First Monday at Jordan Hall: Mozart & Stravinsky

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | Clarinet Quintet in A Major, K. 581

Allegro
Larghetto
Menuetto
Allegretto con variazioni

Igor Stravinsky | Les Noces (1923)

Part One
     At the Bride's
     At the Bridegroom's
     The Bride's Departure

Part Two
     The Wedding Feast

NEC Chamber Singers

The NEC Chamber Singers is an auditioned ensemble, open to all majors at NEC, of 24-32 musicians who perform challenging works from all style periods, with a particular emphasis on 19th-21st century a cappella works. The choir rehearses three times a week and experiences choral music-making in an intimate ensemble setting, typically in the round. Each NEC Chamber Singer is a musician seeking to understand the principles and nuance of superior choral artistry so that they may be prepared for professional opportunities and expectations outside of the Conservatory. The choristers diligently prepare their music outside of scheduled rehearsals which makes the brief time spent together musically invaluable. The ensemble typically performs eight to ten times each academic year: on campus in the Conservatory’s Jordan Hall and at off campus venues in and around greater Boston.

Stellan Connelly Bettany
Jádon Brooks
Ashley Chen
Edward Ferran
Molly Flynn
Jiawei Gong
Killian Grider
Lauren Guthridge
David Helder
Riccardo Lucas Hernandez
Weza Jamison-Neto
Yoomin Kang
Jack Keller
Molly Knight
Corinne Luebke-Brown
Colin Miller
Nicholas Ottersberg
Cassandra Pinataro
Anna Poltronieri Tang
Anneke Stern
Wanrou Tang
Chloe Thum
Madeleine Wiegers
Ian Yan

NEC Percussion Group

Percussion 1: Taylor Lents
Percussion 2: Rohan Zakharia
Percussion 3: Tennison Watts
Percussion 4: Mark Larrivee
Percussion 5: Halle Song, Yiming Yao
Timpani: Doyeon Kim

Earl Lee

Earl Lee is a renowned Korean Canadian performer who has captivated audiences worldwide. Currently Assistant Conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra his appearances in the 21/22 season include leading the San Francisco Symphony, Seoul Philharmonic, and Ann Arbor Symphony in subscription; the New York Philharmonic in its annual Lunar New Year Gala; debuts with the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra at New York’s Lincoln Center, the Boston Symphony at Tanglewood, and with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam as a participant in the Ammodo masterclasses led by Fabio Luisi. Next season includes a return to the San Francisco Symphony and his Boston Symphony subscription debut.  Earl recently concluded his position as the Associate Conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony where he led various concerts and its programming. He also served as the Resident Conductor of the Toronto Symphony from 2015 to 2018.
        In all of his professional activities, Earl seeks ways to connect with fellow musicians and audiences on a personal level. His concerts to date in Canada, the U.S., China and South Korea have often been accompanied by outreach events beyond the concert hall in the community at large. He has taken great pleasure in mentoring young musicians as former Artistic Director and Conductor of the Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra, and as Music Director of the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra and is a regular guest conductor with the orchestras of North America’s top music schools such as Manhattan School of Music and the New England, San Francisco, and Royal Conservatories.
        As a cellist, Earl has performed at festivals such as the Marlboro Music Festival, Music from Angel Fire, Caramoor Rising Stars, and Ravinia’s Steans Institute and has  toured as a member of the East Coast Chamber Orchestra (ECCO), with Musicians from Marlboro, with and Gary Burton and Chick Corea as a guest member of the Harlem String Quartet.
        Earl has degrees in cello from the Curtis Institute of Music and the Juilliard School and in conducting from Manhattan School of Music and New England Conservatory. He was the recipient of the 50th Anniversary Heinz Unger Award from the Ontario Arts Council in 2018, of a Solti Career assistance Award in 2021 and has been awarded a Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Scholarship by Kurt Masur and the Ansbacher Fellowship by the American Austrian Foundation and members of the Vienna Philharmonic. He lives in New York City with his wife and their daughter.
 

