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Diabelli String Quartet

ICSC is pleased to announce that the Diabelli String Quartet will be returning as quartet in residence for its third season. After a performance of the Brahms Quintet in B Minor, Op. 115 with clarinetist Jonathan Cohler at ICC 2000, the Boston Globe hailed their playing as "supercharged, clear-headed, yet soulful."

Formed in 1999, the Diabelli String Quartet has already established itself on the chamber music scene in Canada and the United States. The Diabelli Quartet was the quartet-in-residence from August to December 2000 at the Shaw Festival in Ontario, and in January 2001, they began an intensive two-year program with the Emerson String Quartet at the Hartt School of Music.

A few years ago, Renée-Paule Gauthier was listed 'among the best upcoming violinists' by Henry Roth in his survey of violinists of the 20th century Violin Virtuosos. She has won numerous competition first prizes such as the Canadian Music Competition and the Canadian Music Festival and performed as a soloist with many orchestras in her native Quebec. Her teachers have included Andrèe Azar at the Conservatoire de Chicoutimi, Jean-François Rivest at l'Universitè de Montrèal, and Zvi Zeitlin at the Eastman School of Music.



Brunilda Myftaraj was born in Saranda, Albania, began her violin studies at the age of 6 at the Jordan Misja School of Music in Tirana, and attended college at the Institute of Fine Arts. She started performing and touring when she was nine years old. Brunilda won numerous prizes during her studies in Albania including the National Competition for Young Players at age of ten, where she was awarded third prize. She was also member of the Young Violinist Ensemble directed by Zhani Ciko, and toured throughout Greece, Italy, France and Austria. Later, during high school, the violinist and conductor Didi Tartari offered her the position of soloist and concertmaster in her chamber orchestra, with which she made many recordings and debuted as a soloist in Albania and Greece. Brunilda was the soloist when this chamber orchestra won another national competition for chamber groups performing "Winter" from Vivaldi’s "The Four Seasons".

At age of sixteen she participated in the prestigious "Premio Rodolfo Lipizer" International Violin Competition in Gorizia, Italy, were she was a semifinalist. In 1993 Brunilda won the audition to participate in the Mediterranean Youth Orchestra of France and toured Morocco and Monte Carlo. In the same year she became the first violinist of "Clasica" string Quartet, which met with success in a short amount of time, winning the award for best musical ensemble at the Balkan Festival in Delphi, Greece. The well known conductor, Franco Petracchi awarded the quartet highest honors at the at the Academy of Fine Arts, as well as a scholarship to the Musical Academy of Chigiana in Siena, Italy. There the quartet studied with the violist of the famous "Quartetto Italiano", Piero Farulli, during the summer of 1994.

In 1995 the "Clasica" was awarded a tour to U.S by the Center International for the Performing Arts in Paris, France. They made their debuts in Napa Valley, San Francisco, and New York. Brunilda graduated collage in June 1995 after studying violin for sixteen years with the nations best violin teacher Proletare Skenderi.

After graduating she was invited to the Academy of Yehudi Menuin in Bloney, Switzerland, where she studied with Alberto Lissy during the summer of 1995. She returned to U.S in 1995 and stayed in Napa, California for nine months with her host family. During that time she performed as concertmaster and soloist with the Solano Community Orchestra, and performed as a guest artist for the Mostly Mozart Festival of Napa Valley.

She studied for two years with the Emerson String Quartet at The Hartt School of Music. She is a winner of "The Emerson String Quartet Competition 2000" as well as a semifinalist of the "Artists Guild Competition" of 2000. In November 2001 she was the winner of the Van Rooy Competition for Musical Excellence at The Hartt School. She will be a semifinalist at the Indianapolis International Violin Competition this coming September. Bruna plays in the Myftari Trio with pianist Gary Chapman and cellist Eric Dahlin. She is a member of Hartford Symphony, the Connecticut Opera Orchestra and the Connecticut Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra and is on the faculty of The Hartt School, Community Division.


German-American Violist Eve Wickert began studying violin at age seven. She went on to pursue various other artistic and academic disciplines, such as studio art and art history before discovering the viola at age 23. Since then she has studied with Karen Tuttle at the Juilliard School and Kim Kashkahian at the New England Conservatory of music.

Miss Wickert is an active chamber musician in Europe and the United States. She has concertized at the Norfolk, Spoleto, Yellow Barn music festivals and at the International Music Sessions at Prussia Cove, UK.   Miss Wickert has also performed at the Steins Institute at the Ravinia festival, and on the Ravinia Rising Stars serries. Most recently she has been invited on trial as principal violist with the City of Birmingham Orchestra in England.




Cellist Brian Snow studied with Alan Harris at the Eastman School, Dr. Terry King at the Longy School of Music and Dennis Parker at Louisiana State University. He has performed as a soloist with the Crescent City Symphony of New Orleans and with the Longy Chamber Orchestra as a winner of the Longy Concerto Competition. He has received a fellowship from the Aspen Festival and has appeared at the Park City International Music Festival and the Round Top Festival in Texas.