Principal players of the Cleveland Orchestra, Joela Jones, piano; Richard Weiss, cello; and Stephen Rose, violin joined by guest pianist Dr. Timothy Kalil of Ashtabula will perform a concert of works by Bach, Brahms, Piazzolla and others at St. Peter Episcopal Church in downtown Ashtabula on Sunday, April 27, 2008 at 2pm. The recital is free and open to the public and includes a free and open meet-the-artists reception.

Joela Jones is principal keyboardist of The Cleveland Orchestra. She received Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from CIM as a student of Victor Babin and Arthur Loesser. In 2006, she received the Institute's Distinguished Alumni Award. An artist of exceptional versatility, Ms. Jones plays piano, harpsichord, organ, celesta and accordion. She has frequently appeared as piano soloist with the Orchestra, performing fifty different concertos ranging from Bach to Messiaen. Since the renovation of Severance Hall's Norton Memorial Organ in 2001, Ms. Jones has been featured in numerous works for organ and orchestra including Saint-Saïns' Organ Symphony, Poulenc's Organ Concerto, Barber's Festival Toccata and the U.S. premiere of James MacMillan's Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis for chorus and organ. She serves as principal accompanist for the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus and for visiting vocal soloists. As a teenager, Ms. Jones made her New York debut with Arthur Fiedler and the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra at Lewisohn Stadium. She has appeared as soloist with the orchestras of Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Houston, Philadelphia and San Francisco. She chairs the piano division and coaches chamber music at Kent/Blossom Music. Included in Ms. Jones' discography are works by Poulenc and d'Indy recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra. She has recorded Janáček's Capriccio for Left Hand with Christoph von Dohnányi for Decca/London and Messiaen's La Ville d'en Haut and Sept Haï-Kaï with Pierre Boulez for Deutsche Grammophon. Her performance of Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini with the Boston Pops was videotaped for national telecast and rebroadcast on PBS several times. Ms. Jones, along with Cleveland Orchestra colleagues Richard Weiss, Maximilian Dimoff and Donald Miller, recently released a CD of Claude Bolling's Suite for Cello and Jazz Piano Trio. Ms. Jones was appointed to the Cleveland Institute of Music faculty in 1993.

Richard Weiss is first assistant principal cellist of The Cleveland Orchestra. Mr. Weiss is from Los Angeles. As a student, he won first prize in the Music Teachers National Association competition, and at the Tanglewood Festival he was Young Artist contest winner and concerto soloist. While attending the Eastman School of Music on full merit scholarship, Mr. Weiss was employed by the Rochester Philharmonic. During his senior year he was appointed to The Cleveland Orchestra. He has appeared as soloist with the Cleveland Orchestra many times. His concerto repertoire includes those by Beethoven (Triple), Brahms (Double), Dvořák, Lalo, Rósza, Saint-Saëns (A Minor and D Minor), Schumann and Tchaikovsky. He also teaches at the ENCORE School for Strings and Kent/Blossom Music. Mr. Weiss coaches the cello sections of the New World Symphony, the CIM Orchestra and the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra. Along with Cleveland Orchestra colleagues Joela Jones, Maximilian Dimoff and Donald Miller, he recently released a CD of Claude Bolling's Suite for Cello and Jazz Piano Trio. Mr. Weiss was appointed to the Cleveland Institute of Music faculty in 1985.

Stephen Rose was appointed to the violin section of The Cleveland Orchestra in 1997, and is now principal second violin of the Orchestra. He received a Bachelor of Music degree from CIM and Master of Music degree from Eastman School of Music. Teachers include William Preucil, David Cerone, David Updegraff and Sally O'Reilly. He has appeared in recital and chamber music concerts throughout North America and Europe. Mr. Rose was the former first violinist of the Everest Quartet, the Resident String Quartet of the Midland-Odessa Symphony, from 1992-1996. The Quartet was a top prize-winner at the 1995 Banff International String Quartet Competition and presented concerts and master classes throughout the U.S. Mr. Rose has presented master classes at the National Orchestral Institute and the New World Symphony and has been a faculty member at ENCORE School for Strings and Kent/Blossom. He has been a participant at summer music festivals, including the Mainly Mozart Festival, the Seattle Chamber Music Festival, Orcas Island, Music at Gretna, the Mimir Chamber Music Festival, the Pacific Music Festival (Japan) and the Festival der Zukunft in Switzerland. He received an Alumni Achievement Award from CIM in 2005, and was appointed to the Cleveland Institute of Music faculty in 2001.

In 1979, American pianist Dr. Timothy Kalil gained notoriety when he accompanied Metropolitan Opera baritone Derek Hammond-Stroud of Great Britain in recital in which he learned an entirely new program on short notice. In 1984, he was invited by conductor Karl Meinhardt to perform Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 19, in F Major (K. 459) with the Ashtabula Area Orchestra. He has recorded three classical piano CDs and in 2003, his piano CD entitled “Classical Piano” was played on NPR Radio. Dr. Kalil is also a guest lecturer and highly published author in American music with 12 books and articles to his credit. As an arts administrator, Dr. Kalil founded five successful concert series. Dr. Kalil’s education includes a Ph.D. and an MA in Musicology-Ethnomusicology from KSU and an MM and BM in Piano Performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music (CIM). Dr. Kalil is a former member of the piano faculty of the University of Kansas. His piano instructors/coaches include Eunice Podis, Jack Radunsky, James Tannenbaum, Leon Fleisher, and John Browning.