MARGARET SWINCHOSKI, flutist, began her musical studies at the age of nine in Vermont.  She graduated with degrees and high honors both in Performing Arts and Music Education from Johnson State College, Johnson, Vermont.   She received her Master of Arts degree from Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College.  Ms. Swinchoski was a featured soloist at the National Flute Association Convention in the World Premiere of Leo Kraft’s “From The Hudson Valley”,  recently premiered Richard Lane’s Flute Concerto with the Adelphi Chamber Orchestra and has appeared as a concerto soloist with many other orchestras.  She was presented in her debut recital by Artists International at Carnegie's Weill Recital Hall.  She has served as principal flutist with the Westchester and Harrisburg Symphony Orchestras, and travels to Ohio each summer to play principal flute with the Lancaster Festival Orchestra.   Her solo debut CD “From The Hudson Valley” was released by Albany Records in 2000 and garnered rave reviews from “Fanfare” magazine and “American Record Guide”.  Ms. Swinchoski can also be heard on the Newport Classics, CRI and High Point labels.  As a founding member of the Palisades Virtuosi, she has commissioned and premiered roughly 20 works for Flute, Clarinet & Piano from such well-known composers as Eric Ewazen, Carlos Franzetti, Robert Manno, Dan Cooper,  Frank Ezra Levy & Allen Shawn among others.  The New American Masters series is released by Albany Records.  Volume 2 is due to release in February 2008.

Technical acumen, timbres and musicianship 
rarely heard from concert flutists” 
- The Salt Lake Tribune
 

“Swinchoski provides as much nuance and sound variety as a flutist can produce” 
- Classical NJ Society Journal 
 

“Swinchoski’s bright tone, agile technique and obvious commitment serves the music admirably” 
- Manchester Journal 

EMILY MITCHELL has earned critical acclaim as “a marvelous harpist” (The New York Times) who captivates her audiences with “playing of the utmost delicacy, beauty and subtlety.” (Records and Recording)  In the words of The Washington Post, “Mitchell commands a vivid palette of colors and uses them with imagination.” 

Ms. Mitchell is acknowledged as a brilliant musician with the best sound around.  She has been heard worldwide as a concerto soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician.  She has been profiled on The Today Show, Good Morning America, CNN, BBC, National Public Radio’s Performance Today and People Magazine.  Most memorable performances include Mozart’s Concerto for Flute and Harp with James Galway in Carnegie Hall with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Julius Rudel conducting, being presented in concert before British Royalty both in England and at the British Embassy in Washington, D.C., and also performing for First Lady Rosalynn Carter at The White House.  A graduate of the Eastman School of Music and an Associate of the Royal College of Music, London, Ms. Mitchell won the coveted First Prize at the prestigious Seventh International Harp Contest in Jerusalem. 

For ten years, Emily Mitchell was principal harpist for the incomparable Eos Orchestra working closely with many of today’s composers.  She now frequently works with the New Haven Symphony, New York City Ballet, and American Symphony Orchestras.  Ms. Mitchell delights in teaching with the distinguished artist faculties of New York University and Purchase College, SUNY, where she has formed the NYU and Purchase Harp Ensembles.  She has commissioned wonderful new works for both.  Ms. Mitchell performs with numerous chamber ensembles, but it is as the other half of the jubilant Legacy Duo with flutist Margaret Swinchoski, and sharing an elegant flute and harp duo with flutist Gary Schocker, that Ms. Mitchell derives the greatest satisfaction in chamber music performance. 

Living a varied musical life, Emily Mitchell is also an established name in the television, motion picture, and recording studios of New York City.  She has worked closely with Michael Jackson, Barbra Streisand, Ray Charles, Barry Manilow, and Bette Midler, to name only a few.  Ms. Mitchell can be heard playing on 70 film scores including Aladdin, Fargo, Fur, and The Good Shepherd. 

Emily Mitchell’s extensive discography includes her popular recordings for RCA Victor, singing and accompanying herself on the Celtic harp.  Her most recent concert harp recordings are Impromptu and Mozart Variations on the JMR Label.