About TOPAZ

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About The Musicians

Mimi Dye, violist, violinist, composer, and founder and Director of TOPAZ is well known to Bay Area audiences as a soloist, chamber music artist, and jazz performer.

Mimi received her B.A. from Mills College and her M.A. from Brooklyn College where she was a student of Itzhak Perlman. She presented her New York debut recital in Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall and has been heard on WQXR, WNYC, and locally on KDFC and KPFA. Ms. Dye has appeared as soloist with the Carmel Bach Festival, the San Francisco Chamber Players, the New York String Ensemble, Nova Vista Symphony, and the Palo Alto Philharmonic. She is an artist-in-residence at the Yachats Music Festival in Oregon and was presented by Four Seasons Concerts in her San Francisco debut at Herbst Theatre. She has performed with many jazz ensembles including the Wayne Wallace Ensemble, the Eddie Gale Jazz Band, and the Stanford Jazz Workshop. Her numerous orchestral credits include playing in the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, touring with Barbra Streisand, and recording movie scores in Los Angeles.

Mimi has released three of her own CDs: Spiritual Songs of Hildegard, Angel Songs of Mimi Dye, and Mimi's Classical Favorites.

For more information on Mimi Dye, please go to her website: www.mimidye.com

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Victoria Ehrlich, ‘cellist, was born in Texas and received her musical education at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, the Academy of Santa Cecilia in Rome, Italy, and the State University of New York at Stony Brook, as well as summer programs at Interlochen, Aspen, and Tanglewood. Her teachers include Robert Marsh, Bernard Greenhouse, and Robert Gardner.

Before joining the San Francisco Opera Orchestra in 1984, she performed with the Santa Fe Opera and Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, and served as principal ‘cellist with the Symphonies of Omaha, Richmond, Virginia, and Phoenix. Ms. Ehrlich has performed with such disparate groups as the San Francisco Ballet and Symphony, New Century Chamber Orchestra, California and Berkeley Symphonies, Lamplighters, and Pocket Opera, and is an active chamber musician, appearing regularly with the percussion group Adesso, the Gold Coast Chamber Players, the Fath Chamber Players, and the Ariel String Quartet.

Recent work includes collaboration with poets and composers under the auspices of the American Composers’ Forum.

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Dawn Harms leads an active musical life as a violinist, violist, chamber musician, and conductor. For ten years Dawn was first violinist with the Harrington String Quartet, winners of the Grand Prize at the prestigious Fischoff and Evian International chamber music competitions. She played first violin for five years with the Santa Fe Opera. A member of the San Francisco Opera Orchestra and the New Century Chamber Orchestra, Dawn also performs as co-concertmaster with the Oakland Symphony, Santa Fe Pro Musica Chamber Orchestra, and the Pacific Chamber Orchestra. She is a member of the Harmida Piano Trio and Quartet San Francisco, a jazz string quartet.

Dawn is the founder and conductor of the Elixir Chamber Orchestra. Dawn also collaborated with her cousin Tom Waits on his latest recordings, "Alice" and "Blood Money," playing the violin and the Stroh violin.

Ms. Harms currently serves on the faculty of Stanford University.

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Li-shan Hung, pianist, born in Taiwan, has appeared both as a soloist and a chamber musician internationally. As a winner of the Artists International Competition, Li-shan gave her New York recital debut at the Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall in 2003. She has also performed at the National Recital Hall in Taipei as a "New Star Artist," the Rachmaninoff Hall in Moscow, in the Shriver Hall Concert Series in Baltimore, the Orpheus Classical Music Series in Chicago, and in Hong Kong, as well as other major cities in Germany, Austria, France, Italy, Canada, and the United States. In addition, her performances have been broadcast on television and radio stations in Taiwan and the United States, including WBAL, WBJC, and WFYI.

Dr. Hung obtained her Doctor of Musical Arts from the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University, where she studied with the renowned pianist Ann Schein. She was recently appointed Head of the Piano Department of Biola University in the Los Angeles area. Dr. Hung performed at Carnegie's Weill Recital Hall in the 2004-2005 season.

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Anne Lenoir, clarinetist, has a career which spans many diverse genres of music. Born in Washington, D.C., to a family of professional musicians, she grew up in Tampa, Florida, where she played in the Tampa Philharmonic and St. Petersburg Symphony for two seasons, starting when she was 15. She later graduated from the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music.

While studying at Oberlin, Annie developed a strong interest in improvisation and studied flute and saxophone as well as clarinet. When she left Oberlin, Anne moved to Colorado Springs, Colorado, where she played clarinet, saxophone, flute, and keyboards, and sang in various jazz, blues, and orchestral ensembles for the next 30 years. She has also created over 500 electronic orchestrated sequences during her career as a people's clarinetist and entertainer.

Anne has received great joy from her participation in recent clarinet events, including a performance in Dr. David Etheridge's Oklahoma Clarinet Symposium 2002 and a spontaneous jam at ClarinetFest 2001 during Eddie Daniel's master class, which was televised on CBS's Sunday Morning. She has also performed at Dr. Diane Cawein-Barger's Midwestern ClariFest and Dr. Denise Schmidt's Appalachian Clarinet Retreat.

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Dan Yu, harpist, won First Prize in the 5th USA International Harp Competition in July 2001, the first harpist from China ever to win this prestigious competition. Competing against 36 participants from 14 countries, Ms. Yu was unanimously awarded the Gold Medal, and also two additional prizes for her interpretation of the Concerto No. 1 by Ginastera and the solo work "Maqamat" by the contemporary Israeli composer, Ami Ma'ayani.

As part of the First Prize, Dan Yu won a unique Lyon & Healy Commemorative Gold Harp, a recording contract, and recitals in New York, London, Paris, and Tokyo.

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Roxanne Michaelian, pianist, is the product of a musical family. She began studies with Claire James at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and continued her education there, completing an undergraduate degree and earning a Masters Degree in Piano Performance under Paul Hersh. Ms. Michaelian's first appearance as soloist with orchestra was at the age of twelve, when she performed with the San Francisco Symphony in its youth concert series. She subsequently received First Prize in the North American Young Artists Competition in Denver and performed with the Denver Symphony under Brian Priestman. Other prizes include the Los Angeles Young Musicians Foundation Competition, where she was chosen as overall winner. As a result of that award, Ms. Michaelian appeared as soloist with the Los Angeles Debut Orchestra under Calvin Simmons at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. She has also been heard with orchestras such as the San Francisco Symphony, Oakland Symphony, San Francisco Chamber Orchestra, and Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra.

In addition, Ms. Michaelian is an active chamber musician and one of the area's most sought-after collaborators. A past winner of the Coleman National Chamber Music Competition and the Carmel Chamber Music Society, she has performed in joint recital with members of the San Francisco symphony and nationally recognized artists, having toured the United States and Canada. She has also been a frequent participant at festivals including Chamber Music West, Chamber Music Sundaes, Mid-Summer Mozart Festival, San Jose Chamber Music Society, and the Seattle Chamber Music Festival. She maintains an active teaching schedule, both privately as well as at the Nueva School in Hillsborough, California.

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