2025 Guest Artists

In Europe, he has performed with the London Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, Orchestre National de France, Royal Concertgebouw, Tonhalle-Orchester Zurich, Deutsches Sinfonie-Orchester Berlin, Radio Sinfonie Orchester Berlin, and Elbphilharmonie Orchestra.  As a frequent soloist in North America, he has worked with the LA Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Chicago Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, and Montreal Symphony Orchestra. Across Asia, he has performed with Seoul Philharmonic, NHK Symphony, Hong Kong Philharmonic, New Japan Philharmonic, Sydney Symphony, Melbourne Symphony, and New Zealand Symphony.

A much sought-after soloist, Simon Trpčeski has collaborated with a long list of prominent conductors, including Lorin Maazel, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Marin Alsop, Gustavo Dudamel, Gianandrea Noseda, Charles Dutoit, Antonio Pappano, Michael Tilson Thomas, Robert Spano, David Zinman, Andris Nelsons, Yuri Temirkanov, Cristian Măcelaru, Vasily Petrenko, Peter Oundjian, Susanna Malkki, Vladimir Jurowski, Xian Zhang, Dima Slobodeniuk, Thomas Dausgaard, Thomas Sondergård, Kazushi Ono, Yutaka Sado, Ludovic Morlot, and Kazuki Yamada. As an experienced pianist he is also a popular collaborator amongst next-generation of high profile conductors, including Alpesh Chauhan, Jakub Hruša, Juraj Valčuha, Gabriel Bebeșelea, Dalia Stasevska, Elim Chan, Christian Reif, Delyana Lazarova, Ken-David Masur, and Jader Bignamini.

An acclaimed recitalist, Simon Trpčeski has performed in major halls in cities including New York, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., London, Paris, Amsterdam, Milan, Munich, Prague, Hamburg, Bilbao, Istanbul, Dublin, and Tokyo. Since his debut at Wigmore Hall in 2001, he has remained a popular guest at the prestigious venue, including a Residency in 2018 with two recitals that were released on the Wigmore Live label. In the 2023-24 season, Simon Trpčeski opened the SWR2 Internationale Pianisten in Mainz, with recitals across Milan, Geneva, Monte-Carlo, Glasgow. He is also an avid chamber musician, performing regularly at prestigious festivals. In 2022, he embarked in a series of recitals with violinist Maxim Vengerov. Together they performed at the Barbican in London, Carnegie Hall in New-York, and the Paris Philharmonie.

As a recording artist, Simon Trpčeski has collaborated extensively with conductor Vasily Petrenko and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. Together they recorded the complete Rachmaninov Piano Concertos for Avie, Tchaikovsky Piano Concertos 1 & 2 and Prokofiev Piano Concertos 1 & 3 for Onyx Classics. Additionally, as a close collaborator of conductor Cristian Mǎcelaru, they recorded Shostakovich Piano Concertos 1 & 2 and most recently, with the WDR Sinfonie Orchester, both Brahms Piano Concertos for Linn Records, which were released to great critical acclaim in November 2023.

In 2023-24, Simon Trpčeski was Artist in Residence with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo. The Scottish residency focused on Saint-Saens with performances of Piano Concertos 2 & 5 with Thomas Søndergård, which will be released on Linn Records in Spring 2025.  After the release of his Brahms concerto album, he reunited with Gianandrea Noseda and the London Symphony Orchestra to perform both concertos in the same week at the Barbican.

Simon Trpčeski’s fruitful collaborations with EMI Classics, Avie Records, Wigmore Hall Live, Onyx Classics, and Linn Records have resulted in a broad and award-winning discography. His natural affinity with Russian composers of the 19th and 20th century is featured in seven recordings with works by Rachmaninov, Prokofiev, Stravinsky, Tchaikovsky, Scriabin, Mussorgsky and Rimsky-Korsakov. He has also recorded the music of Chopin, Brahms, Poulenc, Bach, Liszt and Debussy. His most recent recital album “Variations” with music by Mozart, Beethoven, and Brahms was critically acclaimed throughout Europe and was CD of the month in Fono Forum (Germany), Editor’s Choice in Gramophone (UK), Choc de Classica (France) and Amadeus D’oro (Italy).

