Ariel Rudiakov has been Artistic Director of Manchester Music Festival since 2001. He is active as both violist and conductor. Among many professional affiliations, he is currently a member of the New York Piano Quartet along with members of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and piano staff, and is Music Director and conductor of the Danbury (CT) Symphony Orchestra. Rudiakov received degrees from SUNY Purchase and the University of Illinois, and was a scholarship student at Yale University. Among recent activities, he has performed chamber music with the Shanghai quartet, Williams Chamber Players, the Corinthian Trio and was guest conductor for the Antara Ensemble in NYC. Ariel resides in Manchester, VT and Yonkers, NY with his wife, violinist Joana Genova and their two children, Michael and Liliana. He plays a viola made by Geoffrey Ovington in 2000.

Amadi Azikiwe, violist, violinist and conductor, has been heard in recital in major cities throughout the United States, such as New York, Boston, Cleveland, Chicago, San Francisco, Pittsburgh, Houston, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C., including an appearance at the U.S. Supreme Court. Mr. Azikiwe has also been a guest of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center at the Alice Tully Hall in New York, and at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. He has appeared in recital at the Piccolo Spoleto Festival in Charleston, on the "Discovery" recital series in La Jolla, at the International Viola Congress, and at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Since then, he has performed throughout Israel, Canada, South America, Central America, India, Japan, Hong Kong, and throughout the Caribbean.

"Violist Amadi Azikiwe is a musician who plays so effortlessly that the listener does not fully appreciate what has been accomplished until reflection after the fact. . He captured perfectly the spirit of the Jewish prayer (Bruch's Kol Nidre, Op. 47) and the technical feats demanded by the Paganini (Sonata per la Grand Viola)"
—Raoul Abdul, New York Amsterdam News New York, NY

As a soloist, Mr. Azikiwe has appeared with the Prince George's Philharmonic, Delaware Symphony, Virginia Symphony, North Carolina Symphony, Fort Collins Symphony, Virginia Beach Symphony, Roanoke Symphony, Winston-Salem Symphony, Western Piedmont Symphony, Salisbury Symphony, the Gateways Music Festival Orchestra, the City Island Baroque Ensemble of New York, the National Symphony of Ecuador, and at the Costa Rica International Music Festival. He has also toured with Music from Marlboro, and performed at the Sarasota, Tanglewood, Aspen, Norfolk, and San Juan Islands Festivals, El Paso International Chamber Music Festival, Salt Bay Chamber Festival, Maui Classical Music Festival, Missouri Chamber Music Festival, Yachats Music Festival, Carolina Chamber Music Festival, and the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival. Mr. Azikiwe's performances have been broadcast on National Public Radio's "Performance Today", "St. Paul Sunday", on WNYC in New York, WGBH in Boston, WFMT in Chicago, and the BBC, along with television appearances in South America.

"Most delicious of all were Azikiwe's warm tones and ardent phrasing in the second movement-there was a little master class in rubato here. He then leapt into the finale with some stunning fingerwork."
—David Perkins, The News and Observer Raleigh, NC

As a chamber musician, Azikiwe has appeared in concert with the Chicago Chamber Musicians, the Kandinsky Trio, the Harlem Chamber Players, the Chester, Miro, St. Lawrence, Anderson, Arianna, Harrington and Corigliano quartets. He has also performed extensively and recorded with the Concertante Chamber Players, and the Ritz Chamber Players. Among Mr. Azikiwe's prizes and awards are those from Concert Artists Guild, the North Carolina Symphony, the National Society of Arts and Letters, and the Epstein Young Artists Award from the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, with whom he still maintains a strong artistic and mentoring association.

Mr. Azikiwe was previously the conductor of the Old Dominion University Chamber Orchestra and the Atlanta University Center Orchestra. He was also a visiting faculty member of Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music in Bloomington, IN. Currently, he is on the faculty of James Madison University, and Music Director of the Harlem Symphony Orchestra. He has guest conducted for the Intercollegiate Music Association, Tennessee Music Educators Association All-Collegiate Orchestra, Third Street Philharmonia, Gateways Music Festival, and Trinity Opera Company.

Mr. Azikiwe has appeared as artist faculty at the Brevard Music Center, Interlochen Center for the Arts, Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music, Killington Music Festival, Mammoth Lakes Chamber Music Festival, University of North Carolina School of the Arts Summer Session and the Aria International Academy in London, Ontario.

