Angela Massey’s debut album, “The Elements,” has been described as “beautiful and enchanting, the performances on this CD are magical!” by Jeanne Baxtresser, former principal flute of the New York Philharmonic. As a soloist, she has been a featured guest artist with the Tryon Concert Association, Kosciuszko Foundation in New York City, Artist Series of Tallahassee, and the National Flute Association. Outside of the United States, she has performed in England, France, Germany, Italy, Romania, and Switzerland. As Artistic Director and flutist of the Astralis Chamber Ensemble, she arranges and performs over sixty recitals each year. She holds a flute and piccolo position with the Southwest Florida Symphony and is the flute instructor at Florida Gulf Coast University. She was awarded prizes in the Alexander and Buono Competition, Frank Bowen Competition, Myrna Brown Competition, Tiziano Rosetti Competition in Switzerland, and a certificate in the Gheorghe Dima International Competition in Romania. Her instructors have been Jeanne Baxtresser, Alberto Almarza, Jack Wellbaum, Martha Kitterman, and Brooks de Wetter- Smith. She received degrees in flute performance from Carnegie Mellon University, University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and UNC at Chapel Hill. For more information, visit www.angelamasseyflute.com.
Venezuelan-American violinist and violist Paul Aguilar joined the Houston Symphony viola section in 2024. He has won top prizes at the Banff, Bordeaux, Fischoff, Melbourne, Wigmore Hall, and Manhattan International chamber music competitions as well as the Grand Prize at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. He has appeared in concert across North America and Europe, some highlights including Carnegie Hall, the Ravinia Festival, ChamberFest Cleveland, La Jolla Summerfest, Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival, the Heidelberg String Quartet Festival, and the Emilia-Romagna Festival. His chamber music collaborators include artists such as James Ehnes, Augustin Hadelich, Lawrence Power, Paul Watkins, and Jon Kimura Parker. He has studied at the Cleveland Institute of Music, Rice University, the Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía School in Madrid, and the University of Music and Performing Arts, in Vienna. His primary influences have been Jaime Laredo, Si-Yan Li, Gunter Pichler, and Gerhard Schulz. In addition to traveling and performing, Paul enjoys sharing music with his family, at his church, and throughout his community. Paul plays on a very fine violin and viola that were commissioned from master luthier Kevin Lee.
Since 2023, Joseph Skerik has served as violist of the Vega String Quartet, in residence at the Emory Chamber Music Society of Atlanta and Emory University. Quartet activities include recording for PBS and collaborating with the Juilliard Quartet, Zuill Bailey, Jon Kimura Parker, Mark O’Connor, Ettore Causa and Amy Moretti, with appearances at Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall, The National Gallery in Washington D.C. and venues in Charlotte, Raleigh, Mexico, Atlanta, New York, Memphis, Maine, Washington, Texas and Alaska. Joseph’s solo and chamber music accolades include the Yale School of Music’s Broadus Erle Prize in Chamber Music, and prizes in the Nedbal Viola Competition in Prague, American Viola Society Competition in Los Angeles and National YoungArts. Joseph also appears on series and festivals such as the Highlands-Cashiers Festival, Newport Classical, Classical Music Chicago, Montecito Music Festival, Tallgrass Chamber Music Festival, Methow Valley Festival, Vivace Festival and the Lake George Festival. He has also appeared on numerous tours for the Heifetz Institute as a soloist chamber musician. Committed to presenting chamber music in his home state, Joseph serves as co-artistic director of Viridian Strings, a chamber series in Northern Michigan.
Laura Usiskin enjoys a versatile career as a cellist and educator. Her playing has taken her to concert halls throughout the United States and Europe, including the Kennedy Center, Palazzo Chigi Saracini, Symphony Hall (Boston), Alice Tully Hall, Weill Hall, Zankel Hall, Merkin Hall, Miller Theatre, Barge Music, Steinway Hall, and Klavierhaus. While completing an Artist-In-Residency with the Montgomery Symphony Orchestra, Usiskin founded and served as the inaugural Executive Director of the Montgomery Music Project, an El Sistema strings program in Montgomery, Alabama. The program, now more than 10 years old, has given intensive string instruction to hundreds of low-income children across three counties. Usiskin is a member of the Bayberry String Quartet as well as the Atlanta-based new music group ensemble vim. She has served on the faculty of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, through which she founded the chamber series Chamber Music @ AEIVA, as well as Birmingham-Southern College. Usiskin graduated from Columbia University cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Neuroscience and Behavior, The Juilliard School with a Master of Music, and Yale University with a Doctor of Musical Arts. For more information, visit www.laurausiskin.com.
