Named for the famous palace and gardens in Salzburg, Mozart’s birthplace, Mirabel is a string quartet devoted to the music of Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven played on period instruments. Its members are violinists Allison Edberg of Greencastle, Indiana, and Martha Perry of Bloomington, Indiana; violist William Bauer of St. Louis, Missouri; and violoncellist Debra Lonergan of Ann Arbor, Michigan. 

Mirabel debuted in St. Louis in 2004 on the series of Early Music St. Louis. In March of 2006 the quartet enjoyed a successful tour of several venues in Chicago, including a live radio broadcast for WFMT and concerts at Quigley Chapel and the Chicago Cultural Center.

In the past few seasons, pianist Steven Lubin has performed as concerto soloist or recitalist in England, France, Spain, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Italy, Finland, Ukraine, and all across North America. Lubin has recorded twenty CDs, mostly for major labels, and has received critical approbation worldwide for his artistry, musical originality and technical excellence.

As an early musician, in his sub-specialty as fortepianist, he has been a dominating figure for two  decades. He pioneered a series of solo recitals including fortepiano in major New York venues including his 1977 debut in Carnegie Recital Hall, and, having organized a classic-period orchestra in the early 80s, offered path-breaking performances of Mozart concertos in period style, as soloist/conductor in several of New York's principal halls.

For his all-Beethoven recital on December 8th and 9th, Lubin will perform on a Viennese Graf  6 ½ octave fortepiano built by Rod Regier, one of today’s leading builders of Viennese fortepiano action.  The instrument, a part of The Schubert Club collection of musical instruments in St. Paul, is on rare loan to Musical Offering for this special event and will be transported to the Helen Bader Hall of the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music where the recital will be held.

Photo by Christian Steiner, 2003

Cornelia Beilke comes from an extended family of musicians in Leipzig, Germany. Ms. Beilke studied voice and vocal pedagogy at the Musikhochschule "Hans Eisler" in Berlin, Germany, and holds a Master of Music Performance from Loyola University College of Music. She toured throughout Europe and Japan with the Gächinger Kantorei conducted by Helmut Rilling, with whom she also recorded the complete works of Bach. Performance credits in Europe include the International Bach Festivals in Potsdam and Berlin, the Radio Symphony Orchestra Berlin, and the Berlin Symphony Orchestra, and the Komische Oper Berlin.

In the United States, Ms. Beilke sang with the Washington Opera, the Wolf Trap Opera, the Washington Bach Consort, the Washington Cathedral Choral Society, and numerous chamber ensembles. A favorite with New Orleans audiences, she was heard as a soloist with the Symphony Chorus in Händel's Messiah, Beethoven's 9th Symphony, Bach's Cantata 124, Mozart's Requiem, and Händel's Judas Maccabeaus. Until August 29 of 2005, Ms. Beilke maintained a busy studio at Loyola University, teaching voice, performance master classes and courses in German diction. After evacuating with her family to Massachusetts, Ms.Beilke took a teaching assignment with the Cape Cod Conservatory. Most recently, she moved with her family to Wauwatosa, WI, and made her debut with the Milwaukee early music producer, Musical Offering, Ltd. last May as the featured guest soloist in "Mozart to Moonlight."

A native of Cuba, graduated from the Amadeo Roldan Conservatory and Superior Institute del Arte in Havana, where he studied with renowned guitarist Jesus Ortega. In the United States, Mr. Izquierdo earned a Master of Music and an Artist Diploma degrees from the Yale University School of Music, where he studied with Benjamin Verdery. While at Yale he represented the university in an exchange program with the Conservatoire National de Musique et de Danse du Paris and worked with guitarists Olivie Chassain and Roland Dyens. Rene has appeared as a guest soloist and in chamber music concerts throughout the United States, Cuba and Europe. He has shared the stage with prestigious guitarists including Eliot Fist, Benjamin Verdery and Jorge Morel, as well as renowned flutist Ransom Wilson, soprano Lucy Shelton, David Jolley (French Horn), and Paquito d’Rivera. Renowned composers such as Jorge Morel and Carlos R. Rivera have dedicated works to him. Mr. Izquierdo is a recipient of numerous awards. He is a winner of JoAnn Falletta International Guitar Competition in 2004, Extremadura  International Guitar Competition, Schadt String competition, Stotsenberg International Guitar Competition among others. He is currently a professor of classical guitar at the Wisconsin State University in Milwaukee and an active solo performer and chamber musician. Rene has studied with Leo Brouwer, David Russell, Shin-Ichi Fukuda, Eli Kastner, Pepe Romero, Angel Romero, Carlos Barbosa-Lima, David Starobin, Eduardo Fernandez, Jorge Morel, Robert Beaser and Anthony Newman among others.

Elina Chekan, classical guitar

Born in Minsk, Belarus, Elina Chekan studied with Valeriy Gromov and Eugene Gridiushko in Minsk and with Benjamin Verdery at Yale University, where she attained her Master of Music degree. Ms. Chekan performs regularly in the United States as a soloist and chamber musician. A prizewinner in several international guitar competitions, she also received the Louis and Anne Rosoff award from Yale University. Renowned Argentinean Composer Jorge Morel dedicated one of his recent compositions to Ms. Chekan. Elina is a certified Suzuki Method instructor, registered with the Suzuki Association of Americas. She has served as a faculty and as an artist in residence of the Bloomingdale School of Music in NYC, and as a Chair of the Guitar Department at the School of Music in Minsk. Chekan is currently on the faculty at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee where she directs the Pre-College Division’s Guitar Program.