New Faces

Each new Festival brings new musicians to La Musica, and this year we are welcoming four additions to our strings.  Ellen dePasquale began her violin lessons as a Suzuki student and at age nine began her studies with the legendary teacher, Jascha Brodsky, continuing her studies with him while she was at Curtis Institute of Music.  After receiving her Bachelor of Music degree, she did graduate work at Indiana University.

She has served as concertmaster of the Florida Orchestra as well as participating in the national Musicians from Marlboro tours and many of the most noted Festivals.  From 1999-2007, Ellen was associate concertmaster of the Cleveland Orchestra, appearing frequently as soloist.  She is very active as a teacher, both in her own studio and as a member of the faculties of several key institutes.

From Philadelphia, we travel to Taiwan to meet  Hsin-Yun Huang, violist.  After studies in England’s Yehudi Menuhin School , starting at age 14, she, also attended the Curtis Institute, working with Michael Tree, earning a Bachelor of Music degree.  At Juilliard she earned a Master of Music degree.  She currently lives in New York City and serves on the faculties of The Juilliard School and the Mannes School of Music.

She has collaborated with many distinguished artists, among them Yo-Yo Ma, Jaime Laredo, Joshua Bell Menahem Pressler and Michael Tree.  Recent performances include collaborations with the Guarneri, Orion, Brentano quartets. With the latter she recorded the complete Mozart  string quartets.  Hsin-Yun has commissioned several works for solo viola and chamber ensemble.

We will have two new cellists this year: the first, from Berlin, is Xenia Jankovic.  Born into a Serbo-Russian family of musicians, she started cello lesisons at age six and made her debut with the Belgrade Philharmonic at age nine.  When she was eleven,  she received a scholarship to the Moscow Conservatory where Mstislav Rostropovich was among her teachers.  Further studies in Switzerland  and Germany led to her winning the Gaspar Cassado Competition in Florence.

She continues her solo performances with the major orchestras of Europe as well as playing recitals in Paris, London, Moscow, and Berlin.  She is an active chamber musician as well and is a regular participant in worldwide festivals.  Since 1990, she has been Professor of Cello at the Musikhochschule in Wurtzburg.

Our international travels take us next to  Santiago, Chile where Andrés Diaz began studying cello at  age five.  At eight, he moved to Atlanta, Georgia to the Atlanta Academy of Music, then on to the New England Conservatory of Music where he currently is active on its faculty.  Since winning the First Prize in the 1986 Naumberg International Cello Competition, he has performed with major orchestras in this country and has toured throughout the world as soloist with international orchestras.

      Andrés is very active with the Diaz String Trio, performing worldwide.  The trio was invited by Isaac Stern to play at the Carnegie Hall Centennial, and from 1994-96, the trio was in residence at Florida Atlantic University.  Andrés served for five years as Associate Professor of Cello at Boston University and as co-director of its Tanglewood Institute Quartet Program, until September 2001.  He currently lives in Dallas, Texas.