Instrument & Voice Festivals at Interlochen Arts Academy

Linda Wang | Violin

Professor of Violin, String Chair, University of Denver

Linda Wang has been praised by critics for her “world-class artistry,” “masterful technique” and “singing jubilant tone”

Since her debut with Zubin Mehta and the New York Philharmonic at the age of nine, Linda Wang has performed concerti with over eighty orchestras and maintains a worldwide presence as a performer and educator. She has collaborated with such conductors as Sir Georg Solti and the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival Orchestra, Jorge Mester and the Pasadena Symphony, JoAnn Falletta and the Virginia Symphony; and in the US concerto performances include the Wisconsin, Boston Classical and Missouri Chamber Orchestras; the Corpus Christi, Great Falls, Cedar Rapids, West Virginia Symphonies to name a few. Internationally she has been soloist with the Robert Schumann Philharmony in Germany, Paris Sinfonietta, Salzburg Chamber Orchestra and Southern Bohemian Orchestra with whom she toured the Czech Republic. In Asia, engagements include Taipei Philharmonia Musical, China’s Harbin Symphony Orchestra and the Philippines Philharmonic Orchestra.

Linda Wang has performed in such venues as Carnegie Hall as winner of the Waldo Mayo Award, Alice Tully Hall, Amsterdam's Beurs van Berlage and the Berlin Schauspielhaus. In recital she has performed forty two states and domestic and international audiences have seen Linda Wang's televised performances on PBS, Arts and Entertainment, Germany's ZDF and Japan's NHK, while live radio broadcasts include NPR's Performance Today, WQXR (New York City), WFMT (Chicago), KUSC and KMozart (Los Angeles), MDR (Germany), Leipzig Rundfunk and Deutschland Radio, Berlin.

A native of New York City, Linda Wang has studied at The Juilliard School, Colburn School and University of Southern California. Awarded a Fulbright Grant, she pursued advanced studies at the Salzburg Mozarteum. Her principal teachers have been Dorothy DeLay, Hyo Kang, Alice Schoenfeld and Ruggiero Ricci.

A dedicated teacher, Linda Wang is String Chair and Professor of Violin at the Lamont School of Music. Her reputation as an exceptional performer and teacher garners her frequent invitations to be faculty artist at music festivals and present master classes at distinguished music institutions nationally and internationally. Her students have been young artist winners and soloists with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, National Repertory Orchestra; Denver, Boulder and Lynn Philharmonics to name a few, participating in such major international competitions as the International Elmar Oliviera Violin Competition, Young Concert Artists and International Isaac Stern Violin Competition in Shanghai. Students from her studio have been accepted to such institutions as the Juilliard School, Yale, Cleveland Institute of Music, New England Conservatory, University of Michigan, Indiana-Jacobs, Cornell, Peabody, Manhattan, Eastman, London’s Guild Hall, Royal Academy and Vienna Hochschule fur Musik.

Linda Wang currently performs on a 1767 J.B. Guadagnini and has recorded nine solo albums.

Ann Marie Brink | Viola

Associate Professor of Viola, DePaul University 

Ann Marie Brink is the Associate Professor of Viola at DePaul University’s School of Music and previously served as Associate Principal Viola of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra from 1999 to 2019.

Acclaimed by Fanfare magazine for her “rich, deep-chocolate sound,” she has per-formed at many of the world's most prestigious venues and festivals, including Carnegie Hall, Aspen Music Festival, Library of Congress, Severance Hall, Rockport Music Festi-val, Newport Music Festival, Banff Centre for the Arts, Interlochen Center for the Arts, Chamber Music Chicago, and Bravo! Vail Music Festival. She has also been featured as a soloist with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra.

A passionate chamber musician, Ms. Brink’s performances with the Amernet String Quartet for the Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center earned praise from The New York Times as "an accomplished and intelligent en-semble.” She has coached and performed in Chamber Music America residencies with the Cavani String Quartet, was twice a fellow at the Aspen Center for Advanced Quartet Studies and was invited by Isaac Stern to participate in his Chamber Music Workshop at Carnegie Hall. Her accolades include first prize in the Nakamichi Foundation Concerto Competition at the Aspen Music Festival and the Florence Allan Award at the Carmel Chamber Music Competition.

An experienced educator, Ms. Brink teaches and performs at the Roundtop and Green Mountain Chamber Music Festivals and has previously served on the faculties of Baylor University, Southern Methodist University, and the University of North Texas. She currently serves as the Treasurer of the American Viola Society.

Ms. Brink’s musical journey began at the age of ten in a public-school strings class. As a high school freshman, she became one of the youngest members of the Pensacola Symphony Orchestra. She went on to study at the Interlochen Arts Academy, earned her Bachelor of Music from the Cleveland Institute of Music and her Master of Music from The Juilliard School, where she was awarded the prestigious William Schuman Prize—the institution’s highest graduate honor. Her principal teachers include Karen Tuttle, Heidi Castleman, and David Holland, and she has been mentored in chamber music by members of the Emerson, Juilliard, Cleveland, Orion, and Guarneri String Quartets.

Yeonjin Kim | Cello

Assistant Professor of Cello, University of Michigan

Cellist Yeonjin Kim has received international acclaim as a soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician.

