Musician

Piano

Pianist Marija Stroke, whose playing has been described by Strad Magazine as “music making of stature and substance”, has performed in chamber music, concerti and solo recitals in the United States, Canada, Europe, Russia, and Asia. She has played frequently at such music festivals as Chamber Music Northwest, Caramoor, the City of London Festival, La Jolla SummerFest, and the Mostly Mozart Festival. Ms. Stroke is co-artistic Director of the Garden City Chamber Music Society in Long Island, New York.

Ms. Stroke has performed with Joshua Bell, Mark Steinberg, Eugene Drucker, Raphael Hillyer, David Krakauer, David Shifrin, and conductors Ransom Wilson and Reinbert de Leeuw among many others. She has played with the Brentano, Miami, Daedalus, and Borromeo string quartets. She has appeared in concerts with The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, and at Wigmore, Carnegie, David Geffen, and Alice Tully Halls.

In 2015, Sony Classical released a recording of Bruce Adolphe’s Einstein’s Light, music for the film by Nickolas Barris, performed by violinist Joshua Bell and Marija Stroke. Ms. Stroke recorded Adolphe’s Turning, Returning with the Brentano String Quartet and Mark Steinberg for CRI. Stereophile praised the performances of Ms. Stroke and the Brentano String Quartet as “spectacularly heartfelt and colorful” She recorded the Grieg violin and piano sonatas with Curtis Macomber on Arabesque, and Do You Dream in Color? with Laurie Rubin on Bridge. Do You Dream in Color?, which includes music by Adolphe, Rodrigo and Fauré, was awarded “Critics’ Choice” by American Record Guide. Ms. Stroke collaborated with six other pianists, Josef Kalichstein, Orli Shaham, Orion Weiss, Bruce Adolphe, Fred Child, and Fabio Luisi, on a CD of Piano Puzzlers.

Marija Stroke is a founding member of the Apollo Trio, which has performed to critical acclaim in the United States and in Europe. In addition to frequent appearances at major American music festivals and on chamber music series throughout the United States, the trio has performed at prominent New York venues, including Caramoor, Bargemusic, Avery Fisher Hall, Weill Hall at Carnegie, and The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. The Apollo Trio was featured in The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s “Great Day in New York” Festival at Alice Tully Hall, and among their performances there also gave the New York premiere of David Schiff’s New York Nocturnes, and the world premiere of Bruce Adolphe’s Wind Across the Sky for piano trio and soprano. In 2011, David Schiff’s Borscht Belt Follies— written for the Apollo Trio, David Krakauer, David Taylor and Michael Sarin—was given its world premiere at Chamber Music Northwest’s Encore Series. The Apollo Trio has recorded music by Mendelssohn, Beethoven, Adolphe and Schiff and, most recently, the complete Dvorak Piano Trios (available on Amazon, Spotify, and iTunes).

Benny Kim, violin
Cathy Meng Robinson, violin
Scott Lee, viola
Keith Robinson, cello

For over twenty years, the Miami String Quartet has been one of America’s top-rank chamber ensembles. Highlights of recent seasons include performances in New York at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, the 92nd Street Y, and the Kennedy Center, as well as engagements in Philadelphia, Boston, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, New Orleans, San Francisco, Seattle, and St. Paul. International highlights include appearances in Bern, Cologne, Amsterdam, Istanbul, Lausanne, Montreal, Rio de Janeiro, Hong Kong, Taipei, and Paris. The Quartet has served as resident ensemble at the Kent/Blossom Music Festival, and has appeared at Chamber Music Northwest, Mostly Mozart, Ravinia, the Brevard Festival, Rutgers Summerfest, Music from Angel Fire, Virginia Arts Festival, and the festivals of La Jolla, Santa Fe, and Pensacola.

Formed in 1988, the Quartet has also won recognition as laureates of the 1993 Evian Competition, 1992 Concert Artists Guild Competition, 1991 London String Quartet Competition, and as the 1989 Grand Prize Winner of the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition. Winners of the 2000 Cleveland Quartet Award and Chamber Music Society Two ensemble of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center from 1999-2001, the Miami String Quartet has been in residence at Hugh A. Glauser School of Music at Kent State University since 2004.

