Mary Rowell,  Violin

Mary Rowell is equally at home in a grunge rock club or concert hall. She has performed worldwide at venues including Giants Stadium (with Sheryl Crow), Roseland (with Madonna), the Kampnagel (Hamburg), Library of Congress (DC), Queen Elizabeth Hall (London), Walker Art Center (Minneapolis), Mark Taper Forum (LA), Théâtre du Chatelet (Paris) and has been a featured soloist at Lincoln Center (NY) and at the Cabrillo Festival (CA). She is a frequent soloist with the New York City Ballet where she captivates the dance world with her electric violin playing Richard Einhorn's Maxwell's Demon, choreographed by Ulysses Dove. She is the violinist of the Tango Project. Last season's highlights included solo performances and recording with the Dogs of Desire, and with Ethel (www.ethelcentral.com), of which she is a founder, a three-night run at the Kitchen (NY), plus performances in Berlin, the Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society and a three-concert series at Columbia University presenting works of Julia Wolfe and John Zorn. Mary is currently concertmaster of the Palm Beach Pops and the Radio City Music Hall Orchestras.

Katherine Winterstein,  Violin

Violinist Katherine Winterstein holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music, where she studied with Charles Castleman, and completed a Master of Music degree from Boston University's School for the Arts, where she studied with Peter Zazofsky. She has collaborated in chamber music settings with Andres Diaz, Ida Kavafian, Ann-Marie McDermott, Steven Tenenbom, and Peter Zazofsky. In addition, she has often performed in series such as Washington DC's Embassy Series, Boston's Ashmont Hill Chamber Music Series, the Staunton Music Festival, the McIntire Chamber Music Series at the University of Virginia, and the Art of Music Chamber Players in Boston. She has appeared as soloist with several orchestras including the Charlottesville Symphony Orchestra and the Vermont Symphony. Ms. Winterstein is concertmaster of the Vermont Symphony, a member of the music performance faculty at Middlebury College in Vermont, and an active freelance musician in the Boston area.

Marcantonio Barone,  Piano

Marcantonio Barone has performed as soloist with major orchestras on four continents and has given solo recitals at renowned concert halls in New York, London, St. Petersburg, Moscow and other North American and European cities. He performs regularly at the Delaware Chamber Music Festival and with the Lenape Chamber Ensemble, 1807 and Friends, and the Craftsbury Chamber Players. He also appears frequently as a guest artist at the Philadelphia Orchestra Chamber Music Concerts, and with the Wister Quartet. Mr. Barone serves as head of the piano department and assistant director of the Bryn Mawr Conservatory of Music and teaches piano and chamber music at Swarthmore College. Prior to his graduate studies with Leon Fleisher at The Peabody Conservatory of Music, where he was awarded the Artist Diploma in 1985, Marcantonio Barone studied with Eleanor Sokoloff at The Curtis Institute of Music. Among his other distinguished teachers were Harriet Elsom Rothstein, Taylor Redden, Susan Starr, and Leonard Shure.

Kenji Bunch,  Viola

A native of Portland, Oregon, Kenji Bunch enjoys an active career as a performer, composer and teacher. As a violist, he frequently performs in solo, chamber, orchestral and experimental settings throughout the New York area and well beyond. He was a founding member of the Flux Quartet, and continues to support new music as a member of The Nurse Kaya String Quartet, new music group Continuum and the performing composer group Ne(x)tworks. He also plays fiddle in the New York-based bluegrass band Citigrass. As a composer, his works are regularly performed and broadcast worldwide and have been recorded on the EMI, Helicon, PonyCanyon, RCA and Cristal labels. He has served as composer-in-residence for the Mobile Symphony, Young Concert Artists, Inc. and Music at Maple Mount. Kenji studied viola with Toby Appel and composition with Robert Beaser at the Juilliard School, where he now teaches both these subjects in the school's Pre-College division.

Frances Rowell,  Cello

A versatile and enterprising cellist dedicated to musical outreach, Frances Rowell received Bachelor's and Master's degrees from the Juilliard School. She taught cello at Muhlenberg College for twelve years and is currently on the adjunct faculty of New Jersey City State University and William Paterson University. She holds a United States Patent for a portable endpin resonating platform for the cello. In 1992 the city of Allentown, PA bestowed on Ms. Rowell its Arts Ovation Award for outstanding achievement in the performing arts. She has premiered several cello works written for her, including Gwyneth Walker's North Country Concerto with the Pennsylvania Sinfonia Orchestra in 1995 and Douglas Oven's Concerto for Cello with the Allentown Symphony Orchestra in 1996. Ms. Rowell has been a member of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra since 1995. As a member of the Craftsbury Chamber Players she performs chamber music each summer in her home state of Vermont. Ms. Rowell is a past Coordinator of the NJSO's REACH Program (Resources for Education and Community Harmony). She is currently on the roster of Young Audiences of New Jersey in a string quartet program. She also serves Young Audiences as a teaching artist working with young soloists from the radio program From the Top in presentations in public schools.

Many thanks go to the owners of the instruments used to record the quintet:  Willie Docto who kindly loaned Aunt Lulabelle, played by Katherine Winterstein; and Sallie Grossman who was kind enough to loan Mother Teresa, played by Mary Rowell.  Thurmond owns the Thurmond viola and plays the Ellen Frances cello.