Winner of a 2009 Avery Fisher Career Grant, Arnaud Sussmann has distinguished himself with his unique sound, bravura, and profound musicianship. Minnesota’s Pioneer Press writes, “Sussmann has an old-school sound reminiscent of vintage recordings by Jascha Heifetz or Fritz Kreisler, a rare combination of sweet and smooth that can hypnotize a listener.” 

Mr. Sussmann has recently appeared as a soloist with the Mariinsky Orchestra under Valery Gergiev, and the Vancouver, and New World Symphonies. As a chamber musician, he has performed at the Tel Aviv Museum, London’s Wigmore Hall, Lincoln Center, and the White Nights Festival in Saint Petersburg. He has also given concerts at the Caramoor, Music@Menlo, La Jolla SummerFest, Mainly Mozart, and Seattle Chamber Music festivals, collaborating with many of today’s leading artists including Itzhak Perlman, Shmuel Ashkenasi, Wu Han, David Finckel, and Jan Vogler. 

Sussmann is Artistic Director of the Chamber Music Society of Palm Beach, Co-Director of Music@Menlo’s International Program, and teaches at Stony Brook University. 

Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt has appeared as a soloist with the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Jacksonville Symphony, and the Sphinx Chamber Orchestra; and has performed in recitals and chamber music concerts throughout the United States, Latin America, and Europe. As violist of the Dover Quartet, ensemble in Residence at the Curtis Institute of Music, Ms. Pajaro-van de Stadt won first prize at the Banff International String Quartet Competition in 2013, and the grand prize in the 2010 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. Her numerous awards also include top prizes at the Tokyo International Viola Competition and the Sphinx Competition. Ms. Pajaro-van de Stadt graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music, where she studied with Roberto Díaz, Michael Tree, Misha Amory, and Joseph de Pasquale. She received a master’s degree in string quartet performance from Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, where she studied with James Dunham. Ms. Pajaro-van de Stadt was appointed to faculty at the Curtis Institute of Music and teaches at Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music.

Nicholas Canellakis has become one of the most sought-after and innovative cellists of his generation. The New York Times praises his playing as “impassioned ... the audience seduced by Mr. Canellakis’s rich, alluring tone.” Canellakis’s recent highlights include concerto appearances with the Albany, Delaware, and Lansing Symphonies, and the New Haven Symphony as Artist-in-Residence; international tours with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, with appearances in London’s Wigmore Hall, the Louvre in Paris, and Shanghai’s National Concert Hall; and recitals throughout the United States. Canellakis is an artist of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and a regular guest artist at many of the world’s leading music festivals, including Santa Fe, Ravinia, Music@Menlo, Bard, and Bridgehampton.

Taiwanese-born pianist Gloria Chien has one of the most diverse musical lives as a noted performer, concert presenter, and educator. She was selected by the Boston Globe as one of its Superior Pianists of the year, “… who appears to excel in everything.”She made her orchestral debut at the age of 16 with the Boston Symphony Orchestra with Thomas Dausgaard. Recently, she has performed as a recitalist and chamber musician at Alice Tully Hall, the Library of Congress, the Phillips Collection, and the National Concert Hall in Taiwan. Ms. Chien performs frequently with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. In 2009 she launched String Theory, a chamber music series in Chattanooga that has become one of Tennessee’s premier classical music presenters. Ms. Chien received her B.M., M.M., and D.M.A. degrees from the New England Conservatory of Music as a student of Russell Sherman and Wha-Kyung Byun. She holds the position of artist-in-residence at Lee University in Cleveland, Tennessee and is a Steinway Artist.