Madlen H. Breckbill (Viola, Violin) has worked in Europe as an orchestral trainee with Konzerthausorchester Berlin, the violist of the TAÏGA String Quartet in Denmark and as a chamber music trainee with Villa-Musica in Rheinland Pfalz. As an orchestral player, Madlen has toured China and Japan, and performed under the batons of Sir Roger Norrington, Leon Fleisher, Christian Eschenbach, and Ivan Fischer. As a chamber musician, Madlen has performed across Europe and North America collaborating with masters such as Martin Beaver, Ernst Kovacic, Steven Dann, and cellist Richard Lester  (just to name a few).

Madlen serves as Artistic Director of Samtalä | Musicians in Dialogue (formerly the Stoughton Chamber Music Festival), facilitating chamber music collaborations dedicated to diverse and experiential programming. 

In recent years, Madlen has performed with LunART, trio with(out), Bach Dancing Dynamite Society, Midsummer Music, Token Creek Chamber Music Festival, The Happenstancers and West End Micro Music Festival.  Madlen subs regularly as a violinist & violist with the Madison Symphony Orchestra, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, the Quad Cities Symphony Orchestra, and the Madison Bach Musicians. 

Madlen holds a BM and MM from UW Madison, and an Artist Diploma from the Glenn Gould School in Toronto. She's had many influential teachers, including violinists Eugene Purdue, David Perry, Paul Kantor, Erica Raum, Barry Shiffman, and violists Steven Dann and Sally Chisholm.

Stephanie Jutt’s elegant artistry and passionate intellect have inspired musicians and audiences around the world. Her groundbreaking performances of new music, transcriptions, Latin American and Spanish composers and the traditional repertoire have made her a model for adventurous flutists everywhere. Her recordings are available on Albany, Centaur, GM and University of Wisconsin Press. Her most recent recordings, “Latin American and Spanish Masterpieces” and “Seducción” for flute and piano are available on Albany Records, a result of extensive travels in South America. As described in the Boston Globe, “With an infallibly lovely tone and a strong, inquisitive musical personality, Jutt gave it all of her considerable all.” 

Jutt received first prize at the Concert Artist Guild and Pro Musicis International Soloist competitions, and was a finalist in the International Walter W. Naumburg Competition. She has performed in recital throughout the United States, Europe, South America and Asia. She received Bachelor and Master’s degrees at the New England Conservatory of Music, where her teachers were James Pappoutsakis and Paula Robison. She completed an additional year of studies with Marcel Moyse. 

Stephanie Jutt is an editor for International Music Publishing, where she has created new transcriptions of three Brahms sonatas, six Mozart violin sonatas, as well as new editions of Karg-Elert Caprices, Köhler etudes and the Reineke Sonata, among others.

Stephanie Jutt is co-founder and artistic director, with pianist Jeffrey Sykes, of the critically acclaimed summer chamber music festival, the Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society (www.bachdancing.org). She lives in New York City. Numerous performances can be enjoyed on their YouTube channel from their yearly June season. 

Ms. Jutt currently serves on the board of the New York Flute Club and served as a board member and Program Chair for the National Flute Association. A dedicated teacher, Ms. Jutt was Professor of Flute at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music. She also held the position of Associate Professor of Flute at the Florida State University. A lifelong arts entrepreneur, she is the creator of the UW-Madison Arts Enterprise, providing career guidance, viable life strategies and support for emerging artists. 

Stephanie Jutt is principal flute of the Madison Symphony and Madison Opera in Madison, Wisconsin.

Benjamin Whitcomb is a Professor of Cello and Music Theory at the University of Wisconsin- Whitewater, where he has received awards for his teaching, research, and service. An active recitalist and chamber musician, he performs frequently throughout the country and abroad. He is a member of the Ancora String Quartet and the UW-Whitewater Piano Trio. His solo CDs are available from MSR Classics.

 Benjamin is a prolific author, having published dozens of articles in six different journals and presented over thirty papers at national and international conferences. He has contributed to three books and published ten, including The Advancing String Player’s Handbook series, Cello Fingerings, and Bass Fingerings, all of which have received rave reviews from Strings magazine plus the journals of ASTA and AUSTA. More recent books include the Compendium of Chords series and the Guide to Practicing the Popper Etudes.

 Benjamin’s cello students have won numerous awards locally and nationally and have pursued graduate degrees at leading institutions. Benjamin is very active in the American String Teachers Association, having served as Wisconsin state president, national Secretary, Chair of several committees, and Articles Reviewer for the American String Teacher.

