Akina Yura - Pianist

Pianist Akina Yura has performed throughout the United States, Europe, and her native Japan. Her debut CD, Mutsuo Shishido Complete Works for Piano (MSR Classics), has been hailed for “first rate” and “fantastic playing ... full of sensitive nuances” [American Record Guide]. Fanfare Magazine critic Peter Burwasser writes: “I cannot imagine a better advocate for this music than the wonderful young pianist Akina Yura.” Yura has appeared as a guest performer for the Pianodrom International Piano Festival in Albania and as a collaborative pianist for the Castleman Quartet Program. She is a prize-winner of numerous piano competitions, including the New Orleans Piano Institute Solo and Concerto Competitions, Music Teachers National Association Young Artist Competition, and Brevard Piano Competition.
A recipient of the Presser graduate award from the Frost School of Music, in Spring 2016, Yura received the Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in Keyboard Performance from the University of Miami Frost School of Music under the tutelage of Santiago Rodriguez. She also holds piano performance degrees from the University of Maryland at College Park (B.M.) and Indiana University Jacobs School of Music (M.M.). Her previous teachers include Edward Auer, Nathan Buckner, Shigeo Neriki, and Mikhail Volchok.
An active pedagogue, Yura has served as a member of the piano faculty in several music institutions and festivals in the U.S, including the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music Preparatory Program (Coral Gables, FL), New Mozart School of Music (Palo Alto, CA), and the Frost Young Musicians Camp (Coral Gables, FL). Currently, she is on the faculty at The College of Saint Rose (Albany, NY) and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (Troy, NY).

ANDREW ROSENBLUM - Pianist

Andrew Rosenblum enjoys a multifaceted career as a pianist and harpsichordist. Rosenblum won Second Prize in the harpsichord category of the 2018 International Bach Competition in Leipzig. In 2017, he won Second Prize in the harpsichord category of the Prague Spring International Music Competition, where he also won the prize for the best performance of Harpsycho by Petr Wajsar, a work commissioned for the competition. As a harpsichordist, he has soloed with Leipziger Barockorchester, Bohuslav Martinů Philharmonic Orchestra, Collegium 1704, and Civic Orchestra of Chicago. He plays continuo for Music of the Baroque Orchestra, Haymarket Opera, and Three Notch’d Road.
Rosenblum is on the Piano Staff of the Chicago Symphony Chorus, as well as the Piano Faculty and Harpsichord Faculty of the Heifetz International Music Institute. He has been on the Piano Staff of Lyric Opera of Chicago, Northwestern University, Cleveland Institute of Music, and Cleveland Orchestra Chorus. He has performed as a pianist at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, Alice Tully Hall, The Kennedy Center, and The Phillips Collection.
An avid performer of new music, Rosenblum performed at the Chicago Ustvolskaya Festival in 2017, and the Julius Eastman Portrait Concert at the Chicago Cultural Center in 2018. His work with living composers includes premiering Curiosities for solo harpsichord by Diana Rosenblum at the Eastman School of Music; co-leading a composition workshop and competition at Roosevelt University with flutist Shanna Gutierrez; and recording songs by Lori Laitman for a two-CD set on Naxos.

LINDSAY GARRITSON - Pianist

Lindsay Garritson has performed throughout the United States and abroad since the age of four. She has appeared on stages such as Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and Place des Arts (Montreal), and has been featured as soloist with the Phoenix Symphony Orchestra, Charleston Symphony Orchestra, Eastern Connecticut Symphony Orchestra, Las Colinas Symphony Orchestra (Texas), Orchestre Métropolitain (Montreal), among others.
An award-winning performer, Lindsay has received top prizes at the Montreal International Piano Competition, USASU Bösendorfer International Piano Competition, and the Mozarteum International Chopin Competition (Salzburg). She was invited as one of thirty participants internationally to compete in the 2013 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.
An avid chamber musician, Lindsay has performed with artists such as Ani Kavafian, Elmar Oliveira, and Carter Brey. She is currently a member of the Bergonzi Piano Trio with violinist Scott Flavin and cellist Ross Harbaugh. Since 2018, she has been a collaborative pianist for the prestigious Steans Institute at the Ravinia Festival.
Lindsay is a passionate advocate for new music, and her Carnegie Hall solo recital debut in November 2019 featured the world premiere of Carl Vine's Piano Sonata No. 4, a work written for her. Additionally, her second solo album titled "Aphorisms: Piano Music of Carl Vine" was just released.
Lindsay holds degrees from Principia College (B.A. in Music), Yale School of Music (M.M. and Artist Diploma), and the University of Miami (D.M.A.). Her piano teachers include Santiago Rodriguez, Boris Berman, and Luiz de Moura Castro.

