Madeline Adkins, violin
Violinist Madeline Adkins joined the Utah Symphony as Concertmaster in September 2016. Prior to this appointment, she was a member of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO), performing as Associate Concertmaster from 2005-2016. She was also Concertmaster of the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra from 2008-2016. Adkins performs on the “ex-Chardon” Guadagnini of 1782, graciously loaned by Gabrielle Israelievitch to perpetuate the legacy of her late husband, former Toronto Symphony concertmaster, Jacques Israelievitch (1948 – 2015).
She has served as Guest Concertmaster of the Pittsburgh Symphony, the Cincinnati Symphony, the Houston Symphony, the Hong Kong Philharmonic, the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, the Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra, and the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra in Chicago. Adkins has also been a guest artist at numerous festivals including the Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Festival in South Africa, the Sarasota Music Festival, Jackson Hole Chamber Music, Music in the Mountains, and the Sewanee Summer Music Festival, as well as a clinician at the National Orchestral Institute, the National Youth Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, and the Haitian Orchestra Institute. In addition, she has served as the Music Director of the NOVA Chamber Music Series in Salt Lake City.
Whittney Thomas, viola
First prize winner in the 2006 Pasadena Showcase Instrumental Competition, and second place senior laureate of the 2007 Sphinx Competition, violist Whittney Thomas just completed a two-year fellowship in Japan playing with the Hyogo Performing Arts Center Orchestra. Her past summers have included participating in the Schleswig Holstein Orchestral Academy as the principal viola, where she toured Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Spain and Turkey; as well as the Sarasota Music Festival, Music Academy of the West, Aspen Music Festival, the La Jolla Music Society’s SummerFest, and many more.
As an avid chamber musician, Whittney collaborated closely with Midori Goto for three years, playing and performing extensively throughout the United States.
Matthew Johnson, cello
Acting Principal Cellist Matthew Johnson has been a member of the Utah Symphony since 2010. He is a graduate of the University of Southern California, where he studied with Ron Leonard and Andrew Shulman. Prior to his appointment with the Utah Symphony, Matthew was a member of the Kansas City Symphony for six seasons. He has also performed in music festivals such as the Sarasota Music Festival and the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival in Germany, where he served as principal cellist.
A musician with Utah roots, Matthew moved to Salt Lake City from Massachusetts when he was 12 years old. He made his solo debut with the Utah Symphony at age 18 and was a student of Richard Hoyt and Utah Symphony cellist, John Eckstein. An avid chamber musician, Mr. Johnson has collaborated with such artists as Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Nicola Bennedetti, composers Steve Reich and Sir Harrison Birtwistle, and dancer Misty Copeland. Matthew is a regular performer on both the NOVA and Intermezzo Chamber Music Series.
Corbin Johnston, bass
Corbin Johnston joined the Utah Symphony as Associate Principal Bassist in 1999. Prior to his appointment in Utah he held Principal Bass positions with the Charleston and Charlotte Symphonies. His teachers were renowned bassists Lawrence Wolfe and Edwin Barker of the Boston Symphony.
As soloist, Corbin has performed concerti with the Charleston, Roanoke and Utah Symphonies and the Shenandoah Bach Festival Orchestra. Chamber music collaborations include performances with the Borromeo, Fry Street and Muir String Quartets, the Kandinsky Trio, the Canadian Brass, pianist James Tocco, soprano Henriette Schellenberg, and composers John Cage and Gunther Schuller. He has been a frequent guest at the Great Lakes, Park City, and Garth Newel Chamber Music Festivals and since 2000 has appeared annually on the NOVA Chamber Music Series. Mr. Johnston was the Artistic Director of the NOVA Chamber Music Series from 2004 to 2009.
Since 2005, Corbin has spent summer seasons performing at the Grand Teton Music Festival. Other summer festivals include the Oregon Bach Festival and the New Hampshire and Peninsula Music Festivals.
Keith Carrick, marimba
Keith Carrick joined the Utah Symphony as Principal Percussionist in 2012. From 2007 to 2012, he was Principal Percussionist of the Sarasota Orchestra, and appeared as guest soloist with the orchestra on several occasions. While in Sarasota, Keith was also on faculty at the State College of Florida. Keith has performed and taught extensively across North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia.
Keith can be heard on Andrew Beall’s album ‘Deliverance’ available through BMP records, and as a performer on the premiere performances and premiere recordings of Joan Tower’s Splendid Wood and Gunther Schuller’s Grand Concerto for Percussion and Keyboards available through Naxos Records. He has previously attended the Tanglewood Music Center, Verbier Festival, and the Music Academy of the West.
Jason Hardink, piano
A fearless interpreter of large-scale piano works both modern and historical, Jason Hardink’s recent repertoire includes the complete Michael Hersch The Vanishing Pavilions, Olivier Messiaen’s Vingt Regards sur l’Enfant-Jésus, the Liszt Transcendental Etudes paired with the Boulez Notations, and Wolfgang Rihm’s numbered Klavierstücke, all of which he performs from memory.
Much sought after as a chamber musician, Hardink has collaborated in recital with violinists Augustin Hadelich, Nicola Benedetti, and Phillip Setzer. His performances with Hadelich of Beethoven’s Sonata for Violin and Piano in G Major and the Stravinsky Divertimento were recently featured on Performance Today. He has appeared on chamber music series all over the U.S., including Music in Context, fEARnoMUSIC, Music on the Hill, Aperio Music of the Americas, Montana Chamber Music Society, and the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble. Hardink has performed solo works of Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin, Schumann, and Brahms on period instruments, and he has toured Norway with violinist Tor Johan Bøen performing the Grieg Sonatas for Violin and Piano on an 1853 Blüthner. He has performed concerti with conductors Donald Runnicles, Carlos Kalmar, and Brett Mitchell and regularly appears at the Grand Teton Music Festival every summer.