Composer-in-Residence
Dr. Iman Habibi, D.M.A (Michigan), is an Iranian-Canadian composer and pianist, and a founding member of the piano duo ensemble, Piano Pinnacle. Hailed as “a giant in talent” (the Penticton Herald), "whose technical mastery is matched by his musical and cultural literacy" (Hudson-Housatonic Arts), Dr. Habibi has been commissioned by The Boston Symphony, The Philadelphia, and Toronto Symphony Orchestras, The Orchestra of St. Luke's and The Gabriela Lena Frank Creative Academy of Music, and has been programmed by The Carnegie Hall, The Tanglewood Music Festival, and The Canadian Opera Company, among others. He is a 2022 laureate of the Azrieli Music Prizes, and has received multiple SOCAN Foundation Awards, The International Composers’ Award at the Esoterics’ POLYPHONOS (2012), as well as numerous grants. Dr. Habibi is the 2023 Steinberg Family Composer-in-Residence. ImanHabibi.com
Visual Artist-in-Residence
Visual Artist MaDora Frey, originally from Georgia, employs a diverse artistic practice to explore her romantic regard for both the natural and built environment and her search for the sublime. Frey’s work takes the form of temporary installations created outdoors, of which only a photograph remains, large-scale public works, and studio works. Her notable commissions include large-scale outdoor public works created for the Katonah Museum of Art, Dashboard US at Woodruff Park, and Perennial Projects. Frey’s recent exhibitions include solo and two-person shows at Massey Klein Gallery, NY, Georgia State University Welch Gallery and Camayuhs Gallery, Atlanta GA. She received her MFA in painting, magna cum laude, from the New York Academy of Art and her BFA, with a concentration in drawing and printmaking, from Auburn University. Additionally, Frey studied at the Florence Academy, Florence, Italy. Frey is this year’s Hague Family Visual Artist-in Residence. madorafrey.com
Artist-in-Residence
Soprano Sonya Headlam enjoys a varied career as a soloist, chamber, and ensemble singer in repertoire ranging from the Baroque period to the 21st century. She is a member of The Choir of Trinity Wall Street and performs regularly with The Raritan Players, with whom she appears on the recently released recording, “In the Salon of Madame Brillon” (Acis). She has performed as a soloist with ensembles such as the Bang on a Can All-Stars, TENET Vocal Artists, North Carolina Symphony, Apollo’s Fire, and the Grand Rapids Symphony. Sonya holds a doctor of musical arts degree from Rutgers University, Mason Gross School of the Arts, and she is currently a visiting scholar at Rutgers University, conducting research on the eighteenth-century composer Ignatius Sancho. Headlam is the Festival’s 2023 Rohde Family Artist-in-Residence. sonyaheadlamsoprano.com
Culinary Partners
Farm.One
Farm.One grows unique luxury salad greens, specialty herbs, edible flowers and micro greens, serving chefs and local members. Farm.One also uses these ingredients in their specialty beverages (smoothies, seltzers, juices and 0% ABV). Their vertical farm grows indoors year-round, right in the heart of the city. Everything received from Farm.One is from the day of harvest. Visit their showroom, take a tour, enjoy botanical beverages and experience live events. Farm.One built its farm to be sustainable to the highest standard, equitable in employment, beneficial to the community, and, most importantly, delightful. Farm.One
Rethink Food
Rethink exists to bridge the gap between excess food and the communities who need it. Founded in 2017, Rethink Food is a nonprofit growing a network to alleviate food insecurity. They partner with restaurants to deliver 40,000+ nutritious, culturally celebrated meals per week across NYC, San Francisco, Chicago, Nashville, Washington D.C, and Miami—at no cost to communities. Rhubarb Hospitality Collection, featured at the events on General Theological Seminary’s campus, is the first catering company to partner with them. Rethinkfood.org
Growing Uptown
Since March of 2020, the Dyckman Farmhouse Museum (DFM), in partnership with Garden Kitchen Lab (GKL) and New York Common Pantry (NYCP), has empowered 120 families to grow food in their urban apartments in Upper Manhattan and the Bronx through our new Growing Uptown program, as a start to closing the gap in food security in their own homes. DyckmanFarmhouse.org/Growing-Uptown
Featured Composers
Julia Adolphe’s music is described as “alive with invention” (The New Yorker), “colorful, mercurial, deftly orchestrated” (The New York Times) displaying “a remarkable gift for sustaining a compelling musical narrative” (Musical America). Her works are performed across the U.S. and abroad by renowned orchestras and ensembles such as the New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Norwegian Chamber Orchestra, Brooklyn Youth Chorus, Verona Quartet, soprano Hila Plitmann, and pianist Gloria Cheng, among others. Her awards include a Lincoln Center Emerging Artist Award, an OPERA America Discovery Grant, an ASCAP Young Composer Award, and a Charles Ives Scholarship from the Academy of Arts and Letters. Adolphe is the creator and host of the podcast LooseLeaf NoteBook. A native New Yorker living in Nashville, Adolphe holds a Masters of Music degree in music composition from the USC Thornton School of Music and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Cornell University. juliaadolphe.com
