Our Coaches
Alaria’s faculty members are highly-acclaimed professional musicians with extensive performing and teaching experience
Yuri Vodovoz, Artistic Director
Violinist Yuri Vodovoz is also an accomplished conductor, violist, chamber musician, and teacher. He is the Artistic Coordinator of Alaria and, since joining the group in 1993, has shaped Alaria’s concert repertoire and educational programs.
Yuri has concertized extensively throughout the United States, Europe, Israel, and South America. His Washington debut at the Kennedy Center in 1988, and his New York recital debut at Merkin Hall in 1990 were met with critical acclaim. His playing has been described as “breathtaking” (Washington Post), and “warm and romantic” (Chicago Sun-Times), and he has been praised for his “high-powered technique” (New York Times).
In addition to his regular appearances with Alaria at Weill Hall and at Barge Music, Mr. Vodovoz has appeared on some of the world’s most prestigious stages, such as The Concertgebouw, Kennedy Center, Orchestra Hall in Chicago, Teatro Colon, and as a soloist he appeared with the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra, Bogota Symphony Orchestra, Tchaikovsky Chamber Orchestra, Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra, St. Cecilia Orchestra, Odessa Philharmonic, and Illinois Symphony, among others. In 1998, he led, both as conductor and soloist, the Camerata Virtuosi NY on its acclaimed European tour.
A graduate of the Manhattan School of Music, he has been on the faculty at the Mannes College of Music, Fordham University, and Hunter College. In addition to his work with the Alaria Program, Yuri is also on the violin faculty of the Kneisel Hall Chamber Music School and Festival in Blue Hill, Maine.
David Oei, Alaria Chamber Ensemble
Pianist David Oei is a principal member of Alaria, both as performer and teacher. At the age of 9, he soloed with the Hong Kong Philharmonic, and has performed with many major orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, Pittsburgh, and Baltimore Symphonies. Winner of numerous competitions, David has performed with the St. Luke’s and Orpheus Chamber Ensembles, and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.
In addition to his work with Alaria, David has been a faculty member for Summertrios, the Hoff-Barthelson Music School and the Mannes College of Music, as well as the Chamber Music Conference at Colgate University (formerly at Bennington College).
Since 2015, David has been the director of the David Oei Classical Salon (www.davidoeiclassicalsalon.com), a monthly chamber music series held at St. John’s in the Village, for which he was awarded the New York Classical Music Society’s 2017 Citation of Honor. He is founding director of the Salon Chamber Soloists and a founding member of Aspen Soloists and The Intimate P.D.Q. Bach. David is the recently appointed New York Concert Director of the New York Classical Music Society.
Pascal Archer, Clarinet
Hailed by The New York Times as an “outstanding clarinetist,” Pascal Archer has an active career as a performer and teacher. He is the artistic director and founder of the Exponential Ensemble and was principal clarinetist with the New Jersey Symphony for the 2019-2020 season. Pascal is also the principal clarinetist of the Glimmerglass Festival Orchestra, the NEPA Philharmonic, and performs regularly in Broadway show orchestras.
Pascal is on faculty at the Manhattan School of Music Precollege Division, the Chamber Music Center of New York, and Fordham University. Originally from Québec, Canada, Pascal holds degrees from the Conservatoire de Musique de Montréal, Université de Montréal, Indiana University, and Manhattan School of Music.
Mayuki Fukuhara, Violin
Violinist Mayuki Fukuhara is a member of St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble and a principal violinist of Orchestra of St. Luke’s
Mayuki came to the United States from his native Japan as a scholarship student at the Curtis Institute, later doing post graduate work at Mannes College of Music. He performs regularly with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, New York Collegium, Claring Chamber Players, and the Brandenburg Ensemble, and recently appeared as concertmaster of the Vermont Symphony Orchestra.
In addition to Alaria, Mayuki teaches at the Chamber Music Conference at Colgate University (formerly at Bennington College). He can be heard on numerous recordings for Deutsche Grammophon, Sony Classical, Music Masters, Musical Heritage, Nonesuch, and Decca London. He is a founding member of the Strathmere Ensemble.
Shem Guibbory, Violin
Since 1992, Shem Guibbory has been a member of the first violin section of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and has appeared as soloist with the New York Philharmonic, the Beethoven Halle Orchestra, the Kansas City Symphony, and the Symphony of the New World. He was the original violinist in the Steve Reich Ensemble and has performed recitals and chamber music throughout the U.S., Canada, and Europe. He has also recorded five CDs with Anthony Davis.
