Our Students

The Art of Vibrato video was produced back in 2001. Since that was pretty long ago now, we decided to research what became of these talented young musicians. We got a very pleasant surprise, all of the students featured in the Art of Vibrato DVD have achieved high levels of professional success. Here what these inspiring young people are doing now.

Fadlullah Ba'th is a native of Washington, D.C. By the age of two, after watching tapes of Suzuki lessons of young classical violinists, he started playing the violin himself. Before the age of three he was studying under the tutelage of Katherine Budner. At the age of four, Fadlullah began traveling abroad with his family, but he continued his violin studies with violin teachers that were available in the country where they lived. He reconnected with Ms. Budner at the age of six upon his return to the United States. At seven, Fadlullah was accepted into the American Youth Philharmonic, where he spent the next six years, culminating with his selection as Concertmaster. By age eleven, Fadlullah had skipped two grades and had moved into the studio of renowned violin teacher Ronda Cole, a graduate of the Eastman School of

Music. During his time with Ms. Cole, Fadlullah was accepted into and attended the Meadowmount School of Music summer program and the Maryland All State Orchestra. He also won various solo competitions and placed in several others while continuing to progress as a musician. Requests for him to perform led to performances in some of D.C.'s most prestigious events such as the United Planning Organization's annual Martin Luther King Breakfast before fifteen hundred patrons. Fadlullah studied with Ronda Cole until he graduated High School at the age of fifteen. He entered Chestnut Hill College (CHC) in Philadelphia on scholarship to study with Yu-Hui "Tamae" Lee, also a graduate of the Eastman School of Music. Fadlullah was recruited by CHC as the anchor of the school's rebuilding of the performance department's music program. In his first year, he made his solo debut with the Doctors Chamber Orchestra when he performed the Mendelssohn violin concerto in various locations around Philadelphia, including the Constitution Center. By his second year, after key public solo performances, he began regularly performing as a soloist in the Philadelphia community, as well as gaining experience as a professional in playing all types of music. He was frequently retained by churches, wedding planners, and other special event sponsors while also serving as the principal violinist for several musicals including "The Wizard of Oz" and "Les Miserables." After three valuable years with Mrs. Lee at CHC, Fadlullah received an unexpected invitation to audition for one of the top conservatories in the world, Manhattan School of Music (MSM). He was accepted into the studio of Isaac Malkin. While studying with Isaac Malkin, he was accepted into various music festivals around Europe and has performed as a soloist and chamber musician in venues all over the globe, including New York, Switzerland and Germany. Fadlullah has played in such operas as Faure's "Penelope" and Mozart's "Le nozze di Figaro" as a part of the prestigious MSM Opera Orchestra. He has performed in various chamber ensembles of small chamber groups, quartets and trios, playing works ranging from the Baroque period with the Baroque Aria Chamber Ensemble to playing such works as Dvorak's "Dumky" and including interesting combinations of instruments such as the mix of violin, saxophone and piano in Evan Chamber's "Come Down Heavy!" and a just as intriguing mix of violin, clarinet, saxophone and piano in a Webern quartet. In July 2010, while a student at the MSM, one of Fadlullah's original compositions was selected and performed in a "sneak preview" of a new children's play, "The Lemonade Stand." On September 4, 2010, the play was performed at The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.'s "Page to Stage Festival" as a best new play for children and families. Shortly thereafter, he was commissioned by the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities to compose two more compositions that premiered in February 2011, in the play, "I Just Want to tell Somebody" at the Woolly Mammoth Theater in Washington DC. Fadlullah graduated from the Manhattan School of Music in May 2011 and has since added jazz to his music repertoire. Along with frequent classical performances as a soloist and in ensembles, he is currently working and performing with well known jazz artists including internationally acclaimed trumpeter, Wallace Roney, Harpist, Brandee Younger, and the creator of "Conduction", Butch Morris. Now that Fadlullah is out of school, he's actively gigging and recording in the NYC/NJ area along with the Washington Metropolitan area. Recent recordings have been with Wallace Roney, Brandee Younger, Siji Awoyinka, and Ski Beatz. He also just completed his first musical, "The Lemonade Stand Musical", which will premier in late 2012 or early 2013. (source: http://fadlullahbath.com/bio.php)

Kacy Clopton (BM Cello 2007) performed two compositions by the renowned composer/conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen on a November 8, 2012 concert featuring his works in the "Composer Portrait" series at Hertz Hall, sponsored by Cal Performances at UC Berkley. She also performed Mania, for Cello and Orchestra, (2001) with the Eco Ensemble, UC Berkeley's acclaimed professional new music ensemble-in-residence, as well as knock, breathe, shine, (2010) for solo cello. The composer himself invited Kacy to give these performances as a direct result of her Boston debut of Mania last April with the Discovery Ensemble at NEC's Jordan Hall, to critical raves. This is the first event in a four-concert residency at UC Berkley by London's Philharmonia Orchestra, of which Salonen is currently Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor. (More info @ http://www.sueauclairpromotions.com/Sue_Auclair_Promotions/Discovery_Ensemble_at_Jordan_Hall_April_13_files/KacyCloptonNEW.pdf)

