Susan Moyer Bergeron, cello, is a member of the Naples Philharmonic Orchestra. The Lancaster, PA native has called South Florida her home for over 30 years, playing in most of the musical ensembles in the area, notably the New World Symphony (2 seasons), the Florida Philharmonic (10 seasons), Palm Beach Opera, Boca Raton Symphonia, Atlantic Classical Orchestra and the Southwest Florida Symphony to name a few. She studied at the New England Conservatory (Bachelor of Music), the University of Akron (Master of Music) and the University of Miami (Doctor of Musical Arts), performing concertos at each institution with the school orchestra as a result of winning the concerto competition. Dr. Bergeron has spent many summers performing in festivals all over the country including the Colorado Music Festival, Los Angeles Philharmonic Institute, Tanglewood, Kent/Blossom (OH), Yellow Barn (VT) and the Quartet Program (then in NY). As a special honor, she participated in the Solti Orchestral Seminar at Carnegie Hall in 1994 and performed chamber music in two special concerts with Sir Georg Solti while on tour with the New World Symphony in Great Britain. This is Dr. Bergeron’s 23rd season with the Palm Beach Chamber Music Festival and she appears on five Chamber Music Palm Beach CDs on the Klavier Music Production label. She lives in Sunrise, FL with her husband, jazz bassist Chuck Bergeron, and their 12 year old son, Jack.

Janet Clippard, bass, is the Principal Bassist of the Miami City Ballet’s Opus One Orchestra, Orchestra Miami, and the Atlantic Classical Orchestra. She grew up in Miami and graduated from the University of Miami with a Bachelor of Music degree. She also completed the Advanced Studies course at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. She spent college summers studying the bass at the Stetson University Orchestral Institute, the Aspen Music Festival and the Mozarteum Summer Academy. Ms. Clippard was the Assistant Principal Bassist of the Florida Philharmonic Orchestra for eighteen years until its demise in 2003. She was a founding member of the American Sinfonietta, with which she toured annually playing in the great concert halls of Europe. The American Sinfonietta was also the house orchestra for the Bellingham Festival of Music in Washington State. Ms. Clippard has also performed with the Jacksonville Symphony, the Florida Orchestra, and several other orchestras around Florida. She has collaborated in chamber music with such groups as the Austrian String Quartet, the Miami String Quartet, the Eroica Trio, and the Vega Quartet. This is Janet’s ninth season performing with her friends in the Palm Beach Chamber Music Festival. 

Michael Ellert, bassoon, began his studies in high school with William Polisi (NBC Symphony/New York Philharmonic/Metropolitan Opera), studied at the Juilliard School of Music in New York City with Harold Goltzer and in Israel with Mordechai Rechtman (Israel Philharmonic). He has most recently served as Principal Bassoon of the Opus One Orchestra (Miami City Ballet) and Southwest Florida Symphony (Fort Myers). He is a former member of the Palm Beach Symphony, Palm Beach Opera Orchestra, Israel Chamber Orchestra, Naples/Marco Philharmonic, Virginia Opera Orchestra, and has performed for the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, New York City Opera and the New Jersey Symphony. As a freelancer in South Florida, Mr. Ellert has performed with such illustrious organizations as the Bolshoi Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Houston Grand Opera Touring Company, New York City Ballet, and the Moiseyev Ballet. Mr. Ellert taught Bassoon at Lynn University’s Conservatory of Music for ten years and currently maintains a small studio of private students in Palm Beach County. He is on the Board of Directors and is a founding member of the Palm Beach Chamber Music Festival, appearing on all six Chamber Music Palm Beach CDs on the Klavier Music Production label.

Michael Forte, clarinet, is Principal Clarinet of the Palm Beach Opera Orchestra and the Southwest Florida Symphony (Fort Myers), and is Co-Principal Clarinet of The Symphonia Boca Raton. He is a former member of the Maracaibo Symphony in Venezuela and is a graduate of Syracuse University. He has appeared as soloist in the concertos of Mozart and Weber with the Maracaibo Symphony, the Southwest Florida Symphony, the Palm Beach Symphony and the Palm Beach Atlantic Symphony. Mr. Forte is a Palm Beach County Schools Artist-in-Residence at Dreyfoos School of the Arts in West Palm Beach, The Conservatory School in North Palm, Spanish River High School in Boca Raton, and maintains a large private teaching studio. He is on the Board of Directors and is a founding member of the Palm Beach Chamber Music Festival, appearing on all six Chamber Music Palm Beach CDs on the Klavier Music Production label.