Shem has received fellowships from the Rockefeller Foundation (Bellagio), the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, and Spain’s Centre por Ars y Natura. He has been a faculty member of the the Chamber Music Conference at Colgate University (formerly at Bennington College)for over three decades, during which time he served as Music Director for nine consecutive years. As Music Director he has twice been honored with the ASCAP/CMA Award for Adventurous Programming.
Joseph Kimura, Cello
Living in New York for the past 30 years has given cellist Joseph Kimura a very diverse musical career. After earning his bachelor and master’s degrees from Juilliard, he joined the Laurentian String Quartet in residence at Sarah Lawrence College and Ramapo College. He was subsequently appointed principal cellist of the Stamford Symphony Orchestra.
Joseph has recorded with EOS for the E.M.I. label and with the Riverside Symphony for the New World label. He has performed on live NPR broadcasts with the Opera Orchestra of New York at Carnegie Hall.
He is a member of Solisti New York and the Westfield Symphony and has performed as soloist with the Orchestra of the State of Mexico, the Stamford Symphony, the Gloria Chamber Orchestra, the Garden State Chamber Orchestra, the Korean Symphony of New York, and the Hoboken Chamber Orchestra. For the past 17 summers, Joseph has taught at the Greenwood Junior Camp in Massachusetts.
Karlos Rodriguez, Cello
An advocate for multifaceted musical diversity in the 21st century and a founding member of the Catalyst Quartet, Cuban-American cellist Karlos Rodriguez is an avid soloist, recitalist, chamber musician, clinician, recording artist, writer, and administrator.
Karlos has appeared at many major musical venues in the U.S., including Carnegie Hall, David Geffen Hall, Alice Tully Hall, The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, The New World Center, Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center, and Radio City Music Hall. Rodriguez has also had the honor of working with the Beaux Arts Trio, and the American, Cavani, Cleveland, Emerson, Guarneri, Juilliard, Miami, Orion, Tokyo, and Vermeer String Quartets.
Karlos is a board member of the Aronson Cello Festival and former principal cellist of the Florida Grand Opera Orchestra in Miami.
Julian Schwarz, Cello
Cellist Julian Schwarz was born to a multi-generational musical family. Heralded from a young age, Julian’s powerful tone, effortless virtuosity, and extraordinarily large color palette are hallmarks of his style. After making his concerto debut at the age of 11 with the Seattle Symphony (with his father, Gerard Schwarz, on the podium), he made his US touring debut with the Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra in 2010. Since being awarded first prize at the inaugural Schoenfeld International String Competition in 2013, he has led an active career as soloist, performing with symphony orchestras in America and abroad.
A member of the Alaria Chamber Ensemble, Mr. Schwarz is also a founding member of the Frisson Ensemble and the Mile-End Trio. He performs frequently at Bargemusic in Brooklyn, on the Frankly Music series in Milwaukee, and as a member of the Palladium Chamber Players in St. Petersburg, FL. He is the co-coordinator of chamber music at Eastern Music Festival.
A devoted teacher, Mr. Schwarz serves as Assistant Professor of Cello at Shenandoah Conservatory of Shenandoah University, and on the artist faculty of New York University. He spends his summers teaching and performing at the Eastern Music Festival in Greensboro, NC. Past faculty appointments include artist-in-residence at the Lunenburg Academy of Music Performance, faculty teaching assistant to Joel Krosnick at the Juilliard School, and artist-in-residence at the pianoSonoma Festival.
Anna Urrey, Flute
Flutist Anna Urrey performs at venues including Carnegie Hall, David Geffen Hall, Le Poisson Rouge, and National Sawdust. As a core member of Frisson and Co-Artistic Director of the Exponential Ensemble, she is passionate about chamber music and curating concert/educational programs.
Anna has performed with the International Contemporary Ensemble, The Knights, New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, American Symphony Orchestra, New Haven Symphony Orchestra, Radio City Christmas Spectacular, Mark Morris Dance Company, NOVUS NY, and spent three summers at the Castleton Festival as Principal Flute under the direction of Maestro Lorin Maazel.
A dedicated educator, Anna is a New York Philharmonic Teaching Artist, a Wm. S. Haynes Collaborative Ambassador, and is on faculty at the Marymount School.