2019 Connecticut Bach Festival Judges and Performers

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Peter Sykes

Peter Sykes serves as Associate Professor of Music and Chair of the Historical Performance and Organ Departments at Boston University, where he teaches organ, harpsichord, clavichord, and continuo realization, Music Director of First Church in Cambridge, and principal instructor of harpsichord at the Juilliard School in New York City. He performs extensively on the harpsichord, clavichord, and organ, and has made ten solo recordings of organ and harpsichord repertoire ranging from Buxtehude, Couperin and Bach to Reger and Hindemith and his acclaimed organ transcription of Holst’s “The Planets.” Newly released is a recording of the complete Bach harpsichord partitas on the Centaur label, and an all-Bach clavichord recording on the Raven label. He also performs and records with Boston Baroque and Aston Magna. A founding board member and president of the Boston Clavichord Society as well as immediate past president of the Westfield Center for Historical Keyboard Studies, he is the recipient of the Chadwick Medal (1978) and Outstanding Alumni Award (2005) from the New England Conservatory, the Erwin Bodky Prize (1993) from the Cambridge Society for Early Music, and the Distinguished Artist Award from the St. Botolph Club Foundation (2011).

Dr. Galina Zisk Rothschild

Called “a real musician, hearing the music as a whole conception and putting her part of it in absolute harmony and balance” by Canada’s Hamilton Spectator, and praised for her ability to “draw in the attention of the audience” by the New York Concert Review, Dr. Zisk has performed throughout Russia, Ukraine, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Italy, Hong Kong, Canada and the U.S. as concerto soloist, chamber musician, and in solo recital.

In North America her performances have included Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, Klavierhaus, World Financial Center, the Juilliard School, Steinway Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, University of Buffalo Center for the Arts, Goethe Institute, and Roy Thomson Hall among many other prestigious venues. Dr. Zisk is a winner of numerous competitions; her solo recitals have been broadcast on CJRT-FM radio in Canada as well as the Bravo! TV channel, and her CD recording, Alexander Gedike’s arrangement for Piano Trio of Tchaikovsky’s Seasons, was released by Fidelis Records, Ltd. in 2002. In 2010, Dr. Zisk and her two-piano ensemble Duo Cornelia embarked on several concert tours in Canada and the U.S.

She has given masterclasses at Universities, Colleges, and Music Festivals, and has adjudicated Music Competitions in Europe, North America and Hong Kong, including the Hong Kong Schools Music Festival, International Competition for Strings and Piano in Canada, International Chamber Music Competition in Cambridge, MA, and most recently, the Carmel Klavier International Competition for Young Artists. In 2008 she was invited to join the College of Examiners and became an examiner for the National Music Certificate Program and the Royal Conservatory of Music in the US and Canada. Dr. Zisk has served on the piano faculty of Manhattan School of Music (NYC), Hartwick Summer Music Festival & Institute (Oneonta, NY), International School for Musical Arts (Canada), and Tchaikovsky Summer School (Cambridge, MA), where she became the Program Director in 2006.

Galina Zisk holds a Doctor of Musical Arts and Master of Music Degrees in Piano Performance from the Manhattan School of Music, Bachelor of Music Degree in Piano Performance from the University of Toronto, Canada, and a Music Business Certification from Berklee College of Music, Boston, MA. Dr. Zisk currently resides in Ridgefield, CT.

Martha McGaughey

Martha McGaughey studied with Jordi Savall and with Wieland Kuijken. She is a founding member of the New York-based Empire Viols, which was in residence at Second Presbyterian Church for almost 20 years, and now performs at the Church of the Transfiguration.  She has recorded for the Fonit Cetra and Erato labels, as well as for EMI. She has twice been a Regents' Lecturer at the University of California. Last year, she was a featured soloist with the China National Symphony in Beijing, gave several master classes in France, and appeared with Chatham Baroque in Pittsburgh. She has taught at the Ecole Nationale de Musique in Angoulême (France), at Stanford University, and since 1986 at The Mannes College of Music, where she currently teaches Baroque Performance Practice as well as a Performance Workshop for ESL students. She also teaches ESL at Building One Community, the Center for Immigrant Opportunity, in Stamford.

