Dakota Andersen is a vocalist, songwriter, arranger, and educator based in Minneapolis. A newcomer to the Twin Cities, he is quickly becoming established in the jazz scene with performances at Jazz Central Studios, Aster Cafe, MetroNOME Brewery, Hook and Ladder, and Resource. Most recently, he recorded his debut album of 10 original compositions entitled Switchgrass, which is set to be rel eased on April 24, 2026. Switchgrass encompasses a wide range of vocal jazz styles – funk, bebop, bossa nova, Tin Pan Alley era swing, modal jazz, jazz folk, etc. – and draws heavily on inspiration from nature. Featuring a heavy-hitting lineup of local Twin Cities musicians – Ben Ehrlich, Dan Carpel, Stephanie Wieseler, Ethan Ostrow, Ernest Bisong, Jackson Peters, and Rachel Bearinger – this album is sure to captivate listeners through the ensemble’s dynamic playing and Dakota’s thoughtful compositions.
Before his move to Minnesota, Dakota graduated from the University of North Texas with a master’s degree in vocal jazz studies. While at UNT, he directed one of four vocal jazz ensembles, taught classes on vocal jazz style, and maintained a small private studio of jazz voice majors. Additionally, he sang with the university’s first ever Latin jazz combo, as the featured vocalist with the Three O’Clock Lab Band, and with UNT’s premiere vocal jazz ensemble, Jazz Singers, for which he also served as assistant director. His work with the UNT Jazz Singers can be heard on both their 2023 album, I Carry Your Heart, and their 2025 album, Too Darn Hot!. Past collaborations include Kurt Elling, Sinne Eeg, Darmon Meader, Laila Biali, Miguel Zenón, Myra Melford, Carl Allen, the One O’Clock Lab Band, and the Minnesota Jazz Chamber Orchestra. His original composition/arrangement for vocal jazz ensemble, “Turn That Frown Upside Down,” is now published and available for purchase on vocal jazz arranger Kerry Marsh’s website, www.kerrymarsh.com. Future arrangements for vocal jazz ensemble will also be made available on Marsh’s website.
In addition to his work in vocal jazz, Andersen is an active choral singer in the Twin Cities. He is a contracted vocalist with the VocalEssence Ensemble Singers under the direction of Philip Brunelle as well as with the Minnesota Chorale under the direction of Kathy Saltzman Romey. In July of 2025, the VocalEssence Ensemble Singers toured England and performed at the Three Choirs Festival, Westminster Abbey, and Bath Abbey.
Dakota is originally from Fairfield, Iowa and earned his undergraduate degree in choral music education from the University of Northern Iowa.
Heather Armstrong is Professor of Oboe, Double Reed Methods, and Theory at Luther College. She is the principal oboist of Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony and is a founding member of the Talus Trio, a Luther College faculty woodwind trio that has performed around the Midwest. In the summer she serves on the faculty of Luther’s Dorian Summer Music Camps for middle school and high school students.
Heather is enthusiastic about collaborating with living composers and performing their music. She has received grants from the Hanson Institute of American Music and Luther College’s Ylvisaker Endowment for Faculty Growth to support the commissioning and performing of new pieces. She regularly performs with the Iowa Composers Forum (ICF), and recently participated in an ICF project that took new music outside its usual home in the concert hall and presented it in smaller venues – at the Porter House Museum in Decorah, Iowa, and at the Figge Art Museum in Davenport, IA. Heather premiered Cast Me Away, a piece for oboe and percussion by Sun Mi Ro, at the International Double Reed Conference in Provo, UT, and in 2014 she collaborated with composer Brooke Joyce and the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony to premiere Brooke’s oboe concerto Une Cité Moderne. She performed the concerto during the IDRS conference at Lawrence University in June 2017.
Violist Julia Bullard enjoys a diverse career as a performer, pedagogue, Alexander Technique teacher, and academic leader. She is the violist of Trio 826, whose first album, Mosaic, was released on the Blue Griffin label in 2016. She has performed as a guest with ensembles including the Bogotá Chamber Orchestra, UCS Orquestra – Caxias do Sul, Brazil, the Arianna String Quartet, and the Maia Quartet. A dedicated pedagogue, Dr. Bullard served as president of the Iowa String Teachers Association (ISTA) and received ISTA’s Leopold LaFosse Studio Teacher of the Year award in 2011. She has presented guest artist recitals and master classes across the US and abroad at institutions including University of Southern Mississippi, University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana, Ball State University, University of Iowa, University of Nebraska – Lincoln, Lawrence University, the State University of New York at Fredonia, the National University of Colombia, and Universidad Federal Rio Grande do Sul – Brazil. She has performed and taught at summer festivals including Cedar Valley Chamber Music Festival, Wintergreen Music Festival and Academy, Madeline Island Music Festival, and Les Musicales au Fival (France). Dr. Bullard received Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from Temple University in Philadelphia, and the DMA degree from the University of Georgia. Her principal teachers included violists Joseph dePasquale, Emanuel Vardi, Sidney Curtiss, and Mark Cedel, and violinist Levon Ambartsumian. She completed her Alexander Technique teacher certification at the Minnesota Center for the Alexander Technique, and was recently elected to the board of the American Society for the Alexander Technique (AmSAT). From 2000-2022, Dr. Bullard served as viola professor at the University of Northern Iowa (UNI), and for 10 years was the Associate Director for Graduate Studies in the UNI School of Music. In August 2022, Dr. Bullard joined the faculty of Kennesaw State University (GA), teaching viola and Alexander Technique and serving in leadership roles as Assistant Director and Interim Director of the Bailey School of Music. She currently serves as Director of the School of Music at Georgia State University in Atlanta, GA.
