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Violinist/Trombonist Eddie Venegas was born in Caracas, Venezuela and studied with Daniel Phillips of the Orion String Quartet at The Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College where he obtained his Bachelors and Masters in Performance of Classical Violin. Venegas is also a self-taught trombonist and very active on both instruments in the NYC freelance jazz, classical, and Latin music scenes. He has worked with such renowned artists as John Fadis, Joe Zawinul, Tito Puente, Mark Antony, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Dani Rojo and Johnny Pacheco, among others and has appeared as a soloist with numerous groups including The Carnegie Hall Jazz Band, the Hudson Jazz Ensemble, Saint Martins of Tours Symphony Orchestra, the Carpentier Quartet and the Queens Philharmonic. Venegas plays regularly with The Harrisburg Symphony, La Orquesta Broadway, the Sphinx Symphony and En Talla, and his original compositions can be heard among the Sweet Plantain and The 3 Sad Cats Jazz Ensemble regular repertoire. Venegas can additionally be seen in the Jennifer Lopez/Marc Antony movie, El Cantante.
Violinist Romulo Benavides studied with the late Emil Friedman in his native Venezuela and obtained his Bachelors from The Juilliard School. As Concertmaster of Arcos Juveniles de Caracas, he performed as soloist in the United States, Spain, Dominican Republic and throughout Venezuela, and in 1985, he won 1st Prize at the Juan Bautista Plaza Violin Competition in Caracas. He went on to perform as soloist with the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra, Carabobo Chamber Orchestra and the Venezuelan Symphony Orchestra. In NYC he has performed with the Carpentier Quartet, Ensemble America, Frank Valiente Tango Quintet, and with Mauricio Najt and Alberto Quiroga. Benavides performs as the first violinist of the Dali Quartet and is Concertmaster and featured soloist of the Philadelphia Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra. He has recorded for New World Records and performed in master classes for Itzhak Perlman at Brooklyn College and for Peter Winograd at The Aspen Music School.
Violist Orlando Wells, a NJ native, studied at LaGuardia High School of Performing Arts and graduated with Behrens Foundation and B’nai Brith scholarships. He then went on to S.U.N.Y. Purchase and Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers. Wells has held the concertmaster chair with Orchestra of the Bronx and the Bronx Opera and has appeared as a soloist with Antara, the Manhattan Virtuosi and the St. Peter by the Sea Orchestra. He also performs with the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic, SONYC Chamber Orchestra, Ritz Chamber Players, Quartet Evolution, Sweet Plantain, Radio City Christmas Show Orchestra and on Broadway with Phantom of the Opera, The Producers, Spamalot and Wicked. He has collaborated with such greats as John Legend, Mariah Carrey, Rihanna, Kanye West, Marvin Hamlish, the Akua Dixon Swing Quartet, Sojourner Strings, and Dionne Warwick
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Cellist David Gotay, born in the Bronx, has performed in such notable venues as Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Avery Fisher Hall and the White House. He has played on television in PBS’ Sessions at 54th Street, on the QVC Network and in the nationally-broadcast Hurricane Katrina Benefit with Sheryl Crow. He has collaborated with such artists as Billy Joel, Alicia Keys, Aretha Franklin, k.d. lang, David Sanborn, Little Jimmy Scott, John Blake Jr., and Mannheim Steamroller. Mr. Gotay is a rapper and electric cellist of the experimental hip-hop/classical group Sound Liberation, whose debut album is released on the Col Legno label in Germany. He regularly performs with the Harrisburg Symphony, Key West Symphony, and the Sphinx Symphony in Detroit. Among his numerous awards are included: Chamber Music America’s Residency Partnership Program Grant; Martin Luther King Jr., Cesar Chavez, Rosa Parks Visiting Professorship, University of Michigan; Meet The Composer Met Life Creative Connections grant, Harlem School of the Arts Certificate of Appreciation; and Chamber Music Live Award, Queens College.
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