• Nina Smeets

    Nina Smeets

    Pianist

    When NINA SMEETS makes music, she fully expresses the feelings coming from her heart and soul. She combines a fresh, delicate, and clear sound with a full range of musical colors. Her ability to mesmerize the audience with pure, sincere, and touching performances makes her an artist of unconditional value. Smeets devotes herself fully to music. She’s not only a performer, but also a passionate composer. After the release of her solo piano book and album, Project Reborn, Smeets’s music was nominated for an award in 2016.

  • Duo Dramatique

    Duo Dramatique

    Ensemble

    Duo Dramatique, a renowned violin-piano ensemble based in Houston TX, has been hailed as “a force to be reckoned with” whose concerts have been described as “passionate and transporting.” Violinist Dominika Dancewicz and pianist Donald Doucet have earned recognition for their compelling, eclectic, and thought-provoking programs that include significant classical music from every era, as well as jazz, broadway, and pop. The duo’s programming is always thoughtfully planned to communicate with audiences beyond just the musical content. The ensemble creates contexts that introduce deeply affecting stories based on historic, social, and emotional issues featured in the music they perform.

  • Pavel Gintov

    Pavel Gintov

    Pianist

    Pianist Pavel Gintov has been described as “a poet of the keyboard” by Marty Lash of the Illinois Entertainer, a “musical storyteller” by the Japanese publication Shikoku News, and “a fantastic pianist and extraordinary artist” by Jerry Dubins of the Fanfare Magazine.

  • Jean Hatmaker

    Cellist

    Jean Hatmaker is a founding member of the Kontras Quartet, the internationally acclaimed quartet-in-residence at Grace Lutheran Church of River Forest IL. Known for their well-crafted performances, diverse programming, and accessible audience relations, Kontras Quartet has brought their message of inclusivity to concerts across the United States, Europe, and Africa. In addition to classical concerts, Kontras Quartet performs with the bluegrass trio the Kruger Brothers, with whom they have appeared at festivals internationally.

  • Josefien Stoppelenburg

    Josefien Stoppelenburg

    Soprano

    Josefien Stoppelenburg is best known for her dazzling vocal agility and her passionate and insightful interpretations. She performed all over the United States and Europe and sang for the Dutch Royal Family on several occasions.

  • The Newberry Consort

    Ensemble

    The Newberry Consort presents historically-informed programs of early music—often drawn from the collections at the Newberry Library—through an annual concert series in Chicago, national and international touring, residencies at colleges and universities, and recordings. The Newberry Consort was founded in 1986 and has offered an annual concert series continuously since 1988. The ensemble incorporated as an independent nonprofit organization in 2009.

  • Elizabeth Start

    Cellist, Composer

    Elizabeth Start is a composer, cellist, arts administrator, and union officer, currently dividing her time between Kalamazoo MI and the Chicago area.

  • Jordan VanHemert

    Jordan VanHemert

    Saxophonist

    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)

  • Alan Rinehart

    Guitarist

    Alan Rinehart has over 45 years of experience as a professional classical guitarist with many contributions to the guitar world as a performer, teacher, and music editor. Upon completing university, he studied lute repertoire and technique in London, England at the Early Music Centre.

  • Dmitry Ishkhanov

    Dmitry Ishkhanov

    Pianist

    Apart from showing incredible potential, Ishkhanov already demonstrates mature and unique artistic capabilities. Amongst his biggest accomplishments, at the age of 14 Ishkhanov debuted in Carnegie Hall Stern Auditorium performing Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Distinguished Concerts Orchestra and conductor Miran Vaupotić. Furthermore, in September 2016, at the age of 11, Ishkhanov represented Malta at the Eurovision of Young Musicians held in Cologne Germany, and became the youngest finalist in the Eurovision history. Ishkhanov marks this release of Chopin’s works with a return to Carnegie Hall in December 2021.

  • Hilary Demske

    Pianist

    Steinway Artist Hilary Demske has received widespread critical acclaim as a “pianist of rare technical finesse and musicality” (Deseret News). She regularly appears across the globe as a soloist and collaborative pianist, with American Record Guide describing her as full of “splendid panache and assurance,” and Fanfare noting that “a composer couldn't ask for more committed or convincing performances.”

