For July 23 & 25, 2026
Zachary Brandon has an Artist Diploma from the Cleveland Institute of Music where he studied with Jaime Laredo and Steve Rose.
Zachary received top honors as the fourth prize Laureate in the 2023 Elmar Oliveira International Violin Competition. He was also awarded fourth prize in the International Stradivarius Violin Competition and was the fourth prize winner in the Cooper International Violin Competition. He was a two-time finalist and the Bach prize winner in the International Stulberg Competition. He was a semifinalist in the International Princess Astrid Music Competition and finished in the top six. Additionally, he was a semifinalist in the Senior division of the 2018 and 2021 Menuhin International Violin Competition and also in the 2019 Concours Musical International de Montréal. Zachary was also a semifinalist in the 2022 Sibelius International Violin Competition. Additionally, Zachary has collaborated with renowned concert pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet and acclaimed oboist Ramòn Ortega. Zachary has also been invited to perform as a soloist with the New World Symphony, the Lansing Symphony Orchestra, the Toledo Symphony Orchestra, the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra, the Fort Wayne Symphony Orchestra, the Birmingham Bloomfield Symphony Orchestra, the Northbrook Symphony Orchestra, the Kalamazoo Junior Symphony Orchestra, and the Battle Creek Symphony Orchestra, among others.
Zachary was the first place winner of numerous prestigious music competitions including the following: the Walgreens National Competition, the Sejong National Competition, the Music Chorale Competition, the Grandquest competition, all four divisions of the Society of American Musicians competition, the Michigan Chapter of the ASTA competition, both divisions of the Fort Wayne Young Artist Competition, Toledo Symphony’s Young Artist Competition, Kalamazoo Symphony’s Young Artist Competition, Lansing Symphony’s Young Artist Competition, Birmingham-Bloomfield Symphony’s Young Artist Competition, Kalamazoo Junior Symphony’s Young Artist Competition, both the Junior and Senior divisions of the Confucius competition, among others. He was named a National Young Arts winner in 2014 and again in 2016. He was also a finalist and winner of The Elaine Louise Lagerstrom Memorial Award at the FRIENDS of the Minnesota Orchestra Competition.
Zachary has worked with a number of internationally recognized concert artists and pedagogues including Maxim Vengerov, Arnold Steinhardt, Gerado Rebeiro, Mattias Tacke, Brian Lewis, Simon James, Margaret Pressley, William van der Sloot, Marilyn McDonald, Robert McDuffie, Mariam Fried, Ani Kavafian, Wu Han, David Finckle, Clive Greensmith, Fabio Bidini, Ben Beilman, Masao Kawasaki, and Naoko Tanaka, among others. Zachary’s former teachers include Robert Lipsett, Jan Mark Sloman, Dr. Roland and Almita Vamos, and Dr. Hye-Sun Lee.
Catherina Carrington (soprano) is a Graduate Diploma recipient from the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she studied with Dina Kuznetsova. Catherina’s most recent performance credits include Adina in L’elisir d’amore (La Musica Lirica Italy, 2025) and performances at CIM include Gretel in Hansel and Gretel , Aloès in L’étoile, Morgana in Alcina, La Fée in Cendrillon (Massenet), and Constance in Dialogues des Carmélites. She played Amy March in Mark Adamo’s Little Women (Harrower Summer Opera Workshop), which served as the topic for her undergraduate music theory thesis. Catherina has been exploring different ways to engage with opera including directing, stage managing, and teaching.
Chilean-American pianist, Matias Nestor Cuevas, is currently studying at the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami with Kevin Kenner. From 2019 – 2023 he studied piano performance at the Cleveland Institute of Music with Dr. Daniel Shapiro. Previous to that he studied under the guidance of Maestro Vincenzo Balzani and Silvia Rumi at the “G. Verdi” Conservatory of Music in Milan, Italy. Matias started playing the piano at the age of seven while still completing his academic studies. From 2011 to 2013 he went to the only music middle school in the United States, The Crowden School of Music in Berkeley, California, where he studied with Maestro Arkadi Serper.
