First violin
Karl Stobbe, concertmaster
Mary Lawton
Mona Coarda
Jun Shao
Darryl Strain
Barbara Gilroy
Second violin
Simon MacDonald
Kathryn Sigsworth
Boyd MacKenzie
Julie Savard
Elizabeth Dyer
Viola
Daniel Scholz
Richard Bauch
Suzanne McKegney
Barbara Hamilton
Cello
Yuri Hooker
Alex Adaman
Carolyn Nagelberg
Margaret Askeland
Bass
Meredith Johnson
Paul Nagelberg
Flute
Martha Durkin
Laurel Ridd
Oboe
Douglas Bairstow
Robin MacMillan
Clarinet
Connie Gitlin
Sharon Atkinson
Bassoon
James Ewen
Allen Harrington
French horn
Patricia Evans
Caroline Siverson
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Alex is origially from Caracas, South America but grew up in Toronto. Early studies with the cello were at the Royal Conservatory and later at the University of Toronto. By age 16 he was a full time cellist with the O'Keefe Centre Theatre Orchestra, Toronto, and at 17 joined the National Ballet of Canada Orchestra and extensively toured Norh America. At age 19 he became principal cellist with both organizations for the next five years. He holds a Bachelor's Degree in music from Queen's University at Kingston and a Master's Degree from the State University of New York at Stonybrook Long Island, where he studied with Bernard Greenhouse and Uzie Weisel. Further private studies were with Peter Schenkman, principal with the Toronto Symphony and Theodor Salzman, principal with the Pittsburgh Symphony. Alex attended summer sessions at Banff, Aspen, and Indiana University at Bloomington where he studied with Janos Starker. He also attended two summer sessions with the American Federation of Musician's Congress of Strings and also another two sessions with the International Cello Congress where he took part in a performance by an orchestra of some 200 cellists led by M. Rostropovich.
Alex has played with numerous orchestras across Canada including the National Arts Centre, Hamilton, Saskatoon, Regina and was principal with the Thunder Bay Symphony for one season. For a year he was a sabbatical replacement at Brandon University where he taught cello, music theory and ear training. For 10 years he performed with the Aurora Musicale chamber music series at the Winnipeg Art Gallery. He joined the Winnipeg Symphony in 1983 and the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra in 1985.
Because she was born here, Sharon Atkinson has never wanted to leave Winnipeg. She did, however, obtain her degree in music performance at the University of Toronto and toured internationally for several years with Les Miserables and Phantom of the Opera. It was by hearing Greg Atkinson's voice on stage while playing in the pit orchestra for Phantom that she discovered the opera singer she was destined to marry and with whom she has one son, James. Over the past twenty years, Sharon has freelanced with the WSO, Manitoba Opera, the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Groundswell, and Rainbow Stage for ten of its musical productions. She has played on three WSO CDs. On two of them, Collage and Lark Ascending, she was the acting principal clarinetist. Sharon is proud to be a member of the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra and to still call Winnipeg home.
Richard Bauch has been with the Winnipeg Symphony for 30 years. He grew up in Chicago with sports being the main focus of his life. He has a bachelor’s degree in math and a master’s degree in music performance. He plays with the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, does some private teaching, and is also the organist and choir director at St. Mary’s Anglican Church.
Mona Coarda was born in Romania and attended the Music Academy there.She moved to Chicago,Illinois and received her Bachelor of Musical Arts degree at Roosevelt University where she studied violin with Elaine Skorodin.Mona came to Winnipeg in 1986 and has been a member of the first violin section of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra since her arrival.Three years ago she joined the MusikBarock Ensemble.She is on the faculty of the International Music Camp at the Peace Gardens.Her participation in Winnipeg's musical community includes a busy teaching and chamber music schedule.
Yuri Hooker is the Principal cellist with both the Manitoba Chamber and Winnipeg Symphony Orchestras. Since his arrival in Winnipeg in 1999, he has become a well-known figure in the Manitoba music scene. He appears regularly with the Winnipeg Chamber Music Society, the Brandon Chamber Players, Groundswell, and the Clear Lake Chamber Music Festival. In past seasons he has performed concertos with the WSO, MCO and Musikbarock, and he has arranged and performed music for the MCO Chamber Music Night. He can also be heard regularly on CBC Radio Two. As well as performing, Yuri maintains a private teaching studio, is Sessional Instructor of Cello at the University of Manitoba and is the founder and director of the Winnipeg Summer Cello Institute, which had its inaugural session in 2007. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Brandon University, followed by graduate studies under Janos Starker and Stanley Ritchie (period performance) at Indiana University.
