ACRONYM

Cellist Paul Dwyer is fortunate to have a rich musical life playing both historical and modern cello. He is a founding member of the Diderot String Quartet and ACRONYM, and loves to play chamber music and collaborate with young composers. He is assistant principal cello of Lyric Opera of Chicago and has taught at Notre Dame University.

Elliot Figg is a keyboardist, conductor, and composer from Dallas. He is a graduate of the Historical Performance Program at The Juilliard School where he studied harpsichord with Kenneth Weiss; he also studied with Arthur Haas at the Yale School of Music. Elliot is an active member of several New York-based early music and contemporary ensembles, including ACRONYM, Ruckus, and House of Time.

Over the last decade, Edwin Huizinga has crossed many borders and boundaries around the world as an artist, finding new and unique ways to connect with audiences. Performing in different genres and on different stages and platforms, he always strives to commit and connect with the community. Huizinga is a founding member of ACRONYM, a world-renowned baroque ensemble, and Fire & Grace, which gives him the opportunity to share modern baroque premieres, new arrangements, and compositions with the musical community.

John Lenti is a specialist in music of the 17th century and has made basso continuo improvisation on lute, theorbo, and baroque guitar the cornerstone of his career. He performs with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, many other orchestras, and with vocal and instrumental chamber groups of various sizes. He also gives solo and duo recitals. His work has taken him to countless festivals and lots of fun venues. John studied lute with Nigel North, Jacob Heringman, and Elizabeth Kenny. He lives in Seattle.

Loren Ludwig is a performer/scholar based in Baltimore. Praised for his “outstanding” playing by the Washington Post, Loren is a co-founder of LeStrange Viols and Science Ficta. He performs with ACRONYM and numerous ensembles specializing in 16th and 17th century music in the US and abroad. Loren received a PhD in musicology from the University of Virginia and his work has been supported by the Fulbright Program, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the American Musicological Society.

Violist Kyle Miller made his concerto debut in 2005 with the Reading (Pennsylvania) Symphony Orchestra as “the dog” in P. D. Q. Bach’s Canine Cantata, Wachet Arf! After that watershed performance, Kyle went on to study at the New England Conservatory, the Eastman School of Music, and The Juilliard School. A member of Handel + Haydn Society, the Knights, New York Baroque Incorporated, and Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra.

Violinist Johanna Novom appears with ensembles internationally as a soloist, principal, chamber, and orchestral musician.  She is a member of Diderot String Quartet and ACRONYM, and has been concertmaster of Apollo’s Fire and principal at Washington National Cathedral Baroque Orchestra. Johanna also performs with the Boston Early Music Festival Orchestra, Trinity Wall Street Baroque Orchestra, Tafelmusik, Handel + Haydn Society, and New York Baroque Incorporated, among others.  Johanna holds a master’s degree in Historical Performance from Oberlin Conservatory, and was a 2008 first-prize winner of the American Bach Soloists’ International Young Artists Competition.

Beth Wenstrom’s playing has been praised for its “vitality and eloquent phrasing, as well as agility” (The Strad).  As a soloist and concertmaster, she has performed with Trinity Wall Street Baroque Orchestra, Sebastian Chamber Players, New York Baroque Incorporated, and Quodlibet Ensemble. She has appeared in Apollo’s Fire as well as the Boston Early Music Festival Orchestra and The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. Beth is a regular guest conductor with the Oberlin Baroque Orchestra, leading from the violin, as well as the string coach for SUNY Stony Brook’s baroque ensemble.