Amy Kang (co-founder)
Cellist Amy Kang actively explores a broad spectrum of musical genres. Equally at home in both the concert hall and downtown venues, Amy performs as a classical chamber musician as well as with New Music, contemporary jazz, and Latin American ensembles. Recent performances have brought her to the stages of Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and 92nd St Y, as well as other notable venues in Argentina, Japan, Panama, Poland, and South Korea. She studied with the great cellist and teacher Fred Sherry, and plays on her recently acquired cello labeled Johannes Gagliano, made in Naples in 1803.
Amy graduated from Columbia University with a B.A. in English Literature. She also studied visual arts at L’Ecole Marchutz in Aix-en-Provence, and has recently exhibited at the LongHouse Reserve (East Hampton), the Durst Foundation (New York), and the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Her current project involves transcribing the Bach Cello Suites into a series of paintings through a system of color-pitch correlation.
Carol Gimbel (co-founder)
Carol Gimbel is a visionary violist, educator, and international radio host. Her acclaimed projects include Music in the Barns and the award-winning #1000Strings, reimagining how classical music is performed, presented and taught. Ms. Gimbel is the co-host for Why Do We Only Listen to Dead People? on WFMU 91.9FM in NYC and NJ, the oldest freeform radio station in the U.S., where she explores the future of classical music with artists and thinkers. A passionate educator, she is Artist-in-Residence and Program Facilitator of the Viola Intensive Program (VIP) at the Philadelphia International Music Festival and creator of Violin Quest, a game-based learning tool that fuses classical technique with immersive play. Ms. Gimbel performs on the Ex-Emmanuel Vardi viola c.1725 and is pursuing interdisciplinary research in speculative design and classical music at New York University.
Nick Danielson
Violinist Nick Danielson enjoys a distinguished career in both the classical and tango worlds. His mother is from Córdoba, Argentina, and although he grew up in the United States, tango was very much a part of his musical influences since childhood. Since 1992, he has served as Assistant Concertmaster of the NYC Ballet Orchestra, with which he performs frequently as a solo violinist. He was a longtime member of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. He can be heard on many of Orpheus’ recordings, including Stravinsky’s “Concertino” on the GRAMMY winning CD, “Shadow Dances.” Nick has toured and recorded extensively as a soloist and chamber musician, and with numerous tango ensembles, including tango legend Pablo Ziegler. Among his most recent collaborations, he has performed with Paquito D’Rivera, Fernando Otero, Wynton Marsalis, and other notables. Among his many recordings, Nick also has released two solo albums, “Tango and Obsession” and “Sur: Violin Music of Argentina.” Nick is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied with the legendary Ivan Galamian. Tango is Nick’s true love, combining so beautifully with more traditional, classical music while creating a freedom of expression.
Mitchell Newman
Violinist Mitchell Newman was a member of the Los Angeles Philharmonic from 1987-2020. He worked with most of the major conductors of that era, including music directors Andre Previn, Esa-Pekka Salonen, and Gustavo Dudamel. A passionate advocate for bringing music to underserved communities, Mr. Newman founded “Harmony: Music for Mental Health”, a chamber music/fundraising concert for Mental Health America Long Beach. In 2010 he was named a mental health hero by the California State Senate. In 2015 he started “Coming Home to Music” which brings concerts of classical chamber music and jazz concerts to people who were experiencing homelessness, who are now living in apartment complexes built by People Assisting the Homeless (PATH). Newman has been a regular participant in the LA Phil’s Chamber Music Society and Green Umbrella series and has had the opportunity to play the Mendelssohn Octet with Joshua Bell, and Thomas Ades’ Piano Quintet with the composer playing piano. Newman can be heard on Grammy-winning Southwest Chamber Music’s recording of the First and Third String Quartets of Carlos Chávez. He has also recorded the music of Eric Zeisl for Harmonia Mundi, and Stories from My Favorite Planet by Los Angeles composer Russell Steinberg. Mr. Newman also teaches chamber music ensembles for the Settlement School, and The University of Pennsylvania. Mr. Newman studied violin at The Curtis Institute of Music with Aaron Rosand, David Cerone, and Yumi Ninomiya Scott and chamber music with Mischa Schneider, Felix Galamir, and Karen Tuttle.
