Camerata Notturna Welcomes Three New Members

We are delighted to welcome three extraordinary new members to Camerata Notturna in this 2016-17 season:
Reed Collins (violin), Kathryn Peterson (French horn), and Channing Yu (violin).
Reed Collins, an attorney Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, has performed around the world as a violinist with the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra and the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra; at Carnegie Hall with the NAfME All-Eastern Orchestra; and in Moscow's Red Square under the distant baton of Valery Gergiev as part of the 800-plus member "Youth Orchestra of the World." On the piano, he appeared as soloist with the North Penn Symphony Orchestra as a winner of its concerto competition. He enjoys playing chamber music, particularly with his wife Brooke (a classical singer), and hopes one day to be joined by his daughter Isadora (cellist, kindergartener, mermaid) and maybe his son Asher (who, at this stage in life, is content just to have his pants put on the right way). In his free time, Reed enjoys New York City's abundant opportunities to see live jazz, citing Bill Charlap and Cecile McLorin Salvant as two of his heroes.
Reed is thrilled to return to orchestral playing with Camerata Notturna: "The rehearsal snacks have way exceeded expectations, but the main thing so far has been meeting so many smart, skilled, enthusiastic musicians. Playing orchestral repertoire in a group of this caliber is something I never expected to do after graduating and becoming a lawyer."
Hailing from rural West Texas, Kathryn Peterson began her French horn studies in sixth grade and attended Idyllwild Arts Academy in California. She went on to study French horn performance at The Juilliard School and has performed with The Juilliard Orchestra, the Axiom Ensemble, and the Young Artists Orchestra and has participated in many festivals including the Aspen Music Festival and School, BU's Tanglewood Institute, Bowdoin International Music Festival, Dartington International Music Festival (U.K.), and the Hawaii Performing Arts Festival. She also recently starred in Amazon's Mozart in the Jungle series.
During the day, Kathryn manages the Young Patrons of Lincoln Center program which helps to build new and younger audiences for the performing arts. To fuel her busy days, she loves exploring the city's vibrant food culture and considers Soba Koh, Mission Chinese and Marea among her favorite restaurants. Kathryn is also a consummate traveler and enjoys putting together trip itineraries from scratch.
Channing Yu joins Camerata Notturna as a violinist with a richly varied musical background, most notably in conducting. Described by the Boston Musical Intelligencer as a "graceful, competent and deeply committed" leader, Channing is quickly establishing himself as an orchestra and opera conductor. He is the Music Director of the Mercury Orchestra in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and is the national winner of the 2010 American Prize in Orchestral Conducting in the community orchestra division. Recently he served as Music Director of Bay Colony Brass in Watertown, Massachusetts; Music Director of the Dudley Orchestra in Cambridge, Massachusetts; and Conductor of the Massachusetts Youth Symphony Project Preparatory String Orchestra. Previously he has also served as Artistic Director and Conductor of the Lowell House Opera, the oldest opera company in New England, where he conducted over thirty fully staged performances with orchestra.
Channing grew up in Pennsylvania. Originally trained as a pianist, he was a divisional grand prize winner of the American Music Scholarship Association International Piano Competition, and he has appeared as piano soloist with numerous orchestras including the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Westmoreland Symphony Orchestra, Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra, and Orchèstra Nova. As a violinist, he has served as concertmaster of the Brahms Society Orchestra and as violinist in the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra. He was a founding member of the string quartet Quartetto Periodico. As a lyric baritone, he has performed with the Boston Opera Collaborative, in the Richard Crittenden Opera Workshop in Boston, and in the Neil Semer Vocal Institute in Coesfeld and Aub, Germany. He also sings with the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, the Grammy award-winning chorus of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Boston Pops.
Channing began conducting in the 6th grade, when he formed an orchestra with the neighborhood kids and performed in his family's two-car garage. He began formal study of conducting with James Yannatos at Harvard University, where he served as assistant conductor of the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra and conductor of the Toscanini Chamber Orchestra.
During the day, Channing works in cancer research and development in the pharmaceutical industry, and in his free time, he indulges an interest in dancing Argentine Tango. He is thrilled to join Camerata Notturna: "It's exciting to make music with a group of people who are so passionate about music; it's amazing how the group's strong camaraderie translates into tight ensemble playing."