Artists

Douglas Anderson is a composer, conductor, educator, and producer who has been active in the New York area for 50 years. He studied music and psychology at Columbia University, where his three degrees culminated in a doctorate in music composition in 1980. His professional career began as a jazz musician at the age of 12, and he performed widely in the Eastern United States before moving to New York to attend college. His work as a conductor has been his performance focus for the last several decades.

Paul Cohen is a sought-after saxophonist for orchestral and chamber concerts and solo recitals. He has appeared as soloist with the San Francisco Symphony, Richmond Symphony, New Jersey Symphony, Charleston Symphony, and the Philharmonia Virtuosi. His many solo orchestra performances include works by Debussy, Creston, Ibert, Glazunov, Martin, Loeffler, Husa, Dahl, Still, Villa-Lobos, Tomasi, and Cowell. He has also performed with a broad range of orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, Metropolitan Opera (NYC), American Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Santa Fe Opera, New Jersey Symphony, Oregon Symphony, San Diego Symphony, Long Island Philharmonic, Group for Contemporary Music, Greenwich Symphony, and New York Solisti.

The New Hudson Saxophone Quartet is a rare combina­tion: an ensemble dedicated to presenting American music with a string quartet approach and a beautiful, blending instrumental sound. Their repertoire can range from commissioned works by Robert Sirota and David Noon to classic original repertoire by 19th-century American composers Caryl Florio and the 20th century Alec Wilder.

The 2014 and 2018 Latin Grammy® Nominee for Best Classical Album and 2008 Grammy® Nominee for Best Instrumental Soloist without Orchestra, pianist Allison Brewster Franzetti has received international acclaim from critics and audiences alike for her stunning virtuosity and musicality, both as a soloist and chamber musician. Her performances include the live Latin Grammy® Awards television broadcast, the Grammy® Awards Classical Music Tribute to Earl Wild and Lang Lang at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, the American Classical Music Hall of Fame, the Robert Schumann Festival at the Marcella Sembrich Museum in Lake George NY, the Campeche Festival in Mexico, and at the opening of the VI International Festival of Music at the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Stuart Weber's passion for the guitar was ignited early on when at age 12 when a cousin loaned him a flood-ravaged folk guitar. Undaunted by its poor condition, Weber began a ravenous period of self-study, which carried him through his teenage years and beyond.

Since the Benda Quartet began performing in 2012 they have achieved a wide variety of musical successes and established themselves among highly respected Czech ensembles. Their first significant landmark was the concert debut they performed at the 60th Jubilee of the Janacek Philharmonic Orchestra in Ostrava in April 2014. The concert was recorded by Czech Radio and garnered a huge audience acclaim. Since then has the collaboration with the studio of Czech Radio continued on regular basis and resulted in a number of publicly appreciated recordings. The Benda Quartet have worked intensively together with the Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra and artist management agency Janáčkův Máj on numerous chamber music and educational projects.

Matthew Burtner is an Alaskan-born composer, sound artist, and eco-acoustician whose work explores embodiment, ecology, polytemporality, and noise. His music comfortably crosses boundaries between environmental science and art, philosophy and acoustics, technology and body, and he is a leading practitioner of climate change music and ecoacoustic sound art. As a composer, Burtner seeks out contexts where critical issues of human/nature interaction are addressed, whether in musical contexts, other forms of media, scientific conferences, or political conventions. His music has been performed in concerts around the world and featured by organizations such as NASA, PBS NewsHour, the American Geophysical Union (AGU), the BBC, the U.S. State Department under President Obama, and National Geographic.

Gerardo Dirié was born in Cordoba, Argentina. In his youth, he played bass in instrumental rock bands and studied classical guitar, clarinet, and cornetto. He became immersed in electronic music as well as choral, folk, and early music ensembles. He graduated from the National University of Cordoba with a degree in Composition. He received a Fulbright Fellowship to study Composition at the Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University. From 1994 to 2003, he worked as a faculty member at the Jacobs School. In 2003, he moved to Australia to take a teaching and research position in Music Theory and Composition at the Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University.

For over two decades, cellist Rhonda Rider was a member of the Naumburg Award-winning Lydian Quartet and Triple Helix Piano Trio. An advocate of contemporary music, Rider has premiered and recorded works by composers including Raven Chacon, Yu-Hui Chang, John Harbison, Lee Hyla, Laura Kaminsky, and Elliott Carter. Her interest in presenting music in unusual places has led her to be an Artist-in-Residence at both Grand Canyon and Petrified Forest National Parks. Rider has adjudicated at the Fischoff, Stulberg and Concert Artist Guild Competitions. She is Professor of Cello at Boston Conservatory at Berklee where she was twice awarded Teacher of the Year. Rider is heard on over thirty chamber music and solo recordings.

Dr. Lee Hinkle’s percussion playing has been called “rock-steady” by the Washington Post. He is the principal percussionist with the 21st Century Consort and he made his Carnegie Hall solo debut in 2014 as a concerto soloist. Hinkle’s other notable performances have included the National Symphony, Columbus Symphony, and American Institute for Musical Studies Orchestra (Graz, Austria) as well as national U.S. tours with Bebe Neuwirth, Bernadette Peters, and the American Wind Symphony Orchestra. He has performed as a soloist at three Percussive Arts Society International Conventions and is an active commissioner and curator of contemporary music for percussion.