Hunter Capoccioni is Artistic Director and founder of Cedar Valley Chamber Music. For the past two decades, Hunter has devoted his summers to curating programs that shares his love of chamber music and to bring resident and native Iowa artists together for programs that engage the Cedar Valley’s imagination. A resident of Houston, Texas, Hunter performs regularly as a double bassist with the Houston Grand Opera, Houston Ballet Orchestras, and has worked with the Mercury Chamber Orchestra and the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra. He is formerly the double bass instructor at the University of Northern Iowa (2007-2014), Principal Double Bass of the WCF Symphony (2010-2014), Principal Double Bass of the Norske Opera Orchestra (2005-2006), and Principal Double Bass of the Norrlands Opera Orchestra of Sweden (2003-2005). When Hunter is not playing the bass or listening to chamber music, he serves as Administrator for the Rice Neuroengineering Initiative at Rice University, where he supports more than twenty engineers who are researching new ways to treat a variety of neurological disorders.
Cellist Jamie Clark of Boulder, Colorado has been praised for her sensitive, imaginative, and colorful sense of artistry. She has concertized throughout North America, South America, Europe, and Asia as a recitalist and a chamber musician. She has performed solo and chamber music recitals in venues such as Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, Boston’s Jordan Hall, Eastman’s Kodak Hall, New York City’s American Academy of Arts and Letters, and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Both an enthusiastic chamber musician and entrepreneur of collaborative outreach programs, Jamie is a Co-Founder and Artistic Director of the Flatirons Chamber Music Festival, a non- profit organization based in Colorado. The festival strives to cross cultural, geographic, and temporal divides between performers, composers, and audience members, inspiring dynamic interaction within the entire Festival community. Her commitment to community engagement has led to collaborations with the Music For Food initiative in Orlando, Deland, Boston, Denver, and Boulder. She also has served as a core artist for Open Scene, a vibrant orlando-based non-profit organization led by professional Latina women, championing multiculturalism and inclusion through artistic and humanistic programs. She is a founding member of the Parrish Cello Trio and Persimmon Ensemble, and regularly performs with Kinetic Ensemble, EnsembleNewSRQ and the Sarasota Orchestra. A passionate advocate for interdisciplinary collaboration between performer and scholar worlds, Jamie has written a series of scholarly papers, including The Art of Rehearsing: A Multidimensional Study in Rehearsing String Quartets and Schoenberg Quartet No. 2: Between the Twilight of Tonality and the Dawn of Early Expressionism. An engaged collaborative partner with contemporary composers, Jamie received a grant to fund “Hear Her Voice” in 2021. “Hear Her Voice” features seven solo cello commissions by outstanding female composers. Each piece offers a distinct perspective of isolation experienced in the context of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Jamie currently serves on the faculty of University of Iowa, University of Northern Iowa, and Western Illinois University. She previously served for five years at Stetson University as Assistant Professor of Cello and Coordinator of Chamber Music. She received her Doctor of Musical Arts Degree and Masters of Music Degree from the New England Conservatory with Laurence Lesser and Paul Katz. She received her Bachelors of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music with David Ying.
A dynamic and expressive bassoonist, Benjamin Coelho, born in Brazil, is a sought-after musician, teacher, and recording artist performing on five continents. Currently, he is the principal bassoon with the Quad City Symphony Orchestra and a member of the Voxman Reed Trio. Professor of bassoon at the University of Iowa since 1998, Benjamin has commissioned, performed, and recorded many works by Latin American, American, and European composers, andhas released seven critically acclaimed CDs. At the University of Iowa, he has served in four different associate director positions and was the interim director of the School of Music during the 2018-2019. He is currently the vice-president of the International Double Reed Society. Benjamin finds great joy and fulfillment as a teacher and pedagogue. He gives master classes across the United States and abroad. His students are successful teachers in public schools, universities, colleges, symphony orchestras, and the music industry.
