Dorothy Amarandos, Artistic Director, is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music, a student of Luigi Silva, with Bachelor’s/Master’s degrees and Performer’s Certificate. She played in the Rochester Philharmonic under Erich Leinsdorf for many years while teaching privately, and was lecturer at the University of Rochester. Also in Rochester, as Founder/ Director/Producer of Ars Antiqua (a national touring group of actors, dancers, singers, and players of original instruments), Dorothy created and performed her 22 original concert-productions based on material from the Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque. Later in Columbus, Ohio, she was professor of cello at Ohio State University as well as Denison University, Ohio Wesleyan University, and Otterbein College, and was principal cellist of the Columbus Symphony. Currently she teaches a large class of private cello students of all ages in her studio in Reston, VA.

Dan Allcott, Conductor, maintains a busy career as a conductor, cellist and teacher.  He received a Master of Music in Cello Performance from Indiana University where he continued his Doctoral Studies in both the Conducting and Cello programs.  He left IU to become Music Director of Atlanta Ballet, a position which he held for 6 years, conducting over 250 performances.  He currently teaches at Tennessee Tech University where he is Director of Orchestras and Instructor of Cello.  He is Music Director of the Bryan Symphony Orchestra and his recent guest conducting includes Omaha Area Youth Orchestras, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and various clinics throughout the country.  He continues to perform as a soloist and chamber musician and is cello instructor at the Southeast Chamber Music Institute.  Allcott studied cello with John Ehrlich, Ann Martindale-Williams, Janos Starker, Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi, and Helga Winold.  He studied chamber music with Michel Block, James Campbell, Rostislav Dubinsky, Josef Gingold, Franco Gulli, and Menahem Pressler. For the past three years, he has directed the cello ensemble at the Tennessee Cello Workshop in addition to teaching master classes.

Marion Baker studied cello with Orlando Cole at the Curtis Institute of Music and has had master classes with Janos Starker, Claus Adam, and David Soyer. Marion has performed as principal cellist with the Washington Bach Consort, Washington Chamber Symphony, Washington Concert Opera, National Gallery Orchestra, and the National Philharmonic. He is principal cellist of the Fairfax Symphony Orchestra. As a soloist, Marion most recently performed the Beethoven Triple Concerto with the Landon Symphonette. He has also performed the Tchaikovsky Rococo Variations with the Fairfax Symphony and the Haydn Symphony Concertante under the baton of Leonard Slatkin. Marion has also performed solo works with the Nashville Symphony, the Knoxville Symphony and the Prince William Symphony.

Robert Battey studied with Dorothy Jarvinen, John Martin, and Robert Newkirk, before advanced studies with Bernard Greenhouse and Janos Starker.  He was a member of the Volker Quartet in Kansas City, MO, and the New College Quartet in Sarasota, FL, and has appeared as soloist or recitalist throughout North America, including at Carnegie Recital Hall, and the National Gallery of Art.  Bob has served as principal cellist of numerous DC-area orchestras, including the National Philharmonic, the Alexandria, Arlington, and Prince William Symphonies, and the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra.  He was also principal cellist of the Florida West Coast Symphony and the Kansas City Lyric Opera, and for the Bedford Springs (PA) Festival.  He has also performed with the New York City Opera and the National Symphony. Bob has served on the faculties of the State University of New York, the University of Missouri, the Levine School, and the Gettysburg Chamber Music Workshop, among others.  He now has a private studio in Northern Virginia, specializing in adult amateurs.  He was featured in the Sunday New York Times and on CBS’s “60 Minutes” while in a chamber music group with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.  Bob also writes articles and reviews for the Washington Post, and for STRINGS magazine.

