Illinois Wesleyan: Chamber Music Camp Faculty Biographies

Violinist Aaron Boyd was born in Pittsburgh, where he began playing the violin at the age of seven. He graduated in 2000 from the Juilliard School, where he studied with Sally Thomas and was coached by Harvey Shapiro. He has played as a member of the Metamorphosen and Orpheus Chamber Orchestras and tours frequently as a member of the International Sejong Soloists. He has participated in the Tanglewood, Fontainebleau, La Jolla SummerFest, Prussia Cove and Marlboro Music Festivals, where he has performed with members of the Beaux Arts Trio, as well as the Juilliard, Guarneri and Orion String Quartets.

He has been a prizewinner in numerous competitions including the Klein Violin Competition, the Tuesday Musical Society and the Pittsburgh Concert Society. As a member of the Milton String Quartet he recorded the première of Milton Babbitt’s Sixth String Quartet. Aaron Boyd frequently appears in the Bargemusic series.

In addition to playing the violin, he also plays the viola and recently accompanied the flautist Paula Robison in concert on mandolin.

Mihai Craioveanu, violin

Mihai Craioveanu is Professor of Violin and Chair of the Strings Area in the Music Department at Hope College.

Hailed by the prestigious magazine The Strad, as "stunning...brilliant", Mihai Craioveanu has concertized to great acclaim throughout the world. Two renowned musicians of our time, pianist Radu Lupu and violinist Jamie Laredo, describe him as "very impressive" and a "superb violinist". Critics described his Carnegie Hall debut concert as "fresh and distinguished with a keen appreciation of proper style." Mihai Craioveanu performed sold out concerts in legendary concert halls, such as Carnegie Hall in New York City, Palau de la Musica in Barcelona, and the Atheneum Hall in Bucharest.

The Washington Post describes Mihai Craioveanu’s playing as “...dramatic, nuanced and playful." His violin became his voice. Craioveanu ensured that it was the music, and not the musician, that came first .  Mihai Craioveanu appeared at renowned international music festivals such as Edinburgh (Scotland), Banff (Canada), and Bodensee (Germany). His performances have been broadcast on major American television networks, as well as European and Australian television. He has been featured on the international radio stations Free Europe and Voice of America.

Craioveanu's interest in contemporary music lead to world-premiere performances of several works written for him by American composers. His first compact disc recording of violin masterpieces titled Introducing Violinist Mihai Craioveanu, was presented to the public during his highly acclaimed concert tour of Spain. The disc is featured on various radio stations around the globe, and is distributed worldwide at amazon.com  Mihai Craioveanu was educated at the University of Music in Bucharest, and the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London, where he studied on a British Council scholarship and was a winner of the coveted international Concert Recital Diploma. Craioveanu was also awarded scholarships to study at the International Summer Music Institute at the Franz Liszt Conservatory in Weimar, Germany, and the International Youth Music Festival in Brussels, Belgium.

