Biographies
Joshua Nakazawa, Cellist: Mana Music Hawaii Founder
Insta: @manamusichawaii
After his classical training at Manhattan School of Music, Josh, a native of Boston MA, set on a musical path that continues to lead him around the globe. Josh has performed Solo, Chamber and Orchestral music at the Banff Music Festival in Canada, the Pacific Music Festival in Japan, and the Spoletto Music Festival in South Carolina. After playing with the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa, and in addition to his current full time position with the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra, he also plays with the Hawaii Opera Theater and as a guest musician with the Charleston Symphony Orchestra.
Joshua currently plays on A Johann Baptist Schweitzer cello from 1831. Joshua has enjoyed collaborating with locally based artists Jake Shimabukuro, Jack Johnson, Ron Artis II, Thunderstorm Artis, Paula Fuga, Tavana, Mike Love, Taimane Gardner, Jeff Peterson, Benny Rietveld, Greg Sardinha, John Valentine and looks forward to many more collaborations! Joshua is a longtime supporter of community music outreach education, and is always looking for fun and creative ways to tie culture, passion, people, and music together.
Eric Silberger, Violinist: Hawaii International Music Festival Co-Founder
Insta: @violindragon
From prestigious concert halls around the world to an Icelandic volcano, virtuoso violinist Eric Silberger’s performances have been described by critics as “spine- tingling…astonishing” (The Guardian), “dazzling virtuoso playing” (The Washington Post), “impeccable level of playing, a wonderful musician” (The Strad). “ ….he has got everything in his favour, technique, composure and personality.” (El Pais, Spain).
He is a prize winner of the XIV International Tchaikovsky Competition and the Michael Hill International Violin Competition in 2011.
Eric plays on a rare J.B. Guadagnini violin made in 1757 on generous loan from the Si-Yo Music Society Foundation and Sau-Wing Lam collection. Eric is a co-founder of the Hawaii International Music Festival and Executive Director of Strings at Classical Bridge International Music Festival of New York City.
For more about Eric visit him at https://www.ericsilberger.com.
Mann-Wen Lo, Violinist
Insta: Mannwen21
A native of Taiwan, internationally acclaimed violinist Mann-Wen Lo has performed extensively throughout the world in some of the most prestigious venues. Featured on radio and TV broadcast in the States, Taiwan, Japan and France, Ms. Lo is also a prize winner of numerous awards and competitions. Her festival appearances include Yellow Barn Chamber Music Festival, Hawaii Chamber Music Festival, Menuhin Festival, Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, Franco-American Chamber Music Festival. As a chamber musician, she has collaborated with concertmasters of the New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, San Diego Symphony, Orchestre National de Lyon, Danish National Chamber Orchestra, as well as members of some of the world’s best string quartets such as the Juilliard String Quartet, the Ysaye Quartet, the Cleveland Quartet and the Takacs Quartet. Ms. Lo has been featured as a guest artist for Camera Lucida in San Diego, and as young artist in residence of the Da Camera Society in Los Angeles. Ms. Lo is a member of the up and rising conductor-less chamber ensemble Delirium Musicum.
In addition to classical music, Ms. Lo also explores Jazz and Bluegrass; she has performed with Grammy Award-winning banjo player Béla Fleck, and is a member of the Kaleidoscope Trio – an innovated ensemble with clarinet, violin and guitar.
Ms. Lo plays on a 1925 Guiseppe Fiorini violin on generous loan from the Chi Mei Culture Foundation in Taiwan.
Duane Padilla, Violist
Insta: @duanepictures
After earning degrees from Northwestern University and Yale University, concert artist and educator, Duane Padilla began his performance career as an orchestral musician, performing with the National Repertoire Orchestra, the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra, the New Haven Symphony, and the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra. Also an active classical chamber music performer, his ensemble The Gemini Duo was a semi-finalist in the prestigious International Concert Artists Guild Competition in NYC, and earned outreach grants from Chamber Music America and the American Federation of Musicians and was a featured ensemble on the Connecticut Commission on the Arts Performing Artist Roster and the CMA Rural Residency Artist Roster. Duane’s more recent artistic endeavors have turned towards jazz. As a founding member of The Hot Club of Hulaville, he won the Hawaii Academy of Recording Arts’s award for jazz album of the year for their gypsy jazz release “Django Would Go!”. His subsequent solo jazz violin album “Sentimental Swing” was named one of the top 40 jazz releases of 2011 by the South African Jazz Educators Association. Recent concert collaborations include duo performances with Pianist Tommy James (Music Director of the Duke Ellington Orchestra NYC), fingerstlye guitar legend Jeff Linsky, Guitarist Paul Mehling (Hot Club of San Francisco), Grammy winning Hawaiian Slack Key Guitarist Jeff Peterson, and Jazz Ukulele Grand Master Ben Chong.
For more about Duane Padilla visit him at https://www.duanepadilla.com/bio.html