INESA GEGPRIFTI - Pianist

Albanian pianist Inesa Gegprifti has performed as a soloist and chamber musician throughout Europe, U.S.A, and South America. Noted performances include appearances with the National Radio Television Orchestra of Albania and the Indian Hill Orchestra, chamber concerts in Italy, Slovenia, and Puerto Rico, as well as artist residencies at the “Vivace Vilnius International Summer Festival,” International Portogruaro Festival “A tempo,” the Conservatory of Cuenca, and the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo in Ecuador. Dr. Gegprifti has also appeared as a lecturer at the University of North Texas, Metropolitan State University of Denver, Conservatorio de Música de Puerto Rico – San Juan, and Heidelberg University – Ohio. Over the years, Dr. Gegprifti has pursued her piano studies under the guidance of Valbona Kasaj, Dario de Rosa, Maureen Jones, Alberto Miodini, Igor Cognolato, Max Levinson, Evelyne Brancart, Naoko Takao, and Santiago Rodriguez. A graduate of the Boston Conservatory at Berklee (B.M.) and Indiana University (M.M.), she completed her D.M.A. at the Frost School of Music, UM. She is one of the founding members of Kaleidoscope MusArt, a non-profit organization based in Miami, dedicated to bridging the gap between canonical classical music and rarely heard or recently composed works while prominently featuring living composers and emerging artists. Dr. Gegprifti is on the faculty of the Superior Academy of Music, the Frost Preparatory Program, and the Frost Young Musicians Camp. Currently, she also teaches as Adjunct Faculty at the Keyboard Department of the Frost School of Music – University of Miami.

MARIA SUMAREVA - Pianist

Pianist Maria Sumareva has been heard as a soloist and as a collaborative pianist in Moldova, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Romania, Germany, Hungary, and across the United States. Her repertory reflects her versatile musical interests spanning from Baroque to newly composed works. Sumareva has appeared in international festivals including Budapest Spring Festival (Hungary), Les Nuits Pianistiques, International Festival “Days of New Music” (Moldova), Northern Lights Music Festival, Festival Miami, and Festival Baltimore (U.S.A.). She has performed as a soloist with orchestras including the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Moldova, National Chamber Orchestra of Moldova, and Rowan University Orchestra, with conductors Jean-Bernard Pommier, Christoff Escher, Didier Talpain, Salvatore Scarpa, Valentin Doni, Mihail Secikin, and Oleg Palymsky. Her live performances have been broadcast on Moldovan, Romanian, and Hungarian radio and television stations.
Sumareva won awards at numerous national and international competitions in Europe and the United States. Winning the 2013 Graduate Presser Music Award at the University of Miami made possible her recording debut with “The 35 Keyboard Sonatinas by J.A. Benda” (the first recording of the complete set), released on Élan Recordings in 2015. She holds a D.M.A. in Piano Performance and Pedagogy from Frost School of Music, as well as undergraduate and graduate degrees from Rowan University and Indiana University-Bloomington. Her teachers and mentors include Lia Oxinoit, Irina Bivol, Anatol Lapikus, Veda Zuponcic, Menahem Pressler, Naoko Takao, and Santiago Rodriguez. She is a member of Beyond Artists and is supporting IRC.org and Friends of the Earth.

