Michelle Areyzaga, soprano, was voted Chicago's "Artist of the Year" in 2006. She has won praise for her interpretation of many areas of repertoire, including contemporary American Songs. Opera magazine has praised her singing as "Stunning."

Among her recent performance highlights are appearances with the Birmingham Opera, The Orchestra Sinfonica del Estrada De Mexico, York Cathedral, The Du Page Opera, The Chicago Master Singers, Chicago Opera Theater, The Lyric Opera Center for American Artists, The Ravinia Festival, Light Opera Works, and the North Shore Choral Society. She was recently featured as Pamina in Mozart's The Magic Flute for PBS and her live performances have been broadcast frequently on WFMT Radio.

She is the winner of many prizes, including the Metropolitan Opera National Auditions, and The William C. Byrd International Young Artist Competition. She performs frequently across the US and in Europe as a recitalist and in opera and vocal works with orchestra. Michelle is a graduate of the College of the Performing Arts at Roosevelt University in Chicago.

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Doyle Armbrust is one of three siblings, all of whom play the viola professionally.  To answer the inevitable questions:  (1) the violin slots at Wheaton College Suzuki Program were completely full and (2) there was and is no competitiveness between them...inexplicably.  As the Spektral Quartet's resident wordsmith, Doyle bisects Spektral rehearsals interviewing the likes of Mitsuko Uchida and David Lang among others for TimeOut Chicago and the Chicago Classical Review.  Currently the principal violist of the Firebird Chamber Orchestra in Miami, FL, Doyle is also a core member of the Chicago Symphony's MusicNow series, Ensemble Dal Niente and the New Millennium Orchestra.  He's also been seen onstage the Peter Gabriel, Eddie Vedder, The Beach Boys, Glen Hansard, Lupe Fiasco as well as occasionally dodging pyrotechnics with the Trans-Siberian Orchestra.  A frequent guest artist with the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), Doyle has appeared as a guest artist with new music dynamos eighth blackbird and been featured on the University of Chicago Presents and CONTEMPO series.

A full merit scholarship recipient Masters student at the University of Southern California where he studied with Donald McInnes, Doyle went on to a three-year fellowship under Michael Tilson Thomas at the New World Symphony.  Having worked closely and performed with Pierre Boulez, Daniel Barrenboim, Sir Neville Mariner, MTT, Robert Vernon, Charlie Pickler and Roberto Diaz, Doyle ultimately decided to eschew the orchestral path for a life in chamber music.  When he's not busy changing strings after yet another Berio Viola Sequenza practice session, Doyle can be found kayaking amidst the Apostle Islands and cooking in the cast iron with his financee, playwright Laura Schellhardt.

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Violinist Injoo Choi performs and tours frequently with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and is currently a first violinist for the Grant Park Music Festival Symphony Orchestra.

She has toured Central America performing chamber music and giving master classes in music conservatories. Her collaborations indlude such artists as Earl Carlyss, a former Julliard String Quartet, Paul Colletti, and Ik-Hwan Bae. Her performances have been heard on National Public Radio's Performance today as well as other radio stations in Chicago, Baltimore, and Washington, D. C. Injoo Choi has participated in various music festivals including Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, Johannesen Music Festival in Canada, and was also a Penson Young Artist in Residence at the Southern Methodist University in Dallas performing numerous concerts.

Injoo Choi has studied with Sylvia Rosenberg, Josef Gingold, and Yuval Yaron.

In addition to her active performances, she teaches extensively, and coaches chamber music at the Music Institute of Chicago.

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Cellist David Cunliffe began studying at the age of nine in his native England. Three years later he was chosen to receive a scholarship to the Royal College of Music in London. In 1984 Mr. Cunliffe went on to study at the Royal Northern College of Music where he founded the Argyll String Quartet and was the recipient of the Terrance Weill and Leonard Hirsch Quartet prizes and the Lady Barbirolli Chamber Music Award.

His teachers included Margaret Moncreiff, Moray Welsh, William Pleeth, Christopher Bunting and Ralph Kirshbaum. He completed his studies at the International Yehudi Menuhin Music Academy in Switzerland where he studied with Radu Aldulescu and toured throughout Europe with Yehudi Menuhin and the Camerata Lysy.

In 1995 he was asked to join the Balanescu Quartet, touring extensively to Australia, Europe and the United States appearing frequently on radio and TV, including featured performances on NPR and the BBC. He has served as Principal cello with the RNCM Chamber and Symphony Orchestras and for performances with BBC Philharmonic, BBC Scottish and Royal Scottish Symphony Orchestras. Mr. Cunliffe can be heard on various recording labels including Enja, DMD, Albany and Cedille.

