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4Musicians
Alturas Duo
Alturas Duo (Scott Hill and Carlos Boltes), the only group of its kind, was formed with the idea of playing South American and classical music by bringing together the unusual combination of the viola, charango and guitar. The Duo has premiered numerous new pieces written especially for them. They took First Prize at the 2006 New England International Chamber Music Competition, and won the 2009 CMA / ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming. They were named as a "Goodwill Ambassador" for the Chilean-American Foundation and has performed in Brazil, Canada, Chile, Bolivia, Ecuador, Guatemala and throughout the US and Puerto Rico. www.alturasduo.com
Hirona Amamiya, soprano
Hirona Amamiya has completed professional studies for classical voice at Manhattan School of Music under the tutorage of Joan Patenaude-Yarnell. She embraces a range of repertoire from Baroque music to contemporary music. Her recent and upcoming performances include solo recital at Shetler’s Studio, Papagena (Die Zauberflöte) at Carnegie Weill Recital Hall, and Zerlina (Le Nozze di Figaro) at Bruno Walter Auditorium. Ms. Amamiya was born in Tokyo, to a musical family. She holds Bachelor’s degree in Violin and Master’s degree in Voice from Manhattan School of Music.
Joseph Bohigian
Joseph Bohigian is a composer, percussionist, and pianist whose music has been heard around the world in Germany, Portugal, Armenia, Brazil, and across the US. He is currently a graduate student at Stony Brook University and received his BA degree in composition from California State University Fresno. His primary teachers include Matthew Barnson, Kenneth Froelich, Benjamin Boone, and Matthew Darling. He has also studied with Artur Avanesov in Yerevan, Armenia and, in 2014, held an internship with Vox Novus in New York City where he curated a concert for the Composer’s Voice Concert Series. In addition to composing, Bohigian is an active percussionist and pianist, having performed in New York City, Yerevan, and across California.
Sara Bong, piano
Pianist Sara Bong has built a significant reputation as a vital force in the support of the performing arts and music education. During her 20+ years as Vice President and Director of Program Development for MidAmerica Productions, she garnered widespread recognition and praise for her professionalism and dedication to thousands of ensembles who made appearances at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and abroad under her guidance. Sara has also made an impact as a pianist, appearing as a soloist, accompanist, and collaborative pianist throughout the U.S. and Europe. She made her Carnegie Hall debut at the age of 16, performing alongside the famed pianist Eugene List in a Steinway-sponsored commemorative “Monster Concert” in 1979. Her premiere recording, “What if the King Should Come to the City”, was acclaimed as an accomplished, innovative, and highly original interpretation of rarely-heard Renaissance and Elizabethan keyboard music.
FACE THE MUSIC
Face the Music is the only teen ensemble in the U.S. dedicated to the creation and performance of music by living composers. In residence at Kaufman Music Center, the 170+-member Face the Music has taken its place as a full-fledged player in New York City’s vibrant contemporary classical scene, rapidly becoming what Allan Kozinn of the New York Times has called “a force in the New York new-music world.”
Quartet: This Side Up
Quartet: This Side Up is one of the most dynamic and creative young string quartets in New York City. Comprised of four young composer/performers from New York City (the oldest born in 2000), the quartet formed in fall 2013, and has already performed world premieres in venues such as Merkin Hall (Ecstatic Music Festival), Queens Museum, Roulette, and Spectrum. In November, 2014, Q: TSU participated in the initial MATA, Jr., Festival. In May 2015, Q:TSU performed the world premiere of Pelle Gudmundson-Holmgreen’s All In One with the Kronos Quartet, and during the same week, performed fifteen new one-minute works as part of the “Fifteen Minutes of Fame” commissioning initiative run by Composer’s Voice. Quartet: This Side Up is part of Kaufman Music Center’s Face the Music, NYC’s cutting-edge new music ensemble for teens. The quartet is mentored by the Kronos Quartet, and coached by Ari Streisfeld, from the JACK Quartet.
