Second Row Christopher LeCluyse Jennifer Paulino Rob Diggins Julie Jeffrey Daniel Hutchings Carla Moore

Third Row Katherine Heater Martin Hummel Laura Heimes Warren Stewart Louise Carslake Peter Becker

Fourth Row David Morris Anthony Martin Nigel North John Dornenburg Aaron Sheehan Jillon Stoppels Dupree

Fifth Row Andrew Rader David Wilson Hugh Davies Stephen Escher Herbert Myers John Lenti

During recent seasons, Ms. Brandes gave a series of important premieres including an Eric Moe commission entitled Of Color Braided All Desire with the Brentano String Quartet as part of the South Mountain Concert Series, and Jennifer Higdon’s In the Shadow of Sirius, based on poetry of former American Poet Laureate, W.S. Merwin with the Cypress String Quartet at the Herbst Theatre in San Francisco. Ms. Brandes appeared at Washington National Opera as Despina in Così fan tutte conducted by Philippe Auguin and as Catherine in William Bolcom’s A View from the Bridge and made returns to Portland Opera in Così fan tutte, to Central City Opera as Maria Corona in Gian Carlo Menotti’s The Saint of Bleecker Street, and to Seattle Opera as Pamina in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte under the baton of Gary Thor Wedow in a new production directed by Chris Alexander. She also bowed with Arizona Opera as the title role in Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice, conducted by Joel Revzen, and with the Lyric Opera of Kansas City as Cleopatra in Giulio Cesare and as The Governess in The Turn of the Screw.

Recent symphonic appearances have included concerts with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under the batons of both Pierre Boulez and Esa-Pekka Salonen, performances of John Adams’s El Niño with the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, Mendelssohn’s Elijah with Michael Christie and the Phoenix Symphony, St. John Passion with Robert Spano and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, L’Enfant et les Sortilèges with Sir Simon Rattle and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Mozart’s Requiem with the Cleveland Orchestra and John Nelson, Vivaldi’s Gloria with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl conducted by Grant Gershon, Handel’s L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il moderato with the Mark Morris Dance Group at the Kennedy Center, conducted by Jane Glover, Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos and Beethoven’s Egmont with Wolfgang Sawallisch and Schumann’s Das Paradies und die Peri with Sir Simon Rattle, both with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Mozart opera arias and Strauss orchestral songs with the National Symphony Orchestra and Heinz Fricke, Bach Cantatas with the New World Symphony Orchestra, a recording and European tour of Jomelli's Ezio with world renowned baroque orchestra Il Complesso Barocco under the baton of Alan Curtis, Handel’s Messiah with the Toronto Symphony, the New York Philharmonic, Tafelmusik, and the Minnesota Orchestra, Carmina Burana with the Houston Symphony, Bach’s St. Matthew Passion with Jane Glover and the Music of the Baroque, Haydn’s Mass in the Time of War with Bernard Labadie and the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater with Neeme Järvi and the Detroit Symphony, and Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915, and Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 with Andreas Delfs and the Milwaukee Symphony, the Canton Symphony, and paired with Berg’s Lulu Suite with the Santa Rosa Symphony.  She also has bowed at Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival and at the Ravinia Festival with the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra as well as with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Freiburger Barockorchester, and the Handel & Haydn Society, Pacific Symphony and Arion Baroque Orchestra in Montreal, as well as a residency with the Oregon Bach Festival with performances of several Bach Cantatas and a semi-staged version of Honegger’s Jeanne d’Arc under the batons of Helmuth Rilling and Marin Alsop respectively, among others.

Christine Brandes’ operatic career has been highlighted by engagements at Houston Grand Opera in Ariodante with Christopher Hogwood and in Falstaff with Patrick Summers, at Seattle Opera in Giulio Cesare, and at the Los Angeles Opera in L’Incoronazione di Poppea with Harry Bicket and in Hänsel und Gretel with Alan Gilbert.  Additional performances of the artist’s distinguished career have brought her to San Diego Opera in Ariodante, Central City Opera in L’Incoronazione di Poppea, Lisbon’s Gulbenkian Foundation in Così fan tutte, Opera Theatre of St. Louis in Cimarosa’s The Secret Marriage, Portland Opera in Così fan tutte, Glimmerglass Opera both in Handel’s Orlando and Acis and Galatea, San Francisco Opera in Semele under the baton of Sir Charles Mackerras, the Opéra de Nancy in Alcina, New York City Opera in Acis and Galatea and Platée, and to the Opera Company of Philadelphia in Die Zauberflöte, L’Elisir d’amore, and Don Giovanni.  Ms. Brandes has performed Le nozze di Figaro with New York City Opera, Seattle Opera, Opera Pacific, and with the opera companies of Minnesota, Montréal, Philadelphia, and Québec. Christine Brandes has recorded for EMI, BMG/Conifer Classics, Dorian, Harmonia Mundi USA, Virgin Classics, and Koch International.

