Praised for their "emotional investment" and "decisive" interpretations (Toronto Star) and "intense" and "hot-blooded" performances (Globe and Mail), the Tokai Quartet is one of Canada's leading string quartets. In September 2007, the quartet became prizewinners at the Banff International String Quartet Competition, the first Canadian group to do so since 1992. The vibrancy that this exciting young ensemble brings to their performances is gaining them enthusiastic audiences across Canada, and has earned the Tokai Quartet a growing demand for performances at concert series across the country.

The Tokai Quartet had its beginnings in 2002 at the University of Toronto where the Quartet benefited from the guidance of the late Lorand Fenyves. The members of the St. Lawrence Quartet have also been significant mentors to the Tokai Quartet, their Summer Music Seminars at Stanford University being a source of inspiration and instruction. The Tokai Quartet has also studied with the Emerson, Ying, Orion, and Leipzig Quartets, with Scott St. John and with Henk Guittart of the Schoenberg Quartet, Mayumi Seiler, Terence Helmer, Ian Swensen, and Roberto Diaz.

The commitment and generosity of their teachers is passed on by the Tokai Quartet in their own flourishing teaching career, which began at the University of Toronto when the Quartet was invited back to give masterclasses. The Tokai Quartet has been ensemble-in-residence at Queen's University in Kingston, the Southern Ontario Chamber Music Institute, and Music at Port Milford, where intensive schedules saw them coaching numerous ensembles, giving masterclasses and performing.

Audiences have seen the Tokai Quartet perform across Canada at various music festivals including The Toronto Summer Music Festival the Ottawa Chamber Music Festival, The Concerts aux Îles du Bic Chamber Music Festival in Quebec. They also performed an extensive concert tour of Atlantic Canada in March 2007 awarded by Debut Atlantic.

The accomplishments of this gifted ensemble have earned the Tokai Quartet some impressive accolades. In 2003 they were recipients of the Felix Galimir Award and the following year the Tokai Quartet went on to receive the Sir Ernest MacMillan Memorial Foundation Award, which has facilitated their participation in residencies at the Banff Centre for the Arts and at the Stanford Summer Music Festival. They were further distinguished by the award of a Debut concert presented by the Frederick Gaviller Music Foundation, which took place in April 2005. The Quartet was a recipient of an Ontario Arts Council grant in support of their multimedia children's production of the Snow Queen, with award winning actor Alon Nashman. This production was nominated for a Dora award, and has been presented in Banff and also in Toronto for three consecutive years.

www.tokaiquartet.com

Amanda Goodburn - Violin
Amanda Goodburn distinguished herself as a critically acclaimed young violinist in both England and South Africa before immigrating to Canada in 2001. As an undergraduate, Ms Goodburn performed with the major South African orchestras and won two major awards to facilitate overseas study. These successes, in addition to a full scholarship, enabled her to continue her graduate studies at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. Upon completion of her studies, Ms Goodburn attended summer masterclasses in Banff, and since then has been based in Canada. Having completed an additional graduate degree from the University of Toronto, Ms Goodburn has been featured as a soloist with the University of Toronto Symphony Orchestra and Orchestra Toronto, and has also performed with Arraymusic and the Mooredale and ARC Ensembles. A founding member of the Tokai Quartet, Ms Goodburn is also currently a member of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.

Csaba Koczó - Violin
Hungarian-born violinist Csaba Koczó's began his studies in Yugoslavia before attending the Béla Bartók Conservatory in Budapest. After attaining his bachelor's degree with distinction at the College of the Franz Liszt Music Academy, he began his studies in Toronto with Lorand Fenyves and Erika Raum. Mr. Koczó received his artist diploma at The Glenn Gould School and later, as the recipient of the H. Carter scholarship, attained his master's degree at the University of Toronto. Mr. Koczó has had a prolific career as a chamber musician and soloist both in Canada and abroad. He is a founding member of the Tokai Quartet and the Via Salzburg Chamber Orchestra. In addition, Mr. Koczó is assistant principal second violin of the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra, and holds a position with the Canadian National Ballet Orchestra where he has been acting concertmaster.

Yosef Tamir-Smirnoff - Viola
A native of Moscow, Yosef Tamir-Smirnoff began studying violin at the Tchaikovsky Institute of Music with Irina Kouznetsova, eventually continuing with Leonid Rozenberg in Tel Aviv. By the time he immigrated to Canada in 1995, viola had become his principal instrument. Mr. Tamir-Smirnoff studied in Montreal with Alexei Dyachkov, the former violist of the Shostakovich Quartet, and in Bloomington at Indiana University where he was the recipient of the Nina Neil Scholarship. Mr. Tamir-Smirnoff also studied at the Glenn Gould School in Toronto with Steven Dann. He has been involved with the Tokai Quartet since 2003, and currently holds the position of assistant principal viola with the Kitchener Waterloo Symphony Orchestra as well as membership in the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra. As a highly sought-after chamber musician, Mr. Tamir-Smirnoff has collaborated with many eminent musicians, and his performances have been broadcast on NBC Television, CBC Radio and WQSR radio.

