Before joining the New York Philharmonic in 1997, cellist Eric Bartlett had already established himself as an artist of formidable talent and artistic integrity. He has appeared frequently as a member soloist with the world famous Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and is featured on several of their Deutsche Grammophon recordings. In addition to Orpheus, his solo appearances include the Cabrillo Festival, the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, the Anchorage Symphony, the Hartford Chamber Orchestra, the Aspen and Juilliard Orchestras, and the New York Philharmonic’s “Horizons ‘84” series. Mr. Bartlett is the recipient of a Solo Recitalist’s Award from the National Endowment for the Arts and a special Performance Award as a finalist of the 1987 New England Conservatory/Piatigorsky Award. Recent solo appearances include the Cabrillo Music Festival, and the Brattleboro Music Center in Vermont.
Recognized as a leading performer of contemporary music, Mr. Bartlett has participated in more than 90 premieres with ensembles such as Speculum Musicae, the New York New Music Ensemble, the Group for Contemporary Music, and the Columbia String Quartet, and he has commissioned new works for the cello from American composers. During the summer of 2000, Mr. Bartlett was invited by Marin Alsop to be a featured soloist in the North American premiere of James McMillan’s
Triduum, the middle third of which is a cello concerto. He has served as either Artist-President or Vice-President of Speculum Musicae since 1990. Mr. Bartlett has performed at the Mostly Mozart, Marlboro, Aspen, Adirondack, Grand Teton, and Waterloo music festivals, and has been a regular participant at the Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival since 1996. Mr. Bartlett served as the principal cellist of the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra and co-principal of Orpheus from 1984 until 1997.
A native of Marlboro, Vermont, Mr. Bartlett’s early teachers included George Finckel and Blanche Honegger Moyse. From 1973 to 1975 he was a student of Leopold Teraspulsky at the University of Massachusetts. He was awarded full scholarships to both the Curtis Institute of Music and The Juilliard School and received both his Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from Juilliard, where he was a student of Leonard Rose and Channing Robbins.
Mr. Bartlett recorded the cello music of Larry Bell for North-South Records on a CD entitled
River of Ponds (which includes a collaboration with narrator Robert J. Lurtsema) and has also recorded for CRI, Opus One, Bridge, Delos, and Deutsche Grammophon. He has served on the faculty of the University of Massachusetts and is currently an adjunct professor at The Juilliard School and the Manhattan School of Music. He lives in Bergen County, New Jersey, with his wife, Orpheus violist Sarah Clarke, and their son, Cory.
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Cynthia Phelps is the Philharmonic’s Principal Viola (The Mr. and Mrs. Frederick P. Rose Chair). Her solo appearances with the Orchestra have included performances on the 2006 Tour of Italy, sponsored by Generali, and the 1999 premiere of Sofia Gubaidulina’s Two Paths, which the Orchestra commissioned for her and Philharmonic Associate Principal Viola Rebecca Young. Other solo engagements have included the Minnesota Orchestra, San Diego Symphony, Hong Kong Philharmonic, and Orquesta Sinfónica de Bilbao. Ms. Phelps performs with The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Boston Chamber Music Society, and Bargemusic. She has toured internationally with the Zukerman and Friends Ensemble; appeared with The Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio and the Guarneri, American, Brentano, and Prague string quartets; and has given recitals in the music capitals of Europe and the U.S. Her honors include the Pro Musicis International Award and first prize in the Lionel Tertis International Viola and Washington International String competitions. Her most recent album, for flute, viola, and harp, on Telarc, was nominated for a Grammy Award.She has released a solo CD on Cala Records. Ms. Phelps has performed on PBS’s Live From Lincoln Center, NPR, Radio France, and RAI in Italy.
Violist Rebecca Young joined the Philharmonic in 1986 as its youngest member and in 1991 was named the Orchestra’s Associate Principal Viola. After serving as principal of the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1992–93, she resumed her Philharmonic Associate Principal position in 1994. She has performed chamber music with groups such as the Boston Chamber Music Society, Boston Symphony Chamber Players, and Chamber
Music Society of Lincoln Center, and has recorded Schubert’s Trout Quintet with Yo-Yo Ma, Emanuel Ax, Pamela Frank, and Edgar Meyer (on Sony Classical). In 1999 Ms. Young performed the world premiere of Sofia Gubaidulina’s Two Paths, a work
commissioned by the Philharmonic and underwritten by then-Music Director Kurt Masur’s wife, Tomoko, for Ms. Young and Philharmonic Principal Viola Cynthia Phelps. The two reprised the work with the Philharmonic on several of the Orchestra’s tours. She made her most recent Philharmonic solo appearances in December 2008. Ms. Young is a graduate of The Juilliard School.
