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David Updegraff Head, Violin Department, received a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Louisville and a Master of Music degree with honors from the University of Michigan. His teachers include Paul Makanowitzky and Phillip Ruder. He has concertized widely, to critical acclaim, in the U.S. and Europe. Mr. Updegraff combines his concert activities with frequent appearances as adjudicator and clinician. His students have been winners and laureates in numerous international and national competitions, have appeared as soloists with such orchestras as The Cleveland Orchestra, the Berlin Symphony, and the Seattle Symphony; and hold prominent positions in the major symphony orchestras around the world. He taught previously at the University of Louisville and Western Michigan University. He was appointed to the CIM faculty in 1987. E-mail

David Cerone Violin, was a co-founder of the ENCORE School for Strings, where he co-directed and served as faculty member since 1985. Mr. Cerone serves as a juror for many prominent national and international violin competitions and presents master classes around the world. An active chamber musician, he toured extensively with the Canterbury Trio from 1984 to 1989, under Columbia Artist Management. He was a Director of the Meadowmount School of Music and member of its faculty for 19 summers. Mr. Cerone is a board member of University Circle, Inc. and the Avery Fisher Artist Program. He is an Auxiliary Director of the International Board of the Suzuki Association. He was Professor of Violin at Oberlin Conservatory from 1962 to 1971 and Chairman of the String Department and Kulas Professor at CIM from 1971 to 1981. He was a member of the violin faculty at the Curtis Institute of Music from 1975 to 1985 and head of its violin department from 1981 to 1985. Mr. Cerone's extremely popular recordings of the Suzuki Violin Method Books I through IV have been reissued by Afred Publishing. He presented a series of master classes, lectures and a recital for the Talent Education Research Institute's Teachers Convention in Hamamatsu, Japan, the first foreigner to address this illustrious group, and has performed in the St. Barts Music Festival for three seasons. Mr. Cerone served as president of CIM from 1985 to 2008. E-mail

Linda Cerone Violin; Artistic Director, Preparatory Violin Department, is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, where she was a student of Ivan Galamian. She has also studied with violinist and conductor Paul Katz, and with Walter Levin of the La Salle Quartet. She has appeared both in recital and as soloist with orchestras throughout the U.S., including performances with Max Rudolf and Eugene Ormandy. Mrs. Cerone was principal second violin of the Dartmouth Festival Orchestra, served on the faculty of the Oberlin Conservatory, was professor of violin at the New School in Philadelphia and, for 19 years, was a member of the faculty at the Meadowmount School of Music. She was a co-founder of the ENCORE School for Strings, where she co-directed and served as faculty member since 1985. A participant in the St. Barts Music Festival, Mrs. Cerone has served as adjudicator and on the advisory boards of national competitions. Her former students hold important positions in orchestras throughout the world and enjoy successful careers in chamber ensembles and as touring soloists. She was reappointed to the CIM faculty in 1985. E-mail

Paul Kantor is currently the Eleanor H. Biggs Distinguished Professor of Violin at CIM. A graduate of the Juilliard School, he studied violin with Dorothy DeLay and chamber music with Robert Mann. Mr. Kantor has performed as soloist with numerous symphony orchestras and was a member of the Berkshire Chamber Players and the New York, Lenox and New Haven string quartets. He has served as concertmaster of six ensembles, including the Aspen Chamber Symphony, New Haven Symphony and Lausanne Chamber Orchestra. In 1994 Mr. Kantor gave the world premiere of Dan Welcher's Violin Concerto, commissioned by the Aspen Music Festival in honor of Dorothy DeLay. Mr. Kantor has presented master classes at the Eastman School of Music, Indiana University and the New World Symphony, among others. For several years he held concurrent appointments at the Yale University School of Music, New England Conservatory, Juilliard and the University of Michigan School of M usic. Beginning in the Fall of 2008 Mr. Kantor serves as Artist-in-Residence at the Glenn Gould School. He has recorded for CRI, Mark Records, Delos and Equilibrium. Mr. Kantor has been an artist-faculty member of the Aspen Music Festival since 1980. E-mail

