“Tune It Up” Virtual Concert to Raise Colorectal Cancer Awareness
ACG’s Soundtrack for March CRC Awareness Month
Tune It Up returns in 2026! Concertmaster Dr. Benjamin Levy has paired colorectal cancer awareness messages with artist performances in honor of Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month.
Join us right here at gi.org/concert on Wednesday, March 25, at 8:00 pm ET.
The virtual event is free and all are welcome.
Scan the QR code in the video or click here to donate to The G.U.T. Fund, which directly supports ACG Institute programs that advance clinical GI research, education, and leadership training, health equity, and much more.
Artists (not in order of performance)
Tyler Childers • Blues Traveler • Lisa Loeb • Mandy Patinkin • Kerry Ellis • Travis • Samantha Fish • Toby Lightman • K.F. Jacques • Natalie Tenenbaum • Haevn • Benedict Kloeckner • Rufus Wainwright • Dave Douglas • Caroline Jones • Brooklyn Rider • Ari Hest • Sammi Palinkas • Paul Thorn • TR3 feat. Tim Reynolds • Jennifer Kosharsky • Seungmin Kang • Calista Del Toro • John D’earth • Sacconi Quartet • Sacconi Quartet • H.E.Y. Trio • Mark Wood • The Beacons
Artist Bios
Blues Traveler – Formed in 1988, led by John Popper (singer, harmonica, and songwriter) plus Chan Kinchla (guitar), Bobby Sheehan (bass), and Brendan Hill (drums), the rock band Blues Traveler started the 1990’s jam band revival. Blues Traveler helped launch the H.O.R.D.E Festival in 1992. Their 1994 album Four pushed the band to the top of the charts featuring “Run-Around” which reached #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 and spent nearly one year on the charts – plus their hit single “Hook” which reached #23. Blues Traveler won a GRAMMY® Award in 1996 for “Best Rock Performance” for their song “Run-Around” and the song also helped the album Four sell 6x platinum. John Popper and the band have continued to record subsequent albums including the 2015 Blow Up the Moon featuring collaborations with Jewel, Hanson, and the Plain White T’s plus the 2021 Traveler’s Blues featuring Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, Warren Haynes, and Rita Wilson plus Traveler’s Soul in 2023 featuring Pat Monahan from Train. During the summer of 2026, Blues Traveler will tour nationally with the Gin Blossoms and the Spin Doctors with performances at The Hollywood Bowl, Wolf Trap, and SummerStage at Central Park – plus solo performances at Bonnaroo and Red Rocks Amphitheatre.
Rufus Wainwright – The New York-born, Montreal-raised GRAMMY® Award-nominated singer songwriter recently released his 12th studio album Folkocracy, a star-studded album of folk music reinventions featuring special guests and collaborations including Brandi Carlile, John Legend, David Byrne, Sheryl Crow, Nicole Scherzinger, Chaka Khan, Andrew Bird, and many more. Rufus Wainwright has written two operas plus numerous songs for movies and TV. He has collaborated with artists such as Elton John, Burt Bacharach, Miley Cyrus, Boy George, Joni Mitchell, Robbie Williams, Jessye Norman, Billy Joel, Paul Simon, and Sting. Rufus Wainwright’s fantastic GRAMMY® Award-nominated “Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall,” captured his celebrated Judy Garland tribute performance at the London Palladium. His first musical of John Cassavetes’ Opening Night for the West End with Ivo van Hove premiered at the Gielgud Theater in March 2024. During this time he also completed his Dream Requiem, which premiered with the Orchestre Philharmonique de la Radio France in June 2024 and featured Meryl Streep as the narrator. The recording of the performance was released via Warner Classics in January 2025. The U.S. premiere of Dream Requiem was given at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles during May 2025 featuring Jane Fonda. Co-Commissioners for the Dream Requiem include the Master Chorale in Los Angeles, the Palau de la Musica in Barcelona, the Helsinki Symphony Orchestra, the RTE Orchestra in Ireland, and the Royal Ballet London.
