Trevor Stephenson, artistic director and founder of the Madison Bach Musicians, received a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Historical Performance of 18th-Century Music from Cornell University, where he studied fortepiano with Malcolm Bilson. With his colleague, Norman Sheppard, he has made and refurbished a series of historical keyboard instruments ranging from Italian Renaissance harpsichords to Victorian pianos. He has released fourteen recordings on the Light & Shadow label and tours throughout the United States as performer and lecturer. Information and tour schedule at trevorstephenson.com.

Marc Vallon has been Associate Professor of bassoon at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music since 2004. He received his musical education at the Paris Conservatoire, where his teachers were Maurice Allard and Jacques Merlet (composition). He began playing professionally at the age of 17 and has had the privilege of performing under legendary conductors such as Sergiu Celibidache, Leonard Bernstein, Seiji Ozawa, and Karl Böhm. His interests later led him to work with contemporary music groups culminating in the 1980s in a fascinating period of collaboration with Pierre Boulez’s Ensemble Intercontemporain. In 1982, Marc started playing the baroque bassoon. He was the principal bassoon of the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra for twenty years, and principal bassoon of Philippe Herreweghe’s Orchestre des Champs Elysées for 12 years, and participated in concerts worldwide with ensembles like Tafelmusik, La Petite Bande, Les Musiciens du Louvre and Concerto Köln.

Kangwon Lee Kim, MBM concertmaster, is a versatile violinist with repertoire ranging from baroque to 21st-century using both baroque and modern violins. She has performed internationally giving solo and chamber recitals in Korea, Canada, Puerto Rico, Switzerland, Norway, and Czech Republic. Ms. Kim has recorded for the Deutsche Harmonia Mundi and CRI labels and has collaborated with world-renowned musicians including Menahem Pressler and Laurence Lesser. As a baroque violinist, Ms. Kim has performed with the Smithsonian Chamber Players, the Wisconsin Baroque Ensemble, Brandywine Baroque, the Classical Symphony, Calisto in San Francisco, and most recently the Baroque Band in Chicago. She has also appeared in faculty recitals at the Baroque Performance Institute at Oberlin and has given guest recitals at Pomona College and the University of Pennsylvania. Ms. Kim was assistant professor in violin and chamber music at Biola University in CA and has also taught at Ripon College, the University of Pennsylvania, and Lawrence University Conservatory. During the summer, she teaches at Credo summer chamber music festival at Oberlin College.

Violinist Brandi Berry, whose “four-string acrobatics” and “indispensable skill” (TimeOut Chicago) were praised as “alert [and] outstanding” (Chicago Classical Review), is also noted for her “riffs… powered by a flashing blur of bow arm, [as they] rolled out with irresistible glee” (Washington Post). She has appeared with numerous ensembles including King’s Noyse, Apollo’s Fire, Newberry Consort, Musica Angelica, and the Indianapolis Baroque Orchestra. She has performed on the Library of Congress series as well as the Dame Myra Hess and the Early Music Now series, and has played at many early music festivals, including CMC’s Handel Festival (Toronto), the Boston EMF, Berkeley EMF, Indianapolis EMF, and the Madison EMF. Brandi serves on the faculty of DePaul University as co-director of their Baroque Ensembles program.

Martha Giese Vallon is a graduate of the Rotterdam Conservatory (The Netherlands) and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She has performed in hundreds of concerts and participated in many recordings with the leading European baroque and classical orchestras including The Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, Les Arts Florissants, La Chapelle Royale and the Orchestre des Champs Elysees. Martha has performed throughout Europe, Israel and Japan in various chamber music and orchestral settings and has taught in several notable early music courses. She is a certified MusicanopyTM teacher (a preschool music program) which she teaches at the Waisman Early Childhood Program at the UW.

Based out of Chicago, viola da gambist and cellist Anna Steinhoff is an active performer with ensembles across the midwest. She is the principal cellist of Chicago’s period instrument orchestra, Baroque Band, and performs with ensembles such as the Haymarket Opera Company and Second City Musick. She is also a founding member of Wayward Sisters, who won first prize in the 2011 Early Music America competition and released their debut album of music by Matthew Locke on the Naxos label in 2014. Anna holds degrees from Oberlin Conservatory and Northwestern University where her principal teachers were Peter Rejto and Hans Jensen. She recently returned from the Netherlands, where she studied baroque cello with Jaap ter Linden.