A natural music explorer, Simon Trpčeski is also committed to strengthening the musical heritage of his native Macedonia. His chamber music project MAKEDONISSIMO is dedicated to introducing audiences world-wide to the rich traditions of Macedonian folk music. In collaboration with composer Pande Shahov, the novel music weaves together folk traditions, classical virtuosity, and jazz-influenced riffs and harmonies. Since its premiere in 2018, the ensemble has traveled across Europe, Canada, and South Korea. The debut album was released in 2020 to great acclaim under Linn Records. In 2023, Concerto MAKEDONISSIMO, a concertante version of the music premiered with the Tonkünstler Orchestra, led by conductor Yutaka Sado at the Musikverein in Vienna. In addition, the chamber music album “Friendship” was released in 2023, featuring an eclectic repertoire of Brahms, Connesson, and Shahov.

Simon Trpčeski is a celebrated cultural ambassador in Macedonia. In 2009, he received the Presidential Order of Merit for Macedonia, a decoration given to foreign and domestic dignitaries responsible for the affirmation of Macedonia abroad. In 2011, he became the first-ever recipient of the title “National Artist of Macedonia.”  With national support from KulturOp, Macedonia’s cultural and arts organization, Simon Trpčeski works regularly with young musicians in his home country to nurture the talents of next-generation artists, as well promote Macedonian and Classical music, both domestically and abroad.

Born in Macedonia in 1979, Simon Trpčeski is a graduate of the School of Music at the University of St. Cyril and St. Methodius in Skopje, where he studied with Boris Romanov. He was BBC New Generation Artist 2001-2003 and in 2003, was honored with the Young Artist Award by the Royal Philharmonic Society.

In the 2024-2025 season, Simon Trpčeski will perform season opening concerts for Dusseldorf Symphoniker at the Tonhalle, Milwaukee Symphony, and Gävle Symphony. His North American tour will include Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal, Chicago Symphony, Colorado Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Phoenix Symphony, and Rochester Symphony Orchestra — in collaboration with conductors Vassily Petrenko, Cristian Măcelaru, Peter Oundjian, Jakob Hruša.  In Europe, he will perform with Philharmonia Zürich with Gianandrea Noseda, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Staatskapelle Weimar, Hessisches Staatsorchester Wiesbaden, Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra, and Orquestra Sinfonica De Tenerife to name a few. As part of his ongoing artistic evolution, he will perform Ginastera’s Concierto Argentino under Domingo Hindoyan with the Tonkunstler Orchestra at the Vienna Musikverein as well as Romanian Radio Chamber and Gabriel Bebeselea.  His South American tour will include Chile, Colombia, and Brazil. Recital appearances this season include performances in Miami, Singapore, São Paulo, and Bucharest.  Other engagements include participation in Berlioz Festival, Robeco Series at Concertgebouw, and Bellingham Festival. He will be a Jury Member of the Enescu Competition and an Artist in Residence at Banatul Filarmonica.

This season, Elliott debuts with the Minnesota Orchestra, Grand Rapids Symphony, Charlotte Symphony, Pacific Symphony, San Antonio Symphony and New Jersey Symphony. He also performs the world premiere of a new orchestral version of John Corigliano’s Phantasmagoria, commissioned for him by a consortium of orchestras including the Orlando Philharmonic and music director Eric Jacobsen. He makes his UK recital debut at Wigmore Hall in February.

The 2022-2023 season saw his debuts at the Aspen Music Festival, performing the Brahms Double Concerto with Gil Shaham, as well as with the Colorado Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, North Carolina Symphony and Ft. Worth Symphony, among others. He appeared in recital under the auspices of the San Francisco Symphony, the New York Philharmonic, Shriver Hall in Baltimore, the Tippett Rise Festival and Capitol Region Classical in Albany, NY.Fast becoming a favorite on the summer festival circuit, Sterling has appeared at Music@Menlo, Chamberfest in Cleveland and Chamberfest Northwest in Calgary, Music at Angel Fire and the La Jolla Music Society. In Summer 2023, he made his orchestral debut with the San Francisco Symphony; performed chamber music with Nicola Benedetti, Stefan Jackiw and others at the Edinburgh Festival; and made a return appearance at the Hollywood Bowl with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Sterling Elliott participates in several programs alongside exceptionally talented young artists. In April 2023, he was selected by The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center for its Bowers Program, a three-year residency. As a Bowers Program artist, he will perform in CMS tours nationally, and play subscription concerts at Alice Tully Hall. In June 2023, the London-based Young Classical Artists Trust named him their YCAT–Music Masters Robey Artist, a two-year program during which YCAT will provide UK booking and management and Sterling will fulfill an ambassadorial role, leading workshops and engaging with young learners in schools across London to inspire and enhance their musical education. In Spring 2022, Sterling participated in Performance Today’s Young Artist Residency, which featured educational events, interviews and a feature on the nationally syndicated radio program.