Ted Botsford joined the Oregon Symphony in 2010 as Assistant Principal Bass. He performed with the National Symphony Orchestra, Houston Grand Opera, and the Austin Symphony, and has appeared at the Tanglewood Music Festival in Lenox, MA, the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, Japan and the AIMS festival in Graz, Austria. Ted studied with Paul Ellison at Rice University, earning both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees and received the Diplôme and Teaching Certificate in 2007 from the Institut International François Rabbath in Paris, France. In addition to performing, Ted is interested in teaching and promoting the bass as a solo instrument. Ted taught at the first Kansas City Bass Workshop in 2010, has been on faculty at the George Vance Bass Workshop, and in 2011 was guest artist at Ithaca College and University of Oregon. In 2009, he was part of the inaugural season of Da Camera of Houston’s Young Artist Program, whose mission is to expand classical music audiences through outreach concerts in non-traditional venues such as museums and schools. Ted started the bass with George Vance and was awarded a Teaching Certificate for Mr. Vance’s Progressive Repertoire. (source: http://kcbassworkshop.com/?page_id=64)

Carmen Collyns Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), Economics, Psychology at Harvard University, is currently employed by J.P. Morgan as an analyst of Emerging Markets Strategy. (source: www.linkedin.com/pub/carmen-collyns/13/900/1a8)

Heather MacArthur Playing the violin is one of Heather MacArthur’s favorite things to do! Heather began playing the violin at the age of 4 in southern California. She continued her studies during high school at the Hartt School of Music at the University of Hartford in Connecticut. She moved to Maryland in 2005 to pursue her Bachelors of Music degree at the University of Maryland as a student of David Salness and has since established herself as an active freelance violinist and violist in the DC area.

Heather maintains a private violin studio in University Park, MD. She also is the violin teacher at the School of Music in Rockville, MD and Excel Academy Public Charter school. She is very excited to be part of the Music Kids faculty this year at Henson Valley Academy and Highland Park Academy.
Heather enjoys sharing her passion for music and the violin with everyone she meets wherever she goes, whether its playing the National Anthem at her community pool’s swim meet or playing for a wedding while happening to be on vacation in Aruba! Heather’s warmth, fun, and love for others make her a joy to work with! (source: http://www.musickidsprogram.com/?page_id=2374)

Erica Anne MacArthur, began playing violin at age three, taking lessons from local teachers Carol Sue McKenzie and Shirley Helmick. As a nine-year-old, Erica played a duet with her sister in the 1999 DCO Young Artist concert prior to moving back east. Erica continued her violin studies under various teachers and was in many ensembles including the American Youth Philharmonic and the Wesleyan University Symphony Orchestra. She also served as concertmaster of the Connecticut Youth Symphony during her studies at the Hartt School Community Division. She has many performances and awards to her name and has several times performed as a soloist with orchestras in Connecticut. In 2005, she won the junior string division of the Music Teachers National Association’s national competition. Having recently moved back to Ridgecrest, Erica is now a DCO member . In the May DCO concert she will be the violin soloist playing “The Lark Ascending” by Ralph Vaughan Williams.

Special museum concert to feature Erica MacArthur The 2012-2013 Maturango Museum’s concert series continues with Erica Anne MacArthur, violin, on Sunday, Oct. 7. The matinee concert will be performed in the Sylvia Winslow Exhibit Gallery at 3 p.m. This is the final event of the museum’s 50th Anniversary weekend and the only event that needs tickets. Seats are limited to 60, so avoid disappointment and get your tickets now in the museum store. The ticket price is $10 per adult and $5 per child 12 or younger. Erica Anne MacArthur and Catherine Douglas will present “Fantasia,” an exploration of four centuries of fantasy in music, from Purcell to Pärt. They will be joined by Fran Rogers, cello; Tom Foggia, guitar; and Debra Veit, flute. Erica, who has amazed and delighted museum concert-goers with the virtuosity of her playing, began studying the violin at age three. She has been awarded numerous awards and prizes for her violin playing and has performed widely in her communities – California, Northern Virginia, Connecticut and Colorado – in addition to giving concerts in Canada, Morocco and Bolivia. While studying at the Hart School in Hartford, Conn., with Anthea Kreston, Erica was drawn to the clarity and freedom of early music, and began her study of Baroque violin and historical performance at age 14. She has performed extensively, playing music from the Renaissance to the High Baroque, in addition to more recent repertoire. From 2010-2011, she studied with harpsichordist Elizabeth Farr and violinist Lina Bahn at the University of Colorado at Boulder, presenting a concert of the complete “Mystery Sonatas” of Heinrich Biber. In 2012 Erica founded Ensemble Forlana to bring early music to the high-desert community. She lives and teaches in Ridgecrest. (source: http://www.news-ridgecrest.com/news/story.pl?id=0000000285)

Joseph Kromholz, teaches violin performance to NBSS violin students. Joseph began playing the violin at age five, and has studied with Itzhak Perlman, Miriam Fried, Paul Kantor, and with the Juilliard and Cleveland Quartets. He has performed in venues across the world and is a founding violinist of the award-winning Vesuvius (now Linden) Quartet. He has taught chamber music, music theory and presented master classes at several prestigious music schools. Joseph is currently completing his doctorate at New England Conservatory and, in the Summer of 2011 will join the Ravinia Festival in Chicago as the Artistic Coordinator of the Steans Institute. (source: http://www.nbss.edu/education/programs/violin-making-and-repair/index.aspx) (more info: http://ofa.fas.harvard.edu/teachers/details.php?ID=5003933)