Praised for his “enormous soul and a big, vibrant sound,” (The Reading Eagle), violinist Ari Isaacman-Beck is a captivating and multifaceted artist whose solo and chamber music performances have taken him all over the world, including venues such as Jordan Hall, the Kennedy Center, Zürich’s Tönhalle, and Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw. An award-winning violinist, he was the 2016 winner of the Lili Boulanger International Competition, won second prize in 2006 at the Sion-Valais International Violin Competition, and received the prize for the best performance of the commissioned work, Thomas McKinley’s Dialogues, at the 2017 Elmar Oliveira International Violin Competition.

As of fall 2020, Isaacman-Beck is proud to be the first violinist of the Dalí Quartet, in residence at West Chester University. With the quartet, he is ecstatic to study and promote the traditional string quartet canon alongside lesser-known works by Hispanic composers. From 2009-2016, he performed in North America, Europe, and China as the violinist of Trio Cleonice, an award-winning piano trio described by the Boston Globe as “abundantly sincere and absorbing.” With the trio, he was a top-prize winner at the 2014 Alice and Eleonore Schoenfeld and Chamber Music Yellow Springs competitions and received the John Lad Prize from Stanford University at the discretion of the St. Lawrence String Quartet.

A committed educator, he was on the faculty of the Sunderman Conservatory of Gettysburg College from 2017-2020, alternately as the Visiting Assistant Professor of Violin and Interim Director of Orchestras; he also completed a teaching and performing residency at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in September 2019. He has previously served on the faculties of the Kinhaven Music School, Yellow Barn Young Artists Program, New England Conservatory’s Preparatory Division, Rivers Conservatory, and Junior Greenwood Music Camp. Additionally, he has presented master classes at the Eastman School of Music, Oberlin Conservatory, Bucknell University, the University of Hawaii, and Husson College. He received degrees from the Cleveland Institute, The Juilliard School, Mannes, and the New England Conservatory; his teachers have included Donald Weilerstein, Ronald Copes, Mark Steinberg, Laurie Smukler, David Updegraff, and Mary West. ariisaacmanbeck.com

Violinist Carlos Rubio began his musical career as a member of Venezuela’s famous Youth Orchestra System (“El Sistema”). As a member of the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra, he toured France, Japan, the U.S., Mexico, and Spain, and participated in seven CD recordings under the Dorian Records label.

Mr. Rubio has taught master classes and performed at Miami University, Wilfrid Laurier University in Canada, University of Wisconsin Eau Claire, University of Tennessee, Drake University, University of Iowa, University of Nebraska at Omaha, Festival de Música Latinoamericana in Colombia, Festival y Academia del Nuevo Mundo, the Simón Bolivar Conservatory of Music in Venezuela, and Colorado State University, and is a founding member of the Dalí Quartet International Music Festival.

Mr. Rubio was awarded the grand prize in the Spanish and Latin American Music Competition at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and was distinguished as the Ohio Latino Arts Association’s Performing Artist of the Year. Mr. Rubio has soloed with the Middletown Symphony, the Illinois Philharmonic, and the Oxford Chamber Orchestra. His chamber music partners have included the Colorado, Oxford, Penderecki, DaPonte, and Amernet String Quartets, clarinetist Ricardo Morales, pianists Alessio Bax, Olga Kern, Vanessa Perez, Pamela Mia Paul, and cellist Marc Johnson of the Vermeer Quartet. Additionally, he has collaborated with composers such as Joan Tower, Joel Puckett, Edward Thomas, Susan Botti, Ricardo Lorenz, Efrain Amaya, and Manena Contreras. He has also premièred works by composers Roland Vasquez, Paul Salerni, Terry Vosbein, Diana Arismendi, and Arcangel Castillo-Olivari.

Carlos is a founding member of the Dalí Quartet and is on faculty at West Chester University as part of the quartet’s residency. He is also a member of the Iris Collective and the Philly Pops, and performs regularly with the Harrisburg and Lancaster Symphonies.

Carlos lives near Philadelphia with his wife, Julia, and sons, Javier and Miguel.

In her spare time, she enjoys cooking, traveling, power walks, the outdoors, and spending time with her family and friends.

Violist Emily Brandenburg is a freelance musician based in New York City, known for her deeply expressive artistry and distinctive low-voice sound. Her career spans chamber music, orchestral playing, and solo performance.

She has appeared with ensembles such as the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, New York Classical Players, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Washington Heights Chamber Orchestra, Metropolis Ensemble, Long Island Chamber Music, and numerous other ensembles throughout the New England area. A passionate chamber musician, she brings both intensity and introspection to her performances. She was formerly the violist of the Cassatt String Quartet (NYC) and the Eykamp String Quartet (Evansville, IN). Her festival appearances include Yellow Barn, Norfolk, Bowdoin, Rome Chamber Music, and Amelia Island.

An advocate for contemporary music and for working with living composers, Brandenburg has recently collaborated with Joan Tower, Victoria Bond, Mari Kimura, Will Rowe, Wang Jie and Vineet Shende.

She holds degrees from Yale University, the New England Conservatory, and the McDuffie Center for Strings. A certified Suzuki teacher, she maintains a private violin and viola studio in New York and teaches at Riverdale Country School.

Jesús A. Morales Matos was born into a prominent musical family and is an active soloist, recording artist, and chamber musician. As a member of the Dalí Quartet, Jesús is on faculty at West Chester University as part of the quartet’s residency. His students have been accepted into esteemed music schools such as the Curtis Institute of Music, Yale University, and Temple University.

As a concert artist, Fanfare Magazine wrote, “Not since DuPre’s or Starker’s performances of the Saint-Saëns Concerto have I heard such miraculous playing: clean as a whistle, impassioned, technically adept, and exhibiting extraordinary control.” The Salt Lake Tribune added, “His sound has an assertive, gorgeous quality, from the cello’s brusque low notes to its sweet upper range.” The New York Concert Review hailed him as a soloist “in a category above many cellists of today … inspired and captivating.” Caribbean Business declared, “… he is already talked about as a soloist of potential international stature.”

Mr. Morales’s solo appearances include the Philharmonia Bulgarica, the San Bernardino Symphony, New Mexico Symphony Orchestra, the Orquesta Sinfonica de Puerto Rico, the Camerata Symphony, the National Repertory Orchestra, the Starling Chamber Orchestra, and the Festival de Orquestas Sinfonica Juvenil de las Americas.

As a recording artist, Mr. Morales’s recordings of the Saint-Saëns and Lalo cello concertos on the Centaur label, were received with rave reviews.

Mr. Morales has participated in summer festivals including the Casals Festival in Puerto Rico, Banff Centre for the Arts, Grand Teton Music Festival, Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival, Bowdoin Music Festival, Eastern Music Festival, and Música Rondeña in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Mr. Morales has also performed in recitals and chamber music concerts in Canada, Mexico, Venezuela, and St. Thomas, Virgin Islands.

Mr. Morales holds a Bachelor’s degree from The Cleveland Institute of Music and has done postgraduate work at The Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music. His teachers include Dr. Ronald Crutcher, Alan Harris, Helga Winold, and Yehuda Hanani. He studied chamber music with Peter Oundjian among others.

Mr. Morales resides in Philadelphia with his wife, violinist Dara Morales, and daughters, Isabel and Karina.