Music for Peace : “Double Trouble Cello”

Praised for his “impassioned performance” (Boston Globe) and playing “with remarkable ease and clarity, while maintaining a graceful—if vociferous—line that fit well into the narrative” (The Boston Musical Intelligencer), cellist Sam Ou enjoys an active musical life in the Greater Boston area. A recipient of the Rosemary Scales Prize for best cello concerto performance at the Kingsville International Young Performers Competition, Mr. Ou has performed at several prestigious summer venues including Tanglewood, Sarasota, Musicorda, Santa Fe, and La Jolla music festivals. Symphonically, Mr. Ou has played in the Boston Pops, Boston Landmarks, Boston Ballet, Boston Lyric Opera, Portland Symphony (Maine), and Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestras. Mr. Ou is assistant professor of cello and music theory at Kutztown University in Pennsylvania. For the past two decades, he was a faculty member at NEC’s Preparatory School and School of Continuing Education.

Taiwanese violinist Jean Huang Baverstam is a consummate artist whose career is equally devoted to three interwoven roles: performer, music scholar, and educator. Her active performing career has brought her to concert halls worldwide, engaging audiences across the United States and internationally. WBUR-FM noted that they were “left speechless after having the chance to watch and listen to Jean Huang close up.” She has made multiple concerto appearances with the Cape Cod Chamber Orchestra, Brookline Symphony, WPI Philharmonic, and Music for Peace Orchestra, performing Vaughan Williams’ Lark Ascending and Bruch’s Scottish Fantasy, among others.

Jean is a founding member of Trio Flamecrest, a new string trio formed by Carol Ou (cello) and Amy Galluzzo (violin and viola). The ensemble tours regularly across the United States and recently presented sold-out performances at Chamber Music Raleigh and in Woodstock, Vermont. Baverstam is an adjunct professor at Roger Williams University and serves on the faculty at the New England Conservatory Preparatory School and School of Expanded Education.

Paola Caballero recently returned to Boston after more than a decade in Barcelona, where she was a member of the Orquestra de Cadaqués and regularly performed with the Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona i Nacional de Catalunya (OBC). Throughout her career, she has collaborated with many of today’s most distinguished artists, including Joshua Bell, Hilary Hahn, Janine Jansen, Isabelle Faust, Ray Chen, Augustin Hadelich, Lang Lang, Angela Gheorghiu, Plácido Domingo, and Jonas Kaufmann. Her discography includes recordings on the Naxos, Trito, and BMOP/Sound labels, and her performances have been featured by the Celebrity Series of Boston and on Medici.tv, one of the world’s leading classical music streaming platforms. 

She studied at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London, where she founded the Esperanto Trio. The ensemble made its debut at St. James’s Church, Piccadilly, and later appeared in a live BBC broadcast from the Barbican Centre as part of the BBC Symphony Orchestra’s New Music Festival. In addition to her performing career, Ms. Caballero is a dedicated educator. She was recently appointed Executive Director of the Lexington Chamber Music Center and serves as Artistic Director of the Point CounterPoint Chamber Music Festival, where she has been on faculty for twelve seasons. She also teaches at the New England Conservatory Preparatory Division, Project STEP, and the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra.

Praised for her “nuanced Mozartian phrasing” and her “delicacy and, when needed, force” (Boston Musical Intelligencer), violinist and violist, Amy Galluzzo enjoys an active career as both a chamber musician and soloist. For many years, Amy was a member of the Carpe Diem String Quartet, touring around the United States and internationally, performing a wide range of repertoire.  Amy has performed at several prestigious summer festivals, including the Tanglewood Music Festival, Chelsea Music Festival, Taos, and Sarasota Music Festival, and has collaborated with artists such as Masuko Ushioda, John Ferrillo, James Buswell and Carol Ou.

Amy Galluzzo began her violin studies in Great Britain and went on to study with Dona Lee Croft, a professor at the Royal College of Music, London. Amy received her Bachelor of Music and Master of Music with Honors, and a Graduate Diploma from the New England Conservatory in Boston, where she studied with Marylou Speaker Churchill and James Buswell. She is currently a candidate for the degree of PhD from the Steinhardt School, New York University. Amy teaches through the New England Conservatory Preparatory School and Continuing Education department.

Dimitar Petkov is a Bulgarian violist who performs with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project and serves as Principal Viola of the Claflin Hill Symphony Orchestra. He has appeared in recitals and chamber ensembles across Europe and the United States and has served as Principal Viola with orchestras including the Spoleto Festival Orchestra, Newton Symphony, and Southwest Florida Philharmonic. A dedicated educator, he teaches violin, viola, and chamber music at the New England Conservatory Preparatory School and directs the Westford Chamber Players.

An award-winning cellist, Carol Ou is known for her “fiery, marvelous,” “meltingly melodic outpourings” (Boston Globe) and her “wonderfully pure cello tone and incisive technique” (The Strad). A founding member of Trio Flamecrest and Flamecrest Ensemble, Carol was a member of the Carpe Diem String Quartet and a longtime duo partner of legendary violinist James Buswell. Her solo and chamber music concerts have taken her to prestigious concert venues across the globe, including Carnegie Weill Hall, Jordan Hall, National Gallery of Art, Gardner Museum, National Concert Hall in Kiev, and the National Concert Hall of Taipei.

As a prize-winning recording artist, Carol’s discography includes solo and chamber music discs issued by Chi-Mei, Naxos, CRI, MSR, and Albany Records, much of them available on Spotify. Among her many recordings with the Carpe Diem String Quartet are Sergei Taneyev’s String Quartets (Vol. 4 & 5) on Naxos, and Reza Vali’s “The Book of Calligraphy” issued by Albany Records. Her Naxos recording of Walter Piston’s Chamber Music won the 2001 Chamber Music America’s Best Chamber Music CD award and her recording of Jeff Midkiff’s “Music for Mandolin & String Quartet” won the 2018 Global Music Awards gold medal.