Indian-American composer Reena Esmail works between the worlds of Indian and Western classical music, and brings communities together through the creation of equitable musical spaces. Esmail’s life and music was profiled on Season 3 of PBS Great Performances series Now Hear This, as well as Frame of Mind, a podcast from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Esmail has written commissions for ensembles including the Los Angeles Master Chorale, Seattle Symphony, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and Kronos Quartet, and her music has featured on multiple Grammy-nominated albums, including The Singing Guitar by Conspirare, BRUITS by Imani Winds, and Healing Modes by Brooklyn Rider. Esmail holds degrees in composition from The Juilliard School (BM’05) and the Yale School of Music (MM’11, MMA’14, DMA’18). Esmail is currently an Artistic Director of Shastra, a non-profit organization that promotes cross-cultural music connecting music traditions of India and the West, and resides in her hometown of Los Angeles, California. reenaesmail.com
David Evans is an Australian composer based in Sydney and London. His work extends from the concert hall to music for screen and theatre. David’s scores have been performed throughout the US, Europe, Asia and Australia by groups such as the MDI Ensemble, the Gildas Quartet and the Australia Piano Quartet. David works regularly to create music and sound design for organizations such as Tate Modern, Christie’s and Issuu. David completed his Bachelor of Composition degree with honours at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music in 2010, during which time he was awarded the Horace Keats Memorial Prize for Composition and the Sarah Theresa Makinson Prize of Musical Composition. David moved to London in 2015 to further his musical studies with Kenneth Hesketh as an RCM Scholar at the Royal College of Music, graduating with the degree of Master of Composition with Distinction in 2017. David has been selected to take part in music festivals and mentorships by esteemed composers such as Harrison Birtwistle, Beat Furrer and Michael Finnissy. He is a fellow of the Tanglewood Music Center 2022. davidevanscomposer.com
Composer-conductor Sung Jin Hong is creator and Artistic Director of One World Symphony. For nearly two decades, Hong and One World have dedicated themselves to serving the New York City community. As composer of acclaimed world premieres such as Operasodes® Breaking Bad—Ozymandias and Hannibal, Hong explores resonating human issues through his compositions: deferred dreams in Harlem Fanfare (Langston Hughes), mental health in Edge (Sylvia Plath), impermanence and the cycle of life in Rite of the Cicada, one’s roots and heritage in Eye of the Storm (which incorporated both Japanese and Korean chants), and equality/justice in DEFIANT: Shaken me to my core (Michelle Obama). An award-winning educator, Hong has been the recipient of VH1's Save The Music Foundation Grant for championing the power of music, had the honor of being the featured guest artist for The Girl Scouts annual World Thinking Day, and guided the local troops on "Heritage Hikes" fostering "Kennst Du das Land" — building awareness of the indigenous people that once called this land their home. Hong and his wife, Adrienne Metzinger, embrace a joyous and healthy life through movement inspired by Mother Earth. oneworldsymphony.org/artists_founders.shtml
Korean-born American composer Texu Kim writes music inspired by everyday experiences, music about modern (south) Korea reflecting its multicultural nature. Texu's works have been performed by the New York Philharmonic, San Francisco Opera Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Oregon Symphony, San Diego Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, New World Symphony, National Orchestra of Korea, Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, Ensemble Modern, Alarm Will Sound, Ensemble Intercontemporain, among many others. Winner of the 2021 Barlow Prize, his music has earned honors and awards from Civitella Ranieri Foundation and Copland House. Currently teaching at San Diego State University as an assistant professor, Texu served as the Composer-in-Residence of the Korean National Symphony Orchestra and the Artist-of-the-Year at the Busan Philharmonic Orchestra. texukim.com
Named "a gifted artist" by the New York Times, Dr. Patricio Molina has gained a reputation as a composer, pianist, and educator. The Cleveland Institute of Music named him a 2021 Future of Music Faculty Fellow. Patricio regularly appears on stages such as Carnegie Hall and OPERA America. He is a YAMAHA Artist. The New Jersey Youth Symphony, White Snake Projects, and Ulysses Quartet are among the many institutions that have recognized his talents with commissioned works. Inspirations for his compositions include his Chilean-Syrian heritage as well as his experience as a former DREAMer immigrant. Patricio is committed to serving marginalized communities and working toward decolonizing academic research. Patricio holds a Master's Degree with distinction from the Manhattan School of Music, a D.M.A in Piano Performance, and a Ph.D. in Music Composition from Rutgers University, the first double doctorate in its history. He serves as Director of the Conservatory for Newark School of the Arts, and Music Director at St. Thomas the Apostle Church. He is co-founder and President of Notes for Growth Foundation. patriciofmolina.com
