2018 Lansum International Music Festival
Faculty & Guest Artists
Edward Wolanin, Poland, Piano
Edward Wolanin began his piano studies with Urszula Hop when he was 5 years old. He graduated from the secondary music school in Rzeszów (Krystyna Matheis-Domaszowska’s class). As the youngest student in the history of the Academy he began to study at the Fryderyk Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw when he was 15. He studied with Professor Jan Ekier, Professor Bronisława Kawalla and Professor Marchwiński (in his chamber music class). Following his graduation he continued his studies with Professor Jan Ekier as a post-graduate student.
Nancy Weems, USA, Piano
As a concert pianist, Nancy Weems has performed extensively in the United States and in Europe, Asia, Mexico, Central America, and the former Soviet Union. Selected as a United States Artistic Ambassador, Ms. Weems represented the United States in three international concert tours, and presented a solo debut recital at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. She has appeared as guest artist with numerous orchestras, and has given master classes in conservatories in the United States, Europe, Asia, and the West Indies.
Sergey Schepkin, USA, Piano
Sergey Schepkin has performed worldwide. He made his Carnegie Hall recital début in 1993 (at Weill Recital Hall) to an enthusiastic reception from the audience and The New York Times. He has performed for the Great Performers Series at Lincoln Center; Celebrity Series of Boston; at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York; the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC; the LACMA and Maestro Chamber Series in Los Angeles; London’s Steinway Hall and Proms at St Jude’s; the National Concert Hall in Dublin; the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki; the Grand and Chamber Philharmonic Halls in St. Petersburg; and the Sumida Triphony Hall in Tokyo, to name just a few places.
Antoinette Perry, USA, Piano
Antoinette Perry, born to professional musicians, gave her first public performance at the age of four. Since then, she has appeared throughout the U.S., Europe and China as a soloist and chamber musician, collaborating with many of the world’s greatest artists, including John Perry, Leon Fleisher, Ralph Kirshbaum, Eugene Fodor and actors Michael York and Walter Matthau. She has performed with members of the American, Chicago, Juilliard, Los Angeles, Paganini, Sequoia, and Takacs String Quartets, and also with concertmasters and/or principals of the Concertgebau, Gulbenkian and Zurich Tonhalle Orchestras, and the L.A., Orpheus and Stuttgart Chamber Orchestras.
Dr. Baruch Meir, USA / Israel, Piano
Baruch Meir is an exceptional artist, he did a beautiful performance of my piano work entitled A LITTLE SUITE FOR CHRISTMAS which was distinguished by a deep musical insights and consummate technical skill. It was certainly one of the very finest performances this work of mine has ever received” (George Crumb, composer; 1968 Pulitzer Prize in Music; 2001 Grammy award; 2004 Musical America “composer of the year”). Pianist Baruch Meir has performed extensively in Austria, China, England, France, Israel, Portugal, Serbia and throughout the United States.
Róza Yoder, USA, Piano
Róża Kostrzewska Yoder made her orchestral debut at the age of eleven, has recorded for Polish National Radio and Polish National Television, and is the prizewinner of many piano competitions. She has collaborated in chamber performances with Luz Leskowitz, Jorg Demus, Paul Badura-Skoda, and the Salzburg Solisti, and has performed in solo recital in Germany, Austria, Finland, Italy, Switzerland, Poland, and the United States.
Dr. Andrew Park, USA, Piano
Dr. Park is a renowned Korean-American solo pianist, chamber musician, and pedagogue. He is First Prize winner of Joanna Hodges International Piano Competition (currently known as Virginia Waring International Piano Competition). Dr. Park is a devoted performer of chamber music. He travels around to play chamber music with his own group, the Park Trio. He was also invited to have some performances with El Camino College/CTS Orchestra, OMC Orchestra, and Dosan Philharmonic Orchestra. Dr. Park is also an active private studio teacher in Orange County, and his students have won the prizes from numerous competitions throughout the country.