Joan Kwuon Violin, is praised by The New York Times for her "fiery, intensely musical and impassioned playing." Born and raised in Los Angeles, Ms. Kwuon made her concerto debut at age 12 performing the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto, and her Tanglewood Music Festival debut with the Brahms Violin Concerto at the invitation of Sir André Previn. Following this debut, she made her New York debut in recital at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall. Highlights of Ms. Kwuon's recent seasons include a U.S. tour as concerto soloist with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Celebrating Mozart's 250th birthday, the tour featured Ms. Kwuon performing Mozart violin concerti conducted by Charles Dutoit and Matthias Bamert. She was the featured soloist with the London Symphony Orchestra and André Previn performing the Sibelius Concerto, and with Maestro Previn at Carnegie Hall performing Mozart's Concerto No. 3. She also performed with Orchestra Europa and conductor Nayden Todorov; the BBC National Orchestra of Wales with Thierry Fischer; the Bulgarian National Academic Orchestra; the Jyväskylä Sinfonia of Finland with Patrick Gallois; the Moscow State Radio Symphony with Sergei Kondrashev; the NHK Symphony Orchestra with Heinz Wallberg; the Busan Philharmonic; the Louisiana Philharmonic and the International Sejong Soloists. In February 2008, Ms. Kwuon appeared in recital with pianist André Previn at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia. In that same season, she performed the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, the Mozart Concerto No. 1 with the Buffalo Philharmonic and the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with the Amarillo Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Kwuon also performed the Brahms and Tchaikovsky concerti with the State Symphony Orchestra of Mexico and Music Director Enrique Batiz on their American tour in March 2008. Highlights of Ms. Kwuon's 2008-09 season include a re-engagement with the State Symphony Orchestra of Mexico playing the Saint Saëns Concerto No. 3 in Mexico. She performs in recital at the Opening Gala Concert of the Ravinia Festival's "Rising Stars" series and at CIM's Mixon Hall Masters Series. She plays the Beethoven Concerto at the Opening Gala of the Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra with conductor Heiichiro Ohyama, and makes her San Francisco recital debut on the prestigious San Francisco Performances Series. In addition, she embarks on a recital tour presenting the sonatas and partitas of Bach. Her new CD of the Previn and Strauss violin sonatas, Mozart's Adagio and Rondo and Tchaikovsky's Mélodie will soon be released. As a recitalist, Ms. Kwuon made her Metropolitan Museum Accolade Series debut in 2006 and has been presented by venues including the University of Illinois' Krannert Center; the Universities of Georgia, Rockefeller, Iowa, George Mason, Wooster College and the St. Petersburg Conservatory in Russia. She has appeared in Boston on WGBH, on Around New York on WNYC, and is a frequest guest on Live from WFMT in Chicago. Ms. Kwuon has enjoyed collaborations with Cho-Liang Lin, Jaime Laredo, Sharon Robinson, the Juilliard String Quartet, Bright Sheng, Heidi Grant Murphy, Vladimir Feltsman and Tony Bennett, with whom she performed in duet at Jazz at Tanglewood and Jazz at Lincoln Center. Ms. Kwuon gave the U.S. premiere of Luciano Berio's Duetti with Sidney Weiss, former concertmaster of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. She has been engaged as guest artist at numerous international music festivals including Cité de la Musique and Consonance in France, the Summer Festival in Prague, the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, La Jolla's Summerfest, Great Mountains Music Festival in Korea and the Bowdoin International Music Festival. Ms. Kwuon received advanced degrees from Indiana University, The Juilliard School and CIM. She teaches at The Juilliard School and was appointed to the CIM faculty in 2008.

Kimberly Meier-Sims Director, Sato Center for Suzuki Studies, became one of the youngest registered Suzuki Teacher Trainers in the country in 1988. As a faculty member, she oversees the Master of Music in performance and Suzuki Pedagogy degree program, conducting long-term teacher training & practicum courses. From 1996-2004, Ms. Meier-Sims was a full-time faculty member at the University of Memphis where she conducted long-term teacher training, was the Coordinator for the University of Memphis Suzuki String Program and Director of the University of Memphis Suzuki String Summer Institute. She holds a Bachelor's degree in education and performance from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, where she studied with John Kendall, the first American Suzuki pioneer. At Western Illinois University she received her Master's degree in performance, studying violin and pedagogy with Almita Vamos. The summer of 1986, Ms. Meier-Sims traveled to Japan for a six-week study with Dr. Suzuki. From 1984-1996 Ms. Meier-Sims was a violin instructor at the Preucil School of Music in Iowa City, where she also served as Suzuki Teacher Trainer, Faculty Program Assistant and Chamber Music Coordinator. She has published articles in the American Suzuki Journal and the Tennessee Musician. An active performer, Ms. Meier-Sims has played with the Memphis Symphony and has held the positions of associate principal second violin and first violin in the Cedar Rapids Symphony Orchestra. In 2001, she was recognized as one of Tennessee's outstanding educators by the Tennessee Governor's School of the Arts. She was the Violin Coordinator for the 2002 10th SAA National Conference in Minneapolis. In April 1999, she attended The Thirteenth World Suzuki Method Convention in Japan. Ms. Meier-Sims has taught Suzuki workshops in Cork, Ireland and throughout the U.S. She has taught summer institutes at Atlanta (GA), Chicago (IL), Columbus (OH), Denver (CO), Hartford (CT), Fairbanks (AK), Fort Worth (TX), Ithaca (NY), Louisville (KY), Memphis (TN), Spartanburg (SC), Stanford (CA) and Stevens Point (WI).

William Preucil Distinguished Professor of Violin, was named concertmaster of The Cleveland Orchestra in 1995. Previously, he was first violinist of the Cleveland Quartet from 1989 to 1995. He was concertmaster of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra from 1982 to 1989. Mr. Preucil has appeared frequently as a recitalist, chamber musician and soloist with orchestras and at major chamber music festivals in the U.S. and abroad. He first studied violin with his mother, Doris Preucil, one of the first Suzuki Method teachers in the U.S. He attended the Interlochen Arts Academy at age 14 and earned his degree from Indiana University as a student of Josef Gingold. Among his numerous recordings, Mr. Preucil is featured on the New World Records release of Stephen Paulus' Violin Concerto, dedicated to him, with the Atlanta Symphony. He has also recorded on Telarc with the Cleveland Quartet, including the complete Beethoven string quartets. As a member of the Lanier Trio, Mr. Preucil recorded the complete Dvorák piano trios, named one of the top ten records of 1993 by Time. In 2007-2008, Mr. Preucil recorded the revised Suzuki Violin Volumes 1- 4 through Alfred’s Publishing Co., Inc. He was appointed to the CIM faculty in 1995.

