A premiere talent of his generation, violist Paul Laraia has appeared in recent seasons as soloist with the Pittsburgh Symphony, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, the Nashville Symphony, and the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra.  He regularly performs solo recitals and chamber music throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia.

Born in Sewell New Jersey, Paul began viola with Brynina Socolofsky, the disciple of viola pedagogue Leonard Mogill. He continued his studies with Choon-jin Chang, and Che-hung Chen of the Philadelphia Orchestra under scholarship through Temple University’s Center for Talented Youth and the Settlement Music School in South Philadelphia. In 2007, he entered the New England Conservatory of Music under Kim Kashkashian with full scholarship and in 2008 he became the recipient of the Clara May Friedlaender Scholarship.

In 2010, Paul competed at the Sphinx Competition and received second prize for his performance of Bartok’s Viola Concerto with the Sphinx Symphony Orchestra at Detroit’s Orchestra Hall. In 2011, Paul returned to the Sphinx Competition and was unanimously awarded first prize. He performed the Walton Viola concerto to a captured audience at the finals concert where he formally accepted his award.

Since 2011, Mr. Laraia has been appearing as a member and principal of the highly acclaimed Sejong Soloists ensemble, based in New York city and Seoul, South Korea.  With Sejong Paul has performed and recorded chamber music and String Orchestra masterpieces with some of today’s brightest emerging and established soloists such as Paul Huang, Stephan Milenkovich, Gil Shaham, Vadim Repin, and Cho-liang Lin.

In addition Paul has performed at the Sarasota Music Festival, National Orchestral Institute, Banff Center for Music, and Yellow Barn Festival.  He has been awarded top chamber music prizes at the Fischoff Competition, the New England Conservatory Honors Ensemble Competition, and the Glenn Gould School Chamber Music Competition. He has been privileged to have collaborated with such artists as Donald Weilerstien, Daniel Phillips, William Vermeulen, Roger Tapping, Anthony Marwood, Michael Kannen, Maria Lambros, Natasha Brofsky, and Mark Hill.

Paul regularly performs with his two younger siblings Steven and Tiffany who also play viola.  Steven studies with Kim Kashkashian at the New England Conservatory, and Tiffany studies at The Juilliard School of Music under Toby Appel.

Paul performs on a large 17 ¼ viola in the style of Gaspar da Salo, made by Douglas Cox in 2002.

Russian-Israeli composer of opera and music theatre. Artistic director at floatingtower.com. Brooklyn, NY

Chamberfolk: Three classically trained musicians playing original music, as intricately arranged as a string quartet, lyrically rooted in the singer/songwriter tradition, and wrapped in three-part vocal harmonies reminiscent of both Appalachia and Medieval Europe. Building from the tonal depth of the cello (or is it a bass?), layer in the shimmering sounds of a violin and the strikingly natural addition of banjo to create a sound at once familiar and impossibe to categorize. Unapologetic genre-benders, Harpeth Rising fuses Folk, Newgrass, Rock and Classical into something organically unique. 

The three musicians each hold classical performance degrees from some of the most venerated schools in the world: Indiana University, Oberlin, Eastman School of Music. But their classical background is only one dimension of this trio’s powerful musical voice. Hailing from vastly different parts of North America, each member of Harpeth Rising brings different influences to the core sound. Born in Brooklyn, NY, Maria Di Meglio began the cello in 4th grade, and developed her playing style studying both classical music and traditional songs of her families’ ancestry across Western Europe and the Caucasus. Michelle Younger of Charlottesville, VA comes by her modern spin on old-time infused banjo authentically; her family has been in the United States for generations, and she is a direct descendent of Cole Younger, a member of the James-Younger Gang and the namesame of his very own banjo tune. Jordana Greenberg, violin, grew up listening to the sounds of Stan Rogers, Leonard Cohen and Natalie McMaster in her native Canada before moving to Southern Indiana as a child. She studied classical violin by day through the pre-college program at Indiana University, and spent her nights learning the folk tunes and classic rocks songs that her family plays at the annual post-Passover jam session. 

All three women began singing after they completed their instrumental studies, and found a passionate new musical avenue. They developed their voices and arrangements to bring life to the lyrical expressiveness of their original songs. Hallmarks of their music include expansive three-part harmonies, consummate musicianship and a deft, yet soulful, lyrical perspective.

Their most recent album, SHIFTED, debuted at #1 on the Folk-DJ charts and was released to international acclaim. Tim Carroll of Folkwords wrote “Choose words to define this latest album – progressive, creative, innovative, imaginative - they all describe what’s on offer…Alternatively, don’t attempt to categorise their ingenuity with words, take the shortest route, immerse yourself in Harpeth Rising and let the music carry you with its flow.” Chris Spector at Midwest Record said “Taking Newgrass to the next dimension, taking back lyric writing as an art form, if you’ve cleaned your ears out recently, this set is going to blow your mind. One of a kind, in a class by itself and simply superlative throughout.”

compositions by Jeff Pagano all art by Ida Floreak

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