A founding member of the Virtuosi Chicago Chamber Orchestra, Mr. Cunliffe is currently on the faculty of the Music Institute of Chicago and is a member of the Lincoln Trio, ensemble-in-residence at the Music Institute of Chicago.

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Melissa Ngan Snoza, flute
A passionate advocate for chamber music, Melissa Snoza currently performs with the Peninsula Music Festival and freelances throughout the Chicago area. Also an active educator, Melissa currently serves as Adjunct Professor of Flute at Carthage College, teaches a music entrepreneurship course at DePaul University, and maintains a private studio. As a member of 5HE, Melissa has presented workshops at Northwestern University, Yale, NEIU, UW-Milwaukee, and the Colburn Conservatory on arts entrepreneurship and creative programming, and contributes to the Entrepreneur the Arts blog.

Previous award credits include First Prize at the National Flute Association’s Orchestral Audition Competition, as well as being selected as a winner of Northwestern University’s Concerto Competition. She has been a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, has performed with the New World Symphony, the National Repertory Orchestra, the Aspen Music Festival, and was the only American flutist invited to the first Music Master’s Course in Kazusa, Japan. Melissa is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music and Northwestern University, with principal teachers including Bonita Boyd and Walfrid Kujala. Melissa is not only a well-known flutist and teacher in Chicago – she also makes a mean spread of Brazilian food and a mouth-watering chocolate pecan bourbon pie.

Andrew Williams, violin
Originally from Atlanta, GA, Andrew Williams is an active performer throughout the Chicagoland area. In addition to being a member of the Fifth House Ensemble, he is principal second violin of the Rockford Symphony. He has received degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music and Rice University and has a Performance Certificate from DePaul University. His previous teachers include David Cerone, Kathleen Winkler and Ilya Kaler. He has attended summer music festivals such as Encore School for Strings and Kent/Blossom Music Festival. He also teaches at the annual Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra Camp in Monte Toyon, CA. Andrew’s favorite color is blue and he likes baseball.

Herine Coetzee Koschak, cello
Cellist Herine Coetzee, originally from South Africa, holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Indiana University School of Music, where she was a student of Janos Starker and Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi. Ms. Coetzee has appeared as a features soloist with numerous orchestras, including the Nittany Valley Symphony and the National Repertory Orchestra, as well as in recital as a soloist and chamber musician throughout the East Coast and the Midwest. Her master class performances include those for Yo-Yo Ma, Anner Byslma, Truls Mork and Orlando Cole. In 2002 she was a prizewinner fin the Indiana University Cello Concerto Competition, playing Ernest Bloch’s Schelomo-Hebraic Rhapsody for Cello and Orchestra. Herine has held titled positions in such groups as the National Repertory Orchestra and the Civic Orchestra of Chicago. As a teacher, she serves on the faculty of the Merit School of Music. She resides in Evanston and enjoys taking on the Viking Breakfast at Svea’s in Andersonville.

Adam Marks, piano
Pianist and lecturer Adam Marks is best known for his innovative and impassioned performances of contemporary works including numerous premieres. A laureate of the 2008 Orleans International Piano Competition, he has performed throughout the U.S., as well as in France and The Netherlands, including being a featured soloist with the National Repertory Orchestra, the Manchester Symphony Orchestra, and the Brandeis-Wellesley Symphony Orchestra. Also an active educator, Adam taught at New York University, and has led master classes and workshops at The Julliard School, Mannes College of Music, Manhattan School of Music, New York University, Yale University, University of British Columbia, and Colorado University at Boulder. Adam currently serves as a Core Consultant for New Triad for Collaborative Arts, where he teaches audience engagement, public speaking and coaches musicians as they craft theatrical recitals. Adam holds degrees from Brandeis University and the Manhattan School of Music. A former EMT and professional puppeteer, he is presently a candidate for the Ph.D in piano performance at New York University.

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Dileep Gangolli is Artistic Director of the Sheridan Chamber Players which he founded in 2001. He regularly appears with many of the area’s leading ensembles including the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, the Ars Viva Orchestra, and Fulcrum Point New Music project. Prior to establishing his career in Chicago, he was a member of the Seattle Symphony Orchestra. He is also a frequent guest on WFMT’s Live from Studio One broadcasts. He earned his music degrees from Northwestern University, Southern Methodist University, and the University of Washington. He has studied with Robert Marcellus, Anthony Gigliotti and Ronald Phillips. In 1986 he was awarded a Fulbright Grant to the United Kingdom. He is a former member of the faculties of North Park University and the University of Puget Sound.