Stephen Rose Violin, was appointed to the violin section of The Cleveland Orchestra in 1997, and is now principal second violin of the Orchestra. He received a Bachelor of Music degree from CIM and Master of Music degree from Eastman School of Music. Teachers include William Preucil, David Cerone, David Updegraff and Sally O'Reilly. He has appeared in recital and chamber music concerts throughout North America and Europe. Mr. Rose was the former first violinist of the Everest Quartet, the Resident String Quartet of the Midland-Odessa Symphony, from 1992- 1996. The Quartet was a top prize-winner at the 1995 Banff International String Quartet Competition and presented concerts and master classes throughout the U.S. Mr. Rose has presented master classes at the National Orchestral Institute and the New World Symphony and has been a faculty member at ENCORE School for Strings and Kent/Blossom. He has been a participant at summer music festivals, including the Mainly Mozart Festival, the Seattle Chamber Music Festival, Orcas Island, Music at Gretna, the Mimir Chamber Music Festival, the Pacific Music Festival (Japan) and the Festival der Zukunft in Switzerland. He received an Alumni Achievement Award from CIM in 2005, and was appointed to the CIM faculty in 2001. E-mail

David Russell Violin, received Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from CIM. He is on the violin faculties of numerous summer programs, including the Meadowmount School of Music, Keshet Eilon International Violin Mastercourse in Israel and ARIA International Summer Music Academy. He was a charter violin faculty member of the ENCORE School for Strings, where he taught for 24 years. He has given violin master classes and recitals in China, Israel, Canada and the U.S., and has been a distinguished member of the jury at the Sion-Valais International Violin Competition in Switzerland, as well as many other national and international competitions. He has performed frequently as recitalist and soloist with orchestras, has been featured on National Public Radio's Performance Today and has performed at the Glenn Gould Studio of the CBC in Toronto. He was a featured performer with the Cleveland Pops Orchestra at Severance Hall. Mr. Russell is founder and former artistic director of The Pensacola Chamber Music Festival in Florida and a former member of the board of trustees of the Cleveland Chamber Music Society. He has also served as coordinator and assistant director of string chamber music at CIM. Mr. Russell's students have distinguished themselves as soloists, chamber and orchestral musicians, teachers and competition winners, including the 2008 Yehudi Menuhin International Violin Competition in Cardiff, Wales. His students have also been heard at venues including the Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall. Mr. Russell was appointed to the CIM faculty in 1985.

Joel Smirnoff President, holds the Mary Elizabeth Callahan President's Chair at CIM. He is a native of New York City and former chair of the violin department at The Juilliard School. He has been a member of the Juilliard String Quartet since 1986, and the ensemble's leader since 1997. The Quartet, founded in 1947, has become a living American legend and won four GRAMMY Awards. Formerly the group's second violinist, Mr. Smirnoff attended the University of Chicago and The Juilliard School and was a member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra for six years. Second Prize-winner in the International American Music Competition in 1983, he made his New York recital debut in 1985 at Carnegie's Weill Recital Hall as part of the Emerging Artists series and at Town Hall as part of the Midtown Masters series. In 1997, he was featured violin soloist at Tanglewood in a concert dedicated to the memory of violinist Louis Krasner, performing the Berg Violin Concerto under the direction of Bernard Haitink. Mr. Smirnoff has participated in the world premiere of numerous contemporary works, many of which were composed for him. Mr. Smirnoff is a Sony recording artist and has solo recordings on GM, CRI and Northeastern Records. Mr. Smirnoff has served as Chair of the Violin Department at The Juilliard School since 1993 and served as Head of String Studies at the Tanglewood Music Center during the late 1990s. Mr. Smirnoff has been on the faculty of Tanglewood since 1983. He has served on the juries of the Naumburg and Indianapolis Violin Competitions. He also pursues an active career as a conductor, both in the U.S. and abroad. In the summer of 2000, Mr. Smirnoff made his official American conducting debut with the San Francisco Symphony, conducting an all-Tchaikovsky program. He has also been a frequent guest with the New World Symphony and the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra. In May 2004, he received rave reviews for his debut with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, replacing Peter Oundjian, who had fallen ill. In Europe, Mr. Smirnoff has conducted the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra and a European tour with the Basel Sinfonietta and Charles Rosen as soloist in the Elliott Carter Piano Concerto. Mr. Smirnoff has led both the Juilliard Symphony and the Juilliard Orchestra in concert. He has also appeared in concert with the Louisiana Philharmonic, the Phoenix Symphony, the Chicago Philharmonic, the Western New York Chamber Orchestra and the Texas Music Festival Orchestra. Mr. Smirnoff also plays jazz, performing frequently as improvising soloist with Tony Bennett. His solos were featured on the GRAMMY Award-winning CD Tony Bennett Sings Ellington Hot and Cool. He has also been guest soloist with Gunther Schuller and the American Jazz Orchestra, as well as the Billy Taylor Trio. Mr. Smirnoff was born into an eminent New York musical family. His mother sang with the Jack Teagarden Band under the stage name of Judy Marshall and his father, Zelly Smirnoff, played in the NBC Symphony under Toscanini and was second violinist of the Stuyvesant String Quartet. Mr. Smirnoff has been president of CIM since 2008.

