STEVE VELEZ

Born in Long Island, New York and raised in Orange County, California, Steve Velez received his musical education at the University of California Irvine.

Steve’s musical experience is as diverse as his ability to direct, produce, arrange and perform many styles of music. From Classical to Pop, Irish to Klesmer, Steve performs regularly on cello, guitar, piano, recorder and saxophone.

Steve’s recent television appearances include the Travel Channel and with the musical sensation Korn on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Pepsi commercials, MTV Music Video’s, NBC’s West Wing and Frasier.

His various other works include performances with such world-renowned artists as, Yo Yo Ma, Michael Crawford, Stevie Wonder, Elton John, Rod Stewart, David Foster, George Martin, John Tesh, James Galway, Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith and Clint Black.

Steve performs regularly with The Mozart Classical Orchestra, Opera Pacific, Orange County Symphony, Disneyland Candlelight Orchestra and the Crystal Cathedral Symphony. Steve was also the Principal Cellist for the “Beatlemania Classical Mystery Tour” at the Orange County Performing Arts Center.

In addition to running his own music business, Steve has released compact discs, “Breathe the Celtic Aire” and “Christmas Fantasia” with his own Da Capo Players. Produced and published “Rainbows of Music”, a student compact disc book set. The remainder of Steve’s professional time is spent as a studio musician, performing chamber music, symphony concerts, children’s concerts, teaching, and touring around the world.

Rainbow of Music Book

Steve Velez has written and produced a CD and Book set designed for students to have fun while practicing at home. With 18 selections to learn from, including Bach, Mozart, Star Wars and Titanic, this set will give years of enjoyment. Perfect for Recorder, Flute, Oboe, Bassoon, Violin, Cello, Guitar and Piano.

The Da Capo Players

The Da Capo Players are a group of classical professional musicians that will turn your event from memorable to truly exceptional!

Weddings, corporate events, religious occasions, or any other special moment, The Da Capo Players specialize in creating a stellar experience for your memories and heart.

With a variety of ensembles and instrumentation we fit a variety of celebratory themes and budgets. We work with you to customize musical selections and coordinate all the necessary logistics to bring together a unique ambiance for your celebration.

ROBIN CECIL

Robin Cecil, Violinist, received her Bachelor’s Degree in Music Performance at California State University, Long Beach, and was a member of the honored University String Quartet and American Youth Symphony under the baton of Mehli and Zubin Mehta.

Because of her versatile playing ability, Robin has been chosen to perform on stage with many celebrities such as Elton John, Josh Groban, Luciano Pavarotti, Reba McEntire, and Yo Yo Ma. As a studio musician, she can also be seen and heard on television commercials and movie soundtracks such as “Spiderman”, “The Soloist”, and on several Rock/Pop/Country CDs with Vitamin String Quartet. Robin lives in Garden Grove, California with Todd, her husband and 5 chickens and 2 turtles.

In 2013, Robin was invited to Anyang, South Korea as Artistic Ambassador to perform with her harpist-daughter in celebration of Anyang’s 40th Anniversary of Peace and Freedom.

MICHAEL KAUFMAN

Michael Kaufman, explores sounds the cello isn’t supposed to make, be they ethereal scraping of the strings or industrial level strumming and banging,” said Mark Swed, LA Times. Passionately involved in contemporary music, Michael has premiered works written for him by composers such as BMI Competition winner Justin Hoke, Daniel Silliman, Jeffrey Parola and many others. He has worked with composers such as Thomas Adès, Jörg Widmann, John Adams, Donald Crockett and Stephen Hartke in interpreting their own music. After hearing Michael’s performance of Lieux retrouvés, Thomas Adès (the composer) declared it to be “breathtakingly good.” In April 2013, Michael participated in a Carnegie Hall professional training workshop with John Adams and David Robertson called American Soundscapes. In June 2014, he gave the west coast premiere of Sean Friar’s piece Teaser. He has performed in the concert series Jacaranda, the what’s next? ensemble, and in the Callings out of Context series at RedCat.

Michael is a regular and avid chamber musician. He is a founding member of SAKURA, an ensemble of five cellists which has been described by the LA Times as “brilliant” and “superb.” SAKURA has performed in Disney Hall as part of the Piatigorsky International Cello Festival and is currently Young Ensemble in Residence at the Da Camera Society. This season, it is performing concerts in LA, Sedona, Cleveland, and St. Louis. In addition to the quintet, Michael regularly plays with pianist Brendan White in a duo.

In addition to regular chamber music groups, Michael has collaborated in concert with artists such as Leon Fleisher, Midori, Anthony Marwood, Donald Weilerstein, Steven Tenenbom, Roger Tapping, and the Calder Quartet. He has participated in music festivals such as Open Chamber Music at Prussia Cove, Yellow Barn, Music@Menlo, Verbier, Kneisel Hall, Norfolk and Sarasota. Michael is the founder and artistic director of Sunset ChamberFest, which looks forward to its fourth season in June 2017.