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Alicia Hall is an acting teacher with Terra Sounds Studio of Music and Arts in Glenview, IL and with Chekhov Studio Chicago, where she specializes in The Michael Chekhov Technique. She is also an ensemble actor with The Moving Dock Theatre Co. where she currently sits as the Pres. of the Board. She has been an actor  in the Chicago area for over twenty years and has enjoyed performing with such companies as Satge left, Strawdog, Alchymia Theatre, The Journeymen, and Shattered Globe, to name just a few. Favorite roles include Judith from Shaw's The Devil's Deciple, The White Princess from Rilke's play of the same name, Rebecca West from Ibsen's Rosmersholm, Lady Macbeth, and As You Like It's Rosalind. She holds her MFA from The Theatre School of DePaul Univ., and her B.A. from Barat College. 

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Steven Honigberg is a graduate of the Julliard School of Music where he studied with Leonard Rose and Channing Robbins.  Other important cello teachers were Pierre Fournier and Karl Fruh. He is currently a member of the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C. and is also founder and member of the Potomac String Quartet.  He has given recent cello recitals in Washington, DC on the Dumbarton Concert Series, at the Phillips Collection Series, at the National Gallery of Art, and recitals in New York and throughout the United States. In Chicago he has appeared on radio WFMT,  at the Ravinia Festival, and as soloist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Ars Viva Orchestra, Lake Forest Symphony  and New Philharmonic Orchestra among others.  He has appeared most recently as soloist with the National Symphony Orchestra in a performance at the Kennedy Center of Eric Wolfgang Korngold's Cello Concerto and he won rave reviews for the 1988 world premiere of David Ott's Concerto for Two Cellos conducted by Mistislav Rostropovich and the National Symphony Orchestra with many repeat performances on  two NSO United States tours.

 Steven was the Director of the Chamber Music Series at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC for ten years where he premiered a number of new works by such composers as Lukas Foss, Benjamin Lees, Robert Starer and David Diamond.
He participated in extensive recordings of concerts held at the museum, including four recordings of music from the music series and CDs of  music by Erick Wolfgang Korngold and  Ernst Toch. He has recorded extensively with the Potomac String Quartet, including the  nine String Quartets of Quincy Porter and the eleven String Quartets of David Diamond which John von Rhein, music critic for the Chicago Tribune, chose as one of his top 20 CD choices for 2003. Steven Honigberg has also recorded the complete works of Beethoven for cello and piano, and the complete works of Chopin for cello and piano with his mother, pianist Carol Honigberg. From 1990-2009 Honigberg was chamber music director of the Edgar M. Bronfman series in Sun Valley, Idaho and  principal cellist of the Sun Valley Summer Symphony where he was featured as soloist in more than 15 cello concerti. He has collaborated in chamber music with such musicians as violinist Hilary Hahn, and pianists Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Jon Nakamatsu, James Tocco and Shai Wosner.

Steven lives in Washington, DC with his wife Jessica and two daughters Lily and Clara. Also an author, Beckham Books in 2010 published his book Leonard Rose: America's Golden Age and Its First Cellist.. Steven Honigberg performs on the “Stuart” Stradivarius cello made in 1732.

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William Knuth, violinist, has earned recognition for his artistry as a solo and chamber musician and has been praised by American Record Guide for his “perfect intonation, wide range of timbre…expressive phrasing, and great sensitivity”.  Mr. Knuth spent two years as a US Fulbright grantee to Vienna, Austria studying at the Vienna Universitat fur Musik und darstellende Kunst.  He was a featured performer multiple times for members of the United Nations Council as well as foreign ambassadors from Russia, Spain, Germany, and Austria. 

Mr. Knuth is a member of the guitar/violin Duo Sonidos with guitarist Adam Levin, receiving 1st Prize at the 2010 Luys Milan International Guitar Chamber Music Competition The duo was featured on Chicago WFMT Radio’s Live from Mayne Stage progam as well as Arts Talk on WCNY Syracuse.   Discography includes tracks on Adam Levin: "In the Beginning" and the debut album Duo Sonidos, which was selected by BBC Music magazine as US Choice Release praising the duo’s"loose-limbed, easy virtuoso 'cool' and beguiling tonal warmth that combined laid-back intuitiveness with classical sophistication".  This debut album received additional acclaim and features in Fanfare Magazine, Classical Guitar Magazine, and American Record Guide.  Duo Sonidos is internationally active in commissioning and premiering new compositions for the duo and tours extensively internationally.

