Ann Moss, Soprano
Praised for “beautifully pure floated high notes,” “luminous tone” and “powerful expression,” soprano Ann Moss enjoys an active career in chamber music, opera, oratorio and recital performance. Recognized as a champion of contemporary vocal music, Moss takes immense pleasure in the construction of first performances. She has collaborated with acclaimed composers Jake Heggie, John Harbison, Aaron Jay Kernis, Eric Sawyer, and Wayne Peterson, as well as with emerging artists Liam Wade, Heather Gilligan, Vartan Aghababian, Weslie Brown and Jacob Bertrand. She is co-founder and member of One Art Ensemble, a chamber group highlighting new and historic works for soprano, viola and piano. She served on the 2008 faculty at CSU Summer Arts Composer/Performer Collaboration Workshop with Kronos Quartet, and has delivered lectures on composition for the solo voice at MIT, University of Texas Pan America, and California State University Los Angeles. Ann has performed contemporary repertoire with Earplay, New Music Works, the Ives String Quartet, Composers in Red Sneakers, at the Sacramento Festival of New American Music, Other Minds Festival 13, Switchboard Music Festival, CNMAT, SF Song Festival, and in countless song recitals. She holds graduate degrees from San Francisco Conservatory of Music and Longy School of Music. Born in Lincoln, MA, Ann currently resides and teaches in the SF Bay Area. She is a Reiki practitioner and student of Traditional Chinese Medicine.
cmash performers
Steven Bailey, Piano
Steven Bailey is a pianist of wide versatility, performing in and around the San Francisco Bay Area as soloist, chamber, and collaborative keyboardist. Mr. Bailey has performed as concerto soloist with the Diablo Symphony, University of California-Davis Symphony, San Francisco Concerto Orchestra, and Magnificat Baroque Orchestra. In 2004 he accompanied mezzo-soprano Elza van den Heever in a performance at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC as part of the Center's "Conservatory Project". He is a regular guest as fortepianist on original period instruments at the American Bach Soloists' (ABS) Summerfest chamber music performances, and performed with ABS as co-harpsichordist. He has collaborated with members of the Alexander, Arlekin and Sausalito quartets. Mr. Bailey provided live musical accompaniment for Smuin Ballet's production of "Stravinsky Piano Pieces" and was featured on the San Francisco variety program Mornings on Two on the FOX Network. He is a regulat continuo player for the San Franacisco Bach Choir. Mr. Bailey has recorded a solo CD entitled The Art of the Opera Transcription, and produced the San Francisco Bach Choir's latest CD, Ceremonies and Celebrations. Mr. Bailey holds a M.M. from Boston University. He teaches at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
Cecilia String Quartet
Praised for their 'extraordinary commitment and maturity' (Montreal Gazette) and 'talent, passion and mastery' (Jacques Robert, JR Multimedia), the Cecilia String Quartet is one of Canada's most exciting young ensembles today. 2nd Prizewinners at the 2008 Osaka International Chamber Music Competition and winners of the 2007 Galaxie Rising Stars award in Canada, they are currently the Resident String Quartet at the Schulich School of Music of McGill University, pursuing Graduate Diplomas under the guidance of André Roy. They are also Quartet in Residence of Jeunesses Musicales du Canada for their 60th Anniversary Season. The CSQ has performed across North America and in Europe for organizations such as Music Toronto, The La Jolla Music Society, ProQuartet, and the Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival. They also toured Ontario, Québec and British Columbia with Jeunesses Musicales Canada on their Desjardins Concert Series. In addition to their prize at the Osaka Chamber Music Competition, they were first prize winners and winners of the Melpomene prize at the 2008 Rutenberg Competition held at the University of South Florida. Committed to teaching and outreach, the CSQ has taught and performed at the Austin Chamber Music Festival in Texas and at QuartetFest at Laurier University in Waterloo, and has presented educational programs for elementary and high schools across the USA, Canada, and France.
Cheryl Cellon, Piano
Cheryl D. Cellon collaborates with an array of singers, instrumentalists and chamber ensembles. With appearances throughout the U. S. and Europe, she has been a featured soloist with several symphony orchestras. She has studied with such distinguished artists and professors as Douglas Fisher, Carolyn Bridger, Timothy Hoekman, Valerie M. Trujillo, Lita Guerra, Jerry Alan Bush and Paul Nitsch, and has worked with notable composers John Harbison, Jake Heggie and Krzysztof Penderecki. Through master classes and festivals, she has enjoyed performance opportunities with Martin Katz, John Wustman and Dalton Baldwin. She serves on the faculty at the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria and has participated in the Songfest Music Festival at Pepperdine University and at the Acadèmie Internationale d’Été de Nice in Nice, France. Dr. Cellon earned her DMA in piano performance from Florida State University with an emphasis in chamber music and accompanying. She recently served on the music faculty at the University of Texas Pan American.
Hillary Nordwell, Piano
An active performer on both piano and viola, Hillary Nordwell plays chamber music throughout the United States, Italy, Austria, Germany, and Sweden. She performed in Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall, following the Eusebius Duo's first prize win at the CMFONE International Chamber Music Competition. Hillary earned an MM in Chamber Music Performance from SF Conservatory, where she studied with Paul Hersh, Jodi Levitz, Axel Strauss, and Mark Sokol and participated in master classes with Menahem Pressler and Paul Katz. As as soloist, she has made concerto appearances with the Lawrence Symphony Orchestra, the Port Angeles Chamber Orchestra, the Port Townsend Community Orchestra, and has worked with master pianists and teachers Richard Goode, Robert McDonald, and Gilbert Kalish. Hillary is co-founder and member of One Art Ensemble, a chamber group highlighting new and historic works for soprano, viola and piano. She has been featured on many Bay Area concert series including Noontime Concerts, Trinity Chamber Concerts, Old First Concerts, and the Bing Concert Series at Stanford University. She maintains a private teaching studio and is a member of the piano faculty at St. Brigid School in San Francisco.
