APOLLO CHAMBER PLAYERS
  • Welcome
    • About
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  • PERFORMANCES
    • HOLIDAY VOYAGE
    • AMERICAN STORY 25/26 >
      • DECLARE
      • ENLIGHTEN
      • EMPOWER
      • VENTURE
    • CMA Ensemble of the year award
    • LIBRARY VOYAGE
    • Education
    • Past Seasons >
      • We the People 24/25
      • Artemis Series 23/24
      • Satellite Series
  • EXPERIENCE
    • Albums >
      • BAN: Stories of Censorship
      • TRACE OF TIME
      • MOONSTRIKE
      • WITH MALICE TOWARD NONE
      • WITHIN EARTH
      • ANCESTRAL VOICES
      • BLURRED BOUNDARIES
      • EUROPEAN FOLKSCAPES
    • PRESS
    • DOCUMENTARY
    • PODCAST
    • Commissions - Music
    • COMMISSIONS - Fine Art
  • GET INVOLVED
    • SUPPORT
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core artists

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​matthew j. detrick

violin
artistic & Executive director, founder

Violinist, chamber musician, and entrepreneur Matthew J. Detrick is a dynamic and uniquely accomplished arts leader. He is founder and CEO of Apollo Chamber Players, an internationally-acclaimed ensemble on the cutting edge of innovative programming and multicultural new music commissioning. Entering its 17th season, Apollo has birthed a catalogue of over fifty commissioned works and seven commercial albums.

Mr. Detrick has been featured guest on radio, television and podcast broadcasts around the U.S and world including NPR’s Weekend Edition, Performance Today, Houston Life and Harmonious World (UK). 
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​Under Mr. Detrick’s leadership, Apollo has grown to serve thousands in the Houston area and millions around the world through international broadcasts. He is frequent guest speaker and clinician for alumni lectures, Career Days, and music entrepreneurship series at Rice University, Brazosport College, and the Houston Symphony’s Ima Hogg Competition.
He has also served as a grant evaluator for Mid-America Arts Alliance, the Texas Commission on the Arts, and Houston Arts Alliance. Through his business, Detrick Arts, he contracts ensembles of all sizes for corporate events and charitable functions.

Mr. Detrick was appointed concertmaster of the Symphony of Southeast Texas (Beaumont, TX) in 2012 and has since been featured soloist performing Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante, Vivaldi’s and Piazzolla’s Four Seasons, and the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto. He has also served as guest concertmaster of the Lubbock and Alexandria (LA) Symphonies. 
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A graduate of Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, his principal teachers include Kenneth Goldsmith, Collette Wichert and the late Raphael Fliegel, former concertmaster of the Houston Symphony. Mr. Detrick performs on a 1760 Giuseppe Testore violin and a 1886 Josephy Alfred Lamy bow.


​anabel ramÍrez

violin

Mexican-born violinist Anabel Ramírez began studying the violin at age six in her native country with Ukrainian violinist Gari Petrenko and Russian professor Natalia Gvosdetskaya. By 1991 she had twice won the National Violin Competition in Mexico and the following year Ms. Ramirez was awarded a full scholarship to study at the Ollin Yoliztly School of the Arts in Mexico City. She won the ‘Carlos Chavez’ competition in 1992.
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At age 16, she came to the US to study at the University of Houston under the sponsorship of the Starling Foundation Scholarship Fund, where she completed her Bachelor’s of Music Performance under the supervision of the eminent violin pedagogue Fredell Lack. She subsequently completed her Masters Degree at the University of British Columbia under the guidance of Andrew Dawes and upon returning to Houston she worked towards a pedagogy degree with former Dallas Symphony concertmaster Emanuel Borok.
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Anabel has been a core member of the Houston Grand Opera and the Houston Ballet Orchestras since 2008. ​She became core violinist of Apollo Chamber Players in 2012. In addition to those resposiblities,  Anabel also serves as assistant concertmaster for Mercury Chamber orchestra and frequently performs with ROCO, Ars Lyrica and Bach Society Houston. ​
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Ms. Ramírez has participated in music festivals throughout the world, including the Aspen Music Festival with Dorothy Delay and the Mozarteum of Salzburg with Carlo Chiarappa. She was the winner of the 1998 American String Teachers Association regional competition as well as the 1999 Musicorda Concerto Competition. She was awarded the 2002 Mozart Medal for musical achievements in her home country where she has appeared as soloist with all the major orchestras  including the National Symphony, Querétaro Symphony, Mexico City Philharmonic and Mineria Symphony, and with the Galveston, Clear Lake, Woodlands, Ludwig and San Antonio Symphonies in the U.S. Ms. Ramírez performs on a 1997 Frank Ravatin violin and Robert Morrow bow. In her spare time, Anabel enjoys cooking and road cycling.

