NEXT CONCERT
Sunday, April 23, 2023 at 7:30pm
Chamber Music by Candlelight
Venue: Second Presbyterian Church, 4200 Saint Paul Street, Baltimore, MD
Free concert. No tickets or reservations required. Presented in-person and livestreamed on YouTube.
PROGRAM
The Companion Guide to Rome
Andrew Norman (b. 1979)
- Teresa
- Benedetto
- Susanna
- Pietro
- Ivo
- Clemente
- Lorenzo
- Cecilia
- Sabina
Bachianas Brasileiras No. 6
Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959)
- Aria (Choros)
- Fantasia
String Quartet in One Movement, Op. 89
Amy Beach (1867-1944)
Ivan Stefanovic, violin; Kevin Smith, violin; Karin Brown, viola; Dan Levitov, cello
Trio for violin, cello & piano
Ellen Taaffe Zwilich (b. 1939)
- Allegro con brio
- Lento
- Presto
There will be no intermission at this concert.
Musician Biographies
Karin Brown, viola
Karin Brown received critical acclaim for her “strikingly rich and warm tone” (The Strad) after making her solo recital debut at Carnegie Weill Hall. Ms. Brown is Assistant Principal Violist of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and performs frequently as soloist and chamber musician in the Baltimore/Washington area. She made her Baltimore Symphony Orchestra concerto debut performing the Britten Double Concerto, of which The Baltimore Sun noted “Karin Brown sculpted her phrases in a rich, subtly shaded tone.” Her Chicago recital debut took place with live radio broadcast at the Dame Myra Hess series. Ms. Brown was hailed “a notable soloist” by the Washington Post after her performance of Bach’s Sixth Brandenburg Concerto with the Baltimore Symphony. Recent performances include collaborations with the contemporary music group Alarm Will Sound, members of eighth blackbird and the Borromeo Quartet, as well as performances of Britten’s Lachrymae with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Brown has served as juror, Laureate recitalist, and masterclass clinician at the William Primrose International Viola Competition, and returned as Laureate recitalist and masterclass clinician. She has been a guest artist at the Oberlin Conservatory for a teaching and performance residency and serves as faculty at the National Orchestral Institute (NOI). More recently, she has collaborated with her viola section colleagues at the Baltimore Symphony as part of an online performance series called “Lunch Bachs” during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ms. Brown has been a prizewinner in numerous competitions, including the William Primrose International Viola Competition and the National Federation of Music Clubs Competition. She has been featured in Caramoor’s “Rising Stars” series, and gives masterclasses and recitals across the country. An advocate for new music, she has performed several premieres, and strives to program music by women composers, lesser known masterworks, and American music. She has been a frequent performer and clinician at American Viola Society Festivals, most recently performing the world premiere of violist/composer Christian Colberg’s work The Rant. In addition, with violist Renate Falkner, she has performed and lectured on pedagogue Roland Vamos’s celebrated double stop exercises. While still a student at Juilliard, Ms. Brown was a frequent substitute with the New York Philharmonic and Metropolitan Opera, joining each for several international tours. She has performed on numerous major motion picture soundtracks.
She received her Bachelor’s degree from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and her Master’s degree from the Juilliard School, where she was a recipient of the Nathan Gordon Memorial Viola Award. Ms. Brown has studied with Cynthia Phelps, Roland and Almita Vamos, Lynne Ramsey, Samuel Rhodes, and Zoya Leybin. A committed teacher, she has been recognized as Outstanding Teacher of the Year by the American String Teachers Association, Maryland/DC chapter. She serves as faculty at the Baltimore School for the Arts, and previously at NOI/Pacific Music Institute in Honolulu, Catholic University, Apple Hill, Foulger International Music Festival and the Killington Music Festival. She maintains a private studio of violin and viola students, and her students have been accepted to the New World Symphony, the Juilliard School, Oberlin, Eastman, New England Conservatory, University of Michigan, Rice University, the Cleveland Institute of Music, and Peabody.
Lachezar Kostov, cello
Lachezar Kostov has appeared as a soloist in some of the world's leading concert venues such as Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Gewandhaus in Leipzig, and Oji Hall in Tokyo. He was the National Winner at the 2006 MTNA Young Artists Competition and has won numerous prizes including the Cello Award at the Kingsville Competition in 2005, the Grand Prix at the International Music and Earth Competition in Bulgaria, and the concerto competitions at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, and Rice University. In October 2011 Lachezar Kostov and pianist Viktor Valkov won the First Prize and all the special prizes at the Third International Liszt-Garrison Piano and Duo Competition in Baltimore, MD.
Mr. Kostov has appeared as a guest soloist and chamber musician throughout the United States, Japan, Italy, Germany, the United Kingdom and Bulgaria. Mr. Kostov is represented as a member of the Kostov-Valkov Duo by Pro-Piano Management. Hailed by European and American critics for “the awesome purity of his playing”, and described as “prodigiously skilled protagonist”, he made his official debut at Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall in 2009, performing rarely heard works for cello and piano by Ellen Zwilich, Nikolay Roslavets, and Dimitri Kabalevsky. In 2012, following his participation at the Texas Music Festival, he performed the Second Cello Concerto by C. Saint-Saens, under the baton of Carl St. Clair, and in 2013 he performed Dvorak's famed cello concerto in the legendary Gewandhaus in Leipzig, accompanied by the Academic Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Horst Forster. Mr. Kostov’s first commercial CD was released by NAXOS in 2011 and was immediately featured in “The Strad Magazine”, and “American Record Guide”. In 2016 he released a second CD, containing award-winning transcriptions by the Kostov-Valkov Duo of works by Franz Liszt, as well as virtuoso arrangements from the operas Carmen, and The Barber of Seville.