Julieta Mihai, violin

Julieta Mihai began studying the violin at the George Enescu Music School in Bucharest, Romania. She continued her studies under Agoston Andras' guidance at the Music Academy in Cluj and later at the Music Academy in Bucharest. She studied at the University of Illinois with Danwen Jiang. She received the Master of Musical Arts degree in 1996, and the Doctorate in Musical Arts, Violin Performance, in May 2003 from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Mihai participated in Masterclasses with Stefan Gheorghiu and Ifrah Neaman.Mihai has performed extensively in solo concerts and recitals in the United States, Romania, Germany, Austria, and Japan. In 2002-03 she played as a soloist with the Berkeley Summer Festival Orchestra in California and with the Illinois Symphony Orchestra in Springfield. In May-July 2002-03 she participated on a full scholarship at the Toho Gakuen Music Academy in Kureha-Toyama, Japan, where she performed in solo and chamber music recitals. In 2000-01 Mihai was invited to perform solo works with the Prairie Ensemble and with the Illinois Symphony Orchestra in Urbana-Champaign. During the summer of 2001, she was a fellow of the Manchester Music Festival in Vermont. She was the winner of the Concerto Competition of the Summer Festival Orchestra in Urbana-Champaign In 1996 Mihai won the Paul Rolland Violin Award of the University of Illinois and participated at the Montreal Violin Competition in Canada. As a soloist, she played annually between 1985 and 1994 with the Ploiesti Philharmonic Orchestra in Romania. In 1992 she participated a the Mozarteum Summer Academy in Salzburg, Austria. In 1991 she was awarded a diploma at the Yehudi Menuhin Violin Competition in Folkestone, England. In the same year she was a semifinalist at the George Enescu Competition in Bucharest. In 1987 Mihai gained mention at the Lipatti Violin Competition in Craiova, Romania., and in 1986-87 she was awarded the second prize at the Bucharest Violin Competition. During 1999-2000 Mihai performed as concertmaster of the Prairie Ensemble in Urbana-Champaign. In August 2001 she became the concertmaster of the Illinois Symphony Orchestra in Springfield. Mihai is also a member of the Julstrom String Quartet and is currently assistant professor of violin at Western Illinois University in Macomb, IL

Lisa Nelson, viola

Lisa Nelson is Instructor of Violin and Viola at Illinois Wesleyan University, coordinator of the IWU String Preparatory Department, and faculty of the IWU Chamber Music CampMs. Nelson is a member of the Illinois Symphony Orchestra and the Sinfonia da Camera, directed by Ian Hobson. She has also performed with the Peoria Symphony, Opera Illinois, Champaign-Urbana Symphony, and as principal violist of the Enescu Ensemble. As an active chamber musician, Lisa Nelson regularly appears in recitals throughout Illinois and other Midwestern states.

Lisa Nelson holds her Master of Music degree from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and a double-degree (Bachelor of Music in violin performance and Bachelor of Arts in mathematics) from St. Olaf College, Minnesota, where she graduated summa cum laude with departmental distinction in music. She has also participated in summer programs at the Aspen Music School, Madeline Island Music Festival, and Interlochen Arts Camp. Nelson's teachers have included Sherban Lupu, Charles Gray, Mihai Craioveanu, and Alan Ohmes.

Along with teaching and performing, Lisa Nelson is Executive Director of the IWU Summer Music Program (Cello Camp and Chamber Music Camp) for young talented musicians and has been on faculty of the International Music Course and Festival in Positano, Italy, and the Ameropa International Chamber Music Festival in Prague, Czech Republic, and the International Chamber Music Festival and Tour in Bulgaria.

Michael Strauss, viola

Michael Isaac Strauss, principal violist of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra since 1994 and member of the artist faculty at Butler University, performs around the world as a soloist, chamber and symphonic musician. He made his solo debut with the Minnesota Orchestra. Formerly a member of the distinguished Fine Arts Quartet, Strauss has performed at the Schleswig-Holstein and Montpellier festivals in Europe. In North America he has performed at the LaJolla, Caramoor and Banff festivals and appears on chamber music series throughout the United States . Strauss made the debut recording of Jennifer Higdon’s Viola Sonata (I Virtuosi), and recorded David Finko’s Viola Concerto with Orchestra 2001 (CRI) and Mozart’s complete viola quintets with the Fine Arts Quartet (Lyrinx), in addition to several CDs of 20th century chamber music works with members of Orchestra 2001. In 2006 he will release a CD featuring Stamitz’s works for solo viola with orchestra.

Strauss’ work has been honored with the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts Cinnamon Award, Artist Fellowship Awards from South Carolina and Indiana, First Prize of the WAMSO Competition of the Minnesota Orchestra, and the Ealing prize at the Tertis International Viola Competition. He is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music and performs on a viola made by Matteo Albani from Bolzano , Italy in 1704.