"Violist Amadi Azikiwe clarified not only the work's structure, but also revealed a depth of power and lyric beauty. A wide, rich palette of tone further enhanced the remarkable young artist's expressive approach to the music."
—Sharon McDaniel Democrat and Chronicle Rochester, NY

As an orchestral musician, he has appeared with the New York Philharmonic, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, as principal violist of the SHIRA Jerusalem International Symphony Orchestra and guest principal violist of Canada's National Arts Centre Orchestra. He has performed under the baton of conductors Lorin Maazel, James DePriest, Christoph Eschenbach, Gerard Schwarz, Marek Janowski, Leonard Slatkin, Seiji Ozawa, Michael Morgan, Pinchas Zukerman, Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, Sixten Ehrling, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Charles Dutoit, Christoph von Dohnanyi, Michael Tilson Thomas, Kurt Masur, and Leonard Bernstein.

A native of New York City, Amadi Azikiwe was born in 1969. After early studies with his mother, he began his formal training at the North Carolina School of the Arts as a student of Sally Peck. He continued his studies at the New England Conservatory with Marcus Thompson and conductor Pascal Verrot, receiving his Bachelor's degree. Mr. Azikiwe was also awarded the Performer's Certificate from Indiana University, where he served as an Associate Instructor, and received his Master's Degree in 1994 as a student of Atar Arad.

Twice winner of the American Symphony League's ASCAP Award for Adventuresome Programming of Contemporary Music, Ronald Feldman has achieved critical acclaim for his work as conductor and cellist. He has appeared as guest conductor with major orchestras such as the London Symphony Orchestra, Boston Pops Orchestra, Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, the Saint Louis Symphony, and the Quebec Symphony, as well as many regional orchestras including the Pro Arte Symphony, Springfield Symphony, Albany Symphony, and the Amarillo Symphony. After successful appearances as guest conductor for three consecutive seasons at Symphony Hall and at Tanglewood, the Boston Symphony's summer home, composer and Conductor John Williams appointed Mr. Feldman Assistant Conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra. He served as assistant to John Williams from 1989-1993.

Maestro Seiji Ozawa, Conductor Laureate of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, called Maestro Feldman "an outstanding conductor... I find him to have a deep musical mind which is clearly conveyed through his performances.." John Williams, composer and Conductor Laureate of the Boston Pops Orchestra called Maestro Feldman, "a brilliant conductor, who displays the best leadership qualities... an outstandingly high level of musicianship that imbues his conducting style with strength, taste, and imagination".

Mr. Feldman joined the Boston Symphony at the age of 19. He has appeared as cello soloist with many orchestras performing a wide range of concerto repertoire from Dvorak to Ligeti. His many chamber music affiliations have included performances with the Boston Symphony Chamber Players, Collage New Music Ensemble, the Boston Conservatory Chamber Players, and the Williams Chamber Players. His performances include collaborations with artists Emmanuel Ax, Garrick Ohlsson, Gil Shaham, and Yo Yo Ma.

Mr. Feldman currently directs the Berkshire Symphony, a regional orchestra in residence at Williams College. He was formerly the conductor and Music Director of the New England Philharmonic and the Worcester Orchestra. He is on the faculties of Williams College, the New England Conservatory of Music, and The Boston Conservatory of Music. 2012 marks the beginning of his tenure as Music Director of the Longwood Symphony Orchestra, the orchestra of Boston's medical community.

"The Mozart symphony No. 29 is given a dazzling reading, effulgent and scintillating with articulation and note length all in sync".
—Steven Ritter, American Record Guide

He also conducts the London Symphony in a recording of music of John Williams and Kevin Kaska. This recording is with virtuoso trumpet player Arturo Sandoval. In 2001 Mr. Feldman left the Boston Symphony Orchestra to pursue other musical interests. He joined the faculty of Williams College where he is Artist in Residence, Lecturer in Music, Chamber Music coordinator, and Conductor of the award winning Berkshire Symphony.

Violinist Austin Hartman has distinguished himself as both chamber musician and soloist with performances throughout the United States and abroad. As first violinist and founding member of the Biava Quartet, Mr. Hartman was the winner of the Naumburg Chamber Music Award and has performed to acclaim in important venues throughout North America, Europe, and Asia, including Alice Tully Hall, Carnegie Hall, the Library of Congress, the Kennedy Center, Wigmore Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center, and the Baroque Art Hall in Seoul. Other highlights from recent seasons include appearances at the Mostly Mozart, Rockport, Kingston and Aspen Music Festivals, Chautauqua Institution, and Pacific Music Festival in Japan. He has recorded for the Naxos and Cedille labels, has been heard on London's BBC Radio 3, and was featured in String and Strad magazines.