Lachezar Kostov has appeared as a guest artist at the Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival, La Jolla Summer Fest, Cactus Pear Music Festival, and is also a guest faculty at the Texas Music Festival in Houston. He has performed alongside musicians such as Jon Kimura Parker, the Tokyo String Quartet, Martin Chalifour, Cho-Liang Lin, Stephanie Sant'Ambrodgio, Lucy Robert, Aloysia Friedmann, James Dunham, and Desmond Hoebig. Mr. Kostov plays on a modern cello made by his friend, luthier Sam Matthews in Houston. Prior to his appointment with the Baltimore Symphony he was a tenured member of the San Antonio Symphony, and also performed regularly with the Houston Symphony. His major teachers include Bogomil Karakonov, Aldo Parisot, Norman Fischer, and David Grigorian; he has appeared in master-classes with Yo-Yo Ma, Steven Isserlis, and Bernard Greenhouse.
Dan Levitov, cello
Cellist and Pedagogue Daniel Levitov maintains a vibrant career as a performer and educator. Levitov performs locally and nationally as a soloist, chamber, and orchestral musician. Recognized by the Baltimore Sun for his “warmth of tone and phrasing” and “expressive force,” he is a founding member of the Clipper Mill String Quartet. Levitov also serves as a substitute cellist with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO), and appears frequently with members of the symphony on the Chamber Music by Candlelight series. Levitov has performed as a soloist in Carnegie Weill Hall, on Strathmore Hall’s Music in the Mansion series, and at the Peabody Institute. He has performed as a concerto soloist with the Pazardjik Symphony (Bulgaria), the Manhattan Virtuosi, the Mendocino Festival Orchestra, and the Peabody Camarata. Levitov performed as a member of the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music under the direction of Marin Alsop. He recorded the jazz album, Moment to Moment: Roy Hargrove with Strings, which was released on the Verve label, and was a member of the Monterey Jazz Festival Chamber Orchestra.
Levitov is Associate Chair of Strings, Lower Strings and Director of Chamber Music at the Peabody Institute Preparatory of the Johns Hopkins University. He is the conductor of the Peabody Young Artists Orchestra (YAO). Levitov is also directs the string ensembles at the Bryn Mawr School in Baltimore. He has previously served as assistant professor of cello at the Sunderman Conservatory of Music at Gettysburg College. Levitov gives master classes and workshops across the country, including recent master classes for Indiana String Academy, University of Maryland, ASTA and the National Orchestra Festival, and was recently featured on CelloBello CelloChat. During the summer, he has served on the faculties of the HIMA USA, Killington, Credo, and Foulger music festivals. Levitov’s students have won several competitions including ASTA and Washington Performing Arts Society, and have been accepted to major conservatories and summer festivals such as Northwestern, Juilliard, Oberlin, the Cleveland Institute, the Meadowmount School of Music, and Heifetz International Music Institute.
Marcia McHugh, flute
Flutist Marcia McHugh became a member of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra after performing with the orchestra during the 2005-2006 season as Second Flute. She was the BSO’s acting piccolo player for the 2017-2018 season. With five concertos performed since joining the BSO, Ms. McHugh has also been featured in the BSO’s annual New Music Festival chamber music concerts. She has performed with the National Symphony, Detroit Symphony, and most recently with the Cincinnati Symphony on their 3-week European tour in 2017 and March 2019 recording project. Before joining the BSO, Ms. McHugh was second flute and a soloist with the Omaha Symphony. Her solo performance of Leonard Bernstein’s Halil was broadcast live on Nebraska radio.
Her flute, viola, and harp trio, Trio Sirènes, has performed throughout the East Coast including the Chamber Music by Candlelight Series, which she is the Co-Artistic Director. During the summer, Ms. McHugh performs chamber music and orchestra concerts at the Festival Mozaic in San Luis Obispo, California and the Grand Teton Music Festival in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. She graduated from Peabody Conservatory where she studied with Robert Willoughby and was awarded the Britton Johnson Memorial Flute Prize.
Harrison Miller, bassoon
Principal Bassoonist Harrison Miller has performed with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra since 2017. Appointed to the principal bassoon position in 2021 by Music Director Marin Alsop, Harrison joined the BSO as acting principal bassoon in 2017. Additional orchestral experience includes frequent guest work with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, American Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Louisville Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, American Ballet Theatre, and the Symphony in C (Haddonfield, New Jersey).
Harrison received his Bachelor of Music from The Juilliard School in May 2017, where he studied with Judith LeClair. In addition to receiving a Kovner Fellowship, Harrison was the winner of Juilliard’s 2017 Peter Mennin Prize for outstanding achievement and leadership in music.
