Nathan Cole, violin and music director, this year accepted a prestigious position as First Associate Concertmaster with the highly acclaimed Los Angeles Philharmonic. He moved to LA from having played in the first violin section of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for many years. A native of Lexington, he has won numerous honors including a top prize at the International Violin Competition of Sion-Valais. He studied at the Curtis Institute of Music, where his teachers included Pamela Frank, Felix Galimir, Ida Kavafian and Jaime Laredo. Cole’s chamber music appearances have included the Marlboro Music Festival and, for the past seven years, the Mimir Festival in Fort Worth, Texas.

Akiko Tarumoto, violin, member of the first violin section of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, was a member of the Los Angeles Philharmonic from 2000 to 2004. She received her Bachelor of Arts cum laude in English and American Literature from Harvard University in 1998 and her Master of Music from the Juilliard School in 2000, where she was a student of Glenn Dicterow. Ms. Tarumoto appeared as soloist with the LA Philharmonic and has been a featured performer on the Great Performers series at Lincoln Center. She has participated in the Aspen, Taos and Spoleto festivals. She appeared at these concerts in 2007, 2008, and 2009.

Alessio Bax, piano, is praised for creating “a ravishing listening experience” with his lyrical playing, insightful interpretations and dazzling facility. Since taking first prizes at the Leeds International Pianoforte Competition and Hamamatsu International Piano Competition in Japan, Bax has won audiences across the globe. He has appeared as soloist with over 85 orchestras worldwide, including the London Philharmonic, Dallas and Houston symphonies, and the NHK Symphony in Japan, and performed at London’s International Piano Series, Switzerland’s Verbier Festival, England’s Aldeburgh and Bath festivals, and Germany’s Ruhr Klavier-Festival. “Mr. Bax, who counts a 2009 Avery Fisher Career Grant among his numerous awards and accolades, is worth getting excited about,” noted the The New York Times. He is a member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s CMS Two.

Priscilla Lee, cello, is a 2005 Avery Fisher Career Grant recipient, and a winner of the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s prestigious Bronislaw-Kaper Award. She has appeared as soloist with the American Youth Symphony, the Crossroads Chamber Orchestra, and the Palisades Symphony. Lee studied with former Guarneri String Quartet cellist David Soyer at the Curtis Institute of Music, and at the Mannes College of Music with Timothy Eddy. She is a member of Lincoln Center’s Chamber Music Society Two for the 2006-2008 seasons and is a founding member of Trio Cavatina, with pianist Ieva Jokubaviciute and violinist Harumi Rhodes.

Burchard Tang, viola, is a member of the viola section of the Philadelphia Orchestra. He studied with Choong-Jin Chang, principal viola of the Philadelphia Orchestra. He attended the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied with Joseph de Pasquale, former principal violist of the Philadelphia Orchestra. As a chamber musician, Tang has appeared at many of the country’s top festivals, including Marlboro, Ravinia, Music from Angel Fire, Seattle and Caramoor. He is also on the faculty at Temple University, teaching viola and chamber music.

Andrew Bain, principal horn with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, is the guest artist for the 2012 concerts. Born and raised in Adelaide, Australia, and educated at the Elder Conservatorium of Music there, he continued his studies with Geoff Collinson in Sydney, Hector MacDonald in Vienna, and in 2003 completed a Graduate Diploma in Chamber Music under Will Sanders in Karlsruhe, Germany. Bain has collaborated with such artists as Martha Argerich, World Brass, and the Australian Art Orchestra. He is a founding member of the New Sydney Wind Quintet (2004-2010) and recently toured with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra throughout Europe. Bain has served Principal Horn of the Melbourne Chamber Orchestra since 2009, and joined the LA Phil in 2011.

Chris Rogerson, composer-in-residence, has works premiered this year at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D. C., Carnegie Hall and the Merkin Concert Hall in New York City,l and other concert arenas across the U.S. Born in 1988 in Amherst, New York, Rogerson started playing the piano at the age of two and the cello at eight. He graduated with a Bachelor’s degree at the Curtis Institute of Music, studying composition with Jennifer Higdon. He is currently pursuing a Master’s degree at Yale University studying composition with Aaron Jay Kernis and Martin Bresnick. Mr. Rogerson has participated in composition master classes with John Corigliano, Osvaldo Golijov, Michael Tilson Thomas, William Bolcom, Krystof Penderecki, and Christopher Theofanidis.