Co-founder | President*

i.gegprifti@kaleidoscopemusart.com

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.

Chair, Board of Directors*

Dr. Lewitus is an entrepreneur with deep roots in the world of classical music and the arts. He was born in Lima, Peru to a family of artists—his father, Hans Lewitus, was a professor at the Lima Conservatory of Music and a founding member of the Peruvian Symphony Orchestra, and his mother, Eva Heller de Lewitus, is a retired photographer.
Dr. Lewitus is a graduate of the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, where he received his medical degree in 1976. He completed his pediatric residency in New York and was a practicing pediatrician in Massachusetts for over 35 years until his retirement in 2016. He served as Chief of Pediatrics at Marlborough Hospital and later became an active board member and Pediatric Medical Director with the MetroWest Physicians Organization. Dr. Lewitus is the author of What Does the Sign Say?, a children’s book recipient of the Moonbeam Award in 2008 that has sold over 18,000 copies. Additionally, he developed and patented Toothfinder, a device to identify the presence of teeth in newborns and infants.
Dr. Lewitus currently serves on the Board of the Leadership Circle of the Boston Conservatory at Berklee and on the Board of Directors of Kaleidoscope MusArt. Since his retirement, Dr. Lewitus has actively pursued his interest in music, which includes the production of a CD of Hans Lewitus’ arrangements of Latin-American music, Latin Music for Recorders, and his instrumental role in the recent publication of Lewitus’ arrangements of Slovak music for clarinet.
In an effort to support the new generation of musicians, Dr. Lewitus and his wife, Marla, have endowed a scholarship for one piano student at the Boston Conservatory. Since 2011, Dr. Lewitus has also been a supporter of the Vivace Vilnius Music Festival in Vilnius, Lithuania, and has sponsored recitals for Boston Conservatory piano students in Lima, Peru and in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Co-founder | Treasurer*

a.yura@kaleidoscopemusart.com

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 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 teacher, 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).

Co-founder | Board Member*

r.llupa@kaleidoscopemusart.com

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 has performed 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.

Co-founder|  Board Member

m.sumareva@kaleidoscopemusart.com

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; Élan Recordings, 2015), praised for exhibiting “a wide variety of touch … a lot of wit” and “great musicality” (Colin Clarke, Fanfare Magazine). 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.

Secretary | Educational Activities Coordinator

e.nourishirazi@kaleidoscopemusart.com

Emiri Nourishirazi started piano lessons at the age of seven with Russian-American pianist Irena Kofman. Winner of numerous competitions, she was the silver medalist in her category of the International Keyboard Odyssian Competition and Festival in the summer of 2015. She also had the honor of performing with the Ars Flores Symphony Orchestra and Coral Gables Symphony Orchestra.
In addition to her performance career, Emiri is an active teacher. She currently teaches at the Frost Preparatory Program, where she works with children of various ages. Emiri received her Bachelor's degree in Piano Performance in 2016 at the Frost School of Music - University of Miami, where she studied with Santiago Rodriguez. In 2018, she obtained her Master of Music degree from the same institution, studying with Kevin Kenner. During her studies at the Frost School of Music, Emiri was the piano fellowship recipient of the Henry Mancini Orchestra, an ensemble with which she has recently performed at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts.

Co-founder | New Music Consultant 

Brazilian composer Rodrigo Bussad (b. 1985) is the recipient of numerous awards. Most recently, he was awarded 3rd prize at the 2019 American Prize in Composition in the Professional Chamber Music Division for his work Nimbi for woodwind quintet. His work Loin, for amplified ensemble, won the 2014 American Prize in Composition, Student Chamber Music
Division; his Depois da Chuva won the 2013 Frost Symphony Orchestra Concerto
Competition and received the second prize at the 2014 American Prize in Orchestral Music, Student Division; Urizen was awarded the second place in the 2013 American Prize in the Chamber Music Student Division. Bussad was the winning composer of the 2017 Ukho Ensemble Workshop and the 2015 Valencia International Performance Academy (VIPA). His works have been premiered on three continents and selected for music festivals and conferences such as the Composers Conference, IRCAM’S Manifeste, Ukho Ensemble Workshop, Mise-en Festival, Composit, SoundSCAPE Festival among others. His music has been performed in the Americas, Europe, and Asia by renowned ensembles that include the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France (France), Civic Orchestra of Chicago (Chicago), The Grossman Ensemble (Chicago), Spektral Quartet (Chicago), Third Coast Percussion (Chicago), Imani Winds (New York), Ukho Ensemble (Ukraine), NanaFormosa Percussion Duo (Taiwan), Hong Kong New Music Ensemble (Hong Kong), BrowerTrio:B3(Spain), Ensemble motoContraio (Italy), cross.artEnsemble (Germany), Ensemble Paramirabo (Canada) and ABSTRAI Ensemble (Brazil). Bussad has co-produced NanaFormosa Percussion Duo’s most recent album, having his piece for marimba duo, Moon Inside (II) as the title track. This album has been released by UNIVERSAL in November 2019. Bussad is currently pursuing his Ph.D. degree in Composition at The University of Chicago.
Website: www.rodrigobussad.com

