OUR MUSICIANS
Jennifer Gartley, flute
Jennifer Gartley, flute, is a native of the Isle of Palms, South Carolina and moved to Saint Louis in 2006. She graduated with the Doctorate of Musical Arts degree in 2009 from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where she studied with Dr. Jonathan Keeble and was the teaching assistant for the flute studio. Dr. Gartley received the Master of Music degree from Louisiana State University in 2003 and her Bachelor of Music Education degree from Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina in 2001. She has performed with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Sinfonia da Camera, the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra, the Illinois Symphony, and the Owensboro Symphony and currently serves as the principal flutist for Winter Opera Saint Louis and Associate Faculty at McKendree University. Dr. Gartley is an Artistic Director and founding member of Chamber Project Saint Louis and is the Director of Programming and Public Outreach for Washington University in St. Louis.
Laura Reycraft, viola
Laura Reycraft, viola, received her Bachelor of Music in Viola Performance from The Cleveland Institute of Music in 2003 as a student of Jeffrey Irvine and Lynne Ramsey. In 2005 she earned her Master of Music diploma from the University of Maryland College Park where she studied viola with Daniel Foster and Michael Tree and Suzuki Violin Pedagogy with Ronda Cole. Laura has participated in a number of music festivals including Tanglewood Music Center, Spoleto Festival USA, Sarasota Music Festival, Aspen Music Festival and School, and the New York String Orchestra Seminar. She has played as substitute with National Symphony Orchestra and is currently a regular substitute with the Saint Louis Symphony and an active freelancer in the St. Louis area. Ms. Reycraft is a string faculty member of the Community Music School of Webster University and City Academy and maintains a private teaching studio. Laura is an Artistic Director of Chamber Project.
Dana Hotle, clarinet
Dana Hotle, clarinet, is a multi-faceted musician, arts leader and educator. She can be heard performing in both her home state of Missouri and in Illinois as Principal Clarinet with the Illinois Symphony, and around the St. Louis area with Chamber Project St. Louis, an ensemble she co-founded in 2012. As the Executive Director of Chamber Project St. Louis she leads an innovative collaborative of musicians in unique chamber music programs.
Dana is currently the Coordinator of the Woodwinds, Brass and Percussion Department and Clarinet Faculty at the Washington University Department of Music. She has performed with the St. Louis Symphony, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Winter Opera St. Louis, Union Avenue Opera, and The Cedar Rapids Symphony (now Orchestra Iowa). She has taught at the Community Music School of Webster University since 2001. She holds a Bachelor of Music from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana and a Master of Music from The Manhattan School of Music, where she studied with David Krakauer.
Marta simidtchieva
Marta Simidtchieva, cello. Currently the Professor of Cello at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Marta Simidtchieva is a native of Bourgas, Bulgaria where she began the cello at an early age and studied at the Bulgarian State Academy of Music. Upon the completion of her degree she performed with the New Symphony Orchestra in Sofia until her path led her to the United States to continue her studies. She earned her doctorate in 2005 from Florida State University where she was a student of Lubomir Georgiev, a member of the Eppes String Quartet, and principal cellist of with the University Symphony Orchestra with whom she was a soloist several times, most notably performing the Vivaldi Concerto for Two Cellos with vocalist Bobby McFerrin.
On the faculty at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville since 2005, Marta has taught cello, chamber music, string methods, and general music courses and is a member of the Musici Piano Trio, formerly the LeClaire Piano Trio. She is a passionate music educator and frequent clinician, presenting regularly at the American String Teacher’s Association conferences. Each year she organizes Cellobration, an event that brings together local students and teachers with a guest artist to perform and celebrate the art of cello playing.