Kim has performed at major venues including the Kennedy Center, Konzerthaus Berlin, Berlin Philharmonie, Seoul Arts Center, and Suntory Hall, and as a soloist with orchestras in Cleveland, Ann Arbor, Colorado, Seoul, Tianjin, and Manila. Her concerts have been broadcast on television and radio across the United States, Korea, China, and Japan.

She has been a top prizewinner in several international competitions, including the Sorantin International Competition, Dichler-Sato International Competition, Viva Hall Competition, and the Korea Philharmonic Orchestra Competition. Her solo recording of Max Reger’s Three Suites for Cello Solo has been praised for its depth and expressive power. An avid chamber musician, Kim has also collaborated with numerous world-renowned artists and performs regularly with her sisters as part of Trio K.

Kim has taught and mentored students from around the world, drawing on her extensive experience across Korea, the United States, China, and Japan. She has served on the faculty of the Tianjin Juilliard School and has held teaching appointments at the University of Michigan, Oberlin Conservatory, and Furman University. She has presented master classes at leading institutions such as the Juilliard School, Korean National University of Arts, Liszt Academy, YST Conservatory, Taipei National University of the Arts, and the Shanghai Conservatory. Many of her students have gone on to win international competitions and secure positions in leading orchestras and institutions.

A graduate of Seoul National University, Kim earned her orchestra certificate from Toho Gakuen in Japan, her MM from the Cleveland Institute of Music, and her DMA from the University of Michigan.

Mikyung Sung | Bass

Internationally Acclaimed Double Bassist

Mikyung Sung, a native of Seoul, South Korea, is an active female double bassist who has gained international recognition as a soloist, teacher, and chamber and orchestra musician. Her fearlessly virtuosic and engaging performances are notable for their bel canto lyricism and emotional expression.

Since her professional debut as soloist at age 11 with the Guri Philharmonic Orchestra, Ms. Sung has performed as soloist with orchestras such as the Staatsorchester Rheinische Philharmonie, Philharmonie Baden-Baden, Seongnam Philharmonic Orchestra, Musicians' Initiative (Singapore), Erato Ensemble, Philharmonia Corea, Colburn Orchestra, Korea National University of Arts Orchestra, University of Guanajuato Orchestra, Concordia University Irvine Orchestra, Sunhwa Arts School Orchestra, Atlanta Festival Youth Orchestra, Caesura Youth Orchestra, and with conductors such as Ludovic Morlot.

Established as a renowned concertizing solo bassist in South Korea, Ms. Sung performed recitals at Seoul Arts Center’s IBK Chamber Hall, Lotte Concert Hall, Kumho Art Hall, Kukje Art Hall, The Raum Social Venue, Music in PyeongChang, The House Concert series, and the Korea National University of Arts concert series. She has also been featured on KBS 1TV's “Classic Odyssey” and “Masterpiece Scandal”, and KBS Classic FM, TBS FM 95.1, and SBS radio.

As a teacher, Ms. Sung has presented master classes at San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Stanford University, University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Pennsylvania State University, Columbus State University, Kennesaw State University, Qingdao Yehudi Menuhin School (China), Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (Singapore), and University of Guanajuato (Mexico), and is featured in online video lessons by Tonebase.

In the 2018-19 season, Ms. Sung was a Principal Bassist of the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra and taught at the Shanghai Orchestra Academy. She had previously won the audition for Assistant Principal Bassist with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra in 2015, which she declined in order to attend graduate school.

Initially taught by her double-bassist father, Ms. Sung enjoys collaborating with other musicians and performing a variety of musical genres. She spent six years concertizing across South Korea as a double bass duo with her brother, as well as performing in double bass duos at the Sierra Madre Playhouse in the Los Angeles area with a mixed program of classical standards and arrangements of film scores, and at University of North Carolina School of the Arts Double Bass Day. She performed in a double bass quartet at the Ditto Festival, and later founded the Emeth Ensemble double bass quartet, giving performances across Korea including at IBK Chamber Hall and with an orchestra at Lotte Concert Hall. She has also performed at the Palm Springs Life Festival with Sarah Chang, Music From Angel Fire, Qingdao Yehudi Menuhin School, Roswell Music Club, Pennsylvania State University, Columbus State University, and with the Emory Chamber Music Society.

In 2010 at age 17, Ms. Sung was awarded First Prize, Audience Prize, and the Special Jury Prize at the International Johann-Matthias Sperger Double Bass Competition in Germany. In 2015 she was awarded the Thomas Martin prize for the best performance of a work by Bottesini and second place overall at the International Society of Bassists Solo Competition in Colorado. In 2017 she was awarded the internet-voted prize for audience-favorite finals performance and Honorable Mention overall at the Bradetich Competition in Texas. She had previously been awarded first prize in numerous competitions in Korea, including the Baroque String Ensemble Competition, Haneum National Music Competition, Music Education Journal Competition, and Korea Double Bass Association Competition.