Described as “spirited and intellectual,” Indianapolis-based musician Cecily Terhune enjoys a rewarding career as a performer, recording artist, and educator. She concertizes regularly as a soloist and proud member of funk-fusion septet Audiodacity and the Hood/Terhune Duo, among other groups. When not on stage, Terhune shares her passion for music by teaching private students and sectionals at Carmel and Noblesville High Schools, serving as a member of the Committee for Gender Equity in the North American Saxophone Alliance, and maintaining her educational YouTube channel.

Darryl Friesen has given acclaimed performances as a soloist and collaborative artist across Canada, the United States, Europe, China, and Brazil. He has performed as soloist with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, and as a collaborator and recitalist with many distinguished artists, including Elliot Madore, Andrew Wan, Allen Harrington, Catherine Daniel, Millicent Scarlett, Valdine Anderson, the Adaskin String Trio, and the Martha Graham Dance Company. Friesen’s debut album, CURLICUE: The Solo Piano Works of Karen Sunabacka, was released by Ravello Records in September 2022.

Hee Yun Kim (b. 1971) is a composer of a wide variety of music including orchestra, chamber ensemble, chorus, and solo instruments. Her compositions have been performed by diverse ensembles across the globe, including Ensemble Calliopée, L’Orchestre de la Francophonie, University of Illinois Symphony Orchestra, Seoul Metropolitan Chorus, Dallas Asian Winds, New York New Music Ensemble, Alea III, Composers’ Ensemble of Northern New York, Juventas Ensemble, Loop 38, Euterpe Quintet, and HET trio. Her music has been reviewed as being “fully convincing” and “masterfully orchestrated” (Paris: La Lettre du Musicien).

Venezuelan born musician Orlando Cela is committed to engaging audiences with lively performances that open new worlds of experience. Known for his engaging performances using imaginative programming, Orlando has premiered in over 100 works, both as a flutist and as a conductor. In concert, Cela regularly offers short lively introductions to selected works, offering audiences entry points into unfamiliar works, to easily connect the music with other life experience.

Glancey’s music embodies a unique blend of traditional and progressive musical elements, and expresses a fervent harmonic language, coloristic textures, and intricate formal designs. A background in and affinity for all popular styles and film music infuse his writing with sonic freshness and rhythmic energy. His music has been programmed throughout the United States and Europe, as well as featured in a number of independent films. 

Yoko Hagino was born and raised in Japan, where she began her piano studies at the age of 4. As a child, she performed her own compositions, which took her to Europe and the United States, including performances as a concert soloist with the Czech Symphony, the University of Southern California Symphony, Kyoto City Symphony, and Ensemble Orchestra Kanazawa. Hagino has appeared as a soloist with Osaka Century Orchestra, UMass Boston Chamber Orchestra, Key West Symphony Orchestra, White Rabbit Sinfonietta, and has also performed various piano recitals ranging from the music of Bach to contemporary repertoire. Hagino is a prize winner of the Steinway Society Piano Competition, the First International Chamber Music Competition, the All-Japan Selective Competition of the International Mozart Competition, and Chamber Music Competition of Japan.

Jeff Siegfried is an artist who takes joy in the wild diversity of the saxophone’s flexible voice. From classical to jazz to klezmer to free improvisation, there are few styles or settings where he doesn’t feel comfortable. He combines a “rich, vibrant tone” (South Florida Classical Review) with “beautiful and delicate playing” (Michael Tilson Thomas) to deliver “showstopper performances” (Peninsula Reviews).

Based in Montreal, percussionist David Therrien Brongo has carved out a career as a performer, a pedagogue, and a researcher. He collaborates regularly with a number of ensembles; he holds the position of timpanist and principal percussionist with the Orchestre de l’Agora and the Orchestre symphonique du Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean. From 2016 to 2023 he held the principal percussion position in Ensemble Paramirabo. Therrien Brongo also plays in numerous other ensembles like the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre Métropolitain, the Orchestre symphonique de Québec, Sixtrum Percussion Ensemble, and the Nouvel Ensemble Moderne.

John Ritz is a composer, improviser, experimental music performer, sound artist, and educator. He is a proponent of interdisciplinary arts and collaborates regularly with visual and performing artists. His recent concert music focuses on chamber music for instruments and interactive computer systems. He is an Assistant Professor of Music Composition and Creative Studies at the University of Louisville.

Jeffrey John Hall, a composer residing in Tucson AZ, was born in Milwaukee WI on May 22, 1941. His education includes both M.A. and D.M.A. degrees from Columbia University. He has written works for computer sound, voice, chamber ensembles, piano, and chamber orchestra. He has held resident fellowships at The Composers' Conference, Yaddo, and The Hambidge Center. His grants include a grant of computer time at Princeton University from 1980 to 1982, where he worked with Paul Lansky, as well as four grants from "Meet the Composer."