Emmanuelle Beaulieu Bergeron - Cello
Originally from Montreal, cellist Emmanuelle Beaulieu Bergeron recently moved to Toronto to join the Tokai String Quartet and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Emmanuelle has performed throughout Canada, the United States, Mexico and Europe as a solo, orchestral and chamber musician. She is a prizewinner of the Fishoff Chamber Music Competition, Canadian Music Competition, Prix d'Europe competition, and Radio-Canada's Young Artist Competition. Her performances have been broadcasted on American radio stations and on CBC. She has performed at Yellow Barn, Sarasota, Aspen, Music Academy of the West, Tanglewood and Montreal Chamber Music Festivals and also in New York's Alice Tully Hall and Washington's Kennedy Center. She has received two Prizes with Great Distinction from the Montreal Music Conservatory both in Cello and Chamber Music Performance. She pursued her studies at The Juilliard School in New York where she received a Masters degree. As a member of the Kailas String Quartet she spent two years as the Graduate Quartet in Residence at Rice University in Houston working with the Juilliard, Emerson, Takacs, Orion, American, Brentano and Mendelssohn quartets. Her main cello teachers were Denis Brott, Joel Krosnick, Bonnie Hampton and Norman Fischer. As a winner of the Canada Council for the Arts Bank of Instrument Competition, Emmanuelle has been generously loaned the use of the Adam-Shaw bow for a period of three years.

The Linden String Quartet is the gold medalist and grand prize-winner of the 2009 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, as well as recipient of the Coleman-Barstow prize at the 2009 Coleman National Chamber Ensemble Competition. Formed in the spring of 2008 by members of the professional chamber ensemble CityMusic Cleveland, the Quartet is currently the apprentice quartet to the Cavani Quartet at the Cleveland Institute of Music (CIM). Dedicated to community outreach and education, the Quartet is also the Canton Symphony Orchestra’s newly appointed Quartet-in-Residence, a program established to promote the art of Classical music and quartet playing through a series of educational concerts and presentations in various elementary schools in the Northeastern Ohio area.

Mentors include the Cavani String Quartet, Peter Salaff, and Paul Kantor. The Quartet has also worked with Donald Weilerstein and William Preucil of the Cleveland Quartet, Joel Smirnoff and Robert Mann of the Juilliard String Quartet, and members of the Guarneri Quartet. The Quartet has collaborated with Geoff Nuttall of the St. Lawrence String Quartet, as well as guitarist and CIM faculty member Jason Vieaux and with acclaimed accordion and bandonéon player Julian Labro in a recital sponsored by Musical Upcoming Stars in the Classics. The Linden Quartet has participated in the Banff Music Centre’s Chamber Music Residency, the St. Lawrence String Quartet Seminar, and the Norfolk Music Festival.

www.lindenquartet.com

Canadian violinist Sarah McElravy has performed in concerts throughout Canada, the United States, Europe, and Japan. A laureate of the 2008 International Stepping Stone Competition, Sarah was also awarded the Dorothy Richards Starling Foundation Scholarship from the Cleveland Institute of Music (CIM). She won the CIM concerto competition this past spring and will be performing with CIM’s orchestra in the fall. She has also won the Silver Medal Award from the Royal Conservatory of Music, the Kiwanis Ontario Provincial Finals on numerous occasions, and second place at the Canadian Music Competition National Finals. As a soloist, Sarah has performed with the Pulawy Festival Orchestra (Poland), the Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Orchestra (Canada) and the Lexington Bach Festival Orchestra (USA).

An avid chamber musician, Ms. McElravy was awarded an Annie Burns Fellowship to perform with distinguished artists Gary Graffman and Roberto Diaz at the prestigious Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival. Ms McElravy has also studied chamber music with internationally recognized artists such as Cho-Liang Lin, Lynn Harrell, the Guaneri, Emerson, and Cavani String Quartets, and members of the Juilliard, Takacs, Tokyo, St. Lawrence, and Cleveland Quartets.

