Paul McCandless, composer and multi-wind player (oboe, English horn, soprano sax, bass clarinet, clarinet, et. al.) inherited his artistic passion from his parents who were both music teachers. With a distinguished career spanning more than three decades, McCandless brings a soaring lyricism to his playing and composing that has been integral to the ensemble sound of two seminal world music bands, the original Paul Winter Consort and the relentlessly innovative quartet, OREGON. He has received multiple Grammy awards and nominations as part of a multi-decade career which includes solo work as well as being credited on more than 200 albums. He has made notable associations with such musicians as Jaco Pastorius, Carla Bley, Wynton Marsalis, Lyle Mays, Pat Metheny, Mark Isham, Steve Reich, Al Jarreau, Bruce Hornsby, Art Lande, Tony Furtado, the String Cheese Incident, Nguyen Le, Proteus 7 and Fred Simon.
In 1996, he won a Grammy for Best Pop Instrumental with Béla Fleck and the Flecktones with whom he was a guest artist. McCandless’ fine tuned compositional skills have been called upon for a number of film scores. Most notably he wrote music for the video Squanto and the First Thanksgiving, a Rabbit Ears Production with Graham Greene as narrator. Paul recorded three of his orchestral scores for a CD called “Oregon In Moscow” featuring OREGON and the Moscow Tchaikovsky Orchestra.“Round Robin,” the opening track received two 2001 Grammy nominations for Best Instrumental Composition and Best Instrumental Arrangement. As an orchestral soloist he has performed with the Camerata chamber orchestra of Mexico City, St Paul chamber orchestra, and the Philadelphia, Buffalo, Los Angeles and Stuttgart symphony orchestras.
Other Artist
Anna Petrova
Praised for her “artistic, clear and enlightened” performances (BBC Magazine) of “technical brilliance and complete emotional engagement" (Fanfare Magazine), Bulgarian pianist Anna Petrova performs extensively as both soloist and chamber musician around the globe.
Clara Lyon
Clara Lyon is an accomplished performer and curator who forges meaningful connections across sonic languages and societal contexts to foster investigation and imagination.
Clive Greensmith
From 1999 until its final season in 2013, Clive Greensmith was a member of the world-renowned Tokyo String Quartet, giving over one hundred performances each year in the most prestigious international venues, including New York’s Carnegie Hall, Sydney Opera House, London’s South Bank, Paris Chatelet, Berlin Philharmonie, Vienna Musikverein, and Suntory Hall in Tokyo.
Eliot Heaton
Violinist Eliot Heaton is the current Concertmaster of the Michigan Opera Theatre, Des Moines Metro Opera, and the Saginaw Bay Symphony.
Eric Wong
Celebrated for a “tone like toasted caramel. Amazing.” (Musical Toronto), Eric Wong is the violist of the Cavani String Quartet.
Esther Park
Pianist Esther Park has performed as a soloist with orchestras and in recitals across the United States as well as Asia and major European cities.