Artist Biographies

Leslie Amper began her career with a critically acclaimed New York debut in Carnegie Recital Hall. She went on to delight audiences in Chicago, New York, Pittsburgh, and San Francisco as well as at Monadnock Musicʼs Virtuoso Piano Series. A member of New Hampshire Music Festival, she is a frequent participant in Boston's Emmanuel Music solo and chamber music celebrations.  After two years at Oberlin College, she continued her studies at New England Conservatory with Rudolph Kolisch, Gunther Schuller, and Russell Sherman. While at the conservatory, she won the first annual Jordan Hall Honors Competition and played Prokofievʼs Piano Concerto No. 3 at the graduation ceremonies. An acknowledged scholar and practitioner of contemporary music, Amper has recorded Andrew Imbrieʼs Short Story for Neuma Records which was chosen for the international radio broadcast, “Art of the States”. Equally adept at accompanying silent film, she has compiled piano accompaniments at the Harvard Film Archives for the short films of Georges Méliès and King Vidor’s The Crowd, among others. As a recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts solo recitalist grant, she presented Messiaenʼs monumental Vingt Regards sur lʼenfant Jésus in Boston, New York, Pittsburgh, and Washington, DC. Other performances include the musical component for the Smithsonian American Art Museum exhibition “1934: A New Deal for Artist” which toured the United States and the onstage piano performer in Peter Sellars’ production of Chekhov’s A Seagull at the American National Theater. Leslie Amper's multi media piano performances related to the visual arts have been sought after by museums and colleges nationwide including the National Gallery of Art, The Smithsonian American Art Museum, California State University East Bay, Carnegie Mellon University, and the University of Arizona. Currently teaching at New England Conservatory’s Preparatory School and Wheaton (MA) College, Leslie Amper has lectured at Boston University, Currier House of Harvard University, and the University of Pittsburgh as well as at the New Hampshire Music Festival. 

Allyson Bennett is an American soprano studying under Jane Eaglen at the New England Conservatory pursuing a Master of Music degree in Opera Performance. Originally from small town Pennsylvania, she is a Boston-based classical vocalist with a passion for operatic and song repertoire.
        Recent performances featured Allyson in the role of Eva in Jack Perla’s An American Dream with NEC’s opera department, as well as the soprano soloist in tonight’s First Monday performance of Stravinsky’s Les Noces .
        In 2021 Allyson was named a Boston District Winner for the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition. Additional awards include the 1st place prize for Rising Talents of Americas with the Greater Composers Competition International and 1st place Classical Vocal Performance in the Pottstown Rotary Performing Arts Scholarship Competition.
        An avid lover of the many genres of classical vocal music, her repertoire expands from the Baroque to present day compositions. She is always excited to explore new works and collaborate with composers. For more information, please see allysonbennett.com.

Paul Biss studied at Indiana University and at the Juilliard School of Music.  He was a student of Josef Gingold and Ivan Galamian.  His chamber music teachers included Walter Trampler, Claus Adam, János Starker, and William Primrose.
        Paul Biss was Professor of Music at Indiana University from 1979 until 2008 where he taught violin and chamber music, and conducted all the school orchestras in more than 100 performances of symphonic music.  He also conducted thirteen operas with the Indiana University Opera Theater.
        As a violinist Paul Biss has appeared in recital, with orchestra, and in chamber music performances throughout North America, Mexico, Europe, Israel, and Korea, and has collaborated in concert with many guest artists including Pinchas Zukerman, Gidon Kremer, Michael Tree, Gary Hoffman, David Geringas, Christoph Eschenbach, Menahem Pressler, and Leon Fleisher.  He has participated in numerous festivals as a violinist and as a violist.  He was a member of the Berkshire Quartet, and was a participant at the Marlboro Music Festival for six summers.  He has also appeared at other festivals, such as the Ravinia, La Jolla, Lockenhaus, Casal, Naantali, and the Ysaÿe at Wigmore Hall.
        He has conducted in Mexico, Finland, Brazil, and Israel where he received the Ministry of Culture prize for the best performance of the year for a contemporary composition and was principal conductor of Kaprizma, a contemporary ensemble, for four years.  Recently, he conducted the Bahian Symphony in a series of concerts in Brazil and conducted the Seoul Classical Players in an all-Beethoven concert in Korea.  He served as Interim Music Director of the MIT Orchestra during 2006-2007.  He has been a faculty member at the Steans Institute for Young Artists at the Ravinia Festivalsince 1994.
        Recent concerts and masterclasses have taken him to Ireland, England, Finland, and Israel.  His students have won top prizes, including several first prizes in major international and national competitions and appear as soloists and members of chamber ensembles.  Many hold positions in leading orchestras in America and Europe.
        In September 2006, Paul Biss joined the faculty at New England Conservatory where he is a member of the violin and chamber music faculty.