Jinjoo Cho is a versatile classical virtuoso of the 21st century. First prize winner of the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis and Concours musical international de Montréal in addition to Buenos Aires, Schoenfeld, and Stulberg Competitions, Jinjoo has toured on concert stages around the world since the age of 11. Today, she continues to perform at distinguished concert halls and festivals including the Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium, Aspen Music Festival, Gilmore Festival, La Jolla Music Society’s Summerfest (USA), Banff Centre, Festival de Lanaudière (Canada), La Seine Musicale, Aigues-Vives Music Festival (France), Kronberg Academy, Schwetzingen Festspiele, Herkulessaal (Germany), Teatro Colón (Argentina), and Seoul Arts Center (Korea). A charismatic soloist, Jinjoo has appeared with leading orchestras such as the Cleveland Orchestra, Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, Deutsche Radio Philharmonic, Orquesta Clásica Santa Cecilia de Madrid, Ensemble Appassionato, Seoul Philharmonic, and the North Carolina, Phoenix, and Charlotte symphonies, collaborating with renowned conductors such as James Gaffigan, Kent Nagano, JoAnn Falletta, Mathieu Herzog, Peter Oundjian, Michael Stern, Tito Muñoz, Michael Francis, Moritz Gnann, Karina Canellakis, Shi-Yeon Sung, Pietari Inkinen, and Clemens Schuldt. Jinjoo has deep love and appreciation for the chamber music repertoire and cherishes sharing the stage with prominent artists of the globe such as Gary Hoffman, Andreas Ottensamer, Ray Chen, Itamar Golan, Roger Tapping, Jaime Laredo, Sharon Robinson, Vadim Gluzman, and Clive Greensmith. In 2021, she formed Trio Seoul with pianist Kyu Yeon Kim and cellist and Bienen School alumnus Brannon Cho. In addition to being an active performer, Jinjoo is a dedicated teacher and an artistic director. She is currently the founding artistic director of ENCORE Chamber Music Institute, a 501(c)(3) non-profit. She has previously served as violin faculty at the Cleveland Institute of Music, Oberlin Conservatory, and the Schulich School of Music at McGill University. Most recently, Jinjoo served on the official jury panel of international competitions such as the Indianapolis (USA, 2022) and Schoenfeld (China, 2024) competitions, and on the screening committee of the Montréal (Canada, 2019/2023) and Premio Paganini (Italy, 2023) competitions. Jinjoo’s dedication to nurturing the next generation of young musicians stems directly from the influence of her teachers Paul Kantor and Jaime Laredo. She holds degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music. Jinjoo is passionate about sharing her love of music, in whatever form that it takes. A consummate recording artist, she has thus far produced four albums: Saint-Saëns (Naïve Classique), La Capricieuse (SONY Classical), The Indianapolis Commissions (Azica), and Jinjoo Cho (Analekta). Described as “a delectable curtain-raiser” (Strad Magazine) and “finest silk thread of a violin tone” (Rondo Magazine), Jinjoo’s discography has garnered critical acclaim worldwide as well as commercial success. Her other creative explorations range from commissioning new works by composers Juri Seo and Andrew Rindfleisch to collaborating with artists of other disciplines such as dancer/choreographer Jinyeob Cha. In 2021, Jinjoo’s first book, Shine Someday, was listed as a best seller on major book platforms in Korea.
Passionate and communicative, Max Geissler is a versatile cellist whose broad musical interests span multiple genres and disciplines. From performing in international chamber music series alongside distinguished artists, to premiering works by world-renowned composers with the new music ensemble Latitude 49, to historical performances on baroque cello with gut strings, Max’s artistic range is as diverse as it is dynamic. Currently, Max is the Assistant Professor of Cello at East Tennessee State University and spends his summers teaching and performing at ENCORE Chamber Music Institute. Kalmia Garden Music Arts Foundation, a non-profit organization Max founded and directs in Durham, CT, just celebrated its 12th season. Maintaining an active presence as a performer, Max has been presented by prestigious international organizations such as La Jolla ChamberFest, Taipei Music Academy & Festival, Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival, and the Geneva Music Festival. He has shared the stage with celebrated musicians such as Lynn Harrell, Mathieu Herzog, Clive Greensmith, Mihaela Martin, Frans Helmerson, Jon Kimura Parker, Cho-Liang Lin, and Martin Beaver. Eager to expand the scope of the solo cello repertoire, Max enjoys collaborating with and commissioning visionary contemporary composers such as Theo Chandler, Hilary Purrington, Erberk Eryılmaz, Chen Yihan, and Andrew Rindfleisch. When serving as Co-Artistic Director of Latitude 49, Max premiered works by dozens of composers, bringing to life a diverse range of pieces from inspiring student compositions to collaborations with Juno and Pulitzer Prize-winning composers such as Joan Tower, Juri Seo, Christopher