Paris Lavidis, violin
Gabriello Lewis, violin
Amelia Krinke, viola
Boubacar Diallo, cello
Paris Lavidis-violin
Paris Lavidis is a New York Cit based
violinist, composer, and performance artist whose work
lives on the cutting edge of classical and new. Already a precociously active composer, Paris
has had over two dozen premieres by various soloists and ensembles including the Metropolis
Ensemble, Yarn|Wire, the International Contemporary Ensemble, and the JACK Quartet. Most
recently, Paris’ sextet One Song for a Daft Queen was premiered by members of ICE and Face
the Music at Walden’s Young Musicians Program in July, 2015. As active as a violinist as he is
as a composer, Paris is the first violinist of Quartet: This Side Up, which has, since its founding
in September of 2013, performed over a dozen world premieres, including Pelle Gudmundson
Holmgreen’s All in One with Kronos Quartet, Neil Rolnick’s Oceans Eat Cities (for Tribeca New
Music Festival), and Paris’ own and what do you think of my buddha? (for NPR’s New Sounds
Live/Ecstatic Music Festival). Additionally, as a violinist, Paris has played with highprofile
contemporary artists such as Gutbucket, ICE, ThingNY, Daniel Bernard Roumain, the String
Orchestra of Brooklyn, Dan Zanes, and Hospitality. Paris was the recipient of a 2015 ASCAP
Award, and was profiled in New York Magazine in June (“The Making of A Modern Classical
Prodigy”).
Amelia Krinke-viola
Violist Amelia Krinke is a sixth grader at Special Music School. Active as a composer and
performer, Amelia has been an active participant in the Face the Music program since second
grade. For the past two years, Amelia has been the violist of Quartet: This Side Up, a
contemporary quartet that has already performed more than a dozen world premieres. Quartet:
This Side Up has a close relationship with the Kronos Quartet, including performing with them
as part of their 40th Anniversary celebration at Carnegie Hall. Amelia has also performed as
part of the String Orchestra of Brooklyn and the Elm City Chamber Orchestra.
Melanie Chirignan, flute
Melanie Chirignan is a flautist known for her musicality and versatility of repertoire. Her eclectic tastes has led her to collaborate with many different performers and ensembles. She earned her Bachelor’s in Music Performance and Music Education graduating magna cum laude from SUNY Fredonia, and her Master’s Degree in Flute Performance at the Hartt School. www.melaniechirignan.com
Carlos Boltes, viola
Eva Ingolf, violin
Eva Ingolf is a well known Icelandic violinist particularly recognized for her authoritative performances of solo works by J. S. Bach
Eva has given numerous solo recitals in well-known concert halls in Iceland, Japan, United States, Russia and Europe, including regularly at the Hall at Carnegie Hall, the Trinity Church in New York City and the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington D.C., receiving high acclaim from music critics as well as the general public. She has released two highly-regarded CDs on the Japis label.
She undertook studies in composition, conducting and orchestration at Harvard University. She was awarded a Grant from NYWC in 2014 And American Scandinavian cultural grant in 2015
Jihee Jeong, soprano
Korean soprano Jihee Jeong is a second-year Master’s degree candidate under the tutelage of Ruth Golden at Manhattan School of Music. Her operatic experience includes La Doriclea, The Beggar’s Opera (Mrs.Vixen) with MSM Senior Opera Theater. Scene work includes Le nozze di Figaro (Susanna), L’incoronazione di Poppea (Valletto), Turn of Screw (Flora), Pirates of Penzance (Edith) with Manhattan School of Music. As a chorister she has performed Mahler’s Second Symphony conducting by Kenneth Kiesler at Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine in New York. She performed as a soloist in Haydn’s Die Schöpfung and Dubois’s The Seven Last Words of Christ. She has won prizes in the Honam Art competition, the National Music Competition and Korean News Competition.
Kenji Haba, guitar
Kenji Haba is a guitarist who heralds a new direction for classical guitar through his insight and work with the coloration of sounds, as well as through bringing new formats to the landscape, including the innovative guitar-cello ensemble. He is also an active performer of contemporary music, with over 20 pieces of music written for and premiered by him, including works featured in classical guitar magazines in Japan as well as the US. He is well known for his interpretation of Toru Takemitsu, his performances having been described as an “ideal match for Takemitsu’s music” by Fanfare.
Christina Hourihan, soprano
Christina Hourihan, an American Soprano, is quickly moving up the operatic ladder. This budding ingénue has performed roles such as Suor Genovieffa (Suor Angelica), The Bat (L'enfant et les Sortileges), and Papagena (Die Zauberflöte). Career highlights include singing Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro) with Delaware Valley Opera’s Young Artist Program, working with composer Mike McFerron for the Spring 2014 New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival where she performed his piece, "X Marks the Sirens,” and also singing Zerlina (Don Giovanni) with Nevada Opera’s Young Artist Program. She joined the Mediterranean Opera Studio this summer in Caltagione, Italy, where she performed in concerts throughout Sicily. This past fall, she performed the world premiere of a set of songs written for her voice by New York based composer David Morneau.