Robert Vernon Head, Viola Department, is serving in his 31st season as principal viola of The Cleveland Orchestra. Mr. Vernon graduated with honors from The Juilliard School of Music. He has performed at most of this country's major chamber music festivals, including Aspen, Blossom, La Jolla, Marlboro, Ravinia, Round Top, Sarasota, Tanglewood and Yellow Barn. He has appeared with the orchestras of St. Louis, Denver, Detroit, Berlin Radio Orchestra, New World Symphony, Grant Park and Florida Orchestra (among others), and has appeared as soloist with The Cleveland Orchestra in more than 150 concerts, both at home in Cleveland and on tour in the U.S., Canada and Europe. Mr. Vernon is a member of the teaching faculties of Kent/Blossom, the National Orchestral Institute in Maryland, and the New World Symphony in Miami. As a soloist, he has recorded Berlioz's Harold in Italy, Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante and Richard Strauss' Don Quixote. In November 2000, he recorded the Schoenfield Viola Concerto with the Berlin Radio Orchestra, a work commissioned in 1998 by the Musical Arts Association for Mr. Vernon and The Cleveland Orchestra. Former students hold positions as chamber musicians, teachers and as players in major orchestras, including Boston, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles, Minnesota, St. Louis, Houston, Atlanta, Baltimore, Detroit, Montreal and Toronto (to date, more than 50 different orchestras). Mr. Vernon's solo and chamber music recordings appear on Telarc, Innova and Decca/London. He is featured on a CD of orchestral excerpts with spoken commentary, a study tool for young violists on the Orchestra Pro Series for Summit Records. Due to be published soon is a book on orchestral excerpts for viola,"The Essential Orchestral Excerpts for Viola, the Keys to Winning an Audition." He was appointed to the CIM faculty in 1976.

Kirsten Docter Chamber Music; Violist, Cavani String Quartet. She was first-prize winner in the 1991 Primrose International and 1992 American String Teachers Association Viola Competitions. As a member of the Cavani Quartet, she has performed throughout North America and Europe, and appeared at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center and Festival L'Epau in France. The Quartet has been heard on numerous recordings on Azica Records and New World Records. Collaborations include violinists Itzhak Perlman, Robert Mann and Donald Weilerstein; pianists Anton Nel and Warren Jones; cellist Joel Krosnick and soprano Stephanie Blythe. A dedicated teacher of viola and chamber music, she has given master classes throughout the U.S. She is also treasurer of the Ohio Viola Society and serves on the board of the American Viola Society. She received a Bachelor of Music degree from Oberlin College and undertook further studies at the Curtis Institute of Music. Teachers have included Karen Tuttle, Jeffrey Irvine and Lynne Ramsey Ms. Docter was appointed to the CIM faculty in 1993.

Jeffrey Irvine Fynette H. Kulas Professor of Viola, was professor of viola at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music from 1983 to 1999 and was chair of the string division there from 1992 to 1999. His students have gone on to major orchestral, teaching and chamber music posts across the country and around the world. His students have often been first-prize winners in major viola competitions, including the Primrose Competition, the ASTA National Solo Competition, and the Washington International Competition. Mr. Irvine has given master classes at major music schools in the U.S. and in 1985 gave master classes in Beijing and Shanghai in the People's Republic of China. Mr. Irvine previously taught at Wichita State University and the Eastman School of Music. During the summer he is on the faculty of the Aspen Music Festival and has also taught at the ENCORE School for Strings, Meadowmount and the Quartet Program at Bucknell. He was formerly a member of the New World String Quartet, with whom he toured the U.S. and Europe. Mr. Irvine received a Bachelor of Music degree from the Philadelphia Musical Academy and a Master of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music. His teachers have included Heidi Castleman, Dorothy DeLay, Martha Katz, William Primrose, Margaret Randall, and Karen Tuttle. He is married to violist Lynne Ramsey, with whom he has two children, Hannah and Christopher. Mr. Irvine plays a viola by Hiroshi Iizuka, made in 1993. He was appointed to the CIM faculty in 1999. E-mail Website

Mark Jackobs Viola, is fourth chair viola of The Cleveland Orchestra. Mr. Jackobs joined the Orchestra in 1993 and holds the Jean Wall Bennett Chair. Previously, he served for three years as fourth chair in the Pittsburgh Symphony, under Lorin Maazel. Mr. Jackobs has served on the faculty of the ENCORE School for Strings and given recital and chamber music performances in the Reinberger Chamber Music Series at Severance Hall; with the Myriad Ensemble; and at the summer festivals of Aspen, Edinburgh, Mainly Mozart, American, Heidelberg Schlosspeile, Interlochen and Kent/Blossom. He has been an adjunct faculty member of the Peabody Conservatory of Music and the Oberlin Conservatory. He has given master classes at CIM, the Peabody Conservatory, Oberlin Conservatory, University of Colorado at Boulder, the Music Institute of Chicago, Ohio Viola Society, Rocky Mountain Viola Society and the Interlochen Arts Camp. Mr. Jackobs received a Bachelor of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music and an Artist Diploma from CIM. He is a graduate of the Interlochen Arts Academy. Teachers include Rosemary Malocsay at the Interlochen Arts Academy, William Preucil, Sr. at the University of Iowa, Heidi Castleman at the Eastman School of Music and Robert Vernon at CIM. He was appointed to the CIM faculty in 1994. E-mail

