Musician Retreat

Held in September to kick off the season, this annual musician retreat includes activities, lectures, and sectionals featuring prominent DC-area musicians and educators. It is a time for musicians to get to know their peers and respective conductors. This day-long event is included in tuition.

Past retreats have which featured members and instructors from the National Symphony Orchestra, Audubon String Quartet, and the Peabody Conservatory. The retreat has been held at Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts and the National Center for Music Education in Reston, Virginia.

Photographs from the September retreat are now available in the Gallery.

The sectional coaches' biographies, presented below, are also available in MS Word format here. And here are the biographies for the sectional coaches from 2008 and 2007.

Presenter and Sectional Coach Biographies

Mahoko Eguchi, Viola

Mahoko Eguchi has performed throughout the United States and Japan, as well as in France, Italy, Austria and Switzerland. As a member of the Arianna String Quartet, she was a finalist at the first International String Quartet Competition of Bordeaux. She has appeared in performances at festivals such as Strings-in-the-Mountains, Tanglewood, Taos, Spoleto, Norfolk and Moonbeach (Japan), and in chamber music series such as Japan Airline Young Artists Series, MIT Chamber Music Series, Fermilab Chamber Music Series, Chicago's Mostly Music Series, Premiere Performance Series in St. Louis, the Chamber Music Society of Williamsburg, Doheny Soiree Series in Los Angeles and Fortas Chamber Music Series at Kennedy Center. Ms. Eguchi has been heard in live broadcast performances in Osaka, Japan, on Chicago's prestigious Dame Myra Hess Series, and on NPR's Performance Today program. Her recording of Suite for Viola and Piano by George Frederick McKay was released in 2002 and can be heard on the Naxos label. She received her DMA, MMA and MM degrees from Yale University and BM from Indiana University, studying with Henryk Kowalski, Josef Gingold, Syoko Aki and Richard Young. Prior to joining the National Symphony, she served on faculty of the University of Missouri-St. Louis, Eastern Michigan University and University of Michigan School of Music. She joined the National Symphony Orchestra in September 2001 and has been on faculty of University of Maryland since 2002.

Cindi Kornhaus, Cello

Cindi Kornhaus was born and raised in Sarasota, Florida. She received her Bachelor and Master's Degree in Music Education from the University of Central Florida. She currently teaches orchestra, band, piano, and guitar at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School. Cindi plays regularly for weddings and corporate events in her rock string quartet. She has played cello in many different groups and orchestras, some of which recently include Nova Era, Friday Morning Music Club, Trinity Chamber Orchestra, Columbia Orchestra, Capital City Symphony, and the McLean Orchestra. In February 2010, she will be performing as an Artist in Residence at the Strathmore Mansion with her cello quartet.

Olivia Hajioff, Violin

Olivia Hajioff was born in London. She was one of the youngest students to be accepted at the Royal Academy of Music, as a seven year old.As a Fulbright scholar, Olivia then studied at the University of Maryland for her master and doctoral degrees. Since 1997, Olivia has performed with her husband as the Marcolivia Duo, giving forty concerts annually. The Marcolivia Duo has performed twice on NPR's "Performance Today". They are regular guest artists at the Tokyo College of Music, Japan, and have performed for the Federal Reserve Board in Washington DC, for the Hungarian American Coalition at the Cosmos Club, and annually at the Phillips Collection, the Kennedy Center, Merkin Hall and Symphony Space, NYC. Marcolivia performed at Chamber Music America's 25th Anniversary Concert in NYC, alongside groups such as the Juilliard Quartet and were the only chamber music finalists in the Concert Artists Guild International Competition in 2000. The duo is on the rosterof the Millenium Stage at the Kennedy Center and the Virginia Commission For The Arts Touring Roster. During the summers, Olivia teaches at Las Vegas Music Festival, Garth Newel Music Center, Shenandoah Performing Arts Festival, Adriatic Chamber Music Festival, Italy, Blue Mountain Festival and Dartington International Festival, UK. Olivia was a professor of violin and viola at Shenandoah University for eleven years. She now teaches privately at her home in Vienna, Va.

