Tiara Acoustic Shell, 2:00 PM
Program
We are delighted for families to join us for performance by bassoonist Eleni Katz and bassist Nina Bernat.
Designed to educate and engage, the free Family Concerts at Tippet Rise explore instruments, composers, history, and themes in an interactive performance.
Each family concert performance is preceded by an “instrument petting zoo,” in which children are encouraged to make sounds with instruments and enjoy making the magic of music.
Eleni Katz, bassoon
Hailed for her virtuosity and vibrant musical spirit, Eleni Katz has established herself as a prominent soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral player. Praised by The San Diego Union-Tribune for her “thoughtful and expressive” approach to music-making, Katz has gone from performing by the bright blue waters of Bermuda to the lights of Carnegie Hall. She is a winner of the 2022 Concert Artist Guild Victor Elmaleh Competition and has performed with several leading ensembles, including the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, La Jolla Music Society’s SummerFest, and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. In the 2025–26 academic year, she began her role as a member of the bassoon teaching faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music. Among Katz's 2025–26 season highlights are performances with Camerata Pacifica, Charlottesville Chamber Music Festival, Artist Series Concerts of Sarasota, and a return to Phoenix Chamber Music Society. Her approach to playing the bassoon has been described by The Royal Gazette as “uncannily human," and she has always believed that the bassoon should strive to emulate the organic resonance of the human voice.
Nina Bernat, double bass
Acclaimed for her interpretive maturity, expressive depth and technical clarity, the American double bassist Nina Bernat has redefined the role of her instrument on the world stage. The Star Tribune praised her recent "standout" concerto debut with the Minnesota Orchestra, calling the performance “exhilarating, lovely and lyrical… technically precise and impressively emotive.”
In 2023 Bernat was awarded both the Avery Fisher Career Grant and first prize at the Concert Artists Guild Victor Elmaleh Competition. Other recent accolades include top prizes at the Barbash J.S. Bach String Competition, Minnesota Orchestra Young Artist Competition, Juilliard Double Bass Competition, and the International Society of Bassists Solo Competition. She has given New York recital debuts at Weill Recital Hall and Merkin Hall and has appeared as soloist with the Minnesota Orchestra and Brooklyn Symphony Orchestra.
Bernat has served as guest principal bassist with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and Oslo Philharmonic. She also performs with New York-based chamber orchestra Sejong Soloists. She is a member of the Bowers Program of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and regularly appears at the leading chamber music festivals.
Bernat has given masterclasses at several institutions and currently serves on the faculty of Stony Brook University. She performs on an instrument passed down from her father, Mark Bernat, attributed to Guadagnini.
Designed to educate and engage, the free Family Concerts at Tippet Rise explore instruments, composers, history, and themes in an interactive performance.
Each family concert performance is preceded by an “instrument petting zoo,” in which children are encouraged to make sounds with instruments and enjoy making the magic of music.
Eleni Katz, bassoon
Hailed for her virtuosity and vibrant musical spirit, Eleni Katz has established herself as a prominent soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral player. Praised by The San Diego Union-Tribune for her “thoughtful and expressive” approach to music-making, Katz has gone from performing by the bright blue waters of Bermuda to the lights of Carnegie Hall. She is a winner of the 2022 Concert Artist Guild Victor Elmaleh Competition and has performed with several leading ensembles, including the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, La Jolla Music Society’s SummerFest, and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. In the 2025–26 academic year, she began her role as a member of the bassoon teaching faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music. Among Katz's 2025–26 season highlights are performances with Camerata Pacifica, Charlottesville Chamber Music Festival, Artist Series Concerts of Sarasota, and a return to Phoenix Chamber Music Society. Her approach to playing the bassoon has been described by The Royal Gazette as “uncannily human," and she has always believed that the bassoon should strive to emulate the organic resonance of the human voice.
Nina Bernat, double bass
Acclaimed for her interpretive maturity, expressive depth and technical clarity, the American double bassist Nina Bernat has redefined the role of her instrument on the world stage. The Star Tribune praised her recent "standout" concerto debut with the Minnesota Orchestra, calling the performance “exhilarating, lovely and lyrical… technically precise and impressively emotive.”
In 2023 Bernat was awarded both the Avery Fisher Career Grant and first prize at the Concert Artists Guild Victor Elmaleh Competition. Other recent accolades include top prizes at the Barbash J.S. Bach String Competition, Minnesota Orchestra Young Artist Competition, Juilliard Double Bass Competition, and the International Society of Bassists Solo Competition. She has given New York recital debuts at Weill Recital Hall and Merkin Hall and has appeared as soloist with the Minnesota Orchestra and Brooklyn Symphony Orchestra.
Bernat has served as guest principal bassist with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and Oslo Philharmonic. She also performs with New York-based chamber orchestra Sejong Soloists. She is a member of the Bowers Program of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and regularly appears at the leading chamber music festivals.
Bernat has given masterclasses at several institutions and currently serves on the faculty of Stony Brook University. She performs on an instrument passed down from her father, Mark Bernat, attributed to Guadagnini.