Simon MacDonald began playing the violin at age seven in Victoria, British Columbia. He earned his AVCM from the Victoria Conservatory, Bachelors degree from NewEngland Conservatory in Boston, and Masters degree from McGill, in Montreal. Simon’s principalteachers include Sydney Humphreys, former first violin of the Purcell and Aeolian String Quartets,Malcolm Lowe, concertmaster of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and Israeli violinist Yehonatan Berick. Simon has participated in several international music festivals around Europe and North America, includingSchleswig Holstein in Germany, National Repertory Orchestra in Breckenridge, Colorado, TheFestival of Two Worlds in Spoleto, Italy, its sister festival, The Spoleto Festival in Charleston South Carolina,Manchester Music Festival in Vermont, and Tanglewood, in Massachusetts. After playing the 1999 seasonwith the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra in New Orleans, Simon returned to Canada where he now callsWinnipeg home. In Winnipeg Simon is active as an orchestral musician, chamber musician, and soloist; heis a violinist with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and Musickbarock Ensemble, he is the principal secondviolin of the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, he performs with Ground Swell, a new music ensemble, and hasbeen a featured soloist on Arts Encounters, CBC radio 2, with host Joe Fingerote. For the past two summershe has been a guest performer at ArtSpring Music Festival on Saltspring Island, B.C., and in numerous otherconcert series on the west coast.
Carolyn Nagelberg, cellist, received a Bachelor of Music degree with honors from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Before coming to Winnipeg, she was a member of several orchestras: the Toledo Orchestra in Ohio, the Richmond and Norfolk Symphonies in Virginia, the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C. and the St. Paul Opera Orchestra in Minnesota, among others. She is a member of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra and MusikBarock Ensemble. Her summer activities have included Rainbow Stage in Winnipeg, the Colorado Music Festival in Boulder and the Great Music West Music Festival in the Bear Lake, Utah area.
Paul Nagelberg <pjn@shaw.ca >
Paul Nagelberg, double bassist, moved to Winnipeg to accept a position with the WSO in 1978. Since that time he also has become a regular member of both the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra and MusikBarock Ensemble. Paul's freelance work in Winnipeg has included the CBC Winnipeg Orchestra, in-school concerts with the Canadian Education Ensembles (Keystone String Quartet), Rainbow Stage and private teaching. His summer activities have included the Colorado Music Festival Orchestra in Boulder; the Great Music West Music Festival Orchestra in Utah, assistant principal, and the Des Moines Metro Opera Orchestra in Iowa, assistant principal. Prior to coming to Winnipeg, Paul played principal bass in the National Youth Orchestra of Canada for two summers. He attended the Eastman School of Music and the University of Michigan School of Music, graduating with honors from the latter.
Paul and his wife Carolyn (MCO cellist) are proud parents of two sons who are fine musicians in their own right.
Daniel Scholz enjoys a versatile career as an orchestral performer, chamber musician, teacher and conductor. A native of Regina, Daniel studied at the University of Regina, McGill University and the University of British Columbia. He was a prize-winner at the Lionel Tertis Viola competition, the most prestigious event of its kind, held on the Isle of Mann. Mr. Scholz is the Principal Viola of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, and is a member of The Winnipeg Chamber Music Society, Brandon Chamber Players and the Rembrandt String Quartet. As a solo artist, Daniel has performed with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, the Okanagan Symphony and the Vancouver Chamber Players. This past season, Daniel was the soloist in the WSO premiere of the Viola Concerto by William Walton. Highly sought after as a teacher, Mr. Scholz is an instructor at the University of Manitoba and the Canadian Mennonite University, as well as the conductor of the Winnipeg Youth Symphony Orchestra. He has performed and taught at many of Canada’s major festivals and is a faculty member of the University of Manitoba Summer Chamber Music Program. Mr. Scholz has commissioned new works by Bramwell Tovey, David Scott, T. Patrick Carrabré and Jim Hiscott. Mr. Scholz plays a viola designed by Gerald Stanick and made by Alan Balmforth of Seattle..
Karl Stobbe is in his fifth season as Concertmaster of the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, and in his eighth season with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra where he serves as the Associate Concertmaster. Karl is a native of Prince George, BC, where he began his violin studies at the age of four. By the time he reached the tender age of 11 he was awarded the Senior Violin Trophy at the Prince George Music Festival, and at 14 he premiered an orchestral piece, written for him, with the Prince George Symphony Orchestra. Other award-winning performances include the Vancouver Women’s Musical Club, Eckhardt-Gramatté and the Indianapolis Musicale Matinee competitions. Karl earned a Bachelor of Music Degree from the University of British Columbia, and a Master’s of Music Degree in Violin Performance from Indiana University.
He is active in performance outside of his duties with the WSO and MCO, performing as a soloist in recitals and chamber music in the United States and Canada. Locally, he has been a guest artist in GroundSwell, Virtuosi, Agassiz Chamber Players and the Winnipeg Chamber Music Society concert series. Karl is also a dedicated violin teacher and has held a private studio for the past 14 years. His students have gone on to do advanced university music degrees in Canada and the United States. An avid woodworker, Karl has enjoyed building new violins and restoring several old instruments. Looking at the beautiful craftsmanship of the master luthiers is as much fun for Karl as playing their instruments.
MCO's 2008/09 season is sponsored
by The Great-West Life Assurance
Company.
Support has been received from Media sponsors The
Winnipeg Free Press, CBC
Radio One 990,
CBC
Radio Two 98.3, Golden
West Radio & Shaw
Cable. MCO's Chamber Chatter newsletter
is sponsored by PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Heartstrings gala
sponsor: Mackenzie
Financial Corporation.
© 2008 Manitoba Chamber Orchestra