William has participated in various international festivals and academies including the Internationale Sommer Akademie Prague-Vienna- Budapest, the IMPULS New Music Ensemble Akademie with the Vienna Klangforum Orchestra, and the Juilliard International Akademie at the Hochschule fur Musik in Leipzig, Germany.  Mr. Knuth has traveled and performed in central Europe at notable venues such as the Bösendorfer Hall-Vienna, the Antonio Vivaldi Hall-Vienna, the Mendelssohn House-Leipzig Germany, the Instituto Internacional of Madrid, and the Berliner Ensemble in Berlin.  Recent concerts in the US have included performances in New York’s Carnegie Hall, Columbia University’s Miller Theater, Boston’s Jordan Hall, Boston Symphony Hall, Harvard Sanders Theater, Boston WGBH Radio, Chicago WFMT Radio, NPR Radio, Mayne Stage Chicago, guest solo appearances with the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra, the Boston International Guitarfest, and ensemble work with Discovery Ensemble (Associate Concertmaster), Signal Ensemble. Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, The Harvard Group for New Music, June in Buffalo festival, and the Ojai Festival.

William holds a MM degree at the New England Conservatory of Music where he studied with Nicholas Kitchen of the Borromeo Quartet, a Fulbright certificate for work with Ernst Kovacic at the Vienna University of Music and Performing Arts, and a BM in violin with a minor in German from the Eastman School of Music and the University of Rochester where he was a student of Lynn Blakeslee and the Ying Quartet.  William completed his preparatory studies under the tutelage of James Krehbiel in Syracuse, NY.

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Allen Krantz, a graduate of the San Francisco Conservatory and Stanford University, has received acclaim as a composer, solo guitarist and chamber musician. His performances throughout the United States have included appearances at Carnegie Hall, Saratoga Performing Arts Center and the Phillips Collection in Washington, with his diverse programs often featuring original compositions.

Recent pieces include “Little Elegy” for voice and string quartet, “Quartet for Piano and Strings”, “Passacaglia” for trombone, guitar and piano, premiered by Joseph Alessi of the New York Philharmonic; “Three Pieces for Chamber Orchestra”, Sacred Places" for solo guitar, and “American Document” commissioned by the Martha Graham Dance Company and premiered at the Joyce Theater in NY. Other recent pieces are "A Musical Walk", a children's piece commissioned by the Philadelphia Orchestra, and "Under One Roof", a trio for trumpet violin and piano in celebration of the 125th anniversary of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Jason Vieaux performed Krantz's guitar concerto, “Innocence and Experience”, at the Darwin International Guitar Festival in Australia and with Orchestra 2001 in Philadelphia. “An American Town” for string orchestra, commissioned by the Village Bach Festival in Michigan was also presented at the Moscow Autumn festival and in Australia. “anyone lived in a pretty how town”, has been performed by members of the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Charles Dutoit in Saratoga and Philadelphia.

Mr. Krantz heads the guitar program of The New School Institute at Temple University. He also gives occasional courses on music history and is a lecturer for the Philadelphia Orchestra. Krantz has received support from the American Composers Forum, Meet the Composer, Chamber Music America, the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, and the Philadelphia Cultural Alliance among others. Allen Krantz’s compositions are published by the Theodore Presser Co. and Falls House Press His solo and chamber music arrangements for guitar are published by International Music. Allen Krantz’s recordings for the DTR label include “Notes” for flute and guitar, “Summer Music”, “The Romantic Guitar”, and “The Philadelphia Connection”. He has also recorded for Albany and Crystal Records labels.

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Michele Lekas received her Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree from the Quebec Conservatory of Music in her native Canada and later studied in the United States with Jaime Laredo, David Cerone and Sally Thomas.  She has performed with Canadian ensembles such as the Orchestre Symphonique de Quebec and Les Violons du Roy, and in Switzerland with the Camerata Lysy Gstaad.  She also performed with the New American Chamber Orchestra on a year-long tour of Europe.  Michele is currently concertmaster of the Northwest Indiana Symphony, the Rockford Symphony, the New Philharmonic Orchestra and the Woodstock Mozart Festival Orchestra, and is a substitute musician with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.  She has performed on WFMT Live from Studio One with both the North Park Chamber Musicians and the Pilgrim Chamber Players, and she has also appeared in recital over the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC).

