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| Biographies of Musicians Playing For Omega |
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The following are brief biographies of the musicians scheduled to play with Omega in 2008/2009
| Doris Konig, Pianist and Founding Member: |
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Ms. Konig has been the Artistic Director of the Omega Ensemble since 1977. She received her Masters in Music with honors from Indiana University and was the recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship for study in Berlin. Ms Konig has given conerts in Carnegie’s Weill Hall, Merkin Hall, the New York Cultural Center, Metroplitan Museum of Art, and the Philips Collection in Washington DC. |
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| Jean Kopperud, Clarinet and Member: |
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Jean Kopperud is one of the most versatile and innovative clarinetists appearing before the public today, known for her virtuoso performance both in the concert hall and in music theater. A graduate of the Juilliard School and former pupil of Nadia Boulanger, Ms. Kopperud has toured internationally as a concert soloist and chamber musician.
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| National acclaim for her performances of Karlheinz Stockhausen’s “Harlekin,” a tour-de-force for dancing clarinetist, resulted in her Avery Fisher Hall debut, presented by the New York Philharmonic. Ms. Kopperud is currently a member of the New York New Music Ensemble, the Chamber Players of the League of Composers/I.S.C.M., Washington Square Chamber Players, Ensemble 21, and the Omega Ensemble. She is a full professor at the University of Buffalo (The State University of New York) and is on the faculty of the Juilliard School. |
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| Guests Artists this season: |
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| VIOLA |
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Maurycy Banaszek
Maurycy Banaszek was born in Warsaw, Poland. He has performed at the Marlboro, Seattle, Santa Fe, Aldeburgh, Moritzburg, Mozart, Kingston, Martha’s Vineyard, and Warsaw Autumn Festivals. In August 1998, Mr. Banaszek was invited by the members of the Amadeus String Quarter to perform at their 50th Anniversary Gala Concert in London. |
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| He was recently invited to be the soloist with the New Jersey Lyric Orchestra at their Carnegie Hall debut performance. In addition, Mr. Banaszek was chosen by Gidon Kremer to participate in the Chamber Music Connects the World Festival in Kronberg, Germany where he performed with the Guarneri String Quartet. |
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| VIOLIN |
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Kyle Armbrust
Violinist Kyle Armbrust has performed as soloist with the St. Petersburg Philharmonic II (RU), The Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Lake George Chamber Orchestra, Maple City Chamber Orchestra, and Musica Bella Orchestra of New York. |
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| He was awarded first prize in the Chicago Viola Society, Midwest Young Artists, and Rembrandt Chamber Players Competitions, and the Faber Prize at the 2003 Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition. As winner of the 2002 Juilliard Concerto Competition, Mr. Armbrust performed the Bartok Viola Concerto with the Juilliard Orchestra under the direction of Kurt Masur in Avery Fisher Hall. In addition, he has participated in the Ravinia and Marlboro Festivals, has gone on tour with Musicians from Ravinia’s Steans Institute, and performed with Itzhak Perlman and Yo-Yo Ma at the Neue Gallerie in New York City in 2005. |
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Lily Francis
Lily Francis is a dynamic musician, sought after both as a violinist and violist. As a member of Chamber Music Society Two, Ms. Francis regularly performs at Lincoln Center. She has recorded the complete chamber concerti of Avner Dorman with the Metropolis Ensemble, as a soloist in the Concerto Grosso.
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| Other recordings include live performances from the Chamber Society of Lincoln Center, which appear exclusively on iTunes, and a recording on a New England Conservatory label of Strauss’ Ein Heldenleben, as a 17-year old. |
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Axel Strauss
In 1998, violinist Axel Strauss became the first German artist ever to win the Naumburg Violin Award, and in the seasons since, he has been equally acclaimed for his virtuosity and his musical sensitivity. The Salt Lake Tribune praised his well-rounded artistry by saying, “Strauss quickly established that he is a virtuoso to be reckoned with. |
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| But amid his technical acumen, there was a genuine musician. His interpretive prowess was delightful.” Mr. Strauss serves as Professor of Violin at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Also, he won the silver medal in the Emerson Competition, as well as top prizes in the Bach, Wieniawski, and Kocian competitions. Mr. Strauss made his American debut at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. and performed at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall in 1998. His recordings include the Violin Concerto and the Sonatas Opus 120 by Brahms, the Duo for Violin and Cello by Kodály, and a selection of Mendelssohn’s “Songs Without Words.” Mr. Strauss performs on an outstanding violin by J. B. Pressenda, Turin 1845, on loan by the Stradivari Society in Chicago. |
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Arnaud Sussmann
Twenty-three-year-old violinist Arnaud Sussmann is quickly establishing a reputation as a
multifaceted and compelling artist, earning the highest praise from both critics and audiences alike. |
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He has performed as a soloist throughout the United States, Central America, Europe, and Asia at many renowned venues such as Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, Alice Tully Hall, the Smithsonian Museum, and the Louvre Museum. Mr. Sussmann has recently appeared with the New York Philharmonic, the American Symphony Orchestra, the Monaco Chamber Orchestra, the Nice Orchestra, the Orchestre des Pays de la Loire, the El Salvador National Symphony Orchestra, and the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra. In January 2008, he performed Schoenberg’s Verklaerte Nacht “Live from Lincoln Center” TV broadcast with other members of the Chamber Music Society. |
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| VIOLONCELLO |
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Julie Albers
American cellist Julie Albers is already recognized for her superlative artistry, intense musicianship and her radiant performance style. Ms. Albers made her debut performance in 1998 with the Cleveland Orchestra and has continued to perform in recitals and orchestras in the U.S., Europe, Korea, Taiwan and New Zealand. |
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| In 2001 she won the second prize in the coveted Munich’s Internationaien Musikwettbewerbes der ARD. In November 2003, Julie Albers was named the first Gold Medal Laureate of South Korea’s Gyeongnam International Music Competition. |
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Mark Kosower
Mr. Kosower is the winner of a 2002 Avery Fisher Career Grant. He recently performed debut recitals at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., at the Frick Collection’s “Great Performances Series” and Lincoln Center’s “Mostly Mozart Festival”; both in New York City. Mr. Kosower is co-Principal Cellist of the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra in Germany. |
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Soo Bae
Canadian cellist Soo Bae, winner of the 2005 Concert Artists Guild International Competition, has been praised by The New York Times as “superb” and by The Strad for “crisp incisive technique.”
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| In 2006, the Canada Council of the Arts awarded her First Prize in its Instrument Bank Competition, resulting in a three-year loan of the ca. 1696 Bonjour Stradivari cello. Earlier that same year, Ms. Bae became the first Canadian ever awarded a prize at the Adam International Cello Festival & Competition in New Zealand. |
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Sophie Shao
At the age of nineteen, cellist Sophie Shao received the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant, launching her international career. She has since performed throughout the United States, Europe, Taiwan, and Japan, having appeared with such ensembles as l’Orchestre de Paris (with Christoph Eschenbach), the Houston Symphony, and the Russian State Academic Symphony among many others.
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| Ms. Shao was a winner of a top prize at the 2001 Rostropovich Competition and a laureate of the XII Tchaikovsky Competition in 2002. |
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