Paula Sisson Akbar attended Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon and received her Master of Music in Violin Performance degree from Yale University. Prior to joining the National Symphony Orchestra in 1991, she played in the Oregon, New Haven, and Baltimore symphonies and the Washington National Opera. Ms. Akbar has performed locally with the 21st Century Consort, the Sunrise Quartet, and as concertmaster of the Virginia Chamber Orchestra. She is a founding member of the Eclipse Chamber Orchestra and has toured Latin America with the Wammie Award winning group QuinTango. Ms. Akbar's violin was crafted by Umberto Muschietti in Udine, Italy in 1927.
Violist Ruth Wicker Schaaf joined the National Symphony Orchestra in 1999. Prior to that, she was a member of the Oregon Symphony and Principal Violist of the Kalamazoo Symphony. A native of Germany, she graduated from the Staatliche Hochschule fϋr Musik in Cologne and the Curtis Institute of Music. She earned her Master of Music degree from the University of Oregon. Ms. Schaaf has given recitals in Switzerland, Germany, Greece, and throughout the United States. She has appeared as soloist with several European orchestras, including the Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Halle and the Klassische Philharmonie Bonn. Her viola was made by Stanley Kiernoziak in Chicago, Illinois in 1997.
Cellist James Lee joined the National Symphony Orchestra in 1985. He was born in the San Francisco bay area where he debuted with the San Francisco Symphony at age 15. He received his Bachelor of Music degree from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and Master of Music degree from the Juilliard School, where he also served as principal cellist of the Juilliard Orchestra and the Juilliard Chamber Orchestra. As a winner of the prestigious Juilliard Cello Competition he was a featured soloist at Alice Tully Hall. Mr. Lee's teachers have included Margaret Rowell, Bonnie Hampton, Leonard Rose, and Joel Krosnick. He is Artistic Director of the National Chamber Players at Episcopal. His cello was made by Claude Guillot in 1842.
The Performers
Robert Oppelt was born in Richmond, Kentucky in 1961 and began playing the piano and violin at an early age. His parents, both professional musicians, encouraged him to try the double bass at age 15. To his surprise, he developed an immediate affinity with the instrument. After two years of playing, he won the concerto competition at Brevard Music Center with the first movement of Dragonetti's Concerto in A Major. Also at age 17, he was Principal Bass with the Stamford (CT) Symphony Orchestra and a member of the Greenwich Philharmonia. He attended North Carolina School of the Arts for part of high school and completed his Bachelor of Music degree there in three years. At NCSA, he was a two-time winner of both the concerto competition and the Vittorio Giannini Memorial Award. He also was a member of the Winston-Salem Symphony and Principal Bass of the Greensboro Symphony. He auditioned for the National Symphony Orchestra in 1982 and was invited to join the bass section by Music Director Mstislav Rostropovich. Mr. Oppelt was promoted to Assistant Principal Bass in 1986 and then to Principal Bass in 1996 by Music Director Leonard Slatkin. He has appeared as soloist with the NSO in performances of Mozart's Per Queste Bella Mano, Paganini's Moses Fantasy, and Koussevitsky's Concerto for Double Bass. He was also engaged with the Millbrook Orchestra and twice with the Cascade Symphony Orchestra. Chamber music collaborations include performances with Yo-Yo Ma, Hillary Hahn, Joseph Kalichstein, and Kennedy Center Chamber Players. Other recordings are with 20th Century Consort and Chamber Soloists of Washington. He has appeared at the Grand Teton, Mainly Mozart, and Tanglewood music festivals. He has been an adjunct at American University, George Mason University, and University of Maryland, and appeared as a performer and clinician at other universities. His primary teachers were Lynn Peters, Milton Beisiegel, and Pamela Andrews. On this recording he plays his orchestral bass, which is an 18th century Italian instrument with a Testore label.
David Hardy, Principal Cellist of the National Symphony Orchestra, achieved international recognition in 1982 as the top American prize winner at the Seventh International Tchaikovsky Cello Competition in Moscow. A native of Baltimore, Maryland, he began cello studies at the age of eight. When he was sixteen he made his debut as soloist with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. He graduated from the Peabody Conservatory of Music in 1980 where he studied with Laurence Lesser, Stephen Kates and Berl Senofsky. In 1981, he was appointed Associate Principal Cellist of the NSO by Music Director Mstislav Rostropovich and promoted to Principal Cello in 1994 by Music Director Leonard Slatkin. Mr. Hardy gave the world premiere performance (with the NSO) of Stephen Jaffe's Concerto for Cello and Orchestra, which was commissioned by the Hechinger Foundation. He was featured on the orchestra's Grammy Award winning recording of John Corigliano's Symphony No. 1. As a chamber musician, he is a member of the Opus 3 Trio, the 21st Century Consort, and the Kennedy Center Chamber Players. He has collaborated with pianist Lambert Orkis in recordings of sonatas by Martinu and Grieg. In addition to his performing schedule, Mr. Hardy is Professor of Cello at the Peabody Conservatory of Music. The Washington Post has praised his "resplendent playing", "virtuoso technique", and "deep musical sensitivity." Mr. Hardy's cello was made by Carlo Giuseppe Testore in 1694.
