Yibin Li

Yibin Li was born in a small city in China near the Gobi Desert called Jiuquan and began playing the violin under the guidance of her father at the age of six. Just six years later, she left home to study at the Shanghai Conservatory, where she remained through college. Upon her graduation, she was appointed to the violin faculty where she taught for six years as a young member of the tenured faculty. At 26, she felt the need to continue her studies in New York at Juilliard and Mannes where she earned 2 additional graduate degrees. Her teachers have included Lewis Kaplan, Seymour Lipkin, Earl Carlyss, Peiwen Yuan and Xiaolong Liu.

Ms. Li has performed as a soloist with major orchestras in China and the USA including the Beijing National Symphony Orchestra, the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, Taipei Symphony, the Gaoxiong Symphony Orchestra, and the San Diego and Syracuse Symphonies. Her New York recital debut at Weill Recital Hall took place in 2001, and she performed solo recitals, in various chamber music ensembles, and as first violinist of the Iris Quartet at venues throughout the world including at Alice Tully, Carnegie and Merkin Halls and in more than 20 cities in China, France, Italy and the USA.

Ms. Li performs and teaches regularly at summer music festivals including the Bowdoin International Music Festival and Bach Virtuoso Festival, ME., the LaSalle Music Festival, France, Sesto Rocchi Chamber Music Festival, Italy and the Lake Lugano Chamber Music Festival, Switzerland.

Yibin Li is currently on the faculties of the Mannes School of Music, Juilliard’s Pre-college Division and as visiting professor in China at the Xian Conservatory and Beijing Central University for Normal Studies.

Philippe Muller

Born in Alsace, Philippe Muller was raised in both the French and German musical traditions that characterize that province. His early experiences opened his mind to varying cultures and lead him to a multi-faceted career. He performs and has recorded a wide range of repertoire, from the Bach Suites, through the music of living composers.

In 1970, Mr. Muller founded a Piano Trio with pianist Jacques Rouvier and Jean- Jacques Kantorow, violin, which was widely known to be one of Europe’s most venerated chamber music ensembles. He worked closely with Pierre Boulez’ Ensemble Intercontemporain, for seven years, giving him an understanding of and an affinity for the music of our time. He continues to be active in commissioning new cello works and premiers of new music and performs frequently as soloist and in various chamber music ensembles at festivals in Europe, the United States, Canada, Latin America, Japan, Korea, Australia and New Zealand.

Philippe Muller’s teaching career is legendary. He succeeded his mentor André Navarra as cello teacher at the Conservatoire de Paris in 1979, continues his teaching legacy today here in New York, at the Manhattan School of Music. Many cellists from his studio have gone on to major careers as soloists including Xavier Phillips and Gautier Capuçon. He travels often giving master-classes in the top conservatories across the globe and has spent twenty years teaching at the Academy of French Music in Kyoto, Japan.

Philippe Muller frequently serves on the juries of the major international cello competitions such as the Tchaikovsky in Moscow, Paulo in Helsinki and Rostropovitch in Paris.

Max Zorin

Acclaimed by Strad Magazine for his “extremely compelling” interpretations, Max Zorin leads a multifaceted life as a soloist, chamber musician, and educator.

His debut album, "French Touch," clinched a gold medal from the Global Music Awards while Strings Magazine praised his performances as “simply magnificent”.

Looking ahead to 2024, Max Zorin anticipates the release of his new album “Connections”, featuring works by Florence Price, William Grant Still, George Gershwin, and a commissioned piece “Jazz Waltz for violin and piano” composed by Vincent Balse. This recording, funded by a Racial Justice Grant award from the College of Arts and Architecture at Penn State, will be available on major streaming platforms.

Max Zorin performed throughout the United States, South America, Europe, Asia, Israel, Russia and Ukraine. Notable venues include Alice Tully Hall in New York, Tchaikovsky Hall in Moscow, Odessa Opera Theatre, Salle Moliere, Henan Art Center in China. He performed with the Saint Petersburg State Orchestra, Odessa Philharmonic, Orchestre de Chambre de Lyon, Williamsport Symphony, Pennsylvania Chamber Orchestra, San Jose Youth Symphony. Summer festivals appearances include the Granada International Music Festival, Aspen Music Festival, Music Alp, collaborating with distinguished musicians, among them Maxim Vengerov, Itamar Golan, Henry Demarquette, Romano Pallottini, and the Grammy Award-winning Parker Quartet.

A dedicated pedagogue, Max Zorin serves as an associate professor of violin at Penn State University. Sharing his passion for music with aspiring musicians, he regularly conducts masterclasses in prestigious institutions worldwide from London’s Royal Academy of Music to Stolarsky School of Music in Ukraine.

