Akemi Takayama, Co-Concertmaster
,
has served as the
concertmaster of the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra since
2004. Ms. Takayama appears regularly as soloist and
concertmaster of the RSO, and Williamsburg Symphonia as well as
an active chamber musician and associate professor at
the Shenandoah University Conservatory of Music where she holds
the Victor Brown Endowed Chair. She was also invited to teach at
Oberlin College throughout the Fall of 2012. Ms. Takayama was a
member of the internationally renowned Audubon Quartet for
fourteen years while the group toured regionally and
nationally. Her recordings with the Audubon Quartet include four
CDs, all available on the Centaur and Composers Recordings labels.
Born to musical parents in Tokyo, Japan, Takayama began her
violin studies with her mother at the age of three. Her professional
violin career began in Japan at the age of 15. She has performed
throughout Japan, France, and the U.S., including appearances
with the Shinsei-Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Toho School of
Music Orchestra, and on a "FM Recital" broadcast throughout
Japan on NHK Radio. She also has performed with the Tokyo
Metropolitan Orchestra, the Yomiuri Philharmonic Orchestra,
Music at Gretna, and with the New World Symphony Orchestra.
Her solo performances in the U.S. have included radio and TV
appearances in the greater Cleveland area and with the Cleveland
Institute of Music Symphony Orchestra, the Grand Junction
Orchestra, and the University of Wyoming Symphony
Orchestra and Chamber Orchestra.
Akemi Takayama's recent solo performances with orchestras
include Daugherty’s
Fire and Blood
and
Ladder to the Moon
,
Mendelssohn's
Double Concerto
, Vivaldi’s
The Four Seasons
, Pärt’s
Fratres, Beethoven’s
Violin Concerto
, and Brahms’s
Double
Concerto for violin and cello
, Mozart’s
Violin Concerto
, Bach
Concerto
, Mendelssohn
Violin Concerto
, and Roskott's
Violin
Concerto
. She has performed at and served on the faculties of the
Chautauqua Institute in New York, the Idyllwild School of the Arts
in California, the Brevard Music Center in North Carolina,
Shenandoah Performs in Virginia and at Virginia Tech. During her
graduate studies, Akemi was a teaching assistant to the
renowned Donald Weilerstein at the Cleveland Institute of Music,
where she earned both an Artist Diploma and a Master of Music
degree. Previously, she studied with Toshiya Eto and Ryosaku
Kubota at the renowned Toho School of Music in Tokyo, where she
earned her bachelor degree in music performance. She also
studied with Brian Hanly at the University of Wyoming where she
earned her professional studies degree. Ms. Takayama won a
position in the prestigious Marlboro Music Festival and the Isaac
Stern Music Workshop. The late Isaac Stern said of Ms. Takayama
"she is a true musician and will always bring credit to any group
that she works with."
Ms. Takayama plays a J.B. Ceruti violin from Cremona, Italy, made
in 1805.
Elise Blake, Principal Second Violin
,
is a versatile and
experienced performer of chamber, solo, and orchestral
repertoire. Her performing has taken her to many exciting venues
including Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall in New York and the
Palais de la Musique et des Congrès at the Strasbourg International
Music Festival. After completing her Masters of Music degree at
the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University, Elise
relocated to Virginia in late 2007. She performs regularly with the
Roanoke Symphony, Virginia Symphony, Richmond Symphony,
Opera Roanoke, and the Wintergreen Performing Arts Festival
Orchestra. Elise currently serves on the faculty of Mary Baldwin
College in Staunton, VA, and was the recipient of a 2013
Fellowship in Violin Pedagogy from the Heifetz International Music
Institute. Please visi
or more
information.
Bernard Di Gregorio, Principal Viola
, holds the position
of Principal Viola with the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra and
Violist of the Montclaire String Quartet, the resident ensemble of
the West Virginia Symphony. Along with his symphonic and
quartet responsibilities, he also holds the position of Artist-in-
Residence with the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra. Through
this program he teaches classes of string playing pedagogue in the
public schools around Charleston, WV. Not only is he a strong
believer of music being part of the public school curriculum, his
career is also a result of such a program during his upbringing in
the Boston, Massachusetts, area.
Being active as a performer takes him to many different areas of
the country. In the summer months he is a member of the New
Hampshire Music Festival Orchestra and he has also been a
member of the Alabama Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Di Gregorio has
performed with the Columbus (Ohio) Symphony, and he has been
the Assistant Principal Viola with the Wintergreen Music Festival.
Other local orchestral engagements have included Principal Violist
with the Seneca Chamber Orchestra and the Ohio Valley Orchestra
in Gallipolis, Ohio.
Mr. Di Gregorio has appeared as a soloist with the Roanoke (VA)
Symphony Orchestra, where he was Principal Viola for over 20
years. As a recitalist he has performed on Kanawha Forum Recital
series in Charleston, the Hollins College Artist Series, and various
other venues in his home area. He has also performed as guest
artist with the Montclaire String Quartet in the past and each
summer is part of the New Hampshire Music Festival Chamber
Music Series.
As a composer, his
Symphony for String
Orchestra was premiered
by the Seneca Chamber Orchestra in May 2003, and
“Scenes From
the Old Country” for Cello and Piano
, written for and performed by
his wife, Andrea Di Gregorio of the Montclaire String Quartet, was
premiered in Charleston and also performed in the New
Hampshire Music Festival Chamber Series in 2009.
Mr. Di Gregorio maintains his own private studio at home with
students of violin and viola. Working with the West Virginia Youth
Symphony as a sectional instructor and chamber music coach is
also part of his schedule.
He has studied at the New England Conservatory of Music and
holds a diploma in viola performance from the Longy School of
Music in Cambridge, Mass. where his principal instructor was
George Neikrug.
Sarah Kapps, Principal Cello
,
and native Philadelphian has
an active and diverse musical background that has taken her
across much of the globe as soloist, chamber musician and
orchestral member. She was a founding member of the Denali
String Quartet and later came to serve on the faculty at The
University of Texas.
In summers, she has been a long-time member of the Wintergreen
Festival Orchestra and Academy faculty. She has also taught at
Oklahoma Baptist University, the Pan-American Music Festival and
at St. Joseph’s University. In her various positions as a cello
instructor, she has also been able to make arts advocacy an
important part of her educating endeavors. Since 2004, she has
successfully tricked more than one thousand young people into
enjoying Mozart operas!
