Upcoming Guest Artists
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Fabio Bidini
Fabio Bidini today is recognized as one of the most important pianists and pedagogues. He began his piano studies at the age of five, and made his North American debut in 1993 with the Atlanta Symphony. He currently serves as faculty at the Colburn Conservatory of Music in Los Angeles as the Carol Colburn Grigor Piano Chair.
Mr. Bidini has been a frequent guest of the most prominent orchestras worldwide (San Francisco Symphony, Dallas Symphony, Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, etc) and has played in the world's most famous concert halls (Carnegie Hall, Kimmel Center Philadelphia, Kennedy-Center Washington, Royal Festival Hall, Davies Hall, and more).
He has also collaborated with leading conductors of our time, including Michael Tilson Thomas, Ivan Fischer, Andrey Boreyko, Zoltan Kocsis, Eri Klas, GianAndrea Noseda, Barry Wordsworth, Yoel Levi, Pavel Kogan, Louis Lane, Tadaaki Otaka, Mathias Bamert, among many others.
Masterclass:
November 21, 2026 @ 3:30pm-5:30pm
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Amit Peled
Internationally renowned cellist, conductor, and pedagogue Amit Peled is acclaimed as one of the most exciting and virtuosic instrumentalists on the concert stage today. He is currently Professor of Cello at Johns Hopkins University’s Peabody Institute in Baltimore, Maryland, and has presented master classes around the world. Having performed in many of the world’s most prestigious venues, including Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, John F. Kennedy Center, Salle Gaveau, Wigmore Hall, Seoul Arts Center and the Konzerthaus Berlin, Peled has released over a dozen recordings on the Naxos, Centaur, Delos, and CTM Classics labels.
A passionate advocate for the music of our time, Peled has collaborated closely with leading composers including Krzysztof Penderecki and Jonathan Leshnoff, and has premiered numerous works written for him both as a cellist and conductor.
As a conductor, Peled is the Founder and Artistic Director of the Mount Vernon Virtuosi, an innovative chamber orchestra dedicated to artistic excellence, mentorship, and community engagement.
Masterclass:
February 20, 2027 @ 10:00am-12:00pm
Past Guest Artists
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Martin Chalifour (presented by Junior Chamber Music)
Martin Chalifour has been Principal Concertmaster of the Los Angeles Philharmonic since 1995. Apart from his LA Phil duties, he maintains an active solo career, playing a diverse repertoire of more than 60 concertos. Chalifour began his orchestral career with the late Robert Shaw and the Atlanta Symphony, playing as Associate Concertmaster for six years. Subsequently, for five years he occupied the same position in the Cleveland Orchestra. He teaches at Caltech and at the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music.
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Margaret Batjer
In addition to her role as concertmaster of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Batjer has served as the curator of LACO’s chamber music series Westside Connections and In Focus since 2007, and in 2019, she was named director of chamber music and training programs. Batjer is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, where she studied with Ivan Galamian and David Cerone. She joined the faculty of the USC Thornton School of Music in 2005 and the Colburn Academy in 2014, where she teaches violin and directs the Academy Virtuosi Ensemble.
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Sarkis Baltaian
Dr. Sarkis Baltaian has gained an international reputation as a concert pianist, chamber musician, recording artist, and pedagogue. Dr. Baltaian made his Carnegie Hall Debut in 1999 and has performed extensively both as a recitalist and concerto soloist with major orchestras throughout the United States, Europe, Asia, and Australia.
Under his dedicated teaching, Dr. Baltaian’s students have won national and international competitions and have matriculated to prestigious institutions and universities around the world.
Dr. Baltaian has held full-time professor positions at the Colburn Conservatory of Music and The University of Alabama in Huntsville. He is currently the Director of Instrumental Music at the Orange County School of the Arts.
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Andrew Shulman
Andrew Shulman, virtuoso cellist and conductor, is principal cellist with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and cellist with Los Angeles Piano Trio. He enjoys a richly varied career as recitalist, soloist, chamber musician, conductor and pedagogue, maintaining a flourishing studio at the USC Thornton School of Music. Many of his students have gone on to win international competitions and principal positions in major orchestras and chamber groups.
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Hans Jørgen Jensen
Hans Jørgen Jensen is professor of cello at the Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University. As one of the leading pedagogues of our generation, Professor Jensen has given workshops and master classes across the United States, Canada, Europe, Japan, Brazil, Korea, Australia, and Israel. His former students have been first prize winners in international competitions, and won positions in major orchestras including The New York Philharmonic and the Chicago Symphony. He has also written pedagogy books “CelloMind" and “PracticeMind” published by OvationPress.