JIM STEPHENSON Quartet for a New Tomorrow
BÉLA BARTÓK Contrasts
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN Piano Trio in D major, “Ghost”
Jim Stephenson’s Quartet for a New Tomorrow opens the evening, followed by Bartók’s vibrant Contrasts. Beethoven’s Piano Trio in D major closes the program with its haunting slow movement and electrifying finale.
Jason Posnock
Violin
Violinist Jason Posnock enjoys a versatile musical career both in the United States and internationally. He has performed regularly in such prominent American ensembles as...
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Violinist Jason Posnock enjoys a versatile musical career both in the United States and internationally. He has performed regularly in such prominent American ensembles as the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, and has accompanied them on tours to Europe, South America, the Far East and New York’s Carnegie Hall. Mr. Posnock is also an active chamber musician and recitalist, having appeared in venues throughout the United States, England, Puerto Rico, and India.
Mr. Posnock made his solo debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra at the age of ten, and has since appeared as soloist with many orchestras including the Asheville Symphony, Pittsburgh Live Chamber Orchestra, Pittsburgh Civic Orchestra, Bombay Chamber Orchestra, McKeesport Symphony, Princeton University Orchestra, Royal College of Music Sinfonia, Carnegie Mellon Chamber Orchestra, and the Casals Festival Youth Orchestra, with which he performed the Puerto Rican premiere of the Szymanowski Violin Concerto No. 1.
In recent years Mr. Posnock has been invited to numerous chamber music and orchestral festivals. He has held principal positions at the Casals Festival in Puerto Rico and the Cape May Music Festival in New Jersey, and has taken part in Musica Viva (NJ) and the Sangat Music Festival in Mumbai, India, performing with leading musicians from the London Symphony Orchestra, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, and the Orchestra of St. Martin-in-the-Fields. Regular festival appearances have included the Lancaster (OH) Festival, where he held the post of Assistant Concertmaster, Music On The Mountain (MD), and Music On The Edge, a contemporary music series in Pittsburgh. He has collaborated with such renowned artists as Emanuel Ax, David Krakauer, Ursula Oppens, Andrés Cárdenes, Andrés Díaz, and the American Chamber Players.
Originally from New Jersey, Mr. Posnock began taking violin lessons at the age of four. His early teachers included famed pedagogue Samuel Applebaum, and David Arben, Associate Concertmaster (retired) of the Philadelphia Orchestra. He attended Princeton University, graduating with honors in 1994, and went on to earn his ARCM(PG) from the Royal College of Music, London, where he studied with Felix Andrievsky. He continued his studies with Yumi Scott, member of the Philadelphia Orchestra, before completing the Performance Residency Program at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh as a student of Andrés Cárdenes, Concertmaster of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.
Concertmaster of the Asheville Symphony Orchestra since 2007, Mr. Posnock has previously held the positions of Concertmaster of the Clarksburg (WV) Symphony Orchestra and Concertmaster of the McKeesport (PA) Symphony Orchestra. He has often been invited to perform with the Pittsburgh Symphony, as well as serve as Guest Concertmaster of ensembles such as the Bangor, Roanoke, Erie, Westmoreland, and Altoona Symphony Orchestras. In addition to his performance schedule, Mr. Posnock has devoted much of his time to teaching and working with young musicians, serving on the faculty of the Brevard Music Center, as Artist Lecturer in Violin at Carnegie Mellon University, conductor of the Intrada Strings preparatory orchestra, and maintaining a busy teaching studio. He has also coached the violin sections of the Carnegie Mellon Philharmonic and the Three Rivers Young People’s Orchestra. Presently Mr. Posnock resides with his family in Brevard, NC, serves on the faculty of Brevard College, and is the Vice President & Chief Artistic Officer at the Brevard Music Center.
Nicholas Tzavaras
Cello
A native of East Harlem, cellist Nicholas Tzavaras has enjoyed a distinguished career as a chamber musician, soloist, and educator for nearly three decades. From...
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A native of East Harlem, cellist Nicholas Tzavaras has enjoyed a distinguished career as a chamber musician, soloist, and educator for nearly three decades. From 2000 to 2024, he served as the cellist of the internationally acclaimed Shanghai Quartet, with whom he performed in more than 35 countries and at major venues including Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Wigmore Hall, and the Seoul Arts Center. Under his tenure, the quartet held long-standing residencies at Montclair State University and The Tianjin Juilliard School, and became known for championing both classical masterworks and contemporary commissions. Tzavaras has recorded more than 28 albums on the Naxos, Delos, Decca, BIS, Centaur, Camerata, and New Albion labels. He also served as guest principal cellist with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra from 2009 to 2024.
Tzavaras began his musical studies at age two on the violin with his mother, Roberta Guaspari—the pioneering educator whose work was chronicled in the Academy Award–nominated documentary Small Wonders and portrayed by Meryl Streep in the film Music of the Heart. He switched to the cello at age seven and later attended the Bronx High School of Science before earning degrees from the New England Conservatory and SUNY Stony Brook. Tzavaras also holds an MBA from Montclair State University.
A passionate and sought-after educator, Tzavaras has held faculty appointments and leadership positions at The Tianjin Juilliard School, Montclair State University, the Longy School of Music, and the University of Richmond. He currently serves as Senior Director of Artistic Planning & Educational Programs at the Brevard Music Center and joined the faculty of Brevard College in the fall of 2025. Tzavaras makes his home in Asheville, North Carolina, with his wife, Sophia, and their three children.