Meet the Musicians

Jeanelle Brierley

Jeanelle Brierley is a violinist with a passion for orchestral performance, chamber music, and pedagogy. Jeanelle made her solo debut with the Phoenix Symphony in 2011.  In 2016, she completed her undergraduate degree at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she studied with William Preucil and was awarded the Dr. Jerome Gross prize in violin. Jeanelle has been a member of the Canton Symphony, the Verbier Festival Orchestra, and Steamboat Springs’ Strings Festival and has served as the concertmaster of the Cleveland Institute of Music Orchestra. She is in her fourth season as a substitute violinist with The Cleveland Orchestra and has performed regularly with the ensemble in Cleveland as well as on tours throughout the United States, Europe, Japan, and China

Leah Frank

Leah Frank is a pianist, violinist, violist, organist, and graduate of the Baldwin Wallace Conservatory of Music (BWCM) with a BA in Music in both piano and violin. She is a current graduate student at the Cleveland Institute of Music (CIM) and currently studies under Anita Pontremoli (Collaborative Piano Head) and Joella Jones (Principle Pianist of The Cleveland Orchestra). Ms. Frank has been the recipient of multiple scholarships and was inducted into the Baldwin Wallace Dayton C. Miller Honor Society and Case Western University Honor Society. She has served as pianist in the BW Symphony Orchestra, CIM Orchestra, and has performed as soloist with the BW Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Frank premiered and recorded multiple new works from local composers through the Cleveland Composers Guild. Her most recent commission was in collaboration with local artists, featuring the new music of Ryan Charles Ramer entitled, Sonata5Project. Ms. Frank is a member of Mu Phi Epsilon and is a U.S. Army Veteran.

Bethany Hargreaves

Violist Bethany Hargreaves has performed as a solo, chamber, and orchestral musician across North America, Europe, China, and Israel. Hargreaves has collaborated in concert with distinguished musicians such as Miriam Fried, Ara Gregorian, Ani Kavafian, Itzhak Perlman, Peter Salaff, and Donald Weilerstein. Additionally, she is currently a member of the Hartford Symphony Orchestra, New Haven Symphony Orchestra, the Versoi Ensemble, and regularly collaborates with New York City based ensembles such as Frisson, New York Classical Players, and Noree Chamber Soloists. She holds degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music and The Juilliard School, where she was a proud recipient of the Kovner Fellowship. Hargreaves recently graduated from the Yale School of Music in the spring of 2020 with a Master’s of Musical Arts degree studying with Ettore Causa as a Stephen and Denise Adams Fellowship recipient and winner of the Grosvenor Memorial Prize in Viola Accomplishment.

James Hettinga

Cellist James Hettinga, age 21, currently studies with Dr. Melissa Kraut at the Cleveland Institute of Music (CIM). An avid chamber musician, James’s quartet, (the Razumovsky Quartet) of the CIM Young Artist Program took the Silver Medal in the Junior Division at the 2018 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. James performed on the national radio show, From the Top, performing the Mendelssohn Octet. James was a winner of the 2019 prestigious Klein International String Competition, 2019 Mondavi Center National Young Artist Competition, and has taken the first prize in the Cleveland Cello Society Competition both Junior and Senior divisions. He also was given an honorable mention in the 2020 Schadt String Competition, and was a winner of the 2019 Tennessee Cello Workshop Competition and Cleveland Institute of Music Concerto Competition. In 2016, James made his concerto debut in Severance Hall. He has had the privilege of performing with prestigious musicians including Jinjoo Cho, Matthew Allen, members of the Cavani and Ariel String Quartets, and cellists of The Cleveland Orchestra. 

James Thompson

Violinist James Thompson is forging a promising career as a versatile chamber musician, soloist, and music educator. A native of Cleveland, Ohio, he is currently on faculty at Music@Menlo and will be joining the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s Bowers Program in 2021. In 2014, Mr. Thompson made his solo debut with the Cleveland Orchestra at Severance Hall. He has appeared as a soloist with numerous local orchestras including the CIM orchestra, the Blue Water Chamber Orchestra, the Cleveland Pops, and the Cleveland Philharmonic. Mr. Thompson is currently an Artist Diploma candidate at the Cleveland Institute of Music under Jaime Laredo, having studied previously with William Preucil and Paul Kantor.