Ms. Sung received her Artist Diploma from The Colburn School's Conservatory of Music in 2017, studying with Peter Lloyd. Prior to that, she received her Bachelor of Music degree from Korea National University of Arts, having entered early as a gifted student after graduating from Sunhwa Arts Middle School. She participated in master classes given by artists such as Berlin Philharmonic principal bassist Janne Saksala, London Symphony Orchestra principal bassist Rinat Ibragimov, former Staatskapelle Berlin principal bassist Klaus Trumpf, Guarneri String Quartet violinist Arnold Steinhardt, pedagogue and cello soloist Hans Jørgen Jensen, and Beaux Arts Trio and former Cincinnati Symphony principal cellist Peter Wiley.

Ms. Sung's debut album, "The Colburn Sessions", has been featured on nearly 100 radio stations worldwide and received glowing reviews from publications such as Strings Magazine, Bass World, Bass Magazine, Fanfare, American Record Guide, HiFi News and Record Review, Classics Today, Classical Candor, Violinist.com, Textura, and The Whole Note. Her performances have also been recognized online by publications such as The Strad and Classic FM.

Juan Riveros | Harp

Instructor of Harp, Michigan State University, Principal Harpist of the Flint Symphony Orchestra and Detroit Opera Orchestra
 

Juan Riveros is one of a new generation of harpists bridging a variety of styles and artistic avenues, building audiences and fostering fresh appreciation for an instrument with ancient and diverse traditions. Riveros was appointed as the Instructor of Harp at Michigan State University in August 2024, serving as a member of the String Area faculty and teaching the College of Music’s harp students. A seasoned soloist, Riveros’ experience includes performances at the Rio Harp Festival (2023 - 2025), São Paulo Harp Festival, solo recitals through the American Harp Society’s Winner’s Outreach Program, and the 2019 and 2022 USA International Harp Competitions. Accolades include Award Winner in the 2022 Lyon & Healy Awards, Outstanding Instrumentalist in Harp at the 2022 and 2023 Sphinx SOPA Competitions, Award Winner in the 2020 Anne Adams Awards Competition, and Third Prize in the Young Professional Division of the 2019 American Harp Society National Competition.
As a concerto soloist, Riveros won the Grand Prize in the Lewisville Lake International Concerto Competition and performed Ravel and Debussy’s concerti in 2020. In 2022, Riveros premiered Sami Seif’s Harp Concerto, written for and dedicated to the performer. In 2025, Riveros performed Debussy’s Danses with the Flint Symphony Orchestra and Maestro Enrique Diemecke.

Riveros is the newly appointed Principal Harpist of the Detroit Opera Orchestra. Orchestral experience includes performances as Guest Principal Harp with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra and symphony orchestras of Cleveland, Atlanta, Detroit, Ann Arbor, Flint, and Kalamazoo. Additional engagements include performances as Guest Harp with the Louisville Orchestra and symphony orchestras of Baltimore, Lansing, Saginaw Bay, and Midland. Riveros held the position of Principal Harp with the Cleveland Repertory Orchestra for its inaugural season, performed with the 2018 Round Top Festival Orchestra, and was a member of the 2017 National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America. During the NYO-USA residency, Riveros recorded Ravel’s Introduction et allegro, debuted at Carnegie Hall, premiered Gabriela Lena-Frank’s, Apu: Tone Poem for Orchestra, and performed on tour across South America.

In addition to his studio at Michigan State University, Riveros maintains an international studio of private harp students in both English and Spanish. In his instruction, Riveros is devoted to crafting constructive approaches to harp pedagogy and performance practice. As the head of the harp department, Riveros is also the Director of MSU Harp Day, a yearly event comprising of masterclasses, a featured workshop, performances, and an attendant-inclusive harp ensemble.

Prior teaching experience includes masterclasses for various American Harp Society chapters, the Glissando Program in Puerto Rico, the Interlochen Arts Academy, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra’s Talent Development Program (TDP), University of Michigan, Colorado State University, and Michigan State University. Classroom experience includes teaching undergraduate sections of music theory at the Cleveland Institute of Music and University of Michigan.

Riveros is currently completing a Ph.D. in Music Theory at the University of Michigan, researching Latin American modernism, musical unity, and hybridity in works by Ginastera, Villa-Lobos, and Chávez. Riveros holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Harp Performance and Music Theory from the Cleveland Institute of Music. In 2023, Riveros received an International Postgraduate Certificate in Harp Performance and Research from the National University of the Arts (Argentina). Riveros studied under the tutelage of Alison Read, Joan Raeburn Holland, and Yolanda Kondonassis.

Gordon Hawkins

Baritone

Beginning his career singing the bel canto roles of Italian opera, Gordon Hawkins drew early praise from critics like Lon Tuck of the Washington Post, who pronounced him to be “one of the most promising young singers of the decade.”

Since then, Gordon Hawkins has been critically acclaimed throughout the world for his in-depth interpretations and luxuriant baritone voice. A winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and the George London Grant recipient, he has been praised for his rich lyricism as well as his dramatic instinct. He is a winner of the Luciano Pavarotti Competition and in 2006 was honored as the Washington National Opera “Artist of the Year.”

Recent engagements include Amonasro in Aida with Houston Grand Opera and Cincinnati Opera; a gala concert for the Supreme Court Justices in Washington, D.C.; the title role in Macbeth with Seattle Opera; Tonio in I Pagliacci with Atlanta Opera; Porgy in Porgy and Bess with Washington National Opera and Michigan Opera Theatre; High Priest in Samson et Dalila with Opera Ontario; Villains in Les Contes d’Hoffman in Tokyo, and Tonio/Alfio in Manitoba Opera’s double bill of I Pagliacci/Cavalleria Rusticana.

