Violinist Shelby Yamin brings signature vivacity to performances across the globe, from the historic state rooms of George Washington’s Mount Vernon to the storied chapel at Versailles. Equally adept on modern and baroque violin, Shelby has appeared as a soloist with Voices of Music, Philharmonia Baroque Chamber Players, New York Baroque Incorporated, the San Francisco Academy Orchestra, Tafelmusik Winter Institute, and as guest concertmaster of the Berwick Academy of the Oregon Bach Festival. Also an active chamber musician, she regularly collaborates with a wide range of New York based ensembles and Cleveland’s Les Délices.
Dedicated to diversifying the canon, Shelby regularly researches, performs, and records lesser known works, including 18th-century repertoire from the music library of Nelly Custis and, more recently, the violin duets of Maddalena Lombardini Sirmen (1745-1818). Shelby’s discography includes the first ever recording of Sirmen’s entire opus of violin duets on period instruments (Orpheus Classical Label, 2021) and a forthcoming album on Paladino Records of contemporary music for harpsichord, violin, and flute.
Shelby has earned degrees from the Manhattan School of Music, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and The Juilliard School, where she won the Historical Performance Concerto Competition. In addition to her active performance and teaching career, Shelby is the Associate Producer of SalonEra, an online webseries that blends conversation and performances from a diverse slate of scholars and musicians, and is currently Artist-in-Residence at The Church of St. John the Evangelist in San Francisco, CA, curating and presenting monthly recitals. She resides in New York City.
Lillia Woolschlager is a pianist and oboist in the local Chicago area. As a freelance musician and teaching artist, she has played with various groups including the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, Northbrook Symphony, Oistrakh Symphony, 5th Wave Collective, and Wisconsin Philharmonic. She has performed with Classical Music Chicago as part of the Rush Hour concert series, collaborating with world-renowned oboist Alex Klein, as well as the Dame Myra Hess Concert Series with many outstanding musicians. She is an accomplished collaborative pianist, accompanying local university students and professional musicians throughout the city. Lillia is an instructor of piano and oboe with her own private studio, as well as with community music schools Musical Chairs and Music House.
The concerts are generously sponsored by the Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Illinois Arts Council and by individual donors.