Supporting Artists

Former Principal Percussionist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Edward (Ted) Atkatz has performed with the Atlanta Symphony, Boston Symphony, Boston Pops, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Houston Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Pacific Symphony, Seattle Symphony, and the Santa Barbara Symphony. Now residing in Los Angeles, Ted is a studio musician as well as a performer in both the orchestral world and with his band, NYCO. Ted is an active teacher and clinician: he joined the faculty at the Bob Cole Conservatory at California State University at Long Beach in 2014, and is also on faculty at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, California; and the Texas Music Festival in Houston, Texas. He has given clinics and masterclasses worldwide, and has been a three-time PASIC clinician.

Ted began his studies at age 10 at the Bloomingdale House of Music in New York City and later attended the preparatory division at Manhattan School of Music. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Percussion Performance and Music Education, magna cum laude, from Boston University. His graduate studies were at the New England Conservatory of Music and at Temple University, where he worked with Alan Abel of the Philadelphia Orchestra. An avid long-distance runner, Mr. Atkatz ran the Chicago Marathon in 2001 with a time of 2:59:32, and ran the Santa Barbara Marathon in 2012 with a time of 3:09:34. 

Newly appointed as Associate Professor and full-time Violin Faculty at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre and Dance in Ann Arbor, Danielle Belen is already making a name for herself as a seasoned pedagogue with a strong studio of young artists. As part of the violin faculty at the Colburn School in Los Angeles, California, her students have won national and international competitions including the Stulberg and Klein competitions, as well as being accepted into major conservatories and universities across the country.

Winner of the 2008 Sphinx Competition, Ms. Belen has appeared as a soloist with major symphonies across the U.S., including the Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Nashville and San Francisco Symphonies, the Boston Pops, and the Florida and Cleveland Orchestras. Zachary Lewis from the Cleveland Plain Dealer wrote "Violinist Danielle Belen... captivated every ear with an assured, impassioned performance of Ravel's "Tzigane," knocking off the daunting showpiece as if it were a trifle." She has recently enjoyed working with conductors such as Franz Welser-Mostt, Robert Spano, Keith Lockhart, Yehuda Gilad and Carl St. Clair.

Ms. Belen released her debut Naxos recording of works by living composer Lawrence Dillon in 2009 to much acclaim. Soon after, she commissioned "Multiplicity", a piece by Dillon for six virtuoso violins which was premiered along with her students at The Colburn School.

A graduate of the USC Thornton School of Music and the Colburn Conservatory in Los Angeles, where she studied with Robert Lipsett, Ms. Belen joined the faculty of the Colburn School in 2008. In addition to maintaining her own violin studio, she was also the teaching assistant to Mr. Lipsett for over five years, working with talent of the highest caliber from around the world. Additionally, Ms. Belen served as the Director of the Ed and Mari Chamber Music Institute in the Colburn pre-college division. Ms. Belen frequently enjoys teaching master classes and leading community engagements across the country in conjunction with her professional performance appearances. Ms. Belen served as Concertmaster of the New West Symphony and performed as soloist with the orchestra numerous times.

In 2010, Ms. Belen founded Center Stage Strings, a summer camp and performance festival for gifted young musicians in Three Rivers, California that has gained national attention. As Artistic Director and string faculty chair, she has attracted students and seasoned artists from around the world. Artists, including Lynn Harrell, James Ehnes, Arnold Steinhardt, Sarah Chang and Stefan Jackiw have joined to perform in support of Center Stage Strings. More information can be found at www.CenterStageStrings.com.

Ms. Belen plays on a 1709 Alessandro Gagliano violin from the Mandell Collection of Southern California. For further information, please visit www.BelenViolin.com.

Káthia Bonna was born in São Paulo, Brazil, where she began her piano studies at the age of five at the Municipal Music School of São Paulo.  Káthia then studied at the State University of São Paulo, where she studied composition and conducting and also received a piano performance degree from the Marcelo Tupinambá College.

Káthia performed as a collaborating pianist at the ITF (International Trombone Festival) at the University of Illinois and the University of Belmont in the USA. Kathia recorded  “Collectânea” a CD featuring Brazilian Music for Trombone and Piano, with trombone player Wagner Polistchuk, which has received with many acclaims from both critics and public.

Káthia has performed as a collborating pianist at many International Horn Society symposiums: Valencia, Spain in 2004; La Chaux de Fonds in Switzerland in 2007; Denver, Colorado, USA in 2008; Memphis, Tennessee, USA in 2013 and in London, England in the UK in 2014. Káthia also recorded a CD entitled, “Imagens”, which features Brazilian music for Horn and Piano with Brazilian horn player Luiz Garcia.

Presently, Káthia is the President of Marcus Bonna Cases (MB). Along with her husband, Marcus Bonna, they have devoloped an important social project that is recognized for teaching free music educaiton to children and adolescents from the outskirts of Bragança Paulista, the Bonna’s hometown in Brazil.

Zach Collins is associate professor of Tuba and Euphonium at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. At IUP, Zach teaches applied lessons to all tuba and euphonium majors, leads the IUP Tubaphonium Ensemble, and teaches music history and theory. Zach performs with the Hoodlebug Brass Quintet (IUP’s faculty brass quintet), Keystone Wind Ensemble, and Keystone Chamber Winds and is currently acting principal tuba with the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra.   

Recent solo and chamber engagements have taken him to Russia, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, New York, and Washington, D.C., in addition to Pennsylvania. His interpretation of William Kraft’s “Encounters II for Solo Tuba” was released on Cambria Master Recordings in August 2009.  Zach has performed with ensembles such as the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Pacific Symphony, Festival Orchestra of the San Luis Obispo Mozart Festival, Riverside County Philharmonic, Santa Barbara Symphony, Monterey Symphony, Texas Chamber Orchestra, Texas Wind Symphony, and the Johnstown Symphony Orchestra as well as on several motion pictures, including Spider-Man 3, Pirates of the Carribean: At World’s End, X-Men 3, Bobby, Next, Rocky Balboa, and Live Free or Die Hard.

Zach Collins earned his Bachelor of Music in Tuba Performance from Texas Christian University (2003) and his Master of Music (2005) and Doctor of Music (2007) in Tuba Performance from the University of Southern California. While at TCU, Zach’s primary studies were with Richard Murrow, a freelance musician in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. At USC, his teachers were Jim Self and Tommy Johnson, both studio musicians, and Norm Pearson, principal tubist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. 

Bang Lang Do’s international performances include the International Trumpet Guild (I.T.G.), the SAYOWE (South Asian Youth Orchestra Wind Ensemble), Thailand Mahidol University, Ho Chi Minh conservatory, Banff center in Canada, the Holland Music Session series in Bergen, Faro, Portugal and Paris, France.

In 2014-15, she held master class, concerts and workshops at various institutions: Northern Arizona University, University of Missouri in Kansas city, Illinois State University, University of Wisconsin-Platteville, Illinois Wesleyan University, Waldorf college,  University of Iowa, Grinnell college summer festival, College Music Society (C.M.S.) national conference, and I.T.G. national conference. Her ensemble ConCordance commissioned new works by Patricia Morehead, David Vayo and Amy Dunker. 