Lisa Loeb –GRAMMY® Award-winning singer-songwriter and guitarist who started her career with the platinum-selling hit song “Stay (I Missed You)” from the film Reality Bites. A trailblazing independent artist, Lisa Loeb was the first pop musician to have a #1 single while not signed to a recording contract. She followed that feat with several hit singles and six albums, two of which were certified gold. The Dallas, Texas native recently released her 15th album, A Simple Trick To Happiness. Lisa Loeb is also the host of her own weekday SiriusXM show, “Stay with Lisa Loeb,” on ’90s on 9, where she shares first-hand, behind-the-scenes accounts about the music and events of the ’90s. In recent years Lisa Loeb released a cover version of “All the Young Dudes” for Howard Stern’s David Bowie Special on SiriusXM. Her family-friendly album Feel What U Feel won the Grammy for Best Children’s Album. Often recognized for her iconic cat-eyed glasses, Lisa Loeb also oversees the design for Lisa Loeb Eyewear. During the summer of 2026, Lisa Loeb will tour nationally with O.A.R., Gavin DeGraw, and KT Tunstall.
Tyler Childers – Originally from Kentucky, this GRAMMY® Award-winning country singer-songwriter combines country, bluegrass, and folk. Tyler Childers has had several important albums including Purgatory, Country Squire, Long Violent History, Can I Take My Hounds To Heaven, and most recently Snipe Hunter in 2025. The album Purgatory launched Tyler Childers into the national spotlight, debuting at No. 1 on Billboard’s Heatseekers Albums chart and earned him the Americana Award for Emerging Artist of the Year. His music is known for incorporating social issues. Tyler Childers’ song “Bitin’ List” just won Best Country Song during the 2026 GRAMMY® Awards. In 2026, Tyler Childers will embark on a national tour including concerts in Chicago at Wrigley Field and at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.
Caroline Jones – Lauded by Rolling Stone as “an ambitious, entrepreneurial guitar heroine primed to bring back the pop-country glory of the Nineties,” Caroline Jones is a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose musicianship and commanding stage presence has led her to becoming a full-time band member of Zac Brown Band and to building out an impressive solo career. Her new album Good Omen, the singer-songwriter’s first release with Nashville Harbor Records & Entertainment, marks the most personal and emotionally resonant chapter of her career to-date. Co-produced alongside Julian Raymond and Ric Wake, the album reflects a profound shift in perspective, embracing vulnerability, growth, and creative clarity, drawing directly from Jones’ evolution as a songwriter and her experience on the road. Caroline’s earlier releases include Homesite (2023), featuring guest appearances from Zac Brown Band and Vince Gill, and Antipodes (2021), which debuted at No. 4 on the iTunes Country Chart and spawned her first Top 30 Country radio hit, “Come In (But Don’t Make Yourself Comfortable).” Alongside her solo work, Jones has collaborated with and toured alongside artists including Jimmy Buffett, Kenny Chesney, the Eagles, Carrie Underwood, Faith Hill, Tim McGraw, and Trisha Yearwood.