At UW-Whitewater, Benjamin initiated and continues to coordinate the Theory/History Colloquium speaker series, the Musical Mosaics Concert Series, and the Summer String Camp. He is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and Oklahoma State University, and he has studied with Phyllis Young, George Neikrug, and Evan Tonsing.

Amalia Rinehart is a pianist originally from Brooklyn, NY. In 2021 she received her doctorate degree in piano performance from Stony Brook University, where she studied with pianist Gilbert Kalish, and was a recipient of the Gilbert Kalish Endowed Scholarship. She previously earned her Master of Music degree from Stony Brook, and her Bachelor's in music from Columbia University, from which she graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa.  Ms. Rinehart loves ensemble playing of all kinds, and has performed chamber music across the country at festivals such as Icicle Creek Chamber Music Festival (WA); Colorado College Summer Music Festival; Bowdoin International Music Festival in Maine, where she was a Kaplan Fellow; Kneisel Hall Young Artist Chamber Music Program (ME); Sarasota Music Festival (FL); and Olympic Music Festival in Washington. Her ensemble playing has been featured on WQXR’s Young Artists Showcase, and this past fall she performed with the NY Philharmonic chamber ensembles. In addition to Prof. Kalish, her major teachers have included Reiko Uchida and Molly Morkoski. Ms. Rinehart has taught piano for the past ten years, and currently teaches more than two-dozen students at the Kaufman Music Center in Manhattan. She is as passionate about art and art history as she is about music. 

Praised for her stylistic and versatile playing, violinist Katherine Floriano is a member of the Madison Symphony Orchestra and the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra. Formerly, she played with the Quad Cities Symphony and served as Assistant Principal 2nd violin of the Dubuque Symphony Orchestra. During the summers Katherine has performed with the Finger Lakes Opera Company and has served on the teaching faculty at HIMA USA Festival in Lakeside Chautauqua, Ohio.

Based in Madison, Wisconsin, Katherine is a devoted teacher and educator. She maintains a robust private studio at Eagle School in Fitchburg where she also directs the Eagle String Orchestra. Additionally she has worked with the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestra serving as a chamber music, ensemble and sectionals coach.

A passionate chamber musician, Katherine has worked extensively with members of the Pacifica, Ying, and Takacs Quartets. She has attended the Colorado College Summer Music Festival, Bowdoin Summer Music Festival and Italy Opera Viva. Her studies have taken her to perform throughout the United States as well as China, Singapore, Italy, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary.

Originally from Rochester, New York, Katherine holds degrees from Oberlin Conservatory and the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University. She has studied under the tutelage of Sibbi Bernhardsson, David Bowlin and Almita and Roland Vamos.

Sought-after cellist Ryan Louie enjoys a multifaceted career as a chamber musician, orchestral player, and music educator. He has performed throughout Europe, Asia, and North America, including Canada, England, Germany, Holland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Switzerland, and Taiwan, in renowned venues such as Alice Tully Hall, Carnegie Hall, Severance Hall, the National Concert Hall of Taipei, and Japan's Suntory Hall. Festival appearances include the Amsterdam Cello Biënnale, Caroga Lake Music Festival, Cello Akademie Rütesheim, Lunenburg Academy of Music Performance, Pacific Music Festival, and the Palazzo Ricci Montepulciano Festival. Most recently, he has performed as part of the chamber music series at the Mendelssohn Performing Arts Center in Rockford, Illinois. Ryan earned degrees from Carnegie Mellon University and the Cleveland Institute of Music, with additional studies at the Manhattan School of Music and the Royal Academy of Music in London. He resides in Madison, Wisconsin, with his wife, daughter, and two cats, where he performs regularly with the Madison Symphony Orchestra.

Praised for “beautiful performances of great warmth” (Classical Voice of North Carolina), Michael Delfín captures the listener with sensitivity and flair as a versatile performer of historical and modern keyboard instruments. Dr Delfín is a top prizewinner in the 2021 Jurow International Harpsichord Competition and Chautauqua International Piano Competition and was nominated to the Diapason 20 Under 30 Class of 2021. Recent performances include recitals for Iowa City Early Keyboard Society, the Western Early Keyboard Association, and the Ear Taxi New Music Festival, and solo appearances with Lyra Baroque, Bourbon Baroque, the CCM Concert Orchestra, and the American Chamber Symphony. He recently collaborated with mezzo-soprano Leandra Ramm on an album of contemporary art song for Ablaze Records.