Sarah recently completed her Master of Music degree in violin performance at CIM under the tutelage of Paul Kantor (Eleanor H. Biggs Memorial Distinguished Professor of Violin). Sarah received her Bachelor of Music Degree with Academic Honors at CIM where she studied with Stephen Rose and Paul Kantor. A native of Lindsay, Ontario, she began violin studies at the age of 5 and in 1999, she was accepted into the Young Artist’s Performance Academy of The Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. Sarah has studied and worked with Witold Swoboda, Erika Raum, Sylvia Rosenberg, Scott St. John, and the late Lorand Fenyves. Sarah is currently a member of the professional chamber music orchestra CityMusic Cleveland.

Catherine Cosbey, a native of Regina, Saskatchewan, received her Bachelor of Music degree from the Glenn Gould School in Toronto and subsequently earned a Master of Music degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music. Teachers and mentors have included Paul Kantor, Eduard Minevich, and Erika Raum. Catherine has been a participant in the Aspen Music Festival and School, the Banff Chamber and Summer Music Sessions, the St. Lawrence String Quartet Seminar, the Domaine Forget Chamber Music Program, and the Centre D’arts Orford. Catherine began her professional career at the age of fourteen when she joined the Regina Symphony Orchestra. Later that year, she also was accepted into the National Youth Orchestra of Canada. Catherine continues her orchestral contribution as a member of CityMusic Cleveland and the Canton Symphony. Catherine is an avid chamber musician and has performed across Canada and Iceland, most notably with Quartetto Constanze and the Flaming Leafs. Catherine has collaborated with such artists as Edward Arron, Kai Gleusteen, Kyung-Sun Lee, Geoff Nuttall, Erika Raum, and Barry Shiffman. She plays on a 1721 Guidantus violin and a Voirin bow generously on loan by the Banff Centre.

Originally from Lafayette, Louisiana, violist Eric Wong is currently in his second year of graduate studies at CIM studying violin with Paul Kantor and viola with Lynne Ramsey of the Cleveland Orchestra. In addition to his primary instructors, he has studied privately with Heidi Castleman, Kirsten Docter, Kevork Mardirossian, David Updegraff, and Zvi Zeitlin. He received his bachelor’s degree from CIM, also studying with Mr. Kantor.

As a chamber musician, Eric has played in numerous ensembles around the country. He has participated in Itzhak Perlman’s Chamber Music Workshop and the 52nd Annual International Chamber Music Festival in Weikersheim, Germany. He has performed in chamber music recitals sponsored by the Aspen Institute, SWR Radio (Germany), WVIZ (Cleveland’s public broadcasting station), the Cleveland Chamber Music Society, and the Cleveland Chamber Music Guild. He has collaborated with members of the Cleveland Quartet, with Kirsten Docter and Merry Peckham of the Cavani Quartet, and also with Secretary of State and pianist Condoleezza Rice. Coaches and mentors include Peter Salaff and the Cavani and Miró Quartets.

Eric won first prize in the 48th Annual Lima Symphony Young Artists’ Competition, the 2007 Ohio Viola Society competition, and the 2006 Louisiana String Teachers’ Association solo competition. He was also third-prize winner of CIM’s 2008 Milhaud Competition and won CIM’s concerto competition with Bartók’s Second Violin Concerto in 2007. As guest solo artist, he has performed with the CIM Orchestra and the Acadiana and Eastern Connecticut Symphony Orchestras.

He has played under such conductors as Christoph von Dohnányi, Gerard Schwartz, Michael Stern, David Robertson, and Leonard Slatkin and appeared in venues throughout the country including Carnegie Hall, Severance Hall, the Kennedy Center, and the Tanglewood Music Center. A former member of the Acadiana Symphony Orchestra, he now holds the position of Assistant Concertmaster of the Akron Symphony.

Felix Umansky, hailing from Carmel, Indiana, has studied cello since the age of seven. He received his Master’s degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music this past spring, having studied with Cleveland Orchestra principal Desmond Hoebig. He also received his undergraduate degree from CIM as a student of Richard Aaron. Other teachers over the years have included Polina Umansky, Yehuda Hanani, Janos Starker, Michael Mermagen, and Eleanor Schoenfeld. He is currently a member of CityMusic Cleveland, a small chamber orchestra which performs regularly throughout the greater Cleveland area and abroad. Prior to forming the Linden String Quartet he was the cellist of the Vesuvius Quartet. With Vesuvius, Felix performed concerts in Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and Germany while receiving coachings from members of the Cavani, Cleveland, Takacs, Artemis, Tokyo, Miro, and Borromeo String Quartets, as well as the Beaux Arts Trio. The quartet was selected by the Cleveland Chamber Music Society (CCMS) to be the inaugural fellows for a new school outreach program. They worked closely with the CCMS and Annie Fullard to bring music to hundreds of 3rd and 4th graders. With the Linden Quartet, Felix has worked closely with members of the Cavani, Cleveland, Guarneri, Tokyo, and St. Lawrence String Quartets.