Tim Reynolds – With a career spanning almost forty years, guitarist and sonic innovator Tim Reynolds is best known for his seemingly effortless guitar virtuosity, his masterful command of melody and timing, and for his uncanny ability to improvise on any instrument he touches. He’s explored almost every musical style, from rock, jazz and blues to classical and reggae, and his wide-ranging talent is evident each time he picks up his acoustic or electric guitar. Technically brilliant, yet emotionally honest, Reynolds’ music is inspired and authentic. After moving to Charlottesville, VA, Reynolds guitar-playing flourished and he added psychedelic and progressive rock to his burgeoning repertoire of music. It was in the mid-1980s that Reynolds founded his breakthrough electric power trio, TR3 (Tim Reynolds Trio), known for their fusion of funk, rock, and jazz. He toured with TR3 during the 1980s and 1990s, using a rotating cast of musicians. It was at this time he met and befriended Dave Matthews, and their ongoing musical collaboration began. Reynolds eventually relocated to Santa Fe, NM, to pursue a solo acoustic career. He spent the 1990s and 2000s on the road as a solo guitar wizard playing for packed houses and to crowds who quickly determined that he is one of the most talented and thoughtful musicians on the circuit today. Tim Reynolds continues to surprise and delight his fans with rare solo acoustic performances throughout the country. Following a number of years in New Mexico, Reynolds moved back to the East Coast to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. After a chance meeting with two talented musicians, bass player Mick Vaughn and drummer Dan Martier, a few rehearsals later, and several stealth appearances throughout North Carolina, Reynolds decided to resurrect the electric TR3. TR3 has been touring since 2007 and have released a number of albums. Tim Reynolds is currently lead guitarist for the Dave Matthews Band and performs as one-half of the acoustic Dave Matthews-Tim Reynolds duo.
Mandy Patinkin – Over more than four decades, Mandy Patinkin has been fortunate to carve out a varied and multifaceted career in theater, film, television, and music. In 1980, Mandy won a Tony Award for his Broadway debut as Che in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Evita, and was nominated again in 1984 for his role as George in Stephen Sondheim’s Sunday in the Park with George. Mandy began his concert career in 1989 at Joseph Papp’s Public Theater in New York City. Since then he has performed his various solo concerts (Dress Concert, Mamaloshen, Celebrating Sondheim, Diaries, and Being Alive) on Broadway, in London’s West End, and on tour across North America, Australia, and New Zealand.
Notable collaborations include touring concerts with opera super-star Nathan Gunn, Broadway legend Patti LuPone, and The Last Two People on Earth: An Apocalyptic Vaudeville, with MacArthur “Genius Grant” recipient Taylor Mac (directed by Susan Stroman). Film and TV credits include: The Princess Bride, Wonder, Picket Fences, Dick Tracy, Ragtime, The Doctor, Homeland, Criminal Minds, Dead Like Me, and Chicago Hope.
Samantha Fish –One of the most formidable guitarists of her generation, Samantha Fish deals in her own unmatched brand of bravado, bringing both mind-blowing power and extraordinary emotionality to everything she creates. Since first introducing the world to her larger-than-life talent, the multi-award-winning festival headliner has built a triumphant career whose latest milestones include earning a Grammy nomination for Death Wish Blues (her 2023 collaboration with rocker Jesse Dayton). On her new album Paper Doll, Fish offers up nine powerhouse songs that hit with an unstoppable force, each delivered with an exquisite dose of illuminating insight, soul-soothing empathy, and—above all—newly heightened clarity of vision. Paper Doll marks the latest entry in an adventurous catalog that’s found her working with luminaries like Jon Spencer as well as Luther Dickinson (co-founder of North Mississippi Allstars and former member of the Black Crowes). This time around, Fish reunited with Detroit garage-rock icon Bobby Harlow, who also produced her 2017 LP Chills & Fever. Other career highlights include sharing the stage with Buddy Guy, gracing the cover of Guitar World with Slash, performing at Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Festival, and touring with both Slash and The Rolling Stones.
Travis –Travis are a Scottish alternative rock band formed at Glasgow’ School of Art in the 1990’s, composed of Fran Healy (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Dougie Payne (bass guitar, backing vocals), Andy Dunlop (lead guitar, banjo, backing vocals) and Neil Primrose (drums, percussion). The band released their debut album Good Feeling (1997) and opened for Oasis on tour in both the UK and USA. The band gained greater success with their second album, The Man Who (1999), which was certified 9 times platinum with over 2.7 million in the UK alone. Their third album, Invisible Band (2001) went quadruple platinum and debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart featuring “Sing” and “Side,” which gained international popularity on MTV. The Boy with No Name was released in 2007 and the band teamed up with their friend and actor Ben Stiller for the video to their single “Closer.” Travis’ most recent album L.A. Times (2024) was launched with a headlining tour of the United States and Europe, plus opening for The Killers on a UK Tour.
