanta Baroque Orchestra
- Member, Orchestra of St. Luke’s
- Retired Associate Professor of Double Bass, Florida State University
- Performs regularly at Caramoor International Music Festival and the Charleston Bach Festival
Greg Sauer, principal cello
Tallahassee, Florida
- Principal cello, Tallahassee Symphony
- Assistant principal cello, Colorado Music Festival Orchestra
- Founding member of Trio Solis
- Professor of Cello, Florida State University
Rachel Shapiro, violin
New York, New York
- Founding member, Aeolus Quartet
- Performed with Renée Fleming, Michael Tree, Jon Kimura Parker, the Juilliard Quartet, the Miró Quartet, the Mark Morris Dance Group Music Ensemble, A Far Cry, and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra
- Served as Professorial Lecturer at the George Washington University
Corinne Stillwell, principal second violin
Tallahassee, Florida
- Associate Professor, Florida State University
- Concertmaster, Tallahassee Symphony
- Artist Faculty, Brevard Music Center
- Recordings on Naxos, Harmonia Mundi, MSR Classics, and Navona Records
- Solo performances across the US, and in Canada, Germany, and China
- 25 years’ experience as a concertmaster and orchestral leader
- Pre-College, BM & MM degrees from The Juilliard School
Nicholas Tavani, violin
New York, New York
- Founding member, Aeolus Quartet
- Concertmaster, New Orchestra of Washington
- Member, Mark Morris Dance Group Music Ensemble and the Smithsonian Chamber Players
- Discography includes four albums with the Aeolus Quartet on the Azica, Naxos, and Innova labels
Bruce Williams, principal viola
Austin, Texas
- Principal violist, Austin Symphony Orchestra
- Artistic Director, Mason County Chamber Music Festival
- Member, Allegro Chamber Trio and the Artisan Quartet
- Director of chamber music, Texas Bach Festival
- Austin Critics Table 2003 outstanding instrumentalist
Keith Womer, harpsichord and organ
Austin, Texas
- Director and harpsichordist, La Follia Austin Baroque
- Organist, University Presbyterian Church, Austin, Texas
- Austin Critics Table 2016 Award for Best Classical Instrumentalist
- Performs with Conspirare, Victoria Symphony, Texas Early Music Project
Dieter Wulfhorst, cello
Auberry, California
- Member of the Santa Rosa Symphony, performs with Bakersfield, Monterey, Fresno, Sacramento, and Stockton Symphonies
- Co-director of Musica Viva chamber music series
- Performs internationally and in over twenty states in the U.S.
