Anthony Barrette is originally from Negaunee, Michigan. At Negaunee High School, Anthony was a band student of Gerald Anderson and participated in orchestra with Mark Setterlind. Anthony began playing the saxophone in 1999, his primary teachers have been Dan Michelsen, Donald Grant, and Eric Nestler. He has also studied saxophone with Carrie Koffman, Thomas Liley, and Eugene Rousseau.

Anthony is an active performer with groups across the Upper Peninsula including the Negaunee City Band, Marquette City Band, Marquette Symphony Orchestra, Westerly Winds Swing Band, Superior Swing Band, Flat Broke Blues Band and various community and college theatrical productions. Anthony is also an active performer in North Texas with the Pecos River Brass Big Band, The Heart of Texas Concert Band, the Dallas Civic Wind Ensemble, and the Dallas Wind Symphony.

Earning his BME from Northern Michigan University in 2011, Anthony went on to complete his MM in saxophone performance at the University of North Texas in 2013, performing with the acclaimed North Texas Wind Symphony under the direction of Eugene Corporon. Anthony has recorded under the Klavier, and GIA labels. Anthony is a member of the Texas Music Educators Association, National Association of Music Educators, and the North American Saxophone Alliance. This is Anthony’s first season performing with the PMMF.

Carrie Biolo holds a Master of Music degree in Percussion Performance from DePaul University in Chicago, IL.  Biolo is an established performer of contemporary music, working closely with composers such as Guillermo Gregorio, Gerhard Stäbler, Jeff Kowalkowski, Rob Mazurek and Michael Pisaro.  She has recorded over 25 CD’s on various labels including Delmark, HatART, Rino and Uvulittle.

Her music compositions can be heard on Ira Glass’ This American Life, and have been featured on WGBH Boston Public Radio’s Art of the States. She has performed throughout the US as well as in Germany, Japan, Taiwan, Austria, Italy and Spain.

In 2010, Biolo co-founded Percussive Attack Camp, Marquette’s premiere percussion camp. , In addition to her contemporary music collaborations, recordings and performance projects she maintains a private percussion teaching studio, and has been a percussionist with the Marquette Symphony Orchestra since 2001.

Sidney Butler has rejoined her family roots as the fourth generation of professional musicians and artists to spring from the Kitti Family of the Keweenaw.  She has played classical pedal harp for sixteen years following nine years’ study of the violin.  She studied with Mary Foss of the Des Moines Symphony and with Chelsey Bowles and Karen Beth Atz both of the University of Wisconsin at Madison.  Sidney is the principal harpist with the Keweenaw Symphony Orchestra.  This spring she traveled to Boston to play with the Massachusetts Harp Ensemble.  A proponent of the Salzedo harp method, Sidney enjoys teaching students of all ages at her private harp studio in the family home in Calumet.

Michael Christianson is Visiting Assistant Professor of Music and Director of Bands at Michigan Technological University in Houghton, Michigan.

Mike conducts three wind bands at MTU: Superior Wind Symphony, Campus Concert Band and the Huskies Pep Band. In addition Christianson remains the conductor of Gotham Wind Symphony, a professional wind ensemble in New York City, who have released three critically acclaimed CDs, and have just recorded a fourth under his leadership.

Known for creativity in programming, Michael has recently been cited by author Frank Battisti in Winds of Change II: The New Millenium for presenting one of the most notable wind programs of the last decade.

Mike also performs on trombone, bass trombone, tuba and euphonium. He played these instruments for 23 years in NYC, in classical and jazz scenarios, and for 30 Broadway shows. Mike remains an active performer, most recently playing in “My Coma Dreams” with Fred Hersch in NYC, and touring the East coast with the John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble. 

Jerry DePuit graduated from the University of Michigan in 1972 and spent the next twelve years in New York City.  As a vocal coach, he taught at New York University, the American Academy of Vocal Arts, in the studios of Ora Witte and Felix Knight, and privately. 

