Performers

Winner of the Munich ARD Competition and the Salzburg Mozart Competition, pianist Diane Walsh has performed concertos, solo recitals, and chamber music concerts throughout the United States and internationally. She has appeared at numerous summer festivals including Marlboro, Santa Fe, Bard, and Chesapeake, and was the artistic director of the Skaneateles Festival. She gave 113 performances of Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations on stage in the Broadway production of Moisés Kaufman’s play 33 Variations, starring Jane Fonda. A graduate of the Juilliard School and Mannes School of Music, and a Steinway Artist, Walsh has released 19 recordings of diverse repertoire from four centuries, and has taught piano and chamber music at Mannes, Vassar College, and Colby College.

After successes in several important international competitions for conductors — including the competition in Besancon France in 1971 and the Karajan Competition in Berlin in 1973 — his career began at the opera company in Pilsen. From 1974 to 1978, he was Chief of Opera of the State Theater in Usti nad Labem, Czech Republic. In 1978, he was appointed Chief Conductor of the Brno Philharmonic Orchestra, a position he held until 1991. Vronsky was later appointed Chief Conductor of the Janacek Philharmonic Orchestra Ostrava in 2002.

Stanislav Vavřínek is one of the most prominent Czech conductors and has been Chief Conductor of the Czech Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra Pardubice since 2018. Having graduated from the Conservatory in Brno where he studied flute and conducting, he continued his education at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. Subsequently, he also took master classes with Roberto Benzi in Switzerland, culminating with a concert in which he conducted the Biel Philharmonic Orchestra.

Acclaimed as “dynamic and knowledgeable” by the Buenos Aires Herald, Croatian conductor Miran Vaupotić has worked with eminent orchestras including the London Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the Berliner Symphoniker, the Russian National Orchestra, the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Budapest Symphony Orchestra MÁV, Orchestre de Chambre de Genève, the Cairo Symphony Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional Argentina, and others, performing in major halls around the globe such as Carnegie Hall, Wiener Musikverein, Berliner Philharmonie, Rudolfinum, Smetana Hall, Victoria Hall, Forbidden City Concert Hall, Shanghai Oriental Art Center, Dubai Opera, Tchaikovsky Hall, International House of Music, CBC Glenn Gould Studio, and more.

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.

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.

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.

Kenneth Thompkins was appointed Principal Trombone of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra by Neeme Jarvi. Prior to this appointment, he held positions in the Buffalo Philharmonic, The Florida Orchestra, and the New World Symphony Orchestra. He has also performed with the New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, and Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

Jacob Tews is Assistant Professor of Strings and Orchestra at Christopher Newport University in Newport News VA. He has served previously as an educator at Wartburg College, Southern Illinois University – Carbondale, and the University of Minnesota. He earned a D.M.A. in viola performance, with a secondary emphasis in music theory, from the University of Minnesota.

Alexander Tchobanov has gained international recognition as a concert pianist, recording artist, chamber musician, and music pedagogue. Following his 2013 Carnegie Hall solo debut, the New York Concert Review wrote, “Mr. Tchobanov's colors and voicing were superb, creating that ineffable aura of Russian sadness we love so much, there is a major virtuoso there.” He was invited to perform at major international venues and festivals such as Jordan Hall in Boston, Steinway Hall in New York, Los Angeles Music Center, Manila Piano Artist Series, Auersperg Palace in Vienna, Madinat Theater in Dubai, International Piano Festival “Krystian Tkaczewski’’ in Poland, and CME Concerto Fest among others. Tchobanov's recordings of works by Scriabin and Rachmaninoff are commercially available on the Ulysses Arts label. He was featured as a soloist with Vienna Residence Orchestra and Tarnow Chamber Orchestra.

Maestro Dian Tchobanov has been the General Music Director of State Opera – Plovdiv since their 2013-2014 season. He earned his master´s degree at the State Musical Academy (Sofia) in 1997 and at the University of Performing Arts and Music Vienna, Austria (Uroš Lajović – orchestra conducting and Konrad Leitner – accompanying). His conducting style has been influenced by Sir Colin Davies, Dresden, Germany, Maestro Fabio Luisi, and Maestro Michael Halas, conductor at Vienna State Opera. Tchobanov has been awarded with the second and the special award of "Lovro von Matačić" at the International Conductors Competition in Zagreb in 2003. In 2015 he was invited to jury the competition.

David Tanner studied at the Berklee College of Music and the University of Toronto, where he was saxophone instructor through the 1980’s and 90’s. He toured Canada and the USA with the rock band Lighthouse in the 1970’s. He performed in orchestras including the Toronto Symphony, Hamilton Philharmonic, National Ballet, Canadian Opera Company and numerous others. He also played every genre of music from jazz to Broadway on stage or in the pit in most of the major venues in Toronto and the surrounding area. His compositions and arrangements can be heard on Navona Records: Of Birds and Lemons and Dashing!