In this light, one aspect of 2015/16 season, sees the initiation of a comprehensive recording project by Rob, at the request of his students, of the complete Etudes, Caprices, Fantasies, etc. from the standard classical violin repertoire as well as the extensive traditional oral teachings from the Nada Yoga Parampara.

In addition to attending to his flourishing private studio Rob continues his work as a principal player with the Portland Baroque Orchestra directed by Monica Huggett, Musica Angelica Baroque Orchestra and the Wiener Akademie, directed by Martin Haselböck, Magnificat San Francisco dir. by Warren Stewart, and the Corona Del Mar Baroque Festival Orchestra and Chamber Ensemble, dir. by Elizabeth Blumenstock.

Concurrently, Rob is working towards the completing of his E - 500 hr RYT certification through the Teacher Training Program of the Himalayan Yoga Tradition (AHYMSIN) with the direct guidance of his teachers, Swami Veda Bharati (Himalayan Yoga Tradition) since 1983 and Shree Vidya Chandramouli (South Indian Classical Music) since 2006, and their devotees.

Background photo by Nika Korniyenko

Visit John's Website

Background photo by Warren Stewart

Jillon has been a featured artist at the highly-respected early music festivals of York (England), Boston and Berkeley, as well as at the National Music Museum, the Cleveland and Santa Barbara Museums of Art, and numerous universities and colleges. Her chamber music collaborations include performances with violinists Ingrid Matthews, Stanley Ritchie and Jaap Schröder; violists da gamba Wieland Kuijken and Margriet Tindemans; singers Julianne Baird, Ellen Hargis and Ann Monoyios; and recorder virtuosi Marion Verbruggen, Eva Legene and Vicki Boeckman. Recent activities include a residency at Stanford University, concerts with the Seattle Symphony, participation in the Gustav Leonhardt Tribute recital at the Berkeley Early Music Festival, and a solo Bach recording project.

A recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship and the National Endowment for the Arts Solo Recitalists grant, Jillon has taught at the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music, the University of Washington, and the University of Michigan. She is currently on the early music faculty at Seattle’s Cornish College of the Arts and is the founding director of the Gallery Concerts early music series in Seattle.

Background photo by Warren Stewart

background photo by Nika Korniyenko

Katherine received her B.A. in music from UC Berkeley and her M.M. in historical performance from Oberlin Conservatory. Thanks to fellowships from her alma mater and Philanthropic Ventures Foundation, Katherine studied early keyboards at the Sweelinck Conservatorium in Amsterdam.

background photo by Nika Korniyenko

Julie is a member of Sex Chordae Consort of Viols, is the founder and creative mastermind of the acclaimed trio Wildcat Viols, is half of the viol duo Hallifax & Jeffrey, and co-director of Barefoot Chamber Concerts.  Devoted to promoting all aspects of interest in her instrument, Ms. Jeffrey is a frequent instructor at early music workshops across the country, is a co-founder and active member of the Viola da Gamba Society, Pacifica Chapter, and currently serves on the board of directors of the Viola da Gamba Society of America.

Embarrassed by a lack of mastery, he then went for several years to Boston University, completing most requirements for a Doctorate, while studying violin with Joseph Silverstein, chamber music with Eugene Lehner, and various musicological subjects. Increasing gigging prevented completion of that third degree. About this time he got involved with period instruments and became a founding member of many prominent early music ensembles including Frans Brueggen's Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century (Amsterdam), Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra (San Francisco), the Smithsonian Chamber Players (Washington, D.C.), and Aston Magna (New York).

Since returning to the west coast he has taught violin and/or coached chamber music at Stanford, UC Berkeley, and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. He continues to play with O18 & PBO. His current chamber groups are String Circle (Santa Rosa), the Novello Quartet (Seattle) and the New Esterházy Quartet (Berkeley.)