Mr. Hartman has also earned much recognition as a solo violinist having appeared twice with the Philadelphia Orchestra as winner of the Albert Greenfield and Mann Music Center Concerto Competitions. Mr. Hartman was awarded the Gold Medal Prize at the Julius and Esther Stulberg International String Competition in Michigan and also appeared with the Kennett Symphony, Westmoreland Symphony, Landsdowne Symphony, Temple University Orchestra, Lancaster Symphony, and the Cleveland Institute of Music Orchestra.

As a recitalist, Mr. Hartman has performed solo recitals in Cleveland, Boston, Philadelphia, New York, and was invited to perform as a guest artist at a state dinner for former Governor of Pennsylvania, Tom Ridge. Mr. Hartman received a first prize scholarship for musical excellence from the National Foundation for the Advancement in the Arts and was most recently awarded a grant from Chamber Music America for continued work in community outreach.

Committed to educating and inspiring audiences of all ages, Mr. Hartman is frequently invited to give masterclasses and lead community and educational programs at schools and conservatories around the country. In recent seasons, Mr. Hartman has served on the faculty of numerous music festivals including the Brevard Music Center, Great Lakes, and San Diego Chamber Music Festivals. He has also taught at the Indiana University String Academy, Innsbrook, David Einfeldt and Heifetz International Music Institutes, as well as the Luzerne Music Center. He has given public classes at the Cleveland Institute of Music, Oberlin College, Penn State University, and the Peabody Institute. Currently, he serves on the faculty of the University of Indianapolis as professor of Violin and Director of String Ensembles.

Outside of his life in the Biava Quartet, Mr. Hartman enjoys using his music for community service. In 2003, he traveled with a group of musicians to Zambia as part of a multicultural music outreach. Recently, he piloted a concert initiative called the "Vivaldi Project," the goal of which is to unite professional and community musicians in performances of Vivaldi's "Four Seasons".

Austin Hartman has earned Artist Diplomas from both the Juilliard School and Yale School of Music as well as degrees from the New England Conservatory and Cleveland Institute of Music. He has served as a teaching assistant for both the Juilliard and Tokyo Quartets and studied with teachers Itzhak Perlman, Donald Weilerstein, Choong-Jin Chang, and the late Jascha Brodsky.

Awarded as Serbia's Brand Personality of the Year for 2010, Stefan Milenkovich is a unique artist with an extraordinary productive longevity, professionalism and creativity. His musical philosophy as well as lifestyle is a true definition of eclectic, exploring general human, musical heritage and experience, in order to connect directly with the audiences and provide fun, engaging and energetic performances.

Milenkovich's 2012-13 season includes performances with Orchestra del Teatro di San Carlo (Naples, Italy) under the baton of Stefano Ranzani, NDR Radiophilharmonie Hannover Symphony Orchestra (Germany) with conductor Eivind Gullberg Jensen, Izmir and Antalya Symphony Orchestras (Turkey), as well as performances with Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana (Palermo, Italy). Other collaborations this season include performances with Belgrade Philharmonic, Orchestra della Fondazione Arena di Verona, Orchestra della Fondazione Pro Musica di Pistoia and Orchestra Camerata Strumentale Pratese.

As a musician of broad stylistic interests, Milenkovich performed with five-time Grammy Nominee rock band Gorillaz in one of the world's most renowned venues - Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York City. The critically acclaimed performance was featured live on MTV. Recent collaborations include performances with Grammy Award Nominee lutist Edin Karamazov, as well as an intense musical partnership with guitarist Vlatko Stefanovski and his trio, where Milenkovich explored the realm of improvisation and acoustic-electric violin. Other collaborations include Tango Story project with accordionist Marko Hatlak and Slovenian ensemble Ars Tango, where he performed both as a violinist and a dancer.

Milenkovich's numerous appearances with orchestra include Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Berlin Symphony Orchestra, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Aspen Chamber Symphony, Helsinki Philharmonic, NDR Radiophilharmonie Hannover Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra of Radio-France, Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra, National Orchestra of Belgium, Mexico State Symphony, Orquestra Sinfonica de Estado de Sao Paolo, and the Melbourne and Queensland Symphonies, and has performed under the baton of such conductors as Sir Neville Marriner, Lorin Maazel, Vladimir Fedoseyev, Daniel Oren and En Shao.

An avid chamber musician, he performs frequently with the Jupiter Chamber Music Series in New York City, Manchester Music Festival in Vermont, High Peaks Chamber Music Festival in Catskill Mountains (New York), and Zagreb Chamber Music Festival in Croatia. In 2012 Milenkovich accepted position of the Artistic Director of DoCha Chamber Music Festival in Champaign, Illinois.