Sterling has a long history with the Sphinx Organization where he won the 2014 Junior Division Competition, becoming the first alumnus from the Sphinx Performance Academy to win the Sphinx Competition. The following year he went on to tour with the Sphinx Virtuosi before being awarded the Organization’s Isaac Stern Award in 2016. This season, Sterling will receive a Sphinx Medal of Excellence, the highest honor bestowed by the Sphinx Organization, awarded to artists who, early in their career, demonstrate artistic excellence, outstanding work ethic, a spirit of determination, and an ongoing commitment to leadership and their communities.

Born into a musical household, Sterling initially wanted to play the violin like his older brother and sister. After a bit of encouragement, he completed The Elliott Family String Quartet, an ensemble that enjoyed personalized arrangements of genres such as bluegrass, gospel, and funk music.

Sterling is pursuing an Artist Diploma at the Juilliard School under the tutelage of Joel Krosnick and Clara Kim, following completion of his Master of Music and undergraduate degrees at Juilliard. He is an ambassador of the Young Strings of America, a string sponsorship operated by Shar Music. He performs on a 1741 Gennaro Gagliano cello on loan through the Robert F. Smith Fine String Patron Program, in partnership with the Sphinx Organization.

The New York City based Calidore String Quartet has appeared in venues throughout North America, Europe, and Asia including Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, London’s Wigmore Hall, Berlin’s Konzerthaus, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Brussels’ BOZAR, Cologne Philharmonie, Seoul’s Kumho ArtsHall, and at major festivals such as the BBC Proms, Verbier, Ravinia, Mostly Mozart, Music@Menlo, Rheingau, East Neuk, and Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Always seeking new commissioning opportunities, the Quartet has given world premieres of works by Caroline Shaw, Anna Clyne, Han Lash, Huw Watkins and Mark-Anthony Turnage and collaborated with artists such as Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Marc-André Hamelin, Joshua Bell, Emerson String Quartet, Jeffrey Kahane, David Shifrin, Inon Barnatan, Lawrence Power, Sharon Isbin, David Finckel and Wu Han.

Highlights of the 23-24 season include return appearances at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and People’s Symphony in New York as well as concerts in Seattle, Palm Beach, Ottawa, Toronto, Kalamazoo and a European tour of United Kingdom, Estonia and Germany. The Calidore team up with pianist and composer Gabriela Montero for a world premiere of her new piano quintet at the GilmorePiano Festival (MI) and also enjoy collaborations with the violist Matthew Lipman and harpist Bridget Kibbey, with whom they will premiere a new work by Sebastian Currier. Last season, the Calidore joined the Emerson String Quartet on their farewell tour in the Mendelssohn Octet and collaborated with clarinetist Anthony McGill and bassist Xavier Foley. The Quartet members also performed at Carnegie Hall alongside Anne-Sophie Mutter in a memorial concert honoring André Previn, featuring his compositions.

In their most ambitious recording project to date, the Calidore is set to release the complete Beethoven’s String Quartets for Signum Records in the 24/25 season. Volume I, containing the late quartets, was released in 2023 to great critical acclaim. BBC Music Magazine said the Calidore’s performances “penetrate right to the heart of the music” and “can stand comparison with the best.” Their previous recordings on Signum include titles Babel with music by Schumann, Shaw and Shostakovich, and Resilience with works by Prokofiev, Janáček, Golijov and Mendelssohn.