Natalie Tenenbaum – Composer, pianist, music producer/director and singer-songwriter, recognized equally on the stages of Carnegie Hall, SXSW and Broadway for “sparkling… consistently invigorating” (The New York Times) performances. A graduate of The Juilliard School, Tenenbaum breaks the boundaries between classical composition, popular storytelling, and improvisational jazz to create acoustic and electro-acoustic concert music for a wide scope of ensembles, soloists, organizations and artistic disciplines. Based in New York, Tenenbaum has appeared with orchestras in the U.S., Europe, Israel, and Asia, premiering her own compositions and real-time composition/improvisations at venues including The Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, Madison Square Garden, Carnegie Hall, The Apollo Theater, Merkin Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Harvard University, Austin’s SXSW, Berlin’s Konzerthaus, Jerusalem Music Center, and Korea’s National Theater.
In 2022, Tenenbaum created arrangements and orchestrations for Lang Lang’s recent album release with the London’s Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and composed an original work for Lang Lang and Pentatonix. She has also recorded arrangements and original music for the Steinway Spirio R piano catalog. Natalie Tenenbaum has been featured in NBC’s Maya & Marty as associate Music Director, performing with guests such as Maya Rudolph, Martin Short, Steve Martin, Emma Stone, Kenan Thompson, and Nick Jonas. On Broadway, Tenenbaum has created arrangements for Tina Fey’s musical Mean Girls and worked with David Byrne on American Utopia (2021-2022). Natalie Tenanbaum is a Nord Artist and a Yamaha Artist.
Kerry Ellis – The London West End/Broadway singer who originated the role of Meat in Queen’s “We Will Rock You” musical and was the first British Elphaba in London’s West End “Wicked.” Kerry Ellis then immediately transferred to Broadway and played Elphaba at the Gershwin Theater for 6 months, where she won the Broadway.com “Audience Award for Favorite Female Breakthrough Performance,” before returning to London for 6 months in 2009. Her many other leading role credits include Eliza Doolittle in “My Fair Lady,” Ellen in “Miss Saigon” and Fantine in “Les Misérables.”Kerry Ellis also played Svetlana to critical acclaim in Chess at London’s Royal Albert Hall opposite Idina Menzel and Josh Groban. She is a frequent music collaborator with Queen guitarist Sir Brian May. Kerry Ellis recently released her 4th studio album “Kings & Queens” featuring Sir Brian May on the song “Battlefield.”
K.F. Jacques – Hip-Hop artist, singer and songwriter who combines hip-hop with opera. K.F. Jacques is the award-winning creator of the hip hop opera genre bending sound called OperaTronic. K.F. Jacques recently performed at the Chicago House of Blues and sang the national anthem at the United Center, U.S. Cellular Field, and Soldier Field. He composed “Corsair” for the Chicago Fringe Opera which was awarded Best New Opera Production in 2020 by the Chicago Reader. In 2022, K.F. Jacques wrote a song for TEDxWrigleyville which was subsequently filmed at Wrigley Field in Chicago. K.F. Jacques served as the head composer and played the role of Figaro in the “Rosina Project,” which is a hip-hop opera version of The Barber of Seville. K.F. Jacques holds a Master of Music degree in Voice Performance from Roosevelt University.
Ari Hest – GRAMMY® Award Nominated Singer/Songwriter for his duets album with Judy Collins. Ari Hest built a loyal following touring the college circuit extensively between 2000 and 2003, after which he released two albums on Columbia Records, Someone To Tell (2004) and The Break-In (2007). Ari Hest has performed in the U.S. and abroad with artists like The Indigo Girls, Martin Sexton, Judy Collins and Suzanne Vega. Many of Ari Hest’s songs have appeared on TV and film – The Path, The Lincoln Lawyer, Private Practice, Army Wives, and One Tree Hill to name a few.