Stanley Konopka Viola, has been a member of The Cleveland Orchestra since 1991; he was appointed assistant principal viola in 1993. He received an Undergraduate Diploma from CIM. He is a former member of the Pittsburgh Symphony and a graduate of the Interlochen Arts Academy. Former teachers include David Holland, Milton Preves and Robert Vernon. Mr. Konopka was also a faculty member for the ENCORE School for Strings. He has performed with Myriad, a local chamber ensemble, and at chamber music festivals including Banff, Taos, Pensacola and Lakes, with a number of the concerts being broadcast live on National Public Radio. He has performed as soloist on numerous occasions with the orchestras of Interlochen, CIM, NRO, Masterworks Festival, and The Cleveland Orchestra. He has recorded chamber music with Telarc and, as a composer, has won an award from BMI. He has also written and arranged pieces for the orchestras of Interlochen and Contemporary Youth Orchestra. He was appointed to the CIM faculty in 1995.

Lynne Ramsey Viola, has been first assistant principal violist of The Cleveland Orchestra since 1989, where she holds the Charles and Janet Kimball Chair. She received Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from The Juilliard School of Music. Teachers included Karen Tuttle, Ramon Scavelli and David Dawson. She has also been principal violist of the Saint Paul and Rochester Philharmonic Orchestras. She has appeared as soloist with the Cleveland, Saint Paul Chamber, and Air Force String Orchestras; as well as the North Carolina, Baltimore, and Arlington Symphonies. Ms. Ramsey was invited to perform the Walton Viola Concerto with the Beijing Philharmonic in China in December 1985 and was the first foreigner to perform in Beijing's new concert hall. She has performed chamber music concerts throughout the U.S. and previously taught at Oberlin Conservatory and the Aspen Music Festival. She was appointed to the CIM faculty in 2001.

Stephen Geber Head, Cello Department, was principal cello and held the Louis D. Beaumont Chair for The Cleveland Orchestra from 1973 until 2003. He is also head of the cello department at the Kent/Blossom School. He is a faculty member of the New World Symphony in Miami, Florida; the National Orchestral Institute of the University of Maryland; the Round Top International Festival of Texas; and the Aspen Music Festival. He was previously a faculty member at the ENCORE School for Strings. Mr. Geber heads an annual cello festival in Carmel, California for gifted and advanced cellists. He graduated from the Eastman School of Music with a Bachelor of Music degree and a Performers Certificate. From 1973 to 2003, he was principal cellist of The Cleveland Orchestra. Prior to this position, he was a member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra from 1965 to 1973, and a faculty member of the New England Conservatory of Music. Mr. Geber has been a soloist with leading orchestras, and has performed throughout the U.S., Canada and Europe with The Cleveland Orchestra. He has appeared extensively with the Emerson, American and Cavani String Quartets. In addition, he has recorded chamber music with Vladimir Ashkenazy and Franklin Cohen, as a member of The Cleveland Orchestra String Quartet for London/Decca Records. In August 2003, Shar Music Company released his CD recording of 18 prominent orchestral cello solos. Former students are members of nearly all major orchestras throughout the U.S., Canada and Europe. In 2007, Stephen Geber was appointed to the advisory council of Chamber Music Two at Lincoln Center. In 2008, he received the prestigious Eva Janzer Award from Indiana University. This is given in recognition for lifetime contributions to cello performance and teaching. He was appointed to the CIM faculty in 1974.

Desmond Hoebig Cello, was appointed principal cello of The Cleveland Orchestra in 2003. Prior to that he was both principal cellist of the Houston Symphony Orchestra and associate professor at the Shepherd School of Music. First-prize winner of the Munich International Competition, CBC Talent Competition, Canadian Music Competition and an award-winner in Moscow's Tchaikovsky Competition, he studied in Vancouver with James Hunter and Jack Mendelsohn, at the Curtis Institute of Music with David Soyer and at The Juilliard School with Leonard Rose and Channing Robbins. He has also participated in master classes with Janos Starker and Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi at the Banff Centre for the Arts. Mr. Hoebig performs annually with The Cleveland Orchestra as guest soloist. He has also performed with all the major orchestras in Canada; the Houston, Cincinnati, San Diego and Canton Symphonies in the U.S.; and with orchestras in Germany, Spain, Mexico and Portugal. As a chamber musician, he was the cellist of the Orford String Quartet from 1989 to 1991. The Quartet, which performed extensively throughout North America, Europe and Asia, won a Juno award for best classical album in 1990. Since 1980, Mr. Hoebig has performed regularly in a duo with Canadian pianist Andrew Tunis, with whom he has made three recordings – one of which was nominated for a Juno award – and has given recital tours in North America and Europe. Mr. Hoebig has performed and taught at festivals throughout North America. This summer, they included Calgary (Music Bridge), Orcas Island, The Pacific Music Festival and The Sarasota Music Festival. Preceding his engagement with the Orford Quartet, when he was an associate professor at the University of Toronto, Mr. Hoebig was principal cellist of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and associate principal cellist of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. He was appointed to the CIM faculty in 2003.

