Alex Kerr, Violin

Alexander Kerr’s expressive and charismatic style has made him one of the most accomplished and versatile violinists on the international music scene today. In 1996 at the age of 26, Mr. Kerr was appointed to the prestigious position of Concertmaster of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. After nine successful years at that post, he left in June, 2006 to assume the endowed Linda and Jack Gill Chair in Music as Professor of Violin at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. In addition to his teaching responsibilities in Bloomington, he maintains a busy concert schedule appearing with orchestras and in recital and chamber music performances throughout the U.S., Asia and Europe. In 2008 he began his tenure as Principal Guest Concertmaster of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and in September 2011, he assumed his role as Concertmaster of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra.

Regarded by the press as a masterful virtuoso with an elegant, old-world sound, Mr. Kerr has appeared as soloist with major orchestras throughout the United States and Europe, working with such renowned conductors as Mariss Jansons, Riccardo Chailly, Peter Oundjian, Robert Spano, Alan Gilbert, Jaap van Zweden and David Zinman.

An active chamber musician, Mr. Kerr has collaborated with Martha Argerich, Leif Ove Andsnes, Emanuel Ax, Joshua Bell, Yefim Bronfman, Edgar Meyer, Truls Mørk, Menahem Pressler, Vadim Repin, Alisa Weilerstein, Kim Kashkashian and Maxim Vengerov in performances at festivals in Aspen, Santa Fe, Caramoor, La Jolla, Stavanger, and throughout Spain, Portugal, Turkey, Switzerland, Austria and the Netherlands. He has recently launched a collaboration with cellist Eric Kim and the Dorothy Richard Starling Foundation, showcasing the enormous wealth of talent at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. The “Starling Chamber Players,” a mixture of faculty and students will tour chamber music venues throughout the nation.

Mr. Kerr’s CD releases include the Dvorak Piano Quintet with Sarah Chang and Leif Ove Andsnes on the EMI label, music by Dutch composer Julius Röntgen on the NM Classics label, and the Shostakovich Romance on a series of discs including “Violin Adagios” and “Evening Adagios” released by Decca. A live DVD and CD recording of Strauss’ Ein Heldenleben with Mr. Kerr, the RCO and Maestro Mariss Jansons was released in 2005 on the RCO’s own label: RCOLive!

Raised in Alexandria, Virginia, Mr. Kerr began his studies at age seven with members of the National Symphony Orchestra. He went on to study with Sally Thomas at the Juilliard School, and with Aaron Rosand at the Curtis Institute of Music where he received his Bachelor of Music degree in 1992.

Nathan Olson, Violin

A native of Berkeley, California, violinist Nathan Olson began his appointment as Co-Concertmaster with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra in September 2011. He served as Adjunct Faculty at the University of North Texas College Of Music in 2013-16 and was recently appointed Adjunct Faculty at Southern Methodist University. A graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Music's prestigious Concertmaster Academy, Nathan studied with William Preucil and Paul Kantor. Currently Concertmaster of the Breckenridge Music Festival, he has participated in the Mainly Mozart Festival, the Bravo Vail Music Festival and the Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival.

An enthusiastic chamber musician, Nathan is a member of the Baumer String Quartet, whose debut recording will be coming out in the next year. The BSQ serves on faculty at the Crowden Chamber Music Workshop and the Monterey Chamber Music Workshop, and has held residencies at several institutions, including the University of North Texas, the University of South Florida and the University of South Dakota.

A winner of the Joseph and Elsie Scharff prize in violin at CIM, Nathan has performed as soloist with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, the Canton Symphony Orchestra, the Breckenridge Music Festival Orchestra, the Cleveland Pops Orchestra, CityMusic Cleveland, the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra, the Berkeley Symphony, the Oakland East Bay Symphony and the Lexington Bach Festival Orchestra.

In recent seasons, Nathan has appeared as Guest Concertmaster with the symphony orchestras of Pittsburgh, Toronto, Omaha, and Tucson, and as Principal Second Violin with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. While completing his bachelors degree at the Cleveland Institute of Music, Nathan earned minors in both Mathematics and Music Theory.

Sarah Kienle, viola

Sarah Kienle will begin as section viola with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra in September of 2019. She started her viola studies at the age of 7 in her hometown of Kalispell, Montana.  After graduating from the Walnut Hill School for the Arts, she went on to receive her Bachelor of Music from the Colburn School and Master of Music from Indiana University where she studied with Paul Coletti and Atar Arad. Sarah spent two years as a fellow with the New World Symphony before moving to Texas, where she was a freelancer, frequently performing with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and the Houston Symphony. In 2017, she began serving as the associate principal viola and later acting principal viola with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra. She spends her summers in Durango, Colorado hiking and playing at the Music in the Mountains festival.

Eunice Keem, Violin

Violinist Eunice Keem has established herself as a dynamic and engaging artist, equally compelling as both soloist and chamber musician.  A Chicago native, she attended Carnegie Mellon University for her music studies. After joining the Dallas Symphony Orchestra in September of 2011, she began her new position as Associate Concertmaster in the 2014/15 season.