Born in Greenwich, Connecticut, Harrison began his formal musical education studying with Joyce Kelley before going on to attend the Juilliard Pre-College as a student of Marc Goldberg in 2010. The first bassoonist in Juilliard’s history to win concerto competitions in two divisions, Harrison performed as soloist with both the Juilliard Pre-College Orchestra and the Juilliard Orchestra.
A devoted chamber musician, Harrison studied with the New York Woodwind Quintet as a member of their Juilliard seminar and has since gone on to perform in New York's annual ChamberFest, masterclasses at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and in a woodwind quintet with members of the New York Philharmonic for their Very Young People’s Concerts.
Summer festivals include participation at the Aspen Music Festival and School as a New Horizons Fellow, the Tanglewood Music Center, the Music Academy of the West, the Sarasota Music Festival, and the Boston University Tanglewood Institute. During his undergraduate degree, Harrison was a teaching assistant for Marc Goldberg at the Juilliard Pre-College. He lead reed-making classes, assisted in lessons, mentored students in orchestra, and coached chamber music. He now maintains his own private studio, and frequently leads sectionals for both the Baltimore Youth Symphony Orchestra and Howard County Youth Orchestras. Harrison has been on faculty at the Philadelphia International Music Festival, and the Interlochen Center for the Arts’ 2019 Summer Camp and has presented masterclasses at the Juilliard School, University of Toronto, Manhattan School of Music, and the University of North Carolina Greensboro. This summer Harrison will be on faculty at the inaugural season of Hidden Valley’s Festival of Winds.
Kevin Smith, violin
Kevin Smith, a native of Dallas, Texas, joined the Baltimore Symphony as Acting Assistant Concertmaster in 2015. Mr. Smith earned his Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance as a student of Julia Bushkova at the University of North Texas. At the Cleveland Institute of Music, he earned Master of Music degree in the studio of Stephen Rose, Principal Second Violin of The Cleveland Orchestra. While attending CIM, Mr. Smith was awarded the 2015 Helen C. Webster Award for Outstanding Graduate Student. As a chamber musician, he has been coached by the Cavani, Juilliard, Shanghai, and Takács Quartets, and studied under Peter Salaff of the Cleveland Quartet. He has attended the Mimir Chamber Music Festival, the Round Top Festival Institute, and the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, Japan. Mr. Smith has performed under the acclaimed conductors, Franz Welser-Möst, Osmo Vänskä, and Valery Gergiev. Before joining the Baltimore Symphony, Mr. Smith was a member of the Akron and Canton Symphony Orchestras, acted as concertmaster for the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra, and has performed with The Cleveland Orchestra. In his free time, he enjoys traveling, reading, and playing golf.
Colin Sorgi, viola
American violist Colin Sorgi joined the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra viola section in 2018. Born and raised in San Antonio, Texas, Colin holds degrees from both the Peabody Conservatory and Indiana University studying violin and viola with renowned musicians Herbert Greenberg and Jaime Laredo. He has also worked extensively with violinist/violist Pinchas Zukerman. He made his solo debut at the Aspen Music Festival in 2012 and has since been heard as soloist and in recital on the stages of Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, the Chicago Cultural Center, Canada’s National Arts Centre and at the 2012 Naumburg International Competition, among others. In August 2015, Colin made his European debut at the prestigious Lucerne Festival in Switzerland giving the European premiere of the concerto “Forever and Ever” by Tod Machover (Musical America’s 2015 Composer of the Year) – a performance The Guardian (UK) hailed as having “unwavering conviction – subtle, striking and moving.”
Colin’s first commercial recording alongside pianist Jooeun Pak, released in October 2012 on the IUmusic label for the Latin American Music Center, featured premiere recordings of works by living Latin American composers and was a finalist for the 2012 Latin Grammy Nomination. Fanfare Magazine described the recording as “a tour de force of stamina, virtuosity and rhythmic precision.” From 2006 to 2016, Colin was the founder and artistic director of Baltimore's critically acclaimed SONAR new music ensemble, named Baltimore City Paper's “Best Classical Group” in 2014. Colin was also a frequently–commissioned composer whose works have been performed by orchestras and ensembles around the country and internationally.
An advocate of community engagement and arts education, Colin has held a number of staff, creative and teaching positions for the BSO’s OrchKids program since 2012. He has also worked as graphic designer and marketing consultant and for a number of arts organizations including OrchKids, the San Antonio Symphony, Lake George Music Festival, McDaniel Music Institute and the National Philharmonic, among others.
Ivan Stefanovic, violin
Ivan Stefanović was born in Belgrade, former Yugoslavia, and began his violin studies at the age of five. At age 16, he came to the United States to continue his education at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where he studied with David Cerone, Victor Danchenko, David Updegraff and Kathleen Winkler. He earned a Bachelor of Music degree in 1989 and an Artist Diploma in 1991, both with honors, from the Cleveland Institute of Music. In 2003, the Cleveland Institute of Music awarded him an Alumni Achievement Award “in recognition of outstanding accomplishments in the fields of Violin Orchestral and Chamber Music Performance.”
At the age of 21, Mr. Stefanović joined the second violin section of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra under David Zinman, moving up to a third chair position a year later. In 2004, Yuri Temirkanov gave him the title of Assistant Principal Second Violin. He was promoted to Associate Principal Second Violin by Marin Alsop in 2012.