Milenkovich started his career at a very young age. He performed for U.S. President Ronald Reagan at a Christmas concert in Washington, DC, at age 10. The following year, he played for Mikhail Gorbachev in Belgrade, Serbia. At age 14, he played for Pope John Paul II and at age 16, Milenkovich gave his 1000th concert in Monterrey, Mexico. By age 17, he was a prizewinner in the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis (USA), the Queen Elisabeth Competition (Belgium), Hannover Violin Competition (Germany), Tibor Varga Competition (Switzerland), Rodolfo Lipizer Competition (Italy), Paganini Competition (Italy), Ludwig Spohr Competition (Germany), and the Yehudi Menuhin Competition (England).

Deeply committed to international humanitarian causes, in 2002 Milenkovich received the Lifting Up the World With Oneness Heart award for his humanitarian activities, handed to him personally by the guru Sri Chinmoy. In 2003, he received Most Humane Person award in Belgrade, Serbia. He also participated in a number of gala concerts under the auspices of UNESCO in Paris with such artists as Placido Domingo, Lorin Maazel, Alexis Weissenberg, and Sir Yehudi Menuhin, and was active as the First Child Ambassador during the Balkan wars in early 90'.

Milenkovich's discography includes four commercial releases of the Italian label Dynamic, featuring J. S. Bach Complete Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin, Complete Music for Solo Violin - Nicolo Paganini 24 Capricci, N. Paganini Recital, and N. Paganini In cuor piu non mi sento. He also released numerous recordings for the Yugoslavian label, PGP. Milenkovich's recent CD release includes a First Recording disc with the Manchester Music Festival of Vittorio Giannini's Piano Trio and Piano Quintet.

Firmly dedicated to pedagogical work, Milenkovich taught in collaboration with Itzhak Perlman at the Juilliard School in New York City, NY, and Perlman Music Program, before accepting his current position as an Associate Professor of Violin at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

In recent years, Vassily Primakov has been hailed as a pianist of world class importance. Gramophone wrote that "Primakov's empathy with Chopin's spirit could hardly be more complete," and the American Record Guide stated: "Since Gilels, how many pianists have the right touch? In Chopin, no one currently playing sounds as good as this! This is a great Chopin pianist." Music Web-International called Primakov's Chopin Concertos CD "one of the great Chopin recordings of recent times. These are performances of extraordinary power and beauty." In 1999, as a teen-aged prizewinner of the Cleveland International Piano Competition, Primakov was praised by Donald Rosenberg of the Cleveland Plain Dealer: "How many pianists can make a line sing as the Moscow native did on this occasion? Every poignant phrase took ethereal wing. Elsewhere the music soared with all of the turbulence and poetic vibrancy it possesses. We will be hearing much from this remarkable musician."

His first piano studies were with his mother, Marina Primakova. He entered Moscow's Central Special Music School at the age of eleven as a pupil of Vera Gornostaeva, and at 17 came to New York to pursue studies at the Juilliard School with the noted pianist, Jerome Lowenthal. At Juilliard Mr. Primakov won the William Petschek Piano Recital Award, which presented his debut recital at Alice Tully Hall, and while at Juilliard, aided by a Susan W. Rose Career Grant, he won both the Silver Medal and the Audience Prize in the 2002 Gina Bachauer International Artists Piano Competition. Later that year Primakov won First Prize in the 2002 Young Concert Artists (YCA) International Auditions. In 2007 he was named the Classical Recording Foundation's "Young Artist of the Year." In 2009, Primakov's Chopin Mazurkas recording was named "Best of the Year" by National Public Radio and that same year he began recording the 27 Mozart piano concertos in Denmark. BBC Music Magazine (November, 2010) praised the first volume of Primakov's Mozart concertos: "The piano playing is of exceptional quality: refined, multi-coloured, elegant of phrase and immaculately balanced, both in itself and in relation to the effortlessly stylish orchestra. The rhythm is both shapely and dynamic, the articulation a model of subtlety. By almost every objective criterion, Vassily Primakov is a Mozartian to the manner born, fit to stand as a role model to a new generation."

Vassily Primakov has released numerous recordings for Bridge Records that include works by Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, Mendelssohn, Brahms, Chopin, Dvorak, Debussy, Tchaikovsky, Scriabin, Rachmaninoff, Philip Glass, Arlene Sierra and Poul Ruders.

In 2011, Mr. Primakov, along with his duo partner, Natalia Lavrova established a new and vibrant record company, L.P. Classics, Inc. Their first release was Anton Arensky: Four Suites for Two Pianos. Most recently, they released Primakov's Live in Concert album that includes works by Medtner, Schumann, Brahms' Handel Variations and Ravel's La Valse.

In March 2012 Vassily Primakov became a Yamaha Artist.