Bang Lang Do received prizes from national and international competitions such as the Stepping Stone International (Canadian Music Competition), the Joanna Hodges International, The Missouri Southern International,  the "Prix d'Europe", and the “Journée de la Musique Française." Bang Lang has been recorded by the Radio-Canada and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (C.B.C.) in her debuts at various venues in Montreal.

She is an Associate of the Royal College of Music in London, England (ARCM) with a Doctoral degree from the University of Montreal and a “Premier Prix” in Concours from the Conservatory of music of Quebec. 

Jacob Ertl, a native of Appleton, Wisconsin, has performed across the United States, and abroad in Europe, Israel, Canada, and Mexico. A winner of numerous national and international competitions, Ertl has debuted at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall and Merkin Concert Hall in NYC, on Chicago Radio’s Live from WFMT series, Wisconsin Public Radio’s Live from the Elvehjem series, and performed with the Milwaukee Chamber Orchestra and Fox Valley Symphony. He is regularly invited to give guest recitals at universities/colleges like Lawrence University Conservatory of Music, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, Alverno College, Mount Mary College, and Marshall University. He frequently performs solo and chamber music at festivals, including the Gijon International Piano Festival, Tel-Hai Piano Master Classes, Nice International Music Academy, Banff Piano Master Classes, Bowdoin International Music Festival, Pianofest in the Hamptons, Lake George Music Festival, the Quartet Program, TCU/Van Cliburn Institute, and the Heifetz Institute. 

A strong advocate of music outreach, Ertl has been the artist-in-residence fellow for PianoArts for seven years, where he has performed hundreds of interactive outreach concerts and collaborated with over 20 public schools, colleges, and universities. This past summer, Ertl also gave numerous education concerts at the Dakota Sky International Piano Festival using four unique interactive programs.

An avid supporter of music of our time, Ertl regularly programs new music and is currently a member of the Eastman Broadband contemporary music ensemble, with whom he has recently toured to Mexico (Chihuahua International Music Festival) and New York (Americas Society, Symphony Space). He has also given lecture recitals on Frederic Rzewski’s “De Profundis” for speaking pianist. 

Ertl completed the Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the Eastman School of Music, where he studied with and served as teaching assistant for Nelita True. He also earned his master’s degree from Eastman and his bachelor’s degree from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, studying with Robert Shannon. He has also studied regularly with Arie Vardi, Vladimir Krainev, Pascal Roge, Julian Martin, Robert McDonald, Emanuel Krasovsky, and Michael Kim, among others. He previously taught on the faculty of the Hochstein School of Music and Dance and as an applied piano and class piano instructor at the Eastman School of Music and the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. Ertl is currently assistant professor of Piano at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and is on the summer piano faculty at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp and the Dakota Sky International Piano Festival. 

Pianist Nic Gerpe, a Los Angeles native, has been hailed as “magnetic” (Dan Johnson, L.A. Downtown News) and “prodigious… heroic” (Kevin McMahon, silverlakeblvd.com). L.A. Times music critic Mark Swed described his playing as “wonderfully illuminating… his tone is crystalline. His technique is dazzlingly fluid.” A dedicated proponent of new music, Nic has worked with composers such as Steve Reich, Gernot Wolfgang, Anne LeBaron, Krzesimir Debski, Michael Gordon and Don Crockett, and has given numerous world premieres in the Los Angeles area and abroad. Nic has performed throughout Southern California and at festivals including the Beverly Hills International Music Festival, Banff International Keyboard Festival, the Summer Institute for Contemporary Performance Practice at the New England Conservatory, and the Tahoe Chamber Music Festival. Nic’s performances have also been nationally broadcast on 91.5 KUSC and classicalkusc.org.

As one of four young pianists featured in L.A.-based Piano Spheres’ new Satellite Series, Nic recently performed a critically-acclaimed solo recital at the Roy And Edna Disney Cal Arts Theater.

Nic performed the World Premiere as soloist of composer Dale Trumbore’s piano concerto “10,000 Hours” with the USC Thornton Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Donald Crockett. He also participated in the 2012 Piatigorsky International CelloFest, performing the American premiere of Thomas Demenga’s “Relations”, a double concerto for two cellos, percussion and prepared piano. He recently gave the West Coast premiere of Johannes Berauer’s Trio No. 1 for violin, cello, and piano. Nic has also performed at Walt Disney Concert Hall with the USC Contemporary Music Ensemble as part of the Green Umbrella “Minimalist Jukebox” series.

Nic has performed with Los Angeles-based new music groups WildUP and The Industry L.A., and premiered new works for Magnetic Resonator Piano with People Inside Electronics. Nic also recorded the piano trios of Erica Muhl and Juhi Bansal, and has recorded for composers Gernot Wolfgang and Jeffrey Holmes. Additionally, Nic has given guest artist recitals and masterclasses at California State University Los Angeles, Pasadena City College, and Los Angeles Valley College.

Along with violinist Pasha Tseitlin, Nic is the co-founder of “Panic Duo,” a violin and piano duo dedicated to the performance of contemporary music. The Duo has performed in Los Angeles, San Diego, Escondido, Paso Robles and other venues throughout the United States. Panic Duo performed the opening concert of the 2013 Paderewski Festival in Paso Robles, CA, to great acclaim. They “wowed the audience... the Festival opened with thunderous applause” (Scott Brennan, Paso Robles Daily News), and “played with great bravado, passion and skill” (Krysta Close, USC Polish Music Center). The Duo gave the World Premiere performance of Krzesimir Debski’s Sonata for Violin and Piano at the 2013 Paderewski Lecture Recital in Los Angeles. The Duo also gave the World Premiere of Juhi Bansal’s “An Imaginary Thing” for violin and piano. Panic Duo was recently honored by the Senate of the State of California for its performance in a benefit concert for Our Lady of Angels Church in San Diego, CA. The Duo has also premiered works by Michael Patterson, Ed Neumeister, and Bevan Manson.

Nic earned his Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in Piano Performance at the University of Southern California in 2012. He studied extensively with Bernadene Blaha, Kevin Fitz-Gerald and Stewart Gordon. He has also worked with Earl Wild, Arnold Steinhardt, Robert Lipsett, and Stephen Drury. Nic has been on the Piano Faculty of the Pasadena Conservatory of Music since 2006.

Jaymee Haefner’s performances have been described as possessing “an air of dreamy lyricism… interlocking melody lines with the deftness of a dancer’s footwork.” Dr. Haefner joined the faculty at the University of North Texas (UNT) in 2006 and was appointed as the Director of Undergraduate Studies for the College of Music in 2010. Appearing regularly as a soloist, she has performed throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth area, in Mexico, the Czech Republic, Russia, and at the World Harp Congress in Prague. Her recent recordings include features with the Bloomington Pops Orchestra, acclaimed baritone Daniel Narducci, and Paraguayan harpist Alfredo Rolando Ortiz. Jaymee received the Lauréate prize at the Dulova International Harp Competition in Moscow, and has also performed for former President George H. W. Bush. She recently published a biography entitled The Legend of Henriette Renié and presented lectures at the 2008 World Harp Congress in Amsterdam and the 2009 American Harp Society (AHS) Institute in Salt Lake City. Jaymee serves as the National Secretary and Southwestern Regional Director for the AHS and Chairman of the 2011 AHS Institute and National Competition, which brought over four hundred harpists to the UNT campus in June 2011. She was recently appointed as the Treasurer for the World Harp Congress, and also serves as the National Harp Associations Liaison for the organization. She obtained her Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from the University of Arizona, and her Doctor of Music degree from Indiana University.