Seta Baltayan, cello

Seta Baltayan was born in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. She began studying cello at age 7 with Milcho Petrov. At age 12 she was awarded second prize and the title ‘Laureate” at The All Bulgarian Competition for Children and Teenage Instrumentalists. After attending the high school of music she was sent by the committee of culture to continue her studies in Moscow, first at the Central Music School of the Moscow Conservatory and then at the Moscow Conservatory with Mistislav Rostropovich. In 1974 at the Tchaikovsky International Competition in Moscow, Seta Baltayan received a laureate title and fourth prize as well as a special prize of the jury for the best performance of a work by a Soviet composer specially written for the Competition.

Upon her return to Bulgaria she participated in over 35 tours in various European cities performing with orchestras in Vienna, Frankfurt-am-Oder, Moscow, Prague and many others. Ms. Baltayan has performed in the most important international festivals in Bulgaria and premiered many works of Bulgarian composers. She worked with the Bulgarian Chamber Music Agency as a soloist and has performed with the leading conductors in Bulgaria. She has been the featured soloist in a tour of Western Europe with the Bulgarian Symphony Orchestra.

…She captivated the audience with the warm sound of the instrument, freedom of expression, faultless technique….Novini, Warsaw

…this was an experience, to listen, holding one’s breath, to the interplay of motives full of meaningful sounds with passionate moments of soaring… Neuer Tag, Frankfurt am Oder

Seta Baltayan is an active chamber musician and teaches cello at the Dobrin Petkov Music College in Plovdiv, Bulgaria and at the Music and Dance Academy in Plovdiv.

Nina Gordon, cello

Nina Gordon is Associate Professor of Cello and Chamber music at Illinois Wesleyan University and a Principal Cellist with the Illinois Symphony Orchestra. Prior to coming to Illinois, Nina Gordon was Principal Cellist of the Kansas City Symphony and the Kansas City Chamber Orchestra, and taught Cello and Chamber Music at the University of Missouri, Kansas City. Earlier Ms. Gordon also held positions with the Israel Chamber Orchestra under Rudolf Barshai and the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra under Zubin Mehta; she was Associate Principal Cellist with the Florida Philharmonic, and Principal Cellist with the Colorado Music Festival in Bolder, Colorado.Her education includes the Moscow Conservatory (Russia), the University of Tel-Aviv (Israel), and the University of Kansas, Lawrence, where she received her DMA. Among her teachers were Natalia Shakhovskaya (Russia), Michael Haran (Israel), George Ricci and Edward Laut (USA).Nina Gordon is the Founder and Music Director of the annual IWU Summer Music Programs which include IWU Chamber Music Festival and IWU Cello Camp. She is also a faculty member at the Ameropa Chamber Music Festival in Prague, Czech Republic, and at the International Chamber Music Festival ICMC in Positano, Italy.

Adriana La Rosa Ransom, cello

Dr. Adriana La Rosa Ransom is Assistant Professor of Cello and Director of String Project at Illinois State University. She received her Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Missouri where she studied with Nina Gordon. She earned Master and Doctorate degrees from the University of Minnesota where she studied cello with Tanya Remenikova and chamber music with Jorja Fleezanis and Lydia Artymiw. As a soloist, Ms. La Rosa Ransom is the recipient of numerous awards, including winning top prizes at the WAMSO Young Artist Competition, the Naftzger Young Artist Competition, the Schubert Club Young Artist Competition, and the Thursday Musical Society Competition. She has appeared as a guest artist on notable solo and chamber music recital series, including the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series in Chicago. She has performed with many professional orchestras and ensembles, including the Minnesota Opera Orchestra, the Kansas City Symphony, the Minnesota Orchestra, the European Musical Festival Orchestra, and New Ear Contemporary Ensemble. Ms. La Rosa Ransom has served on the faculty at Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Cloud State University,and the MacPhail Center for Music in Minneapolis, and continues to teach at the Illinois Wesleyan University Cello Camp.

Tanya Remenikova, cello (Guest Artist)

Cellist Tanya Remenikova has inspired critical acclaim during her 40-year international performing career. Reviews from around the world describe her "impassioned approach" to cello playing as having an "elegant, singing tone," "expressive radiancy," "sonority," and "lustre."