Nancy Baun, a student of Orlando Cole in Philadelphia, studied chamber music with Menahem Pressler, Timothy Eddy, and Jasha Brodsky.  As the founding cellist in the critically acclaimed Eaken Piano Trio, she performed over 1,000 events and appears on nine Eaken Trio recordings.  She is currently a member of the Ravel Trio. She is an active soloist, having performed with over a dozen orchestras in her home state of Pennsylvania.  She was selected as an Artist Fellow at the Bach Aria Institute in New York and the Aspen Music Festival. As an educator, Nancy served as Director of the Dickinson College Artists-In-Residence program for eleven years. She has a special commitment to adult musicians. Now living in Buffalo, Nancy continues her teaching and concertizing by performing with the Western New York Chamber Orchestra, the Roycroft Chamber Music Festival, Friends of Vienna, and Classics on Elmwood. She is also a record producer, frequent panelist at conferences, past director of a national interdisciplinary arts conference, and an arts consultant with clients nationwide. 

Lynne Bratlie Beiler began playing the cello at age 13 in Houston, Texas, and won the Corpus Christi Young Artist’s competition five years later.  Coming to Philadelphia, Lynne studied with Orlando Cole and William Stokking at the New School of Music.  Post-graduate studies have been with Jeffrey Solow of Temple University.  Lynne has played with the Florida Symphony, the Naples Philharmonic and has been principal cellist and soloist with the Colorado Philharmonic and principal cello with the Princeton Symphony.  As a substitute, Lynne has performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra and recorded under Riccardo Muti and Wolfgang Sawallisch.  Free-lancing, Lynne plays regularly with the Philadelphia Opera orchestra, the Ballet, and the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia.  After many years of traditional cello teaching, Lynne became interested in the Talent Education Method (Suzuki) and subsequently became nationally certified at all levels.  Her students, ranging in ages from 5 to 95, play with civic and youth orchestras and perform with a variety of chamber groups.  They have won numerous concerto competitions, and have been chosen to perform in master classes for noted cellists such as David Finckel, Peter Wiley, Colin Carr, Carter Brey and Irene Sharpe.

Amy Ward Butler graduated from the Eastman School of Music with Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees and the prestigious Performer’s Certificate.  Shewas also Teacher’s Assistant to Steven Doane and Paul Katz, and also co-founder of the Olivier Trio, the first piano trio in residence at Eastman.  Ms. Butler’s  career in the field of opera orchestra was enhanced by her performances with the Eastman Opera Theatre, the New Jersey Opera and in Germany at the Heidelberg Schloss-Spiele.  Summers at Tanglewood provided opportunities to study with members of the Juilliard and Budapest Quartets, with cellist Yo Yo Ma, and with conductors Seiji Ozawa, Kurt Masur and Leonard Bernstein.   Ms. Butler has played frequently in the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the Harrisburg Symphony and the Philadelphia Orchestra, as well as numerous smaller ensembles.  Since joining the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra in 1999, she has performed solo and chamber recitals throughout the Washington Metro area, most recently as a member of the critically acclaimed IBIS Chamber Music Society. In 2006, Ms. Butler joined the McLean Orchestra (Virginia) as principal cellist.  Her recent performance of the Dvorak Concerto marks her second solo appearance with the McLean Orchestra, the first being the Brahms Double Concerto with concertmaster Regino Madrid. She currently resides in Morristown, New Jersey, performing with the New Jersey Symphony, collaborating in chamber music concerts, and teaching privately.  She plays on an 1807 Gagliano Cello. 

