Chamber music Stl

Artists

Alejandro Valdepeñas

Alejandro Valdepeñas performs regularly both as a violinist and violist. Named St. Louis Symphony Orchestra Associate Principal Violist, he joined the orchestra to open the2022/2023 season. His recent engagements include performances and recordings with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra Chamber Soloists and the Amici Chamber Ensemble. He has served as a violinist with the Santa Fe Opera and has performed with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra. Originally from Toronto, Alejandro made his solo debut on violin at age 9 with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and Sarah Chang. Summer festival performances include the Aspen Music Festival and School and Norfolk Chamber Music Festival at Yale. Alejandro received his Bachelor of Music degree from the New England Conservatory studying with Paul Biss, and his Master of Music degree from Rice University studying with Paul Kantor.

Alejandro Valdepeñas Read More »

Davin Rubicz

Cellist Davin Rubicz has held positions with the Kansas City Symphony, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra and has also played with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. As a chamber musician, he has performed with LaJolla SummerFest, Chamber Music Society of Saint Louis, Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival, Pulitzer Arts Foundation series and the Missouri Chamber Music Festival. Davin has held teaching positions in the preparatory departments at the Cleveland Institute of Music and Rice University. He has served on the faculty at the Mercer School of Music, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Suzuki program, and was invited to teach Richard Aaron’s studio at the University of Michigan. In 2020, he was appointed Artistic Director of the Community Music School Preparatory Program at Webster University and also maintains a private studio in St. Louis. Davin began his studies in early childhood with the Suzuki method.  After attending intensive summer music training programs at the Indiana String Academy, ENCORE School for Strings, and Music Academy of the West, he was accepted at the Cleveland Institute of Music and Rice University, studying with Richard Aaron and Norman Fischer and completing a BM and MM in cello performance. He spent his summers at the Spoleto Music Festival (Italy), Taos School of Music, and Aspen Music Festival. Outside of music, Davin enjoys practicing yoga, growing vegetables, and riding his electric unicycle.  

Davin Rubicz Read More »

Cally Banham

Cally Banham was appointed to the Solo English horn position in 2006. Before joining the SLSO, she held posts, including English horn with the Buffalo Philharmonic, Principal Oboe with the Memphis Symphony, Fellow with the New World Symphony, and English horn with Orquesta Sinfonica del Estado de Mexico, in Toluca, Mexico. She has performed as a guest English horn with the New York Philharmonic, New Jersey Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic and Cleveland Orchestra. In 2013, she transformed her hobby of dancing Argentine Tango into a musical pursuit. She founded Cortango, a tango/classical/jazz fusion ensemble. Cortango released its debut album, Tandas, in 2015. As the leader of Cortango, and Executive Producer of Tandas, Banham appeared as a guest on the PBS national program Arts America. In 2018, she co-produced her own solo Christmas album, Cor Christmas, which received extensive radio play in North America, and was featured as Album of the Week by KUSC Los Angeles and KDFC San Francisco, and highlighted on Classical MPR and NPR Performance Today. Cally is a scholar of the history of Tango, and she produces and hosts the radio program “Tango with Cally”, which airs weekly on Classic 107.3 St. Louis and WXXI Classical Rochester. A native of Philadelphia, Cally graduated from Temple University and the Manhattan School of Music. She studied with Louis Rosenblatt and Joseph Robinson. She lives in Lafayette Square St. Louis with her two cats, Grizabella and JB.

Cally Banham Read More »

Jessie Chen

Born in Torrance, California, Jessie is a graduate student at Yale School of Music, and earned his master’s degree at The Juilliard School. Mr. Chen won the Princeton University Concerto Competition in both 2014 and 2016, was a Grand Prize Winner of The Music Center’s Spotlight Awards in 2012, and is currently a member of the New Haven Chamber Orchestra. Jessie sits as replacement violin with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra.

Jessie Chen Read More »

Jane Price

Jane Price grew up in West Lafayette, Indiana. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Indiana University and a Master of Music degree from New England Conservatory.  Jane has been a Fellow at the Tanglewood Institute, the Norfolk Festival, the Spoleto Festival in Italy and the United States, and spent one year as a member of the New World Symphony. In addition to having been an extra player with the Chicago Symphony and St. Louis Symphony, she has performed with the Mark Morris Dance Company, the Kansas City Symphony, the Tulsa Opera Orchestra, and most recently as concertmaster of Orchestra Iowa.  Jane has performed recently with Chamber Project St. Louis and for several seasons at the Festival of Music (FeMUSC) in Santa Catarina, Brazil.  She is currently an instructor of violin at Washington University in St. Louis.  

