Violinist Julie Lawrence has performed in Germany, Switzerland, France, and throughout the United States. As an orchestral musician, she has performed alongside members of the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, and Orchestra of St. Luke’s. Ms. Lawrence regularly presents her interactive programs ranging from Bach and Mozart to Ysaye and Carter to audiences in psychiatric hospitals and nursing homes to Steinway Hall and Rose Studio at Lincoln Center. An enthusiast of working with living composers, Julie commissioned or premiered works by Kyle Werner, Nick Marsella, Ted Rosenthal, Ronnie Reshef, and Wally Gunn. Her playing can be heard on Juan Pablo Contreras’ album Silencio en Juárez (Albany Records) and David Chesky’s Joy and Sorrow (Chesky Records) and she has published articles in the American String Teachers Association Journal. Ms. Lawrence holds a B.M. and M.M. from Manhattan School of Music and D.M.A. from Rutgers University. She plays a violin crafted in 2014 by Boston violin maker Benjamin Ruth.
Violinist Evelyn Petcher Brandes brings a passion for innovation and community to both her performing and teaching. She is a founder of Leadlights and a Resident Artist at the Bronx Arts Ensemble. Evelyn’s performances often have an unusual twist, such as dancing while performing a Sarasate showpiece, or pairing Bach sonatas with beat-boxing. Her work blurs the line between performance and workshop, and she enjoys playing in community settings like coffee shops, hospitals, and parks. As a chamber musician, highlights include performances at the Heifetz International Music Festival, New York City’s Chelsea Music Festival, and An Die Musik in Baltimore. As a teaching artist, Ms. Petcher is on faculty at the New York Philharmonic’s Very Young Composers Program, Bronx Arts Ensemble, and the Elizabeth Faidley violin studio, and is in demand for residencies in strings, composition, and musicianship for organizations such as the Little Orchestra Society, and Leap NYC. Ms. Petcher is also the co-founder of East Lake Expression Engine, an El Sistema inspired program in Chattanooga, TN which offers holistic musical instruction to underprivileged children. Ms. Petcher received her M.M. in Violin Performance from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University, where she studied with renowned violinist Pamela Frank. She earned a double bachelor’s degree in Music and English from Covenant College, studying violin with Jay Christy and composition with Brandon Kreuze.
Photo credit: Philo Lee
Viola
Violist, violinist, and conductor Arthur Dibble enjoys a wonderful free-lance musician’s life in New York City. Diverse styles of music have taken him all over the world, from touring with Barbra Streisand, Led Zeppelin, various string quartets and the St. Louis Symphony to right here at home on the major stages of New York City and the surrounding region with orchestras, chamber groups and Broadway stars. He is currently music director for his lovely wife, mezzo-soprano Sishel Claverie on theater/recitals projects. Seeking expression since his Juilliard days, Arthur collaborates regularly with living composers and participates in the Tonal Refraction Ensemble, exploring our “pre-conscious gut reactions to sounds themselves.” Arthur enjoys teaching and performing for the Midori Foundation in NYC public schools. You can also often find him in recording studios during the day, Broadway show pits in the evenings, feeding his espresso obsession in a café, or traveling to see his son and daughter in college.
Cello
Cellist Alina Lee is as versatile a chamber musician as she is a performer in solo and orchestral music. As a soloist, Ms. Lee has performed with orchestras such as the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Seongnam Philharmonic Orchestra, Bergen Symphony Orchestra and the Greater Newburgh Symphony Orchestra. She has performed on stage at Alice Tully Hall, Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in NY, Roy Thompson Hall in Toronto, Canada, Seoul Arts Center in Korea, and the Royal Albert Hall in London. Recipient of the Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Award, she has performed on the NPR show From the Top, and has been featured on WFMT in Chicago, ABC Classic FM in Australia, on the MBC Network in South Korea, and on CBC Radio Two in Canada. With the Allant Trio, she was a winner at the Beverly Hills Auditions in California as well as recipient of the Jonathan Madrigano Entrepreneurship Grant from The Juilliard School. Ms. Lee has participated in music festivals such as the Aspen Music Festival and School, Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, and the Chamber Music Residency at the Banff Centre for the Arts. Ms. Lee began her cello studies with Joowon Kim at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, Canada, where she continued her studies with David Hetherington. She has studied with Richard Aaron and Marcy Rosen in New York City, where she has received her Bachelor and Master of Music at the Juilliard School.