Eric Tinkerhess is a cellist, violist da gamba and musicologist who combines research and practice to forge original interpretations of ancient and contemporary musical works.
His recordings on the viola da gamba with Audax Records have received numerous awards from the international press (“Diapason d’or” from Diapason Magazine, “top ten classical releases of 2019” from The Guardian for The Paris Album with Ensemble Diderot). As a teacher he has given cello master classes at Huddersfield University (UK) and the Shanghai Conservatory. Recently, he and his wife Mana won the 2023 Beverley Hills National Auditions performing as Duo Tinkerhess.
Eric has a bachelor’s in cello performance from the Oberlin Conservatory, a master’s from the Paris Conservatory, and a Master of Interpretation of Early Music—Research and Practice from the Sorbonne. He is currently a PhD candidate in musicology at the University of Southern California, and has served on the music history faculties of the Colburn School and Pepperdine University.
Mana Tinkerhess is a harpist and keyboardist specializing in modern pedal harp and baroque triple harp as well as piano and harpsichord. She has a Bachelor of Music from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a master's from the University of Southern California, where she is currently pursuing a graduate certificate. She won the American Harp Society Foundation 21st Anne Adams Award and is an avid arranger of songs for voice and harp.
Nadezda Soroka is a violinist from Edmonton, Alberta. She started off playing different styles of Canadian fiddle music, and began pursuing violin more seriously after joining the Edmonton Youth Orchestra in 2006. She earned her Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance from the University of British Columbia (2017), where she studied with David Gillham, and a Graduate Certificate from the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California (2021), studying with Lina Bahn. She is currently working on an Advanced Musical Studies certificate with Andrés Cárdenes at Carnegie Mellon University.
Robert Wang aspires to challenge the traditional representation of classical guitar while juxtaposing early and contemporary music. As a classical guitarist and composer, his extensive repertoire features works from the Renaissance to the twenty-first century, often appearing in adventurous and multi-sensory pairings. As a historically informed performer, Robert is versed in playing basso continuo and solo music on the theorbo, lute, and baroque guitar. He is largely devoted to ensemble playing and has performed with Ensemble Flame, The Golden Bridge, OperaNEO (Ariodante), and the USC Thornton Opera (Actéon). He is also a member of the USC Thornton Baroque Sinfonia, recently featured on CBS Sunday Morning. With Ensemble Flame, he played theorbo in their recent album O Mother What Shall I Do.
Robert is pursuing Master of Music in Classical Guitar Performance at the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music, where he also earned his bachelor’s. He studies classical guitar with William Kanengiser, Scott Tennant, and Pepe Romero, early plucked string instruments with Jason Yoshida, composition with Veronika Krausas, and harpsichord with Ian Pritchard. He has performed at The Getty, Jordan Hall, and Phillip T. Young Recital Hall.