Markus Stenz has held several high-profile positions including Principal Conductor of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Principal Guest of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and most recently Conductor-In-Residence of the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra. He was the General Music Director of the City of Cologne and GürzenichKapellmeister for 11 years, conducting Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Wagner’s Ring Cycle , Lohengrin, Tannhäuser, and Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg , as well as Janáček’s Jenůfa and Katya Kábanováand Eötvös’s Love and Other Demons. His widely recognized ability to communicate a score with both enthusiasm and profound musicality produces memorable performances for musicians and audiences alike.

Stenz made his opera debut in 1988 at Teatro La Fenice in Venice, where he has returned for numerous successful concert weeks with the Orchestra. Last season he conducted a new production of Wagner’s Der fliegende Holländer and will return in subsequent seasons for Ariadne auf Naxos and Lohengrin.

In 2018, Stenz conducted Schreker’sDie Gezeichnetenat the Bayerische Staatsoper Munich and led the world premiere of Kurtág’s Fin de partieat Teatro alla Scala Milan, where he also conducted Strauss’s Elektra that same season. This was followed by performances of the Kurtág work for Dutch National Opera, and its French premiere at Opéra National de Paris.

This season he returns to Dutch National Opera to conduct Weill’s Mahagonny , travels to Hangzhou, China, forDie Walküre, and conducts a special performance of Fin de partie in Kurtág’s hometown of Budapest before touring to Hamburg and Cologne. Elsewhere in Germany he conducts the MDR Leipzig, the Stuttgarter Philharmoniker, and the Staatskapelle Halle.

The 2023–2024 season also sees Stenz’s return to Orchestre National de Lyon and, following a very successful debut with the CBSO in Mahler Symphony No. 2 in 2022, he returns this season for Bruckner’s Symphony No 7. He conducts both the Orchestra della Toscana and the Fondazione Haydn di Bolzano in Italy, returns to the New Jersey Symphony on a program featuring Anna Clyne’s Atlas, and makes his debut with the Naples Philharmonic Orchestra in Florida.

Recent symphonic engagements in North America include appearances with the Detroit, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Colorado, and Oregon symphonies. A regular guest at the Aspen Music Festival, Stenz returned in July 2023 to conduct Donnacha Dennehy's Violin Concerto with Augustin Hadelich. Overseas highlights have included his debut with the Orchestra dell’Academia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, multiple appearances with the New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, and regular visits to three orchestras where he previously held positions: the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Gürzenich-Orchester Köln.

While with the Gürzenich-Orchester Köln, Stenz received the prize for “The Best Concert Program of the 2003–2004 Season” as well as initiating a number of youth and educational projects such as “Experiment Klassik,” “3. Akt,” and the concert live-recording project “GO live.”

His extensive discography includes many prize-winning recordings including the Gürzenich Orchestra’s complete cycle of Mahler symphonies, for which Symphony No. 5 received the German Record Critics’ Award; Strauss’sDon QuixoteandTill Eulenspiegelalso both received unanimous critical acclaim, followed by an equally celebrated release of Schönberg’s Gurreliederwhich received the Choral Award at the 2016 Gramophone Awards.

Stenz studied at the Hochschule für Musik in Cologne under Volker Wangenheim and at Tanglewood with Leonard Bernstein and Seiji Ozawa. He has been awarded an Honorary Fellowship of the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester, and the “Silberne Stimmgabel” (Silver Tuning Fork) of the state of North Rhein/Westphalia.

Ralph Skiano was appointed Principal Clarinet of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in 2014 after serving in the same position in the Richmond Symphony and the Des Moines Metro Opera. He has also appeared as guest Principal Clarinet of the Seattle Symphony, the Cincinnati Symphony, and the Cleveland Orchestra.

Skiano has been involved in numerous music festivals including the Mainly Mozart Festival, the Peninsula Music Festival, the Britt Music Festival, Festival Lyrique-en-Mer, and the Tanglewood Music Center. As a soloist, he has been featured with ensembles in the United States, France, Germany, and Switzerland. In 2010, Skiano was a guest artist at the Oklahoma Clarinet Symposium and was a featured soloist with the Baton Rouge Symphony at the 2014 International Clarinet Association Convention. Skiano appeared as a soloist several times with the Richmond Symphony, most notably performing concerti by Mozart, Weber, and Copland. He made his solo debut with the DSO in March of 2015, performing Mozart's Concerto for Clarinet.

Skiano has served on the faculty of the schools of music at James Madison University and the College of William and Mary and has presented masterclasses at UVA, Towson University, Louisiana State University, California State University Northridge, Michigan State University, Northwestern University, and the University of Maryland.

Under the guidance of Richard Hawley, Skiano completed his Bachelor of Music at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music in 2002.

Violist Eric Nowlin has performed extensively throughout the United States as well as abroad. Nowlin's performance of Berlioz’s Harold in Italy with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra was described by Classical Source as "outstanding…his distinctive timbre and sovereign musicianship at one with Slatkin’s perfectly paced account…totally compelling."

Past accomplishments include receiving second prize in the prestigious Walter W. Naumburg Competition, first prize in the Irving Klein International String Competition; first prize in the Hellam Young Artists Competition; grand prize in the Naftzger Young Artists Competition; and winner of the Juilliard Viola Concerto Competition. Performances have included solo engagements with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Springfield Symphony in Missouri, the Santa Cruz Symphony, the Peninsula Symphony, and the Kumamoto Symphony in Japan, as well as recitals in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Toronto, and Mexico.

Nowlin is the violist of the Juno and Opus Award-winning New Orford String Quartet. Other chamber music activities have included participating in festivals such as the Marlboro Music Festival in Vermont and the Steans Institute for Young Artists at Ravinia. He was a regular member of the Jupiter Chamber Players in New York City and toured with Musicians from Marlboro and Musicians from Ravinia’s Steans Institute. Nowlin was previously the Associate Principal Viola in the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and has served as Guest Principal Viola with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Metropolis Ensemble, and Cleveland’s Citymusic, as well as substitute viola with the New York Philharmonic.

Nowlin is the Assistant Professor of Viola at Michigan State University and has previously been an Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto Faculty of Music as well as Instructor of Viola at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, Ontario. He spends time during the summer months teaching and performing at numerous music festivals in the United States and Canada.

Nowlin received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from The Juilliard School as a scholarship student of Samuel Rhodes. Nowlin plays on a 1757 J.B. Guadagnini viola on generous loan from the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, as well as a viola from 1910 made by Giovanni Pistucci and a viola made by Sam Zygmuntowicz made in 2019.