String Chamber Music Faculty
Robert Bassill is the Director of the MYAC's Chamber Music Program and a member of the Chamber Faculty as well. Mr. Bassill is active as a teacher and freelance musician around the Chicago area. He is also the Director of Orchestra and Music Theory at Lake Forest High School where he has toured with his orchestra on three European tours, and his orchestras have accompanied soloists such as Chicago Symphony Orchestra members Tage Larsen and Patrick Godon. Mr. Bassill received his undergraduate degree in Violin Performance under Mark Zinger at DePaul University, and he holds a Master of Arts in Music Education from Case Western Reserve University. Mr. Bassill currently serves on the Board of Directors for International Chamber Artists, and an MYAC Alum ('97/violin), he is on MYAC's Young Professional Board.
David Caplan began his musical studies at the age of ten. He has studied with notable musicians and has won several chamber music competitions, including first prize at the 2017 Discover Chamber Music Competition and the junior division gold medal at the 2017 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. He has performed in prominent venues and festivals, including the Juilliard String Quartet Seminar and NPR's From the Top.
David has appeared as a soloist with various orchestras and is currently the principal cellist of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago. He has performed with prestigious ensembles such as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Grant Park Orchestra and under the baton of renowned conductors like Riccardo Muti and Gennady Rozhdestvensky. He has collaborated with a wide range of artists, including Hilary Hahn, Wynton Marsalis, and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra.
David holds a Master’s Degree in Cello Performance from the University of Michigan and a Bachelor's Degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Passionate about teaching, he is a frequent guest clinician at Midwest Young Artists’ Conservatory and other institutions. David has taught at numerous high schools and through organizations that provide free music lessons to underserved children. He has also participated in the Chautauqua, Aspen, and Taos summer music festivals and was a fellow with the Grant Park Orchestra in 2023.
David Cunliffe is the cellist in the Lincoln Trio which FANFARE Magazine hailed as "one of the hottest young trios in the business."
Formed in 2003, the Lincoln Trio takes its name from their home, the heartland of the United States, the land of Lincoln. The trio has been praised for its polished presentations of well-known chamber works and its ability to forge new paths with contemporary repertoire.
The Lincoln Trio has performed throughout the United States, including appearances at Carnegie's Weill Hall, Ravinia Festival, Poisson Rouge, LACMA, Lane Concert Series, University of Chicago, Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series, Music in the Loft, and in Springfield, Illinois, where the trio was chosen to celebrate the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial celebration with President Barack Obama. Internationally the trio has performed in Germany, Singapore, Hong Kong, Vietnam and most recently a 5 city tour of Colombia.
Staunch proponents of music education, the Lincoln Trio has had residencies at San Francisco State University, University of Wisconsin Madison, and SUNY Fredonia. They are currently ensemble-in-residence at the Merit School of Music. Their recording of ‘Annelies’ was nominated for a 2014 Grammy Award, and their most recent CD 'Trios from our Homelands' was nominated for a 2017 Grammy Award in the Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance Category.
Home is where the heart is for violinist Julie Fischer. A 1998 Midwest Young Artists Conservatory alumna,
Julie returns to her musical home in a teaching capacity. As a member of MYA, Julie was concertmaster of the Symphony Orchestra and participated in the Fischoff National Chamber Music competition, winning gold medals twice with two different MYA string quartets in 1996 and 1998. She was also a two-time winner of the Walgreens Concerto Competition, winning both the junior and senior divisions of this national competition, hosted by MYAC.
Julie went on to earn a bachelor’s degree from The Cleveland Institute of Music and a master’s degree from New England Conservatory. Teaching is an integral part of her experiences and career aspirations. Julie served as a teaching assistant to Donald Weilerstein at NEC and taught for the Bay Chamber Concerts Next Generation Program, the Walnut Hill School/NEC Preparatory Department and the Peninsula Strings Program. In addition, she was a mentor for the Kneisel Hall Young Musicians Program and Adult Chamber Music Institute.
