Guest Artists & Soloists

Russell Gross, Clarinet

Russell Gross is the principal clarinet with the McLean Orchestra , he is entering his 18th season with the orchestra. In addition, he is a clarinetist with the United States Navy Band in Washington, D.C. since 1989 where he also serves as Enlisted Conductor for the Concert Band.Russell is a frequent recitalist, chamber musician, adjudicator, teacher and free-lance artist throughout the National Capital Region and has been a featured soloist with the United States Navy Band, the Capital Wind Symphony, the American Wind Orchestra and the University of Arkansas Wind Ensemble.

A native of Radcliff, Kentucky, Mr. Gross received his bachelor’s degrees in music performance and music education in 1983 where he studied with Donald L. Story. His other teachers include Henry Gulick, Ted Johnson and Dallas Tidwell. He has played with the Paducah Symphony (KY) and the Fairfax Symphony.

Regino Madrid, Violin

Regino Madrid is a member of “The President’s Own” U.S. Marine Chamber Orchestra and plays regularly at the White House. He is an active soloist, concertmaster, and chamber musician throughout the Washington, D.C. area, playing at such venues as the Library of Congress, the Phillips Collection, and the Kennedy Center. He has performed at the MCI Center with Sarah Brightman, Vince Gill, and Rod Stewart.

A native of Los Angeles, California, Mr. Madrid received his bachelor’s degree in 1998 from the Cleveland Institute of Music where he studied with David and Linda Cerone. In Los Angeles, he attended the Colburn School of Performing Arts and won the Rubinstein Grand Prize in the South Peninsula National Music Competition. As a member of that city’s Hamilton String Quartet, Mr. Madrid was featured in the movie “Sister Act 2.” He has played with the Cleveland Orchestra, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, the National Symphony, iPalpiti, Eclipse Chamber Orchestra, and the Canton Symphony. He has participated in numerous music festivals such as Santa Barbara Music Academy of the West, Holland Music Sessions, Musicorda, Idyllwilde in California, and with the Colorado Quartet at Cape Cod’s “Soundfest.”

Amy Ward Butler, Cello

Cellist Amy Ward Butler received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees and the prestigious Performer’s Certificate from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, where she studied with Steven Doane and Paul Katz.  As a graduate student, Ms. Butler was Teacher’s Assistant to Mr. Doane and was a co-founder of the Olivier Trio, the first piano trio in residence at Eastman, which performed at Eastman and in New York City.  Ms. Butler’s  eventual career in an opera orchestra was perhaps foreshadowed by performing with the Eastman Opera Theater and the New Jersey Opera as well as in Germany at the Heidelberg Schloss-Spiele.  Summers at Tanglewood provided opportunities to study with members of the Juilliard and Budapest Quartets, with cellist Yo-yo Ma, and with conductors Seiji Ozawa, Kurt Masur and Leonard Bernstein.  

After graduating from Eastman, Ms. Butler played frequently in the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the Harrisburg Symphony and the Philadelphia Orchestra as well as numerous smaller ensembles.  Since joining the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra in 1998, Ms. Butler has been able to pursue her love of chamber music by performing solo and chamber recitals throughout the Washington Metro area.

Ms. Butler plays on a Rafael and Antonio Gagliano cello made in Napoli in 1807. 

Wes Nichols, Oboe

December 8, 2007 Concert

Wes Nichols, oboe, holds a Master and Bachelor degree in performance from The Manhattan School of Music in New York where he studied with Henry Schuman, Elaine Douvas and Joseph Robinson. He was principal oboe of the Arlington Symphony and now plays with the Arlington Philharmonic and joined the McLean Orchestra in 2006. Wes freelances extensively in the area and is on the faculty of the School for the Arts at Holton Arms in Bethesda, Maryland.

Tim Marrone, Physical Comedian

December 9, 2007 Concert

Tim received his training at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre in New York City and has appeared on stage throughout the Northeast, most recently in the Baltimore/Washington DC area. For ten years, Tim served as a founding member of the Maryland-based clown/theatre troupe Theatricks.  He has appeared as a silent comic character for the Washington National Opera, The Maryland Lyric Opera, The Summer Opera Series at Catholic University, and has toured as a clown with the George Carden Circus.

 As a physical comedian, Tim has co-written and performed productions with: The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra; The Baltimore Chamber Orchestra; The Lafayette Symphony Orchestra; The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony Orchestra; The West Shore Symphony; The Lansing Symphony Orchestra; The Billings Symphony Orchestra; The Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra; The Lincoln Symphony Orchestra; and The River Concert Series in St. Mary's City, MD.

Tim is an associate artist with the Baltimore Shakespeare Festival, and is currently a theatre/movement instructor at the Baltimore School for the Arts.