David Holben is a dedicated performer boldly exploring creative initiatives as a soloist by commissioning and premiering new compositions, heightening the awareness and expansion of the solo tuba repertoire as well as entertaining audiences with his ostentatious interpretations of the standard repertoire.  He is an active member of the International Tuba Euphonium Association (ITEA), and has been featured as a soloist and clinician at ITEA-sponsored regional tuba-euphonium conferences. His commitment to nurturing the love of music through education is apparent in his duties as professor at Pepperdine University, as a music coach at a number of middle and high school music programs across the southland, and as a private instructor.

David embarked on his musical journey in 1985 near Pittsburgh, PA, achieving degrees in music from the Eastman School of Music (B.M. ’96), University of Arizona (MM, ’00) and the University of Southern California (DMA, ’11).  His major teachers include Sam Pilafian, Daniel Perantoni, Jim Self, Norm Pearson, Cherry Beauregard and David McCollum; a list of iconic figures diverse in talent whose pedagogical ideas have helped David discover his unique sound and versatile style of playing.  Dr. Holben has performed with the San Diego Symphony, Santa Barbara Symphony, New West Symphony, Pasadena Symphony, Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, Santa Barbara Opera, Fresno Philharmonic and other professional brass ensembles and regional orchestras across the Southwestern United States. He has performed with artists such as Victor Vanacore and Jeff Tyzik, Andrea Bocelli, and his solo appearances have taken him far and wide performing innovative programs of new music.

Dr. Scott Holden holds music degrees from the University of Michigan, Manhattan School of Music and the Juilliard School, where he was awarded the Horowitz Prize. Studying at the Liszt Academy in Budapest, he was a Fulbright Scholar.

He has performed in over thirty-five states, as well as Canada, Mexico, England, Belgium, Holland, Russia, Italy, Germany, France, Austria, Hungary, China, and Vietnam.   Holden’s performances and recitals have been broadcast on NPR, NBC, the CBC, as well as numerous performances on local networks.  He is a member of the American Piano Quartet with whom he has made many international tours.

He has recorded for Parma, Bridge, and Tantara Records.  His newest CD, Beyond Vernon Duke was given a five-star (highest) rating, being praised:  “Holden exhibits profoundly musical readings with obvious commitment and great attention to detail.”

A prizewinner in numerous piano competitions, his 1996 Carnegie Hall debut recital was a result of winning first prize in the 1996 Leschetizky International Piano Competition. The New York Concert Review then wrote: “He is a pianist in the ‘effortless technique category’ whose main concern seems to be in matters of interpretation, and is ready to put his own stamp on the music.”   He has also performed at the Kennedy Center, Alice Tully Hall and Moscow’s Svetlanov Hall.  With his interest in contemporary music, he has premiered numerous works,  including William Wallace’s 2nd piano concerto with the Utah Symphony under Keith Lockhart.  The Salt Lake Tribune wrote “Mr. Holden secured the stage in a virtuosic performance….We were torn between examining every new note passing by our ears, and Holden’s pianistic acrobatics.  It was a wonderful dilemma.” 

He has adjudicated and given master classes at festivals and pedagogy workshops across the country.  Dr. Holden’s students have been prizewinners in regional and national competitions, and have been accepted to the leading graduate programs in the nation.   He is the chairman of keyboard studies at Brigham Young University.

Dr. Kae Hosoda-Ayer is Assistant Professor of Piano at Baylor University. She holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in piano performance with emphasis in chamber music and collaborative arts from the University of Texas at Austin; a Master of Music degree and Graduate Diploma in piano performance from New England Conservatory where she was a Piano Honors Competition winner; and a Bachelor of Music degree in piano performance from Toho Gakuen School of Music, Tokyo, Japan. Her principal teachers include Anton Nel, Gabriel Chodos, and Nobuko Amada, and she has coached with Eiji Oue, Shuku Iwasaki, and Margo Garrett. She has been on the accompanying faculty at New England Conservatory, and while at the University of Texas at Austin she was named the first prize winner in the Sidney Wright Endowed Presidential Scholarship Competition in Piano Accompanying. Dr. Ayer has concertized throughout the United States, Canada, Japan, and Korea, where she is in demand both as a soloist and collaborative pianist. She has been heard on National Public Radio with Ronald de Kant, Professor Emeritus of Clarinet at the College-Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati. With her husband, clarinetist Christopher Ayer, she performs as the Duo Karudan throughout the United States, Canada, and Japan, and performed at the International Clarinet Association World Conferences in Tokyo, Austin, and Atlanta. Among her other recent appearances as a collaborative artist include conferences of the North American Saxophone Alliance and International Double Reed Society.

Quickly becoming recognized as today's most sought after collaborative pianist, Hsin-I Huang has been praised on concert stages in Germany, Russia, Japan, and Korea to name a few.  In the US, Hsin-I has played in esteemed venues such as Disney hall and Zipper Hall and collaborated with many artists such as Margaret Batjer, Andrew Shulman, Sheryl Staples, Jacob Braun, and LA Philharmonic cellist, Tao Ni.  Passionate about constantly growing as an artist and helping others grow, she regularly collaborates with students in master classes of Robert Lipsett and Clive Greensmith at the Colburn School of Music.

Hsin-I was selected to perform with internationally renowned violinist Chee-Yun at the Center for the Arts in Malibu, CA.  Hsin-I has made guest appearances at such venues as TED, NPR’s Performance Today, South Bay Chamber Music Society, and Innsbrook Institute.  

Upcoming performances include collaborations with Dale Hikawa Silverman and Andrew Bain as part of the LA Philharmonic Chamber Music Society at Disney Concert Hall in 2016. Hsin-I is also an accomplished cellist, winning many National competitions in Taiwan before completely focusing on collaborative piano.

Trombonist Alex Iles has enjoyed a varied and successful career in many musical settings. He is an active member of the musically diverse Southern California freelance performing and recording community.

Alex began his musical career while a student at UCLA, as a member of the Disneyland All American College Band. He has studied trombone privately with Roy Main, Ralph Sauer, Byron Peebles and Per Brevig. Since graduating from UCLA, he has gone on to enjoy his musical life as an in-demand trombonist/low-brass performer.

Among the varied palette of artists with whom Alex has performed and/or recorded are: Joe Cocker, James Horner, Henry Mancini, Alan Jackson, The Tonight Show, Hans Zimmer, The Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, Johnny Mathis, Lalo Shiffrin, Natalie Cole, Danny Elfman, Ray Charles, Trevor Rabin, Harry Connick Jr., Robbie Williams, Terence Blanchard, John Williams, and Prince. He has played in the pit orchestras of numerous Los Angeles productions of Broadway shows including: The Lion King, Phantom of the Opera, Chicago, West Side Story, The Producers and Hairspray.

He has toured as lead and solo jazz trombonist with the Woody Herman and Maynard Ferguson big bands [with whom he has recorded twice]. Today, he performs and records as a regular member of many of the top big bands and jazz groups in the L.A. area including Bob Florence's Limited Edition, Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band, The Tom Kubis Big Band. He has also recorded and performs with the The Bill Cunliffe Sextet and The David Roitstein Group.