Marc Ramirez, Violin

Marc Ramirez studied at Peabody Conservatory as an undergraduate, Yale University for his Master’s and University of Maryland for his doctorate in both violin performance and pedagogy. Since 1997, Marc has performed with his wife as the Marcolivia Duo, giving forty concerts annually. The Marcolivia Duo has performed twice on NPR's "Performance Today". They are regular guest artists at the Tokyo College of Music, Japan, and have performed for the Federal Reserve Board in Washington DC, for the Hungarian American Coalition at the Cosmos Club, and annually at the Phillips Collection, the Kennedy Center, Merkin Hall and Symphony Space, NYC. Marcolivia performed at Chamber Music America's 25th Anniversary Concert in NYC, alongside groups such as the Juilliard Quartet and were the only chamber music finalists in the Concert Artists Guild International Competition in 2000. The duo is on the roster of the Millenium Stage at the Kennedy Center and the Virginia Commission For The Arts Touring Roster.During the summers, Marc teaches at Las Vegas Music Festival, Garth Newel Music Center, Shenandoah Performing Arts Festival, Adriatic Chamber Music Festival, Italy, Blue Mountain Festival and Dartington International Festival, UK. Marc was a professor of violin and viola at Shenandoah University for twelve years as well as being concertmaster of the Arlington Symphony for five years. He now teaches privately at his home in Vienna, Va.

Bridging the Gap®
Bridging the Gap is the highly acclaimed American string duo featuring violinist Peter Wilson and double bassist Aaron Clay. Hailed by The Washington Post for “superior arrangements and uncommon musicianship,” Bridging the Gap offers a unique voice to many musical styles by uniting the sounds of instruments from opposite ends of the string family while performing music of the classical tradition, jazz, big band, folk, film music, popular song, and even funk. Peter Wilson is an engaging and multifaceted performer whose violin solos have been noted as “first-class” by The Washington Post. Aaron Clay is a uniquely versatile double bassist, commanding great respect in both the classical and jazz worlds, but it was The Washington Post that observed, “What sets [Clay] apart is elegant bowing…. His melodic lines have a cello-like glow and flexibility…” Wilson and Clay grew up less than 30 miles apart in West Virginia but met only when their careers coincided in 1994 as members of “The President’s Own” U.S. Marine Band. They developed a friendship as colleagues and in 1997 teamed up in visiting local schools to educate students about string instruments and their unlimited potential. What began as a musical “experiment” quickly evolved into an unlikely duo of bowed and bridged instruments not often heard together and thus, Bridging the Gap was founded. The exciting arrangements and original compositions produced by the duo cover a wide range of musical genres. In addition, Wilson and Clay have become known for their engaging personalities on stage, incorporating humor and audience participation in their shows. Together they have appeared in venues from school classrooms and private homes to concert halls and stadiums.
Bridging the Gap seeks to take its audience on a musical journey without stylistic boundaries while expanding the traditional roles and perspective of the violin and double bass. Wilson and Clay further make an effort to blend their different ethnic and musical backgrounds while presenting programs that are both entertaining and educational. Bridging the Gap continues to be an exciting and popular musical duo in the National Capital Region – in demand at various high profile events in the homes of members of Congress and the Cabinet as well as at the White House. Their charm, sensitivity, and diverse repertoire have made a lasting impression on audiences of all ages but especially students of public and private schools, where the duo continues to enjoy performing outreach programs as part of their concert schedule. Ultimately, Bridging the Gap enjoys connecting with audiences and bringing people together through music.
Bridging the Gap has become a frequent guest of the “Millennium Stage” at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and has appeared on the Jazz Series of the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. In November 2003 the duo released their highly anticipated debut album and will soon be entering the studio to record their second CD. In 2004, Wilson and Clay were honored by their home state when each received the Music Award by the Arts and Humanities Commission of Fairmont, West Virginia in recognition of their “outstanding leadership and devotion to the enhancement of the arts.” In 2005, they were a featured act during the week of Inauguration as part of the “Salute to Those Who Serve” celebration held at the MCI (now Verizon) Center in Washington, DC, where they received a standing ovation from the over 14,000 military and public safety personnel in attendance. The duo has performed two world premieres of works composed specifically for Bridging the Gap: John Beall's "Double Concerto for Violin, Contrabass and Orchestra" and Donald Womack’s concert work "Blue Ridge Dreams.” In addition, the duo performed Bottesini’s “Grand Duo for Violin and Double Bass” with the Lawton Philharmonic Orchestra in Lawton, Oklahoma.