Artists

Barbara Haffner
Robert Hanford
Robert Morgan
Sandra Morgan
Collins Trier
Alan Chow
Jeannie Yu

Barbara Haffner, cello is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music, Assistant Principal Cellist of the Lyric Opera of Chicago Orchestra and Principal Cellist with Chicago Philharmonic Orchestra and Chicago's Music of the Baroque. A former member of the Philadelphia Orchestra, Ms Haffner has had solo repertoire written for her by several composers including Pulitzer Prize winner, Richard Wernick. She has been a featured soloist with the Dallas, Philadelphia, Music of the Baroque and Symphony II orchestra.

Robert Hanford is currently concertmaster of the Lyric Opera of Chicago. Previously, Mr. Hanford was the Associate Principal Second Violinist of the Minnesota Orchestra. He has also been a member of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and Chicago's Grant Park Symphony. He has appeared as soloist on many occasions with both the Minnesota Orchestra and the Milwaukee Symphony. Mr. Hanford attended Northwestern University where his principal teacher was Dr. Myron Kartman. He graduated with first prize from the Orpheus Conservatory in Athens, Greece. During the summers, he serves as concertmaster and instructor at the Birch Creek Music Festival in Wisconsin and also performs with the Richmond Chamber Players in Virginia. Mr. Hanford lives in Evanston with his wife, also a violinist, and their two sons.

Robert Morgan, oboe is Solo English Horn and Assistant Principal Oboe of the Lyric Operra of Chicago Orchestra and Principal Oboist with Music of the Baroque and Chicago Philharmonic Orchestra.  He coaches woodwind chamber music at Northwestern University and maintains a private studio.  He is a frequent soloist with numerous area orchestras and musical organizations and has performed at the White House with Music of the Baroque and with members of the Guarnieri Quartet in Maryland. He is a graduate of Indiana University and also studied with Ray Still, Marc Lifschey and John Mack.

Sandra Morgan, flute is a graduate of Northwestern University and has been a member of the orchestra of Music of the Baroque since 1973, Ars Viva since its inception, and was formerly a member of the Oklahoma City Symphony.  She has soloed on several occasions with Music of the Baroque and several other Chicago area musicial organizations, is an active freelance musician in the Chicago area and maintains a private flute studio.  She coordinates Artistic and Educational activities for the Rembrandt Chamber Players.

Collins Trier, double bass, has been a member of the Chicago Lyric Opera Orchestra since 1980 and frequently performs with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He serves as Principal Bass of Concertanti di Chicago, Symphony of the Shores, Chicago Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Contemporary Chamber Players of the University of Chicago. He plays the hammered dulcimer and is active as a studio musician. He also was a featured soloist with the Symphony of the Shores in a piece for hammered dulcimer and violin which he composed.

Alan Chow piano, has been acclaimed for his “elegant poetry and virtuosic fire.” He has won First Prize at the Concert Artists Guild International Competition, the Palm Beach Invitational International Piano Competition and the UCLA International Piano Competition. He was also the winner of the Silver Medal and Audience Favorite Prize at the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition and a prizewinner in the William Kapell International Piano Competition.

A Steinway artist, Chow has performed in recital and in concert with orchestra from coast to coast in over forty states. His recitals have brought him to the major music centers including New York (Lincoln Center, Merkin Hall, Steinway Hall, Weill Recital Hall), Boston, Los Angeles, Chicago (Symphony Center, Ravinia), Washington, D.C., Cleveland, Seattle, Atlanta, New Orleans and Miami. Concerto performances include appearances with the National Symphony, Utah Symphony, Oakland Symphony, Tulsa Philharmonic, Kansas City Symphony and Omaha Symphony. Chow regularly tours Asia with performances in China, Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan and Singapore including performances with the Hong Kong Philharmonic and the Pan-Asia Symphony. An avid chamber musician, he has collaborated with the American, Pacifica, and Miami String Quartets and has been guest artist at the Grand Canyon Chamber Music Festival, Juneau Jazz and Classics, San Juan Islands Chamber Music Festival, Kent Blossom Music Festival, Texas Music Festival and Music Mountain. In addition, he appears in joint recital engagements with the baritone Jubilant Sykes and in the Cheng-Chow Trio with pianists Alvin Chow and Angela Cheng.

Chow has studied with Nelita True at the University of Maryland where he graduated Co-Valedictorian with his twin brother Alvin, and received the Charles Manning Prize in the Creative and Performing Arts given to the outstanding graduate; with Sascha Gorodnitzki at the Juilliard School where he was awarded the Victor Herbert Prize in Piano; and with Menahem Pressler at Indiana University where he was the recipient of the Joseph Battista Memorial Scholarship. He also studied at the Mozarteum Sommerakademie with Carlo Zecchi.

Also in demand for his teaching, Chow has given master classes throughout North America and Asia. Formerly Artist-in-Residence at the University of Arkansas, Chow currently serves as chair of the piano program at Northwestern University.

Jeannie Yu piano, a native of Korea, is an award-winning pianist. Her honors include first prize in the Frinna Awerbuch Piano Competition in New York, and first prize in the Kingsville Piano Competition in Texas. She also earned the prestigious Gina Bachauer Memorial Scholarship Award, a full scholarship to The Juilliard School of Music for both the bachelor and master’s degree programs.

Yu has performed as a soloist with the Portland Symphony in Maine, the Marina del Rey-Westchester Symphony, the Flint Symphony in Michigan, the Des Moines Brandenburg Ensemble, the Des Moines Symphony, and most recently with the Xiamen Philharmonic Orchestra in China. She is in great demand as a chamber musician and soloist in the greater New York and Chicago areas, and has appeared with the Rembrandt Chamber Players and on Robert Sherman’s Young Artist Showcase on WQXR in New York and WOI radio in Des Moines, Iowa. Yu performs regularly with her husband cellist Stefan Kartman in the Florestan Duo.

She has taught at the Alfred Summer Chamber Institute in New York, the Drake University Community School of Music, the Mid-America Summer Chamber Music Institute at Ohio Wesleyan University, the Milwaukee Summer Chamber Music Festival, the Troy Public Library Chamber Music Institute in Michigan, and the Wisconsin Conservatory.

She has studied with Ruth V. Sitjar, Martin Canin, Susan Starr, Ilana Vered, and Ann Schein. She received her Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the Peabody Institute of Music.


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rembrandtcp@ameritech.net