Simon Lapointe was born in Quebec, Canada, in 1979. He showed interest in the violin at the age of 2, and received his first violin lesson 2 years later. He obtained his Bachelor’s of Music from the Conservatoire de Trois‐Rivières in 2000, studying with Helmut Lipsky and Joanne Pothier. He then went on to get his MM at the Peabody Conservatory of Music with soloist and now Tokyo String Quartet 1st violinist Martin Beaver.
Simon is in his fifth season as the Principal Second Violin of the Virginia Symphony Orchestra. He previously played with the Orchestre Symphonique de Québec and the West Virginia Symphony, as Assistant Principal Second Violin and Concertmaster, respectively. He was recently appointed Assistant Concertmaster of the Richmond Symphony Orchestra, and starting in 2010, will also serve as Assistant Principal Second Violin of the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra. He is Adjunct Professor of Violin at the Virginia Commonwealth University.
He was a prizewinner of many competitions in the US and Canada. He is regularly invited as a soloist and recitalist in Baltimore, Quebec and Hampton Roads, as well as at the Lanaudière Festival.
Mayu Kuroda Cipriano was born in Tokyo, Japan and began studying the violin at the age of five. At 12, she won the Special Prize in the All Japan Mainichi Competition; and at 13, played with the NHK second symphony. At the behest of Cho-Liang Lin, she came to the United States to study with Ms. Dorothy Delay at the Juilliard Pre-College. Mayu continued her undergraduate studies at Juilliard, earning a Bachelor of Music in 1998. In addition to Juilliard, she also attended the Aspen Music Festival for six consecutive summers beginning in 1991, earning a second prize in the Nakamichi concerto competition. As a result, she performed in recital at the Wheeler Opera House. Mayu performed numerous recitals with her sister Ai, a Juilliard Graduate in Piano in NY and Japan, includes the Cremona Exhibition at the Christoph Landon Gallery, Columbia University, Russian Tea Room and was featured on Tokyo Radio and Television shows. In New York, Mayu was member of the Astor Quartet, which performed throughout the city and toured South America, appearing on Colombian television. She also performs in the Ambrosia Quartet, which is based in the Hampton Roads Area and was featured in the Virginia Symphony's Salon chamber music series. Currently Mayu is in her sixth season with the Virginia Symphony, previously holding positions with the Atlanta Ballet Orchestra, and the San Antonio Symphony. In addition, she also has substituted with the New York City Ballet Orchestra and Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Currently, she resides in Colonial Heights with her husband James, and their beloved cat George.
Beverly Kane Baker, viola, began violin lessons at the age of six with Margaret Davis. While under Ms. Davis's instruction, she traveled to Baltimore to participate in the Suzuki Violin workshop and met the acclaimed Japanese teacher. After two years of study, she advanced to Elizabeth Chapman's studio. As a member of the Chapman Youth Ensemble, Ms. Baker performed at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C. and at the capital building in Richmond, Virginia. She traveled for two summers to England to participate in the Purbeck Music Festival with the noted Hungarian teacher Kato Havas. During this festival, Ms. Baker performed the Telemann Viola Concerto at the Royal College of Music in London. The following summer, she was voted "Most Outstanding Musicician" and won the concerto competition at the Eastern Music Festival in Greensboro, North Carolina. During her senior year in highschool, she attended the Juilliard School of Music's pre-college division studying viola with Christine Dethier. In 1979, she received a Bachelor of Music degree in performance from the University of Missouri-Columbia, having studied with Carolyn Kenneson. Ms. Baker performed in master classes with the Beaux Arts Trio, the Tokyo String Quartet and Lillian Fuchs. She also received numerous coachings with Wayne Crouse, former principal violist with the Houston Symphony
. In 1983, Ms. Baker joined the Virginia Symphony as a section player. In 1987, she was appointed assistant principal viola. She won the principal position in 1994 and currently holds that position with the symphony as well as Virginia Opera. The Virginia Symphony made its Carnegie Hall debut in 1997, and Ms. Baker performed with her colleagues on NBC's Today Show. She has performed with the Gateways Music Festival, a festival featuring African-American artists. She performs regularly with Norfolk Chamber Consort and Virginia Chamber Players. Ms. Baker is a featured artist in solo and chamber music performances with the Virginia Arts Festival. Many of these performances have been broadcast on NPR's Performance Today. She has also performed chamber music with the Miami String Quartet and members of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. She performed Brandenburg no.6 with Jamie Laredo and the Mozart Duo with renowned violinist Nadja-Salerno-Sonnenburg. Ms. Baker has been featured in many solo performances with the Virginia Symphony Orchestra.