Dr. Jessica Maxfield, USA, Saxophone
Los Angeles-based concert saxophonist Jessica Maxfield enjoys an active career as an accomplished performer, educator, clinician, and adjudicator. She has concertized and presented clinics throughout the United States, Austria, Belgium, France, The Netherlands, Norway, Ukraine, and Japan. Originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, Maxfield has received awards and recognition from the Yamaha Young Artist National Competition, the Selmer-Paris/Ukraine International Saxophone Competition, the Adolphe Sax International Saxophone Competition, and MNTA Collegiate Chamber Music Competition. Notable appearances include the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Music Academy of the West, Santa Barbara Symphony, the Chicago Philarmonic, the Joffrey Ballet, Kaleidoscope, the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic, the National Wind Ensemble in Carnegie Hall, the Lima, Evanston, Rockford, and Lake Shore Symphonies, as well as soloist with the Northern Kentucky University Symphonic Winds Ensemble, and Chicago’s Apollo Chorus.
Dr. Douglas Masek, USA, Saxophone
Internationally renowned saxophonist DOUGLAS MASEK whose performances have emphasized versatility in a wide range of musical styles, from classical and contemporary to jazz, have consistently garnered critical acclaim. The Los Angeles Times “…playing is smooth, sinuous, stunning, stylish, dazzling, and glowing with the requisite rich color.” The Daily Review in Oakland, California, wrote that “Masek plays with dazzling virtuosity”, while The Outlook in Santa Monica, California, declared that “Masek’s performance was marvelous…his control was almost uncanny…extraordinary musicianship”. Pamina Concerts in Barcelona, Spain, adds that “Masek’s playing is always exquisite and full of feeling and musicality”. In South Africa, The Argus wrote “Masek”s tone: beautiful and pure” and the Cape Times added “dynamic and magical”.
Dr. John Sampen, USA, Saxophone
As one of America’s leading concert saxophonists, John Sampen is particularly recognized as a distinguished artist in contemporary literature. He has commissioned over one hundred new works, including compositions by Adler, Babbitt, Bolcom, Cage, Rzewski, Rands and Shrude and has premiered saxophone versions of music by Lutosławski, Stockhausen and Tower.
Dr. Timothy McAllister, USA, Saxophone
Hailed by The New York Times as a “virtuoso…one of the foremost saxophonists of his generation”, “brilliant” (The Guardian, UK), and “a sterling saxophonist” (The Baltimore Sun), TIMOTHY McALLISTER is one of today’s premier concert soloists and soprano chair of the acclaimed PRISM Quartet. He serves as Professor of Saxophone at The University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre and Dance. Additionally, he spends his summers as distinguished artist faculty of the Interlochen Arts Camp (MI), and regularly performs with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Cabrillo Festival Orchestra. He has recently been featured with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, St. Louis Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Sao Paulo State Symphony Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony, National Symphony, Toronto Symphony, Tokyo Wind Symphony, Dallas Wind Symphony, and United States Navy Band, among others. McAllister’s work can be heard on the Nonesuch, Deutsche Grammphon, Naxos, OMM, Stradivarius, Centaur, AUR, Albany, New Dynamic, Equilibrium, New Focus and innova record labels.
Sara Andon, USA, Flute
Flutist Sara Andon is an international soloist and recording artist known for her ravishing tone and deeply engaging musical interpretations. A versatile performer in many music genres, including solo, chamber, symphonic, opera, ballet, new music, jazz and Broadway, she has performed all over the world in major concert venues, TV and radio broadcasts, as well as on many documentaries, motion picture and video game soundtracks, and for Disney.
Dr. Nick Terry, USA, Percussion
Nick Terry is a percussionist and educator specializing in contemporary classical chamber music. Currently based in Los Angeles, since 2005 his multi-faceted creative output has received critical acclaim from the Recording Academy (winner in 57thGrammy Awards, official nominee in 55thGrammy Awards), Percussive Arts Society (invited performer 2013, 2016, 2017, 2018 International Conventions), iTunes (2014 Best of Classical Music), and National Public Radio (2017’s Top 10 Classical Albums). His music has been called “mesmerizing, atmospheric, and supremely melodic” by the New York Times, and “representing the next generation in the evolution of modern percussion” by conductor Pierre Boulez.