Miriam Fried has been recognized for years as one of the world’s preeminent violinists. A consummate musician—equally accomplished as recitalist, concerto soloist or chamber musician—she has been heralded for her “fiery intensity and emotional depth” (Musical America) as well as for her technical mastery. Fried has played with virtually every major orchestra in the United States and Europe and has been a frequent guest with the principal orchestras of Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, New York, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh, as well as with the Israel Philharmonic, the London Symphony, the Royal Philharmonic, and the Vienna Symphony.  Recital tours have taken her to all of the major music centers in North America and to Brussels, London, Milan, Munich, Rome, Paris, Salzburg, Stockholm, and Zurich.
        In recent seasons, her schedule has included orchestral engagements with such prestigious ensembles as the Berlin Philharmonic, the Orchestre de Paris, the Czech Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Jerusalem Symphony, the Orquesta Filarmonica de Mexico, the Japan Philharmonic, the Montreal Symphony, the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, the Milwaukee Symphony, and the BBC Philharmonic. She premiered a violin concerto written for her by Donald Erb with the Grand Rapids Symphony and recorded the work for Koss in 1995.
        Since 1993, she has been chair of the faculty at the Steans Institute for Young Artists at the Ravinia Festival, one of the country’s leading summer programs for young musicians. Her involvement there has included regular performances, including recitals and concerts with the Chicago Symphony. Fried’s highly praised 1985 New York recitals of the complete Bach Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin were the culmination of three years of international performances. She returned to this music with a recording made in France for the Lyrinx label. She has also made a prize-winning, best-selling recording of the Sibelius Concerto for the Finlandia label with the Helsinki Philharmonic under the direction of Okko Kamu.
        Chamber music plays an important role in Fried’s musical life. She was first violinist of the Mendelssohn String Quartet until it disbanded after 30 years, and has collaborated with such distinguished artists as Isaac Stern, Pinchas Zukerman, Garrick Ohlsson, Nathaniel Rosen, her son, pianist Jonathan Biss, and her husband, violinist/violist Paul Biss. She has been featured guest artist at Chamber Music East in Boston, the La Jolla Chamber Music Society SummerFest, the Lockenhaus Festival, and the Naantali Festival in Finland.
        Miriam Fried’s successful solo career was launched in 1968 after she was awarded First Prize in Genoa’s Paganini International Competition. Three years later she claimed top honors in the Queen Elisabeth International Competition, where she gained further world attention by becoming the first woman ever to win the prestigious award. Her early childhood included lessons with Alice Fenyves in Tel Aviv, as well as the opportunity to meet and play for the many great violinists who visited Israel, including Isaac Stern, Nathan Milstein, Yehudi Menuhin, Henryk Szeryng, Zino Francescatti, and Erica Morini. She came to the United States as a protégée of Isaac Stern, and continued her studies with Ivan Galamian at the Juilliard School and with Joseph Gingold at Indiana University.

