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James Noyes is a native of Iowa City, where, at the age of ten, he chose to play alto saxophone in the elementary school band. Early in his career, Noyes became known as a skilled “doubler” on saxophones, clarinets, and flute, and in this capacity he landed his first professional job with Disney’s All-American College Orchestra performing with Rosemary Clooney, Maureen McGovern, Bill Conti, and others. James Noyes has since appeared with the Long Island Philharmonic, Juilliard Symphony Orchestra, David Amram, American Brass Quintet, SURGE Saxophone Quartet, New York Arts Ensemble, Safe Sax Jazz Quintet, the Blue Hornet Band, and the Doobie Brothers with Michael McDonald. Composers who have written for Noyes include Steve Cohen, Jan Feddersen, Paul Kirby, Eric Nathan, and Michael Patterson. A saxophone historian, composer of Equinox Liturgy, and authority on Claude Debussy, Dr Noyes serves on the faculties of William Paterson University, Manhattan School of Music Precollege Division (former Theory Department Chair), and is Artistic Director of Music at Our Savior’s Atonement (MOSA) a concert series in northern Manhattan.

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Born in Lviv, Ukraine, pianist Yegor Shevtsov is proud to be back for his second summer as a Tanglewood fellow. He was selected from an international field to perform for legendary pianist/conductor Daniel Barenboim at Carnegie Hall, June 2003. As winner of the Artists International competition, he gave his New York recital debut at Weill Hall on 6 February 2005, and has performed at Lincoln Center, the Miller Theater, the Whitney Museum in New York City, as well as Germany, Ukraine, and Ireland. The Miami Herald praised Yegor in 2007 for his superb musicianship and evocative piano playing. Engaged in finishing his Doctoral Studies at the Manhattan School of Music, Yegor also has a Bachelors degree in Economics, and was selected to be one of the two Soros Foundation Scholars at the University of Amsterdam.

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Trumpeter Rodger Lee has performed with the New York Virtuosi, West End Symphony, the New York Ragtime Orchestra, and the American Chamber Orchestra, among others. His Broadway credits include over eight years of Les Miserables, as well as many other shows. As a recording artist he has produced his own albums such as New American Trumpet Sonatas and Ceremonial Wedding Music. Mr. Lee teaches at Long Island University/ C. W. Post Campus as an adjunct professor of trumpet and is the Director of both the college Brass Ensemble and faculty brass quintet entitled Long Island Brassworks.

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Multi-gifted, Gregory Sullivan Isaacs is a professional musician who has held numerous musical directorships of opera, choral, and symphonic organizations. Currently, he holds the dual positions of Composer-In-Residence and Music Director for The Living Opera, located in the Greater Dallas Area. He is a Pulitzer Prize nominated composer and a winner of a Peabody award for performance as well as an ASCAP award for his commitment to American Music. His critically acclaimed three act opera for tenor and piano “Henry Faust” was produced for public television and was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. He is a member of the ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Arrangers, and Publishers), the Conductors Guild, and the American Music Center. Outstanding teachers include: Thor Johnson, Martha Lipton, Ivan Davis, Frederick Fennell, Leslie Bassett, Tibor Kozma, and Pierre Bernac. John Guinn of the Detroit Free Press said: “You can add Henry Faust to that short list of successful single-singer operas (Schoenberg’s Ewartung and Poulenc’s La Voix Humaine) … it proved to be a moving experience. Isaacs’ music, cast in traditional forms, such as fugue, passacaglia, rondo and variation, is always accessible… often strikingly beautiful, as in the Landler that closes act two.” Byron Belt, nationally syndicated through Newhouse called him “brilliant” and said of his recording of American music with the Cascade Symphony: “As a conductor, it is Isaacs’ impassioned insight and directorial skills that makes every performance special.”

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Since his concerto debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, with whom he has appeared nine times, pianist Steven Graff has been the recipient of numerous distinguished awards and glowing critical praise. A sought-after recitalist and chamber musician, Graff has performed at Weill, Zankel and Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall, Lang Recital Hall and the Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College, Merkin and Alice Tully Halls in New York City and his performances have been broadcast on New York radio stations WQXR and WNCN, and Chicago’s WFMT. Dr. Graff currently serves on the piano faculty at New York’s Hunter College and serves as head of the piano department of the Diller-Quaille School of Music.

Steven Graff, Pianist

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A native of Halifax, Nova Scotia, flutist Erin Lesser has performed as soloist and chamber musician throughout Canada, Europe, China, Brazil and the USA. Ms. Lesser is actively involved in the contemporary music world, having worked with composers such as Pierre Boulez, George Crumb, Mario Davidovsky, Tristan Murail, and Philippe Hurel. She is a founding member of Argento Chamber Ensemble, Due East, and Scarborough Trio, and also performs regularly with Wet Ink Ensemble. Festival appearances include: Shanghai Electroacoustic Music Festival, Kilkenny Music Festival, Warsaw Crossdrumming Festival, Holland Festival, Ojai Music Festival (CA), International Spectral Music Festival (Istanbul), and Sounds French Festival (NYC). Erin is currently a fellow of The Academy, a program run by Carnegie Hall, The Juilliard School, and The Weill Music Institute and a doctoral candidate at the Manhattan School of Music.

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William G. Marx completed his A.B. and A.M. degrees at the University of Michigan (UM) and his Ph.D. in English language and literature at Michigan State University (MSU). Marx’s dissertation, directed by Professor John A. Alford, applied selected techniques of Constantin Stanislavski to the interpretation and staging of medieval religious drama. While completing his Ph.D. and for many years thereafter, Dr. Marx worked as an assistant to the director of the Center for Integrative Studies in MSU’s College of Social Science, where he helped to develop curricula for undergraduate students majoring in Interdisciplinary Studies in Social Science. Dr. Marx retired from MSU in 2007 and now enjoys the honorable station of Senior Specialist Emeritus. Dr. Marx’s own academic background and continuing interests lie in the study of English literature and especially in the study of the dramatic literature of medieval England, the poetry of Geoffrey Chaucer, the plays of William Shakespeare, Anton Chekhov, Tennessee Williams, and Arthur Miller, and the life and works of Robert Burns. Despite the form of “Seasons,” Dr. Marx’s preferred poetic form is the sonnet, at which he labors from time to time and with varying degrees of pleasure and success. Even more extensive is his experience in producing medieval drama, which extends well over twenty years. Dr. Marx lives in Lansing, Michigan with his wife, Mitsuko. He is stepfather to two grown sons.