REDI LLUPA - Pianist

Albanian pianist Redi Llupa has distinguished himself by performing in prestigious venues in Europe, North and South America, and Asia. An avid advocate of contemporary repertoire, Llupa continuously collaborates with and performs music by living composers. He is the dedicatee of Aleksandër Peçi’s Muzikë Kabaistike, Ermir Bejo’s Op. 1, and Joseph Klein’s Der Saus und Braus for solo piano. Since 2015, he worked closely with Pulitzer Prize winning composer George Walker, whose piano sonatas constituted Mr. Llupa’s dissertation topic. He gave the world premiere performance of Walker’s complete piano sonatas in 2017 at Kaleidoscope MusArt’s concert season. Noted was also the April 2018 performance at the Eastman School of Music in honor of the composer’s 95th birthday where Llupa was invited personally by Dr. Walker to represent his pianistic output.
In May of 2019, he gave the first European performance of the complete sonatas at ReMusica International Festival in Pristina, Kosovo. An active performer and promoter of music by living Albanian composers, Llupa has given numerous world and U.S. premieres of works by Aleksandër Peçi, Thomas Simaku, Rafet Rudi, Vasil S. Tole, and Ermir Bejo. As a guest artist and lecturer, Mr. Llupa has been invited by prestigious institutions, such as the Eastman School of Music, the University of North Texas, the University of Louisville, the University of Oregon, the University of Miami, the University of Virginia, Oklahoma University, the University of Arts in Tirana, the National University of Natal, and Universitad de Caldas. Llupa’s engagements have included those at Festival Baltimore at UMBC, PIANODROM International Festival in Tirana, ReMusica International Festival in Pristina, James Madison Contemporary Music Festival in Virginia, and New Century New Voices in Vermont.

Unheard-of//Ensemble

Ford Fourqurean (clarinet), Matheus Souza (violin), Issei Herr (cello), and Daniel Anastasio (piano) form the core of Unheard-of//Ensemble, a contemporary chamber ensemble dedicated to connecting communities across the United States through the development and performance of new music. Unheard-of is committed to the idea that new music belongs in every community, and implements this mission by performing in locations out of the reach of many new music organizations.
Unheard-of//Ensemble’s 2021 spring and summer features performances and workshops with Kettle Corn New Music, University of Tennessee- Chattanooga, and Manhattan School of Music, premiering Extinct Angels by Nirmali Fenn and our Barlow Endowment Commission by Reiko Füting. They will present their third Collaborative Composition Initiative Workshop this summer bringing together twelve composer participants to develop new compositions.

Unheard-of has received support from the Johnstone Fund for New Music, Dwight and Ursula Mamlok Foundation, Tennessee Arts Commission, Foundation for Contemporary Arts, Barlow Endowment, and New York Women Composers Organization. Unheard-of is a recipient of a Chamber Music America Ensemble Forward Grant made possible with support of the New York Community Trust. They are commissioning Christopher Stark for the 2021-22 season to create a 55 minute concert-length work on the climate emergency thanks to a Chamber Music America Classical Commissioning Grant.
Past seasons included over 100 premieres performed as part of their touring presenting performances, workshops, and master classes with University of Florida, Florida State University, University of Central Florida, the Manhattan School of Music Composition Studio and University of Texas- Arlington, Georgia State University, a guest residency at Cornell, Washington and Jefferson College, the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and performances at the Art Institute of Chicago, PianoForte (Chicago), the Johnstone Fund series at Short North Stage (Columbus, OH), the Applause New Music Concert Series (Texas), Miami University (OH), the University of Louisville, Columbus State University, Marywood University (PA), University of Alabama- Birmingham, University of Tennessee- Chattanooga, Chattanooga State Community College and others, as well as radio features on 89.3 Montreal, 90.1 WUSB, WKCR, and Clarinet Corner.
Their debut album Unheard-of//Dialogues was released to critical acclaim, being called “a fantastic debut by a group that has been doing more than their part to inject vitality into the new music scene for the last few years” (Jeremy Shatan, An Earful). The album’s eclectic repertoire has garnered the attention of critics from ArtsATL (“Powerfully evocative”), Steve Smith of National Sawdust Log (“scintillating and evocative”), and Creative Loafing Atlanta (“mellifluous magic”).

