Chamber Music Boise

“…a warm sound, and much joy…vivacious!” - The Strad [Carnegie Hall debut]

Founder and Artistic Director of Chamber Music Boise (CMB), Aubrey Holmes, is a concert violinist/violist and chamber musician currently living and teaching in Boise, Idaho. During the 2022/2023 season, Mr. Holmes was a full time, core member of the Virginia Symphony Orchestra’s violin section - rotated into assistant concertmaster. He is also a founding member and violinist of the Heimat Quartet (2014–2020), which gave their Carnegie Hall debut in 2019. In the fall of the same year, Heimat joined the faculty at Shenandoah Conservatory in Winchester, VA, giving their final recital as an ensemble in February 2020 before disbanding after six years together.

From 2011–2015, Mr. Holmes was based in Boston, Massachusetts. Here he played in Symphony Nova (Concertmaster/Principal 2nd), MetroWest Opera (Principal 2nd), Symphony Pro Musica (Principal 2nd), Boston Opera Collaborative (Associate Concertmaster), The Cape Ann Symphony (Associate Principal 2nd), Boston Modern Orchestra Project, The Vermont Symphony Orchestra, and The Cape Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Holmes is also the former first violinist of the Videri String Quartet which specializes in the performance and recording of video game music.

Other notable appearances and engagements with Heimat include faculty positions at Interlochen Center for the Arts High School Division – Advanced String Quartet Seminar, as well as quarter-finalists at the 2017 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. The Quartet also competed internationally at the 2019 Joachim International Chamber Music Competition held in Weimar, Germany where they also finished as quarter-finalists. Other international appearances include the International Mendelssohn Festival in Hamburg, Germany, The Esmeraldas International Music Festival held in Quito, Ecuador, and the Lunenberg Academy of Music (LAMP) in Lunenberg, Nova Scotia.

His primary mentors have included Dr. Blanka Bednarz, Dr. Irina Muresanu, Cathy Meng Robinson, and Daniel Kurganov, as well as members of the Miami String Quartet, Shanghai Quartet, and the Audubon Quartet.

Degrees Earned: Bachelor of Arts in violin performance, Master of Music in violin performance, Master of Music in chamber music (violin/Heimat Quartet), Artist Diploma in chamber music (violin/Heimat Quartet).

Nicole Oswald has served as the Acting Concertmaster of the Boise Philharmonic Orchestra beginning in the fall of 2024. A distinguished performer and dedicated educator, she is currently the Artist in Residence at the College of Idaho and a member of the Langroise Trio. Her commitment to community-driven music is reflected in her role as a founding member of the Thirdspace Quartet, which presented over 24 events in the Treasure Valley area during its opening season.

Ms. Oswald’s orchestral career includes a tenured core position with the Virginia Symphony Orchestra and a previous role as concertmaster of The Orchestra Now. She has also performed with the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra and collaborated with world-renowned artists such as Gil Shaham, Andrés Cárdenes, and Charlie Castleman. A seasoned soloist and chamber musician, she has performed across the United States and abroad since her debut near her hometown of Boise, Idaho, at the age of 10. Her competitive success includes awards from the MTNA National Senior Strings Soloist Competition, the Stradivarius International Violin Competition(Youth Division), and the Hudson Valley Philharmonic Strings Competition.

As an educator, Nicole maintains a private studio and has been invited to teach and perform at various institutions, including the College of William and Mary, Old Dominion University, and Christopher Newport University. Her academic background is marked by a strong international foundation; as a teenager, she studied abroad for three years at the Utrechts Conservatory in The Netherlands. She holds a Master of Music, Artist Diploma and Bachelor of Music from Carnegie Mellon University, Frost School of Music at the University of Miami, and the Eastman School of Music. During her graduate studies, she served as the teaching assistant for both Charlie Castleman and Andrés Cárdenes.

Rosie Weiss is a versatile violinist, fiddler, and studio musician. She’s associate concertmaster of the Billings Symphony, co-founder of Chamber Music Boise (CMB), and performs with the Boise Philharmonic, Bozeman Symphony, and Palm Beach Symphony. She’s adjunct violin faculty at Rocky Mountain College, and maintains a private violin and fiddle studio in Boise, Idaho.