He has won various prizes in national and international piano competitions such as the 2nd prize in the Romantic category and 1st prize in the 21st-century category in the “Città di Cantù” international competition for piano and orchestra in Cantù, Italy; the grand prize in the “Pozzolino” piano competition in Seregno, Italy; the 3rd prize in the “Premio del Conservatorio” competition organized by the “G. Verdi” Conservatory in Milan, Italy, with cellist, Francesco Tamburini; the grand prize in the “Monterosa-Kawai” piano competition in Varallo, Italy; the grand prize in the Tadini International Music Competition in Lovere, Italy; the 1st prize in the “Nuova Coppa Pianisti” piano competition in Osimo, Italy; the 1st prize in the “PianoTalents” Competition in Milan, Italy; the 1st prize in the “Albenga” international piano competition in Albenga, Italy; and the 2nd prize in the international piano competition in Malta.
He has been invited to play in Giovanni Allevi’s Christmas tour with the Italian Symphonic Orchestra in the BRIXIUM forum in Brescia, Italy, and in the “Teatro Colosseo” in Torino, Italy; in the PianoEchos festival in Lu, Monferrato, Italy; in the Vatican Museums in Rome, Italy with his duo partner, Francesco Tamburini; in the 1st edition of the “Krasnogorsk Music Festival” in Moscow, Russia; in the “Résonances Musique de Chambre” music festival in Le Havre, France; in the “G. Verdi” Conservatory concert series in the Teatro alla Scala Museum; at the Hungarian pavilion of the 2015 EXPO for the Hungarian television program “Virtuozok”; in the SFMF Young Artist’s Concert” in the San Francisco Conservatory; and in the Junior Bach festival in the California Bay Area in Berkeley, California.
Ben Hornacek is a Bassist from Longmont Colorado. He attended the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley for his Bachelors in Bass performance. While there he studied with James Vaughn, Nick Recuber, and August Ramos. He is currently pursuing his Masters in Bass Performance at the Cleveland Institute of Music studying with Scott Dixon. Ben has held jobs with the Wyoming Symphony, Cheyenne Symphony, and the Greeley Philharmonic. He has also subbed with the Colorado Symphony, the Fort Collins Symphony, and the Chamber Orchestra of Colorado Springs.
Sean Juhl joined the viola section of The Cleveland Orchestra in August 2026, following four seasons as a member of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.
A native of New York City, Juhl began his musical studies on the violin at age four. He found a new passion in the viola at 14, following in the path of his mother, grandmother, and older cousin, all of whom led professional viola careers in China. His love for orchestral playing was shaped early on by summers at the Kinhaven Music School in Vermont and broadened by international tours of Europe and South America with the National Youth Orchestra (NYO-USA).
Juhl earned his Bachelor of Music degree from The Juilliard School in 2022, where he studied with Carol Rodland and won First Prize in the 2019 Juilliard Viola Concerto Competition. His training also includes summers at the Perlman Music Program and fellowships at the New York String Orchestra Seminar and Music Academy of the West, where he received the London Symphony Orchestra Keston MAX Award.
A dedicated educator, Juhl has coached young musicians at the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra and Three Rivers Young Peoples Orchestras, and continues to maintain a private studio. Away from the stage, he enjoys cooking, reading, following Formula 1, and spending time with his cat, Cleo.
Elora Kares – Biography coming soon!
Born in South Korea, Minchae Kim began playing the violin at seven. She gave her concerto debut at age nine with the Jeonju Philharmonic Orchestra and her debut recital at age 14 in Kumho Art Hall as a Kumho Young Artist. She won numerous competitions in South Korea, and she performed as a soloist with orchestras including Jeonju Philharmonic Orchestra, Gloria String Orchestra, Moldova Radio Symphony Orchestra, and Gimpo Philharmonic Orchestra. She also gave her full recitals in Youngsan-Yangjae Hall and Jeonju Sori Arts Center as a winner of the Young Artist Competition.
