Pianist and violinist, Ayke Agus was hailed as a child prodigy.  She began to perform in concerts at the age of seven in her native Indonesia. Among her teachers in the United States were Ivan Galamian (world renowned violin pedagogue who taught at the Juilliard School of Music) and the world renowned violinist Jascha Heifetz at the University of Southern California.  She performed chamber music with Heifetz and the famous Russian cellist, Gregor Piatigorsky in concerts, as violinist and pianist.  She was on the faculty of USC for 10 years.  Presently she is on the string faculty in Lancaster at the Antelope Valley College, teaching violin and ensemble.  She regularly holds master classes in the “Art of Collaboration.”

          Ms. Agus is a regular performer at chamber music festivals featuring artists from the Heifetz and Piatigorsky classes as well as such internationally noted groups as the Ysaye String Quartet.  Her annual tours to Europe and Indonesia bring the highest reviews for both her violin and piano recitals.  Her most recent recordings for Protone records include a piano solo CD, “Musical Mementos of Jascha Heifetz.”  She is a regular member of the West Los Angeles Symphony, Burbank Chamber Orchestra, Pasadena Pops Orchestra, California Philharmonic, and the Pasadena Symphony.

          In 2001, her book, “Heifetz as I Knew Him” was released by Amadeus Press in celebration of the Heifetz centennial, and is available in book stores across the country.

Celine Gietzen, cellist, comes from a long line of accomplished musicians.  She began the study of violin and piano at the age of five, and then she changed her focus to the cello at age nine.  She has won many scholarships for cello performance including an annual award from the Kiwanis Club of Santa Monica from 1986 to 1990, tuition-free participation in the Idyllwild School of Music and the Arts Summer Festival in 1990 and 1991, and an annual merit-based tuition scholarship from 1993 to 1997 at the Cleveland Institute of Music, one of the finest music conservatories in the nation, where she studied with Alan Harris.  Her other principal teachers include Nancy Yamagata and Richard Naill.  She has also participated in master classes with such cello luminaries as Ronald Leonard, Lynn Harrell, Daniel Rothmuller, John Walz, Jeffrey Solow, Eleanore Schoenfeld, Hans Jorgen-Jensen, Irene Sharp, Bonnie Hampton, Richard Aaron, Members of the Cleveland Orchestra, The Guarneri String Quartet, Heidi Castleman, and others.

In 1997, Celine graduated from the Cleveland Institute of Music with a Bachelor’s Degree in Cello Performance.  She began teaching peers and young children in 1986, and has worked for several teaching groups, teaching private and group lessons.  Celine has performed in many chamber ensembles including the Intensive String Quartet Program at the Cleveland Institute of Music, the Santa Monica College Chamber Music Festival, the Idyllwild School of Music and the Arts Summer Festival, and the National Cello Institute.  She has also gained extensive orchestral experience, performing with the American Youth Symphony, Meremblum Community Senior Orchestra, Kent State University Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Institute of Music Chamber Orchestra, and many others.

Currently, Celine Gietzen maintains a full music studio of cello and piano students, and is a member of the American String Teacher’s Association as well as a board member of the local branch of the Music Teacher’s Association of California (MTAC).  She opened her own music school, the Brandenburg Music Studios, in 1999. She presents her students in semi-annual studio recitals. Her students are also encouraged to participate in the MTAC’s Certificate of Merit program and other annual festivals.

            Originally from Los Angeles, pianist, Noëlle Compinsky Tinturin has performed as soloist, accompanist, in orchestras, and as a chamber music artist extensively throughout North America and Europe. She studied piano with her aunt, Sara Compinsky, and chamber music and orchestral music with her father, Manuel Compinsky, both members of the internationally renowned Compinsky Trio.  Noëlle continued her musical education at Mt. St. Mary’s College, the University of Southern California, and California State University at Northridge. In 1965, she toured Scandinavia with the Idyllwild Symphony Orchestra, as an oboist.  These concerts were filmed as an educational documentary.  She was also a founding member of the American Youth Symphony with conductor, Mehli Mehta.

As piano accompanist and chamber musician, Noëlle has appeared with such artists as violist Milton Thomas, cellist Jeffrey Solow, violinists Roger Wilkie and Endre Balogh, and pianist John Novacek, as well as with her husband, guitarist Glenn Tinturin, her father, violinist Manuel Compinsky, and her daughter, cellist Celine Gietzen.

            Noëlle has been teaching piano since 1969, and has had many award-winning students at The Tinturin Music Studio in Lake Arrowhead. She has coached many chamber music groups, including a faculty position at the Idyllwild School of Music and the Arts.  She has also held faculty positions at Westside Keyboards Studios in Santa Monica, and “On Stage Music” in Northern California. She has served as adjudicator for local competitions and for the MTAC Certificate of Merit program.  She is a board member of the Arrowhead Arts Association, where she serves as concert producer for other artists. 

            In 1990, Noëlle and her husband formed a classical guitar and piano duo, and have since been performing their own arrangements as well as new music written especially for them.  Noëlle has written 14 arrangements for this duo.

In 1994, The Tinturin Duo performed all over Europe on a six-week concert tour.  This same year also saw the release of their compact disc entitled Romancero Gitano, recorded for Cambria Master Recordings.  Noëlle has also recorded two CDs of solo piano music, Romantic Miniatures (1999) and Romantic Miniatures II (2000). 

Noëlle is a well-known music teacher in Lake Arrowhead, and has had many award-winning piano students at the Tinturin Music Studio.  Visit the studio’s website at www.TinturinMusic.com.

            In 1993, the Tinturins moved to Lake Arrowhead, and the following year they inaugurated their “Mountain Musicales” concert series, where they present world-class concert artists in an intimate home setting (www.MountainMusicales.com).   

            Noëlle is listed in the Marquis “Who’s Who in America.”