In Memoriam: Ryuichi Sakamoto has lived many musical lives in his nearly 70 years. As a keyboardist and songwriter in Haruomi Hosono’s Yellow Magic Orchestra, he helped set the stage for synthpop. His solo experiments in fusing global genres and close studies of classical impressionism led to him scoring over 30 films in as many years, including Nagisa Oshima’s Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence, Bernardo Bertolucci’s The Last Emperor and The Sheltering Sky, and Alejandro González Iñárritu’s The Revenant. In the past 20 years alone, he’s written a multimedia opera, turned a glass building into an instrument, and traveled to the Arctic to record the sound of melting snow. That exploratory spirit runs through Sakamoto’s 2017 album, async, which paints an audio portrait of the passing of time informed by his recovery from throat cancer. “Music, work, and life all have a beginning and an ending,” said Sakamoto in early 2019. “What I want to make now is music freed from the constraints of time.” sitesakamoto.com
From ballet to opera to Korean traditional-orchestra, the wide-ranging talent of composer Nicky Sohn is sought after across the United States, Europe, and Asia. Characterized by her jazz-inspired, rhythmically driven themes, Sohn’s work has been described as “like John Adams’ ‘Short Ride in a Fast Machine’ on steroids” (YourObserver), “dynamic and full of vitality” (The Korea Defense Daily), and having “elegant wonder” (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung). As a result, Sohn has enjoyed commissions from the world’s preeminent performing arts institutions, including sold-out performances at the Stuttgart Ballet, The National Orchestra of Korea, Minnesota Orchestra, and Sarasota Orchestra. Recent highlights include an orchestral premiere by the St. Louis Symphony overseen by John Adams, as well as commissions and performances from the National Orchestra Institute and Festival, Minnesota Orchestra, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Sarasota Orchestra, and the Aspen Philharmonic Orchestra. Sohn has also collaborated with chamber ensembles such as the Kinetic Ensemble and acclaimed musicians Lucia Lin, Carpe Diem String Quartet, and Atlanta Chamber Players. Nicky Sohn is pursuing a fully-funded doctoral degree at the Shepherd School of Music of Rice University and holds degrees from Juilliard School and Mannes College of Music. nickysohn.com
Giovanni Sollima is an internationally-renowned cellist and an Italian composer whose works are performed the world. He has collaborated with Riccardo Muti, Yo-Yo Ma, Ivan Fischer, Viktoria Mullova, Ruggero Raimondi, Mario Brunello, Kathryn Stott, Giuseppe Andaloro, Toni Florio, Yuri Bashmet, Katia and Marielle Labeque, Giovanni Antonini, Ottavio Dantone, Patti Smith, Stefano Bollani, Paolo Fresu, Antonio Albanese and with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Manchester Camerata, Liverpool Philharmonic (Artist-in-Residence 2015), Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Moscow Soloists, Berlin Konzerthausorchester, Australian Chamber Orchestra, Il Giardino armonico, Cappella Neapolitana, Accademia Bizantina, Holland Baroque Society, Budapest Festival Orchestra. Giovanni explores different genres using ancient, oriental, electric and inventive instruments, playing in the Sahara desert, underwater, and with an Ice Cello. His discography started in 1998 with a CD produced by Philip Glass for Point Music which was followed by 11 albums for Sony, Egea and Decca. Giovanni Sollima plays a cello by Francesco Ruggieri (Cremona, 1679) giovannisollima.org
Takashi Yoshimatsu was born in Tokyo in 1953 and studied at the Keio University (Department of Technology). He taught himself composition, joined jazz and rock groups, and studied under Teizo Matsumura for a short while. He argues for a “new lyricism” and objects to unmusical “modern music”. He made his debut with his composition, “Threnody to Toki” in 1981. Since then, he has presented 6 symphonies, 10 Concertos, and many orchestral pieces. Other works include stage works, a series of chamber music related to birds, piano and guitar works, and other works for Japanese traditional instruments. He worked on the orchestration of ELP (Emerson Lake and Palmer)’s work ‘Tarkus’ with much success leading to multiple live performances and 2 live recordings. Many of his works are recorded on CD, including “The Age of Birds / Works by Takashi Yoshimatsu” (Camerata Tokyo). Since 1998, he was appointed “Composer-in-Residence” of CHANDOS RECORDS. As well as composing, he spends a lot of time writing articles, music reviews and essays and has published many books including the “Illustrated Encyclopedia of Classical Music” Series, which has now been translated and published in Chinese Taipei as well. yoshim.music.coocan.jp
Featured Ensembles