He can be heard as George Milton on the first recording of Carlisle Floyd’s Of Mice and Men with the Houston Grand Opera on Albany Records, and on the New Zealand International Festival of the Arts recording of Simon Boccanegra in the title role.

Ruby Amanfu

GRAMMY Nominee, Recording Artist, Songwriter, Producer

Ruby Amanfu is a Ghana-born, Nashville-based GRAMMY, Soul Train and BET Award nominated Songwriter and Recording Artist. Having written and recorded music since her teens, Amanfu has released 11 critically acclaimed solo studio albums and her songs have appeared in shows such as “The Morning Show,” “Station 19,” “Little Fires Everywhere,” “Community,” "Nashville," "Pretty Little Liars," and in films such as "The Secret Life of Bees," "Hope Springs" and “The Photograph.”

Her accolades include co-writing two Grammy-nominated Songs of the Year, "Hard Place” for the artist H.E.R. and “A Beautiful Noise” for artists Alicia Keys and Brandi Carlile.

Amanfu sings the theme song of the popular series, The Chosen, and her fluid vocals can be heard throughout all seasons. Amanfu’s vocals also appear on Beyoncé's song, “Don’t Hurt Yourself” on the Grammy-winning album, Lemonade, on Norah Jones’ album, Pick Me Up off the Floor, and alongside Jack White on the White Stripes singer-guitarist's solo LPs, Blunderbuss and Lazaretto, highlighted by a performance of their collaboration, "Love Interruption" at the 55th Grammy Awards.

Outside of her vast musical career, Amanfu is a community leader, chef, wife and stepmother.

Jerry Blackstone

Professor of Emeritus of Music, University of Michigan

GRAMMY Award winner Jerry Blackstone is a leading conductor and highly respected conducting pedagogue.  Now emeritus professor of conducting, he served on the faculty of the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance for thirty years where as director of choirs he led the graduate program in choral conducting and oversaw the University’s eleven choirs.   In February 2006, he received two GRAMMY Awards (“Best Choral Performance” and “Best Classical Album”) as chorusmaster for the critically acclaimed Naxos recording of William Bolcom’s Songs of Innocence and of Experience. The Naxos recording of Milhaud’s monumental L’Orestie d’Eschyle, on which Blackstone served as chorusmaster, was nominated for a 2015 GRAMMY Award (“Best Opera Recording”). Opera Magazine reviewer Tim Ashley wrote: “the real stars, though, are the University of Michigan’s multiple Choirs, who are faced with what must be some of the most taxing choral writing in the entire operatic repertory. Their singing has tremendous authority and beauty, while the shouts and screams of Choéphores are unnerving in the extreme. Their diction is good too: the occasions when we don’t hear the words are Milhaud’s responsibility, rather than theirs. It’s an extraordinary achievement, and utterly mesmerizing.”

The University of Michigan Chamber Choir, conducted by Blackstone, performed by special invitation at the inaugural conference in San Antonio of the National Collegiate Choral Organization (NCCO) and presented three enthusiastically received performances in New York City at the National Convention of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA).  As conductor of the University of Michigan Men’s Glee Club from 1988-2002, Professor Blackstone led the ensemble in performances at ACDA national and division conventions and on extensive concert tours throughout Australia, Eastern and Central Europe, Asia, South America, and the United States.

In 2017, NCCO presented him with its prestigious Lifetime Achievement Membership Award and, in 2006, for “significant contributions to choral music,” he received the ACDA-Michigan chapter’s Maynard Klein Lifetime Achievement Award.  From 2003-2015, Dr. Blackstone served as conductor and music director of the University Musical Society (UMS) Choral Union, a large community/university chorus that frequently appears with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) and the Ann Arbor Symphony and presents yearly performances of Handel’s Messiah and other major works for chorus and orchestra. Choirs prepared by Blackstone have appeared under the batons of Valery Gergiev, Neeme Järvi, Leonard Slatkin, Hans Graf, Michael Tilson Thomas, John Adams, Helmuth Rilling, James Conlon, Nicholas McGegan, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Peter Oundjian, and Yitzak Perlman.

Professor Blackstone is considered one of the country’s leading conducting teachers, and his students have been first place award winners and finalists in both the graduate and undergraduate divisions of ACDA’s biennial National Choral Conducting competition.  His 2016 rehearsal techniques DVD, Did You Hear That? (GIA Publications) deals with the conductor’s decision-making process during rehearsal.  Santa Barbara Music Publishing distributes Blackstone’s acclaimed educational DVD, Working with Male Voices and also publishes the Jerry Blackstone Choral Series.

Blackstone is an active guest conductor and workshop presenter and has appeared in forty-two states as well as New Zealand, Australia, Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Sicily. In the summer, he leads the Adult Choir Camp and the Choral Conducting Institute at the Interlochen Center for the Arts.

Prior to coming to the University of Michigan in 1988, Dr. Blackstone served on the music faculties of Phillips University in Oklahoma, Westmont College in California, and Huntington University in Indiana.

