Bulgarian-born violinist Joana Genova, co-artistic director of Taconic Music, has built a diverse career as a chamber and orchestral musician, soloist, recitalist, and teacher. Jim Lowe of The Rutland Herald has written of her, “Genova played with an infectious mix of passion and warmth, coupled with the requisite virtuosity.”

Joana performs at festivals and concert series with The Indianapolis Quartet, Vermont Symphony’s Jukebox Quartet, Taconic String Quartet, and as a guest musician, appearing at venues throughout United States and Europe, most recently in Italy and Bulgaria. 

Joana serves as Artist Associate at Williams College and Violin Instructor at Bennington College. Previously, she was Adjunct Professor and Coordinator of Chamber Music at Montclair State University’s John J. Cali School of Music, and Assistant Professor of Violin and Director of String Activities at the University of Indianapolis.

Collaborations include The Shanghai Quartet, Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio, Horszowski Trio, Andrés Cárdenes, Carmit Zori, Nathaniel Rosen, Nathaniel Parke, Danwen Jiang, Austin Hartman, Renee Jolles, Michael Rudiakov, Tom Landschoot, Sophie Shao, Roberta Cooper, Jon Klibonoff, Ruth Laredo, Gili Melamed-Lev, Davide Cabassi, David Krakauer, Deborah Buck, Duo Jalal, Raman Ramakrishnan, Hannah Holman, Heather Braun, Willis Delony, Eugene Drucker, and Drew Petersen, among others. She has appeared live on GNAT-TV and CAT-TV in Vermont, WISH-TV Indianapolis, WQXR Albany, Vermont Public Radio, and WBAA and WICR in Indiana. Joana’s recordings include Chamber Music of Vittorio Giannini; Vision: Music of the 20th and 21st Centuries; Four Seasons x2: Piazzolla and Vivaldi; Reflections and Whimsies: Chamber Music for Strings and Voice by Frank Felice; Mark Ortwein: Stretching Boundaries; Robert Paterson’s String Quartets 1-3; Maxine Linehan’s This Time of Year, and Stephen Dankner: Four Sonatas for Violin and Piano with Willis Delony.

As a soloist, Joana has been featured with the Metropolitan, Rockaway, Danbury, and Berkshire symphonies, Adelphi Chamber Orchestra, Harlem Chamber Players, Manchester Festival Orchestra, Yonkers Philharmonic, and under the baton of Raymond Leppard with the University of Indianapolis Gala Orchestra. She is principal second violinist of the Berkshire Symphony Orchestra and has appeared as a guest concertmaster of the Carmel Symphony, Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, Louisiana Philharmonic and Viva Bach Festival. Joana has been member of Amsterdam Sinfonietta, Amsterdam Bach Consort, Brooklyn Philharmonic and New Haven Symphony.  

A graduate of the National School of Music and Dance “Dobrin Petkov” in Plovdiv, where she made her solo debut at age 12 with the Plovdiv Chamber Orchestra, Joana is a top prizewinner of Bulgaria’s “Svetoslav Obretenov” National Competition. She earned her bachelor’s degree at the Conservatory of Amsterdam and her Master’s in Chamber Music at the Rotterdam Conservatory in The Netherlands. Her teachers include Boyanka Shopova, Alexander Spirov, Peter Brunt, Ilya Grubert, and Samuel Thaviu. Joana performs on a Johannes Cuypers violin made in The Hague in 1786.

Violist and conductor Ariel Rudiakov is co-founder and Artistic Director of Taconic Music, and is on the faculty of Bennington College as viola instructor. He is Music Director and Conductor of the Danbury Symphony Orchestra and Yonkers Philharmonic, and Assistant Conductor of the Greenwich Symphony Orchestra (CT).

Ari enjoys an active and diverse musical life, performing to critical acclaim throughout the U.S. and abroad; most recently, chamber music for the 2024 Pikes Falls Festival (VT). He is a former member of the New York Piano Quartet and Equinox String Quartet, and a founding member and past president of SONYC (String Orchestra of New York City). Ari was Artistic Director of the Manchester Music Festival (VT) from 2000 to 2016. Among his recordings are the complete string quartets by Camille Saint-Saëns and the piano quintet by Vittorio Giannini (MSR Classics), which Fanfare Magazine described as “utterly superb.” Composers Richard Lane, Philip Lasser, and Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson have dedicated works to Ari, who is active in commissioning and recording new music.

At the podium, Ari’s past resident and guest conducting positions have included the Adelphi Chamber Orchestra, Metropolitan Symphony, Bergen and Yonkers Philharmonics, Antara Ensemble, Manchester Chamber Orchestra, Harlem Chamber Players, Sage City Symphony, and recording sessions with Dance Theater of Harlem. From 2017 to 2022, he was conductor of the University of Indianapolis (UIndy) Chamber Orchestra, and chamber music coach. He attended pre-college at Manhattan School of Music and went on to receive bachelor’s and master’s degrees at SUNY Purchase Conservatory and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Ari was a scholarship student at Yale University’s master’s program, where he studied viola with Jessie Levine and chamber music with members of the Tokyo String Quartet. He plays a viola made in 2000 by Geoffrey Ovington.

Heather Braun performs as first violinist of the prize-winning Arneis Quartet and as a member of the Orchestra of Emmanuel Music and Taconic Music Chamber Players. Heather began teaching violin and chamber music at the Boston University School of Music in 2014 and joined the Saint Anselm College faculty in 2016. She has performed throughout the United States, Canada, China, and Italy, including venues such as the Beijing Modern Music Festival, Cabot Theater, Concord Free Library, Frederick Collection, Music on Main (Vancouver), Rockport Chamber Music Festival, Stanford University, Swarthmore College, University of Indianapolis, and Williams College.

Heather has performed as a soloist with various orchestras in Boston, Milwaukee, Washington DC, Danbury, CT and Manchester, VT. She has performed as visiting concertmaster for the Greenwich Symphony Orchestra and as a guest artist with the Greenwich Chamber Players. Other chamber music and solo collaborations include performances with Tony Arnold, Randall Hodgkinson, Marc Johnson, Robert Levin, St. Lawrence String Quartet, and Shanghai Quartet.
Heather earned her Bachelor of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music and completed her Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Boston University, studying with Peter Zazofsky. While a Tanglewood Music Center Fellow, she received the Jules C. Reiner Violin Prize; other awards received include the Zulalian Foundation Award (BU), the John Lad Prize (Stanford University) and Silver Medal at the ICMEC Competition. Heather is on the faculty at the Boston University Tanglewood Institute, Taconic Music Chamber Intensive and Danbury Chamber Music Intensive. She has also taught at Point Counterpoint, Duxbury Music Festival, Manchester Music Festival, and Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music. Her recordings include chamber music by John Wallace, as a violinist soloist and member of the orchestra for Bach Cantatas with soprano Kendra Colton, and on Elena Ruehr’s latest album, Icarus, released in the spring of 2022 and featured on NPR and BBC Proms.

Davide Cabassi made his debut at age 13 with the Rai Symphony Orchestra of Milan, launching a career as soloist performing with major European and American orchestras including the Münchner Philharmoniker, Orchestra Filarmonica della Scala, Neue Philharmonie Westfalen, Russian Chamber Orchestra, Magdeburg Philharmoniker, Fort Worth Symphony, Enid Symphony, Big Spring Symphony, Hartford Symphony, Orquesta Sinfonica de Cordoba, Orchestra Haydn Bolzano, Orchestra Verdi Milano, Orchestra Pomeriggi Musicali Milano, Orchestra of Padua and Veneto, Orchestre Romantique Paris, OSI of Lugano, OFT of Turin, Orchestra of the Arena of Verona, Tiroler Festspiele Erl Orchestra and many others.

Davide has performed throughout Europe and in more than 35 American states, China, and Japan in such venues as Carnegie Hall in New York, Rachmaninoff Hall in Moscow, Gasteig in Munich, Mozarteum in Salzburg, The Louvre and Salle Gaveau in Paris, Forbidden City Hall and NCPA in Beijing, Roque d'Antheron and Tiroler Festspiele.

A passionate chamber musician, Davide performs in numerous ensembles, from duo to decimino (in 2018 he founded the Baggio Sinfonietta) and his broad repertoire showcases his particular interest in contemporary music - many are the compositions dedicated to him and performed in world premiere. He is also a prolific recording artist, appearing on Sony BMG, Concerto Classics, Col-legno, and DECCA labels.

He began studying piano at a very young age, graduating with honors from the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory in Milan. He was the first Italian admitted to the International Piano Foundation in Cadenabbia, on Lake Como. Since 2003, he has taught in Italian conservatories, where his students are regularly prizewinners in major international competitions. He is the artistic director of the Kawai a Ledro (Trentino) summer seasons, Un piano in Ateneo (Kawai - Cattolica, Milan), Incontri Contemporanei (Milan), Kawai summer music camps in Ledro and of the Shigeru Kawai International Competition.

In 2010 Davide and his wife, the Russian pianist Tatiana Larionova, founded the Primavera di Baggio concert season: the aim is to enhance and reinvigorate the disadvantaged suburbs of his city.