Philip Edward Fisher (guest artist)
Philip Edward Fisher is recognized widely as a unique performer of refined style and exceptional versatility. He has appeared across his native United Kingdom, Europe, Asia, Africa, and North and South America. His extensive recording credits include a 2-disc set of Handel Keyboard Suites on the Naxos label, while his recent release for Chandos - Piano Works by “The Mighty Handful” - was featured on Classic FM as John Suchet’s “Album of the Week”, as "CD of the Week" in the London Telegraph, and was shortlisted in the Best Solo Instrumental Album category of the International Classical Music Awards. The most recent release on the Naxos label - the Complete Solo Piano Works of John Corigliano, including the composer`s Piano Concerto with the Albany Symphony and David Alan Miller - has been met with great critical acclaim. He has performed concertos with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the Copenhagen Philharmonic, the Tampere Philharmonic, the Cabrillo Festival Orchestra, and the Symphonies of Albany, San Antonio, Toledo and the Juilliard School, working with conductors Hannu Lintu, David Alan Miller, John Axelrod, Sebastian Lang-Lessing, Cristian Macelaru, Larry Rachleff, James Lowe and Giordano Bellincampi.
Philip holds degrees from the Royal Academy of Music and the Juilliard School, having studied with Christopher Elton, Joseph Kalichstein, and Jerome Lowenthal. In 2001, he was granted the Julius Isserlis Scholarship by the Royal Philharmonic Society of London, and was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music as part of their honours list for 2016.
Cullan Bryant (guest artist)
Before he lost fine motor skills in his right hand due to an ischemic stroke in 2024, Cullan Bryant was among the most active chamber and collaborative pianists in New York City, maintaining a schedule of over 70 recitals a year. He has performed with such artists as Emanuel Borok, Oleh Krysa, Mikhail Kopelman, Midori, Sviatoslav Moroz, Peter Rejto, and members of the Almati, American, Arcata, and Borromeo Quartets in such venues as Weill Recital Hall, Merkin Hall, Alice Tully Hall, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Detroit’s Orchestra Hall. Bryant made his Carnegie Hall debut in 1992 in recital with violinist Patmore Lewis.
Cullan began playing the piano at age 2, giving his first public recital at age 6. At 11 he toured campuses in his native Arkansas and in Texas, giving several televised recitals. His prizes and awards include the Leschetizky International Competition, the National Arts Club of New York, the Memphis Beethoven Competition, Miami Arts Competition, and a certificate of outstanding citizenship from Arkansas Governor Frank White. His college studies were with Robert Goldsand and Artur Balsam. In July of 2002 he toured Japan in recitals with violinist Midori.
Nilko Andreas (guest artist)
Nilko Andreas has captivated audiences across three continents as an award-winning classical guitarist, chamber musicians, composer, actor, music director, and singer. Since his Carnegie Hall solo debut in 2009, he has become a distinguished performer and advocate for environmental awareness through music. Born in Colombia, Nilko Andreas brings the rich musical heritage of his homeland to his diverse artistic endeavors. Trained in cello, classical guitar, composition, and orchestral conducting, he has spent 22 years performing, producing, and conducting in New York City.
An accomplished educator, he has given master classes and conferences at prestigious institutions, including Columbia University, Mannes College of Music, NYU, Berklee School of Music, the French Alliance in Cartagena, Universidad del Norte, Bellas Artes in Barranquilla, Eafit University in Colombia, and more in Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, and Korea.
He founded the “Amazonas” series at Carnegie Hall in 2010, highlighting environmental issues through music. He is the Founder and Artistic Director of the Latin American Chamber Music Society of New York and serves as Artistic Director at AZLO Productions.