Durban-born composer Andile Khumalo studied composition at Columbia University under the guidance of Tristan Murail, Fabien Lévy, and George Lewis. His former teachers include Jürgen Bräuninger, Urlich Süße, Fabio Nieder and Marco Stroppa with whom he studied in Stuttgart (Germany) where he got his Masters in Composition.

Praised in the New York Times “as graceful vocally as she was in her movements”, “consistently stylish” (Boston Globe), and as a “cool, precise soprano” (Chicago Tribune), Carrie Henneman Shaw is based in Seattle and Chicago. A member of Chicago’s Ensemble Dal Niente, Pesedjet, and Quince Contemporary Vocal Ensemble, and contributor to many of St. Paul and Minneapolis's new music projects, Shaw is a McKnight Performing Musician Fellow and has earned arts entrepreneurship awards in her role as co-director of St. Paul’s Glorious Revolution Baroque. She has performed and created a number of live-music-for-dance projects, including Jocelyn Hagen's Slippery Fish, her Wright Brothers dance-opera Test Pilot, and James Sewall Ballet's Rib Cage. Carrie earned degrees in English and voice performance from Lawrence University and completed a doctorate at the University of Minnesota, and she currently teaches at University of Washington in Seattle.

Violinist Elizabeth Fayette, praised by The New York Times for her “alluring, lustrous sound and seasoned virtuosity,” made her Carnegie Hall solo debut with conductor Alan Gilbert and the Juilliard Orchestra. She regularly concertizes across North America and Europe as a soloist, chamber musician and orchestral leader.

An in-demand chamber musician, Ms. Fayette is a member of several dynamic musical collectives, including the Manhattan Chamber Players, the New York Classical Players, and the Marinus Ensemble. This past season, she served as a guest concertmaster with the Milwaukee Symphony and the Princeton Symphony. From 2016-2020 Ms. Fayette was the first violinist of the Vega String Quartet, Quartet-in-Residence at Emory University. Highlights of her time with the Quartet include performances in Mexico, Alaska and Denmark, as well as their recital debut at Amsterdam’s famed Concertgebouw.

In past seasons, Ms. Fayette has appeared as a soloist with the Houston Symphony as a prizewinner in the Ima Hogg Competition, won Second Prize in the Young Concert Artists International Auditions, and was awarded the 2014 Musical Fund Society of Philadelphia Career Grant, as well as the 2015 Juilliard/Tel Aviv Museum of Art Sanders Prize. She has given recitals at Rockefeller University, the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, and at Philadelphia’s American Philosophical Society with pianist Adam Golka, presented by the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society. As a founding member of the Sheridan Piano Trio, Ms. Fayette performed throughout Denmark, Germany and Austria.

Cellist Joseph Gotoff is recognized as a thoughtful and passionate performer, scholar, and teacher. With a repertoire that spans from the Baroque to the modern era, Dr. Gotoff works closely with a number of composers working today, with premiers including Lowell Liebermann’s Piano Trio (2013) and Binna Kim’s Shibboleth for solo cello (2016). A sought-after chamber musician, Dr. Gotoff’s reputation as an intense and compelling communicator has brought wide acclaim both in the United States and abroad.

Dr. Gotoff appears frequently as a soloist and chamber musician in concert across Europe, Asia and the Americas. Recent performance highlights include a 19-city concert tour of China with the award-winning Petrucci String Quartet, of which he is a founding member, and a performance of Elgar’s Cello Concerto with the Thames Valley Youth Orchestra. He gives frequent solo and chamber recitals throughout New England, and recent concerto appearances include performances of the Beethoven Triple Concerto and Monn Cello Concerto with the New England Conservatory Chamber Players, as well as Lalo’s Cello Concerto with the Williamsport Symphony. An ardent opera fan, Dr. Gotoff has served as principal cellist for the Prague Summer Nights Festival Orchestra, performing at the Estates Theater and Esterhazy Palace in Prague. Currently, he serves as the principal cellist of the Unitas Ensemble, a Boston-based chamber orchestra dedicated to promoting music from South and Latin America, and serves as the assistant principal cellist of The Orchestra of Indian Hill, based in Littleton, MA.

American violinist Stella Chen garnered worldwide attention with her first-prize win at the 2019 Queen Elizabeth International Violin Competition, followed by the 2020 Avery Fisher Career Grant and 2020 Lincoln Center Emerging Artist Award.

