Maria Beyens, from Seoul, South Korea, holds a Bachelor’s degree in violin performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music under the tutelage of Ivan Zenaty, and a Master’s degree from Carnegie Mellon University under the tutelage of Andres Cardenes. Previously, Maria attended Kyungwon University in South Korea and Windsor Young soloist program in England.
During her CIM years, Maria was a member of the Commodore Quartet which made it to the semi-finals at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. As a chamber musician, Maria has worked and performed with members of the Cleveland, Juilliard, Tokyo, Brentano, Emerson, Takács, and Daedalus quartets and Albers Trio. Maria also performed for NPR’s radio show “Says You” and with her quartet received the James Lola Faust Chamber Music Scholarship from Mu Phi Epsilon in 2014. Maria has attended Banff Chamber Music Residency, Norfolk Chamber Music Festival and National Repertory Orchestra for summer festivals.
After pursuing her Master’s degree from Carnegie Mellon University, Maria moved back to Cleveland. Maria plays with Firelands Symphony, Erie Philharmonic, Cleveland Pops Orchestra, Mansfield Symphony, Stars in the Classics and many other groups and organizations around the Cleveland area. In addition to music, she is also a professional chef and has worked with a James Beard awarded chef. Maria also enjoys playing piano and dancing.
One of Northeast Ohio’s most versatile violinists, Victor Beyens is currently the concertmaster of the Mansfield Symphony as well as assistant concertmaster of the Firelands Symphony and assistant principal second of the Cleveland Pops Orchestra. Victor is an active member and musical/pops arranger for Opus 216, an eclectic group of musicians who perform a variety of repertoire and genres in the Cleveland area. He also performs many house concerts and private events with M.U.S.i.C. (Musical Upcoming Stars in the Classics), with which he also serves as a board member. Victor has recently performed a variety of concerti as a soloist with the Mansfield Symphony, Chagrin Falls Studio Orchestra, National Repertory Orchestra, and the Cleveland Institute of Music Orchestra. He has also performed in the violin sections of the Phoenix Symphony, The Cleveland Orchestra, Erie Philharmonic, and several others. While finishing school, he served as concertmaster (as well as principal second) of the National Repertory Orchestra and of the Cleveland Institute of Music Orchestra. Victor has worked with Cleveland based new music ensemble Ars Futura to perform and record music by contemporary composers. Victor maintains a private studio where he oversees the violin upbringing of inner-city kids.
Victor’s ability to create and arrange repertoire of all genres, specifically pop and rock music, has led him to collaborations with members of Led Zeppelin, The Who, The Beach Boys, the Cleveland Cavaliers, as well as Andrea Boccelli, Eric Bergen, Connor Bogart O’Brien, Mark O’Connor, and many other local and national acts. His arrangements of works by Edith Piaf, Mark O’Connor, Queen, Bob Dylan, Stéphane Grappelli, Bernstein (West Side Story), Irving Berlin, The Beatles, Elvis Presley, and others, have been performed and enthusiastically received in several states.
Originally from France, Victor first moved to Phoenix to study with Dr. Katy McLin, and then relocated to Cleveland to further his studies at the Cleveland Institute of Music under the tutelage of David Updegraff and William Preucil. He plays on a fine violin from Chicago made by Carl Becker in 1949 and a W.E Hills and Sons English bow made in 1920. For more media and upcoming concert info please visit: instagram.com/victorbeyens
Born in Rochester, NY, Charles Shaun Bohrer (baritone) has always been fascinated with the performing arts. Charles studies voice at Baldwin Wallace University with Professor Nancy Maultsby. Recent credits include Figaro in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro, Aeneas in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, Car Man in Ching’s Speed Dating Tonight!, and Tiridate, King of Armenia in Händel’s Radamisto. He made his Young Artist debut with Finger Lakes Opera in 2025 portraying Ophémon in Bologne’s The Anonymous Lover and singing in the chorus of Verdi’s Rigoletto. You can find him in Chicago this summer singing Argante in Händel’s Rinaldo with Chicago Summer Opera.