Toby Lightman – Singer/Songwriter whose single “My Sweet Song” was featured in the movie P.S., I Love You. Toby Lightman, winner of the first ever SONA Emerging Songwriter Warrior Award presented by YouTube Songwriters in 2025, has captivated audiences with her soulful voice and heartfelt songwriting since her Lava Records debut album Little Things landed on the Billboard Top 100. She has toured with Rob Thomas, Jewel, Train, Prince, and many others. With more than 100 song placements across TV, film, and advertising, Lightman has found great success not only with her own original recordings, but also composing and producing original music for broadcasts including PBS’s Sesame Street and Donkey Hodie, American Girl, Hasbro’s My Little Pony, and many more. Toby Lightman is a newly elected Governor of the Recording Academy’s New York Chapter and co-chair of its Songwriting and Composing Committee.
Sammi Palinkas – Contemporary country singer-songwriter from Melbourne, Australia. Sammi Palinkas recently performed the National Anthem at the Victoria Football League Women’s Grand Final. Her first single “Meet in the Middle” debuted at #3 in the Australian iTunes Country Music chart. Her follow-up singles including “You’ve Lived” and “Don’t Blink” debuted at #5 in the Australian iTunes Country Music chart. Sammi Palinkas developed her songwriting craft in Australia and the U.S. (LA, New York, and Nashville), collaborating with renowned songwriters and producers including Andrew Bolooki (Selena Gomez, The Weekend, Post Malone), Sally Barris (Trisha Yearwood, Martina McBride, LeeAnn Womack), and Templeton Thompson (Reba McEntire, Little Texas).
Brooklyn Rider – Celebrating twenty years of shared musical exploration, Brooklyn Rider originated in a living room, four friends in search of an outlet for their curiosities. Through thoughtful programmatic framing, deep-rooted collaborations, and innovative commissioning projects, Brooklyn Rider has used the medium at every point in their adventurous journey as a vehicle for exploration and discovery. The quartet recently presented a mini festival “Brooklyn Rider; Twenty Years At Play” at Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival as well as a special concert at Tanglewood which featured the Schubert Cello Quintet alongside the quartet’s friend and mentor Yo-Yo Ma. In recent years, the quartet has made regular appearances in many of the major musical centers of North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia – from Zurich’s Tonhalle, Carnegie Hall, the Pierre Boulez Saal in Berlin, the Sydney Opera House, the National Centre for Performing Arts in Beijing, and London’s Wigmore Hall. Comfortable in a wide range of performance outlets, they have also appeared on the main stage of the Telluride Bluegrass Festival, at Austin’s South by Southwest Music Festival, and in two NPR Tiny Desk Concerts. Brooklyn Rider has been the long-standing resident string quartet of the Vail Dance Festival, collaborating with many of the finest dancers and choreographers of our time.
Brooklyn Rider has had a voracious appetite for collaboration since their inception, encapsulating their wide-ranging projects and programmatic frames and giving rise to NPR Music’s observation that Brooklyn Rider is “recreating the 300-year-old form of string quartet as a vital and creative 21st-century ensemble.” The 2021-22 season boasted two unique partnerships: one with Israeli mandolin virtuoso Avi Avital, and the other a new chapter of work with Swedish mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter (following So Many Things on Naïve Records, 2016). 2022’s The Stranger (Avie Records) with tenor Nicholas Phan was nominated for a 2023 Grammy® award and made numerous best-of lists, including The New Yorker. In fall 2018, Brooklyn Rider released Dreamers on Sony Music Masterworks with Mexican jazz vocalist Magos Herrera which topped charts and garnered a Grammy® nomination for best arrangement (Gonzalo Grau’s “Niña”). Other collaborators include former NYC Ballet prima ballerina Wendy Whelan, banjo icon Béla Fleck, jazz saxophonist Joshua Redman, Syrian clarinetist Kinan Azmeh, and the Iranian kamancheh virtuoso Kayhan Kalhor.