Since then, Stella has appeared across North America, Europe, and Asia in concerto, recital, and chamber music performances. She recently made debuts with the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Baltimore Symphony, Belgian National Orchestra, and many others and appeared at the Vienna Musikverein and Berlin Philharmonie. In recital, recent appearances include Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, the Phillips Collection, Rockport Music Festival, and Nume Festival in Italy. She appears frequently with Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center both in New York and on tour.

Stella has appeared as a chamber musician in festivals including the Ravinia, Seattle Chamber Music, Perlman Music Program, Music@Menlo, Bridgehampton, Rockport, Kronberg Academy, and Sarasota. Chamber music partners include Itzhak Perlman, James Ehnes, and Matthew Lipman.

Saxophonist Matt Evans is an avid soloist, chamber musician, teacher, and arranger. Currently on faculty as Adjunct Professor of Music Theory at Roberts Wesleyan College, Matt is completing a DMA in Saxophone Performance and Literature and an MA in Music Theory Pedagogy at the Eastman School of Music. Matt previously completed his MM and BM in Saxophone Performance and Literature at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music.

As a soloist, Matt has performed in Thailand, Germany, and throughout the United States. In 2012, Matt won 2nd Prize in the Music Teachers National Association Young Artist Woodwind Competition and in 2011 he advanced as a semi-finalist in the 3rd International Jean-Marie Londiex Competition. Matt also earned 2nd prize in the Lakeshore Wind Ensemble Concerto Competition in 2008, and he has been awarded the Performer’s Certificate at the both the Eastman School of Music and the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, the highest performance distinction awarded at either institution.

Katherine Weintraub (a native of Sarasota, Florida) is a decorated performer, passionate educator, and recent doctoral graduate of the Eastman School of Music. She made her solo debut at the age of 15 performing Jacques Ibert’s Concertino da Camera with the Florida Orchestra. Known for her sensitive musicianship, Dr. Weintraub champions the standard repertoire of the saxophone in addition to contemporary music and creative transcriptions of borrowed works.

Dr. Weintraub has performed at notable venues such as the Shanghai Grand Theater, the National Center of the Performing Arts in Beijing, China; Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. She has also been featured as a soloist with the University of Michigan Philharmonia, the Flint Symphony Orchestra, the Eastman Wind Ensemble, and the Florida State University Wind Orchestra. In the summer of 2018, she premiered two new works (one for solo saxophone and one for saxophone and electroacoustics) at the World Saxophone Congress in Zagreb, Croatia.

Saxophonist Doug O’Connor is passionate about sharing music that challenges audiences to explore, connect, and grow. His performances push the athletic limits of the saxophone and feature music from all eras and in many styles, including classical, contemporary, jazz, and electronic music. He strives to champion new works, present adventurous and innovative chamber music, perform with an improvisatory command of music from Bach to Coltrane, and connect music with technology in live performance. In 2023, Doug O’Connor will join the faculty of the Peabody Conservatory as Assistant Professor of Saxophone, as well as the staff of the Washington Arts Ensemble, a D.C. 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to presenting chamber music to the local community. O’Connor honed his artistic mission while performing on the Astral Artists roster from 2003 to 2013 and completing his training at the Eastman School of Music, where he earned his MM and DMA degrees in 2008 and 2012, and eventually went on to serve as Adjunct Assistant Professor of Saxophone in the fall of 2017. In addition, he served as Associate Lecturer of Saxophone at the University of Wisconsin in Eau Claire, as a saxophonist with the United States Naval Academy Band, and since 2016 as a saxophonist with the United States Army Band “Pershing’s Own.” He is proud to be a co-founder of the Global Premiere Consortium Commissioning Project, an online platform for instigating the composition, dissemination, and performance of new music worldwide, and the alto saxophonist with the acclaimed chamber ensemble Project Fusion Saxophone Quartet.

Described as having an “effective sense of phrasing and dynamic sensitivity” (Florida Classical Review), saxophonist Dannel Espinoza is an award-winning soloist and chamber musician. Lauded as one of the outstanding young artists in his field, Dr. Espinoza is a D’Addario Performing Artist, and has performed throughout North America, Europe, and Asia.

In demand as a recitalist, guest artist, and clinician, Dr. Espinoza performs regularly with ensembles and orchestras in south Florida and has worked with students at schools throughout North America and Europe. As a soloist, Dr. Espinoza was awarded second prize at the Music Teachers National Association Young Artist Competition, and was winner of the Arizona Music Teachers Association Young Artist Competition (2006 and 2007), Tucson Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition (second place 2006), and was named the winner of the Southwest Region for the Music Teachers National Association Young Artist Competition (2007).

