Melissa Bull, Violinist - The Amaryllis Chamber Ensemble - Photo by Hayley LiebmannMelissa M. Bull began playing the violin at age five. Throughout her schooling, she received numerous awards, succeeded at multiple national competitions and music festivals, and was the youngest musician (age 11) ever to win a professional position with the York (PA) Symphony Orchestra. In 1996, she was cited by the PA House of Representatives for excellent representation of the state in music and for winning the role of concertmaster of the PMEA State Orchestra. That same year, she enrolled at New England Conservatory of Music, studying with acclaimed violinist James Buswell. After a few years in part-time status, she now studies with him full-time at Gordon College. At Gordon, Ms. Bull is the first student to have earned the role of concertmaster in the mentored Symphony Orchestra. Other highlights of her musical career include weekly performances on WEZE 590 AM, several solo appearances with the Gordon Symphony Orchestra (2005), a 2002 recital series in Medellín, Colombia, a concert collaboration with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in 1996, a performance at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, GA, and two solo appearances with the York Youth Symphony Orchestra (1994, 1996). She attended Brevard Music Center three summers on scholarship, where she was the recipient of the 1993 Musician of the Year award. Ms. Bull has performed in such prestigious venues as New York City’s Carnegie Hall, Pittsburgh’s Heinz Hall, New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall, and Boston’s Symphony Hall. She now lives near Boston, MA and enjoys a busy free-lancing career as a violinist, pianist, organist, and vocalist, playing for private functions, performing as a studio musician, and presenting solo recitals and concerts with various chamber ensembles and orchestras. Ms. Bull is the founder and coordinator of Accord Music & Chamber Players, which specializes both in providing music for special events and in performing and recording new works for local student and professional composers, having recorded well over 500 original compositions written for string or full orchestra. Ms. Bull recently received her Bachelor’s degree in both music performance and Spanish from Gordon College, where she received numerous honors for academic and musical leadership.

   
  Peter Cama-Lekx, Violist - The Amaryllis Chamber Ensemble - Image coutesy of rubicat.comA native of Canada, Peter Cama-Lekx is an active performer on viola in small chamber ensembles and orchestras throughout New England. Peter also performs regularly on medieval strings as well as period violin and viola in early music ensembles including Music for a while and Heliotrope Consort. In addition, he is a skilled choral singer and has held various positions in church choirs; currently, he sings with the Cathedral Choir of St. Paul in Boston. Peter maintains a private studio in Somerville, Massachusetts and is known for his skill at teaching violin and viola to children and adults of all levels. He has previously served as the String Department Assistant at Boston University, and as a viola Teaching Assistant. In 2005, Peter won an award in recognition of his performing talents and his dedicated service to Boston University's String Department. Currently completing his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Viola Performance at Boston University, Peter studies viola with Michelle LaCourse and baroque violin/viola with Jane Starkman. His previous viola teachers have been Timothy Deighton (Pennsylvania State University), Christine Vlajk (Wilfrid Laurier University) and Dov Scheindlin (Wilfrid Laurier University).
   
 
Bonnie Cochran, Flutist -- The Amaryllis Chamber Ensemble - Photo by Hayley LiebmannBonnie L. Cochran performs regularly throughout the Boston area and has performed with the New Bedford Symphony, Willow Flute Ensemble, Boston Civic Symphony Orchestra, Metrowest Symphony, the National Flute Association (NFA) Professional Flute Choir and in musical theater productions with Boston Theatre Works, Bay Colony Productions, Turtle Lane Players, and Wellesley Players. Bonnie was a 2004 winner of the NFA's Convention Performer Competition, where she performed the newly rediscovered CPE Bach Concerto in D Major. Other solo appearances include a performance of the Bach Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 with the Waldorf School Orchestra (March 2006) and Chaminade's Concertino with the Agnes Scott College Orchestra (1998). In the past few years, Bonnie performed with Willow Flute Ensemble at the NFA Flute Convention (2002), and as a soloist on a recital series at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2001, 2000, 2005). In December 2005, Bonnie released her first CD, Song and Dance, a collection of flute music, including several of her original compositions. She is joined by harpist Sarah Manning Stuart for four selections on this CD. Bonnie can also be heard on the Willow Flute Ensemble CD, which was released in 2000 and on the 2004 Holiday CD produced by the Minor Chord School of Music. Her primary teachers have included Linda Toote, Elinor Preble and Paul Brittan, and she has performed in master classes with Keith Underwood, Susan Glaser, Paul Edmund-Davies and Laura Barron. Bonnie holds a MM in Flute Performance from The Boston Conservatory and BA's in Music and Religious Studies from Agnes Scott College. In addition to performing, Bonnie teaches private flute lessons and enjoys composing music. Bonnie's compositions have been performed on numerous concerts in Atlanta, Boston, New York and Cape Cod, including performances at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall (2005), the Greater Boston Flute Association Flute Fair (2002), Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard University, The Boston Conservatory and Agnes Scott College. In addition, her arrangement of Silent Night was recently recorded on Harpist Sarah Manning Stuart's Winter Wonderland CD. Bonnie has studied composition with John Heiss, John Clement Adams, Larry Bell, and Ronald Byrnside.
   
