2011 VMAAI Competition Player Judges Michael Fan, Composer, author, and violinist, Michael Fan has composed numerous works for children of all ages. For the TSO Just for Kid’s series, Mr. Fan wrote and composed over a dozen pieces. He was commissioned by TSO Flute, Viola, Harp Trio to compose three pieces for the TSO Just for Kids series. Additional children’s compositions were commissioned by the Brass Quintet Heavy Metal. Three of his compositions were performed as ballets by Dance Southwest. One of these was performed at the inaugural concert of the Imago Dei Orchestra. In October, 2009, A Bright New Day, or Dr. Solara and the Fossil Fools was performed on the Mall in Washington D.C. by a solar-powered trio to accompany the University of Arizona’s entry in the Solar House Decathlon. Mr. Fan has written numerous shorter pieces for various string quartet and piano trio. He composed a string arrangement for Bobby Ronstadt’s CD Shadows in the Dream which Bobby performed with his cousin, Linda Ronstadt. As a performer, Mr. Fan experience is equally varied. He is Concertmaster of the Tucson Pops Orchestra and was Concertmaster for the Southern Arizona Light Opera Company. He is also a member of the Tucson Symphony Orchestra and a founding member of the Tucson Symphony Piano Trio. Mr. Fan also works frequently as a studio musician. For the 2005-06 season of the Arizona Theatre Company, he recorded music for Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure and Pride and Prejudice. Other notable studio work has included work for the CDs El Paso by Rich Hopkins and Los Luminarios, and Feast of Wire by Calexico. Michael Fan plays violin in the Zenith Quartet, Guerilla Tangueros, and the the Klezmopolitans.

Violinist,Holly Schurr received a bachelor's degree in violin performance and a bachelor's degree in percussion performance from the University of Arizona in 2001. In December of 2008, she completed her master's degree in Violin Performance at the University of Arizona. Her teachers include Joan Donat, Elizabeth Adkins, Mark Rush, and Steven Moeckel. Holly has traveled to Trinidad and Tobago six times to perform in the national steelband competition, "Panorama". In those competitions, she played tenor pan with several of the 120-piece steel bands, including Petrotrin Phase II Pan Groove, who, in 2005, won the competition by a record-breaking 20 points. Holly has been a member of the Tucson Symphony Orchestra since 2007, and also plays with the Tucson Pops Orchestra in the summers.In addition to teaching private violin lessons, Holly teaches elementary general music and orchestra at six schools in the Marana Unified School District.

Violist,Joseph Pagán has been a member of the Tucson Symphony viola section since 1989, and has served as Assistant Principaland section violist of the Peter Britt Festival, the Cascade Festival of Music and the Oregon Coast Music Festival. Mr. Pagán has also performed as Principal Viola with the Tucson Pops Orchestra, The Southern Arizona Light Opera Company, and the Catalina Chamber Orchestra in addition to performing as soloist with the Tucson Pops Orchestra, the Tucson Civic Orchestra and the Tacoma Youth Symphony. When Mr. Pagán isn't engaged in a battle of wills with his viola, he enjoys designing and building Hi-Fi gear, keeping abreast of the latest developments in D Sports Racing and playing with his two Fox Terriers.

Cellist Theodore Buchholz has been described by The Arizona Daily Star as a “Virtuosic cellist,” The Post and Courier as an “Outstanding performer,” and The Charleston City Paper as a “Wonderful young musician.”He annually performs in over seventy concerts as a recitalist, chamber musician, and orchestra section member. He is the Associate Principal Cellist of the Stockton Symphony in California, is a member of the Tucson Symphony Orchestra, and performed as Principal Cellist of the Spoleto Festival Orchestra.Theodore studied at the Manhattan School of Music and San Francisco Conservatory of Music.Theodore Buchholz is the Director of ASTA’s Tucson Cello Congress and is Co-Artistic Director of Young Artists in Chamber Music Summer Seminar.He is currently on faculty at Pima Community College.

Cellist Anne Gratz received Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees and an Orchestral Studies Diploma from Eastman School of Music, where she studied with Alan Harris. While at Eastman, Ms. Gratz was co-principal of the Eastman Philharmonia and a member of the cello section of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra through the Mellon Fellowship with Eastman’s Orchestral Studies program. Prior to attending Eastman, she spent three years at Interlochen Arts Academy and graduated as valedictorian. During three summers at the International Festival Institute at Round Top, Ms. Gratz pursued additional studies with Stephen Geber, Emilio Colon and Andre Emelianoff, was principal of the Texas Festival Orchestra, and performed frequently in faculty and honors chamber music concerts.

Ms. Gratz relocated to Arizona after graduating from Eastman in 2005 to join the Tucson Symphony Orchestra. Recently her performance schedule has included the Southern Arizona Aids Foundation benefit Dance in the RED, St. Phillips Bach Marathon, Tucson Pops Orchestra, and the St. Andrews Bach Society. She joined the Kingfisher Quartet in 2009 and has performed recitals in Tucson and Green Valley. Ms. Gratz is also active as a teacher with a private studio in Tucson, and has been a faculty member at Chamber Music in the Mountains since 2006. She coaches cello sectionals for Tucson Junior Strings and has presented educational programs and clinics in local schools with both the Tucson Symphony String Quintet and Piano Trio.

Christopher Germain began his career in violinmaking in 1982, as a pupil of Tschu Ho Lee at the Chicago School of Violinmaking. After graduating in 1985, he worked for the Chicago firms, Kenneth Warren and Son and Bein and Fushi, Inc., where he focused on developing his skills in restoration work. In 1991, he opened his own business, in Chicago's Loop, dividing his time between violinmaking and restorations. In 1995, he was asked by Vahakn Nigogosian to serve as an instructor at the Stringed Instrument Restoration Workshop at Oberlin College. He eventually succeeded Nigo as the director of that program, which now concentrates on new instrument making. Chris makes award-winning violins, violas and cellos from his studio in Philadelphia's Center City, next to the Curtis Institute of Music. He continues his study of classic Italian stringed instruments and has lectured and taught violinmaking and repair techniques at a number of other workshops. Chris is a proud member of The Violin Society of America and the American Federation of Violin and Bowmakers, Inc., and serves on the governing boards of both organizations. For more information on Chris, see his web site www.germainviolins.com.