Sponsors
Jutta Puchhammer-Sédillot, viola
The Viennese-born violist Jutta Puchhammer-Sédillot , former student of Siegfried Führlinger (Vienna) and Heidi Castleman (USA), is described as a violist of exceptional qualitity. She is full time professor of viola and chamber music at the Université de Montréal, Canada, as well as on the faculties of the Orford Music Festival (Quebec), the TTT Project (teach teachers teach) in Villaricca,Chile, the Meadowmount School of Music and the Sarasota International Music Festival (USA). She has taught at the at the Perlman Music Programm (PMP), the Heifetz International Music Institute (Virginia) and the North American Viola Insatitute (NAVI). She is reknown for her performances of rare post-romantic viola repertoire. and was principal viola of the Laval Symphonie Orchestra (Laval, Québéc) over 20 years. She has toured extensively as a soloist, recitalist, chamber musician and lecturer, giving masterclasses in the most prestigious schools and summer programms such as The Juilliard School of Music, The Curtis Institute , the Vienna University of Music (Austria), Conservatoire superieure de musique de Lyon
She was the host of the 36th International Viola congress held in Montreal , is president of the International Viola Society (IVS), and holds the Maurice Riley Prize for International achievement (2006) as well as the Canadian Life achievement award (2022)as well as the Silver Clef Award (2019) highest distinction of the IVS.
Her interest goes to rediscovering late romantic music written for the viola, real gems of which many have been recorded on solo CDs (« Alto Romantic Fantasies" ECCD 2060, "German Romantic works » FACD018).
Her latest discoveries focus on 27 « Pièces de Concours", of which 18 have been recorded by Jutta on the Navona Level as well as 13 of them edited in 3 volumes by the Schott edition, winner of the best Editions Prize 2017, discribed as« Rare fin –de-siècle competition pieces providing a treasure trove of viola repertoire « .
She was the host of the 36th International Viola congress held in Montreal , is president of the International Viola Society (IVS), and holds the Maurice Riley Prize for International achievement (2006) as well as the Canadian Life achievement award (2022)as well as the Silver Clef Award (2019) highest distinction of the IVS.
Her interest goes to rediscovering late romantic music written for the viola, real gems of which many have been recorded on solo CDs (« Alto Romantic Fantasies" ECCD 2060, "German Romantic works » FACD018).
Her latest discoveries focus on 27 « Pièces de Concours", of which 18 have been recorded by Jutta on the Navona Level as well as 13 of them edited in 3 volumes by the Schott edition, winner of the best Editions Prize 2017, discribed as« Rare fin –de-siècle competition pieces providing a treasure trove of viola repertoire « .
Diliana Momtchilova, cello
Cellist Diliana Momtchilova is active as a soloist, chamber and orchestral musician, as well as a pedagogue. She has performed extensively in Europe, the United States, and Canada. Chief among her numerous awards and honors are first prize at the Washington International Competition and winner of the Juilliard School Haydn D Major Cello Concerto Competition, followed by a performance as a soloist on a Stradivarius cello with the Juilliard School Orchestra at the prestigious Lincoln Center.
While living in New York, Ms. Momtchilova served as a Professor of Cello and Chamber Music at the Mannes College of Music, Extension Division, and cellist of the celebrated piano trio Alaria, a trio that maintains a tri-annual concert series at Carnegie Weill Hall and has many well-received CDs to its credit. She holds Master and Doctoral degrees from the Juilliard School, which she attended on a full scholarship under the tutelage of Harvey Shapiro and Zara Nelsova. As an orchestral musician, Ms. Momtchilova has worked with such orchestras as the New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Royal Opera Hou5se in London, and Vancouver Symphony among others. She is currently living in Quebec City,3 where she is a member of Orchestre symphonique de Québec.
Jeffrey Lastrapes, cello
Cellist Jeffrey Noel Lastrapes is an active soloist, chamber musician and teacher having performed and taught in Europe, South America, Asia, and in every region of the US. He holds degrees from the Curtis Institute of Music and the Juilliard School where he studied with Orlando Cole and Harvey Shapiro respectively.
In 2009, Mr. Lastrapes gave his New York Debut at Merkin Hall to critical acclaim.
"An excellent cellist with consummate technical mastery, Lastrapes is a seasoned performer whose strong, outgoing personality lets him shape the music on a big canvas with bold colors and contours." Edith Eisler New York Concert Review.
He has recorded for New World Records and Centaur Records. In 2020, Mr. Lastrapes released a video production of the Complete Suites for Solo Cello by JS Bach. Recordings of sonatas by Rachmaninoff and Chopin, and Duos for violin and cello by Ravel and Kodaly, both on Centaur, have also recently been released as well as his print edition of the Six Suites for Solo Cello by Bach (BCMP Ltd).
Mr. Lastrapes is a past recipient of the Texas Tech Alumni Association “New Faculty Award” and in 2017 was honored to be the August commencement speaker. He shared his journey as a visually impaired musician.