Asaran Earth Trio is an all-female multinational group of virtuosic musicians and educators. Together they perform folk songs from around the globe as well as original compositions, uniquely arranged for voice and percussion. Since its founding in 2015, Asaran Earth Trio has performed throughout Europe at festivals and venues such as Murszene Festival in Austria, Ördögkatlan, Művészetek Völgye and Babelsound Festivals in Hungary, the Crescendo and Labin Jazz Festivals in Croatia, and the Peperoncino Jazz Festival in Italy, to name a few. In the United States, they have performed at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Hall, the International Chopin and Friends Festival in Brooklyn, NY; Cornelia Street Cafe and the first edition of the Peace Summit in NYC, as well as at Club Passim in Cambridge, MA, the Robin Theater in Lansing, MI, the Foundry Hall in South Haven, MI, and Real Art Ways in Hartford, CT. With the help of traditional instruments such as the Brazilian zabumba and pandeiro, the Colombian maracas, and the most ancient instrument – the human voice, the trio transforms groups of former strangers into instant musical families, breaking down barriers and holding space for friendship, creativity and unity. asaranearthtrio.com
Acclaimed as an “outstanding ensemble…cohesive yet full of temperament” (The New York Times), the Verona Quartet has firmly established itself amongst the most distinguished ensembles on the chamber music scene today. The Quartet serves on the faculty of the Oberlin College and Conservatory as the Quartet-in-Residence. The Quartet also holds residencies at Nova Scotia’s Lunenburg Academy of Music Performance and North Carolina’s Chamber Orchestra of the Triangle. In addition to the 2023 premiere of a string quartet by Derek David, the Quartet will premiere a new composition by Texu Kim and a work for string quartet and yangqin (Chinese dulcimer) by Cheng Jin Koh, commissioned and highlighted by the Smithsonian’s Freer Gallery in recognition of its Centennial. The Verona Quartet are D’Addario Artists and The Violin Channel Artists. Their latest album Shatter was just released this year. The Verona Quartet is the McCormack & Mitrinovic Family Featured Ensemble. veronaquartet.com
Artists
Lívio Almeida is a GRAMMY nominee saxophonist and composer from Brazil, winner of the International Saxophone Competition Victor Assis Brasil in 2015. Mr. Almeida appeared in many important Jazz festivals such as Newport Jazz Festival, Los Angeles Central Ave Jazz Fest, NYC winter Fest and NYC Carefusion Jazz Fest, and prominent venues like Carnegie Hall, Birdland, The Iridium, Dizzy’s Coca-Cola Club, The Jazz Gallery, Cornelia Street Cafe, Joe’s Pub, Zinc Bar, SOB’s, BAM Cafe and Symphony Space, besides touring internationally. Mr. Almeida has two albums recorded as a leader and is considered a very distinct voice on saxophone today, being fluent in both Jazz and Brazilian musical languages, touring and teaching clinics/masterclasses internationally.
Amadi Azikiwe, violist, violinist and conductor, has been heard in recital in major cities throughout the United States. Mr. Azikiwe has also been a guest of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center at the Alice Tully Hall and the Kennedy Center. Abroad, he has performed throughout Israel, Canada, South America, Central America, Nigeria, India, Japan, and Hong Kong. Currently, Mr. Azikiwe is Music Director of the Harlem Symphony Orchestra. He is also Community Engagement Director of the Harlem Chamber Players, and a member of the Pressenda Chamber Players. As an orchestral musician, he has appeared with the New York Philharmonic, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, and guest principal violist of Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra. A native of New York City, Amadi Azikiwe was born in 1969. After early studies with his mother, he began training at the North Carolina School of the Arts as a student of Sally Peck. His studies continued at the New England Conservatory with Marcus Thompson and at Indiana University as a student of Atar Arad.
Eduardo Belo is a bass player and composer from Brasília, Brazil now living in New York City. A highly versatile player, he has shared the stage with Michel Camilo, Romero Lubambo, Lee Konitz, Chico Pinheiro, Duduka da Fonseca, Pedro Martins, Bebel Gilberto and many many others.
Brazilian percussionist and educator Rogério Boccato plays/recorded in projects led by some of today’s leading jazz artists, among them Maria Schneider, John Patitucci, Fred Hersch, Brian Blade, Kurt Elling, Danilo Perez, Renee Rosnes, and many others. He is featured on three Grammy-award winning albums: Kurt Elling & Danilo Perez‘s “Secrets Are The Best Stories“, “The Thompson Fields”, with the Maria Schneider Orchestra, and on Billy Childs’ “Rebirth”. He is also featured on multiple Grammy-nominated albums, among them: Kenny Garrett’s “Beyond The Wall”, John Patitucci‘s “Remembrance“ (alongside Joe Lovano and Brian Blade), and on Alan Ferber’s “Jigsaw“. Rogério Boccato has been a faculty member of the Manhattan School of Music , NYU and of the Percussion department of The Hartt School (University of Hartford) teaching Brazilian Music and Ritmica. Boccato is the Festival’s 2023 Weisser & Holtgrave Artist Chair. rogerioboccato.com
Double Bass player Nathaniel Chase performs a wide range of music, from period performance with the Sebastians and the Trinity Baroque Orchestra, to new music with Ensemble LPR and Ensemble Échappé, and orchestral repertoire with the Riverside and Allentown Symphonies. He performed on Broadway in the critically acclaimed production of Farinelli and the King with countertenor Iestyn Davies. He is a graduate of the New England Conservatory and the Yale School of Music, where he was a winner of the 2010 Woolsey Hall Concerto Competition.
