FRIGYES HIDAS COMPOSER: Frigyes Hidas was born in Budapest in 1928. He studied composition at the Ferenc Liszt Academy of Music with János Visky. For fifteen years he was music director of the National Theatre (1951-1966) and between 1974 and 1979 he performed the same function at the municipal Operetta Theatre. Since leaving that institution, he has been working as a free-lance composer. Hidas is a highly prolific composer who firmly believes in melodies and harmonies in the traditional sense of those terms and always writes in an easily accessible idiom. His oeuvre covers the entire gamut of genres: operas, ballets, concertos, orchestral, chamber, solo and choral music. Hidas has been repeatedly commissioned by ballet companies, the State Opera House, radio stations, universities and various musical societies. LUTE HOEKSTRA CONDUCTOR: After several successful concerts as guest conductor, Lute Hoekstra became the principal conductor of the Delphi Ensemble in September 2000. Lute Hoekstra studied clarinet and conducting at the Schools of Music of Enschede, Tilburg and Amsterdam. He obtained the degree of performing musician and chamber music with the highest rank. For many years he was a guest performer at the Radio Chamber Orchestra and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. He performs frequently as a soloist and chamber musician in several ensembles including the Joseph Triebensee Ensemble and the Strawinsky Trio and is concertmaster with the orchestra of the Royal Dutch Airforce. Lute Hoekstra conducts several orchestras and ensembles and is frequently guest conductor of the orchestra of the Royal Dutch Airforce. PAULINE OOSTENRIJK OBOE: The Dutch oboist Pauline Oostenrijk became the first oboist to win the prestigious Netherlands Music Prize, the highest state award for classical music. After her first lessons with Huib Nieuwenhuizen she studied with Koen van Slogteren and Jan Spronk at the Stedelijk Conservatorium Zwolle and the Amsterdam Sweelinck Conservatorium, and attended masterclasses with Han de Vries, Thomas Indermühle, Alex Klein and Omar Zoboli. As a soloist and chamber musician Pauline Oostenrijk performed in the U.S. (debut at Carnegie Hall in 1992), in most European countries and in Taiwan. She appeared as a soloist with the Residentie Orchestra of The Hague, the Dutch Radio Orchestras, the New Sinfonietta of Amsterdam, I Fiamminghi, the Salzburger Kammerorchester and the Orchestre d’Auvergne. She gives chamber music concerts with pianist Ivo Janssen, harpist Manja Smits, the Giotto Ensemble, the Orlando Festival Ensemble and with her sister, soprano Nienke Oostenrijk. Before winning the Netherlands Music Prize Pauline Oostenrijk had received a number of national and international awards, including the first prize in the national finale of the Eurovision-competition “Young Musician of the Year"in 1986, in 1988 the first prize in the Tromp Oboe Competition, in 1989 the Silver Award of the Concertgebouw, in 1991 the first prize in the Fernand Gillet Oboe Competition in Baltimore, in 1993 the Philip Morris Classical Music Award and in 1998 the second prize in the International Chamber music Competition in Rome, with harpist Manja Smits. Pauline Oostenrijk is currently principal oboist in the Residentie Orchestra of The Hague and teaches at the Conservatory of Amsterdam and of The Hague. Composers such as Louis Andriessen, Jeff Hamburg, Gijs van Dijk, Arne Werkman and Frigyes Hidas wrote compositions for her. DORIAN COOKE BASSOON: Dorian Cooke, born in The Hague the Netherlands, studied bassoon at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague, with Johan Steinmann. In 1996 she won the first prize of the National Young Talent Competition in the Netherlands. She attended masterclasses with Brian Pollard in Amsterdam and with Klaus Thunemann at the Mozarteum in Salzburg. She continued her education in Berlin at the Hochschule fur Musik 'Hanns Eisler' with Klaus Thunemann and Frank Forst. From 1997 until 1998 she was principal bassoonist of the 'Netherlands Symphony Orchestra' in Enschede. The following two years she was principal bassoonist of the 'Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra' (chief conductor Valery Gergiev), where she also performed as a soloist. Currently Dorian Cooke is principal bassoonist of the 'Residence Orchestra' of The Hague.