Anton Miller
VIOLIN
Since giving his Carnegie Hall concerto debut in 1992, American violinist ANTON MILLER has appeared throughout the world as a soloist, chamber musician, recitalist, and pedagogue. He has performed over fifty violin concertos with a number of orchestras on four continents. His most recent solo release on Naxos features the Kurt Weill Concerto for Violin and Wind Ensemble.
Anton is on the violin and chamber music faculty at the Hartt School, and has been on the faculty of New York University, Oberlin Conservatory, Lawrence University, and Swarthmore College. He and his wife Rita Porfiris are the members of the acclaimed violin and viola ensemble, Miller-Porfiris Duo. American Record Guide said of the ensemble “You would have to go a long way to hear better duo playing than this.” He also serves as Concertmaster of Lincoln’s Symphony in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Anton completed his MM at The Juilliard School studying with Dorothy DeLay and chamber music with Felix Galimir and members of the Juilliard Quartet. He received his BM from Indiana University as a student of Franco Gulli.
Ertan Torgul
VIOLIN
Throughout his career Turkish-American violinist ERTAN TORGUL has enjoyed an eclectic musical path as a recitalist, chamber musician, soloist, concertmaster, and teacher, touring around the world and collaborating with some of today’s most sought-after musicians, conductors and ensembles.
Currently serving as a Lecturer of Violin & Chamber Music at University of California-Santa Barbara, he has also been on faculties of University of Houston Moores School, University of Texas, and Florida International University. He has conducted masterclasses, lectures, and workshops across the U.S. as well as in Turkey, Iceland, and Italy.
As soloist, guest concertmaster, and orchestral musician Mr. Torgul has performed with orchestras including San Francisco, Indianapolis, Houston, Sacramento, Phoenix, Tucson, Fort Worth Symphonies and Dallas Opera orchestra among others. He served as Associate and Acting Concertmaster of the San Antonio Symphony for 17 seasons.
Mr. Torgul has also been a member of the ASCAP award-winning SOLI Chamber Ensemble since 1996 and until recently, had been serving as its Managing/Artistic Director. He has commissioned over 100 works with SOLI and recorded six CDs featuring American composers. He was the recipient of Austria’s Prix Mercure, a prize winner in the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition, and a laureate of the Paolo Borciani International Quartet Competition.
Rita Porfiris
VIOLA
Praised by “USA Today” for her “richness of tone and impeccable articulation and for the warmth and subtlety of her phrasing” violist RITA PORFIRIS has performed in major concert halls across the globe as a chamber musician, orchestral musician, and soloist.
Currently Professor of Viola and Chair of Chamber Music at The Hartt School, she has also been on faculty at New York University, University of Houston Moores’ School of Music, Florida International University, and the Harlem School for the Arts in New York. She has received Austria’s Prix Mercure, was a prize winner in the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition and the Primrose International Viola Competition, and a laureate of the Paolo Borciani International Quartet Competition as a member of the Plymouth String Quartet. Ms. Porfiris is a member of the Miller-Porfiris Duo with which she has released 4 CDs which have received critical acclaim.
In her previous career as an orchestral musician, 15 years of which were spent with the Houston Symphony, she worked under some of the most recognized conductors of the 20-21 Centuries: Leonard Bernstein, Sergiu Celibidache, Kurt Masur, Michael Tilson Thomas, and Christoph Eschenbach.
Ms. Porfiris received her BM and MM in Viola Performance from The Juilliard School, studying with William Lincer. Other teachers and mentors included Paul Doktor, Norbert Brainin, and Harvey Shapiro.
Jennifer Kloetzel
CELLO
A graduate of The Juilliard School and a Fulbright Scholar, cellist JENNIFER KLOETZEL has concertized throughout the United States, Europe and Asia
as a soloist and chamber musician. Previously a founding member of the Cypress String Quartet, Ms. Kloetzel is noted for her elegant playing and her vibrant tone. The Cello Museum proclaimed that her “energy, ceaseless intellectual curiosity, and virtuosic command of the instrument unite in exceptional musicianship, making her truly a hero of the cello.” In the past few seasons, she performed the world premiere of a Cello Suite by Daniel Asia and a Cello Concerto, “Cloud Atlas” and unaccompanied cello work “Lift”, that were both written for her by MIT composer Elena Ruehr.
Ms. Kloetzel has been featured numerous times on National Public Radio’s “Performance Today” and her performances have been broadcast on radio stations from coast to coast. A frequent guest soloist with orchestras, she has received the Copland Award for championing living American Composers and has commissioned and premiered nearly forty works, including five concertos written specifically for her. Ms. Kloetzel has recorded 35 CDs, including the entire cycle of Beethoven Quartets and the Brahms Sextets on the Avie label, and mostly recently released “Beethoven: The Conquering Hero” , the complete works for cello and piano, which was chosen as “Recording of the Month” by BBC Music Magazine in March 2022.
In 2016, Ms. Kloetzel was invited to join the faculty of University of California Santa Barbara, where she is Professor of Cello and serves as both Head of the String and Performance areas.