Summer Program Artists
Main Locations: Temple University, Philadelphia Campus; Haverford College, Haverford Campus; and others!
Master Classes: these exclusive classes will be taught by the following world-renowned artists...
Elmira Darvarova, Violin
GRAMMY®-nominated, award-winning (Gold Medal at the Global Music Awards in 2017 and 2018) and a concert violinist since the age of four, Elmira Darvarova caused a sensation, becoming the first ever (and so far only) woman-concertmaster in the history of the Metropolitan Opera, where she has performed with the greatest conductors of our time. She can be heard on numerous CDs (including the world premiere recording of Vernon Duke's violin concerto with the Vienna Radio Symphony, and a CD with music by René de Castéra, named a “Record of the Year” in 2015 by MusicWeb International). Appearing on the stages of five continents, she has performed concertos with many European and American orchestras, and chamber music with Janos Starker, Gary Karr, Pascal Rogé, Vassily Lobanov. A documentary film about her was shown on European television. She is Jury President of several chamber music competitions in Europe and Director of the New York Chamber Music Festival. Praised by The Strad for her “intoxicating tonal beauty and beguilingly sensuous phrasing" and "silky-smooth voluptuous tone”, she was featured in a Gramophone Magazine article.
Arturo Delmoni, Violin
Arturo Delmoni is one of the most celebrated violinists of his generation. His remarkably distinctive playing embodies the romantic warmth that was the special province of the great virtuosi of the golden age of violin playing. Yo Yo Ma describes Delmoni as “an enormously gifted musician and an impeccable violinist. His playing style is unique, and his gorgeous sound is reminiscent of that of great violinists from a bygone era.” Glenn Dicterow, long time concertmaster of the NY Philharmonic, says “Delmoni’s playing always goes right to the heart, and his charisma is irresistible.”
Delmoni’s stylish, elegant interpretations of classical masterpieces have earned him critical acclaim in the US and abroad. Alan Heatherington of The American Record Guide wrote, “The growing discography of Arturo Delmoni testifies to a musician who must possess an artistic soul of exceptional beauty.” Richard Dyer of the Boston Globe wrote, “It’s hard to imagine how the violin could be much better played than Delmoni did - he plays with astonishing speed, lightness, fluency and sweetness of tone.” And after a recent performance of the Beethoven Concerto with the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra of Boston, James Lowe from the Times Argus of Vermont wrote, “In this day of cookie-cutter playing - all flash but little substance - Delmoni’s performance was a ray of sunshine - a personal and beautiful statement, expertly executed, of history’s greatest violin concerto.”
Delmoni made his debut at Carnegie Hall at age 14 playing the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto with the Little Orchestra Society under Thomas Scherman. Since then he has been soloist with major orchestras throughout the country including those of St. Louis, Dallas, Los Angeles, Kansas City, and many others. He has been a frequent soloist in Boston with the Boston Pops, the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra, and the Boston Philharmonic. He has given recitals throughout the US, as well as Japan and Hong Kong. For three months out of the year, he holds the distinguished position of concertmaster of the NYC Ballet.
Yeou-Cheng Ma, violin
Dr. Yeou-Cheng Ma collaborated with the Lark Quartet, cellists Hai Ye Ni and Yo-Yo Ma, violinist Stephanie Chase, and has performed in chamber music concerts with faculty and friends of the Children's Orchestra at the Alice Tully and Merkin Hall, the United Nations, the 92nd Street Y, the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in Manhattan, Wave Hill, and toured Europe, Asia and the United State with the Dadap Ma Duo. A graduate of Radcliffe & Harvard Medical School, she works with children with developmental disorders in the Bronx at the Kennedy Center of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, teaches violin, viola and chamber music with the Children's Orchestra Society, and lectures internationally on music and healing.
Born in Paris to Chinese parents, Yeou-Cheng Ma gave her first public performance at age seven, and played piano with her brother Yo-Yo Ma for over a decade. She was winner of the French National Competition "Royaume de la Musique" and played Mendelssohn Concerto with the Denver Symphony Orchestra at the age of 10. Her major violin teachers were her father, Dr. H. T. Ma, Firmin Touche, Koji Toyoda and Arthur Grumiaux. Her work as Executive Director of the Children's Orchestra Society has been recognized by St. Joseph's College in West Hartford, with a doctorate in humanities honoris causa, the New York Public Advocate Award for leadership and advocacy for Asian American Youth, and the Francis Riker Davis Award from the Brearley School for outstanding community service.
