Nantucket and New England Tour

Sarah Shafer regularly appears on leading operatic and concert stages. Among her recent roles are Azema in Rossini’s Semiramide for her debut at the Metropolitan Opera, Susanna in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro with San Diego Opera, the title role of Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea with Cincinnati Opera, Virginia in Scarlatti’s La caduta de’ Decemviri at Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and Cupid in John Blow’s Venus and Adonis with Opera Lafayette. She has starred in several San Francisco Opera productions, including two world premieres: Marco Tutino’s Two Women and Nolan Gasser’s The Secret Garden. Her numerous appearances with Opera Philadelphia include leading roles in operas by Handel, Donizetti, Verdi, and Osvaldo Golijov.

Ms. Shafer has appeared in concert with the Cincinnati, Detroit, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, San Antonio, and Utah symphonies; the Louisiana Philharmonic; the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra; the Chamber Orchestra of New York; and the Oregon Bach Festival. In Europe she has performed with the Bergen Symphony Orchestra (Norway), the BBC Proms in London’s Royal Albert Hall, and the Glyndebourne Festival.

An avid recitalist and chamber musician, Ms. Shafer enjoys an active collaboration with legendary pianist Richard Goode, with whom she has performed at Carnegie Hall and the Marlboro Music Festival, among other venues. She has also collaborated with pianists Martin Katz and Mitsuko Uchida; guitarist Jason Vieaux; and clarinetists Anthony McGill and Richard Stoltzman. She was a resident artist at the Marlboro Music Festival for five summers, and appears regularly on the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society series. Other recent recital venues include the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Bard Summer Music Festival, the Mozart and Handel Académie européenne de musique in Aix-en-Provence, and the Liszt Academy in Budapest, among others.

Ms. Shafer holds degrees in voice and opera from the Curtis Institute of Music.

Recognized as one of the most celebrated violinists of her generation, Elissa Lee Koljonen has thrilled audiences and critics in more than 100 cities throughout the world. Ms. Koljonen initially received international acclaim when she became the first recipient of the prestigious Henryk Szeryng Foundation Award and the silver medal at the Carl Flesch International Violin Competition. Her playing has been lauded for its “boundless technique and musicianship” (Chicago Tribune) and “assured technique…unflinching purpose and confidence” (Detroit News); and as “sparkling, sensual and personal” (Helsingin Sanomat).

Ms. Koljonen has performed in some of the world’s most important venues, including the Vienna Musikverein, Salzburg Mozarteum, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Barbican Centre (London), Seoul Arts Center, and Symphony Hall (Boston). She has performed recitals in musical capitals including London, Amsterdam, Salzburg, Seoul, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, and New York; and she appears regularly at chamber music festivals throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. She has collaborated with such noted conductors as Mattias Bamert, the late James DePreist, Lawrence Foster, Neeme Järvi, Andrew Litton, and the late Bryden Thomson.

Ms. Koljonen was a protégé of the late Aaron Rosand at the Curtis Institute of Music. Through his influence, she continues the legacy and tradition of Leopold Auer and his legendary school of violin playing.

A violist of international reputation, Roberto Díaz is president and CEO of the Curtis Institute of Music, following in the footsteps of renowned soloist/directors such as Josef Hofmann, Efrem Zimbalist, and Rudolf Serkin.

As a soloist, Mr. Díaz collaborates with leading conductors of our time on stages throughout the world. He has also worked directly with important 20th- and 21st-century composers, including the late Krzysztof Penderecki—whose viola concerto he has performed numerous times with the composer on the podium and whose double concerto he premiered in the United States—as well as Edison Denisov, Jennifer Higdon, Ricardo Lorenz, and Roberto Sierra. His recording of Jennifer Higdon’s Viola Concerto won the Grammy for Best Contemporary Classical Composition in 2018.

A frequent recitalist, Mr. Díaz enjoys collaborating with young musicians, bringing a fresh approach to the repertoire and providing invaluable opportunities to artists at the beginning of their careers. In addition to performing with major string quartets and pianists in chamber music series and festivals worldwide, he is a member of the Díaz Trio. His recordings include a Grammy-nominated disc of viola transcriptions by William Primrose for Naxos, as well as releases on the Artek, Bridge Records, Dorian, Nimbus, and New World labels.

In addition to his decade-long tenure as principal viola of the Philadelphia Orchestra, Mr. Díaz was also principal viola of the National Symphony under Mstislav Rostropovich, and was a member of the Boston Symphony and the Minnesota Orchestra. He is a graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music and the Curtis Institute of Music, where he continues to serve on the faculty, holding the James and Betty Matarese Chair in Viola Studies and the Nina von Maltzahn President’s Chair. Mr. Díaz plays the ex-Primrose Amati viola.

