LENORE VARDI
Since her New York solo recital debut in Merkin Hall in 1982, violinist Lenore Vardi, has received international acclaim as soloist and chamber musician for her refined artistry and extraordinary technique.  Richard Kimball of the New York Post has hailed Ms. Vardi as a soloist of “..amazing elegance and musicianship…a natural performer.”

Lenore has studied and coached with some of the most renowned pedagogues and performers in the world and received her BM degree in violin performance from Oberlin Conservatory as a student of Steven Staryk and Andor Toth.  As a graduate student she was teaching assistant to Joseph Silverstein, and earned her MFA in Violin Performance and Chamber Music from Sarah Lawrence College while studying with Dorothy Delay and Emanuel Vardi in New York.

Well-known as a soloist and chamber musician, she has collaborated with a host of world-class artists and ensembles in concert and in recording.  She was a founding member of the Laurentian String Quartet and the Westchester Chamber Players, and has been a member of the Amacorda String Quartet, The Sutton Ensemble, Musica Sacra of New York, and the Philharmonia Virtuosi of New York.  Lenore has also performed world-wide as violinist in the Vardi Duo with her husband and world renowned violist, Emanuel Vardi.

Audiences in major music festivals throughout the world have enjoyed performances by Ms. Vardi where she appeared in chamber ensembles at the Newport Music Festival, Aspen Festival, the Yellow Barn Festival, Domaine Forget Canadian Festival, and the Tanglewood Festival.  Lenore has also made numerous TV and radio appearances internationally on many stations including the BBC London, CBC Montreal, and in New York City on stations WNCN and WQXR.

Lenore Vardi currently serves as Musical Director of the Snoqualmie Valley Festival of Music and founding member of the Vardi Chamber Players.

Her current plans also include recording a CD of French Violin and Piano Sonatas and the three Brahms Sonatas for Violin and Piano.

KIMBERLY RUSS, PIANO
Seattle Symphony Orchestra Pianist, Kimberly Russ, is recognized as an extremely accomplished ensemble player and collaborative pianist.  Ms. Russ has performed with musicians of the nation’s finest orchestras as well as many other world-renowned artists.  Continually in demand as a collaborative pianist, she appears frequently in concert throughout the Puget Sound region in recitals, festivals, and master classes.  Ms. Russ can also be heard on several television, radio, and film recordings as well as video game soundtracks.

As guest soloist, she has appeared with the Central Florida Symphony Orchestra, Florida Symphony Orchestra, Tacoma Young Artist Orchestra, Sammamish Symphony, Port Angeles Symphony, Cascade Symphony, and the Seattle Philharmonic Orchestra.

Ms. Russ graduated from the Juilliard School of Music, and is currently a member of the Music Teachers National Association, Washington State Music Teachers Association, Seattle Music Teachers Association and maintains a select private teaching studio at her Shoreline home where she resides with her husband, Christopher Olka, (Principal Tuba, Seattle Symphony) son, James, and their cat, Berlioz.

BARBARA OLDHAM, French Horn
Horn player BARBARA OLDHAM is a founding member of the wind quintet, Quintet of the Americas, and has appeared with the Marlboro Music Festival, St. Luke's Chamber Ensemble, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Festival Brass Quintet, and Westchester Chamber Music Festival. 
She has toured in over 300 cities in the Western Hemisphere and Eastern Europe, performed at Carnegie Hall, the American Music Week Series at Weill Recital Hall; the Bermuda International Festival; the Chamber Music Northwest Festival; Festival Internacional de Música Contemporanea in Bogotá; Sala Teresa Careña in Caracas; the American Composers Orchestra Sonidos de Mexico and Sonidos de Cuba Festivals; the Chautauqua Festival; Bar Harbor Festival; the First International Congress on Women in Music; the Pan American Music Festivals at the Library of Congress and the O.A.S. in Washington, D.C.; the Inter-American Festival in Puerto Rico; two Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors Festivals; and a two-day Villa-Lobos centennial festival at Merkin Hall in NYC.

She has presented solo recitals at the Bronx Museum of the Arts, the Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center and the American Landmark Festivals and is the recipient of a Brooklyn Arts Council Individual Artist Grant for solo recitals.  She is a member of the Queens Symphony, former principal horn of the Orquesta Sinfónica de Colombia, Opera Northeast, and guest principal horn with the National Symphony of the Dominican Republic. She has also performed with Brooklyn Philharmonic, Long Island Philharmonic, Radio City Music Hall, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Joffrey Ballet, Royal Winnipeg Ballet, and on Broadway.  She has recorded on the CRI, MMC, Newport Classic, XLNT, Opus 1, and MSR labels.  She serves on the faculties of Brooklyn College, New York University, and Summer Trios summer chamber music festival.

JEFFREY SOLOW, CELLO
Cellist Jeffrey Solow‘s impassioned and compelling cello playing has enthralled audiences throughout the United States and Canada, Europe, Latin America, and the Far East in performances as recitalist, soloist, and chamber musician.  Born and raised in Los Angeles, he studied with the distinguished cellist Gabor Rejto and earned a degree in Philosophy magna cum laude from UCLA while studying with and then assisting the legendary Gregor Piatigorsky at USC.

Mr. Solow's concerto appearances include performances of more than forty different works with orchestras including the Los Angeles Philharmonic (also at the Hollywood Bowl), Japan Philharmonic, Seattle Symphony, Milwaukee Symphony, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and the American Symphony (with whom he also recorded) and he has been guest artist at many national and international chamber music festivals.  His has recorded for the Columbia, New World, ABC, Centaur, Delos, Kleos, Laurel, Everest and Telefunken labels and received two Grammy Award nominations.

Mr. Solow is active in other areas of music besides performing.  Strad, Strings, and American String Teacher magazines have published his articles and reviews, he is editor of the Newsletter of the Violoncello Society, Inc. (NY), the nation’s second oldest cello society, and also serves as VCS president. Recognized as an authority on healthy and efficient cello playing, Jeffrey Solow is professor of cello and chair of the Department of Instrumental Studies at Temple University in Philadelphia.  He has twice chaired the American String Teachers Association’s prestigious National Solo Competition, served on their Executive Board and is currently president of ASTA.

DAVID HARDING, VIOLA
David Harding has an extensive solo and chamber music career, having performed throughout Europe, the United States, Canada and Central America, in such venues as the Berlin Philharmonie, Concertgebouw, and Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall.  His performances have been broadcast on BBC, NPR and Deutschland Radio.

David is frequently featured on CBC Radio in Canada.  He regularly performs at chamber music festivals throughout North America including amongst others the Seattle Chamber Music Society, Strings in the Mountains, CO, Sitka Chamber Music Festival, AK, Festival of the Sound, ON, and the Cactus Pear Chamber Music Festival, TX.  He is currently a member of Trio Verlaine and the American String Project, and has recorded for Sony, Crystal, Chesky, Innova and New Albion record labels.  David’s latest CD projects include a recording of Bach's Goldberg Variations, with Triskelion for CBC records, Brahms’ Viola Sonatas and Horn Trio for Skylark Music and an innovative disc of flute, viola, harp works by Ravel and Debussy with Trio Verlaine for Skylark Music.

A graduate of the Juilliard School of Music, David’s principal teachers were Paul Doktor, Emanuel Vardi and Tibor Vaghy.  He was the winner of the Sir John Barbirolli award at the Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition.  David has given master classes at the Banff International Centre for the Arts and numerous universities throughout North America. Having served on the faculty of Indiana University South Bend, he is currently Professor of Viola and Chamber Music at the University of British Columbia.