About
Recognized as one of Chicago’s finest chamber music groups, The Orion Ensemble has been performing since 1992. John von Rhein of the Chicago Tribune called Orion “one of Chicago’s most vibrant, versatile and distinctive ensembles.” With the possibilities inherent in its unique combination of instruments—piano, string trio and clarinet—Orion offers exciting interpretations of standard repertoire, introduces audiences to rarely performed masterpieces and inspires composers with commissions for new works.
The Orion Ensemble boasts a roster of superb musicians who have performed throughout North America, Europe and Asia, as an ensemble and individually in solo, orchestral and other chamber music roles. In Chicago, Orion presents a four-concert series in three venues, is heard regularly on the broadcast series “Live from WFMT” and appears frequently on the Chicago Cultural Center’s Lunchbreak Series “Classical Mondays.”
An Amazing Repertoire
Orion programs diverse works ranging from Mozart, Beethoven and Brahms to William Bolcom, Chick Corea, Paul Schoenfield, Augusta Read Thomas and other living composers, offering audiences a remarkably broad chamber music experience. Orion’s expansive commitment to chamber music embraces the works of the classical through modern standard repertoire as well as an extensive range of new pieces for piano quartet and clarinet. Orion continues to inspire composers with commissions for new works written especially for its unique combination of instruments. As the Chicago Tribune’s John von Rhein wrote upon Orion’s 10th anniversary, “It seems like only yesterday that a remarkable chamber group of musicians calling itself the Orion Ensemble was born. The Orions … quickly established themselves as one of the Chicago area’s most vibrant, versatile and distinctive ensembles, at home in every period but especially committed to enlarging the repertory of its unusual combination of piano quartet and clarinet.”
“Orion is ... what chamber music should be.”
“These gifted and enthusiastic artists are among the reasons why Chicago is undergoing a veritable chamber music renaissance.”
“One of the finest musical groups in Chicago. The members are all extraordinary musicians.”
Florentina Ramniceanu
FLORENTINA RAMNICEANU, violinist, is a founding member of the Orion Ensemble. A native of Romania, Râmniceanu graduated with honors from the Bucharest Conservatory of Music. She has studied with some of the world's leading violinists, including David Oistrach, Ştefan Gheorghiu and Galina Barinowa.
Ms. Ramniceanu won the prestigious Romanian National Music Prize for four consecutive years. She has appeared in solo and chamber recitals, and has concertized extensively throughout Europe and the United States. She has performed as first violinist with the Consortium String Quartet, known for their collaboration with blues artist Corky Siegel and together with Consortium has recorded for American Gramophone.
Her recordings include performance on the acclaimed Mannheim Steamroller's Christmas Album for which she received a gold record. She is also featured on a recording for Columbia College with works by William Russo.
Now a resident of Chicago, Ramniceanu has performed in numerous nationally broadcast series and has played with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Lyric Opera Orchestra, as well as performing as principal violinist with the Ravinia Festival Orchestra and the Chicago Philharmonic. Since 1990, Ramniceanu served as concertmaster for Bugs Bunny on Broadway, the live orchestra and film stage production that has since played to critical acclaim and sold-out audiences all over the world.
In recent years, Ms. Ramniceanu has also served as guest concertmaster for major symphonies in the U.S. and abroad, such as San Francisco, Washington D.C., Detroit, Houston, Seattle, Toronto, Vancouver, Moscow, London, Tokyo, and others.
She enjoys downhill skiing in Colorado with her husband, and spending time with her puppies.
Kathryne Pirtle
KATHRYNE PIRTLE, clarinetist, is executive director of The Orion Ensemble, which she founded with pianist Diana Schmück and violinist Florentina Ramniceanu. Donald Rosenberg stated, in a recent Gramophone review, “Clarinetist Kathryne Pirtle plays with seamless elegance, telling nuances and spacious tonal resources.”
Since 1988, Ms. Pirtle has been principal clarinetist with the Lake Forest Symphony. Her other orchestral affiliations include the Lyric Opera Orchestra, Ravinia Festival Orchestra, Chicago Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Grant Park Symphony and Elgin Symphony.