Greek cellist Timotheos Gavriilidis-Petrin is forging an unwavering artistic path, aiming to evoke powerfully stirring illusions through his music making.  He regularly appears as a chamber musician and soloist throughout North America and Europe, most recently as a soloist with conductor-violinist Leonidas Kavakos and the Athens State Orchestra. Timotheos is a founding member of Trio Zimbalist, a piano trio of Curtis Institute alumni which - through a commitment to artistic excellence - carries on the storied legacy of legendary violinist and Curtis director Efrem Zimbalist. 
        Timotheos made his first major US solo appearance in 2016 with the Kansas City Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Robert Spano.  He then gained international recognition as a prize winner at the prestigious International Paulo Cello Competition in Finland. Timotheos has also appeared as a soloist with the Helsinki Philharmonic, the Lahti Symphony Orchestra, the Tapiola Sinfonietta, the Israel Camerata, the NEC Philharmonia Orchestra, the Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra, and Symphony in C.  He is the winner of the 2015 Astral Artists National Auditions. In 2017, Timotheos was named Artist-in-Residence at Performance Today, the most listened-to classical music radio program in the US. 
        An avid chamber musician, Timotheos has collaborated with important musical figures such as Leonidas Kavakos, Noah-Bendix Balgley, Miriam Fried, Pamela Frank, Yura Lee, Kim Kashkashian. He is currently a participant at the Marlboro Music Festival, where he has performed with Jonathan Biss, Joseph Lin, Samuel Rhodes, and Peter Wiley. Other festival appearances of note include Chamberfest Cleveland, Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute, Caramoor’s Evnin Rising Stars, and the Moritzburg Festival.  
        Timotheos received his Bachelor of Music degree at the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied with Peter Wiley and Carter Brey. He then entered the class of Laurence Lesser at the New England Conservatory and graduated with a Master of Music degree and an Artist Diploma.

Pianist Max Levinson first came to international attention as winner of the Dublin International Piano Competition. He is also a recipient of the Avery Fisher Career Grant and winner of the Andrew Wolf Award for chamber music. He has performed as soloist with major orchestras including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, St Louis Symphony, St Paul Chamber Orchestra, Boston Pops, and many others. As a chamber musician, he is a member of the Boston Chamber Music Society and frequently appears at chamber music festivals including Seattle, Santa Fe, La Jolla, Vail, and others. He has performed with the Tokyo, Vermeer, Borromeo, Parker, and Mendelssohn Quartets, and with James Ehnes, Pinchas Zukerman, and Lynn Harrell. Among his recordings are the Complete Brahms Sonatas with violinist and NECalum Stefan Jackiw (Sony Classical).  He also serves as a jury member for international competitions, including the Dublin International Piano Competition and the Vietnam International Chamber Music Competition. Max Levinson is a faculty member at New England Conservatory, as well as being an alumnus (he received his Artist Diploma as a student of Patricia Zander), and a parent of two NEC Prep students.

New Zealand-born violinist Geneva Lewis has forged a reputation as a musician of consummate artistry whose performances speak from and to the heart. Lauded for the “remarkable mastery of her instrument” (CVNC) and hailed as “clearly one to watch” (Musical America), Geneva is the recipient of a 2022 Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award, 2021 Avery Fisher Career Grant and Grand Prize winner of the 2020 Concert Artists Guild Competition. Other recent accolades include Kronberg Academy’s Prince of Hesse Prize and being named a Finalist at the 2018 Naumburg Competition, a Performance Today Young Artist in Residence, and Musical America’s New Artist of the Month.
        After her solo debut at age 11 with the Pasadena POPS, Geneva has gone on to perform with orchestras around the world, including recent and forthcoming appearances with Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Pasadena Symphony, Auckland Philharmonia, Sarasota Orchestra, Pensacola Symphony, Augusta Symphony, and Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra. In recital, recent and upcoming highlights include performances at Wigmore Hall, Tippet Rise, Emory University, Purdue Convocations, Kravis Center, and Myra Hess, among others.
​        Deeply passionate about collaboration, Geneva has had the pleasure of performing with such prominent musicians as Atar Arad, Efe Baltacigil, Jonathan Biss, Glenn Dicterow, Miriam Fried, Ilya Kaler, Michael Kannen, Kim Kashkashian, Ida Kavafian, Aimée Kreston, Marcy Rosen, Mitsuko Uchida, and the Borromeo String Quartet, among others. She is also a founding member of the Callisto Trio, Artist-in-Residence at the Da Camera Society in Los Angeles.
        ​Geneva is currently in the Artist Diploma program as the recipient of the Charlotte F. Rabb Presidential Scholarship at New England Conservatory studying with Miriam Fried. Prior to that, she studied with Aimée Kreston at the Colburn School of Performing Arts. Past summers have taken her to the Marlboro Music Festival, Ravinia Steans Institute, Perlman Music Program’s Chamber Workshop, International Holland Music Sessions, Taos School of Music and the Heifetz International Music Institute.
        Geneva is currently performing on the "Joachim-Ma" Stradivarius, c. 1714,courtesy of New England Conservatory.

