Rumulo Benavides: Violinist Romulo Benavides studied with the late Emil Friedman in his native Venezuela and obtained his Bachelors degree from The Juilliard School. As Concertmaster of Arcos Juveniles de Caracas, he performed as soloist in the United States, Spain, Dominican Republic and throughout Venezuela, and in 1985, he won 1st Prize at the Juan Bautista Plaza Violin Competition in Caracas. He went on to perform as soloist with the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra, Carabobo Chamber Orchestra and the Venezuelan Symphony Orchestra. In New York City he has performed with the Carpentier Quartet, Ensemble America, Frank Valiente Tango Quintet, and with Mauricio Najt and Alberto Quiroga. Benavides performs as the first violinist of the Dali Quartet and is Concertmaster and featured soloist of the Philadelphia Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra. He has recorded for New World Records and performed in master classes for Itzhak Perlman at Brooklyn College and for Peter Winograd at The Aspen Music School. 

Netanel Draiblate: Netanel Draiblate won the First Prize at the Jerusalem Academy Solo Competition (1998), the Ben-Haim Competition (1995) Second Prizes at the Young Artists Competition in Haifa (1999), and a major prize in the Peabody's Yale Gordon Competition (2006). He was also awarded the J.C Van Hulstein Award, the Carl Holzapfel Violin Shop Endowed Scholarship and the 2008 Grace Clagett Ranney Prize, all by the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University.

Netanel has performed as soloist with the American Symphony Orchestra in his Carnegie Hall solo debut, Israel Chamber Orchestra, Ashdod Symphony Orchestra, Rishon Le Zion Symphony Orchestra, the Thelma Yellin Symphony Orchestra, MSO Mediterranean Symphony Orchestra, the World Youth Orchestra, the Tel-Aviv Soloists and recently, in Turkey with the Bursa Symphony Orchestra, on their 2006/07 season opening concert.

He has also been heard in recitals and chamber music concerts in Israel, USA, Argentina, Spain, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, France, Belgium, Germany and Italy.

In 2002 as Concertmaster of the World Youth Orchestra, Mr. Draiblate was invited to perform with Mr. Daniel Stabrawa, former Concertmaster of the Berlin Philharmonic in a chamber concert.  In 2003 Netanel collaborated with such luminaries as Pinchas Zukerman, Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, Jaime Laredo and Lin Cho Liang in a Gala Concert at Carnegie Hall.  A month before, in this same venue, he took part in the America-Israel Cultural Foundation Gala Concert. Mr. Draiblate was also invited to represent Israel in a concert hosted by the King of Norway, celebrating the Fourth anniversary of the Oslo Accords.

His rich and varied orchestral experience includes regular invitations to principal positions in the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra under the direction of Maestro Daniel Barenboim, the Tel-Aviv Soloists, as well as Concertmaster positions with the World Youth Orchestra, Thelma Yellin Symphony Orchestra, Israel Young Philharmonic, the Chicago College of Performing Arts Symphony and the Peabody Symphony Orchestra. Netanel is currently performing as Guest Concertmaster with the Lancaster (PA) Symphony Orchestra

Studying currently under the guidance of Ms. Pamela Frank, he was also a pupil of Vali Blutner, Hagai Shaham and Shmuel Ashkenasi.  Netanel has participated in master classes with Isaac Stern, Dorothy DeLay, Pinchas Zukerman, Zachar Bron and Miriam Fried. 

Netanel is the first violinist to be supported by the Ilona Feher Foundation, and performed in the Foundation's concerts, among them, a Gala concert in Carnegie Hall on April 2008.  He has received annual scholarships since 1990 from the America-Israel Cultural Foundation as well as scholarships from the Ronen Foundation, the Barenboim-Said Foundation, the Buchman Haiman Foundation and the Peabody Institute.