Project Fusion strives to connect and inspire audiences through kinetic performances, adventurous programming, artistic kinship, and shenanigans. The quartet is a Laureate of Astral Artists, “...elevating the saxophone to its rightful throne” (Splash Magazine), and they have captured top prizes in the nation’s most prestigious chamber music competitions, including the Fischoff, Coleman, Plowman, Chesapeake, and Music Teachers National Association chamber competitions. They are passionate, witty, daring, and devoted musicians who seek to share their bond with others through the excitement and intimacy of chamber music. Project Fusion’s name is derived from the philosophy that music is an infinite, ongoing “project” guided by a sense of adventure and creativity, and that the collaboration of diverse perspectives can result in dynamic, surprising, meaningful and enjoyable artistic creations. In upcoming seasons, Fusion will explore the music of video games, perform as orchestral soloists, and present world premieres of works written by diverse composers in performances across the USA.

Known for performing “with precision and an impressive attention to timbral detail” (Boston Musical Intelligencer), percussionist Jeff Stern has developed a voice to listen for in today’s contemporary music scene. He has performed extensively throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia, and has collaborated with and championed the work of a number of the world’s preeminent composers. Recent premieres include Alejandro Viñao’s Stress and Flow with The Percussion Collective, James Wood’s Secret Dialogues for solo marimba, and John Luther Adams’ Sila at Lincoln Center’s Out of Doors Festival. As a proponent for the music of our time, Stern also actively commissions works by composers of his generation, such as Thomas Kotcheff, Emma O’Halloran, Robert Honstein, and Juri Seo.

Recently named one of “23 Composers and Performers to Watch in ’23” by the Washington Post, Gabriel Cabezas is a prolific and sought-after soloist and collaborator, as comfortable interpreting new works as he is with the pillar scores of the cello repertoire. Gabriel has appeared with America’s finest symphony orchestras, including those of Philadelphia, Chicago, Cleveland and New York, and has premiered dozens of new works by some of the most brilliant composers of his time. Gabriel recently premiered Lost Coast, a dynamic album of original music composed by Gabriela Smith inspired by her reflections on climate change, with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Gustavo Dudamel.

Described by Performance Today as “one of the top young guitarists of his generation,” Jordan Dodson is a musician, educator, and a passionate advocate of contemporary music, having given the premiere of hundreds of new works. In 2013 he was the first guitarist to graduate from the Curtis Institute of Music’s new guitar program. In the same year he won Astral Artists’ National Auditions and was selected to be Young Artist in Residence on American Public Media.

London-based Kamaal Williams is a keyboardist, DJ, and producer known for combining his love of '70s-style jazz fusion and funk with contemporary hip-hop and electronic dance music influences. An integral part of the vibrant South London scene, he holds a special place among jazzmen, rappers, and DJs for his accessible, easy-grooving style. Since releasing his solo breakthrough The Return in 2018, he's gained a foothold in global club culture. Although he's played in various bands since the mid-2000s, he came to prominence in 2016 as a member of the jazz-funk duo Yussef Kamaal with drummer Yussef Dayes. The pair garnered praise for their 2016 album Black Focus. Williams embarked on a solo career, releasing his similarly cross-pollinated 2018 debut, The Return.

Siwoo Kim is an “incisive” and “compelling” (Zachary Woolfe, The New York Times) violinist who plays with “stylistic sensitivity and generous tonal nuance” (John von Rhein, Chicago Tribune). Siwoo performs as soloist and chamber musician, and he is the co-founding artistic director of VIVO Music Festival in his hometown of Columbus, Ohio.

Siwoo gave the world premiere performance of Samuel Adler’s violin concerto which was written for him. He recorded the work on Linn Records to commemorate the composer’s 90th birthday, and the BBC Music Magazine praised his “notable fire & impassioned playing.” Siwoo made his Carnegie Hall concerto debut in Stern Auditorium with the Juilliard Orchestra. He has since performed with orchestras around the world including the Staatsorchester Brandenburgisches Frankfurt, Columbus Symphony, Gangneung Philharmonic, Houston Symphony, Johannesburg Philharmonic, Kwazulu-Natal Philharmonic, Orchestre Royal de Chambre, Seongnam Philharmonic, Springfield Symphony, and Tulsa Symphony in venues such as Walt Disney Concert Hall and Lotte Concert Hall.

