Festival Artists 2025

Aloysia Friedman, viola

WEEK 1: Violist Aloysia Friedmann is the Founder and Artistic Director of the Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival in Washington State. She currently plays with the chamber orchestra ROCO and frequently substitutes with the Houston and San Diego Symphonies. Aloysia loves chamber music and good food!

Aurelien Fort Pederzoli

WEEK 1: Violist Aurelien Fort Pederzoli is a founding member of the string trio Black Oak Ensemble and has performed regularly with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. He also serves as a consultant for rare instruments at Colin Maki Inc.

Stephanie Jutt, flute

WEEK 2: Stephanie Jutt is artistic director of the Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society, a sinner chamber music festival in Madison, Wisconsin (www.bachdancing.org). As a soloist, her recordings are available on Albany, GM and Centaur Records and on Spotify. Stephanie has been Professor of Flute at University of Wisconsin-Madison and Florida State University. She is principal flutist at the Madison Symphony and Madison Opera. Her many arrangements, transcriptions and editions are published by International Music Publishing.

Jonah Kim, cello

WEEK 1: Jonah Kim is an artist of great charisma and originality. His beauty of tone is immediately distinguishable by its signature sweetness. Kim invites the listener in with “the cosy warmth of a well-loved cashmere sweater," (Gramophone) then “dives into the music with courage underpinned by formidable technical prowess” (All About the Arts), “[flawlessly delivering] its Herculean technical demands… the sense of exhilaration in this performance has us on the edge of our seats.” (The Strad).

So Jin Kim

WEEK 1: Korean-American violinist So Jin Kim has been praised by critics and audiences alike for her “powerful interpretation…[and] flawless sound” (Cuxhavener Nachrichten) and “creating tones of poetry” (The Strad). Following her successful solo debut with the Juilliard Orchestra in Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall in 2006, she has appeared as a soloist throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. She was appointed as a concertmaster of the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra in Switzerland at the age of 24, a post she held until 2013, and currently serves as the associate concertmaster of Munich Radio Orchestra. From 2014-2020 she served on the faculty of Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover in Germany. She currently serves on the faculty at The Colburn School.

Amy Levine-Tsang

WEEK 2: Cellist Amy Levine-Tsang has collaborated with the Colorado, Brentano, Cassatt, and Meridian String Quartets, the New Jersey Chamber Music Society, the Austin Chamber Music Center and Austin Camerata. She is a former member of the Richardson Chamber Players and the award winning Laurel Trio. 

Stephanie Sant'Ambrogio, violin

WEEK 1: Founder and former Artistic Director of Cactus Pear Music Festival (1997-2022), Stephanie Sant’Ambrogio, described as a “violinist who most often takes your breath away” by Gramophone Magazine, enjoys a varied performing and recording career as a soloist, chamber musician and orchestral leader. Currently Professor of Violin and Viola at the University of Nevada, Reno, and violinist of the Argenta Trio, she is also Concertmaster of the Fresno Philharmonic.

Craig Sorgi, Education Director

WEEK 1 & 2 / Young Artist Program: Since 2008 Craig has served as the Education Director of the Cactus Pear Music Festival’s highly successful Young Artist Program [YAP]. Currently, Craig is a 1st violinist with the new San Antonio Philharmonic.

Jeffrey Sykes, piano & Artistic Director

WEEK 1 & 2: Artistic Director of Cactus Pear Music Festival, and acclaimed by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung as "a commanding solo player, the most supportive of accompanists, and a leader in chamber music," pianist Jeffrey Sykes has performed across four continents and collaborates regularly with leading instrumentalists and singers. In the fall of 2018 he gave a recital on Chicago’s prestigious Dame Myra Hess concert series, and he recently returned from a tour of France that culminated in performances of French solo and chamber music at the Musée des Impressionismes in Giverny, home of Claude Monet. He was recently a guest artist at the African American Art Song Alliance conference in Irvine, California.

Stas Venglevski, bayan/accordian

WEEK 2: Stas Venglevski, a virtuoso of the Bayan from the Republic of Moldova, is known for his dazzling technique and musical sensitivity. A two-time first prize winner in Moldovan Bayan competitions, he earned his Master’s degree at the Russian Academy of Music in Moscow under Friedrich Lips. Stas has toured widely across the former Soviet Union, North America, and Europe, and has performed with artists like Doc Severinsen, Steve Allen, and Garrison Keillor. He has also appeared with numerous symphonies, including those of Chicago, Milwaukee, and Seattle, and is a frequent contributor to the Milwaukee Symphony’s Arts in Community Education Program.

Carmit Zori, violin

WEEK 2: Violinist Carmit Zori studied at the Curtis Institute of Music with Ivan Galamian, Jaime Laredo, and Arnold Steinhardt. A top prize winner in the Naumburg International Violin Competition and recipient of both the Leventritt Foundation and Pro Musicis International Awards, she has performed as a soloist with the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, and others, and given recitals across the U.S., Europe, Asia, Latin America, and Australia. An active chamber musician, she has appeared with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Marlboro Festival, Festival Casals, and is a member of the Israeli Chamber Project. She is the founder and artistic director of the Brooklyn Chamber Music Society and teaches at Bard College and Rutgers University.