Celebrating 30+ Years of Wild and Scenic Music
2026-2027 Artists
Violinist Elizabeth Baker enjoyed a 40-year career with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra (10 years) and the Los Angeles Philharmonic (30 years) before moving permanently to Taos. She now performs with many of New Mexico’s leading chamber and orchestral ensembles.
Baker was an active chamber musician with colleagues in both orchestras and a member of XTet and Bach’s Circle, appearing widely in the Western U.S. for Chamber Music Northwest, Sedona, the Bach Festivals in Los Angeles, Carmel, and Oregon, South Bay Chamber Music, and the Colly Soleri Music Center. She was featured three times as soloist with the LA Philharmonic, all premieres that earned critical acclaim.
She taught on the Cal Arts faculty for 12 years and has worked with YOLA youth at HOLA since 2011. Baker’s recordings appear on Hänssler Classics, Delos, New World, and Crystal. She performs on a 1733 Sanctus Seraphin violin once owned by her mother, Virginia Voigtländer Baker.
Cellist Joel Becktell received Bachelor and Master of Music degrees with honors from the Cleveland Institute of Music, where he was awarded the Rubenstein Prize for Excellence in Cello Performance. His former teachers include Anne Cole, Alan Harris, and Stephen Geber. Becktell has been a member of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, Principal Cellist with the Austin Symphony, and cellist with the Moveable Feast and the Nichols Quartet. He is a founding member of the Albuquerque-based Movable Sol concert series, and the early music period instrument concert series BWV. Becktell is a member of the ProMusica Chamber Orchestra of Columbus, Ohio, the Jackson Symphony, and Assistant Principal Cellist of the Santa Fe Symphony. He performs internationally on modern and baroque cello and violoncello piccolo. Becktell has recorded for the Marquis Classics, Revel Records, Parma, and Blue Griffin labels. He is also active as a studio artist, with works in ceramics, photography, relief printing, and painting in private collections worldwide.
David Bernat, violin, recognized for his deeply personal approach and ability to connect with diverse audiences, leads a multifaceted career as a performer, educator, and artistic director. A sought-after chamber musician, he is a member of the Formosa String Quartet, ensemble-in-residence at the University of Houston Moores School of Music and the National Youth Orchestra of Canada. Recent and upcoming engagements include the Philharmonic Society of Orange County, Marlboro Music Festival, tours of the Pacific Northwest and Taiwan, and performances at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Tanglewood, and the Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival. Bernat has appeared on BBC Radio 3 and WQXR and will tour South Korea with Sejong Soloists. Committed to community engagement, he was a 2023–2025 Ensemble Connect Fellow at Carnegie Hall. A National Master in chess, Bernat is a doctoral fellow at The Juilliard School and plays a 1984 Samuel Zygmuntowicz violin.
American double bassist Nina Bernat, acclaimed for her interpretive maturity, expressive depth and technical clarity, has carved out a distinctive career as a soloist, redefining the role of her instrument on the world stage. She was hailed by the Star Tribune as a “standout” for her recent concerto debut with the Minnesota Orchestra, praising her performance as “exhilarating, lovely and lyrical… technically precise and impressively emotive.” In 2023, Bernat was awarded both the Avery Fisher Career Grant and First Prize at the Concert Artists Guild Competition. She has appeared as a soloist with the Minnesota Orchestra and Brooklyn Symphony Orchestra and made New York recital debuts at Carnegie Hall and Merkin Hall. A frequent chamber musician, Bernat performs with Sejong Soloists and is a member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. She serves on the faculty of Stony Brook University and performs on an instrument passed down from her father, Mark Bernat, attributed to Guadagnini.
Beyond being a very active performer, Dr. Jeffrey Brooks is Associate Professor of Clarinet at the University of New Mexico. He holds the 3rd/Bass Clarinet Chair in the New Mexico Philharmonic and owns clarinetmonster.com.
As a concerto soloist, he has appeared often and given numerous solo recitals. Brooks has performed with the Seattle Symphony, Seattle Opera, Atlanta Symphony, Charleston Symphony, Savannah Philharmonic, Santa Fe Opera, and many others across the Pacific Northwest, Southwest, and Southeastern U.S.
His duo, Clarinet Meets Guitar, is releasing its second album featuring newly commissioned works. Brooks has recorded for Naxos, New World Records, and Frameworks, as well as on film scores, video games, and commercials.