As a soloist and chamber musician, Mr. Stefanović has won many first prizes in local and national competitions in Yugoslavia. He has performed numerous times as a soloist with the Baltimore Symphony and Baltimore Chamber Orchestras, as well as with the Symphony Orchestra of Radio and TV Belgrade, The Londontowne Symphony Orchestra, and the Columbia Orchestra. He has made live recordings for Radio and TV Belgrade, Radio Yugoslavia, and WCLV in Cleveland, in addition to giving numerous solo and chamber music recitals in Yugoslavia, Spain, and the United States. He has performed as a substitute in many American orchestras.
Mr. Stefanović is a member of the Clipper Mill String Quartet, baroque violinist in Pro Musica Rara, and former Principal Second Violin and Acting Concertmaster of Baltimore Chamber Orchestra. He is a co-founder and co-Artistic Director of Chamber Music by Candlelight, a series featuring BSO members. Mr Stefanović is on the faculty of the Preparatory Department of the Peabody Conservatory of Music and Baltimore School for the Arts, where he teaches violin, coaches chamber music, and conducts orchestra sectionals.
Wan Chi Su, piano
Pianist Wan-Chi Su has performed as a soloist and chamber musician in Asia, Europe, and throughout the United States. She has played major venues including Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in New York, Salle Cortot in Paris, and Taiwan National Concert Hall. In her appearance with the Post-Classical Ensemble in the Washington National Cathedral, her solo playing was praised by the American Scholar, “…played with sensitivity and imagination.”
In duo with cellist Ismar Gomes, Dr. Su has toured the United States, giving concerts in Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. Additionally, Dr. Su travels for the Piatigorsky Foundation, bringing music to unconventional venues, where there is typically less access to live classical concerts. Dr. Su is sought after for collaborations with venerated musicians, which have included members of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, violinist Hebert Greenberg, cellist Michael Kannen, baritone William Sharp, trumpeter Joe Burgstaller, pianists Seth Knopp and Benjamin Pasternack, and others. She has performed in masterclasses for renowned artists, including Leon Fleisher, Richard Goode, and Gil Kalish.
Dr. Su performs a wide range of repertoire, from Baroque, Classical, Romantic, 20TH century to Contemporary. She has premiered music by prominent active composers, such as Curt Cacioppo, William Weigel, and Aaron Malone; she has also enjoyed working with celebrated composers like George Walker, Aaron J. Kernis, Ying-Chen Kao, and others. Steeped in an array of styles, Dr. Su collaborates with dancers at the Peabody Institute (both performing and arranging music) and occasionally plays the organ for local churches. A dedicated educator, Dr. Su currently serves on the piano faculty of the Park School of Baltimore and maintains a private studio.
Decorated with numerous awards, Dr. Su won first prize in the Taiwan Cultural Cup Invitational Piano Competition. On the collegiate level, she won first prize in the Taiwan National Student Music Competition in Piano. She has also been a semi-finalist in the San Jose International Piano Competition, the Art of Duo Competition, and the Liszt-Garrison Duo Competition, and a finalist in the Harrison L. Winter Piano Concerto Competition. Further, she has been invited to numerous international music festivals, including the Taos School of Music, the Beethoven Institute, both the Icicle Creek Piano Festival and the Icicle Creek Chamber Music Festival, the NTSO International Piano Program in Taiwan, and the Paris Piano Program in France.
Born in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Dr. Su began piano lessons at age four. She earned a bachelor’s degree in piano, minoring in French horn, at the National Kaohsiung Normal University in Taiwan. She holds a Master of Music, a Graduate Performance Diploma, and a Doctor of Musical Arts from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University, studying primarily with Seth Knopp and Benjamin Pasternack. Dr. Su currently resides in Baltimore, Maryland, with her husband and cat. In her free time, she enjoys managing her cat’s Instagram account, in addition to taking Pilates class.
Agnes Tse, violin
It has been said that violinist Agnes Tse’s musical journey began in her baby stroller when she was transfixed by a performance of Herbert von Karajan conducting on TV. She had to wait until she was four before receiving a size 1/8 violin as a toy and the violin has been her closest companion ever since.
While recently completing her Master of Music degree at The Juilliard School as a student of Lewis Kaplan and Joel Smirnoff, within one remarkable two-week span, she worked with the London Symphony Orchestra under Sir Simon Rattle and was offered a position with the Baltimore Symphony under Marin Alsop.
A native of Hong Kong, Ms Tse has appeared as a soloist with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and the Pan Asia Symphony Orchestra. A participant of the New York String Orchestra Seminar at Carnegie Hall, she has been heard at the Music Academy of the West, Tanglewood Music Center, Bowdoin International Music Festival and the International Summer Academy, Mozarteum Universität Salzburg; where she studied with Pierre Amoyal and Zakhar Bron.
An avid chamber musician, she has appeared in Juilliard’s ChamberFest and London Symphony Orchestra’s Discovery Day where she performed in a string quartet with David Alberman, Principal Second Violin of the LSO. Her chamber music mentors include Emanuel Ax, Pamela Frank, Yo-Yo Ma and the Juilliard and Takács quartets. She has also performed with the two contemporary music ensembles at the Juilliard School, AXIOM and New Juilliard Ensemble.