Still an avid lover of chamber music, she has spent summers studying and performing at the Taos School of Music, Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival, Quartet Program at Bucknell, Weathersfield Music Festival, Bay Chamber Concerts, and Madeline Island Music Festival. Her principal teachers have included Lucy Stoltzman, Donald Weilerstein, and Almita and Roland Vamos.
Paula Fischer has 35 years of experience teaching and coaching young musicians. She is a faculty member at MYAC, and also teaches chamber music to students at Niles North, Niles West and Loyola. In addition to teaching, Paula is also a freelance musician and very active performer. She has played for the Lake Forest Symphony, Chicago String Ensemble, and she is currently performing with the Evanston Symphony Orchestra. Paula also maintains a home studio in Skokie, where she conducts private lessons.
Nick McKee is delighted to serve as the current Orchestral and Chamber Music Coordinator at the Midwest Young Artists Conservatory. A recent graduate of Illinois State University with a master’s degree in String Pedagogy, Nick also served as a graduate teaching assistant during his studies. He previously earned a bachelor's degree in Music Performance from George Mason University, where he distinguished himself as the principal violist of both the Illinois State and George Mason Symphony Orchestras. Nick's accomplishments include winning the 2020 GMU Concerto Competition and being featured in the 2020 GMU Faculty Ensemble Series.
Nick is an accomplished violist, currently a member of the Peoria Symphony Orchestra’s viola section. His festival experiences are extensive, including participation in the Philadelphia International Music Festival, Sewanee Summer Music Festival, and twice as a fellowship student at the Chloe Trevor Music Academy. With a profound passion for chamber music, Nick has performed a wide repertoire of string ensemble works, operas, and musicals, and is a highly sought-after chamber musician and coach.
Violinist Jacob Murphy established his career as a founding member and second violinist for 18 years of the Euclid Quartet, one of the most highly regarded ensembles of its generation. Captivating audiences and critics alike, as part of this ensemble he consistently performed to enthusiastic acclaim throughout the country, everywhere from school classrooms to Carnegie Hall.
Highlights of Jacob’s career in the Euclid Quartet include significant global recognition as a member of the first American string quartet to be awarded a top prize at the prestigious Osaka International Chamber Music Competition. Prior to its Japanese laurels, the quartet also won awards in numerous United States competitions, including the Hugo Kauder International Competition for String Quartets, the Carmel Chamber Music Competition, and the Chamber Music Yellow Springs Competition. In 2009, the Euclid Quartet was awarded the esteemed “American Masterpieces” grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Jacob has been a frequent guest at American and Canadian music festivals, among them those of Aspen, Great Lakes, Kent/Blossom, and Orford, and has collaborated with internationally renowned artists including James Dunham, Gregory Fulkerson, Warren Jones, Paul Katz, Joseph Silverstein, and Alexander Toradze. Early in his time with the Euclid Quartet, the ensemble was twice awarded the String Quartet Fellowship at the Aspen Music Festival, where it was invited to return for the subsequent summer’s concert season. The quartet was also invited to study with the Emerson String Quartet at the Carnegie Hall Professional Training Workshop.
Teaching and outreach have long been important parts of Mr. Murphy’s career. He is a devoted violin teacher and chamber music coach, and served on the music faculty at Indiana University South Bend for nine years and at Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa, for six years. During his time in South Bend, he was the coach for seven consecutive years to the Geoffroy Prize-winning ensemble at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. This prize is awarded to the highest-ranking local ensemble in the competition. He is also passionate about presenting the highest quality classical music to young audiences. As a teaching artist, he has performed for thousands and thousands of students and young adults, in part through support from the National Endowment for the Arts and collaborations with Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute and the Fischoff National Chamber Music Association.