Through “mesmerizing” and “commanding” performances (The New York Times), pianist and composer Robert Fleitz curates artistic experiences that surprise as often as dazzle. He made his “auspicious debut” (New York Concert Review) in Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall in October 2021. Recent honors include the First Prize in the 2022 John Cage Award in Halberstadt, Premio “Rosalía de Castro” in the 2022 International Piano Competition of Vigo, 2021 Pro Musicis International Award, the André Boucourechliev Prize in the 2020 International Piano Competition of Orléans, a 2021 Robert Turnbull Piano Foundation Musicians Grant, and winning the 2022 Festival Sansusī Musician Battle. Robert received degrees from The Juilliard School (B.M. & M.M.). As a recipient of the 2021 Frank Huntington Beebe Grant and a Latvian State Scholarship, Robert pursued further studies at the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music in Rīga, Latvia, where he was awarded the 2022 Young Artist of the Year Award. Robert and his father co-founded the Swan City Piano Festival, an ongoing multi-genre celebration of pianists and piano repertoire in his hometown of Lakeland, Florida. He also has training in clowning, Butoh, voice, and physical theatre. He speaks English, Latvian, Spanish, Portuguese, and German. Robert is the 2023 Gillespie Family Artist Chair. Robert Fleitz is a Yamaha Artist. robertfleitz.com
gamin is a Korean-born NYC-based multi-instrumentalist specialized in traditional Korean wind. She tours the world performing both traditional Korean music and cross-disciplinary collaborations. She is a scholar and designated Yisuja, official holder of Korea's Important Intangible Cultural Asset No. 46. From 2000 to 2010, gamin was the principal player at the National Gugak Orchestra. gamin has received several cultural exchange program grants, including Artist-in-Residence at the Asian Cultural Council and has collaborated in cross-cultural improvisation with world-acclaimed musicians, presenting premieres at Roulette Theater, New School, and Metropolitan Museum. gamin was a featured artist at the Silkroad concert, Seoul, 2018, performing on-stage with the founder, Yo-Yo Ma. In 2020, gamin was selected as artist-in-residence at the HERE Arts Center, NYC, and her album 'Nong' was released by Innova Records. gamin's Carnegie Hall solo début, accompanied by Nangye Gugak Orchestra, scheduled for March 2020, was postponed by Covid 19. For 2021-2022, gamin was awarded the prestigious two year Fellowship by Jerome Hill Foundation. gaminmusic.com
Recognized as a child prodigy in Cuba, violinist Ilmar Gavilán has had a distinguished career playing for world leaders from the Obamas to Queen Sofía of Spain. Based in N.Y. for 20 years, he won first place in the Sphinx Competition as a young adult, and helped form the Harlem Quartet to mentor young classical musicians of color. Ilmar also developed improvisational skills and has performed and released albums with Paquito D’Rivera, Eddie Palmieri and Gary Burton, and Chick Corea, with whom the Harlem Quartet won a Grammy. Mr. Gavilán has performed with Itzhak Perlman, Arnold Steinhardt, Ida Kavafian, Carter Brey, Paul Katz, Fred Sherry, Anthony McGill and Misha Dicter. Jazz and Afro-Cuban music are also key to Mr. Gavilán’s musical life. In addition to Jazz legends Chick Corea and Gary Burton, Mr. Gavilán has also performed and released albums with Paquito D’Rivera, Eddie Palmieri and Dafnis Prieto. As a recording artist, Mr. Gavilán has numerous recordings with the Harlem quartet. His U.S. Solo recording debut “Aires y Leyendas” and a solo album “Por el Mar” solely comprised of music composed by his father Guido López-Gavilán, are available on Amazon and iTunes. harlemquartet.com/the-harlem-quartet
Pawel Knapik, hailed by the top contemporary artists as “an outstanding instrumentalist” and “an extraordinary double bass player,” is a Polish-American double bassist and composer who is a recipient of numerous international awards, grants, and scholarships including Kosciuszko, Arthur, and Stanley Thomas Johnson foundations. A graduate of Manhattan School of Music, Wroclaw Academy of Music, and a member of the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Mr. Knapik also performs regularly with preeminent orchestras in the New York City metropolitan area such as New York City Ballet, New York City Opera, American Ballet Theatre, as well as European ensembles including the legendary Vienna Philharmonic. Mr. Knapik has played as a Principal Bass with the following ensembles: Queens Symphony Orchestra, The Knights, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Brooklyn Philharmonic, Long Island Philharmonic, Bronx Arts Ensemble, Albany Symphony Orchestra, Key West Symphony Orchestra, Metro Chamber Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of New York, Jupiter Symphony, New Jersey Philharmonic, and Wroclaw Chamber Orchestras “Wratislavia” and “Leopoldinum.” An award-winning composer, Mr. Knapik mastered his skills with composers Richard Danielpour and Grazyna Pstrokonska-Nawratil. Mr. Knapik has performed on four continents and plays a double bass crafted by Oreste Martini, Mantova 1934. Pawel Knapik - YouTube
Angela Lee is a graduate of The Juilliard School and Yale School of Music. Since her Carnegie Hall debut in 1994, she has concertized throughout Europe, Asia, and North America. She is a founding member of The Lee Trio, which has commissioned and premiered works of numerous living composers. Using music to foster peace and goodwill, she has made humanitarian trips to the Republic of the Philippines and the former Yugoslavia. While on a U.N.-sanctioned tour of six war-torn cities throughout Bosnia-Herzegovina, she performed for NATO troops and displaced civilians. In addition to coaching chamber music at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Ms. Lee serves on the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra Alumni Association Leadership Council and on the Board of Directors of The Resonance Project (https://music-resonance.org), which promotes live music in mediation settings and international conflict resolution. TheLeeTrio.com/Angela-Lee.html