Ms. Tse was a former Co-Concertmaster of the Juilliard Orchestra, Assistant Concertmaster of the Symphony in C and has been a substitute player at the New York Philharmonic and Princeton Symphony Orchestra. Outside of music, she enjoys walking around the streets of New York City to discover flea markets, antique stores, handmade gift shops, cafés and restaurants.
Karin Brown received critical acclaim for her “strikingly rich and warm tone” (The Strad) after making her solo recital debut at Carnegie Weill Hall. Ms. Brown is Assistant Principal Violist of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and performs frequently as soloist and chamber musician in the Baltimore/Washington area. She made her Baltimore Symphony Orchestra concerto debut performing the Britten Double Concerto, of which The Baltimore Sun noted “Karin Brown sculpted her phrases in a rich, subtly shaded tone.” Her Chicago recital debut took place with live radio broadcast at the Dame Myra Hess series. Ms. Brown was hailed “a notable soloist” by the Washington Post after her performance of Bach’s Sixth Brandenburg Concerto with the Baltimore Symphony. Recent performances include collaborations with the contemporary music group Alarm Will Sound, members of eighth blackbird and the Borromeo Quartet, as well as performances of Britten’s Lachrymae with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Brown has served as juror, Laureate recitalist, and masterclass clinician at the William Primrose International Viola Competition, and returned as Laureate recitalist and masterclass clinician. She has been a guest artist at the Oberlin Conservatory for a teaching and performance residency and serves as faculty at the National Orchestral Institute (NOI). More recently, she has collaborated with her viola section colleagues at the Baltimore Symphony as part of an online performance series called “Lunch Bachs” during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ms. Brown has been a prizewinner in numerous competitions, including the William Primrose International Viola Competition and the National Federation of Music Clubs Competition. She has been featured in Caramoor’s “Rising Stars” series, and gives masterclasses and recitals across the country. An advocate for new music, she has performed several premieres, and strives to program music by women composers, lesser known masterworks, and American music. She has been a frequent performer and clinician at American Viola Society Festivals, most recently performing the world premiere of violist/composer Christian Colberg’s work The Rant. In addition, with violist Renate Falkner, she has performed and lectured on pedagogue Roland Vamos’s celebrated double stop exercises. While still a student at Juilliard, Ms. Brown was a frequent substitute with the New York Philharmonic and Metropolitan Opera, joining each for several international tours. She has performed on numerous major motion picture soundtracks.
She received her Bachelor’s degree from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and her Master’s degree from the Juilliard School, where she was a recipient of the Nathan Gordon Memorial Viola Award. Ms. Brown has studied with Cynthia Phelps, Roland and Almita Vamos, Lynne Ramsey, Samuel Rhodes, and Zoya Leybin. A committed teacher, she has been recognized as Outstanding Teacher of the Year by the American String Teachers Association, Maryland/DC chapter. She serves as faculty at the Baltimore School for the Arts, and previously at NOI/Pacific Music Institute in Honolulu, Catholic University, Apple Hill, Foulger International Music Festival and the Killington Music Festival. She maintains a private studio of violin and viola students, and her students have been accepted to the New World Symphony, the Juilliard School, Oberlin, Eastman, New England Conservatory, University of Michigan, Rice University, the Cleveland Institute of Music, and Peabody.
Lachezar Kostov, cello
Lachezar Kostov has appeared as a soloist in some of the world's leading concert venues such as Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Gewandhaus in Leipzig, and Oji Hall in Tokyo. He was the National Winner at the 2006 MTNA Young Artists Competition and has won numerous prizes including the Cello Award at the Kingsville Competition in 2005, the Grand Prix at the International Music and Earth Competition in Bulgaria, and the concerto competitions at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, and Rice University. In October 2011 Lachezar Kostov and pianist Viktor Valkov won the First Prize and all the special prizes at the Third International Liszt-Garrison Piano and Duo Competition in Baltimore, MD.
Mr. Kostov has appeared as a guest soloist and chamber musician throughout the United States, Japan, Italy, Germany, the United Kingdom and Bulgaria. Mr. Kostov is represented as a member of the Kostov-Valkov Duo by Pro-Piano Management. Hailed by European and American critics for “the awesome purity of his playing”, and described as “prodigiously skilled protagonist”, he made his official debut at Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall in 2009, performing rarely heard works for cello and piano by Ellen Zwilich, Nikolay Roslavets, and Dimitri Kabalevsky. In 2012, following his participation at the Texas Music Festival, he performed the Second Cello Concerto by C. Saint-Saens, under the baton of Carl St. Clair, and in 2013 he performed Dvorak's famed cello concerto in the legendary Gewandhaus in Leipzig, accompanied by the Academic Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Horst Forster. Mr. Kostov’s first commercial CD was released by NAXOS in 2011 and was immediately featured in “The Strad Magazine”, and “American Record Guide”. In 2016 he released a second CD, containing award-winning transcriptions by the Kostov-Valkov Duo of works by Franz Liszt, as well as virtuoso arrangements from the operas Carmen, and The Barber of Seville.