In a performing career spanning over four decades, pianist Willis Delony has won acclaim as a leading classical/jazz crossover artist. His innovative concert explorations of the two musical worlds are showcased in a series of solo piano recordings on the Centaur label.  A New World A' Comin' – Classical and Jazz Connections was released in 2001. Double Dance – Classical and Jazz Connections II was released in 2008. Out of Character – Classical and Jazz Connections III, was released in October 2014. Also part of the series is an independent release from 2018 entitled Butterfly Room – Connections for Solo Piano. The project continues with Between the Notes, which was released by Centaur in 2021.  Previous album credits include a recording of sonatas by Samuel Barber and Sergei Prokofiev, also on the Centaur label, and a jazz album entitled Civilized Conversations, featuring Delony and bassist Bill Grimes. He collaborated with bassoonist William Ludwig on the Mark Records release, Rhapsody in Bassoon, which features the world premiere recording of André Previn’s Sonata for Bassoon and Piano. He also appears with oboist Johanna Cox Pennington on her album Orion Nocturne on the Albany label. His most recent project is a double album with violinist Joana Genova featuring the Four Sonatas for Violin and Piano by Stephen Dankner, which was released by Centaur in April, 2024. His newest jazz album, Standards and Improvisations – the Music of Joe Makholm, is set for a spring, 2026 release on the Centaur label.

Delony has appeared as piano soloist, chamber musician, jazz performer, and pianist/arranger/conductor with orchestras throughout the United States as well as orchestras in Canada, the former Soviet Union and China. As a solo and collaborative recitalist, he has performed classical and jazz concerts throughout the U.S. as well as France, Germany, the former Soviet Union, Mexico, Costa Rica, Brazil and Argentina. His pops orchestra arrangements have been performed throughout the U.S. and Canada, including over 50 scores written for the Minneapolis-based jazz vocal quintet Five By Design, He collaborates regularly with leading contemporary composers, having premiered the Concerto for Piano and Orchestra by Stephen Dankner with the LSU Symphony Orchestra in 2015. He has recorded and performed his own solo piano works plus solo works by Paris-based American composer Joseph Makholm and jazz composer Les Hooper. In January 2017, he premiered Greg Yasinitsky’s Jazz Concerto for Piano and Orchestra with the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra. Due in part to the strength of this performance, the work was awarded The American Prize in composition. Delony’s new jazz concerto, Ebbs and Flows – Fantasy for Piano, Winds, Vibraphone and Double Bass, was premiered in 2025 with the composer at the piano in collaboration with the LSU Wind Ensemble directed by Damon Talley.

Delony is the Boyd Professor of Piano and Jazz Studies in the School of Music at Louisiana State University, where he has been a member of the music faculty since 2000. From 1986-2000 he served on the music faculty at Southeastern Louisiana University and is a former member of the music faculty at Delta State University. He received the LSU Distinguished Faculty Award in 2019 and was named the SEC Professor of the Year for LSU in 2020. In October, 2025, he was inducted into the Steinway and Sons Teachers Hall of Fame, recognizing his contributions in both classical and jazz piano.

Hannah Holman joined the New York City Ballet Orchestra at the beginning of the 2012-2013 season. Her career has encompassed orchestral and chamber music, solo performances, and teaching. In a review of the second CD she recorded with pianist Réne Lecuona, Fanfare magazine declares "her tone and technique are the stuff that cello legends are made of "... Holman's cello sings with a lustrous tone that's hard to resist."
In addition to her work with the New York City Ballet Orchestra, Hannah is the principal cellist of the Quad City Symphony, a position she has held since 2008. She began her professional career in England playing with the English String Orchestra under Yehudi Menuhin and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra under Simon Rattle. Her previous orchestral work also includes serving as assistant principal cello with the Michigan Chamber Orchestra, the Richmond Symphony; and the American Sinfonietta.

Hannah is fortunate to have a diverse career allowing much time for solo work.  She is currently in postproduction of CD #3 with Réne Lecuona featuring cello sonatas by women composers from the past. In 2022 Hannah performed Jerome Robbin’s Suite of Dances on stage as part of the NYCB Move’s tour to the Vail Dance Festival and Schelomo by Bloch with the Quad City Symphony Orchestra. Other recent engagements with the QCSO have been the Korngold’s Cello Concerto and Jennifer Higdon’s Soliquoy, which she also played with the Solomon Chamber Orchestra in Indiana. Hannah is in the middle of a video project highlighting the lives of women cellists from the past and performed six pieces with the Iowa City Community Chamber Orchestra, each piece focusing on a different cellist.  In 2020 she performed in Carnegie Hall as part of the Bach Cello Suite Festival, celebrating 300 years of the cello suites.  Upcoming concerto appearances include the Korngold’s Concerto with the Jackson Symphony Orchestra in her hometown. 