Active in the recording studio, Jacob can be heard on several recordings. As a member of the Euclid Quartet, he recorded a pair of CDs comprising the complete string quartets of Béla Bartók for Artek Recordings. The American Record Guide raved about these discs, “rarely has a group found such meaning and vision.” He is also featured in the quartet’s debut CD on Centaur records, which features the first four quartets of Hugo Kauder. A refugee from Nazi-occupied Austria who fled to the United States in the 1940s, Kauder defied the atonal trend of his generation with his uniquely harmonic, contrapuntal style. As a soloist, Jacob is featured on “The Harlequin” (Centaur Records) performing John Ferrito’s Intersezione for solo violin. In addition to performing on these recordings, he also served as audio editor of the recording of Kauder string quartets, as well as numerous Euclid Quartet demo recordings.
Raised in a small collection of towns, he claims Fresno, California as his home town. He began his violin studies at the age of 6 through a unique school music program, and later continued his studies at the Eastman School of Music and Kent State University. His principal teachers included Charles Castleman, Gregory Fulkerson, Camilla Wicks, and Claudia Shiuh. He performs on a 2008 violin by Greg Alf.
Violinist Desirée Ruhstrat is renowned as a soloist, chamber musician, and teacher across Europe and the Americas. She has appeared as a soloist with orchestras throughout the world, and has worked with such renowned conductors as Sir Georg Solti, Erich Kunzel, Max Rudolf, and Lukas Foss, under whom she made her solo debut at age twelve. Ms. Ruhstrat has won numerous awards including first prize at the National Young Musicians Foundation’s Debut Concerto Competition and top prizes at the Carl Flesch International Violin Competition, the Stulberg International String Competition, and the Mozart Festival violin competition. She was the youngest prizewinner at the Tibor Varga International Violin Competition Sion Valais, also winning the award for best interpretation of the commissioned composition.
A member of the Lincoln Trio with her husband, cellist, David Cunliffe, Ms. Ruhstrat has performed throughout South America, Europe, and Asia; at such domestic venues as Weill Recital Hall and Lincoln Center; and as part of the Ravinia Festival and the Indianapolis Symphony’s Beethoven series. The trio received a 2016 Grammy nomination.
Ms. Ruhstrat serves as the String Chamber Music Coordinator at Northwestern University and was previously on the faculty at Indiana University. In 2014 she was awarded the Illinois-American String Teachers Association Outstanding Studio Teacher Award.
John Shaffer didn’t get serious about music until after high school. After getting a degree in philosophy, he majored in cello at Manhattan School of Music, followed by a Master’s at Northwestern. He has taught in the area for 25 years and currently teaches students at New Trier, Libertyville, Vernon Hills, and Niles North High Schools. Recently, he has played in the Northbrook Symphony for several seasons. John has also sung in choruses professionally, and has worked under Sir Georg Solti, Claudio Abbado, Daniel Barenboim, Andrew Davis, Carlo Maria Giulini and others. John’s three sons all played in MYAC, the oldest being in the original MYAC Orchestra.
Mathias Tacke, a native of Germany, studied with Ernst Mayer-Schierning in Detmold, Germany, with Emanuel Hurwitz and David Takeno in London, and with Sandor Vegh in Prussia Cove, Cornwall. He was first prize in the Germany National Youth Competition and graduated from the Musikakademie Detmold, where he was later appointed to the faculty.
Mathias Tacke was the second violinist of the acclaimed Vermeer Quartet from 1992-2007 and Professor of Violin and Chamber Music at Northern Illinois University where the Vermeer Quartet was in residence.
With the Vermeer Quartet Mathias Tacke gave performances in practically all of the most prestigious festivals, including Tanglewood, Taos, Ravinia, South Bank, Lucerne, Berlin, Schleswig-Holstein and Edinburgh, to name a few. Three of the Vermeer Quartet recordings were nominated for the Grammy Award.
Mathias Tacke appears internationally as a soloist and chamber player, performing a wide range of repertoire from the Baroque to music of our time.
From 1983-1992 Mr.Tacke was a member of the Ensemble Modern Frankfurt, one of the most important professional groups specializing in the performance of contemporary music. In this capacity he gave countless first performances, including works by most of today’s leading composers. He has made numerous recordings for such labels as Sony, ECM. Harmonia Mundi, Naxos and Cedille.