Susan Lamb Cook, cello and Ellen Schinnerer Deffner, piano
Currently Artist Affiliate in Cello and Chamber Music at the University of California, Davis, Susan Lamb Cook performs frequently in northern California and her performances have been heard on Capital Public Radio. She holds a Bachelor of Music and a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Iowa where she studied with Charles Wendt, and a degree with honors in performance from the Academy of Music in Vienna. While in Europe, Ms. Lamb Cook studied with Angelica May and participated in and observed master classes by Andre Navarra, Paul Tortelier and Ralph Kirshbaum. As soloist, Susan Lamb Cook has appeared with orchestras in Europe, the United States and the Middle East, performing with the Cairo Symphony in Egypt, the Vienna Bach Soloists, the International Bartok Chamber Orchestra, the UC Davis Symphony Orchestra, the Vancouver Symphony, the Camellia Symphony, the Paradise Symphony and the Sacramento Philharmonic Orchestra.
As a member of the Gold Coast Trio, Susan Lamb Cook’s performances with violinist Rachel Vetter Huang and pianist Hao Huang have thrilled audiences both in the USA and abroad. Their 2006 performance at the Liszt Concert Hall in Raiding, Austria was featured on Austrian National Television and their 2008 performance in the Hong Tai Concert Hall in Xiamen, China received critical acclaim. The Gold Coast Trio has also appeared at the Haydnfestspiele, Eisenstadt, the Bessie Bartlett Frankel Festival of Chamber Music at Scripps College, and the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts at the University of California, Davis. Their concerts have been broadcast on Capital Public Radio and the trio has released a CD of works by Beethoven, Beach, Bernstein and Piazzolla.
Ellen Schinnerer Deffner began specializing in piano accompaniment in London, where she was a student at the Guildhall School of Music. She won the School Accompanying Prize during her second year at the Guildhall and subsequently became a professor there. While in Europe she was an accompanist and coach for master classes given by Pierre Bernac and Gerard Souzay at the Academie Internationale de Musique de Maurice Ravel in France. She now gives workshops in the United States on French Art Song. Since returning to the USA, she has been on the faculties of UC Santa Barbara, Reed College, and the University of Portland in Oregon. Broadcast performances have included appearances on British and French television, as well as Minnesota Public Radio.
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