Cerrone, Mark Kilstofte, and Jared Miller. The ensemble continues to perform in major venues each season, including the Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago’s Ear Taxi Festival, Constellation Chicago, Princeton Sound Kitchen, Bowling Green State University’s New Music Festival, and New Music Detroit’s Strange Beautiful Music, and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s The Cube. With Latitude 49, Max has recorded and released five albums, including publications with New Amsterdam Records. The ensemble’s annual summer festival, Sound Atlas Sound Festival, presented at Contemporary Calgary, has been praised as “one of Calgary’s most exciting festivals to look out for.” Max is deeply committed to cultivating a studio of young cellists who are engaged collaborators in their communities. In addition to his studio teaching at ETSU, Max regularly teaches at various academies and festivals such as ENCORE Chamber Music Institute’s Summer Academy and the Tennessee Cello Workshop, alongside distinguished colleagues from Northwestern, Rice, Indiana, McGill University, Oberlin, and San Francisco Conservatory. Max is also in high demand for teaching and performing residencies at universities including Princeton University, Vanderbilt University, University of North Carolina School of the Arts, University of Tennessee, Boston Conservatory at Berklee, Colorado State University, Baylor University, and SUNY-Fredonia. Max’s students have been accepted into top-tier festivals and degree programs, and have earned prestigious awards in national and international competitions, including the From The Top audition, the YoungArts Competition, the Stulberg International String Competition, and the Grand Prize Virtuoso Competition (Bonn, Germany). In 2024, Max received his Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University. During his Master’s and Doctoral studies at Rice, he served as Desmond Hoebig’s teaching assistant and taught the university’s non-major cello studio. Max earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan under the mentorship of Richard Aaron and also spent a year in the Study Abroad program, taking lessons with Michel Strauss from the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris.
A native of Cedar Falls, Iowa, and a graduate of the University of Northern Iowa with a Bachelor’s in Music Education studying with Frederick Halgedahl, Mia Hagarty has had a very active performing and teaching career in Iowa, Texas, Tennessee, and around the world.
She has sustained a violin/viola studio in many places, including Iowa, Connecticut, South Texas, Tennessee, and Vienna, Austria. She specializes in the Suzuki Method as she was taught that way herself, beginning violin instruction at the age of three at the UNI Suzuki School studying with several teachers including Therese Fetter. Mia was an adjunct instructor of violin and viola at Del Mar College in Corpus Christi, Texas for 11 years and taught several summers at the Coastal Bend String Camp. She then became the Director and Master Teacher of the String Project at Tennessee Tech and enjoyed working with students of all ages and teaching future teachers there for 6 years.
Mia is an active musician and has been a member of the Corpus Christi Symphony Orchestra, the WCFSymphony, the Bryan Symphony Orchestra, and most recently has enjoyed playing with the Nashville Opera Orchestra. She has played with the Nashville Symphony, Victoria Symphony Orchestra, the Kingsville Symphony Orchestra, the Corpus Christi Ballet Orchestra, the Bay Rock Orchestra, and the Sparkling City Opera. Also a busy chamber musician, Mia has collaborated with many string quartets and solo musicians on recordings and events. She is excited to be home again at the University of Northern Iowa and teaching with the UNI Suzuki School.
Hannah is a violinist and teacher based in the Iowa City area. She received a BM in violin performance from the University of Minnesota, where she studied with Mark Bjork, and MM in violin performance from the University of Northern Iowa, where she studied with Dr. Ross Winter and Dr. Julia Bullard (viola). An advocate for the Suzuki method, Hannah has studied Suzuki violin pedagogy with Mark Bjork, Joanne Melvin, and Martha Shackford. Currently, Hannah holds faculty positions at the UNI Suzuki School in Cedar Falls and the Preucil School of Music in Iowa City where she teaches violin and viola, leads group classes, and coaches chamber ensembles and recently joined Schultz Strings as Store and Educational Associate. She maintains an active schedule performing with the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony, the Southeast Iowa Symphony, and freelancing throughout eastern Iowa with various other ensembles and theatre productions. While perhaps most at home in the classical music genre, Hannah has a great love of the versatility of string instruments and enjoys exploring and collaborating on projects within other genres. She recently recorded and released an album with her husband, violinist and guitarist, Austin Jacobs, and their folk trio band, “From Afar.”