Violinist Seeun Baek has been praised for her expressive artistry and refined technique. A prizewinner of numerous international competitions, she has received First Prize at the New York International Competition, Fanny Mendelssohn International Competition, and Caneres Music Competition Vienna, among others. As a soloist, she has performed at Carnegie Weill Hall and Lincoln Center’s Bruno Walter Auditorium. She has appeared under distinguished conductors including Manfred Honeck, Marin Alsop, John Adams, and Tito Muñoz while serving as Concertmaster of the Juilliard Orchestra and Stony Brook Symphony Orchestra. She has also performed at major venues such as Alice Tully Hall, David Geffen Hall, Carnegie Hall, and Seoul Arts Center. A devoted chamber musician, she has worked with renowned artists including Emanuel Ax, Joel Krosnick, and members of the Emerson, Juilliard, and Shanghai Quartets. Passionate about championing underrepresented composers, Seeun is currently pursuing her Doctor of Musical Arts at Stony Brook University under Hagai Shaham, with a full scholarship and teaching assistantship, following her Master’s degree at The Juilliard School under Ronald Copes and Laurie Smukler, and her Bachelor’s degree summa cum laude from Seoul National University.
Thomas Maternik‑Piret, D.M.A. is a French cellist whose career spans continents, with performances in France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, Oman, Brazil, and the United States. He has appeared with ensembles such as the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, and toured internationally as both a orchestral and chamber musician. A laureate of multiple international competitions, he received first prizes at the Ealing International Chamber Music Festival (United Kingdom, 2008) and the ENM Fresnes Virtuosity and Excellence Competition (France, 2005), as well as second prize at the Glazunov International Cello Competition in Paris (France, 2003). In the U.S., Dr. Maternik‑Piret is regularly invited to perform with the Alabama Symphony Orchestra, the Mobile and Charleston Symphony Orchestras. He has held principal cello positions with the Columbus Symphony Orchestra, GA (2021–2022), Huntsville Symphony , AL(2017–2018), and Classical Concert Chamber Orchestra, CA (2015–2017). A passionate educator, he currently teaches at the University of Alabama and also serves on the faculties of Samford University Academy of the Arts and the Suzuki Talent Education Program in Birmingham. He is a founding member of Bama Baroque, performing on both baroque cello and viola da gamba.
Violinist-violist hybrid Christine Wu has been hailed for her “strikingly bold sound” and “technical facility” (Theater Jones), and performs internationally with recent solo appearances in Chicago, Sendai, New York City, and Berlin. Her live premiere of Jeffrey Mumford’s verdant cycles of deepening spring with the Chicago Composers Orchestra debuted on Jeffrey Mumford: Echoing Depths with Albany Records in 2023. She has also been named a recipient of an Audience Prize at the 8th Sendai International Music Competition, the CD Recording Prize with Outhere Music at the inaugural Berlin Prize for Young Artists competition, as well as the winner of the Cleveland Institute of Music Concerto Competition, Lynn Harrell Concerto Competition, and at the Aspen Music Festival and School’s Low Strings Concerto Competition as a violist. Christine studied at the Manhattan School of Music, The Juilliard School and Cleveland Institute of Music with Sylvia Rosenberg, Nicholas Mann, Masao Kawasaki, and Jaime Laredo. She also holds a minor in Business Management from Case Western Reserve University.
Kris Marshall is principal trumpet with the Southwest Florida Symphony Orchestra, Venice Symphony, and has built an active career performing with multiple orchestras across the state of Florida, including the Jacksonville Symphony, Charlotte Symphony, Naples Philharmonic, and regular performances with The Florida Orchestra. Marshall has been a featured soloist with the Southwest Florida Symphony Orchestra on many occasions and with the Fifth Avenue Chamber Orchestra in Naples, Florida. As a founding member of the Astralis Chamber Ensemble, he presents several chamber recital tours each year and participates in commission projects to increase the chamber repertoire for trumpet. He won first prize in the Florida Orchestra Young Artist Competition and was later selected to attend the Chautauqua Institution Summer Music Festival where he studied with Chuck Berginc, principal trumpet with the Phoenix Symphony Orchestra. Other significant instructors include Robert Smith and Ed Cord. Marshall pursued degrees in trumpet performance at Florida State University, Indiana University, and the University of South Florida.