Lisa Kim joined the Philharmonic violin section in 1994 and was named Associate Principal, Second Violin Group (In Memory of Laura Mitchell), in 2003. She teaches in South Korea and the United States, and has performed with the Seoul National Philharmonic Orchestra and the SooWon, North Carolina, Winston-Salem, and Durham symphony orchestras. Ms. Kim’s chamber music activities have included the Philharmonic Ensembles series, Hofstra Chamber Ensemble series, Mostly Chamber Festival, Lyric Chamber Music Society, and Brooklyn’s Bargemusic; collaborations with the late Lukas Foss, Lynn Harrell, Ani Kavafian, Yo-Yo Ma, and Garrick Ohlsson; European performances under the International Music Program; and Jordan’s Jurash Festival at the invitation of King Hussein. Lisa Kim began violin studies at age seven, attended the North Carolina School of the Arts, and earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from The Juilliard School. She has won prizes in the Arts Recognition and Talent Search, Bryan Young Artists String Competition, Winston-Salem Young Talent Search, and Durham Symphony Young Artists Competition. She joined the faculty of the Manhattan School of Music in 1999.
Violinist Kuan-Cheng Lu joined the New York Philharmonic at the beginning of the 2004-05 season. He received his bachelor's in music degree from Oberlin College, and his master's in music from the Manhattan School of Music. A native of Taiwan, Mr. Lu has received numerous awards and scholarships that include the top prize in the Taiwan National Violin Competition, first prize in the ASTA string competition, the Raphael Bronstein Award, and the Taiwan Chi-Mei Corporation’s Outstanding Young Artist award. He has studied with New York Philharmonic Concertmaster Glenn Dicterow and Philharmonic violinists Yoko Takebe and Lisa Kim. Other teachers have included Roland and Almita Vamos, Julia Bushkova, as well as his father, Chung Chih Lu.
At the conclusion of the 1997-98 season, New York Philharmonic Principal Clarinet Stanley Drucker celebrated 50 years as a member of the Orchestra. In honor of this milestone anniversary, and in recognition of his highly respected and widely acknowledged musical excellence and dedication, he was named Musical America’s 1998 Instrumentalist of the Year. He has made approximately 150 solo appearances with the Philharmonic since joining it at age 19.
A former Naumburg Scholarship winner and graduate of The Juilliard School, Irene Breslaw joined the viola section of the New York Philharmonic in August 1976. She was named Assistant Principal Viola in 1989. Prior to joining the Orchestra, Ms. Breslaw was a member of both the St. Louis Symphony Ochestra and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. In May 2001 Ms. Breslaw celebrated 25 years as a member of the New York Philharmonic.
Peter Kenote was born in Seattle, Washington. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Washington, and his master’s and doctorate degrees in music performances from The Juilliard School. Since 1983, he has been a member of the New York Philharmonic viola section. His interests include spending time with family, hiking, running, and Bible study.
Violinist Michelle Kim has been Assistant Concertmaster (The William Petschek Family Chair) of the New York Philharmonic since 2001. She has performed as soloist with orchestras such as the New York Philharmonic, New Jersey Philharmonic, Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra, and Pacific Symphony. An active chamber musician, Ms. Kim has collaborated with violinists Cho-Liang Lin, Christian Tetzlaff, and Pinchas Zukerman; cellists Mstislav Rostropovich, Lynn Harrell, and Gary Hoffman; and pianists Lang Lang and Yefim Bronfman. She has performed at the Santa Fe Chamber Music, La Jolla Chamber Music, Strings in the Mountain, and Bravo! Vail Valley Music festivals. She has also served as the first violinist of the Rossetti String Quartet, and was a Sterne Virtuoso Artist at Skidmore College in 2007–08. A former Presidential Scholar, Ms. Kim attended the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music as a Starling Foundation scholarship recipient. She has been a member of the faculty at the USC Thornton School of Music; Colburn School of Performing Arts; and University of California, Santa Barbara. Michelle Kim currently teaches at the Mannes College of Music.
Carol Webb joined the New York Philharmonic in 1977. She had just graduated from Juilliard three years earlier, and it was her first orchestral audition. At Juilliard she studied violin with Ivan Galamian and Margaret Pardee. Ms. Webb, a Louisville, Kentucky, native, began music studies on the piano at age five but so desired the violin that she switched to it exclusively at eight, studying with Ruth French. It was only one year later that she made her first solo appearance with the Louisville Youth Orchestra, the orchestra of which she would later become concertmistress. During the summers she attended Galamian’s Meadowmount School of Music, and at age 14, she came to New York to permanently pursue her studies.
Lisa GiHae Kim joined the New York Philharmonic’s violin section in February, 2003. As a soloist, Ms. Kim has appeared with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra of St. John’s Smith Square (under the direction of Lord Yehudi Menuhin), Santa Cruz Symphony Orchestra, San Angelo Symphony, Flint Symphony Orchestra, and other ensembles. 
Yulia Ziskel joined the New York Philharmonic in September 2001, and is active as a solo, chamber, and orchestral musician in the United States and around the world. She made her solo recital debut at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in March 2002, and has been praised by The Strad magazine for “…the sweetness of her sound.”