He has also performed on The Emmy Awards, Golden Globe Awards, The People's Choice Awards and hundreds of television series and motion picture soundtracks including Polar Express, National Treasure, The Incredibles, Troy, Robots, The Last Samurai, Pirates of the Carribean, Planet of the Apes, Spiderman I and II, Alias, Lost, JAG, Animaniacs, Pinky and the Brain, and Seinfeld. Alex has also appeared as trombone soloist on the motion picture soundtracks of The Majestic, Mango Kiss and Rounders as well as the television show, Northern Exposure.

In the summer of 2001, Alex was one of sixteen trombonists from an international field chosen to participate in a 10 day orchestral/solo seminar hosted by New York Philharmonic Principal trombone virtuoso, Joe Alessi.

And in October, 2002 Alex was appointed principal trombonist of the Long Beach Symphony Orchestra. He has also performed as alto, tenor and/or bass trombonist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, The LA Chamber Orchestra, Opera Pacifica, The Pacific Symphony, The Pasadena Symphony, and the Santa Barbara Symphony.He has also commissioned and/or premiered several new works for solo trombone.

Alex is a trombone and jazz instructor at California Institute of the Arts and California State University, Northridge. He appears frequently as a recitalist, guest soloist, and clinician with schools and organizations throughout the United States, including Indiana University, Oklahoma State University,the Disney Magic Music Days Program and his "alma mater," the Disney All American College Band.

Alex is a Conn/Selmer performing artist and plays King and Conn trombones.

Richard Kravchak is the founding Director of the School of Music and Theatre at Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. He has been heard as an oboe soloist, chamber and orchestral musician around the world, performing concerts throughout Europe, Asia, and the Americas. Kravchak has appeared as a soloist with ensembles as diverse as The Dubuque Symphony, The University of Hawaii Wind Ensemble, The Carson Symphony, Banda Espinia de Portugal and the Orquesta Symphonica de El Salvador.” Kravchak has presenedt solo performances at conferences and festivals including The International Double Reed Society, The North American Saxophone Alliance, Festival Forfest, the International Clarinet Society, and many others. He holds performance degrees from the Eastman School of Music, the Juilliard School, and Florida State University. Richard Kravchak served as Professor of Music at California State University, Dominguez Hills, where he was the Chairman of the Music Department. His duties also included directing the Music Education program and serving as a studio woodwind instructor.

Previous to his appointment at Marshall University, Dr. Kravchak was the Chairman of the Music Department at California State University, Dominguez Hills, in the Los Angeles, metropolitan area. There his duties included directing the Music Education program and serving as a studio woodwind instructor. Dr. Kravchak’s teaching has been widely recognized by his colleagues. Kravchak was the first California teacher to receive National Board Certification in music education. He has also received a Platinum Apple Award from the United Teachers of Los Angeles, a Los Angeles County Teacher of the Year award from the Los Angeles County Office of Education, and has been a finalist for a Bravo Award, granted by the Music Center of Los Angeles. Dr. Kravchak received the Dunsay award from the Music Center, as the Bravo Award Finalist who “did the most with the fewest resources”.

Jenny Krueger received her degrees in music performance and music education from the University of Denver, New Mexico State University, and Mannes College of Music in New York. With more than a decade of teaching experience, Jenny first developed and introduced music education curriculum for elementary, middle, and high schools in New Mexico and Virginia.

Currently, as Executive Director of the Acadiana Symphony & Conservatory of Music, Jenny leads the development and implementation of pilot programs in music education that target early childhood illiteracy. The success of Jenny's innovative arts-integrated curricula for the underprivileged has garnered acclaim statewide among leaders in public education. As the public face and voice of the Symphony, Jenny has heightened community awareness of the organization, and increased public accessibility to performances.

Soprano Pamela Kurau has been heard in performance with many of Rochester’s finest musicians and organizations.  She has sung several times with Chamber Music Rochester, First Muse, Live from Hochstein radio broadcasts, and collaborated with faculty from the Eastman School of Music and musicians from the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. In larger works, Kurau has sung with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Detroit Symphony, Rochester Oratorio Society, and most recently performed the Strauss “Vier Letzte Lieder with the Geneseo Symphony in May 2014.  International performances have taken her to Canada, Germany, Finland, Japan, China, and Korea.  Dr. Kurau is a graduate of the University of Connecticut, University of Missouri-Columbia, and, most recently, the Eastman School of Music.  She currently serves on the faculty of the Music Department at SUNY Geneseo as Coordinator and Assistant Professor of Voice, and is also on the adjunct faculty at the Eastman School of Music as Assistant Professor of English Lyric Diction.

Siu Yan Luk is a staff accompanist at Boston University. She previously held adjunct faculty positions at Rochester Institute of Technology, Opus Ithaca, Hochstein School of Music and Dance in Rochester NY, and Monroe Community College. Siu Yan studied with prestigious teachers such as Barry Snyder, Ann Koscielny, Lillian Kallir, Claude Frank, Ju-Ying Song, and Eva Lue. She has performed internationally in Vienna, Paris, Hong Kong, and various cities in the US, including engagements as piano soloist with the Hong Kong Academy Orchestra in Hong Kong and Eastman Philharmonic in Rochester, NY; premiering compositions for EAMA (European American Musical Alliance) at La Schola Cantorum, Paris. Siu Yan is also a winner of multiple concerto competitions including the Eastman Piano Concerto Competition, and the Hong Kong Academy Concerto Competition. In addition to solo performances, Siu Yan is active as a collaborative pianist. She has held positions as staff accompanist and accompanying assistant at The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester, Ithaca College, Hochstein School of Music and Dance, Monroe Community College, the International Viola Congress 2012, and 2013 Northeast Regional Tuba & Euphonium Conference.

Sergeant First Class Robert Marino was named the Principal Timpanist of The U.S. Army Field Band in 2006. He began his graduate studies at Boston University and completed his Master of Music degree at the University of Maryland in 2010. He is a 2005 graduate of the Eastman School of Music, with majors in Percussion Performance and Music Education. SFC Marino has been a featured soloist with the Concert Band at The American Bandmasters Association Convention and The Pennsylvania Music Educators Conference. He is also active in the marching arts and has been an instructor for the nine-time Drum Corps International world champion Cadets Drum and Bugle Corps since 2007. He has also taught the Madison Scouts and Capital Regiment Drum and Bugle Corps. He lives in Baltimore with his wife, Elizabeth.

A native of Abilene, Texas, Mr. Mitch Maxwell is currently Principal Cellist with the Dallas Opera Orchestra. A long-time student of the late Lev Aronson, Mr. Maxwell is an active chamber music performer in the Dallas area and is one of the founding members of the Trinity Chamber Players. Mr. Maxwell was a faculty member and the Assistant Principal Cellist in the Eastern Philharmonic Orchestra at North Carolina's Eastern Music Festival. He also holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of North Texas and a Master of Music degree from Southern Methodist University.

Lindsay McMurray started playing the trombone at age 10 in a suburb of Seattle, WA, but by 11 years old she was playing in a jazz band.  Her love for jazz and its community brought her many opportunities during her education, including the honor of participating twice in the Essentially Ellington Jazz Festival in New York where only 15 bands are chosen out of the nation to compete.   

