Marijn Simons, violin

Born December 25, 1982, Geleen, Marijn is a Dutch composer of mostly orchestral and chamber works that have been performed in Europe and elsewhere; he is also active as a violinist.

Mr. Simons received his first violin studies at age four and simultaneously started to compose. He studied composition with Daan Manneke at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam from 1994-2002 and has studied composition privately with James MacMillan in the UK since 2002, on a grant from the Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds. He also studied violin privately with Saschko Gawriloff from 1996-2002 and has studied conducting privately with Jean-Bernard Pommier and Ed Spanjaard since 2001.

Among his honors are the Philip Morris Kunstprijs (2001, for his recent works) and First Prize for best choral composition from the Stichting tot Bevordering der Toonkunsten (2001, for The City of the Soul, Op. 18). He has also been the subject of three TV documentaries (1999, 1999, 2001) and served as composer-in-residence to the Delft Chamber Music Festival (2004) and the Cabrillo Festival in Santa Cruz (2005).

As a violinist, he made his professional début at age ten. He has played with orchestras in Germany, Mexico, The Netherlands, the UK, and the USA and has given the premières of Fantasia de movimentos mixtos by Heitor Villa-Lobos in 2001 and his own Secret Notes, Op. 19 in 2002.

Kathryn Mientka, piano   
Tyme Mientka, cello

As the classical Mientka Duo, this husband and wife team has performed internationally to critical acclaim. They have given concerts to enthusiastic audiences in Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland, and the USA, where they have been featured nationally on radio and television. Their sensational debut at the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. was received with an enthusiastic standing ovation.  They have been featured numerous times on NPR's "Performance Today". In 1995 they were selected by an American film company to be the subject of a documentary.  The resulting hour-long film was shown nationwide on PBS television and was nominated for an Emmy. Both Tyme and Kathryn graduated from Northwestern University and the University of Southern California, and hold a Master’s Degree in Music Performance. They taught at Montana State University for two years. Subsequently they moved to Germany, where they lived for eight years, teaching music and touring internationally. The Mientka Duo is the recipient of many honors and awards, including a special prize at the Concours International De Musique De Chambre in Paris. Residents of Grand Junction, Colorado, they founded and direct the Western Slope Chamber Music Series.

David Alderdice, percussion
David’s sensitive and inspiring style has been recorded dozens of times
throughout the past 12 years. He has been first call drummer for studios in the D.C. area and sits in for many sessions at Third Stream Music. His expertise includes trap kit,frame drums, and tambourines, with a focus in jazz studies, groove- ability, and ethnomusicology. He attended Montgomery College in Mary-land, taking music and art courses, focusing on applying the concepts and mysticism of the arts to music. David has been performing in local and national music groups for the past decade. He has worked with dance and theater companies, percussion ensembles, symphonies, big bands, and small ensembles. Highlight performances include the Kennedy Center, the Romanian Embassy, Blues Alley Jazz Club, and the Western Slope Chamber Music Series. David presents lessons and workshops on the metaphysics of sound, silence, rhythm and motion, and resides in Paonia, Colorado.