David Howard
has been a member of the Los Angeles Philharmonic since 1981, when, at age 25, he was hired by then Music Director Carlo Maria Giulini. Over the last few seasons he has performed and given master classes at international festivals in Tel Aviv, Vancouver, Helsinki, Beijing, and Stockholm. Last November he and a small contingent of Philharmonic colleagues coached and gave master classes in Caracas under the auspices of El Sistema.

With the Los Angeles Philharmonic New Music Group, Howard performed as soloist in John Harbison’s Concerto for Oboe, Clarinet, and Strings under the direction of the composer; he was also the bass clarinet soloist in Iannis Xenakis’ Échange, conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen. Previously, Howard was principal clarinetist with the New Jersey Symphony and the New Haven Symphony.

A Los Angeles native, he received a B.A. in Russian Literature from Yale University. In collaboration with former Philharmonic pianist Zita Carno, Howard recorded a compact disc for the Centaur label entitled Capriccio: Mid-century Music for Clarinet, which includes works by Leonard Bernstein, Paul Hindemith, and Witold Lutoslawski. He recently released a compact disc on the Yarlung label, which includes works by Esa-Pekka Salonen, Steven Stucky, Galina Ustvolskaya, and Brahms; just last month this Yarlung disc was released as a high-resolution download by Linn Records. Since 1986, he has served on the faculty of the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California. Howard is currently serving as acting Associate Principal Clarinet of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Vicki Ray
performs internationally as a soloist and collaborative artist. She is a member of the award-winning California E.A.R. Unit and Xtet. As a founding member of Piano Spheres, her playing has been hailed by the Los Angeles Times for “displaying that kind of musical thoroughness and technical panache that puts a composer’s thoughts directly before the listener.” A long-time champion of new music, Ray has worked with György Ligeti, John Adams, Pierre Boulez, Elliott Carter, Morton Subotnick, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Stephen Hartke, Oliver Knussen, and many others. Ray has been featured on the Los Angeles Philharmonic Green Umbrella Series, with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, the German ensemble Compania, and the Blue Rider Ensemble of Toronto, with whom she made the first Canadian recording of Pierrot Lunaire.

As a pianist who excels in a wide range of styles, Ray has made numerous recordings covering everything from the premiere release of Steve Reich’s riveting You Are Variations to the semi-improvised structures of Wadada Leo Smith, from the elegant serialism of Mel Powell to the austere beauty of Morton Feldman’s Crippled Symmetries.

During the past two summers, Ray has served as the pianist for the Bang on a Can Summer Festival at Mass MOCA. She also appears with the Partch ensemble playing harmonic canon and kithara — a mind and ear altering experience she enjoys immensely.

Vicki Ray has been a member of the piano faculty at the California Institute of the Arts since 1991.