Parry Karp, cello

Cellist Parry Karp is Artist-in Residence, and the Robert and Linda Graebner Professor of Chamber Music and Cello, at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he is director of the string chamber music program. He has been cellist of the Pro Arte Quartet for the past 47 years, the longest tenure of any member in the quartet's over 100 year history.

Parry Karp is an active solo artist, performing numerous recitals annually in the United States with pianists Howard and Frances Karp, and Eli Kalman. Mr. Karp has played concerti throughout the United States and gave the first performance in Romania of Ernest Bloch’s Schelomo with the National Radio Orchestra in Bucharest in 2002. He is active as a performer of new music and has performed in the premieres of dozens of works, many of which were written for him, including concerti, sonatas and chamber music. As a solo recording artist, he has recorded the solo cello works of Ernest Bloch, and works of Frank Bridge, Rebecca Clarke, Ernest Chausson, Edward Collins, Georges Enesco, John Ireland, Alberic Magnard, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Miklos Rosza, and Richard Strauss. Unearthing and performing unjustly neglected repertoire for cello is a passion of Mr. Karp’s. In recent years he has transcribed for cello many masterpieces written for other instruments. This project has included performances of all of the Duo Sonatas of Brahms, as well as compositions of Bach, Beethoven, Dvorak, Hindemith, Strauss, Schumann,  Stravinsky and Szymanowski. He is presently in the process of transcribing all of the Beethoven Violin Sonatas for Cello. Parry Karp performs annually in summer music festivals throughout the United States.

As cellist of the Pro Arte Quartet he has performed over 1000 concerts throughout North, Central and South America, Europe, and Japan. His discography with the group has been extensive and includes the complete string quartets of Ernest Bloch, Miklos Rosza, and Karol Szymanowski . Many of these recordings received awards from Fanfare and High Fidelity Magazines. Other composers whose string quartets or string quintets the Pro Arte Quartet  has recorded during his tenure include: Beethoven, William Bolcom, Luís de Freitas Branco, Martin Boykan, Tamar Diesendruck, Dvorak, Brian Fennelly, John Harbison, Andrew Imbrie, Pierre Jalbert, Fred Lerdahl, Walter Mays, Benoit Mernier, Mendelssohn, Karol Rathaus, Samuel Rhodes, Roger Sessions, and Ralph Shapey. As a member of the Pro Arte Quartet he has recorded the Piano Quintets of Ernest Bloch, Johannes Brahms and Armando José Fernandes with pianist Howard Karp. Guest artists with the Pro Arte during his years have included: the Emerson Quartet, Denes Koromzay, Leon Fleischer, Sidney Harth, Nobuko Imai, Gunnar Johansen, Gilbert Kalish, Jerome Lowenthal, Robert Mann, Paul Schoenfield, Samuel Rhodes, Robert Silverman, Christopher Taylor, Laszlo Varga and Tamas Vasary. Gunther Schuller conducted the group in the premiere of his String Quartet Concerto which he wrote for the Pro Arte Quartet. The Pro Arte Quartet was one of five finalists (the others were the Juilliard, Tokyo, and Emerson Quartets, and the Beaux Arts Trio) for the First Annual Arturo Toscanini Award in the Chamber Music Category

Parry Karp’s chamber music discography outside of the Pro Arte Quartet includes the three piano trios of Joel Hoffman, as well as works of Britten, Fauré, Martinu, Mozart and Pierné. Mr. Karp had a visiting professorship at the University of British Columbia, and has been a visiting fellow at Princeton University. Former students of Mr. Karp’s are members of professional string quartets, major orchestras, and teachers in the United  States. In 2012 he was a recipient of the Chancellor's Distinguished Teaching Award at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In the spring of 2016, Parry Karp was named a fellow of the Wisconsin Academy. 

Mr. Karp received early training in Vienna, Austria and studied cello with Lee Duckles, David Kadarauch, Peter Farrell, Gabriel Magyar and Gabor Rejto. Inspirational chamber music teachers included Gabriel Magyar, Howard Karp, Lorand Fenyves and Zoltan Szekely.  