Tzu-En Lee, violin
Violinist Tzu-En Lee studied violin performance at Mannes College of Music and currently studies in the graduate program at Mannes under the tutelage of violinist Yuri Vodovoz. Since 2009 she has performed with the Pocket Opera of NY. Ms. Lee performed in New York as a soloist, alongside violinists Muneyoshi Takahashi and Kinga Augustyn, with the Broadway Bach Ensemble, conducted by Arkady Leytush, in the New York premiere of Douglas Townsend's Concerto "in the old style" for Three Solo Violins and String Orchestra (1994). and premiered Douglas DaSilva’s "3 Songs of Love" on the Composer's Voice in June 2014. She gave the world premiere of Fifteen-Minutes-of-Fame: Tzu-En Lee on the March 8, 2015 in NYC.
Roberta Michel, flute
Flutist Roberta Michel is equally at home playing classical and new music. I Care If You Listen has extolled flutist Roberta Michel’s “lush, full tones… even among the best professionals, not many flute players sound so compelling in a lower register.” Praising her “extreme adventurousness,” New York Concert Review said she “riveted with her performance, inspiring one to want a repeated hearing.” Michel is a founding member of the Cadillac Moon Ensemble, a quartet of unusual instrumentation dedicated to commissioning and performing new works. To date, the group has commissioned over sixty pieces. Michel has performed with groups including Duo RoMi (with pianist Mirna Lekic), the Portland String Quartet, ECCE, SEM Ensemble, Wet Ink Ensemble, Argento Chamber Ensemble, Wordless Music Orchestra, Ensemble Moto Perpetuo, Lunatics at Large, Kagel Nacht.
NAUTILUS BRASS QUINTET
Emerging as one of New England's most ambitious musical ensembles, the Nautilus Brass Quintet has quickly established a place for itself in the world of brass chamber music. NBQ was founded in Boston, MA in 2010 with the distinct mission to proliferate the performance of original brass quintet repertoire to audiences of all ages. Nautilus has been grand prize winners at the UConn Brass Day competition, prizewinners at the Plowman competition, and finalists in the J. C. Arriaga and Koetsier competitions.Other performance highlights include performing at the 2013 Northeast Horn Workshop, a performance of Eric Ewazen’s “Shadowcatcher” with the University of Connecticut Wind Ensemble, and recitals and educational concerts throughout the eastern United States.
In addition to holding themselves to the highest standards of artistic performance, the members of Nautilus Brass are also recognized for their abilities as engaging educators to musicians of all levels. All of the members of NBQ are active educators, teaching ages ranging from grade school to college in large, small, and individual lesson settings. Since 2012, Nautilus has received a generous grant from the Ossen Fund for the Arts, allowing them to perform yearly educational concerts and “show and tell” classroom visits in the Windham, CT school district. NBQ has also partnered with Symphony Nova in Boston, MA to present educational concerts to grade school students in Massachusetts.NBQ has previously served as the chamber ensemble-in-residence at San Jose State University’s annual summer music program for young musicians, Summer in the City.
As an ensemble, the Nautilus Brass Quintet is a passionate advocate of new music for the brass quintet genre, and we maintain an “open call” for scores from composers around the world. The quintet actively seeks opportunities to premiere new works, and is excited to continue its partnership with Vox Novus to further promote the brass quintet.
Walker Beard - trumpet
Originally from El Paso, TX, Walker Beard has been an active performer and music educator in New England since moving to Connecticut in 2009. Currently, Walker is a Doctoral Candidate at the University of Connecticut in the applied studio of Dr. Louis Hanzlik. In 2010, he completed the Artist Certificate program at UConn in Baroque trumpet performance. Prior to moving to the East Coast, Walker completed a Master of Arts Degree at San Jose State University in Dr. Kathryn Adduci’s trumpet studio, and a Bachelor of Music Degree at the University of North Texas under the direction of Professor John Holt.
Walker is a founding member of the Nautilus Brass Quintet and has also performed with The New Bedford Symphony, Nutmeg Symphony, The Silicon Valley Symphony, Silicon Valley Brass Band, Peninsula Cantare, Palo Alto Philharmonic, Blast of Brass Ensemble, El Paso Wind Symphony, and Gilbert and Sullivan Company of El Paso. He has been a member of the faculty brass quintets at both San Jose State University and The University of Connecticut. An advocate of historically informed performance, Walker has also performed Baroque trumpet with early music ensembles including The California Bach Society, Chora Nova of Berkeley California, and the American Bach Soloists Academy Orchestra.