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.
Katharine Cowan was born in southern China and grew up in Olympia, Washington, after moving to the U.S. as a child. She began her dance training at Studio West Dance Academy under Stephanie Wood, performing roles such as Sugar Plum, Cinderella, and Giselle, while working with choreographers Laura and Jerome Tisserand, Dawn Fay, and Joseph Jeffries. During her time at the Joffrey Ballet’s trainee program under Raymond Rodriguez, she performed in the Winning Works Program, dancing pieces by Claudia Schreier, Edgar Zendejas, Brendan Fernandes, and Marissa Osato. Since joining Cleveland Ballet in 2019, she has performed roles including Caroline in The Nutcracker, Carabosse in Sleeping Beauty, Russian Girls in George Balanchine’s Serenade, Fate in Ilya Jivoy’s Symphony of Life, and danced in Cleveland Ballet’s productions of Don Quixote, Swan Lake, Carmen, and Margot Sappington’s Alice in Wonderland.
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.
Colin DeMatteo is a baritone from New York City and a third-year undergraduate student at CIM currently pursuing a Bachelor of Music. He has performed with the CIM Opera Theatre and Delphic Forge Inc. His previous roles include Marcus/Ghost cover (Gracchus), Papageno/Leporello (CIM Spring Scenes 2023), Thierry/2nd Commissaire (Dialogues des Carmélites), and chorus/Premier Ministre (Cendrillon). He has also sung with the Sing for Hope choir at the United Nations General Assembly hall in New York City. In 2026, he will be singing the role of Álvaro in CIM’s fall production of Florencia en el Amazonas.
Anna Grudskaya is a classically-trained pianist and pedagogue. Winner of Santa Clara University’s Concerto/Aria Competition, Van Waynen Piano Competition, and the 2017 Hartt Chamber Music Competition, Grudskaya has performed in concert halls in the United States and abroad. Festival appearances have included the Classical Music Festival in Eisenstadt, Austria; International Keyboard Institute and Festival; Aspen Music Festival; and Beijing International Music Festival and Academy. Grudskaya earned a Doctorate of Musical Arts at The HarttSchool, as well as degrees from Mannes College, New York University, and Santa Clara University. Her major teachers have included Hans Boepple, PavlinaDokovska, Vladimir Valjarevic, EteriAndjaparidze, and David Westfall. She has also worked with distinguished artists such as MenahemPressler, NelitaTrue, Boris Berman, Ann Schein, Alan Chow, and AlessioBax. Grudskaya has taught as adjunct piano faculty at New York University and adjunct professor of piano pedagogy at The HarttSchool. She currently serves as piano faculty at The HarttCommunity Division, The Music Settlement, and summer faculty at InterlochenCenter for the Arts. She is a member of the Steinway & Sons Educational Partnership.
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 is a Cleveland-based cellist and soprano studying at the Cleveland Institute of Music, under cellist Si-Yan Darren Li and soprano Dina Kuznetsova-Toliver. Elora is a Young Artist Fellow with Apollo’s Fire, performing regularly as both vocalist and instrumentalist. She has been featured on NPR’s From the Top and is a Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Award recipient. Critics have praised her “shimmering soprano voice” and expressive delivery. Additionally, Karesis a prizewinner in numerous competitions, including first place in the 2024 Suburban Symphony Concerto Competition, the Lakeland Orchestra Concerto Competition, and the Ohio NATS Voice Competition. Known for her versatility, she continues to build a multifaceted career in performance and collaboration, with a recent performance highlight including singing in Apollo’s Fire’s Mozart’s Requiem: A Tapestry, at Severance Hall, where she soloed in Eric Gould’s Phillis’ Song.
