Lisa Nichols, flute, is the recipient of the Chamber Music Concerts Mountain Meadows Scholarship to Southern Oregon University. She is also the recipient of the Marian Ady Memorial Scholarship and was named the AAUW Outstanding Woman Graduate of the Music Department. She will soon graduate, Summa Cum Laude, with a B.A. in Music, Performance Track. Previous awards include regular selection for All-State Band and Orchestra in her native New Hampshire, as well as a Governor's Scholarship to Interlochen Arts Camp. Ms. Nichols is a student of Katie McElrath and has previously studied with Alex Ogle of Dartmouth College. Thanks to Chamber Music Concerts and the SOU Piano Series, she has had instruction from Michael Hasel of the Berlin Wind Quintet and Luis Meireles of the Meireles - Souza Gedes Duo. In 2011, she played flute, alto flute, and piccolo in the play Caucasian Chalk Circle, which featured a new musical setting by local composer Mark Jacobs. She is a regular performer with several local large ensembles. Ms. Nichols has also appeared extensively in local chamber groups and in a duo with guitarist Wenjun Qi. She takes great delight in teaching the flute to students of all ages.
Morgan O'Shaughnessey (www.moshalto.com), viola, is an active freelance soloist, chamber musician, studio musician, and pioneer of new music. He is a graduate of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music where he studied with Jody Levitz and Mark Sokol, received a department award for excellence, and was chosen as the undergraduate commencement speaker. Morgan currently resides in Ashland, performs with the Rogue Valley Symphony and Trio Nocello, works at RadioStar Records and Bellwood Violin (www.bellwoodviolin.com), and moonlights as a solo electric violist commissioning new works from young composers. Recent masterclasses include Chen Yi, Jorja Fleezanis, Misha Amory, and the Kronos Quartet.
Aaron Moffatt (www.aaronmoffatt.com), violin, works as a software engineer for TreeStar, Inc. (www.treestar.com) developing solutions for cancer and marine biology research labs around the world. As a violinist in Ashland, OR he performs locally with organizations including the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Rogue Valley Symphony, Rogue Opera and the Siskiyou Violins. Previously Moffatt studied under the direction of Faina Podolnaya for nearly 10 years and stood as solo violinist in the Great Works for the Violin concert series for five years where he performed celebrated and beloved concertos by Brahms, Mendelssohn, Sibelius, Dvořák, Khachaturian, Vivaldi and Paganini among others.