Alexander Peskanov, Piano
Alexander Peskanov, concert pianist, composer and master teacher, emigrated to the United States in 1973. A graduate of the Juilliard School, Peskanov made his orchestral debut under the baton of Mstislav Rostropovich, and has since traveled the world performing, and spreading the great traditions of the Russian Piano School. The author's series of six books, "The Russian Technical Regimen for the Piano" and video series "In Search of Sound" share all the secrets of Russian piano technique including weight-produced sound, flying finger technique, and a wide range of exercises, practiced by Rachmaninov, Prokofiev and other piano giants of the Russian School.
"This brilliant pianist can create incredible excitement and knows how to please a crowd," reported The Washington Post when reviewing Alexander Peskanov’s Kennedy Center performance of Rachmaninoff’s Third Concerto. He has since appeared as soloist with numerous orchestras including: National, Baltimore, St. Louis, Houston, Utah, Richmond Symphonies, and internationally with London Symphony Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra, Polish Chamber Philharmonic and Hong Kong Philharmonic. In recent seasons, Alexander Peskanov, critically acclaimed as a “distinctive soloist” by New Yorker Magazine, has made concert appearances in Russia, Poland, including the Leonid Kogan and Elizabeth Gilels Festival at the Moscow Conservatory, and the Sopot International Music Festival, in a performance of Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concert with the Polish Chamber Philharmonic. He also appeared at Carnegie Weill Recital Hall,Yale University and Bargemusic in New York, performing an all Chopin recital.
Alexander Peskanov is also a successful composer of classical works, including piano solos, piano concertos and chamber music. He has written twelve concertos for young pianists, two of them, Concerto No. 1 for Piano and Strings (Hal Leonard) and “Spring Concerto” for Piano and Orchestra (Alfred Music) have been selected by the National Federation of Music Clubs for 2016–2020. Recently, Peskanov’s concertos have also received International recognition and have been premiered in Europe, Asia and South America, including Germany, the Czech Republic, Mexico, Columbia, Thailand and Hong Kong.
In October 2015, Alexander Peskanov performed in the Gala Concert dedicated to “Autism and Musical Education” at Carnegie Weill Recital Hall. The concert program also featured his Piano Concerto No.5. Peskanov’s “Spring Concerto” will be premiered at Carnegie Weill Recital Hall, in the spring of 2017 by young soloists from four continents.
Alexander Peskanov’s recordings include a CD of his own piano compositions entitled "Spirits of the Wind – Peskanov Plays Peskanov" which has been featured in a satellite broadcast on National Public Radio stations. Other recordings include music by Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Liszt and Scott Joplin. Peskanov has recorded for Naxos Record’s American Classics series and Musical Heritage Society. He is the recipient of three special ASCAP awards.
Gerald Robbins, Piano
Gerald Robbins has performed throughout the world in virtually every major music center including New York, London, Paris, Amsterdam, Bonn, Munich, Athens, Frankfurt, St. Petersburg, Belgrade, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Rio de Janeiro, and Tokyo. In November 2016, Mr. Robbins was a recipient of Armstrong Chamber Concerts’ Lifetime Achievement Award with the following dedication: “This award is for decades of musical-artistic excellence in concert performances with Armstrong Chamber Concerts and Violinist-Founder Helen Armstrong.”
He has appeared with major orchestras including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, London Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic, BBC Symphony, and its affiliates, London Mozart Players, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, and the Portland Chamber Orchestra, with such conductors as Zubin Mehta, Sir Neville Marriner, Edouard van Remoortel, Harry Blech, Okku Kamu, Jorge Mester, Lawrence Foster, Kenneth Klein, Kypros Markou, Yaacov Bergman, and Louis Fremaux.
Gerald Robbins has received critical acclaim for his solo recordings on the London-Decca, Genesis, Orion, MSR Classics, Bridge, and Black Box labels, among others. His world premiere Genesis recordings of Litolff and Reinecke concerti, performed in collaboration with the Monte Carlo Opera Orchestra conducted by Edouard van Remoortel, elicited such praise as "Gerald Robbins's technical prowess is phenomenal", "a
keyboard voice of true eloquence", "a first class bravura performance." As a chamber musician, M. Robbins collaborated with many eminent musicians such as violinists Nathan Milstein, Aaron Rosand, Pinchas Zukerman, Ruggiero Ricci, Mark Peskanov, and others. He is also an conductor and co-founder with Kenneth Klein, of the Westside Symphony Orchestra of Los Angeles now known as the Beverly Hills Symphony.
