Member Bios
Gretchen Pusch
Flutist Gretchen Pusch made her Carnegie Recital Hall debut as winner of the Artist International Competition. She has appeared frequently in recital and as concerto soloist in North America, Europe and Asia. A member of the Dorian Wind Quintet, she has also collaborated in chamber music concerts with Peter Schickele, Anthony Newman, Maxence Larrieu and Paula Robison, among others. Ms. Pusch has performed with the American Symphony, American Composers Orchestra, Brooklyn Philharmonic, New Jersey Symphony, Philharmonia Virtuosi and on Broadway. She has been heard on radio, television and recordings for CRI, VAI, Panasonic, Summit, Innova, Mode and Windham Hill.
Formerly on the faculty of Rutgers University, Ms. Pusch currently serves on the flute faculty of the Juilliard School’s Music Advancement Program and the International Festival Institute at Round Top and is a teaching artist for several fellowship outreach programs. She served on the jury of the 2011 Maxence Larrieu International Flute Competition in Nice, France. She is a graduate of Boston University and studied with Julius Baker, James Pappoutsakis and Keith Underwood.
Roni Gal-Ed
Described as “One of the finest oboe players in the country” – The Jerusalem Post; “Expressive, wonderful player” – SZ Magazine, Germany; “Virtuoso and Elegant”– Double Reed Magazine, Germany; and “Outstanding…the star soloist of the evening”– The New York Times, Roni Gal-Ed is a first prize winner at the International Lauschmann Oboe Competition in Mannheim, Germany, and a recipient of scholarships from the America-Israel Cultural Foundation, and from the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra.
Ms. Gal-Ed has worked with leading conductors such as Zubin Mehta, Kent Nagano, Valery Gergiev, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Christian Thielemann, Sándor Végh, and Yoel Levy. As a chamber musician she collaborated with distinguished musicians such as Daniel Barenboim, Nikolaj Znaider, Johannes Moser, Mathieu Dufour, Alex Klein, Dale Clevenger, Karl Heinz Steffens, Klaus Thunemann, the Jerusalem String Quartet, and the Carmel String Quartet. A recording of a concert with the Carmel String Quartet was broadcast live on The Voice of Music in Israel, and twice on WQXR. Ms. Gal-Ed has also recorded the Hindemith Oboe Sonata and Serenade for the German radio station Hessischer Rundfunk in Frankfurt, as part of Hindemith’s 100th birthday celebrations in Germany. Other recordings include the premieres of Oded Zehavi’s “Erelim” (as a soloist with the Haifa Symphony Orchestra), and of Avner Dorman’s “Jerusalem Mix.”
Ms. Gal-Ed has been a regular participant in music festivals around the world, including the Jerusalem International Chamber Music Festival, the PRO Festival Rolandseck, Germany, the Verbier Music Festival, Edinburgh Music Festival, and the Crested Butte Music Festival in Colorado.
Benjamin Fingland
With performances conveying “spiritedness and humor”, “unflagging precision and energy”, “eloquence and passion” , “dazzling technique” (The New York Times) and playing described as “something magical” (The Boston Globe), “compellingly musical” (The New York Times) and “thoroughly lyrical…expert” (The Philadelphia Inquirer), Benjamin Fingland interprets a diverse range of clarinet literature.
A proponent of the music of our time, he works closely with living composers. In addition to being a founding member of the critically-acclaimed new music collective counter)induction, he plays with many of the leading contemporary performance ensembles on the East Coast: the International Contemporary Ensemble, NOVUS NY, New York New Music Ensemble, Nunc Music, the Network for New Music, Ensemble 21, the Argento Ensemble, the Locrian Chamber Players, and Sequitur. He is also an artist faculty member of the annual Composers Conference, and a guest faculty member of the Bennington Chamber Music Conference.
He has performed worldwide as a recitalist and soloist, and has also collaborated, recorded, and toured with a wide variety of other artists – ranging in scope from Brooklyn Rider and the Horszowski Trio to Pierre Boulez and the Ensemble Intercontemporain, to jazz legend Ornette Coleman and pop icon Elton John.
Mr. Fingland is the principal clarinetist of the New Jersey Festival Orchestra. He has held principal clarinet positions with the Prometheus Chamber Orchestra and the New Haven Symphony, and has also played with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. He has Bachelor and Master of music degrees from the Juilliard School, and is on the faculty of the Third Street Music School Settlement in New York City.
Adrian Morejon
Praised by the New York Times for his “teeming energy” and “precise control,” bassoonist Adrian Morejon has established himself as a solo, chamber, and orchestral musician. As a soloist, Morejon has appeared throughout the US and Europe with the Talea Ensemble, IRIS Orchestra, Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP), and the Miami Symphony. An active chamber musician, he has appeared with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Boston Chamber Music Society, Chamber Music Northwest, the Portland Chamber Music Festival, and others.
Mr. Morejon is co-principal bassoonist of IRIS Orchestra and has performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and others. He was a recipient of the Theodore Presser Foundation Grant, 2nd prize of the Fox-Gillet International Competition, and a shared top prize at the Moscow Conservatory International Competition. An alum of the Curtis Institute and Yale School of Music, he is currently on faculty at the Boston Conservatory, the Longy School of Music, and Purchase College. He joined DWQ in 2013.
Karl Kramer-Johansen
Norwegian horn player, Karl Kramer-Johansen is a member of the Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players. He is a winner of many prizes and awards in the American Horn Competition (1997 and 1999) and in 2001 won the American Scandinavian Society Cultural Award.
Mr. Kramer is also active as a recitalist, lecturer, conductor and composer. He has recorded for the Philips and Aurora labels. The New York Times wrote of his performance of Milton Babbitt’s Around the Horn, “This is essentially a stand-up routine for a virtuoso soloist, excellently communicated by Karl Kramer.” He joined DWQ in 2005.