"PRISMA was, for me, one of the best experiences of my life so far. What I learned at PRISMA as a musician has helped me advance incredibly in the past year. I did not imagine saying this a year ago, but I am soon going to begin the journey of the professional orchestra auditions. Attending PRISMA was an invaluable step in getting me to this point."

Andrew Brown is the Associate-Principal violist of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and was a member of the CBC Radio Orchestra for over eighteen years. An enthusiastic chamber musician, he has worked extensively with Vancouver's leading musical organizations, including the Vetta Quartet, Curio, the Vancouver New Music Ensemble and Masterpiece Players. Andrew performs with violinist Mary Sokol Brown and PRISMA 2013 cello instructor Ariel Barnes in the ensemble Trio Accord.

Andrew has performed throughout North America, Korea, China and Japan, and recently spent three months with the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra. He enjoys the eclectic musical environment in Vancouver where his engagements have ranged from intimate chamber music performances to rock and roll at the Coliseum with members of Led Zeppelin.

A former member of the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, Andrew earned his Bachelor's and Master's of Music degrees at The College Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati, studying with Donald McInnes, Paul Coletti, Gerald Stanick and Masao Kawasaki.

Viola students at PRISMA 2014 will be working with this world class musician in masterclasses, rehearsals and even private lessons for the first week of PRISMA. Mr Brown will be instructing at PRISMA while one of last season's violists, Carrie Denis, is away on leave.

Principal Viola of the Seattle Symphony since 1992, Susan Gulkis Assadi enjoys a varied career as an orchestral player, chamber musician, soloist and teacher. 

In 1998, Gulkis Assadi helped inaugurate Benaroya Hall with Yo-Yo Ma in the Orchestra's performance of R. Strauss' Don Quixote. The recording of David Stock's Viola Concerto, written for Gulkis Assadi to perform with the Seattle Symphony, was released in spring 2004 on Innova Records to critical acclaim. In June 2006, Gulkis Assadi played the West Coast premiere of Paul Schoenfield's Viola Concerto. A founding member of the renowned Bridge Ensemble, Gulkis Assadi also performs regularly with Seattle Opera, the Seattle-based Music of Remembrance, the Governor's Chamber Music Series, and has spent the past 15 summers performing at the Grand Teton Music Festival. She has also coached and given master classes at the New World Symphony in Miami.
In March 2012 she played the Viola Version of Mozart's Clarinet Concerto with the Seattle Symphony. 

Gulkis Assadi earned her Bachelor's of Music from the Curtis Institute of Music, where she studied with Michael Tree of the Guarneri Quartet and Karen Tuttle. After playing in numerous chamber orchestras, including the Brandenburg Ensemble, Concerto Soloists of Philadelphia and the European-based New American Chamber Orchestra, she began her orchestral career as the Principal Viola of the San Francisco Opera Orchestra before coming to Seattle.  

Viola students at PRISMA 2014 will be working with this world class musician in masterclasses, rehearsals and even private lessons for the second week of PRISMA. Ms Gulkis Assadi will be instructing at PRISMA while one of last season's violists, Carrie Denis, is away on leave.