LINH KAUFFMAN & TAMI MORSE
Co-Artistic Directors - 24/25 & 25/26 seasons
Praised as “radiant” by the Saint Paul Pioneer Press, soprano LINH KAUFFMAN has appeared across the United States in oratorio, opera, new music and musical theater. Highlights of recent seasons include performances with Teatro Nacional de Panama, Oregon Bach Festival, Duluth Festival Opera, Quad Cities Symphony Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, and Richmond Symphony. She has twice been a young artist at the Weill Music Institute at Carnegie Hall. She is a frequent soloist with the Bach Chamber Players of St. Paul, the Oratorio Society of Minnesota, the Bach Society of Minnesota, and Consortium Carissimi. Opera credits include the Minnesota Opera, University of Minnesota Opera Theatre, Berkeley Opera, Sierra Repertory Theatre, Opera Vivente, West Bay Opera.
Ms. Kauffman holds degrees from Carnegie Mellon University, University of Maryland, the University of Minnesota. She also holds the Certificate in Vocal Pedagogy from the Schuessler Vocal Arts Center of the University of Minnesota and was the winner of the 2007 Voices of Vienna Vocal Prize Competition.
TAMI MORSE, a Japanese American harpsichordist, is active as a soloist and chamber musician in the United States and abroad. She is the former Executive Director of the Lyra Baroque Orchestra and co-founder of The Baroque Room, a performance space in Saint Paul, Minnesota. She has performed with ensembles such as Foundling, Minnesota Orchestra, Border CrosSing, Ensemble 212, Bach Society of Minnesota, Glorious Revolution Baroque, Lyra Baroque Orchestra, Minnesota Bach Ensemble, Big Apple Baroque Band, and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. She has performed in notable venues such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Symphony Space, the Dakota, and Le Poisson Rouge. She was a finalist in the Jurow International Harpsichord Competition in March, 2012.
Tami is a founding member of the baroque ensemble Flying Forms, known for innovative, interdisciplinary performances and considered “names to watch” (Berkshire Review for the Arts) and “the bright future of early music” (Arthur Haas, harpsichord). She received her Master of Music degree from the University of Michigan with Edward Parmentier and has a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Stony Brook University where she studied with the acclaimed harpsichordist and teacher Arthur Haas. In addition to her studies in the United States, Tami was awarded a prestigious DAAD grant, which she used to study in Germany at the Hochschule für Musik in Cologne with Ketil Haugsand.
Tami is dedicated to making early music accessible to today’s audiences and laying a foundation for its study and performance in the United States. https://www.tamimorse.com/
STEPHANIE SKOR, Executive Director
After spending 15 years as a performing artist in Boston, violinist Stephanie Skor returned to her hometown – Saint Paul. Upon her return she joined Lux String Quartet. In addition to her work with Lux, Stephanie maintains a busy and exciting freelance career in the Twin Cities. She performs and solos with many musical organizations including Twin Cities’ Gay Men’s Chorus, the South Dakota Symphony, the National Lutheran Choir, VocalEssence, House of Hope, the Minnesota Oratorio Society, and MPR concert events. Stephanie particularly loves ballet and has performed with the Loyce Holton Nutcracker Fantasy at the State Theater, the Joffrey Ballet, and the Georgia State Ballet.
While in Boston, Stephanie established a career in music that uniquely combined performance with administrative leadership. For six years, Stephanie was a violinist in the critically acclaimed Boston-based chamber orchestra Discovery Ensemble, founded and conducted by the former Minnesota Orchestra Associate Conductor, Courtney Lewis; in the sixth season she was also named Operations Manager. Stephanie remains the Program Coordinator of New England Conservatory’s Summer Institute of Contemporary Performance Practice, a festival dedicated to performing cutting-edge music from the last one hundred years. She is also one of the resident performers in that festival. Stephanie has found that her professional performance experience enhances her administrative perspective. She is excited to bring that experience to her new role as Executive Director of the Minnesota Bach Ensemble.