Jane Price Read More »

Asako Kuboki

Asako joined the violin section of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra in 2001. She has performed chamber music, solo recitals and international music festivals in the U.S., Costa Rica, Austria, and the Pacific Music Festival in her hometown of Sapporo, Japan. Asako has also played with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra, and the Key West Symphony Orchestra. She began studying the violin in Japan when she was five years old. She earned her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, studying with Sylvia Rosenberg and Victor Danchenko. Asako performed extensively with the New Horizons Chamber Ensemble in Baltimore, a contemporary music group collaborating with composers, poets, and visual artists. Asako pursues her interest in various styles of music and her love of chamber music by collaborating with St. Louis’ innovative jazz, world, pop, and electronica artists. She has performed at the Whitaker Jazz Festival, as well as at benefit concerts for nonprofit organizations such as Jazz St. Louis, Play It Forward, and Live Feed. Asako was commissioned to compose and perform the original soundtrack for a HEC-TV documentary film, Wallace Herndon Smith: Artist Without Boundaries.

Asako Kuboki Read More »

Tricia Jöstlein

An active freelance musician, Tricia frequently performs as an extra musician with the St. Louis Symphony and serves as Adjunct Professor of Horn at Webster University.  She holds positions as Principal Horn of Winter Opera St. Louis and the Heartland Festival Orchestra in Washington, IL.  Tricia previously held posts as Principal Horn of the Omaha Symphony and the Des Moines Metro Opera Orchestra, as well as positions with the Honolulu and Richmond Symphony Orchestras. Born and raised in central Nebraska, she attended the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan.  She earned a Bachelor of Music degree at Rice University, followed by graduate studies at the University of Michigan.  Tricia lives in University City with her husband and fellow musician, Thomas, and their sons, Klaus and Max.

Tricia Jöstlein Read More »

Henry Skolnick

Henry Skolnick was a member of the Florida Philharmonic Orchestra, in Miami, for eighteen years and taught bassoon and wind chamber music at Florida International University for fifteen years. He has been on the summer faculty at Interlochen Arts Camp since 2004. In addition to his years in the Florida Philharmonic, he has performed with the St. Louis Symphony, The Boston Symphony, The Los Angeles Philharmonic, The Chicago Symphony, The Palm Beach Opera, the Kansas City Symphony, The Colorado Symphony, the Miami Chamber Symphony, the Florida Grand Opera Orchestra and the Symphony Orchestra Berlin. He currently serves as Principal bassoon of Sinfonia da Camera, the chamber orchestra associated with the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.  His recordings can be heard on the Deutsche Gramophone, Naxos, Harmonia Mundi, Albany and Innova labels. In addition to his work as a performer, he is currently Associate Librarian for the St. Louis Symphony.

Henry Skolnick Read More »

Adrian Walker

Adrian serves as concertmaster for the Fox Theater Orchestra. Other concertmaster positions include the Ballet Orchestra of St. Louis, the Bach Society of St. Louis, the Saint Louis Philharmonic, Masterworks Chorale Orchestra, the Belleville Philharmonic, the University City Symphony, and the Gateway Festival Orchestra. He has also performed as a replacement violinist with the Saint Louis Symphony orchestra, after completing the New York Philharmonic Fellowship Program with SLSO. He toured nationally with the Broadway show An American in Paris. He received his B.M. Degree in violin Performance from the Eastman School of Music and attended Southern Illinois University Edwardsville for graduate courses. Adrian served on the faculties of the Interlochen Arts Camp, Strings in the Mountains Music Festival, Southeast Missouri State University and as an instructor at the University of Missouri Rolla, Saint Louis Symphony Community Music School, Mozingo Music, Music and Arts, Dayspring School of the Arts, and First String Violin Academy. He teaches and conducts the orchestra at Carr Lane Visual and Performing Arts Middle School and has served as conductor of the Cameron Youth Chamber Orchestra.

Adrian Walker Read More »

Brendan Fitzgerald

Brendan joined the bass section of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra in 2019. Embracing a wide variety of musical genres, he has performed on numerous recording projects with Ludovic Morlot, including the recent commercial releases of Marc-André Dalbavie’s Cello Concerto, John Luther Adams’ Become Desert, and Berlioz’s Requiem. Brendan began his musical studies on piano and trumpet before discovering the electric bass. He played in multiple punk, metal, and acoustic folk bands before deciding to devote himself more fully to the orchestral literature. Growing up in San Diego, he played in that city’s Youth Symphony and later attended the Interlochen Arts Academy. Brendan earned his Bachelor’s degree in Double Bass Performance from Northwestern University studying with Andy Raciti. In 2012, he enjoyed a revelatory summer at Domaine Forget, where he worked closely with renowned pedagogues Paul Ellison and David Allen Moore. In 2016 and 2017, he attended the Aspen Music Festival as a fellowship recipient, performing alongside members of the Pittsburgh, Dallas, St. Louis, and San Francisco symphonies. Besides his passion for music, Brendan is an avid disc golfer.  

Brendan Fitzgerald Read More »