Yibin Li

yibinli.com

Yibin Li was born in Jiuquan, China, a small city near the Gobi Desert. When she was just 4 1/2, she began playing the violin under the guidance of her father. Just 7 years later, she left home to study at Xi’an Conservatory, where she remained until moving on to Shanghai Conservatory. Upon her graduation, she was appointed to the violin faculty, and taught in Shanghai for six years as a young member of the tenured faculty. At 25, she felt the need to continue her studies in the US and moved to New York, where she went on to earn two additional graduate degrees at The Juilliard School and Mannes School of Music. Her teachers have included Lewis Kaplan, Seymour Lipkin, Earl Carlyss, Peiwen Yuan and Xiaolong Liu.

Ms. Li has performed as a soloist with major symphonies in China and the US, including the Beijing National Symphony Orchestra, Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, Taipei Symphony Orchestra, Gaoxiong Symphony Orchestra, San Diego Symphony, Hunter Symphony and Syracuse Symphony Orchestra. She was the first violinist and founder of the Iris String Quartet, and the founder of French-American Ensemble, and has directed and played chamber music concerts in many New York City venues including Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Merkin Hall and Scandinavia House. In China, she traveled to over 20 cities performing both solo and chamber concerts in major performing arts centers.

Ms. Li performs and teaches regularly at summer music festivals including the Bowdoin International Music Festival and Bach Virtuoso Festival in Maine., MusicAlp International Academe, LaSalle Music Festival in France, Sesto Rocchi Chamber Music Festival in Italy and the Lake Lugano Chamber Music Festival in Switzerland.

Yibin Li is currently on the faculties of Mannes School of Music and The Juilliard School Pre-College Division, and is a visiting professor in China at the Xi’an Conservatory of Music and Beijing Central University for Normal Studies.

Philippe Muller

Born in Alsace, Philippe Muller was raised in both the French and German musical traditions that characterize that province. His early experiences opened his mind to varying cultures and lead him to a multi-faceted career. He performs and has recorded a wide range of repertoire, from the Bach Suites, through the music of living composers.

In 1970, Mr. Muller founded a Piano Trio with pianist Jacques Rouvier and Jean- Jacques Kantorow, violin, which was widely known to be one of Europe’s most venerated chamber music ensembles. He worked closely with Pierre Boulez’ Ensemble Intercontemporain, for seven years, giving him an understanding of and an affinity for the music of our time. He continues to be active in commissioning new cello works and premiers of new music and performs frequently as soloist and in various chamber music ensembles at festivals in Europe, the United States, Canada, Latin America, Japan, Korea, Australia and New Zealand.

Philippe Muller’s teaching career is legendary. He succeeded his mentor André Navarra as cello teacher at the Conservatoire de Paris in 1979, continues his teaching legacy today here in New York, at the Manhattan School of Music. Many cellists from his studio have gone on to major careers as soloists including Xavier Phillips and Gautier Capuçon. He travels often giving master-classes in the top conservatories across the globe and has spent twenty years teaching at the Academy of French Music in Kyoto, Japan.

Philippe Muller frequently serves on the juries of the major international cello competitions such as the Tchaikovsky in Moscow, Paulo in Helsinki and Rostropovitch in Paris.

Daniel Panner

Daniel Panner enjoys a varied career as a performer and teacher. As violist of the Mendelssohn String Quartet, he concertized extensively throughout the United States and Israel. He has performed at numerous music festivals, including Marlboro, Ravinia, Tanglewood and Aspen, and he has collaborated with members of the Cleveland, Emerson, Guarneri and Juilliard String Quartets. As a member of the Whitman String Quartet, Mr. Panner received the 1998 Walter W. Naumburg Chamber Music Award and served as a teaching assistant to the Juilliard String Quartet for two years.

Mr. Panner is co-chair of the string department of the Mannes College of Music, where he also teaches viola and chamber music. He has also taught at the Juilliard School, Rutgers University, SUNY Stonybrook, Queens College, and the Jerusalem Music Center Summer Courses, and he has given master classes at such schools as Peabody, Hartt and the North Carolina School of the Arts. He has performed with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, and the Orchestra of St. Lukes; he has also toured with Musicians from Marlboro and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. As a guest artist, he has performed with the Juilliard String Quartet, the St. Lawrence String Quartet, the Daedelus String Quartet, the Flux String Quartet and the Moscow Conservatory Trio. Mr. Panner has been heard on National Public Radio's "Performance Today," both as a soloist and chamber musician. He has served as the principal violist of such orchestras as the New York City Opera and the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra. An active performer of new music, he is a member of Sequitur and the Locrian Ensemble and has performed as guest with such new-music groups as Speculum Musicae, the Da Capo Chamber Players, and Transit Circle; he has recorded solo viola works by Thea Musgrave and Victoria Bond, both for Albany Records. Mr. Panner studied with Jesse Levine at Yale University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in history. He continued his studies at the Curtis Institute of Music with Joseph dePasquale and the Juilliard School with Samuel Rhodes.