Violinist Lisa Lee made her solo debut with the San Francisco Symphony at age 16 and has since appeared as soloist with the Pacific Symphony, Macau Youth Symphony, Shanghai Symphony, San Domenico Da Camera Orchestra, Fremont Symphony, and Opole Philharmonic of Poland. Lisa continues to perform as a founding member of The Lee Trio with her sisters, cellist Angela Lee, and pianist Melinda Lee Masur. As a Fulbright Scholar, and recipient of the Leni Fe Bland Scholarship and the National Hennessy Cognac Foundation Scholarship, Lisa has been awarded top prizes from the Seventeen Magazine/General Motors National Concerto, Tadeusz Wronski International Solo Violin, Pacific Symphony Orchestra Young Artists, San Francisco Symphony Concerto, California Youth Symphony Concerto, Irving M. Klein International String, International Sheffield Violin, and the Salieri-Zinetti Chamber Music International competitions. Lisa is a graduate of The Curtis Institute of Music and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Her 1872 Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume is on generous loan. theleetrio.com/lisa-lee.html
Noemia Marinho has been living and working in the NYC metro area for the past 17 years. As a self-taught visual artist, she discovered art later in her life. An expert in Brazilian business practices and culture, she holds an MA in Intercultural Studies from Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, CA, and an MA in Missiology from Columbia International University, Columbia, SC. She also has a major in Education from a Brazilian institution. In 2019, the metaphorical nature of her work - bringing something new out of the “discarded” - found a home in the Gleaning Project: a weekly meeting she began with a small group of low-income New Yorkers working with discarded material. This project combines a passion for helping others and a desire to see art as a vehicle for renewal, especially in the lives of those treated as akin to “garbage” by our society. She hopes to inspire others to share a vision for life that believes nothing can be wasted and that a radical transformation is possible. Noemia is the Niki Villanueva Santo Artist Chair. noemiamarinho.com & gleaningproject.org
Cuban pianist and composer Aldo López-Gavilán excels in both the classical and jazz worlds as a recitalist, concerto soloist, chamber-music collaborator, and performer of his own jazz compositions. In April 2016, through President Obama’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, he was part of the group of Cuban musicians who collaborated in Cuba with such renowned U.S. artists as Joshua Bell, Usher, Dave Matthews, and Smokey Robinson. López-Gavilán’s music was used to showcase Chanel’s Cruise 2017 Collection—the first fashion show to take place in Havana in recent times—and he partnered with American trumpet virtuoso Byron Stripling in a concert at Havana’s Teatro del Museo de Bellas Artes. López-Gavilán and Ilmar are featured in the 2021 documentary Los Hermanos / The Brothers, which tracks their parallel lives and momentous first performances together despite the geopolitical divide. It features a genre-bending score composed by López-Gavilán, performed largely with his brother, and guest appearances by Joshua Bell and the Harlem String Quartet. In August of 2022, López-Gavilán recorded his first Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (Emporium) with the Tahoe Classical Orchestra, conducted by Ken-David Masur at Skywalker Studios. López-Gavilán is the 2023 Chelsea Music Festival Board Chair. aldomusica.com
Hailing originally from Sasebo city, Nagasaki, Japan, Keita Ogawa is 3-time Grammy-Award nominee and 3-time Grammy-Award winner and one of the most versatile and sought-after percussionists and drummers in New York City. He was accepted into the prestigious Berklee College of Music in fall of 2005 where he studied with legendary musicians and educators Manuel “Egui” Castrillo, Jamey Haddad, Tito De Gracia, David Rosado, and Mark Walker. Keita relocated to Rio de Janeiro for 3 months and studied with Jorginho do Pandeiro, Celsinho Silva, Kiko Freitas , and Marcio Bahia among others. He works with Snarky Puppy, Bokanté, Banda Magda, Bokantè, Cécile McLorin Salvant, Charlie Hunter, JSquad, Camila Meza and the Nectar Orchestra, Clarice Assad and more. In 2017 He became the Ambassador of Tourism of his Hometown, Sasebo, Nagasaki, Japan. He is endorsed by Canopus Drum, Meinl Percussion, Meinl Cymbal, Vic Firth, Evans Drumhead, Stack Ring Percussion, Cooperman Company, Dem Sticks, Parka Percussion, and Decora 43. Keita's passion for crossing musical borders and uniting differences in cultures is a rare talent which he exhibits with a smile and an open heart. keitaogawa.com
Since his orchestral debut at the age of ten, violinist Tomotaka Seki has been establishing himself as a promising young artist and has been praised for his profound knowledge of music and unparalleled musicality. Born in 1998, he began playing the violin at the age of 3, and by the age of 12, he has won First prizes at the prestigious Student Music Concours of Japan in Tokyo two consecutive years (2010 and 2011). In August 2018, Seki was awarded First prize at the Tokyo Music Competition, and later that year, he was a finalist at the Japan Music Competition. Tomotaka’s musical talent and passion expand beyond the solo career, and he has been very active with his quartet, the Cercatore Quartet. He has been performing chamber music with his quartet and with members of the NHK Symphony Orchestra. After graduating from Tokyo College of Music High School as an Honorary Scholarship Student, Seki now studies at Tokyo College of Music as an Honorary Scholarship Student. He plays a 1700 Francesco Gobetti on special loan from Nippon Violin Co. Tomotaka is one of the 2023 Kageyama Family Artist Chairs. t-bunka.jp/en/tmc/list/1070
