Co-Founder/Artistic Director
The Strings International Music Festival

Ms. Fisher is the Principal Second Violinist of The Philadelphia Orchestra and a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music. She has performed as soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Vancouver Symphony, the Victoria Symphony, the South Jersey Symphony, Fredonia Chamber Players, and the National Repertory Orchestra. Ms. Fisher has been awarded two Canada Council Grants and was invited to perform as soloist at the prestigious Governor General's Concert in Canada. Ms. Fisher was previously the Concertmaster of the Curtis Institute Orchestra and the Northwood Symphony. She has been featured on National Canadian Radio and Canada's CBC TV. Her teachers have included Yumi Ninomiya-Scott, David Cerone, and Jascha Brodsky.

Larry Grika, a native of Chicago, received his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Music from the Chicago Musical College of Roosevelt University. He studied violin with Samuel Arron and Paul Stassevitch and chamber music with Robert Mann and Alexander Schneider. Mr. Grika was winner of the Oliver Ditson Award for Violin. Before joining The Philadelphia Orchestra in 1964, he was a member of the Lyric Opera Orchestra of Chicago, the Cincinnati Symphony and the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra. From 1959 to 1962, Mr. Grika was on the faculty of Antioch College. Formerly on the Faculty of Glassboro College, he is presently on the Faculty of Temple University. Mr. Grika has participatd in the Aspen and Casals Music Festivals. In his commitment to orchestra concerns, Mr. Grika has played an active role on Orchestra committees, both as chairman of the Members' Committee and as chairman of the Negotiation Committees.

Davyd Booth, a native of Clarksburg, West Virginia, made his professional debut at the age of 13. He toured the United States for four years, giving recitals and performing with such orchestras as the San Antonio and Pittsburgh Symphonies. At 16, he made a concert tour of Mexico. Mr. Booth studied violin at the New School of Music with Jascha Brodsky and piano with Susan Starr. He joined the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1973. Mr. Booth has served on the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania, New School of Music, and Temple and Rutgers Universities. Mr. Booth was a member of the Philarte String Quartet for 15 years and is currently a member of the Wister String Quartet. He is also very active in The Philadelphia Orchestra Association, participating in over 200 fundraising events and musical activities.

Philip Kates has been a member of The Philadelphia Orchestra since 1980, and concurrently a frequent Guest Concertmaster with Peter Nero and the Philly Pops, the Strauss Orchestra of America, and of the Orchestra Society of Philadelphia, with which he has made annual solo appearances since 1981. Recital and Chamber Music performances have been many and varied, including the Philadelphia premier in 1980 of the Delius String Quartet, the first Philadelphia Orchestra Chamber Series performance of the Fritz Kreisler String Quartet in 2001, the Philadelphia premier of the Delius Violin Concerto in 2002, and many others. A founding member of the Midsummer Quartet and Liebesfreud Ensemble, Mr. Kates is also a composer of several dozen works for voice, solo violin, and various chamber groupings. His teachers have included Jascha Brodsky, Sally Thomas, Norman Carol, and Joseph de Pasquale. Mr. Kates studied Chamber Music with Norbert Brainin, Isadore Cohen, Felix Galimir, Josef Gingold, Alexander Schneider, Vladimir Sokoloff, Susan Starr, Arnold Steinhardt, Isaac Stern, and Michael Tree.

Richard Amoroso joined The Philadelphia Orchestra in January 1998 after serving as a member of the Concerto Soloists and as Associate Principal Second Violin of the Philly Pops. Mr. Amoroso has also served as Concertmaster for Pro Musica; Principal Second Violin for the Mendelssohn Club, Philadelphia Singers and the Academy of Vocal Arts. As a winner of the Philadelphia Orchestra's Student Concerto Competition, Mr. Amoroso performed as soloist at a children's concert with the Philadelphia Orchestra in1984. He has also performed as soloist with the Philly Pops, The North Penn Symphony, and most recently in a trio recital at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall. His teachers have included Norman Carol, William de Pasquale, Rafael Druian and David Arben. Mr. Amoroso graduated magna cum laude from Dickinson College.

Jennifer Haas joined the violin section of The Philadelphia Orchestra during the 2001-02 season. A Delaware native, she began studying privately at the age of three. She furthered her studies with Jascha Brodsky at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where she received a bachelor of music degree. Ms. Haas has appeared as soloist with numerous American orchestras and has won several prominent competitions both locally and nationally. She made her Philadelphia Orchestra debut as a winner of the Robin Hood Dell Guild Audition. Ms. Haas currently is a faculty member at both Temple University in Philadelphia and the Wilmington Music School in Delaware.

Elina Kalendareva began her violin studies with Nathan Mendelsson in her native country - Uzbekistan. She completed her Master of Music Degree and continued in post-graduate work at the Moscow Conservatory under the tutelage of Igor Bezrodny. Ms. Kalendareva has performed as a soloist with the Uzbekistan Philharmonic and the Moscow Ars Viva Chamber Orchestra, and has recorded solo works for the All Union Radio in Moscow and for Uzbekistan TV and Radio in Tashkent. She has also been featured as a soloist with the Ascending Artist Recital Series and the Lieder Krantz Foundation Orchestra in New York, and appeared at numerous music festivals in Europe and America. Before joining the Philadelphia Orchestra, Ms. Kalendareva played with the New Jersey Symphony and the Pittsburgh Symphony.

Mr. Fisher is a former member of the Alberta String Quartet, which toured internationally and recorded regularly. He previously served as Associate Concertmaster of the Oklahoma City Orchestra and has appeared as soloist with the Rochester Philharmonic and the Edmonton Symphony, among others. Mr. Fisher is Professor Emeritus of the University of Alberta, where he taught violin and conducting and was on faculty at the Interlochen Arts Academy, the Banff International Music Center and the Rocky Ridge Music Center. Mr. Fisher currently resides in Seattle, Washington, where he teaches privately.