Violinist Hilary Walther Cumming teaches at the University at Albany and performs as the violinist of the Capital Trio with American pianist Duncan Cumming and Turkish cellist Sölen Dikener. Before moving to New York, she served as concertmaster of the Cape Cod Sinfonietta and the Andover Chamber Orchestra; she has been heard as soloist with these ensembles as well as with the Reading Symphony Orchestra, Concord Orchestra and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Principal influences for her style and discipline are Joseph Silverstein, Franco Gulli and Shmuel Ashkenasi on modern violin, Stanley Ritchie on Baroque violin, and Seamus Connolly on Irish traditional fiddle. These outstanding artists continue to guide her and inspire her every moment she spends with her violin.
The Capital Trio recording, Threads of the Heart, new music by Los Angeles-based composer David Walther, was nominated for a Grammy in 2013. She has performed most extensively with the Capital Trio, ATHELAS (Denmark), Boston-based Sarasa, the Abbott Trio, and the Coleridge Ensemble. Her recordings can be found on Albany Records, Meridien and AFKA Records. As an orchestra musician, she has played in major halls on four continents; as a chamber musician she has recently toured Denmark, France and Switzerland with the Capital Trio. Her first love and passion remains the study and performance of chamber music.
Şőlen Dikener has been the professor of cello at Marshall University since 2002. He promotes the works of contemporary composers from Turkey and the USA. His recording projects featured the music of Ilhan Baran, Ahmed A. Saygun, Ilhan Usmanbas, Necil K. Akses, Cemal R. Rey, Kamran Ince as well as Paul Tortelier, Othmar Schoeck, William Matthews, Mark Zanter, David Walther, and David Williams. He recorded seven compact discs that are available on iTunes, Amazon, Napster and other music stores. Some of his live performances were broadcast at numerous radio stations including WWFM, WMUK, Radio France, and TRT (Turkish Radio & Television). He has appeared as solo cellist and chamber musician in the USA, Germany, Austria, France, Turkey, and England, performing with Kalamazoo Symphony, Huntington Symphony, CMU Orchestra, Kalamazoo College Orchestra, Marshall Orchestra, Bilkent Symphony, Presidential Symphony, Istanbul State Symphony, Hacettepe Symphony and collaborating with conductors Jean Perrison, Tadeusz Strugala, Raymond Harvey, Yoshimi Takeda, Isin Metin and Gurer Aykal. He has also performed with the Shanghai String Quartet and pianists Adam Neiman and Yefim Bronfman.
As an educator he has been a vigorous advocate of arts in the United States and Turkey. In 2010 he published a cello method book “Cello Warm-Up!” which received high critical acclaim from The Strad Magazine. During his studies in France, Dr. Dikener was one of the final assistants to the legendary French cellist Paul Tortelier. He received his Doctorate of Musical Arts degree from Michigan State University.
