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The core group of Onyx Chamber Players forms a piano trio. While they most frequently play the classical piano trio repertoire, they are often joined by guest artists to perform chamber music written for additional strings, woodwinds,
brass and voice.
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 Violinist James Garlick was born in Port Angeles, Washington and began studying violin at age five. Since graduating from the Oberlin Conservatory, he has been in increasing in demand as a soloist, chamber musician and concertmaster. James is Concertmaster of the Cascade Symphony, and frequently performs in the same capacity with the Northwest Sinfonietta chamber orchestra. He is also a member of the Seattle Baroque Orchestra, has performed with the Seattle Symphony, and is an artist with the Swiss Global Artistic Foundation, whose aim is to support emerging talent.
James recently made his Carnegie Hall Concerto Debut performing the Saint-Saens Introduction & Rondo Capriccioso to a packed house in the Issac Stern auditorium. 2009/2010 season highlights include concerti of Mendelssohn, Piazzolla, and Vivaldi with the Northwest Sinfonietta, Seattle Baroque Orchestra and the Octava Chamber Orchestra, as well as multiple recital appearances. James is winner of the Ladies Musical Club of Seattle Solo Competition, and was a semifinalist in the Stradivarius International Violin Competition where he was one of fifteen competitors from around the world.
A 2006 graduate of the Oberlin College and Conservatory, James earned a double degree in both violin performance and neuroscience. He was frequently concertmaster of the Oberlin Orchestras and award winning Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble, and has worked closely with conductors such as Robert Spano at Carnegie Hall and Sir Simon Rattle. James studied with Gregory Fulkerson at Oberlin, and was a full scholarship student of Paul Kantor at the Aspen Music Festival..In his free time, he enjoys long distance running, hiking, skiing and sailing.
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 Cellist Meg Brennand is known for her work on both modern and
baroque cello. Brennand is professor of cello at Seattle Pacific
University. Her interest in historically informed performance practice
led to the study of the baroque cello and she has performed with many
baroque orchestras on the West Coast. Meg is cellist with the Seattle
Baroque Orchestra and she was a founding musician of Gallery Concerts,
specializing in 18th century chamber music on period instruments. An
avid chamber music performer, she has performed throughout the
Northwest, including Bloedel, Jacobsen, Second City, Mostly Nordic,
Belle Arte, Camerata, First Sundays, La Conner. Meg is also a member of
the Auburn Symphony and the Pacific Northwest Ballet Orchestra. She is a
graduate of the Eastman School of Music. She has recorded for NPR, Wild
Boar, and Centaur. Meg is proud to be a stage III cancer survivor, and
she is overjoyed to be back performing with Onyx.
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 David White is equally at home as pianist, organist, harpsichordist, fortepianist, composer and conductor. He enjoys a national and international career as chamber musician, soloist, composer and church musician. White, a native of Chicago, gave his first public concert at the age of six, and won prizes in contests by the time he was 12 from the Society of American Musicians, Chicago Symphony Young Musicians' Guild, and Blue Lake Fine Arts. As soon as his feet could reach the pedals, he started studying organ, and has been a liturgical musician ever since. He served as Organist and Director of Music for several prestigious congregations, most recently Temple Menorah in Chicago, St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Medina, and St. James Episcopal Cathedral in Chicago. He has given organ recitals throughout the world, including Vienna, Australia, New Zealand, Leipzig and numerous cities in the United States and Canada. He is a sought-after accompanist and has won wide critical and public acclaim for his performances of lieder and chansons in recitals with many outstanding singers. His conducting career has touched many genre, including opera, symphony, Broadway musical and choral. As a composer, he has received commissions from choral and orchestral groups all over the world. His canon of works number more than 150, including many written specifically for the musicians who gave the premier performances. He has just completed his fourth commissioned opera, "The Adopted Son", and is writing a trio for Onyx.
