Artists

Cellist Amy Ward Butler has been a member of the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra since 1998. Amy received her Bachelor's and Master's degrees and the prestigious Performer's Certificate from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, where she studied with Steven Doane and Paul Katz. As a graduate student, she was Teacher's Assistant to Mr. Doane and was a co-founder of the Olivier Trio, the first piano trio in residence at Eastman, which performed at Eastman and in New York City.

Amy's eventual career in an opera orchestra was perhaps foreshadowed by performing with the Eastman Opera Theater and the New Jersey Opera as well as in Germany at the Heidelberg Schloss-Spiele. Summers at Tanglewood provided opportunities to study with members of the Juilliard and Budapest Quartets, with cellist Yo-yo Ma, and with conductors Seiji Ozawa, Kurt Masur and Leonard Bernstein.

Since graduating from Eastman, Amy has played frequently in the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the Harrisburg Symphony and the Philadelphia Orchestra as well as numerous smaller ensembles. Currently, she is the principal cellist of the McLean Orchestra, with whom she appeared in a performance of the Brahms Double Concerto last season. Since joining the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra, Amy has been able to pursue her love of chamber music by performing solo and chamber recitals throughout the Washington Metro area.

Ms. Butler plays on a Rafael and Antonio Gagliano cello made in Napoli in 1807.

Chiara Kingsley Dieguez holds a Master's Degree in Viola Performance from the University of MD, College Park, and a Bachelor of Music in Viola Performance from Arizona State University. Her main teachers have included Daniel Foster, William Magers, and Michael Tree. An active chamber and orchestral musician, Ms. Dieguez has been a member of the Sonore String Quartet, the Downtown Chamber Series of Phoenix, and has also been a member of the Mainly Mozart Festival of San Diego since 2002. She also performs each summer at the Grand Teton Music Festival, playing both in the orchestra and performing regularly on the Spotlight Series chamber concerts. As a soloist, Ms. Dieguez has performed with the Maryland Chamber Symphony, the University of MD Symphony Orchestra, and the Arizona State University Chamber Orchestra, and has also appeared as an alumni soloist with the Phoenix Symphony Guild Youth Orchestra and the Metropolitan Youth Symphony of AZ.

Ms. Dieguez moved to the DC area in 2008, where she performs regularly with the National Symphony Orchestra and the Eclipse Chamber Orchestra, and is also a member of the Fessenden Ensemble of Washington, DC. Before relocating to the DC area, Ms. Dieguez served as Associate Principal Viola of the Phoenix Symphony for 7 years.

Violinist Joel Fuller is a newly appointed member of the National Symphony Orchestra; he currently serves as the Assistant Principal Second Violin of the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra. Joel also spent three years as the Assistant Concertmaster of the Naples Philharmonic, enjoying many opportunities to solo with the orchestra there.

As a chamber musician, Joel was the first violinist of the University of Michigan Graduate String Quartet and founding member of the Sonare and Vanderbilt String Quartets. He is currently a member of the IBIS Chamber Music Society and Musica Aperta ensembles in Washington, D.C. As a student, Joel was awarded a three year orchestral fellowship to attend the Aspen Music Festival in Aspen, Colorado. He was one of only two to receive the honor for the 2001 summer season.

Joel received his Bachelor of Music from the University of Wisconsin and a Master of Music degree in Violin Performance and Chamber Music from University of Michigan. His teachers include the late Vartan Manoogian and Paul Kantor. He has performed in master classes with some of the world's leading teachers and musicians such as Donald Weilerstein, Mark Steinberg, William Preucil, and Pamela Frank, among others. Joel has won numerous awards and competitions including the ASTA competition and both the University of Wisconsin Concerto Competition and the Universityof Michigan Concerto Competition.

Joel is honored to play on the "ex Powell" Omobono Stradivari violin, generously loaned to him by the John C. Schroeder trust for musical excellence.

Edward Newman received his Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from The Juilliard School and studied with such distinguished artists as Rosina Lhevinne, Adele Marcus, William Masselos, Lee Luvisi, Gaby Casadesus, Martin Isepp, Virginia Reinecke and Charles Crowder.

A musician of virtuosity and versatility, Mr. Newman combines the qualities of "brilliant technique" (The Washington Star) and "a light touch of dazzling clarity" (The Cleveland Plain Dealer) with "expressive lyricism" (The Washington Post).
Mr. Newman has given critically acclaimed performances in Europe, Australia and across the United States in solo concerts and with orchestras such as the Cleveland Orchestra, the National Symphony, the Baltimore Symphony, the Boston Pops, the Utah Symphony, l'Orchestra du Bordeaux, l'Ensemble Instrumental de France and l'Orchestra Filharmonic de Gran Canaria.

The New York Times said of Edward Newman's New York recital debut at Alice Tully Hall: "Not many pianists make their debuts with such technically demanding programs or dispose of difficulties with such apparent lack of strain. Mr. Newman produced a plush, singing tone, getting deep into the keys, even at brisk tempos."

The Cleveland Press called Edward Newman one of the "new breed of soloists... he has a marvelously brilliant way of playing."
In 1979 Mr. Newman won the first prize in the Robert Casadesus International Piano Competition. He was a semifinalist in the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition and has won recognition in many other prestigious international contests. These awards include 2nd prize in the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition, 2nd prize in the University of Maryland International Piano Competition, and semifinalist in the Concurso Internacional de Piano "Paloma O'Shea" and the Sydney (Australia) International piano competitions.

In 1993, Mr. Newman joined the American Chamber Players, an internationally touring chamber music group, and has performed throughout the United States and Canada on the group's frequent tours. Recordings of his performances with the American Chamber Players are frequently broadcast on National Public Radio's "Performance Today". He appears often in recital with his wife, violinist Elisabeth Adkins, at such venues as the National Gallery and the Phillips Collection.

Susan Robinson is the principal harpist of the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra, a position she has held since 1995. She also serves as the principal harpist of the Boston ‘POPS' Esplanade Orchestra, with whom she frequently tours the Far East and the US. An avid performer of chamber music, Susan performs and records with the Washington, D.C.-based 21st Century Consort, and the Boston-based ensemble Walden Chamber Players. She and her husband, violinist Joseph Scheer, are the founders of the IBIS Chamber Music Society, and together they have released the CD "Souvenir: Music for Violin and Harp" on their IBIS Records label.

A native of Boston, Susan performs with the Boston Symphony as often as her schedule permits. Previously, Susan served as the acting principal harpist of Tampa's Florida Orchestra and the Sarasota Opera Festival.

Among Susan's solo engagements are a performance of Mozart's Concerto for Flute and Harp in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall with KCOHO principal flutist Adria Sternstein and the Opera House Orchestra under Heinz Fricke, and appearances with the Indian Hill Symphony, the New Hampshire Philharmonic, the Rhode Island Chamber Orchestra, and the Dedham (MA) Choral Society. Other memorable career highlights: an exciting trip to the Super Bowl with the Boston POPS (Patriots won!) and of course, the opportunity to work with the incomparable Placido Domingo at the Washington Opera.

Susan is a graduate of Harvard University with a cum laude degree in Art History and French Literature. She also holds an Artist Diploma in Harp Performance from the Boston University School for the Arts. She and Joseph are the parents of Lillie and Nathanael.