Alexa Beattie, Viola
Alexa Beattie has appeared with Glasgow's Kelvin Ensemble, in the Festival of British Youth Orchestras, and has given recitals in the UK, USA and in Canada. She is a recipient of the City of London’s Chartered Surveyors String Quartet Prize and the Leonard Friedman Chamber Music Prize. Chamber music partners include Bonnie Hampton, Ian Swensen, Robert Mann, Paul Hersh, Axel Strauss and Jean-Michel Fonteneau. She is a founding member of the Picasso Quartet based in San Francisco. Interests in New Music have led to the Canadian and British premières of Alan Hilario’s Kibô, multiple commissions, and an improvisation project during a Long-Term Residency at The Banff Centre. Maintaining an avid interest in interdisciplinary collaborations, she has performed with Canada’s slam poetry champion Shane Koyczan, and worked with visual artists at the 2005 Aldeburgh Festival. A soundtrack created with Annabel Johnson for Matthew Murdoch’s film Swing was nominated at the Poitiers Film Festival (Paris) 2006. She has worked with colleagues from the London School of Contemporary Dance and as a session artist for Radio 2 XS and London’s XFM. In the Bay Area Alexa enjoys working with contemporary music ensemble sfSoundGroup, and is co-founder and member of One Art Ensemble, a chamber group highlighting new and historic works for soprano, viola and piano.
Picasso String Quartet
The Picasso String Quartet is a new group dedicated to to bringing the string quartet repertoire to a diverse audience through collaborating with artists of all mediums. As chamber music majors at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, members of the quartet have performed with Bonnie Hampton, Martha Katz, Robert Mann, and Joel Krosnick. They formed in March of 2008 to premiere David Garner’s 1st String Quartet and plan on performing and commissioning works from other local artists. They have participated in the Institute for Advanced Quartet Studies at Kent State Univeristy and the Menuhin Seminar with the Alexander Quartet at SFSU. Performances in the 2009-2010 season include Noe Valley Chamber Music Emerging Artists Series, Berkeley Piano Club, and San Francisco Community Music Center. The Picasso Quartet is an affiliate of the San Francisco Friend’s of Chamber Music.
The Hausmann Quartet
Praised for their charismatic playing and "marvelously rich tone," The Hausmann Quartet was named Lyrica Boston's Young Artists in Residence in 2004, and Norfolk Festival's Quartet Fellows in Residence in 2006. Highlights of 2007 included a tenure as quartet in residence at the Blossom Music Festival, as well as a showcase at the Chamber Music America Conference in New York. In 2008, they made their debut at the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival and Music@Menlo; more recently they were invited to return as Shouse Artists to the 2009 Great Lakes Festival, and were awarded a fellowship for Aspen Music Festival's Center for Advanced Quartet Studies. The quartet has taken part in the Emerson Quartet's international workshop at Stony Brook and the Juillard Quartet Seminar at Lincoln Center. Championing lesser known gems from living composers, collaborators include John Howell Morrison, Gabriela Lena Frank, and Liam Wade. With a deep belief in community engagement, the quartet established a residency at the Wilson School in Mountain Lakes, NJ, bringing creative musical programs to grade school children, and worked with the International Music Foundation in presenting a children's concert series in the Chicago area. During the 2008-2009 season, the quartet created a monthly series of community outreach concerts at the Kent Free Library. They served as teaching artists for educational programs sponsored by the Tuesday Musical Association. The Hausmann Quartet recently completed a graduate residency at Kent State University as teaching assistants to the Miami String Quartet. Currently, they hold the Morrison Fellowship Award in residency with the Alexander String Quartet at the International Center for the Arts, San Francisco State University.
One Art Ensemble
Hailed as “beautiful feminine giants of chamber music,” One Art Ensemble is quickly gaining recognition for its inspiring juxtaposition of instrumental music, art song, and works by living composers. The members of One Art Ensemble (Alexa Beattie, viola, Ann Moss, soprano, and Hillary Nordwell, piano) have performed together in various configurations since 2004. Since officially forming in April 2009, One Art Ensemble has created innovative concert sets for Noe Valley Chamber Music, CMASH New American Chamber Music III, the Bing Concert Series at Stanford University Hospital, San Francisco’s Noontime Concerts, and San Francisco Conservatory. They recently completed a concert tour in northern Washington state, where they were interviewed on the KONP Radio show Artbeat. Future engagements take them to Massachusetts, New York, and Washington. Upon forming, One Art Ensemble commissioned Boston area composer Vartan Aghababian to set two poems of Elizabeth Bishop. These received their premiere on April 11 in San Francisco. Their second commission was for Liam Wade to set Drei Träume, a collection of fantastical poems by Lisa DeSiro, which was premiered in February. This winter the Ensemble embarked on a collaborative project with the PhD Composition Students at UC Davis, which will culminate in performances in May. Through collaborations like these, One Art Ensemble contributes to an expanding repertoire of music that is carefully crafted to highlight the full range and expressive power of this unique chamber ensemble.
