Meet the 2027 Faculty
Tanya Bannister
Founder & Co-Artistic Director
Piano
Lauded by The Washington Post for playing “. . .with intelligence, poetry and proportion,” pianist Tanya Bannister has made a versatile career that is steeped in old-world pianism and traditions, balanced with an entrepreneurial spirit that seeks to create projects that inspire genuine connections between music and the world we live in.
Claudia Ajmone-Marsan
Founder & Co-Artistic Director
Violin
Born of Italian and Danish parentage, the violinist Claudia Ajmone-Marsan is a member of Ensemble 360. She is a regular guest with Camerata Bern, Camerata Nordica and Ensemble Modern. She served as co-principal second violin of the Philharmonia Orchestra in London under C. von Dohnanyi, principal second of the European Union Chamber Orchestra and the Kammerphilharmonie Amade, Germany.
Chad Burrow
Clarinet
Chad Burrow is recognized as one of the premier clarinetists of his generation. He has appeared as a soloist and chamber musician in concert halls across the globe. The European press has said that Chad performs with “brilliant technique and tonal beauty mixed with an expressive ferocity.” Danish critic, Henrik Svane, went on to describe a performance as filled with "virtuosity, energy, and power without compromise." The New York Times recently called a Carnegie Hall appearance in Poulenc’s, Sonata, as giving a “strong impression” and being a “bright and genial account.”
Nathan Meltzer
Violin
Recipient of a 2026 Avery Fisher Career Grant, winner of the 2023 Concert Artist Guild Competition, and major prize winner at the 2022 Sibelius and Singapore International Violin Competitions, violinist Nathan Meltzer is establishing a holistic and multi-faceted career as both a soloist and chamber musician, with passions for both standard and contemporary repertoire.
Silvia Simionescu
Viola
Silvia Simionescu, internationally well-known violist, enjoys a diverse career that takes her all over the world as a performing musician.
Her appearances in major venues such as Paris Châtelet, Auditorium Barcelona, Wigmore Hall, KKL-Luzern, Tonhalle Zürich, Geneva Victoria Hall, Casals Hall Tokyo, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Teatro La Fenice in Venice and Concertgebouw Amsterdam, have been praised for her exceptionally passionate, intensive and intelligent musicianship.
YooJin Jang
Violin
Applauded by The Strad for her “fiery virtuosity” and “consummate performances,” violinist YooJin Jang is a winner of the 2017 Concert Artists Guild Competition and is also First Prize winner of the 2016 Sendai International Music Competition in Japan. These two victories have resulted in a busy itinerary of international recital and concerto engagements and the release of two new recordings, including a CD of her prize-winning Sendai concerto performances.
A native of New York City, Emi Ohi Resnick made her debut in Carnegie Hall at the age of fifteen and has performed throughout the United States, Europe and Japan since then. Emi is a founding member of the unique collective Splendor and co-initiator of the strikingly successful String Quartet Biennale Amsterdam .
Emi currently divides her time between the United States and Europe, where she was concertmaster of the North Netherlands Orchestra and of the Netherlands Radio Chamber Orchestra and is Professor of Violin at the Conservatoire Royal of Brussels.
Emi Ohi Resnick
Violin | Viola
ADMINISTRATIVE TEAM
Stephen Buck
Executive Director
As a composer, performer, arranger and program designer, Stephen Buck has played an important role in some of the most innovative, entertaining, and stimulating concert experiences today. He has worked with actors Bill Murray and Gael Garcia Bernal; baritone Thomas Hampson; pianists Helene Grimaud, Gabriela Montero, Vanessa Perez, Kristhyan Benitez, and Lara Downes; cellist Jan Vogler; violinists Daniel Röhn and Mira Wang; the Miró and Dalí Quartets and the Harlem Chamber Players; and many others. His works have been performed on many of the important stages in the United States, Europe, Australia and New Zealand, and on CBS Sunday Morning and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
Stephen serves as Coordinator of Academic Studies at the Purchase College Conservatory of Music, and as Executive Director and co-founder of AlpenKammerMusik, an intergenerational chamber music festival in the Austrian Alps, that brings young artists and adult amateur musicians together for an intensive artistic experience.
He has appeared as pianist on a recording of solo works by composer Huang Ruo on the Innova and Naxos labels, and with Vanessa Perez on her album Spain on the Steinway label. Stephen received his DMA in Piano Performance from Yale University School of Music in 2007 as a student of Peter Frankl, with previous studies at the University of Michigan and at Johns Hopkins University and Peabody Conservatory.
Ferdinand Stadlober is the link between the festival, his picturesque home region of the Lesachtal valley, and the international music scene that spans several continents.
As the local organizer, he works with Stephen and Matthew to ensure everything runs smoothly and to address the many large and small problems that inevitably arise. Above all, however, he strives to provide excellent catering and accommodation for the festival participants during their time in the Lesachtal. Outside of rehearsals and concerts, there is much to discover in Ferdinand's homeland. Here you will find unspoiled nature, picturesque landscapes, and perhaps even yourself.
Together with his wife Anna-Lena, he runs the Lesachtalerhof hotel in the village, which serves as both a retreat and a meeting place for many members of AlpenKammerMusik during their stay. Ferdinand himself is an amateur musician, playing in the local brass band, singing in a choir, and acting in local theater productions. In the Lesachtal, music and culture, as well as cultural exchange, have played a significant role since his childhood.
This is especially true for Ferdinand, who has been involved with the festival since his youth, and he continues to support it today.
Matthew Chan
Administrative Manager
Matthew Chan is a passionate violinist, conductor, and teacher. He obtained his bachelor's degrees in biology and music education at the University of Texas at Austin studying violin with Sandy Yamamoto, where he served as both a teacher and the Assistant Director of the University of Texas String Project under the guidance of string pedagogue Dr. Laurie Scott. He obtained his master's degree in violin performance at University of Wisconsin-Madison studying violin with Dr. Soh-Hyun Altino, where he served as the instructor for String Fundamentals classes and the head conductor of the All-University Strings. He regularly teaches in summer music camps such as the Longhorn Music Camp, the Summer Music Clinic in Madison, and the Sam Houston State University Orchestra Camp.
Matthew is the Head Orchestra Director at Memorial High School, where he also serves as the Region 27 Orchestra Division Chair. Outside of teaching, Mr. Chan keeps active in performing as well. He has subbed for regional orchestras such as the Lacrosse Symphony Orchestra, the Dubuque Symphony Orchestras, the Galveston Symphony, and the Brazos Valley Symphony Orchestra. Currently, he leads the Houston Civic Symphony as the concertmaster, and he regularly performs chamber music recitals as a founding member of the Calba Quartet.
Ferdinand Stadlober
Operations Manager