Composer and performer for the Children’s Concert, the BLUE, and SODNER: Micah Behr received his Doctorate in Viola Performance at UW Madison where he studied viola with Sally Chisholm and collaborative piano with Martha Fischer. His compositions and transcriptions have been premiered by the Madison Bach Musicians, Stoughton Chamber Music Festival, Trio With(out) and the Griffon String Quartet. He also composes music for Geneva Campus Church where he serves as Music Director. In 2023, his one-act operetta based on the life of Sarah Bernhardt received second place in The American Prize for composition. Cellist for the BLUE and SONDER: Philip Bergman is a cellist, musician, and educator based in Northwest Illinois. Highlights of his wide-ranging career thus far include collaborating in performance with Yo-Yo Ma, sharing the stage with Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, performing Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with a chorus of ten thousand on national television in Japan, creating and implementing a residency of interactive performances in a memory care facility, soloing on Tan Dun’s Crouching Tiger Concerto with the Dubuque Symphony Orchestra, performing alongside rapper Vic Mensa, and playing under the baton of Sir Neville Marriner.
Philip is the principal cellist of Orchestra Iowa, where he performs orchestra and chamber concerts, as well as participating in educational concerts in concert halls, schools, and public libraries across the state. Philip is also principal cellist of the Dubuque Symphony Orchestra and a section cellist in the Illinois Symphony Orchestra.
Prior to moving to Northwest Illinois, Philip was a Civic Fellow and cellist in the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, performing orchestral and chamber concerts in Symphony Center and across the city of Chicago, planning and implementing interactive concerts in schools. Before his time in Chicago Philip was a cellist and Vorspieler in the Hyogo Performing Arts Center Orchestra in Japan.
Philip received his Bachelor of Music from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where he studied with Brandon Vamos, cellist of the Pacifica Quartet. He then went on to complete a Master of Music at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, studying with Uri Vardi.GRAMMY Award-winning soprano Sarah Brailey enjoys a versatile career that defies categorization. Praised by The New York Times for her “radiant, liquid tone,” she is a prolific vocalist, cellist, recording artist, and educator. Among Dr. Brailey’s career highlights are Handel’s L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato with the Mark Morris Dance Group, Zorn’s Madrigals at the Louvre in Paris, and The Soul on the world premiere album of Dame Ethel Smyth’s The Prison, for which she received the 2020 GRAMMY Award for Best Classical Solo Vocal Album. Dr. Brailey serves on the voice faculty at UW-Madison, is the Director of Vocal Studies at the University of Chicago, and the Artistic Director of the Handel Aria Competition. Performing the Children’s concert, the BLUE, and SONDER: Madlen H. Breckbill (Viola, Violin) has worked in Europe as an orchestral trainee with KonzerthausorchesterBerlin, the violist of the TAÏGA String Quartet in Denmark and as a chamber music trainee with Villa-Musica in Rheinland Pfalz. As an orchestral player, Madlen toured China and Japan, and performed under the batons of Sir Roger Norrington, Leon Fleisher, Christian Eschenbach, and Ivan Fischer. As a chamber musician, Madlen has performed across Europe and North America collaborating with Martin Beaver, Ernst Kovacic, Steven Dann, and cellist Richard Lester (just to name a few). In 2019, Madlen founded the Stoughton Chamber Music Festival– now called Samtalä | Musicians in Dialogue, facilitating chamber music collaborations dedicated to diverse and experiential programing. Madlen has performed with trio with(out), Bach Dancing Dynamite Society, Midsummer Music, Token Creek Chamber Music Festival, The Happenstancers and West End Micro Music Festival. You can also find her subbing in the violin and viola sections of the Madison Symphony Orchestra, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, the Quad Cities Symphony Orchestra, and the Madison Bach Musicians. Madlen holds a BM and MM from UW Madison, and an Artist Diploma from the Glenn Gould School in Toronto. Her primary teachers include violinists Eugene Purdue, David Perry, Paul Kantor, Erica Raum, Barry Shiffman, and violists Steven Dann and Sally Chisholm.
