Laura Albers, violin
Rebecca Albers. viola
Julie Albers, cello
From an early age the Albers sisters have captivated audiences with musical styles as diverse as their distinctive personalities and features. Beginning with their childhood performances on the Pearl Street Mall in Boulder, CO the sisters have gone on to perform at such venues as Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center, National Theatre in Taipei, Severance Hall, Weill Recital Hall, Wigmore Hall in London, and Zankel Hall. Their performances have also been seen and heard onLive from Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center Honors, Japan’s NHK, Washington D.C.’s Voice of America and Bavarian Radio. Their upcoming season includes performances in New York City, Boston, California, Colorado, Georgia, Kansas, New Mexico, and Texas.
Violinist Laura is the Associate Concertmaster of the San Francisco Opera. She, as well as her sisters, began studying Suzuki violin with their mother, Ellie LeRoux, at the age of two. Laura went on to receive her Bachelor and Master of Music Degrees from The Cleveland Institute of Music and The Juilliard School, where she studied with Donald Weilerstein and Ronald Copes. She has performed and taught on both violin and viola throughout the United States and in Canada and Mexico. She has also participated in the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, Rhode Island’s Newport Music Festival, the Sarasota Opera Festival in Florida and an Orpheus Chamber Orchestra tour. During the Opera’s off–season, Laura enjoys traveling, preparing gourmet meals and racing as an age group triathlete.
Violist Rebecca teaches at the University of Michigan School of Music Theatre & Dance in Ann Arbor. She received her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from the Juilliard School, where she was a student and teaching assistant of Heidi Castleman and Hsin–Yun Huang. In addition to the trio, she is a member Mark O’Connor’s Appalachia Waltz Trio and also performs regularly with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, both as a section and principal player. As winner of Juilliard’s 2002-03 viola competition Rebecca made her New York concerto debut performing the New York premiere of Samuel Adler’s Viola Concerto in Alice Tully Hall. She made her European recital debut at the Auditorium du Louvre in Paris. Rebecca has participated in such festivals as the Marlboro Music Festival, Open Chamber Music at Prussia Cove (UK), Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival, Strings Music Festival and the Perlman Music Program. Past teachers include Ellie LeRoux and James Maurer.
Cellist Julie studied with Richard Aaron at The Cleveland Institute of Music. She made her major orchestral debut at the age of 17 with the Cleveland Orchestra, and thereafter has performed in recital and with orchestras in the U.S., Europe, Korea, Taiwan, New Zealand and Australia. Julie has received various awards including the Grand Prize in South Korea’s Gyeongnam International Music Competition and Second Prize in Munich’s Internationaler Musikwettbewerbes der ARD. In America, she has performed with the orchestras of Indianapolis, Seattle, Colorado, Syracuse, San Antonio, Dayton, and San Diego among others. In addition to solo performances Julie regularly appears at chamber music festivals around the world. Julie is currently in the middle of a three year residency with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Two. October of 2005 marked the release of her solo debut recording on the Artek Label.
Violinist Laura Albers received her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music and The Juilliard School, where she studied with Donald Weilerstein and Ronald Copes.
In Cleveland she worked extensively with the Cavani Quartet and Peter Salaff in the Intensive Quartet Seminar and as an assistant music therapist in the Cleveland University Hospitals. Laura also spent time in Cuernavaca, Mexico playing viola in pianist Sergei Babyon’s festival.
While attending Juilliard, Laura toured with the Astor String Quartet and the Wild Ginger Philharmonic, and taught Suzuki violin at the Diller–Quaile School of Music.
During the summertime, Laura returned to the mountains for the Aspen Music Festival and the National Repertory Orchestra in Breckenridge. She and her sister, cellist Julie Albers, performed the Brahms Double Concerto with the NRO. They also recorded the Kodaly Duo together in Munich for the Bayerischer Rundfunk.
Laura began her job at the San Francisco Opera the fall after she graduated from Juilliard. She has also participated in the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, Rhode Island’s Newport Music Festival, the Sarasota Opera Festival in Florida and an Orpheus Chamber Orchestra tour.
Laura enjoys studying languages and creating culinary delights. She is a triathlete and spends most of her free time training.