As a musical director/pianist, he worked for many New York cabarets and theatrical organizations including the Grand Finale, the Ballroom, Reno Sweeney's, the Manhattan Theatre Club, and the Player's Club.  He has also musical directed and played in numerous regional theatres in Connecticut, Kentucky, and Michigan and twice for the Smithsonian Festival of American Folklife in Washington, D.C.  He has appeared nationwide with cabaret artists from New York City to San Francisco, on the Holland America cruise line, and on the Tomorrow and Today shows.  He has accompanied artists in pop concerts and classical recitals in venues including the Little Carnegie Recital Hall. 

His work as an arranger and orchestrator has been heard on recordings, in pops concerts, theatres, and at the Metropolitan Opera House and Radio City Music Hall.  He has written a film score, orchestrated three original musicals (one by Joe Raposo and Sheldon Harnick), arranged and orchestrated four full-scale revues and many smaller ones, helped reconstruct the score of a 1948 musical by Alan Jay Lerner and Kurt Weill, written arrangements for recordings, and done many new arrangements of extant works-both choral and instrumental.  Since 1985 he has been on the faculty of the Musical Theatre Department at the University of Michigan.

Violinist Karen Donato is an active performer and teacher in SE Michigan. She is a tenured member of the Ann Arbor Symphony, Flint Symphony (Assistant Principal Second Violin), and Saginaw Bay Symphony (Principal Second Violin), and plays regularly with other local ensembles. Ms Donato is a member of the opera orchestra at Pine Mountain Music Festival in Houghton, MI.  In addition, she maintains a private studio out of her home.  

Ms Donato is also an enthusiastic solo performer and chamber musician. Every August, she performs at Strings On The Bay, a chamber music series based in Escanaba, MI.  Recent chamber performances have included appearances at Orchestra Hall in Detroit and Kerrytown Concert House in Ann Arbor, among others.  She holds an MM in Violin Performance from the University of Michigan.  Ms Donato lives in Canton, MI with her husband and daughter.

Scott Flavin is Director of the Frost Chamber Orchestra and the UM Baroque Ensemble at the University of Miami (FL), where he is also a professor. He is concertmaster of the Florida Grand Opera, Miami City Ballet orchestras, and Florida Classical Orchestra. Prior to joining the Bergonzi Quartet, Scott was a founding member of the Ellis String Quartet, which toured the United States and Germany and was a Quartet-in-Residence at the Aspen Music Festival. He has been heard on National Public Radio and Armed Forces Radio and is a voting member of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. His recordings include chamber music on the Centaur and Naxos labels. He can also be heard on commercial recordings for Sony, EMI, and Warner Brothers, including over a dozen Grammy award-winning albums. Mr. Flavin performs on a rare Italian violin made in 1780 by Tomaso Eberle.

Ross Harbaugh is Professor of Cello and Chamber Music at the University of Miami (FL). He studied with Janos Starker, Leonard Rose, Peter Howard in the United States, and Andre Navarra at  the Paris Conservatory. Ross won the Naumburg Chamber Music Prize and a Prix du Disque with the New World Quartet and has performed in Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, and London's Wigmore Hall. He has appeared as soloist with many orchestras, including the Atlanta, Cincinnati, Keweenaw, Grand Rapids, and Canadian Chamber Orchestras. He has recorded for VOX, CRI, Musical Heritage, MCA Classics, Centaur, Fleur de Son, and IMP Masters. Ross was formerly principal cellist of the Grand Rapids and Toledo Symphonies, artist in residence at Harvard University, and has published articles on Ensemble Communication and "Tai Chi for Cellists," which explores balance, natural movement, and momentum in string playing. Ross performs on a Domenico Montagnana made in Venice in 1734.

Cellist Kate Haynes can be heard in various cities throughout North America and Europe, as well as on the shores of Lake Superior in the U.P., where her family has lived for four generations. She has performed with ensembles such as Arion, Tafelmusik, B’Rock, Aradia, and Masques, and has recorded for the Naxos, ATMA, Artemis/Vanguard, and early-music.com labels. Other appearances this summer include the third in a six-year cycle of the Bach cello suites for the Toronto Music Garden, in collaboration with composer Christopher Hossfeld. Kate studied at the New England Conservatory and the Royal Dutch Conservatory in the Hague, after completing a bachelor’s degree in Scandinavian studies at Harvard College. She is currently pursuing a PhD in 19th-century performance practice at the University of Leeds.