Performances have brought her to the major halls in music capitals around the world: London, Moscow, Jerusalem, Brussels, Bonn, Frankfurt, Florence, Taipei, Shanghai. Remenikova has been soloist with the Israel Philharmonic, Jerusalem Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, and Orchestre Nationale de Belgique, among others. In the United States, recital performances have taken her to New York, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Los Angeles, Detroit, Kansas City, Houston, San Francisco and the Aspen Music Festival.

Remenikova's recordings of Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Stravinsky, and Britten are on the DDF and Sound Star Tone labels. Her concert performances have been broadcast in several countries on networks such as the BBC in London, BRT-RTB in Brussels, WFMT in Chicago, WQXR in New York City, National Public Radio, and American Public Radio on such nationally broadcast programs as Saint Paul Sunday Morning.

Professor and chamber music coach on the faculty at the University of Minnesota School of Music since 1976, Remenikova has attracted students from all over the world. As a teacher, she relies on her own thorough training in music, both as cellist and pianist. Before she became a student of the world renowned Mstislav Rostropovich at the Moscow Conservatory in Russia, Remenikova studied with Valentin Berlinsky, a member of the renowed Borodin Quartet.An avid chamber music player, she performs regularly with the Saint Paul-based Hill House Chamber Players. She also appeared in the Barge Chamber Music Series in New York and with the Karlsruhe Trio in Germany. She has given master classes in Europe, Asia and the U.S. and premiered a number of new compositions, including a work dedicated to her by Judith Zaimont, "Tanya" Poems for Cello Solo.

She is a recipient of 2007 Master Teacher Studio Award from the Minnesota Chapter of the American String Teachers Association.

Lawrence Campbell, piano

A native of Tennessee, Lawrence Campbell holds degrees from Northwestern University, where he graduated magna cum laude, and from Indiana University, where he was awarded the Doctor of Music degree in performance with highest distinction. Pianists with whom he has studied include Pauline Manchester Lindsey, Gyorgy Sebok, and Alfonso Montecino. Other major influences have been Maestro Carlo Zecchi in summer classes at the "Mozarteum" (Salzberg, Austria), and Sir Clifford Curzon for whom he played during several months of study in London, England.

Lawrence Campbell won the 1968 Chicago Young Artists' Competition sponsored by the Society of American Musicians (the organization which also sponsored his Chicago debut the following year). Northwestern University honored him with the Corrine Frada Pick Prize for excellence in performance, the Pi Kappa Lambda scholarship, and the Wade Fetzer Prize as most outstanding performer in his graduating class. He was selected to play in master classes with Victor Babin (1967) and Easley Blackwood (1971) and with the Northwestern Symphony Orchestra.

Dr. Campbell has concertized extensively throughout the United States, Canada, and Great Britain. As a performer, he professes marked affinity for the works of Mozart, Schubert, Beethoven, and Liszt. In 1986, the centenary of Liszt's death, he presented over thirty recitals devoted exclusively to the music of that composer. In that year, he was featured artist at recitals of the Beethoven Society (Southern Illinois University, Carbondale), and at conventions of the Missouri Music Teachers' Association, and the Wisconsin Music Teachers' Association. During the current season, he is playing recitals featuring the music of Franz Schubert to commemorate the two hundredth anniversary of the composer's birth.

Before joining the Illinois Wesleyan University faculty in 1978, Lawrence Campbell taught at Bemidji (Minnesota) State University, the University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point, and Albion College. In recent years he has become increasingly involved with teaching related activities, serving frequently as an adjudicator, guest clinician, and lecture-recitalist.

R Kent Cook, piano

Dr. R. Kent Cook is an Associate Professor of Piano at Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington, Illinois. He keeps an active performing schedule as soloist and chamber musician and has appeared in many venues around the United States and abroad with performances in Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, England, and Italy. In the Midwest, he has had recent performances in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, and Ohio.

