Violaine Melançon is the founding violinist of the Naumburg Award-winning Peabody Trio, which has established itself as one of the leading piano trios in the world. Equally committed to the classics of the repertoire and to important new works, the Peabody Trio brings to their music making what the Washington Post calls "the romantic fervor of the 20th century greats." Since its 1990 New York debut at Alice Tully Hall, the Peabody Trio has performed in the most important chamber music series in New York, Washington, DC, Chicago, Denver, Vancouver, Montreal, Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Boston and Philadelphia. Internationally, they tour frequently in England, making repeat appearances at London's Wigmore Hall, and in Japan and Israel.

After receiving First Prize in violin at the Conservatoire de Musique du Quèbec, Violaine Melançon continued her studies with Ivan Galamian at the Curtis Institute of Music and with Isadore Tinkleman at the San Francisco Conservatory. While at Curtis, she was a member of the Nisaika Quartet, a prize winner in the 8th International String Quartet Competition in Evian, France. Ms. Melançon is also the recipient of many awards for solo performance including the 1984 Prix d'Europe and the USIA Artistic Ambassadors Award. She serves on the violin and chamber music faculties of Peabody Conservatory.

Noted as a "poetic violist," (New Yorker) Lawrence Dutton has earned distinction as a recitalist, soloist with orchestra, chamber musician, recording artist and teacher of viola and chamber music. As violist of the world renowned Emerson String Quartet, Mr. Dutton performs over 100 concerts each season and has won six Grammy Awards, most recently in 2001 for "Best Classical Album" and "Best Chamber Music Performance" of the complete string quartets of Shostakovich on the Deutsche Grammophon label. The Emerson Quartet continues to be the only chamber music ensemble to ever win “Best Classical Album”, (also for the complete Bartok string quartets in 1990). The Emerson String Quartet recently won Gramophone Magazine's award for Best Chamber Music Performance for the Shostakovich set. They also won a “Best Chamber Music Performance” Grammy in 1994 for Ives, Barber and in 1998 for their complete Beethoven Quartets and continue to be exclusive recording artists for Deutsche Grammophon.

Mr. Dutton has collaborated with many of the world's great performing artists, including Isaac Stern, Mstislav Rostropovich, Oscar Shumsky, Walter Trampler, Menahem Pressler, Lynn Harrell, Yefim Bronfman, Joseph Kalichstein, Misha Dichter, Jan DeGaetani and Edgar Meyer among others. In addition, he has performed as guest artist with numerous chamber music ensembles such as the Juilliard and Guarneri quartets, and with the Beaux Arts and the Kalichstein, Laredo, Robinson trios. With the Beaux Arts trio he recorded the Shostakovich Piano Quintet, Op. 57, and the Fauré G minor Piano Quartet, Op. 45, on the Philips label. His Aspen Music Festival recording with Jan DeGaetani for Bridge records was nominated for a 1992 Grammy Award. For BRAVO television he recorded works by Stravinsky and Hindemith.

As a soloist, Mr. Dutton has appeared with many American and European orchestras including those of Germany, Belgium, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Colorado, and Virginia, among others. He has also appeared as guest artist at the music festivals of Aspen, Santa Fe, Ravinia and Chamber Music Northwest, and has collaborated with the late Isaac Stern in the International Chamber Music Encounters at both Carnegie Hall and in Jerusalem.

Lawrence Dutton began violin and viola studies with Margaret Pardee and continued with Francis Tursi at the Eastman School, when he began playing viola exclusively. He earned his Bachelors and Masters degrees at the Juilliard School, where he studied with Lillian Fuchs. While at Juilliard, Mr. Dutton was awarded the Walter M. Naumberg Scholarship.

In May 1995, he and other members of the Emerson String Quartet were awarded honorary doctorates from Middlebury College in Vermont. Mr. Dutton is currently a Professor of Chamber Music at the State University of New York at Stony Brook.

David Ying is best-known to concert audiences as the cellist of the Ying Quartet. The Quartet's professional life began in the small farming community of Jesup, Iowa where the four siblings lived and worked for two years as recipients of a grant from the NEA. During that time they won the Naumburg Chamber Music Award and embarked on a national and international performing schedule. From New York to Sydney, they continue to present concerts in many of the world's important musical centers. In addition, they have appeared in many notable festivals, including Aspen, Tanglewood, Ravinia, Caramoor, Norfolk and the Festival de Musica de Camera in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. Because of their unusually wide performing interests, they also play at unexpected concert sites: factories, schools, prisons, and many other non-traditional venues. The Quartet has also performed at the White House at the invitation of President and Mrs. Clinton.

Mr. Ying also performs frequently as solo cellist. He has appeared with such orchestras as the Oakland East-Bay Symphony, the Chicago Civic Orchestra, the String Orchestra of the Rockies, and the Rochester Chamber Orchestra. With his wife, pianist Elinor Freer, he is heard in recital across the United States. They are also Co-Artistic Directors of the Skaneateles Festival in New York. This year Mr. Ying was nominated for a Grammy Award for a recording with the St. Lawrence String Quartet.

Mr. Ying has won numerous awards as a solo cellist, including prizes in the Naumburg International Cello Competition, the Washington International Competition, and a diploma at the Tchaikovsky International Cello Competition. He holds degrees from the Juilliard School and the Eastman School of Music and is currently on the chamber music and cello faculty of the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY. With the Ying Quartet, he is also presently Blodgett artist in residence at Harvard University.