 As a member of the Third Angle New Music Ensemble and Ethos Quartet, Denise Dillenbeck capitalized on a rare combination of “skill and adventurousness… [that was] highly effective.” (The Oregonian) She has performed and coached chamber music as a part of concert series and festivals worldwide, such as the American Church of Paris, Siletz Bay Music Festival, Westminster Choir College, Bravo Summer String Institute, Max Aronoff Viola Institute, Charles Castleman’s Quartet Program and Icicle Creek Summer Academy. Additional appearances include the Oregon Bach Festival, Ernest Bloch Festival, Chautauqua Music Institute, Musicorda, and the International Congress of Strings.
A passionate and generous teacher, Dillenbeck’s college courses include a class on viewing world history and literature through the prism of Beethoven. As a teaching artist in the Philadelphia Orchestra’s Community Partnership Program, she led elementary school students in experiential music learning and directed workshops on aesthetic education. Additional leadership roles include Dean of Charles Castleman’s Quartet Program and Program Coordinator of the Philadelphia Orchestra’s Strings International Music Festival. Eric Booth quotes Dillenbeck at length in his seminal book, The Music Teaching Artist’s Bible, and her thoughtful, industry-responsive writing appears regularly in the Yakima Herald-Republic. Dillenbeck studied at the New England Conservatory and the University of Minnesota, and she was a Fellow at the renowned Aspen Music Festival. A radiant violinist that delivers extraordinary performances imbued with imagination and insight, Denise Dillenbeck is “simply first-rate.” (San Francisco Chronicle) Celebrated for her work as a soloist, Dillenbeck offers “gripping and technically accomplished [interpretations]… at once soulful and well-reasoned” (The Oregonian) of both classic repertoire and breathtaking new masterworks. With her “long-lined phrases and unflagging focus,” (The Oregonian) Dillenbeck inspires and thrives in leadership roles as concertmaster and within the region’s leading chamber ensembles. Through her board membership, volunteer work, and by modeling and mentoring empowered female roles, Dillenbeck enriches her communities with visionary thought leadership. “A superlative violin soloist… [offering] subtlety, honesty and vulnerability, with a rarefied tone” (The Tacoma News Tribune) Dillenbeck’s recent and upcoming solo engagements include a tour of China with the American Festival Orchestra in addition to concerti by Bernstein, Saint-Saens, Sibelius, Mozart, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Brahms, Prokofiev, Mendelssohn and Bach, with the Bellingham Symphony, Gettysburg Chamber Orchestra, Sinfonietta Nova, Boise Baroque Orchestra, Gonzaga Symphony, Yakima Symphony, York Symphony, Lake Union Civic Orchestra, Olympia Symphony, Seattle Metropolitan Chamber Orchestra, Washington-Idaho Symphony, Salem Chamber Orchestra, Tacoma Community College Orchestra, Central Washington University Orchestra, Lake Chelan Bach Festival Orchestra, and Northwest Sinfonietta. Her discography includes solo and chamber works on the Albion and KOCH International labels. As concertmaster, Dillenbeck leads the Yakima Symphony, York Symphony, Lake Chelan Bach Festival Orchestra and the Northwest Sinfonietta, offering “dynamic nuances and virtuosic aplomb” (The Oregonian). She also has served in that role for orchestras in America, England and Germany, as well as associate concertmaster of the Tacoma Symphony. Her extensive orchestral background includes touring Europe and America with the Philadelphia Orchestra, membership in the Oregon Symphony, and performances with the Seattle Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Pennsylvania Ballet Theater and Philly Pops. [Photo by Photonuvo] |
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 Jeffrey Snedeker has served as principal horn with the Yakima Symphony Orchestra since 1992. As a solo performer, Jeff has received a number of honors, most notably first place in the natural horn division of the 1991 American Horn Competition. Jeff has been a featured artist, clinician, lecturer, conductor, and host of regional, national and international conferences on six continents for the International Horn Society, Historic Brass Society, Northwest Horn Society and Washington Music Educators Association, among others, and he has given concerto appearances, traditional recitals, natural horn performances and jazz gigs all over the U.S. and in Canada, Germany, France, Switzerland, England, Finland, Taiwan, South Africa, Australia and Brazil. He has held positions and played extra horn with regional, metropolitan and festival orchestras in Washington (including Seattle Symphony and Seattle Opera), Oregon (including the Oregon Symphony), Utah (including the Utah Symphony Orchestra), Wisconsin, Ohio, New Mexico, Virginia and Michigan. He also has performed with Early Music Vancouver and the Pacific Baroque Orchestra of Vancouver, BC, Early Music Seattle and the Seattle Classical Players, among other period-instrument groups. Jeff also has performed on film and video game scores with Seattlemusic, Seattle Film Institute, and others, including Mirror, Mirror, Underworld: Awakening, Worlds of Warcraft 6, Arkham Origins, and Legends of Zelda Live.
Jeff has published over fifty articles on a variety of musical topics and recently completed two books, one on horn teaching at the Paris Conservatoire 1792-1903 (published by Routledge), and a commemorative volume celebrating the 50th anniversary of the IHS. He has released five solo recordings featuring the natural horn and the horn in jazz settings. Dr. Jeffrey Snedeker has taught in the music department of Central Washington University in Ellensburg, Washington, since 1991. He has received recognition for his teaching, scholarship and service, including 2006 CWU Faculty Member of the Year, 2012 WMEA Higher Education Music Educator of the Year, 2014 Washington State Representative Timm Ormsby Faculty Citizenship Award, and the 2014 National Phi Kappa Phi Artist Award. In 2018, Dr. Snedeker was inducted into the WMEA Hall of Fame, and in 2020, he received the International Horn Society’s Service Medal of Honor and CWU’s Board of Trustees Distinguished University Faculty award. Jeff completed a BA in music and mathematics at Heidelberg College (1980), a Master of Music in horn performance at the University of Michigan (1981), a Master of Arts in music history at The Ohio State University (1985), and a Doctor of Musical Arts in horn performance and historical musicology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (1991). He lives in Ellensburg with his extremely patient wife, Marilyn Wilbanks, where they somehow managed to raise two sons who are also talented musicians. [Photo by Gary Miller]
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Classical II – Denise Dillenbeck, violin; Jeffrey Snedeker, horn