Marta has performed with numerous orchestras, including the Illinois Symphony and Orlando Philharmonic, and has been a member of the faculty at the Eastern Music Festival since 2004 where each summer she teaches cello and chamber music, performs in the chamber music series at University of North Carolina Greensboro and at Dana Auditorium Festival series. In addition to her orchestral experience, Marta is an advocate for the music of composers from her native Bulgaria and has received several grants for her research. Her album of 20th Century works for cello by Bulgarian Composers entitled Bulgarian Sketches was released in June, 2018 by GEGA NEW records and will be distributed in Europe, Japan and the US.
nina ferrigno, piano
Nina Ferrigno, described by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch as "a magnificent pianist," is a collaborative artist at home in a multitude of diverse musical settings. Her playing is said to be, “...always precise with superb accentuation and warmth of feeling...”. Nina is a founding member of the Boston-based Calyx Piano Trio which has excited audiences throughout the United States with expressive ensemble playing and brilliant virtuosity. She has appeared in major concert venues throughout North America. She has performed in such ensembles as the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Boston Symphony, Boston Pops, and the Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP), with whom she was principal keyboard from its inception to 2007. Nina is committed to commissioning and performing new works in a variety of settings, expanding the repertoire and bringing classical music to new audiences. The New Music Connoisseur has said of her, “pianist Nina Ferrigno [brings] out the inherent horizontal logic...all the while imparting sonic beauty from end to end.” Her chamber music recording of Lansing McLoskey’s “Tinted” was released by Albany Records in 2008. She is featured soloist on the BMOP Sound recording of the Elliott Schwartz Chamber Concerto III: Another View released in 2009. Nina is a graduate of New England Conservatory of Music, where she received Bachelor and Master of Music degrees with distinction. Her principal teachers were Wha Kyung Byun and Randall Hodgkinson. Other festival appearances include those at Tanglewood, Banff, Norfolk, the Skaneateles Festival, and the Carolina Chamber Music Festival where the Calyx Piano Trio is in residence. Nina makes her home in Webster Groves with husband Scott Andrews and their children Ava and Zachary. Nina and Scott are Artistic Directors of The Missouri Chamber Music Festival.
megan stout, harp
Megan Stout is a highly trained freelance harpist in the Saint Louis region. Megan began her studies at the age of nine in Philadelphia under the direction of the principal harpist of the Philadelphia Orchestra, Elizabeth Hainen. She has attained both a Bachelor and a Master’s Degree in Harp Performance from Indiana University under the tutelage of Susann McDonald. Megan is an avid chamber musician and has had the honor to collaborate with many fine musicians. She regularly performs chamber music in Breckenridge, CO and has become highly involved in the Saint Louis musical community including performances with members of the Saint Louis Symphony at the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts, the Chamber Project Saint Louis, and with the Saint Louis Symphony Community Partnership Program. Megan Stout’s performances have taken her to Carnegie Hall, the Kimmel Center, Powell Hall and many other incredible performance venues. She has performed withthe Saint Louis Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, and the Philadelphia Orchestra. Megan was also a prizewinning performer in the National Society of Arts and Letters and the American String Teacher’s National Solo Competition.
kyle lombard, violin
Kyle Andre Lombard, violinist, is a native of Kansas City, Missouri. He graduated with honors from Indiana University, and received his Masters Degree from Yale University. Mr. Lombard enjoys a variety of musical activities. As a chamber musician, Mr. Lombard has performed throughout Europe, the Middle East and the U.S. He has recently performed on chamber music programs at Carnegie Hall and at the Ravinia Festival’s “Rising Stars” series. As part of the Ritz Chamber Players, he featured in the University of Washington’s esteemed “World Series of Chamber Music”, which included radio broadcast on Seattle’s KING FM classical music station. As a member of the Goffriller Piano Trio, Mr. Lombard’s performances were broadcast on Israeli Public Radio during Isaac Stern’s 3rd International Chamber Music Encounters in Jerusalem. He also performed, as a member of the Gateways Chamber Music Ensemble, in a weeklong residency with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
As a soloist, Mr. Lombard made his debut with the Kansas City Symphony. At age sixteen, he was the first area musician ever invited to perform with the ensemble. He has also concertized with the Savannah Symphony, the Sphinx Symphony, as well as recitals at the MOJA Festival in Charleston, S.C. and on the recital series at Southern Illinois University. Mr. Lombard was also featured in “Young Heroes of Music”, a live radio broadcast for Classic 99 FM of Saint Louis.