Baritone Michael Meraw has performed with companies across North America (including: Pacific Opera Victoria, the Victoria Symphony Orchestra, the Banff Centre, Edmonton Opera, the Richard Eaton Singers, Symphony Regina, the National Arts Centre, the Thirteen Strings, Opéra Atelier, Opera in Concert, Montreal Opera, Seattle Opera, Virginia Opera, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra), in repertoire ranging from Monteverdi and Handel, to Webern and Szymanowski.  Not only has Meraw garnered critical acclaim in the standard repertoire, winning praise for his Figaro in Rossini's Barber of Seville and Orff's Carmina Burana, but he has also brought lesser-known works to new audiences through his incisive portrayals of such roles as King Roger by Szymanowski ("Meraw did well as Roger, with nervy urgency and gripping delivery of his increasingly anguished lines..." — Geoff Chapman, The Toronto Star) and Sir John A. MacDonald in Somers's Louis Riel ("Dealing with a vocal part that veers from sprechgesang to dramatic declamation, baritone Michael Meraw showed great vocal cut and thrust, in addition to contributing a striking stage presence." — Richard Turp, Opera Canada). Mr. Meraw has performed many of the standard baritone parts in oratorio including Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Orff’s Carmina Burana, Handel’s Messiah, Judas Maccabeas, Joshua and Israel in Egypt, and the Requiem’s of Brahms and Faure.  A regular recitalist, his repertoire spans the baritone repertoire in English, French, German, Italian and Russian.

As well as his regular voice studio at New England Conservatory and his responsibilities as the Artistic Director of NEC’s Undergraduate Opera Studio, Mr. Meraw has become a regular Master clinician and adjudicator at several festivals in China, and will be joining the faculty of AIMS in Graz this summer.  Many of his students have gone onto success, winning positions in young artist programs and artist contracts in the United States, Canada and Europe.  Michael’s students can include La Scala, the Chatelet, L’Opera Comique in Paris, Minnesota Opera, St. Louis Opera, Montreal Opera, BBC Proms, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra among their recent credits. 

A native of Dallas, Texas, Caroline Nielson is currently based in Boston where she is candidate for the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Vocal Performance and Pedagogy at the New England Conservatory of Music. Caroline completed an MM in Voice Performance and Literature at the Eastman School of Music in 2017, as well as a BM at Belmont University in 2015, graduating summa cum laude with a degree in Vocal Performance and a minor in German.
        Caroline has sung numerous roles in operatic and musical theatre productions, having performed with Finger Lakes Opera, Syracuse Opera, Nashville Opera and Opera in the Ozarks. An avid interpreter of chamber and choral music, Caroline actively performs in these genres in the New England area. In 2020, she performed Schönberg’s Pierrot Lunaire with NEC’s Contemporary Ensemble and as Diana in Cavalli’s Baroque masterpiece, La Calisto, with NEC Opera Theatre, and in the ensemble of Arnold Rosner’s The Chronicle of Nine with Odyssey Opera. A dedicated pedagogue, Caroline is a Teaching Fellow in the vocal pedagogy department at NEC, and she is a voice instructor at Weston High School, at the New School of Music in Cambridge, and in her private studio.