Violinist Edith Hines is active in the early music scene of southern Wisconsin, performing in several Baroque ensembles, directing an early music ensemble through the University of Wisconsin–Madison Division of Continuing Studies, and participating on the staff and faculty of the Madison Early Music Festival. As a founding member of the Baroque violin and keyboard duo Ensemble SDG, she has performed on the Boston Early Music Festival Fringe Concert Series, on the University of Notre Dame Guest Organ Recital Series, and in the Michigan Festival of Sacred Music (Kalamazoo). She has also been a guest clinician at Western Michigan University and Grand Valley State University. Edith received her formative violin training in her hometown of Kalamazoo and has since studied modern violin with David Updegraff, Donald Weilerstein, and David Perry and had coaching in historical performance from Julie Andrijeski, David Douglass, Robert Mealy, and others.

Steve Ingle has performed as a bassoonist with organizations including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Joffrey Ballet, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, the Milwaukee Symphony, the Memphis Symphony, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic and many others.  He is a former member of the Oregon Symphony Orchestra and can be heard on OSO recordings of Shostakovich, Benjamin Lees, and Michael Daugherty. Mr. Ingle participated in the American premiere of Kurt Weill's Die Bürgschaft with the Spoleto-USA Festival Orchestra and has performed music for television and film. In 2005, he appeared with Pierre Boulez in a performance of Mr. Boulez's Derive 2 for thirteen instruments at Chicago's Harris Theater. In April 2012, he participated in the “Peace Through Music” concert at Chicago’s Symphony Center, which was recorded for PBS. Mr. Ingle has performed chamber music on the Dame Myra Hess and Music in the Loft series, at the Ravinia Festival's Bennett-Gordon Hall, in concert halls throughout Japan, and on live radio from the Amsterdam Concertgebouw. Mr. Ingle has contracted orchestras for Mannheim Steamroller and The Irish Tenors. He is a former member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and holds degrees from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and the Eastman School of Music, where he was awarded the Performer's Certificate in 1996.  He has previously served on the music faculties of Valparaiso University, the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, Elmhurst College, and Concordia University-River Forest. 

Conductor, pianist and double bassist Craig Randal Johnson frequently appears in the Upper Peninsula, recently as conductor of PMMF’s acclaimed production Rockland the Opera.  As pianist he has performed across the United States as Finlandia Foundation "Performer of the Year", in addition to appearances on WNYC-New York, the ‘Rock Church’ in Helsinki, Sundin Hall in St. Paul, ‘Leibnizhaus’ in Hannover, concerts in California and elsewhere.   He has conducted the Florida Symphony, Rome Festival Orchestra, North Star Opera, Finnfest concerts in San Diego, Minneapolis, Marquette and Ashtabula (OH), the Superior Festival Orchestra, Marquette Symphony, and Arius Chamber Symphony.   He was engaged six seasons in German opera houses as pianist, Director of Stage Play Music, assistant conductor and bassist.

Later this summer Craig will return to the boot of Italy to coach, conductor and accompany singers at the intensive summer course ‘Atelier Apulia’.    

John Madison received his Masters in Viola Performance from the University of Michigan. He is currently the Principal Violist of the Michigan Opera Theatre Orchestra, plays regularly as an extra with The Detroit Symphony Orchestra and is the co-founder of The Cassini Ensemble. John regularly performs chamber music, recitals and concertos throughout the area.

Amy McCabe currently resides in Washington, D.C., where she is a trumpet player in a premier military band.  She has performed numerous times at the White House, US Capitol, and other historical areas. She was also a solo recitalist at the International Trumpet Guild in addition to being featured as a soloist on the recent album, "Flourishes and Meditations".  In addition, Amy has also performed with the Washington Symphonic Brass, Washington Bach Consort, and has recently toured with Michael Bolton.

Prior to DC, Amy was a featured soloist of the First National touring cast of the Tony and Emmy-award winning show, "Blast!" a member of the Chicago Civic Orchestra, and the Tanglewood Music Festival Orchestra where she received the Roger Voisin Trumpet Award.