Mr. Lombard completed at two-year fellowship with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra in 2001. He has been performing with the orchestra since the 1999 season, and proudly maintains a regular presence with the SLSO Community Partnership Program, which brings symphony musicians to many schools, churches and community events around Saint Louis.
Jane price, violin
Jane Price, violin, grew up in West Lafayette, Indiana. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Indiana University and a Master of Music degree from the New England Conservatory. Her principal teachers have included James Buswell, Paul Biss, and Yuval Yaron. Jane has been a fellow at the Tanglewood Institute, the Norfolk Festival, the Spoleto festival in Italy and the United States, and spent one year as a member of the New World Symphony. Since 1994 she has been an extra member of the Chicago Symphony with whom she has toured the United States, Europe, and South America. Ms. Price has performed with the Mark Morris Dance Company, the Tulsa Opera Orchestra, and has been an extra member the St. Louis Symphony since 1996. Ms. Price is an adjunct violin instructor at Washington University in St. Louis, and for the past several years, has been a featured performer at the Festival of Music (FEMUSC) in Santa Catarina, Brazil.
Rebecca Chung, violin. Known for her expressive lyricism, St. Louis violinist Rebecca Chung is both an accomplished soloist and orchestral musician, equally at home on the concert stage and in the recording studio.
Rebecca holds a Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance and a Bachelor of Arts from Northwestern University and a Master of Music degree in Violin Performance from The Juilliard School. Her primary teachers are Roland and Almita Vamos and Naoko Tanaka. Rebecca has performed with the Metropolitan Orchestra of St. Louis, the St. Louis Chamber Soloists, New West Symphony, Pacific Symphony, and Pasadena Symphony.
Rebecca has recorded violin on studio albums by major recording artists, including Ariana Grande, Sarah McLachlan, Barry Manilow, Metro Boomin, Melissa Manchester, Andrea Bocelli, and Marvin Hamlisch. As a studio recording session violinist, she has performed on numerous soundtrack scores including HOUSE OF CARDS, STAR TREK DISCOVERY, AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D., ORVILLE, ONWARD, and the LEAGUE OF LEGENDS video game soundtracks.
Her television appearances include on-screen violin performances for NBC’s CHUCK and CBS’s HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER. Rebecca has also worked as a music consultant providing coaching for Academy Award nominated actress Catherine Keener’s performance in A LATE QUARTET.
Rebecca is on the violin faculty at Washington University in St. Louis, Webster University’s Community Music School, and maintains a private violin teaching studio.
jo nardolillo
Jo Nardolillo performs as a concerto soloist, recitalist, concertmaster, chamber musician and orchestra member throughout the United States and in Europe. As a champion of music by living American composers, she has commissioned, recorded, and given the world premieres of new works. She has been heard around the country on radio and television broadcasts, and performed with many of the world's leading musicians. Equally comfortable on the violin and viola, Dr. Nardolillo performs in a broad range of genres and styles. She is a member of the innovative new-music ensemble TangleTown Trio and the gypsy jazz band Touché.
Dr. Nardolillo is driven by the belief that music belongs to everyone, and she works to cultivate an artistic community that is equitable, inclusive, and values diversity. She the founding director of the Global Orchestra, an annual year-long project that uses virtual exchange to open a portal for students anywhere in the world to collaborate through accessible internet technology, unleashing the power of music to transcend all barriers. This annual year-long project infuses music curriculum with global citizenship and social justice, partnering youth ensembles around the world who play the instruments and musics traditional to the culture to create peer-to-peer connections, culminating in a virtual performance together.
Dr. Nardolillo has served as Concertmaster of Seattle's 5th Avenue Theater, the Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, and the Skagit Opera; Acting Principal Second Violin and Associate Concertmaster of the New Hampshire Music Festival Orchestra; Associate Concertmaster of the Maryland Symphony; Principal Second of the Boulder Philharmonic; visiting Concertmaster of the Bangor and Waterloo Symphonies; Assistant Principal Second of the Annapolis Symphony; and has been a member of the Alabama Symphony and Youngstown Symphony. Dr. Nardolillo has also performed with the New World Symphony and served as Principal Second at the National Orchestral Institute.