An avid jazz performer, he has released two albums of original music and developed the symphonic pops show Monsters of Clarinet.
Brooks holds both an MM and DM from Florida State University.
Violinist and violist, Laura Chang, a native of Wisconsin, was born into a musical family, and began her violin studies shortly after her fourth birthday. She earned both bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Peabody Conservatory, under the tutelage of Martin Beaver and Pamela Frank, for whom she was a graduate assistant.
Chang is an avid chamber and orchestral musician whose performances have taken her to venues across the US, Canada, and Europe. While a resident of Washington, DC, she was a member of the National Philharmonic, and the Maryland Symphony, and frequently performed as an extra with the major orchestras in the Baltimore/Washington metro area. More recently, she performed with the Colorado Symphony and the Colorado Springs Philharmonic. In 2020, Chang and her family relocated to Albuquerque, where she is the Principal Violist with the New Mexico Philharmonic, and a first violinist in the Santa Fe Symphony. She is also a member of the Central City Opera Orchestra, and performs as an extra with the Santa Fe Opera.
Judith Gordon, pianist, explores a diverse repertoire as both a soloist and in collaboration with a wide range of instrumentalists and singers. A featured guest of chamber music festivals and series such as Apple Hill, Charlottesville, Music Mountain, Santa Fe, Spoleto, Tanglewood, and Music from Salem, she has also appeared with the Boston Pops, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, and was a member of the percussion-based ensemble Essential Music. A graduate of the New England Conservatory, Gordon was a Boston Globe ‘Musician of the Year’ and an associate professor of music at Smith College from 2006-20. She is now based in New Mexico, playing often with Chatter, the Albuquerque Chamber Soloists, and at Placitas Artists Series.
Sally Guenther, a New Mexico cellist with performance degrees from Indiana University
and the Juilliard School of Music, has served in several major US orchestras (Syracuse, Cincinnati, Metropolitan Opera) before settling for twenty years in Norway as a solo cellist with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra. While there, she also taught at the Grieg Academy of Music as well as touring extensively throughout Europe, Russia, and the Far East with the contemporary ensemble BIT 20. Since returning to the US, Guenther has performed with all of the major New Mexico ensembles, including Santa Fe Opera, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Santa Fe Symphony, New Mexico Philharmonic, Chatter, Taos Chamber Music Group, Montage Music Society, and NM Performing Arts Society. Recent activity includes solo performances in Cesis, Latvia, and Master Classes in Sonora, Mexico.
She has been on the faculty of the New Mexico School for the Arts and maintains a private teaching studio. Guenther plays a 1790 John Betts cello, which was totally and masterfully restored in 2017 by the late David Caron of Angel Fire, New Mexico.
Cellist Walter Haman is a member of the Utah Symphony and is Principal Cellist of the Grant Park Orchestra. He has played with the Chicago Symphony, the San Francisco Symphony, New Century Chamber Orchestra, and has been a guest cellist with Pink Martini. Haman performs regularly on the NOVA Chamber Music Series and Intermezzo Chamber Music Series in Salt Lake City. He also maintains an active teaching schedule and is on faculty at Utah State University. Haman participated in the Spoleto Festival (Italy), Crested Butte Music Festival, Bienalle di Venezia, and received fellowships to the Aspen Music Festival and Tanglewood. An Artist Residency at the Banff Centre for the Arts led to a collaboration with dancer/choreographer Jose Navas. The Haman/Navas Project performed in most of the major cities of Europe, Canada, and the United States. A documentary, “Perpetual Motion”, about the duo appeared on Bravo. He is a graduate of the New England and San Francisco Conservatories of Music.
