BIOGRAPHIES​

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DANIEL VEGA-ALBELA

Co-Founder, Artistic Director, & Concertmaster

Praised for his unusually pure and attractive sound, Daniel Vega-Albela won silver medal at the first National Violin Competition in Mexico City at the age of fourteen. Soon after he moved to New York, where he received a degree in performance from the Mannes College of Music. In 1997, he joined the Conservatorio de las Rosas in Morelia, Mexico, to teach violin performance and to become part of the Ensamble de las Rosas, the conservatory’s flagship new music group. From 2001 to 2003, he was violin Instructor at the Interlochen Center for the Arts. One of the founding members of the La Catrina String Quartet, Mr. Vega-Albela has concertized extensively throughout the US and Mexico, offering more than 500 performances from 2007 to the present. In 2012, along with his quartet colleagues, he was honored with a Latin-Grammy award for best classical recording in his collaboration with Cuarteto Latinoamericano. Currently, Mr. Vega-Albela is Associate Professor of Violin and Chamber Music at New Mexico State University, and section leader with the Chamber Orchestra of San Antonio.

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AMALIA KELTER-ZEITLIN 

Co-Founder & Violinist

Amalia Zeitlin, violin, received her Master of Music degree from New Mexico State University in 2020, where she received the Outstanding Graduate Student award for the College of Arts and Sciences. Previously, Amalia studied at Boston University and the Jerusalem Academy of Music. Amalia made her solo debut in 2019, playing Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante with the New Horizons Symphony Orchestra. Amalia has also served as the principal 2nd violinist of the El Paso Symphony since 2018. Amalia served as Camerata's Executive Director from its founding in 2017 to June 2024. She is also one of the core violinists of the ensemble.

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BRIGID MCCARTHY, Violinist

A native of St. Paul, Minnesota, she moved to the Southwest to take on principal positions in the El Paso and Las Cruces Symphony Orchestras and teach violin lessons. Highlights of her musical life include performances with the symphonies of Milwaukee, San Antonio, and Elgin, two seasons with Chicago’s Joffrey Ballet orchestra, national and international tours with Broadway’s West Side Story and Star Wars: In Concert, and sharing the stage with her father, father-in-law and husband—all accomplished musicians.  She has spent her summers basking in chamber music at the Madeline Island Music Camp, The Castleman Quartet Program, and Kneisel Hall.  Her coaches include members of the Artaria, Audobon, Borromeo, Brentano, Cavani, Cleveland, Concord, Daedalus, Fine Arts, Guarneri, Juilliard, Mendelssohn, Orion, and Vermeer Quartets. 

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JAZMINE VASQUEZ, Violinst

Jasmine Vasquez is an El Pasoan violinist who has performed in various orchestras throughout Dallas and in Boston, such as the University of North Texas Orchestras, UNT Baroque Orchestra, the Odysseus Chamber Orchestra, Sherman Symphony Orchestra, Lewisville Lake Symphony, Monroe Symphony Orchestra, and the Boston Conservatory at Berklee Symphony Orchestra. She is currently a member of the Four Bridges String Quartet, Paso Del Norte Chamber Orchestra, Las Cruces Symphony Orchestra, and El Paso Symphony Orchestra. 
 
In the span of her musical education, she has prepared 4 solo recitals and played in several chamber concerts every semester. Jasmine is an avid chamber musician. As a member of the Four Bridges String Quartet, she has given various Candlelight Concerts by Fever. Programs for the Candlelight concerts vary from classical, to tango, and even pop. Outside of the orchestral setting, Jasmine has performed in the musical theater pit orchestra at Denton, ViolUNTi (violin) ensemble, the Jam Wows Cover Band, and pop concerts with Amy Grant and Il Volo. 
 
With her love of performing also comes her love of music education. Along with coaching violins in the youth symphony (EPSYOs), Jasmine teaches 5th through 8th grade in the Del Valle feeder pattern. 

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MARA ARRENDONDO, Violist

Mara I. Arredondo is a member of the El Paso Symphony Orchestra, and teaches at Sunrise Mountain Elementary, Duran Elementary, Barron Elementary, and Tom Lea Elementary schools. Mara is an honors graduate from the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University where she studied with world-renowned violist/violinist and composer Atar Arad. Mara studied chamber music and pedagogy with some of the nation’s most elite professors including Pacifica Quartet’s Masumi Per Rostad; bass professor Kurt Muroki, and renowned string pedagogue Mimi Zweig. In August of 2010, as an incoming freshman at Texas Tech University, Mara was awarded a full contract with the Lubbock Symphony Orchestra, of which she was a participant for the duration of her undergraduate degree. In June of 2011, she was nominated for and awarded a private scholarship by the Clara Freshour Foundation. She was a student of extraordinary violists Renee Skerik and Dr. Kimberly Sparr, and was also heavily influenced by the teachings of well-established violinist Annie Chalex-Boyle, and cellist Jefferey Lastrapes.

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JULIO CAMPOS, Violist 

Born and raised in Las Cruces, NM, Julio Campos began his dedicated musical studies at age 17. He earned a Bachelor of Music Education and a Master of Music – Performance from New Mexico State University. Julio plays with various ensembles in the surrounding areas, and until 2020 was performing with the Classical Music Institute in San Antonio, TX. In the Fall 2020 semester, Julio taught viola as an adjunct faculty at New Mexico State University. In the Fall of 2021, Julio accepted the position as the mariachi teacher at La Academia Dolores Huerta charter school. Julio also has worked for the Tocando Music Project, an organization in El Paso that provides instruments and free music education to underserved children. In 2019, Julio made his solo debut, playing Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante with the New Horizons Symphony Orchestra. Julio is the principal violist of Camerata del Sol and participates in nearly all their engagements. 