She found her passion for Latin music while attending California State University, Northridge. During her freshman year, a good friend (and fellow trombone player), asked her to sit-in on a gig at El Floridita (an LA staple for salsa music).  Everything was so fresh, energetic and fun!  The people dancing and laughing, everyone talking to each other and actually listening to the music!  She was hooked.  

Never one to hold to just one genre, during her time at California State University, Northridge she earned a spot in Walt Disney World's Disney Collegiate All-Star Band.  In this nation-wide search, only three tenor trombonists were chosen.  During this time she had the opportunity to spend a summer performing daily in the Magic Kingdom for the guests and attended clinics with successful, working musicians.  From there, she earned her masters at UCLA in trombone performance. 

Since graduating, she plays with more and more bands as her musical skills improve.  She has even been called to play with international salsa stars, including Eddie Santiago, Tony Vega and Willie Panama. In the classical realm, she continues to work in orchestras and small brass groups.

Today, you can hear Lindsay playing with the Disneyland Band in Anaheim, CA.  You can also hear her in LA salsa bands, wedding bands, pop groups, jazz combos and big bands.  She also plays in the house band for Estrella TV's Noches con Platanito. In this quick pace atmosphere she is challenged with transcribing melodies on the spot, learning 20-15 tunes every 2-3 days and performing live music for TV audiences nationwide.     

Lindsay also spends time educating young and aspiring trombonists in private lessons and stopping in from time to time at the Harmony Project (a local area learning environment geared towards early exposure of classical music and musical instruments in urban areas).

Viola and chamber music professor at the Rio Grande do Norte Federal University in Brazil,  Camila Meirelles holds a Master’s degree from Northern Illinois University where she studied viola with Richard Young and chamber music with the Vermeer Quartet. She played with Lorin Maazel, Benjamin Zander, Rachel Barton Pine, Wynton Marsalis, Yukiko Ogura and performed with Rockford Symphony Orchestra and Dubuque Symphony Orchestra.

Camila participated in many music festivals in Brazil and has been performed with orchestras from different states in Brazil. As a dedicated and passionate teacher, Ms. Meirelles has been organizing strings workshops and has been committed as a principal director of an important social youth orchestra, which has brought free orchestral music education to many low-income communities in Brazil. Last year, she hosted the “Mostra de violas da UFRN”, a viola meeting where Camila with other Brazilian players founded the Brazilian Viola Association.

Damian Montano enjoys a varied musical career as both bassoonist and composer. He has been funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, and his works have been performed by ensembles across the country, including the National Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Houston Symphony, Long Beach Symphony, Santa Monica Symphony, International Double Reed Society Festival Orchestra, Philharmonia Northwest, Culver City Symphony, and the Henry Mancini Institute Orchestra. As a bassoonist, he is a member of the LA Chamber Orchestra and has performed with numerous other Southern California orchestras, including the LA Philharmonic, LA Opera, and Pacific Symphony. As a recording artist for motion pictures and television, he has performed on scores of composers such as John Williams, Danny Elfman and Hans Zimmer. While studying at USC, Damian was featured as soloist with the Young Musicians Foundation Debut Orchestra and USC's Wind Symphony, subsequent to winning each ensemble's concerto competition with a work that he composed. In 2012, Damian appeared as a headlining artist at the International Double Reed Society Conference, where he played the dual role of soloist and composer in the world premiere of his bassoon concerto “Three Night Pieces.” His compositions can be heard on the Delos and Capstone record labels. 

Sterling E. Murray received his PhD in musicology from the University of Michigan in 1973. For thirty-six years Professor Murray was a member of the music faculty of the School of Music at West Chester University. In 2008 he was awarded the title of Professor Emeritus of Music History. He has also taught at Temple University, the College of William and Mary, and the University of Southampton in Southampton, England.

Professor Murray is the author of several books dealing with Rosetti and Wallerstein: The Music of Antonio Rosetti (Anton Rösler) ca. 1750-1792: A Thematic Catalog (Harmonie Park Press, 1996); Antonio Rosetti, Five Wind Partitas: Music for the Oettingen-Wallerstein Court (A-R Editions, 1989, as vols. 30-31 in Recent Researches in the Music of the Classic Era); Seven Symphonies from the Court of Oettingen-Wallerstein, l773-l795 (Garland Press, l98l); and has contributed chapters on the Rosetti’s symphonies to The Symphonic Repertoire, Vol. I: The Eighteenth Century, ed. by Mary Sue Morrow and Bathia Churgin (Indiana University Press, 2013). Dr. Murray also edited with Sonja Gerlach a collection of Haydn’s symphonies (Hob. I: 76-81) for the Joseph Haydn Werke, Reihe I, Band 6, published by the Joseph Haydn-Institut (Cologne, Germany, 2004) and a collection of essays dealing with the music of Haydn and His Contemporaries (Steglein Press, 2011).

His research has been published in a number of scholarly journals, including Musik in Bayern, Mozart-Jahrbuch, Kosmas, The Journal of Musicology, Hudební veda, Journal of the American Musicological Society, Music and Letters, and The Musical Quarterly. He has also contributed to several reference sources, including Lexikon zur Deutschen Musik-Kultur, New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians and Britain in the Hanoverian Age, 1714-1837.

Hannah Powers, is a Senior BME Vocal Education Major at Baylor University where she studies voice with Dr. Randall Umstead and Choral Direction with Dr. Lynne Gackle and Dr. Alan Raines. She is a member of Baylor University Bella Voce select women's choir and the A Cappella Choir, an officer in the Baylor University Music Educators Association and works with OSOMusical to serve children with special needs. She is the Children's Music Ministry Director at Central Presbyterian Church in Waco, TX.

Chinese-born American clarinetist Dr. Jun Qian joined the music faculty at Baylor University in 2012, when he was also appointed principal clarinetist of the Waco Symphony. Dr. Qian previously served as clarinet professor at St. Olaf College in Minnesota, and prior to that, he taught at Nazareth College, Houghton College, and New York State University at Fredonia. Dr. Qian holds a Bachelor of Music in Clarinet Performance from Baylor University where he was a student of Richard Shanley, and a Master of Music in Clarinet Performance, and a Doctor of Musical Arts from the Eastman School of Musicwhere he studied with Kenneth Grant and was the last private student of Stanley Hasty. His CD Première Rhapsodie (1998) and DVD Playing the Clarinet (2004) were released under the Nanjing Shine Horn label in China. In addition to performing the standard clarinet repertoire, Dr. Qian also collects, performs, records, and commissions new music for clarinet by Chinese composers. Those compositions - written by well-known composers born in China or raised in a Chinese family (e.g. Chen Yi, Bright Sheng and Zhou Long) - explore the confluence of Chinese cultural elements and Western art music. The release of his first CD in the US, East Meets West - Clarinet Music by Chinese Composers (Albany Records, 2012) represents the culmination of the first major phase of this work.

Praised for her “velvet voice” and “razor sharp focus”, Renée Rapier is quickly establishing herself in opera houses around the country.  

After a busy and successful summer having made debuts with San Francisco’s Opera Parallele, Wolf Trap Opera, and the Ravinia Festival where she made her role debut as Cherubino with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra conducted by James Conlon, Renée ended 2014 with a debut at Opera San Antonio playing Mrs. Fox (Fantastic Mr. Fox) and the Page (Salome), as well as an international debut as Olga (Eugene Onegin) with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra under Maestro Shao-Chia Lu.