R. Kent Cook hails from Odessa, Texas where he began to play the piano at age six. He attended Baylor University to pursue a career in dentistry, but soon abandoned that goal to begin serious study of the piano. After finishing a Piano Performance Degree with honors under the guidance of Roger Keyes, he continued his studies at Indiana University receiving both a Masters and Doctorate in Piano Performance while working with Leonard Hokanson, Michel Block, James Tocco, and Karen Shaw. In 1992-93, he also studied with Herbert Seidel as a Fulbright Scholar at the Hochschule für Musik in Frankfurt, Germany.

Dr. Cook joined the piano faculty at Illinois Wesleyan University in 1999, has since become very active in the region as an adjudicator and has taught numerous master classes for a variety of schools and organizations throughout the Midwest. In January of 2002, Cook released his first compact disc recording on the Novitas label. It is entitled Nachtstücke and is a recording of 12 Nocturnes by 7 different composers including Chopin, Liszt, and Schumann.Before teaching at IWU, he was on the piano faculty at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana. During the summer he teaches at the Illinois Wesleyan University Chamber Music Festival, and has taught at the Indiana University Piano Academy, and the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp.

Paul Wyse, piano

Equally captivating in his interpretations of Debussy, Beethoven, Bach or Ives, Paul Wyse thrills audiences with his stunning virtuosity, artistic vision, and poetic style. First Prize Winner at the 2001 Simone Belsky International Piano competition, his performances have garnered remarkable praise from the Miami Herald hailing him as "a musician of uncommon perception, possessing lots of facility and fire." Phillipe Michaud of LE QUARTIER LIBRE said of Wyse after a complete performance of the Chopin Etudes, ”Wyse demonstrated a sensitivity that transcends gallantry.[Wyse] revealed not only his tremendous technical virtuosity but also his profound musicianship."

Mr. Wyse’s concert appearances have spanned the continental United States, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. Highlights include premiere performances for the Royal Family of Monaco, concertos with the New World Symphony, the Gettysburg Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestra of Northern New York, the Bangor Symphony Orchestra, and the Peabody Chamber Orchestra. He has made radio appearances on WGBH Boston, the Australian Broadcasting Company, the New Zealand Broadcasting Company, and recently appeared on New York Public Television performing Sonatas for Violin/Cello and Piano of Beethoven. He has collaborated in performance with such greats as Michael Tilson Thomas, Vladimir Feltsman, Carter Brey, José-Luiz Garcia, and Paula Robison, and will release his debut recording for ESI records of Debussy’s Preludes Book 2 in the summer of 2005.

A native of Portland Maine, he made his orchestral debut with the Bangor Symphony at age 14, and had since gone on to capture honors, including prizes in the Belsky, Iowa and Knezkova-Hussy International Piano Competitions. Mr. Wyse’s teachers and include Leon Fleisher, Marc Durand and Veronica Jochum. He is a graduate of the Peabody Institute, and is currently on the faculty of the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam.

David Gresham, clarinet

Clarinetist David Gresham, recipient of the 2002 Lincoln Center Martin E. Segal Award for up and coming artists, is constantly in demand as a soloist and chamber musician. His solo performances have garnered high praise. El Mercurio of Chile writes, "...[his] interpretation demonstrated such a complete command of his instrument...that he gave the impression of being able to perform incredible technical and musical feats." The New York Times describes his performances as "Impressive... Outstanding... beautifully played." Fanfare Magazine writes that he gave "a fine performance of the [Mozart] concerto...a worthy addition to the catalogue...[he is] an excellent musician, with a bright, controlled tone, a precise tongue, and quick fingers."  An active concert artist, Mr. Gresham's recent appearances with orchestra include the Weber 2nd Clarinet Concert with the Sakae Philharmonic in Yokohama, Japan in July of 2004, the U.S. premiere of Yevhen Stankovich's Chamber Symphony No. 6: Secret Calls for solo clarinet and orchestra, the New York premiere of David Rakowski's Cerberus concerto, performing on both clarinet and bass clarinet, and the New York premiere of Osvaldo Golijov's Yiddish Ruakh for clarinet and orchestra. His recording of the Mozart clarinet concerto with the Camerata Orchestra of Kiev, Ukraine, is available on the TNC label at www.tncmusic.net. Mr. Gresham has given numerous recitals New York City at Lincoln Center in the Bruno Walter Auditorium and at several other venues in New York, including the 92nd Street Y in the "Meet the Virtuosi Series" and in the Great Hall at Cooper Union. As a chamber musician Mr. Gresham performs worldwide. He is clarinetist with the respected contemporary music ensemble Continuum, based in New York, with which he has recorded multiple CDs and performed across North and South America, Europe and Central Asia, in addition to giving an annual New York concert series. He has also presented chamber concerts in New York City and London, England with the British violinist Philippa Mo. Mr. Gresham holds the Doctor of Music degree from The Juilliard School and is professor of clarinet at Illinois State University.

