JP Jofre (bandoneon-compositions) Native from San Juan, Argentina, “J.P.” Jofre  is an award winning bandoneon player and composer.  Mr Jofre has been repeatedly highlighted by the New York Times and praised as one of today’s leading artists by Great Performers at Lincoln Center. His music has been recorded by 16 Grammy winner Paquito D’ Rivera, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and choreographed/performed by ballet-star Herman Cornejo (Principal Dancer of the American Ballet Theatre) among others. A recipient of the National Prize of the Arts grant in Argentina, Mr. Jofre has taken his form of contemporary tango to some of the most important venues in Asia, Europe, America and the Caribbean as soloist and composer. He has collaborated with many famous musicians in a wide range of musical styles, including Paquito D’Rivera, Kathryn Stott, Symphony Silicon Valley, Santa Rosa Symphony Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional de Argentina, San Antonio Symphony Philippe Quint, Fernando Otero, Dallas Symphony and Fred Sturm among others. Mr. Jofre has been part of many prestigious festivals including the Celebrity Series of Boston,  Google Talks, TEDtalks, Umbria Jazz Festival, Great Performers at Lincoln Center, Seattle Town, Belgorod Music Festival (Rusia), Sudtirol Jazz Festival, and Bachanalia Taiwan, Lorin Maazel's Castleton Festival among others. For the world premiere of his Bandoneon Concerto, the Mercury News wrote: “…he is an electrifying composer-bandoneon player.”  In 2012, Jofre was invited by the Free University of Bolzano and SudTirol Festival (Italy) to perform for the homage to Argentinean Nobel Peace Prize winner, Adolfo Perez Esquivel. He currently leads the JP Jofre Hard Tango Chamber Band, the ensemble has been touring internationally since the release of their last album "Manifiesto". Mr. Jofre has received commissions by violinist-conductor Michael Guttman and violinist Francisco Fullana in collaboration with the San Antonio Chamber Orchestra and Metropolis Ensemble to write two double concertos for violin and bandoneon, recently, virtuoso clarinet player Seunghee Lee commissioned Mr. Jofre to write a double concerto for clarinet and bandoneon. More at www.jpjofre.com J.P. Jofre began playing percussion and guitar at the age of 14 and later attended the the Escuela de Musica de la Universidad Nacional de San Juan, Argentina, where he studied, drums, guitar, piano, voice and composition, before deciding to dedicate himself to the bandoneón. In 2003, Jofre gave his debut performance as arranger and solo bandoneónista at the First International Festival of Chamber Music. For this event, Jofre arranged pieces for 12 Cellos and Bandoneon. In 2004 Jofre took privates classes with Martin Ferres and one year later auditioned for Daniel Binelli, one of the world’s most sought after bandoneonists and composers. With Binnelli’s recommendation, Jofre studied under Julio Pane, world-renowned educator and former bandoneónista for the legendary “Astor Piazzolla Sextet” through the financial endorsement of the Juan Victoria Auditorium and Autotransportes San Juan Mar del Plata. At the 2005 Clasura Concert of the Master Class given by Ingrid Zur and George Heyer (Germany) in San Juan, Jofre performed solo works of Bach and Piazzolla. That same year, he performed alongside Latin America’s most important musical figures Jairo, Horacio Ferrer, and Garello at the presentation ceremony for the book Adventures and Triumphs of Argentines in Paris at the Hall Café Tortoni in Buenos Aires. Catalyst Quartet (String Quartet): Hailed by the New York Times at their Carnegie Hall debut as “invariably energetic and finely burnished… playing with earthy vigor”, the Catalyst Quartet, prize winners of the Gianni Bergamo Classical Music Award 2012 (Switzerland) is comprised of top Laureates and Alumni of the internationally acclaimed Sphinx Competition. Known for “rhythmic energy, polyphonic clarity and tight ensemble-playing”, the quartet has toured domestically and abroad including sold out performances at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, at Chicago’s Harris Theater, Miami’s New World Center, and Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall. The Catalyst Quartet has held concert residencies at institutions such as the University of Washington, University of Michigan, Rice University, Houston’s Society for the Performing Arts, University of Cincinnati-College Conservatory of Music, and Pennsylvania State University. International residencies where they perform and give masterclasses have included the In Harmony Project in England, the University of South Africa, and the Teatro de Bellas Artes in Colombia. Andy Lin( erhu): In addition to his accomplishments as a classical musician, he is also a world recognized professional erhu player. He has recently gave his erhu Lincoln Center debut at the Alice Tully Hall playing an erhu concerto “Newlywed’s Departure” with the COS Young Symphonic Ensemble. He has recorded film music for a number of movies and short films, including “The Blood Brothers” and the award winning short film “Daughters” (Best Original Score at NYU Tisch Film Festival). He has performed the erhu solo part at the U.S. Premiere of Sir Peter Maxwell Davie’s “Kommilitonen!” with the Juilliard Opera Production, as well as the world premiere of Jeeyoung Kim’s “Engraft” for solo erhu and string orchestra with Solisti Ensemble at Carnegie Hall. He also premiered Winnie Lan-In Yang’s “Fantasy for Erhu and Strings” with the New York Classical Players. He has been invited by the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra of the Grant Park Music Festival in Chicago to play the solo erhu part in “Iris dévoilée” by Chen Qi-Gang. He has also been invited by the Metropolitan Museum to give recitals at their Gallery Concert Series and Patrons Lounge Concert. He has appeared at OK Mozart and Chamber Music Northwest festivals. Upcoming concerts include a viola/erhu recital at the Caramoor Center for the Music and the Arts. He currently serves as a faculty member at the Chinese Cultural Arts Institute in Harrisburg, PA. Andy Lyn (Erhu): Wei-Yang Andy Lin, born in Taiwan, recognized as one of the most promising young violists and erhuists of today. He is the artistic director and founder of the New Asia Chamber Music Society. He came to the U.S. in 1997 to attend the Idyllwild Arts Academy and holds his bachelor and master’s degrees from The Juilliard School. Mr. Lin has won numerous competitions including Taiwan National Viola Competition, the Idyllwild Concerto Competition, First Prize in the 2008 Juilliard Viola Concerto Competition and subsequently made his Avery Fisher Hall solo debut with the Juilliard Orchestra. He was also the winner of the 2009 Stony Brook University Concerto Competition. In January 2013, he appeared as soloist on both the viola and erhu with the Yonkers Philharmonic Orchestra. He has also appeared as soloist with the Incheon Philharmonic in Korea. In addition to his solo career Mr. Lin is an avid chamber musician and is a member of the award winning string quartet, the Amphion String Quartet. The quartet was a winner of the 2011 Concert Artists Guild Victor Elmaleh Competition and is starting its three-year residency at the Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society CMS2 Program. Mr. Lin is also a member of the Musicians of Lenox Hill and serves as principal violist of the Solisti Ensemble and the New York Classical Players. He has also served as a principal violist of the International Sejong Soloists. Additionally he has been privileged to perform for the former President of the United States, Bill Clinton and the former President of Taiwan, Ten-Hui Lee. He has also been invited to perform chamber music with Itzhak Perlman where The New York Times described “Mr. Perlman, playing first violin… answered in kind by the violist Wei-Yang Andy Lin.”