Renee began 2015 with Los Angeles Opera playing Cherubino in both The Ghosts of Versailles and Le Nozze di Figaro.  Renee will have debuts with Opera Theatre St. Louis, singing the role of Mrs. Bass in Tobias Picker’s Emmeline and the role of Anna and covering the title role Maria Stuarda for Seattle Opera.  She has sung the title role of Great Scott by Jake Heggie in the workshop for Cincinnati Opera’s Opera Fusion program, and will be covering Joyce DiDonato  for Dallas Opera in this world premier .

In 2011 Renée was chosen as a Domingo-Thornton Young Artist at the LA Opera where she made her professional debut as Stephano (Roméo et Juliette).  She then joined the prestigious Adler fellowship in 2012, where she performed several roles on the San Francisco Opera stage including Giovanna (Rigoletto), Pantalis (Mefistofele), and Meg Page (Falstaff).  

Renée was the 2012 winner of the Palm Springs Opera Guild Competition, and the 2013 winner of the Brava! Opera Theater and James M. Collier Young Artist Program Vocal Competition. Ms. Rapier is also the recipient of the Chautauqua Studio Artist Award, a winner in the Schubert Club Scholarship Competition, a national finalist of the Bel Canto Vocal Scholarship Foundation, a 2011 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions national semifinalist, and a finalist of the 2013 Seoul International Music Competition.  

Ms. Rapier is a graduate of the University of Northern Iowa where she studied both voice and viola.  She also received training at the Tafelmusik Baroque Summer Institute, Chautauqua Opera, and the Merola Opera Program.  

Praised for her "luscious, full sound" (American Record Guide) and "effortless precision" (Flutist Quarterly), flutist Nicole Riner maintains an active international presence as a recitalist and pedagogue. Nicole has also commissioned and premiered new works by numerous composers as a solo artist and with her chamber group, Verismo Trio. Her live performances have been broadcast on Public Radio programs in Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wyoming. She has recorded for Centaur Records and Albany Records. Nicole is Lecturer in Flute at University of Wyoming. She also teaches flute and chamber music at the Sulzbach-Rosenberg International Music Festival in Bavaria every August. 

Inspired by a wide variety of unexpected places, impulses, and experiences, Los Angeles-based composer Jason Barabba processes his encounters through a personal artistic lens to create pieces that reflect his perception of the world around him. His music is sought out by performers across the country. Collaborations have included performances by The Janaki String Trio, The AdZel Duo, The California E.A.R. Unit, Ensemble Green, clarinetist Richard Stoltzman, The Krechkovsky-Loucks Duo, pianist Susan Svrcek, The Arneis Quartet, The Symbiosis Chamber Orchestra, The What’s Next? Ensemble and The Verismo Trio. He is a frequent speaker and guest lecturer at colleges and universities, and has presented talks on composition and new music at The University of Kansas, Chapman University, and The California State University at Bakersfield. As composer-in-residence or guest composer, he has enjoyed participating in festivals including the Cortona Sessions for New Music, the University of Wyoming’s New Frontiers Festival, Los Angeles’ Hear Now Festival and the Vanguard Miami New Music Festival. Several of his works are available on commercial recordings on the Yarlung Records, MMC Recordings and Navona Records labels.

Dr. Gail Robertson earned her B.A. degree from the University of Central Florida and a M.M. from Indiana University. She postponed her doctoral studies at the University of Maryland to perform with the “Tubafours” at Walt Disney World, Orlando. She has recently completed her D.M.A. as a University Distinguished Fellow at Michigan State University. She has taught on the faculties of Eastern Michigan University, the University of Central Florida, Bethune-Cookman University, the University of Florida, and remains active as a 
teacher, adjudicator, composer, arranger and free-lance artist, both nationally and internationally. 

Robertson currently serves as Visiting Assistant Professor of Tuba and Euphonium at the University of Central Arkansas. She is the Chief Editor of the International Tuba and Euphonium Press, on the Board of Directors of the Leonard Falcone Tuba and Euphonium Festival, the International Tuba and Euphonium Association (ITEA), and the International Women’s Brass Conference (IWBC). Gail was recently awarded the 2014 Clifford Bevan Award for Excellence in Research for her document “Restoring the Euphonium’s 
Legacy as Cello of the Wind Band.” Her original work for brass quintet, Tower Guard Tribute, was honorable mention for the 2014 International Alliance for Women in Music’s Patsy Lu award. Gail's duo with tubist Dr. Stacy Baker, SYMBIOSISDUO, will release their second CD, “Playground,” in January 2015.

Robertson has toured the U.S., Europe, China, and Japan with Keith Brion’s “New Sousa Band," the Brass Band of Battle Creek, and SYMBIOSISDUO. She has also performed with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. As a Willson Euphonium Artist, Robertson’s euphonium of choice is a Willson 2950TA with a Warburton/Gail Robertson mouthpiece.

Terrie Shires teaches class piano and serves as a collaborative artist at the University of Central Arkansas. As the UCA Horn Studio accompanist, she works with students as well as visiting artists, including past collaborations with Thomas Bacon, Richard King, Eli Epstein, Richard Todd, Roger Kaza, and Jeff Nelsen. Recently she was hired to serve as an official accompanist for the 45th International Horn Symposium and the International Horn Competition of America. She also works as a choir accompanist at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in the summers, and has played keyboard for the Arkansas Repertory Theatre and the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Music from Hanover College, Indiana, and her MM in Piano Performance and Pedagogy at Northern Illinois University. Her primary teachers were C. Kimm Hollis and William Koehler. Terrie has performed in Austria, France, Spain, Italy, Luxembourg, and 22 American states. 

Dr. Ann Shoemaker currently serves as Assistant Professor of Bassoon at Baylor University in Waco, TX and has previously been on faculty at Furman University, Davidson College, and the North Carolina School of the Arts. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Furman University, and a Master of Music degree from Yale School of Music, where she was awarded the Nyfenger Award for Outstanding Woodwind Performance. Dr. Shoemaker has additional training from numerous summer music festivals, including Aspen and Tanglewood. She recently completed her Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where she was a Hayes Fellowship recipient. Her primary teachers include Michael Burns, Frank Morelli, Carol Lowe, and Kevin Hall. Dr. Shoemaker is a Fox Bassoon performing artist. Dr. Shoemaker is currently the principal bassoonist with the Waco Symphony Orchestra (TX), The Shreveport Orchestra, and has previously held positions with the Greensboro, Salisbury and Hendersonville Symphony Orchestras (NC). She continues to sub regularly with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra (TX) and has performed often with the Charlotte, Winston-Salem, Asheville (NC), South Carolina Philharmonic, and Greenville (SC) Symphony Orchestras.

Elizabeth Shuhan is a lecturer in music education at Ithaca College, visiting lecturer of flute at Cornell University, a flute instructor at Opus Ithaca and is a Suzuki flute teacher in Ithaca, NY. As the current principal flutist with the Fort Smith Symphony (AR), she has recorded three cds. Ms. Shuhan performs regularly with the Shuhan-Luk Trio, Ithaca Flute Duo, Skaneateles Music Festival and has performed as acting principal with the Binghamton Philharmonic. Prior to moving to NY, Ms. Shuhan was director of the University of Arkansas Suzuki Music School and served as visiting assistant professor of fluteat the University of Arkansas. She has held positions in the North Arkansas Symphony Orchestra and the Meridien (MS) Symphony Orchestra. She holds degrees from the University of Arkansas and the University of Southern Mississippi. Ms. Shuhan has recorded for Albany Records, Naxos and PBS and is a Burkart Flutes Artist.

