Our Faculty for Programs in Chester, CT

Our faculty is comprised of outstanding performing artists who combine concert careers as chamber players with a dedication to teaching. They are passionate about sharing their expertise in an encouraging and supportive manner to help you achieve your individual musical goals. You’ll have the opportunity to hear them collaborate in faculty recitals and, for an additional fee, sign-up for private lessons during the week.

CAL WIERSMA (violin, viola) has an impressive biography as a soloist and chamber musician that is far too extensive to include here! He was a founding member of the prize-winning Meliora Quartet and was a member of the Manhattan String Quartet for 20 years. Cal maintains an active teaching studio and performs internationally as a soloist and chamber musician. He is a noted performer of contemporary music and tours extensively with new music ensembles. His teaching and coaching prowess is as legendary as his keen sense of humor.

KENNETH FREED (violin, viola) has been a member of the Minnesota Orchestra viola section since 1998. Prior to joining the orchestra, Ken was second violinist in the internationally acclaimed Manhattan String Quartet.
Ken started music lessons at the Henry Street Settlement Music School in lower Manhattan before attending the Juilliard Pre-College Division. He then went on earn a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from Yale College, as well as a Master of Music Performance from the Yale School of Music. He began conducting while at Yale, and attended the National Symphony Orchestra’s Conductor’s Institute, headed by Leonard Slatkin, at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC. For 12 seasons, Ken was Music Director of the Mankato Symphony Orchestra in southern Minnesota and also served as assistant conductor of the Minnesota Orchestra in the 2005-2006 season under Music Director Osmo Vänskä. 
Ken was a Founder of Learning Through Music Consulting Group, a music education nonprofit organization that uses music as a teaching tool to improve children’s learning outcomes. Learning Through Music received federal and local grants as well as private support to work in public schools, and partnered with Minneapolis Public Schools, the University of Minnesota, the MacPhail Center for Music, and the Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphonies.

GREG HESSELINK (cello) has extensive experience as a chamber musician and has performed at venues and festivals across North America, Europe, Turkey, Japan and Indonesia. He is a winner of the Naumburg Chamber Award with the New Millennium Ensemble and has performed with Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Vivaldi Consort, Talea Ensemble, Flux Quartet, Speculum Musicae, Da Capo Chamber Players, Group for Contemporary Music, American Symphony Chamber Players, and with the dance companies Cedar Lake, Mark Morris, and Merce Cunningham. 
Greg is currently on the faculty at Ithaca College and continues to perform with Locrian Chamber players, Orchestra of the League of Composers and as principal cello of Riverside Symphony. Greg has taught at Princeton, Sarah Lawrence, Hunter College, and for 20 years at Mannes preparatory division. In addition to teaching each summer at the Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music, he has also been on the faculty at Yellow Barn, Kinhaven, Interharmony, and Kent Music.

JOEL PITCHON (violin) is an active soloist, concertmaster, chamber music player, and Professor of Music at Smith College. Mr. Pitchon studied with Lewis Kaplan, Oscar Shumsky and Joseph Fuchs and received his degrees from The Juilliard School. He has served as the concertmaster for numerous orchestras, including the Orquestra Ciutat de Barcelona (Spain), the EOS Chamber Orchestra (NY), the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra (guest), and the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra (guest). As a soloist and collaborator, he frequently performs with the New Baroque Soloists. The New York Times noted his playing in the EOS production of Stravinsky’s L'Histoire du Soldat as “...superb...” He has recorded two CDs for the Gasparo label: Four Sonatas for violin and piano, with the composer Clifton J. Noble, Jr. and New England Legacy, works by Quincy Porter, Walter Piston, and Amy Beach with pianist Jonathan Bass. Sun Threads, the chamber music of Augusta Read Thomas, was recorded with the Walden Chamber Players for ARTCD and New England Trios is his most recent critically acclaimed CD released by Bridge Records. Mr. Pitchon is currently the co-director of the Sage Chamber Music Society at Smith College, a member of the Elm Chamber Ensemble and a frequent performer with the New Baroque Soloists.

LIUH-WEN TING (viola) is a former member of the award-winning Meridian String Quartet and a co-founder of Ensemble Meme, which debuted at Zankel Hall to critical acclaim. She has collaborated with artists across the spectrum, including the Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society, the Cassatt Quartet, the Manhattan String Quartet, and most recently as a featured artist on several sold-out North American tours with the renowned Persian vocalist Shahram Nazeri.

​Her festival appearances include the Prague Spring Music Festival, Ostrava Days in Czech Republic, the Warsaw Autumn Music Festival, Primavera en la Habana international electro-acoustic music festival in Cuba. Ms. Ting performs regularly with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, American Composers Orchestra, SEM ensemble, and the Berkshire Bach Ensemble. She was a faculty at the prep division of the Juilliard school for many years and presently teaches at the prep division of the Mannes School of Music.