An active chamber musician, Hannah is a founding member of Trio 826, with Susanna Klein, violin and Julia Bullard, viola, the Beaumont Piano Trio, which performed around the United States and England, and Quadrivinium, an ensemble in residence at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. From 2002-2011, she was a member of the Maia Quartet, the University of Iowa's quartet in residence, which toured China, Japan, and the US, including teaching residencies at Interlochen Center for the Arts, the Great Wall International Music Academy in China, and the Austin Chamber Music Center. She regularly performs in chamber ensembles with musicians from throughout the United States.

 A dedicated private teacher who finds great fulfillment in helping students of all ages grow musically, Hannah was on the University of Iowa faculty from 2002-2012 and has served on the faculties of the University of Northern Iowa, Biola Conservatory, Worcester College (UK), Michigan State University Community School, and Virginia Union University. She has participated in numerous festivals and has been on the faculty of the Eastern Music Festival since 2001 and currently teaches at the International Cello Institute, the Five Seasons Music Festival, and Taconic Music.  Hannah is the founder and Artistic Director of a new music school based in the Quad Cities, The Deanery School of Music.

Hannah studied at the Eastman School of Music and Michigan State University, where she completed her Bachelor of Music degree. She obtained her Master of Music Degree with Fritz Magg at the New England Conservatory. Her musical education began at age 5 with her grandmother, whose 1925 Becker cello she plays today. She is eternally grateful for the fine teaching of a transformative teacher, Louis Potter, during her junior high and high school years.

Hannah - whose hobbies include foodie and thrifting activities, as well as traveling to new places- divides her time between NYC and Iowa City, Iowa, where she lives with her son, Matisse, and their cat, Ripley. 

Danwen Jiang has concertized as concerto soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician across the United States and around the world. She was called by the Boston Globe “an intelligent, agile and breathtaking violinist”, and by The American Record Guide “an exceptional violinist. The Fanfare Magazine described her performances as “absolutely exquisite”.

Jiang has appeared at Sanibel Chamber Music Festival, Yale Chamber Music Series, Rutgers SummerFest, Taconic Music, Montecito International Music Festival in the United States, Music&More SummerFest in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Harpa International Music Festival in Iceland, InterHarmony International Music Festival in Italy and Germany, Manchester Music Festival, among others. She has collaborated in concerts with members of the renowned Guarneri, Juilliard, Tokyo, Emerson String Quartets, The Boston Players, American Chamber Players, and other distinguished musicians such as André-Michel Schub, Lilian Kallir, Igor Kipnis, Ani Kavafian, Eric Rosenblith, Stanley Drucker, and Regina Carter.

A highly regarded string pedagogue, Danwen Jiang is a Professor of Violin in the School of Music, Dance and Theatre at Arizona State University, where she was a recipient of the Professor of the Year Special Recognition Award, President’s Tenure/ Promotion Faculty Exemplar Award and Distinguished Teacher Award. She was a recipient of Outstanding Teacher’s Award in the Hong Kong International Violin and Chamber Music Competition as well as the Music Teachers National Association’s National Young Artist String Competition. Prof. Jiang has also taught as faculty at Oberlin Conservatory of Music at Oberlin College and University of Illinois at Urbana – Champaign, and as guest professor at the Central Conservatory of Music and The Poly International Music Festival in China, Iceland Academy of the Arts in Reykjavík, State University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart in Germany, Sydney Conservatorium of Music at The University of Sydney in Australia, Vancouver Academy of Music in Canada, Academy of Music in Kraków, Poland, and the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz in Austria.

Praised for his charismatic playing and his virtuoso and poetic music making, Belgian cellist Thomas Landschoot enjoys an international career as a concert and recording artist and pedagogue. He has toured North America, Europe, South America and Asia and has appeared on national radio and television worldwide. He has soloed with the National Orchestra of Belgium, the Frankfurt Chamber Orchestra, Tempe Symphony, Prima la Musica, Symphony of the Southwest, Shieh Chien Symphony Orchestra, Symphony Orchestra of Flanders, Scottsdale Philharmonic, Bucharest Festival Orchestra, Flemish Symphony Orchestra, Kaohsiung City Symphony, Loja Symphony Orchestra in Ecuador and the Orchestra of the United States Army Band, and has appeared at Bargemusic, Park City, Santa Barbara, Mammoth Lakes, Eureka, Utah, Red Rock, Park City, Manchester, Fresno, Madeline Island, Waterloo, Killington and Texas Music Festivals. His recordings are available on Summit, Organic, Kokopelli, ArchiMusic and Centaur Records. He is a member of world class Rossetti Quartet.