Jeanne Skrocki is an Artist in Residence at the University of Redlands and Concertmaster of the Redlands Symphony Orchestra. She is the Assistant Concertmaster of the Pacific Symphony and was Concertmaster of the Opera Pacific orchestra in Orange County for twelve years. A native of Los Angeles, she was first taught by her mother, Bonnie Bell, and then studied with Manuel Compinsky of the famed Compinsky Trio. Ms. Skrocki made her solo debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at age 14 and, a few years later, was awarded a full scholarship to study with legendary violinist Jascha Heifetz in his master class at USC. She is a member of the prestigious faculty at the Jascha Heifetz Symposium held at Connecticut College each June. An avid chamber musician, Ms. Skrocki won the National Flute Association chamber music competition as a member of Les Amis Musicalles, and has collaborated with notable artists in the Los Angeles area and across the country. Locally, Ms. Skrocki frequently performs at the La Jolla Summerfest, as a member of the California Quartet and in collaboration with local jazz guitarist Peter Sprague. She has recorded with Pacific Symphony, numerous chamber ensemble groups and on hundreds of motion picture soundtracks. In addition to her solo career, Ms. Skrocki is a dedicated teacher and mentor, with a full violin studio and responsibility for the strings chamber music program at the University of Redlands. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Aeronautical Engineering from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.
 

Jacqueline Suzuki, violin, is a longtime member of the Long Beach and Santa Barbara Symphonies and is a veteran freelancer in Southern California. She has performance degrees from Mannes College of Music in New York City and California Institute of the Arts.

Jacqueline Suzuki founded and directs Kewa Civic Concerts , fiscally sponsored by the Pasadena Arts Council. The mission of Kewa is to present free and low cost admission community concerts and outreach performances at pediatric hospitals. Two of the projects for which Ms. Suzuki is curator are the Free Admission Glendale Noon Concerts and a concert series at the Edendale Branch Library in Echo Park. 

As a Los Angeles freelancer, she has performed with many ensembles and in many genres, from rock, jazz, Latin and Arabic, to playing in the pit for the Bolshoi Ballet and onstage with the Three Tenors. She has recorded with diverse artists: Snoop Dogg, Neil Sedaka, Leonard Cohen, Whitney Houston, Bocelli, Lalo Schifrin, McCoy Tyner, Placido Domingo and many others, and appears on recordings by the Long Beach, Santa Barbara and Pacific Symphonies. She has spent summers at the Peter Britt, Oregon Coast, Carmel Bach and Cabrillo Festivals and has performed in a string quartet “in residence” on a raft trip down the Green River in Utah. Tours have taken her multiple times to Japan, Taiwan, Mexico, Canada, Europe, and in the Middle East as well as throughout the US.

Pianist Susan Svrček has established a versatile career that encompasses critically acclaimed solo, chamber, and orchestral appearances in the United States and abroad. A winner of the Concert Artists’ Guild International Competition in New York, she made her debut in Carnegie Recital Hall. She has also had solo engagements from the Boston Museum of Fine Art to Tokyo’s Zero Hall, Art Hall in Seoul, and Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. She has been soloist with numerous symphony orchestras and has performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic New Music Group. She has been a featured artist on National Public Radio, Bavarian National Radio, and NHK Radio (Japan).

Susan Svrček is noted for her wide range of repertoire, from Mozart and Beethoven to Xenakis and Boulez. She is a founding pianist of the recital series Piano Spheres. She is in demand to give master classes across the United States, as well as in Japan and Korea. Currently, she serves as Artist-Faculty at the Pasadena Conservatory of Music, where she also coaches chamber music. She has recorded for CRI, Cambria, and ORFEO. In 2012, her performance of John Cage’s Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano was released by Centaur. She holds two degrees from CalArts, a master’s degree from Yale University, and a doctorate from the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music. Susan Svrček is represented by McAlister Arts and is a Steinway Artist.

A pianist of “unerring, warm-toned refinement, revealing judicious glimmers of power” Robert Thies (pronounced "Theece") is an artist renowned for his consummate musicianship and poetic temperament. He first captured worldwide attention in 1995 when he won the Gold Medal at the Second International Prokofiev Competition in St. Petersburg, Russia. With this victory, Thies became the only American pianist to win a Russian piano competition since Van Cliburn's triumph in Moscow in 1958.

Thies enjoys a diverse career as an orchestral soloist, recitalist, chamber musician, and recording artist. He has already performed 40 different concerti with orchestras all over the world, including Russia’s Saint Petersburg Philharmonic, New Zealand’s Auckland Philharmonia, and the Mexico City Philharmonic.

Thies is highly sought after as a recital partner and collaborator in both instrumental and vocal chamber music. He frequently shares the stage with members of the LA Philharmonic and the LA Chamber Orchestra. When not onstage, he is in high demand for special recording projects and also appears on the soundtracks of many film scores. He founded the Thies Consort, an ensemble that presents unique programs based on a style, composer, or other concept.

Also a dedicated teacher, Thies maintains a small private studio and serves on the faculty of the Colburn School in downtown Los Angeles. www.robertthies.org 

Edward Trybek is an award-winning composer, orchestrator, and guitarist active in the world of scoring for media. His musicianship and technique have garnered rave reviews, launching him into the highest echelon of America's young talents.

As both a versatile guitarist and an accomplished orchestrator, Edward Trybek's work spans the film, television, and video game industries. Hundreds of productions feature his orchestration, including Beautiful Creatures (2013), Girl Most Likely(2012), Europa Report (2013), Step Up 3D (2010), Socom 4: U.S. Navy Seals (2011), Call of Duty: Black Ops II (2012), Da Vinci's Demons (2013), and The Walking Dead (2010). Edward Trybek's extensive experience as a studio musician in the entertainment business ranges across multiple guitar disciplines, banjo, mandolin, lute, balalaika, and numerous ethnic string instruments. He is a featured artist on multiple Renaissance and ethnic instruments in Da Vinci's Demons (2013) and performed solo flamenco guitar and electric sitar on Call of Duty: Black Ops II (2012).

In addition to two solo classical guitar albums, Portrait of Edward Trybek (2007) and Images of Spain (2008), Edward Trybek released a duo album, Cadencia (2012), with acclaimed mezzo-soprano Iris Malkin. Mr. Trybek has appeared in concert both internationally (Greece, Canada, France, Thailand, Japan, Germany, and Austria) and throughout the U.S.

At the prestigious 49th Tokyo International Guitar Competition, Edward Trybek's silver-medal performance manifested his masterly technique and superb musicality, making him and his mentor Maestro Scott Tennant (winner of gold in 1989) the highest-ranking Americans in the competition's history. In 2005, Mr. Trybek earned three gold medals both domestically and abroad, at the 5th Thailand International Guitar Competition, the Portland Guitar Competition (USA), and the University of Southern California Concerto Competition (USA). Mr. Trybek was a finalist in the 2000 Turner Classical Movie Young Film Composer Competition.

