Concert for Social Justice - Meet the Artists
SEBU SIRINIAN, born in Bucharest, Romania, is the first violin of the award winning Meridian String Quartet. He has performed internationally and held residencies at Queens College, Bard College, Turtle Bay Music School through a grant by Chamber Music America, and the Yale at Norfolk Summer Festival. Mr. Sirinian is a member of Amici New York, Brooklyn Philharmonic, has performed regularly with American Symphony Orchestra, and many Broadway orchestras including Phantom of the Opera, Christmas Carol, West Side Story, and The Radio City Christmas Spectacular, and has performed chamber music with Paul Neubauer, Seymour Lipkin, Daniel Phillips and William Sharp, and as a soloist with The New York Chamber Orchestras, Bach Aria Festival Orchestra and Hunter College Orchestra.
He performed as concertmaster for Musica Viva, Princeton Chamber Orchestra, the Connecticut Grand Opera, and is Principal Second of Stamford Symphony. Mr. Sirinian, a graduate of Juilliard School, has studied with Jerry Beal, Ivan Galamian, Joyce Robbins and the Juilliard String Quartet, and is currently on the faculty of the NY Youth Symphony Chamber Music Program. He has been heard on WQXR and WNYC, and is recorded on LRC, Liquid Silver, Capstone and Midder Music Records. Sebu is looking forward to playing in the orchestra for the upcoming Broadway revival of Sunset Boulevard.
LISA TIPTON, violinist and co-founder of the award-winning Meridian String Quartet, has toured internationally and held residencies at Queens College, Bard College, and the Turtle Bay Music School. She has won distinctions from the Evian International Competition, Artists International, and Chamber Music America. As a devoted interpreter of new music, Ms. Tipton established the Made in America series at Weill Recital Hall. and performed on the Interpretations series at Merkin Concert Hall. She performs regularly with Amici NY, Stamford Symphony, Little Orchestra Society and the American Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Tipton’s recording of Charles Ives’ Violin Sonatas was released in 2006 on Capstone Records. She has performed as a soloist with the Cornell, Barbad, NY Chamber Orchestras, The Bronx Symphony and Vari Musici. Lisa has toured with the Manhattan Piano Trio. Lisa is part of a team that recently launched The NY Chamber Music Co-OP, a new creative performance collaborative in NYC. She has been heard on WQXR, WNYC and recorded on LRC, Midder, Arizona and Capstone Records. Lisa is Director of the New York Youth Symphony Chamber Music Program, and on the faculty of School for Strings. She earned a B.A. from Cornell University, an M.A. from the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College, and has studied with Daniel Phillips, Gerald Beal, Joyce Robbins, Ani Kavafian, Roman Totenberg and The Juilliard Quartet. Lisa is currently a D.M.A. candidate at CUNY Graduate Center. Photo by Laurie Rhodes
ADRIA BENJAMIN grew up in Brooklyn and began viola studies through a program offered by the New York City public schools. She is currently a member of the American Symphony Orchestra, New York Pops, Amici New York, Voices of Ascension Orchestra and The New York Chamber Music Co-OP. Adria performs annually the Bard Festival and was Artistic Director and Artistic Administrator of the OK Mozart International Festival.
Adria has been heard on National Public Radio as a recitalist, and has participated in numerous orchestra and chamber music recordings, commercial and film score recordings. She was invited to perform as a viola soloist at the 92nd Street Y, and at Zankel Hall with the critically acclaimed Voices of Ascension under the direction of Dennis Keene.
Adria serves on the faculty of Mannes College (The New School), where she teaches viola and chamber music in the Preparatory Division, serves as Director of Orchestras for the Preparatory Division, and as conductor of the Mannes Community Orchestra. She chairs the String Department of the Preparatory Division, and is Co-Chair of the New School University Faculty Senate. Adria has also led many collaborations between student and professional musicians in Side-by-Side concerts, instrumental master classes and performance workshops. She also serves as conductor for the Stamford Symphony’s (CT) education and student concerts.
Adria has been part of the planning and creative teams, and a performing artist, for many concerts benefiting a wide range of non-profit organizations. Her teachers include Mary Jane Metcalfe, Francis Tursi, Karen Tuttle and Joey Corpus. While pursuing a Master’s degree at the Peabody Conservatory, she was the teaching assistant for Karen Tuttle, and was awarded the Peabody Prize for Outstanding Viola Performance. Her conducting studies were with Gustav Meier and Robert DeCormier. Photo by Laurie Rhodes
KATE DILLINGHAM is a cellist, recording artist, and proponent of the music of living composers who enjoys a multifaceted career on varied frontiers of the musical world.
She has performed concerti of Dvorak and Haydn in musical capitals from Salzburg to Moscow and has appeared in concert at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center and The MET Museum.
Ms. Dillingham has driven innovation in the composition and performance space, commissioning contemporary works and collaborating with many artists in original multimedia events.
She has produced and recorded audio/video projects, is a voting member of the Recording Academy (GRAMMY’s) and serves as President of the Violoncello Society of New York (VCS). Kate is Artistic Director of ArtsAhimsa: Music for Peace, a global network of artists working together to promote non-violence through affirmative power of the Arts.
A skilled teacher and inventor, she founded MyBlueSkiesMusic.com an online meeting platform for musicians to connect, teach, and live-stream in high quality audio/video.
Kate is both architect and facilitator of ideas and is passionate about her craft and engagement in the full spectrum of music from composition to performance.
Pianist ADRIENNE KIM‘s recent performances include recitals in New York’s Alice Tully Hall, Merkin Hall, Weill Recital Hall, Bargemusic, Boston’s Symphony Hall, Washington D.C.’s Phillips Gallery and Ravinia’s Rising Stars series in Chicago. She has appeared as soloist with the Central Philharmonic Orchestra of Beijing, the Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional de Mexico, the Portland Chamber Orchestra, and the Richmond Orchestra. Ms. Kim was a member of Chamber Music Society Two, The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s residency program from 1998-2000. Ms. Kim has also performed with the New York Chamber Ensemble, the Skaneateles Festival, Lighthouse Chamber Players, Salt Bay Chamberfest, Carnegie Chamber Players, Bronx Arts Ensemble, and the Seal Bay Festival. With the West End Chamber Ensemble, ensemble-in-residence at the North Carolina School of the Arts, she participated in the National Endowment for the Arts/Chamber Music America Rural Residency. She has recorded the solo and chamber works of Daniel S. Godfrey with the St Paul Chamber Orchestra on the Koch label, the violin and piano sonatas of Charles Ives with Lisa Tipton on Capstone Records and the sonatas of Niels Gade with violinist, Katie Wolfe on the Centaur label.
She and Ms. Tipton also present the Made in America series at Weill Hall in Carnegie Hall. She is also a founding member of the NY Chamber Music Co-op. She teaches at Mannes College of Music, in the Prep, Extension and College divisions, and she serves as head of the Piano Department in the Prep division and as Coordinator of Secondary Piano in the College division. She has also been on the faculties of Kean University and Syracuse University. During the summers she is on the faculty of the Kinhaven Music School in Vermont and the Summertrios festival in Bryn Mawr. Ms. Kim studied with Menahem Pressler at Indiana University where she earned her Bachelor’s degree and earned her Master’s degree from Manhattan School of Music, where she studied with Leon Fleisher. Photo by Rob Davidson