Pianist HaeSun Paik has been hailed as a “sensitive and thinking musician first and an awesome technician second” (Los Angeles Times) with a “big and individual personality” (New York Times), whose performances are “a wonder — elastic, mercurial, charged with meaning, surprising” (Boston Globe) and “a rare example of technique actually serving both idea and feeling, head and heart” (Musical America). Having garnered top prizes at international piano competitions such as the Queen Elisabeth, Leeds, William Kapell, and the Tchaikovsky, Ms. Paik has performed concerts around the world in solo recitals, concerti with orchestras, and chamber music ensembles.Ms. Paik has appeared as a soloist under the baton of Mikhail Pletnev, Sir Simon Rattle, Vassily Sinaisky, Dmitri Kitaenko, Stanislav Skrowaczewski, and Myung Whun Chung, to name a few. She performed with orchestras including the Boston, National, London, City of Birmingham, Belgium National, Osaka, NHK, and KBS Symphony Orchestras, the Munich, Radio France, Tokyo, Warsaw, Moscow Philharmonic Orchestras, and the Russian National Orchestra among others.
        Ms. Paik has appeared frequently in recitals at prestigious venues throughout the U.S. including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, The Kennedy Center, and Jordan Hall in Boston, and her international tours have brought her to major concert halls around the globe. She has appeared at numerous international music festivals including the Beethoven Festival in Munich, Radio France Festival in Montpellier, Courchevel Music Festival in France, Dino Ciani Festival in Italy, Ishikawa Music Festival in Japan, Beijing International Music Festival and Academy, Orford Music Festival in Canada, Monadnock Music Festival in New Hampshire, International Keyboard Institute & Festival in New York, PianoSummer at New Paltz (New York), PYPA at Curtis (Philadelphia), and the PyeongChang Music Festival and School and Busan Music Festival in Korea.
       A superb collaborative artist, Ms. Paik performed with many distinguished artists including cellist Anner Bylsma, Mischa Maisky, Myung-wha Chung, violist Nobuko Imai, clarinetist Richard Stoltzman, the Borromeo String Quartet, and the Jerusalem Quartet. Her duo recording with cellist Laurence Lesser of the complete works by Beethoven for cello and piano was released by Bridge Records. Her debut and subsequent solo recordings can be heard on the EMI label.
        One of the most sought after pedagogical influences in Korea, Ms. Paik was the youngest pianist of her generation to be appointed as a music professor at Seoul National University, where she taught for ten years. She was on the piano faculty at the Cleveland Institute of Music and currently is a member of the piano faculty at New England Conservatory. She is also an artist-in-residence at the Catholic University of Daegu and serves as the Artistic Director of the Busan Music Festival in Korea. She gives master classes at institutions and festivals worldwide and has served as a juror in many international competitions including the Bösendorfer and Yamaha USASU, the Cleveland, the Gina Bachauer, the Hilton Head, the Honens, and the Seoul (Dong-A) international piano competitions.
        Ms. Paik's NEC training began at the age of 14, when she came to the U.S. from Korea to pursue her musical studies with Wha Kyung Byun, through the long-running partnership between New England Conservatory and the Walnut Hill School for the Performing Arts. Subsequently, Ms. Paik attended New England Conservatory, earning a Bachelor of Music degree, a Master of Music degree, and an Artist Diploma under the guidance of both Russell Sherman and Wha Kyung Byun. Ms. Paik’s artistic development was further influenced through her studies at the International Piano Foundation in Lake Como (Italy).

Yutong Sun, a native of Tianjin, China, is currently studying with Alexander Korsantia and Dang Thai Son at the New England Conservatory. He has gained international recognition by winning prizes at prestigious competitions, including placing in three in Spain: Santander (second), Maria Canals (third), and Jaén (first), as well as second prize in Bosendorfer USASU in Arizona and Horowitz in Kiev, Ukraine.
       Yutong’s formative studies began at the Central Conservatory of Music Middle School in Beijing under Hua Chang. He made his recital debut at age 10 in Beijing and his orchestra debut with the Orchestra of Granada in Spain at age 16. He has since made appearances in major venues around the world, such as Salle Cortot in Paris, Palau de la Música in Barcelona, Jordan Hall in Boston, Philharmonic Hall in Warsaw and the Bolshoi Hall in St. Peterburg.  
       He has performed with the Quiroga Quartet and been soloist with major orchestras, including the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine; Symphony Orchestra of Galicia, City of Granada Orchestra, and RTVE Symphony Orchestra in Spain; St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra; and Phoenix and Fort Worth Symphony Orchestras.  
        In 2013, he released a recording of a recital performance as part of the Laureate Series on the Naxos label. 