Karen Fuller, flute, is a founding board member of the Palm Beach Chamber Music Festival and appears on all six of the Festival’s Chamber Music Palm Beach CDs on the Klavier Music Productions label. She is currently Principal Flute of the Palm Beach Opera Orchestra, a position she has held since 1989, Miami City Ballet’s Opus One Orchestra, The Symphonia Boca Raton and Orchestra Miami. She is also a member of the Atlantic Classical Orchestra. During her 23 year tenure as Principal Flute of the Palm Beach Symphony, Ms. Fuller appeared as a concerto soloist 4 times. In addition, she performed frequently with Ballet Florida, the Concert Association of Florida and the Florida Philharmonic Orchestra for over 15 years and was a member of the Naples Philharmonic for 10 years. She has also performed with Florida Grand Opera and the Sarasota Orchestra, and has appeared with the Munich Symphony, the Moscow Chamber Orchestra, New York City Opera, American Ballet Theatre and the Royal Ballet on their US tours. As a fellow with the New World Symphony, she was featured as a concerto soloist and toured South America and Europe, performing at the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires and the grand opening of the Bastille Opera House in Paris among other venues. Ms. Fuller began her undergraduate studies at the Cleveland Institute of Music, then moved to New York and holds Bachelor and Master of Music degrees in Flute Performance from the Manhattan School of Music. She is a past 1st prize winner of the New York Flute Club Competition. She also attended Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where she was an Associate Instructor of Flute while pursuing a doctoral degree before moving to Miami in 1988. Her teachers include Maurice Sharp, Harold Bennett and Carol Wincenc. She currently serves as Instructor of Flute at Palm Beach Atlantic University and is a Palm Beach County Schools Artist-in-Residence at Dreyfoos School of the Arts, Bak Middle School of the Arts, The Conservatory School and Spanish River High School. Ms. Fuller lives in Deerfield Beach with her daughter, Brynne.

Valerie Bruce Judd, viola, is a member of the Atlantic Classical Orchestra, The Symphonia Boca Raton, the Opus One Orchestra (Miami City Ballet) and a frequent performer with the Palm Beach Opera. She was a fellow with the New World Symphony, a member of the Alabama Symphony and a longtime member of the Florida Philharmonic Orchestra. Festival appearances include Taos Chamber Music Festival, Aspen Music Festival and Waterloo Festival, as well as a tour of Europe as guest violist with North Carolina School of Arts summer chamber music series. A native of New York, Ms. Judd studied with Karen Tuttle and Lillian Fuchs. Ms. Judd is also the co-founder and Executive Director of Stable Place, a non profit organization offering equine assisted psychotherapy to children, individuals and groups in the South Florida community. An avid horsewoman, when she is not playing the viola, she can usually be found riding her Westphalian mare, Ezmerelda La Balladora.

Dina Kostic, violin, is Assistant Concertmaster with The Symphonia, Boca Raton, and Principal Second Violin with Miami City Ballet’s Opus One Orchestra, the Atlantic Classical Orchestra, as well as Nu Deco Ensemble. She is a member of the Palm Beach Opera Orchestra, and performs regularly with many ensembles across the country, including the Naples Philharmonic, Sarasota Orchestra, and Minnesota Orchestra. In addition, Ms. Kostic plays in the pit for Broadway Across America, most recently the productions of Anastasia, and The King and I. Ms. Kostic previously held positions with the Florida Philharmonic, the New World Symphony, and the Civic Orchestra of Chicago. A native of Belgrade, Serbia, she moved to the United States at age fifteen, having received a full scholarship to study at Southern Methodist University, and went on to earn a Master’s Degree from Northwestern University. She has served as Adjunct Faculty at Barry University in Miami Shores since 2003, along with maintaining a private studio. A versatile orchestral and chamber musician, Ms. Kostic is a core member of the Palm Beach Chamber Music Festival, a founding member of Trio Paradigm, and has performed at summer festivals in Italy, Japan and Colorado. This season marks her 20th summer with PBCMF. She appears on three Chamber Music Palm Beach CDs on the Klavier Music Production Label.