David Gotay: Cellist David Gotay, born in the Bronx, has performed in such notable venues as Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Avery Fisher Hall and the White House. He has played on television in PBS' Sessions at 54th Street, on the QVC Network and in the nationally-broadcast Hurricane Katrina Benefit with Sheryl Crow. He has collaborated with such artists as Alicia Keys, k.d. lang, David Sanborn, Little Jimmy Scott, John Blake Jr., and Mannheim Steamroller. Gotay was a member of the critically-acclaimed Carpentier Quartet, is solo cellist for Sasha and Shawna (EMI records) and is a member of the experimental hip-hop/classical group Sound Liberation, whose debut album is soon to be released on the Col Legno label in Germany. He regularly performs with the Harrisburg Symphony, Key West Symphony, and the Sphinx Symphony in Detroit. Among his numerous awards are included: Chamber Music America's Residency Partnership Program Grant; Martin Luther King Jr., Cesar Chavez, Rosa Parks Visiting Professorship, University of Michigan; Harlem School of the Arts Certificate of Appreciation; and Chamber Music Live Award, Queens College.

Julian Hallmark: Julian Hallmark has performed as soloist, chamber musician and as a member of many chamber orchestras in Europe, India, China, Japan, Korea, and across the United States.

At the age of nine Mr. Hallmark was invited by Lord Yehudi Menuhin to study at his school in England, where he studied with Menuhin, Felix Andrievsky, and Robert Masters violin.. While at the Menuhin School he was coached by Hans Keller and members of the Amadeus quartet in chamber music, and participated in over ninety performances and tours scheduled per year. At the age of 14, Mr. Hallmark won first place in the British Young Artists Competition, and performed Beethoven's concerto with the London Symphony Orchestra. Lord Menuhin conducted the performance.

In 1987 he was accepted at The Juilliard School in New York, where he studied as a scholarship student of Dorothy DeLay, and was coached in chamber music by Felix Galimir and Harvey Shapiro. At Juilliard, Mr. Hallmark worked as Dorothy DeLay's assistant, managing her studio and teaching a technique class for students. At the Aspen Music Festival, Mr. Hallmark was the director in charge of the Starling Recital series, Concerto concerts, and the visiting artist's master classes. He was also the concertmaster of the Festival orchestra for five summers.

Since graduating from Juilliard, in 1994 with his Masters of Music Degree, Mr. Hallmark has been much sought after as a chamber musician and chamber orchestra player. He is a co-founder of the Concertante Chamber Players based in New York, performs regularly with the ProArte Chamber Music Consortium in Guanajuato, Mexico, and has been concertmaster of the Aspen Valley Chamber Orchestra, in Colorado, for 11 years.

Most recent solo performances have been with the Koblenz radio orchestra in Germany, performing Mozart Violin Concerto #5; Aspen Chamber Orchestra, performing Beethoven Concerto; recital at the Festival of Guanajuato, in Mexico; recital at Fleur de Lis in Montereau, France.

As a chamber musician Mr. Hallmark performs regularly at the Sunflower Music Festival in Topeka, Kansas, where he has collaborated with violist Richard O'Neill, violist, Donald McInnes, violinist, Charles Stegeman; The Buzzards Bay Music Festival in Cape Cod, Massachusetts; The Busan Music Festival in South Korea, performing coaching, and collaborating with Fred Sherry, Nobuko Imai, Andres Diaz, Marcus Groh and Alyssa Park. Other festivals Mr. Hallmark has performed at are; The Salzburg Music Festival, Evian Festival, France; New music Live, Finland. He has also performed with the Grammy award winning Southwest Chamber Music, Mladi Chamber Group, both based in Los Angeles, and has performed at the North Shore Music Festival in O'ahu Hawaii for the past three summers.

Adriana Linares:  Venezuelan violist Adriana Linares is one of today's most talented young Latin American artists. Her playing has been called "meltingly beautiful" by Naxos Label reviewers. Ms. Linares was the first prize winner in the Latin American Music Competition in Indiana University, the Kuttner Quartet Competition and the Solo Viola Competition at Indiana University, which earned her the honor of soloing with the Indiana University Symphony Orchestra.