Roger Roe, oboe

Roger Roe is a native of Dallas and earned a B.M. degree from Southern Methodist University and an M.M. from the Cleveland Institute of Music. His major teachers have included John Mack, Eric Barr, John Ferrillo and Elaine Douvas. Roe was named Outstanding Classical Instrumentalist by Downbeat Magazine and won First Place in the Fort Worth Young Artist Competition. Before joining the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra in May 1995 he played with the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra, the Charleston Symphony Orchestra (SC), the Erie Philharmonic and the Dallas Chamber Orchestra, among others.

Roe has been soloist with the ISO on oboe, oboe d’amore and English horn, has appeared as narrator and works enthusiastically in the Orchestra’s education initiatives. He is a member of the faculty at Indiana University and performs with Suzuki & Friends and the Ronen Chamber Ensemble as well as recitals in Bloomington. Away from the oboe, he spends time renovating his home and pursuing his interests in running and opera.

William West, flute

William West joined the Illinois Wesleyan faculty in 1982. He holds degrees in woodwind performance from West Virginia University and the University of Michigan.

Mr. West teaches flute and saxophone and presents regular solo and chamber music recitals on both instruments. In addition to performances of the standard repertoire, he is very involved in the presentation of newly and recently composed music and has collaborated with numerous composers on performances of their works. Mr. West played principal flute with Opera Illinois from 1989 through 2006. Also active as a collaborating pianist, Mr. West has extensive experience with both instrumental and vocal solo literature and chamber music, again with emphasis on newly and recently composed works.

Other teaching responsibilities include work in the School of Music’s basic musicianship sequence of courses, in which he currently teaches sophomore level Music Theory, and in the series of pedagogy courses for music education students, in which he teaches Woodwind Techniques.

Mr. West’s research specialty involves performance on pre-Boehm flutes and the study of their literature. His collection of instruments includes replicas of flutes dating from the beginning to the end the 18th Century, including instruments after Hotteterre, Denner, Quantz, Lot, Rottenburgh, and Tromlitz.

Tom Hall, conductor and violin

Tom Hall received all of his formal music education in his hometown of Tallahassee, Florida, beginning his violin studies in a public school program at the age of eight and continuing through six years at Florida State University. While earning his bachelor's and master's degrees with honors, he gained orchestral experience performing in orchestras throughout the Southeast. Tom was honored as a distinguished graduate by his alma mater in 1974. After graduation in 1966, Tom spent three years as a member of the United States Army Strings, performing frequently at the White House and State Department. While in Washington, D.C., he helped found the Meridian String Quartet, an ensemble that played across the country to critical acclaim and which, for many years, toured regularly during summer months. Following a season with the Cincinnati Symphony, Tom joined the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1970. He recently retired from the CSO after 36 years of service. In addition to playing with the CSO, he has given recitals, appeared as soloist with the Chicago String Ensemble, served for eight years as a member of the Chicago Arts Quartet, performed in the orchestras of Music of the Baroque and Ars Viva, and played for television and radio commercials. 