The Calidore String Quartet was founded at the Colburn School in Los Angeles in 2010. Within two years,the quartet won grand prizes in virtually all the major US chamber music competitions, including the Fischoff, Coleman, Chesapeake, and Yellow Springs competitions, and it captured top prizes at the 2012ARD International Music Competition in Munich and the International Chamber Music Competition Hamburg. The Quartet first made international headlines as the winner of the $100,000 Grand Prize of the 2016 M-Prize International Chamber Music Competition and it was the first and only North American ensemble to win the Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship. The Calidore was also named a BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist and in 2018, it was awarded the Avery Fisher Career Grant, having won the LincolnCenter Emerging Artist Award a year prior. The Calidore is currently in residence with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in New York.

In 2021 the Calidore members joined the faculty of the University of Delaware School of Music and serve as artistic directors of the newly established Graduate String Quartet Fellowship Residency and their own concert series at the University of Delaware. Prior to taking this position, they served as artist-in-residence at the University of Toronto, University of Michigan and Stony Brook University. Now dedicated teachers and passionate supporters of music education themselves, the Calidore is grateful to have been mentored by the Emerson Quartet, Quatuor Ébène, Andre Roy, Arnold Steinhardt, David Finckel, Günter Pichler, Guillaume Sutre, Paul Coletti, and Ronald Leonard.

The Calidore String Quartet plays the following instruments:

• Jeffrey Myers plays a violin by Francesco Rugeri c.1680, owned by a private benefactor on loan throughthe Leonhard Fellowship and plays a bow by Francois Tourte.
• Ryan Meehan plays a violin by Vincenzo Panormo c.1775 and a bow by Joseph Henry.
• Jeremy Berry plays a viola by Giovanni Battista Ceruti c.1811, owned by a private benefactor and a 1903 Umberto Muschietti viola and plays a bow by Pierre Simon.
• Estelle Choi plays a cello by Charles Jacquot c.1830

Born in 1996, Simone made her professional solo debut at age 10 with the Seattle Symphony and her international debut with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London at age 13. In March 2015, Simone was named a recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant.

With the cessation of live concerts Simone continued to record streamed events with Seattle, Pittsburgh, Charlotte and Greater Bridgeport Symphonies. 21/22 season included extensive US touring with debuts and return visits to orchestras such as Colorado, North Carolina, St. Louis, Grand Rapids, Omaha, Quebec, Princeton, Monterey, Bakersfield, Marin, Ridgefield and Wyoming symphonies, Erie Philharmonic and Florida Orchestra, as well as a Celebrity Series (Boston) recital debut which featured the world premiere of a commission from composer Reena Esmail. The 22/23 season is starting with La Jolla and Peninsula Music Festivals, followed by orchestral performances in Winston-Salem, Virginia, Marin, Lexington, Modesto, New Haven, Bozeman, Portsmouth and Jacksonville. In recital, Simone can be heard in California, Florida, and Spain as well as making her debut at 92nd Street Y in New York City.

At the invitation of Esa-Pekka Salonen, Simone performed his work ‘Lachen verlernt’ (‘Laughing Unlearnt’), at the New York Philharmonic’s “Foreign Bodies,” a multi-sensory celebration of the work of the composer and conductor. In recent seasons, she has also appeared at the Edinburgh Festival performing Barber under the direction of Stéphane Denève, and at the Mostly Mozart Festival performing Mozart under Louis Langrée. She has also performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl with both Nicholas McGegan and Ludovic Morlot, and at Walt Disney Concert Hall with Gustavo Dudamel.

Internationally, Simone has performed with the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra with Gustavo Dudamel; the Orquestra Sinfônica Brasileira in Rio de Janeiro; the National Symphony Orchestra of Costa Rica; the City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong; the Royal Northern Sinfonia; the Milton Keynes City Orchestra in the United Kingdom; and the Opera de Marseilles.

Simone made her Carnegie Zankel Hall debut on the Emmy Award-winning TV show From the Top: Live from Carnegie Hall followed in November 2016 by her debut in Stern Auditorium. In June 2016, her featured performance of music from Schindler’s List with Maestro Gustavo Dudamel and members of the American Youth Symphony was broadcast nationally on the TNT Network as part of the American Film Institute’s Lifetime Achievement Award: A Tribute to John Williams.