Linda Pereksta has been engaged to perform with such period-instrument ensembles as the Washington Bach Consort, Spire Baroque Orchestra, Ensemble Musical Offering, Belle Meade Baroque, Tallahassee Bach Parley, and Baroque Southeast.  She serves on the National Flute Association’s Historical Flutes Committee, is Editor of TRAVERSO, and has written for The Flutist Quarterly and Flute Talk.  Twice a major prizewinner in the NFA’s Baroque Flute Artist Competition, her doctoral treatise, “Twentieth-Century Compositions for the Baroque Flute,” was a winner of the NFA’s Graduate Research Competition.  Linda teaches Flute and directs the Early Music Ensemble at The University of Wisconsin Oshkosh.

Chelsea Morris, soprano, has recently been praised by the Chicago Tribune for her “luscious soprano voice.” This season, Ms. Morris joins Madison Opera as a Studio Artist, debuts with New York Festival of Song as an Emerging Artist, and returns to Haymarket Opera Company for Scarlatti’s first opera. Ms. Morris won First Place in the Madison Early Music Festival Handel Aria Competition (2014), The Schubert Club (2013) and National Opera Association (2011) competitions, and was a finalist in the Jensen Foundation Competition (2014). The Michigan native holds degrees from DePaul University and Rice University, and she has just released her first CD in collaboration with fortepianist Trevor Stephenson: Songs by Mozart, Haydn, and Schubert. chelseamorris.com

Mezzo-soprano Sarah Leuwerke has been seen on the operatic stage, as concert soloist, recitalist, and as chamber musician through­out the United States. Highlights include appearances with the Billings Symphony, Greeley Philharmonic, Santa Fe Opera, and Minnesota Opera. Ms. Leuwerke received her BA from Gustavus Adolphus College and MM in voice from the U. of Northern Colorado. She then became an apprentice artist with the prestigious Santa Fe Opera Apprentice Artist Program. Ms. Leuwerke’s operatic credits include Dorabella (Cosi fan tutte), Hänsel (Hänsel und Gretel) and Cherubino (Le nozze di Figaro). Ms. Leu­werke was recently selected as a finalist in the 2013 Bel Canto Chorus Regional Artists Competition. Ms. Leuwerke is also an active ensemblist with the Madison Choral Project, the Madison Bach Musicians, and the Chicago-based Caritas Singers.

Miami native Kyle Bielfield has been hailed by the New York Times as an “Outstanding vocal soloist” acclaiming him as “Singing superbly and acting with intensity,” Mr. Bielfield has performed in such prestigious venues as Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, and Merkin Hall in New York. He is a graduate of both The Juilliard School, MM (’13), and New York University, BM (’09). His debut album, Stopping By, was released on the Delos label in 2013, and with Universal (Decca) in 2014. His recent album with Sony Music is scheduled for release in April 2015.

Davone Tines, deemed a “…charismatic, full-voiced bass-baritone…” by The New York Times, is building an international career commanding a broad spectrum of opera and concert performance from early music—recently performing programs of Bach and Rameau in Alice Tully hall—to adventurous contemporary music including the U.S. premiere of Menachem Zur’s Cartoons and performances with the New York Festival of Song. Last season he performed in La Bohème at the Royal Opera House Muscat, Oman, in La Fanciulla del’ West in Spain, and as Lodovico in Otello, all under the baton of Maestro Lorin Maazel. Upcoming engagements include the premiere of Crossing: A New American Opera for the American Repertory Theater directed by Diane Paulus, and the premier of two chamber operas by Kaija Saariajo and directed by Peter Sellars.

Concert violinist Alicia Yang specializes in both modern and historically-informed performances. Recent appearances include the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Archetti, San Francisco Symphony, and Sun Valley(ID) Summer Symphony. Ms Yang is excited to be a member of the newly-formed Callisto Baroque Ensemble. She has performed extensively in the Seattle and Oregon Symphonies, as well as with Carmel Bach Festival, Seattle Baroque, Portland Baroque Orchestra, the Smithsonian Chamber Players, and Violins of Lafayette. She enjoys maintaining a private teaching studio, as well as playing chamber music with her husband Amos Yang, assistant principal cello of the San Francisco Symphony, and spending time with her children, Isabel and Noah.

Violist Marika Fischer Hoyt maintains a demanding concert schedule on both modern and baroque viola, performing regularly with the Madison Symphony Orchestra, Ancora String Quartet, Madison Bach Musicians, Wisconsin Baroque Ensemble, Sinfonia Sacra of the Wisconsin Chamber Choir, and Bach Collegium of Fort Wayne. Marika also hosts the weekly Saturday Afternoon Classics radio show on Wisconsin Public Radio. Marika holds degrees from Smith College and from the Indiana University School of Music. Before moving to Madison in 1999, she played with many orchestras and chamber ensembles around the country, including the Richmond (VA), Charleston (WV), and Des Moines (IA) Symphonies.