Lachezar Kostov has appeared as a guest artist at the Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival, La Jolla Summer Fest, Cactus Pear Music Festival, and is also a guest faculty at the Texas Music Festival in Houston. He has performed alongside musicians such as Jon Kimura Parker, the Tokyo String Quartet, Martin Chalifour, Cho-Liang Lin, Stephanie Sant'Ambrodgio, Lucy Robert, Aloysia Friedmann, James Dunham, and Desmond Hoebig. Mr. Kostov plays on a modern cello made by his friend, luthier Sam Matthews in Houston. Prior to his appointment with the Baltimore Symphony he was a tenured member of the San Antonio Symphony, and also performed regularly with the Houston Symphony. His major teachers include Bogomil Karakonov, Aldo Parisot, Norman Fischer, and David Grigorian; he has appeared in master-classes with Yo-Yo Ma, Steven Isserlis, and Bernard Greenhouse.
Dan Levitov, cello
Cellist and Pedagogue Daniel Levitov maintains a vibrant career as a performer and educator. Levitov performs locally and nationally as a soloist, chamber, and orchestral musician. Recognized by the Baltimore Sun for his “warmth of tone and phrasing” and “expressive force,” he is a founding member of the Clipper Mill String Quartet. Levitov also serves as a substitute cellist with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO), and appears frequently with members of the symphony on the Chamber Music by Candlelight series. Levitov has performed as a soloist in Carnegie Weill Hall, on Strathmore Hall’s Music in the Mansion series, and at the Peabody Institute. He has performed as a concerto soloist with the Pazardjik Symphony (Bulgaria), the Manhattan Virtuosi, the Mendocino Festival Orchestra, and the Peabody Camarata. Levitov performed as a member of the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music under the direction of Marin Alsop. He recorded the jazz album, Moment to Moment: Roy Hargrove with Strings, which was released on the Verve label, and was a member of the Monterey Jazz Festival Chamber Orchestra.
Levitov is Associate Chair of Strings, Lower Strings and Director of Chamber Music at the Peabody Institute Preparatory of the Johns Hopkins University. He is the conductor of the Peabody Young Artists Orchestra (YAO). Levitov is also directs the string ensembles at the Bryn Mawr School in Baltimore. He has previously served as assistant professor of cello at the Sunderman Conservatory of Music at Gettysburg College. Levitov gives master classes and workshops across the country, including recent master classes for Indiana String Academy, University of Maryland, ASTA and the National Orchestra Festival, and was recently featured on CelloBello CelloChat. During the summer, he has served on the faculties of the HIMA USA, Killington, Credo, and Foulger music festivals. Levitov’s students have won several competitions including ASTA and Washington Performing Arts Society, and have been accepted to major conservatories and summer festivals such as Northwestern, Juilliard, Oberlin, the Cleveland Institute, the Meadowmount School of Music, and Heifetz International Music Institute.
Marcia McHugh, flute
Flutist Marcia McHugh became a member of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra after performing with the orchestra during the 2005-2006 season as Second Flute. She was the BSO’s acting piccolo player for the 2017-2018 season. With five concertos performed since joining the BSO, Ms. McHugh has also been featured in the BSO’s annual New Music Festival chamber music concerts. She has performed with the National Symphony, Detroit Symphony, and most recently with the Cincinnati Symphony on their 3-week European tour in 2017 and March 2019 recording project. Before joining the BSO, Ms. McHugh was second flute and a soloist with the Omaha Symphony. Her solo performance of Leonard Bernstein’s Halil was broadcast live on Nebraska radio.
Her flute, viola, and harp trio, Trio Sirènes, has performed throughout the East Coast including the Chamber Music by Candlelight Series, which she is the Co-Artistic Director. During the summer, Ms. McHugh performs chamber music and orchestra concerts at the Festival Mozaic in San Luis Obispo, California and the Grand Teton Music Festival in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. She graduated from Peabody Conservatory where she studied with Robert Willoughby and was awarded the Britton Johnson Memorial Flute Prize.
Harrison Miller, bassoon
Principal Bassoonist Harrison Miller has performed with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra since 2017. Appointed to the principal bassoon position in 2021 by Music Director Marin Alsop, Harrison joined the BSO as acting principal bassoon in 2017. Additional orchestral experience includes frequent guest work with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, American Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Louisville Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, American Ballet Theatre, and the Symphony in C (Haddonfield, New Jersey).
Harrison received his Bachelor of Music from The Juilliard School in May 2017, where he studied with Judith LeClair. In addition to receiving a Kovner Fellowship, Harrison was the winner of Juilliard’s 2017 Peter Mennin Prize for outstanding achievement and leadership in music.
Born in Greenwich, Connecticut, Harrison began his formal musical education studying with Joyce Kelley before going on to attend the Juilliard Pre-College as a student of Marc Goldberg in 2010. The first bassoonist in Juilliard’s history to win concerto competitions in two divisions, Harrison performed as soloist with both the Juilliard Pre-College Orchestra and the Juilliard Orchestra.
A devoted chamber musician, Harrison studied with the New York Woodwind Quintet as a member of their Juilliard seminar and has since gone on to perform in New York's annual ChamberFest, masterclasses at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and in a woodwind quintet with members of the New York Philharmonic for their Very Young People’s Concerts.