Benedict Kloeckner – Cellist and winner of numerous international competitions, Benedict Kloeckner performs regularly with prestigious orchestras such as the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of London, the Radio Sinfonieorchester Berlin, the Deutsche Radiophilharmonie, NDR Radiophilharmonie, Mozarteum Orchester Salzburg, and the Munich Chamber Orchestra. His career has led him to collaborate with renowned conductors, including Daniel Barenboim, Christoph Eschenbach, Cristian Măcelaru, and Sir Simon Rattle. Benedict Kloeckner has performed in some of the world’s greatest concert halls including the Berlin Philharmonie, Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, the Musikverein in Vienna, the Tonhalle in Zurich, and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. He is a regular guest at international festivals, sharing the stage with artists such as Emanuel Ax, Lisa Batiashvili, Gidon Kremer, and Anne-Sophie Mutter. For over 10 years, Benedict Kloeckner has been artistic director of the Koblenz International Music Festival IMUKO which he founded (his performance tonight was recorded at IMUKO). Benedict Kloeckner is a Professor at the École Normale de Musique de Paris.
HAEVN – Dutch indie pop project from Amsterdam founded by vocalist/songwriter Marijn van der Meer and composer Jorrit Kleijnen. Their collaboration together began as a studio project when they were asked to compose music for a BMW commercial. Their music blends cinematic musical landscapes with infectious pop hooks. HAEVN is currently on a massive 2026 European tour with stops at iconic venues including London’s O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire, Le Trianon in Paris, and the Stadthalle in Vienna.
Paul Thorn – An American southern rock, country, Americana, and blues singer-songwriter and guitarist originally from Tupelo, Mississippi. Paul Thorn has performed on stage with Bonnie Raitt, Mark Knopfler, String, and John Prime among many others. He’s also appeared on major television shows including “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” and “Jimmy Kimmel Live.” He has been the subject of numerous National Public Radio (NPR) features and has charted multiple times on the Billboard Top 100 and Americana Radio Charts. Paul Thorn also contributed a track to the 2014 Looking Into You: A Tribute To Jackson Browne with his version of “Doctor My Eyes,” an album which also features tracks by Bruce Springsteen, Bonnie Raitt, Lyle Lovett, the Indigo Girls, Lucinda Williams, Keb’ Mo’, Ben Harper, and Don Henley.
John D’earth – Jazz trumpeter and former Director of Jazz Performance at the University of Virginia. John D’earth performs trumpet every Thursday night at Miller’s in Charlottesville. John D’earth has performed/recorded with the Dave Matthews Band and arranged the string orchestrations (for the Kronos Quartet) on their album Before These Crowded Streets. His trumpet playing is featured on the Dave Matthews Band song “Halloween.” John D’earth is a frequently sought after jazz trumpeter and has performed with an amazing list of leaders including Buddy Rich, Lionel Hampton, Miles Davis/Quincy Jones at Montreaux, Tito Puente, Pat Metheny, Joe Henderson, Clark Terry, John Abercrombie, and John Scofield, as well as pop stars Bruce Hornsby, Bonnie Raitt, Stevie Wonder, and the Dave Matthews Band. John D’earth is the co-founder of the Free Bridge Quintet, was the music director for Cosmology (which became the Thompson D’earth Band) with his late wife vocalist/songwriter Dawn Thompson, and also leads his own quartet/quintet/sextet. John D’earth also has written music for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, the San Diego Symphony, and the Richmond Symphony.