Regular Classes
Aleksandr Kislitsyn, Violin
Born in Omsk, Russia in a family of musicians, Aleksandr began to play the violin at the age of five under the tutelage of Professor Muralev, an Honored Artist of the Russian Federation and the concertmaster of the Omsk Symphony Orchestra. As the winner of a number of national and international competitions, including First Prize at the Jyvaskyla International Competition 2011 in Finland and numerous awards from prestigious Russian organizations, Aleksandr has concertized throughout Russia as a soloist with various chamber and symphony orchestras. In 2009, Aleksandr toured Finland as a member of a Novosibirsk “Bright Bows” ensemble, and was assistant concertmaster of the International Symphony Orchestra that took part in an International Forum Russia–Asia in Indonesia in 2011 and in Thailand in 2012. That same year, he graduated cum laude from Novosibirsk Conservatory (under Professor Marina Kuzina-Koifman) where he was the concertmaster of the Symphony Orchestra for several years. He has participated and performed at various summer festivals, including most recently the Mozarteum International Summer Academy in Salzburg. Prior to his arrival to the United States, he was the leader of a string quartet, which premiered compositions of contemporary Russian composers. Aleksandr received his Masters degree from the Temple University Center for the Arts, where he studied with Eduard Schmieder (2012–2016), and served many times as the concertmaster of the Temple University Symphony Orchestra. He currently performs in chamber and solo music recitals in the Philadelphia area.
Julia Meynert, Violin
Born in Germany, Julia Meynert started playing the violin at the age of 5. When she was 14, her whole family moved to Mannheim so Julia could continue her musical education at the Music University of Mannheim with Prof. Roman Nodel (2000-2006). From 2006-2010 she studied at the Vienna Conservatory in the class of Prof. Pavel Vernikov. While living and studying in Vienna, Julia also studied at the "Scuola di Musica di Fiesole" in Italy with Pavel Vernikov (2005-2007) and at the "Scuola di Musica di Mantova" with Oleksandr Semchuk (2007-2008), commuting between Austria and Italy. After moving to New York in 2010, she studied with Prof.Yi-Wen Jiang from the Shanghai Quartet and Prof.Masao Kawasaki. Julia performed in Germany, Austria, Italy, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Switzerland, U.S., Ukraine and France. As a soloist she played with the "Philharmonic Orchestra of Baden-Baden", the "KKO orchestra" (Kurpfaelzisches Kammerorchester"), the "Academic Symphony Orchestra of Kiev" and the "Jackson Heights Orchestra". The concert halls where Julia performed include the Carnegie Hall, Steinway Hall, the "Golden Hall" of the "Musikverein" in Vienna (Austria), NJPAC, the "Thuermer Hall" in Bochum (Germany), the "Shevchenko Theatre" in Chernigov (Ukraine), the "Cultural Centre" in Belgrade (Serbia), the "Milwaukee Theatre" and others.
Inesa Sinkevych, Piano
Inesa Sinkevych is a Ukrainian born Israeli concert pianist, currently living in New York. Her recent CD, Schubert Piano Works was released in 2012. She has performed as a soloist with the Israeli Philharmonic, Minnesota Orchestra, Gulbenkian Symphony, Gran Canaria Philharmonic Orchestras, as well as solo recitals in such venues as the Purcell Room at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall and Merkin Hall in New York, Palau de la Musica Catalana in Barcelona. She was awarded top and special prizes at the Arthur Rubinstein International Master Piano Competition in Tel Aviv, Piano-e-Competition in Minneapolis, Vianna da Motta International Piano Competition in Portugal, among others. She received her DMA from the Manhattan School of Music.
Anna Kislitsyna, piano
Pianist and harpsichordist Anna Kislitsyna made her solo debut at age 10 with the Omsk Symphony Orchestra in Russia. She hails from a long and noble tradition of music making in Russia with both of her parents and her brother being professional musicians.
