
David Cramer, Flute David, a native of Cleveland, Ohio, attended the Curtis Institute of Music. His teachers have included William Hebert. James Pappoutsakis, and Murray Panitz. Mr. Cramer has participated in the Tanglewood Festival and the Central City Colorado Opera Festivals. Before joining The Philadelphia Orchestra in 1981, where he is the associate principal flute, he was a member of the Montreal and Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestras. He has appeared as soloist with The Philadelphia Orchestra, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and the Haddonfield (NJ) Symphony. Mr. Cramer has served on the faculty of Carnegie-Mellon University and currently teaches at the Esther Boyer School of Music of Temple University.
Noah Geller, Violin Noah joined the first violin section of the Philadelphia Orchestra in January 2008. As winner of numerous competitions and prizes, he has performed throughout the United States and abroad. Following performances at the Tanglewood Music Center, he was awarded the Jules C. Reiner Violin Prize. Mr. Geller is an enthusiastic proponent of new music. He recently performed the world premiere of Eugene O'Brien's Two Inventions for Violin and Cello and has commissioned a piece for solo violin and digital acoustics from composer William Neil. As a chamber musician, he has appeared on the Philadelphia Orchestra Chamber Music Series, at the Marlboro Music Festival, Alice Tully Hall, and the Taos School of Music in New Mexico. Mr. Geller's previous orchestra memberships include the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, the Juilliard Orchestra, and the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra under James Levine. He received his Bachelor's and Master's degrees from the Juilliard School, where he studied with Hyo Kang, Cho-liang Lin, and Donald Weilerstein.
Mark Gigliotti, Bassoon Mark has been a member of The Philadelphia Orchestra bassoon section since 1982. He is currently co-principal bassoon. He has also held the positions of principal bassoon with the Pittsburgh Symphony under the direction of Loren Maazel and solo bassoonist with the Hague Philharmonic under conductor Hans Vonk. He has appeared as soloist with The Philadelphia Orchestra, the Hague Philharmonic and many local orchestras in the Philadelphia area. Mr. Gigliotti has given master classes in Europe, the United States, South America, and the Far East. He is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music.
John Koen, Cello John joined The Philadelphia Orchestra in 1990, immediately after graduating from Curtis, where he studied with David Soyer. He collaborates in chamber music with artist such as Christoph Eschenbach, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Emanuel Ax, Joshua Bell, Stephen Hough, Chantal Juillet and Jean-Yves Thibaudet. He has a special relationship with the New Symphony Orchestra in Sofia, Bulgaria, where he appears frequently as a soloist, coach and mentor. His interests include studying languages, reading, traveling and playing with his two cats.
Donald Montanaro, Clarinet, Music Director Donald is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music. He was a member of the New Orleans Philharmonic before joining The Philadelphia Orchestra, where he was associate principal clarinet until his retirement in August, 2005. He has performed at the Marlboro and Casals Festivals and toured Europe and the Far East as soloist and in chamber music ensembles. Mr. Montanaro is one of the founders of the Philadelphia Chamber Ensemble and has been its music director since its inception. He is a faculty member at the Curtis Institute.
Margarita Csonka Montanaro, Harp Margarita is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music where she studied with Carlos Salzedo and Marilyn Costello. Immediately upon graduating from the Curtis Institute, she joined The Philadelphia Orchestra and is now co-principal harpist. Mrs. Montanaro is one of the founders of the Philadelphia Chamber Ensemble. She has performed at many music festivals including the Marlboro Festival. In 1995 she received The Philadelphia Orchestra's C. Hartman Kuhn award.
Michael Shahan, Bass Michael is a graduate of the Curtis Institute (1962) where he studied with Roger Scott. After two years in the National Symphony Orchestra of Washington, he joined the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1964, was appointed Assistant Principal Bass in 1970, and is now associate principal. He is co-music director of the Amerita Chamber Players (playing bass and viola da gamba), plays viola da gamba with the American Society of Ancient instruments and bass in the Philadelphia Jazz Quintet. He is a faculty member of the Esther Boyer School of Music at Temple University.
Kiyoko Takeuti, Piano Born in Tokyo, Kiyoko Takeuti studied with Max Egger and Soulima Stravinsky, before coming to the Curtis Institute of Music, where she continued her studies with Rudolf Serkin and Mieczyslaw Horszowski. Her performing career began with solo recitals at the age of eleven, and at nineteen, she was a winner of the J.S. Bach International Competition in Washington, D.C. She performed with The Philadelphia Orchestra as a student audition winner and has appeared as soloist with many other orchestras. She has been a participant at the Marlboro and Luzern Music Festivals and performs extensively in chamber music concerts and recitals. She joined The Philadelphia Orchestra in 1985 as the orchestra pianist.
Burchard Tang, Viola Burchard joined The Philadelphia Orchestra in September 1999. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in May 1999 from the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied with Joseph de Pasquale, retired Philadelphia Orchestra principal viola, and Choong-Jin Chang, the Orchestra's current associate principal viola. Mr. Tang served as principal viola with the Curtis Symphony Orchestra and the New York String Seminar and has performed with the Brandenburg Ensemble. A 1993 winner of The Philadelphia Orchestra Albert M. Greenfield Student Competition, Mr. Tang performed with The Philadelphia Orchestra as a soloist in a Student Concert that year. Other honors include the Temple University Preparatory Division Concerto Competition and second prize in the Senior Division of the Fischoff Competition in 1996.