As a founding member of Carnegie Hall's National Youth Orchestra, she served for three seasons as assistant and associate concertmaster, performing across Russia, Europe, and China. She also joined the Orchestra of the Americas for their South American tour. Most recently, she returned to Carnegie Hall with the NYO-USA All-Stars Orchestra, led by Yannick Nézet-Séguin. She has shared the stage with conductors and artists such as Valery Gergiev, Charles Dutoit, Gerard Schwarz, Joshua Bell, Emanuel Ax, and Daniil Trifonov.

As a chamber musician, she's spent her summers at festivals such as Festival Napa Valley and Zephyr International Chamber Music Festival. As a member of the Henry Mancini Institute String Quartet, she performed at National Sawdust in New York, on the Billings Symphony Sukin Series, and across the Adirondacks. Most recently, she joined Thirdspace Quartet for a full season in Boise. Rosie has appeared as a soloist with the Frost Symphony Orchestra, Billings Symphony, Great Falls Symphony, Glacier Symphony, and Battle Creek Symphony. And most recently, with the Henry Mancini Orchestra at Festival Napa Valley.

Alongside her classical career, Rosie started playing with the Billings Ceilidh Fiddlers at age 4, and had won two Montana State championships by the time she was 10. She’s been an instructor at the Montana Fiddle Camp, and has performed alongside musicians like Jeremy Kittel, Bobby Hicks, Nicole Yarling, and Gregg Field. Rosie has recorded for artists such as Alex Lacamoire and Kishi Bashi, including a Grammy award-winning album by John Daversa.

In her free time, you can find Rosie hiking and birding in her favorite places in Idaho and Montana.

Cellist Kyle Stachnik is Professor of Cello at California State University, Sacramento, where he teaches applied cello and chamber music. He is also Executive and Artistic Director of Viridian Strings, a Northern Michigan–based summer chamber music series presenting recitals across the Grand Traverse region with artists from around the world.

An active performer throughout Northern California, Stachnik serves as Fourth Chair Cellist of the Santa Rosa Symphony and Assistant Principal Cellist of the Bay Philharmonic. He has appeared with ensembles including the New Century Chamber Orchestra, Cabrillo Festival Orchestra, Sacramento Philharmonic and Opera, Opera San José, Vallejo Festival Orchestra, and SF Broadway, among many others. As a chamber musician, he has performed on series such as the Noontime Concerts Series in San Francisco, Santa Cruz Chamber Players, Cloverdale Performing Arts Series, and Music on the Hill in Angwin, California. His recording work includes sessions at Skywalker Sound, and he can be heard on a Deutsche Grammophon release with the New Century Chamber Orchestra.

Stachnik holds a Master’s degree in Chamber Music from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where he studied with Jennifer Culp, and a Bachelor of Music from the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami, where he studied under Ross Harbaugh. He is also an alumnus of Interlochen Arts Academy, where he studied with Crispin Campbell.

In addition to his work at Sacramento State, he is Professor of Cello at Pacific Union College in Angwin, California, and maintains a private teaching studio. He performs on a specially commissioned 2018 Raymond Schryer cello.

Jennifer Blyth's performing schedule has taken her to twenty-three states throughout the U.S. and internationally she has appeared in Russia, South Africa, Canada, England, France, Iceland, Germany, Spain, Italy, Ireland and Australia. Blyth has participated in residencies across four continents and has performed at prestigious venues such as Weill Recital Hall, Chicago Art Institute, Corcoran Gallery, and the Bang on a Can Series.

She has premiered over thirty new compositions, has been featured on National Public Radio, Canadian Broadcasting Commission, C-Span, Australian Broadcasting Commission National Radio, Icelandic National Radio and the Australian Broadcasting Commission Television Network and she has recorded on the Musica Omnia and Innova labels. Her work can be heard on podcasts out of the National Constitution Center and more recently on the soundtrack for the documentary "A Return Home" which garnered nine film awards including "Best Soundtrack for the London International Film Festival". Blyth is currently Professor of Music at Dickinson College, Pennsylvania.

Her principal teachers include Stephanie Coleman and John Roberts of the Conservatorium of Western Australia and Barry Snyder of Eastman School of Music. She completed her Master's degree and Doctorate majoring in Performance and Literature at Eastman where she was also awarded the prestigious Performer's Certificate. Blyth is currently Professor of Music at Dickinson College, Pennsylvania.

Michael Cameron serves as both Contributing Faculty (Cello) and Coordinator of Chamber Music at Dickinson College. He was cellist and General Manager of the Marian Anderson String Quartet from 1989-2002. He holds degrees from The Hartt School of Music, Northwestern University and Rice University. As a member of the Marian Anderson String Quartet, Mr. Cameron won the 1991 Cleveland Quartet Competition, which enabled him to study cello and chamber music at The Eastman School of Music for three years. He has performed with the Maryland, York(PA) and Pan-American Symphony (DC) Orchestras and has taught cello and chamber music at Texas A&M University, Prairie View A&M University (TX) and California State University, Los Angeles. In addition to his responsibilities at Dickinson, Mr. Cameron is Conductor of Orchestra at the Susquehanna Waldorf School (Lancaster County, PA), Director of the Mercersburg Academy String Ensemble (Franklin County, PA) and teaches cello at the Cumberland Valley School of Music. He also teaches many private cello students who reside in the Harrisburg region and beyond.

Violinist and violist Blanka Bednarz holds a DMA and MM from the New England Conservatory in Boston and a BM from the University of Kansas. A native of Poland, she is an alumna of the J. Kaliszewska Talent School in Poznań and studied with Eric Rosenblith, Ben Sayevich, and James Dunham. She also participated in master classes and chamber music studies with members of the Borromeo and Cavani Quartets, James Buswell, and Patricia Zander.

As a soloist, Dr. Bednarz has appeared with the Changsha Symphony, Connecticut Virtuosi, the New England Conservatory Symphony and Chamber Orchestras, Gettysburg Chamber Orchestra, Sinfonietta Polonia, Utah Valley Symphony, Sinfonietta Vidin and other ensembles. During the 2007–08 season, she served as first violinist of the Vega String Quartet, Quartet-in-Residence at Emory University, praised by The Strad as a "marvelous foursome."

An active chamber musician and orchestral performer, she has collaborated with distinguished artists including Barry Snyder, Rita Sloan, John Novacek, Doris Stevenson, Vedrana Subotić, Ning Lu, Simon Gollo, Stephanie Chase, Airi Yoshioka, and Richard Stoltzman. She has also performed with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Alarm Will Sound, the Baltimore, Utah, Harrisburg, and Changsha Symphonies. She has collaborated with artists from the Park City Chamber Music Festival and Market Square Concerts (PA). In Utah, she has performed in the Intermezzo, NEXT, Nova, and Timpanogos Chamber Music Series and has served as concertmaster of the Utah Metropolitan Ballet.

Dr. Bednarz has performed throughout the United States, the United Kingdom, Poland, Germany, Sweden, Italy, China, Finland, and Lithuania. Her appearances have taken her to renowned venues including Jordan Hall (Boston), Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall (New York), Beijing Concert Hall, the Philadelphia Ethical Society, Miller Hall, and Aula UAM in Poznań.

Her recordings are available on Capstone Records, Acte Préalable, and Musica Omnia. Her 2017 recording of works by Karol Szymanowski with pianist Matthew Bengtson received a Silver Medal from the Global Music Awards and earned her an Honorable Mention from The American Prize.

Dr. Bednarz has previously served on the faculties of Emory University, Dickinson College, and the New England Conservatory Preparatory School. She currently teaches violin and chamber music at the University of Utah, the Peterson School of Music (formerly the Gifted Music School), and the International Musicians Academy in Bulgaria. Among her students are numerous competition winners, UMTA. She has served as a judge in competitions such as MTNA and UMTA.

Dr. Bednarz serves as Executive Director and Conductor of the Utah Valley Youth Symphony Orchestra and as Associate Conductor of the Utah Valley Symphony, with which she presented concerts at the Scera with Jeremy Jordan and Loren Allred, Dallyn Bayles, Mindy Smoot Robbins, among others.

Selected Reviews
"Bednarz is clearly a remarkable violinist." — Daniel Morrison, Fanfare Magazine
"Bednarz's violin playing illuminates every detail of these sometimes nigh-impossible works." — O'Connor, American Record Guide
"Outstanding Polish violinist." — Marek Zaradniak, Głos Wielkopolski (Poland)

American Prize Gold Medalist Cheung Chau is Professor of Music and Director of Orchestras at Utah Valley University. He is the Music Director of the Utah Valley Symphony, Utah Valley Youth Symphony in Orem, Utah, Music Director of Sinfonietta Polonia in Poznań, Poland, Principal Guest Conductor of the Changsha Symphony in Hunan, China, as well as conductor and faculty of the International Musicians' Academy with the Sinfonietta Vidin in Vidin, Bulgaria.

Cheung inspires audiences through his powerful performances, diverse programming, collaborations with community artistic institutions, and engaging beloved and exciting artists. Conducting over 760 concerts in 16 countries worldwide, Chau is a nationally and internationally recognized musician and conductor. In addition to winning the first prize of the internationally acclaimed American Prize as a professional orchestra conductor in 2024, Chau is a USA National Arts Associate with Sigma Alpha Iota, amongst distinguished musicians including Semyon Bychkov, Sir Neville Marriner, Andre Watts, and Pinchas Zukerman. Chau won the ASTA's Teacher of the Year Award in 2018. His 2017 world premiere recording of Snow Queen with Sinfonietta Polonia on the leading Polish label, Acte Préalable, received a Global Music Awards Silver Medal.

As Music Director of Sinfonietta Polonia, Chau initiated a New Year Concert series that reached over 200,000 live audience members between 2007 and 2020. In addition to winning a silver medal from the Global Music Awards, Sinfonietta Polonia toured throughout Europe and China, including winning the World's Best Gala-Event in 2017, performing at the Federico Fellini Gala at the Cinecittà studios in Rome, Italy.

As director of orchestras at UVU, Chau collaborated with artists and ensembles including Jason Alexander, Kathryn Eberle, Colin Carr, Hans Euler, Lucius Hemmer, eleven UVU music department faculty as soloists, the UVU Opera, UVU Choirs, the UVU Center for Constitutional Studies, the UVU Office for Global Engagement, the UVU College of Science, the UVU Theatre, Dance and Visual Arts departments, the Wasatch Chorale, the Mapleton Chorale, the Southern Utah University Opus Chamber Choir, amongst others. The UVU premiere of Mahler's Second Symphony, "Resurrection", at the Noorda Center in April of 2024 became one of the best-selling concerts at UVU of that season. In the 2024 – 2025 season, the UVU Symphony and Chamber Orchestra presented Massenet's Werther with the UVU Opera, Cabaret—an evening of Gershwin's music with the UVU Theatre Department, and performances of Tango music with the UVU Contemporary Dance Ensemble. The UVU Symphony also featured violinist Aubree Oliverson in Sibelius's Violin Concerto in a tribute to Sibelius at his 160th birth anniversary. And in 2025-26 season, one of the highlights will be a performance dedicated to Ukraine, featuring soloist Peter Sirotin, violin.

As a conductor of professional orchestras, Chau served as assistant conductor to Edo de Waart at the Hong Kong Philharmonic, performing for events including the 2007 10th anniversary of the Hong Kong Handover, amongst audience members including Chinese President Hu Jintao. He served as the Resident Conductor of the Changsha Symphony in Hunan, China, of which he is currently the principal guest conductor, with nationally televised concerts reaching millions of audience members. Since 2004 Chau served as music director of Sinfonietta Polonia, performing over 300 concerts and reaching over 300,000 live audience members. He served as the principal guest conductor of the Lublin Philharmonic in Poland and is currently conductor of the Sinfonietta Vidin at the International Musicians Academy in Vidin, Bulgaria.

As conductor of youth ensembles, in addition to serving as the music director of the Utah Valley Youth Symphony since 2013, awarded Best Youth Organization of Provo in 2022, Chau was three times guest conductor of the International Association of Southeast Asian Schools in Jakarta, Bangkok, and Kuala Lumpur. He was the conductor of the Utah All-State Orchestra and Education Ambassador for the Hong Kong Philharmonic, conducting the orchestra in over 70 educational concerts and visiting with hundreds of middle and high school students each year. Chau also conducted youth ensembles in Utah including the Sandy Youth Symphony, The Weber School District Honors Orchestra, and the Bridgerland Honors Orchestra in Logan.

Chau was music director of community orchestras including the Central Pennsylvania Symphony, the Bloomington Symphony, and the Manchester Symphony, performing music ranging from Broadway, film, and popular music, including the music of the Beatles, to ballet, to classical standards including music of Copland, Sibelius, Bruckner, Bernstein, Holst, Brahms, amongst many others. In Pennsylvania, he initiated a performance of "Dancing with the PA Stars", a project in collaboration with the Pennsylvania legislature which raised thousands of dollars for the Pennsylvania Alzheimers' Association.

As conductor of collegiate orchestras, Chau was director of orchestras at Haverford College and the University of Connecticut. He took the UVU Symphony to the semi-finals at the American Prize with works of Shostakovich and Szymanowski.

As guest conductor Chau conducted the Moscow Symphony in Russia, the Nordhausen Philharmonic and the Nuremburg Symphony in Germany, the Filharmonica Marchigiana in Italy, the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic in Sweden, the Vassa Symphony in Finland, the Williamsport Symphony, the Charlottesville Symphony, and the Ballet West Orchestra in the United States, the Białystok Philharmonic, the Kielce Philharmonic, the Lublin Philharmonic, the Sudecka Philharmonic, and the Olsztyn Philharmonic Orchestras in Poland. In China, he conducted the China National Symphony, the Tianjin Philharmonic, the Wuhan Philharmonic, and the Xiamen Philharmonic, and became the permanent guest conductor of the Inner Mongolia Orchestra in 2007.

As ballet conductor, Chau conducted productions of Giselle and Nutcracker with the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet and the Ballet West at the Harrisburg Whitaker Center and the Capitol Theatre in Salt Lake City. He was a guest conductor at the Grand Opera and Ballet Theater in Poznań, Poland, where he conducted the world premiere of Alice in Wonderland in 2014. Chau led the world premiere performance of Snow Queen in March of 2016 at the Grand Theater in Poznań. Since then, Chau led Alice in Wonderland and Snow Queen regularly in Poznań and at the prestigious Opera Nova in Bydgoszcz, Poland.

As opera conductor Chau collaborated with the UVU Opera, the Royal Stockholm Academy Opera, and the Georgia Southern Opera, conducting Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel, Massenet's Werther, Mozart's Cosi Fan Tutte, Don Giovanni, and others.

Artists Chau collaborated as conductor include Stephanie Chase, Monte Belknap, Kathryn Eberle, Barnabás Kelemen, Stefan Tarara, Colin Carr, Jeffrey Solow, Matt Holland, Rebecca Corruccini, Jason Alexander, Leticia Oaks Strong, Ning An, Ulrich Knörzer, Bob Evans, Maria Masycheva, Nathan Hughes, Barbara Kubiak, Anna Maria Staśkiewicz, amongst many other nationally and internationally renowned soloists and personalities in the USA, Germany, Poland and China. Chau also collaborates regularly in concert with non-traditional concert artists including Bulgarian folk dancer masters, Romani folk artists, dancers (ballet, modern, ballroom) narrators, and visual artists, amongst others.

As cellist Chau performed as soloist with the Hong Kong Philharmonic, the Macao Symphony, the Changsha Symphony, the Gettysburg Chamber Orchestra, the Timpanogos Symphony, the UVU Symphony, Sinfonietta Polonia, and Sinfonietta Vidin, and performed the UVU premiere of Gulda's Cello Concerto in collaboration with the UVU Wind Symphony in March of 2025. He recorded works by Ravel, Mendelssohn, and Szymanowska with the Atma Trio for Acte Préalable.

He has collaborated in chamber music with artists such as Stephanie Chase, Jeffrey Solow, Leslie and Russell Harlow, Doris Stevenson, John Novacek, Vedrana Subotic, Simon Gollo, Alex and Aubrey Woods, Monte Belknap, members of the Utah Symphony, and others. He has performed in the Park City Chamber Music Festival, on the Intermezzo Chamber Music Series and the Timpanogos Music Series in Utah.

Chau received the first double doctorate from the New England Conservatory in wind ensemble conducting and cello performance, studying conducting with Frank Battisti and cello with Colin Carr. He was a conducting fellow at the Aspen Conducting Academy studying with David Zinman and Alan Gilbert. He studied orchestral conducting with Jorma Panula at the Royal Conservatory of Sweden and was mentored by Edo de Waart and Charles Dutoit.