Tenor Mark Tempesta has performed mainstage roles with Odyssey Opera St. Petersburg Opera, Sarasota Opera, Shreveport Opera, Opera Company of Middlebury, and Pittsburgh Festival Opera. Professional roles and covers have included Pinkerton in Madame Butterfly, Gherman in Pique Dame, Tony in Westside Story, Paolino in Il Matrimonio Segreto, Young Jim Thompson in Glory Denied, Father Grenville in Dead Man Walking, Malcolm in Verdi’s Macbeth, Aeneas in Dido and Aeneas, Loge in Das Rheingold, Count Danilo Danilovitch in The Merry Widow, as well as Il Conte Almavivain Le Nozze di Figaro, and Sharpless, Yamadori and the Bonze in Madame Butterfly.
         In the 2019-2020 season Mark appeared with St. Petersburgh Opera in Madame Butterfly and The Merry Widow, and in Rossini’s Elisabetta D’Inghilterra with Odyssey Opera, which was cancelled but reached audiences through the recorded dress rehearsal. In the 2018-2019 season, Mark was a Resident Artist at Shreveport Opera where he appeared as Tony in West Side Story, Larry/Matt in Face on the Barroom Floor, Marcus in Masquerade, and the Bonze in Madama Butterfly. He also performed for over 30,000 kids throughout the Arklatex area over the year through Shreveport Opera’s outreach program. The previous season he was a Resident Artist in the inaugural season of Jane Eaglen's Mastersinger Program for Young Dramatic Voices. There he sang Matteo in Strauss’s Arabella and covered Logein Wagner’s Das Rheingold. He also received the “Outstanding Performer Award” at the Metropolitan International Music Competition.
        Mark was an Apprentice Artist at Sarasota Opera and a Young Artist at Opera Company of Middlebury. He has also recorded as a tenor soloist with Navona Records. He holds a Master of Music degree from Boston University and degrees in both Music and Physics from Oberlin College.

Conductor and mezzo-soprano Erica J. Washburn has been Director of Choral Activities at New England Conservatory since 2009.  Known for her student-centric approach to classroom and rehearsal instruction, and commitment to the performance of new music, she is the recipient of several outstanding alumni awards, including the distinguished honor of induction to the Westminster Choir College Music Education Hall of Fame.
        As a conductor, Washburn has worked with Kansas City, MO based Cardinalis, the Yale Schola Cantorum, the East Carolina University Women’s Chorale, and the Eastman Women’s Chorus. She is a sought-after guest clinician who frequently leads state and regional festival choruses, and spent five summers as a conductor and voice faculty member for the New York State Summer School of the Arts School of Choral Studies.
        Under her direction the NEC choirs have been featured on several live and pre-recorded broadcasts, including the North Carolina based station WCPE Great Sacred Music, WICN Public Radio, and WGBH Boston. The choirs can also be heard in collaboration with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project on the BMOP/Sound recording Paul Moravec:The Blizzard Voices.
        Washburn’s stage credits include appearances as Madame Lidoine in Francis Poulenc’s Dialogues of the Carmelites, Rebecca Nurse in Robert Ward’s The Crucible, Mother/Allison in the premiere of Lee Hoiby’s This is the Rill Speaking and others. Her recital and orchestral solo credits are numerous, and her live premiere from Jordan Hall of the late Richard Toensing’s Night Songsand Evening Prayers can be heardon Albany Records, with the New England Conservatory Symphonic Winds.

Clarinetist Michael Wayne joined the faculty of the Eastman School of Music in 2019.  Previously Mr. Wayne was a member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Boston Pops. He has held faculty positions at the New England Conservatory of Music and the Tanglewood Music Center, and has been a visiting professor at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. Mr. Wayne made his Carnegie Hall solo debut with the world premiere of Michael Daugherty’s clarinet concerto, Brooklyn Bridge, and subsequently recorded it for Equilibrium Records. Other recording projects include the multi Grammy Award winning Shostakovich Symphony cycle with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, recorded on Deutsche Grammophon. Mr. Wayne can be seen in numerous PBS Great Performances specials with the Boston Symphony and Pops, recorded at Symphony Hall and Tanglewood. Festival performances include Verbier, Music Academy of the West, National Orchestral Institute, Colorado Music Festival, and Hot Springs Music Festival. Mr. Wayne has been the recipient of the Paul Boylan Award (University of Michigan), Whitaker Advanced Study Grant (Music Academy of the West), Earl V. Moore Award (University of Michigan), and a Fine Arts Award (Interlochen). Mr. Wayne holds degrees from the Interlochen Arts Academy and the University of Michigan, where his principal teachers were Richard Hawkins and Fred Ormand.