After studying jazz guitar at the distinguished High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Houston, Edward Trybek moved to Los Angeles in 2000 to study classical guitar at U.S.C. with Scott Tennant and Pepe Romero, receiving his B.M. (2003) and M.M. (2005). There he also studied composition, orchestration, and counterpoint with Neal Desby.

Kristin Van Cleve is chairperson of the music department at the University of Dallas, where she has directed the chamber ensemble program since 2007. She is Artistic Director and Principal Violinist of the historical performance ensemble, Texas Camerata and is Principal Second Violin with the Dallas Opera Orchestra. 

Ms. Van Cleve began violin studies in her hometown of Fairbanks, Alaska and later moved to Texas, receiving both Bachelor and Master of Music degrees in Violin Performance from the University of North Texas.   As a baroque violinist, she has performed in Boston, Washington, D.C., France, Mexico and throughout the southwest. Ms. Van Cleve is concertmaster of several other historical instrument ensembles, including the Orchestra of New Spain, and has performed with Apollo's Fire, the Cleveland Baroque Orchestra.  As a modern violinist, she is a member of the New Hampshire Music Festival, has returned to Alaska as a faculty member of the Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival and in June 2011 traveled to Bolivia to teach and perform. 

Ms. Van Cleve is active as a clinician for violin students of all ages and also maintains a private teaching studio in Dallas. She performs with the Fort Worth Symphony and traveled with that orchestra to Carnegie Hall in 2008. 

Lisa Van Winkle enjoys a diverse career as an educator, recitalist, soloist and orchestral musician.  She has performed at festivals and concerts in the United States, the United Kingdom, Prague, Vienna, and Bogota, Colombia.  She is the assistant professor of flute and the coordinator of the aural skills program at New Mexico State University.  Her professional orchestra experience includes the El Paso Symphony, the Juarez (Mexico) Symphony and the El Paso Opera Company.

An active advocate of chamber music, she has performed with the Clarion Duo, the Mirage Duo, the NMSU Faculty Woodwind Quintet and the Cielo Azul Chamber Trio.  She was an invited performer for the William Bennett International Summer Flute School (Farnham, UK) and performed as a soloist at the National Flute Association’s convention in Las Vegas, NV.  Her students are frequent winners of scholarships and competitions.  The NMSU Flute Ensemble was invited and performed at the National Flute Association’s conventions in Albuquerque, NM and Las Vegas, NV.  Dr. Van Winkle has articles published in Pan: Journal of the British Flute Society and the NACWPI Journal.  She completed the Masters of Music from NMSU and the Doctorate of Musical Arts from the University of Arizona.  She is an avid cyclist and the proud Mom of two Corgis, Charlie and Abbey.

German pianist Henning Vauth serves as Assistant Professor of Piano and Coordinator of Keyboard Studies at Marshall University (USA). A laureate of the Concours Grieg International Competition for Pianists in Norway (Schubert Prize) and the IBLA Grand Prize International Piano Competition in Italy, he has performed at venues in the United States and in Europe, such as Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center in New York, the Konzerthaus in Berlin, and Salle Cortot in Paris.

Henning Vauth’s itinerary in 2013 includes solo recitals, master classes, and lectures at several universities in the US (UNC Chapel Hill, West Liberty University, Marshall University) and in Brazil (UFG in Goiania and UDESC in Florianopolis), the Paris International Summer Sessions, and the Palm Beach Atlantic Piano Festival in Florida (presentation of a lecture/panel discussion on musicians’ health). He is a founding member of the Millefiori Trio with American violinist E. Reed Smith and Turkish cellist Solen Dikener and performs frequently in chamber music settings with Marshall University colleagues. He has been a jurist for many competitions and a former full-time faculty member at Auburn University.

He holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance and Literature from the Eastman School of Music, in addition to further degrees and certificates in piano performance and pedagogy from the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien (Hannover, Germany) and the Ecole Normale de Musique “Alfred Cortot” (Paris, France) – piano studies with Nelita True, Nelson Delle-Vigne Fabbri, and Einar Steen-Nokleberg; harpsichord with William Porter; master classes with Philippe Entremont.

Hannah Yi, a Los Angeles native, began her piano studies under Ick-Choo and Hae-Young Moon, and continued her pianoeducation at the Eastman School of Music with Nelita True and Fernando Laires. In, 2001, Hannah moved to Moscow, Russia to study at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory with Irina Plotnikova.She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Azusa Pacific University under Roza Kostrzewska Yoder and a Master of Music degree from Depaul University under Eteri Andjaparidze. Hannah has won competitions at all levels, including the Russian National Piano Competition in San Jose, CA and the Union League Civic and Arts Scholarship Competition in Chicago, IL.

Ms. Yi also has an established portfolio of live performances, including performing live on the classical radio station WFMT Chicago as part of the Amerklavier Concert Series. She has soloed with the SYMF Orchestra, Los Angeles Baroque Orchestra, YMF Debut Orchestra, Los Angeles Youth Orchestra, LACHSA Orchestra, Pasadena POPS Orchestra, Antelope Valley Symphony, and the Azusa Pacific Symphony. As a collaborator, Hannah was a member of the Belden Piano Quartet. In 2010, the Belden Piano Quartet were Resident Chamber Musicians for the Pine Mountain Music Festival in Michigan. She also works with LA Opera in the outreach program every month. She has also been a staff pianist for the Chautauqua Institute as well as faculty at Depaul University Community Music Division. Currently, Ms. Yi is on faculty at Azusa Pacific University and at Orange County High School for the Arts.

Dr. Andrew Yozviak is the Director of Bands at West Chester University. Dr. Yozviak's primary responsibilities include conducting the Wind Ensemble and Chamber Winds, directing the Golden Rams Marching Band, and teaching graduate and undergraduate conducting classes. Prior to this appointment, Yozviak served as Visiting Director of Bands at Susquehanna University and taught thirteen years in the Pennsylvania public schools.

Dr. Yozviak has earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Music Education from West Chester University of Pennsylvania and a Master of Music Degree in Composition from Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, and a Doctorate of Musical Arts Degree in Wind Conducting from Rutgers University where he studied with William Berz.

Dr. Yozviak maintains a busy schedule as a guest conductor, adjudicator and clinician, regularly presenting at conferences and workshops. His research in the area of eighteenth century Harmoniemusik has produced two modern editions of wind partitas by the Bohemian composer, Antonio Rosetti (1750-1792). His scholarly edition of Antonio Rosetti's Partita in E-flat is published by Amadeus Verlag, Winterthur, Switzerland.

As a composer, Dr. Yozviak has accepted commissions to compose and arrange music in a variety of genres. He has composed commissioned works for winds, chorus, jazz ensemble, and a variety of chamber ensembles. Dr. Yozviak's work as an arranger has yielded more than one hundred fifty marching band shows for some forty high schools, eight universities, and five drum and bugle corps. His original compositions for marching band, which include Africa, Artificial Intelligence, Koto, Four Suits, Water, Winter Sketches and Night Visions are published by Marching Show Concepts' Center X Productions.​

Dr. Yozviak is a member of the College Band Directors National Association, the World Association for Symphonic Bands and Ensembles, the Conductors Guild, the National Band Association, the Music Educators National Conference, Pennsylvania Music Educators Association, the Pennsylvania Bandmasters Association, Pi Kappa Lambda, and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia.​