Casey Robards

Music Director, Pianist, Vocal Coach

Korean  adoptee, Casey Robards (SuhJung Ahn) is a music director, pianist and vocal coach known for her sensitive musicality, expert collaborative skill, stylistic versatility and expressive conducting.  Sought after as a collaborative artist, she has given recitals throughout the United States, Europe, Central and South America and Asia.

Robards maintains an active recital schedule, including separate touring programs with Karen Slack, Kenneth Overton, and LaToya Lain promoting justice and healing through art song and spirituals by Black composers. She has been dedicated to the performance, research and promotion of music by Black composers and writers for nearly three decades, with a focus on the Negro spiritual as well as places of intersection between gospel, jazz and classical music. Her latest CD releases include “What Dreams We Have (Lexicon Classics)” a project of art song settings of the poetry of Paul Laurence Dunbar with baritone Kenneth Overton, which debuted at #10 on Billboard Chart for Top Classical Music Album, and “Contemplations (Navona Records)” with Bernhard Scully, formerly of the Canadian Brass. She has also recorded albums with Fangye Sun (violin) with Blue Griffin and Sara Fraker (oboe) with MSR Classics.

As conductor, in 2024-2025, Robards debuts with Kentucky Opera (All is Calm), Indianapolis Opera (Il Barbiere di Siviglia), Opera Columbus (Le Nozze di Figaro), El Paso Opera (Bon Appétit) and Soo Opera (Susannah).She has worked as repetiteur for Santa Fe Opera, New Orleans Opera, and has conducted Three Decembers, The Scarf (South Bend Lyric Opera); Die Zauberflöte, La Bohème, La Traviata, Gianni Schicchi, Suor Angelica (Bay View, Michigan), Carmen (Wichita, Kansas) and Water Riot in Beta: A Cyberpunk Rock Opera (Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago). Robards is Music Director of Ensemble Concert 21, a chamber group devoted to the performance of contemporary music and the mentorship of young and emerging composers.

Dr. Robards is the foremost expert on John D. Carter, the subject of her dissertation. Her faculty affiliations include University of Illinois (current), Indiana University, Oberlin Conservatory, and Bay View Music Festival (2008-2023). She has been an invited speaker at the Cincinnati Song Initiative Fellowship of the Song, and served as a panelist for the Dallas Hart Institute for Women Conductors. Alongside Dr. Everett McCorvey, Kenneth Overton and LaToya Lain, she presents workshops and lectures to faculty and students who are interested in learning more about the performance practice and history of Negro Spirituals. Robards received the Henri Kohn Memorial Award for outstanding achievement at the Tanglewood Music Festival. Robards chairs the Sacred in Opera Initiative for the National Opera Association and has been active in IKCAS, NATS, and CMS.  She has twice served on the Advisory Panel for the National Endowment for the Arts (Opera) and is a Voting Member of the Recording Academy. Robards was selected to participate in the 2024 International Gugak Workshop in Seoul, Korea. 

Haley Bangs | Flute

Second Flute, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra

Haley Bangs, a native of Colorado Springs, CO, joined the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra as Second Flute in 2019. She previously served as Associate Principal Flutist of the Omaha Symphony Orchestra and Principal Flutist of the United States Navy Band in Washington, D.C. She has also performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Annapolis Symphony, Evansville Philharmonic, New World Symphony Orchestra, and the Colorado and Breckenridge Music Festival Orchestras. 

In addition to her performing career, Haley is a passionate educator. Her teaching career began as a flute instructor for Holland Music Studios in Rochester, NY in 2008. She also served as a group flute and oboe instructor for the Eastman School of Music’s New Horizons Band.  During the summer of 2009, she was a teaching assistant for the Seattle Youth Symphony’s summer music program, the Marrowstone Summer Music Festival.  From 2015-2017, Haley was the teaching assistant for the flute studio of Bonita Boyd at the Eastman School of Music, where she taught flute lessons and led studio classes for students of both the Eastman School of Music and University of Rochester. 

During her doctoral residency at the Eastman School of Music, Haley was a flute instructor for the Eastman Community Music School. She has also served as a teaching artist for the Very Young Composers’ Seminar, an educational program founded by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. Haley is a doctoral candidate at the Eastman School of Music where she earned her Bachelor of Music Degree in 2009. While performing in the U.S. Navy Band from 2009-2015, she was able to continue her graduate studies at the Catholic University of America and received her Master of Music Degree in 2015. During her free time, Haley can be found taking care of her two dogs, Annie and Daisy, and enjoying the outdoors as much as she can. She is also an avid skier and scuba diver.

Andy Hudson | Clarinet

Associate Professor of Clarinet, Lawrence University Conservatory of Music

Celebrated artist-teacher Andy Hudson joined the faculty of the Lawrence University Conservatory of Music as Associate Professor of Clarinet in the Fall of 2023. Performances by Hudson have been hailed as “a treat for the listener” (IAWM Journal) and have been praised for “an uncommon singularity of purpose, technical virtuosity, youthful vigor and a mature sensitivity” (The Clarinet). An “inspiring” (MMR) and “fearless” (Cacophony) performer, he has performed widely across North America, Europe, and Africa in solo, chamber, and orchestral settings settings at many of the world’s great venues, including Weill Recital Hall at New York’s Carnegie Hall, Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie, Chicago’s Symphony Center, the KKL Lucerne, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Alexandria Theater (Egypt), and numerous others. Hudson has been featured at national and international gatherings of the College Music Society and the International Clarinet Association, as a concerto soloist at The Midwest Clinic, and at the 2011 World Congress of the International Alliance for Women in Music.