Dotian Levalier, Principal Harpist of the National Symphony Orchestra since 1969, is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music where she studied with Carlos Salzedo and Marilyn Costello. Ms. Levalier has made numerous recital, television, and radio appearances as well as guest artist performances with other orchestras. She performs frequently with flutist Sara Stern as "Stern & Levalier" which, along with Elisabeth Adkins, has concertized in France. Ms. Levalier has been a guest artist with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Emerson String Quartet, and Theater Chamber Players of the Kennedy Center. In 1993, Ms. Levalier performed Mozart's Concerto in C Major for Flute, Harp, and Orchestra with principal flutist Toshiko Kohno and the NSO. 2007 marks her premier of Concerto for Harp and Orchestra by Mark Adamo, a commission by the NSO. She has performed concertos with conductors Andre Kostelanetz, Antal Doráti, Mstislav Rostropovich, and others. Ms. Levalier has recorded on Erato, Sony, and Pro-Arte labels. Her harp was made by Howard Bryan in Lynchburg, Virginia in 2004.
Elisabeth Adkins is the Associate Concertmaster of the National Symphony Orchestra. Her concerto appearances include performances with the National, Dallas, and Baltimore symphonies. She serves as concertmaster of the Eclipse Chamber Orchestra and solo violinist of the 21st Century Consort. The Adkins String Ensemble, composed of her six string-playing siblings, has released several CDs. She and her husband, pianist Edward Newman, form a duo that has become a favorite of Washington audiences. Ms. Adkins holds degrees from the University of North Texas and Yale University. She plays on a mid-nineteenth century violin made by Jean Baptiste Vuillaume.
Flutist Nicolette Driehuys Oppelt was born in Amstelveen, The Netherlands. She began studying the flute at the age of 11 with Hans van Loenen, Principal Flute of the Gelder's Orkest. She emigrated with her family to North Carolina in 1977 where he father, Leo Driehuys, was Music Director of the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra. She attended the North Carolina School of the Arts for high school and college, studying with Philip Dunigan, and was a two-time winner of the school's concerto competition. She also appeared on the Dutch national television show Jonge Mensen op het Concert Podium, performing CPE Bachs's Concerto for Flute and Orchestra in B flat, Wq. 167. She is a member of the National Philharmonic Orchestra and co-principal flute of the National Gallery Orchestra. Ms. Oppelt is also a regular substitute with the National Symphony Orchestra and has accompanied the orchestra on many tours, including performances in Carnegie Hall. She plays a gold Emmanuel flute made in 1999.
The National Symphony Orchestra's Assistant Principal Bassist, Richard Barber, was born into a musical family, beginning piano studies at age seven and double bass at age nine. He studied with former National Symphony Orchestra Principal Bassist Harold Robinson, earning a Bachelor of Music degree in three years from the Peabody Conservatory of Music. He won his first audition (two weeks after graduation) with the Phoenix Symphony. In 1995, after three seasons in Phoenix and two summers touring Europe with the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival Orchestra, he joined the National Symphony Orchestra as a section bassist. He was promoted to Assistant Principal in 1996. He also appears regularly at the Smithsonian with the 21st Century Consort. On this recording he plays an 18th century Tyrolean instrument.
Jeffrey Weisner joined the National Symphony Orchestra bass section in 1995. A native of Los Angeles, he began playing the bass at thirteen. At age sixteen, he spent the first of several summers at the Tanglewood Music Center; the experience inspired him to choose music as a career. He received his undergraduate degree in music at Boston University, and his Master of Music degree at the Peabody Conservatory, where he studied with former NSO Principal Bassist Harold Robinson. From 1991 to 1993, Mr. Weisner was a member of the New World Symphony and from 1993 to 1995 he was a member of the Delaware Symphony. He teaches at his alma mater, the Peabody Conservatory of Music. He plays a bass made by Abraham Prescott in Deerfield, New Hampshire ca. 1820.
Born just outside of Philadelphia, Ali Yazdanfar began playing the double bass at age 7, later studying with Boris Blumenkrantz. He attended The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, earning a B.A. in physics in 1996, as well as Phi Beta Kappa distinction, the Kerr Memorial Prize for Physics, and the Louis Sudler Prize for artistic achievement. He studied double bass at the Peabody Conservatory of Music with Paul Johnson. Other teachers were Paul Ellison, Harold Robinson, and Francois Rabbath. A member of the National Symphony Orchestra since 1998, he previously was with the Houston Symphony, as well as principal bass of the Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal. He was the top American prize winner of the 2005 International Society of Bassists solo competition. Mr. Yazdanfar currently serves on the faculty of the Domaine Forget Summer Music Academy, the Catholic University of America, and the University of Maryland. His bass was made by James Brown in Huddersfield, England ca. 1850.