Japanese violist Ayako Tahara was born in Kanagawa, Japan, in 1994. She studied viola at Toho Gakuen High School of Music and Toho Gakuen College of Music. She won the first prize at the 10th Tokyo Music Competition with Audience Award and the 9th International Romania Music Competition with Romanian national radio station prize and the grand prix in 2013. Tahara performed concertos as a soloist with the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, the Tokyo Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, and many more. She appeared in the radio program NHK-FM “Recital Nova” and the TV program NHK-BS “Classical Music Club,” TV-ASAHI “Untitled Concert.” She received a scholarship from the Rohm Music Foundation, the Japan Foundation of Musicians, the Ezoe Memorial Foundation, and the Meiji Yasuda Cultural Foundation. Also Tahara has received Paolo Antonio Testore on loan from Suntory Foundation for Arts. She has been a member of the Aile String Quartet since 2011, La Luce String Octet since 2013, and Trio Rizzle since 2021. She received the 23rd Hotel Okura Music Award. Tahara is one of the 2023 Kageyama Family Artist Chairs t-bunka.jp/en/tmc/list/525
Praised as "eloquent" by the New York Times and "warmly rhapsodic" by the Boston Globe, Taiwanese American violinist Max Tan has appeared on stages across the United States, Europe, and Asia, forging a varied career as performer and educator. A founding member of the diplomacy-centered Versoi Ensemble, a tenured member of the Sarasota Orchestra, and an alumnus of the Perlman Music Program, Mr. Tan is committed to community-building through the arts. He is the founder and artistic director of Soundbox Ventures. Mr. Tan is the recipient of the Richard F. French Award, the Sylff Fellowship, the Kovner Fellowship from The Juilliard School, and the Arthur Foote Prize from the Harvard Musical Association. He was a semifinalist at the 2019 Queen Elisabeth International Violin Competition. Harvard graduate with a major in Human Developmental and Regenerative Biology and a minor in Music, Mr. Tan is pursuing his doctorate at Juilliard, where he also received his Master's and Artist Diploma degrees. Mr. Tan is assistant faculty of violin and chamber music at The Juilliard School Pre-College and the new concertmaster of Opera Philadelphia. He is the 2023 Ang Family Artist Chair. MaxTanViolin.com
Praised by The Strad as an “utterly dazzling” artist, with “a marvelous show of superb technique” and “mesmerizing grace” (New York Classical Review), violinist Danbi Um captivates audiences with her virtuosity, individual sound, and interpretive sensitivity. She is a Menuhin International Violin Competition Silver Medalist, winner of the prestigious 2018 Salon de Virtuosi Career Grant, and a recent top prizewinner of the Naumburg International Violin Competition. In 2018, Ms. Um made her New York recital debut at Lincoln Center presented by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. After winning the 2014 Music Academy of the West Competition, Ms. Um made her concerto debut in the Walton Violin Concerto with the Festival Orchestra, conducted by Joshua Weilerstein. In 2000, she moved to the United States to study at the Curtis Institute of Music, where she earned a Bachelor’s degree. She also holds an Artist Diploma from Indiana University. Ms. Um is a winner of Astral Artists’ National Auditions. She plays a 1683 “ex-Petschek” Nicolo Amati violin, on loan from a private collection. danbium.com
Praised for his “entrancing” performances (National Sawdust Log), cellist Caleb van der Swaagh is a versatile chamber musician and soloist. He is an alumnus of Ensemble ACJW (now known as Ensemble Connect) – a program of Carnegie Hall, The Juilliard School, and the Weill Music Institute in partnership with the New York City Department of Education. Caleb is the recipient of the Tanglewood Karl Zeise Memorial Cello Prize and the Manhattan School of Music Pablo Casals Award and was also a grant recipient from the Virtu Foundation. A native New Yorker, Caleb graduated magna cum laude from Columbia University as part of the Columbia – Juilliard Exchange program with a degree in Classics and Medieval & Renaissance Studies. Caleb received his master’s degree with academic honors from New England Conservatory and later studied at the Manhattan School of Music. Caleb is the cello professor at the Conservatory of Music at SUNY Purchase College. Caleb plays on a cello made by David Wiebe in 2012. calebvanderswaagh.com
Composer and musician Kaoru Watanabe grounds his performance in traditional Japanese music while inhabiting a startling combination of musical worlds. He is renowned for his ability to collaborate with a diverse array of visionary international artists: Jason Moran, Yo-Yo Ma and Silkroad, Spanish flamenco dancer Eva Yerbabuena, visual artists Simone Leigh and Alyson Shotz, calligrapher Koji Kakinuma, Japanese National Living Treasure Bando Tamasaburo, vocalists Alicia Hall Moran and Imani Uzuri, tap dancers Tamango and Kazunori Kumagai, Galician bagpiper Carlos Nuñez, So Percussion, Semba Kiyohiko, Reigakusha, Brooklyn Raga Massive, Adam Rudolph and Go:Organic Orchestra, the Aizuri and Parker String Quartets and pipa virtuoso Wu Man. He was a guest artist on the Silkroad's Grammy Award-winning album Sing Me Home. Watanabe graduated from the Manhattan School of Music as a jazz flute and saxophonist, followed by a decade in Japan performing with and eventually directing the internationally-acclaimed Taiko Performing Arts Ensemble Kodo. Watanabe returned to New York City, specializing on transverse bamboo flutes such as the shinobue, noh kan, and ryuteki. Watanabe graciously receives the support of the preeminent taiko maker Miyamoto Unosuke Shoten of Tokyo and master shinobue flute maker Ranjo of Chiba Prefecture. watanabekaoru.com
