Ensembles

The Belmont Trio

Maxine Neuman (Cello), Karin Scholz and Peter Ernst (Guitars) first joined forces in 2000 on short notice to record Sergei Rachmaninoff’s famous Vocalise. That spontaneous project has since evolved into a regularly concertizing chamber ensemble, performing in Europe and the USA.

These three outstanding musicians have founded a truly exceptional and unique ensemble. Their debut CD, released this year on Thorofon Classics – including works from Bach to Piazzolla – is an irrepressible showcase of their talents.

Cellist Maxine Neuman’s solo and chamber music career spans North America, South America, Europe and Japan. A grant recipient from the Rockefeller and Ford Foundations and the National Endowment for the Arts and a three-time Grammy Award winner, her biography appears in “Who’s Who in the World.” She is a founding member of the Claremont Duo, the Crescent String Quartet, the Vermont Cello Quartet, and the Walden Trio, groups with which she has traveled and recorded extensively.

Her long list of recording credits includes Deutsche Grammophon, Columbia, Angel, EMI, Nonesuch, Biddulph, CRI, Orion, Leonarda, Argo, Opus One, SONY/Virgin, AMC, Artek, Vanguard, Musical Heritage, Albany, Northeastern and CBS World Records.

She has appeared as soloist before a sold-out audience in New York’s Town Hall in the American premiere of Giovanni Battista Viotti’s only cello concerto, and for Austrophon, she recorded Schumann Cello Concerto in Count Esterhazy’s historic palace in Austria. She can also be heard in such diverse settings as the Montreux Jazz Festival, the films of Jim Jarmusch, and with the rock band Metallica. She has expanded the chamber ensemble repertoire – especially for multiple celli and cello and guitar – by arranging and transcribing works from every period. A longtime champion of contemporary music, she has commissioned and premiered works by many of today’s leading composers.

Distinguished as a teacher as well as performer, Ms. Neuman has served as a juror for numerous international competitions. On the faculty at the New York’s School for Strings and Hoff-Barthelson Music School, she has taught at Bennington College, Williams College and C.W. Post University.

Her cello is a J.B.Guadagnini, dating from 1772.

Karin Scholz is unquestionably one of the most impressive guitarists of her generation. Her sensitive playing, unusual repertoire and incomparable stage presence make her a fascinating artistic personality.
She has received numerous awards, including 1st Prize in the national „Jugend musiziert“ (1991), a stipend from the Deutsche Musikrat and selection to the federal „Konzerte Junger Künstler“ (1998). In international solo and chamber music competition, she has won prizes in Germany, Italy and France.

Karin Scholz has performed throughout Europe, Japan and the far East. In addition to her many chamber music activities, she works regularly with renowned orchestras and opera companies, including the Staatstheater Stuttgart, the Radio Symphony Orchestra Stuttgart, the Südwestfunk Radio Orchestra Kaiserslautern as well as the Staatstheater Wiesbaden. Karin Scholz also performs often with the new music ensemble „Musik der Jahrhunderte Stuttgart.“ As soloist she has been heard with the Camerata München and the Münchener Bachsolisten under Florian Sonnleitner.

A grant from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) enabled Karin Scholz to study with Oscar Ghiglia at the Musikakademie der Stadt Basel (Switzerland), where she absolved her Soloist’s Diploma with excellence. Among her teachers are Jürgen Ruck and Alvaro Pierri.

Guitarist Peter Ernst is widely recognized and celebrated for his interpretations of solo and chamber music, including repertoire from the Renaissance to the present, as well as folkloristic music from South America. Among the many prizes he has received are the German National Youth Competition „Jugend musiziert” and a grant from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) as well as international prizes at both solo- and chamber music competitions in Germany, Italy, France and Spain.

He has toured throughout Europe, Japan, the Middle East and the USA and has performed at music festivals in Spain, Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic. Mr. Ernst regularly appears as soloist with orchestras such as the Bergische Symphoniker under Peter Leonard and damals & heute under Michael Willens.

He has collaborated with ensembles for modern music such as „Musik der Jahrhunderte, Stuttgart”, Germany, and the „New Juilliard Ensemble” in New York City.
Mr. Ernst has recorded six CDs. With the Duo Bergerac he appears exclusively on Thorofon Classics, with the Claremont Duo on Artek Records.

As a full scholarship holder at the Juilliard School in New York, Mr. Ernst studied with Sharon Isbin. His teachers in Germany were Michael Tröster, Thomas Müller-Pering, Dieter Kreidler and Jürgen Ruck.

The Claremont Duo

An exceptional and exciting combination: the cello’s rich warmth and the guitar’s delicate timbres are unified in the hands of MAXINE NEUMAN AND PETER ERNST. Since 1998, this duo has enthralled its international public with its brilliant virtuosity, interpretive elegance and refreshing performance presentation. Neuman and Ernst’s broad repertoire ranges from the Renaissance and Baroque to Classical and Romantic, to the Contemporary, including commissioned works written for them.

The Claremont Duo recently released its second CD, ‘Divertimento’, on Artek Records. Fanfare Magazine praised these unique musicians’ first CD: “fascinating repertoire, plus excellent performances, plus ideal sonic reproduction… a winner…”

Cellist Maxine Neuman’s solo and chamber music career spans North America, South America, Europe and Japan. A grant recipient from the Rockefeller and Ford Foundations and the National Endowment for the Arts and a three-time Grammy Award winner, her biography appears in “Who’s Who in the World.” She is a founding member of the Claremont Duo, the Crescent String Quartet, the Vermont Cello Quartet, Breve, and the Walden Trio, groups with which she has traveled and recorded extensively.

