Roland Vamos has been a violin/viola faculty member at the Music Institute of Chicago for over 25 years, and Director of the Academy Chamber Orchestra since its inception in 2006.  Nationally recognized for his excellence in teaching, he has received numerous awards including the Distinguished Teacher in the Arts Award and Distinguished Service Award granted by the American String Teachers Association; six Presidential Excellence in Teaching Awards; Distinguished Teacher by the National Endowment for the Arts. In the summer, he teaches at the Chautauqua Music Institute. Dr. Vamos is a former member of the Houston and Dallas Symphony Orchestras, Radio City Music Hall Orchestra, and Contemporary String Quartet with recordings on the Rizzoli and Atlantic labels. As a conductor and soloist he has appeared in Europe, Australia, Iceland, Korea, Taiwan and the United States. He and his wife, distinguished violinist and faculty member Almita Vamos, commissioned and recently recorded three violin and viola duos by living Chicago composers.