Tom has also performed with the Takacs, Dover and Arianna Quartets and members of the Cleveland, Vermeer, Tokyo, and Orion Quartets. Past collaborations include Lynn Harrell, Peter Wiley, Gilbert Kalich, Cho-Liang Lin, Martin Beaver and Martin Katz. An avid promoter of music of our time, he has commissioned and premiered over 20 new works for cello, including concerti by Dirk Brosse and Frank Nuyts. He has served as a faculty member at the Music Academy of the West, Castleman Quartet Program, Killington, Meadowmount, Foulger International, High Peaks, Madeline Island, Manchester, Montecito, and Texas Music Festival. Tom has given masterclasses at conservatories and universities throughout Asia, the U.S., Europe and South America. Tom teaches at the Arizona State University; his students can be found among the ranks of national and international competition winners, occupy principal positions in major orchestras and teach at Universities around the US and abroad. Thomas Landschoot is the Artistic Director of the Sonoran Chamber Music Festival, as well as the President of the Arizona Cello Society. He performs on a cello by Tomaso Balestrieri (1776) and a Dominique Pecatte bow.

Drew Petersen is an acclaimed New York-area based American pianist celebrated for his compelling and poetic performances across a diverse repertoire, from Bach to Zaimont. Recognized as a sought-after soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician, he has earned numerous accolades, including the 2018 Avery Fisher Career Grant, the 2017 American Pianists Awards, and the Christel DeHaan Classical Fellowship.

The 25/26 season includes recitals in series from San Diego, CA to Westfield, NJ with a program ranging from Mozart to Liszt and John Adams, as well as concerto debuts with the Baltimore and Hartford Symphonies. 2018 marked the release of his first solo recording of music by Barber, Carter, and other American composers on the Steinway & Sons label for which BBC Music Magazine acknowledged his presence as a rising star.

A frequent radio contributor, Petersen has performed on platforms such as McGraw-Hill Young Artists Showcase, From the Top, and Performance Today. His performances and profiles have been featured in The New York Times, New York Magazine, and the award-winning documentary “Just Normal” by Kim Snyder. An enthusiastic chamber musician, he has appeared on France Musique as part of a Verbier Festival piano trio.

His inclusion in Andrew Solomon’s bestseller Far From the Tree sparked a national dialogue on raising extraordinary and different children. Dedicated to advocating for classical music and the arts, he was awarded the 2006 Davidson Fellows Award for his project, Keeping Classical Music Alive. He has also collaborated with Young Audiences NY to bring performances to New York City’s public schools.

Petersen is also a passionate traveler whose career takes him all over the world, where he explores new cuisines and connects with locals just as eagerly as he performs for fresh audiences. A Harvard graduate, he earned his Bachelor of Liberal Arts in Social Science with honors at just 19 years old. He also completed both his undergraduate and graduate music studies at the prestigious Juilliard School, where he was awarded the renowned Kovner Fellowship. Deeply committed to the role of music in today’s global society, Petersen has gained a unique perspective on how musical performances can uplift and enrich humanity. Through his extensive concert experience, he hopes to share his musical journey with others, inviting audiences to witness the transformative power of the arts firsthand.

Chad Braud is a professional drummer and educator with more than 25 years of experience performing in jazz and commercial music settings across the United States. A versatile percussionist known for his groove, musicality, and stylistic range, Chad has performed at premier venues including Madison Square Garden and the New Orleans Superdome.

He has shared the stage with renowned artists such as Harry Connick Jr., Dr. John, Shania Twain, Keith Urban, The Temptations, George Porter Jr., Wayne Bergeron, KC & the Sunshine Band, The Four Tops, and Renée Fleming. He has also performed with symphony orchestras and remains active in the Gulf Coast music scene.

Chad holds both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Jazz Studies from Louisiana State University. As an educator and clinician, he emphasizes time, feel, stylistic awareness, and musical versatility—equipping students to thrive in jazz ensembles, commercial settings, and professional performance environments.

Violinist Rose Drucker is an active performer throughout New England in chamber and orchestral settings including the Arneis Quartet, Emmanuel Music, Rhode Island Philharmonic, Boston Philharmonic, and a wide variety of new music, opera and ballet performances. A native of Tucson, Arizona, she has performed on four continents and as soloist and concertmaster in New England and Arizona. As a founding member of the award-winning Arneis Quartet, Ms. Drucker has appeared in Stanford’s Lively Arts Series, Music on Main in Vancouver, and the Beijing Modern Music Festival as well as performances in Boston, New York, Aspen, The Banff Centre in Canada, Stanford University, Deer Valley, UT and the Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music.