Dr. Nardolillo earned the Bachelor of Music degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music, the Master of Music degree from Rice University, and the Doctor of Musical Arts from the Eastman School of Music, where she was awarded the Certificate in Pedagogy from the Institute for Music Leadership and was Mikhail Kopelman’s teaching assistant.
Dr. Nardolillo has taught at the Eastman School of Music, where she received the prestigious TA Award for excellence in teaching, as well as Rice University, the Cleveland Institute of Music, the University of Rochester, Asbury University, the University of Puget Sound, the Hochstein School of Music, the Levine School of Music, and the Gadsden Center for the Arts. She served as Assistant Professor of Music at Mercer University, where she was named 2007-2008 Outstanding Faculty of the Year.
Dr. Nardolillo is currently the Arts Department Chair and String Orchestra Director at Mary Institute and St. Louis Country Day School (MICDS) in St. Louis. She is the director of the Global Orchestra and runs Orchestra4all.com, a resource helping teachers discover educational orchestra music from female and BIPOC composers.
Dr. Nardolillo has written four books:
"The Canon of Violin Literature" (2011, Scarecrow Press)
"All Things Strings: An Illustrated Dictionary" (2014, Rowman & Littlefield)
"Violin Secrets: 101 Strategies for the Advanced Violinist" (2015, Rowman & Littlefield)
"Cello Secrets: Over 100 Performance Strategies for the Advanced Cellist" with co-author Brian Hodges (2018, Rowman & Littlefield)
Dr. Nardolillo plays on a 1791 Johannes Cuypers violin, a 1991 John Newton viola, a 5-string Yamaha YEV, and a 2009 Brad Higgins fiddle.
amy greenhalgh
Amy Greenhalgh, viola, was born in Britain, read music at Oxford University, and went on to postgraduate education at the Royal College of Music and Trinity College of Music. She has worked as a chamber and orchestral musician throughout Europe, with ensembles including the London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Soloists’ Chamber Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, and National Symphony Orchestra of Malta, as well as recording for labels such as Decca, EMI, and Deutsche Grammophon.
In 2009, Amy moved to South America, after having won the position of principal viola of the Philharmonic Orchestra of Santiago, Chile. During her time in Chile, she was also professor of viola at the University Mayor, a member of the Ensamble Filarmónico, and principal viola of the Chilean-German Chamber Orchestra.
Amy moved to the United States in 2015 and lives in St. Louis, Missouri. She plays the viola and violin with Chamber Project Saint Louis, the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, and Winter Opera, amongst other groups. Amy also arranges, transcribes and reduces works for musicians including the Kingsbury Ensemble and Terry Barber, countertenor, and teaches at Washington University in St. Louis.
Dr. Adrianne honnold
Dr. Adrianne Honnold performs as a saxophonist throughout the United States and Europe including at Royal Albert Hall, the Berlin Philharmonie and the Salle Pleyel in Paris. She is currently Assistant Professor of Music at Lewis University in Romeoville, Illinois where she teaches courses in popular music history and applied saxophone. She received both her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where she was a student of Debra Richtmeyer and Chip McNeill, and she completed the PhD in Ethnomusicology/Popular Music Studies at the University of Birmingham in the UK. Her research engages with methods from critical organology and the sociology of music to investigate themes of music and identity in American popular music. Dr. Honnold has performed with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, the Kansas City Symphony Orchestra, the Illinois Symphony Orchestra, the USAF Band of Mid-America, USAF Heritage of America Band, the Pete Ellman Big Band, Sessions Big Band, the St. Louis Jazz Orchestra, and the NATO Jazz Orchestra. An avid chamber musician, she was a founding member and co-Artistic Director of Chamber Project St. Louis and the alto saxophonist with the Missouri Saxophone Quartet from 2007-2015. Dr. Honnold is an Artist-Endorser for the Conn-Selmer Corporation and is proud to perform on Selmer Paris and Yanagisawa saxophones exclusively. www.adriannesaxophone.com