From 2002 to 2012, she served as a soloist in residence of the Omsk Symphony where she performed multiple piano concerti and chamber music recitals. Other accomplishments include prizes in the Lautard-Chevtchenko Competition in France, International Chamber Music Competition in Finland, Los Angeles International Liszt Competition, IV Chopin International Piano Competition in Connecticut, and the All Russia Piano Competition among others. Anna has appeared in such concert halls as Carnegie Hall in New York, Kimmel Center in Philadelphia, Rachmaninov Hall of Moscow Conservatory, The Cortot Hall of Paris Conservatory, Novosibirsk Philharmonic Hall, and numerous concert stages in the United States, Europe, and Russia. As a chamber musician, she performs with Trio Casals with which she just recorded her second CD on the Parma Label with a premier set for Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. She has also performed many recitals with various principal chairs of the Philadelphia Orchestra. Since 2017 Anna is an official collaborative artist of Ictus International Music Composition. Prior to coming to the United States, Anna served four years as a professor of piano at the Novosibirsk Conservatory in Russia, one of the leading music schools with an acceptance rate of under 5%. Additionally, she taught
Julia served as a judge at the following music competitions: The "Olympic Challenge Competition" (March 2012, Carnegie Hall), the "Crescendo Competition" (Dec2013, Carnegie Hall), and the "Junior Peace and Music Ambassador Competition" (April 2018, Opera America, NY). Julia Meynert took part in master classes by Aaron Rosand, Zahar Bron, Dora Schwarzberg, Arnold Steinhardt ,Shmuel Ashkenazi , Salvatore Accardo, Mauricio Fuchs, Christoph Wergzyn, Rainer Kussmaul, Julian Rachlin, Boris Kucharsky, Thomas Brandis, Oleksandr Semchuk, Roman Nodel, Yi-Wen Jiang, Weigang Li, Honggang Li, Peter Wiley, Nicholas Tzavaras, Alexander Vinnitsky, Ulf Hoelscher, Amiram Ganz ,Cho-Liang Lin , Pavel Vernikov, and Viktor Tretjakov. She performs in a concert scene with pianist Riko Higuma in the movie "Love is Strange" by Ira Sachs which includes Hollywood actors Marisa Thomei, John Lithgow and Alfred Molina. In July 2013 Julia Meynert was invited to perform at the renowned "Lockenhaus Festival” in Austria. Julia was the violin faculty at "The Performing Arts Conservatory of New York" from 2014-2017 and " The Palisades School of Music" in NJ from 2012-2017. In Feb.and April 2017, Julia performed at the radio station "Las Tres Jotas" in New York with pianist Riko Higuma. She also regularly performs with pianist Gerald Robbins. In summer 2017, film producer Alexander Newekla shot the documentary "Time" about Julia and Mr.Robbins in Austria, where they perform works by Kreisler, Grieg, Beethoven, Schumann and R.Strauss.
five years in the Novosibirsk Special Music College which is one of three professionally oriented music schools in Russia for students ages 4 to 18. She is currently on the faculty at the Nelly Berman School of Music and the Philadelphia International Music Festival. Her students have won awards that include 1st prize in the XII International Seoul Competition; 1st prize in the V Chopin International Piano Competition in Connecticut; 2nd prize in the Pennsylvania State Music Teacher’s National Association Competition; performing as a soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra as a winner of the Greenfield Competition; 2nd prize in the VII International Rachmaninov Piano Competition in Russia, and 3rd Prize in the Bluthner International Piano Competition in Russia. During Anna’s teaching career she has been invited to give master classes and judge international piano competitions. Her students have performed with various symphony orchestras, including Philadelphia Orchestra, Kiev Symphony Orchestra, Seoul Symphony Orchestra, and Novosibirsk Symphony Orchestra. Her students are winners of international piano competitions in Italy, Austria, China, Korea, Poland, Ukraine, Switzerland, France, UK, USA, and Russia. They annually perform in Carnegie Hall.
In 2018 Anna completed her DMA at Temple University (PA) with the dissertation on Alfred Schnittke’s Concerto for Piano and Strings. She is from the studio of Dr. Charles Abramovic on Piano, Dr. Joyce Lindorff on Harpsichord, and Pr. Lambert Orkis on chamber music. Prior to her studies at Temple, Anna completed her Postgraduate Course-work in Piano Performance at the Novosibirsk State Conservatory in Russia with the dissertation on Olivier Messiaen’s “Vingt regards sur l'Enfant-Jésus,” where she also earned a Master Degree and Bachelor Degree with her primary teachers being Pr. Larisa Smeshko and Pr. Mary Lebenzon. Additionally, she holds a Master Degree from West Chester University where she studied with Dr. Igor Resnianski.
Jonathan Kieth, Composition/Arrangment/Piano
Jonathan Keith is an award-winning pianist, composer and orchestrator whose young, yet compelling voice has led him to find success within both the commercial and concert music communities. Since graduating from USC’s prestigious screen scoring program, Jonathan has had opportunities to compose for BMG productions and Bron Animation in addition to working with orchestrator Conrad Pope on scores composed by both Conrad (The Boss Baby, additional music) and Academy Award-winning Alexandre Desplat (Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets and Isle of Dogs).
As a concert pianist, Jonathan has soloed with orchestras and performed for international audiences. As a way to bridge his own classical performance background with commercial music production, he became the executive music producer of a
company called AURAX where he and his team created technology which enables musicians to play the classical concerto repertoire with a virtual orchestra. Jonathan received his other degrees in piano performance from Brigham Young University and University of Michigan. Jonathan has participated in the 2013 International high Score Festival for New Music in Pavia, Italy, the 2015 NYU ASCAP Film Scoring Workshop, and was selected to participate in the 2017 ASCAP Film Scoring Workshop with Richard Bellis. Most recently was in the Thornton Board of Councilors Mentoring Program at USC where he mentored with Walt Disney Executive Music Producer, Chris Montan.