Her long list of recording credits includes Deutsche Grammophon, Columbia, Angel, EMI, Nonesuch, Biddulph, CRI, Orion, Leonarda, Argo, Opus One, SONY/Virgin, AMC, Thorofon, Vanguard, Musical Heritage, Albany, Northeastern and CBS World Records.

She has appeared as soloist before a sold-out audience in New York’s Town Hall in the American premiere of Giovanni Battista Viotti’s only cello concerto, and for Austrophon, she recorded Schumann Cello Concerto in Count Esterhazy’s historic palace in Austria. She can also be heard in such diverse settings as the Montreux Jazz Festival, the films of Jim Jarmusch, and with the rock band Metallica. She has expanded the chamber ensemble repertoire – especially for multiple celli and cello and guitar – by arranging and transcribing works from every period. A longtime champion of contemporary music, she has commissioned and premiered works by many of today’s leading composers.

Distinguished as a teacher as well as performer, Ms. Neuman has served as a judge for numerous international competitions. On the faculty at the New York’s School for Strings, she has taught at Bennington College, Williams College and C.W. Post University.

Her cello is a J.B.Guadagnini, dating from 1772.

Guitarist Peter Ernst is widely recognized and celebrated for his interpretations of solo and chamber music, including Repertoire from the Renaissance until present as well as folkloristic music from South America. Among the many prizes he received are the prizes at the German National Youth Competition „Jugend musiziert” as well as international prizes of both solo- and chamber music competitions in Germany, Italy, France and Spain.

He has toured throughout Europe, Japan, the Middle east and the USA and performed at music festivals in Europe, among them the ones in Torroella de Montgri (Spain), Iserlohn (Germany), Lublin and Pzermysl (Poland) as well as Mikulov (Czech Republic). In February, 2001, Mr. Ernst appeared as soloist in Joaquin Rodrigos “Concierto de Aranjuez” in two concerts with the „Bergische Sinfoniker” and conductor Peter Leonhard in Germany.

In addition to concertizing with the CLAREMONT DUO, as a chamber musician he regularly performs with guitarist Karin Scholz as DUO BERGERAC, with Karin Scholz and Maxine Neuman as BELMONT TRIO, with flutist Barbara
Rosnitschek and with Argentinian charango virtuoso Diego Jascalevich. He collaborated with ensembles for modern music such as “Musik der Jahrhunderte, Stuttgart”, Germany, and the „New Juilliard Ensemble”, New York City.

Mr. Ernst has recorded six CDs. As a recording artist he appears exclusively on Thorofon Classics with the DUO BERGERAC and the BELMONT TRIO. As guest musician he appears on Dreamtheater – Keyboarder Jordan Rudess ́ solo album „Feeding the wheel“ (2001).

As a full scholarship holder Mr. Ernst studied with Sharon Isbin at the Juilliard School in New York. His teachers in Germany were Michael Tröster, Thomas Müller-Pering, Dieter Kreidler and Jürgen Ruck.

Duo Cellissimo

Duo Cellissimo, a mother-and-son team, have been making music together for over a decade. They have performed in numerous venues in New York, New Jersey, Vermont and Germany, and they have assembled an impressive and varied repertoire of music from the Baroque to the present.

Cellist MAXINE NEUMAN ‘s solo and chamber music career spans North America, South America, Europe and Japan. A three-time Grammy Award winner and a grant recipient from the Rockefeller and Ford Foundations and the National Endowment for the Arts, her biography appears in “Who’s Who in the World.” She is a founding member of the Claremont Duo, Belmont Trio and Crescent String Quartet. Her recording credits include Deutsche Grammophon, Columbia, Angel, EMI, Nonesuch, Biddulph, CRI, Orion, Leonarda, Opus One, SONY/Virgin, AMC, Thorofon, Vanguard, Musical Heritage, Albany and CBS World Records. In New York, she is a member of the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, American Classical Orchestra, American Composers Orchestra, Westchester Philharmonic and many other fine ensembles. A distinguished teacher as well as performer, Maxine serves as judge for several international competitions. On the faculty at School for Strings and Hoff-Barthelson Music School, she has taught at Bennington College, Williams College and C.W. Post University. Her cello is a 1772 J. B. Guadagnini.

Born in 1989 in New York City, MARK HUMBURG started playing the cello at the age of 5. He attended LaGuardia High School for the Performing Arts as a cello major, winning the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s Young Artists Competition. He graduated from Mannes, the New School for Music, a student of Wolfram Koessel and Fred Sherry. He has performed at major halls, including Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall and Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center, and the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie. He has also performed in various venues overseas in Germany, Holland and China. He can be heard on the CD Irreverence, among others. He has been a faculty member at the Winter Harbor Festival in Maine, and is music director for a chamber music series in Long Island City. He recently toured in China, performing on Chinese National TV. He teaches at the Harlem School for the Arts, at Brooklyn Waldorf School, Brooklyn College Prep Division and at Suzuki on the Island in Manhasset. Mark plays a cello made in 1900 by Richard Henry Knopf.