Amy received a bachelor's degree in education from Illinois Wesleyan University and a master's degree in performance from Northwestern University.  Her notable instructors included Charles Geyer and Judith Saxton.

Baritone Andrew McLaughlin (Washington, DC) is increasingly praised for his artful interpretations of opera, art song, and concert repertoire.  He has performed baritone roles in Ravel’s L’enfant et les sortilèges, Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Catán’s Florencia en al Amazonas, and Bizet’s Carmen.  As a member of the Maryland Opera Studio, Andrew was a Reporter in the world premiere of Proto’s Shadowboxer, an opera based on the life and career of Joe Louis.  He made his debut with the Capital City Symphony during their 2012 season in Mahler's Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, and in April 2013, Andrew joined the University of Maryland Repertoire Orchestra as the featured soloist in Orff’s Carmina Burana and in the world premiere of Debussy’s La Saulaie, a newly reconstructed poemé for baritone and orchestra.

Most recently, Andrew had the honor of joining famed mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade and maestro Timothy Long in "A Few Words About Chekhov" to close out the University of Maryland's Art of Argento Festival. Classical Singer Magazine said of the performance “McLaughlin masterfully portrayed the part of Anton Chekhov alongside von Stade.”  In competition, Andrew has been a recent semi-finalist in the Joy in Singing, Florida Grand Opera, and Annapolis Opera Vocal Competitions and won second prize in the Kennett Symphony Young Artist Competition.  He has been a member of the Aspen Music Festival and was twice an apprentice artist at Central City Opera in Central City, CO where he was the recipient of the Joshua Psuik Apprentice Artist Award.  This summer, Andrew joins the Pine Mountain Music Festival in their summer gala series, featuring the works of Giusseppe Verdi.

Andrew received a Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal Performance from West Chester University or Pennsylvania and a Master of Music degree in Opera Performance from the University of Maryland as part of the Maryland Opera Studio.  He has studied with celebrated baritones Randall Scarlata and Dominic Cossa.

Louis Nagel combines an active concert and teaching schedule and is noted for his lecture-recitals by musicians and non-musicians alike. He has performed in highly acclaimed solo recitals and concerto concerts in major American and European cities. He has taught at Interlochen, The Sydney Conservatorium in Australia, The International Music Camp in Poland, Adamant Music School in Vermont, and the Amalfi Coast Music Festival in Italy. He is director of the Outreach In The Performing Arts program, advisor to the Bachelor of Musical ArtsDegree, and interim Chair of the Piano Department, at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre and Dance.

Dr. Nagel is a sought-after presenter at state and national conferences and has appeared in numerous conventions speaking both on performance and pedagogical topics. In addition he is a member of the American Liszt Society and a frequent performer at its annual meetings as well as a guest at the Great Romantics Festival at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.

Louis Nagel has collaborated with his wife the psychologist, psychoanalyst and musician Dr. Julie Jaffee Nagel on a variety of topics exploring the close relationship between music and psychology. Of special note is their unique program devoted to Mozart in the year 1778.

A Steinway Artist, Dr. Nagel has appeared many times in The Steinway Gallery as well as Steinway Hall in New York City. He has recorded FOUR CENTURIES OF J.S.BACH for Equilibrium and MUSIC OF C.P.E.Bach and Joseph Haydn for Block M.

His three degrees from The Juilliard School include piano studies with Rosina Lhevinne, Josef Raieff and Joseph Bloch. Subsequent to his work at Juilliard he spen a summer coaching with Vladimir Ashkenazy.

Recent appearances include a series of concerts devoted to the sonatas of Schubert at Kerrytown, a concert in Florence Italy, and a collaboration with the University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra in performance of the Beethoven Piano Concerto Number 3. In March of 2012 he presented  a program entitled THE SIX FRENCH SUITES; BACH'S BONBONS at the Music Teachers' National Association convention in New York City. Events for 2013 include a performance of the Schumann Quintet in May in Ann Arbor, guest artist at the Tennessee State Music Teachers' Association meetings in June, a series of lecture/recitals on the piano music of Mozart and Debussy in August in Ann Arbor, and the Piano Concerto Number 27 in B-flat in October with the Dexter Community Orchestra.

