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Owen Underhill conductor
Owen Underhill is a composer, conductor, and professor of composition in Vancouver, British Columbia. He studied composition with Rudolf Komorous at the University of Victoria, graduating with distinction in 1975. During 1973 - 1975 he also was an active flautist, performing with The Composer's Group. He then did his master's degree at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, studying with Bülent Arel. From 1976 to 1981 he was visiting composer at Wilfred Laurier University's Faculty of Music. In 1981, Underhill became a music instructor for the Centre for the Arts at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia. Throughout the 1990s he conducted the Vancouver New Music Society as well as composed. His music has been performed widely throughout Canada and Australia, and is also frequently part of interdisciplinary art presentations. Underhill is an eagerly sought-after collaborator, both as a composer and conductor of unflagging professionalism. However, his catalog demonstrates an affinity for chamber music. It is not a particularly large output, but most of his music has proven durable. The music demonstrates much of the splendid, exuberant humanism heard frequently among the best students of Komorous. It frequently generates fascinating atmospheres through the manipulation of materials that are not especially radical but communicative and edifying for both casual listeners and the strident lovers of the avant-garde. His command of orchestration is particularly attractive and fascinating.
The Quake Ensemble
Ella Marie Gray violin
Ella began her career in New York as a member of the Kronos Quartet. Upon returning to her native Seattle she became a member of the Northwest Chamber Orchestra, Pacific Northwest Ballet Orchestra and the New Performance Group. Ella is a founding member of the Rainier String Quartet, and has been a faculty member at Western Washington University, Seattle University, and Cornish College of the Arts. Sought after as a chamber musician and soloist throughout the United States, she is currently Artist in Residence at the Santa Barbara Chamber Music Festival and Associate Concertmaster of the New Hampshire Music Festival.
Virginia Dziekonski cello
Virginia Dziekonski is assistant principal cellist of the Pacific Northwest Ballet Orchestra. She has performed with Seattle Symphony and the Seattle Opera. Virginia has also performed as principal cellist for Tacoma Opera, the Northwest Sinfonietta and the St. James Cathedral Chamber Orchestra. She works for all the major recording studios in the Seattle area, playing scores for radio, television and movies. Virginia is an active chamber musician and has appeared in series such as Second City in Tacoma, Artswest, Mostly Nordic Chamber Music Series, Camerata Musica of the Battelle Institute, the San Juan Chamber Players, the Music in the Park Series of the Northwest Chamber Orchestra, and the Water Music Festival in Long Beach, WA. In July 2007, Virginia played with her string quartet, the Beau Metro, in the premiere concert of chamber music for the Anacortes Arts Festival. In 2000-2001, Virginia played principal cello for the world premiere of Philip Glass’ chamber opera, “In the Penal Colony” at ACT Theatre, which also toured to Chicago at the Court Theater, and New York at the Classic Stage Co. In 2004, the Beau Metro premiered “Anna Madrigal Remembers” with the Seattle Men’s Chorus and with mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade. She is on the string tracks to “Bring Me to the Light,” a Top 40 hit by the band Effanescence.
Susan Telford flute
Susan has been a member of the Elgin Symphony, the Evansville Philharmonic, the Tacoma Symphony, and the Chicago Chamber Orchestra, with which she toured Europe as Principal Flute. She has also performed with the Pacific Northwest Ballet Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, and many other ensembles, as well as on numerous soundtracks for film and television. A graduate of the University of Washington and Northwestern University, Susan has served as instructor of flute and chamber music at the University of Evansville and Northwestern University.
Sean Osborn clarinet
Sean has traveled the U.S. and Europe as soloist and chamber musician, and traveled the world during his eleven years with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. He has also performed as guest principal clarinet with the New York Philharmonic, Pittsburgh Symphony, Seattle Symphony, and American Symphony Orchestra. Sean is a graduate of both the Interlochen Arts Academy and the Curtis Institute of Music, and has participated in the Marlboro, Aspen, Colorado, and Keystone festivals. Upon returning to his native Washington, Sean has concentrated on solo performances, teaching and composition.
