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A member of the Boston Symphony since 1987, Bonnie Bewick
attended the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and earned her
bachelor's degree in music in 1986 from the Curtis Institute of
Music. Prior to joining the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Bonnie won a
position with the Columbus Symphony and participated in summer
music festivals at Interlochen, Spoleto, the Colorado Philharmonic,
and the Grand Tetons. She has made solo appearances with a number
of West Coast orchestras, and with the Boston Pops under John
Williams and Keith Lockhart as well as the New England Philharmonic
and the Cape Ann Symphony in New England. While trained as a
classical violinist, bringing many forms of traditional and folk
music to classical audiences has become her passion. With that
purpose in mind she formed the group "Classical Tangent" in 2007,
comprised of BSO members and other traditional musicians. This
venture has been enthusiastically received by audiences at Symphony
Hall, around Boston, and in the Berkshires, with a featured
performance in June 2010 with the Boston Pops under Keith Lockhart.
Since then, Bonnie has formed the duo "Frame" (frame-music.com) with her
brother, guitar player and songsmith Ken Bewick; they released
their first CD in March 2013. Bonnie also plays folk music with the
group Childsplay (www.childsplay.org), leads
Orchestra Audition seminars all over the country, and teaches
privately. When she finds herself with extra time on her hands,
cooking with her brother, Ken, is one of her favorite pastimes, as
is playing golf. She is married to Michael Brown and has two
fabulous sons, Andrew and Kevin.
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Bonnie Bewick, violin
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Ala Jojatu joined the Boston Symphony Orchestra's violin section
at the start of the 2011-12 season. Ala was a regular extra player
with the Boston Symphony and Boston Pops Orchestras, and she has
also performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra, New World Symphony,
Boston Lyric Opera, New England String Ensemble, Portland (Maine)
Symphony, and as concertmaster of the Indian Hill Orchestra. Born
in Moldova, Ala began her Bachelor of Music degree at the Bucharest
National University of Music, where she studied with Stefan
Gheorghiu, and then finished it as a full scholarship student at
the Boston Conservatory, studying with Lynn Chang and former BSO
principal second violin Marylou Speaker Churchill. She completed
her Master of Music degree as a student of BSO concertmaster
Malcolm Lowe at Boston University. Ala was a Tanglewood Music
Center fellow in 2000 and 2001. She has won numerous competitions,
resulting in performances of the Sibelius violin concerto with the
Moldova National Orchestra, and the Berg violin concerto with the
Boston Conservatory Orchestra. Ala and her husband, BSO cellist
Mihail Jojatu, are the proud parents of Maria Luiza and Gabriel
Valentin.
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Ala Jojatu, violin
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Mickey Katz joined the Boston Symphony Orchestra in September
2004. A native of Israel, he has distinguished himself as a solo
performer, chamber musician, and contemporary music specialist. He
received the Presser Music Award in Boston, the Karl Zeise Prize as
a Tanglewood Music Center Fellow, and won first prizes at the
Hudson Valley Philharmonic Competition and the Rubin Academy
Competition in Tel Aviv. He has been a recipient of the America
Israel Cultural foundation scholarships since 1988. As soloist, he
has performed with several Israeli orchestras and locally with the
Civic Symphony of Boston, Symphony Pro Musica, and the Hudson
Valley Philharmonic.
Mr. Katz is a passionate performer of new music. He premiered and
recorded Menachem Wiesenberg's Cello Concerto with the Israel
Defense Force Orchestra and has performed several American and
Boston premieres of Elliott Carter's music, working with the
composer. He also worked with composers György Kurtág, John
Corigliano, Leon Kirchner, and John Harbison in performing their
music. Following his success in performing new music as a fellow at
the Tanglewood Music Center, he was invited back to Tanglewood in
the summer of 2002 as a member of the New Fromm Players, an alumni
ensemble in residence, performing challenging new works and
collaborating with young composers.
An active chamber musician, Mickey has performed in such venues as
Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall and Alice Tully Hall in New York,
Jordan Hall in Boston, the Gallerie dell'Accademia in Venice,
Italy, and Salle Gaveau in Paris, as well as all the major venues
of Israel. He participated in the Marlboro Festival and was invited
to take part in the Musicians from Marlboro tour. He has
collaborated in performances with distinguished players such as
violinists Pinkhas Zukerman and Gil Shaham, violists Tabea
Zimmermann and Kim Kashkashian, members of the Juilliard and
Guarneri string quartets, and pianist Gilbert Kalish.
Mickey completed his mandatory military service in Israel as a
part of the "Distinguished Musician Program", playing in the Israel
Defense Force String Quartet, a group that performs throughout the
country both in classical concerts and in many outreach and
educational concerts for soldiers and other audiences. He graduated
from the New England Conservatory in Boston, where he was a
Piatigorsky scholarship student of Laurence Lesser. His teachers
included Paul Katz, Uzi Wiezel, Hillel Zori, and Uri Vardi. He
teaches privately and is on the faculties of the Tanglewood Music
Center and the Boston University Tanglewood Institute.
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Mickey Katz, cello
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Lawrence Wolfe joined the Boston Symphony Orchestra bass section
in 1970, becoming the orchestra's youngest member at that time; he
was named assistant principal bass of the Boston Symphony Orchestra
and principal bass of the Boston Pops Orchestra during the 1981‑82
season. A graduate of New England Conservatory, Mr. Wolfe
studied double bass with William Curtis, Leslie Martin, and Gary
Karr. As a fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center, he was
awarded the Albert Spaulding Prize for the most promising and
outstanding instrumentalist. He is now a faculty member at
Boston University, New England Conservatory, and the Boston
Conservatory. Represented on Titanic Records by his album,
Lawrence Wolfe, Double Bass, Mr. Wolfe has appeared as soloist at
Carnegie Recital Hall, NEC's Jordan Hall, Kilbourne Hall in
Rochester, and Symphony Hall, where he has been a soloist with the
Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Boston Pops Orchestra.
Mr. Wolfe was a judge and performed with his wife, soprano
Pamela Wolfe, at the International Double Bass Competition on the
Isle of Man in England. At the invitation of the Australian
String Teachers Association, Mr. Wolfe toured the major cities of
Australia, performing in recitals and teaching master
classes. At the 1988 convention of the International
Institute of the String Bass in Los Angeles, he was a recitalist,
judge, and arranger. At Disneyland, he conducted an ensemble
of eighty bass players in his own arrangements of Disney
tunes. As a composer, Mr. Wolfe has numerous popular songs
and three musicals to his credit. Ronald Feldman conducted
the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra in the premiere of his
overture, Freefall, and John Williams conducted the Boston Pops
Orchestra in the premiere of his trumpet concerto with Timothy
Morrison as soloist. Prophecy and Joy, a celebratory piece
for chorus and orchestra to words by Walt Whitman, was commissioned
by the Masterworks Chorale for their fiftieth‑anniversary concert
at Symphony Hall.
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Lawrence Wolfe, bass
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