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Adam Levin has been praised by renowned American guitarist, Eliot Fisk, as a “virtuoso guitarist and a true 21st century renaissance man with the élan, intelligence, charm, tenacity and conviction to change the world”.  Mr. Levin has performed across the United States and Europe at renowned venues such as Chicago’s Pick Staiger and Mayne Stage concert halls, at the Palazzo Chigi Saracini in Italy, Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and Jordan Hall, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, the Berlin Universität für Musik und darstellende Künst, the Barcelona Auditorio Axa, and in Madrid at the Palacio de Godoy, BBVA Palacio del Marqués de Salamanca, and Sala Manuel de Falla.

The recipient of numerous top prizes, Adam Levin has been recognized by the Society of American Musicians, the Lake Forest Concerto Competition, Minnesota’s Schubert Competition, Boston GuitarFest, Concurso Internacional de les Corts para Jóvenes Intérpretes in Barcelona, Concurso Internazionale Di Gargnano, and Certamen Internacional Luys Milan de Guitarra in Valencia.

Levin has been guest artist on a variety of music series, including Madrid’s Sociedad Española de Guitarra, Conciertos en Palacios and Festival Clásicos en Verano, Valencia’s Amigos de la Guitarra, Boston GuitarFest, L’Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena, and Festival Pro Música e Cultura in St.Moritz. 

An avid chamber musician, Levin has performed with orchestra, string quartet, and various duo combinations.  Adam and Spanish clarinetist, Cristo Barrios, present transcriptions from the traditional repertoire while commissioning new works by prominent Spanish and Latin American composers.  Adam Levin and violinist, William Knuth asDuo Sonidos, bring a fresh interpretation of classical music to wide-ranging audiences across the globe, while expanding the repertoire for violin and guitar through new commissions by composers such as, Eduardo Morales-Caso, Jan Freidlin, Jorge Sastre, Jorge Muñiz, Tal Hurwitz and Jorge Variego.  The duo’s debut CD, Duo Sonidos, released in Fall 2010, features works by Salvador Brotons, Eduardo Morales-Caso, Manuel de Falla, and Astor Piazzolla.  In December 2010, Duo Sonidos was awarded first prize at the Luys Milán International Chamber Music Competition in Valencia, Spain.

Levin’s debut record In the Beginning was lauded as “absolutely thrilling…will dazzle and entertain at every possible opportunity” by Minor 7th Acoustic Guitar Music Reviews.  The record, Music from Out of Time, sponsored by La Communidad de Madrid, boasts world-premiere recordings by contemporary Spanish composers Eduardo Morales-Caso, Leonardo Balada, Mario Gosalvez-Blanco, David Del Puerto, and José María Sánchez Verdú. A fourth recording, Fuego de la luna, showcasing the complete guitar works of Spanish-Cuban composer, Eduardo Morales-Caso, was released on Verso Records in July 2011.  In 2012, production will begin on a two volume recording project and companion publication with Brotons y Mercadal Edicions Musicals, presenting the 30 Spanish works recently commissioned as part of Levin’s residency in Spain.  

As an ambassador of the guitar, Mr. Levin is dedicated to sharing a comprehensive repertoire in underserved areas and unconventional spaces.  In 2005, as part of a fundraising effort for Hurricane Katrina victims, Adam directed the Concert for Gulf-Coast Aid, which raised $10,000 dollars for hurricane relief.  In 2007-08 he was awarded an Albert Schweitzer Fellowship, encompassing 200 hours of innovative community work in Boston area schools, homeless shelters, rehabilitation centers, halfway houses, and prisons. 

In 2008, Levin was honored as a Fulbright Scholar in the field of music performance, researching contemporary Spanish guitar repertoire in Madrid, Spain.  In collaboration with the Spanish and American embassies, Levin has continued outreach performances in Madrid at a number of bilingual school programs, introducing both American and Spanish classical guitar repertoire to students.  In 2009, he was awarded the Program for Cultural Cooperation Fellowship, promoting cultural understanding between Spain and the United States. In May 2010, Levin was awarded the Kate Neal Kinley Fellowship, continuing his research and performance of contemporary Spanish music in Madrid.