As a soloist, Ms. Keem has been a featured with numerous orchestras including the National Chamber Orchestra, Keweenaw Symphony Orchestra, Eastern Connecticut Symphony Orchestra, and Evanston Symphony Orchestra. A winner of numerous competitions, she received first and top prizes at the Irving M. Klein International Competition, Schadt International Competition, Corpus Christi International Competition, Kingsville International Competition, as well as a Paganini Prize at the 7th International Violin Competition of Indianapolis, among others.

As a chamber musician, Ms. Keem was a member of the Fine Arts Trio, first place winners of the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. They also performed on Chicago WFMT'S "Dame Myra Hess Concert Series" and "Live from Studio One". Several years later, she again received first prize at the Fischoff National Competition, this time with the Orion Piano Trio. She was also a founding member of Carnegie Mellon University's Starling Quartet, with whom she toured Costa Rica, China, and the United States in a series of concerts and masterclasses,

Ms. Keem has participated in the Colorado, Lake George, and Breckenridge Music Festivals, as well as the Rencontres Musicales Internationales des Graves in Bordeaux, the Bowdoin Music Festival, and the International Music Academy in Pilsen, Czech Republic, where she also served as a faculty member.

Christopher Adkins, Cello

Christopher Adkins joined the Dallas Symphony in 1987. He previously served with the Milwaukee, New Haven and Denver symphonies. A native of Denton, Texas, Adkins holds degrees from the University of North Texas and Yale University. Adkins also studied with former Dallas Symphony Principal Cello, Lev Aronson. In addition, Adkins is a member of the Dallas String Quartet and has performed with the ensemble throughout the U.S. and Europe. He also serves as adjunct Associate Professor of music at the Meadows School of the Arts at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. Adkins is married to Dallas Symphony violinist Alexandra Adkins.

Anne-Marie McDermott, Piano

Pianist Anne-Marie McDermott is a consummate artist who balances a versatile career as a soloist and collaborator. She performs over 100 concerts a year in a combination of solo recitals, concerti and chamber music. Her repertoire choices are eclectic, spanning from Bach and Haydn to Prokofiev and Scriabin to Kernis, Hartke, Tower and Wuorinen.

With over 50 concerti in her repertoire, Ms. McDermott has performed with many leading orchestras including the New York Philharmonic, Minnesota Orchestra, Dallas Symphony, Columbus Symphony, Seattle Symphony, National Symphony, Houston Symphony, Colorado Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Moscow Virtuosi, Hong Kong Philharmonic, San Diego Symphony, New Jersey Symphony and Baltimore Symphony among others. Ms. McDermott has toured with the Australian Chamber Orchestra and the Moscow Virtuosi.

In the recent seasons, Ms. McDermott performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Buffalo Philharmonic, North Carolina Symphony, Charlotte Symphony, Huntsville Symphony, Alabama Symphony, San Diego Symphony, the Oregon Mozart Players, and the New Century Chamber Orchestra.

Recital engagements have included the 92nd Street Y, Alice Tully Hall, Town Hall, The Schubert Club, Kennedy Center, as well as universities across the country. Anne-Marie McDermott has curated and performed in a number of intense projects including: the Complete Prokofiev Piano Sonatas and Chamber Music, a Three Concert Series of Shostakovich Chamber Music, as well as a recital series of Haydn and Beethoven Piano Sonatas. Most recently, she commissioned works of Charles Wuorinen and Clarice Assad which were premiered in May 2009 at Town Hall, in conjunction with Bach’s Goldberg Variations.

As a soloist, Ms. McDermott has recorded the complete Prokofiev Piano Sonatas, Bach English Suites and Partitas (which was named Gramophone Magazine’s Editor’s Choice), and most recently, Gershwin Complete Works for Piano and Orchestra with the Dallas Symphony and Justin Brown.

In addition to her many achievements and association with Bravo! Vail, McDermott is also Artistic Director of two other festivals; The Ocean Reef Chamber Music Festival in the Florida Keys and The Avila Chamber Music Celebration in Curaçao, off the coast of Venezuela.

As a chamber music performer, Anne-Marie McDermott was named an artist member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in 1995 and performs and tours extensively with them each season. She also continues a long standing collaboration with the highly acclaimed violinist, Nadja Salerno Sonnenberg. As a duo, they have released a CD titled “Live” on the NSS label and plan to release the Complete Brahms Violin and Piano Sonatas in the future. Ms. McDermott is also a member of the renowned piano quartet, Opus One, with colleagues Ida Kavafian, Steven Tenenbom and Peter Wiley.

She continues to perform each season with her sisters, Maureen McDermott and Kerry McDermott in the McDermott Trio. Ms. McDermott has also released an all Schumann CD with violist, Paul Neubauer, as well as the Complete Chamber Music of Debussy with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.

Ms. McDermott studied at the Manhattan School of Music with Dalmo Carra, Constance Keene and John Browning. She was a winner of the Young Concert Artists auditions and was awarded an Avery Fisher Career Grant.

In addition to her duties at Bravo! Vail, Anne-Marie McDermott regularly performs at Festivals across the United States including Spoleto, Mainly Mozart, Sante Fe, La Jolla Summerfest, Mostly Mozart, Newport, Caramoor, Chamber Music Northwest, Aspen, Music from Angelfire, and the Festival Casals in Puerto Rico, among others.

Photo: Zach Mahone