The Players

Click on the musicians name to see a full biography

David Kim

Violin

Concertmaster of the Philadelphia Orchestra since 1999, David Kim was born in Carbondale, Illinois, started playing the violin at the age of three, began studies with the famed pedagogue Dorothy DeLay at the age of eight and later received his Bachelor's and Master's degrees from the Juilliard School. In 1986 he was the only American violinist to win a prize at the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow.

David performed this season with Michelle Djokic at the studios of George Nakashima to benefit the Concordia Chamber Players.


Carmit Zori

Violin

Firmly established in her native Israel as an important young musician, violinist Carmit Zori was chosen at age 13 by the America-Israel Cultural Foundation to perform on the international television special "Music from Jerusalem". Two years Inter, at the recommendation of Alexander Schneider and Isaac Stern, she came to the United States to study at the Curtis institute of Music, where her teachers included Ivan Galamian, Jaime Laredo, and Arnold Steinhardt.


Calvin Wiersma

Violin

CALVIN WIERSMA, violinist, has appeared throughout the world as a soloist and chamber musician. He is currently a violinist with the Manhattan String Quartet. He has performed numerous solo recitals, including appearances in Boston, New York, and Chicago, and has appeared with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, The Concerto Company of Boston and the Lawrence Symphony, among others. He was a founding member of Meliora Quartet, winner of the Naumberg, Fischoff, Coleman and Cleveland Quartet competitions.


Robert Rinehart

Viola

Robert Rinehart joined the New York Philharmonic's viola section in September 1992. Mr. Rinehart has an extensive background in chamber music; as a founding member of the Ridge String quartet, be toured extensively in Europe, Asia, Australia and North America beginning in 1979. The quarter was featured on all of New York's major chamber music series as well as the Spoleto, Schleswig-Holstein and Helsinki festivals.


Michelle Djokic

Cello, Artistic Director

Michelle Djokic is the artistic director and inspiration of the Concordia Chamber Players. "Djokic is indisputable when playing melody. Her sense of delivery and her mastery of technique have an instinctual rightness about them.”, hailed a critic of the Denver Post. Ms. Djokic made her debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra at the age of thirteen.

Dana Hanchard

Soprano

Acclaimed as a "singer of passionate virtuosity" by Time Magazine, Dana Hanchard enjoys an international career that embraces many styles and genres. Her performance in recital prompted one critic from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel to write, "Some vocalists sing, others make dramatic magic that cannot be ignored...Dana Hanchard...most assuredly falls into the latter group. She possesses that elusive ability to communicate, regardless of language, using musical phrase and nuance."


Peter Lloyd

Double Bass

Peter Lloyd has held the position of Principal Bass of the Minnesota Orchestra since 1986. A native of Philadelphia, Mr. Lloyd is a graduate of The Curtis Institute of Music and The Settlement Music School, having studied with Roger Scott and Eligio Rossi. Upon graduation from Curtis, he immediately joined the Philadelphia Orchestra, remaining a member there for more than eight seasons before accepting his present position in Minnesota.

Phillip Bush

Piano

Phillip Bush is an Assistant Professor in the Piano Department of the University of Michigan School of Music. As a national and international performing artist, his repertoire ranges from the 16th century to the 21st. Professor Bush made his New York recital debut in 1984 at the Metropolitan Museum, and in 2001 made his Carnegie Hall concerto debut with the London Sinfonietta.


Gail Niwa

Piano

Gail Niwa will play in the February 13 Spring Concert 2000. Gail continues to thrill audiences as she did at the 1991 Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition, where she became the only woman ever to win the Gold Medal. She also captured two additional awards, the Audience Prize and the Chamber Music Prize. She made her New York recital debut at Alice Tully Hall in October, 1991.


Clarinet

Clarinetist David Krakauer exudes an emotionally raw yet genial presence, baring a tireless spirit, humor and generosity. His best-selling classical and Klezmer recordings further define his brilliant tone, virtuosity and imagination. Krakauer is in demand worldwide as guest soloist with the finest chamber music groups. This past season he collaborated with the Tokyo String Quartet, the Eroica Trio, the Kronos Quartet, the Lark Quartet, the Mendelssohn String Quartet and the Empire Brass Quintet.

Clarinet

Clarinetist Alan R. Kay was recently honored with membership in the internationally renowned Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and currently serves as the Orchestra's Program Coordinator. He has performed with the prize winning ensemble Hexagon, and with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, the Da Camera of Houston.

Bass

Jon Deak’s compositions have been heard worldwide at venues ranging from Mountain tops, and concert halls, to city streets and kindergartens. He is one of the few composers who holds a major symphonic position: he is the Associate Principal Bassist of the New York Philharmonic, and is also that orchestra’s Creative Education Associate.

Clarinet

Todd Palmer's virtuosity and ebullient stage presence have brought him a stellar reputation as a solo clarinetist that is attained by few artists on his instrument. He made his New York debut at Carnegie Recital Hall as a winner of the 1987 Artists International Competition, and in 1988, he won the Grand Prize in the Ima Hogg Young Artist Competition in Houston (the first wind player to win this prestigious competition!).

 

 

Players in the 2001-2002 Season

Players in the 2000-2001 Season

Players in the 1999-2000 Season