MUSICIANS

Julie Andrijeski (violin) is a leading performer, scholar, and teacher of early music and dance.  Known for her “invigorating verve and imagination” (Washington Post) and “fiery and poetic depth” (Cleveland Plain Dealer), Andrijeski performs with diverse early music groups, mainly Atlanta Baroque Orchestra (Artistic Director/Concertmaster) and Quicksilver (Co-Director). In 2018 she was Apollo’s Fire’s concertmaster and soloist on tenor Karim Sulayman’s Grammy award-winning album Songs of Orpheus and is Music Director for Sulayman’s compelling theatrical production, Unholy Wars, that premiered at the Spoleto Festival in 2022.  Julie received her Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Case Western Reserve University in 2006 and joined the music faculty the following year. She is currently Head of the Historical Performance Practice Program at CWRU and continues to lead classes in early music performance practices and direct the baroque music and dance ensembles. In addition, she teaches baroque violin at the Cleveland Institute of Music.  Special teaching engagements have included a twice-yearly residency at the Juilliard School and invitations to lead dance and violin workshops at similar institutions across the country.  

In 2026, Julie was named a Distinguished Alumnus at the Lamont School of Music, University of Denver; and in 2016, she was awarded a Creative Workforce Fellowship from Cuyahoga County (Ohio) Arts and Culture and the Thomas Binkley Award from Early Music America in recognition for her outstanding achievement in performance and scholarship. 

 Julie is delighted to be performing on Rosette’s inaugural season!

Michael Sponseller is recognized as one of the outstanding American harpsichordists of his generation. A highly diversified career brings him to festivals and concert venues all around as a recitalist, concerto soloist, and active continuo performer on both harpsichord and organ. He studied at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music with Lisa Goode Crawford with additional studies at the Royal Conservatory of Music, The Hague. He has garnered prizes at the International Harpsichord Competitions of Bruges (1998, 2001) and Montréal (1999), as well as First Prizes at both the American Bach Soloists (1998) and Jurow International Harpsichord Competition (2002). He has appeared regularly as harpsichordist and continuo organist with several of American’s finest Baroque orchestras and ensembles, such as the Boston Early Music Festival (BEMF), Bach Collegium San Diego, Les Délices, Aston Magna, Tragicomedia, as well as Los Angeles Philharmonic, Chamber Society of Lincoln Center and can be heard on over 30 recordings, including two Grammy-nominated recordings with BEMF: Telemann’s Ino & Opera Arias for Soprano (2024) and Charpentier’s Les Plaisirs de Versailles (2020). At home, he has had a regular presence at Boston’s Emmanuel Music, having performed over 140 sacred cantatas of J.S. Bach. Early Music America Magazine has said of his performance, “His well-proportioned elegance carries the day quite stylishly.” Mr. Sponseller’s interest in pedagogy has led him to teaching at Eastman, Curtis, Oberlin, Longy and Cornell, as well as at Oberlin’s Baroque Performance Institute, and he is Associate Music Director of Bach Collegium San Diego.

Cynthia Roberts (violin)is one of America’s leading Baroque violinists and has appeared as soloist, leader, and recitalist throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. She has served as concertmaster of the New York Collegium, Clarion Music Society, and Les Arts Florissants. She performs regularly with Trinity Baroque Orchestra, Tafelmusik, and the Carmel Bach Festival. She has appeared with the London Classical Players, Taverner Players, American Bach Soloists, and Smithsonian Chamber Players, and was featured on the soundtrack of the film Casanova. She toured as concertmaster of Musica Angelica with John Malkovich in The Infernal Comedy: Confessions of a Serial Killer and appeared as soloist with the New World Symphony and Michael Tilson Thomas. Ms. Roberts teaches at the Juilliard School, the University of North Texas, and the Oberlin Baroque Performance Institute. She has given master classes at Eastman, Indiana University, the Cleveland Institute, Cornell, Rutgers, the Minsk Conservatory, the Leopold Mozart Zentrum in Augsburg, the Utrecht Early Music Festival, the Shanghai Conservatory, and the Jeune Orchestre Atlantique in Santes, France. Her recording credits include Sony, Analekta, and BMG/Deutsche Harmonia Mundi.

Phoebe Carrai (cello) followed her path to Salzburg, Austria to do post graduate studies in early music with Niklaus Harnencourt, after finishing her studies at New England Conservatory in Boston. She became a member of Musica Antiqua Köln in 1983, making 40 discs for Deutsche Gramophone and teaching at the Hillversum Conservatory in Holland. Ms. Carrai taught at the Conservatory of the Arts in Berlin, Germany, for sixteen years and is now on the faculties of the Juilliard School, and the Longy School of Music of Bard College. She directed the Harvard Baroque Chamber Orchestra along side Sarah Darling for 19 years and will be starting Charles River Baroque with her this coming fall. She also co directed The International Baroque Institute at Longy for 25 years and was a jurist in both 2012, 2016 and 2024 at the International Bach Competition in Leipzig as well as the Barbash JS Bach competition in 2022. Ms. Carrai teaches at Aria camp, and at the Amherst Early Music festival and was a mentor at the Sitka International cello seminar in Sitka, Alaska. Ms. Carrai directs Baroque Cello Bootcamp now in its 18th year. In addition to chamber music and solo appearances, Ms. Carrai performs regularly with Upper Valley Baroque , Grammy award winning Boston Early Music Festival Orchestra and Chamber and Trio Langostino. Ms. Carrai's recording of the six Bach suites for solo Violoncello and Duets of August Kummer can be found on the Avie label. She joined forces with cellist, Beiliang Zhu and recorded a duo cello CD called “Out of Italy “ that was released on Avie Records in 2019. She has also recorded for Harmonia Mundi, Deutsche Gramophone, Aetma,Telarc, Decca and BMG.