New Music Consultant 

Ermir Bejo, born in 1987 in Tirana Albania, is a composer working in the contemporary classical and electronic music tradition. Both within and apart from his music, Bejo draws significant influence from visual art, cinema, classic literature, mathematics, and philosophy. Bejo’s approach is grounded in an interdisciplinary study of time, particularly the exploration of the hierarchies and conflicts arising from the treatment of musical time as a non-linear concept. His music is regularly performed in concert halls and music festivals by a growing roster of internationally acclaimed performers and ensembles such as Ums n Jip, Nova, Amorsima Trio, Duo Chromatica, Irvine Arditti, Malgorzata Walentynowicz, Elizabeth McNutt, Yumi Suehiro, Mia Detwiler, Redi Llupa, Alexander Richards, and Juan Sebastian Delgado among others.
After being awarded a scholarship to attend the United World College of the Adriatic in Italy, where his studies focused on World Cultures and Art History, he subsequently completed his Bachelor of Arts (Skidmore College) and Master of Music (University of Louisville) in the U.S. In 2017, he completed his Ph.D. in music composition and new media at the University of North Texas. His primary teachers have included Joseph Klein, Panayiotis Kokoras, Andrew May, Marc Satterwhite, and Krzysztof Wolek. He has participated in numerous lessons and masterclasses with composers such as Chaya Czernowin, James Dillon, Esa-Pekka Salonen, and Steven Stucky among others.
Since 2015, he has served as director of the Score Follower organization, a leading online new music resource. In collaboration with composers, performers, major publishers, and recording labels alike, the organization curates music projects with a wide international reach and participation.

Web Support | Audio/Video Recording Assistant

Luca Cubisino is a polyhedral and versatile artist, whose path is paved with performance, teaching, and research. Prize winner in nearly twenty national and international piano competitions, Luca Cubisino has played in prestigious venues such as Teatro Massimo “V. Bellini” in Catania, Concertgebouw de Doelen in Rotterdam, Wiener Saal in Salzburg, Wertheim Concert Hall in Miami, and other venues in Bologna, Leipzig, New York, Austin, Atlanta, etc. His musicianship has benefited from lessons and master classes given by Antonella Scuderi, Flavio Meniconi, Franco Scala, Aquiles Delle Vigne, François-Joël Thiollier, Antonio Ballista, Choong-Mo Kang, Gerald Fauth, Bruno Canino, Enrico Pace, Anton Nel, Boris Slutsky, Marina Lomazov, and others.
Born in Italy, Luca Cubisino earned undergraduate (B.M.) and graduate (M.M.) degrees in his home country. Additionally, he earned two Master’s degrees at the Hogeschool voor de Kunsten in Rotterdam and at Texas State University, where he was awarded the 2014 “Piano Achievement Award”. Recently, he earned the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Keyboard Performance at the Frost School of Music, where he studied with Professors Tian Ying and Kevin Kenner and served as a Teaching Assistant.
Luca Cubisino collaborates with various musical organizations, including AmiCa in Sicily, of which he is the Artistic Director (amicafest.com), San Giacomo Festival in Bologna, which organizes almost two hundred concerts every year (sangiacomofestival.it), and Kaleidoscope MusArt in Miami, which focuses its activity mostly on contemporary classical music (kaleidoscopemusart.com). Jury member in several piano competitions, Luca Cubisino has given master classes for Grumo Festival in Tesero (Italy) and for the Miami Conservatory of Music in Miami. He is also the 2016 winner of the Presser Award at the University of Miami for his project of publishing and recording Ottorino Respighi’s early piano works. Currently, he teaches at and directs the Advanced Preparatory Piano Program, a division of the Frost School of Music Preparatory Program at the University of Miami.

Editor, Grant Writing Consultant

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.

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Former Board Members:
Dr. Laura Keith: Educational Activities Coordinator [August 2018-August 2019]
Joao Campos: Visual Art Consultant [August 2016- September 2018]