Violinist and violist Nathan Giglierano has performed across Europe, Central and North America. Nathan recently graduated from Oberlin Conservatory, where he studied with Marilyn McDonald, and is currently pursuing a Master’s degree from UW Madison under the tutelage of David Perry. Nathan released a CD of his own music in 2009, which can be heard at healingsuite.com. In addition to playing and writing music, Nathan loves photography and cooking.

Violinist Mary Perkinson is an active artist, educator, and outreach specialist. She performs with the Madison Symphony, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, SEW, and MBM. She has taught at Leopold Elementary, WYSO, UW-Madison Summer Music Clinic, Music Makers, and is artist-in-residence for Overture Center’s Arts Education Initiative. In 2009 she founded Sound Health, an award-winning program that enriches the UW Hospital environment through live music. She graduated magna cum laude from Boston University, received a GPD from Boston Conservatory, and received an MM, K-12 Certification, and DMA from UW-Madison. Dr. Perkinson is the Program Manager for UW-Madison Arts Outreach.

Anton TenWolde (baroque cello) was born in the Netherlands, where he studied with Sylvain van Amerongen, cellist with the The Hague Philharmonic Orchestra (Residentie Orkest). While earning his degree in Applied Physics at the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, Anton performed with Ton Koopman and toured with the Netherlands Student Chamber Orchestra and the Netherlands Student Baroque Orchestra. In 1973 he moved to Madison, Wisconsin, where he worked for 28 years as a Research Physicist at the Forest Products Laboratory. For many years he played principal cello with the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra. He has been interested in early music performance since the early 1970’s and has played the baroque cello since 1989. He is a founding member of the Wisconsin Baroque Ensemble and regularly performs with the Fort Wayne Bach Collegium.

Bassist Ross Gilliland has played with the Madison Symphony Orchestra, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Con Vivo!, Oakwood Chamber Players, Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society, Madison Bach Musicians, and with his touring ska band. Mr. Gilliland holds undergraduate degrees in music and physics, and the master’s degree in Environmental Policy and Management. He worked at the White House Council on Environmental Quality and now serves on an advisory board for Seattle Public Utilities and as an analyst with Equal Opportunity Schools.

Kathryn Montoya currently teaches baroque oboe and recorder at Oberlin Conservatory and the University of North Texas. She appears with a variety of orchestral and chamber music ensembles including the internationally-acclaimed Boston Early Music Festival Orchestra, Tafelmusik, the Wiener Akademie, Arion, and Apollo’s fire among others. Kathryn received her degrees at Oberlin Conservatory and Indiana University, Bloomington. While at IU she was the recipient of the prestigious Performer’s Certificate and was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to study in Germany. Kathryn very much enjoys the various thrills of recording, has been broadcast on NPR’s Performance Today and Talk of the Nation, and can be heard on the Naxos, CPO, NCA, and Dorian Sono Luminus labels.

Luke Conklin,  baroque oboist, recently completed a Master’s degree studying with Gonzalo Ruiz at The Juilliard School. While there, he performed with Juilliard Baroque and Juilliard 415 including their tour of Italy with the Yale Collegium Musicum and Masaaki Suzuki. In addition to performances with Madison Bach Musicians, Luke has played with The American Bach Soloists, Concert Royal, The Clarion Society, Early Music New York, The American Classical Orchestra, and the San Francisco Bach Society. He is also a performer on Baroque and Irish flutes.

Marilyn McDonald, a founding member of the Smithson Quartet and the Castle Trio currently plays in the Axelrod Quartet in residence at the Smithsonian Institution and so named in honor of the donor of the decorated Stradivarius instruments on which the quartet performs. She has toured world-wide as a chamber musician in repertoire ranging from baroque to contemporary, appearing at Alice Tully Hall, the Metropolitan Museum, the Frick Gallery, the Caramoor, Utrecht and Mostly Mozart Festivals, Wigmore Hall, Disney Hall, Ravinia and the Concertgebouw as well as appearing as soloist with the Milwaukee and Omaha Symphonies. Concertmaster positions include Boston Baroque and the Peninsula Music Festival. A pupil of Angel Reyes and Josef Gingold, she was awarded the Performer’s Certificate at Indiana University. She is well known for her interest in performing on historical instruments and former students in this area occupy positions of importance world-wide. Recent students occupy positions in the Boston and Houston Symphonies, in several active string quartets and have been international prize winners in the Locatelli, Berkeley Bach and Naaumberg Competitions as well as the Stulberg and Fischoff Competitions. She has been artist in residence at Boston University and has held visiting professorships at the Eastman School of Music and at Indiana University. She teaches each summer at the Oberlin Baroque Performance Institute and has been honored with the “Excellence in Teaching” award at Oberlin where she is professor of violin. Ms. McDonald’s recordings are heard on the Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, Virgin Classics, Decca, Gasparo, Smithsonian and Telarc labels.