As an educator, Walker is currently serving as a graduate teaching assistant to the Music Appreciation and Wind Studies Chamber Music programs at UConn, and has maintained a private trumpet studio since 1998. He teaches trumpet at The Rectory School in Pomfret, CT as well as the Fischer Music School in Centerbrook, CT, and serves as an adjudicator for the Connecticut Regional and All State Contests. Walker has also been a member of the faculty at the San Jose State Summer in the City Music Camp since 2008.
Stephen Lyons - trumpet
Stephen Lyons is an active educator and performer in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, and Rhode Island. He received his B.A. in music at the University of Connecticut under the supervision of James Ackley and his M.M. in trumpet performance at the same institution, studying with Dr. Louis Hanzlik.
Stephen enjoys a rich variety of performance opportunities as an orchestral, rock, jazz, chamber, and solo musician. His recent milestones include achieving semi-finalist status in the 2010 National Trumpet Competition Ensemble and Graduate Solo divisions, playing his orchestral debut with the New Bedford Symphony Orchestra as a section trumpet for Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis, and participating in several road tours through the Southeast and Midwest as the trumpet player for the New Jersey based reggae-rock band Echo Movement.
Stephen is a well known music educator throughout the state of Connecticut. As a clinician, he has worked with middle school and high school musicians through Summit Studios Performing Arts Center in Manchester, CT. As a private teacher, he has guided private students through successful auditions and performance experiences in CMEA All-State and NEMFA New England music festivals. He is employed as a visual designer and consultant for several marching programs in New England. Stephen is excited to be a charter member of the Nautilus Brass Quintet and looks forward to an enduring and rewarding career with the group.
Julia Cavagnaro - horn
Originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, Julia Cavagnaro is the newest member of the Nautilus Brass Quintet. She has performed with the Silicon Valley Symphony and the San Jose Wind Symphony, which included a performance at the Midwest Clinic in Chicago, IL. Julia has also been a part of many regional musical theater productions and was recently awarded 1st prize in the solo competition at the 2009 New England Horn Workshop in Durham, NH.
Ms. Cavagnaro is currently a DMA candidate at The Hartt School and, as a student of David Wakefield, is serving there as the graduate assistant of the Horn studio. In 2012, Julia completed a Masters of Music degree at the University of Massachusetts Amherst where she studied with Laura Klock. While at UMass, she received the Horn Teaching Assistantship for which she was commissioned to play with both the Graduate Woodwind and Brass Quintets in addition to teaching both Music Appreciation and Horn Methods courses. Before moving to New England, Julia studied both Nursing and Music at San Jose State University and completed her Bachelors degree in Music Education.
Julia has served as a middle school band director and has held Horn Instructor positions for the Belchertown Public School District as well as Deerfield Academy. Julia currently maintains a private studio in Connecticut and enjoys cooking and hanging out with O'Malley the cat in her free time.
Jeremy Loudon - trombone
Jeremy Loudon is currently an active orchestral and chamber musician in the New England area. While pursuing his undergraduate degree at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA he was an extremely active performer in both the university and surrounding communities in both chamber and symphonic settings. Jeremy was the runner-up in the 2008 Virginia Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) solo competition and a scholarship recipient to the 2009 Atlantic Brass Quintet Seminar in Boston, MA.
As a member of the VCU Trombone Quartet, Jeremy received an honorable mention at the 2007 Virginia MTNA interdisciplinary chamber music competition, and was also invited with the quartet to Trinity College of Music in London, England as guest artists-in-residence in 2008. Recent performance credits include the Nashua (NH) Symphony, New Bedford Symphony, Lexington Symphony, and the Haffner Sinfonietta, as well as the Richmond Philharmonic, York River Symphony, the Richmond Pops Band, and Opera on the James in Lynchburg, VA.
Jeremy holds a Master of Music degree from The Boston Conservatory, a Graduate Performance Diploma in Chamber Music from the University of Connecticut, and a Bachelor of Music from Virginia Commonwealth University. His primary teachers have been John Faieta and Dr. Ross Walter, with additional studies with Norman Bolter and Christopher Dudley.
Jason Arnold - tuba
Jason Arnold hails from Midland, Texas. He has been a champion of brass chamber music for many years.
He has participated in the Coleman Association Chamber Music Competition in Pasadena, CA. He has performed on the Noonday Concert Series at the Trinity Church in NY, NY.
Jason is on the faculty of the New York Summer Music Festival.