Born in Israel into a family of professional musicians, Max began studying the violin at the age of five with his father, an illustrious violinist from Odessa (Ukraine). Max gave his first public performances when he was eight years old and at 17 won a First Prize at the Corpus Christi International Competition. Aside from his father, his principal teachers included Dorothy De Lay, Naoko Tanaka, Peter Oundjian, Ani Kavafian, Philip Setzer. Max holds degrees from the Juilliard School, Yale University, and a doctorate from Stony Brook University.

Max performs on a violin crafted by J.B. Vuillaume (Paris ~1850) and a bow by Edwin Clement (Paris, 2008).

Daniel Panner

Daniel Panner enjoys a varied career as a performer and teacher. As violist of the Mendelssohn String Quartet, he concertized extensively throughout the United States and Israel. He has performed at numerous music festivals, including Marlboro, Ravinia, Tanglewood and Aspen, and he has collaborated with members of the Cleveland, Emerson, Guarneri and Juilliard String Quartets. As a member of the Whitman String Quartet, Mr. Panner received the 1998 Walter W. Naumburg Chamber Music Award and served as a teaching assistant to the Juilliard String Quartet for two years.

Mr. Panner is co-chair of the string department of the Mannes College of Music, where he also teaches viola and chamber music. He has also taught at the Juilliard School, Rutgers University, SUNY Stonybrook, Queens College, and the Jerusalem Music Center Summer Courses, and he has given master classes at such schools as Peabody, Hartt and the North Carolina School of the Arts. He has performed with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, and the Orchestra of St. Lukes; he has also toured with Musicians from Marlboro and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. As a guest artist, he has performed with the Juilliard String Quartet, the St. Lawrence String Quartet, the Daedelus String Quartet, the Flux String Quartet and the Moscow Conservatory Trio. Mr. Panner has been heard on National Public Radio's "Performance Today," both as a soloist and chamber musician. He has served as the principal violist of such orchestras as the New York City Opera and the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra. An active performer of new music, he is a member of Sequitur and the Locrian Ensemble and has performed as guest with such new-music groups as Speculum Musicae, the Da Capo Chamber Players, and Transit Circle; he has recorded solo viola works by Thea Musgrave and Victoria Bond, both for Albany Records. Mr. Panner studied with Jesse Levine at Yale University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in history. He continued his studies at the Curtis Institute of Music with Joseph dePasquale and the Juilliard School with Samuel Rhodes.

Chung-Hsi Hsieh

Pianist Chung-Hsi Hsieh is from Taiwan. He won top prizes in the Nena Wideman International Piano Competition, Taipei International Chopin Competition, Taiwan Concerto Competition, Corpus Christi Young Artists Competition, and Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. He has appeared in renowned recital halls such as Carnegie Weill Recital Hall, Merkin Hall, Klavierhaus, and Steinway Hall, in New York City, as well as the National Recital Hall in Taiwan. As a chamber musician he often collaborates with the principles of Boston Symphony Orchestra, Berlin Deutsches Symphonie Orchester, San Diego Symphony Orchestra, and A Far Cry Chamber Orchestra. Mr. Hsieh has performed recitals in Boston, Los Angeles, Beijing, Shanghai and Shenyang.  He was a young artist at the Irving Gilmore International Keyboard Festival in Kalamazoo, MI, as well as Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival.  

After winning the top prize from Taiwan National Music Competition in 1991, he was awarded the opportunity to continue his musical studies in USA where he obtained his high school diploma from Interlochen Arts Academy, BM and MM from The Juilliard School, and DMA from Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. His principle teachers were Victoria Mushkatkol, Seymour Lipkin, and Susan Starr.  During this time he also worked with Lynn Harrell, Lewis Kaplan, Arnold Steinhardt, Jane Coop, and Douglas Lundeen.  

Mr. Hsieh started his musical training on the piano at age 4. He also learned violin, and Erhu, a traditional Chinese instrument when he entered the music training class at age 9. At a young age he already showed his musical talent, as he frequently won competitions on piano and violin, and he started performing as soloist and conductor, leading the school symphony orchestra, Chinese instrument orchestra and school choir to public performances. 

Currently he is a piano and music faculty at the Diller-Quaile School of Music.  Besides honing his craft and working with aspiring talents, Chung-Hsi also enjoys exploring culinary arts and fine wine around the world.

John Hardin

John Hardin is an actor and private educator in New York City. A proud graduate of New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, he has also trained with The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and the Scott Freeman Studio in Manhattan. His previous credits include Liam in Bad Jews and Peter Mooney in Hangmen, both at The Gamm Theatre, Lord Byron in Ada and the Engine (Central Square Theater), Mercutio in Romeo & Juliet (Commonwealth Shakespeare Company), Starveling in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Porter in Macbeth (Shakespeare on the Sound), Hamlet in Hamlet (Adirondack Shakespeare Company), and, perhaps his favorite, Titus in Puppet Titus Andronicus (The Puppet Shakespeare Players). Thanks to Katie, always. You can find out more about what John is up to via social media--@Hardinaka on Instagram.