Kenny Lee has established himself as an outstanding artist and leader both on the podium and as a cellist. Praised for his “lyricism, drive, tenderness, and passion” (The Times Argus), he has performed as a conductor, recitalist, and chamber musician throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. Lee is Assistant Professor and Director of Orchestral Studies at the University of Iowa, where he conducts the Orchestra and teaches graduate and doctoral conducting students. Additionally, he is the conductor of the prestigious Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra’s Philharmonic Orchestra. Recent conducting highlights include collaborations with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, Czech Chamber Philharmonic, Jerusalem Symphony, Moravská Filharmonie Olomouc, Lviv National Philharmonic, Gwinnett Chamber Orchestra, and Illinois All-State Orchestra. Prior to his appointment at Iowa, Lee was the orchestra director at Western Illinois University and led the WIU Symphony Orchestra and Chamber Orchestra with thrilling and adventurous programs. He travels frequently both as a guest conductor and a masterclass clinician. Lee’s musical journeys have led him to collaborations with several esteemed artists, including principal players of the Berlin Philharmonic, and members of the Juilliard, Cleveland, Borromeo, and Ying Quartets. Festival appearances have included Rockport Chamber Music Festival, Thy Chamber Music Festival in Denmark, Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival, Taos Chamber Music Festival, and Piatigorsky International Cello Festival. Lee is also the co-founder and artistic director of the Flatirons Chamber Music Festival, a non-profit organization in Boulder, Colorado. Additionally, Lee is a founding member of the Parrish Trio. Cello performance highlights include solo and concerto appearances in venues such as Carnegie Hall, Boston’s Jordan Hall, and Eastman Kodak Hall. He recently performed concerti by Dvorak, Haydn, Elgar, and Gulda and has appeared as a soloist with the Atlanta Sinfonia, Knox-Galesburg Symphony, Eastman Philharmonia, Jordan Winds, and Eugene Symphony. He has collaborated as a soloist with conductors such as Giancarlo Guerro, Neil Varon, and William Drury. Lee is a top prize winner of several competitions, including the Seventeenth International Conductor’s Workshop and Competition, New York International Artists Competition, Hudson Valley String Competition, Borromeo Guest Artist Competition, Eastman Concerto Competition, and New England Conservatory Honors Chamber Music Competition as the founding member of the Gioviale Quartet. Born in Seoul, South Korea, Lee grew up in Oregon and began studying music at the age of 10. Lee’s primary conducting teachers included Steven Sloane, Catherine Larsen-Maguire, Carl St. Clair, and Charles Peltz. Lee studied cello with Laurence Lesser, Paul Katz, Steven Doane, and Steven Pologe. He has also worked extensively with Hans Jørgen Jensen, Pieter Wispelwey, Lluis Claret, Ralph Kirshbaum, and Frans Helmerson. Lee graduated from the Eastman School of Music as a recipient of the John Celentano Award for Excellence in Chamber Music. He earned his Masters and Doctorate degrees from the New England Conservatory with honors.
Clarinetist Amanda McCandless is an established performer, scholar, and pedagogue known internationally for her study of women composers. She joined the faculty at the University of Northern Iowa in 2008 where she serves as Professor of Clarinet and Associate Director of the UNI School of Music.
Dr. McCandless has performed recitals throughout the U.S. and abroad, most recently performing in Dublin, Ireland at the International Clarinet Association’s ClarinetFest. She has appeared as a guest soloist with the Caxias do Sul (Brazil) Symphony Orchestra and appeared as guest soloist with the UNI Wind Symphony on their tour of northern Italy. She has also been a guest artist and clinician at the China Conservatory (Beijing, China), Sichuan Conservatory (China), Universidade de Caxias do Sul (Brazil), Universidade do Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil), Universidade de Brasília (Brazil), the Universidade Federal de Goiás (Brazil), the Bolivian National Conservatory of Music in La Paz, Bolivia, and at the University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez. She has been a guest artist at many international, national, and regional clarinet events, including the International Clarinet Association’s ClarinetFest, Flute New Music Consortium Festival, NACWPI National Convention, College Music Society’s regional and national conventions, the University of Oklahoma Clarinet Symposium, Michigan State University’s Clarinet Spectacular and the Eastern Kentucky University Clarinet Festival. Dr. McCandless is Second and E-flat Clarinetist in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony Orchestra. She previously held the position of Principal Clarinet of the Tulsa Symphony and Ballet Orchestras and has performed as a substitute clarinetist in orchestras throughout the Midwest.
Dr. McCandless is a noted advocate and performer of clarinet works by women composers. She has released two albums of unaccompanied clarinet works by women composers on the Mark Records Label, with a third volume premiering soon. She has commissioned works by composers Theresa Martin, Rebecca Burkhardt, and Daijana Wallace, and regularly presents concerts highlighting the work of underrepresented composers. In 2022, Dr. McCandless received a grant from the Iowa Arts Council to present presentations about works by women and underrepresented composers to primary and secondary school students, with the goal of inspiring all students to pursue artistic participation and engagement.
Dr. McCandless holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree and Master of Music degree from Michigan State University, where she was a student of Elsa Ludewig-Verdehr. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Eastern Kentucky University, where she was a student of Connie Rhoades.
Joanna Mendoza is the violist of the Arianna String Quartet and serves as chair of the Department of Music at the University of Missouri-St. Louis (UMSL). The ASQ can be heard on National Public Radio’s “Performance Today,” and on “Live from Music Mountain,” broadcast to 125 stations in the U.S. and to 35 countries. Their recordings of the two Janacek Quartets, and the Early and Middle Beethoven Quartets, all released on Centaur Records, received critical acclaim.