He can be heard on the recording Bone-fide (Summit Records) with Joseph Alessi and the Imperial Brass Band. A versatile performer, Jason has performed in a wide variety of venues, ranging from Carnegie Hall to ABC's All My Children. He holds degrees from West Texas A&M University (BM) and the Manhattan School of Music (MM).
Sara Paar, voice
Soprano Sara Paar is a spirited performer of contemporary classical music, opera, vocal dance, and music theater. Hailed as “astonishing,” Ms. Paar is a favorite with composers and has performed both traditional and new works with New York-based opera companies and orchestras. Recent performances by Ms. Paar include: Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire, soloist in the world premiere of Roscoe Mitchell's KINGMAKER, brand-new monodrama, Edge, by composer and conductor, Sung Jin Hong, as well as soloist in Bach's Cantata BWV 79 with The Choral Society of the Hamptons. A native of Wisconsin, Ms. Paar now lives in New York City, where she is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in performance from The Graduate Center, City University of New York. www.sarapaar.com
Thomas Piercy, hichiriki and clarinet
Thomas Piercy is a critically acclaimed musician with orchestral, concerto, recital and chamber music appearances throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia. He has been described by The New York Times as “Brilliant...playing with refinement and flair…evoking a panache in the contemporary works.” A versatile artist defying categorization – performing on the Emmy Award-winning Juno Baby CDs and DVDs; working with Leonard Bernstein; appearing in a KRS-ONE video; playing hichiriki in Japan; recording with members of Maroon 5; performing on Broadway and Off-Broadway, television, radio, and commercial recordings; premiering over 200 works composed for him. He studied at The Juilliard School and Mannes College of Music in NYC, and studied traditional Japanese instruments in Tokyo. Official Rossi Clarinet, Forestone Reeds and Silverstein Ligatures artist. Recordings for Albany, Capstone, DGI, Changing Tones, NJST, and Tonada labels. More info: www.thomaspiercy.com
Stephen Porter, piano
In 2015 Stephen Porter's acclaimed New York recital at SubCulture was praised as “a powerful revelation” by New York Arts, “as if the voice of the composer were speaking to us.” He has appeared as a soloist in London, Paris, Lake Como, Sarajevo, Istanbul and Rio de Janeiro, among other cities. Mr. Porter was named artist-resident of the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris for Debussy’s 150th birthday year, and invited to perform the composer’s 24 Preludes. His recitals in Europe were followed by a guest appearance on NPR's Diane Rehm Show. The Boston Musical Intelligencer describes his performance this season as "simply spellbinding," and in the new biography Beethoven: Anguish and Triumph, author Jan Swafford calls his playing “unforgettable.”
Yumi Suehiro, piano
Pianist Yumi Suehiro began studying both piano and marimba at an early age. In her native Japan, Ms. Suehiro won numerous competitions, including the top prize at the Kobe International Competition as the youngest winner. As a pianist, she has performed at New York City’s Weill Recital Hall (Carnegie) as an AMTL Audition Winner, and at Steinway Hall, presented by the Amati Music Festival. She also was the featured marimba player in Latin percussionist Victor Rendon's recording of “Fiesta Percussiva”. Ms. Suehiro graduated from Lehman College (CUNY) and the Manhattan School of Music. While at Manhattan, she won second prize in the school’s 2010 piano concerto competition, and in 2011 was chosen to perform Richard Wilson’s “Flashback” for Pierre Aimard’s master class. Her teachers have included Morris Lang, John Corigliano, Peter Vinograde, and Zenon Fishbein.
Kazuki Ueki, guitar
Japanese guitarist Kazuki Ueki began playing the classical guitar when he was eleven years old. While taking lessons, he studied South Asian culture at the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies in Japan. After graduating, he began to focus on the study of music. He is currently pursuing a Master of Music degree at Manhattan School of Music and studies with David Starobin. He plays a replica of the early romantic guitar by Yoshimasa Kuroda.
David Wolfson
David Wolfson is currently working towards his PhD in composition at Rutgers University, and has taught at Rutgers University, Montclair State University and Hunter College. He is enjoying an eclectic career, having composed opera, musical theatre, touring children’s musicals, and incidental music for plays; choral music, band music, orchestral music, chamber music, art songs, and music for solo piano; comedy songs, cabaret songs and one memorable score for an amusement park big-headed-costumed-character show. Current projects include two musicals and a chamber opera. His CD Seventeen Windows, featuring the solo piano suite Seventeen Windows and the Sonata for Cello and Piano, is available from Albany Records, iTunes and Amazon.com. For more information: www.davidwolfsonmusic.net.