In 2004, Hal Leonard Corporation released her first solo album, Works for Unaccompanied Clarinet, The Music of J. S. Bach, from the transcription of H. Voxman (Rubank). In 2017, she released her second solo album, Twelve Fantasias for Clarinet Solo by Telemann, from the transcription of Sidney Forrest (Southern Music).
Ms. Pirtle has co-authored a book on nutrition using traditional foods, Performance without Pain (2006), published by New Trends, and an ebook, Acid Reflux—A National Epidemic and Precursor to Chronic Illness—Achieving Lasting Healing with Traditional Foods (2009). Since 2004, she has presented more than 90 workshops in the U.S. and appeared on numerous radio and television programs. In 2012 she was a speaker at the Wise Traditions Conference in London, England. She has been published in the International Musician, International Clarinet, The Autism File Global, Advance Magazine (a publication for Physical Therapy) and Wise Traditions, and writes a blog on her website performancewithoutpain.com about issues relating to building health with nutrient-dense foods.
Ms. Pirtle teaches privately and gives master classes on clarinet and chamber music literature, pedagogy and artist development. She has served on the faculties of Wheaton College Conservatory of Music, Northern Illinois University, Bradley University, Indiana University and New Trier High School. She is currently the head coach for the Earl Clemens Wind Quintet of the Elgin Youth Symphony and teaches in her home studio and at Hinsdale South High School.
Judy Stone
A member of the Orion Ensemble since 1995, cellist JUDY STONE performs regularly with Music of the Baroque where she has also been a featured soloist. She also performs with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Chicago Philharmonic and Chicago Opera Theater. Ms. Stone has appeared as soloist with orchestras throughout the United States, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. She has been recognized in national and international competitions, such as the prestigious Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, where she was awarded a Performers Certificate.
A Chicago native, Ms. Stone received her music education at the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan, and graduated with honors from Chicago Musical College of Roosevelt University, where she earned bachelor and master of music degrees under the tutelage of cellist Karl Fruh.
Ms. Stone is a very sought after chamber musician, can also be heard on many television and radio commercials, and maintains a private teaching studio. In the summer of 2007 she took time out from her busy schedule to perform works by Johannes Brahms, Marko Tajcevic, and Chicagoan Robert Kritz with Vermillion (clarinetist Bonnie Campbell and Diana Schmück) at the International Clarinet Association’s ClarinetFest in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Diana Schmück
Described by the Chicago Sun-Times as "one of the finest chamber pianists on the scene, …playing with her ears as much as her gifted hands," pianist DIANA SCHMÜCK has appeared in concert throughout the United States and Canada, in Europe and as far as the Philippines, where she was a soloist with the Metro-Manila Symphony. She has performed as a soloist at Chicago’s major venues, including Symphony Center, Ravinia, WFMT, and the Chicago Cultural Center.
A founding member of the Orion Ensemble, Dr. Schmück also founded a trio of other chamber groups: the Debriana Duo piano team (with Debra Sutter), which received special recognition at the first Murray Dranoff Duo-Piano Competition and was invited to perform at the American Liszt Society in Washington, D.C.; the Daedalus Duo (with clarinetist Bonnie Campbell) and Vermillion (with Bonnie Campbell and Judy Stone). She also collaborates with instrumental musicians from many of the foremost American orchestras and worked for fourteen summers with world-class singers at Ravinia’s Steans Institute. In the summer of 2007 she performed with Vermillion at the International Clarinet Association’s ClarinetFest in Vancouver (BC), where she also had the opportunity to collaborate with celebrated clarinetists David Shifrin and Richard Stolzman.
Diana is a doctoral graduate of Northwestern University and also holds degrees from DePaul University and Wheaton College. Having taught and coached in several university, college, outreach, and summer festival settings, she currently teaches at VanderCook College of Music, provides music at Lake Street Church of Evanston and maintains a private studio in Evanston.