Lisa Emenheiser, Piano

Lisa Emenheiser, pianist, is one of Washington DC’s most recognized performing artists.  She has been performing for the National Symphony Orchestra for the past 20 years, and appears as their Pops pianist and as acting principal keyboardist when necessary.  A graduate of the Juilliard School, Ms. Emenheiser has performed in recital at Alice Tully Hall, Avery Fischer Hall, Carnegie Recital Hall and has appeared in many venues in DC, including the National Gallery, Phillips Collection, Smithsonian Institute, and the Kennedy Center.  As described by the New York Times, Lisa “played the piano dazzlingly”, and by The Washington Post, she “shimmered and beguiled, shifting easily between virtuosity and transparency.” Ms. Emenheiser has appeared as soloist with the National Symphony Orchestra, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the Richmond Symphony, the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra, the Virginia Chamber Orchestra, the Fairfax Symphony, and was one of the featured soloists at the Kennedy Center’s Piano 2000 Festival.  She was also a soloist for the Kennedy Center’s “Journey to America” Festival held in 2002 and both soloist and commentator for the NSO Mozart Portrait concert series. Lisa has appeared on national television as an expert artist commentator and performer in the PBS documentary entitled “Exploring Your Brain”.

An established chamber musician, Ms. Emenheiser has performed across the United States, as well as many international venues, including performances with some of the world's most renowned artists.  She is also an avid performer of contemporary music, and is the pianist for the 21st Century Consort and Opus 3 Trio.  Ms. Emenheiser has recorded for the Pro Arte, VAI Audio, Centaur, Arabesque, Delos, AUR, and Cascades labels.   

A committed teacher, Lisa holds a private studio in her home.

Jack A. French, Dramaturge

Jack French has been researching and writing about the Golden Age of Radio for the past 25 years. Jack is a member and past president of the Metro Washington Old Time Radio Club. He is a former editor of NARA News and the current editor of RADIO RECALL.  As a result of his extensive radio research, he received the Rockford Award in 1993.

In October 2005 the Library of Congress announced the release of French's book, Private Eyelashes: Radio's Lady Detectives as a Talking Book, through their National Library Service. Selection by the Library of Congress into their Talking Books program is a unique honor, as less than half of one percent of the books copyrighted yearly in the United States are chosen for this expensive and complicated process of narration.  French and his book received the “Ray Stanich Award” for best vintage radio literature in 2004 by the Friends of Old Time Radio and the “Agatha Award for Best Non-Fiction” in April 2005 from Malice Domestic, the largest mystery convention on the East Coast.

Nicole Lacroix, Evening Host

Nicole Lacroix joined WETA 90.9 FM in 1998 as an evening host.  Her interest in radio was sparked by Voice of America broadcasts in Vientiane, Laos where her family was stationed at the start of the Vietnam War.

After receiving a degree in music from Trinity College, Lacroix began her radio career at WGMS in Washington, with stints at VOA, KDFC San Francisco and Baltimore's WJHU and WBJC.

Lacroix lives in Baltimore’s Federal Hill with her husband, cat, Labradoodle and English Bulldog.

Rich Kleinfeldt, Music Host

Rich Kleinfeldt is an international broadcaster, professional musician, teacher and lecturer.  He co-hosts two nationally syndicated radio programs: Wolf Trap’s chamber music series, Center Stage from Wolf Trap, and Indianapolis-on-the-Air, featuring the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra with Music Director Emeritus Raymond Leppard.  Mr. Kleinfeldt can be heard daily in Europe and Asia on the Maestro Classical Music Channel of the WorldSpace Satellite Network.  He also is a part-time music host at WETA. And onstage at the Barns of Wolf Trap he has hosted the Discovery Series since 1996.  Formerly with the Voice of America, Mr. Kleinfeldt introduced listeners around the world to American musicians through the weekly classical music program The Concert Hall.

Mr. Kleinfeldt is a founding member of the Washington Saxophone Quartet.  He performed for 12 years with the United States Army Band as saxophone soloist and Master of Ceremonies.  He is a graduate of Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois, and Catholic University in Washington, D.C.

Edward Newman, Piano

Edward Newman received both a B.M. degree and M.M. degree from the Juilliard School. He has been a soloist with numerous orchestras, among them the Cleveland Orchestra, the National Symphony, and the Baltimore Symphony. He was awarded first prize at the 1979 Casadesus International Piano Competition. He was also a prizewinner in the Gina Bachauer and University of Maryland competitions, and was a semifinalist in the 1981 Van Cliburn Competition.

A pianist of virtuosity and sensitivity, Edward combines the qualities of "brilliant technique" (Washington Star) and "a light touch of dazzling clarity" (Cleveland Plain Dealer) with "expressive lyricism" (Washington Post). Edward served as the regular pianist with the American Chamber Players from 1993 to 2003.  Following a performance a Washington Post critic declared, "Newman demonstrated again what local audiences have long known: that he is one of the Washington area's finest chamber musicians." In 2007, Jabez Press will release Newman’s recording of the Briley Four Love Etudes for Piano (#91003). The recording will also feature works by Albeniz, Chopin, Soler, and Surinach.