Artists

Audun G. Vassdal is a Norwegian composer currently located in Los Angeles. Vassdal started playing instruments at an early age, and his obsession with understanding how music and instruments works led him to pursue music further. He is primarily a pianist, and attended a high school with a music education. This is where he discovered his passion for composition, and decided that being a composer would be his life goal. Being fascinated by many forms of music, he has pursued an education in both classical music and film music, as well as other genres.

Composer and tenor saxophonist Frank Vasi graduated from the Mannes College of Music in New York City. His compositions straddle the classical and jazz worlds of music incorporating their various techniques in his pieces. A member of ASCAP, he has written compositions for saxophone quartet, choral cantatas, chamber and orchestra works and is the founder and arranger for The Thimble Islands Saxophone Quartet.

Jorge Variego (b. 1975, Rosario, Argentina) has a Doctorate degree in Music Composition from the University of Florida; a master's of music degree in composition and clarinet Performance from Carnegie Mellon University; and a J.D. equivalent from the National University of Rosario. He currently serves as Assistant Professor of Music Composition, Theory and Woodwinds at Valley City State University.

Carlos Manuel Vargas' performances have received accolades from both audiences and critics in the United States, South America, and Europe. Reviews of Vargas’ performances in the 2022 season, which included his solo debut recital in Germany at the Musiken concert series, have described his playing as “highly emotional and thoughtful” while praising the “striking energy and uncompromising honesty” of it. Highlights of the upcoming 2023–2024 season include a series of recitals in New England and California featuring music of what is to be his debut album titled SOUVENIRS as well as his debut with the National Symphony of Ecuador performing Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in honor of the composer’s 150th birth anniversary.

Dr. Jordan VanHemert is a Korean American saxophonist and composer lauded for his skill as a modern jazz improviser. Critics recognize VanHemert’s music as being profoundly relevant; Noted jazz journalist and historian Scott Yanow recently praised VanHemert’s debut release as “quite impressive,” stating that his piece Autumn Song “could eventually become a standard.” Additionally, critics recognize VanHemert’s album I AM NOT A VIRUS as “full of generous emotions,” (Sonograma Barcelona) and the “beautiful harmonious, melodious base” of his compositions, calling them “sophisticated but quite accessible for many.” (JazzMania Belgium)

Winner of the 2015 Astral Artists National Auditions, and Gold medalist at the 2012 New Orleans International Piano Competition, Viktor Valkov has been highly acclaimed by the critics as “lion of the keyboard” and “sensational”. Among numerous chamber music and solo appearances, during the last few concert seasons Mr.Valkov also performed with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra, Acadiana Symphony Orchestra, and West Virginia Symphony Orchestra.

He attended Los Angeles City College in 1958 where he studied composItion with Leonard Stein. He graduated with a B.A. in music from Long Beach State College in 1963. While there, he studied with Leon Dallin and Robert Tyndall. He is also a charter member of the Kappa Omicron chapter of PHI MU ALPHA fraternity.

Willem Van Twillert (The Netherlands, b. 1952) studied the organ and piano at the Regional Music School in Amersfoort with Henk Seldenthuis. Starting in 1970, he studied the organ, improvisation, and composition at the Sweelinck Conservatory in Amsterdam with Piet Kee and piano with Willem Brons. In 1975 he commenced a 3-year course of orchestral conducting studies with the Dutch orchestra conductor Anton Kersjes. In 1979, he obtained a diploma for Church Music and Performing Musician Cum Laude, with a teaching-endorsement for improvisation. A scholarship afforded him the opportunity to specialize in historic music between 1978 and 1981, including studies with Gustav Leonhardt (organ). In 1976, van Twillert was the first Dutch organist to reach the final of the 'Grand Prix de Chartres' in France.