Dr. Alexandra Snyder Dunbar is an award-winning harpsichordist, pianist, and pedagogue. At Juilliard, she received a full scholarship as a resident in the prestigious C. V. Starr Fellowship in the Doctoral program. Dr. Dunbar received a Masters of Music in Harpsichord Performance at Juilliard and a Bachelor of Music in Piano from Manhattan School of Music. Solo performances with orchestra include with Orchestra 54, Dorian Baroque Orchestra, The Memphis Chamber Music Society, The Symphony of Westchester, and The Chamber Orchestra of New York. Dr. Dunbar performed with The Dryden Ensemble, the Foundlings Ensemble, The New York Philharmonic, and the Atlanta Baroque Orchestra. Dr. Dunbar is on the music faculty at the University of North Georgia, Interlochen Arts Camp, and maintains a private teaching studio and busy performance calendar. Currently, she serves as organist at Madison First United Methodist Church in Athens, Georgia and is co-artistic director for Amethyst Baroque Ensemble.
Pianist Caroline Owen has played in venues across the U.S., Canada, and Europe, including the DiMenna Center for Classical Music (New York) and the Wiener Saal and Solitär at the Mozarteum (Salzburg). Owen was the winner of the Florida MTNA Young Artist Competition and a semifinalist in both the 14th International Mozart Competition Salzburg and International Keyboard Odyssiad. She also won the 2018 Pro-Mozart Society of Atlanta Competition, from which she received a scholarship to study at the Salzburg Mozarteum. Owen has performed at festivals including PianoFest in the Hamptons, PianoTexas, Atlantic Music Festival, and the Prague Piano Festival, and she has worked with artists including Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, Richard Goode, and Ursula Oppens. Owen is committed to promoting new music. She performed as soloist with the Orlando Contemporary Chamber Orchestra in 2021 and 2023, and her dance background has fostered unique multidisciplinary collaborations with composer Badie Khaleghian. Owen earned her Doctorate of Music in piano performance from Florida State University. She resides in Atlanta, where she holds positions at the University of Georgia and Emory University and serves as Co-Director of the Decatur Fine Arts Academy. For more information, visit www.carolineowenpiano.com.
Singaporean harpist Li Shan Tan enjoys a multifaceted career as a performer, arranger and writer. As the winner of the VI Mexico International Harp Competition, she made her debut with the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional at Mexico City’s Palacio de Bellas Artes. Most recently, Li Shan appeared as a soloist alongside cellist Yo-Yo Ma with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at the 2024 Tanglewood Music Festival. In 2022, she performed two sold-out opening night concerts with Vista Philharmonic Orchestra. She has also shared the stage with groups such as The Metropolitan Opera, the Boston Pops and The Beach Boys. As a founding member and resident arranger of Singapore’s premier harp quartet The Harp Quarterly, Li Shan aims to push the boundaries of her instrument and her music videos ranging from Metallica to Debussy have garnered millions of views online. Li Shan is also a freelance writer for the international harp magazine, HarpColumn. She is currently pursuing her Doctor of Musical Arts at the New England Conservatory with BSO Harpist Jessica Zhou, where she is the first harpist admitted to the doctoral program.
Harpist Isabel Cardenes is known for her sensitive musicianship and expressive style. Committed to using music for healing and social impact, she frequently performs in non-traditional and community-centered settings. Isabel has performed with the Harrisburg Symphony, Charleston Symphony, and made her Metropolitan Opera Orchestra debut at Carnegie Hall in 2022. She has attended Interlochen Arts Camp and several European festivals, and in 2024 performed Glière’s Harp Concerto with the Butler Symphony. An avid chamber musician, Isabel appeared at the 2025 Joseph Gingold Chamber Music Festival, performed with the Georgetown Chamber Players in Washington, D.C.,and now appears on their musician roster. She is a founding member of Trio con Brio, whose Porch Concert Series has featured over 100 musicians and raises more than $15,000 for Pittsburgh-area causes since 2020. At age eleven she began her harp studies with Pittsburgh Symphony principal harpist Gretchen Van Hoesen. She earned her Bachelor of Music from the Manhattan School of Music on a Presidential Scholarship, studying with Metropolitan Opera harpist Mariko Anraku. She is currently based in Philadelphia where she is pursuing her master’s degree at the Curtis Institute of Music with Philadelphia Orchestra principal harpist Elizabeth Hainen.