JANE O’LEARY - Composer

Born in Hartford, Connecticut, Jane O’Leary became resident in Ireland in 1972, making her home in Galway. A founding member of Aosdána, she is a graduate of Vassar College and holds a PhD in composition from Princeton University. She was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Music Degree by the National University of Ireland in 2007. As artistic director and pianist of Ireland’s first new music ensemble, Concorde, Jane has been deeply committed to connecting performers, composers and listeners since 1976.
The Passing Sound of Forever, a CD of Jane’s chamber music, was released in 2017 and her orchestral work from sea-grey shores will be released early in 2021, with Navona Records. Jane’s music has been performed at prestigious international festivals and venues, including the Kennedy Center, Washington DC; Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall, NY; Chicago Cultural Center. A portrait concert featuring her music for clarinet and piano was presented in New York City in 2019. Premieres in 2020 have featured Triptych for string quartet and orchestra at New Music Dublin with Ryan McAdams and Ligeti String Quartet; a quintet for Hard Rain Soloist Ensemble in Belfast; forever begin for ConTempo Quartet in Galway. Some Call it Home, a dramatic work commissioned by University of Plymouth as part of Mayflower 400, has been postponed until 2021. Jane is currently working on a Piano Concerto for the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland and Finghin Collins.

MICHAEL COLEMAN - Composer

Michael Coleman received his doctorate from the University of Maryland and holds degrees from the University of New Orleans and the University of South Alabama, studying with Lawrence Moss, Jerry Sieg, and Carl Alette. He has participated as composer/pianist in numerous new music programs and festivals in the U.S. and Russia and has also had works performed in Costa Rica, France, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan. Among his awards are First Prize in the 1989 Res Musica Baltimore Competition, First Prize in both the 1991 and 1992 NFMC National Composer’s Competitions, Artist Fellowship Grant from the Alabama State Council on the Arts (1995), two Silver Medals in the 2017 Global Music Awards, and First Diploma in the National and International Categories of the 2018 & 2019 Golden Key Piano Composition Competitions.
As pianist, he has premiered his own works and works by Merab Gagnidze, Kari Henrik Juusela, Jerry Sieg, and Sergei Zhukov. His “The ’96 Etude” was recently performed by Steinway Artist Kadisha Onalbayeva at Carnegie Hall on June 6, 2018. Kadisha Onalbayeva also premiered “Arman” (Piano Concerto No. 1) in 2016 with the Louisiana Sinfonietta under the direction of Dinos Constantinides. His “String Quartet No. 1” will be released on a new CD in 2019 titled “Alabama String Quartets” by the Amernet String Quartet. He is on the faculties of Pensacola State College and the University of West Florida, and is organist/music director at Zion Lutheran Church in Silverhill, Alabama.

MORGAN REED GREENWOOD - Composer

Morgan Greenwood (b. 1993) is a composer, drummer, and improviser based in the Kansas City, Missouri area. He finds himself often drawing inspiration from the creative processes of artists of other mediums (painting, sculpture, literature, and poetry) to find new ways to shape sounds in time. Like all things, moderation should be practiced in moderation.
His body of work spans both the acoustic and electroacoustic mediums. His acoustic music has been performed both around the United States and in Europe by the likes of the H2 Saxophone Quartet, IKTUS Percussion, the Admiral Launch Duo, A Very Small Consortium, and others. His electroacoustic music has been presented variously at the SEAMUS, N_SEME, and SCI National Conferences. In 2017, Morgan self-released river is rising // birds fly parallel, a two-part album constructed from found-instrument improvisations recorded in different locales over the course of two years - the first but hopefully not last of a series. In addition to spending time composing, Morgan is an active performer and collaborative songwriter as a drummer and has appeared on records such as Employer's Fax of Life and Abandoncy's Hollow//Living (on which he also served as recording and mixing engineer). In addition, Morgan is active in the Kansas City improvised music scene, performing with Seth Davis's ReAnimator and Black House Collective, among others. Morgan holds a Masters of Music Composition from the UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance and has previously studied composition with Zhou Long, Chen Yi, Paul Rudy, and James Mobberley.

