Che-Yen Chen, viola: Violist Che-Yen Chen has established himself as an active recitalist, chamber musician, new music commissioner, recording artist, and educator. He is a founding member of the Formosa Quartet, recipient of first prize and the Amadeus Prize of the 10th London International String Quartet Competition. As a first prize winner of the 2003 Primrose International Viola Competition and recipient of the "President Prize" of the Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition, Chen has been described by Strad Magazine as a musician whose “tonal distinction and essential musicality produced an auspicious impression” and by San Diego Union Tribune as an artist whose "most impressive aspect of his playing was his ability to find not just the subtle emotion, but the humanity hidden in the music." Having served as principal violist of the San Diego Symphony and Mainly Mozart Festival Orchestra, Chen has appeared as guest principal violist with Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, National Arts Centre Orchestra, and Toronto Symphony. A former member of the Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society Two and participant at the Marlboro and Ravinia Music Festivals, he is currently a member of Camera Lucida and the Myriad Trio. Performing in chamber music festivals across North America and Asia, Chen appears frequently at the Kingston Chamber Music Festival, Chamber Music International, La Jolla Summerfest, Seattle Chamber Music Society, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, ****** Connection, Hong Kong Chamber Music Festival, and the National Youth Orchestra of Canada where the Formosa Quartet serves as faculty quartet-in-residence. In August 2013, with the Formosa Quartet, Chen inaugurated an annual chamber music festival in Hualien. Modeled after American summer festivals such as Ravinia, Taos, Marlboro, and Kneisel Hall, Formosa Chamber Music Festival is the product of a long-held aspiration and represents one of the Chen’s primary missions: to bring high-level chamber music training to talented young musicians, to create works inspired by ********* tradition, and to bring first-rate chamber music to audiences. Chen’s active commissioning with the Formosa Quartet has contributed significantly to the 21st century’s string quartet literature. In 2016, they premiered Lei Liang's Song Recollections; based on music indigenous to aboriginal tribes of ******, the piece is the result of a two-year commissioning project which looks ahead to a new disc of music inspired by Hungarian and ********* folk traditions. Other commissions include Shih-Hui Chen’s Returning Souls: Four Pieces on Three Formosan Amis Legends and Fantasia on the Theme of Plum Blossom, Dana Wilson's Hungarian Folk Songs, and Wei-Chieh Lin's Pasibutbut. Currently teaching at University of Southern California Thornton School of Music, Chen has previously served on the faculties of Indiana University South Bend, UC San Diego, San Diego State University, and McGill University. He has participated in educational programs such as National Symphony Orchestra Camp, Interlochen, and Mimir Festival, and has given master-classes across USA and Asia, including schools such as Taipei National University of the Arts, National University of Arts, Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, and The Juilliard School. As a laureate, Chen was invited to serve on the jury of the 2011 Primrose International Viola Competition. A native of Taipei, Chen began his viola studies with Ben Lin and went on to be a four-time winner of the National Viola Competition. He came to the U.S. in his teens to matriculate at the Curtis Institute of Music and the Juilliard School, studying with such luminaries as Michael Tree, Joseph de Pasquale, Karen Tuttle and Paul Neubauer. Take Ohnishi, harpsichord: Harpsichordist Takae Ohnishi has performed extensively as a soloist, chamber musician and continuo player. The Gramophone remarks that "Ohnishi's brilliant artistry immerses the listener in the creative and emotional narratives Bach unfolds with incomparable mastery." Classics Today described her performance as "masterful," and praises its "vitality and impressively differentiated articulation." Ms. Ohnishi has been the principal harpsichordist at Atlantic Symphony Orchestra, as well as a soloist with the Berlin Philharmonic Scharoun Ensemble, Gardner Chamber Orchestra and Camera Lucida, among others. She also performs as a continuo player with Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra and Bach Collegium San Diego. Ms. Ohnishi has performed at festivals including the Boston Early Music Festival, the Festival Internacional Cervantino in Mexico, and took part in the complete Brandenburg Concertos at the Gardner Museum directed by Paula Robison. As a performer of contemporary music, she appeared as a guest artist at Yellow Barn, and the Summer Institute for Contemporary Piano Performance held at the New England Conservatory of Music. She also performed with the Harvard Group for New Music and the Callithumpian Consort. Ms. Ohnishi is a prizewinner at the International Early Music Harpsichord Competition in Japan. Her solo disc “Goldberg Variations” was released on Bridge Records to critical acclaim. Her CDs “A Harpsichord Recital” and “Goldberg Variations” were both selected as International Special Prized CDs by the Japanese leading music magazine Record Gei-jyu-tsu. Her recording of contemporary music is released on Mode and New World Records. As a lecturer, Ms. Ohnishi has been invited to lecture and give master classes in Toho Gakuen School of Music in Tokyo, Yantai, China, as well as the Early Music Festival in Fukuoka, Japan. She participated in a lecture series entitled "Historical Performance Practice," recorded and published by Tokyo's Muramatsu Gakki company. Her recital tour in Japan was broadcast nationally on NHK TV program "Classic Ku-ra-bu." Ms. Ohnishi graduated from Toho Gakuen School of Music, and holds a Master of Music degree from the New England Conservatory of Music and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Stony Brook University. Her teachers include Arthur Haas, Peter Sykes, John Gibbons and Chiyoko Arita. Since 2007, Ms. Ohnishi has been Lecturer of Harpsichord and Baroque Chamber Music at the University of California, San Diego; she also taught at the University of San Diego. As Music Director of the “Music at Green” concert series, she brought live performance to the patients at the Scripps Hospital, San Diego. In 2011-12, Ms. Ohnishi served as Visiting Artist at the American Academy in Rome.