Melissa Kraut Cello, Suzuki Pedagogy, is also a teacher and coordinator of cello for the Preparatory Division string department and the Sato Center for Suzuki Studies. Dr. Kraut is a highly recognized and sought-after pedagogue. In the summers, she is a faculty member at the acclaimed Meadowmount School of Music in upstate New York, where she teaches cellists from around the world. Prior to her appointment at CIM, Dr. Kraut served as associate professor of cello at the University of Central Florida (UCF). While in Orlando, she was the educational/artistic director for A Gift for Music, a string program that provides free instruments and instruction to 900 inner-city children. Dr. Kraut was on the summer faculty at the Interlochen Center Arts for nine summers and served as the area coordinator for strings for two years. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree from CIM, a Master of Arts degree from the University of Iowa and a Doctor of Music degree from Northwestern University. Her principal instructors were Alan Harris and Hans Jorgen-Jensen. She was appointed to the CIM faculty in 2006. E-mail

Merry Peckham Chamber Music; Cellist, Cavani String Quartet, is the host of CIM's radio program, Offbeat. She received a Bachelor of Music degree with distinction from Indiana University and a Master of Music degree from Eastman School of Music. Additional graduate studies were completed at The Ohio State University and Yale School of Music. Her teachers have included Gary Hoffman, Paul Katz, Aldo Parisot and Janos Starker. With the Cavani Quartet, she has won the Naumburg Chamber Music Award, Cleveland Quartet Competition, ASCAP Award for Adventuresome Programming, as well as the Governor's Prize from the Governor of Ohio; and has made numerous guest artist appearances with orchestras, chamber ensembles and acclaimed performing artists. She was the winner of numerous young artist competitions, including the biennial National Federation of Music Clubs Competition (top prize in both the cello and overall-string categories). Deeply committed to arts education, she has given master classes and lecture demonstrations at music festivals, universities, public and private schools in communities across the country and abroad, and has adjudicated and served as panelist for national arts-advocate organizations. She coached chamber music, gave master classes and led chamber music seminars at the Shanghai Conservatory for three weeks in 2002; is former artist-in-residence at the University of California/Riverside and visiting professor at the University of Texas; and performs and teaches during the summer at the Perlman Music Program. She previously served on the faculty of the and ENCORE School for Strings. Ms. Peckham was appointed to the CIM faculty in 1988.

