About the performers:
Bethany Bobbs:
Bethany Bobbs is a scholarship student in the Juilliard School Pre-College and the Perlman Music Program. Bethany studies cello with Astrid Schween, and piano with her mother, Catherine Bobbs. Bethany made her piano solo orchestral debut at the age of 8 and her cello solo orchestra debut at the age of 9, performing with the Cleveland Institute of Music Chamber Orchestra. As the winner of concerto competitions, Bethany has had the opportunity to solo with the Ocala Symphony, Ambler Symphony, Yonkers Symphony, Delaware Symphony, New Jersey Intergenerational Symphony, Old York Road Symphony, Nova Sinfonietta, Summit Symphony, Georgia Philharmonic Symphony, The Fort Bend Symphony, Brazosport Symphony, The Houston Symphony of the North, The Houston Youth Symphony, and The Sewanee Music Festival Orchestra twice as their concerto winner for two years in a row. In 2014, Bethany won 3rd place in the prestigious Houston Symphony League Concerto Competition as the youngest competitor. In 2016, Bethany won 1st place in the National Federation of Music Teachers Association Stillman Kelly Award, a national piano and instrumental competition, as well as the Mary Alice Cox Cello Award, their youngest winner on record. Recently Bethany won 1st place at the Vernell Gregg National Young Artist competition as well as the Ocala National Young Artist competition, and placed in the New York Chamber Symphony, Riverside Symphony Caprio and the Lynn Harrel competitions. As a winner of the prestigious YoungArts program, Bethany had the honor to attend their New York regional program in 2019 where she worked with young artists, dancers, musicians and writers from across United States. Besides performing, Bethany enjoys helping others. Last year, Bethany and her twin sister, Susanna, put on a Harmony for Healing virtual fundraising concert to provide funds for the Artist Relief project, a program that financially aids unemployed artists during the Covid epidemic. In 2015-2017, Bethany won the Doing Good Music Scholarship for her charitable concerts which include performing for cancer clinics, preschools, and retirement homes. Bethany has taught young pianists and cellists as well as tutored young orchestral players and performs regularly for her church as well as for the Christian Care Center, a senior citizen residency. Bethany has enjoyed summer study in such prestigious music festivals as Aspen Music Festival, Colorado, Sewanee Music Festival, Tennessee, Conservatory Music in the Mountains, Colorado, Indiana String Academy, Indiana, Cleveland Institute of Music Summer Sonata Festival, Ohio, and the Interlochen Arts Academy, Advanced Junior String Program in Michigan on merit scholarship. Since 2017 Bethany has attended the Perlman Music Program(PMP) where she studied with Astrid Schween, Clara Kim, Paul Katz, Ronald Leonard and Zvi Plesser, traveling to Sarasota, Florida and Israel with PMP to perform with other talented youth from around the world. In addition to performing solo, Bethany enjoys playing chamber and orchestra music. Her Houston chamber group was selected to be a part of the elite Houston Young Artist Program and performed for my charitable and community concerts. Her chamber group at the Aspen Music Festival, through audition, was chosen to perform in their Spotlight Recital. Bethany has performed in masterclasses with Steve Doane, Clive Greensmith, Natasha Brofsky, Yeesun Kim, Richard Aaron, Richard Weiss, Desmond Hoebig, Stephen Balderson, and Brinton Smith. Bethany is the 7th of 8 children, and is home schooled.
Katie Rumin:
Katherine (Katie) Rumin, 17, began her musical journey when she started piano at age 3. At age 9, she began viola studies in her school’s music program. She currently studies with Claudine Bigelow and Martha Katz and is a scholarship student at the New England Conservatory Preparatory Division. She has received recognition in multiple competitions, including Honorable Mention in the Camerata Artists International competition and as a prizewinner of the Uel Wade Scholarship Competition. She has also played in masterclasses led by violists such as Sheila Browne, Carol Rodland, Karen Ritscher, Susan Dubois, and Michelle LaCourse, among others. Additionally, she performed the world premiere of Anson Olds’ Lullaby for women’s chorus, viola, and piano with the Berkshire Lyric Chorus in the winter of 2019, and appeared on NPR’s “What Makes it Great?” with host Rob Kapilow as a member of the Central NJ All-Star Youth Orchestra in 2017. She is Regional Director of the Berkshire County Back to BACH Project chapter, an organization that teaches children about classical music, and also frequently performs at venues such as retirement residences, nursing homes, and churches. A devoted chamber musician, Katie was violist of the Bard College at Simon’s Rock String Quartet, and participated in a string quartet as part of NEC Prep’s Chamber Music Intensive Performance Seminar, coached by Merry Peckham and Laura Blustein. In the 2019-20 season, the group played in NEC’s Jordan Hall, as well as in masterclasses with Donald Weilerstein and the Verona Quartet. In the summer of 2019, her quartet at the Meadowmount School of Music was invited to play for Daniel Avshalomov, violist in the American String Quartet. In addition, Katie is a member of the Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, led by conductor Benjamin Zander, which has taken her to halls such as Symphony Hall in Boston and Sanders Theatre in Boston. Her summers have taken her to prestigious music festivals throughout the country. In 2020, she attended the Bowdoin International Music Festival Online in the studio of Kirsten Docter. She has also attended the Meadowmount School of Music, Encore Chamber Music Summer Academy, Manhattan in the Mountains, and Kinhaven Music School, among others. In addition to her classical studies, Katie enjoys playing fiddle music, and has won First Prize in the Junior Division of Howell Living History Farm Fiddle Competition. She has attended Maine Fiddle Camp for the past seven years, as well as numerous other traditional music festivals.
Argentina Duran:
Pianist of the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional (National Symphony Orchestra of Mexico) she is the
youngest piano teacher of the bachelor of music at Facultad de Música de la UNAM (UNAM Music University). She studied with professor Trinidad Sanchís and has been awarded in contests such as: “National Piano Competition Angelica Morales-Yamaha” in Mexico City and the “International Piano Competition Irina Samodaeva”. She obtained her bachelor's degree in 2015 by the Facultad de Música de la UV (Music University of Veracruz) and got a scholarship through FONCA-CONACYT and “Chicago College of Performing Arts” in Chicago, IL, for piano performance studies with Jorge Federico Osorio. She played as soloist of the Orquesta Sinfónica de Xalapa (Symphony Orchestra of Xalapa), Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional (National Symphony Orchestra), Orquesta Sinfónica de San Luis Potosí (Symphony Orchestra of San Luis Potosi), Orquesta Sinfónica del Instituto Politécnico Nacional (Symphony Orchestra of the National Polytechnic Institute) among other orchestras. She has been invited to play as a soloist in Granade, Spain and Baku, Azerbaijan. She has played in the most importants halls in Mexico such as the Palacio de Bellas Artes (Palace of Fine Arts) andmAuditorio Nacional (National Auditorium). She completed this year the Master's Degree in Mexican
Classical Music Performance at Conservatorio Nacional de Música (National Conservatory of
Music) in Mexico, city.