George Pope, flute, George Pope is Professor of Flute at the University of Akron and Instructor of Flute at the Baldwin Wallace Conservatory. His solo and chamber music performances throughout the United States, Europe and South America have been universally acclaimed. Fanfare Magazine calls George Pope's playing "clean, arrestingly vigorous and beautiful". His Ohio premiere of the Christopher Rouse Concerto for Flute and Orchestra was hailed for its "eloquent narrative voice" and "magnificent force". George Pope was Principal and Solo Flute of the Akron Symphony Orchestra from 1978-2002. He has also performed with the Cleveland Orchestra, Red (an orchestra), the Ohio Ballet Orchestra, the Cleveland Philharmonic, the Canton Symphony Orchestra, the Toledo Symphony Orchestra, Lyric Opera Cleveland, the Tulsa Philharmonic, the New Mexico Symphony, the Monteux Festival Orchestra and the Brevard Music Center Orchestra.

A graduate of Northwestern University and The University of Tulsa, George Pope studied with Marion McNally, Maurice Sharp, Walfrid Kujala, Bernard Goldberg, William Bennett and Geoffrey Gilbert. He is a founding member of the SOLARIS Wind Quintet, in residence at The University of Akron. George Pope has performed with The Chamber Music Society of Ohio, The Coryton Trio, the Garth Newel Chamber Players in Hot Springs, Virginia, and Furious Band, a contemporary music ensemble. He has also recorded for Opus One Records, with the Akron Symphony on Telarc, and with the Blossom Festival Band. George Pope has appeared as the featured artist in many festivals, including the Upper Midwest Flute Association in Minneapolis, the Florida Flute Association, the Central Ohio Flute Association, the Greater Cleveland Flute Society, the Oklahoma Flute Society, the Arizona Flute Society, the Pittsburgh Flute Society, the Middle Tennessee Flute Association, the Northwest Flute Collegium in Tacoma, the Sweelinck Conservatory in Amsterdam, the Royal Conservatory of Music in Stockholm and the German Flute Society in Frankfurt.

Kristina Belisle Jones is Professor of Music (Clarinet) at The University of Akron, clarinetist of the Solaris Wind Quintet, Principal Clarinetist of the Akron Symphony Orchestra, the Blossom Festival Orchestra, the Blossom Festival Band, and has frequently freelanced with The Cleveland Orchestra. An active soloist, Jones has performed concertos with the Houston Symphony, the Flint Symphony, the Cleveland Chamber Symphony, the Akron Symphony Orchestra, the Akron Youth Symphony, the Conway Symphony Orchestra and university orchestras/wind ensembles throughout Arkansas and NorthEast Ohio.

She has won numerous awards including the William C. Byrd National Young Artist Award for Winds and Brass and the Ima Hogg National Young Artist Award. As a chamber musician, she has performed with the Renaud Chamber Music Series, the Chamber Music Society of Ohio, the Fontana Festival of Music and Art, the Norfolk, Bowdoin, and Garth Newel Chamber Music Festivals. As a founding member of Southspoon Winds, a woodwind quintet based in New York City, she received top prizes in the Fischoff and Yellow Springs Competitions and Honorable Mention in the prestigious Concert Artist Guild Competition.

Internationally, Kristina Belisle Jones has performed recitals in Japan, Italy, and China and given masterclasses in China and Taiwan. She recently completed a four-year term as Secretary of the International Clarinet Association, performing yearly at the organization’s International ClarinetFests. National symposium appearances include recitals at the National Association of College Wind and Percussion Instructors National Symposium (NACWPI), the Oklahoma Clarinet Symposium, and regional clarinet conferences in Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota and Ohio. The NACWPI Journal wrote of her conference performance: "Belisle's playing indicates that she may be one of the most gifted clarinetists teaching at the college level." The Clarinet hailed Belisle's Oklahoma performance as "superb".

Jones holds Doctor of Musical Arts and Master of Music degrees from Michigan State University where she studied with Elsa Ludewig-Verdehr. Her undergraduate work was completed at The University of Georgia where she was a student of Theodore Jahn. She can be heard in CD with Solaris in "American Quintets II", released by Capstone Records.

William Hoyt is currently Professor of Horn at the University of Akron. He performs regularly with the Paragon Brass Quintet, the Solaris Quintet, the Jazz Unit and the Cleveland Pops Orchestra. Mr. Hoyt performs regularly at the Swannanoa Chamber Music Festival and has played in the Spoleto Festival, the Claremont Music Festival, the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival as well as many others. He has also performed with the Akron Symphony, the Canton Symphony, and the Cleveland Orchestra. He has degrees from the University of Wisconsin and Yale University and his primary teachers have been John Barrows, Barry Tuckwell, and Paul Ingraham.