Seungming Kang – Known for her uniquely fearless, intense yet sensitive artistry, cellist Seung-Min Kang made her orchestral debut with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra at age eleven. Since then, she has performed with all the leading orchestras in South Korea, including the Suwon Philharmonic and Incheon Philharmonic. Seungming Kang studied cello in Berlin at the Hochshule fur Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin where she received her Konzertexamen Diploma. As a soloist, she has appeared with the Mariinsky Orchestra, the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Tokyo Philharmonic, Schleswig-Holstein Festival Orchestra, and the Monte Carlo Philharmonic, among many others. She is a regular guest at prestigious festivals and venues such as the International Mariinsky Far East Festival, Philharmonie Berlin, Konzerthaus Berlin, Schleswig-Holstein Festival, and the Seoul Spring Festival. A laureate of the prestigious Queen Elisabeth Competition in Belgium in 2017, her recording of Toshio Hosokawa’s Cello Concerto was selected as part of the competition’s official CD release. This recording attracted various medias such as RTBF, Canvas, Le Soir, and The Strad Japan. In addition, she won fifth prize at the 2015 International Tchaikovsky Cello Competition in St. Petersburg, Russia and the Special Prize at the 2009 Rostropovich Cello Competition in Paris.
Secconi Quartet – Formed in 2001, the Secconi Quartet share an unwavering passion for the string quartet repertoire, infectiously reaching out to audiences with their energy and enthusiasm. The Sacconis enjoy a busy international career and are Quartet in Association at the Royal College of Music. Unchanged since its inception, Sacconi is Britain’s longest-established string quartet. The Sacconi Chamber Music Festival in Folkestone is firmly established among the UK’s major chamber music festivals and attracts audiences from afar with its vibrant atmosphere and dynamic programming. The name Sacconi Quartet comes from the outstanding twentieth-century Italian luthier and restorer Simone Sacconi, whose book The Secrets of Stradivari is considered an indispensable reference for violin makers. Ben Hancox plays a 1932 Sacconi violin and Robin Ashwell a 1934 Sacconi viola, both made in New York. Hannah Dawson plays a 1927 Sacconi violin made in Rome, and Cara Berridge plays a Nicolaus Gagliano cello from 1781. Their gratitude extends to the Royal Society of Musicians and Ellen Solomon for generously providing them with these exceptional instruments.
H.E.Y. Trio – String Trio comprised of graduates from the Curtis Institute of Music. Violinist Hsuan-Hao Hsu studied with Joseph Silverstein and Pamela Frank. In 2017, he toured the United States with the Curtis Chamber Orchestra, performing Mozart’s Violin Concerto No.1. Since 2023, he has served as concertmaster of the Wan Sha Chamber Orchestra in Taiwan. En-Chi Cheng is a Taiwanese violist based in New York City. He’s a graduate of The Juilliard School where he received the Kovner Fellowship and Curtis Institute of Music. He has held the principal viola chair of the Curtis Symphony Orchestra, Juilliard Orchestra, Moritzburg Academy Chamber Orchestra, amongst others. Since 2019, Cheng has been an Associate Member of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and performs in New York’s top ensembles, including the New York Philharmonic, New York Classical Players, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. He also frequently appears with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Cellist Yu-Wen Wang has served as Principal Cellist in the Lima Symphony Orchestra as well as Assistant Principal Cellist in the Akron Symphony Orchestra. She was a cellist in the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and National Symphony Orchestra (Taiwan Philharmonic) for many years. Currently, she plays as a substitute musician in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. In 2017, she performed at the National Concert Hall in Taipei for its 30th-anniversary celebration. As an active chamber musician, Yu-Wen Wang has performed at numerous chamber music festivals, including Music@Menlo, Caramoor Rising Stars Program, and the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival.
