2025 Fall Musicians – Jackson Hole Chamber Music

GET TO KNOW Our 2025 Fall Musicians

Timothy Dilenschneider was appointed associate principal double bass of the Houston Symphony in 2019. Prior to joining the Houston Symphony, Dilenschneider was a member of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra under the baton of music director Marin Alsop. During the summers, he is an active performer in prestigious music festivals including Festival Napa Valley, Lakes Area Music Festival, Arizona Musicfest, and Classical Tahoe where he is the recipient of an endowed chair.

An avid lover of travel, Dilenschneider’s orchestral performances have taken him around the world. He has been invited to participate in international tours across Europe, Asia, and Africa with distinguished orchestras such as the Philadelphia Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony, and Baltimore Symphony. He has performed in some of the world’s most notable halls including Carnegie Hall, Concertgebouw, Musikverein, Suntory Hall, Theatre des Champs-Élysées, National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing, and Royal Albert Hall in London for the BBC Proms.

In addition to his orchestral work, Dilenschneider has performed in numerous recitals and chamber music programs including Napa Valley Chamber Festival, Classical Tahoe Chamber Music series, and Marin Alsop’s New Music Festival. Among his chamber music and chamber orchestra highlights are a month-long tour across Japan with the New York Symphonic Ensemble and a 2018 tour of Morocco with musicians from the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, featuring a performance in the desert of Agafay.

Alongside performing, Dilenschneider has been invited to teach at the National Orchestral Institute, Blackburn Music Academy, and as visiting faculty for the New World Symphony. His passion for music education has led him to work with students at the Peabody Institute of Music, Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, and University of Miami’s Frost School of Music, as well as youth orchestras in Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Houston. He has been featured in magazines such as ISB Bass World and Next Level Bassist. He is also recorded on the Grammy Award winning CD “East Coast 2×4”.

Dilenschneider began playing the double bass at age 8 and studied with “Time for Three” bassist Ranaan Meyer, prior to his studies with Harold Robinson and Edgar Meyer. He is an alumnus of the New World Symphony and a 2014 graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music.

Clara Kim

violin

Clara Kim

violin

Adventure and collaboration are at the heart of violinist Clara Kim’s dynamic career as a performer, chamber musician, and educator. Recognized as a leading interpreter of contemporary music, she is known for her bold programming and dedication to championing the work of living composers.

Clara has commissioned and premiered countless pieces by established, emerging, and student composers alike, and has worked with some of today’s most imaginative musical voices, including Katherine Balch, Christopher Cerrone, Stephen Hartke, Leilehua Lanzilotti, George Lewis, Andrew Norman, Roger Reynolds, Kaija Saariaho, Juri Seo, Christopher Theofanidis, and Augusta Read Thomas, among others. Her commissioning efforts have generously been supported by organizations such as Chamber Music America, The Koussevitzky Foundation, New Music USA, Concert Artists Guild, and Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts.

As a performer, Clara loves connecting with audiences, people, and communities around the globe. Her significant engagements include performances at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, Merkin Hall, Jordan Hall, and Het Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. Clara is a recipient of the St. Botolph Club Foundation Emerging Artist Award and a first prize winner of the Cremona Solo Violin Competition, in addition to a first prize winner at the MPrize Chamber Arts and Concert Artists Guild Competitions as a. member of the Argus Quartet. A passionate chamber musician, Clara was a founding member and longtime executive director of Argus for its initial decade and currently performs and leads in ensembles such as A Far Cry, Talea Ensemble, and American Composers Orchestra.

Dedicated to education and community engagement, Clara directs Midori’s Orchestra Residencies Program, coaching and performing alongside violinist Midori to inspire the next generation of musicians. She has held residencies teaching at institutions such as Princeton University, Yale University, and Boston Conservatory, and is a faculty member at summer programs such as the Atlantic Music Festival, Greenwood Music Camp, Interlochen’s Violin Institute, and Pacific Music Institute. Clara holds degrees from Tufts University (English Literature), New England Conservatory, the Royal Conservatoire of The Hague, The Juilliard School, and doctorate from the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music.

