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Renowned violinst Vadim Gluzman and his wife, pianist Angela Yoffe,are pleased to announce the program for the upcoming inaugural season of the North Shore Chamber Music Festival,(NSCMF), an intimate three-day festival celebrating chamber music in the town of Northbrook, Illinois.

The first season of the festival will take place June 8, 10 and 11, 2011, at The Village Presbyterian Church in Northbrook. The brain-child of Ms. Yoffe, who will serve as executive director, the Festival will bring established and up-and-coming musicians to North Shore audiences in a compact series of concerts. Ms. Yoffe's husband, acclaimed violinist Vadim Gluzman, will serve as artistic director of the Festival. Both Ms. Yoffe and Mr. Gluzman will perform in the Festival as well as carry out their respective duties as executive and artistic directors.

In addition to performances by seasoned performers, Festival attendees will have the opportunity to attend two special events. The first is a pre-concert performance on June 10 by some of the area's talented young music students (some of these young artists will also play in concert with pianist William Wolfram and other Festival artists playing Bach's Piano Concerto). The second is an exclusive lecture-demonstration presented by the Stradivari Society of Chicago regarding the mystery surrounding the works of Stradivari and del Gesu illustrated with musical examples on a number of these great instruments.

Angela Yoffe, piano/executive director, North Shore Chamber Music Festival
Admired for her outstanding musicianship, extraordinary sensitivity and virtuosity, pianist Angela Yoffe has performed in the concert halls of United States, Europe, Japan and Canada. As a chamber musician and recitalist, Ms. Yoffe has performed in New York, Washington, Chicago, San Francisco, Berlin, Paris, Geneva, Rome and Tokyo. Ms. Yoffe was born in Riga, Latvia into a family of highly respected musicians.  Before emigrating to Israel she studied with Faina Bulavko and Ilze Graubin and later with Victor Derevianko in Tel-Aviv. Angela continued her studies in the US with Joaquin Achucarro at the Southern Methodist University in Dallas. She was a piano assistant in the violin studio of Ms. Dorothy DeLay at the Juilliard School in New York, where she studied chamber music with Jonathan Feldman.  Her collaboration with violinist Vadim Gluzman has taken her to the festivals in Verbier and Lockenhaus, Festival de Radio France, Colmar, MIDEM Festival, Ravinia Festival, Pablo Casals, the Schwetzingen Festspiele and the Bantry Festival in West Cork, Ireland. She has also appeared with the Seattle Symphony, the Omaha Symphony, SWR Stuttgart Radio Orchestra and with New York’s Jupiter Symphony under the batons of Andrey Boreyko, Gerard Schwarz, Victor Yampolsky and the legendary Jens Nygaard. In 2003, together with violinist Vadim Gluzman and choreographer John Neumeier, Angela Yoffe premiered Lera Auerbach's 24 Preludes for Violin and Piano in adaptation for the Hamburg Ballet. The world premiere recording of Preludes (composed for Mr. Gluzman and Ms. Yoffe) was released on BIS Records to rave reviews, as well as their other albums: Time… and Again, Ballet for a Lonely Violinist and ‘Fireworks’.

Vadim Gluzman, violin/artistic director, North Shore Chamber Music Festival
One of the most extraordinary artists before the public today, Israeli violinist Vadim Gluzman, in technique and sensibility, harkens back to the Golden Age of violinists of the 19th and 20th centuries, while possessing the passion and energy of the 21st century. Lauded by both critics and audiences as a performer of great depth, virtuosity and technical brilliance, he has appeared throughout the world as a soloist and in a duo setting with his wife, pianist Angela Yoffe. Vadim Gluzman appears regularly with such major orchestras as the London Philharmonic, London Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic, San Francisco and Vancouver symphony orchestras, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, and Munich Dresden and Czech Philharmonic Orchestras, to name a few. He has collaborated with the world’s most prominent conductors, among them Neeme Järvi, Marek Janowski, Peter Oundjian, Paavo Järvi, and Yan Pascal Tortelier. A highly acclaimed recording artist, Vadim’s recordings are released exclusively on BIS Records. His latest recording features Korngold and Dvarionas violin concertos with The Hague Residentie Orchestra, Neeme Järvi conducting. Mr. Gluzman plays the extraordinary 1690 ex-Leopold Auer Stradivari, on extended loan to him through the generosity of the Stradivari Society of Chicago.