Anthony Bonamici

Anthony Bonamici is an American pianist originally from Livonia, Michigan. Anthony studied piano and music composition at both the Moscow and Saint Petersburg conservatories in Russia under the tutelage of Naum Shtarkman, Elena Shishko, and Boris Tishchenko, the prominent and acclaimed disciple of Dmitry Shostakovich. Later, Anthony continued his studies in New York at the Mannes School of Music under the guidance of renowned American pianist, Richard Goode.

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Anthony regularly performs solo recitals and chamber music. He has collaborated with soloists of the Mariinsky Theater and Helikon Opera Theater (Moscow), and with members of the Mariinsky Theater Orchestra, Saint Petersburg Philharmonic, Russian Early Music Ensemble, Barocco Concertato, The Moscow Virtuosi, and Bolshoi Symphony Orchestra. Anthony has given performances at many of Russia’s most prestigious concert halls including the Saint Petersburg Philharmonic, the Mariinsky theater, the Moscow conservatory, and at Carnegie Hall in New York City.

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While living in Russia, Anthony taught undergraduate and graduate piano performance and chamber music at the Russian State Pedagogical University named after A. I. Herzen. He was invited to join their faculty after a performance of chamber music at the university with a clarinetist from the Mariinsky theater orchestra. At about the same time, Anthony opened his own business in St. Petersburg: the “Bonamici Clavecins” workshop. For 10 years, his workshop built, sold, restored, and maintained harpsichords and other early keyboard instruments. Bonamici harpsichords are now owned by many professional concert halls and educational institutions throughout Russia, among which are the Mariinsky theater, the Mussorgsky theater, the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, and the St. Petersburg conservatory.

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Being fluent in Russian and English, Anthony has aided in the translation of personal letters between Tishchenko and Shostakovich and more recently has translated several musicological essays from Russian into English for publication in Russia.

Daniel Lee

Praised for his “ravishing vehemence” (The New York Times), period violinist Daniel S. Lee has appeared as a soloist and leader with Early Music New York, the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, the New York Baroque Incorporated, and the Quodlibet Ensemble, among others. As the core violinist of the Sebastians, he won the Audience Prize at the 2012 Early Music America Baroque Performance Competition and was a finalist at the 2011 York Early Music International Competition. A piccolo violin specialist, he has performed as a soloist in Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 and Cantata 140 (Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme) and has given the modern-day premiere of his own transcription of Johann Pfeiffer’s concerto. He has studied at the Juilliard School (B.M.), the Yale School of Music (M.M. and A.D.), and the University of Connecticut (D.M.A) and has given lectures and master classes at the Manhattan School of Music, Connecticut College, Purchase College (SUNY), the University of Kansas, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He teaches early music and chamber music at the Yale School of Music.

Kanako Koyama

A passionate classic pianist, Kanako Koyama, continues to develop her music activities as a pianist, harpsichordist, accompanist, and chamber musician. Her highlighted performances are at the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Steinway Hall New York, Steinway Hall Tokyo, Yamaha Salon New York, Liszt Museum Weimar, Hochshule fur Musik und Theater Leigpzig etc. “Given the depth of insight in her interpretation and the richness color and expression that she commands, Kanako is highly acclaimed for her artistry”, as evidenced by numerous international awards and scholarships that have been bestowed upon her. She made her New York debut recital at the Weill Recital Hall as a recipient of Special Presentation Award from Artist International in 2009.

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Kanako Koyama is well-known as an experienced and dedicated teacher. She has raised a lot of gifted students and they appreciate music. Her students regularly appear at numerous public concerts, competitions, auditions, winners recitals around New York. Some of her notable students have gained acceptance to the top music schools. She has also experience in helping for ABRSM, RCM, and NYSSMA. As an active member of Steinway Educational Partner, Music Teachers National Association, and Piano Teachers Congress of New York, Kanako continues to expand her teaching career. She is awarded for “Excellence in Music Teaching” (2015-2019). Kanako holds Bachelor’s of Music and Master’s of Music degree from Manhattan School of Music.