Raised in Seattle, Washington, Simone studied with Margaret Pressley as a recipient of the Dorothy Richard Starling Scholarship, and was then admitted into the studio of the renowned pedagogue Robert Lipsett, with whom she studied at the Colburn Conservatory of Music in Los Angeles. Summer studies have included many years at the Aspen Music Festival, Indiana University’s Summer String Academy, and the Schlern International Music Festival in Italy.

Simone Porter performs on a 1740 Carlo Bergonzi violin made in Cremona Italy on generous loan from The Master’s University, Santa Clarita, California.

She has also appeared with the orchestra numerous times as concerto soloist, including works of Mozart, Vivaldi, Ibert, Rodrigo, Nielsen, Jolivet, Leonard Bernstein, and Christopher Rouse. Ms. Smith performed the southeastern U.S. premiere of Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho’s “L’aile du songe,” with Robert Spano conducting.

Ms. Smith began studying flute at age seven. She spent her formative years in Northern California, before attending Interlochen Arts Academy, where she received the Young Artist Medal (the Academy’s highest honor) in 1989. Immediately after graduation, Ms. Smith began her studies at the Curtis Institute of Music as a pupil of Julius Baker and Jeffrey Khaner. After just two years at Curtis, she won the principal flute chair in the ASO at age 20. Ms. Smith has also studied with Tim Day, and has collaborated extensively with master teacher and clinician Keith Underwood.

Throughout her career, Ms. Smith has continued to perform and teach at the nation’s most prestigious summer festivals, including Marlboro, Grand Teton, Strings, Mainly Mozart, and the Aspen Music Festival. She has performed with the Bellingham (WA) Festival of Music chamber orchestra since 1994, and has performed there as concerto soloist several times. In addition, Ms. Smith has been invited to teach some of the world’s most promising young orchestral musicians at the Aspen Music Festival and the National Orchestral Institute in College Park, MD.

Ms. Smith has appeared as guest principal flutist with orchestras such as the Chicago Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Vancouver Symphony, the Baltimore Symphony, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and the Pittsburgh Symphony. In 2018, she performed with the World Orchestra for Peace in Künzelsau, Germany, and at the BBC Proms for the UNESCO anniversary concerts of the WWI Armistice. She has been featured as a gala concerto soloist at the National Flute Association convention in Salt Lake City.

A prolific and accomplished chamber musician, Ms. Smith helped launch a pre-concert chamber music series featuring ASO musicians—a program that began its first official season in 2011-12, and is now thriving both financially and artistically. Ms. Smith’s longtime collaboration with ASO principal harpist Elisabeth Remy Johnson resulted in the 2008 release of a duet album entitled “Encantamiento.” She is a member of the Merian Ensemble, a group of ASO women who perform and commission works by historic and contemporary female composers. The group has recently recorded its first album, “The Book of Spells”, to noteworthy reviews.

Equally passionate about teaching, Ms. Smith serves on the faculty at Emory University and maintains a busy private studio. She remains highly in demand to teach masterclasses across the country, and has been featured as the guest artist at a number of flute clubs, including New York, Chicago, and Atlanta.

Ms. Smith performs on vintage flutes, handmade by Verne Q. Powell. She is proud to be a Powell artist.

A champion of new music, she has given premiers of works by Freya Waley-Cohen, George Benjamin, Megan Bledsoe-Ward, Iman Habibi, and Marc-André Dalbavie.

Sophie was a participant in the prestigious 2018 International Harp Contest in Israel, a quarter finalist in the 2016 International Dutch Harp Competition, and won the silver medal at the 2017 Vancouver international Music Competition. She was the 2015 winner of the Frances Walton Competition, which culminated in an outreach tour of rural Eastern Washington reaching thousands of school-aged children. The experience has continued to inspire her work in outreach and education.

Alongside her performing career, Sophie is the artistic director of Archipelago Collective, a dynamic and forward thinking chamber music festival on San Juan Island, Washington.

Sophie has been mentored by some of the world’s leading harp pedagogues including Isabelle Perrin, Nancy Allen, Elizabeth Fontan-Binoche, Mariko Anraku, Valerie Muzzolini, and Jessica Zhou. She completed her Artist and Performance Diplomas at the Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory of Music under the tutelage of world-renowned harpist Judy Loman.