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The musicians of STRATA, Nathan Williams, clarinet; James
Stern, violin/viola; and Audrey Andrist, piano, have been performing
together since 1988. STRATA has appeared in concert throughout
North America, most recently in San Francisco on the Composers Inc.
series, where they presented world premiere performances of five
works composed especially for them. As resident artists at
the 1994 Banff Festival of the Arts, they were presented in a wide
array of concerts. STRATA has appeared as the featured ensemble
at the Music Teachers' Association of California's annual convention,
and has recorded live for CBC Radio in Canada. All three members
hold the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Juilliard School,
where they gave some of their first performances as an ensemble.
Highlights of their 2001-2002 season include concerts in California,
Maryland, Pennsylvania and Michigan. The ensemble's debut
CD, recorded in 1999, is available on the Arizona University Recordings
label. They have also recorded the music of Robert Maggio
for CRI.
NATHAN WILLIAMS has been hailed by critics for his
'outstanding musicality and flawless technique.' He is the
recipient of prizes and honors from the International Gaudeamus
Interpreters Competition, the Eastman Concerto Competition, the
William C. Byrd Young Artists Competition, the International Clarinet
Competition, and the Naumburg International Competition.
He was a featured soloist at the 1995 International Clarinet Association
ClarinetFest, and a fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center, where
Maestro Seji Ozawa presented him with the C. D. Jackson Award.
Mr. Williams is currently on the faculty at the Interlochen Arts
Academy in Michigan, and is principal clarinet with the Winston-Salem
Symphony in North Carolina. He and Ms. Andrist can be heard
on a critically acclaimed CD of American music on the Albany Record
label.
JAMES STERN has appeared as soloist and chamber
musician throughout North America, most notably at Carnegie Hall
and Alice Tully Hall in New York, the Library of Congress in Washington,
D.C., and at the Ravinia Festival in Chicago. His summer
activities have included performances at the prestigious Marlboro
Music Festival, as well as the Norfolk and Bowdoin Festivals.
He has performed in concert on "Voice of America," WNCN-New
York, WCLV-Cleveland and on WVTF-Roanoke, in a concert broadcast
from the "Sonoklect" Festival. He has appeared
as soloist with the Woodstock Chamber Orchestra, the Stockton
Symphony, and the Contra Costa Chamber Orchestra. Mr. Stern
is currently Associate Professor of Violin at the University of
Maryland, College Park.
Canadian pianist AUDREY ANDRIST is the 1994 first prize
winner of the San Antonio International Keyboard Competition,
and was presented in a cross-Canada solo recital tour as winner
of the Eckhardt-Gramatté Competition. She has appeared
as soloist with the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa,
the Juilliard Orchestra in Alice Tully Hall, and the CBC Vancouver
Symphony. As a chamber musician, Ms. Andrist has performed
in New York's Merkin Hall and Steinway Hall, at Place des Arts
in Montreal, Spivey Hall in Georgia, on NPR's "Performance
Today," and on the live program "Around New York"
on WNYC. She has participated in premieres of new works
in Canada and the United States, and has recorded for Albany Records,
Summit Records, Capstone Records, and CBC Radio. Ms. Andrist
currently lives in Maryland with her husband, James Stern, and
their son, Kenneth.
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STRATA