Violist Rebecca Albers has performed throughout North America, Asia and Western Europe. Her performances have been seen on national television in the United States and China and heard on National Public Radio and French National Radio. Rebecca currently resides in Ann Arbor, MI as a member of the Phoenix Quartet and a recent addition to the University of Michigan’s viola faculty. She also tours extensively with the Albers Trio, a string trio formed with her sisters Laura and Julie Albers, with fiddler Mark O’Connor’s Appalachia Waltz Trio, and she recently joined the NY–based East Coast Chamber Orchestra (ECCO) for its 2007 season.
Rebecca received her B.M. and M.M. degrees from the Juilliard School where she studied with Heidi Castleman and Hsin–Yun Huang. While studying at Juilliard, she frequently performed as a substitute with the Philadelphia Orchestra, and also at times with the Pittsburgh Symphony, the New York Philharmonic and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. A dedicated teacher, Rebecca has been teaching since she was 12 years old. From 2005–2008 she taught in collaboration with Heidi Castleman in the Juilliard School’s College and Pre–College Divisions. She is also on the faculty of the North American Viola Institute in Orford, QC and was recently the Featured Guest Artist at the Ohio Viola Society’s “OHH Viola” masterclass day.
As the winner of the Juilliard School’s 2002/03 viola competition, Rebecca made her New York solo debut with the Juilliard Orchestra performing the New York premiere of Samuel Adler’s Viola Concerto in Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center. She made her European recital debut in 2008 at the Auditorium du Louvre in Paris, France. Rebecca has been a participant at such festivals as the Marlboro Music Festival, the International Musicians Seminar and Open Chamber Music at Prussia Cove (UK), and the Perlman Music Program. As a chamber musician she has performed across the United States and Europe, with such artists as Richard Goode, Yo–Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman and members of the Guarneri, Juilliard and St. Lawrence String Quartets. In September of 2003, she performed in the inaugural concert in Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall. Upcoming engagements include a west coast tour with Musicians from Marlboro, a tour of England with the International Musician’s Seminar and performances with the Albers Trio, the Appalachia Waltz Trio and the Phoenix Quartet.
American cellist Julie Albers is recognized for her superlative artistry, her charismatic and radiant performing style, and her intense musicianship. She was born in 1980 to a musical family in Longmont, Colorado. She began violin studies at the age of two with her mother, switching to cello at four. She moved to Cleveland during her junior year of high school to pursue studies through the Young Artist Program at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she studied with Richard Aaron. Miss Albers soon was awarded the Grand Prize at the XIII International Competition for Young Musicians in Douai, France, and as a result toured France as soloist with Orchestre Symphonique de Douai.
Julie Albers made her major orchestral debut with the Cleveland Orchestra in 1998, and thereafter has performed in recital and with orchestras in the U.S., Europe, Korea, Taiwan and New Zealand. In 2001 she won Second Prize in Munich’s Internationalen Musikwettbewerbes der ARD, at which time she was also awarded the Wilhelm-Weichsler-Musikpreis der Stadt Osnabruch 2001. While in Germany, she recorded solo and chamber music of Kodaly for the Bavarian Radio, performances that have been heard throughout Europe. In November, 2003, Miss Albers was named the first Gold Medal Laureate of South Korea’s Gyeongnam International Music Competition, winning the $25,000 Grand Prize.
In North America, Miss Albers has performed with many important orchestras and ensembles. Her 2009–2010 engagements include performances with the Florida Orchestra, and the Utah, Vancouver, San Diego, Edmonton, Memphis, Syracuse, West Virginia, Santa Rosa, Brevard and Fairfax Symphony Orchestras. She also performs in recital at the University of Wyoming, Laramie.
In addition to solo performances, Miss Albers regularly participates in chamber music festivals around the world. In 2006 she started a two year residency with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Two. She also was featured at the Moritzburg Festival in Germany. She is currently active with the Albers String Trio and the cello quartet CELLO. Miss Albers is also a Distinguished Artist of the McDuffie Center for Strings at Mercer University.
October, 2005 marked the release of Miss Albers’ debut album on the Artek label. This disc includes works by Rachmaninoff, Beethoven, Schumann, Massenet, and Piatagorsky. Julie Albers performs on a N. F. Vuillaume cello made in 1872 and makes her home in New York City with her husband, Bourbon, and their dog, Dozer.
June 2010 – Please discard any previously dated materials.