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. In 2022-2023, she won 2nd prize in CullerartsInternational Violin Competition in Spain. After a successful result, she was selected as a guest artist of the Heifetz Ensemble in Residence and toured with them as a chamber musician and a soloist. In addition, she performed in Severance Hall with the CIM orchestra as a concerto competition winner and in a recital at the Western Reserve Series as a Young Artist in 2023. Minchae Kim is also an enthusiastic chamber musician. She is a founding member of KyklosQuartet based in Cleveland, a prize-winner group of the WDAV Chamber Music Competition and Toledo Glass City competitions. She has participated in KneiselHall 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. 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 SoovinKim. Her musical mentors are SungsicYang, Borromeo String Quartet, Vivian Weilerstein, Si-Yan Li, and Sharon Robinson. Minchae Kim received her Artist Diploma from the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she studied with Jaime Laredo and Malcolm 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.
Born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. In 2006, Johan Mancebo started his dance training as he became part of the first generation of male dancers graduated from the National School of Ballet of Dominican Republic in 2015. During his training from 2013–2015, he got an apprentice position at Dominican National Ballet. In January 2015, he became part of The Washington Ballet Studio Company under the direction of Septime Weber, performing classical productions with the company such as Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty, Septime Weber’s Alice in Wonderland, and the worldwide premiere of Septime Weber’s Sleepy Hollow. Later that year, he moved to Spain, where he joined Ballet de Cámara de Madrid and obtained a Degree in Pedagogy of Classical Dance: Cuban Method and won the Interpretation Award of his generation at Instituto Universitario de Danza Alicia Alonso, King Juan Carlos University, Spain. In 2019, he joined Sibiu Ballet Theater in Romania as a company member. His repertoire includes classical roles in the renowned productions of Alicia Alonso’s Giselleas ‘Albrecht’, Coppéliaas ‘Franz’, La FilleMal Gardéeas ‘Colas’, ‘Black and White Swan Pas de Deux’ from Swan Lake, Don QuixotePas de Deux, ‘James’ in August Bournonville’sLa Sylphide, Raymondaas ‘Jean de Brienne’, ‘Tybalt’ in Marcello Algeri’sRomeo and Juliet, ‘Bachus’ in Walpurgisnacht, ‘Von Rothbart’ in Swan Lake, several roles in The Nutcracker, Spring WaterPas de Deux, Diana and ActeonPas de Deux, La BayadèreAct III Pas de Deux, and Mehmet Balkan’s Lady of the Camellias. In 2023, he joined Cleveland Ballet, in which he has performed roles such as ‘Jean de Brienne’ in Raymonda, ‘Don José’ in Carmen, ‘Cavalier’ in The Nutcracker, and ‘Blue Bird’ and ‘Raven’ in Robert Weiss’s The Sleeping Beauty. He has appeared as a guest artist at international galas in Spain, the Dominican Republic, and Italy.
Lieneke Matte grew up in the Bronx and received her early training at the School of American Ballet where she was a child performer with the New York City Ballet. Ms. Matte then attended Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School for the Performing Arts in New York City and would later go on to study dance at SUNY Purchase College. There she performed works by a number of influential choreographers such as George Balanchine, Paul Taylor, Merce Cunningham, Nicolo Fonte, Lar Lubovitch and Nicholas Villeneuve. While at Purchase Lieneke also studied abroad, spending a semester at the Western Australian Academy of the Performing Arts. In 2013 she graduated Summa Cum Laude with a BFA in dance from SUNY Purchase College, as well as receiving the President’s Award for the dance conservatory. Following graduation Ms.Matte joined Verb Ballets (now Ohio Contemporary Ballet). During her 10 years with the company she performed works by Adam Hougland, Anthony Krutzkamp, Heinz Poll, Richard Dickinson, Charles Anderson, Lauren Edson, Antonio Brown, Tommy-Waheed Evans, and Stephanie Martinez to name a few. Ms. Matte was also a dancer in the documentary, No Dominion: The Ian Horvath Story, created by PNB soloist Margaret Mullin. She has danced across the United States and abroad, having performed with Body EDT in Taiwan as well as ProDanza in Cuba.
