Performers

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.

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.

Anne H. Goldberg-Baldwin blurs the definitions of music and dance as a composer, choreographer, performer, and educator, a vanguard of interdisciplinary performance art. She is co-founder and Artistic Director of the Tempus Continuum Ensemble, a new music ensemble premiering and performing the works of emerging and living composers. Goldberg’s music has been premiered and performed by ensemble mise-en, the Boston New Music Institute, the Novatrio, NeoLit Ensemble, and at festivals such as the International Ferienkurse für Neue Musik Darmstadt and the Summer Institute for Contemporary Performance Practice at New England Conservatory. Her artistry has been featured in New York venues such as Symphony Space, the Kitchen, the Flea Theater, and many others nationally and internationally.

The McCormick Percussion Group is recognized by critics and composers throughout the world for their unique recordings and interpretations of music decidedly outside of the mainstream. MPG often collaborates with other non-percussion musicians to explore and develop new trends of compositional thought. Among the most recorded ensembles of the genre, MPG has recorded many award winning albums for Ravello Records (dist. by Naxos). To ensure the original intent of each work, composers are often invited to rehearse with the ensemble and supervise recording sessions. Under the direction of Robert McCormick, MPG is a resident ensemble at the University of South Florida in Tampa.

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.

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.

Eric Honour has developed an international reputation as a composer, saxophonist, and audio engineer. A member of the Athens Saxophone Quartet, he performs regularly throughout Europe and the United States, and has presented lectures and master classes at many leading institutions.

Elaine Huckle's (b. 1947) first singing efforts took place at her local church when she was 7 years of age, where she sang "O Come all ye faithful" as a solo. Her parents walked home in disbelief, newly aware that their daughter could sing rather well.

Dr. Sang-Hie Lee, Professor of Music at the University of South Florida, is an active teacher, pianist, researcher, author, and cross-disciplinary administrator. As the founder of Ars Nostra, she performs piano ensemble music by significant living composers: her music is featured on six albums by Ravello, Centaur, Capstone, and Albany labels. Lee is the principal author of Scholarly Research in Music: Shared and Disciplinary-Specific Practices (McGraw Hill, 2012-2013, Routledge 2017, 2022). She is the primary editor of Perspectives in Performing Arts Medicine: A Multidisciplinary Approach (Springer 2020) and was the founding Editor of the Cultural Expressions in Music Monographs Series (College Music Society 2008-2014). She is the author of 74 scholarly publications, has presented 85 conference papers, keynotes, and lectures, hosted seven international conferences, and performed numerous solo and chamber-music concerts in the United States, South Korea, China, Serbia, Brazil, Italy, and Canada.

Brooklyn-based pianist Beth Levin is celebrated as a bold interpreter of challenging works, from the Romantic canon to leading modernist composers. The New York Times praised her “fire and originality,” while The New Yorker called her playing “revelatory.” Debuting as a child prodigy with the Philadelphia Orchestra at age twelve, Levin was subsequently taught and guided by legendary pianists such as Rudolf Serkin, Leonard Shure and Dorothy Taubman, Another of her teachers, Paul Badura-Skoda, praised Levin as a pianist of rare qualities and the highest professional caliber. Her deep well of experience allows an intuitive connection with the great pianistic traditions, to Bach, to Mozart, to Beethoven.

Lucia Lin has performed as soloist, as chamber musician, and in orchestras throughout the United States and internationally in a diverse multi-faceted career that also includes teaching and collaborative efforts with both visual and performing arts. Lin made her debut at age 11, performing the Mendelssohn Concerto with the Chicago Symphony and went on to be a prize winner in numerous competitions, including Moscow’s prestigious International Tchaikovsky Competition. Described as a soloist with “virtuosity and insight” who is “passionate and graceful” (Indianapolis Star), and whose playing has “a genuine fresh quality not often heard” (Cincinnati Enquirer), Lin’s performances include solo appearances with orchestras in Europe as well as a solo recital at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall.

While Lubet was written works in many media, his creative output in this millennium has focused almost exclusively on his own performance, mostly on a variety of plucked string instruments associated with American folk traditions. These include acoustic guitar, mountain dulcimer, National steel guitar, ukulele, and electric and acoustic bass. He performs solo and with groups including the Japanese-inspired ensemble-Ma, Deep State, with pianist Guerino Mazzola, One World, with Kurdish-Canadian kamanche (spike fiddle) player, Shahriyar Jamshidi, and a jazz duo (name tbd) with saxophonist Christopher Rochest. In addition to his own works, many composers have written works for Lubet, in particular composers from China, where he was lectured, taught, and concertized live and on television. Of late, he has become particularly well-known for his unique approach to mountain dulcimer.