Minchae Kim is also an enthusiastic chamber musician. She is a founding member of Kyklos Quartet based in Cleveland, a prize-winner group of the WDAV Chamber Music Competition and Toledo Glass City competitions. She has participated in Kneisel Hall Music Festival, IMS in Prussia Cove, and Heifetz Chamber Music Seminar. She was a member of the NEC Chamber Orchestra, where she worked under the music director, Donald Palmar.
In 2022-2023, she won 2nd prize in Cullerarts International Violin Competition in Spain. After a successful result, she was selected as a guest artist of the Heifetz Ensemble in Residence and will be touring as a chamber musician and a soloist. In addition, she performed in Severance Hall with the CIM orchestra as a concerto competition winner and a recital at the Western Reserve Series as a Young Artist in 2023.
She was accepted into New England Conservatory when she was 17 and earned her Bachelor of Music, Master of Music, and Graduate Diploma at the New England Conservatory under Miriam Fried, Donald Weilerstein, and Soovin Kim. Her musical mentors are Sungsic Yang, Borromeo String Quartet, Vivian Weilerstein, Si-Yan Li, and Sharon Robinson.
Minchae Kim is an Artist Diploma candidate at the Cleveland Institute of Music under Jaime Laredo and Malcome Lowe.
Praised as “a rising star of exceptional sensitivity and imagination,” Vietnamese pianist Khanh Nhi Luong won Third Prize and The Lady Roslyn Lyons Bronze Medal at the 2024 Leeds International Piano Competition. Recognized for her vivid artistry and commanding stage presence, she is a current recipient of the prestigious Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship and a scholar of the Imogen Cooper Music Trust. Her highly anticipated debut album will be released by Signum Records in Fall 2026, marking an exciting new chapter in her career.
The 2025/26 season features high-profile debut performances at London’s Wigmore Hall, The Venue in Leeds, Seoul’s Lotte Concert Hall, and the Grand Hall VNAM in Hanoi. Khanh Nhi will also make her debut as a soloist with the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, the Ipswich Symphony Orchestra, the Hanoi Philharmonic Orchestra, and the PAPA Youth Orchestra. An enthusiastic advocate for cultural diversity and new music, Khanh Nhi co-founded the Lunar New Year Piano Concert Series, which showcases music by Asian composers. The series has toured extensively across the United States (New York, Boston, Ann Arbor, Dexter) and Canada (London, Toronto).
She actively collaborates with renowned musicians and ensembles, having worked with violinists Ida Kavafian, Hye-jin Kim, Elena Urioste, Lorenz Gamma, and Youjin Lee, and has performed contemporary music with the ensemble Hand Werk. Her previous orchestral engagements include performances with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra, and the Sun Symphony Orchestra, appearing under the batons of Kenneth Kiesler, Domingo Hindoyan, Jayce Ogren, and Olivier Ochanine.
Prior to her Bronze Medal at The Leeds, Khanh Nhi garnered numerous accolades. These include prizes at the Yong Siew Toh Concerto Competition (2017), the Lee University International Piano Competition (2021), the MTNA National Piano Competition (2023), and the Sicily International Piano Competition (2023), which awarded her a five-concert tour across Italy, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Following her participation in the 2023 Telekom Beethoven Piano Competition, she was invited for a solo recital at the prestigious Mozarteum University in Salzburg.
Born and raised in a musical family, Khanh Nhi began playing piano at the age of four. In 2014, she was the sole candidate selected from the Southeast Asia region for a full scholarship to study at the Kunstuniversität Graz in Austria, leading to performances across Austria, Germany, and Denmark. She later earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Piano Performance with a full scholarship at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music (Singapore) and a Master of Music Degree at the University of Michigan, where she continues to pursue her Doctor of Musical Arts. Her teachers include Lan Huong Ngo, Prof. Otto Niederdorfer, Prof. Thomas Hecht, and Prof. Christopher Harding.
