Tania Maxwell Clements attained a BA in Music Performance (Viola) and a Certificate of Post-Graduate Studies (Viola Performance) from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (RSAMD) where she studied viola with James Durrant. During her studies at the RSAMD she won the prestigious Watson Forbes Prize for Viola Playing and the Viola Challenge Prize. Her studies continued in Switzerland at the International Menuhin Music Academy (IMMA) for two consecutive years, working intensively with Alberto Lysy and Johannes Eskar. During this time she performed regularly in master classes given by Sir Yehudi Menuhin and artists such as Igor Oistrakh and Donald McInnes. She was principal viola and soloist with the Camerata Lysy and performed as soloist at the Menuhin Festival, Gstaad and at festivals in France, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy and Wales.

Upon leaving the IMMA, Tania was invited to become a founding member of the Seville Symphony Orchestra in Spain and from there was invited to join the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra in Manchester, England as Assistant Principal Viola. Whilst working with the BBC, Tania also held the principal viola position with the Northern Symphony Orchestra and was invited to perform as guest principal with the Halle Orchestra and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. During this time she was also a founding member of the Wralle flute, viola and harp Trio and the Puligny String Quartet.

Tania joined the faculty of Georgia State University in 1998. Since arriving in Atlanta she has appeared as a concerto soloist both at GSU and elsewhere, gives frequent recitals and performs regularly with Georgia State faculty (Musica da Camera). She is also principal viola with the Chamber Orchestra of Tennessee and the North Georgia Symphony.

Over the years she has performed with many other orchestras including the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Scottish Orchestra (formerly the SNO), the BP Scottish Ensemble, the Scottish Opera Orchestra, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the East of England Orchestra and the Royal Festival Orchestra. She has played at some of the world's most prestigious venues including Covent Garden and the Royal Albert Hall in London, the Philharmonie in Berlin, Boston's Symphony Hall, New York's Lincoln Center, La Scala Milan in Itay, the Musikverein in Vienna and Prague's Dvorak Hall. Since moving to Atlanta in 1998, she has performed with the Atlanta Symphony, Charleston Symphony, Columbus Symphony and Macon Symphony orchestras, the Atlanta Chamber Players, the Kopec String Quartet, Musica da Camera and the Lyra String Quartet.

Tania has a prolific recording career and appears on almost one hundred CD's covering orchestral, solo and chamber repertoire. Upcoming projects include a CD of solo viola, piano and chamber works by Atlanta composer Nickitas J. Demos as well as two concertos specially commissioned for her. She is a strong supporter of new music for the viola and has personally commissioned many new works for her instrument.

Tania Maxwell Clements is also a master teacher. Before moving to Atlanta she taught orchestral techniques at Chethams School of Music (a Yehudi Menuhin School) and the Royal Northern College of Music and has also taught at the Junior Department of the RSAMD. In Atlanta, Tania is Adjunct Professor of Music (Viola and Violin) at Georgia State University.

Tamara Dworetz comes to Georgia State University with an impressive background working with professional, collegiate and youth orchestras. Professionally, she has conducted the Paris Mozart Orchestra, Boston Pops, Cabrillo Festival Orchestra, Amarillo Symphony, Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, Mankato Symphony. She was recently appointed the new Artistic Director & Conductor of the Georgia Philharmonic. Dworetz has also worked with world-class orchestras and conductors in Europe as Assistant Conductor – Orchestre de Paris with Klaus Mäkelä, Gürzenich Orchestre Cologne with François-Xavier Roth and the BBC Concert Orchestra with her late mentor, Bramwell Tovey. As an opera conductor, she has led the Dallas Opera Orchestra and served as Assistant Conductor for Indianapolis, Atlanta and Butler Center Operas.

Dr. Dworetz’s musical beginnings took place in the Atlanta public school system. After graduating from North Springs HS in Fulton County, Dr. Dworetz was Assistant Band Director at Alpharetta High School before serving as Director of Orchestras at Lakeside High School in Atlanta where she increased enrollment by 50% over 3 years. In addition to her public school teaching, she has guest-conducted the TMEA (Texas) All-State Philharmonic Orchestra, All-Northwest Honors Orchestra (students from 6 states), and will lead the 2024 Colorado All-State Symphony Orchestra and Georgia 11-12 All-State String Orchestra. She has also worked extensively with the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra, Austin Youth Orchestra and Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra. Last summer she served as an Assistant Conductor with the Carnegie Hall’s National Youth Orchestra 2 (NYO2) which performed at Carnegie Hall and their first-ever tour (Dominican Republic); this summer she will return as a Resident Conductor, helping prepare both the NYO and NYO2 orchestras, and traveling with Marin Alsop and NYO on their South American tour. At the National Conference of the American String Teachers Association (ASTA) she will serve as guest conductor for the National Teachers’ Orchestra in their partnership with the New Canon Project.

Dr. Dworetz was recently selected as 1 of 14 candidates from a worldwide pool in the 2022 La Maestra Conducting Competition and Academy for Women Conductors in Paris, France. She was the only US-born conductor selected for the competition and earned a spot as one of 6 semi-finalists.  ‘Maestra’, a documentary directed by Maggie Contreras, features 5 conductors from the competition, including Tamara, and was premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and highlighted on CBS National News as well as international film festivals.