The Miami String Quartet has commissioned and premiered works from (Bruce) Adolphe to (Ellen Taaffe) Zwilich – as well as Ricky Ian Gordon, Annie Gosfield, Philip Maneval, Roberto Sierra, Robert Starer, Augusta Read Thomas, Joan Tower, and Peteris Vasks. They have recorded music of Fauré, Saint-Saëns, Ginastera, and Vasks; their most recent recording comprises two quartets of Joan Tower for Naxos.

Viola

Scott Lee has established himself as one of the most exciting and unique violists. His exceptional musicality and virtuositic playing distinguish him as one of this generation’s quintessential artists. New York Times described his playing as “flawless technical resources combines them with an assured sense of musicianship, a remarkable and auspicious talent.” Also, hailed as “the superstar of his generation” by the String Magazine.

Winner of the 1996 Concert Artists Guild Competition, he became the youngest winner in the Competition’s 50 year history. Mr. Lee has been a top prize winner in the Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition, the William Primrose Viola Competition, and the Corpus Christi (TX) Young Artists Competition. He has appeared as soloist with numerous orchestras, including, the Kansas City Symphony, San Diego Symphony and L.A Chamber Orchestra. Other orchestral performances include the Longmont Philharmonic, and the International Sejong Soloists. In recital, he has performed at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall and Merkin Hall in New York, Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. Scott Lee has been a featured soloist at the International Hindemith Viola Festival and at the 22nd and 24th International Viola Congresses.

Scott Lee is also an extremely active chamber musician. In summer 2011, Mr. Lee joined the Miami String Quartet. Recent highlights of Mr. Lee’s chamber music concert schedule include performances at the El Paso Music Festival, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Chamber Music Northwest, OK Mozart Festival, Newport Chamber Music Festival, La Jolla Summerfest, Ravinia Festival, Savannah Music Festival, New York City’s Bargemusic, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Musicians from Marlboro, Merkin Concert Hall, and Taiwan’s National Concert Hall, Alice Tully Hall, The Gardner Museum in Boston and the Metropolitan Museum, the Marlboro Festival and in numerous chamber music venues across the United States. He has also collaborated with members of the Guarneri, Juilliard, Orion, and Miami String Quartets, and performed with members of the Beaux Arts and Mannes Piano Trios. His chamber music partners have included such renowned artists as Cho-Liang Lin, Nai-Yuan Hu, Gil Shaham, Hilary Hahn, Ralph Kirshbaum, David Soyer, Peter Wiley, and Gary Hoffman.

Mr. Lee joined Miami String Quartet and became the newest member of the quartet in 2011. The quartet has recorded for BMG records in their release of two string quartets by Alberto Ginastera and String Quartet No.1 and No.2 by Peteris Vasks which was dedicated and premiered by the Miami String Quartet.

Born in Taipei, Taiwan, Mr. Lee began his music studies on the violin at age eight studying with Chia-Rong Lin. He took up the viola at age thirteen, and came to the United States the next year to study at the Idyllwild Arts Academy in California, where his viola teacher was Donald McInnes and his violin teacher was Alice Schoenfield. He has studied with Michael Tree at the Curtis Institute of Music and at The Juilliard School where he studied with Paul Neubauer.

He is now Professor of Viola at the University of Missouri-Kansas City’s Conservatory of Music and a faculty member at the McGill International String Quartet Academy in Montreal.

Viola

Phillip Stevens, violist, is currently a member of the Colorado Symphony Orchestra and is Affiliate Professor of Viola at Metropolitan State University of Denver. In addition to joining the Colorado Symphony in 1996, Phillip has performed with the Rochester Philharmonic, the Ann Arbor Symphony, and the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra.

Phillip also teaches privately, and is active in educating youth through the programs of the Colorado Symphony, Up Close and Musical, and Friends of Chamber Music. Phillip formally began his musical education in his hometown of Kansas City, Missouri, went on to receive his Bachelor’s degree at the University of Michigan studying with Yitzhak Schotten, and completed graduate work at Northwestern University under Peter Slowik. During this time, he won first prize in the Viola division of the 1994 National ASTA Music Competition, and spent his summers studying at the Aspen Music Festival.

While in Chicago, Phillip’s chamber music career began as a founding member of the Sheridan Chamber Players. Currently, he participates annually in the Chinitimini Chamber Music Festival in Corvallis, Oregon, and is very active playing chamber music with various ensembles in the Denver area. In March 2010, Phillip performed in recital at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall as part of the DCINY Distinguished Concert Artist Series.