Carl Donakowski was a finalist in the Mendelssohn Competition in Berlin early in his career. Since then his recital performances have been enjoyed at the Kennedy Center and Merkin Hall in New York City. As a founding member of the Arcos Trio, Mr. Donakowski has performed on four continents and was awarded an Artistic Excellence grant from the NEA to perform and record works by Latin American composers on the Centaur label. Donakowski is Professor of Cello at the James Madison University School of Music in Harrisonburg VA where he received the distinguished teaching award. He is a frequent presenter at the American String Teachers Association national conference and a contributor to American String Teacher and currently edits the Cello Forum for the Virginia String Teachers Association. Donakowski was a student of Janos Starker and counts Timothy Eddy and William Pleeth among his mentors.