FOUNDER & CELLIST

New Orleans-based cellist Jacob Fowler is the Founding Director of the Surf and Sounds Chamber Music Series (Outer Banks, North Carolina) and has performed with members of the Manhattan Chamber Players, Dover and Escher Quartets and the Lysander Trio at festivals around the world including the SXSW Festival in Austin. Mr. Fowler is a former tenured member of the Virginia Symphony Orchestra and former Principal Cellist of the Shen Yun Performing Arts Orchestra, with which he travelled throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. Mr. Fowler has also served as adjunct faculty at Virginia Wesleyan College and the Fei Tian Academy and College.

FOUNDER & VIOLINIST

Increasingly recognized as a versatile and passionate performer, Brazilian-born violinist Moises Bonella Cunha has appeared as a soloist and chamber musician throughout Brazil, Italy, Russia, and United States. Moises has been featured as a soloist with major Brazilian symphonic and chamber orchestras, including Bahia Symphony Orchestra, Porto Alegre Symphony Orchestra, and Theatro Sao Pedro Chamber Orchestra. Passionate about chamber music, Moises is Artistic DIrector of the Northern Neck Chamberfest, and a frequent artist at the Northern Neck Chamber Music Series in Virginia. Since 2018, Moises has served as Concertmaster and Artist-in-Residence of the Northern Neck Orchestra in Virginia and makes regular appearances with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra in New Orleans. Dr. Moises Cunha is director of the Crescent City String Academy and the Crescent City String Camp & Festival in New Orleans.

FOUNDER & VIOLINIST

Violinist Elizabeth Almond Crute Cunha enjoys an active career as a chamber musician, orchestra player, and music educator. As the winner of the Augusta Symphony’s Concerto Competition, she performed Haydn’s Violin Concerto in G Major with the Augusta Symphony. Elizabeth was a member of ARCO Chamber Orchestra and was involved in multiple performances and recordings of classical and contemporary music with the ensemble. She toured with ARCO in Italy, which included performing at the 2011 UNESCO Conference in Venice at Teatro La Fenice. She has performed with popular artists including the Trans-Siberian Orchestra and Sarah Brightman, and appeared in Showtime’s On Becoming a God in Central Florida. A passionate music educator, Elizabeth is the Co-Director of the Crescent City String Academy, where she teaches private lessons, group classes, and chamber music, and is the founder and artistic director of the Crescent City String Camp & Festival.

VIOLIST

Praised by The Philadelphia Inquirer for his “glowing refinement,” violist Luke Fleming’s performances have been described by The Strad as “confident and expressive…playing with uncanny precision,” and lauded by Gramophone for their “superlative technical and artistic execution.” Festival appearances include the Marlboro Music School and Festival, the Steans Institute at Ravinia, Bravo!Vail, the Virginia Arts Festival, Festival Mozaic, the Perlman Music Program, the Norfolk, Kneisel Hall, and Great Lakes Chamber Music Festivals, and the Melbourne Festival, as well as concerts and residencies across North and South America, Europe, and Asia. Formerly the violist of the internationally acclaimed Attacca Quartet, Mr. Fleming now serves as the Artistic Director of both the Manhattan Chamber Players, a New York-based chamber music collective, and the Crescent City Chamber Music Festival, a mission/outreach-centric festival held every summer in his hometown, New Orleans. He is also Lecturer-in-Residence for Project: Music Heals Us. Mr. Fleming holds the degrees of Doctor of Musical Arts, Artist Diploma, and Master of Music from the Juilliard School, a Postgraduate Diploma with Distinction from the Royal Academy of Music in London, and a Bachelor of Music summa cum laude from Louisiana State University. He is currently on the Adjunct Faculty of the University of New Orleans for Viola and Chamber Music.

VIOLIST

Violist Catherine Matushek is a tenured member of the Grammy award-winning Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra and violist of the Radio Bird Quartet and Delachaise Ensemble. She has had the privilege of sharing the stage with Smokey Robinson, The Eagles, Andrea Bocelli, Kristin Chenoweth, Michael Bublé, Trans- Siberian Orchestra, Big Freedia, Tank and the Bangas, Sweet Crude, Maggie Koerner, and the Lost Bayou Ramblers. Catherine is an active chamber musician, performing at the Northern Neck Chamber Festival in Virginia, and as a regular guest with Musaica Chamber Ensemble in New Orleans. As a passionate music educator, Catherine teaches through LPO Academy and Young Audiences, and maintains an bustling private studio. Outside of her music career, Catherine volunteers for the Louisiana SPCA as a kitten foster and mentor.