Prior to her appointment at Georgia State, Dr. Dworetz served as the Music Director of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (NY) Orchestra and Concert Choir. She has led guest conducting residencies at the University of Texas at Austin, Boston University, SUNY Fredonia School of Music & Longy Conservatory at Bard College.

Dr. Dworetz holds degrees from Indiana University, the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Georgia and Boston University.

Violinist Jessica Stinson has been hailed by both The State and Free Times as a “thrilling and spectacular” performer with “remarkably mature musicianship”.  Jessica has performed extensively throughout the United States and Europe, with performances in New York City, Los Angeles, Italy, and Switzerland. Jessica made her professional solo debut with the LaGrange Symphony Orchestra in 2019, playing Mozart’s Concerto No. 5 in A Major. In 2020, she appeared as a featured recitalist at the Colour of Music Festival.

A passionate and active chamber musician, Jessica has performed with the Gervais String Quartet, members of the Vega String Quartet and Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, and the Challenge the Stats string quartet. She frequently performs with the Edgewood String Quartet as part of the Candlelight Concerts series. In 2021, she performed at Georgia State University’s Kopleff Recital Hall as part of Ensemble ATL.

As an educator, Jessica has served on the faculties of the Atlanta Music Project, Franklin Pond Chamber Music, and the Atlanta Chamber Music Festival. She has served as an adjudicator for the GMEA All-State Orchestras and MTNA solo competition. She is regularly invited to serve as a clinician at metro Atlanta schools and was invited to give a masterclass at the University of South Carolina in 2021. She joins the faculty of Georgia State University for the 2022-2023 school year as a guest instructor of violin.

Jessica is a graduate of Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music in Houston, Texas, having received a Master’s degree in Violin Performance with Mr. Kenneth Goldsmith. She has also studied with Dr. William Terwilliger at the University of South Carolina and David Kim, Concertmaster of the Philadelphia Orchestra. Jessica returned to her hometown of Atlanta, GA in 2009 where she now makes her living performing and teaching. She performs regularly with the Atlanta Symphony and Atlanta Ballet Orchestras and was appointed to the violin section of the Atlanta Opera Orchestra in 2018. She has served as Acting Assistant Principal Second Violin of the Atlanta Opera Orchestra since 2021.

Dr. Alexis Lee, a native of South Korea, came to the United States at age 11 and started playing the cello. She made her first stage performance three years later, participating in The World Cello Congress III, performing as a member of the Towson University Cello Ensemble at the Center for the arts Concert Hall and in the 200 Massed Cello Ensemble, which took its performance at Meyerhoff Symphony Hall in Baltimore, Maryland. She was an active member of the Susquehanna Symphony Orchestra and York Symphony Orchestra and later appeared as a soloist in 2009 and 2013.

She has worked with bonnie Hampton, toby Appel and Nicholas Mann, intensively studying chamber repertoires at the Julliard School. as a chamber musician and orchestral performer, her performances have taken her to venues throughout the US including Alice Tully Hall, Carnegie Hall, Boston Symphony Hall and Meyerhoff Symphony Hall in Baltimore. While pursuing her doctorate degree at Boston University, she has collaborated with Music for Food concert series and given concerts for the Beethoven Research Center intensively studying Beethoven’s op. 132 with violinist Peter Zazofsky and Beethoven scholar Lewis Lockwood.

As a passionate chamber performer, Dr. Lee has performed with the Belmont Camerata, Volunteer Music for the Arts, The Boston Cello and Boston University Arts Outreach. She has also served as a principal for the Boston Chamber Symphony and NEMPAC Opera Project Chamber Orchestra. She is currently a member of the SOOM Soloist Ensemble. Aside from her performance career, her inspiration comes from teaching young students and volunteering with nonprofit musical organizations.

With her Bachelor of music in Performance from the Julliard School and Master of Music from Manhattan School of Music, she completed her Doctor of Musical Arts in performance at Boston University with Rhonda Rider. Prior to her appointment at Georgia State, Dr. Lee has served on the cello and chamber faculty at Belmont University. She is currently a member of the Atlanta Ballet Orchestra and frequently performance with the Atlanta Opera Orchestra.

Dr. Lee studied with Cecylia Barczyk, David Soyer (Guarneri Quartet), Julia Lichten and March Johnson (Vermeer Quartet).

Daniel Tancredi is a hardworking and intuitive 26-year-old double bassist. He was granted a full ride scholarship for his bachelor’s degree at the Royal College of Music in London, UK and graduated in 2020. He has played with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the English National Opera and under the baton of conductors such as Bernard Haitink, Rafael Payare, and Antonio Pappano. His former teachers include Felix Petit, Douglas Sommer, and Enno Senft. Along with these achievements Daniel has also performed in venues such as the Atlanta Symphony Hall/Woodruff Arts Center, Royal Festival Hall, BBC Maida Vale Studios, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Abbey Road Studios, Wigmore Hall, and the London Coliseum. Daniel has recently been appointed as the principal double bass of The Atlanta Opera and will begin his role as a double bass professor at Georgia State University.