Described by Grammy awarding violist Roger Tapping as "a violist of extraordinary merit and ability...[who is] not only excellent but also distinctive, characterful and individual. Highlights of Solo engagements include her 2006 debut in Carnegie Hall with the American premiere of Venezuelan Composer Modesta Bor Sonata. She has been feature soloist with Arcos Juveniles de Caracas Orchestra, Virtuosi de Caracas, Middletown Symphony, the Illinois Philharmonic and the Philadelphia Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra, with whom she performed and collaborated with the world premiere of American composer Hower Hanson's Summer Sea Side #2, recorded under the NAXOS label.
An active chamber musician and recitalist, she has collaborated with artists such as Anthony Marwood (Florestan trio), Gabriela Montero (Distinguished Venezuelan pianist), Natasha Brodsky (Peabody Trio), Paul Desenne (distinguished Venezuelan Composer), Alexis Cardenas (Tchaikovsky Violin Competition Finalist), Bonnie Hampton (Juilliard School of Music Faculty), and Marka Gustavasson (Colorado Quartet violist).

Ms. Linares is the founder violist of the Dali String Quartet, ensemble with whom she has embarked recording and performing projects around the USA, and recognized educational outreach in collaboration with the City of Philadelphia and surrounding counties. She regularly performs with the SATORI Chamber Players, The Madison Quartet, the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra, and the Philadelphia Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra. Ms. Linares holds a Master's Degree from Temple University where she studied with Curtis Director violist Roberto Diaz (summa cummlaudem), and a Bachelor's Degree from Indiana University where she studied with distinguished violist Atar Arad (magna cummlaudem)

Michael Mermagen: Michael Mermagen, (M.M. The Juilliard School, B.M. The Peabody Conservatory of Music), assistant professor of cello and chamber music at the Catholic University of America. Made his debut at the age of sixteen with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra after being the recipient of its Young Soloist's Award. Michael began his studies at the Peabody Preparatory where he studied with Paula Skolnick-Childress and Mihaly Virizlay. Principal teachers in college were Stephen Kates at the Peabody Conservatory, and Zara Nelsova at the Juilliard School. As the Juilliard School's concerto competition winner, he performed with the Juilliard Orchestra under Otto-Werner Mueller in Alice Tully Hall. Was soloist with the National Orchestra of New York, where he held the prestigious Emanuel Feuermann principal cello chair. Performed in the Violoncello Society of New York Master Classes lead by Yo-Yo Ma, Janos Starker, and Bernard Greenhouse. Tours regularly with The Aspen Ensemble.  Also toured with the American Chamber Players from 1997 to 2003 and from 1987 to 1995 with the Arista Piano Trio, (named Chamber Music America's Artists to Watch). Collaborated with the San Francisco Ballet and was featured as the cello soloist for the New York premiere of two works by the renowned choreographer Mark Morris. Has joined violinist Jody Gatwood and pianist Ivo Kaltchev in the Rome Trio, a resident ensemble of The Catholic University of America. Faculty member at the Aspen Music Festival and School and has held the position of principal cellist of the Aspen Chamber Symphony for the past 20 seasons.  Performed chamber music in Aspen with such artists as Joshua Bell, Sarah Chang, Lynn Harrell, Robert McDuffie, Susanne Mentzer, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg and The Takács Quartet; collaborated with distinguished conductors, Comissiona, Conlon, Levine, Maazel, Marriner, McGegan, Robertson, Skrowaczewski, Zinman. He has given numerous recitals and masterclasses across North America, Europe and Asia and most recently was invited for classes at the Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory of Music. Participated in The Grand Canyon Music Festival, Prince Albert Music Festival in Kauai and the Bay Chamber Concerts in Rockport, Maine. Has been heard on WQXR's Concerts Plus, WNYC's Around New York, and his performances are regularly broadcast on NPR's Performance Today. Also performed live with Musica Sacra on A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor. Performed as a substitute cellist in the New York Philharmonic, Buffalo Philharmonic, New York City Ballet, Orchestra of the Saint Lukes, 92nd Street Y Orchestra, Philharmonia Virtuosi of New York, American Symphony Orchestra, Brooklyn Philharmonic, and Long Island Philharmonic. Recorded the Patrick Zimmerli piano trios, for the Arabesque label, after a celebrated debut of the same pieces at the Seattle Chamber Music Society. Recent appearances include performing the Brahms "Double Concerto" with the Stockton Symphony and Beethoven's Triple Concerto with the Fairfax Symphony. He performs on a Nicolo Gagliano cello, Naples, 1774.