Alisa Weilerstein , American cellist, has attracted widespread attention for playing that combines a natural virtuosic command and technical precision with impassioned musicianship. At only 26 years old, she is already a veteran on the classical music scene having performed with the nation's top orchestras, given recitals in music capitals throughout the U.S. and Europe, and having regularly appeared at prestigious festivals. She is also a dedicated performer of chamber music, having grown up immersed in the classical music culture with a family of musicians with whom she collaborated from an early age. The intensity and passion of her playing has regularly been lauded and even compared to that of a rock star. This past season the Toronto Star wrote "Weilerstein plays classical music, but with the depth of soul and raw emotional energy of a diehard rocker" and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wrote "The hallmarks of her phrasing were precision and intelligence...but her playing was far from academic, even tapping into some energetic, rock-inspired bowing in the finale [of the Haydn D Major Cello Concerto]." During the 2008-09 season Alisa Weilerstein, who was recently awarded Lincoln Center's Martin E. Segal award, will make her debuts with the Boston Symphony Orchestra led by Hans Graf, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra led by Mark Elder. She will also perform with the National Symphony Orchestra under Itzhak Perlman, the New York Philharmonic under Lorin Maazel, the Cleveland Orchestra under Ludovic Morlot, the Houston Symphony Orchestra under James Gaffigan, and the Pittsburgh Symphony under Manfred Honeck at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., among other orchestral engagements. Following her New York premiere performance of Osvaldo Golijov's Azul at the Mostly Mozart Festival in 2006, The New York Times called her playing "staggering." This season she will again perform the work with the New World Symphony under Marin Alsop, The Cleveland Orchestra led by Ludovic Morlot, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra under Louis Langrée, the Colorado Symphony under Jeffrey Kahane, and in Switzerland with the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra led by Paul Goodwin. Ms. Weilerstein will also give several recitals throughout the U.S., including Carnegie's Zankel Hall in New York and San Francisco. Also in New York this season, she will perform chamber music with Gil Shaham and Friends at Carnegie's Zankel Hall. Abroad she will perform with the Hamburg Philharmonic, the Hallé Orchestra, Gulbenkian Orchestra Lisbon, Slovenia Philharmonic, and will give several recital tours in Italy. During the 2008 summer season Ms. Weilerstein will perform chamber music at Spoleto Festival USA, Golijov's Azul at the Aspen Music Festival, and perform in the opening night gala concert, as well as in recital, at the Caramoor Festival in the U.S. Abroad she performs at the Schleswig-Holstein Festival, the Verbier Festival and will perform the Elgar Cello Concerto on a month-long tour of Asia with the Asian Youth Orchestra, conducted by Richard Pontzious. Last season Ms. Weilerstein performed with the New York Philharmonic under Lorin Maazel at the Hong Kong Arts Festival, and with the Detroit Symphony under Sir Andrew Davis, the Pittsburgh Symphony under Marek Janowski, the San Diego Symphony under Jahja Ling, the San Francisco Symphony under David Robertson, and the Toronto Symphony under Peter Oundjian. She gave several recitals throughout the U.S., including her debut with the Celebrity Series in Boston and at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC. Abroad she performed with the NDR Hamburg under Manfred Honeck and the Orchestre National de Lyon conducted by Jesus Lopez-Cobos. Ms. Weilerstein has been continually engaged by orchestras across the U.S. and has performed as soloist with the Baltimore Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Dallas Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Saint Louis Symphony, the Seattle Symphony the Orchestra of St. Luke's, among others. In Europe she has performed with the Barcelona Symphony, Bournemouth Symphony, Gulbenkian Orchestra Lisbon, Leipziger Bachkollegium, NDR Hamburg, Orchestre National de France, Orchestre National de Lyon, Royal Scottish National Orchestra and the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich. She makes regular appearances at festivals such as the Aspen Music Festival, Bad Kissingen, Blossom Music Festival, Caramoor, Green Music Festival, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Schleswig-Holstein, Spoleto USA, Vail, Vancouver Chamber Music Festival, and the Verbier Festival. Ms. Weilerstein has given recitals in music centers across the U.S., including Atlanta, Baltimore, Cleveland, Los Angeles, Portland, New York and San Francisco. She performed at The Louvre in her Paris recital debut in September 1999. Other notable engagements have included an eight-city tour of Japan, featuring a Suntory Hall performance in March 1999, a concert tour of Australia, and Florida tours with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in 2000 and 2002. In 2008 Alisa Weilerstein was awarded Lincoln Center's Martin E. Segal prize for exceptional achievement. She was named the winner of the 2006 Leonard Bernstein Award, which she received at the Schleswig-Holstein Festival in Germany, was the recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant in 2000 and was selected for two prestigious young artists programs in 2000-01, the ECHO (European Concert Hall Organization) "Rising Stars" recital series and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center's Chamber Music Society Two. As part of the ECHO series in 2000-01, Ms. Weilerstein gave recitals at seven celebrated concert halls in Europe (Symphony Hall in Birmingham, Wigmore Hall in London, Athens Concert Hall, the Cologne Philharmonie, the Konzerthaus in Vienna, the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam) as well as at Carnegie Hall (Weill Recital Hall), which nominated her to be part of the series. Ms. Weilerstein also released an acclaimed recording on EMI Classics' "Debut" series in 2000 including works by Paganini, Dvorák, Ginastera, Tchaikovsky, Mendelssohn, Janácek, Saint-Saens, Fauré and De Falla. Having begun playing the cello at age 4, Ms. Weilerstein performed her first public concert six months later. She often plays with her parents, Donald and Vivian Hornik Weilerstein, as the Weilerstein Trio, which is the Trio-in-Residence at the New England Conservatory in Boston. Her Cleveland Orchestra debut was in October 1995, at age 13, playing the Tchaikovsky "Rococo" Variations. She made her Carnegie Hall debut with the New York Youth Symphony in March 1997. Ms. Weilerstein is a graduate of the Young Artist Program at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she studied with Richard Weiss. In May 2004, she graduated from Columbia University in New York with a degree in Russian History. Website

Richard Weiss Cello, is first assistant principal cellist of The Cleveland Orchestra, occupying the GAR Foundation endowed chair. Mr. Weiss is from Los Angeles. In high school, he represented California in the statewide and western regional contests of the Music Teachers National Association competition, going on to win the national first prize. At the Tanglewood Festival he was Young Artist contest winner and concerto soloist. While attending the Eastman School of Music on full merit scholarship, he won a position in the Rochester Philharmonic. During his senior year he was appointed to The Cleveland Orchestra, with which he has appeared as soloist many times. His concerto repertoire includes those by Beethoven (Triple), Brahms (Double), Dvorák, Lalo, Rôsza, Saint-Saëns (A Minor and D Minor), Schumann and Tchaikovsky. An active chamber music performer, he is a member of the Cleveland Orchestra Piano Trio. In the summer he teaches at the Kent/Blossom Music Festival. Mr. Weiss coaches the cello sections of the CIM Orchestra and the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, Florida. He has appeared at several music festivals, including Aspen and Reno. Along with Cleveland Orchestra colleagues Joela Jones, Maximilian Dimoff and Donald Miller, he released a CD of Claude Bolling's Suite for Cello and Jazz Piano Trio, available online at www.clevelandorchestra.com/html/store/MerchandiseByID.asp?TypeID=1&ID=3157. Mr. Weiss was appointed to the CIM faculty in 1985. E-mail

