Ann Bobo, flute

Ann Bobo is an active freelance flutist throughout the New England area and has recently completed her first season as BMV’s flutist. Ms. Bobo holds principal flute positions with the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra of Boston and the Boston Modern Orchestra Project and is the second flutist of the Springfield Symphony.  Other experience includes w-ork with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra, and the Boston Lyric Opera.  Bobo has twice been a Fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center, and she holds awards from the Coleman and Carmel Chamber Music Societies and the Pappoutsakis Memorial Competition.  Bobo received a Bachelor of Music degree from the New England Conservatory of Music in 1993, where she studied with BSO flutist Fenwick Smith.  She is currently on the extension division faculty of the Walnut Hill School and teaches privately. (Back to top)

William Kirkley, clarinet

Active as an orchestral musician, recitalist, and chamber musician, clarinetist William Kirkley’s performances have been called “emotional, committed, and intensely exciting” by the Boston Globe. Kirkley has performed to acclaim with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra, the Dallas Symphony, the Santa Fe Opera, and other ensembles throughout North America. Currently principal clarinet of the Cape Ann Symphony and the Lexington Symphony, he is a faculty mentor with the Gordon Symphony and is on the music faculties at Gordon College and Salem State College.

Mr. Kirkley is a core ensemble member of Boston Musica Viva and the Auros Group for New Music, commissioning and recording works for clarinet and chamber ensemble.  He has also performed with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, the Harvard Group for New Music, and Brandeis New Music.  He has given recitals and master classes at many colleges and universities in the Northeast, including the New England Conservatory and Harvard University.  Mr. Kirkley’s principal teachers were Robert Umiker, Robert Marcellus, and Anthony Gigliotti.  He has recorded on the CRI, SEAMUS, New World, and Centaur labels. (Back to top)

Robert Schulz, percussion

Percussionist Robert Schulz has become a familiar face to Boston audiences, known for his dynamic and multi-dimensional performances with many of the area's premier ensembles. In reviewing “Percussion Concussion,” his 2008 solo recital with Dinosaur Annex, David Weininger of the Boston Globe describes Schulz as "a superb percussionist, with phenomenal grace and control over both rhythm and texture."  The Newport Daily Express describes his unique rendition of Steve Reich's Clapping Music as "Bare hands, bare feet, tour de force complete!"  Admired by instrumentalists, composers and conductors alike for his collaborative skills, his expertise extends beyond the traditional orchestral repertory to contemporary solo and chamber ensemble works as well as into jazz, improvisational forms and world music.

Currently, Schulz is principal percussionist for the Boston Landmarks Orchestra, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Boston Musica Viva, Dinosaur Annex Music Ensemble and Opera Boston. He will work on occasion with the Boston Symphony, Boston Pops, Boston Ballet, and Pro Arte orchestras as well as the Boston Chamber Music Society.  He has been a featured soloist with the Bank of America Celebrity Series on several occasions and twice a concerto soloist with BMOP, performing the Boston premiere of Tan Dun's Water Concerto in 2004 and the world premiere of Eric Moe's drumset concerto Kick and Ride in 2009.  A featured recording artist on numerous commercially available recordings, his work was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2004 for Yehudi Wyner's The Mirror.  He has led his own group, the BeatCity Art Ensemble, in performances for the Celebrity Series in Boston, Lincoln Center in New York City, and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.  He has toured nationally and internationally with pipa virtuoso Wu Man from Carnegie Hall to Paris and was the featured guest soloist for the CrossSound Festival in Juneau, Alaska in 2006.  An experienced drummer in virtually all contemporary styles, he has performed at the Newport Jazz Festival with Dave Brubeck and as a last-minute substitute for the Boston Pops and the San Antonio Symphony.  Schulz has performed in countless pop, cover and original music bands dating back to the early 1980's.

Originally from Buffalo, N.Y., Mr. Schulz's first teachers were John Rowland and Lynn Harbold of the Buffalo Philharmonic and Jan Williams of SUNY Buffalo, where he earned his Bachelor's Degree (1989). After moving to Boston in 1990 for study at the New England Conservatory, he completed a Masters in Jazz Studies with Fred Buda (1992) and was offered successive fellowships to the Tanglewood Music Center while pursuing a Graduate Diploma in Solo Percussion with Frank Epstein of the Boston Symphony (1994).

Now a dedicated teacher and mentor to many, Schulz currently teaches at Brandeis, Harvard and Tufts Universities. (Back to top)

Geoffrey Burleson, piano

Active as a recitalist, concerto soloist, chamber musician, and jazz performer, Geoffrey Burleson, pianist, has performed to wide acclaim throughout Europe and North America. The New York Times has hailed Mr. Burleson’s solo performances as “vibrant and compelling,” praising his “rhythmic brio, projection of rhapsodic qualities, appropriate sense of spontaneity, and rich colorings.” A core member of Boston Musica Viva, the New York Art Ensemble, and the Pittsburgh Collective, his concerto appearances include Boston Musica Viva, the Arlington Philharmonic, the New England Philharmonic, and the Holland Symfonia in the Netherlands. Mr. Burleson’s most recent solo recording, “Vincent Persichetti: Complete Piano Sonatas” is a 2-CD set on which all twelve of Persichetti’s piano sonatas are united on one release for the first time. The CD received high praise from the BBC Music Magazine (“BBC Music Choice”, 5/5 stars), Gramophone, and Fanfare. Upcoming solo releases include “Roy Harris: Complete Piano Works” for Naxos. Mr. Burleson teaches piano at Princeton University, and is Associate Professor of Music and Director of Piano Studies at Hunter College-CUNY. He holds degrees from the Peabody and New England Conservatories, and SUNY-Stony Brook. (Back to top)

Bayla Keyes, violin

Bayla Keyes, violin, is “a charismatic soloist of expressive generosity and technical élan,” noted the Cleveland Plain Dealer.  First performing with the acclaimed Musicians from Marlboro, Ms. Keyes was a founding member of the internationally acclaimed Muir String Quartet, winners of the Evian and Naumburg awards and two Grand Prix du Disque.  Her recent concert highlights include numerous premieres with Boston Musica Viva, as well as frequent performances of the standard concerto repertoire.  Her piano trio, Triple Helix, is in residence at Wellesley College where their series of Beethoven concerts earned them the accolade “Musicians of the Year 2002” from the Boston Globe. Ms. Keyes is Associate Professor of Violin at Boston University, founding director of the String Quartet Institute at Tanglewood, and director of the Interlochen Adult Chamber Music Conference. She has recorded for Ecoclassics, CRI, Musical Heritage, EMI-France, Koch, Bridge, and New World Records, and holds degrees from the Curtis Institute and the Yale School of Music. (Back to top)

Jan Müller-Szeraws, cello

Cellist Jan Müller-Szeraws’s musical journey has taken him over three continents as a soloist, chamber musician, and teacher. Recent performances have included solo engagements with the New England Philharmonic, the Concord Orchestra, the Boston Landmarks Orchestra, and the Moscow Symphony Orchestra. His recording of the Allende cello concerto with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Chile has been recently released. Müller-Szeraws has been a guest artist at many festivals, including the Cape & Islands, Rockport, El Paso Pro-Musica, Music at Gretna, and Kingston Chamber Music Festivals. He is a member of Mistral, the resident and touring ensemble of the Andover Chamber Music Series and the QX String Quartet. He regularly performs with contemporary music ensemble Boston Musica Viva. A guest lecturer at the Universidad Católica de Chile, he is currently on the faculty at the Phillips Academy Andover and College of the Holy Cross. He is a grant recipient of the Saul and Naomi Cohen Foundation. (Back to top)