Born in 1996, Bay Area native Annie Wu has already made a mark in the flute world with her vibrant musical voice. She has the first prize title in the James Pappoutsakis Flute Competition, Yamaha Young Performing Artist Competition, and YoungArts National Competition. Wu has performed dynamic recitals with her duo partner, Boston-based pianist Feng Niu, at Boston’s Jordan Hall, Strathmore’s Mansion, D.C.’s Phillips Collection, and more. Her personal projects have included text-conscious arrangements of vocal works for the flute, a solo flute commission from Grammy-nominated composer Anna Clyne, and an elective course on music and language for Juilliard’s Preparatory Division. She holds a Comparative Literature degree magna cum laude from Harvard University and a Master’s in Flute Performance from the New England Conservatory as a part of the Harvard-NEC 5- Year Dual Degree Program. Wu currently lives in Manhattan. anniewuflute.com
Violinist Jocelyn Zhu’s work has taken her across the globe to over thirty countries, bringing features on Good Morning America, PBS, The Today Show, and WQXR’s Young Artist Showcase. Her collaborators and instructors include Catherine Cho, David Finckel, Alan Gilbert, Hyo Kang, Joseph Kalichstein, and Itzhak Perlman, and she is the recipient of the Juilliard School Career Grant, the McGraw Hill Robert Sherman Award, the National Trustees Grant, the Tarisio Trust Young Artists Grant, and the US Department of State Federal Assistance Award. A passionate advocate of arts in society, she founded and is the co-director of Concerts for Compassion, a non-for-profit benefiting refugees worldwide.” jocelynzhu.com
Artistic Directors
Lauded for her “impeccable technique and artistic interpretation” [The Columbian], pianist Melinda Lee Masur has performed on all three stages of Carnegie Hall, at London's Wigmore Hall and Purcell Room, the Berliner Philharmonie, at the Ravinia Festival, Festival Les Muséiques Basel and in Boston’s Symphony Hall. An avid chamber musician, Masur has performed with such artists as Augustin Hadelich, Alban Gerhardt, Fanny Clamagirand, Adrian Brendel and Thomas Quasthoff.
She is pianist and founding member of The Lee Trio, praised worldwide for its “gripping immediacy and freshness” and "rich palette of tone colours" [The Strad]. The Trio has garnered awards such as the Recording Prize at the Kuhmo International Chamber Music Competition in Finland and the Gotthard-Schierse-Stiftung grant in Berlin and has given world, American and European premieres of piano trios by composers including Edmund Finnis, Uljas Pulkkis, Nathaniel Stookey, Philip Lasser, Jane Antonia Cornish & Sylvie Bodorova and garnered awards such as the Recording Prize at the Kuhmo International Chamber Music Competition in Finland and the Gotthard-Schierse-Stiftung grant in Berlin.
Masur has a passion for working with the next generations of musicians and has served on the faculty at the University of Chicago and Boston University, and given masterclasses at colleges & universities such as the SF Conservatory of Music, Lewis & Clark College, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee's School of Music, University of Utah's School of Music, Gordon College, Biola University, Wheaton College, and the Gheorghe Dima National Music Academy in Romania. Masur is the Director of Piano Chamber Music and Co-Director of the Young Artists Piano Program at the BU Tanglewood Institute. A graduate of Harvard University and the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hannover, Germany, Melinda Lee Masur is a Steinway Artist. theleetrio.com
Conductor and Grammy-nominated producer Ken-David Masur has been hailed as “fearless” [SD Union Tribune] and “a brilliant and commanding conductor” [Leipziger Volkszeitung]. As the Music Director of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Masur leads a range of dynamic programs with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, where his programming throughout the season continues to increase representation in the performance canon. He recently concluded the second year of an MSO artistic partnership with pianist Aaron Diehl, a collaboration forged through several seasons of the Chelsea Music Festival, and begins a new partnership with baritone Dashon Burton. As Principal Conductor of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, Masur leads concerts throughout the season, including an annual Bach Marathon.
Other recent engagements include debuts with the New York Philharmonic, the National Symphony Orchestra, the Nashville and Omaha Symphony Orchestras, and a return to Poland’s Wroclaw Philharmonic. Music education and working with the next generation of young artists are of major importance to Masur. In addition to his work with the young musicians of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, he has led orchestras and masterclasses at Juilliard, the New England Conservatory, Boston University, Boston Conservatory, the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra and at leading universities and conservatories throughout the world. Masur graduated from Columbia University, where he served as first Music Director of the Bach Society Orchestra, building on his education as boy soprano in the Gewandhaus Children‘s Chorus. kendavidmasur.com