Ani Aznavoorian, cello
In demand as a soloist and chamber musician with some of the world’s most recognized ensembles, cellist Ani Aznavoorian has appeared with many of the world’s leading orchestras, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Pops, the Tokyo Philharmonic, the Helsinki Philharmonic, the Finnish Radio Symphony, the International Sejong Soloists, the Indianapolis Philharmonic, the San Jose Symphony, the Juilliard Orchestra, Concertante di Chicago, and the Edmonton Symphony.  Ms. Aznavoorian has also appeared as recitalist and chamber musician throughout the United States, Italy, France, Finland, Yugoslavia, Japan, Korea, Australia, Taiwan, and Canada. Principal cellist of Camerata Pacifica, Ms. Aznavoorian is also a member of the renowned string ensemble the International Sejong Soloists and a founding member of the Corinthian Trio with pianist Adam Neiman and violinist Stefan Milenkovich. She has performed in chamber ensembles with Gil Shaham, Cho-Liang Lin, , Eugenia Zukerman, Edgar Meyer, Ruth Laredo, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, the Pacifica Quartet, and appears frequently on the Jupiter Chamber Series in New York.  Ms. Aznavoorian has been a member of the distinguished music faculty at the University of Illinois in Champaign/Urbana.  In the summers she is on the faculty of the Great Mountains Music Festival and School in South Korea. She proudly performs on a cello made by her father Peter Aznavoorian.  

Wendy Warner, cello
Since first garnering international attention by winning first-prize at the 1990 Fourth International Rostropovich Competition in Paris, Wendy Warner has become one of the world’s leading cellists.  She has performed worldwide on prestigious stages including New York's Carnegie Hall, Boston’s Symphony Hall, Los Angeles’ Walt Disney Hall, Paris' Salle Pleyel and Berlin's Philharmonie. She has collaborated with such leading conductors as Mstislav Rostropovich, Vladimir Spivakov, Christoph Eschenbach, Andre Previn, Jesús López-Cobos, Joel Smirnoff, Carlos Miguel Prieto, Ignat Solzhenitsyn, Charles Dutoit, Eiji Oue, Neeme Järvi and Michael Tilson Thomas. Wendy Warner  has recorded for the Cedille, Bridge and Noxos record labels. Her most recent recordings include a CD of works by Popper and Piatigorsky, Rachmaninov and Myaskovsky Sonatas and a CD devoted to unknown Beethoven piano trios, including a world premiere, all on the Cedille Records label. A resident of Chicago and a recipient of the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant, Wendy Warner's musical career began at age six.  She studied with Nell Novak until she joined Mstislav Rostropovich at the Curtis Institute, from which she graduated. In addition to her performance career, Ms. Warner teaches at Roosevelt University. She uses a cello bow by Francoix Xavier Tourte of Paris, c. 1815, the "De Lamare", on extended loan through the generous efforts of the Stradivari Society of Chicago.

Ilya Kaler, violin
One of the most outstanding personalities of the violin today, Ilya Kaler has performed with orchestra and in recital throughout the world.  Among the distinguished orchestras with whom he has soloed are the Leningrad, Moscow and Dresden Philharmonic Orchestras, Montreal Symphony, Danish and Berlin Radio Orchestras, Detroit Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Seattle Symphony, New Japan Philharmonic and Moscow and Zurich Chamber Orchestras. His solo recitals have taken him throughout the former Soviet Union, United States, East Asia, Europe, Latin America, South Africa and Israel. Mr. Kaler has many awards to his credit, and is the only violinist to have won Gold Medals at the Tchaikovsky (1986), Sibelius (1985) and Paganini (1981) Competitions. Born in Moscow, Russia into a family of musicians, Mr. Kaler’s major teachers at the Moscow Central Music School and the Moscow Conservatory include Zinaida Gilels, Leonid Kogan and Victor Tretyakov. He later continued his studies under the guidance of Abram Stern. Mr. Kaler has served as Distinguished Professor at Indiana University School of Music in Bloomington, IN, Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY, and is currently a Professor of Violin at DePaul University School of Music in Chicago. Mr. Kaler performas on a "Sennhauser" Giuseppe Guarnerius del Gesu violin, 1735, on generous loan from the Stradivari Society of Chicago.

