APPALACHIAN CHAMBER MUSIC FESTIVAL
History, Nature, Culture
Previous Festival Artists
KOKO DYULGERSKI
Violist
Bulgarian violist Koko Dyulgerski is currently based in Denver, where he performs with Opera Colorado, the Colorado Symphony, and was recently appointed Principal Viola of the Central City Opera Orchestra. Koko received his Master of Music degree from Rice University in Houston as a student of Ivo-Jan Van der Werff, and previously studied under Kevork Mardirossian. During his time in Houston, Koko played regularly with the Mercury Baroque, Houston Grand Opera, and Houston Symphony Orchestras.Also an avid chamber musician, Koko is co-founder and co-artistic director of the Torrey Chamber Music Festival and Violamore Duo and with his wife, Leah Kovach. As a mentor, Koko loves teaching young violinists and violists and inspiring them to reach their full potential.
Leah Kovach
Violist
Violist Leah Kovach grew up in Salt Lake City and is co-Artistic Director of the Torrey Chamber Music Festival. Leah is a member of the Colorado Symphony and was recently appointed to the Central City Opera Orchestra. She holds degrees from Indiana University and Rice University, where her primary teachers were Atar Arad and James Dunham. Leah has performed around the world in prestigious ensembles including the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Houston Symphony and the Schleswig-Holstein Festival Orchestra (Germany/International).
FITZ GARY
Violist
Fitz Gary is a native of Charlottesville, Virginia, but his performing career hurled him across the United States, Europe, and Asia to roam the corridors of such venues as Carnegie Hall, London’s Royal Albert Hall, and Japan’s Suntory Hall. After receiving his Bachelor and Master's Degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music and the Juilliard School, he was selected as a 2013-2014 Fulbright Scholar. He studied with Barbara Westphal at the Musikhochschule in Lübeck, Germany, where he was subsequently awarded the DAAD prize for an outstanding international student, as well as his second master’s degree. While in Germany, Fitz also performed with the Grammy-Award-winning NDR Sinfonieorchester (Elbphilharmonie) in Hamburg as a member of their Academy.
After returning to the United States, Fitz has served as a Clinician Ambassador for D’Addario and the President of the Feldman Chamber Music Society in Norfolk, Virginia. Worthy of note, in 2012 Fitz started a project called Music Feeds Us, a chamber music series which ran for seven seasons, and raised over 175,000 meals for partner food banks in Virginia. Fitz has the pleasure of periodically performing with some of America’s most prestigious ensembles, including the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, and a smattering of others.
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