About The Phoenix Ensemble & PhoenixPhest
Since its formation as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in 1998, The Phoenix Ensemble has been a resource for artists and the educational community. Past projects include work with UMS, Gemini, William Bolcom, Joan Morris, Peter Sparling, Stephen Katz, and Jeff Haas.
Executive director Gabriel Bolkosky founded the PhoenixPhest Chamber Music Festival in 2001, starting with just 20 participants. Since then the festival has grown to around 100, and also includes masterclasses and a Suzuki workshop for younger children. In 2010 we introduced PhoenixPhest Grande, a week-long summer music program that includes chamber music and jazz camps as well as a full-scale Suzuki institute and continuing education workshops for teachers. In 2012, we added the Marathon Concert to our regular schedule of events. This fundraiser provides performance opportunities for artists young and old, professional and amateur.
PhoenixPhest has a unique educational philosophy and vision. Says Bolkosky, “As director and founder of PhoenixPhest, it has been my intention to do more than simply build great players. Playing well is only the first part of a much more complex equation. Learning to work positively with others comes next, making our main goal to foster a more effective and compassionate community. Cooperation and not competition will win in the long run. And so it is not music that will save the world. It is each of us.”
About Executive Director Gabriel Bolkosky
Gabriel Bolkosky teaches and performs across the United States and abroad. His diverse repertoire includes classical and contemporary works with a variety of collaborators and musical genres. Gabe is also the executive and artistic director of the PhoenixPhest chamber music festival, which he founded in 2001 with the intent of creating an environment open to all levels and ages of musicians, providing a holistic musical experience without sacrificing quality.
Gabe’s performances have focused in the areas of contemporary music, jazz and tango as well as traditional classical music. In 2008 he performed in the premiere of Fredric Rzewski’s “Natural Things” for Carnegie Hall’s Making Music Series. He has also collaborated with other composers, among them Fredric Rzewski, William Bolcom, John Harbison, Thomas Ades, Bright Sheng, William Albright, Andrew Kirshner, Lars Holmer, Carter Pann, Michael Daugherty, George Tsontakis, Derek Bermel, and Bernard Rands. As a jazz and tango musician, Gabe has worked with great artists such as John Lindberg, Peter Soave, Tad Weed, Ed Sarath, Chris Howes, and Andy Bishop, and was a founding member of The Oblivion Project.
A native of Detroit, Michigan, Gabe began his violin studies at age three. His primary teachers were Michael Avsharian of Ann Arbor, Paul Kantor at the University of Michigan, and Donald Weilerstein at the Cleveland Institute of Music. Gabe earned a bachelor’s degree in violin performance, a master’s in chamber music, and also studied improvisation at the master’s level at the University of Michigan. At the Cleveland Institute he earned a Professional Studies degree, served a year as Weilerstein’s teaching assistant, and won the school’s prestigious Darius Milhaud prize. He attended the Aspen Music Festival from 1991–98 on fellowship, first playing with the Aspen Chamber Symphony and then the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble for four years. During that time he premiered hundreds of new works. With his group Non Sequitur, he conducted workshops and concerts for thousands of students in the Aspen valley as well as at schools such as Harvard, Dartmouth, Brandeis and Princeton.
Gabe has released seven CDs that show his breadth as a musician. His debut solo album, This and That, features classical and jazz music. Other albums include The Shape of Klez to Come with the klezmer group Into the Freylakh; The Orchestra Is Here to Play, a live recording teaming the Gemini children’s music group with a full orchestra; The Oblivion Project Live, showcasing the music of Astor Piazzolla; Non Sequitur, contemporary and experimental music, including one of his own compositions; Home from Work, an eclectic mix of jazz, folk and blues in collaboration with San Slomovits; and as sideman on John Lindberg’s recording Two by Five. His most recent CD is Bonne Nuit, which includes the Debussy Sonata and other small works for violin and piano with Michele Cooker, and can be found at GabrielBolkosky.com.
Gabe served as a guest artist at The University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, teaching violin and chamber music for six years. He has worked with young musicians of all ages in most of the 50 states and parts of Asia. He is the executive director of The Phoenix Ensemble, a nonprofit organization dedicated to being a musical resource for artists and educational institutions, and directs the annual chamber music festivals PhoenixPhest and PhoenixPhest Grande. Gabe also maintains a private violin studio.