Lisa Shihoten, violin
A member of the critically acclaimed Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players, Lisa Shihoten is an active and significant presence in New York City's classical music scene. A graduate of The Juilliard School and Yale University, she made her Avery Fisher Hall debut in 1995 performing Bruch’s Scottish Fantasy with The Juilliard Orchestra under Kurt Masur. As a recitalist and chamber musician, Shihoten has appeared at the Aspen Music Festival, Verbier Festival, Ravinia Festival, and  in Caramoo’s  Rising Stars series. She has won the Grand Prize at the Marcia Polayes National Violin Competition and the Aspen Music Festival’s Nakamichi  Competition, as well as top prizes from the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts and the Seventeen (magazine)/ General Motors National Competition. Her former teachers include Dorothy DeLay, Masao Kawasaki and Peter Oundjian. She is married to organist Ken Cowan and teaches violin at Princeton University.

Atar Arad, viola
Violist/composer Atar Arad  has enjoyed successful careers as a soloist, composer and quartet member.  Mr. Arad’s professional career as a violist began in July 1972, when he won the City of London Prize as a laureate of the Carl Flesch Competition for violin and viola. Two months later he was awarded the First Prize at the International Viola Competition in Geneva by a unanimous decision of the jury. In 1980, Mr. Arad joined the Cleveland Quartet. For the next seven years, he toured the U.S., South America, Western and Eastern Europe, Israel and Japan with the Quartet, and  recorded for labels such as RCA, CBS and Telarc. Born in Tel Aviv, Mr. Arad began his early musical education  studying the violin. In 1968 he was one of a few young  artists to be selected to study in the renowned Chapelle Musicale Reine Elisabeth under the patronage of the Queen of Belgium. In 1971, Mr. Arad switched to the viola. Mr. Arad  has served as a Professor of Viola at the Eastman School of Music. He also has been an artist/ faculty member at the Aspen School and Festival, taught at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University (TX),  and has been an artist/lecturer at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. Mr. Arad currently serves as Professor of Music (viola) at the Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University, Bloomington. In the summer he also teaches at the Steans Institute for Young Artists (Ravinia Festival) in Chicago, the Domaine Forget Academy of the Art and at Keshet Eilon Music Center, Israel. Atar Arad plays on a viola by Niccolo Amati.

Rose Armbrust, viola
An up and coming talent in the classical music arena, Rose Armbrust is carving a niche for herself in the viola world. She has performed with such artists as violinists Joshua Bell, David Kim, and Itzhak Perlman, and has appeared at music festivals including The Juilliard School’s annual Chamberfest, the Kingston Chamber Music Festival (RI), Music From Angelfire (NM), Music Academy of the West (CA) and the Manchester Music Festival (VT). Recent career highlights include premiering Jonathan Graybill’s “Viola Concerto”, written for her, at Indiana’s Ball State University, appearing on Caramoor’s “Rising Stars” series, a performance with violinist Joshua Bell at Indiana University, concerts with The Starling Chamber Players at Florida’s BIG ARTS cultural center and performances in the Kennedy Center’s ongoing semi-annual showcase for the country’s exceptional young talent, The Conservatory Project. A native of Wayne, Illinois, Ms. Armbrust received her Bachelor of Music from The Juilliard School, where she studied with Heidi Castleman and Hsin-Yun Huang, and an Artist Diploma from The Curtis Institute of Music, where she studied with Roberto Diaz and Michael Tree. While attending Curtis, Ms. Armbrust served as principal violist of The Haddonfield Symphony. She recently received her Masters of Music from Indiana University, where she held the merit-based Viola Associate Instructorship while studying with Atar Arad, and was a member of the University’s quartet-in-residence, The Kuttner Quartet.