About | Carnegie Quartet | The Musicians

The true beauty of music is that it connects people.

It carries a message, and we, the musicians, are the messengers.

Roy Ayers

Emmy award-winning violinist, Tim Baker, received both his BM and MM from the Julliard School of Music. He has taken top prizes at the VII International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow and the J.S. Bach International Solo Violin Competition and has been a soloist with major symphony orchestras such as the Moscow Philharmonic, Boston Pops, and the National Symphony Orchestra.

Tim’s professional experiences have taken him all over the world serving as concertmaster for the Bolshoi Ballet, the Kirov Ballet, and Washington Ballet Company as well as for innumerable CBS, NBC, ABC, PBS and cable television specials, and Hollywood movies such as Spiderman and the Lion King. He has also served in this capacity for the Grammys and the Tony’s, and played for various pop artists such as Jon Bon Jovi, Celine Dion, Aretha Franklin, Pavarotti, U2, Dave Matthews, Garth Brooks, the Smashing Pumpkins, Nora Jones, Charlotte Church, and countless others. Beyond all this, Tim’s love for chamber music led him to founding The Amadeus Trio an internationally recognized ensemble which has performed from Carnegie Hall, the Lincoln and Kennedy Centers, to, Biarritz, Vancouver and Paris. You can find Tim’s recordings on Melodiya Angel, Kleos Classics, Virgin and Leonarda Records.

Violinist, Jane Halliday, is a versatile musician with extensive performance experience in a variety of musical genres. She studied violin with Paul Kling, Philipp Naegele, Peter McHugh, and Timothy Baker. She has a B.A. in English from Smith College, and a B.M. in music performance and an M.A. in Humanities & Civic Leadership, both from the University of Louisville. She currently teaches violin and ensembles at Bellarmine University in Louisville KY.

Jane has a rich professional background that ranges from solo performance, to work with various chamber ensembles and orchestras throughout the region. Besides her work as a classical musician, Jane is a superb "crossover" violinist. She plays with Swing '39, a group that specializes in “gypsy jazz” and collaborates with her singer-songwriting sister, Marion Halliday (Trickster Sister). She has also performed in various ad hoc ensembles backingup pop artists such as Stevie Wonder (see her solo with Stevie here), Josh Groban, Kristen Chenoweth, Smokey Robinson and many others. Listen, find out more about Jane on YouTube.

Violist, Jan Pellant, is not only an exceptional instrumentalist, he's also a much sought-after conductor. A native of the Czech Republic, Jan began his musical studies at the Prague Academy of the Performing Arts. He then earned degrees from the Prague Conservatory and Carnegie Mellon University and currently is working towards his Doctor of Musical Arts in orchestra conducting at the University of Kentucky.

Jan has conducted a number of professional symphonies including the Czech National Symphony Orchestra, North Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Prague Symphony Orchestra, and Carnegie Mellon Philharmonic. He has also led concert tours in Romania, China and France. Since 2015, he has been the music director and principal conductor of the Lexington Chamber Orchestra and recently became the new artistic director and conductor of the Coeur d’Alene Symphony Orchestra.

A native of Lexington Kentucky, cellist Patrick Binford, received both his BM and MM degrees from the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University. Mr. Binford began his career working in Canada as the Principal Cellist of the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra in the mid 80s. He also toured the world and recorded extensively with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. During his tenure with that orchestra, he served as that ensemble's Associate Principal Cellist and later was made Acting Principal Cellist.

Mr. Binford has performed chamber music in New York, Montreal, Toronto, Boca Raton, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Cincinnati, Louisville, and Lexington. Currently he is a member of the Lexington Philharmonic, Principal Cellist of the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, and serves as assistant principal cellist in Orchestra Kentucky.