As a soloist he has performed with many organizations including the Akron Symphony Orchestra, the Juneau Symphony, and the Wooster Symphony.

As a jazz player, which is not common on the French Horn, Mr. Hoyt has performed regularly with the Jazz Unit, The Cleveland Jazz Orchestra and at the Tri-C Jazz fest. He has performed with the likes of Joe Lovano, Dan Wall, and many other great jazz players.

Internationally, Mr. Hoyt has performed and given master classes in China, Brazil, Sweden, Germany, Italy and Austria.

Mr. Hoyt was the winner of the coveted Concert Artists Guild Award in 1977 and as a result performed a debut recital in Carnegie Recital Hall in New York City in December of that year. Mr. Joseph Horowitz of the New York Times reviewed the recital and declared Mr. Hoyt, "clearly a poised, sensitive horn player."

Mr. Hoyt can be heard with the NFB Horn Quartet on Crystal Records and GM Recordings, with the Solaris Quintet on Capstone Records, and with the Jazz Unit on the Go Bop label.

Cynthia Cioffari teaches bassoon at The University of Akron and is a member of the Solaris Wind Quintet. She is also contrabassoonist/section bassoonist of the Columbus Symphony Orchestra and bassoonist with the Wintergreen (VA) Summer Music Festival Orchestra. She has performed with the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra, ProMusica Chamber Orchestra, Southwest Virginia Chamber Orchestra, Toledo Symphony, West Virginia Symphony, Fort Wayne Philharmonic, Tuscaloosa Symphony Orchestra, Columbus Light Opera, Broadway Across America-Columbus and the Winds of Wintergreen.

Prior to joining the faculty at The University of Akron, Ms. Cioffari held adjunct positions at Capital University, Otterbein College and Denison University. She has also taught at the University of Alabama, Heidelberg College and Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp. Ms. Cioffari has appeared as a soloist or ensemble member at the International Double Reed Society Convention, National Flute Association Convention, International Clarinet Association Conference, Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic and at the International Horn Symposium in Cape Town, South Africa. In 1983, she was a finalist in the International Double Reed Society's Gillet Young Artist Competition at Tallahassee, Florida.

Cynthia Cioffari can be heard on CD with the Columbus Symphony Orchestra (“CSO Showcase” and “Live at Carnegie Hall”), with the Bowling Green State University New Music Festival and with the Bexley Chamber Ensemble. Recent premiere performances for her include “Petite Suite” for oboe and bassoon by James Geiger, “Breve Dúo Latino” for flute and bassoon by Richard Cioffari, “Nocturne #1, Opus 529” for Chamber Ensemble by Stan Smith and “Variations on a Theme of Grieg” for woodwind quintet by Richard Cioffari. She holds a bachelor's degree in music performance from Bowling Green State University and a master's degree in woodwinds from the University of Michigan. Her teachers have included L. Hugh Cooper, Robert J. Moore and Russell Hinkle. Prof. Cioffari is listed in “Who’s Who in America.”

Jack Cozen Harel is the oboist of the Solaris Quintet and serves on the faculty of the University of Akron. Named Best Classical Soloist by Downbeat Magazine, Mr. Harel has been an exclusive Yamaha Performing Artist since 2008. Jack has also won the Leni Fe Bland Competition, Yamaha Young Performing Artist Competition and the Eckstein Grant. He is presently the oboe teaching artist for the Los Angeles Philharmonic and has taught at the California Institute of Technology, Long Beach College, and Northwestern University. Additionally, Mr. Harel holds the Guinness World Record for "Fastest Oboe Playing". This record was set by performing all 409 notes of Rimsky-Korsakov's Flight of the Bumblebee in a time of 26.1 seconds.

Mr. Harel began his professional career at age 18 as the second oboist of the San Francisco Sinfonietta. He later served as co-principal oboist with the Sinfonietta before leaving his post to pursue further study and a solo career. Jack holds degrees from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and Northwestern University, where he served as teaching associate to the oboe faculty. Mr. Harel also holds an Artist Diploma from the Colburn School, where he was the first oboist ever accepted to the prestigious conservatory program. His teachers include John de Lancie, James Moore, William Bennett, Grover Schiltz, and Allan Vogel.