Born and raised in a musical family, Khanh Nhi began playing piano at the age of four. In 2014, she was the sole candidate selected from the Southeast Asia region for a full scholarship to study at the Kunstuniversität Graz in Austria, leading to performances across Austria, Germany, and Denmark. She later earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Piano Performance with a full scholarship at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music (Singapore) and a Master of Music Degree at the University of Michigan, where she continues to pursue her Doctor of Musical Arts. Her teachers include Lan Huong Ngo, Prof. Otto Niederdorfer, Prof. Thomas Hecht, and Prof. Christopher Harding.
Pianist and organist Jackson Naglick seeks to inspire audiences with sincere and meaningful musical experiences in a wide range of performance settings. Jack is currently pursuing an undergraduate degree at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where he studies with Antonio Pompa-Baldi and received the Darius Milhaud Award for exceptional creativity and versatility.
As a pianist, Jack is featured on recitals and concert series at CIM and throughout Northeast Ohio. He has performed in venues such as the Cleveland Museum of Art and Severance Hall, and in community spaces including the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Cleveland Botanical Gardens, and Praxis Fiber Workshop and Gallery.
Jack regularly performs with a wide range of ensembles. At CIM, he has been a member of the New Music Ensemble, Global Music Ensemble, Symphony Orchestra, and Opera Orchestra. Jack has also performed in chamber ensembles such as the Sollertinsky Piano Trio and on duo recitals with violin, trumpet, and voice. Vocal collaboration is a particular area of focus for Jack. In addition to his work with the CIM vocal department, he has worked as a vocal coach and accompanist in the Cleveland area and at several summer opera festivals, including the Classic Lyric Arts festivals in Massachusetts and Italy.
Jack began studying the organ in January 2024 and serves as Organ Scholar at Fairmount Presbyterian Church in Cleveland Heights. He is also a frequent service pianist at Suburban Temple Kol Ami. Jack’s other musical interests include composing, jazz, free improvisation, and conducting. Apart from music, Jack enjoys reading and can frequently be found in natural spaces in search of peace and birds.
Brendon Phelps, cello, strives to produce a unique sound that transcends the music that he is performing. His playing has been described by The Strad as having a “rich but clear sound, and beautiful shaping and leading.” Concert goers have expressed feeling “charmed, engaged and electrified” by “his presentation and communication.” His credits include Carnegie Hall, Princeton University, Casa de la Musica in Quito, Ecuador, and the International Mendelssohn Festival in Hamburg, Germany. Among other notable collaborations, he has performed the Mendelssohn Octet with the Shanghai Quartet at the Tilles Center in Brookville, New York.
Brendon’s concert experience can be described as profoundness of interpretation, yet inventive and is exemplified by composers that he loves to perform — Janacek, Debussy, Caroline Shaw and Giovanni Sollima — who all are united in how they showcase the cello as a moldable versatile instrument. He is motivated by the need to, in his words, “change the way the cello sounds.” In 2023 he founded Trio Noir with violinist Maude Cloutier and pianist Alexandre Marr. The trio’s performances to date comprise, but are not limited to performing in Cleveland’s legendary Severance Hall, and for Akron’s Tuesday Musical Members series. Recent projects include transcribing and performing a program of Turkish music dating back to the Ottoman Empire as part of a collaboration with the Cleveland Cultural Gardens. He participated in a performance with the Ukrainian Music Project, a virtual orchestra of musicians from 21 countries around the world preserving Ukrainian classical and folk music. Phelps also has performed as part of an initiative to introduce music in prisons across the United States.
He holds a BM from the University of Akron, and a MM from the Cleveland Institute of Music, with a double major in Suzuki pedagogy, and an Early Music Certificate from Case Western Reserve University. He went on to earn an AD from Montclair State as part of a string quartet fellowship with the Shanghai Quartet.