Antonio Morillo is a first-generation Cuban American born in Coral Springs, Florida. He received his Associate of Arts in Dance Performance from Valencia College, and his BFA in Dance Performance from the University of South Florida. Antonio has performed with the Patel Conservatory’s Next Generation Ballet, Tampa City Ballet, Ohio Conservatory of Ballet, and Hudson Conservatory of Ballet. He has performed works by Tommie-Waheed Evans, José Limón, Alonzo King, Robert Moses, and Gerald Arpino. Antonio danced professionally with Ohio Contemporary Ballet for ten years. He has toured with Ohio Contemporary Ballet on two international tours. He was featured in Pointe Magazine in 2020 about how his college experience jump-started his dance career. In 2017, Antonio’s choreographic work was performed at the Martha Graham Dance Company’s studio for their Next@Graham showcase. Antonio has collaborated with Ohio Contemporary Ballet and rock guitarist Neil Zaza on a Halloween themed show called “One Dark Night.” This evening length work has been performed in Cleveland, Akron, and Detroit over the past five years. Antonio’s choreographic work has also been featured at the Akron Dance Festival and Cleveland Public Theatre.
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 SollertinskyPiano 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 KolAmi. 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.
Chris Neiner (b. 1994) is a composer, pianist, and entrepreneur in Cleveland, Ohio. His music has been praised for “zazzy colors, pleasant shocks, and melting cadences” (Cleveland Classical) and received recognition from the ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Awards, American Modern Ensemble, and Flute New Music Consortium. Recent commissions include “Time Machine Hyperboles” for NO EXIT New Music Ensemble, “Tales of Euclid Beach Park” for Stars in the Classics, “Spiral Suite” for Otterbein University, and “4 X 4” for the Ohio Music Teachers Association. Neiner is a founding musician and Associate Director of the Sunday Studio Series, chamber concerts in Cleveland’s historic Little Italy neighborhood. He is also the artist-in-residence for Solich Piano, the National Yamaha and Bösendorfer Piano Dealer of the Year.
The music of Chris Neiner has appeared on programs by the Grammy award-winning Cleveland Chamber Symphony, Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra, Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra, Minnesota Sinfonia, Boston New Music Initiative, Loadbang, Copper Street Brass Quintet, New Century Ensemble, North Coast Winds, Red Hedgehog Trio, Minnesota Symphonic Winds, Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphonies, Rocky Ridge Music Center, Sewanee Summer Music Festival, and more.
Neiner has also gained a reputation as a highly sought-out arranger and music editor, working with organizations such as Reimagining Opera for Kids, Vietnamese American Society for Creative Arts and Music (VASCAM), Cleveland Pops Orchestra, Jim Brickman and The Brickhouse Network, and It’s CeCe! TV.
Neiner completed a master’s degree at the Cleveland Institute of Music, studying with Keith Fitch. He is an alumnus of the American Composers Orchestra’s EarShot Readings, Suncoast Composer Fellowship Program, OAcademy Gabriela Ortiz Composing Studio, Mostly Modern Festival, Impulse New Music Festival, New Music on the Point Festival, and RED NOTE New Music Festival.
Born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Nashializ Gomez Orengo started her training at the Escuela Especializada en Ballet Julián E. Blanco where she studied ballet, pointe, jazz, contemporary and dance history. There, she performed in Coppélia, The Four Seasons by Vivaldi, The Nutcracker, and La Bayadère. At the same time, Nashializ was training at Mauro Youth Ballet Company where she danced in Sleeping Beauty, Coppélia, and other pieces by Marena Perez. She later joined Ballet Concierto de Puerto Rico where she danced in The Nutcracker, Coppélia, La Vivandière, and Napoli Pas de Six. She came to Cleveland in the summer of 2017 where she danced as a trainee for a year before being promoted to company artist. With Cleveland Ballet, Nashializ has had the privilege of performing The Nutcracker, Alice in Wonderland, Coppélia, Le Corsaire Pas de Six, Carmen, Kitri in Don Quixote, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Swan Lake, one of the Russian Girls in Balanchine’s Serenade, Ilya Jivoy’s Symphony of Life, Carabosse in Robert Weiss’s Sleeping Beauty, and the role of Vakchanka in Timour Bourtasenkov’s Walpurgisnacht.