Cellist Amy Huzjak lives in Albuquerque, NM and serves as Principal Cellist of the New Mexico
Philharmonic. She also freelances throughout New Mexico, collaborating with other area
organizations including Chatter ABQ, Santa Fe ProMusica, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival,
and the Santa Fe Symphony and Chorus. Huzjak is a founding member of Chaski Quartet, touring Colorado and New Mexico June 2026. A committed educator, she is a member of the Suzuki Association of the Americas and has a studio of over 30 students. Huzjak’s mentors include David Teie, Thomas Landschoot, and Jenny Yopp. She holds MM in cello performance from University of Maryland and a BM Summa Cum Laude from Arizona State University. When not playing, Huzjak loves hiking and skiing in the Sandias, in her native Colorado, and travels around the world to hike with her dad. www.amyhuzjak.com
Pianist, Gleb Ivanov, has wowed audiences around the world since winning prizes in the 1994 and 1996 International “Classical Legacy” Competition and first Vladimir Horowitz Competition. Before moving to the US, Ivanov appeared as soloist with the Nizhny Novgorod Philharmonic, the Moscow State Orchestra, in the Great Hall at Moscow Conservatory, with the Kremlin Orchestra, and at the Pushkin, Glinka, and Scriabin Museums in Moscow. He graduated from the Moscow Conservatory, where his teachers included the renowned Lev Naumov and where he was a protégé of Mstislav Rostropovich. Ivanov earned his Master’s degree from the Manhattan School of Music, working with Nina Svetlanova, and was a recipient of a Musical Studies Grant from the Bagby Foundation.
In 2005, Ivanov won First Prize in the Young Concert Artists International Auditions and made his critically acclaimed debuts at Carnegie’s Zankel Hall and at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. He was also honored with the Michaels Award of Young Concert Artists and presented at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall. The New York Times called him “a young super-virtuoso with musical sensitivity and an appreciation of style to go with the thunder and lightning.”
Ivanov has given concerts at Princeton University, Bargemusic in New York, The Paramount Theater in Vermont, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, “Pianofest” in East Hampton, and the Louvre in Paris.
Numerous concerto performances have included the New Jersey, Knoxville, Dearborn, Las Cruces, Grand Rapids, Springfield, Southwest Florida, Peoria, and Napa Valley symphonies, and with the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra and the Colorado Springs Philharmonic.
Ivanov is on the faculty of the Bluthner School of Music in Hoboken, New Jersey, passing on his amazing talents to children of all ages. In June 2023, he assumed the role of Music Director of Saint Peter and Paul Orthodox Cathedral in Jersey City, New Jersey, where he will be starting his own concert series in December.
Romanian-born violinist Ruxandra Marquardt studied at the ‘George Enescu’ School and Conservatory in Bucharest, earning top prizes in competitions such as Concertino Prague, Henri Wieniawski, Tibor Varga, and the All-Romania Prize. She also participated in the Yehudi Menuhin and Indianapolis Violin Competitions. In the U.S., Marquardt has served as Associate Concertmaster of the Syracuse Symphony, Principal Second Violin and Concertmaster of the Jacksonville Symphony, and guest Concertmaster with several orchestras, including the Rhode Island and New Mexico Philharmonics. Her solo credits include performances with the Bucharest Philharmonic, Jacksonville Symphony, and Coastal Symphony of Georgia. Marquardt has performed chamber music at Bayreuth, Skaneateles, Grand Tetons, Santa Fe Opera, and more. Currently, she is Assistant Concertmaster of the Santa Fe Symphony and a member of Movable Sol. A sought-after teacher and clinician, Marquardt has guided students to success in major competitions, conservatories, and auditions for professional and youth orchestras.
Charlotte Mattax Moersch, acclaimed as a “nonpareil harpsichordist” by Early Music America, has appeared internationally as a soloist and chamber musician at historic venues, among them Carnegie Hall, the Royal Albert Hall, the Mozarteum, and Palazzo della Cancelleria. As a guest artist, she has performed at the Festival of the Associazione Musicale Romana, Festival Estival de Paris, and Tage alter musik Regensburg, and has toured Europe with Orpheus and American Baroque. Mattax Moersch’s solo harpsichord discography includes Bach’s Goldberg Variations, W.F. Bach’s sonatas, and the complete Pièces de clavecin of D’Anglebert, Armand-Louis Couperin, Noblet, and Février.
Take your preconceptions of ‘noise’ and toss them out the window. Equal parts “fiendishly good and fiendishly goofy” (Chicago Tribune), ~Nois Quartet is a “prolific, charismatic young ensemble that is swiftly becoming the American saxophone quartet du jour” (Musical America). Founded in 2016, the Chicago-based ensemble is dedicated to championing new music for saxophone and building community through innovative, inclusive, and exceptional musical experiences.
Their 200+ performances have spanned 28 states, including invitations to perform at some of the top festivals, concert series, and academic institutions in the nation. At the core of ~Nois’ ethos is a fierce dedication to the commissioning of living composers, leading to over 120 world-premieres to date.