(chief conductor Jaap van Zweden). Here she recently performed as a soloist in ‘Ad Ora Incerta’ written by Simon Bainbridge. Dorian Cooke is also a member of the 'Netherlands Wind Ensemble' of Amsterdam. She has given masterclasses in Spain (Barcelona), in the USA (San Luis Obispo)and in the Netherlands at the “Orlando Festival” At the Wasbe Conference 1999 (San Luis Obispo, California, USA) she performed the worldpremiere of 'Concerto for Bassoon' especially dedicated to her by the Hungarian composer Frigyes Hidas. Composers such as Stephen Melillo (USA), Theodor Burkali (Hungary), Harrie Janssen (The Netherlands) and Frigyes Hidas (Hungary) wrote compositions for her. JUDITH CHAPMAN CELLO: Judith Chapman was born in Great Britain. During her studies with Florence Hooton at the Royal Academy of Music in London she was awarded various prizes for both solo and chamber music performances. A scholarship from The Countess of Munster Musical Trust enabled her to further her studies first at the University of Cincinnati (U.S.A.) with Zara Nelsova and later at The School of Fine Arts, Banff (Canada) where she participated in master classes with Janos Starker and Zara Nelsova. During her studies Judith was privileged to perform chamber music with pianist Menahem Pressler and violist Donald McInnes. For four years Judith was a member of the European Community Youth Orchestra, which took her on tours throughout Europe and Central America. Judith Chapman currently holds the position of principal cellist in the The Netherlands Symphony Orchestra, based in Enschede, an orchestra with which she has appeared several times as a soloist. Since 1982 Judith has performed chamber music in Europe and North America including a tour of Canada with the Bourgeau Ensemble. As a founding member of the Valerius Ensemble she continues to enjoy performing chamber music in The Netherlands and abroad and has participated in several CD recordings. Judith plays on a Lorenzo Ventapaneï cello kindly lent to her by Agfra Holding BV. LYDIA FORBES VIOLIN: Born in Boston, U.S.A., Lydia studied privately with Marylou Speaker. A recipient of the Weckstrom Prize from Yale University, Lydia also studied with Dorothy Delay and Masuko Ushioda at the New England Conservatory, where she graduated with honors, and with Joyce Robbins at SUNY Stony Brook. She has participated in the Tanglewood, Aspen, and Sandpoint music festivals in the U.S.; in Canada she was an Artist-in- Residence at the Banff Center for the Arts for a season. On a Beebe Fund Grant Lydia studied with Vera Beths in Amsterdam where she also began performing with ensembles such as the Schönberg Ensemble, the Nieuw Ensemble, the Netherlands Wind Ensemble, Ensemble Wendingen, and the Nieuw Sinfonietta Amsterdam. Lydia has performed as soloist with the Youth Chamber Orchestra of the New England Conservatory, The Yale Symphony, the Banff Festival Orchestra, the Northwest Sinfonietta in the U.S., and the Prague Radio Orchestra. In the Netherlands, Lydia was the first recipient of the Tera de Marez Oyens Prize for a program of works written for violin and percussion, performed in concert with New York percussionist Danny Tunick. Lydia has recorded solo contemporary works for Master Musicians Collective and Vienna Modern Masters and served as concertmaster of the Northwest Sinfonietta; presently she is a member of the Zephyr String Quartet. Devoted to new music, Zephyr has recorded music of Willem Jeths for the CNM label in the Netherlands, performed and recorded for television and radio and appeared in various festivals including the Gaudeamus Festival and The European Music Fest in Munster, Germany, and in a quartet series in the Netherlands. Zephyr has recently received funding for a seasonal series of programs that take place in the Felix Meritis in Amsterdam.