Stephanie is an honors graduate of the New England Conservatory, where she studied with Nicholas Kitchen, a founding member and first violinist of the Borromeo String Quartet. She enjoyed an eclectic performing career in Boston and was in demand for her range as an artist. For six seasons she was of member of the critically acclaimed chamber orchestra Discovery Ensemble, founded and conducted by Courtney Lewis. She toured with Jethro Tull, appeared with Andrea Bocelli and in the HBO Game of Thrones tour, and was concertmaster at the Rockport Chamber Music Festival. Stephanie has performed with such artists as Kim Kashkashian, Paula Robison, Jorja Fleezanis, and the Pacifica Quartet. She has worked with many inspiring conductors including Osmo Vänskä, Michael Stern, Douglas Boyd, Joshua Weilerstein, James Ross, and Larry Rachleff. Stephanie has appeared in performances on WGBH, MPR, TPT, and Newstalk, a national radio station in Ireland.
Passionate about 20th century and contemporary music Stephanie has premiered over 27 new works. She has been a member of Callithumpian Consort, Composers’ Series in Jordan Hall, the NEC Contemporary Ensemble, and Juventas New Music Ensemble. She was featured in the Festival Internacional Cervantino in Guanajuato, México in 2016. She has enjoyed working with composers Georg Friedrich Haas, Vinko Globokar, Christian Wolff, and Nicholas Vines, and has played works by John Cage, György Ligeti, Cornelius Cardew, Terry Riley, Steve Reich, Lei Liang, Thomas Adès, and Esa-Pekka Salonen.
CECELIA BELCHER, Artistic Committee
Violinist Cecilia Belcher joined the Minnesota Orchestra in 2014 and won the position of Assistant Principal Second Violin in 2017. She has played with the Minnesota Bach Ensemble since 2015, and began leading the ensemble as concertmaster in 2023. Previously, she performed with the St. Louis Symphony from 2008-2014, and also frequently performed with the Houston Symphony Orchestra and the New York City chamber orchestra The Knights. She has been Principal Second Violin of ROCO in Houston and, as concertmaster, she led the New World Symphony, Reno Philharmonic, Aspen Music Festival Opera Orchestra and the Mississippi Valley Orchestra. She has enjoyed traveling the world for festivals and performances, including to Aspen, Tanglewood, Verbier, Banff, Beijing, the BBC Proms, South Africa, New Zealand and throughout Europe.
From St. Louis, Missouri, Belcher began violin studies at the age of three, and was a student of the renowned Suzuki pedagogue Winifred Crock. She earned a bachelor's degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music, studying with Paul Kantor, and a master's degree from the Shepherd School of Music, studying with Kathleen Winkler. She and her husband Richard Belcher, a cellist in the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, live in Minneapolis with their two children.
KATHRYN BENNET, violin
Kathryn Bennett has performed and toured frequently with both the Minnesota Orchestra and The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, recently spending three seasons as a member of the Minnesota Orchestra first violin section, and currently spending the 2024-25 season performing with The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. A native of Connecticut, Kathryn first moved to Minneapolis to study at the University of Minnesota with Sally O’Reilly. Other primary teachers include Yair Kless,Nelli Skolnikova, and Jorja Fleezanis. Kathryn is a member of IRIS and
the Minnesota Bach Ensemble and has performed in many chamber music series locally and throughout the country. In addition to the Minnesota based
orchestras, Kathryn has performed and toured with the Milwaukee Symphony, A Far Cry, the Verbier Chamber Orchestra, and the Verbier Festival Orchestra throughout the US, Eastern and Western Europe, Asia, South America, Cuba, and South Africa. Kathryn has participated in various music festivals including Tanglewood, Verbier Music Festival, Spoleto USA, Lakes Area Music Festival, and the Sun Valley Symphony. Kathryn plays on a violin made by Matteo Goffriller c. 1706.