Carl Donakowski, who was a finalist in the 1989 Mendelssohn Competition in Berlin, has had his recital performances aired on WQRS Detroit, WQXR New York, and Südwestfunk Baden-Baden. As a chamber musician, he has been a member of the North Shore Pro Musica of New York and of the Fontana Chamber Music Society, and has performed at the Manitou, Staunton, Tanglewood and Beethoven music festivals. As a member of the West End Chamber Ensemble, he was awarded grants from the National Endowment for the Arts to be artist-in-residence with the Chamber Music America Rural Residency Chamber Music Initiative.  Currently Mr. Donakowski is a member of the ARCOS piano trio, which was awarded an Artistic Excellence grant from the NEA, and released their CD in 2008. In the summer he teaches and performs at the Bay View Music Festival, the longest-running music festival in the United States.  Mr. Donakowski has been a presenter at the American String Teachers Association national conference , has served as president of the Michiana Cello Society, and currently edits the Cello Forum for the Virginia String Teachers Association.  A graduate of Indiana University, he studied with Janos Starker and Gary Hoffman, as well as Timothy Eddy and William Pleeth and chamber music with members of the Juilliard and Guarneri string quartets. Mr. Donakowski is Associate Professor of Cello at James Madison University where he received the 2010 award for distinguished teaching.  

Erin Eyles Espinoza is a professional cellist performing in the Metropolitan

Washington, D.C. area.  She has been a featured soloist, a chamber musician, and she has performed and toured with orchestras including the National Symphony Orchestra.  Erin has concertized throughout the United States and in Europe, South America, and Asia.  As a soloist, she performed Brahms’ Double Concerto at the KennedyCenter and C.P.E. Bach’s Cello Concerto in A Major on tour with the Air Force Strings.  She received a Bachelor’s Degree in cello performance from Carnegie Mellon University and a Master’s Degree in cello performance from Peabody Conservatory.  She has studied with Stephen Kates, David Hardy, Andrés Díaz, Anne Martindale-Williams, David Premo, and David Teie.  Erin lives in Ellicott City and she teaches privately in Maryland and Virginia.

David Howard grew up on a dairy farm in upstate New York. He started piano at an early age and took up the cello in seventh grade in order to play in the school orchestra. At Ithaca College he majored in Music Education, graduating with honors in 1969, then taught high school music for two years before joining the National Symphony Orchestra in 1971. Since then he has lived in the Washington DC area, performing, teaching, and raising a family. His primary teachers have been Einar Holm, Jonathan Abramowitz, and Robert Newkirk; his professional credits include membership in the Foggy Bottom Chamber Ensemble, the Cameron String Quartet, and the Howard-Breth Duo. For twelve years he was a musician/actor with DC Playback Theater, an improv acting company. Currently, in addition to his position in the NSO, he is a member of the Eclipse Chamber Orchestra.In 1983 he was awarded a Masters of Music Performance from Catholic University and in 1998 a Masters of Education from George Washington University. Also, he has been on the faculty of Howard University. Today, he maintains a teaching studio in his home and enjoys gardening, cooking, and spending time with his seven grandchildren.

Sean Neidlinger, a well known performer, soloist, and chamber musician in the Washington DC area, is a native of Mount Vernon, Virginia. After graduating with the Bachelor of Music Degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music, where he studied with Richard Aaron, Sean completed his Masters Degree at the New England Conservatory studying with Paul Katz, formerly of the Cleveland Quartet. While at NEC, Sean performed with the Boston Philharmonic, and later has performed in many prestigious venues including the Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall with members of the National Symphony and the San Francisco Symphony. His involvement in prestigious festivals, such as the ENCORE School for Strings, Taos School of Music, and the Soesterberg International Music Festival gives his performance and teaching style an international polish.

John Sant'Ambrogio has enjoyed an illustrious career as a cellist in top orchestras, chamber music ensembles and as a pedagogue for over five decades. Appointed Principal Cello of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra (SLSO) in 1968 after being a member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra for nine years, Mr. Sant'Ambrogio has served as Principal Cello of such orchestras as the Casals Festival (Puerto Rico), Grand Teton Music Festival (WY), Lancaster Festival (OH) and the Seventh Army Symphony (Europe). In 1987, he founded and was the first Artistic Director of Strings in the Mountains in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. His discography includes chamber music and orchestral recordings on the TELARC, RCA, IMG and VOX labels. Mr. Sant'Ambrogio studied with Leonard Rose, Paul Olevsky and Diran Alexanian and has passed on these pedagogies while on the faculties of Washington University, the St. Louis Conservatory and Boston University. His students have won jobs in major symphony orchestras including the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony and the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra. Retiring from the SLSO in 2005, he moved to Steamboat Springs, CO to pursue his love of skiing, hiking, cycling and photography. Still a very active chamber musician and teacher, he founded the Generations Piano Trio in 2005 with violinist Dmitri Pogorelov and pianist Judith Lynn Stillman. Mr. Sant'Ambrogio continues to perform throughout the country with his trio and, to his delight, with his daughters Stephanie, violinist, and Sara, cellist.   

