Sara Vettraino, violin

Ms. Vettraino received her Bachelor of Music Degree from Michigan State University.  After graduation she worked as a Music Therapist in psychiatry and then in special education with young children.  She continues to teach music to preschoolers and maintains an active private teaching studio.  She is a very busy free-lance musician in the Chicago area and performs with several symphonies.  In addition to the violin, Ms. Vettraino enjoys singing and playing the guitar and piano. She lives in Wheaton, IL.

A music education graduate of Western Michigan University and Arizona State University, Jennifer Silk has been delighting audiences as a full-time professional freelance musician for the past 17 years.  Members of her audience have included Hollywood celebrities, political dignitaries and even the Chicago Cubs as a season opener!  When the opportunity to move to Arlington Heights came up twelve years ago, she teamed with her mentor and strolling violinist, Franz Benteler.  “Wherever I play,” says Silk, “people always tell me of how much it meant to them to hear Franz play Edelweiss or Fascination.  My wish is to follow in his footsteps.”

Michael Duggan, cello has performed as a soloist and in various chamber groups in the Dame Myra Hess Recital Series in Chicago, the Jewel Box series of Northeastern Illinois University, and also WFMT Live from Studio 1. He is a former member of the Sarasota Opera and the Key West Symphony of Florida. Mr. Duggan obtained his B.M. and M.M. in performance from Roosevelt University in Chicago.  He continued his studies in chamber music at the Colorado College Summer Conservatory, Colorado Springs, from 1990 to 1994. Mr. Duggan has served on the faculties of Lewis University, Romeoville IL. and Northeastern Illinois University as an adjunct professor of cello and music theory.