Dr. Otis Murphy | Saxophone

Chair, Department of Woodwinds; Professor of Saxophone, Indiana University Jacobs School of Music

Otis Murphy is professor of music in saxophone and chair of the Woodwinds Department at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, joining the faculty at age 28 and becoming one of the youngest faculty members in its history. He is in great demand as an international soloist and clinician, having performed in more than 20 countries across North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. 

Murphy was a prizewinner in the Adolphe Sax International Saxophone Competition of Belgium and the Jean-Marie Londeix International Saxophone Competition in France and has performed in venues including Carnegie Hall’s Isaac Stern Auditorium, Merkin Hall (New York City), Casals Hall (Tokyo), Palau de la Musica (Valencia), and Muziekgebouw aan het Ij (Amsterdam). 

He has performed on more than 15 recordings, including four solo albums receiving critical acclaim. He performed Ellen Taaffe Zwilich’s Quintet for Alto Saxophone and String Quartet with the Pacifica Quartet on its album Contemporary Voices, which won a Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance. 

Murphy has taught at music schools and festivals worldwide, including the Paris Conservatory, Amsterdam Conservatory, Cologne Academy of Music, Hamamatsu International Wind Instrument Academy and Festival, London Royal College of Music, and many more. His students have received numerous awards and enjoy careers as performers, educators, and members of premier military concert bands. 

Murphy holds Doctor of Music and Master of Music degrees from the Jacobs School of Music, earning the Performer’s Certificate accolade, and he studied in France under a Fulbright Fellowship at the Conservatoire National Régional de Musique in Cergy-Pontoise, earning the Prix de Perfectionnement à l’unanimité. He and his wife, pianist Haruko Murphy, live in Bloomington, Indiana, and are dedicated parents of their six children.

Benjamin Kamins | Bassoon

Lynette S. Autrey Professor of Bassoon at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University

Benjamin Kamins is currently the Lynette S. Autrey Professor of Bassoon at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University after serving for as Principal Bassoonist of the Houston Symphony for over two decades. He studied in his native Los Angeles with Norman Herzberg and began his professional career as associate principal bassoonist of the Minnesota Orchestra. In addition to his tenure with the Houston Symphony, he has served as a guest principal bassoonist with the New York Philharmonic and the Boston Symphony. As a soloist with the Houston Symphony, Kamins was often featured playing concerti of Mozart, Weber and Vivaldi, and in 2002, he played the world premiere of Pierrot, a concerto composed by Larry Lipkis and commissioned for him by the Houston Symphony. Kamins has been very active in chamber music having participated in such festivals as Marlboro, Tanglewood, and Ravinia. His students currently play in orchestras and teach in universities throughout the U.S. and abroad. A founding member of the Aurora and Epicurean Wind Quintets, Kamins is active nationally and internationally as a solo and chamber musician.

Nermis Mieses | Oboe 

Associate Professor of Oboe at Michigan State University

Nermis Mieses is Associate Professor of Oboe at Michigan State University and on the faculty of the Sewanee Summer Music Festival. A Loree Artist, she maintains an active international career as a soloist, recitalist, and masterclass presenter. Her artistic work reflects a commitment to expressive depth, tonal refinement, and historically informed approaches to repertoire spanning the Baroque to the 21st century.

Equally devoted to orchestral and chamber performance, she served as Principal Oboe of the Detroit Opera and the Michigan Philharmonic Orchestra. Her orchestral collaborations include appearances with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, National Repertory Orchestra, Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra, Sphinx Organization orchestras, ProMusica Chamber Orchestra, Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Lexington Philharmonic.

Internationally, her performances include collaborations with Camerata Colonial in the Dominican Republic, the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra, the Thy Chamber Music Festival in Denmark, and the Chineke! Orchestra in Europe. As a concerto soloist, she has appeared with the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, Flagstaff Symphony Orchestra, Bach Chorale of Grand Rapids and Chamber Orchestra, and the Orquesta del Valle de Sula in Honduras.

Her debut recording, Oboe in Hues, features solo oboe works by the French oboist-composer Gilles Silvestrini and highlights the instrument’s expressive range through a collection of evocative character pieces.

Her artistry has been recognized through honors including the University of Michigan Paul Boylan Alumni Award, the Barbirolli International Oboe Competition in England, and the First International Oboe Competition of FEMUSC in Brazil. She previously served as Chair of the IDRS Gillet-Fox International Competition for Oboe and serves regularly as a juror for competitions including the Norma Hooks Young Artist Competition, the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, MTNA competitions, and double reed competitions throughout the United States and Latin America.

Deeply committed to the artistic formation of the next generation of oboists, Dr. Mieses cultivates a studio culture defined by high artistic and professional standards and a strong sense of belonging. Her mentorship calls students to excellence while cultivating independence, intellectual insight, and a distinct artistic voice. Graduates of her studio are active as performers, educators, arts administrators, and instrument specialists throughout the United States and internationally. Prior to joining Michigan State University, she held teaching positions at Bowling Green State University, the University of Kentucky, Ohio Northern University, and Hillsdale College.