Guillermo Ramirez Ortega began his piano studies at the age of seven and a half. At the age of eight he entered the Marbella Conservatory, completing the elementary degree in two years with Honors. At the age of ten, he entered the Costa del Sol Professional Conservatory in Fuengirola, achieving the highest grade as the youngest student in his class. Some of his more recent accomplishments include: At the age of 13: Recital in the final of the “Young Performers City of Estepona” Competition. First prize at the Malaga International Piano Festival (FIPMA). Category up to 17 years old. Scholarship holder of the Ferrer-SalatBarcelona Foundation. Course 21/22 Seville Academy of Orchestral Studies (AEO). Academic year 21/22. At the age of 14 Schumann Concerto in A minor with the Malaga Philharmonic Orchestra. October 8, 2021 Concert at Palacio de San Telmo, Seville. Concert Cultural Center – TeatroLa AlcoholeraSan Pedro Alcántara(Marbella) Concert at ConservatorioLiceu(Barcelona). Ferrer-SalatFoundation. Mozart’s Concerto No. 23 with the Collegium MusicumCdSOrchestra First Prize Franz Liszt Center Piano Competition Atthe age of 15: Receives a Junior Lyceum Scholarship from the Ferrer-SalatFoundation. Academy of Orchestral Studies (Junta de Andalucía) Concerts: Concert with the Malaga Symphony Orchestra (conductor: Víctor Eloy López) – Piano Concerto in A minor – Mendelssohn MaríaCristina Hall (Málaga) Palacio de San Telmo(Seville) CañadaBlanch Foundation (Valencia) Francisco VilladensaLibrary (Almería) Awards: Extraordinary Prize for Professional Music Education to the Specialty of Piano (Junta de Andalucía) Grand Prix and Prize for the best performance of a work by M.Ponceat the Villahermosa International Piano Festival-Competition. At the age of 16 he began his studies of Bachelor in Piano Performance at the Oberlin Conservatory, Ohio, United States, thanks to the scholarships provided by the Malaga Foundation and the Conservatory itself, to study with Prof. Stanislav Ioudenitch, winner of the Van Cliburn Competition in 2001.
Lucas Peters is a fourth-year dual degree student at Oberlin College and Conservatory pursuing a BA in mathematics and a BM in piano performance studying under Professor Angela Cheng. In his time at Oberlin so far, he has studied clavichord and fortepiano performance with Dr. David Breitman, as well as chamber music with professors Yulia Fedoseeva, Peter Takács, Francesca dePasquale, and William van der Sloot. Lucas was a bronze medal winner in the 2024 Hellam Young Artists’ Competition. Prior to Oberlin, Lucas studied with Dr. Vanessa Fadial at the Colburn Community School of Performing Arts where he also participated in the Ed and Mari Edelman Chamber Music Institute honors program. He was a gold medalist in the 2021 SoCal Junior Bach Festival Complete Works Competition. Lucas has participated in master classes with Fabio Bidini, Vadym Kholodenko, Jerome Lowenthal, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Inna Faliks, Dr. Daniel Shapiro, Boris Slutsky, John Perry, and more. He was selected as a Young Artist Performer for the 2024 PianoTexas International Festival and Academy, and performed frequently at the Brevard Music Center Summer Institute in summer 2022 and at Montecito International Music Festival, where he was a piano fellow for the 2024 festival.
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.
