Goldens Bridge Studio

Yevgeniy Karafin has performed as a recitalist and as a chamber musician in Ukraine, Russia, Austria and the United States. He began his musical studies at the age of seven, and left home at fourteen for professional music college. In 1991 he continued his studies at Donetsk State Conservatory,Ukraine. After his family moved to New York, he completed his Masters and Doctorate Degrees in Performance and Pedagogy at Manhattan School of Music under the guidance of Ms. Nina Svetlanova.

Yevgeniy Karafin has participated in national and international competitions, winning the Prokofiev Festival Competition in 1993 and the “Best Collaborative Pianist” prize at the second International Competition of Folk Instruments in Tcherepovets, Russia. In 2005 he won the Artists International Auditions and debuted at Carnegie Hall in New York City.

Linda Wetherill has toured as soloist cultural ambassador, collaborating and premiering modern composers' works and researching traditional musics since her selection by U.S.I.S to be featured recitalist for the 40th anniversary celebration in Frankfurt of German-American peace.  Hans Stuckenschmidt called her "a brilliant flutist."  She was the first American to be honored as featured soloist at the World Peace Festival of Langollen, Wales; and presented the first public concerts for mixed audiences by a woman in Saudi Arabia during her tours of the Middle East.  Linda was the first American flutist to tour and teach in Central China in 2002.  In 2003, her solo CD of collected compositions was placed on a short list of "Top Solo Flute Recordings Of All Time" by Amazon.com.

Guitarist Marc Wolf studied classical guitar with David Starobin and William Anderson at Purchase College. He subsequently studied guitar & lute with Dennis Cinelli at Montclair State University. He has performed in master classes with Manuel Baruecco, Fred Hand, Nicholas Goluses, Michael Lorimer, and has performed in festivals, solo, chamber and orchestral settings and on live radio broadcasts in the U.S., Canada, Europe & Japan. Recording credits include A&M Records, Ultimate, Siltbreeze, Bubblecore, Fat Cat, Soundspells, and Furious Artisans. He has performed with Newband, The Cygnus Ensemble, The Wolf-Wetherill Duo, Mice Parade, Composers Concordance and others. Mr. Wolf has premiered many new works with guitar including works by Richard-Cameron Wolfe, Robert Martin, Mark Rimple, Robert Fruehwald, Gene Pritzger and Fernando Maglia. Mr. Wolf is the co-founder of furious artisans, an independent classical music label.

Born in Tokyo, Japan, Akari Yamamoto is an active freelance clarinet player and teacher currently based in New York City.  In addition to her frequent orchestral engagements, she is an avid chamber music player and a member of the Eastern Winds woodwind quintet, a recent winner of the Artists International 2005 Young Artists Chamber Music Award. She attended the Toho Gakuen School of Music in Tokyo where she earned her BM.  Upon graduation, she was awarded a Rotary International Ambassadorial Scholarship and moved to New York in 2000 to further her music studies at SUNY at Purchase where she earned her MM.  Akari has participated in many music festivals around the world including the Martha Argerich Music Festival in Japan (where she played under the esteemed conductor Myung-Whun Chung), the Kirishima International Music Festival (Japan), Sarasota Music Festival (Florida), and the Bayreuth Young Musicians Festival (Germany). Her teachers include Kazuko Ninomiya, Ayako Oshima and Charles Neidich.