Maestra Barbara Day Turner is the founder and Music Director of the San José Chamber Orchestra. An ardent advocate for new music, she has premiered more than 130 works just with SJCO. Named the 2012 Silicon Valley Arts Council "On Stage" Artist Laureate, Maestra Day Turner is also Music Administrator and Conductor of the Utah Festival Opera and Musical Theater, where she has led critically acclaimed productions of Samuel Barber’s Vanessa, Puccini’s La bohème, Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, Verdi’s Otello, Rossini’s Barber of Seville, Showboat and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

Nancy Tucker is a gifted musician who “inhabits an offbeat alternative universe that inspires music to tumble into riotous abandon” says the Los Angeles Times. She approaches the guitar as if it were a miniature playground, exploring every sound from the strings to the wood to the pegs to the strap. Whether she is playing her heart-felt melodic finger-style compositions or her inventive percussion-isms, her engaging approach to acoustic guitar shines with personality. In addition, she is a lyricist, humorist and performer.

Gillian Zammit is a versatile soprano with a varied repertoire, who trained with Carlo Bergonzi and Victoria de los Angeles. Opera productions include The Turn of The Screw, Rigoletto, Die Zauberflote, and Orphée et Eurydice. She has performed with Joseph Calleja, Andrea Bocelli, Eugene Kohn, and Emma Kirkby among others.

Athenia Trio presents multimedia, interactive performances that feature flute, oboe, and bassoon. Athenia is a faculty ensemble at Ohio University in Athens. Founding members Alison Brown Sincoff (flute), Michele Fiala (oboe), and Matthew Morris (bassoon) have collectively performed in the United States, Canada, Italy, Germany, England, France, Russia, Japan, Panama, and Argentina. The trio was formed in 2009 and has performed across the United States from coast to coast and in Italy.

The Great Necks Guitar Trio has enchanted audiences across the United States with its whimsical, interactive, and daring performances. Founded by guitarists Scott Borg, Adam Levin, and Matthew Rohde, the trio — through its original madcap arrangements — stretches at the conventions — and at times, the physical limits — of the guitar with what American Record Guide calls “some of the most inventive artistry you are likely to find in today’s guitar world.”

The ARK Trio was founded by soprano Allison Charney, cellist Kajsa William-Olsson, and pianist Reiko Uchida, all full-time musicians, mothers of school-age children, and dear friends who wanted to collaborate musically. Much to their surprise, they soon learned that their make-up of soprano, cello, and piano is unique in classical music, as evidenced by the paucity of extant compositions available for their combination.

Nathan Buckner, Ting-Lan Chen, and Noah Turner Rogoff form the Frahm-Lewis Trio, which has served as the resident faculty piano trio for the University of Nebraska at Kearney since 2008. The ensemble has appeared in many of the principal performance venues throughout Nebraska, as well as in recitals in England, Malaysia, and the United States.

Composer James Tribble has been writing and playing music for about 30 years, gradually learning his craft. He taught himself piano at 14, creating a lot of bad habits, and he has performed and taught piano, violin and viola since then while improving his own technique.

Generally recognized as the father of the Neo-Romantic movement in music, David Del Tredici has received numerous awards (including the Pulitzer Prize) and has been commissioned and performed by nearly every major American and European orchestral ensemble. "Del Tredici," said Aaron Copland, "is that rare find among composers ó a creator with a truly original gift. I venture to say that his music is certain to make a lasting impression on the American musical scene. I know of no other composer of his generation who composes music of greater freshness and daring, or with more personality."

William Toutant was born in Worcester MA. He received his B.A. and M.A. from George Washington University and his Ph.D. in music theory and composition from Michigan State University. He joined the music faculty of California State University, Northridge in 1975. During the next 38 years he not only taught in the Department of Music, but he also served in a variety of administrative positions including Dean of the Mike Curb College of Arts, Media, and Communication.

Pianist, composer, and accordionist Hakan A. Toker is from Mersin Turkey. He studied classical music in Turkey and the United States, graduating from Indiana University School of Music (BM), where he double majored in piano and composition. Besides his formal education, he is mostly self-taught in the fields of improvisation, jazz, and world music.

Over the last 20 years Demondrae Thurman has established a worldwide reputation through his varied experiences as a euphonium soloist, educator, chamber musician, and conductor. He has given performances in Canada, Hungary, Japan, Hong Kong, Germany, France, Spain, Taiwan, Macau, Norway, China, Italy, Austria, England, Wales, and throughout the United States. Thurman is a frequently invited guest at many of the world's most noted festivals and conferences for Low brass including the International Euphonium Tuba Conference, the United States Army Band Tuba Euphonium Workshop, and the Leonard Falcone International Solo Competition.