Morgan Potts, mezzo-soprano, is currently pursuing her Doctor of Musical Arts in Voice Performance at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she studies with Dr. Mary Schiller. She is recognized for her vivid stage presence, emotional depth, and compelling musical storytelling. Audiences and colleagues alike have praised her ability to fully inhabit a wide range of characters, as well as her agility and insight in contemporary repertoire. Morgan made her professional debut as Young Edward Vernon/Ensemble 2 in Blind Injusticeby Scott Davenport Richards, presented by Chagrin Arts. Upcoming, Morgan will be seen as Paula in Florenciaenel Amazonas and Gertrude in Blood on the Dining Room Floor at The Cleveland Institute of Music. Her 2026 season highlights include her performance of Dorabellain Cosìfan Tutteat Trentino Music Festival as well as Hansel in Hänsel und Greteland Berthein Blond Eckbert. Other notable roles include Zitain Gianni Schicchi, Meg in Verdi’s Falstaff, Presendiain Nico Muhly’s Dark Sisters, Hérissonde Porc-Épicin Chabrier’sL’Étoile, Elisettain Cimarosa’sIl MatrimonioSegreto, Prince Orlofsky in Strauss II’s Die Fledermaus, Cherubinoin Mozart’s Le Nozzedi Figaro, Sherlock Holmes in Hans Bridger Heruth’sACertain Madness. Morgan has enriched her training through young artist programs such as Texas Music Festival (2022), Frost School of Music’s Summer in Salzburg (2023), Opera Seme(2024), Harrower Opera Workshop (2025), and Trentino Music Festival (2026).
Luis Villa Roa is a pianist from Mexico City, Mexico, whose musical accomplishments include numerous top prizes at international competitions in Mexico, United States, Canada, Italy, Ukraine, and China. He has participated in masterclasses by world-renowned pianists such as Marc-André Hamelin, Antonio Pompa-Baldi, Mikhail Voskresensky, Boris Slutsky, and Alexander Korsantia. In 2019, Villa Roa was invited to perform as a guest artist at the International Piano Festival of the National Autonomous University of Mexico in the prestigious Sala Carlos Chávez. Additionally, he is a recurring soloist at the Haus der Musik Music Festival in Axixic, Mexico, a concert series which seeks to showcase world-class Mexican musicians. Villa Roa is currently pursuing his Bachelor’s of Music in Piano Performance at Oberlin College and Conservatory of Music under the tutelage of Stanislav Ioudenitch. He previously studied with Peter Takács. He is simultaneously pursuing Bachelor’s of Arts degrees in Computer Science and German Language and Literature with an expected graduation date of 2027. Aside from music, Villa Roa enjoys architectural photography, skydiving, modular origami, scuba diving, and is a member of Oberlin College’s fencing team.
Perry Roth ison faculty at Kent State University’s Hugh A. Glauser School of Music, The College of Wooster, The Hartt School Community Division, and is the saxophone teaching artist for the Yale School of Music—Music in Schools Initiative. He holds the tenor saxophone chair in the Barkada Quartet, which he joined in the spring of 2017. As an avid performer, he has performed with the Baton Rouge Symphony, the Connecticut Valley Symphony, the Hartt Symphony, the JACK Quartet, the American Modern Ensemble, and the Hartford Independent Chamber Orchestra. He previously taught at The HarttSchool, University of Hartford (College Division) and the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. In the summers, he is the saxophone teaching artist for the Yale School of Music—Morse Summer Music Academy. In addition to his collegiate studies, Dr. Roth has performed in the Brevard Music Center summer festival, and was awarded fellowships as the first-ever saxophonist at both New Music on the Point in 2014 and Yale’s Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, New Music Workshop in 2018. He earned a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in saxophone performance with a minor in music history from The HarttSchool, University of Hartford. At Hartt, he was a graduate teaching fellow and recipient of the Regents’ Honor Award, the University’s most prestigious award for graduate students. He earned a Master of Music degree in saxophone performance from Louisiana State University, where he was the saxophone teaching assistant. Additionally, Dr. Roth earned a Bachelor of Music Education and a Performer’s Certificate from the University of South Carolina.