Odin Rathnam:  Since his critically acclaimed Lincoln Center debut in 1993, the American violinist Odin Rathnam has established himself as one of the most passionate and versatile artists of his generation. He has received unanimous praise from critics and audiences for his "captivating temperament," "brilliant technique" and "recalling the legendary violinists of the past". A veteran performer at many major European and American festivals including the Algarve International Music Festival in Portugal, Denmark's Tivoli and Vendsyssel Festivals, Deia International Festival in Mallorca, Aspen and Caramoor, he has also appeared in recital on the Market Square Concerts series, Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall and Carnegie Recital Hall, where Rathnam first appeared at the age of 15. As a soloist, he has performed with the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra, the New Amsterdam Symphony, the Columbian National Symphony, the Camden and Hayes Orchestras in England, the York Symphony, the Hershey Symphony, the Lancaster Symphony, the Central Pennsylvania Symphony and the Harrisburg Symphony, enjoying collaborations with conductors including Stuart Malina, Richard Westerfield, Stephen Gunzenhauser, Anne Harrigan and many others.

Mr. Rathnam's past performances include Lalo Symphony Espagnole with the Hershey Symphony, Wieniawski f# minor violin concerto with the York Symphony, Erick Korngold violin concerto with the Harrisburg Symphony, collaborations as guest violist with the Ying Quartet and the Raphael Trio, and the complete sonatas for violin and piano of Johannes Brahms with pianist Stuart Malina. In March 2004, Mr. Rathnam gave the Columbian premier of Korngold concerto with the Columbian National Symphony Orchestra in Bogota, led by Charles Peltz. He then returned to the United States to perform the viola part for Mozart Symphonia Concertante with the Cleveland State University Orchestra under the baton of Victor Liva. In June and July 2004, Mr. Rathnam appeared as violinist and violist for several programs at the Boswil Festspiel in Switzerland, culminating in a performance on July 4th of Mozart's Symphonia Concertante. The Harrisburg Symphony featured Mr. Rathnam as soloist in Tchaikovsky concerto at the 75th anniversary opening gala concert in October 2004.

The 2006-07 season included return solo engagements at the Endless Mountain Music Festival and Market Square Summer Series, Vivaldi's Four Seasons with the orchestras of Harrisburg and Lancaster, virtuoso violin duos with Venezuelan violinst, Romulo Benevides on the Trinity Lutheran and "Music Naturally" Series and a Tivoli Festival debut, performing Prokofiev Sonata for Two Violins with Nikolaj Znaider.  The Danish newspaper, Kristelig Dagblad, hailed the "outstanding, full-blooded romantic violin playing by both players."

Recent and upcoming appearances include concerti and virtuoso showpieces with the newly founded Pennsylvania Chamber Orchestra, with conductor Frank Collura, Carmen Fantasy and Beethoven Romance in F with Stuart Malina and the Harrisburg Symphony, a violin recital at The Forum, tracing the history of the solo violin repertoire from Bach to Piazzola and a performance of Vivaldi's Four Seasons with his newly founded group, The Pro Musicis Ensemble at the Barshinger Center in Lancaster, PA.  This concert, conducted by Maestro Stephen Gunzenhauser, was recorded for release by West Branch Records.  Rathnam and Gunzenhauser will collaborate again at the 2009 Endless Mountain Music Festival with performances of Lalo's Symphony Espagnole.  Summer engagements also include Chausson's Concerto for Violin, Piano, and String Quartet with the Frye Street Quartet and pianist Michael Sheppard. 

As a chamber musician, Mr. Rathnam has performed frequently in Harrisburg, Baltimore and New York with Concertante, the internationally acclaimed chamber group he founded in 1995. His 2000 recording of Strauss "Metamorphosen" received the highest praise from Calum MacDonald, BBC Music Magazine who wrote "[Concertante's] performance [of the Strauss, Metamorphosen] is white-hot, so intensely felt and so superbly realized technically as to be almost beyond praise; they create their own benchmark in this version."

Odin Rathnam has collaborated as a violinist and violist with leading artists of his generation including: violinists Nikolaj Znaider, Gil Shaham, Adele Anthony and Kurt Nikkanen; pianists Rohan De Silva, Albert Tiu, Robert Koenig and Anton Nel; and cellists Matt Haimowitz, Bion Tsang, Laszlo Fenyo and Daniel Gaisford, The Fry Street, Casal and Ying Quartets and the Rafael Trio.