     Before joining the early music faculty at University of Alabama, Dr Delfín taught piano and organ at Cedarville University and has taught harpsichord and chamber music at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. Mr. Delfín is the artistic director of Bama Baroque and was also recently appointed to the Historical Keyboard Society of North America’s board of directors. He makes his home with his wife and son in Tuscaloosa, where he serves as organist at the Grace Presbyterian Church. A native of Fresno, CA, Mr. Delfín holds degrees from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, San Francisco Conservatory, Peabody Conservatory, and the Johns Hopkins University, and his mentors include Awadagin Pratt, Yoshikazu Nagai, Boris Slutsky, Michael Unger, and Carol Oaks. www.michaeldelfin.com

Jeff Takaki is a double bassist and member of the Madison Symphony Orchestra, performing regularly with the Elgin Symphony Orchestra and the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra. Festival appearances include the Bowdoin International Music Festival, the LunART Festival, and the Finger Lakes Opera Company. An advocate for the double bass in chamber music, Takaki holds degrees from the Oberlin Conservatory and Indiana University. Outside of the concert hall, he can be found on his bicycle or running around with his dog Ralphy.

Chadwick Thomas is a clarinetist, conductor, and educator based in Hartford, Connecticut. Especially passionate about chamber music, he is a member of the Ecor Quartet and has performed with violinist Vadim Gluzman, double bassists Donald Palma, James VanDemark, and Robert Black, soprano Lucy Shelton, and clarinetist Ayako Oshima, among others. He has played with orchestras in the Northeast including the Greater Bridgeport, Hartford, Ridgefield, and Wallingford Symphonies and the Connecticut Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra. In February 2023, he performed the clarinet concerto by Jean Françaix after winning the Paranov Concerto Competition. He teaches clarinet privately, has been the Clarinet Teaching Fellow at Interlochen Arts Camp since 2023, and is currently adjunct faculty at The Hartt School, where he is completing a doctorate in clarinet performance. 

Thomas is from eastern North Carolina and holds a bachelor's degree from The Peabody Institute and a master’s degree from the University of Michigan. He studied clarinet with Ayako Oshima, Charles Neidich, Chad Burrow, Daniel Gilbert, Alexander Fiterstein, Deborah Chodacki, and Douglas Moore-Monroe and conducting with Glen Adsit and Edward Cumming.

Blakeley Menghini holds the position of Education & Community Engagement Director of the Rockford Symphony Orchestra, in Rockford, Illinois, where she prioritizes accessibility and all-ages education. Blakeley is a Doctor of Musical Arts graduate of the UW-Madison Mead Witter School of Music, where she studied viola with Sally Chisholm of the Pro Arte Quartet. While earning her DMA, Blakeley was a member of the Hunt Quartet, a competitive graduate scholarship ensemble which focused on both formal performances and educational concerts for children through the Madison Symphony Orchestra’s Up Close and Musical program. Before her time at UW-Madison, she earned her Masters of Music and a Performer’s Certificate at Northern Illinois University, where she studied with Anthony Devroye of the Avalon Quartet.

Blakeley has performed in masterclasses with Alban Gerhardt, Nobuko Imai, Laurie Smukler, and the St. Lawrence, Arianna, Avalon, Pro Arte, and Verona Quartets. She has studied chamber music at the Arianna Chamber Music Festival and the Northern Lights Chamber Music Festival, and spent time in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia under the mentorship of the Verona Quartet at the Lunenburg Academy of Music Performance (LAMP).

From 2018 to 2022, Blakeley served Northeastern Wisconsin as a founding member and violist of the Griffon String Quartet, reaching audiences of all ages with the mission to Educate, Enrich, and Excite their community. In 2022, she co-founded the Kalara String Quartet, often featured in the Candlelight Series concerts in Milwaukee and Madison, Wisconsin. Passionate about chamber music for young people, the Kalara Quartet has offered masterclasses and chamber music camps in Wisconsin and Illinois. Blakeley has also held positions as principal violist of the Weidner Philharmonic (Green Bay, WI) and the Civic Symphony of Green Bay, and is a substitute violist in the Rockford, Fox Valley, and Madison Symphonies.

In her free time, Blakeley enjoys iced coffee, arts and crafts, organizing, kickboxing, and spending time with her husband Ben and grey cat Concs.