Ilya Finkelshteyn

cello

Ilya Finkelshteyn

cello

Principal cellist of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra since 2009, Ilya Finkelshteyn was praised by The Washington Post as a "complete master of his instrument," and has performed throughout the United States, Canada, Europe and Japan. In 2002 he became Principal Cello of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Prior to that, Mr. Finkelshteyn was a member of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra for five seasons.

Prize-winner of the Brahms International Competition, Concertino Praga, Russian Cello Competition, the WAMSO International Competition, the Aspen Concerto Competition and the Chautauqua Concerto Competition, Mr. Finkelshteyn has appeared as a soloist with orchestras including the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, and Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra. As a winner of the Juilliard Concerto Competition, Mr. Finkelshteyn was a soloist with the Juilliard Orchestra on its tours to France and Bermuda.

Ilya Finkelshteyn started his education at the Special Music School at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. After immigrating to the United States, he studied at the University of Minnesota School of Music and the Juilliard School. Mr. Finkelshteyn plays a cello by Domenico Montagnana circa 1730 courtesy of Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.

Rebecca Racusin

Executive Director / violin

Caroline Gilbert

viola

Caroline Gilbert

viola

Caroline Gilbert, born in Bloomington, IN, grew up playing the violin in the pre-college program at Indiana University. After a little soul searching at Vanderbilt University where she double majored in music and pre-med, she transferred to Indiana University where she completed her Bachelors of Music with Atar Arad. While at the University, she won the concerto competition and performed Hindemith’s Der Schwanendreher as a soloist with the Indiana University chamber orchestra and was asked to represent the school at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., performing in the "Conservatory Project” concert series. For her Masters of Music, she attended The Juilliard School where she studied with Samuel Rhodes and Rodger Tapping. After participating in the Keshet Elion summer mastercourse in Israel, where her performance was broadcast on the radio in New York, she went on to play with the New York String Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, worked with Michael Tilson Thomas as a member of the YouTube Symphony Orchestra in Sydney, Australia, toured Turkey, Spain, and Germany with the Schleswig-Holstien Festival Orchestra, played alongside the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood Music Festival, and performed in Switzerland with the Verbier Festival Orchestra. After completing her degrees, she moved to Miami Beach to join the New World Symphony until winning the Principal Viola position with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, where she has played since 2017. She is also now a regular member in the Arizona Music Festival and Grand Teton Music Festival, and she just spent her first summer Washington State playing in Bellingham Music Festival.

Jennifer Ross

violin

Jennifer Ross

violin

Jennifer Ross enjoys a well-earned reputation as a respected violinist and educator. Her orchestral career began at the age of 19 as Associate Concertmaster of the Honolulu Symphony. She then became a member of the Cincinnati Symphony before being named Principal Second Violin of the Pittsburgh Symphony—a post she held for 20 years.

Reflecting her deep commitment to teaching, Jennifer presents innovative workshops at festivals, universities and conservatories nationwide. She serves as Artist in Residence for Orchestra Studies at the National Orchestral Institute and is active in the Sphinx Organization, supporting diversity and inclusion in classical music. Ms. Ross appears regularly on the chamber music stage in series and festivals across the country, collaborating with celebrated artists including Yefim Bronfman, Pinchas Zukerman, Jaime Laredo, and Lynn Harrell. She has been heard on NPR’s Performance today from the Grand Teton Music Festival, where she performs each summer. Jennifer holds the Principal Second Violin chair of ProMusica Chamber Orchestra, and is a proud founder and Co-Artistic Director of Jackson Hole Chamber Music. Ms. Ross is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music.

Richard Scerbo

Artistic Director / conductor

GET TO KNOW Our 2025 Fall Musicians

Add Your Heading Text Here