April 4 - 11, 2017
Burt Mason ' 97 (Trombone)
Kelly Hall-Tompkins (Violin)
Artists in Residency Biographies
Burt Mason
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Burt Mason is an active classical musician performing with several orchestras and world class ensembles and is the founder of Ovation Concerts. He has recognized the glaring disparity and under representation of minorities through his extensive performing experience both within the United States and abroad. Through Ovations Concerts Mr. Mason aims at making an immediate and lasting impact on the demographics within classical music and more specifically the ethnic landscape of the symphony orchestra.
As an advocate for diversity in the arts, Mr. Mason was invited to appear as a guest on WQXR’s Conducting Business with Naomi Lewin to discuss the history and future of classical music and American orchestras. In addition, he performs regularly with organizations and events that promote artistic diversity in classical music, including the Sphinx Competition and Symphony, Gateways Music Festival and the Colour of Music Festival.
Burt Mason currently serves as Principal Trombone of the Chamber Orchestra of New York. He was formerly solo trombone for the Miami Music Project as well as Principal Trombone and soloist of the New York Staff Band of The Salvation Army. He has performed as guest artist with the New York Philharmonic, the New York Philharmonic Brass and the Metropolitan Opera Brass. He has also appeared as soloist with numerous ensembles, performing throughout North America, The United Kingdom, Europe and Australia.
Mr. Mason has performed under the baton of such notable conductors as Mstislav Rostropovich, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Skitch Henderson, Alan Gilbert and Sidney Harth among others.
Kelly Hall-Tompkins
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Acclaimed by the New York Times as “the versatile violinist who makes the music come alive” and for her “tonal mastery” (BBC Music Magazine) and “searing intensity” (American Record Guide), violinist Kelly Hall-Tompkins is forging a dynamic career as a soloist and chamber musician. Winner of a Naumburg International Violin Competition Honorarium Prize as well as a Concert Artists Guild Career Grant, Ms. Hall-Tompkins has appeared as soloist with orchestras including the Dallas Symphony, Oakland Symphony, Jacksonville Symphony, Tulsa Philharmonic, Chamber Orchestra of New York, and a Brevard Festival Orchestra under the baton of Keith Lockhart, in addition to numerous concerts and recitals in cities including New York, Washington, Cleveland, Toronto, Chicago, Baltimore, and Greenville, South Carolina, and at festivals in France, Germany and Italy.
Ms. Hall Tompkins received an Honorary Doctorate from the Manhattan School of Music, her alma mater, in 2016, and also delivered the Commencement address. She is also one of three 2017 recipients of the Sphinx Medal of Excellence, which will be presented at the US Supreme Court by Justice Sotomayor. She earned a Master’s degree from the Manhattan School under the mentorship of Glenn Dicterow, concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic. While there, she was concertmaster of both of the school’s orchestras. Prior to that, she earned a Bachelor of Music degree with honors in violin performance with a minor in French from the Eastman School of Music studying with Charles Castleman. While at Eastman she won the school’s prestigious Performer’s Certificate Competition, several scholarship awards from the New York Philharmonic, and was invited to perform chamber music on the school’s Kilbourn Concert Series with members of the faculty. (Read More)