Equally at home as a soloist and chamber musician, cellist Angela Park has performed throughout the Americas, Europe, and East Asia. In recent seasons, she has appeared with Helsinki Baroque, with Anne-Sophie Mutter on her Virtuosi European Tour, and with the Incheon Philharmonic; and has returned to the Marlboro Music Festival, Prussia Cove Open Chamber Music, and Festival de los Siete Lagos in Argentina.

Ms. Park was awarded the Silver Medal and SeongYawng Park Talent Award at the International Isang Yun Competition, in addition to prizes at the Stulberg International Competition and the Young Tchaikovsky Competition. She has worked with such inspiring chamber music colleagues as Leonidas Kavakos, Miriam Fried, Peter Wiley, Bruno Canino, Kim Kashkashian, and Richard Goode; and has also performed as a soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Seoul Philharmonic, Korean Broadcasting System Orchestra, and Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra.

Ms. Park is increasingly in demand as a baroque cellist. She has played continuo with Helsinki Baroque and with the Gamut Bach Ensemble in Philadelphia, and has offered solo performances of the Bach cello suites. In addition to performing early music, she has a deep interest in the music of our times and is dedicated to playing the works of living composers, having taken part in dozens of world premieres.

Born in California to Korean parents, Ms. Park made her debut with the Seoul Philharmonic at age 12. At age 14, she started her studies at the renowned Curtis Institute of Music with Peter Wiley and the late Orlando Cole. While at Curtis, she made her debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra under Christoph Eschenbach. After graduating from Curtis, she studied with Laurence Lesser at the New England Conservatory and with Jens Peter Maintz at the Universität der Künste Berlin in the Konzertexamen Program.

Ms. Park plays a Paolo Antonio Testore cello and a 19th-century Flemish baroque cello, both generously on private loan. She resides in Berlin, Germany.

Jiji is an adventurous artist on both acoustic and electric guitar, playing a wide range of music from traditional and contemporary classical to free improvisation. Her recent venues have included Carnegie Hall, David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center, National Sawdust, the Miller Theater, Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, Le Poisson Rouge, Princeton Sound Kitchen, Virginia Arts Festival, Festival Napa Valley, 92nd Street Y, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

A passionate advocate for new music, Jiji has premiered guitar concertos by Natalie Dietterich and Hilary Purrington and works by Paul Lansky, João Luiz, Evan Chapman, Molly Joyce, Krists Auznieks, Gulli Björnsson, Andrew McIntosh, and Farnood HaghaniPour. As a chamber musician, she is currently a member of the Grammy-nominated ensemble Wildup and has worked with the Cuarteto Latinoamericano, the Brasil guitar duo, mezzo-soprano Carla Canales, Alon Goldstein, the Verona and Argus quartets, and Linü. She is currently an assistant professor of guitar at Arizona State University.

David Serkin Ludwig’s first memory was singing Beatles songs with his sister. His second was hearing his grandfather perform at Carnegie Hall. These experiences foretold a diverse career that Dr. Ludwig has spent collaborating with many of today’s leading soloists, ensembles, filmmakers, choreographers, and writers. His work, “The New Colossus,” opened the private prayer service for President Obama’s second inauguration. The same year, NPR Music named him one of the world’s “Top 100 Composers Under 40.” In 2016, he won the A.I. du Pont Award for his “significant contribution to contemporary classical music,” and in 2018 he received the prestigious Pew Fellowship from The Pew Center for Arts and Heritage.

Dr. Ludwig’s works have been commissioned and performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, National Symphony, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and Carnegie Hall; and by Jonathan Biss, Jeremy Denk, Jaime Laredo, Jennifer Koh, David Shifrin, Eighth Blackbird, the Dover and Borromeo quartets, and the PRISM Saxophone Quartet. His music is currently featured on more than a dozen commercial recordings, including a complete album of his choral music recorded by the Choral Arts Society. An accomplished film composer, Ludwig recently scored Michael Almareyda’s feature film Cymbeline, starring Ethan Hawke and Dakota Johnson.

Born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, Ludwig comes from several generations of eminent musicians. His grandfather was the pianist Rudolf Serkin, and his great-grandfather was the violinist and composer Adolf Busch. He holds degrees and certificates from Oberlin Conservatory, the University of Vienna, the Manhattan School of Music, the Curtis Institute of Music, and the Juilliard School, as well as a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania.