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Biographies
AARON PACKARD, VIOLIN
Violinist Aaron Packard leads a vibrant and versatile musical life, performing repertoire that spans multiple genres and historical periods. An avid improviser and champion of contemporary music, he has collaborated closely with composers such as Ellen Lindquist, Ted Hearne, and Elizabeth Adams to pioneer new sonic landscapes. His recent recording projects include the album a syp, a scuffle, stasis with Loon Lake Live, featuring John Winn’s string quartet “The More Things Change...”
A dedicated chamber musician and leader, Aaron is a founding member of both the Hartford-based Cuatro Puntos Ensemble—recording extensively on the Arkadash and Métier labels—and the Mad River String Quartet. He has served as concertmaster for numerous large ensembles, including the New England Repertory Orchestra and the Occasional Brass Festival Orchestra. He has shared the stage with an extensive list of luminaries, featuring Mantra Percussion, the Orfeo Duo, rapper Self Suffice, and Judy Collins.
Currently based in Massachusetts, Aaron serves on the faculty at the Joy of Music Program in Worcester. He holds foundational training from major violin mentors Greg Fulkerson, Mark Steinberg, and Mitchell Stern, and was set on his path as a deeply intentional listener by the incomparable pianist Gil Kalish and cellist Tim Eddy. Offstage, Aaron is usually found reading science fiction, exploring etymology, or chopping wood.
ANNIE TREPANIER, VIOLIN
Violinist Annie Trépanier is a captivating performer and recording artist as well as a passionately dedicated teacher. The Boston Globe has hailed her playing as “supercharged, clear-headed, yet soulful” and her travels have included concerts in Brazil, Bolivia, Turkey, and throughout Europe. She has been heard regularly in national broadcasts on Radio-Canada, CBC and NPR and has recorded for Toccata Classics, Navona, Ablaze, Arkadash, Metier, CRI and Ongaku.
Since 2013 Trépanier has performed with and served as Co-Executive Director of Cuatro Puntos, a Connecticut-based musical collective dedicated to bringing people together through musical partnerships around the world, including activities in New England, South America, Afghanistan, Turkey, and England. She and her husband, violist Steve Larson, in addition to performing together as a duo and with Cuatro Puntos Ensemble, are members of Mad River String Quartet which is dedicated to exploring the rich legacy of American music in all its entertaining variety. Previously they played together for two decades as members of Avery Ensemble, producing a regular concert series as well as critically acclaimed recordings. "Here are four musicians whose technical perfection and polish are equally matched by the sumptuous sound they produce and the depth of interpretive insight they exhibit" (Fanfare Magazine). Trépanier and her duo partner, pianist Pi-Hsun Shih, are currently developing American Graffiti, a series of videos that delve into the multi-faceted world of American classical music, weaving duo performances with fascinating stories about American composers.
Each summer Trépanier is invited to perform for two wonderful communities of music lovers – at Loon Lake Live in upstate New York, and at the Wintergreen Festival in Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains. She is a former member of the New World Trio and the Diabelli String Quartet and has appeared as a guest with such ensembles as the Copenhagen and Adaskin String Trios. Trépanier has performed at numerous colleges and conservatories including Juilliard, New England Conservatory, Dickinson, Longy, Hartt, and Yale. She was a teaching artist for ten years at The Hotchkiss School and now directs Violin and Chamber Music programs at The Master's School in Simsbury, CT and coaches chamber music at The Hartt School.
Trépanier studied violin with Denise Lupien, Claude Richard, Philip Setzer, Pamela Frank, Teri Einfeldt, and Linda Fiore and holds degrees from McGill University, the University of Ottawa and The Hartt School. She was coached in chamber music by members of the Orion, Emerson, Cleveland and Orford String Quartets. Visit www.violinviolaetc.com for more information.
STEVE LARSON, VIOLA
Violist Steve Larson’s playing has been described as “electrifying” (Journal of the American Viola Society) while the Montreal Gazette has praised his "singing tone, eloquent phrasing, expressive dynamics and flawless intonation." He has performed with the Adaskin String Trio since 1994, and with the oboe, viola & piano trio, Ensemble Schumann, since 2005. The Adaskin’s complete String Trios of Beethoven was hailed by Gramophone as “riveting” and “intoxicating,” while their MSR Classics release of the two piano quartets by Gabriel Faure with pianist Sally Pinkas was enthusiastically welcomed as “splendid,” “worth celebrating” and “ferociously gorgeous.” Ensemble Schumann’s Romantic Trios was described by Fanfare Magazine as making “some of the most blissful sounds this side of nirvana…exquisite music, exquisitely played.” Larson and his wife, violinist Annie Trépanier, perform regularly together both as members of Cuatro Puntos Ensemble, whose activities have included collaborations with artists from Turkey, Afghanistan, Iraq, the UK, and India, and as part of the Mad River String Quartet which explores the legacy of American repertoire in all its fascinating and entertaining variety.
Larson is Principal Viola and Viola Faculty at the Wintergreen Festival in Virginia where he has performed and taught each July since 2007. He has performed or given masterclasses at colleges and conservatories throughout North America including Dartmouth, Juilliard, Princeton, New England Conservatory, McGill, Columbia, Smith, and University of Toronto, and has coached the viola section of the Yale Symphony Orchestra since 2023. He is a Senior Artist Teacher at The Hartt School of the University of Hartford where he has taught since 1998 and has served both as Chair for Strings and Chair of Chamber Music. Larson is a former member of the Alcan Quartet, Avery Ensemble, Musica Camerata Montreal, l’Orchestre Baroque de Montréal, and l’Ensemble Contemporain de Montréal, and has performed as a guest with groups such as the Emerson Quartet, the Lions Gate Trio, the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, and the National Arts Center Orchestra.
Originally from Regina, Saskatchewan, Larson holds degrees from McGill University, l’Université de Montréal and The Hartt School. At the 1997 Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition in the United Kingdom he won second prize and received the special award for his performance of the commissioned work. He studied violin with Ernest Kassian, Elman Lowe, Howard Leyton-Brown, and Mauricio Fuks, viola with Jutta Puchhammer and Steve Tenenbom, pedagogy with David Strom and Christie Felsing, and chamber music with members of the Emerson and Orford String Quartets. He plays an exceptional 17-3/8 inch viola made by Helmuth Keller in 1981. Visit www.violinviolaetc.com for more information.
BECKY PATTERSON, CELLO
The New York Times describes Ms. Patterson as having an "uncommonly warm and rounded tone," and the Washington Post praises her for “a stunning account of the movement “Praise to the Eternity of Jesus” from Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time. As a founding member of the award-winning ensemble Antares, Rebecca dedicated over fifteen years (1996-2012) to chamber music, contemporary music, commissioning new works, and teaching.
Ms. Patterson co-founded Antares while a student at Yale, and took the top prizes the following year in the Fischoff, Coleman, Yellow Springs, and Carmel National Chamber Music Competitions. In 2002, Antares was awarded the top prize in the prestigious Concert Artists Guild Competition in New York City. Under their five-year management, the ensemble performed throughout the US and Canada and also recorded and commissioned numerous works for the piano-clarinet quartet genre. In 2007 they joined Sciolino Artist Management until they disbanded in 2012 to pursue other interests. Their last CD release in 2011, revisited two significant yet previously unrecorded works from 1978: Shadowed Narrative by Roger Reynolds and Tashi by Peter Lieberson. This CD was featured as “Choice of the Month” in the January 2012 issue of BBC Music Magazine. Other recordings with Antares include, Eclipse with Innova Recordings, and Red River by Mason Bates with MSR Classics label.
In recent years, Ms. Patterson has turned her focus to the Connecticut community. She was awarded the Principal Cello position of the New Haven Symphony Orchestra in 2012, and served as Instructor of Cello at the University of Connecticut, Storrs between 2014-2018. In 2019, she was awarded a Ford Foundation Award in Community Service through education work in the NHSO. She continues to be a dedicated teacher and chamber music coach of all ages through the Neighborhood Music School, in addition to her private studio. She has also acquired a Baroque Cello and is exploring repertoire with this sound.
Ms. Patterson received her B.M. from the Eastman School of Music and her M.M. from the Yale School of Music, where she studied with Paul Katz and Aldo Parisot, respectively. While at Eastman she was winner of the Gibbs Chamber Orchestra Concerto competition, as well as the recipient of the full-merit Lois Smith Rogers Scholarship. At Yale she was a recipient of the Ender Scholarship, which goes to a cellist with excellent promise. She currently lives in Woodbridge, CT.