JEFFREY NIEDERHOFFER - Composer

Mr. Niederhoffer, a composer living in New York City, obtained a B.M. in Composition from the Berklee College of Music in 1977; studied counterpoint and composition privately in Boston with Dr. Hugo Norden from 1976 through 1978; and received an M.M. in Composition from the Manhattan School of Music in 1980, where he was a student of Ursula Mamlok. Retiring from a 30-year career as an attorney, Mr. Niederhoffer returned to music composition in March 2017 (prompted by a request from his son, a professional violinist in Montreal, to write a work for trombone!) and has composed a variety of pieces since then, focusing on chamber music and works for solo instruments.
In addition to his first work for violin and piano (entitled “Picking Up Where I Left Off”) being declared one of the winning pieces in the Kaleidoscope MusArt 2020 Call for Scores - Bagatelles for Beethoven, this work was also selected as the winning composition of the 2020 John Eaton Memorial Composition Competition sponsored by the New York Composers Circle. A recording by British pianist Edward Cohen of Mr. Niederhoffer’s piano piece “Quelle belle journée! (si seulement j’étais riche) — douze aphorismes pour piano” it can be heard on YouTube here.

SHIMA IUCHI - Visual Artist

Shima Iuchi spent her youth in Kyoto, Japan before moving to Canada. She received a Diploma of Art Management from Seian University of Art and Design in Japan, a B.F.A. from Thompson Rivers University in Canada and a M.F.A. from the School of Visual Arts in New York City. She has exhibited her interdisciplinary works in solo and group exhibitions internationally. Shima won awards such as: the first place in the International College Art Competition, Beyond Borders, in Washington; the Visual Arts Development Award in Vancouver, the Distinguished Alumni Award from Thompson Rivers University; and Alberta Creative Development Initiative. Iuchi has held various positions in the arts including the Banff Center, the University of Lethbridge, and as a faculty member at Thompson Rivers University. Currently, she resides in NY state where she maintains an active art practice, creating works. She also teaches workshops in the arts. She is married and has two sons.

SEBASTIAN SPRENG - Visual Artist

Born in Esperanza, Argentina, Sebastian Spreng is a self-taught artist and music journalist. In 1973, Spreng moved to Buenos Aires where his works were exhibited in Artists from Esperanza at the Fundación Lowe; an appearance which was followed by a solo exhibit at the Martina Cespedes Gallery. Upon moving to Miami in the 1980s, he immediately became a vital presence in the Florida art scene. His works have since been showcased in Boston, Seattle, Atlanta, Toronto, Caracas, Düsseldorf, Essen, Munich, Osaka, Tokyo, Pana, Italy, Buenos Aires, Sarasota, Key West, and Miami. Spreng’s recognitions include the Hortt Competition, the 1995 Personal Achievement Award from the Muscular Dystrophy Association (Florida), the commission to create a permanent exhibition at the Miami-Dade Government Center in 1994, and the 2017 Award as Knight Arts Champion from the Knight Foundation. In 2012, he was selected as one of the "100 Latinos of Miami", and as 2013 Visual Artist of the 11th Edition of the Music@Menlo Chamber Music Festival. For his contributions and merits in the South Florida art scene, he was awarded the award Dr. Sanford L. and Beatrice Ziff Outstanding Arts by Classical South Florida of 2015.Music is actively present in his work with the whole series based on musical structures such as Liederkreis Opus I and II, Ring Landscapes, Sinfonietta, Impromptus, Reverberations, as well as cover illustrations for concert seasons and CD covers of among others, the Grammy Award-winning Da Pacem with works of Arvo Pärt. Spreng’s exhibition “DRESDEN” was featured at the Lowe Art Museum in the Spring/Summer of 2018.