Described as "...a performer of virtuosic ability and one of the new generation of recitalists and gifted players from around the world", Matthew Marshall is one of New Zealand's leading classical guitarists.

Kim McCormick is on the artist faculty of the University of South Florida and a member of the Opera Tampa Orchestra, the Florida Wind Band, and the McCormick Duo for flute and percussion. As an advocate for new music, she has commissioned and premiered numerous new works for flute. Her recordings on the Honeyrock and Capstone labels have received high critical acclaim in some of the leading audiophile journals. She has performed extensively in the United States and has also recently given concerts in Ecuador, Canada, France, China and South Korea. She is Past President of the Florida Flute Association and holds the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of North Texas.

Robert McCormick is currently Professor of Music at the University of South Florida in Tampa. He served as principal percussionist/assistant timpanist with the Florida Orchestra for 20 seasons. He is a former member of the Harry Partch Ensemble and often performs and records with high profile artists of all genres. In 2010, he conducted the premiere performance of Chan Hae Lee’s Korean folk opera Simcheongga at the National Center of Performing Arts in Seoul. In March 2014 McCormick performed the world premiere of Baljinder Sekhon’s Double Percussion Concerto at Carnegie Hall with percussionist Lee Hinkle. McCormick was the 2006 recipient of the Florida Music Educator of the Year Award; the 2007 Grand Prize in the Keystone Percussion Composition Award; the 2010 University Distinguished Teacher Award; and the 2015 Percussive Arts Society Lifetime Achievement in Education Award. He has also received several Global Music Awards for his albums, many of which are published on the Ravello Records label and distributed by Naxos. McCormick proudly endorses Encore Mallets, Grover Pro Percussion, and Zildjian Cymbals.

Priscilla McLean has had a long and illustrious career as composer and performer, first as composer of orchestral, chamber, solo and choral music, then beginning in 1974 as composer and performer of electronic and electroacoustic music, and recently as video artist as well. With husband Barton McLean she toured as The McLean Mix , from 1974 until 2010, fulltime since 1983, performing their music in yearly concert tours and giving audience interactive installations in 42 U.S. states, Canada, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, and Malaysian Borneo.

Having been taught and mentored by Henry Cowell and having developed his electronic music techniques in the studios under the direction of Ianis Xenakis, Barton McLean has had a 20-year teaching career in which, as director of the electronic music/music technology programs at Indiana University-South bend and the University of Texas-Austin he pioneered the first large-scale commercially-available digital sequencer (Synthi 100) and sampler (Fairlight CMI), and with his wife Priscilla produced 14 LP recordings and ten CDs, some of which have become staples in electronic music courses. In 1983 he and Priscilla McLean left academia to develop their electroacoustic duo The McLean Mix, which has proven itself in hundreds of concerts and installations throughout the U.S., Canada, Europe, and the Pacific Rim, as a full-time career.

Lisa Miles is a creative artist of 25+ years from Pittsburgh PA. Uniquely blending the arts and humanities, she composes and performs, is the author of two books and a personal and professional development consultant. She has a B.A. in English and Applied Music minor (Youngstown State). Grants have included Meet the Composer and PA Arts & Humanities Initiative; recent recognition has been inclusion in John Shelton Ivany's "Top 21" (Natl. News Bureau).

Violinist Mikylah Myers' performances have been called “energetic and virtuosic” by the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and “captivating” by Boulder, Colorado’s Daily Camera. An award-winning chamber musician, Myers is the violin professor at West Virginia University and Coordinator of the String Area. She was formerly concertmaster of the San Juan Symphony in Durango, Colorado, and a member of the Moores Piano Trio in Houston, Texas, which was the silver prize winner at the 2000 Carmel Chamber Music Competition. During her time in Houston, Myers regularly performed with the Houston Symphony and the Houston Grand Opera. She was also a violinist with the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, Florida.  She has performed internationally as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral player in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Italy, Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, and Spain, and was a 19-year member of the Britt Festival Orchestra in Jacksonville, Oregon.

Bryan Pezzone is the consummate cross-over pianist of his generation. He excels in classical, contemporary, jazz, and experimental genres and is well known for his versatility and virtuosity as a recording and performing artist, improviser, and composer.