About the ensemble

The members of the Arundel Ensemble are high experienced professional musicians who have performed across the globe as solo, chamber music, orchestral and back-up musicians! We have shared the stage with musical legends Ray Charles, Luciano Pavarotti, Melissa Manchester, Natalie Cole, Kenny Rogers, Larry Gatlin, Willie Nelson, David Byrne, Sarah Brightman, Josh Groban and Trans-Siberian Orchestra amongst others. We can be heard on recordings for Disney, Miramax, Sapient, Glass Eye Entertainment, Plazma, Pierian and Capital Records.

Cellist and Founding Manager Margaret Coltman moved to London after graduate work in music at the renowned Indiana University School of Music. While living in London, her quartet performed at the Chelsea Flower Show, played for corporate functions in The City, provided music for celebrity events including appearances by the Princess Royal and her family, Paul McCartney and Monty Python's John Cleese, and played for many weddings, including that of Formula One racing driver Jackie Stewart's daughter.

Margaret formed The Arundel Ensemble upon her return to Austin in 1994. The ensemble has performed for over a thousand events across Texas, and clients have included Senator Lloyd Doggett, Westlake Dermatology, The Texas State History Museum Foundation, Shawn Colvin, Texas Commerce Bank, Texas A&M University, Austin Junior Forum, The University of Texas' Office of the President, The University of Texas Law School, Whole Foods, Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce, Applied Materials, Dell Computers, National Instruments and Chase Bank to name only a few.

Members of The Arundel Ensemble perform with The Austin Symphony, The Austin Lyric Opera Orchestra, The San Antonio Symphony, The Fort Worth Symphony, The Houston Symphony and many other musical organizations.

Meet some of our core members

Ames Asbell, viola
Elaine Barber, harp
Beth Blackerby, violin
Bob Cannon, trumpet
Margaret Coltman, cello
Barbara George, cello
Jessica Gilliam-Valls, bass
Michalis Koutsoupides, in-house arranger
Leigh Mahoney, violin
Patrick Murray, trumpet
Sara Nelson, cello
Rebecca Powell, flute
Tracy Seeger, violin
Laurie Stevens, violin & viola
Andy Strietelmeier, violin & viola
Bruce Williams, violin & viola

More photos and bios to be added soon. Please check back!

Violist Ames Asbell has recently completed her Doctor of Musical Arts degree at The University of Texas at Austin. She is a member of Tosca Tango Orchestra, which has released three albums of original tango compositions and was recently on international and national tours playing with David Byrne. She is a member of the Austin Lyric Opera Orchestra, and performs with the Austin Chamber Music Center and Austin Symphony Orchestra. Before coming to Austin, Ames was a student at East Carolina University, where she also performed regularly with the North Carolina Symphony. She has participated in summer festivals such as the National Repertory Orchestra, the Quartet Program, and for three summers was on the faculty of New England Music Camp in Oakland, Maine.

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Elaine Barber began her study of the harp at the age of ten, and began playing professionally in her native Mississippi four years later. She earned her master’s degree at the Shepherd School of Music, Rice University, studying with Beatrice Schroeder Rose. Elaine is Principal Harp of the Austin Symphony and Austin Lyric Opera orchestras, and a regular guest with the San Antonio Symphony. She has been a featured soloist at the American Harp Society National Conference, and with Austin Symphony, Mississippi Symphony, Shepherd Symphony, and Metropolitan Chamber Orchestra. As an orchestral musician she has performed with Spoleto USA, the Houston Symphony, Memphis Symphony, Alabama Symphony, Mississippi Symphony and Mississippi Opera. She has performed with many central Texas chamber music groups such as Cactus Pear Music Festival, Musical Offerings, Texas Early Music Project, Victoria Bach Festival, Musical Bridges Around the World, Chamber Soloists of Austin, Viola By Choice, Round Top Festival and Salon Concerts. She has recorded for the Naxos, Nonesuch, and Matador labels.