With Emmanuel Music she has appeared as concertmaster, soloist, and performed in the Chamber Music and Solo Bach series and was an inaugural Lorraine Hunt Lieberson Fellow in the 2005-2006 season. Drucker studied with Peter Zazofsky and Mark Rush and holds degrees from Boston University and the University of Arizona.

Flutist Susanna Loewy, Executive Director of Network for New Music since September 2023, received Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music, and a Doctorate of Musical Arts from Rutgers University. Her principal teachers were Jeffrey Khaner, Joshua Smith, Bart Feller, and Philip Dunigan. Susanna is on the Flute Faculty at Rowan University, and is an Affiliate Artist at Haverford/Bryn Mawr Colleges. She is also a Pedagogy Coach and Mentor for the New World Symphony in Miami.

From 2014–2023, Susanna was the Program Director and Lead Teaching Artist for Project 440, a Philadelphia-based nonprofit that teaches entrepreneurial and college preparatory skills to high school musicians. In 2012, Susanna founded the Pikes Falls Chamber Music Festival in Southern Vermont; she is currently the Artistic Director and flutist for PFCM.

Susanna is also the Director of Adult Chamber Music at Kinhaven Music School. In her performance career, in addition to playing with Network for New Music, Susanna is the principal flutist for Inscape Chamber Orchestra in DC and has performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Opera Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Ballet, amongst other groups in the Philadelphia area and across the country. Susanna is a Verne Q. Powell Artist.

John Madere is a Bassist/Composer residing in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Madere holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Louisiana State University, a Master of Music degree (Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music) and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree with a minor in Jazz Studies from LSU.

John maintains a busy schedule of freelance bass playing and is equally at home in both the jazz and classical idioms. He is currently principal bassist of the Baton Rouge Symphony, a position he has held since 2007. Along with regular performances with the Baton Rouge Symphony, he has also performed with the Kentucky Symphony Orchestra, Rapides Symphony Orchestra, the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, the Acadiana Symphony, and was formerly the principal bassist of the Louisiana Sinfonietta. John has appeared as a soloist with the Louisiana Sinfonietta and the Baton Rouge Symphony and is currently commissioning a new solo work for the Southeastern Louisiana University Symphony Orchestra.

John teaches Talented Music in the East Baton Rouge Parish School system, and is adjunct faculty at Southeastern Louisiana University and director of the University Lab Band at Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond. He has been an instructor in Jazz at Louisiana State University since 2024, where he conducts the LSU Lab Band and teaches jazz bass lessons. His album of original compositions titled “Chemistry,” was released in 2011, recorded with LSU School of Music faculty Willis Delony and Brian Shaw, and LSU alumni. His ambient album, “Jambient Vol. 1,” was released in 2020 on the Earthship Records Label.

John has studied with the Robert Nash, Yung-chiao Wei, Bill Grimes, Willis Delony, Albert Laszlo and Brian Shaw. He has performed with artists from both classical and jazz fields, including Audra McDonald, Kristin Chenowith and Branford Marsalis.

Evan Runyon is a multi-instrumentalist and composer active in traditional and modern media with a repertoire spanning six centuries.

He has performed and/or recorded with the symphony orchestras of Houston and Detroit, American Composers Orchestra, Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, Münchener Kammerorchester, Wiener Kammerorchester and The Knights; Klangforum Wien, Talea Ensemble, International Contemporary Ensemble, Metropolis Ensemble, Wet Ink Large Ensemble and Ensemble Signal; Andrea Bocelli, Raphael Saadiq, Wye Oak, Emily Wells, Thundercat and Slipknot; Spanish Harlem Orchestra, Luís Enrique and Hector del Curto; Chris Potter, John Clayton and Brian Lynch.

Extensively recorded, he is credited on tracks with combined streams in the tens of millions, scores for AAA videogame soundtracks and major films, and his own music for film has been cited for excellence at the European Independent Film Festival and the Independent Games Festival.

Evan's principal mentor was the late Robert Black, under whom he earned a postgraduate diploma, with significant additional study under François Rabbath and Uli Fussenegger. He uses modern equipment by Arnold Schnitzer (2010, Brewster NY), Zachary Lane (2026, Brooklyn NY) and Eben Bodach-Turner (2025, Montpelier VT).

The Indianapolis Quartet—violinists Zachary DePue and Joana Genova, violist Michael Strauss, and cellist Egor Antonenko—has been praised for “its energetic, often kinetic, enthusiasm, and each player’s virtuosity and flexibility” (New York Concert Review). Their palpable rapport and refined interpretive insight yield performances of distinctive emotional depth, earning the ensemble sustained critical recognition.