With the ASQ, Joanna performs and teaches throughout the U.S. and abroad, in-person and online. Known for their down-to-earth and personable approach to coaching and teaching, the ASQ is regularly invited as guest artists to music schools and festivals for mini-residencies of lessons, coachings, master classes, and performances. In addition to their work with students, they work collaboratively with their colleagues at UMSL from other disciplines, including Philosophy, International Business, Nursing, and Visual Art, in lecture demonstrations and other projects both on and off campus. The ASQ’s interactive series, entitled First Mondays at KWMU (St. Louis Public Radio), takes a behind-the-scenes look at music-making, the relationship of music with other disciplines, and the chemistry of quartet playing.
She is a co-founder and director of Arianna Arts, Inc., a non-profit organization that engages and enriches communities with world-class music. Arianna Arts, Inc. host sthe Arianna Chamber Music Festival, an international summer festival in St. Louis that brings together a cross-section of aspiring musicians from St. Louis, the U.S., and around the world for a cultural and musical exchange.
Ms. Mendoza maintains a highly-regarded private viola studio. Her students continue their musical studies at esteemed programs such as The Juilliard School, The Shepard School at Rice University, The Jacobs School of Music, Music Academy of the West, the Heifetz Institute, and Colorado College Summer Music Festival.
Prior to joining the Arianna Quartet, Ms. Mendoza was a ten-year member of the Harrington String Quartet and the Amarillo Symphony, and served on the faculties of West Texas A&M University and the University of Oklahoma.
Peter Miyamoto enjoys a brilliant international career, performing to great acclaim in recital and as soloist in Canada, England, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Poland, Russia, Serbia, Switzerland, China, and Japan, and in major US cities such as Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Washington D.C. In 1990, Miyamoto was named the first Gilmore Young Artist. He won numerous other competitions, including the American Pianist Association National Fellowship Competition, the D’Angelo Competition, the San Francisco Symphony Competition and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Competition. Miyamoto has performed as soloist with numerous orchestras, including the Chautauqua Symphony, Erie Philharmonic, Florida Philharmonic, Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, and Knoxville Symphony, working with such conductors as Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, David Lockington, Raymond Harvey, Lawrence Leighton-Smith, William Henry Curry, and Kirk Trevor. A dedicated chamber musician, he has performed with Charles Castleman, Victor Danchenko, Joel Krosnick, Lara St. John, Anthony McGill, David Shifrin and Allan Vogel, singer Lucy Shelton, as well as members of the Blair, Borromeo, Euclid and Pacifica String Quartets. He is a former member of the August and Beaumont Trios, and was a founding member of the Quadrivium Players, the resident ensemble at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Dr. Miyamoto holds degrees from the Curtis Institute of Music, Yale University School of Music, Michigan State University, and the Royal Academy of Music in London. His teachers included Maria Curcio-Diamand, Leon Fleisher, Claude Frank, Peter Frankl, Marek Jablonski, Aube Tzerko, and Ralph Votapek, as well as Szymon Goldberg, Felix Galimir and Lorand Fenyves for chamber music. Professor and Catherine P. Middlebush Chair of Piano at the University of Missouri, Peter Miyamoto formerly taught at Michigan State University, and the California Institute of the Arts. After serving as head of the piano faculty at the New York Summer Music Festival 2003-2015, co-founded the Odyssey Chamber Music Festival in Missouri, and in recent years has taught and performed at the Curtis Mentor Network and The Curtis Institute Young Artist Program in Philadelphia, PA, and at the PRIZM International Chamber Music Festival in Memphis, TN. Miyamoto has given master classes at major institutions throughout the United States as well as internationally in Canada, China, Greece, Japan and Serbia. Peter serves as Executive Director of the Plowman Chamber Music Competition, and is Past President of the Missouri Music Teachers Association of MTNA. Peter Miyamoto’s solo CDs, The Chopin Ballades and Fantasies and A Schubert Recital, Brahms Works and A Piano Recital have received critical acclaim in Gramophone Magazine (April 2009), International Record Review (March 2009), American Record Guide (February 2009), Fanfare Magazine (2014) and Audiophile Audition (2014). More recently, Great Pianists As Composers: Piano Works of Artur Schnabel, Glenn Gould and Dinu Lipatti and C Minor Progression: Works by Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert were released in 2019 and 2020, respectively, and were reviewed in American Record Guide (January 2020). A CD of commissioned violin-piano duos with violinist Julie Rosenfeld and produced by ten-time GRAMMY Award Winner Judith Sherman was released on Albany Records in Spring 2018.