Lisa Leonard, hailed as a pianist who “communicates great musical understanding through a powerful and virtuosic technique”, enjoys a diverse career as soloist, chamber musician, and educator. In 1990 at the age of 17, Ms. Leonard made her debut with the National Symphony Orchestra in six concerts at the Kennedy Center. The past two seasons included master classes and solo performances of Stravinsky’s Concerto for Piano and Winds in Hungary and recitals with renowned trumpeter Eric Aubier, Grammy nominated bassoonist Martin Kuuskmann as well as recitals in Texas, Oklahoma and New York. She has appeared throughout Europe, Japan, Russia, and North America with many orchestras including the Redlands Symphony Orchestra, the Oregon Mozart Players, and the Simon Bolivar Orchestra of Venezuela with conductors including Gunther Schuller and Gustavo Dudamel. An active and dedicated chamber musician, her recent collaborations have included recitals with Elmar Oliveira, Marc Reese and Guillermo Figueroa. She is a long time member of the Palm Beach Chamber Players and has performed with members of the Concertgebouw, Berlin, Vienna, New York, Cleveland, Dallas, Minnesota and Cincinnati Symphonies; American and Miami String Quartets, and the Empire Brass Quintet in performances featured on National Public Radios’ “Performance Today” and “Command Performance” programs. Her love of new music has resulted in several premieres of both solo and chamber music, including James Stephenson’s Concerto for Trumpet and Piano which was written for her and her husband, Marc Reese and which they premiered with the Lynn University Philharmonia. The performance was noted as one of South Florida’s Top 10 performances of 2007, which also included her performance of the Brahms F minor Piano Quintet at the Palm Beach Chamber Music Festival. Critic Lawrence Budmen said, “Her stellar technique, deeply penetrating musicality and volcanic power turned Brahms’ darkly ruminative score into an edge of the seat tour de force. She uncovered new sonic layers in an awesome deconstruction of a chamber music masterpiece.” Ms. Leonard has served on the faculties of the North Carolina School of the Arts, The Luzerne Music Center and the Meadowmount School of Music as a collaborative pianist, and the Las Vegas Music Festival. Currently, Ms. Leonard is Professor of Collaborative Piano at the Lynn University Conservatory of Music where she also directs the annual New Music festival, which has produced over 100 premieres. She has performed at many festivals including the Pacific Music Festival, Gilmore International and Caramoor; has been featured on Japan’s NHK television network, PBS, and can be heard on the Klavier, Centaur, and Summit labels. A native of Washington D.C., Ms. Leonard received her Bachelor of Music and Master of Music from the Manhattan School of Music where she was the premiere recipient of both the Rubinstein and Balsam awards, two of the highest awards given. Her former teachers include Marc Silverman, Eric Larsen, Suzanne W. Guy, Isidore Cohen, Cynthia Phelps, David Geber and the Meadowmount Trio. Ms. Leonard was a core member of the Palm Beach Chamber Music Festival for many years and we have been proud to welcome her back for the last three summers. 

Mei Mei Luo, violin, is one of South Florida’s most well-known violinists. She was the Assistant Concertmaster of the Florida Philharmonic Orchestra until its closing, and served as Concertmaster for the final concert in 2003. Ms. Luo is the founding first violinist of the acclaimed Delray String Quartet, which performs wide-ranging repertoire every season throughout three south Florida counties. As a soloist, she has performed the Tchaikovsky, Mendelssohn and Bruch violin concertos. In addition to serving as a core member of the Palm Beach Chamber Music Festival since 2000, she is also Concertmaster of Orchestra Miami and Opus One (Miami City Ballet Orchestra) and has performed with The Symphonia Boca Raton. She has been a member of the Philadelphia Concerto Soloists as well as an alternate for the Philadelphia Orchestra. Ms. Luo earned her Bachelor of Music degree from the Shanghai and Shenyang Conservatory of Music and was the second prize winner of the National Youth Violin Competition in China. She earned her Master of Music degree from the University of Miami. Ms. Luo has recorded Dvorák with the Delray String Quartet on the Poinciana label, and also appears on the Klavier and Harmonia Mundi labels.

René Reder (on Leave of Absence), viola, was born and raised in Tacoma, WA, where she attended the University of Puget Sound, earning her Bachelor of Music degree. She received her Master of Music degree and Performance Diploma from Temple University in Philadelphia. Ms. Reder has been a fellow with the New World Symphony and a member of the Florida Philharmonic Orchestra, the Virginia Symphony in Norfolk, and is currently a member of the Alabama Symphony in Birmingham. She has also performed at the New Hampshire Music Festival. Summer 2021 is Ms. Reder’s 19th season with the Palm Beach Chamber Music Festival and she appears on three Chamber Music Palm Beach CDs on the Klavier Music Production label.

Stan Spinola, horn, grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana. Currently he is a member of the Opus One Orchestra of Miami City Ballet, the Atlantic Classical Orchestra, the Palm Beach Symphony, Florida Grand Opera, Orchestra Miami, and The Symphonia Boca Raton. Dr. Spinola is the Adjunct Professor of Horn at Florida Atlantic University. Summer engagements include the Lancaster Festival Orchestra and the Palm Beach Chamber Music Festival. He received his Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from Indiana University, and his Artist’s diploma and Doctorate in Musical Arts from the University of Miami. His principal teachers were Myron Bloom and Richard Todd. Additionally, he received supplemental instruction and mentorship from Francis Orval, Greg Miller, Erik Ralske, Stefan de Leval Jezierski and Gerard Schwarz. Stan is a member of the AFM Local 655.