 
Sarah Manning Stuart, Harpist - The Amaryllis Chamber Ensemble Sarah Anne Manning Stuart is a freelance harpist in the Boston and surrounding areas. Sarah performs regularly as an orchestral musician with New Bedford Symphony, Newton Symphony, Boston’s Civic Symphony and New England Philharmonic. She has also appeared with Boston Modern Orchestra Project and New England String Ensemble. Nationally, Sarah has participated in the Texas International Festival Orchestra, the Bowdoin Summer Chamber Music Festival and the Pierre Monteux Festival Orchestra. Internationally, Sarah has toured Austria as a member of the AIMS Festival Orchestra. Sarah provides solo and chamber music at hundreds of functions a year. She has performed at: the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, the Ritz Carlton, the Harvard Club, the JFK Library and Boston University. Recently, Sarah was featured as a soloist with the New Bedford Symphony Orchestra. Sarah has completed two recording projects. Spring Sea features flute and harp duets with Mana Washio. Winter Wonderland is a collection of holiday arrangements for solo harp. An enthusiastic teacher, Sarah currently teaches privately in Brookline. Currently, she is President of the Boston Chapter of the American Harp Society. Sarah studied with Alice Chalifoux at the Oberlin Conservatory and at the Salzedo Harp School in Camden Maine. She continued her musical training with Yolanda Kondonassis and received her Master of Music from the Cleveland Institute of Music. Also, Sarah has a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from Oberlin College.
   
 

Kate Marsch, Cellist - The Amaryllis Chamber Ensemble - Photo by Hayley LiebmannKate Ellingson, cello, holds a Master of Music and a Graduate Performance Diploma from The Boston Conservatory as well as two undergraduate degrees, a Bachelor in Music Performance and a Bachelor of Education from the University of Houston. Originally from Iowa, Kate remained in Texas after undergraduate studies and taught middle school instrumental music, maintained an active teaching studio, and was an active freelancer in the greater Houston area. In Boston, Kate has performed several solo recitals spends most of her spare time performing chamber music the Amaryllis Ensemble and the Accord Music Chamber Players. In addition to her chamber music work, Kate also freelances in Boston and has served as Principal Cello with both the Boston Civic Symphony and the New Bedford Symphony. Currently, Kate teaches cello lessons in Wellesley where she maintains an active studio. Her students routinely perform recitals, and can be seen in the Massachusetts All-State Orchestra, and various youth symphonies in the Boston area. In addition to her musical endeavors, Kate works part-time for the Boston Symphony as an assistant music librarian. Her principal teachers have been Ronald Feldman, Andrew Mark and Laszlo Varga.
   
 
Piper Runnion-Bareford, harpPiper Runnion-Bareford heard the harp for the first time when she was eight years old, and her musical education began soon after under the skilled tutelage of Stephanie Curcio. After only two years Piper moved to the full size pedal harp, and began to pursue her music seriously. She began studying at the New England Conservatory of Music Preparatory School, spending every Saturday studying music theory, solfege, and composition, as well as playing in chamber ensembles and with the Youth Symphony. At age thirteen, Piper became the principal harpist for the top level orchestra, the Youth Philharmonic, and went on the 2001 tour to Venezuela and Cuba. She was then accepted to the Royal College of Music, London, where she earned a one year performance degree. Piper returned to the United States to attend the Curtis Institute of Music, Philadelphia, where she graduated first in her class in 2006. While at Curtis, Piper had the privilege of studying under Judy Loman and Elizabeth Hainen, as well as studying advanced harmony with Edward Aldwell. Piper has played as soloist for numerous orchestras around New England, as well as in Pennsylvania and Washington, DC. She had the opportunity to perform at the Kennedy Center, Washington, DC performing Handel’s Concerto in Bb with the Washington Choral Arts Society during her senior year at Curtis. Piper has played as principal harp for the Baltimore Symphony, the Curtis Symphony Orchestra, the Nashua Chamber Orchestra, the New Hampshire Philharmonic, the Maine State Ballet Orchestra, the Merrimack Valley Philharmonic, the Brockton Symphony Orchestra, and the New England Conservatory’s Youth Philharmonic. Before moving from Philadelphia she had the privilege of being a member of the harp section for the Philadelphia Orchestra’s performance and recording of Mahler Symphony No. 6. She recently received a Masters in Urban Ministry and a Master of Divinity degree from Gordon Theological Seminary and is currently in the process of becoming ordained. Piper loves to teach, and maintains a growing studio teaching harp as well as Suzuki piano at the Manchester Community Music School and Gordon College.
   
  Catherine Tai, Violinist - The Amaryllis Chamber Ensemble Violinist Catherine Tai is a native of Edmonton, Canada. She holds both Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from the University of British Columbia, and an Artist Diploma from Boston University with principal teachers including Martin Beaver, Andrew Dawes, and Peter Zazofsky. Currently active as a performing artist in the Boston and surrounding areas, Catherine has also been a soloist with the CFRN Television Orchestra, Alberta Baroque Ensemble, University of British Columbia Symphony Orchestra, and Kamloops Symphony. Her solo and chamber recitals have been broadcast on CBC Westcoast Performance in Canada, RTHK Radio Four Hong Kong Concert Hall, and Radio Suisse Romande Espace 2 in Switzerland. First prize winner in both the 1997 CBC Westcoast Performance Young Musicians’ Competition and 1999 CFRMTA National String Competition, she is also a laureate of Début Young Concert Artists. As a music educator, Ms. Tai maintains a violin studio and is on faculty at the Dana Hall School of Music in Wellesley where she teaches violin and chamber music. In 2007, Catherine was called to the College of Examiners for the Royal Conservatory of Music and is active as a string examiner throughout Canada.