Artists

Born in Hollywood CA on April 26, 1941, American classical composer John Mitchell has written works for solo piano and organ, choral music, chamber music, operas, and more than 400 art songs over the course of his life. Mitchell comes from an artistic family, his father being pianist John Stewart Mitchell, and Canadian novelist W. O. Mitchell and Hungarian-born singer Teresa Hideg Mitchell, his cousins. Mitchell studied composition under the guidance of Dr. John Vincent, the successor of Arnold Schoenberg as professor of composition at the University of California, Los Angeles until 1965. From there, he went on to work as a church music director, organist, opera coach, and composer, all of which he continues.

Emily Mitchell has earned critical acclaim as “a marvelous harpist” (The New York Times) who captivates her audiences with “playing of the utmost delicacy, beauty and subtlety” (Records and Recording). In the words of The Washington Post, “Mitchell commands a vivid palette of colors and uses them with imagination.”  An Eastman School of Music degree along with an Associate from the Royal College of Music precluded Mitchell’s stunning first prize win at the seventh (1979) International Harp Contest in Jerusalem. She was immediately engaged by Columbia Artists Management and Community Concerts. Propelled onto the concert stage in all 50 United States, Mitchell offered a performance dynamic of standard harp repertoire coupled with Celtic harp and vocals giving her recitals charm and versatility. Mitchell’s three top-selling RCA Victor CDs Irish Harp Songs, A Celtic Christmas and Flying Dreams are testament to the popularity that has served her for over 30 years.

Award winning cellist Carmine Miranda has established an international career and recognition as a soloist, chamber musician, educator, and is a best-selling recording artist. Praised by many publications such as Fanfare Magazine for “fast becoming known for his ability to combine virtuosity with intense, well-thought-out interpretations” and by The Strad Magazine for “showing himself to be in full command of both instrument and works,” Miranda’s performances and recordings have appeared in some of the finest concert halls, music festivals, radio and TV stations, as well as PBS affiliated stations all over the United States, Europe, Latin America, and Asia.

Timothy Lee Miller (b. 1961) is an American composer, arranger and publisher writing unique contemporary concert music for chamber ensembles, orchestra, wind ensemble, chorus and solo voice, as well as jazz music. He has also written for several small film and television projects, however, his primary focus is concert music. He has earned degrees from the University of Tennessee (BS Music Ed, 1984), the University of Miami (MM Media Writing and Production, 1990) and Vermont College of Fine Arts (MFA Composition, 2013).

Jonathan Miller was a pupil of Bernard Greenhouse. He is a 43-year veteran of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and has performed as a soloist with the Hartford Symphony; the Boston Pops, Cape Ann Symphony, and Newton Symphony; Symphony By The Sea, and the Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra of Boston. Miller won the Jeunesses Musicales auditions, twice toured the United States with the New York String Sextet, and appeared as a member of the Fine Arts Quartet. He performed as a featured soloist at the American Cello Congress in both 1990 and 1996.

Nermis Mieses is the Associate Professor of Oboe at Michigan State University and faculty at the Sewanee Summer Music Festival. As a versatile performer of oboe literature from the Baroque period to the 21st century, she has earned accolades at the prestigious Barbirolli International Oboe Competition, the First International Oboe Competition in Santa Catarina, Brazil, the Matthew Ruggiero International Woodwind Competition, and the Ann Arbor Society for Musical Arts Young Artist Competition. 

Shirley Mier is a Twin Cities-based composer, music director and music educator. She writes music of all kinds, in the theatre, educational and concert world. Orchestra works include the suite Of Lakes and Legends: Scenes from White Bear Lake (written for the Century Chamber Orchestra), and Visages, a song cycle for soprano and orchestra.

Unabashedly tonal and delightfully anachronistic, the music of American composer Scott Michal combines lyric, harmonic and rhythmic ingenuity with exceptional craftsmanship in a unique stylistic manner that remains true to the spirit of the great masters. Neo-classic in form and tonality, innovative and original in content, Scott’s music is always fun to listen to, and fun to perform.

Charles Metz graduated from Penn State University with a B.F.A. in piano. Following graduation, he began private harpsichord lessons under the legendary Igor Kipnis. He continued his harpsichord studies with Trevor Pinnock while earning a Ph.D. in Historical Performance Practice at Washington University in St. Louis. More recently, Metz has worked with Webb Wiggins and Lisa Crawford at the Oberlin Conservatory. He has performed solo recitals at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC, Oberlin Conservatory, University of Michigan, and Penn State University in State College PA. He has appeared with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Kansas City Baroque, and the Newberry Consort of Chicago.

Matej Meštrović (b. 1969) is undoubtedly the most versatile artist on the Croatian cultural scene, and an exclusive artist of PARMA Recordings. In 2018, he premiered the Danube Rhapsody for piano and orchestra in Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium, thus becoming the first Croatian composer to have his own work premiered in that prestigious hall.