  • Jae Cosmos Lee

    Violinist

    American violinist Jae Cosmos Lee, who’s performances have been acclaimed as “Delicate and beautiful,” (Syracuse Post-Standard) and “Bursting with color,”(Boston Globe) is Concertmaster of the Cape Symphony in Cape Cod MA, and co-founder of A Far Cry, the GRAMMY nominated, resident chamber orchestra of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. He is also Curator & Director of the Nth Degree Chamber Music Series based in Falmouth MA, first violinist of the Boston-based Pedroia String Quartet, and the Associate Concertmaster of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra.

  • Jon Hynes

    Pianist

    Jon Hynes is a prize-winning pianist of several competitions including the gold medal of the Nena Wideman International Competition, the Eastman Concerto Competition, and the Young Keyboard Artists International Competition.

  • Inna Faliks

    Pianist

    “Adventurous and passionate,” (The New Yorker) Ukrainian-born American pianist Inna Faliks has made a name for herself through her commanding performances of standard piano repertoire as well genre-bending interdisciplinary projects, and inquisitive work with contemporary composers. After her acclaimed teenage debuts at the Gilmore Festival and with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, she has performed on many of the world’s great stages, with numerous orchestras and in solo appearances. Faliks is currently Professor of Piano and Head of Piano at UCLA. Critics praise her “courage to take risks, expressive intensity and technical perfection” (General Anzeiger, Bonn), “remarkable insight” (Audiophile Audition),“poetry and panoramic vision” (Washington Post), “riveting passion, playfulness” (Baltimore Sun), and “signature blend of lithe grace and raw power” (Lucid Culture).

  • Jitro

    Choir

    Jitro, meaning “Daybreak” in Czech, is more than just a concert choir from Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic. It is an organization of 400 children in seven preparatory ensembles, of which only the best 25 or 30 qualify to tour. For the past 45 years they have been admired all over the world for their tonal brilliance, superb intonation, distinctively rich blend of sound, and energetic vitality. Today, Jitro is considered one of the best children’s choirs in the world.

  • Jiří Skopal

    Conductor

    Jiří Skopal, choral conductor and music educator, was born on August 15, 1947 in Velké Losiny, Czech Republic. Skopal received his first music education from his father, Jan Skopal, a choral conductor of North Moravia’s Teachers’ Association. For his Master’s in Education, he studied in Olomouc from 1965 to 1969, and received his doctorate in 1973. In 1982, he was named Associate Professor at the Charles University in Prague, and in 1994 he became a full Professor.

  • Ergon Ensemble

    Ergon Ensemble

    Ensemble

    Ergon is an Athens based contemporary music ensemble created in 2008 for performing works by living composers as well as masterpieces of the 20th and 21st-century avant-garde. Noted for its exciting interpretations and meticulous preparation, it has received praise from critics and audiences alike, making it the leading ensemble of its kind in Greece. An extremely flexible and versatile ensemble, Ergon is based on a core formation that is further reinforced, depending on the project, by a great number of guests and exceptionally talented musicians. Directed by a five-member musician team, responsible for planning, and collaborations, its original and adventurous programming includes chamber and orchestral music, musical theatre works, dance, contemporary opera, and cinema.

  • Joshua Ranz

    Clarinetist

    Hailed in the LA Times as offering a “stunning rendition” of the Mozart Clarinet Concerto, and an “exciting” version of the Copland Clarinet Concerto, Joshua Ranz is Principal Clarinet of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra (LACO). In addition, he holds the chair of Principal Clarinet of the New West Symphony and the position of Bass Clarinet with the Pacific Symphony.

  • Demondrae Thurman

    Euphonist

    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.

  • Bun-Ching Lam

    Composer, Pianist

    Described as “alluringly exotic” (The New York Times), and “hauntingly attractive” (San Francisco Chronicle), the music of Bun-Ching Lam has been performed worldwide by such ensembles as the Macao Orchestra, American Composer’s Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony, The Vienna Radio Orchestra, Hong Kong Sinfonietta, and the Albany Symphony. Born in Macao, Lam served as the composer-in-residence of the Macao Orchestra from 2008-2016. She began her piano study in her native city, then further pursued her music education in Hong Kong and the United States.