Taiwanese-Canadian cellist Loewi Lin grew up in Taiwan and moved to Calgary when he was seven. Loewi started playing cello at age 11 but always wanted to be a doctor; as a high school senior, he converted to music and has been a devout follower ever since. Loewi attended the Cleveland Institute, the University of Ottawa, and New England Conservatory. He has appeared at Carnegie Hall in the New York String Orchestra as well as the Taos School of Music, Tanglewood Music Festival, and the Ravinia Steans Music Institute.

Loewi lived in Boston for 11 years where he helped found the unique conductor-less chamber orchestra A Far Cry. The group is now an established institution in the music fabric of Boston, with residencies at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and the New England Conservatory. In the past, he has played with the Toronto Symphony, Canadian Opera Company, and the Boston Symphony, in addition to teaching at Phillips Exeter Academy. Currently, Loewi is the principal cellist of the Boston Lyric Opera and a member of the National Symphony Orchestra.

A co-founder of the Washington Arts Ensemble, Christopher Schmitt is a classical pianist living in Washington DC, leading a multifaceted career as soloist, collaborative musician, and educator. Described as "carefully colored" and "sensitive" by The Washington Post, Christopher Schmitt was also hailed as a “formidable talent” and “mature beyond his years” by The Santa Barbara News-Press, regarding his performance of Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1. Having completed his doctorate at The Juilliard School in 2016, Christopher has been sponsored for concerts by The Chopin Foundation of the United States, The Stecher and Horowitz Foundation, The Embassy Series, and for many performances in the US and abroad. He has been invited numerous times to perform and teach at the festival Málaga Clasica in Spain, as well as performing in July of 2016 in his own concert series in Barcelona, Classics in Catalan. A collaborator with cellist Kian Soltani on NPR's Tiny Desk Concerts in March 2019. Dr. Schmitt currently resides in Washington DC, and as pianist of The "President's Own" US Marine Chamber Orchestra, performs regularly in the White House and in concert halls across the Washington.

Violinist Stephanie Yu is a performer, collaborator, and educator based in Los Angeles. Holding a Bachelor and Master of Music from the Juilliard School as a recipient of C.V. Starr & Teplitsky Memorial scholarships, she has performed in venues across the United States and the world, including the Royal Albert Hall, the Kennedy Center, the Metropolitan Opera House, the Allen Room at Jazz at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, and Walt Disney Concert Hall. Stephanie is also a versatile collaborator, as she enjoys doing projects with artists spanning all genres. She has and frequently records for notable film/tv soundtracks, composes/arranges for producers, and performs in live bands for iconic artists including Beyoncé, Chloe x Halle, Mariah Carey, Rihanna, Sigur Ros, Snoop Dogg, The Who, The Midnight Hour, and more.

Zachary Good is a Chicago-based clarinetist, Baroque recorder player, composer, arranger, and educator. He is clarinetist of the sextet Eighth Blackbird, a founding Co-Artistic Director of the performance collective Mocrep, one-third of the clarinet/percussion/cello trio ZRL, and one-fifth of the ensemble Honestly Same. He has frequently performed with International Contemporary Ensemble, Music of the Baroque Chicago, Manual Cinema, and Ensemble Dal Niente. He has been a featured soloist with International Contemporary Ensemble, DePaul University's Ensemble 20+, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s All Access Chamber Series. His discography includes releases on American Dreams Records, Carrier Records, No Index, Homeroom, Parlour Tapes+, ears&eyes, and more.

Natalia Kazaryan is a concert pianist and co-founder of the Washington Arts Ensemble. From Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia, pianist Natalia Kazaryan has been hailed by The New York Sun for her “prodigious ability,” remarking that she “immediately established an atmosphere of strength and confidence.” She is “a marvel among marvels … fascinating, elegant” (Nice-Matin) and “incredible” (All Classical Portland). Dedicated to giving equal platform to female composers in her public appearances, she notably curated and performed a recital of all women composers at the Smithsonian Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., a performance The Washington Post named “one of the best classical concerts of the summer 2019.” As a soloist, she has performed both major and lesser-known concertos — including those of Florence Price, Clara Schumann, Rachmaninov, Grieg, Prokofiev, and Mozart — with the National Symphony Orchestra, the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra, the National Orchestral Institute Philharmonic, the Harrisburg Symphony, and other ensembles across the country. Ms. Kazaryan’s acclaimed performance of Florence Price’s Piano Concerto in One Movement, conducted by James Ross, was featured on Front Row Washington (WETA), DC’s classical music radio station.