Ms. Baker is featured on Bruce Hornsby's album "Harbor Lights" and her musical studies have been documented in the book "Black Women in American Orchestras" by D. Antoinette Handy.
Beverly and her husband Norman have raised three grown children Stephanie, Kelly and Jason and are enjoying being grandparents to Jordan. In her spare time, she enjoys working out and playing with her worship band.
Rebecca Gilmore, an orchestral and chamber musician, is currently Acting Assistant Principal Cello with The Virginia Symphony. Ms. Gilmore also performs with The Philadelphia Orchestra, The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and The Breckenridge Music Festival Orchestra. Previously she was Principal Cellist of The Greensboro Symphony where she made her solo debut performing Tchaikovsky's "Rococo Variations". Earlier in her career she soloed with the Charlotte Symphony and the Charlotte Repertory Orchestra, the latter with which she performed Haydn's "Cello Concerto in D Major". In May of 2010, Ms. Gilmore was broadcast live on NPR for a performance of Schubert’s Guitar Quartet with JoAnn Falletta and VSO colleagues on a Virginia Arts Festival Series. She has been a featured solo and chamber artist with the Virginia Arts Festival, The Virginia Symphony, the Norfolk Chamber Consort and on college series at Old Dominion University and Virginia Wesleyan College. Her cello career has taken her abroad to The Banff Centre for the Arts in Alberta, Canada, England, The Czech Republic, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, France, Italy and China. Within the United States she has both taught and performed with numerous music festivals including the Breckenridge Music Festival Orchestra, The Brevard Music Center, Garth Newel Chamber Music Center, The National Repertory Orchestra, The National Orchestral Institute, and the North Carolina School of the Arts' International Music Program where she soloed with orchestra throughout Europe. In Canada she and pianist/composer Gabriela Frank performed Frank's world premiere of "Rios Profundos" which was recently released on a Capstone Records label titled, "It Won't Be The Same River" with the Mallarmé Chamber Players of Durham, North Carolina.
As a chamber musician, she is cellist and founding member of Ambrosia Quartet, a professional performing chamber ensemble. The group came together in the fall of 2002 in order to perform a vast range of chamber music literature. In 2005 the quartet performed for the Feldman Chamber Music Society Series where they entranced a full house of patrons of works by Shostakovich, Brahms and Beethoven. They have been featured on the Familiar Faces Series at Virginia Wesleyan College, for the Virginia Arts Festival and for the Music in Your Life Series in Williamsburg, VA. Ambrosia Quartet has traveled throughout Hampton Roads (VA), to North Carolina and as far reaching as China to perform. More recently Ambrosia is exploring both quartet and trio repertoire in pursuits of future recordings.
Ms. Gilmore holds a Bachelor of Music degree and a Master of Music degree in Cello Performance from Indiana and Rice Universities. Her teachers include Janos Starker, Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi, Norman Fischer and Desmond Hoebig. Ms. Gilmore is currently teaching Suzuki Cello with The Academy of Music and on faculty with Virginia Wesleyan College.
Guest Artists
Lisbeth Dreier, violin, is a member of the Virginia Symphony having held per service, core, and Principal positions since 2006. During the 2009-10 season she was appointed Acting Assistant Principal Second Violin.
Originally from Portland, Oregon, Lisbeth has performed with the Oregon, New Haven, Columbia, Vancouver and Allentown Symphonies, and frequently joins the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas. Prior to her arrival in Virginia she enjoyed an active career in the New York area and toured as concertmaster with the North American production of Wonderful Town. Summer festivals include Aspen Music Festival, Casalmaggiore International Festival, The Quartet Program, Texas Music Festival, Magic Mountain Music Farm, Music Festival of the Americas at Stowe, and Waterville Valley Music Center. She has taught at the University of Portland, Oregon Episcopal School, Larchmont Music Academy in New York, and maintains a private studio. As a soloist she has appeared with orchestras in the US and abroad.
Lisbeth earned Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from Manhattan School of Music. A student of Burton Kaplan and Lucie Robert, she also studied chamber music with members of the Emerson and American String Quartets, Beaux Arts Trio, and Orpheus Chamber Orchestra.
Lisbeth has served on the VSO Orchestra Committee, Musicians' Negotiating Committee, and was recently elected to the American Federation of Musicians Local 125 Executive Board. Offstage she fancies a good read, film, design, architecture, and late night chamber music with friends.
Lisbeth performs on a 1916 Romeo Antoniazzi violin, made in Cremona, Italy.
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