Michael loves teaching and recently became cello faculty at Loyola Marymount University. He also works for the Harmony Project, an El Sistema program that serves low-income communities of Los Angeles. Additionally, he teaches privately in LA and has taught masterclasses at schools such as Bowling Green, Cal State Long Beach, UC Irvine, Caltech, and Saddleback College. He served on the USC faculty of student instructors from 2011 to 2014.

In an orchestral setting, Michael is the Associate Principal Cellist of the Redlands Symphony and has performed as guest Principal Cellist of La Monnaie in Brussels. He also subs with the Los Angeles Opera and has played in the section of the San Diego Symphony. He was a founding member of the LA-based conductorless orchestra Kaleidoscope.

Michael is also passionate about baroque cello, for which he received a minor at USC, studying with William Skeen. He frequently plays principal cello with Musica Angelica Baroque Orchestra of Los Angeles and enjoys other small projects on period instruments.

Born in 1987 in New York City, Michael moved to Cleveland at the age of three. One year later, he began cello lessons with teacher Pamela Kelly, and continued with her into his teens. By the age of seventeen, he was already participating in music festivals in Sarasota and Norfolk. In 2004, he was the only cellist to be accepted to the Young Artist Program of the Cleveland Institute of Music, where he studied with Alison Wells. He then received a Bachelor of Music Degree with distinction and a Performer’s Certificate from the Eastman School of Music, studying with Steven Doane. During this time, he had masterclasses with cellists such as Steven Isserlis, Frans Helmerson, Pieter Wispelwey and Miklós Perényi and chamber music coachings with Robert Levin, Pamela Frank, Daniel Hope and members of the Tokyo, Emerson and Orion String Quartets. Michael earned his Master’s Degree and Doctorate from the University of Southern California, studying with Ralph Kirshbaum.

BENJAMIN LASH

Cellist Benjamin Lash was a top prizewinner in the Washington International Competition. Recent concerto performances include Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations and Haydn’s C Major Cello Concerto with the Colburn Orchestra, and Dvorak’s Cello Concerto with the Brentwood Symphony Orchestra. An avid chamber musician, Benjamin has participated in summer festivals including the Sarasota Music Festival, Taos, Aspen, Holland International Music Sessions, Fortissimo Fest in Bulgaria, and 2016 Franco-American Chamber Music Festival in Missillac, France.

Benjamin began studying cello at the age of six. In his early teens, as a first place winner of multiple Chicago area competitions, he performed concertos by Saint-Saens, Shostakovich, Hindemith, and Haydn. Benjamin received his Bachelors of Music from the Colburn Conservatory of Music where he studied with Ronald Leonard. He completed a Master of Music degree at the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music and is currently pursuing a Doctorate degree in cello performance. He is a recipient of the USC Music Faculty Endowed Scholarship and studies with Ralph Kirshbaum.

PETER MYERS

Praised for the warmth of his sound and range of color, American cellist Peter Myers (b. 1985) is internationally known as a chamber musician. A founding member of the Saguaro Piano Trio, which won first prize in the 2009 International Chamber Music Competition Hamburg, as well as SAKURA, a unique and innovative quintet of cellos (both currently Young-Ensembles-in-Residence with the Da Camera Society, Los Angeles).

Mr. Myers has appeared at the Marlboro, La Jolla, and Mozaic festivals, on tour with Musicians from Marlboro, and abroad in Germany, Italy, Japan, China, Australia, New Zealand, Mongolia, Laos, and Pakistan. Since 2017, he has held the position of Assistant Principal Cello with the San Francisco Opera; he has also performed as guest principal cellist of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. His mentors have included Ronald Leonard at the Colburn Conservatory and Ralph Kirshbaum at the University of Southern California. He plays on an 1876 cello by Claude-Augustin Miremont.

JULIA WAGENBAUER

ORION BRUTOCO

Orion Brutoco is the Founder and Executive Director at the Social Justice Team, where he is on a mission to help others rediscover their passions and life’s purpose. After graduating from Hawaii Pacific University with a Bachelor of Science in Advertising/Public Relations, Orion established himself in the sales and marketing field. Throughout his life he has always had a passion for helping others. He’s done this through volunteering with youth, at-risk youth, and other nonprofits concerned with raising advocating for social justice.

Orion began speaking in prisons and gravitated to a central role in managing volunteers at a juvenile rehabilitation camp for male youth offenders. It was here where he began the journey of his life’s purpose. In 2016 Orion began studying for his Master of Social Work at the University of Southern California’s Suzanne Dworak-Peck’s School of Social Work.

The mission of the Social Justice Team is to provide underserved populations in Los Angeles with free mental healthcare and diverse supportive services. These include classes in health, exercise, mindfulness, meditation, music and art.