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Copyright © 2006 The Camus Quartet |
| the Camus Quartet - Carla Kountoupes : Mimi Papp : Tom Ginsberg : Andrew Nickles | |
| The Camus Quartet is a world-class chamber group whose repertoire includes everything from Bach and Beethoven to Ellington, Lloyd Webber, the Beatles and even Jimi Hendrix. Their accomplishments include performing and recording with Issac Hayes, Rosemary Clooney, Jose Feliciano, Wayne Newton, Paquito D'Rivera and many others; arranging music for “the President’s Own” US Marine Corps Band; playing for many years in Costa Rica, and leading master classes in music schools throughout the United States. Having toured Europe, the Americas and Asia, each player has achieved an elite level of virtuosity and honed unique musical skills. The Camus Quartet’s passion is playing great music with great joy; its mission is to offer its professionalism, flexibility and spirit of fun and enthusiasm to your special day. Whether you’re craving Mozart, Thelonius Monk or Metallica, The Camus Quartet can provide your event with the soundtrack of your dreams. | |
 Carla Kountoupes Violin |
CARLA KOUNTOUPES began studying violin at the age of seven. She received a degree in Violin Performance from the Oberlin Conservatory where she studied with Stephen Clapp, Marilyn McDonald, and Gregory Fulkerson. Ms. Kountoupes was a tenured member of the Costa Rican National Symphony Orchestra for several years, and taught on the faculty of that orchestra’s youth program. While in Costa Rica she was also a member of the Latin American Chamber Orchestra and Probus Ensemble (a contemporary music ensemble). Ms. Kountoupes has toured and performed in Central America, Taiwan, the United States, and Europe. From 1999 through 2002 she was a member of the Bella Cosí String Quartet, based in San Francisco. As a member of the quartet, she participated in numerous recitals, master classes (including a week long series of “Encounters with Isaac Stern”), and outreachconcerts in the Bay Area. An active freelance musician, she he has performed with many orchestras all over the country including Santa Fe Pro Musica Chamber Orchestra, New Century Chamber Orchestra (San Francisco), and the Santa Rosa Symphony, among others. Ms. Kountoupes is currently a member of the AZ Opera Orchestra and performs regularly with the Tucson Symphony. In addition to performing, she has been an active music educator for over ten years. She was on the faculty of the San Francisco Community Music School and the PRIME School of Music in Tucson. She currently has a private violin studio. Ms. Kountoupes enjoys performing and recording Latin and jazz, as well as classical music. |
 Mimi Papp Violin |
As a child, Mimi Papp studied violin privately and began her early conservatory training as a teenager with Yumi Ninomiya-Scott and (legendary) Jascha Brodsky, at the New School of Music, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is a graduate of the Manhattan School of Music (B.A., Music Performance, 1988) with Burton Kaplan as her primary teacher. Subsequently, Mimi trained and was certified in the Suzuki teaching method under Louise Behrend at the School For Strings in New York City. Throughout this period, Mimi continued post-baccalaureate violin performance study, primarily with the late Richard Simon, formerly of the New York Philharmonic. Prior to relocating to the Southwest, Mimi held positions with the New Orleans and Florida Symphonies and was an active freelance violinist in New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington. From 1992 until 2000, Mimi was based in the Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania, and maintained active violin teaching studio at Moravian College. As a founding member of the chamber ensemble SATORI she continued her love and practice of collaborative performance work and transferred these skills into teaching. Throughout these years, she also performed, taught and coached as a member of the violin faculty at Kinhaven School of Music, Vermont (a summer program for gifted young musicians). |
 Tom Ginsberg Violin/Viola |
Tom began his studies at the age of 8 attending the Peabody Preparatory in Baltimore, MD. His primary teacher was Gerald Eyth, formerly of the NBC Radio Symphony. At the age of 17 Tom attended the Tanglewood Institute studying with Gerald Gelbloom, violinist with the Boston Symphony. In 1984 Tom received his Bachelors of Music in Violin Performance from West Virginia University, where his primary instructor was Donald Portnoy. After graduating, Tom was a founding member of the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra (now in its 23rd season) as well as playing with the Baltimore Opera and Baltimore Symphony. From 1985-1990 Tom continued his violin studies with Herbert Greenberg (Baltimore Symphony, concertmaster) and John Blake, (jazz recording artist). Tom also toured Japan, South Korea and the United States with the Mantovani Orchestra. As a freelance violinist Tom has performed with Smokey Robinson, Sammy Davis Jr., Rosemary Clooney, Natalie Cole, Dionne Warwick, Linda Ronstadt, George Benson and many others. In 1993, Tom joined "The President's Own" United States Marine Band as a music copyist. He held that position until 2003 when he moved to Tucson, Arizona with his wife violinist Mimi Papp. A veteran of studio and stage Tom also plays Electric Violin, Viola and Mandolin. His versatility in music, range from Bach to Coltrane to Hendrix. Tom has recently joined the Camus Quartet in Tucson, Arizona. |
 Andrew Nickles Cello |
Mr. Nickles has been a part of the Arizona music scene for over twelve years. In 1994, while pursuing degrees in Music and French at the University of Arizona where he studied with Richard Bock, Nancy Green, and Gordon Epperson, he started as a cello teacher with Dennis Bourret’s youth orchestra group, the Tucson Junior Strings. Eventually earning a position as 5th chair of the Tucson Symphony Orchestra in 1998 as well as establishing his own ensemble, The Camus Quartet, Mr. Nickles set out to develop a strong private studio of talented youngsters and adults. After his third year in the TSO, he was awarded fellowships at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Choosing Illinois, Mr. Nickles studied with Laurien Laufman and acted as a teaching assistant. The summer of 2000, he was invited to teach and perform at the Huntington Music Festival in Vermont alongside professors from Oberlin, the Cleveland Conservatory of Music, and Northwestern. The following year, he won second place in the Reno Chamber Orchestra Concerto Competition for his performance of the Dvorak Cello Concerto in B Minor and received his master’s degree later that spring. In 2005 Mr. Nickles co-founded a piano trio, the Piazzolla da Camera, dedicated to performing the works of Argentine tango master Astor Piazzolla. This ensemble has recently performed at the University of Texas, El Paso and at Phoenix’s Heard Museum to high acclaim. Mr. Nickles lives in East Tucson with his wife, Charny, and 7 month old son, Parker where he directs over two hundred 4th and 5th graders in school orchestras for the Tucson Unified School District. |