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ELISABETH GREENE, Violist

Elisabeth Greene is an active violist and music educator in the Southwest. In July 2022, she accepted a position as the music teacher at Hermosa Heights Elementary School in Las Cruces, NM. She has been principal violist for a number of orchestras and is a regular member of the Las Cruces Symphony. She holds a Bachelors of Music Degree from New Mexico State University and a Master of Music Degree from the University of Texas in Austin. In addition to her solo recitals, she has performed as a chamber musician with members of the La Catrina Quartet, NMSU String Quartet, C4 Ensemble, Vox Vallis Women’s Ensemble, and the Classical Music Institute Chamber Orchestra. Ms. Greene has coached sectionals for high school orchestras in Texas and New Mexico, as well as worked with after-school programs for children such as Kindermusik (2015) and Camerata Del Sol's education program at University Hills Elementary School. Ms. Greene has also performed with the Classical Music Institute’s Summer Education Program, and the Nuevo Mundo Festival and Academy Ensembles in Oranjestad, Aruba. She also recorded the soundtrack for the short film "Bois Mort," directed by Hannah Saunders, and was the lead producer for the very first Camerata Del Sol album, which will be released in 2023.

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JAMES CARNEY, Cellist

An accomplished orchestral musician and solo cellist, James Carney has performed with the orchestras of Youngstown, Wheeling, Warren, Greenville, Mansfield, Opera Western Reserve, Opera Circle Cleveland, and internationally with the Orquesta Sinfonica de la UACJ. He is currently principal cellist of the El Paso Symphony Orchestra and assistant principal of the Las Cruces Symphony Orchestra. For six years, he served as acting assistant principal cellist of the Youngstown Symphony and as principal cellist of the Greenville Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Carney has most recently been featured soloist with the U.S./Mexico Youth Philharmonic orchestra, as well as the Dana Symphony Orchestra, Dana Chamber Orchestra, Greenville Symphony Orchestra, and University of Texas at El Paso Symphony Orchestra. He has performed under the baton of Jaap van Zweden, JoAnn Falletta, Gerhardt Zimmermann, Robert Franz, Carl Topilow, and Svilen Simeonov. Mr. Carney has also toured internationally with Barry Manilow, and has appeared with Earth, Wind & Fire, Disney legend Jodi Benson, members of the Contours, The Miracles, and The Temptations, and as cellist for Pope Francis’s visit to Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.

 

As a chamber musician, Mr. Carney has been featured in performances for the Chagrin Valley Chamber Music Concert Series, the ENCORE Recital Series, the International Festival for Strings recital series, Music at Noon at the Butler Museum of American Art, YSU Concert Series, and at Reinberger Chamber Hall at Severance Hall. His chamber music coaches include the Cavani Quartet, Ying Quartet, Miami Quartet, and Allison Wells. As a music educator, Mr. Carney has found success teaching students of a wide range of backgrounds and ability levels, in public school settings, his private studio, and as a chamber music coach. He has acted as a judge for solo and ensemble competitions, all-state orchestra auditions, and as a youth orchestra sectional coach in Ohio, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania.

 

ALINA VAZQUEZ, Cellist

Alina A. Vázquez is Associate Professor of Music at El Paso Community College, where she teaches cello lessons, music courses, and conducts the string orchestra.  She served as principal cellist of the Sheboygan Symphony Orchestra during the 2018-2019 season and has been a substitute cellist for the Oconomowoc Chamber Orchestra, the Illinois Symphony Orchestra, and the Quad City Symphony Orchestra in Davenport, Iowa. She has also performed with the Abilene Symphony Orchestra and San Angelo Symphony Orchestra in Texas, and the Hot Springs Festival Symphony in Arkansas. Alina has been a member of the NOVA New Music Ensemble, the Rote Hund Contemporary Chamber Ensemble and the Opera Theatre Orchestra in Georgia. Aside from her orchestral performances she is an active chamber musician who regularly performs with her husband pianist Joseph Lecher. 

Alina completed a doctorate in cello performance at the University of Georgia, a master’s degree at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and a bachelor’s at the University of North Texas. She has taught at the University of Georgia, the Greater Milwaukee El Sistema non-profit youth orchestra program, and orchestra program, and the Waukesha County Conservatory of Music.

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HECTOR TORRES, Theorbo

Héctor Alfonso Torres González was born in Puerto Rico where he started his guitar studies at the Preparatory School of the Puerto Rico Music Conservatory. In 2007, he started his Bachelor studies at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus, where he studied until 2012 with the distinguished Puerto Rican guitarist Juan Sorroche. From 2012 to 2014 he worked on his Master's degree at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee under world renowned guitarist René Izquierdo. He currently holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts from the University of North Texas where he studied with guitarist Thomas Johnson and served as a Teaching Fellow of classical guitar. While at UNT he also served as a Teaching Assistant for the UNT Baroque Orchestra, working under renowned early music specialist Paul Leenhouts. He has concertized around Puerto Rico, China, Spain, South America, and the U.S., and has been invited to perform and judge in festivals like the 3rd Latin American Guitar Festival in Chicago, 12th Annual Festival of Contemporary Music in San Francisco, the G.H.M. International Guitar Art Festival in Shenzhen, China and the Boston Early Music Festival. Apart from being an active performer, he has received top prizes at international guitar competitions, including the 4th Annual Baldwin Wallace International Guitar Festival and Competition, the 2nd Annual Mountain View Guitar Festival, the 16th Annual International Tennessee Guitar Festival, the 2016 Mississippi Guitar Festival, the 2018 New Orleans International Guitar Festival, the 4th Annual Lone Star Guitar Festival and Competition and the 24th Annual Appalachian Guitar Fest and Solo Guitar Competition.