KATHE JARKA, Artistic Committee
Käthe Jarka has performed to critical acclaim in major concert venues across the United States, Canada, and in Europe as a recitalist and chamber musician. She has collaborated with such artists as Yo-Yo Ma, Ruth Laredo, Grant Johannesen, Donald Weilerstein, and the Juilliard Quartet, and has participated in the Marlboro Music Festival. She has appeared several times as a guest with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. While a member of the Shanghai Quartet, she toured extensively, appearing at the Tanglewood, Norfolk, and Ravinia festivals. She has performed with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. Since 1990 she has been an artist member of the Garden City Chamber Music Society, performing a wide range of repertoire with some of the finest chamber musicians of the day. She is also a member of cello trio Vc3, with cellists Elizabeth Anderson and Robert LaRue.
Ms. Jarka has been on the faculties of the University of Richmond, Virginia and the Preparatory Division of the Peabody Conservatory as well as the Juilliard MAP program and has served as chamber music assistant to the Juilliard Quartet, and as a coach for the Young Musicians Program of the Education Division of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. She has also served on the faculty of Mannes Prep where she taught students of all ages. A certified teacher of the Alexander Technique, Kathe also served as a member of the faculty of Alexander Technique New York City (ATNYC), a teacher-training school for Alexander Technique, and The Neighborhood Playhouse, a top-tier drama school in New York City.
Käthe Jarka holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the Juilliard School where she was a scholarship student of Leonard Rose. She was also the recipient of a Fulbright Grant, for study with William Pleeth in London.
Ms. Jarka is frequently heard on National Public Radio, and has appeared several times on Around New York with host Steve Sullivan. Recordings include works by Debussy, Roberto Sierra, Gaubert, and Copland on the Pickwick, New Albion, MSR and MMC labels.
Since moving to the Twin Cities, Käthe has performed with numerous local ensembles, including the St Paul Chamber Orchestra and the Baaken Trio, and is a member of the Minnesota Bach Ensemble. She has served on the faculties of the International Cello Institute (ICI) , the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire and has coached chamber music at the University of Minnesota. She lives in Minneapolis with her husband and their two very musical cats.
BASIL REEVE, Artistic Committee
Retired Principal Oboe of the Minnesota Orchestra, Basil Reeve, a native New Yorker, was the lead oboist with the Rotterdam Philharmonic and New York City Opera before joining the Minnesota Orchestra in 1971. In his forty-one seasons, Basil has performed most of the major oboe repertoire, ranging from concertos by Telemann and J.S. Bach to those of Strauss, Vaughan Williams and Henze. In March 2009, he and the orchestra premiered the Christopher Rouse Oboe Concerto.
Basil has also performed in virtually every Minnesota Orchestra Sommerfest and winter season chamber series during his tenure. He served for 37 years as co-artistic director of the long-standing Twin Cities group the Musical Offering chamber ensemble. Basil teaches year-round privately and at the University of Minnesota, and summers at the Round Top Institute.
DAVID WILLIAMSON, Artistic Committee
Bass player Dave Williamson grew up in St. Paul in a musical family. He began his orchestral career as Principal Bass of the New Orleans Symphony after graduating from the Curtis Institute of Music. After five years in New Orleans along with a summer job at the Santa Fe Opera, Mr. Williamson was hired by the Minnesota Orchestra, where he has served as Acting Assistant Principal as well as Acting Associate Principal Bass. One of the most formative events in his career occurred in 2001 when conductor Helmuth Rilling asked him to serve as Principal Bassist of the Oregon Bach Festival in Eugene, Oregon. The opportunity to perform, study, and record many of the cantatas, oratorios and orchestral works of J.S. Bach with Maestro Rilling has been a lasting and wonderful gift for Dave. He has become an “over-the-top” advocate for these gems of the repertoire.