In addition to a broad repertoire spanning the Classical, Romantic, and 20th-century traditions, The Indianapolis Quartet (TIQ) is deeply committed to new music. The ensemble has commissioned, premiered, and recorded works by Robert Paterson, Frank Felice, Meadow Bridgham, and John Berners. TIQ received particular acclaim for its March 2020 debut at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, where it premiered Robert Paterson’s String Quartet No. 3 “in a tour de force of tight ensemble and interplay” (New York Classical Review).

Their 2022 world-premiere recording, Robert Paterson: String Quartets Nos. 1–3, on American Modern Recordings further established the quartet as leading interpreters of Paterson’s music. Musical America wrote: “Believers in the pleasure principle should try a new recording of Robert Paterson’s string quartets. [With the Indianapolis Quartet] he’s found ardent advocates for a personable brand of music-making that is fast, furious, and laced through with sardonic wit… Gloriously entertaining.” The quartet can also be heard on Frank Felice’s 2020 monograph recording, Reflections and Whimsies: Chamber Music for Strings and Voice, released on Enharmonic Records.

The ensemble has performed widely throughout the Midwest as well as in New York, Vermont, and Arizona, and has appeared in numerous live broadcasts on Vermont Public Radio, WBAA Classical 101.3 FM (West Lafayette, Indiana), and Indianapolis’s WISH-TV.

Through its concert series at the Christel DeHaan Fine Arts Center in Indianapolis and in performances on tour, the quartet has collaborated with distinguished guest artists including Mark Kosower, Todd Palmer, Atar Arad, Eric Kim, Drew Petersen, Soyeon Kate Lee, Carrie Dennis, Nicholas Canellakis, and Orli Shaham. The ensemble has served in residencies at the University of Indianapolis, the Taconic Music Summer Festival, the Sonoran Chamber Music Festival at Arizona State University, Indiana State University’s 53rd Annual Contemporary Music Festival, and the Zenith Chamber Music Festival in Iowa.

Zachary DePue has established himself in concert venues around the world delivering virtuosic high-energy performances. He demonstrates command as a leader, soloist, collaborator, and improvisational artist reaching across a diverse landscape of music. His authentic warmth and generosity on stage invites audiences to join him in all his explorations.

Zach became one of the youngest concertmasters in the country when he was appointed to the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra (ISO) in 2007. For more than a decade, he served the orchestra as a passionate and dedicated leader both in and outside the concert hall. He was named a member of the Stanley K. Lacy Executive Leadership Series, connecting Indianapolis’ emerging leaders to the issues and needs of the community. 

He rose to international prominence as a founding member of Time for Three, with whom he performed for 15 years. During his tenure with the category-defying trio, Zach made numerous tours and gave high-profile appearances, including a performance on the 2014 semifinals round of ABC's Dancing with the Stars. Time for Three was the ISO’s first ensemble-in-residence, charged with introducing new audiences to the symphony experience and breathing fresh creative life into the orchestra’s Happy Hour Concert Series. With Time For Three, Zach recorded four albums of original music and arrangements. Their 2014 release featured collaborations with ukulele phenom Jake Shimabukuro; saxophonist Branford Marsalis; cellist Alisa Weilerstein; and singer/songwriter Joshua Radin. The trio members were active creative partners in the commissioning of new pieces which were vehicles for collaborations with orchestras and the ensemble. Composers Jennifer Higdon, William Bolcom, and Chris Brubeck each contributed substantial pieces leading the trio to performances with orchestras across the country including the Philadelphia Orchestra, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra at their home venue and for their 2013 Carnegie Hall appearance, Chicago Symphony Orchestra at Ravinia, Wheeling Symphony, Brevard Festival Orchestra, among many others. The Trio also recorded Higdon's Concerto 4-3 with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra and appears on their 2012 Take Six release.

Zach’s earliest introduction to the stage came through performances with his family. He is the youngest of four brothers—all violinists—who make up The DePue Brothers Band, an eclectic ensemble that blends bluegrass and classical music, with elements of jazz, blues and rock. He graduated in 2002 from the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where he served as concertmaster of the Curtis Symphony Orchestra and studied with renowned violinists Ida Kavafian and Jaime Laredo. He is a former member of the Philadelphia Orchestra.
Now residing in Naples, Florida with his wife, Chandler, and their toy poodle, Hagrid,  Zachary DePue serves as concertmaster of the Naples Philharmonic Orchestra. He performs on a violin made by Giuseppe Rocca of Turin, Italy, in 1846.

