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(from left to right)
Joseph Macerollo, the group's newest member, is an internationally renowned accordion virtuoso who has accompanied opera singers like Luciano Pavarotti and Teresa Stratas. When not touring with the Quartetto Gelato or performing as soloist in concert with the Toronto Symphony, the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and various chamber music ensembles, he teaches at the University of Toronto.


Cynthia Steljes is the quartet's oboist and English horn player. Oboist with the York Winds for five years, she is now a member of the Toronto Chamber Winds. A musician who comes from a family of scientists, she performs in concert and on radio as soloist and chamber musician and often gives master classes to young oboists while touring with the Quartetto Gelato.

Peter de Sotto, tenor and "stringer" (violin and mandolin), comes well prepared for the job. Though he learned to play the violin by ear, he undertook formal training in the instrument first with Steven Staryk and later, while attending the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, with the Fine Arts Quartet . He studied voice with such renowned Canadian opera singers Gary Relyea and Louis Quilico.* A member of the Toronto Symphony for ten years, he has appeared as both vocal soloist and violinist with numerous orchestras. His other musical interests include jazz, rock and roll and gypsy music. In 1997 he founded Canada's "Camp Rock", an innovative music camp for aspiring rock musicians. A true eclectic! It's no wonder that in 1998, the Toronto Musicians' Association voted Peter De Sotto "Musician of the Year."

George Meanwell, the quartet's other "stringer" plays the cello, guitar, and mandolin. He was an active chamber musician in Winnipeg as a member of the trio Music Plus and founding member of Thira, a twentieth-century performance ensemble. He has toured with The Manitoba Trio, and has performed as prinicpal cellist with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet orchestra, the National Ballet of Canada and Les Grands Ballets Canadiens. He was once upon a time guitarist and vocalist with Short Turn, a pop trio which recorded two albums and appeared on live national radio and television broadcasts.

The Quartetto Gelato's US and international presence has grown since their 1994 debut performance. This was acknowledged in 1996 by an award from National Public Radio (NPR) as Performance Today's "Debut Artist of the Year." The quartet's CDs have literally been heard in orbit - the astronaut Dr. Robert Thirsk took them with him during his NASA flight on board the space shuttle Columbia. A veritable contribution to the music of the spheres!


* Fathers of renowned young opera singers John Relyea, a FanFaire featured artist, and Gino Quilico. Gary Relyea was last seen on television as the Commendatore in "Don Giovanni Unmasked," a PBS Great Performances program.