Brunilda Myftaraj, violin, concertmaster, Connecticut Virtuosi, conservatory of fine arts in Tirana, Albania, private studies Piero Farulli of the Quartetto Italiano, Alberto Lissy at the Yehudi Menuhin Academy, Phil Setzer, Eugene Drucker of the Emerson Quartet, Rafael Druian and Renato Bonacini. Soloist and recitalist in Europe, US, with Hartford Symphony and the Connecticut Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra, winner, Van Rooy competition and one of the winners of the Emerson string quartet competition.

Adrian Sylveen Mackiewicz, violin, BM, “Paderewski” Music Academy in Poznan, Poland, MM & AD Yale School of Music, performing career both in the US and in Europe, Art. Director, Connecticut Virtuosi, Connecticut Lyric Opera, Classical Orchestra in Pila, Poland, concerts in Poland, Switzerland, Germany, former Soviet Union, and the United States.

Marianne Vogel, violin, viola, BM music theory from the University of Connecticut, Graduate Professional diploma in violin performance, Hartt School of Music. Ms. Vogel plays violin and viola with several chamber and symphony orchestras. She is violist with the Sylveen String Quartet.

Hans Twitchell, cello, has performed in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Israel, Brazil and Argentina including the Emerson Quartet. He has recorded on the New England Viola da Gamba Society Record Label and is a member of the Connecticut Virtuosi. Dr. Twitchell currently serves on the faculty of the Community School of the Arts in Mansfield at the University of Connecticut.

Kathy Schiano, cello, principal cellist, Connecticut Virtuosi, BM in cello performance, University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas. MM SUNY at Stony Brook, As a freelance cellist, she performs chamber music and teaches cello privately in the Hartford area. She also is a member of the faculty at Trinity college where she teaches cello and coaches chamber music.

Travis Burns, double bass, Principle bassist of The Connecticut Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra; MM Hartt School of music; as a soloist, played recitals across the mid-west, assistant-principal bassist of the Eastern CT Symphony,  performed with the Hartford Symphony, Rhode Island Philharmonic, New Hampshire Music Festival, Minneapolis Pops, and the South Dakota Symphony.

Nathaniel Baker, piano, Performance
Degree - Hartt School of Music (2009), Windham Regional Arts Council
Competition winner, ECSYO Concerto Competition, Music Director at First
Congregational Church at Canterbury, private studio in Eastern Connecticut Region.

Edmund Clark, organ, harpsichord, BA - Tufts University; Master of Sacred Music - Union Theological Seminary's School of Sacred Music in NYC

Sue Ann Armstrong, Flute, Music Appreciation for Children, degrees in music education and performance from the Hartt School of Music (BMed, BM in flute and MMed with certification as a Kodaly specialist), classically trained flutist, and Kodaly Specialist, and children’s choral director, she has been sharing the joy of music with infants to adults for more than 30 years including assistant conductor of the West Hartford Inter-Elementary Choir, and curriculum design and implementation for Pre-K through fourth grade music for Rye Country Day School (NY) and Christ Church Nursery School. She pursued advanced studies in orchestral conducting at the Mannes School of Music, NYC and the Pierre Monteux School. In 1987 she founded the Sound Shore Sinfonietta to perform inner city workshops and concerts in the Bronx and Westchester. Currently she teaches at the Farmington Academy Montessori and Hunter Montessori schools. As a free lance flutist she performs with Charter Oak Flutes, Music for the Planet, and records for David Darling, Fabien Maman, and Judith Cook.

Heather Taylor, oboe

Julie Asuma Levene, clarinet, BM Lawrence University, MM Yale School of Music, teachers have included Fan Lei, David Shifrin and Charles Neidich.  She is a member of the Connecticut Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra and and the Earl Banquer Woodwind Ensemble, and has played throughout the Northeast with the klezmer ensemble Generation Klez.  Julie is currently on the faculty of the Connecticut School of Music, the Thames Valley Music School and Choate Rosemary Hall.

Eva Marie Heater, horn, natural horn, MM Yale University School of Music, BM American Conservatory of Music. Principal horn with the Wallingford Symphony and the Connecticut Virtuosi, performed with the Bermuda Philharmonic in Hamilton, Bermuda as a special guest artist, the Goodspeed Opera House, Orchestra New England, Connecticut College chamber players conducted by Pierre Boulez, Brass Quintessence, the New Haven Symphony Orchestra, on natural horn with Chanticleer and the Janus Ensemble. Ms. Heater is also the author of articles, and recordings reviews in music journals such as Historic Brass Society Journal, American Brahms Society Newsletter, Horn Call, and the Yale Library Gazette.

David Lozupone, French Horn, Music Theory, BM Hartt School of Music (2009), classical and Jazz experience, 2nd horn, Connecticut Virtuosi.

Julia Caruk, trumpet (bio will be posted soon)

Laurentiu Rotaru, voice, bass-baritone, The Conservatory of Bucharest, The National Opera of Bucharest, toured Romania, Greece, Austria, Hungary, Italy, and The United States. BM Bachelor Degree in Music Performance from CCSU, and a MM University of Connecticut, winner of several competitions.

We are presenting the Sylveen String Quartet as our quartet in residence. They are offering chamber music coaching and work shops for everybody that is interested in this program.

Guest artists will be invited to give master classes and coaching of brass and wind ensembles along with our faculty members.

The school orchestra will take place on Saturdays and we would like to urge our students to take advantage of this opportunity. There will be an audition and places are limited.

Choir is going to take place on Sundays and is open to anyone who would like to participate. There will be an audition prior to entry.