Dr. Anne Harley, CANADA/USA, Voice
Dr. Anne Harley teaches applied voice and music history, with a research focus in interdisciplinary vocal pedagogy and also in American and Russian chamber music composed by women in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. She is an accomplished vocal soloist, singing opera and oratorio in North America. Before coming to Scripps, she taught previously at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Boston University Tanglewood Institute, and Longy Conservatory.
Dr. David Rentz, USA, Conductor
Dr. David Rentz, an associate professor, teaches music and directs the choirs at Chaffey College, having taught music and conducted choral ensembles at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Yale University, and, most recently, Pomona and Scripps College, Claremont Colleges.
DMITRY RACHMANOV, USA/ RUSSIA, Piano
Dr. Dmitry Rachmanov is Professor of Piano at California State University, Northridge, where he serves as Chair of Keyboard Studies. Hailed as an “indisputable musician” by the Brussels’ Le Soir and “suave and gifted pianist’ by the New York Times, Rachmanov has been heard at venues such as New York’s Carnegie Hall, Washington DC’s Kennedy Center, London’s Barbican and South Bank Centres, and Beijing Concert Hall, and his tours brought him to Mexico.
Inna Faliks, USA /Ukraine, Piano
Ms. Faliks’s distinguished career has taken her to thousands of recitals and concerti in prestigious venues in the US as well as in France, Italy, Switzerland, Ukraine, Estonia, Japan, and Russia. She has been featured on WQXR, WNYC, WFMT and many international television broadcasts, and has performed in major venues such as Carnegie Hall’s Weill Concert Hall, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Paris’ Salle Cortot, Chicago’s Orchestra Hall, Moscow’s Tchaikovsky Hall and in many important festivals such as Verbier, Portland International, Music in the Mountains, Brevard, Taos, IKIF at Mannes, Bargemusic, and Chautauqua.
Rachel Vetter Huang, USA, Violin
Dr. Rachel Vetter Huang holds an A.B degree from Radcliffe College, Harvard University and an M.M., D.M.A from the state University of New York at Stony Brook. She formerly served as violin professor for Converse College and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She has received NEA grants towards production of chamber music festivals in New York and Colorado, and has enjoyed the privilege of being chosen to participate in an NEH Summer Seminar, the 1989 “”JAZZ: A Comparative View “” at Yale University, directed by John Szwed. Dr. Huang has been invited to make presentations on the topic of violin-piano duo repertoire as the chamber music at state and national conventions of the Music Teachers National Association and the College Music Society. Dr. Huang is currently on the faculties of Scripps College and Claremont Graduate University.
Hao Huang, USA, Piano
Dr. Hao Huang is Senior Advisor to the President for International Initiatives and the Bessie and Cecil Frankel Endowed Chair in Music at Scripps College. Currently serving his seventh year as Chair of the Scripps Music Department, Huang has served as a United States Information Agency Artistic Ambassador on several overseas tours to Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Huang was awarded the Leonard Bernstein Scholarship at Harvard College during the time he studied with Leon Fleisher. Upon graduation with AB cum laude in music, Huang won the Frank Huntington Beebe grant for European Study with an excellent audition. After returning to the States, Huang studied with Beveridge Webster at the Juilliard School and graduated with an M.M. in piano. Currently, Huang’s research focuses on Asian music philosophy and the relationship between literature and music of the Harlem Renaissance.
Bongshin Ko, Korea/USA, Cello
Hailed by critics for her “most perfect playing” (Internet Cello Society) with “great warmth and beauty” (The STRAD), cellist Bongshin Ko has appeared worldwide as a soloist with such groups as Munich Chamber Players, Television and Radio Symphony of Moscow, the KBS Korean Broadcasting Symphony, Zagreb Philharmonic, and Central Broadcasting Symphony of China. In 1992 Ms. Ko was honored to be the first Korean artist to be invited to perform in China after the historic resumption of diplomatic relations between Korea and China, and has since been invited back annually.
Marek Szpakiewicz, USA, Cello
Dr. Marek Szpakiewicz began cello lessons at the age of six in Lublin, Poland. He later studied with Stephen Kates at the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore. Szpakiewicz completed his doctorate degree under the tutelage of late Eleonore Schoenfeld at the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California. He also studied with such distinguished cellists as Daniil Shafran, Lynn Harrell, and Siegfried Palm