Loon Lake Live! 2009 Season Performers

Meliset Abreu performs extensively as a soloist and chamber musician. She is a top prize-winner of competitions such as the Guitar Foundation of America International Competition and the Great Lakes International Competition. Soundboard Magazine has described her playing as “confident, daring, and amazingly accurate.” Meliset is a founding member of Stretto, a trio of oboe, violin and guitar. She has performed at the Performer’s Showcase at Caramoor; the Cuban Cultural Center’s “Cuban Masters” series; the Connecticut Classical Guitar Society’s historic “Women and Their Guitars” showcase; and Guitarfest at William Paterson University. She is a graduate of Mannes College of Music, where she studied with Michael Newman. She also studied with Oscar Ghiglia at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena, Italy. When she’s not playing the guitar she enjoys riding motorcycles. She lives in Hoboken, NJ with her husband and two cats. She currently teaches privately.

Sylvia D'Avanzo, violin, has played with Orchestra of St. Lukes, American Symphony Orchestra, NJ Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, American Ballet Theater Orchestra, Phoenix Symphony and the Philharmonia Hungarica. She is also a member of the OMNI Ensemble, a chamber music group in residence at the Brooklyn Conservatory. Ms. D'Avanzo completed a BM at the Mannes College of Music and a MM at Yale University. She has participated in the Aspen, Waterloo, Evian and Tanglewood music festivals. Ms. D'Avanzo has studied with Paul Kantor, Joyce Robbins, and Sally Thomas. She has resided in Park Slope, Brooklyn for 10 fabulous years.

Sara Fierer, cellist, received degrees from the Oberlin Conservatory and the University of Texas. She has performed throughout the US, Austria and Central America. Currently, Ms. Fierer holds a position with the Boulder Philharmonic and is a member of the Avenue B Quartet. Sara is also proud to be a dedicated teacher. In addition to heading the preschool Suzuki program at U.T., she established a seasonal music school in Panama through the Oberlin Conservatory. At home in Colorado she maintains a large private studio, teaches group cello classes and orchestra at the Denver Waldorf School. As a founding member, Sara is proud to participate in the continued success of Loon Lake Live. When she isn't rehearsing you can find her hiking, kayaking or picking berries with her kids.

Miriam Kapner is an oboist whose playing has been described by the New York Times as “a sensitive exploration of the oboe's singing character and its technical armory”. She has performed with chamber music groups in many prestigious settings, including Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Jordan Hall, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and at the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival in Connecticut. As an orchestral musician, she has performed with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, New York City Opera, Glens Falls Symphony, Boston Philharmonic, Stamford Symphony, Bangor Symphony, Symphony Silicon Valley, Ballet San Jose, and the Monterey Symphony. Her musical endeavors have also taken her to Germany, Israel, and Hawai'i. Additionally, she served as Principal Oboe with the Sarasota Opera in Florida, and is a founding member of Stretto, a trio of oboe, violin, and guitar. She has served on the faculty of the Luzerne Music Center in the Adirondacks, and the Bronx House of Music in New York City. Ms. Kapner has been heard on NPR as part of Studio 360, discussing the art of oboe reed making. She holds a Bachelor of Music from New England Conservatory, and a Master of Music from Manhattan School of Music. Her past teachers include Stephen Taylor, Laura Ahlbeck, and Matthew Sullivan.

Susanna Klein has just been appointed Professor of Violin and Coordinator of the String Department at her alma mater, Virginia Commonwealth University. She is leaving behind 15 years of playing in orchestra and hopes to concentrate more on chamber music. Her most recent position was as Principal Second Violin of the Richmond Symphony. Previous orchestral appointments have been with the Colorado, Memphis, Vermont, and Rhode Island Symphony Orchestras. Susanna has been a member of two String Quartets: she was Artist in Residence at St.Catherine's School, Richmond, with the Oberon String Quartet, and violist with the Seneca String Quartet in Boston. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Virginia Commonwealth University and Master's from Boston University, where she was a student of Roman Totenberg. Her love of Chamber Music and Orchestral literature has taken her to festivals all over the world: Tanglewood MA, Spoleto Festival Italy, Shira Festival Israel, Kneisel Hall ME, and Scotia Festival in Canada among others. Susanna can be heard on the cds of One Ring Zero, Modern Groove Syndicate, and the Klavier label Chamber Music Series. She can be heard on radio and TV spots, and can be heard most recently on the PBS Series "The Retirement Revolution".

Lori Lax holds a Master's degree from the Manhattan School of Music. She studied violin with Rafael Bronstein and viola with Karen Tuttle. Lori was first stand violist in the American Symphony Orchestra under Leopold Stokowski. She is a former teacher at the Manhattan School of Music and is currently on the staff of several summer chamber music festivals. Lori is proud to be a founding member of Loon Lake Live! When she isn't busy practicing or rehearsing she can most often be found hiking up Elbow for the amazing blueberries or taking a "quick dip" in Loon Lake.

Aaron Packard, violin, has studied at Oberlin Conservatory and SUNY Stony Brook, where he received his Bachelors and Masters of Music degrees, respectively. His principal teachers have been Greg Fulkerson and Mitchell Stern. Other influences include Katie Lansdale, Atar Arad, Jorja Fleezanis, James Buswell, Gil Kalish, and the Turtle Island String Quartet. He is currently living in the beautiful Berkshire Mountains of western Massachusetts, spending his time as a caretaker, bookseller, and music-maker.

