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 Orchestra 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.
He has served on the faculties of University of Houston, University of Texas, and Florida International University and until recently held the position of Lecturer of Violin & Chamber Music at UC-Santa Barbara. He has conducted masterclasses, lectures, and workshops around the world.
As soloist, guest concertmaster, and orchestral musician Ertan has performed with Dallas Opera orchestra, San Francisco, Indianapolis, Houston, Phoenix Symphonies and served as Associate and Acting Concertmaster of the San Antonio Symphony for 17 years. This season he will return to San Antonio as Guest Concertmaster of the newly formed San Antonio Philharmonic.
In addition to being a founding member of QuartetES Ertan has also been a member of the ASCAP award-winning SOLI Chamber Ensemble since 1996 and served as its Managing/Artistic Director for over a decade. He has commissioned over 100 works and recorded nine 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 the Co-Principal Viola of the Iceland Symphony, she has also been a member of the Houston Symphony, and played with the Chicago Symphony, the Indianapolis Symphony and others, working with conductors such as Leonard Bernstein, Sergiu Celibidache, Kurt Masur, Michael Tilson Thomas, Claudio Abbado, and Christoph Eschenbach.
Ms. Porfiris is a member of the Miller-Porfiris Duo and QuartetES. She 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.
Formerly Professor of Viola, Chair of Strings 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 given master classes, lectures and clinics worldwide.
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.