Mezzo-soprano Michelle Monroe has been praised for her “command of dramatic shape and musical details.” A passionate teacher and performer, Michelle teaches voice at UNI and is an active recitalist and concert soloist in Iowa and throughout the Midwest. Recent concert appearances include alto soloist in Handel’s Messiah, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Mozart’s Requiem in D minor, and Haydn’s Missa in tempore belli. An avid supporter of contemporary American art song, she gave the world premiere of Jeremy Beck’s Four Songs and recorded the work for his album Remember. Other recent performances include Raspberry Island Dreaming by Libby Larsen, The Noise by Kimberly Osberg, and Dialogue of Self and Soul by James Stephenson. Equally at home in recital, concert, and on the operatic stage, her favorite opera roles include Feri (Die Csárdásfürstin), Prince Orlofsky (Die Fledermaus), Dorabella (Così fan tutte), Beppe (L’amico Fritz), Maddalena (Rigoletto), and Ruth (The Pirates of Penzance). When she’s not singing, Michelle enjoys spending time outdoors in the Cedar Valley with her family and her dog.
Hailed by the New York Times as possessing “rich tone and deft technique,” Hannah Porter Occeña is a versatile flutist and pedagogue equally comfortable performing music written 400 years or 40 minutes ago. The 2021 Mu Phi Epsilon International Competition Winner and 2012 Irene Burchard Prizewinner, her performance work ranges from intimate solo performances in the recording studio to sold-out orchestra festival concerts. She holds principal flute positions in the Topeka Symphony Orchestra (Topeka, KS) and Colorado MahlerFest Orchestra (Boulder, CO) and teaches a vibrant studio of undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Northern Iowa (Cedar Falls, IA). As an orchestral player, chamber musician, and soloist, Dr. Occeña has worked to bring to life hundreds of new works. She gave the world premiere performances of flute concertos by Arturo Rodríguez and Joseph Kern, and the European premiere of Jennifer Higdon’s “The Light That We Can Hear.” She has privately commissioned several works, including the prizewinning work the whirring dusk by Lisa Bost-Sandberg (2018), and was a co-commissioner for Confluence by Zhou Long (2015), Giantess by Carter Pann (2018), Amazonia by Valerie Coleman (2020), Intuition by Samuel Zyman (2022), and Pathways of Desire by Reena Esmail (2024). Committed to reaching audiences around the world, Dr. Occeña is an active recording artist whose performances can be heard on major music streaming services. She specializes in recording recently published works as well as student-accessible works outside the standard canon, often in collaboration with her duo partner, pianist Emely Phelps. In addition to traditional venues and recorded performances, Dr. Occeña performs outreach concerts in schools, non-traditional venues such as nature preserves and state parks, and at events specifically designed for neurodiverse audience members. Some of her favorite concert experiences have been performances in association with Autism Speaks and at special education schools. Dr. Occeña is a frequent presenter at regional and national conventions, and her articles have been published in North American, British, and Dutch flute journals. She contributed to new editions of the Sonata in B minor by Amanda Maier and the Sonata op. 94 by Sergei Prokofiev, and she has researched and performed unpublished works by Undine Smith Moore and Gertrude Rivers Robinson from the composers’ manuscripts. Dr. Occeña is a 2018 DMA graduate of Stony Brook University, where she studied with Carol Wincenc. She holds a Master of Music Dip.RAM from the Royal Academy of Music and a Bachelor of Music from the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music and Dance. When not performing, Dr. Occeña enjoys distance running and spending time outdoors with her family. Dr. Occeña is a Miyazawa Artist and plays on a Miyazawa Elite.
Boston-based violinist Theo Ramsey enjoys a varied career as an orchestral violinist, chamber musician, and teacher. They perform frequently with such ensembles as Brooklyn-based orchestral collective The Knights, new music ensemble Alarm Will Sound, and the Boston Lyric Opera. Theo is a member of the first violin section of the New Bedford Symphony and is violinist and violist of Ensemble Dal Niente. Originally from Cedar Falls, IA, Theo began playing the violin at the UNI Suzuki School. They hold degrees from Northwestern University and the Cleveland Institute of Music, where their primary teachers were Blair Milton and David Updegraff. Theo was co-concertmaster of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and spent two years as a Fellow and frequent concertmaster of the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, FL.
