Trio MIZMOR
Trio MIZMOR
As a violinist, Limor Toren enjoys an active career, performing as soloist, chamber musician and symphony player. She has collaborated with Mstislav Rostropovich, Natalia Gutman, Evgeny Kisin, Barbara Hendricks, Sara Chang, Midori, Emanuel Ax, and Isaac Stern. She also performed under the baton of Anjey Brusilov, Sergio Comissiona, Jacek Kaspszyk, Kurt Mazur, Zubin Mehta and Kurt Sanderling. Ms. Toren’s recent performances include Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto with the Young Musicians Foundation Debut Orchestra. and the Beethoven Violin Concerto with Mozart Classical Orchestra. She received her Doctor of Musical Arts Degree from University of Southern California, Thornton School of Music. A distinguished member of the faculty of C.S. U. Fresno, Ms. Toren is the current Concertmaster of the Mozart Classical Orchestra.
Violist Nicholaus Yee completed his doctoral studies at the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California, where he was the teaching assistant to Dr. Pamela Goldsmith and Professor Donald McInnes, and attended as a full fellowship recipient. In addition to his viola studies, he is trained as an instrumental conductor, early music specialist, and music educator, topics he studied as part of the rigorous and multi-faceted program at USC. An avid chamber musician, he was honored to perform with the renowned violinist Midori Goto shortly after her faculty appointment at USC. Nick has been heard in broadcast on KUSC 91.5 both in chamber and orchestral music performances.
Ensembles he has been a member of include the USC Symphony and Chamber orchestras, the USC Early Music Ensemble, and the Pacific Symphony Orchestra. Nick has performed with such musical legends as Yo-Yo Ma, Bobby Mcferrin, Lynn Harrell, Doc Severinsen, Gary Graffmann, and David Shifrin. Conductors he has worked with include Carl St. Clair, John Williams, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Sergiu Commissiona, Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, and Lucinda Carver. Nick is a member of the San Bernardino and the Redlands Symphony Orchestras.
As principal viola of Del Gesu Strings, Nick toured South America, playing concerts in Panama City (Panama), San Salvador (El Salvador), Quito (Ecuador), and Santiago (Chile). Locally, he has collaborated with various musicians presenting chamber music concerts, and is a member of the Chamber Players of Los Angeles.
A dedicated educator, Nick has taught privately for over 20 years and in various capacities at public and private schools and youth orchestras since 1995. His teaching philosophy centers on the love of music, fostering achievement through discipline and methodical practice, and he encourages a close partnership in teaching and learning music with his students. From 2008 to 2011, he was a conductor for the Irvine Young Concert Artists Orchestra. Nick was recently appointed to the faculty for Junior Chamber Music in Orange County.
Nick is an avid sports fan who follows college football and major league baseball, and other interests include billiards, bicycling, tennis, softball, going to concerts, reading, and trying various cuisines.
Alicja Blanquart was born in Warsaw, Poland into a family of musicians. Mrs Blanquart first came to the United States in 1987 to continue her music education and she was awarded scholarships for both her graduate and post-graduate studies. She graduated from Eastman School of Music from a studio of Prof. Steven Doane and earned her Masters Degree in Cello Performance at the University of Southern California from the studio of Prof. Eleonore Schoenfeld. Her other accomplished teachers include Kazimierz Michalik, Ron Leonard and Daniel Rothmuller. She freelances with professional orchestras in California region and her greatest commitment is to teaching students of all levels and ages in the Southern Los Angeles area. As an avid chamber musician Alicja is the founder of a Summer Chamber Music cello program for advance students which ends in a performance of students and professional musicians at the Long Beach Public Library. She is a member of Music Teacher Association of California and the Certificate of Merit string chair in the Long Beach branch.