Meet the Players
NANCY BEAN, violinist, is Assistant Concertmaster of The Philadelphia Orchestra. A Seattle native and a graduate of The Curtis Institute of Music, she has appeared as soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Seattle Symphony, the Seattle Philharmonic, and the Concerto Soloists of Philadelphia. An active chamber musician, she is founder (in 1987) and first violinist of Wister Quartet and Artistic Director of the Philadelphia-based 1807 & Friends chamber ensemble. She has performed in chamber concerts with Emanuel Ax, Yefim Bronfman, Alicia de Larrocha, Radu Lupu, Garrick Ohlsson, Wolfgang Sawallisch, and Yo-Yo Ma.
BARBARA GOVATOS, violinist, received a Master of Music degree from the Juilliard School. She has collaborated as soloist and chamber musician with such artists as Riccardo Muti, Radu Lupu, Wolfgang Sawallisch, and the Emerson Quartet, and has appeared with the Dallas Symphony, Concerto Soloists of Philadelphia, and The Juilliard Orchestra. Ms. Govatos has been a member of the Philadelphia Orchestra’s first violins since 1982, is founder and director of the Academy Chamber Players, and is Music Director of the Delaware Chamber Music Festival. In the spring of 1998, Ms. Govatos performed as Assistant Concertmaster of the Maggio Musicale Festival in Florence, Italy, at the invitation of Zubin Mehta. Ms. Govatos plays a violin made by the brothers Hieronymus and Antonius Amati in Cremona, 1619.
Pamela Fay is a native of Vancouver, Canada. She is a graduate of the University of Toronto where she studied with Lorand Fenyves. She participated in the Banff Summer Music Festival where she was coached by William Primrose and members of the Hungarian String Quartet. She is a substitute with The Philadelphia Orchestra and is the violist of the Wister Quartet, 1807 & Friends chamber ensemble and the Amerita Chamber Players. She has performed in chamber concerts with Emanuel Ax, Yefim Bronfman, Alicia de Larrocha, Garrick Ohlsson, Andrew Davis, Janos Starker, Wolfgang Sawallisch and Yo-Yo Ma. She and her colleagues from Wister have recorded with Direct-to-Tape Records.
LLOYD SMITH, violoncellist, has been a member of The Philadelphia Orchestra since 1967 and has been its Assistant Principal cellist since 1988. A graduate of The Curtis Institute of Music, he has participated in the Marlboro Music Festivals and has appeared as soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Indianapolis Symphony, and other orchestras. Mr. Smith has been cellist of the Wister Quartet since its founding in 1987 and is a performing member of Philadelphia-based chamber ensemble 1807 & Friends as well as a member of its Board of Directors. He has performed frequently in The Philadelphia Orchestra Chamber Music Series, appearing with Emanuel Ax, Yefim Bronfman, Alicia de Larrocha,Garrick Ohlsson, Wolfgang Sawallisch and Yo-Yo Ma.
MICHAEL SHAHAN, RETIRED co-music director, double bassist and viola da gambist, studied bass at The Curtis Institute of Music with Roger Scott. After two seasons with The National Symphony in Washington, he joined The Philadelphia Orchestra in 1964, becoming Assistant (now Associate) Principal Bass in 1970. He is a member of the Philadelphia Chamber Ensemble, plays viola da gamba with The American Society of Ancient Instruments, and bass in The Philadelphia Jazz Quintet. He is responsible for many, if not most, of the basso continuo realizations performed by Amerita.
DAVYD BOOTH, RETIRED music director, studied violin at The New School of Music with Jascha Brodsky and keyboard with Susan Starr and Martha Massena. He has been a member of the Amerita Chamber Players for 51 years!, The Philadelphia Orchestra since 1973 and is a member of The Philarte Quartet and The Wister Quartet. He is much in demand as an accompanist, lecturer, and chamber player and was urged to play harpsichord by Herbert Light. He provides our enlightening verbal program notes.
The America-Italy Society of Philadelphia promotes friendship and cultural understanding between the Republic of Italy and the United States of America