CORE VIOLA - OPEN AUDITIONS

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​aria cheregosha

VIOLA 

Praised for her “remarkable musical aplomb”, violist Aria Cheregosha has “successfully blazed her own path” (CVNC), garnering numerous musical accolades and captivating audiences around the world as a passionate and versatile chamber musician and collaborator. A North Carolina native, Aria began her musical odyssey at the age of 7, and performed in both Carnegie Hall and The Kennedy Center by the age of 13. Aria holds a bachelor's degree from the New England Conservatory of Music, where she studied under world-renowned violist and pedagogue Kim Kashkashian, and a masters degree from The Juilliard School, where she studied under the mentorship of Roger Tapping.

As a fervent chamber musician, Aria has secured top prizes in esteemed competitions such as the Fischoff and Plowman Chamber Music Competitions and has worked with acclaimed artists such as Michael Tree, Paul Katz, Donald Weilerstein, and Misha Amory. Aria is currently the Artist in Residence for 2023-2024 at the Harvard Research Institute, Dumbarton Oaks, with her fiery Persian and Cajun viola duo, Tallā Rouge, of which she is a member and co-founder.
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A first generation Persian-American, Aria also aims to pay tribute to her heritage on stage through the performance, commissioning and arranging of works that celebrate her cultural roots.
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​Matthew Dudzik

cello
Chief finance Officer

Cellist Matthew Dudzik has been a member of Apollo Chamber Players since 2009 and Chief Financial Officer since 2012. Based in Houston (TX), Apollo has built a reputation for creative programming and is dedicated to expanding the chamber music repertoire through the commissioning of new works. As Apollo CFO, Mr. Dudzik helped successfully guide the organization through Capacity Building programs at Houston Arts Alliance.
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In Houston, Mr. Dudzik performs in a wide variety of settings including with the Houston Grand Opera and Ballet and Theater Under the Stars.  A frequent performer in Japan, he has appeared with acclaimed violinist Takayoshi Wanami at his Yatsugatake Summer Concerts as well as at the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo. 
A dedicated and enthusiastic educator, he maintains a vibrant private studio at his home, and he serves as a teaching artist for the Houston Youth Symphony’s MELODY program and the American Festival for the Arts (AFA).
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Mr. Dudzik began playing the cello under the guidance of Minnesota Orchestra cellist Sachiya Isomura. He continued his studies with Ko Iwasaki at Southern Methodist University and Norman Fischer at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, where he earned his undergraduate and master’s degrees in music, respectively.


Tonya burton

viola - affiliate artist

Violist, Tonya Burton enjoys a diverse career of both solo and ensemble playing. She recently won third place in the 2023 American Prize for Instrumental Soloists, ‘Best Classical Artist’ in the D.C. Wammie awards, and a track from her solo album won a 2022 Wammie award for ‘Best Classical Song.’ She has performed in major venues across the United States, Canada, China, Switzerland and Italy. 
 An artistic leader, Burton is a core member of the Kinetic Ensemble,  She also curates and performs with the Monarch Chamber Players, a group dedicated to making high-quality chamber music accessible through free concerts in unique venues across the Houston area. She frequently performs with Musiqa, Aperio, Houston Symphony, Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra, and is an Affiliate Artist with Apollo Chamber Players. 
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A sought-after educator and clinician, Burton has given masterclasses for Corpus Christi A&M, Kansas State University, Interlochen Center for the Arts, and the Houston Viola Society. Burton currently serves on faculty at Sam Houston State University and maintains a thriving home studio. She received a Master’s in Music from Rice University studying with James Dunham, a Bachelor’s of Music from Cleveland Institute of Music under the tutelage of Jeffrey Irvine, and served as Katherine Murdock’s Teaching Assistant while working on her Doctorate at the University of Maryland. ​
Apollo has hit a home run.
 - AMERICAN RECORD GUIDE
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Photos by Lynn Lane & Pim LIm
Brochure Design by  Padron & Co.

Web Design Anabel Ramirez
Apollo Chamber Players
307 LILAC ST.| Houston, TX | 77009
 Apollo Chamber Players is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
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  • Welcome
    • About
    • Artists
    • Board & Staff
  • PERFORMANCES
    • HOLIDAY VOYAGE
    • AMERICAN STORY 25/26 >
      • DECLARE
      • ENLIGHTEN
      • EMPOWER
      • VENTURE
    • CMA Ensemble of the year award
    • LIBRARY VOYAGE
    • Education
    • Past Seasons >
      • We the People 24/25
      • Artemis Series 23/24
      • Satellite Series
  • EXPERIENCE
    • Albums >
      • BAN: Stories of Censorship
      • TRACE OF TIME
      • MOONSTRIKE
      • WITH MALICE TOWARD NONE
      • WITHIN EARTH
      • ANCESTRAL VOICES
      • BLURRED BOUNDARIES
      • EUROPEAN FOLKSCAPES
    • PRESS
    • DOCUMENTARY
    • PODCAST
    • Commissions - Music
    • COMMISSIONS - Fine Art
  • GET INVOLVED
    • SUPPORT
    • CONTACT