Maximilian Dimoff Head, Double Bass Department, is principal bassist of The Cleveland Orchestra, with which he has appeared as soloist at Blossom Music Center. He appears often in recital and chamber music performances. A graduate of Northwestern University, he formerly played principal bass for the San Antonio Symphony and was a member of both the Grant Park Symphony and the Seattle Symphony. In addition to teaching a CIM, Mr. Dimoff coaches orchestral excerpts for the New World Symphony. He was appointed to the CIM faculty in 1999. E-mail

Jeff Bradetich Double Bass, has performed more than 400 concerts on four continents, including his London debut in Wigmore Hall in 1986. He has won many major solo competitions and been featured on radio and television throughout North and South America and Europe. As a young student, Mr. Bradetich studied with cellist Robert Hladky. He received his Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from Northwestern University, where he studied with Warren Benfield and Joseph Guastafeste. Other major musical influences include performing for ten seasons at the Oregon Bach Festival with Helmuth Rilling, one of the world's leading Bach authorities; summer study with Gary Karr and many of the leading double bass pedagogues in the U.S.; and performing for four seasons with the Lyric Opera of Chicago Orchestra. Since that time, he has been an active lecturer and clinician and has transcribed more than 100 solo works for the double bass. He has given more than 1,000 master classes throughout the world, including annual weeklong workshops on three continents. He has produced an instructional video and DVD, as well as a DVD recording of the first Bach cello suite and the BB Wolf by Jon Deak. He has recorded six solo albums with his wife, Judi Rockey Bradetich, on piano. He served as executive director of the International Society of Bassists from 1982-1990, and was editor of ISB Magazine for six years. Mr. Bradetich taught on the faculties of the Interlochen Arts Academy, University of Michigan, and Northwestern University prior to his 1994 appointment as director of the largest double bass program in the world at the University of North Texas. His students hold positions in major orchestras on five continents and in leading universities in the U.S. and abroad. He was appointed to the CIM faculty in 2006. E-mail

Yolanda Kondonassis Head, Harp Department, tours actively as a soloist throughout the U.S., Europe and Asia. Since making her debut at age 18 with the New York Philharmonic and Zubin Mehta, she has appeared as soloist with numerous major orchestras including The Cleveland Orchestra, the English Chamber Orchestra, the Detroit Symphony, and the Hong Kong Philharmonic. Other solo appearances include engagements at Lincoln Center, the 92nd Street Y and Taiwan's National Concert Hall. As a Telarc recording artist praised by Gramophone magazine for the"clarity, colour, and rhythmic vitality of [her] playing," Ms. Kondonassis has won universal critical acclaim for her ten discs, which have sold more than 100,000 copies worldwide. Ms. Kondonassis' first book, On Playing the Harp, was published in 2003. Her second book, The Yolanda Kondonassis Collection, is a compilation of her many original transcriptions, arrangements, and compositions for the harp and was released in 2004. Both works are published by Carl Fischer. Ms. Kondonassis' long list of national and international honors includes top prizes in the Affiliate Artists National Auditions in New York and the Maria Korchinska International Harp Competition in Great Britain. She has been featured on CNN and PBS television as well as National Public Radio's All Things Considered and Performance Today. Ms. Kondonassis also heads the harp department at Oberlin College Conservatory and has given master classes around the world. She received Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from CIM, where she studied with Alice Chalifoux. She was appointed to the CIM faculty in 1997. E-mail Website

Jason Vieaux Head, Guitar Department. One of America's leading guitarists, Jason Vieaux is changing the face of guitar programming and has earned a devoted international fan base along the way. As a result of his reputation for making "the single guitar seem like a body of instruments at work…an orchestra of sound…" (The Philadelphia Inquirer), Mr. Vieaux played well over 100 engagements internationally during the last two seasons. Highlights of the 2008 – 2009 season included recitals for New York's 92nd St. Y Series and San Francisco's OMNI Foundation for the Performing Arts, concertos with North American orchestras from coast to coast, a debuts at prestigious guitar festivals in Germany, Mexico, Brazil and Poland. Jason Vieaux already has ten recordings to his credit and many more to come under his multi-record deal with Azica Records. Bach Vol. 1, Works for Lute was released in February 2009, and his previous Azica solo CD, Images of Metheny is a disc of music by American jazz guitarist/composer Pat Metheny. Metheny, after listening to this landmark recording, declared: "I am flattered to be included in Jason's musical world". Sevilla: The Music of Isaac Albeniz, was rated one of the Top Ten Classical CDs of 2003 by The Philadelphia Inquirer and Cleveland's Plain Dealer. Jason Vieaux began guitar studies at age eight with Jeremy Sparks in Buffalo, and continued at The Cleveland Institute of Music with John Holmquist. He is the youngest First Prize winner in the history of the GFA International Guitar Competition, a Naumburg Foundation prizewinner, and a recipient of The Cleveland Institute of Music's Alumni Achievement Award. Mr. Vieaux performs regularly as concerto soloist, and has worked with such conductors as Miguel Harth-Bedoya, Jahja Ling, Stefan Sanderling, Michael Stern and Alasdair Neale. He has toured Europe, Mexico, South America, Southeast Asia, the Far East, Australia and New Zealand. Jason Vieaux currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio, where he is Head of the Cleveland Institute of Music Guitar Department. E-mail Website

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