Summer festivals include participation at the Aspen Music Festival and School as a New Horizons Fellow, the Tanglewood Music Center, the Music Academy of the West, the Sarasota Music Festival, and the Boston University Tanglewood Institute. During his undergraduate degree, Harrison was a teaching assistant for Marc Goldberg at the Juilliard Pre-College. He lead reed-making classes, assisted in lessons, mentored students in orchestra, and coached chamber music. He now maintains his own private studio, and frequently leads sectionals for both the Baltimore Youth Symphony Orchestra and Howard County Youth Orchestras. Harrison has been on faculty at the Philadelphia International Music Festival, and the Interlochen Center for the Arts’ 2019 Summer Camp and has presented masterclasses at the Juilliard School, University of Toronto, Manhattan School of Music, and the University of North Carolina Greensboro. This summer Harrison will be on faculty at the inaugural season of Hidden Valley’s Festival of Winds.
Kevin Smith, violin
Kevin Smith, a native of Dallas, Texas, joined the Baltimore Symphony as Acting Assistant Concertmaster in 2015. Mr. Smith earned his Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance as a student of Julia Bushkova at the University of North Texas. At the Cleveland Institute of Music, he earned Master of Music degree in the studio of Stephen Rose, Principal Second Violin of The Cleveland Orchestra. While attending CIM, Mr. Smith was awarded the 2015 Helen C. Webster Award for Outstanding Graduate Student. As a chamber musician, he has been coached by the Cavani, Juilliard, Shanghai, and Takács Quartets, and studied under Peter Salaff of the Cleveland Quartet. He has attended the Mimir Chamber Music Festival, the Round Top Festival Institute, and the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, Japan. Mr. Smith has performed under the acclaimed conductors, Franz Welser-Möst, Osmo Vänskä, and Valery Gergiev. Before joining the Baltimore Symphony, Mr. Smith was a member of the Akron and Canton Symphony Orchestras, acted as concertmaster for the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra, and has performed with The Cleveland Orchestra. In his free time, he enjoys traveling, reading, and playing golf.
Colin Sorgi, viola
American violist Colin Sorgi joined the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra viola section in 2018. Born and raised in San Antonio, Texas, Colin holds degrees from both the Peabody Conservatory and Indiana University studying violin and viola with renowned musicians Herbert Greenberg and Jaime Laredo. He has also worked extensively with violinist/violist Pinchas Zukerman. He made his solo debut at the Aspen Music Festival in 2012 and has since been heard as soloist and in recital on the stages of Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, the Chicago Cultural Center, Canada’s National Arts Centre and at the 2012 Naumburg International Competition, among others. In August 2015, Colin made his European debut at the prestigious Lucerne Festival in Switzerland giving the European premiere of the concerto “Forever and Ever” by Tod Machover (Musical America’s 2015 Composer of the Year) – a performance The Guardian (UK) hailed as having “unwavering conviction – subtle, striking and moving.”
Colin’s first commercial recording alongside pianist Jooeun Pak, released in October 2012 on the IUmusic label for the Latin American Music Center, featured premiere recordings of works by living Latin American composers and was a finalist for the 2012 Latin Grammy Nomination. Fanfare Magazine described the recording as “a tour de force of stamina, virtuosity and rhythmic precision.” From 2006 to 2016, Colin was the founder and artistic director of Baltimore's critically acclaimed SONAR new music ensemble, named Baltimore City Paper's “Best Classical Group” in 2014. Colin was also a frequently–commissioned composer whose works have been performed by orchestras and ensembles around the country and internationally.
An advocate of community engagement and arts education, Colin has held a number of staff, creative and teaching positions for the BSO’s OrchKids program since 2012. He has also worked as graphic designer and marketing consultant and for a number of arts organizations including OrchKids, the San Antonio Symphony, Lake George Music Festival, McDaniel Music Institute and the National Philharmonic, among others.
Ivan Stefanovic, violin
Ivan Stefanović was born in Belgrade, former Yugoslavia, and began his violin studies at the age of five. At age 16, he came to the United States to continue his education at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where he studied with David Cerone, Victor Danchenko, David Updegraff and Kathleen Winkler. He earned a Bachelor of Music degree in 1989 and an Artist Diploma in 1991, both with honors, from the Cleveland Institute of Music. In 2003, the Cleveland Institute of Music awarded him an Alumni Achievement Award “in recognition of outstanding accomplishments in the fields of Violin Orchestral and Chamber Music Performance.”
At the age of 21, Mr. Stefanović joined the second violin section of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra under David Zinman, moving up to a third chair position a year later. In 2004, Yuri Temirkanov gave him the title of Assistant Principal Second Violin. He was promoted to Associate Principal Second Violin by Marin Alsop in 2012.
As a soloist and chamber musician, Mr. Stefanović has won many first prizes in local and national competitions in Yugoslavia. He has performed numerous times as a soloist with the Baltimore Symphony and Baltimore Chamber Orchestras, as well as with the Symphony Orchestra of Radio and TV Belgrade, The Londontowne Symphony Orchestra, and the Columbia Orchestra. He has made live recordings for Radio and TV Belgrade, Radio Yugoslavia, and WCLV in Cleveland, in addition to giving numerous solo and chamber music recitals in Yugoslavia, Spain, and the United States. He has performed as a substitute in many American orchestras.
