The Ariel Trio consists of three members of the Ariel Quintet.  The quintet was established in 1984 by five New England Conservatory graduates. In 1988 the quintet received an Artist’s Diploma from the Longy School of Music where their chamber music coaches included Christopher Kruegger and Victor Rosenbaum. The group has competed as finalists in competitions sponsored by the Shoreline Alliance for the Arts and East-West Management.

The Ariel Quintet has been featured in a wide range of activities throughout New England, including formal recitals, educational programs, concert series, and radio broadcasts. They have recorded Peter Child’s “Woodwind Quintet” for the CRI label and Daniel Pinkham’s “Advent Cantata” for the Koch International label. For the Albany label, a Collaboration was made on Gardner Reed’s music with Dana Fortunato. The members of the quintet are active as free-lance performers and teachers in the Boston area.

BIOGRAPHIES

Clare Nielsen received her Bachelor of Music in Flute performance from New England Conservatory of Music and Master of Arts in Music History from Tufts University. In addition to teaching and free-lancing in the Boston area, she is a member of the Eastern Connecticut Symphony Orchestra in New London, Connecticut and the Ariel Wind Quintet. As a member of the quintet she received an Artist’s Diploma in Chamber Music from the Longy School of Music.

Rebecca Leonard received her Bachelor of Music in Clarinet Performance from the New England Conservatory of Music. Active as a bass clarinetist as well as a clarinetist, she has performed extensively throughout the New England area. She can be heard regularly with the Nashua , Portland , Albany , New Hampshire,  Rhode Island,  and Vermont Symphony Orchestras. She is also a frequent theater musician. As a member of the Ariel Quintet she has performed in school presentations, live radio broadcasts, and performing arts series. Rebecca has taught at Brown University, and currently has a large private studio in her home as well as being an adjunct professor at the University of Massachusetts - Lowell. She is a frequent adjudicator of the Massachusetts District Festival auditions and the Rhode Island All-State and Solo and Ensemble Festivals. In Ukraine she conducted a woodwind masterclass at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory. Rebecca can be heard on the Koch International, CRI, Pickwick, and Albany Labels. She lives with her husband, Michael, their children, Mallory and Hunter, and their Rottweilers, Quincy and Callie in Wayland. Rebecca and Michael began Leonards Music in 2003 and now rent, sell, and repair all types of band instruments.

Raised in Philadelphia, Donna Hensil Taub had a chance meeting with the bassoon at age twelve and immediately fell in love. Her musical education began at the Settlement Music School where she studied bassoon and chamber music with Shirley Curtiss. Ms. Hensil Taub earned a Bachelor of Music degree from Indiana University where she studied with Sidney Rosenberg and continued her studies with Richard Ranti at the New England Conservatory, earning both a Masters degree and Graduate Diploma. She was the second bassoonist with the New Bedford Symphony for 5 seasons and has performed with the Rhode Island Philharmonic and Portland Symphony. She resides in Boston and is an active freelanc musician in the New England area.

Ariel Trio

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