Festival Artists

ETHAN SLOANE, clarinet
Artistic Director of the Music Festival
Mr. Sloane, a prominent performer, teacher, and arts administrator, is co-founder of the Music Festival. He is a prize-winner in numerous competitions, and has been an artist-participant at the Marlboro Music Festival. He has toured extensively in the U.S. as well as China. He serves on the clarinet and chamber music faculty of Boston University’s College of Fine Arts.

 JAMES KIDD, piano
Executive Director of the Music Festival
Mr. Kidd, co-founder of the Music Festival, was pianist in Ralph Shapey’s Contemporary Chamber Players in Chicago and in the Buffet Trio for 21 years. His deep interest in Hungarian music led to study of the magyar bagpipe and peasant flute. He is Barger Professor of Music at Hampden-Sydney College.

ARTURO DELMONI, violin & viola
Mr. Delmoni’s distinctive playing style embodies the golden age of violin playing, reflecting his study with Nathan Milstein and Jascha Heifitz. A frequent soloist and recitalist in the U.S. and abroad, he also performs with illustrious chamber music colleagues, and at major festivals. His discography of diverse repertoire has received prestigious awards and critical praise.

JEREMY DENK, piano
Winner of the Young Concert Artists International Auditions, Andrew Wolf Chamber Music Award, and a coveted Avery Fisher Career Grant, Mr. Denk has a highly-acclaimed career as soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician. He is a frequent guest artist at major music festivals and with leading string quartets, and participated in “Musicians From Marlboro.”

JULES ESKIN, cello
At sixteen, Mr. Eskin joined the Dallas Symphony. Later, he became a Naumburg Foundation award-winner, a participant in the Marlboro Music Festival, and principal cellist of the Cleveland Orchestra under George Szell. He then became principal cellist of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, a post he still holds. He is also a member of the renowned Boston Symphony Chamber Players.

SEMYON FRIDMAN, cello
Mr. Fridman, twice winner of the Concert Artists Guild International Competition in New York and selected by Musical America as “outstanding artist of the year,” is a sought-after concerto soloist and recitalist. He has been a frequent guest artist with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. He was featured in Baton, a PBS documentary, with Leon Fleisher and Virgil Thomson.

RANDALL HODGKINSON, piano
Mr. Hodgkinson, winner of the International American Music Competition for pianists, appears frequently as recitalist and as soloist with major orchestras. With Boston's Musica Viva, he recorded on the Nonesuch label. His individual recordings have received exceptional reviews. He serves on the piano faculty of the New England Conservatory and the Longy School of Music.

 Shanghai String Quartet,
Weigang Li, violin, Yi-Wen Jiang, violin, Honggang Li, viola, Nicholas Tzavaras, cello

Since an immensely successful New York debut in 1987, critics and public alike now place the Shanghai Quartet in the highest echelon of the international string quartet world. The quartet appears annually in major American cities and follows an extensive international itinerary. Its recordings consistently receive the highest praise from critics. Recently, it became quartet-in-residence at Montclair State University.

Music: Tema con Vaiazioni: Allegretto by Ethan Sloane, clarinet; Susan Salm, cello; Daniel Epstein, piano

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