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GUEST ARTISTS, 2011-2012 Season
Violist J. Melvin Butler made his solo concerto debut with the North Carolina Symphony at age fourteen playing Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante with violin protégé Kenji Kobayashi. As an undergraduate at Oberlin Conservatory of Music, Butler served as Associate Principal and Principal Violist of the Oberlin Orchestra while majoring in organ. During his graduate studies at the Eastman School of Music, where he received a doctorate in Organ Performance, he was violist in the select graduate Collegium String Quartet. He served his country during the Viet Nam War as violist in the U.S. Navy String Quartet stationed in Washington, DC. During this time he was invited to study with esteemed violist Paul Doktor. Following his military service, he played viola with the Rochester (NY) Philharmonic Orchestra for eighteen years and also performed as baroque violist with the Genesee Baroque Players. More recently, he has performed with the Allegro Baroque ensemble in Spokane, WA, and the Onyx Chamber Players in Seattle.
J. Melvin Butler has been Organist/Choirmaster at Saint Mark's Cathedral in Seattle for over seventeen years. He has served on the faculties of the Eastman School of Music and the University of Washington and was for many years Music Director and Conductor of the Rochester Bach Festival. He is a published composer and presents organ concerts nationally and internationally. His organ and choral recordings appear on the Loft/Gothic label.
Mel Butler will join Onyx on January 15 and June 24, 2012.
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Violist and violinist Laurel Wells has enjoyed an extensive and eclectic musical life, performing internationally and throughout the United States. For twenty years she was a member of the violin section of the Lyric Opera of Chicago, between seasons earning Master's degrees in violin and viola at Indiana University. She was also the violist with a quartet in residence at the Banff Centre in Canada. During the off season of Lyric Opera, Laurel played seasons with the Hong Kong Philharmonic, Bergen Philharmonic in Norway, and in Chicago, performed regularly with the Chicago Symphony, Grant Park orchestra, and various Baroque ensembles. In 1995 Laurel settled in Seattle. She became principal violist of the Northwest Chamber Orchestra. She is currently a member of Pacific Northwest Ballet Orchestra, and performs often with the Seattle Symphony, Seattle Opera, and the Fifth Avenue Theatre. On the Baroque scene, Laurel can be heard performing in the Gallery Concert Series, the Seattle Baroque Orchestra, Pacific Musicworks, and Pacific Baroque Orchestra in Vancouver, B.C, as well as part of two new period ensembles; the Opus 20 String quartet, and the Kügeln String Trio.
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June Matayoshi, oboe/English horn, is one of the most sought-after, active free-lance musicians in Chicago. She currently holds positions with the Joffrey Ballet Orchestra, Chicago Sinfonietta, and Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra. Other performing venues in the Midwest region have included Chamber Opera Chicago, as well as Northwest Indiana, Lake Forest, South Bend, and Elgin symphonies. She has played in pickup groups for entertainers such as Johnny Mathis, Vince Gill, Gladys Knight, Ray Charles, and Natalie Cole. June is one of the pit musicians for Broadway in Chicago, and was one of the oboists for Wicked during its three and a half year run. She also played with thenational touring company for Phantom of the Opera, and the Chicago runs of Les Miserablesand South Pacific.
June was on the adjunct faculty at DePaul University School of Music, and also held teaching positions at North Park College and Sherwood Conservatory in Chicago. She has music performance and pedagogy degrees from Roosevelt and Northern Illinois Universities. Outside of music, June has been the grants manager for the Irving Harris Foundation since 1985.
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Bassist Stephen Schermer received his BA with honors from Eastern Washington University and his MM with honors from the New England
Conservatory. He also spent two summers at the Tanglewood Music Center
where he was the recipient of the Koussevitsky Fellowship. Mr. Schermer
is currently assistant principal bassist with the Pacific Northwest
Ballet orchestra, teaches at University Of Puget Sound, and performs
frequently with the Seattle Symphony and Seattle Opera. He is also
active in the recording industry and as a chamber musician with
organizations including the Olympic Music Festival, Simple Measures, and
the Jacobsen Series at University of Puget Sound.
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