From his home in Portland, Jerry Bobbe maintains dual careers as both a professional cellist and internationally respected numismatist. Mr. Bobbe's primary teachers included Frank Miller, former Principal Cellist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Georg Solti, and the celebrated Karl Fruh. He served as Principal Cellist in both the Chicago Chamber Orchestra and the Chicago Civic Orchestra, Assistant Principal in the Milwaukee (Wisconsin) Symphony, and Principal Cellist of the Florida Orchestra. For more than a decade, he served as Principal Cellist of the Vancouver (Washington) Symphony, appearing three times as soloist with that organization. Jerry was named Portland's Best Cellist in Willamette Week's 1994 "Best of Portland" issue, where he was pictured on the front cover as his Charlie Chaplin cello-playing alter ego. In 2007, Jerry and Maria Choban completed a recording together of the sonatas of Barber, Villa-Lobos, and Muczynski, under the Alitisa label, entitled "St. Elvis, Back in the Building." Upcoming performances include a brown bag Rachmaninoff program with Kristy Moore at The Old Church on Sept. 11, and an appearance as soloist in Schelomo with the Tualatin Valley Symphony on Oct. 27. Jerry performs on a cello of the Venetian master Eugenio Degani, dated 1891.

Margaret Bloomfield Margaret had early training as a classical pianist in the U.K., and in the U.S. at Tufts University, while pursuing dual undergraduate degrees in the fields of German and French. After several years teaching she pursued her M.A. and Ph.D. studies in Comparative Literature at the University of Michigan. For two decades Margaret taught at corporations and universities in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Oregon. Once in Portland she added Nonprofit Management to her professional portfolio, with a specialty in the management of arts organizations. She co-directs a philanthropic foundation benefitting underserved communities through nonprofits that provide arts & humanities programming, creative educational opportunities, and health initiatives. Margaret put her soul back on its daily diet of piano practice in 2015. She is a Director of Classical Revolution PDX (CRPDX), and is active in Portland's classical music scene, hosting house concerts and playing for CRPDX, retirement communities, Big Mouth Society, Portland Piano International fundraising events and, most recently, a Friends of Chamber Music house concert benefit. She is currently writing an article based on in-depth interviews with Portland Piano International's Rising Star pianists. An avid tango dancer, Margaret has expanded her pianistic interests to include tango, with the goal of providing live tango music for Portland tango house concerts.

Sylvia Gray Sylvia Gray is an Instructor of History at Portland Community College and recently achieved her doctorate (Ed.D.). Apart from that, her great love is music, which she has pursued as an avocation throughout her entire life. She has taught piano, played for weddings and receptions, and accompanied for over 25 years. She has presented a number of performances on Amy Beach and Fanny Mendelssohn, and she has composed and performed art songs to local poetry. She studies with Dr. Susan DeWitt Smith, who encouraged her to participate in the Van Cliburn Fifth International Piano Competition for Outstanding Amateurs in 2007, where she met her husband, Viktors Berstis. She currently performs in a trio with Stacey Minkoff, violin, and Jerry Bobbe, cello. She and Viktors host monthly House Concerts of classical music, mostly by local musicians.

Kevin Minkoff, CPA, PC, specializes in taxation, computerization and management consulting for small and medium sized businesses. Between his own CPA expertise, his fantastic team of bookkeepers, and his on-staff Quickbooks Certified Professionals, business clients have been receiving fantastic service since 1997. Kevin Minkoff got his thespian start singing and dancing his way through high school productions of Anything Goes, Plain & Fancy, and Babes in Arms. He also starred in community theatre productions of Oklahoma!, 110 in the Shade, Brigadoon, The Pajama Game, No, No Nannette throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. From 1977 through 1979, Kevin performed in Marriott's Great America theme park's Bugs Bunny Show where one year he starred as "Sunny Day" in the Sunny Day Show by day, dj'd Rue Le Disco at night. Around the Portland metro area Kevin appeared in Oliver! at the Lakewood Theatre and the Music Man and The Melody Lingers On for Clackamas Repertory Theatre. Currently, Kevin sings the Sounds of Sinatra at Pompello's Italian Restaurant in Troutdale the first Friday evening of every month. After moving to Monterey, CA, in 1990 - he joined the choir of the local synagogue. Shortly afterward he was asked to substitute for the volunteer handling the cantorial work. Within a year he was full-time cantoring for Shabbat services, Bar and Bat Mitzvahs, weddings, and funerals. He has not canted for many years now and is pleased to be invited to sing the Kol Nidre.

The most important things in Stacey Minkoff's life are culture, art, and music. These forces have shaped her life, and she believes they have the power to shape our world. After a long break she recently returned to Portland State University where she received her B.A. in Arts and Letters - Magna Cum Laude, studying violin with Carol Sindel and viola with Adam LaMotte. She has adjudicated violin and viola for the California Music Teachers Association (CMTA), and has recorded two albums on classical baritone ukulele, "et the Baroqueleles" and "A Baroquelele Christmas," available on CD Baby and iTunes.