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Margaret Coltman, cello, made her solo debut at 17 with the San Antonio Symphony, earned her Bachelor's degree from The University of Texas studying with Paul Olefsky, then studied with Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi at Indiana University, Pierre Fournier in Geneva and Antonio Janigro at the Mozarteum International Summer Academy in Salzburg. She participated in chamber music festivals on the East Coast, coaching with Lawrence Lesser, Michael Tree, Jerry Grossman, Barbara Stein Mallow and Leslie Parnas, as well as other prominent pedagogues. Margaret lived in London for two years, free-lancing with numerous ensembles around Britain including the Westminster Chamber Orchestra, The Gwent Chamber Orchestra and the Britten-Pears Orchestra, and returned to Austin in 1994. She is currently on the faculty of The Austin Chamber Music Center and is a member of the Austin Symphony Orchestra, Austin Lyric Opera Orchestra and performs with the San Antonio Symphony. She is a founding member of the London-based Ananda Piano trio which has performed across Great Britain and Texas, and was invited to perform at the San Luis Obispo Mozart Festival in California last summer. They will be releasing a CD under the Pierian label in fall 2003. Margaret was the featured soloist in a performance of Claude Bolling's "Suite for Cello and Jazz Piano Trio" at the Summer 2000 St. Cecilia Jazz Festival. She has also performed at the VIII Internacional Festival de Ontono in Mexico, Musical Bridges around the World in San Antonio, the Texas Mid-Winter Music Festival and the Park Avenue Chamber Music Series in London. She has recorded for Glass Eye Entertainment and Miramax, and recently has toured with Puerto Rican singer Lourdes Perez and can be heard on her CD 'Tres Oraciones'.

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Michalis Koutsoupides, the Arundel Ensemble's in-house arranger, was a core member playing violin and viola before accepting a conducting and performing position in Missouri. He was born in Nicosia, Cyprus, where he begun his musical studies at a very young age. He holds a Bachelors Degree in Violin and Composition, a Masters Degree in Violin Performance form the University of Kansas and a doctoral degree from the University of Texas at Austin. He has appeared as a soloist with many orchestras in both America and Greece, and has participated in chamber music festivals around the country He has also arranged and orchestrated for several Cypriot choirs and ensembles and is happy to be able to arrange any special request you may have for your event!

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Trumpeter Patrick Murray has performed with many bands and ensembles in the Austin area, including the Austin Symphony Orchestra, Riverbend Brass Quintet, Pinnacle Brass Quintet, Tony Campise’s Big Band, Joel Guzman, and Mr. Fabulous and Casino Royale. He can be heard on literally hundreds of recordings with artists such as Joe Ely, Fastball, Eliza Gilkyson, Ruthie Foster, Terri Hendrix, and 8 1/2 Souvenirs. He has also played with Aretha Franklin, Frank Sinatra, Jr., the Count Basie Orchestra, the Glenn Miller Orchestra, the Mavericks (Raul Malo), and many national touring broadway shows. Patrick has also composed music for several award-winning short films that have screened at festivals throughout the world, and won “Best Original Score” at the 2005 Hatchfest. Patrick has also written orchestrations and/or arrangements for the Four Freshmen, John Arthur Martinez, the Austin Symphony Orchestra, and the Jerry Lewis Telethon.

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Flutist Rebecca Powell holds degrees from Indiana University and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music She is a member of The Austin Symphony Orchestra and has performed with the Houston Symphony and Houston Grand Opera and has received awards from many organizations, including the National Flute Association. A member of the Austin Chamber Music Center faculty, Rebecca coaches the scholarship woodwind quintet and performs with the outreach woodwind quintet, and maintains flute studios in Austin and Houston.

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Violinist and violist Laurie Stevens has been very active in the central Texas area since moving here in 1985.  She was a member of The Austin Symphony for eleven years and the Austin Lyric Opera Orchestra for five years.  In 1995 she left these organizations to specialize in Baroque period performance practices.  Currently Laurie is Concertmaster of The Orchestra of St. David's and the Texas Early Music Project, leader of The Texas Baroque  Consort in San Antonio and a member of the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra in San Francisco.  She is also an active recitalist with Musica Borsa and the Boston based Collegium Atlantis.

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Bruce Williams, violin and viola, began his professional career at fifteen then won a position in the Fort Worth Symphony four years later while attending North Texas State University.  In 1983, he went to Israel as principal violist in the Haifa Symphony and, as a member of the Haifa Clarinet Trio performed throughout the country.  Upon his return to the United States, Bruce performed with the Orchestra of Santa Fe, now call Santa Fe Pro Musica, for seven seasons as assistant principal viola and soloist. Bruce is currently principal violist of The Austin Symphony, The Laredo Philharmonic and The Victoria Bach Festival, where he has been a featured artist for the past ten seasons.   Along with flutist Megan Meisenbach and harpist Mary Golden, he is a member of the Allegro Chamber Trio which has performed throughout the Southern states and is working on a second CD. 

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