Mr. Stefanović is a member of the Clipper Mill String Quartet, baroque violinist in Pro Musica Rara, and former Principal Second Violin and Acting Concertmaster of Baltimore Chamber Orchestra. He is a co-founder and co-Artistic Director of Chamber Music by Candlelight, a series featuring BSO members. Mr Stefanović is on the faculty of the Preparatory Department of the Peabody Conservatory of Music and Baltimore School for the Arts, where he teaches violin, coaches chamber music, and conducts orchestra sectionals.
Wan Chi Su, piano
Pianist Wan-Chi Su has performed as a soloist and chamber musician in Asia, Europe, and throughout the United States. She has played major venues including Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in New York, Salle Cortot in Paris, and Taiwan National Concert Hall. In her appearance with the Post-Classical Ensemble in the Washington National Cathedral, her solo playing was praised by the American Scholar, “…played with sensitivity and imagination.”
In duo with cellist Ismar Gomes, Dr. Su has toured the United States, giving concerts in Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. Additionally, Dr. Su travels for the Piatigorsky Foundation, bringing music to unconventional venues, where there is typically less access to live classical concerts. Dr. Su is sought after for collaborations with venerated musicians, which have included members of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, violinist Hebert Greenberg, cellist Michael Kannen, baritone William Sharp, trumpeter Joe Burgstaller, pianists Seth Knopp and Benjamin Pasternack, and others. She has performed in masterclasses for renowned artists, including Leon Fleisher, Richard Goode, and Gil Kalish.
Dr. Su performs a wide range of repertoire, from Baroque, Classical, Romantic, 20TH century to Contemporary. She has premiered music by prominent active composers, such as Curt Cacioppo, William Weigel, and Aaron Malone; she has also enjoyed working with celebrated composers like George Walker, Aaron J. Kernis, Ying-Chen Kao, and others. Steeped in an array of styles, Dr. Su collaborates with dancers at the Peabody Institute (both performing and arranging music) and occasionally plays the organ for local churches. A dedicated educator, Dr. Su currently serves on the piano faculty of the Park School of Baltimore and maintains a private studio.
Decorated with numerous awards, Dr. Su won first prize in the Taiwan Cultural Cup Invitational Piano Competition. On the collegiate level, she won first prize in the Taiwan National Student Music Competition in Piano. She has also been a semi-finalist in the San Jose International Piano Competition, the Art of Duo Competition, and the Liszt-Garrison Duo Competition, and a finalist in the Harrison L. Winter Piano Concerto Competition. Further, she has been invited to numerous international music festivals, including the Taos School of Music, the Beethoven Institute, both the Icicle Creek Piano Festival and the Icicle Creek Chamber Music Festival, the NTSO International Piano Program in Taiwan, and the Paris Piano Program in France.
Born in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Dr. Su began piano lessons at age four. She earned a bachelor’s degree in piano, minoring in French horn, at the National Kaohsiung Normal University in Taiwan. She holds a Master of Music, a Graduate Performance Diploma, and a Doctor of Musical Arts from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University, studying primarily with Seth Knopp and Benjamin Pasternack. Dr. Su currently resides in Baltimore, Maryland, with her husband and cat. In her free time, she enjoys managing her cat’s Instagram account, in addition to taking Pilates class.
Agnes Tse, violin
It has been said that violinist Agnes Tse’s musical journey began in her baby stroller when she was transfixed by a performance of Herbert von Karajan conducting on TV. She had to wait until she was four before receiving a size 1/8 violin as a toy and the violin has been her closest companion ever since.
While recently completing her Master of Music degree at The Juilliard School as a student of Lewis Kaplan and Joel Smirnoff, within one remarkable two-week span, she worked with the London Symphony Orchestra under Sir Simon Rattle and was offered a position with the Baltimore Symphony under Marin Alsop.
A native of Hong Kong, Ms Tse has appeared as a soloist with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and the Pan Asia Symphony Orchestra. A participant of the New York String Orchestra Seminar at Carnegie Hall, she has been heard at the Music Academy of the West, Tanglewood Music Center, Bowdoin International Music Festival and the International Summer Academy, Mozarteum Universität Salzburg; where she studied with Pierre Amoyal and Zakhar Bron.
An avid chamber musician, she has appeared in Juilliard’s ChamberFest and London Symphony Orchestra’s Discovery Day where she performed in a string quartet with David Alberman, Principal Second Violin of the LSO. Her chamber music mentors include Emanuel Ax, Pamela Frank, Yo-Yo Ma and the Juilliard and Takács quartets. She has also performed with the two contemporary music ensembles at the Juilliard School, AXIOM and New Juilliard Ensemble.
Ms. Tse was a former Co-Concertmaster of the Juilliard Orchestra, Assistant Concertmaster of the Symphony in C and has been a substitute player at the New York Philharmonic and Princeton Symphony Orchestra. Outside of music, she enjoys walking around the streets of New York City to discover flea markets, antique stores, handmade gift shops, cafés and restaurants.