The Eclipse Chamber Orchestra, one of the nation's premiere chamber ensembles, is known for its exceptional performances and diverse repertoire.
The Musicians
Violins
Concertmaster - Malorie Blake Shin Concertmaster - Jennifer Kim Marina Aikawa Natasha Bogachek
Angelia Cho
Jan Chong
Glenn Donnellan
Joel Fuller
Hanna Lee Wanzhen Li
Peiming Lin Mae Lin Sally McLain
Regino Madrid
Susan Midkiff Joanna Owen Derek Powell Jing Qiao Jennifer Rickard Meredith Riley
Benjamin Scott Ikuku Takahashi Ryo Usami
Violas
Chiara Kingsley Dieguez
Mahoko Eguchi Andrew Eng Rebecca Epperson Ruth Wicker
Denise Wilkinson
Cellos
Eugena Chang Mark Evans
Britton Riley
Basses
Richard Barber Paul DeNola Jeffrey Weisner
Flutes
Carole Bean Alice Weinreb
Oboes
Harrison Linsey
Jamie Roberts
Clarinets
Paul Cigan
Theresa Wells Cigan
Bassoons
Steven Wilson
Erich Heckscher
Horns
Scott Fearing
Laurel Ohlson
Trumpets
Michael Harper Tim McCarthy
Timpani
Jason Niehoff
Abel Pereira
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Music Director
Abel Pereira was appointed principal horn of the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington DC in 2014 by Christoph Eschenbach. Abel was born in Porto, Portugal and since his first solo appearance at the age of 11, has developed an intense career of concert and masterclass activities in many international music festivals around the world. After graduating from Porto University, he continued his studies in Germany with Marie-Luise Neunecker before receiving his PhD in coaching/performance in 2012 also from Porto University.
In addition to his career as a horn player, he studied choral conducting with Gunter Argleb, orchestral conducting with Alvaro Salazar at Porto University, and attended post-graduate master classes with Professor Colin Matters, Jorma Panula and Sir Colin Davis at the Royal Academy of Music in London.
Pereira has won awards in competitions such as Leeuwarden International Horn Competition (Holland), Internationaller Instrumentalwettbewerb Markneukirchen (Germany), Concertino Praga (Czech Republic), National Wind Competition (Portugal), Conservatory Souza Lima (Brazil), Arouca´s City Hall (Portugal), National Radio Competition (Portugal) and European Master-Prize (England). He was a founding member of the ARZTIZ Woodwind Quintet, Porto Brass Quintet and Music Director of the Portuguese Horn Ensemble.
He has been invited to play, teach and conduct in some of the most prestigious International Music Festivals and Music Schools around the world, such as Miami Summer Music Festival, HALCYON New Hampshire, Stellenbosch Chamber Music Festival, Festival de Musique de Besançon, Ossiach Austria Festspiel, Salzburg Festival, BBC Proms, Diaghilev Festival Perm, Athens Music Fest, Baden-Baden Festspiel, Berlin Festspiel, Aspen Festival, Manly Mozart Festival (San Diego), Indiana University, Lynn University, Memphis University, Miami University, Curtis Institute, Berlin University, Kansas City University and Schleswig Holstein.
His solo discography includes: complete Mozart Horn Concerti, URTEXT version of Mozart´s fourth Concerto, Romantic Repertoire for Horn and Piano, R. Strauss 1st Horn Concerto and Mozart Sinfonia Concertante. In 2001 he recorded Mozar second Horn Concerto for the BBC TV Show "Mozart for Children”.
As a soloist he has played more than 60 solo concerts with many world class orchestras. He was a professor at ANSO (Lisbon University), ESMAE (Porto University), Royal College of Music (London) Guildhall School of Music (London) and Peabody Conservatory (Baltimore). During his career he held principal positions and has been guest principal with the Porto Symphony, Barcelona Symphony, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, London Philharmonic, Dallas Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Chicago Symphony and Berlin Philharmonic.
Pereira was in the jury for the European Union Youth Orchestra for 10 years. He did coaching and assistant conducting with the Ossiach Youth Orchestra in Austria, US National Orchestra Institute, US National Youth Orchestra and Schleswig Holstein Orchestra, German and European Youth Orchestras.
Was from 2017 to 2021 Principal Conductor of the Kennedy Center Youth Orchestra NSO/Summer Music Institute Orchestra. His conducting experience also includes performances with the Portuguese Philharmonic (Portugal), Porto Chamber Orchestra (Portugal), Lisbon Philharmonic (Portugal), Madrid Chamber Orchestra (Spain), Barcelona Classic Orchestra (Spain), Noya Symphony Orchestra (Spain), Vigo Philharmonic (Spain), Orchestra Sinfonica da Riminni (Italy), Vilnius Chamber Orchestra (Lithuania), Zadar Symphony (Croatia), Rio de Janeiro Orchestra (Brazil), San Jose Symphony (Costa Rica), Washington Philharmonic Orchestra and the National Symphony Orchestra (Washington DC).
He was appointed Music Director of the Eclipse Chamber Orchestra in 2016