Robert Rinehart, who joined the New York Philharmonic’s viola section in 1992, is a familiar figure on the New York chamber-music scene. He has appeared at the Spoleto, Vancouver Chamber Music, and Santa Fe Chamber Music festivals, and with Chamber Music Northwest and The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. A founding member of the Ridge String Quartet, Mr. Rinehart has performed in every major music center in the United States, as well as in Canada, Australia, Japan, and in Europe. He has collaborated with Benny Goodman, Rudolf Firkusny, and the Guarneri String Quartet, among others, and his chamber music recordings have received a Grammy Award, two Grammy nominations, and the Diapason d’Or. A native of San Francisco, Mr. Rinehart studied violin at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music with Isadore Tinkleman, and at The Curtis Institute of Music with Jaime Laredo, David Cerone, and Ivan Galamian. He is on the faculty of the Manhattan School of Music.
Violist Vivek Kamath joined the New York Philharmonic in January 1998. Mr. Kamath earned his bachelor's degree at the Cleveland Institute of Music, studying with Donald Weilerstein. He has appeared as soloist with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and the Metamorphosen Chamber Orchestra. An avid chamber musician, he has performed at the Marlboro, Ravinia, Sarasota, Blossom, and Bowdoin festivals. In 1997 Mr. Kamath was a prize-winner in the Washington International String Competition and in the Irving Klein International String Competition. In his spare time he enjoys playing tennis, studying wildlife, and dining out.
Eileen Moon was named Associate Principal Cello (The Mr. and Mrs. Paul B. Guenther Chair) of the New York Philharmonic in September 2007. Prior to joining the Orchestra in 1998 she had performed with the San Francisco Symphony and Los Angeles Philharmonic. A native of California, she began her studies with Irene Sharp at the San Francisco Conservatory; she subsequently received a bachelor of music degree from The Juilliard School and a performance diploma from the Hochshule für Musik in Vienna, Austria. Ms. Moon won fourth prize at the Tchaikovsky International Cello Competition in Moscow in 1994 and second prize at the Geneva International Cello Competition in 1991, which resulted in performances with l’Ensemble Instrumental de Grenoble as well as a radio recording with l’Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana in Lugano, Switzerland. Ms. Moon has performed chamber music in numerous venues in New York City and appears frequently with the New York Philharmonic Ensembles.
Associate Principal Oboe Sherry Sylar joined the New York Philharmonic in 1984. Previously she performed with the Louisville Orchestra and taught at the University of Evansville in Indiana. Her most recent solo performance with the Philharmonic was in J.S. Bach’s Concerto for Oboe and Violin in March 2005. In 2001 the Boston Symphony Orchestra invited her to perform solo principal oboe in tour performances led by Bernard Haitink, which concluded with a concert at Carnegie Hall, and in 2003 she substituted for an ailing principal oboist for the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France’s Carnegie Hall debut conducted by Myung-Whun Chung. She was also invited to China as a judge in the Beijing National Orchestra’s first-ever auditions. Ms. Sylar earned her bachelor’s degree in music at Indiana University and her master’s degree from Northwestern University. She gives master classes internationally, has participated in the Aspen and Grand Teton Music Festivals, and performs chamber music regularly, including at Merkin Concert Hall and the 92nd Street Y. She is on the faculty of the Mannes College of Music.
Judith LeClair joined the Philharmonic as Principal Bassoon (The Pels Family Chair) in 1981, at the age of 23, and has since made more than 50 solo appearances with the Orchestra. Previously she was principal bassoon with the San Diego Symphony and San Diego Opera. She has participated in the Music from Angel Fire, Bridgehampton, Bay Chamber, and Aspen music festivals, and she performs as a member of the Philharmonic Woodwind Quintet of New York. Ms. LeClair has given solo recitals and master classes at the Eastman School of Music, Oberlin College, University of Colorado at Boulder, and Northwestern, Michigan, and Ohio universities. Every August she gives a solo recital and weeklong master class at the Hidden Valley Music Seminar in Carmel Valley, California. In April 1995 she premiered The Five Sacred Trees, a concerto written for her by John Williams and commissioned by the Philharmonic as part of its 150th Anniversary celebration. Her recording of the piece with the London Symphony Orchestra and her solo New York Legends CD for Cala Records were released in 1997. Ms LeClair is on the faculty of The Juilliard School.
New York Philharmonic pianist Jonathan Feldman, recognized by colleagues and critics alike as an extremely accomplished ensemble player and accompanist, has performed on four continents with some of the world’s greatest instrumentalists. Among these have been the legendary Nathan Milstein, Itzhak Perlman, James Galway, Joshua Bell, Kyung Wha Chung, Zara Nelsova, and Sarah Chang. Mr. Feldman also enjoys an active solo career performing throughout the United States and Europe. As a chamber musician, he appears in concert regularly as a member of the Zephyr Trio. Mr. Feldman has also participated in many summer festivals, notably Tanglewood, Bridgehampton Music Festival, Music from Angel Fire in New Mexico, the Aspen Music Festival, and the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, California, where he is chairman of the Collaborative Piano Department.