A native of Puerto Rico, she earned her BM from the Conservatory of Music of Puerto Rico and her MM and DMA from the University of Michigan, where she studied with Nancy Ambrose King. She frequently collaborates with her husband, pianist Xavier Suarez, and is the proud mother of two children

Ashley Hall-Tighe | Trumpet

Adjunct Instructor of Trumpet, University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM)

Ashley Hall-Tighe is an internationally renowned musician, educator and certified life coach. With her exuberant and relatable approach and her passion for building authentic and meaningful connections, Ashley enjoys engaging audiences as a soloist and ensemble musician, facilitating coaching courses, working with individuals in her private coaching practice, and leading professional and personal development workshops.

Ashley’s work as a soloist has taken her around the world. From the Sydney Opera House to the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing, China, she radiates an “energetic joy” (Rochester Post Bulletin) through her “warm tone, stunning technique and expressive artistry” (Cincinnati Enquirer). Performing as a soloist both with ensembles and as a recitalist, 2024 highlights include solo performances with the Roanoke Symphony and Rock Hill Symphony as well as recitals in Hong Kong, Australia, and throughout the United States. From August 2023-May 2024, Ashley was a touring member of Canadian Brass, performing concerts around the world and entertaining audiences in the iconic and light-hearted style for which the group is known.  

In 2019, she was the first trumpeter to perform for the esteemed concert series, Matinee Musicale in Cincinnati, OH.  Of this performance, classical music critic Janelle Gelfand said, “In each piece, she displayed a warm tone, stunning technique and expressive artistry. Best of all was the joy she found in each note, and that communicated to the audience.”

Ashley is releasing her debut solo album with pianist Ana Maria Otamendi, Upcycle, in the fall of 2024. This collection of transcriptions for trumpet and piano was created by Ashley’s husband Nathaniel Tighe, and it honors the artist’s common European classical roots while presenting a vision of what might have been possible if the modern trumpet was a solo instrument at the time these works were conceived.

As an educator, Ashley combines her passion for whole-person development with a methodical approach to trumpet improvement.  Her teaching on respiratory mechanics, strategic practice planning, upper register development, as well as her personal stories of growth make her one of the most sought-after guest clinicians and educators on the trumpet.  She has served on the faculties of the University of Dayton, St. Olaf College, University of North Carolina School of the Arts, and the Longy School of Music of Bard College.

Ashley was the founding director of the Longy School of Music’s Career Coaching Program from 2019-2022, which helps students develop careers that align with their values.  She hosted a weekly speaker series at Longy, “The Multifaceted Career”, and interviewed over 60 artist leaders who embody an expansive, integrated narrative of holistic career success. Ashley is an Associate Certified Coach with the International Coaching Federation and trained with Co-Active Training Institute and Graydin.  In her private coaching practice Ashley offers individual coaching sessions that empower artists to unlock their potential and align their values with their creative lives.  She is a Certified Start with Heart Facilitator through Graydin and leads professional development coaching courses for institutions seeking cultural transformation.  

Ashley co-owns Maple Rise Music, a Cincinnati-based publishing company she founded with Nathaniel Tighe. She is also a Yamaha Performing Artist and endorses GR mouthpieces.

Ashley lives in Cincinnati, OH, with her husband and their two amazing children. 

Denise Tryon | Horn

Associate Professor of Horn, Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University 

Denise Tryon is the Associate Professor of Horn at Indiana University, Jacobs School of Music. Since 2019, Tryon has been the 4th horn of the famed American Horn Quartet. Previously, Tryon was fourth horn of The Philadelphia Orchestra as well as holding positions with the Detroit, Baltimore, Columbus, and New World Symphonies. She also served as the Professor of Horn at both the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music from 2018 – 2023 and the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore from 2007 – 2019.

“Denise Tryon’s command of the lower register provides the strongest foundation of sound for a horn section, and yet, her sound is supple and flexible.”
—Yannick Nezet-Sequin, music director of the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Metropolitan Opera

In 1989 Tryon graduated from the Interlochen Arts Academy and in 1993 received her Bachelor of Music degree from the New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) in Boston. She received the Presidential Scholarship while in the Artist Diploma Program at NEC with the Taiyo Wind Quintet, which won the Coleman Chamber Competition and worked with great composers such as John Harbison, Luciano Berio, György Ligeti, and Elliott Carter.

An active and accomplished educator, Tryon is sought after for her masterclasses. She has taught extensively in the United States, Scandinavia, Europe, Asia and South America. Beth Graham of the Baltimore Symphony and founder of the Warsaw Horn Workshops says, “In just a few seconds of listening to a student she can diagnose deep-seated problems and give immediate fixes, often with a healthy dose of humor as well. The transformations she can accomplish in just a short time are truly remarkable.” Tryon has been a featured artist at many International Horn Society (IHS) Symposiums and Regional Workshops. She has been a Featured Artist at the Nordic Hornfest, BIBA (Blekinge International Brass Academy), Warsaw Horn Workshops, CORNO Brass Music Workshop, Orford Winds, and Domaine Forget. Since 2017, she’s been a faculty member at Rafael Mendez Brass Institute in Denver, CO. Frequently she is on faculty at Carnegie Hall’s National Youth Orchestra (NYO).