Mr. Lastrapes has participated in major summer festivals around the world including the Evian, Hot Springs, Peninsula (WI), Bay View (MI), and Bellingham (WA) and concert series such as BachFest in Cochabamba, Bolivia, Bach in Buffalo, sponsored by the Buffalo Philharmonic (NY), FebruaryFest, (WI) and Music at the Russell House (CT), among many others.
He is currently Professor of Cello at Texas Tech University and has been on the faculty of the Interlochen Arts Camp since 1996. In 2019, he co-founded the Montenegro Cello Festival and Course which takes place during June each year in Podgorica, Montenegro and the surrounding cities.
Mr. Lastrapes performs on a Francesco Ruggieri cello dated 1684 and a Paul Schuback cello dated 1987.
View: The Bach Cello Suites on YouTube
Website: www.JeffreyLastrapes.com
Tom Landschoot, cello
Praised for his expressive, virtuoso and poetic music making, Belgian cellist Tom Landschoot enjoys an international career as a concert and recording artist and pedagogue. He has toured North America, Europe, South America and Asia and has appeared on national radio and television worldwide.
His solo career started after taking a top prize at the International Cello Competition ‘Jeunesse Musicales’ in 1995 in Bucharest, Romania. He has performed with the National Orchestra of Belgium, the Frankfurt Chamber Orchestra, Tempe Symphony, Prima la Musica, the Symphony of the Southwest, Shieh Chien Symphony Orchestra, Scottsdale Philharmonic, Flemish Symphony Orchestra, Kaohsiung City Symphony, Loja Symphony Orchestra in Ecuador and the Orchestra of the United States Army Band and has appeared at Barge Music, Park City, Santa Barbara, Mammoth Lakes, Eureka, Utah, Red Rock, Park City, Manchester, Fresno, Madeline Island, Waterloo, Killington and Texas Music Festivals. His recordings are available on Summit, Organic, Kokopelli, ArchiMusic and Centaur Records.
Since 2013, he is a member of the Rossetti Quartet. He has also performed with the Takacs, Dover and Arianna Quartets and members of the Cleveland, Vermeer, Tokyo, and Orion Quartets. Past collaborations include Lynn Harrell, Peter Wiley, Gilbert Kalich, Cho-Liang Lin, Martin Beaver and Martin Katz. An avid promoter of music of our time, he has commissioned and premiered over 20 new works for cello, including a concerto by Dirk Brosse. Resent engagements included several concerts with the Symphony Orchestra of Flanders with a new concerto of Belgian composer Frank Nuyts.
Tom Landschoot has been involved in interdisciplinary public service projects through his music, such as raising funds and awareness for the need of building an orphanage and hospital in Tamil Nadu, India. As part of this humanitarian project, Landschoot was featured in a documentary film of a cellist performing across India, integrating photography, culinary, journalism and original music compositions.
He has served as a faculty member at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, Castleman Quartet Program in New York, Killington Music Festival, Meadowmount School of Music, Foulger International Music Festival, High Peaks, Madeline Island, Manchester, Montecito and Texas Music Festival. Landschoot has given master classes at conservatories and universities throughout Asia, the U.S. and Europe and South America.
His students can be found among the ranks of national and international competition winners, occupy principal positions in major orchestras and teach at Universities around the US and abroad.
Tom Landschoot is currently Professor of Cello at Arizona State University, one of the top schools of music in the United States. Prior to joining the music faculty at Arizona State University, Landschoot taught at the University of Michigan. He is the recipient of ASU’s prestigious Herberger College of Fine Arts Distinguished Teaching Award. Landschoot has served on the faculty of the Shieh Chien University in Taipei since 2008.
Tom Landschoot is the founder and the Artistic Director of the Sonoran Chamber Music Festival (www.sonoranchambermusic.com), as well as the President of the Arizona Cello Society.
He Performs on a cello by Tomaso Balestrieri (1776) and a Dominique Pecatte bow.
Roman Kosarev, viola
Roman Kosarev is a faculty member at Oakland University and is the Principal Violist of the Windsor Symphony Orchestra. In the past few years, he has also served as a principal at the Greater Lansing Symphony, Midland Symphony, Battle Creek Symphony, and Blue Lake Festival Orchestras. He actively performs with numerous orchestras in Michigan and Ontario, including London, Kingston, Grand Rapids, and Kalamazoo Symphonies.
A native of Russia, Dr. Kosarev pursued his Bachelor and Master of Music degrees at the Nizhniy Novgorod State Conservatory, and his Doctorate in Viola Performance at the Michigan State University.
Dr. Kosarev has played as a soloist with the Windsor, Oakland, and Salisbury Symphonies, Oakland University Chamber Orchestra, and Blue Lake Festival Orchestra. He is an active performer at numerous chamber music series, including Magisterra Soloists, the Scarab Club, Verdehr and Friends, the Fourth Wall, and others. With solo and chamber recitals, Dr. Kosarev performed in the United States, Canada, Russia, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Austria, and Greece.