Stephen Redfield is a violinist and a member of the University of Southern Mississippi School of Music faculty, where he performs with Trio Mississippi and the Baroque duo Haupt Musik. He has made solo appearances with numerous orchestras and has been featured in chamber music concerts throughout the United States and abroad in Canada, Mexico, Europe and the Far East. His teachers were Dorothy DeLay and Donald Weilerstein, and he studied Baroque violin with Lucy van Dael and Elizabeth Blumenstock. Mr. Redfield performs regularly with Santa Fe ProMusica, and the Sunriver Music Festival and Oregon Bach Festival orchestras. As a Concertmaster and soloist, his performances with the Victoria Bach Festival have been produced on CD's and broadcast on National Public Radio. In addition to performing and teaching at home in Mississippi, Stephen has contributed to Hattiesburg's downtown revitalization by opening a gallery space, Gallery Rx, in an abandoned pharmacy.

Erika Sato, violin, joined The "President's Own" United Marine Chamber Orchestra in 2003 where she is a frequent soloist. Prior to this appointment she was a tenured and title chair member of the Colorado Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Sato has performed internationally, making solo appearances with orchestras across the country including "The President's Own", Colorado and Oregon Symphony Orchestras. She has collaborated on several recordings and film projects. An avid chamber musician, she has participated in such festivals as Loon Lake Live!, Banff, Strings in the Mountains, Tanglewood, Spoleto (Italy) and Norfolk. Ms. Sato holds both Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from The Juilliard School under Masao Kawasaki.

Katie Schlaikjer, cellist, received top prizes from the Concert Artist Guild, the Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition, and the Banff International Quartet Competition as a former member of the Avalon Quartet. Her present work as a New York City freelancer has presented her with diverse performance opportunities including a production of Harry Partch's microtonal opera Oedipus and Villa Lobos's Bachianas Brasileiras number five in Zankel Hall's first, dedication concert with Renée Fleming. Katie has performed at the Ravinia, Caramoor Aspen and Yellow Barn chamber music festivals and attended the International Musicians Seminar at Prussia Cove, England. This fall she will tour with the Core Ensemble (cello, piano, percussion and actor/singer) performing "Tres Vidas", a show that combines chamber music and theater to portray the lives of three Latina women. Katie received her doctoral degree in December, 2007 from Stony Brook University where she studied with Timothy Eddy and currently teaches at the Bard Conservatory's preparatory division.

Bettina Schaden Bettina Schaden is a violinist, violist, and teacher in Denver, Colorado. She holds music degrees from the University of Denver and the University of Missouri. Bettina grew up in Brazil, where she attended the Music School of Brasília, and in 1998 moved to the United States. During her undergraduate studies in Missouri, she led the Chamber Soloists, a student-run string orchestra that performed throughout the state. At the University of Denver she was Graduate Assistant in violin. She has performed at music festivals in various cities in Brazil, as well as in Vermont, Missouri, Colorado, Germany, and France. Since 2006, Bettina has been the Suzuki violin and string orchestra teacher at a Denver Public School, and currently plays viola in the Avenue B Quartet. This is also her fourth summer as faculty member of the Intermezzo Chamber Music Sessions, a music camp for children. In her free time, Bettina enjoys cooking, swimming, biking, hiking, and snowboarding in the amazing Rocky Mountains.

Lydia Van Dreel is assistant professor of horn at the University of Oregon and a member of the Oregon Wind Quintet and the Oregon Brass Quintet. Ms. Van Dreel also performs regularly as a member of the Oregon Bach Festival Orchestra, The IRIS chamber orchestra (Germantown, TN) the Eugene Symphony Orchestra and the Oregon Mozart Players. Before joining the Oregon Faculty in 2006, Van Dreel held a ten year tenure as Co-Principal horn of the Sarasota Orchestra (FL) and was a member of the Colorado Music Festival Orchestra in Boulder, CO. Ms. Van Dreel maintains an active schedule, performing as an orchestral, solo and chamber musician throughout the United States, concertizing and recording music of all styles, including a recent collaboration with the 'Cherry Poppin' Daddies' and a recording on the BUZZ record label with the eclectic new music group, 'DaDaDah'. Van Dreel received her Master of Music degree from the Juilliard School where she was a student of William Purvis and her undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Caroline Wolff violinist, grew up in New York City and went on to study at Columbia University, Indiana University and the New England Conservatory. Her principal teachers were Raphael Bronstein, James Buswell and Stanley Ritchie. As a member of the Fidelio String Quartet (prizewinners in the London International String Quartet Competition) Caroline performed throughout the United States and Europe. She has appeared at numerous festivals including those of Tanglewood, Taos, Norfolk, Schleswig-Holstein, Prussia Cove and Santa Fe, as well as on series such as Bargemusic in New York, Emmanuel Music in Boston and St. John’s College Chamber Music in Oxford. Caroline spent several years on the faculty of the New England Conservatory Extension Division and Exeter College, New Hampshire and taught regularly at the Bowdoin Festival in Maine. Caroline has come to Loon Lake every summer since 1969, though she now lives in England with her husband, three children and three cats (Clara, Julia and Oscar).