Daniel Vega-Albela

Born in Mexico City, Daniel Vega-Albela started studying violin with Yuriko Kuronuma.  At fifteen, he won silver medal in the first National Violin Competition in Mexico City. At sixteen, he traveled to New York City, where he received his Bachelor of Music degree in violin performance from the Mannes College of Music, under the guidance of Sally Thomas. He has played with many ensembles in the United States, such as the St. Cecilia Chamber Orchestra, the Amherst Collegium Musicum, the Opus 1 String Ensemble, the Asparagus Valley Chamber Ensemble, and the Western New York Chamber Players. He has toured Japan and Mexico, and has had many appearances with different orchestras throughout Mexico. He has also worked with several chamber and symphony orchestras in Mexico, such as the Orquesta de Cámara de Morelos, the Camerata de Torreón, the Camerata de Roberto Kolb and the Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería.

    From 1994 to 1997, he was instructor of violin at the Academia Yuriko Kuronuma in Mexico City, and in 1997, he joined the Conservatorio de las Rosas to teach violin performance and to play with their new music ensemble, the Ensamble de las Rosas. While with the Ensamble de las Rosas, he performed at the Festival Internacional Cervantino in Guanajuato, Mexico, and played concertmaster for the recording of Luis Jaime Cortez’s opera Las Tentaciones de San Antonio. From 2001 to 2003, he was violin Instructor at the Interlochen Center for the Arts. His devotion to teaching has already yielded some important results: he is featured in the 2004 and 2005 edition of Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers.

    Mr. Vega-Albela holds a Master of violin performance degree from Western Michigan Unicersity, and a Master of chamber music degree from Kent State University, where he studied with Renata Artman Knific and Ivan Chan, respectively.

Blake Espy

Born in Savannah, Georgia, Blake Espy started violin at the age of six. He has been associate concertmaster of the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra and a frequent performer with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra.  He also spent one summer in Mexico City performing with Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería.

    In 2007, Mr. Espy was invited to become a member of the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, FL, a professional studies orchestra whose alumni have gone on to join the ranks of professional orchestras all over the US and the world.  In this program he was given the opportunity to act as a rotating concertmaster, chamber musician, and educator to young musicians in the Miami area.

    In his hometown of Savannah, Mr. Espy created a non profit organization called MusicAlive, whose mission is to establish a healthy and sustainable environment for classical music throughout the area by means of community engagement, unique performance venues, innovative programming, as well as traditional performance practices.

    Mr. Espy holds a Bachelor of Music Performance Degree from Western Michigan University, a Master of Music Performance Degree from Louisiana State University and an Artist’s diploma at SUNY Purchase.

Jorge Martínez

Born in Torreon, Coahuila, Mexico, Jorge Martinez studied viola at the Conservatorio de las Rosas where he graduated with honors under the tutelage of professor Gela Dubrova. In August 2001, he was awarded a fellowship by the Department of Public Education of Mexico to study abroad. In 2003, he completed his Master of Music degree in Viola Performance at Western Michigan University.

    While at WMU, Mr. Martinez became a member of the Phi Kappa Lambda Music Honors Society. In addition to this, he was awarded, along with his colleagues of the La Catrina, one of the university’s most prestigious awards, namely, the All University Graduate Research and Creative Scholar Award. It was the first time in the history of the university that the Graduate College bestowed such recognition upon an ensemble of the School of Music.

    Mr. Martinez has taken masterclasses with such prominent players as Michael Kugel, Robert Vernon and Anita Pontrimoli. As a chamber musician, he has participated in master classes with the Tokyo and Miami String Quartets, the Triple Helix trio, William Preucil, Stephen Rose and Robert Vernon.

    Mr. Martinez was a faculty member of the Conservatorio de las Rosas in Mexico, as well as instructor of violin and viola at Crescendo Academy of Music in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

    As an orchestral musician, he was assistant principal of both the Camerata de Coahuila and the Orquesta de Camara de Morelia.  Most recently, Mr. Martinez received an offer to become principal viola of the Orquesta Sinfonica de Mineria, one of the most prestigious orchestras in Mexico.

    Mr. Martinez has appeared as soloist with several orchestras in Mexico and in December 2004, he gave a recital and a masterclass in London.

    Mr. Martinez is a founding member of the La Catrina String Quartet. He holds a Master degree in viola performance from Western Michigan Universty, as well as a master degree in vocal performance and chamber music from Kent State University.

Alan Daowz

Born in Mexico City, Alan Daowz began to play the cello at age 18 with José Luis Gálvez at the Escuela Nacional de Música in Mexico City and later at the Conservatorio de las Rosas in Morelia, Michoacán, where he obtained his Bachelor degree in cello performance. Under the tutelage of Bruce Uchimura, he received his Master of Music degree in cello performance from Western Michigan University. Mr. Daowz also holds a Master degree in Chamber Music performance from Kent State University, where he studied with Keith Robinson. He has taken master classes with Mischa Katz and Hans Jorgen Jensen.

    He has been a member of numerous orchestras in Mexico and in the US. Mr. Daowz has proved to be an excellent cello and chamber music instructor in different music festivals such as Festival de Música de Cámara in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico and Cannon Music Camp at Appalachian State University and regularly at Lenoir Rhyne University.

    As a chamber musician Mr. Daowz has recorded the music for the film “La Degenesis” and music by German Romero with the Salvador Contreras String Quartet. He has collaborated with the Brentano and Cypress Quartets and the Poulenc Trio.

    Mr. Daowz is a founding member of the La Catrina String Quartet. With them he has toured across the US and Mexico and performed in Germany. Currently Mr. Daowz teaches at New Mexico State University and serves as principal cello of the Las Cruces Symphony.

    Alan Daowz performs on a Cello made by Bronislaw Cison made in Chicago in 2003.