David Salness, Violin
David has toured extensively, attaining international recognition as a performer and teacher. His performances have been broadcast by NPR, Bayerische Rundfunk and the British and Canadian Broadcast Corporations. Mr. Salness’s critically acclaimed recordings are found on the RCA, Telarc and Centaur Labels, among others. Mr. Salness was for twelve years a member of the Audubon Quartet and won the Deuxieme Grand Prix as a member of Nisaika in the 1984 Evian International String Quartet Competition. Currently he is a member of the Left Bank Quartet and has collaborated with many ensembles including the Orford, Moscow, Guarneri and Cleveland Quartets. Mr. Salness has participated in Aspen’s Center for Advanced Quartet Studies and in the Newport, Banff and Mostly Mozart Festivals. Formerly on the Artist Faculty of the Meadowmount School and Distinguished Teacher of Violin at the Brevard Music Center, Mr. Salness is Professor of Violin and Director of Chamber Music at the University of Maryland.
Sally McLain, Violin
Sally received her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees with High Distinction from Indiana University, where she studied with and was assistant to James Buswell. Critically hailed as a “violinist with lots of style” by the Washington Post, Ms. McLain served as concertmaster of the Washington Chamber Symphony for ten seasons and is currently concertmaster of the Washington Concert Opera. She was a member of the Theater Chamber Players, as well as the Potomac String Quartet, which recorded the complete quartets of David Diamond and Quincy Porter for Albany Records. Of these cycles American Record Guide wrote, “The admirable Potomac Quartet has done a great service for American chamber music in recording the complete quartets of both Porter and Diamond. These superb musicians play with sensitivity, lustrous tone, and the joy of discovery”. She is currently a member of the Left Bank Quartet.
James Stern, Viola
Hailed by the Washington Post for “virtuosity and penetrating intelligence,” violinist and violist James Stern is a member of the Stern/Andrist Duo with his wife, Canadian pianist Audrey Andrist, and Strata, a trio in which the two of them are joined by clarinetist Nathan Williams. The duo has performed throughout the United States, Canada and China, with additional recitals in Munich and Paris. Their recent collaboration with cellist Steven Honigberg on trios by Dvořák and Fauré was deemed “extraordinary” by Fanfare magazine for its “gripping intensity.”
Stern has performed at the Marlboro, Ravinia, Banff and Bowdoin festivals as well as at New York’s Alice Tully Hall and Carnegie Hall. Well-known to Washington, D. C. audiences, he has performed with the 21st Century Consort, VERGE Ensemble, the Smithsonian Chamber Players and the Axelrod Quartet, at the Corcoran Gallery, the German and French Embassies, Smithsonian Institution, Library of Congress, National Gallery, Phillips Collection, and the White House.
Eric Kutz, Cello
Eric has captivated audiences across North America, Europe, and the Middle East. His diverse collaborations cut across musical styles, and have ranged from cellist Yo-Yo Ma to jazz great Ornette Coleman. Kutz is a founding member of the Murasaki Duo, a cello and piano ensemble that has released three commercial CDs and performs on chamber music series throughout the nation. Their CD Duo Virtuoso won the 2016 Violoncello Foundation’s “Listener’s Choice Award.” As an orchestral musician, Kutz summers in Chicago as a member of the Grant Park Orchestra’s cello section. He has also appeared in the sections of the New York Philharmonic, Minnesota Orchestra and Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. He joined the faculty of University of Maryland School of Music in 2015 where he holds the Barbara K. Steppel Memorial Cello Fellowship. Kutz has premiered over two-dozen works, and has been broadcast live on numerous NPR affiliates, as well as nationally on PBS television’s Live from Lincoln Center. He hold degrees from the Juilliard School and Rice University.