Philippe Tondre

Oboe
Born in 1989, Frenchman Philippe Tondre is one of the finest oboists of his generation. Prizewinner of all major oboe competitions (Prague, Sony Japan, Geneva, Gillet-Fox USA, Munich), he was awarded the Beethoven-Ring, becoming the first oboist ever to receive this honor. He performs as a soloist and chamber musician in all major halls. Principal oboe of the Philadelphia Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Europe; professor at the Curtis Institute of Music. He is head of R&D for Buffet Crampon. He joined SKO and Mito Chamber Orchestra from 2010.

Ricardo Morales

Clarinet
Ricardo Morales’s virtuosity and artistry as a soloist, chamber, and orchestral musician has been hailed in concert halls around the world. He joined the Philadelphia Orchestra as principal clarinet in 2003. Prior to this he was principal of the Met Opera Orchestra, a position he assumed at the age of 21. He has performed as principal with the NY Phil., Chicago Symphony, and as guest principal with the Berlin Phil. He is also principal with the SKO and Mito Chamber Orchestra. His debut solo recording, French Portraits, is available from Boston Records.

Marc Goldberg

Bassoon
Bassoonist Marc Goldberg is a member of the NY Woodwind Quintet, St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble, and principal bassoon of the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, American Ballet Theater, and NYC Opera. Solo appearances with the Brandenburg Ensemble, Mostly Mozart, American Symphony, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Saito Kinen Orchestra, and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Faculty: the Juilliard School PreCollege, New England Conservatory, Mannes College, the Hartt School, Bard College Conservatory, and NYU.

Jacques Zoon

Flute
Multiple-prize winner Jacques Zoon played in the European Community Youth Orchestra with Abbado, Dorati, Solti, Bernstein. He was principal flute in Residentie Orkest, Royal Concertgebouw, Chamber Orch. of Europe, Boston Symphony Orchestra; substitute principal flute in Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. He teaches at Haute école de musique Geneva and Reina Sofía School of Music. Since 2003, he is principal flute in the Lucerne Festival Orchestra. He plays soloist and chamber music internationally and invented a new key system improving intonation of the flute.

Max Werner

Oboe / English Horn
Max Werner studied at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris with Jacques Tys and at the Musikhochschule in Hannover with Klaus Becker. In 2009–10 he was principal oboe in the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra, and since 2011 has been principal English horn in the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin. He also performs regularly with: the NDR Elbphilharmonie-Orchester in Hamburg, the Bayerischen Staatsoper in Munich, the Orchestre philharmonique de Radio France, the Deutschen Oper Berlin, the Bamberger Symphoniker, the Staatskapelle Dresden.

Julia Pilant

Horn
Julia Pilant is the assistant principal horn of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and a horn instructor at Bard College Conservatory of Music. In addition to playing guest principal horn for Saito Kinen Orchestra, Tokyo Opera Nomori music festivals, and Mito Chamber Orchestra, she is a guest artist with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and has participated in the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Affinis Music Festival (Nagaoka), Classical Tahoe, Mainly Mozart, and La Jolla Music Society SummerFest.

Federico Agostini

Violin
Born in Italy. Has performed in world-class venues as I Musici concertmaster from 1986, been invited as a soloist to international music festivals and to collaborate with prominent musicians. Formed D’Amici String Quartet with Yosuke Kawasaki, James Creitz, and Sadao Harada in 2004. Taught at Staatliche Hochschule für Musik, Jacobs School of Music, and Eastman School of Music. In 2016, was guest professor at Tokyo University of the Arts. He is visiting professor at Aichi University of the Arts since 2019 and Senzoku Gakuen College of Music.

Mazumi Tanamura

Viola
Born in Kyoto. 1977 Geneva Intl. Music Competition Viola Div. 2nd prize; 30th Arima Prize; 2020 Kyoto Culture Award. Engaged by R. Muti as principal of Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. Was soloist at Yomiuri Nippon and solo principal at NHK symphony orchestras. Soloist with YNSO, NHKSO, Tokyo Philharmonic, Sapporo Symphony, and Orchestre de chambre Jean-François Paillard. Now specially-appointed principal at Tokyo Metropolitan and solo principal at Kyoto symphony orchestras. Prof. at Tokyo College of Music, part-time prof. at Toho Gakuen College.

Sadao Harada

Cello
Studied with H. Saito from age 11 and graduated from Toho Gakuen College. Also studied at Juilliard. Won the 33rd Music Competition of Japan. Founding member of ARD Music Competition winner and globally-acclaimed Tokyo String Quartet 1969–99. Performs worldwide with D’Amici String Quartet formed in 2004. After teaching at Yale Univ. and Staatliche Hochschule für Musik, is now specially-appointed prof. at Ueno Gakuen University and instructs at the S. Ozawa Music Academy, the S. Ozawa Intl. Academy Switzerland, Ozawa Intl. Chamber Music Academy Okushiga.

Hiroshi Kato

Piano
Tokyo University of the Arts alumnus. 1990 Geneva Intl. Music Competition 3rd place; studied at Liszt Academy and in Cologne. Appeared with the Hungarian Natl. Phil., Budapest Phil., Bulgarian Natl. Radio and Helsingborg symphony orchestras, on national public Hungarian TV, ORF, BBC, Télévision Suisse Romande, in Wiener Festwochen, Limousin Intl. Chamber Music Festival, and Prague Spring and March Music Days intl. festivals. Performs as soloist and chamber musician and in recordings. 2019 Agency for Cultural Affairs Natl. Arts Festival grand prize winner.