A native of Chicago’s North Shore, Adam holds BM and BA degrees from Northwestern University in Music Performance, Psychology, and Pre-Med.  Under the tutelage of Eliot Fisk, Levin completed a MM at New England Conservatory in Boston.  His esteemed teachers have included Oscar Ghiglia, Gabriel Estarellas, Anne Waller, Mark Maxwell, and Paul Henry.  Adam was professor of guitar at Amadeus Escuela de Música in Madrid, Spain and is currently the co-director of the music program, Boston Guitar Immersion, which offers comprehensive guitar instruction to independent schools.

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Wayland Rogers, a singer, conductor and teacher as well as a composer was born December 26, 1941 in Kentucky and trained at University of Kentucky, Wichita State University, Northwestern University, The Salzburg Mozarteum, and in London. His compositions have been performed in such venues as Carnegie Hall, Symphony Center/Chicago, Ishihara Hall/Osaka, Competition Hall/Jakarta, Shanghai Oriental Arts Center, Ely Cathedral/England, Riverside Church/NYC, St. Patrick's Cathedral/NYC, St. John the Divine/NYC, National Cathedral/DC.

As a singer he has sung with Chicago Symphony, Boston Symphony, Central City Opera, Music of the Baroque, Grant Park Music Festival, Tanglewood Festival, Blossom Festival, Ravinia Festival and Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center. He received a 1986 Grammy nomination for Best Chamber Music recording with the Chicago Symphony Winds. He trained as a conductor with Margaret Hillis, founder and conductor of the Chicago Symphony Chorus. For 15 years he was Artistic Director/Conductor of The Camerata Singers of Lake Forest. Presently he is Music Director at North Shore Unitarian Church in Deerfield, IL. Previous faculty appointments have been held at Northwestern University, DePaul University, Loyola University/Chicago, North Park University, The Music Institute of Chicago, Western Kentucky University, and Lambuth University.

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The violin artistry of Desirée Ruhstrat has captivated audiences throughout Europe and the Americas. As the Berlin Taggespiegel wrote, "…she played with such an intensive fire and sleepwalking assuredness that she was stormily celebrated by the audience." A seasoned performer, Ms. Ruhstrat made her professional debut at the age of twelve with Lukas Foss and the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. At 16, Ms. Ruhstrat was invited by Sir George Solti to perform Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto in Chicago's Orchestra Hall.

Ms. Ruhstrat has appeared as a soloist with orchestras throughout the world, including the Berlin Radio Symphony, Gottingen Symphony, Philharmonia Da Camera, Radio Suisse Romande, Orchestra Symphonica Auguescalientes, Colorado Symphony, Oregon Symphony, Concerto Soloists Of Philadelphia, Chicago Civic Orchestra, Debut Orchestra of Los Angeles, Concord Chamber Orchestra, Concertante Di Chicago, and National Repertory Orchestra, and worked with such conductors as Eric Kunzel, William Smith, Rico Saccani, Brian Priestman, Mats Liljefors, and Max Rudolph, among others. Ms. Ruhstrat has won numerous awards including first prize at the National Young Musicians Debut Competition in Los Angeles, where she was also lauded a special award for a young performer with extraordinary talent. She became the youngest prizewinner at Switzerland's Tibor Varga International Competition and also won the award for best interpretation of the commissioned contemporary composition. She went on to earn top prizes at the Carl Flesch, Julius Stulberg, and the Mozart Festival Violin Competitions.

Ms. Ruhstrat's distinguished career as a chamber musician includes performances throughout the US as a member of the Lincoln Trio, including the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series, Oakmont Chamber Series, Indianapolis Symphony Beethoven Series, Ravinia Festival, and Music in the Loft. She has also appeared as guest artist of the Chamber Music Series of the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Apollo Chamber Ensemble, the Colorado Chambers Players, Pacifica Quartet, the University of Oklahoma, Wisconsin, Tennessee, and Northwestern University Midwinter Series with Jorge Federico Osorio and Ani Kavafian, as well as collaborations with Shmuel Ashkenasi, Ilya Kaler and Roberto Diaz. Festival appearances include the Aspen Music Festival, Peninsula Music Festival, Laurel Festival of the Arts, the Breckenridge Music Festival and the Green Lake, University Of Wisconsin, Utah Music Festival, and ARIA International Summer Academy, where she has also served as faculty.

Ms. Ruhstrat is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, having studied with Joseph Gingold, Harold Wippler, and Aaron Rosand. Her discography includes the Stamitz Duo for Violin and Viola for Centaur Records and the Ravel Duo for Violin and Cello for Albany Records, and multiple recordings with the Lincoln Trio on the Cedille label.

She is now Adjunct Visiting Professor at Indiana University's School of Music in Bloomington, Indiana.

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