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SOLOISTS' BIOS:

The son of a professional violinist, the musical path of cellist Marc Moskovitz has taken him from North Carolina to Indiana, Berlin, Virginia, Ohio, Boston and finally back to North Carolina. He has held positions at The University of Virginia and The University of Toledo, where he served as associate professor of cello and cellist of the Toledo Trio.  In 2001, Marc moved to Boston, where he performed with some of the city’s most venerable music organizations, among them The Boston Pops and The Handel and Haydn Society, both of with which he toured, and the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, with which he frequently recorded. As co-founder and cellist of Montage Music Society, he gave the North American premiere of Zemlinsky’s rediscovered Cello Sonata at the Library of Congress, which the Washington Post called “an impassioned performance.”  His recordings include the music of cello virtuosi David Popper and Alfredo Piatti, both on the VAI label, and premiere recordings of music of Franz Reizenstein and Eric Zeisl (ASV).  Marc has also performed as a guest of the International Piatti Festival in Bergamo, Italy.  In addition to his work as principal cellist of the ProMusica Chamber Orchestra, he performs regularly with the North Carolina Symphony and is founder of the Trinity Park Salon Series, a house music concert series in Durham, NC. A former student of cellists Janos Starker and Gary Hoffman, Marc holds a doctorate and master’s degree from Indiana University and spent one year in Berlin with cellist Wolfgang Boettcher as a Fulbright scholar.

A committed scholar, Marc has written on a variety of musical subjects and contributed to various music journals.  His entries on historical cellists are found in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians; in addition to writing the program notes for the ProMusica Chamber Orchestra, he has provided program notes for orchestras and opera houses in Germany, Spain and China as well as the U.S.; and his liner notes can be found on the Melba and Naxos record labels.  Marc’s biography of composer-conductor Alexander Zemlinsky, Alexander Zemlinsky: A Lyric Symphony, is published by Boydell & Brewer. He is currently at work on a second book.

When in Columbus, Marc performs on a cello owned by Catherine Adams. The instrument was owned and played by her great-grandfather, a professional cellist-turned-homesteader, who immigrated to America after serving in the court of the King of Hanover.

Cora Kuyvenhoven is assistant principal cellist of ProMusica Chamber Orchestra, and adjunct cello professor and co-director of chamber music at Denison University. She recently taught at Otterbein University for five years and is a founding member of QUBE, the university’s artist-in residence string quartet. Cora has been soloist with Westerville Symphony, Kalistos, Welsh Hills Symphony, Plymouth Symphony, National Arts Chamber Orchestra, and the Windsor Symphony.  The Windsor Star heralded her Haydn D Major performance as expressing a great “joie de vivre.” As a member of the Toronto Symphony (1990-1997) she recorded and broadcast extensively, and toured in Europe, Asia, Australia, and North America.

Cora obtained her A.R.C.T. licentiate from the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto with first class honours, studied at the Banff School of Fine Arts, and was a national finalist in the Canadian Music Competition.  She received her MFA from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee where she performed in the Advendo String Trio, under the tutelage of the Fine Arts Quartet.  Cora received a post master’s degree at University of Michigan-Ann Arbor.  Her DMA is from the University of Iowa (2000) where she was the recipient of the Iowa Performance Fellowship, and the Peltzer Award.

Nathaniel Chaitkin enjoys a wide-ranging career as a cellist, teacher and advocate for concert music. He has made several appearances as soloist with orchestra, including a performance of the Schumann Concerto which the Washington Post praised for its “engaging flair and commitment.” He has been heard in recital on CBC Radio, on WFMT Chicago’s Dame Myra Hess series, at the National Gallery of Art and the Banff Centre. He has recorded for Albany Records.

In 2012, Nat was awarded the City of Cincinnati’s Artist Ambassador Fellowship, giving him the opportunity to reach underserved audiences by performing in public spaces such as community centers, libraries and offices. His programs, called Bach and Boombox, place classical cello pieces alongside pop recordings to show how composers like Bach and Hindemith use the same tools as musicians like Thelonious Monk and the Beastie Boys. He is also the co-founder of 4-Way, Cincinnati’s community-based string quartet, which offers accessible, innovative performances in community settings, as well as free lessons to underserved urban youth.

A teacher at the Preparatory Division of the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, he has also taught at Michigan State University and Georgetown University. He is a member of the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, and was previously a member of the Grand Rapids Symphony and the “President’s Own” U.S. Marine Chamber Orchestra.

Nat graduated from the Pre-College Division of the Juilliard School, where he studied with Ardyth Alton. He received undergraduate and graduate degrees in music, as well as a B.A. in History at the University of Michigan, and a doctorate at the University of Maryland. His teachers included Jeffrey Solow, Nina deVeritch, Erling Blöndal Bengtsson, Evelyn Elsing and David Soyer.

Cellist Joel Becktell has performed, taught, and lectured throughout North and Central America and Europe. He has been a member of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Nichols Quartet, the Harrington String Quartet, and the Moveable Feast chamber ensemble. He has served as Principal Cellist of the Austin Symphony Orchestra and the Santa Fe Pro Musica and is Assistant Principal cellist of the Santa Fe Symphony. Joel appears frequently on Baroque and modern cello and violoncello piccolo as soloist and with ensembles throughout North America. He is a founding member of REVEL, a chamber ensemble performing an exceptionally wide-ranging repertoire (www.revelmusic.com), and of The Analog Cello Company, an ensemble dedicated to original and arranged works for multiple cellos. He is also a founding member of Movable Sol and the baroque ensemble BWV, both of which perform a popular, intimate concert series in New Mexico. Joel has appeared as soloist with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and the Santa Fe Symphony. He has recorded for Marquis Classics, Revel Records, Parma, and Blue Griffin Records labels. His latest CD, Bach’s Solo Cello Suites, Volume I, featuring two complete recordings of the first three Bach Suites (one on modern cello, one on a period baroque cello) was released in 2014.

Joel is a graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Music, where he received his Bachelor and Master of Music degrees with honors. His teachers include Anne Cole, Alan Harris, and Stephen Geber. A dedicated teacher and coach, Joel teaches privately and at various festivals and master classes. He has also written on pedagogical and luthiery topics for Strings Magazine.