 Pierre-Henri Xuereb

After receiving a first prize in viola  in the Conservatoire in Avignon at the age of 13 he received a first prize in viola from the CNSm in Paris at the age of 16. After two years at the Juilliard school and 2 years at Boston University where his teachers are Walter Trampler ,Lillian Fuchs,the Juilliard Quartet ..;he becomes solo viola of the Ensemble Intercontemporain  in Paris conducted by Pierre Boulez  at the age of 19. He is in the winter of 1981 ,one of the last students of William Primrose (Provo-Utah).

Since then his international career has developed bringing him to many concert halls throughout the world :Lincoln Center,Wigmore Hall,Théatre des Champs Elysées,Teatro La Scala(Milano),Gulbenkian Foudation (Lisbon),Luzern Festival…

He has performed as a soloist with the Ensemble Instrumental de France ,Ensemble Intercontemporain,Ensemble Alternance ,Ensemble Contrechamps,Orchestre Symphonique de Tel Aviv,Israel Sinfonietta,Orchestre OLRAP,Orchestre Paca,Caracas Chamber Orchestra ,Victoria Symphony (Canada), Prussian Chamber Orchestra, Dusan Skovran Orchestra( Belgrade)…

He has given numerous world premieres from composers :K.Stockhausen, Klaus Huber, Philippe Hersant,J ean Michel Damase, Bruno Mantovani, Pjilippe Schoeller, Philippe Manoury, Heinz Holliger, Alessandro Solbiati , Joseph Vella , Edith Lejet…

He is regularly invited to give  international masterclasses: in :Beijing,Kyoto,Gwangju(Korea)Tignes(Musicalp), Les Arcs,Fontainebleau, »Close Encounters… -Berkshires-USA »,Novisad,Malta, Domaine Forget (Canada)…

He is artistic director of the « Fête de l’alto « in Lasalle en Cevennes. He teaches viola in the :CNSM in Paris , Conservatoire Royal de musique de Liège and the CRD in Gennevilliers .

he has recorded over 70 records and recently recorded,under the direction of the composer , Vladimir Cosma’s  Concerto  for viola which was written for him.

He plays viola d’amore and appears regularly in concert and recordings with his wonderful instrument built by Michiel de Hoog in 1995 (copy of Stradivarius)

Max Zorin

Violinist Max Zorin enjoys a multifaceted career as a performer, educator, and artistic leader. Praised by The Strad for his “extremely compelling” interpretations and by Strings Magazine as “simply magnificent,” Zorin brings authenticity, nuance, and a dynamic sense of artistry to his performances.

His international career has taken him to leading venues across the United States, Europe, Asia, and South America, including Tchaikovsky Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Salle Molière, Odessa OperaTheatre, and the Henan Art Center in China. He performed with the Saint Petersburg State Orchestra, Odessa Philharmonic, Orchestre de Chambre de Lyon, Williamsport Symphony, Pennsylvania Chamber Orchestra, San Jose Youth Symphony. Summer festivals appearances include the Granada International Music Festival, Aspen Music Festival, Music Alp, collaborating with distinguished artists such as Maxim Vengerov, Itamar Golan, Henry, Demarquette, Romano Pallottini, Philippe Muller, and the Parker Quartet.

As an advocate for expanding the violin repertoire, Zorin premiered numerous works by contemporary composers and embraced collaborations beyond the classical realm. His critically acclaimed music video of Mack the Knife for violin and jazz trio earned him the Emerging Artist Award from the Global Music Awards. His upcoming album, Connections (Navona Records), reflects his commitment to diversity and innovation in programming, featuring works by underrepresented composers alongside a commissioned piece that bridges jazz and classical idioms.

A dedicated educator, Zorin serves as Associate Professor of Violin at Penn State University and has conducted masterclasses at prestigious institutions worldwide, including the Royal Academy of Music in London, Tel Aviv University, and NYU. As Artistic Director of Rencontres Musicales Internationales des Graves, a summer festival in Bordeaux, France, Zorin curates a unique fusion of masterclasses, performances, and cultural experiences, creating a harmonious celebration in the renowned wineries of Bordeaux.

Born in Israel to a family of musicians with roots in Odessa, Ukraine, Zorin moved to France at the age of five, where he grew up immersed in a rich musical environment. His father, Zacharia Zorin, an illustrious violinist, was among his principal teachers, alongside Dorothy DeLay, Naoko Tanaka, Peter Oundjian, and Ani Kavafian. At 17, Zorin won First Prize at the Corpus Christi International Competition before continuing his studies in the United States, earning degrees from The Juilliard School, Yale University, and a doctorate from Stony Brook University.

Zorin performs on a violin crafted by J.B. Vuillaume (Paris, c. 1850) and a bow by Edwin Clement (Paris, 2008)

Samuel Adams

Samuel Adams is an NYC-based actor, director, and educator. Although a third-generation native of New York City, Sam was raised in a small farm-town upstate. He received his undergraduate education from the London Dramatic Academy and Adelphi University and his graduate degree from the George Washington University in collaboration with the Shakespeare Theater Company. He has worked as a director and an actor in films, television, and theaters across the nation, recently playing Mozart in Peter Schaffer’s celebrated play Amadeus at Folger Shakespeare Theatre and the titular character in Shakespeare's Henry V in at the Chesapeake Shakespeare Company. In addition to these pursuits, he has worked extensively as a teacher, arts-administrator, and gardener. Visit him on Youtube and Instagram at @TheUnweededGarden.