Violist Michael Strauss has performed around the world as a soloist, recitalist, chamber musician, and in symphonic settings on concert series, live radio broadcasts, and festivals across Europe, North America, and Japan and China. He is a founding member of The Indianapolis Quartet, a member of the ProMusica Chamber Orchestra in Columbus, Ohio and is the principal violist of the Akron Symphony Orchestra.

Michael made his solo debut with the Minnesota Orchestra and has since appeared as soloist with the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, Orchestra 2001, Charleston Symphony, Harrisburg Symphony, and Camerata Chicago, among others. During his 20-year tenure as principal violist of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, he was featured as a soloist nearly every season. A former member of the Fine Arts Quartet, he made several European and domestic tours with the ensemble as well as a critically acclaimed recording of Mozart’s complete viola quintets on the Lyrinx label.

Numerous recordings with Michael Strauss as soloist or in chamber ensembles can be heard on the labels of I Virtuosi (debut of Jennifer Higdon’s Viola Sonata), CRI (David Finko Viola Concerto, 20th century chamber works with the Philadelphia-based Orchestra 2001), Centaur (Stamitz Viola Concerto with Camerata Chicago, reissue of Finko Viola Concerto), and on Oberlin Music/Naxos–Wordless Verses (2016) for oboe, viola, and piano and String Theory (2024) with English horn player Robert Walters. He is also the featured artist on the Suzuki Viola School Volumes 8 and 9. Recordings with the Indianapolis Quartet include Frank Felice’s monograph recording 2020, Enharmonic Records, Reflections and Whimsies: Chamber Music for Strings and Voice and Robert Paterson String Quartets Nos. 1–3, released in 2022.

A dedicated teacher, Michael has served on the faculties of Oberlin Conservatory, Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, Butler University, Youngstown State University, University of the Arts in Philadelphia, and Swarthmore College. His mentors include William Preucil, Sr., John Graham, and Karen Tuttle. He is a graduate of the Curtis Institute

Egor Antonenko is the newly appointed Principal Cellist of the Naples Philharmonic Orchestra. Internationally recognized for his artistry as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral performer, Egor made his solo debut at age 8 with the Kaliningrad Chamber Orchestra. Since then, he has performed with such leading Eastern European ensembles as the Moscow and Ryazan Chamber Orchestras and the Petrozavodsk, Yaroslavl, and Volgograd Symphony Orchestras.

In the United States, Egor made his orchestral solo debuts performing Dvořák’s Cello Concerto with the Longy School of Music of Bard College Symphony and Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations with the Syracuse University Symphony Orchestra.  He has performed at the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, Glazunov Hall, Sanders Theatre at Harvard University, Boston’s Symphony Hall, Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Bohemian National Hall in New York City, Jordan Hall at the New England Conservatory, and Breakers Hall in Newport, Rhode Island, among other distinguished venues.

Egor has appeared under the baton of Nathalie Stutzmann, David Robertson, Robert Spano, Leon Botstein, Mikhail Pletnev, Peter Oundjian, Alexander Shelley, Hans Graf, Markus Stenz, Benjamin Zander, Gil Rose, Han-Na Chang, Kevin John Edusei, and Marius Stravinsky.  A laureate of numerous international competitions, he has received honors from the International Competition of Moscow’s Young Musicians “Rising Stars,” the 18th Città di Barletta International Competition in Italy, the Longy School of Music Concerto Competition, the Syracuse University Concerto Competition, the Gradus ad Parnassum II International Competition in Lithuania, and the Civic Morning Musicals Young Artist Award, presented to the most outstanding graduating musician from Syracuse University’s Setnor School of Music.  A passionate chamber musician, he has collaborated with Inon Barnatan, Andreas Ottensamer, Yeol Eum Son, James Ehnes, William Preucil, and members of the Shanghai and Hausmann String Quartets. In 2024, he joined the Indianapolis String Quartet.

Egor holds diplomas from the Central Music School of the P.I. Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory, where he studied with Maria Zhuravleva. He earned his undergraduate degree in cello performance from the Longy School of Music of Bard College under Dr. Terry King, and completed his Master of Music at Syracuse University’s Setnor School of Music, where he served as teaching assistant to Dr. King.  In 2019, he made his National Public Radio debut on Robert Sherman’s McGraw-Hill Young Artists Showcase on WQXR in New York City.

In addition to his performing career, Egor is deeply committed to community engagement and music education. He was awarded a CORA Foundation Grant by the Central New York Arts Council, presented by New York State Senator Rachel May, in recognition of his humanitarian work with the Art House initiative.