THIRD ANGLE NEW MUSIC ENSEMBLE ~ WHO WE ARE
Read about the musicians as well as the people backstage, the board members
and staff, that comprise the Third Angle New Music Ensemble.
Musicians
Ron Blessinger, artistic director/violin
A native Oregonian, Ron received a bachelor’s degree from the Oberlin Conservatory and a master’s degree with distinction in performance from the New England Conservatory. His teachers have included Masao Kawasaki, Greg Fulkerson and James Buswell. Since joining the Oregon Symphony in 1990, Ron has been concertmaster of the Peter Britt Festival Orchestra and the principal second violin of the AIMS orchestra in Graz, Austria. He is concertmaster for the Cascade Music Festival under the direction of Murry Sidlin. Ron has recorded for the Gagliano and KOCH International record labels.
Brian Quincey, viola
Brian is currently a member of the Oregon Symphony, and has been a member of the San Francisco Symphony, the Phoenix Symphony, and the former principal of the Sacramento Symphony. Brian has participated in the Tanglewood Fellowship program, the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, the La Jolla Chamber Music Festival and the Music Academy of the West. He is a graduate of the USC School of Music where he studied with Donald McInnes.
Hamilton Cheifetz, cello
Hamilton is a winner of the Piatigorsky Prize at Tanglewood and has performed as a soloist and chamber musician in North America, Asia, Europe and Australia. His appearances have included a concert at the White House, a solo recital in the Sydney Opera House, and performances with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and Chamber Music Northwest. He was described as "unquestionably a magnificent player" in Fanfare Magazine for his solo recordings. He recently performed duos with Janos Starker on NPR. He appeared with jazz great Dave Frishberg on Gary Larson's CBS TV special, "Tales from the Far Side," and he is a professor of music and cellist of the Florestan Trio at Portland State University.
GeorgeAnne Ries, flute
GeorgeAnne is principal flutist of the Portland Opera Orchestra, a position she has held since 1985. She also performs as principal flute with the Oregon Ballet Theatre Orchestra, and frequently joins the Oregon Symphony as an extra flutist. As a freelance musician, GeorgeAnne has played in a variety of musicals and touring shows, including performances with such diverse artists as Luciana Pavarotti and Mikhail Barishnikov. A graduate of the University of California at Berkeley, GeorgeAnne has been a member of Third Angle since 1989.
Todd Kuhns, clarinet
Todd, a Portland native, holds a bachelor of arts degree from Portland State University and a master of music degree from Temple University. While in Milwaukee, Todd studied with Anthony Gigliotti and performed with the Milwaukee Chamber Orchestra, the Harrisburg and Haddonfield Symphonies and the Philadelphia Orchestra. Locally, Todd has worked professionally with a variety of ensembles in Portland, including the Oregon Symphony, Portland Opera, Ballet West, Chamber Music Northwest, Oregon Ballet Theater and West Coast Chamber Orchestras, as well as eclectic groups such as the Hester Street Klezmer Band and Tango Pacifica.
Susan Smith, piano
Susan earned her bachelor of arts degree from Dartmouth College and her master of music degree from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. She holds a doctor of musical arts degree from the Eastman School of Music, where she studied with Nelita True. Susan has performed throughout the United States and New Zealand, including the Hot Springs Music Festival, Grand Teton Music Festival, Olympic Music Festival, and New Zealand’s Nelson Music Festival, which she co-founded in 1990. She has appeared as a soloist with the Dartmouth Symphony Orchestra, San Diego Chamber Orchestra, Palomar Symphony, San Diego Symphony and the Oregon Symphony. Her professional recordings include several works for Radio New Zealand and KOCH International.
Board of Directors
Linda Czopek, Co-President
Principal, Czopek & Erdenberger
Jane Jarrett, Co-President
Executive Director, Architecture Foundation of Oregon
John Montague, Secretary
Computer Software Engineer (retired)
Nicole Keuter, Treasurer
Credit Analyst & Project Coordinator, Dooling Lease Management Corporation
Ron Blessinger
Artistic Director, Third Angle
Donna Drummond
Merrill Lynch (retired)
Virginia Flynn
Artist
Tom Griffin
Financial Consultant, RBC Dain Rauscher
Ingrid Hallin
Landscape Designer, Shapiro Didway Landscape Architecture
David McCarthy
Senior Associate, SRG Partnership
Lynn Parsons
Marketing Consultant
GeorgeAnne Ries
Musician
Jennifer Samuels
Executive Director, Third Angle
Staff
Ron Blessinger, Artistic Director
Jennifer Samuels, Executive Director