Cellist Eric Kutz has captivated audiences throughout both North America and Europe. In 2015 he joined the faculty of the University of Maryland School of Music, where he holds the Barbara Steppel Memorial Cello Fellowship. He had previously been cello professor at Luther College from 2002.  He is active as a teacher, a chamber musician, an orchestral musician, and a soloist.  His diverse collaborations cut across musical styles, and have ranged from cellist Yo-Yo Ma to jazz great Ornette Coleman.  New York Concert Review praised Kutz for possessing a "noble dignity and pure, focused tone," in its recent review of the Murasaki Duo's Carnegie Hall concert.  

For four years Mr. Kutz was the cellist of the Chester String Quartet, which was in residence at Indiana University South Bend. In 1997 Mr. Kutz traveled to the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow as a visiting artist, performing new chamber works by American composers. He has been broadcast live on WQXR and WNYC, both of New York City, as well as PBS television's Live from Lincoln Center. Recently Mr. Kutz has appeared as a soloist with the Des Moines Symphony, the Malibu Coast Chamber Orchestra, the Danbury Symphony, the Symphony of the Potomac, the Capital City Symphony, the University of Maryland Symphony Orchestra, and the Luther College Symphony. As an orchestral musician, Mr. Kutz spends his summers as a member of the Grant Park Orchestra in Chicago. He has appeared in the sections of the New York Philharmonic, the National Symphony Orchestra, the Minnesota Orchestra, and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra.

Mr. Kutz holds degrees from the Juilliard School and Rice University. He performs on a cello by Raffaele Fiorini (Bologna, 1877).

Acclaimed by New York Concert Review as "both a virtuosic and a musicianly performer," Miko Kominami gave her New York Solo Debut Recital at Carnegie's Weill Recital Hall after winning the 1996 Artists International Award. Since then, Ms. Kominami has concertized extensively throughout North America, including performances in New York City, Chicago, Boston, and Toronto. She has been featured on Maine and Iowa public radio stations. Ms. Kominami has also appeared as soloist with Orchestra Iowa (three times), the Danbury Symphony, the Kishwaukee Symphony, the Symphony of the Potomac, the Luther College Symphony and Chamber Orchestras, and the Indiana University South Bend Philharmonic. She is the recipient of numerous awards and prizes including a Canada Council Arts Grant, and First Prize at the 1996 Concerto Soloists' Competition in Philadelphia.

Ms. Kominami holds both Bachelor and Master of Music Degrees from the Juilliard School in New York City, as well as the Piano Performance Certificate from the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. Her principal teachers were Oxana Yablonskaya and Alla Zacarelli. Ms. Kominami is currently a piano faculty member at Luther College, and is the Principal Keyboardist of Orchestra Iowa.