Violinist Colin Jacobsen, a 2003 Avery Fisher Career Grant recipient, began his violin studies at the age of four with Doris Rothenberg and continued with Louise Behrend at the School for Strings and, later, at The Juilliard School Pre-College Division, where he won the school-wide concerto competition. Mr. Jacobsen studied with Josef Gingold for two summers, and graduated in 1999 from The Juilliard School, where he worked with Robert Mann. During the 2000-2001 season, he continued his studies with Vera Beths at the Royal Conservatory of the Hague.

Over the past few years, Mr. Jacobsen has pursued a varied career of solo and chamber music engagements. In addition to his appearance with the New York Philharmonic, Mr. Jacobsen has been guest soloist with the symphony orchestras of Albany, Charlotte, Eugene, Rhode Island, Nashville, Charleston, the Metamorphosen Chamber Orchestra, Santa Fe Pro Musica and the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra. As a touring member of Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Project, Mr. Jacobsen has collaborated with eminent musicians from Asia and the Middle East. The group has recorded for the Sony Classical label and appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman.

Mr. Jacobsen performs regularly with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, at Bargemusic, and is a member of the Metropolitan Museum Artists in Concert. Summer performances have taken him to the Banff Centre for the Arts, Bravo! Colorado Music Festival, Caramoor International Music Festival, Marlboro Music Festival, Moritzburg Festival, Ravinia Festival, Salzburg Festival and in Taiwan's National Concert Hall. He is a Young Artist in Residence for NPR's Performance Today, and has also been a resident performer on WQXR Radio's weekly On A-I-R (Artists-in-Radio) Series. Mr. Jacobsen plays a Guarneri violin crafted in 1696.

Jonathan Yates is the Music Director of the Norwalk Youth Symphony and the conductor of the Principal Orchestra. Jonathan has earned high praise as a conductor, solo pianist, and collaborative artist for his musicianship, intellect, and the remarkable variety of his musical endeavors.

He made his professional orchestral conducting debut at 23, leading the National Symphony Orchestra in a Millennium Stages Concert.
The following year he made his Carnegie Hall debut as a participant in the Isaac Stern Chamber Music Workshop. Jonathan also serves as Music Director of the Norwalk Symphony Orchestra, where he has been a driving force in reinvigorating the relationship between the symphony and its community.

He has collaborated as a pianist and conductor with many of the country’s most respected musicians, including Midori, Kim Kashkashian, David Finckel, Charles Neidich, Ida Kavafian, Colin Carr, Gilbert Kalish, Paul Neubauer, Joseph Lin, and William Purvis; and the Avalon, Daedalus and Pacifica Quartets. He has been heard as a chamber musician at the 92nd Street Y, Miller Theater, Bargemusic and Merkin Hall, as well as at the Caramoor Festival and on the Ravinia Festival Rising Stars Series. As an ardent devotee of the music of our time, he has conducted new music concerts with the Argento Chamber Ensemble and the Knights, was the recipient of an ASCAP award for adventurous programming, and has given local and regional premieres of pre-eminent composers including Augusta Read Thomas, Huang Ruo, Zhou Long, Chester Biscardi, and Chen Yi.

Jonathan received his Graduate Diploma in conducting from the Juilliard School, where he studied with James DePreist and Otto-Werner Mueller, and was the holder of the Bruno Walter Memorial Scholarship. He received his Master of Music from State University of New York, where he worked with Gilbert Kalish, and his Bachelor of Arts from Harvard University, where he studied with Robert Levin. His past work includes serving as founding Music Director of Camerata Notturna, as Music Director of Music Mountain, and on the faculty of Sarah Lawrence College. He was recently named Director of Classical Series at 23Arts Windham Music and Jazz Fest. He descends from a family that has been on the forefront of the battles for the cultural and humanistic life of our country. His grandfather, U. S. Representative Sidney R. Yates, was the principal defender of the National Endowment for the Arts in his 48 years in Congress, and his father, the Honorable Stephen R. Yates, was the first judge in Illinois to approve same-sex adoption.