Mark Wood – Electric violinist who rose to fame as the original string master of the multi-platinum selling, internationally acclaimed Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Mark Wood also is an Emmy award-winning composer, producer, and music education advocate. In addition to his continued solo and commission work, Mark Wood has collaborated with some of the biggest names in music such as Billy Joel, Celine Dion, and Lenny Kravitz. As a member of his touring band, Wood had the honor of performing with Billy Joel for both historic final concerts at Shea stadium, sharing the stage with Paul McCartney, Steven Tyler, and Roger Daltry. He also starred in a national Pepsi TV commercial and has performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and Madison Square Garden. His commission credits include The Juilliard School and extensive TV broadcast music including The Winter Olympics and The Tour de France (for which he won an Emmy). Mark Wood began his career with a full scholarship to Juilliard School in New York and studied under Leonard Bernstein at the Tanglewood Music Program. He first turned the string establishment on its head in the early 1970’s with his invention of the first solid body electric violin. His company Wood Violins is a premier manufacturer of electric violins (including the Viper), violas, and cellos worldwide, and he holds the patent for the first-ever self-supporting violin.
Calista Del Toro – Singer-songwriter from South El Monte, California, known for her laid-back soulful pop sound. She has performed at popular venues including The Troubadour, The Mint, Whisky A Go Go, and Viper Room.
Jennifer Kosharsky – Chicago-based dramatic mezzo-soprano known for her distinctly beautiful and powerful voice. Recent highlights include performances with The Joffrey Ballet in Yuri Possokhov’s Anna Karenina by Ilya Demutsky at both the Lyric Opera of Chicago and The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Jennifer Kosharsky’s singing is currently featured in a national Eli Lilly commercial for Zepbound performing the famous aria “Habanera” from the opera Carmen. She recently made her South American debut in the powerhouse role of Amneris in Verdi’s Aida in Medellín, Colombia.
Dave Douglas – Jazz trumpeter, composer, and educator. Dave Douglas’ unique contributions to improvised music have garnered distinguished recognition, including a Doris Duke Artist Award, a Guggenheim Fellowship, an Aaron Copland award, and two GRAMMY® Award nominations. In 2000, Dave Douglas composed El Trilogy for the Trisha Brown Dance Company and toured internationally with the dance troupe. Dave Douglas played trumpet in John Zorn’s Masada Quartet. Douglas’ career spans more than 60 unique original records as a leader and more than 500 published works. He has composed music for the Norddeutscher Rundfunk, Essen Philharmonie, The Library of Congress, and Stanford University. In 2005, Dave Douglas founded the independent music label Greenleaf Music which continues to support jazz artists. Dave Douglas has won DownBeat Magazine’s “Trumpeter of the Year” 11 times.
The Beacons – Rock band of gastroenterologists from the American College of Gastroenterology featuring Patrick Young, MD, FACG (bass and vocals), Costas Kefalas, MD, FACG (drums/percussion), John Saltzman, MD, FACG (guitar), Samir Shah, MD, FACG (vocals), Daniel Pambianco, MD, FACG (guitar), Benjamin Levy, MD, FACG (cello), and Thomas Ullman, MD (guitar).
Benjamin Levy, MD, FACG, is a board-certified Gastroenterologist at the University of Chicago. His clinical projects focus on health care disparities and developing colorectal cancer screening campaigns. Previously as Division Head of Gastroenterology at Mount Sinai Hospital, Dr. Levy organized a gastroenterology clinic for refugees resettling in Chicago. Dr. Levy served for 6 years as a member of ACG’s Public Relations Committee and FDA-Related Matters Committee.
After graduating as a music major at the University of Virginia, Benjamin Levy completed a Fulbright Fellowship performing music research with the Orchestre de Paris and the Opéra national de Paris. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Levy started an international health education campaign named “Concerts & Cocktails” that teamed up musicians with physicians and nurses on the front lines. Dr. Levy was subsequently selected to be a TEDx speaker @TEDxWrigleyville – “Humanity: An Inside View of the Pandemic.” An avid cellist, Dr. Levy recently served as co-chair of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s Soundpost Series.
Special Thanks
PianoForte Chicago
Rishi Productions
Ms. Katie Couric
William D. Chey, MD, MACG, ACG President
Ronald K. Hsu, MD, FACG
Reezwana Chowdhury, MD, FACG, Chair, ACG Public Relations Committee
ACG Public Relations Committee