Dr. Erik Rohde maintains a diverse career as a conductor, violinist, and educator, and has performed in recitals and festivals across the United States and in Europe and Asia. He is the newly appointed Director of Orchestral Activities at the University of Northern Iowa, the Music Director of the Winona Symphony Orchestra (MN), and the founding artistic director of the Salomon Chamber Orchestra, an orchestra dedicated to promoting the works of living composers and of Haydn and his contemporaries. Prior to his appointment at the University of Northern Iowa, Rohde served as the Director of String Activities and Orchestra at Indiana State University where he conducted the Indiana State University Symphony Orchestra and taught violin, chamber music, and Suzuki pedagogy. A committed advocate for contemporary music, he has premiered and commissioned many new works by both established and young composers, and is constantly seeking to discover new compositional voices. He is the violinist of the new music duo sonic apricity, which is dedicated to uncovering and commissioning new works by living composers for violin and viola. At Indiana State University he helped to host the annual Contemporary Music Festival – now running for over 50 years. He has worked with Joan Tower, Augusta Read Thomas, Libby Larsen, Meira Warshauer, Elliott Miles McKinley, Christopher Walczak, Michael-Thomas Foumai, Pierre Jalbert, James Dillon, David Dzubay, Marc Mellits, Carter Pann, Narong Prangcharoen and countless others. In the last year he has released two recordings with composer Elliott Miles McKinley, with whom he is currently working on a project for a new set of companion pieces written to be played with the Bach Solo Violin Sonatas and Partitas. In his native Minnesota, Rohde has served as the Music Director of the Buffalo Community Orchestra, conductor and violinist for the Contemporary Music Workshop, Camarata Suzuki orchestra conductor for the MacPhail Center for Music, String Ensemble conductor at the Trinity School, and first violinist of the Cantiamo and Enkidu String Quartets. Rohde holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts in Conducting from the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities, where he studied with conductors Mark Russell Smith, Kathy Saltzman Romey, and Craig Kirchhoff and violin pedagogue Mark Bjork. He also holds degrees in Violin Performance and Biomedical Engineering. Rohde resides in Cedar Falls, IA with his wife Erin and their children.
Jacob White (he/him/his) is an active horn player based in Iowa, currently performing as Assistant Principal Horn with the Des Moines Symphony and Assistant Horn with Orchestra Iowa. Additionally, he performs as 3rd Horn with the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony and 4th Horn with the Dubuque Symphony. Jacob has previously performed with such groups as the Redlands Symphony Orchestra, Southern California Brass Consortium, Symphony of Northwest Arkansas, and the American Youth Symphony of Los Angeles. A graduate of Oklahoma State University with a B.M. in Horn Performance under the guidance of Lanette Compton, Jacob furthered his studies at the University of Redlands in California, earning his M.M. in Horn Performance in 2020 with mentorship from freelancer and composer Adam Wolf.
In addition to performing, Jacob is a proficient arranger, orchestrator, and composer, accumulating over a decade of experience in writing music for various ensembles. His arrangements have been featured in performances by esteemed groups like the Oklahoma State University Instrumental Studios, the Kendall Betts Horn Camp Ensemble, the University of Missouri – Kansas City Horn Studio, and the Texas All Star Horn Professors Horn Choir. As a composer, Jacob focuses his creative efforts on the horn, with notable recognition for his composition “Maiden Voyage,” commissioned and recorded by Denise Tryon on her album “Hope Springs Eternal”. Additionally, he has been commissioned by the horn ensemble, NU Corno/College Corno, conducted by Steven Cohen, and other horn players throughout the Mid-South region.
Recognized by Rice University for her “outstanding achievement and promise” and by the Cleveland Institute of Music (CIM) for her “unusual creativity and expression,” Vaughn Fellow and Darius Milhaud Award recipient Molly Wise is a violist who uses performance to inspire and educate. She has recently been appointed to the faculty of the University of Iowa School of Music as Visiting Assistant Professor of Viola, effective Fall 2026. For the past several years, she has performed throughout Houston, Texas with organizations including Musiqa, Mercury Ensemble, ROCO, Kinetic Ensemble, and more, in museums, concert halls, classrooms, and beyond. She has concertized around the U.S. and Canada as a chamber and solo artist, sharing the Kennedy Center stage with Vietnamese instrumentalist Võ Vân-Ánh, presenting her original transcriptions of Florence Price and Amy Beach as a lecture-recitalist at the 2024 American Viola Society Festival, and performing alongside members of the Miró, New Orford, and Borromeo Quartets at various chamber music festivals. She has participated in countless world premiere performances, and in her own recital programming, Molly often highlights, arranges, and commissions works composed by living and historical women.
Molly is a Doctor of Musical Arts candidate at Rice. During her studies, she served as James Dunham’s teaching assistant for five years and taught music theory courses for music majors, non-majors, and senior citizens. She holds a Master of Music degree from Rice and a Bachelor of Music in viola and music theory from CIM, where she studied with Jeffrey Irvine and performed Penderecki’s viola concerto with the CIM Orchestra. A dedicated educator and passionate leader, she has taught viola and chamber music privately and as a teaching artist of AFA-Texas and Musiqa. Her students have won local chamber music competitions and secured spots in regional and All-State orchestras. She was also heavily involved at Rice’s Doerr Institute for New Leaders and created her own community music outreach program for middle-school girls as a DACAMERA of Houston Young Artist.
In her free time, Molly enjoys coffee, Pilates, and nerding out on anything from the Legend of Zelda to chromatic-mediant modulations with her husband (and fellow violist) Maxwell Lowery.