~Nois is Julian Velasco (he/him), Natalia Warthen (she/her), Jordan Lulloff (he/him), and János Csontos (he/him). For more information, please visit www.noisquartet.org.
Hailed for his “unwavering energy and precision” (La Scena Musicale), American pianist Anthony Ratinov captivates audiences worldwide, commanding the stage with “class, style, technical mastery, and solo prowess” (Beckmesser). He won Third Prize at the 2024 Concours Musical International de Montréal and Second Prize at the 2025 National U.S. Chopin Competition, and earned acclaim at the International Chopin Competition in Warsaw, where Gramophone praised his “characterful narrative” and “discerning musicianship.” Additional honors include Second Prize at the Busoni International Piano Competition and First Prize at the Ricard Viñes International Piano Competition. Ratinov has performed at major venues including the Concertgebouw, ORF RadioKulturhaus, Maison Symphonique, and Palau de la Música Catalana. He holds an Artist Diploma from The Juilliard School and completed graduate studies at the Yale School of Music, after earning a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Yale University. Upcoming highlights include his Carnegie Hall recital debut in December 2026. Ratinov is a Young Steinway Artist.
Violinist Stephen Redfield was a Starling Scholar with Dorothy DeLay and earned a Master’s at the Eastman School under Donald Weilerstein. A prize-winner in the Colman and Monterey Chamber Music Competitions, he has performed widely as a chamber musician on both modern and Baroque violin. Dr. Redfield retired from university teaching to Santa Fe, where he served as concertmaster of Santa Fe Pro Musica for nearly three decades. He now organizes MarketMusic, a Baroque series in the city’s Railyard District.
In his 45 years with the Oregon Bach Festival, Dr. Redfield has participated in many recordings, including the Grammy® Award-winning Credo. He is concertmaster of the Conspirare Company of Voices—earning four Grammy® nominations—and of the Victoria and Arizona Bach Festivals and La Follia Austin Baroque. Dr. Redfield has led Houston’s Ars Lyrica and Nashville’s Music City Baroque and is a member of the Atlanta Baroque Orchestra.
Praised for his “agility, speed…liquid phrasing and tonal sophistication” (Fanfare Magazine), Venezuelan flutist Ysmael Reyes enjoys an international career as a soloist, orchestral musician, and educator.
A prizewinner in the First Latin American Flute Competition and the National Flute Association Performers Competition, he has performed throughout the Americas, Europe, and Russia.
An accomplished Baroque flutist, Reyes performs regularly with the Colorado Bach Ensemble, Boulder Bach Festival/COmpass REsonance, and Bach Society Houston, appearing on both modern and historical flutes.
He is also active as a soloist, new music advocate, and serves as Professor of Flute at Colorado State University.
Katie Rietman has performed as a cellist on over 60 CD recordings and in numerous concerts with leading Baroque ensembles worldwide. Her career has taken her to 21 countries, and she is a prizewinner in the Bonporti and Van Wassenaer competitions.
Rietman studied cello at the Cleveland Institute of Music and the Sweelinck Conservatorium in Amsterdam, later spending ten years in Cologne, Germany, performing with many European early music groups. Based in New York City for several years, she served as principal cellist of the Trinity Wall Street Baroque Orchestra, the Clarion Society, and Concert Royal.
Now living in Santa Fe, Rietman has performed with all the local classical groups and on the MarketMusic series at the New Mexico School for the Arts, where she also teaches cello. A trained soprano, she has a passion for languages—she speaks seven—and enjoys making jewelry and cooking.
Allison Rich is a performer and music educator working in both New Mexico and Michigan. She is an experienced orchestral musician, having performed with orchestras including the Toronto Symphony, Santa Fe Opera Orchestra, and the Detroit Opera, among others. Rich is currently a tenured member of the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra, and is a new member of the Santa Fe Symphony.
She has a special interest in playing and promoting contemporary music. Recent collaborations include performances with Albuquerque’s Chatter Ensemble, Continuum Contemporary Music, and Toronto’s Esprit Orchestra. As often as possible, Rich pursues projects that support new voices and new sounds in the classical music community.
She completed her Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of Toronto, where she studied Cello Performance with Joseph Johnson. Rich earned her MM at the University of Michigan and her BM at the Eastman School of Music, studying with Professors Richard Aaron and Steven Doane.