Pianist Yujin Lee is celebrated for her versatile playing and rich musical colors. After earning her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Seoul National University, she completed her Artist Diploma and Doctor of Musical Arts at The Hartt School. As a soloist, she won both the Hartford Chopin International Piano Competition and the Paranov Solo Concerto Competition, notably performing Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 2. An avid chamber musician, she has served as a collaborative pianist at the Atlantic Music Festival and is currently in her third year as a Resident Artist at the Eastern Shore Chamber Music Festival in Fairhope, Alabama. A dedicated educator and collaborator, she serves as a staff pianist at both The Hartt School and the Manhattan School of Music, and as a piano faculty member at the Hartt Community Division and Cheshire Academy. Selected as a pianist for the Hartford Symphony Orchestra in 2024, she has also performed in various concert and chamber music series, as well as with other prominent ensembles, including the Springfield Symphony Orchestra and the New Haven Symphony Orchestra.

Dr. Silvia Rath is an active educator, performer, and chamber musician in Southwest Alabama. She is a member of the Mobile Symphony Orchestra and frequently performs with the Pensacola Symphony Orchestra, Mobile Opera Orchestra, and Gulf Coast Symphony Orchestra. Dr. Rath is the founder and director of Southwest Alabama Academy of Music, a violin and viola program for talented children ages 3-18. She is a Mobile Symphony Orchestra Education Program faculty member, teaching string group classes in Mobile County Public Schools. She served as a member of the string quartet in residence at The University of Alabama from 2017-2020, performing a variety of recitals, educational programs, and outreach and community concerts in the United States, Italy, and Ireland. During past summers, Silvia has served as a teaching assistant at prestigious music festivals, including the Interlochen Center for the Arts and the Meadowmount School of Music. She completed her master’s degree at Lynn University under the tutelage of world-renowned violinist Elmar Oliveira, post-graduate studies with Ilya Kaler at DePaul University, and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of Alabama with Jenny Gregoire. 

Violinist Maynie Bradley began playing the violin at age three with the Suzuki Strings of Madison. She went on to study with professors Eugene Purdue and David Perry, graduating from UW Madison with degrees in music performance and psychology. Since graduation, she has been working as a behavior therapist for kids with autism at Achieving Collaborative Treatment (ACT). As a musician, Maynie is a member of the first violin section of the Madison Symphony Orchestra and Madison Opera. She also plays with the Galaxy String Quartet, a local group that performs creative programs featuring classical and contemporary works. Maynie has made appearances at the Mimir Chamber Music Festival, the Garth Newel Music Festival, and the Vienna Summer Music Festival. In the Madison area, she has participated in the LunART Festival (highlighting women composers), the National Women's Music Festival, ChamberFest in Spring Green, Grace Presents, and Live at the Chazen.

Kayla Schultz is a violist, educator, and dedicated chamber musician based in Madison, WI. She earned her Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2024, studying under Sally Chisholm and performing as a member of the Marvin Rabin String Quartet at the Mead Witter School of Music. Current member of the Galaxy String Quartet and the Eastern Shore String Trio, she finds immense joy in both teaching and exploring a wide range of musical genres. Notably, she was a finalist in the 2023 University of Wisconsin-Madison Symphony Concerto Competition and the 2021 Mead Witter Viola Competition.

Kayla completed her Bachelor of Arts in Viola Performance at Cardinal Stritch University under Olga Tuzhilkovbefore earning her Master’s Degree and Performance Diploma at the Chicago College of Performing Arts, where she studied with Igor Fedotov. She has a deep passion for chamber music, cherishing the intimacy, collaboration, and artistic freedom it offers.

When she’s not performing or teaching, Kayla is an avid artist and crocheter and runs her own small business making handcrafted pieces under the name Crafts and Whimsy.

Violinist Wes Luke is the concertmaster of the La Crosse (WI) Symphony Orchestra and serves as a guest concertmaster with many other  area orchestras, including the Wisconsin Philharmonic, Dubuque (IA) Symphony, Peoria (IL) Symphony, and the Maverick Chamber Orchestra in Woodstock, NY. Wes is also a section violinist in the Madison Symphony and Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, and subs in other orchestras, including the Milwaukee Symphony. A frequent recitalist, he is the first violinist of the Ancora String Quartet, with whom he often appears live on Wisconsin Public Radio. In 2019 he was named “Classical Performer of the Year” by the Madison Area Music Association.  He has taught at numerous colleges and universities and holds degrees from UW-Madison and the New England Conservatory of Music.