Katerina Juraskova, cello

Czech-Canadian cellist Katerina Juraskova has been acclaimed for her “electrifying spells, natural intensity, beautiful phrasing and sonority” (Santa Barbara Independent). She holds Doctoral and Master’s degrees from McGill University, as well as degrees from Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal, Conservatoire européen de musique de Paris (France), and the International Menuhin Music Academy (Switzerland). For nine years she was the principal cellist and soloist for l’Orchestre Classique de Montréal (formerly the McGill Chamber Orchestra). Other principal cello positions and solo appearances include La Pietà, Ensemble contemporain de Montréal, Montgomery (AL) Symphony Orchestra, National Academy Orchestra (Hamilton, ON), and Camerata Lysy Gstaad (Switzerland). Her career as a soloist and a chamber musician has taken her to major concert venues on four continents. Her teachers include František Pišinger, Radu Aldulescu, Denis Brott, Antonio Lysy, and Christopher Rex. A certified Suzuki cello instructor, she has studied the Suzuki Method in Chicago, IL, with Dr. Tanya Carey.

Dr. Juraskova is currently on the faculty of Forest City String School in London, ON, and Suzuki Talent Education Program in Birmingham (AL, USA). She has most recently taught cello and chamber music at Southwestern Ontario Suzuki Institute, Magisterra Summer String Institute, the Suzuki String School of Guelph. Earlier teaching experience includes chamber music classes at the International Menuhin Music Academy, lectures at the University of Montreal, and adjudicating for the National Tour of the Canadian Music Competition and the Sherbrooke Competition in Québec. The 2022-2023 is her fourth season performing with Magisterra Soloists. She lives with her husband and son in London, ON, where she has a private studio and is active in the city’s cultural life.

Travis Harrison, double bass

Hailing from Toronto, Travis Harrison is Professor of Double Bass at the University of Ottawa, who performs regularly as a chamber musician, soloist, and orchestral musician. Recent engagements have been as guest Principal Bass of both the National Arts Centre and Canadian Opera Company Orchestras; and with Ottawa’s Chamberfest, Saskatoon’s Ritornello Festival, Sweetwater Festival in Owen Sound, and London’s Magisterra Soloists. 

His deep love of music led him to serve the bass community as a Board Chair of the International Society of Bassists since 2017; and co-author “The Canadian School of Double Bass'' technique books with his mentor Joel Quarrington. He can be heard in a wide range of recordings, from the National Arts Centre’s new Brahms Symphonic cycle, to legendary jazz musician Don Thompson’s “Quartet ‘89”, to the rock band Weezer’s album “Hurley”. 

He proudly performs on a bass commissioned from Montreal master luthier Mario Lamarre and bows by Ottawa’s Bernard Walke. Visit travisharrison.ca for more details.

Talia Hatcher, double bass

Born and raised in Montreal, Quebec, Talia Hatcher completed her undergraduate degree at the Conservatory of Music of Montreal with René Gosselin. She then completed her master’s degree at the University of Ottawa with mentor Joel Quarrington in 2019. During her time in Ottawa, Talia participated in several programs with the National Arts Centre Orchestra (NACO) including the NAC Institute for Orchestral Studies, the NAC Summer Music Institute and the NAC Bursary Competition where she won the Vic Power award for her solo playing and orchestral excerpts. These programs allowed Talia to explore and deepen her skills in chamber music as well as orchestral music. 

Talia started her journey of orchestral playing with the National Youth Orchestra of Canada back in 2014 as well as the Orchestra of The Americas in 2016 and 2017, touring in Canada, Europe and South America. Since then, she has played with numerous orchestras and ensembles including the Canadian Studio Symphony, Conservatory of Music of Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Métropolitain Orchestra of Montreal, National Arts Centre Orchestra, Niagara Symphony, Ottawa Symphony, Sinfonia Toronto, Toronto Symphony Orchestra and Trois-Rivières Symphony Orchestra. One of her most memorable orchestral experience was touring with NACO in Europe where the bass section didn’t go unnoticed: ‘’… et un pupitre de contrebasses dont beaucoup d’orchestres peuvent rêver…” (Le Devoir).

Talia has had the opportunity of recording several albums including The Bound of our dreams with NACO and a project of new music with The Canadian Studio Symphony where she played the double bass solos. She also recently played a live recording of the Adagio and Allegro by Schumann for the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra 2022\2023 season launch.

As of September 2020, Talia Hatcher has been in the position of Associate Principal Double Bass with the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony. She also plays regularly in Guelph, Kitchener-Waterloo, Niagara, Ottawa and Toronto as a freelancer and relishes any opportunity to play chamber music with her colleagues.