Cellist for SONDER: Aaron Fried is a versatile cellist and music educator based in Madison. Recently Aaron has been heard on chamber music series such as Stoughton Opera House’s Music Appreciation series, Midsummer Music (Door County), and Eastern Shore Chamber Music Festival (Alabama). Aaron has performed with The Boston Philharmonic,The Cleveland Opera, The Madison Symphony Orchestra, Madison Opera, and The Traverse Symphony Orchestra (Michigan). Last year, Aaron served as principal cello on “Mahler’s Liederabend” at Colorado Mahlerfest. Dedicated to pushing the limits of the cello, Aaron is a member of the genre-bending UW Bridge Project and was a member of Cleveland-based Five One Experimental Orchestra. Aaron has appeared on several jazz albums, and recently his arrangements and compositions were heard at Cafe Coda’s Jazz Cello Happy Hour. Currently Aaron is a Doctoral Candidate at UW-Madison, where he serves as a member of the Marvin Rabin String Quartet, teaches String Fundamentals to Music Education students, and leads cello sectionals for the All University String Orchestra. Aaron also serves as the cello section coach for four orchestras at the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras (WYSO) and is the director of the cello program at Fitchburg’s Eagle School. For the last two years, Aaron has served on the faculty at Chapel Hill Chamber Music Workshop in his hometown of Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Aaron trained at The Boston Conservatory, and Kent State University, where he also served as adjunct faculty for three years.Violinist for the BLUE: Alex Norris, violin, is happily immersed in a diverse and exciting life as a chamber musician. Currently he resides in Green Bay. Wisconsin as a member of the Griffon String Quartet. In addition to this, Alex is a member of the Des Moines Metro Opera and the Stoughton Music Festival, as well as the Quad City Symphony. Earlier chamber music experiences include being a guest artist with Red Cedar Chamber Music in Cedar Rapids, IA, and being a member of the Permian Basin String Quartet in Midland, TX. Alex has a strong background in orchestral playing as well, having formerly been a member of the Chicago Civic Orchestra, and Principal Second Violin in the Illinois Symphony.Violinist for the BLUE: Violinist David Perry enjoys an international career as chamber musician, soloist, orchestral musician and educator, and has performed in Carnegie Hall, and in most of the major cultural centers of North and South America, Europe, and the Far East. An active chamber musician, he is a member of the Pro Arte Quartet who celebrated its Centennial Anniversary in the 2011-2012 season. Acclaimed composers commissioned for the celebration include William Bolcom, John Harbison, Pierre Jalbert, Walter Mays, Benoit Mernier and Paul Schoenfield. He regularly tours throughout the country as a founding violinist of the Aspen String Trio, and has performed with Midsummer’s Music since 1999. Concertmaster of the Chicago Philharmonic, Perry has served as guest concertmaster with the China National Symphony Orchestra, Ravinia Festival Orchestra, and the American Sinfonietta among others. He also served as concertmaster for the Aspen Chamber Symphony. Active since the late 1980s with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, renowned for playing without a conductor, he can be heard on many of their Deutsche Grammophon recordings. Perry’s discography also includes chamber and solo recordings on the Delos, Sonos and Naxos labels. A member of the University of Wisconsin-Madison faculty, he was granted a Paul Collins Endowed Professorship in 2003. Perry was also on the faculty of the Aspen Music Festival and School for nearly two decades. A 1985 U. S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts, his first prizes have included the International D’Angelo Competition, National MTNA Auditions, and the Juilliard Concerto Competition.Bass and Vocalist for the BLUE: Stoughton native Laura Perry is sophomore at UW-Madison studying Double Bass Performance and Political Science. She frequently plays principal bass with the UW Symphony, and enjoys singing in the UW Concert Choir. When she is not on campus, she can be found performing in musicals with Capital City Theatre and Stoughton Center for the Arts. Laura is very excited to be performing with her dad, David Perry, for this program, and would like to thank her bass teachers Dave Scholl and Peter Dominquez, as well as her voice teacher Dr. Julia Rottmayer for all of their guidance!Storyteller for our August 9th Children’s concert: Australian-born Katrin Talbot’s poetry collection Falling Asleep at the Circus was just released from Turning Point Books and The Devil Orders A Latte is forthcoming from Fernwood Press. The Waiting Room for the Imperfect Alibis was her first full-length collection (Kelsay Books). She has seven chapbooks, two Pushcart Prize nominations and quite a few chickens. She has performed many times as a narrator and has written several children’s books she has yet send out into the world. She is delighted to join the Samtalä | Musicians in Dialogue in this capacity. Violist for SONDER: A spirited interpreter of chamber music, violist Laila Zakzook won the 2014 Lillian Fuchs Chamber Music Competition and the Honors Quartet Scholarship at the Colburn School of Performing Arts. Also committed to the performance of new music, Laila has given the Canadian premier of “In Manus Tuas,” by Caroline Shaw. In 2013, Laila performed with Mika and Richard Stoltzman in “Duet,” by Steve Reich in Carnegie Hall. Laila has held principal and assistant principal positions under the batons of conductors such as Leonard Slatkin, Philippe Entremont and Leon Fleisher, within the Banff Festival Orchestra, Manhattan School of Music Orchestras, The Royal Conservatory Orchestra, Oberlin Wind Ensemble, and the Colburn School of Performing Arts Chamber Orchestra. Laila appeared at Carnegie Hall with the Mimesis Ensemble in the premiere performance and subsequent recording of Sumeida’s Song by Mohammed Fairouz. In 2011 and 2013, Laila held residencies at The Banff Centre. Laila has also participated in Rockport Chamber Music Festival, The Heifetz International Music Institute, Zephyr International Chamber Music Course and Festival, Stoughton Chamber Music Festival and Music By The Sea in British Columbia. Laila completed her studies at The Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory of Music, having previously studied at The Manhattan School of Music and The Oberlin Conservatory. Laila has collaborated with the Grammy Award winning Attacca Quartet and artists such as Steven Dann, Barry Schiffman, Andrès Diaz and Osvaldo Golijov.