Tryon released her debut solo album, SO•LOW in 2015. As a part of this album, she commissioned 4 new pieces for low horn and piano. Said in a review by Gramophone Magazine “Tryon plays these works with sonorous fluidity and dexterity, ending with a bit of captivating acrobatics.” The American Prize awarded her with the Special Judges Citation for “Important Commitment to the Music of Our Time”.

A Pair of Aces, a duo horn album between Tryon and Karl Pituch, Principal Horn of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra was released in 2017. It won a Silver Medal in the Global Music Awards.

Hope Springs Eternal, Tryon’s second solo album, where she commissioned 6 new pieces for low horn, was released in 2020. The American Prize named Tryon and this album as the Winner for Instrumental Performance in 2022.

In 2009, Tryon founded Audition Mode, a yearly horn seminar, with Karl Pituch. The seminar focuses on the skills horn players need to be successful in orchestral auditions.

Randall Hawes | Trombone

Bass Trombonist, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Retired

Bass Trombonist Randall Hawes joined the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in 1985 and retired in 2020. Immediately following his tenure with the DSO, Hawes was guest bass trombonist with the Cleveland Orchestra for four years. Prior to joining the DSO he was with the Woody Herman Thundering Herd for two years and then a fellow at Tanglewood Music Center. In 1995 Hawes was invited by Sir Georg Solti to join the World Orchestra for Peace, with which he has participated in tours and recordings with Solti’s successor, Valery Gergiev. He has been a member of the Saito-Kinen Orchestra at the Seiji Ozawa Matsumoto Festival since 2011. 

He’s also performed with Chicago Chamber Musicians, Music of the Baroque, Summit Brass and many of the world’s major orchestras including Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and San Francisco. His distinguished teaching career includes faculty appointments at the Cleveland Institute of Music and the Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University, as well as master class and guest artist appearances in Japan, Europe and throughout the United States. 

Hawes has performed and recorded more than 30 albums with the DSO under music directors Gunther Herbig, Neeme Järvi and Leonard Slatkin, and is featured on four albums for bass trombone and piano with pianist collaborator Kathryn Goodson; he also appears on the recent recordings of the National Brass Ensemble: The Antiphonal Music of Gabrieli and Deified. He received a bachelor’s degree in music education from Central Michigan University, where he studied with renowned trombone pedagogue, William Rivard and at Carnegie Mellon University with Byron B. McColloh, who was bass trombonist with the Pittsburgh Symphony.

Ada Brooks | Euphonium

Euphonium, West Point Band

Ada Brooks is an award-winning euphonium player who joined the West Point Band in 2024. Before securing her position with the West Point Band, Brooks served as a member of the Air National Guard Band of the Southwest and the Dallas Brass Band, while also maintaining a studio of more than 30 private lesson students. She has found success in a variety of international competitions, including winning first place in the Leonard Falcone International Euphonium Student Competition, first place in the International Women's Brass Conference Mock Audition, and second place in the International Euphonium Tuba Festival Artist Solo Competition. She was named the hireable runner-up in an audition with the U.S. Air Force Band and won an audition with the U.S. Air Force Band of Mid-America.

Originally hailing from Montana, her love of the euphonium brought her across the country at the age of 16 to complete her high school education at the Interlochen Arts Academy. She went on to graduate summa cum laude from the University of North Texas, where she earned both her bachelor's and master's degrees in euphonium performance under the tutelage of Dr. Brian Bowman and Dr. David Childs.

In her free time, Brooks enjoys rock climbing, mountain biking with her dog, and camping in her homemade teardrop trailer.

Clara Warnaar | Percussion

Percussionist, Drummer, Composer

Clara Warnaar is a percussionist, drummer and composer living in New York. A member of the International Contemporary Ensemble, Clara tends towards collaborative, devised and interdisciplinary projects. As the drummer for the band Infinity Shred, Clara thrives at the intersection of rock, electronic, improvised, and composed music, and is sought out as a drummer and collaborator for having this particular versatile blend of skills.

Clara has appeared as a guest artist with the groups So Percussion, Yarn/Wire, the Bang on a Can Orchestra, Ensemble Signal, and the American Modern Ensemble. Recent projects include: "Farming" written by Ted Hearne for The Crossing, “The Force of Things” by Ash Fure, “PLACE” by Ted Hearne and Saul Williams (BAM), “Proving Up” by Missy Mazzoli (Opera Omaha), “Reich/Richter” by Steve Reich (The Shed), and “Playground/Run” by Ellen Reid. Clara has played on Broadway, on the show "Into the Woods."

As a drummer, Clara has performed on and written music for the three most recent Infinity Shred albums, and has recorded with antiphonal chamber metal band “Real Loud”. As a percussionist, she has appeared on major film soundtracks, including "White Noise" “The Fate of the Furious” and “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” and on Grammy-nominated albums by some of today's leading new music voices.

In 2019, Clara founded the series “A New Age for New Age”, which aims to reimagine New Age music by commissioning artists to offer fresh interpretations of the confusing genre. The series has released 6 volumes featuring over 60 artists.

Clara’s own music merges field recordings, classical music and electronics, to create sound environments that evoke magic realism. To date, she has put out two solo albums.