Mr. Rathnam has performed extensively on American and European radio and television, including the major classical stations of New York, Washington and Harrisburg as well as coast to coast broadcasts on National Public Radio's Performance Today and CBS's 60 Minutes.

Mr. Rathnam received his formal training at Mannes College of Music with Sally Thomas and at the Juilliard School, where he was a scholarship student of Dorothy DeLay. He studied chamber music with Felix Galimir and Josef Gingold.  He also studied with the Danish violinist Anker Buch. 

Mr. Rathnam has recorded for the Helicon, Kleos, and West Branch labels. He performs on a rare Italian violin crafted by Bartolomeo Calvarola in 1755, and the "ex-Menuhin" Dominique Peccatte bow of ca. 1830.

Michael Sheppard:  Already a rising star of his generation of artists, Michael Sheppard is a pianist of dazzling virtuosity and penetrating musicianship. Trained at the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, he studied with the great Leon Fleisher and Ann Schein. As one of two 2003 Classical Fellows of the American Pianists Association he toured Southern Asia and the Middle East in collaboration with the Cultural Programs Division of the United States Department of State. Throughout the tour he played concerti with national orchestras, was guest soloist with resident chamber music groups, played public solo recitals as well as private recitals for the diplomatic community, gave master classes at higher institutes of music and conducted informal presentations in secondary schools and universities. Upon his return he made his Kennedy Center debut. Since then he has made his debuts with orchestras in the Midwest, Southeast, Soutwest and Pacific Northwest in addition to solo recitals, radio-broadcasts, and masterclasses throughout the nation and Europe, including several Weill (Carnegie) Hall recitals.

Sheppard has received critical acclaim as a grand interpreter of transcriptions of operatic tunes as well as American musical theatre in addition to the traditional piano repertory. Deeply committed to new music, he has worked closely with composers Nicholas Maw, Michael Hersch, Robert Sirota and John Corigliano. Sheppard is a composer in his own right and often programs his original compositions.

In addition to being a Classical Fellow of the American Pianists Association, Sheppard has also been a Fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center and the La Gesse Foundation and a prizewinner in the National Federation of Music Clubs National Competition. His recently-released album of contemporary American music for the Harmonia Mundi label has been getting rave reviews. A native of Philadelphia, he resides in Baltimore.

Eddie Venegas: Violinist/Trombonist Eddie Venegas was born in Caracas, Venezuela and studied with Daniel Phillips of the Orion String Quartet at the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College where he obtained his Bachelors and Masters in Performance of Classical Violin. Venegas is also a self-taught trombonist and very active on both instruments in the New York City freelance jazz, classical, and Latin music scenes. He has worked with such renowned artists as John Fadis, Joe Zawinul, Tito Puente, Marc Antony, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Dani Rojo and Johnny Pacheco, and has appeared as a soloist with numerous groups, including the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band, the Hudson Jazz Ensemble, Saint Martin of Tours Symphony Orchestra, the Carpentier Quartet and the Queens Philharmonic. Venegas plays regularly with the Harrisburg Symphony, La Orquesta Broadway, the Sphinx Symphony and En Talla, and his original compositions can be heard among the Sweet Plantain and The 3 Sad Cats Jazz Ensemble's regular repertoire. Venegas can additionally be seen in the Jennifer Lopez/Marc Antony movie, El Cantante.

Orlando Wells: Violist Orlando Wells, a New Jersey native, studied at LaGuardia High School of Performing Arts and graduated with Behrens Foundation and B'nai Brith scholarships. He then went on to S.U.N.Y. Purchase and Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers. Wells has held the concertmaster chair with Orchestra of the Bronx and the Bronx Opera and has appeared as a soloist with Antara, the Manhattan Virtuosi and the St. Peter by the Sea Orchestra. He also performs with the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic, SONYC Chamber Orchestra, Ritz Chamber Players, Quartet Evolution, Sweet Plantain, Radio City Christmas Show Orchestra and on Broadway with Phantom of the Opera, The Producers, Spamalot and Wicked. He has collaborated with such greats as John Legend, Mariah Carey, Rihanna, Kanye West, Marvin Hamlisch, the Akua Dixon Swing Quartet, Sojourner Strings, and Dionne Warwick.