Joel Neves is Assistant Professor of Music and Director of Orchestras at Michigan Technological University.

He graduated from Arizona State University with a Doctor of Musical Arts in orchestral conducting (choral/opera conducting cognates) and earned his Bachelors and Masters degrees from Brigham Young University. 

Neves was appointed assistant conductor of the Orchestra of Southern Utah in 2006, where he conducted masterworks and pops concerts.  He has conducted the Orquestra de Cadaqués in Barcelona, Spain, the Bakersfield Symphony Orchestra, Bard Festival Orchestra, and Pleasant Grove Symphony Orchestra, and the orchestras at Brigham Young University and Arizona State University.

A strong advocate of music education, he was orchestra director at Cedar High School and Cedar Middle School for three years, and he taught band and orchestra in two elementary schools in Utah.  Neves recently served as guest conductor/clinician for the 2010 Kentucky Music Educators Association (KMEA) All-Collegiate Orchestra.

Known for versatility on the podium, he has directed the jazz ensemble at Southern Utah University; conducted music theatre productions at Southern Utah University, Brigham University, and the Tuacahn Summer Theatre Institute; directed an opera production with the ASU Lyric Opera; and conducted community choirs in Utah and Arizona.

Neves plays trumpet and performed with the Pine Mountain Music Festival’s Rockland opera orchestra and U.P. pipe organ collaboration in summer 2011.  He currently plays trumpet for a band based in Houghton: Captain Woody Boogie and the Pirates of Groove.

Joel resides in Houghton, Michigan with his lovely wife, Lara, and three cute daughters, Bria, Chloe, and Sophia, and our new puppy, Puccini.

John Peiffer has been Assistant Principal Horn of the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra since 1999. Prior to that, he was Principal Horn with the Delaware Symphony Orchestra.  John has enjoyed a colorful musical career involving work as an arranger, singer, and multi-instrumentalist in jazz, western swing, and popular styles of music.  This included appearances as a soloist with the Delaware and Fairfax Symphony orchestras, performing one of his own arrangements for jazz horn and orchestra.  With his group, “The Peiffer Ensemble,” he led performances at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage, and at various Washington, D.C. metropolitan area concert series.  John has performed and recorded with the National Symphony Orchestra and with the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra.  He has been playing Principal Horn with the Pine Mountain Music Festival since 2001.  Since John spends a good deal of his free time in the U.P., you can often catch him sitting in with Steve Jones and the Garden City Hot Club, or leading the eclectic musical mix he calls “Peiffer’s Corner.”  John is an American Canoe Association certified Open Water Sea Kayak Instructor.  He resides in Maryland and has a vacation home near Houghton, but prefers enjoying the land around Herman, MI with his fiancée, Catherine.  

Double bassist and composer Evan Premo pursues a unique life path.  As a member of Ensemble ACJW he has performed many concerts at Carnegie Hall and participated in residencies in Spain and Germany.  Along with the Pittsburgh Symphony Chamber Orchestra, Evan premiered his own double concerto for violin and bass, “Simple Mysteries” inspired by the nature poetry of Mary Oliver.  As a soloist, Evan also premiered “Concerto for Bass and Orchestra” by Finnish composer Jukka Linkola.  His chamber opera, “The Diaries of Adam and Eve” (text by Mark Twain) was commissioned by the Pine Mountain Music and has been staged several times most recently featuring the Bergonzi String Quartet.  Evan has performed at summer chamber music festivals throughout the country and has been featured as a soloist and chamber musician on National Public Radio shows Performance Today and From the Top.  Evan lives in rural Vermont with his wife, soprano Mary Bonhag.  Together they are the founders and artistic directors of Scrag Mountain Music, dedicated to presenting innovative, interactive, and affordable performances of chamber music.   When he’s not performing and composing, Evan enjoys woodworking, hiking, skiing, and simply being with Nature.

Dr. Barbara Rhyneer is originally from Anchorage, Alaska. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Music from Loyola Marymount University, a Master of Music from Bowling Green State University, and a Doctorate of Arts in orchestral conducting and violin performance from Ball State University. Dr. Rhyneer is currently an Associate Professor of Music at Northern Michigan University where she directs the university orchestra, coaches small ensembles, teaches music appreciation, conducting, string pedagogy, and string lessons. 