Originally from the Washington DC area, Edward “Ted” Messerschmidt is a versatile musician who has been recognized in national contests in composition, conducting, and trombone performance. His original compositions, published by Cimarron Music Press and Warwick Music Publishing, have been performed in the United States, Europe, and South America by musicians and ensembles including Andy Akiho, Joseph Bello, Charley Brighton, Ruthanne Schempf, Patrick Smith, Harry Watters, the Luftwaffenmusikkorps Erfurt (forthcoming), and the United States Army Orchestra.

Cuban-American cellist Thomas Mesa has established himself as one of the most charismatic, innovative, and engaging performers of his generation. Mesa was the winner of the $50,000 First Prize in the 2016 Sphinx Competition; the Thaviu Competition for String Performance (Chicago, 2013); The Astral Artists 2017 National Auditions; and the Alhambra Orchestra Concerto Competition. He has appeared as soloist with orchestras in the United States and Mexico, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, Santa Barbara Symphony, Southwest Florida Symphony Orchestra, and the Cleveland Orchestra, which received this rave review from the Cleveland Plain Dealer: “A listener with closed eyes would have been hard pressed to distinguish [Mesa’s] shapely, expressive performance from that of another gifted artist two or three times his age.”

From humble beginnings (a haphazard recreational night of singing in a practice room of New England Conservatory in Boston MA), Renaissance Men has emerged as one of the most exciting and vital professional male vocal chamber ensembles in America, having been called the “East Coast answer to Chanticleer” [Cinemusical].

Johan de Meij, world-renowned award-winning composer and conductor of Dutch descent has built an impressive oeuvre over the last four decades. His creations have been performed by the world’s top orchestras such as the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra, and the New York Philharmonic. His orchestral catalogue includes five symphonies, nine major solo concertos and a wide variety of smaller works. His Symphony No.1 The Lord of the Rings (1988), having marked its 35th year in 2023, has become a classic in the orchestra repertoire, and is one of the most performed works in the literature.

Dr. Beth Mehocic was the Composer-in-Residence, Music Director, and Full-Professor for the Dance Department at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and wrote over 100 works for orchestra, concert band, chamber music, dance ensembles, theater, and film. Her works have been performed throughout the United States, Japan, China, Korea, and Europe, and she had works performed in several Las Vegas Hotels including The Mirage, Caesar’s Palace, and the Las Vegas Hilton. Several of her works have been recorded for PARMA Recordings.

Born in Kensington PA, near Pittsburgh, William Thomas McKinley (December 9, 1938 - February 3, 2015) began playing piano at local jazz clubs when he was a boy, and, at the age of 12, undoubtedly became the youngest member of the American Federation of Musicians. He went on to perform, record, and compose for some of the great jazz artists such as Dexter Gordon, Stan Getz, Eddie Gomez, Gary Burton, Rufus Reed, Dave Holland, and Billy Hart, among others. On the classical side, McKinley has earned numerous awards from such institutions as the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, the Koussevitzky Foundation, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and eight NEA grants, along with commissions from The London Symphony, The Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society, the Fromm Foundation, and the Naumburg Foundation. He has composed over 300 works.

Elliott Miles McKinley’s music has been performed throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe. Commissions include those from the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, the Czech Philharmonic Chamber Music Society, the SOLI Chamber Music Ensemble, Transient Canvas, Hub New Music, the Semiosis String Quartet, the Estrella Consort, the Janàček Trio, and the Martinů String Quartet. His orchestral works have been performed by the Minnesota Orchestra, the Warsaw Philharmonic, and the Czech Radio Symphony, and his music has been featured on international festivals including the Ernest Bloch Music Festival, the SPARK Electroacoustic Music Festival, Society of Music Inc and College Music Society Conferences, the North American Saxophone Alliance National Conference, and the Contemporary Music Festival at Bowling Green State University.

John McGuire has a vast array of performance and teaching experiences. He has performed with many orchestras around the country, most notably the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, the Dallas Opera, the Fort Worth Symphony, the New World Symphony in Miami FL, the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, the Illinois Symphony Orchestra, and the Florida West Coast Symphony. McGuire has also toured internationally with the acclaimed Fortress Brass Quintet, of which he is a founding member.

An Associate Professor of Music at Austin College in Sherman TX, composer/pianist John McGinn received an undergraduate music degree from Harvard University in 1986 and his D.M.A. in Composition from Stanford University in 1999. Among his mentors are such noted composers as Jonathan Harvey, Leon Kirchner, and John Adams. His own works have received several honors and been performed at colleges and festivals worldwide.

Australian composer and classically trained pianist Mark John McEncroe writes for solo piano and orchestras of all sizes. His compositions have been performed throughout Europe, Australia, and the United States, with the biggest highlight to date being a concert at Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium in February 2020.