Mary Elizabeth Southworth, soprano
Mary Elizabeth moved from northern Wisconsin to Cincinnati to earn her Masters Degree in Vocal Performance from the College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) at the University of Cincinnati. While attending CCM she was awarded the J. Ralph Corbett Prize and was selected as a Concerto Competition Winner. After graduation, she placed third in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Regional Auditions.
She has performed numerous times with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and the Cincinnati Opera. These performances include: soprano soloist in Zemlinsky’s Psalm 84, Blumenmadchen in Wagner’s Parsifal, Frasquita in Carmen, and Marzelline in Beethoven’s Fidelio conducted by Paavo Jarvi. She was also featured in Cincinnati Opera's outreach program entitled Find Your Voice. Mary has also sung with the Cincinnati Pops under the batons of Maestro Eric Kunzel, John Morris Russell and Marvin Hammlisch, performing at the Cincinnati Pops Concerts in the Park series and the Home for the Holidays programs.
Mary Elizabeth was seen in Nevada Opera’s production of the Marriage of Figaro as Susanna, Kentucky Opera’s production of Marriage of Figaro as Barbarina, and Dayton Opera’s production of Magic Flute as Pamina. She has sung the role of Gretel in Hansel and Gretel twice with the Kentucky Opera and also with the Chattanooga Opera. Most recently she sang Beth in Dayton Opera's production of Little Women. She has appeared with the Northern Kentucky Symphony, the Central Wisconsin Symphony Orchestra and the Eau Claire Chamber Orchestra. She is an active recitalist performing recitals throughout the country and was featured soloist at a dedication concert with Jerome Hines in 2002. She performs regularly and has toured and recorded with the Dayton chamber music ensemble Top Brass.
Mary Elizabeth was recently inducted into the Cincinnati MacDowell Society. She currently resides in Cincinnati, Ohio with her husband, twin daughters and three dogs. She is an avid runner, finishing three Cincinnati Marathons and in 2003 she took Third Place in her age group in the American Birkebeiner 56K cross-country ski race.
Marianne Leitch Breneman, clarinet
A native of the Detroit area, Marianne holds degrees from Michigan State University, Wayne State University, and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM). During her college and graduate programs, she was the recipient of several awards including the Grace Johnson Taylor Music Scholarship, the Tuesday Musicale of Pontiac Competition, and the Detroit Symphony-Wayne State University Bradlin Award for Outstanding Orchestral Musician. Marianne was also a featured soloist with the CCM Repertory Orchestra, performing the Mozart Clarinet Concerto.
She has participated in many summer festivals including the Aspen Music Festival and School, The Banff Centre for the Arts, The Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music, Le Domaine Forget, the Scotia Festival of Music, and the Grandin Chamber Music Festival at CCM.
Currently the second clarinetist with the Kentucky Symphony, Marianne is also an active recitalist and chamber musician. She has performed recitals in East Lansing (MI), Ann Arbor (MI), the metro Detroit area, Cincinnati and the Tri-State, and at Bargemusic in Brooklyn, NY. Marianne also maintains a large private studio of advancing clarinet students at Cincinnati’s School for Creative and Performing Arts and has been on the faculty at the CCM Preparatory Department.
Marianne and her husband Brian live in Cincinnati with two exuberant golden retrievers. In her spare time, Marianne is a competitive age-group triathlete and runner; she also volunteers for various ovarian cancer research fundraisers and is part owner of Koka Coffeehouse.
Philip Amalong, piano
Pianist Philip Amalong developed his love for chamber music performing in a piano trio as a child. He has collaborated with many musicians throughout the U.S. and in Europe.
His solo piano disc, Storia, released in 2003 on the Eroica label was featured on MusicalOnline’s Web Concert Hall in 2004. In January 2005, Albany Records released American Souvenir that he performed and produced with flutist Jeannine Dennis-their second recording following the highly acclaimed Music for Flute and Piano on the Eroica label. His latest recording collaboration is with Gerald Itzkoff of the Cincinnati Symphony-Twentieth Century Romantic, on the Titanic label. His many solo and chamber music performances include both standard repertoire and newly composed works.
Phil studied at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music with Frank Weinstock and Sandra Rivers, taught at Xavier University and is currently on the music faculty at the College of Mount St. Joseph.
Phil and his wife Susan live in Cincinnati with their two children. Phil is an avid bicyclist who has competed in several mountain bike endurance events.
Danielle Hundley, flute
Danielle Hundley is a conservatory-trained flutist with a bachelors and masters degree in flute performance and over 15 years of performing, teaching and coaching experience. She has a wide variety of performing experience including orchestral and solo performances, master classes with world-renowned flutists, and chamber music collaborations. Her primary teachers include Robert Willoughby and Katherine Borst Jones.
Danielle is an active performer. She was Principal Flutist with Symphony Pro Musica in Hudson, MA before relocating to Cincinnati in 2003. Since then, Danielle has focused on her true passion, chamber music. She was named Principal Flute of the TriState Chamber Players in 2004 and has been performing with that group for two years. She is also a regular performer on Music Live with Lunch, a chamber music series at Christ Church Cathedral in downtown Cincinnati. Most recently, Danielle has joined Conundrum.
Ms. Hundley is a graduate of the Longy School of Music and The Ohio State University. While at Longy, she was a recipient of the Frank Keith endowed woodwind scholarship and a winner of the annual Concerto Competition, performing the Saint Saens Romance with the Longy Chamber Orchestra. Because Longy emphasizes chamber music, Danielle had the opportunity to work with vocalists, pianists, strings, winds and percussion in twice weekly coaching sessions with prominent Boston musicians. She graduated with distinction and received the school’s Patricia Sherman Award, given to the student who has demonstrated high artistic standards and a leadership commitment to the Longy community.
Danielle is an active member of the National Flute Association and sits on its Special Publications committee. As a part of this committee, her biography of Robert Willoughby has been published in the liner notes of the NFA’s Historic Recording Series CD: Robert Willoughby. The same biography was recently published by Boston Records in the CD liner notes for Mostly French.
Ms. Hundley is currently on the faculty of the Cincinnati Music Academy and Music Makers. An advocate for chamber music performance, Danielle is a grant recipient from the Amateur Chamber Music Players and the Clinton B. Ford Fund of its ACMP Foundation to fund Chamber Music at Music Makers, a program she created in 2004.
Danielle resides on a five-acre mini-farm in Moscow, Ohio with her husband Brian and three dogs, Brannen, Symba and Chloe. When she isn’t making music she enjoys landscaping, decorating and working for animal causes.