Outside teaching and performing, Dr. Rhyneer enjoys being involved in educational activities in the surrounding community. Every February she adjudicates for the Michigan Solo and Ensemble Festival, coordinates the Marquette Symphony Orchestra String Youth Competition, and organizes a childrens’ concert. Every Spring she directs the Upper Peninsula Youth Orchestra which is a two-day program consisting of 8^th-12^th graders that convene at Northern Michigan University to rehearse and put on a performance in the Reynolds Recital Hall.                   

Fascinated by Celtic and folk music, Dr. Rhyneer also welcomes the opportunity to play fiddle and mandolin. She has performed with the Foreign Born Irish at community festivals such as the Hiawatha Music Festival, the Chocolay Summer Festival, and also the Seafood Festival in Marquette. She resides in Marquette with her husband Timothy DeMarte, an English and Karate instructor at NMU, who plays the bodhran. Together they make music at home and for community dances; they are frequently joined by their 8-year old son, Eamonn and their 4-year old daughter, Amelie.

Bryan Suits was born and raised in Ann Arbor. The son of enthusiastic amateur musicians, he began piano lessons at age 5, transitioned to flute at age 9, and also briefly studied viola starting at age 10.  His flute teachers included well-known flute educators Judith Thomas, Penny Fischer, and Glennis Stout.  He currently plays flute with the Keweenaw Symphony Orchestra and saxophone with the Copper Country Community Band.  He occasionally can be seen performing with other smaller groups in the Keweenaw area.  He is a professor of physics at Michigan Tech and melds his interests in music and science in his course “The Physics Behind Music,” currently offered both live and online.  Bryan and his wife, Joan, live in Houghton.

Julie Tabash is thrilled to be returning to Pine Mountain Music Festival after having participated in Così fan tutte as Despina and A Little Night Music as Anne Egerman last summer! She recently received her Master of Music degree from Northwestern University, where she also received her Bachelor of Music in voice and opera as well as a certificate in musical theatre. Recent performances include the Chicago premier of Ricky Ian Gordon’s The Grapes of Wrath (Rosasharn), The Magic Flute (Papagena), The Secret Garden (Rose), J.S Bach Magnificat (soprano soloist), and the world stage premier of the opera-oratorio Reagan’s Children (Maureen Reagan). She is happy to be the recipient of three alumni scholarships from Opera Theatre of Saint Louis’s “Artists-in-Training” program, a 2011 Chicago Chapter NATS finalist and 3^rd place award winner, and a Bienen School of Music vocal honors recipient. Julie is looking forward to another summer filled with music-making!

Soprano Lucy Thrasher performed the role of Desiree in last summer’s production of A Little Night Music.  At PMMF, she has also sung Musetta and Susanna, and appeared with the PMMF Symphony in Sibelius’ Luonnotar.  Since making her professional operatic debut as Frasquita in Bizet’s Carmen in 1978, Lucy has sung leading and supporting roles in over 30 operas across the US.  This season, she sang Marzellina in Fidelio and Marcellina in Le nozze di Figaro, both with the Fargo Moorhead Opera.  She is Associate Professor of Voice at Concordia College, Moorhead, MN, where she also teaches opera workshop and is a frequent recitalist and chamber musician.  She has been ROA Program Director at PMMF since its inception in 1998.

Matthew Wadsworth, lutenist, is in great demand as a soloist, continuo player and chamber musician. He has appeared at many of the major festivals in the UK, Europe and North America and can equently be heard on radio, both in live performance and on disc. 

Matthew studied lute with Nigel North at London’s Royal Academy of Music, winning the London Student of the Year award in 1997 for his work on the development of Braille lute tablature. He then pent a year at the Royal Conservatory of Music in The Hague. 

Matthew has recorded for Avie, Deux-Elles, Linn, EMI, Channel Classics and Wigmore Live. His 6 CDs to date have all received international critical acclaim and have been featured as Gramophone  editors Choice on several occasions.