Born and raised in Walla Walla, Jim Bock has been a local radio broadcaster for 30 years. An alumnus of Walla Walla University and San Diego State University he and his wife, Ester, remain involved in many local activities and events.

Violinist and violist Timothy Christie enjoys a multifaceted career as performer, teacher, public speaker and recording artist. He is the Founder and Artistic Director of the Walla Walla Chamber Music Festival (WWCMF), a nonprofit organization in southeastern Washington presenting more than 40 public chamber music events annually.

Russian-born pianist Oxana Ejokina appears frequently as guest recitalist and chamber musician in concert series across the United States and abroad. She has soloed with the Seattle Symphony, St. Petersburg Chamber Philharmonic, and Tacoma Symphony, and performed in Washington DC, Seattle, Olympia, San Francisco, and Turkey.

Finnish-born cellist Katri Ervamaa, DMA, is a versatile performer, who specializes in chamber music, new music and creative improvisation. She has performed and given master classes throughout North America, Europe and Taiwan.

Originally from Hamilton, New Zealand, Chris Gendall studied composition at Victoria University of Wellington before completing a doctoral degree at Cornell University.

Naumburg-Award-winning violinist Andrew Jennings has achieved international acclaim as both a performer and a teacher.

As a classical recording engineer and producer, Jamey Lamar has worked with leading ensembles, soloists, and festivals across the country.

Sponsored by Edward & Karleen Heintzberger

Norbert Lewandowski was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and began cello studies at the age of 13. He holds a Master's degree in performance and literature from the Eastman School of Music and currently resides in Charleston, South Carolina, where he is the principal cellist of the Charleston Symphony Orchestra.

Violinist Christina McGann has been a featured performer as soloist, recitalist and chamber musician at the Kennedy Center, the Tel Aviv Performing Arts Center, New York City’s Merkin Hall, Symphony Space, and Bargemusic, and at various venues throughout the US, Korea, El Salvador, and Europe.

Praised for his “sweet, luxurious” sound (Fanfare), and the “thoughtfulness and seriousness” (Nashville Scene) of his interpretations, violinist Stephen Miahky serves as the Joseph Joachim Professor of Violin and First Violin of the Blair String Quartet at Vanderbilt University.

Sponsored by Albert Marshall

Violinist/violist Philip Payton is a member of the American Symphony, American Modern Ensemble, Furiant Trio, and Vital String Quartet. He also performs in Alarm Will Sound, American Ballet Theater, Colour of Music, Harlem Chamber Players, New Jersey Symphony, Nu Deco Ensemble, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Santa Fe Opera, Sarasota Orchestra, and several others.

Jennifer Caine Provine, violinist, was a first prize winner of the Yamaha Music Foundation of Europe Competition and recipient of several awards and grants including the Royal College of Music’s Isolde Menges Prize for solo Bach, Oxford University's Polonsky Foundation Grant and Joan Conway Scholarship in Performance, Harvard University's John Knowles Paine Traveling Fellowship, and the Frank Huntington Beebe Grant for Musicians.

A native of southern California and dual citizen of France and the United States, Erik Rynearson has enjoyed performing across the Americas and Europe.

As one of America’s leading concert saxophonists, John Sampen is particularly recognized as a distinguished artist in contemporary literature. He has commissioned over one hundred new works, including compositions by Adler, Babbitt, Bolcom, Cage, Rzewski and Rands and has premiered saxophone versions of music by Lutosławski, Stockhausen and Tower.

Maria Sampen, Professor of Violin at University of Puget Sound, enjoys a vibrant career as concerto soloist, recitalist, chamber musician, and teacher. Equally at home with repertoire ranging from classical to avant-garde to popular styles, Dr. Sampen has delighted audiences with her eclectic programs, her passionate performance style, and her highly expressive playing.

Sponsored by Elizabeth Carr

Kevin Schempf is Associate Professor of Clarinet at Bowling Green State University and is active as a soloist, chamber and symphony musician. After graduating from the Interlochen Arts Academy and the Eastman School of Music, he performed with the United States Coast Guard Band and toured with them throughout the United States and to St. Petersburg, Russia. A frequent soloist with the Band, he was featured on NPR broadcasts and on their 75th Anniversary CD recording.

The music of composer Marilyn Shrude is characterized by its warmth and lyricism, rich timbre, multi-layered constructions, and complex blend of tonality and atonality. The result is a bright, shimmering and delicately wrought sound world that is at once both powerful and fragile. Her concentration on color and the natural resonance of spaces, as well as her strong background in Pre-Vatican II liturgical music, give the music its linear, spiritual, and quasi-improvisational qualities.

British-born cellist Sally Singer Tuttle, noted by The Strad Magazine for her “transforming sweep of gossamer beauty,” has performed as a soloist with the Pleven Philharmonic, Bulgaria, the Stony Brook Symphony Orchestra, New York, the Danbury Symphony, Connecticut, the Washington-Idaho Symphony Orchestra, Wenatchee Valley Symphony Orchestra, Walla Walla Symphony Orchestra and the St. Petersburg Chamber Philharmonic, Russia, amongst others.

Committed to both contemporary and standard repertoire, Cristina Valdes is known for presenting innovative concerts with repertoire ranging from Bach to Xenakis. She has performed across four continents and in a multitude of venues including Lincoln Center, Carnegie Recital Hall, and the Kennedy Center.

Hailed by Gramophone magazine for its "warmly considered playing" and "shadings of exquisite sheen and vibrancy," the Volta Piano Trio, formerly known as the Icicle Creek Piano Trio, has established itself as one of the Pacific Northwest's premier chamber ensembles. The members of the Volta Piano Trio originate from the United States, United Kingdom, and Russia. Together or as individuals, Jennifer Caine Provine, Sally Singer, and Oxana Ejokina have performed in venues such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Alice Tully Hall, the Phillips Collection, and the Royal Albert Hall, and have toured in Austria, Germany, France, Italy, and the U.K.