Performers

William Anderson

Guitar

Guitarist/composer William Anderson began performing chamber music at Tanglewood at age 19. He now performs in guitar festivals and new music festivals in Europe, the U.S., Latin America and in Japan. In New York Anderson performs regulalry with many ensembles including Sequitur, and the Cygnus Ensemble, which he founded in 1985. For ten years he was a member of the Theater Chamber Players in Washington D.C., under the direction of Leon Fleisher and Dina Koston. He has performed with the Metropolitan Opera Chamber Players, under James Levine, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Da Capo Chamber Players, Speculum Musicae and the York Philharmonic.

Susannah Chapman

Cello

Cellist Susannah Chapman is well-established as a chamber musician, soloist, contemporary music interpreter, and performer in leading chamber orchestras. The principal cellist of the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, she is a former member of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and currently performs regularly with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra.

Oren Fader

Guitar

Oren Fader is active as a performer of classical guitar repertoire, both traditional and contemporary. Reviewing his solo New York recital, Guitar Review magazine stated: "His scholarship, technique, and intelligent musicianship are plainly evident and the beauty of his tone is consistently compelling.” He has performed in London, Tokyo, Munich, Amsterdam, Montreal, Maui, Russia, Mexico, and throughout the United States. Concerto performances include the Villa-Lobos Guitar Concerto with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra.

James Austin Smith

Oboe

Praised for his "dazzling," "virtuosic," and “brilliant” performances (The New York Times), oboist James Austin Smith performs equal parts new and old music across the United States and around the world. He is a member of Chamber Music Society Two, the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), the Talea Ensemble and Decoda, as well as a regular guest of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and Cygnus.

Tara Helen O'Connor

Flute

Flutist Tara Helen O'Connor is a charismatic performer known for her unusual artistic depth, brilliant technique and colorful tone in music of every era, as well as for her masterful readings of her huge repertoire of new works. In March 2001 she was awarded a coveted Avery Fisher Career Grant. Ms. OConnor is a member of the woodwind quintet Windscape, a founding member of the 1995 Naumburg Award winning New Millennium Ensemble and she is also the flute soloist of the world renowned Bach Aria Group, following in the footsteps of Samuel Baron and Julius Baker.

Calvin Wiersma

Violin

Calvin Wiersma, violinist, has appeared throughout the world as a soloist and chamber musician. He is currently a violinist with the Manhattan String Quartet. He has performed numerous solo recitals, including appearances in Boston, New York, and Chicago, and has appeared with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, The Concerto Company of Boston and the Lawrence Symphony, among others. He was a founding member of Meliora Quartet, winner of the Naumberg, Fischoff, Coleman and Cleveland Quartet competitions.

Joan Forsyth

Piano

Joan Forsyth is pianist for the Cygnus Ensemble, and performs regularly with Cygnus guitarist William Anderson. Canadian pianist Joan Forsyth is a multi-faceted musician who has received critical acclaim as a soloist and chamber music artist. She has been heard throughout Europe, Japan, South and North America in a wide range of repertoire, embracing the standard piano iterature as well as the most recent works. Her prize-winning performances in the 1990 Concerts Atlantique and La Gesse competitions set in motion tours of France and Switzerland, and since that time she has maintained a lively concert schedule.

Elizabeth Farnum

Soprano

Praised by the New York Times for her “honeyed tone”, Elizabeth Farnum is one of today’s most highly sought-after vocalists in the field of modern music. Widely known for her high level of musicianship, versatility and range, she has presented modern works in venues such as Lincoln Center, Alice Tully Hall, London's Institute for Contemporary Art, the American Academy at Rome and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, collaborating with such composers as Samuel Adler, Anthony Braxton, Lucas Foss, Ricky Ian Gordon, John Harbison, Peter Schickele, Charles Wuorinen and John Zorn.

Cygnus Ensemble

Cygnus Ensemble

William Anderson

Susannah Chapman

Oren Fader

James Austin Smith

Tara Helen O'Connor

Calvin Wiersma

Joan Forsyth

Elizabeth Farnum

Cygnus with The Village Trip

Never Ending Artist