Daniel Shomper is an active performer and teacher in the Washington DC/Baltimore/Annapolis area.  The Baltimore Sun praised his ‘virtuoso playing’ and complimented his ‘masterful performance’ and ‘lyrical expression.’  He is a member of the Annapolis and Alexandria Symphony Orchestras, and has also performed with the National Philharmonic and Fairfax Symphony.  In addition to his work as an orchestral performer, he is an active chamber musician and recitalist.  He has performed at venues such as the Kennedy Center, the National Art Gallery, and the Washington Arts Club, among others.  Additionally, he has performed concerts and in prestigious music festivals in the United States and abroad, including venues in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Prague, Budapest, Helsinki, and Quebec. Mr. Shomper recently graduated from the University of Maryland where he completed a DMA in Cello Performance.  While at Maryland, Daniel studied with David Hardy, and also worked with Peter Wiley, Kenneth Slowik, Evelyn Elsing, and members of the Guarneri Quartet.  Daniel is currently on faculty at the Anne Arundel Community College. 

Samuel Swift studied at Indiana University, Michigan State, Northern Illinois University and the University of Maryland, where he received his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in 1999. From 1991-1993 he was Lecturer in Music and Artist in Residence at the University of Virginia, and also served on the Faculties of Shenandoah University and Georgetown University. He coached chamber music at Bowdoin and Meadowmount Festivals and was a participant in the Banff, Ravinia and Blossom Music Festivals, as well as the Tanglewood Music Center. Samuel Swift joined the United States Army Band in 1997 and has been a soloist many times with the U.S. Army Orchestra. Outside of the Army, he has performed with the National Symphony and Detroit Symphony and maintains an active freelance career. He has been a soloist with the Calgary Philharmonic, Northern Philharmonic, Charlottesville Symphony, as well as many other orchestras.

Irina Tikhonova began playing the cello at the age of six. Her mother, Lydia, loved to sing and selected the instrument for Irina originally because the range of the cello is essentially the same as the range of the singing voice. The choice was obviously a good one as Irina went on to study at the Tchaikovsky Music Conservatory under Vladimir Panteleev. She graduated with her Bachelor of Music degree from the Music College in Kiev, USSR in 1981 and a Master of Music degree from the State Conservatory of Music in Kiev, USSR in 1986. Before coming to this country, Irina performed with the Harmony Philharmonic Ensemble of Soloists in Kiev, the Renaissance Chamber Orchestra, and was the assistant principal cellist in the State Symphony Orchestra. Since immigrating to the United States from the Ukraine in 1991, she has been Principal Cellist of the Saginaw Bay Symphony, the Saginaw Bay Symphony, the Dearborn Symphony Orchestra, and the Flint Symphony Orchestra. Irina also plays on occasion with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and has a private cello studio in Royal Oak, Michigan. She loves bicycling.

Douglas Wolters performs in the Washington, DC area on modern and baroque cello as well as on the related stringed instrument, the viola da gamba. A graduate of the New England Conservatory, he studied cello with Mihaly Virizlay and the viola da gamba with Gian Lyman Silbiger. Currently he is principal cellist of the Bach Sinfonia and the Gettysburg Chamber Orchestra and is a member of the baroque ensemble L’Arabesque. Doug teaches stringed instruments for Fairfax County, VA.