Kaden Smutz is a percussionist and timpanist based in Cleveland, OH. He earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Timpani Performance at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where he studied with Marc Damoulakis and Paul Yancich. He is currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Orchestral Performance at the University of Maryland, where his primary teachers include Jon Bisesi, James Wyman, and Ed Beyens. Other notable teachers have included Trevor Barroero and Katalin La Favre. Kaden currently serves as the principal timpanist of the Ohio Valley Symphony, and has also performed as a substitute percussionist and timpanist with the Greenville Symphony, Lima Symphony, as well as the symphonies of Canton, Akron, Ashland, and Youngstown. As an advocate for New Music, Kaden is a frequent performer with CIM’s New Music Ensemble under the direction of Keith Fitch, and has been a featured soloist.
Lucas Spencer is a budding tenor vocalist completing his studies at Kent State University under the tutelage of Dr. Lara Troyer. Lucas has developed a passion for classical singing and serves as president of Student Advocates Supporting Singing at Kent State. Lucas has been seen on stage at Akron Civic Theater and Severance Hall. At the University, Lucas has performed in Kent State Opera Theatre’s shows including various scenes-programs, and Gilbert and Sullivan’s Trial by Jury. In 2023, Lucas was the winner of Kent State’s Concerto Competition and in March 2024 performed with the Kent State University Orchestra. Lucas has also received the Ohio Federation of Music Clubs Agnes Fowler Collegiate Scholarship for 2023. In 2020, Lucas placed first in his category at Ohio’s National Association of Teachers in Singing (NATS).
Harue Suzuki is a passionate musician, educator, and arts administrator based in Cleveland, Ohio. She is a recent graduate of Cleveland Institute of Music (CIM), where she earned her Master of Music studying with Jessica Sindell, Hannah Maser-Hammel, Mary Kay Fink, and Joshua Smith. She previously completed a Bachelor of Science in Music Education with a minor in Mathematics and PK–12 Ohio teaching licensure at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU), where she also studied flute with Heidi Ruby Kushious and piano with Derek Nishimura. Suzuki currently serves as the Academy and Public Programs Coordinator at CIM, performs flute and piano in a variety of settings—including regional orchestras, church services, and private or corporate events—and shares her expertise in music and mathematics with K–12 students as a substitute teacher in local public schools. She is incredibly grateful for the opportunities to pursue her passions, and for the mentors, colleagues, and communities that have shaped her artistic journey.
Kevin Takeda, 27, is currently a Doctoral student at the Cleveland Institute of Music studying with Gabriela Montero. He holds a Master’s of Music Degree from the New England Conservatory, where he studied with Wha Kyung Byun and was a recipient of the Dean’s Scholarship. Before that, he completed a Bachelor’s of Music Degree at the Juilliard School, where his teachers were Matti Raekallio and Orli Shaham. There, was a recipient of both the Kamiya Sisters Piano Scholarship and the Alan D. Marks Center Scholarship. He is also a Music Academy of the West alumnus.
He began his piano studies at age 11, and shortly after at age 13 began attending Interlochen Arts Academy High School under the guidance of Thomas Lymenstull. Since then, he has gained prizes and recognition in many competitions, some among them are the MTNA Piano Competition, the National Federation of Music Clubs Competition, the Arthur Fraser International Concerto Competition, the Marian Garcia Collegiate Competition, the Dubois National Piano Competition, the Eastern Music Festival Solo Competition, and he was a National NFAA YoungArts winner. He has performed in esteemed venues such as the Kennedy Center, Detroit Symphony Hall, Jordan Hall, Lincoln Center, and Hahn Hall. Festival attendances include the Aspen Music Festival, Music Academy of the West, Pianofest in the Hamptons, Bowdoin International Music Festival, Art of Piano, and Southeastern Piano Festival. An avid chamber music enthusiast, he recently performed Bartok’s Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion and Samuel Coleridge Taylor’s Nonet.