American-born violinist Michael Lawrence Smith is a rising classical musician hailed in The Oberlin Review as playing with, “overwhelming grace and control.” He served as concertmaster of the New York String Orchestra at Carnegie Hall and was an inaugural member of the NextGen Symphony at the Tianjin Juilliard Orchestral Symposium. Professionally, he is a member of the Boulder Bach Festival’s Compass Resonance Ensemble and previously held the Associate Concertmaster position at the Longmont Symphony Orchestra. He was awarded 1st Prize at the 2025 New Albany Symphony Concerto Competition Senior Division. Festival appearances include the Harpa International Music Academy, Meadowmount School of Music, Zephyr Music Festival, Rocky Ridge Music Center Programs, and Vilacello String and Piano Festival, the latter of which he served as teaching fellow and a fellowship student at the Aspen Music Festival. He is currently pursuing his undergraduate degree at Oberlin College and Conservatory under Sigurbjörn Bernharðsson.
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 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, he 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 InterlochenArts 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 YoungArtswinner. 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, Pianofestin 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.
Justin Wisner is a lecturer of clarinet in the Baldwin Wallace University Conservatory of Performing Arts. He is an educator and freelance clarinetist in Northeast Ohio. He is a current member of the Cleveland Wind Trio, actively performing around the Greater Cleveland area.
He has performed with many orchestras and organizations, including The Cleveland Orchestra, Youngstown Symphony, Firelands Symphony, CityMusic Cleveland Chamber Orchestra and ChamberFest Cleveland..
Wisner has worked with conductors Franz Welser-Möst, JoAnn Falletta, Ludovic Morlot, Robert Spano, Richard Kaufman, David Effron and Tania Miller. His notable teachers include Afendi Yusuf, Franklin Cohen, Joaquin Valdepeñas, Mingzhe Wang and Tasha Warren-Yehuda..
He was an instrumental music teacher at Hayes Middle School in Grand Ledge, Michigan, and later taught at several music institutions in Toronto and Cleveland. He was the third-prize winner of the 2017 Henri Selmer International Solo Competition.
Catherine Yates attends Oberlin College and Conservatory pursuing degrees in both Cello Performance and Chemistry, studying cello with Dmitry Kouzov. She has also worked extensively with Clive Greensmith, Clara Kim, Merry Peckham, and Zvi Plesser. She performed professionally with the Chamber Orchestra of the Triangle for the 2021-22 and 2022-23 concert seasons and was a semifinalist in the 2021 and 2023 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. She has performed in master classes for Emanuel Ax, Steven Isserlis, Joel Krosnick, Darrett Adkins, Gary Hoffman, and Zuill Bailey, and in chamber music master classes for Laurie Smukler, Caroline Shaw, Mimi Zweig, the Eroica Trio, the Parker Quartet, the Verona Quartet, the Borromeo Quartet, the Aizuri Quartet, and the Rolston Quartet. She attended the Perlman Music Program Summer Music School and Winter Residency from 2022 to 2025, and attended the Perlman Music Program Chamber Music Workshop and Kneisel Hall Young Artist Chamber Music Program in the summer of 2025.
Hanyue Zhang is a soprano who relocated from Denver to Cleveland in fall 2025. She is currently pursuing a Graduate Diploma at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she studies with Ms. Dina Kuznetsova. She holds a Master’s degree from the Lamont School of Music at the University of Denver. Her recent operatic performances include the title role in SuorAngelica at the Newman Center for the Performing Arts in Denver and the First Lady in The Magic Flute in Vienna, Austria. Hanyuehas worked with esteemed conductors and vocal artists including Sarah Nouri, Carla Dirlikov, Stefano de Peppo, and Jeremy Aye, and has performed at multiple major Chinese New Year events in Colorado. She was the Fifth Prize winner of the Denver Lyric Opera Guild’s 2025 Annual Competition and has appeared as the Witch in Hänsel und Gretel last March at KulasHall at the Cleveland Institute of Music.