Artists

“Richard Galliano has changed the course of accordion history. Today we can speak of ‘before’ and ’after’ Galliano.” — Yasuhiro Kobayashi, accordionist and musician accompanist of the singer Björk It was my dearest wish: to give a fair place to this instrument, unjustly qualified as the “poor man’s piano,” whereas my accordion has always been a Steinway with braces. I was determined to restore the image of my instrument, so I left my native village and “went up to Paris” like many others. There I had the chance to meet artists who quickly put their trust in me: accordionists like Jo Basile, singers like Claude Nougaro, Serge Reggiani, Barbara, and jazzmen like Chet Baker, Charlie Haden, Ron Carter and Michel Portal.

Dr. Mikhail “Misha” Galaganov is Professor of Viola and Chair of Strings at Texas Christian University (TCU). As a soloist and chamber musician he has premiered more than 30 compositions for viola alone, viola with piano, and viola in chamber music, written for him by composers from Israel, Russia, Mexico, Peru, Belgium, Italy, Uruguay, and the United States. He also premiered his own arrangement of the 12 Fantasies for Bass Viol by Georg Philipp Telemann on viola — the first live performance of all bass viola fantasies on viola in one concert. As Principal Viola of the Dallas Chamber Symphony, Galaganov has premiered several pieces written for a small symphony orchestra and for string chamber ensembles.

Both critics and other artists have recognized composer David Gaines (b. 1961) for his imaginative orchestrations and his uniquely international and eclectic style. His music, which has been performed across North America and Europe, includes two symphonies, concertos for baritone saxophone, trombone, and euphonium, plus a variety of chamber, choral, and electronic music. A graduate of Northwestern University, American University, and Johns Hopkins University's Peabody Conservatory of Music (where he earned a doctoral degree in composition), he has been a faculty member at The New School's online Master of Media Technology degree program via Connected Education, Inc., for which he created the first Internet university-level music course for credit (on the history of electronic music technology), as well as University of Maryland Global Campus (formerly University of Maryland University College), where he held the rank of adjunct associate professor.

Jay Anthony Gach's original concert music has been critically acclaimed as: “music [that] dances with charisma,” (Parterre Box), "a natural crowd pleaser," (NY Newsday), "vibrant textural transformations," (NY Times), "multi-layered, whirling and propulsive," (Minneapolis Star), "witty, virtuosic and accessible," (Clarinet & Saxophone Magazine, UK), "so exuberant [and] so full of character," (SPNM New Notes, UK). Summarized by the composer Lukas Foss during his tenureship as conductor of the Brooklyn Philharmonic, "[Gach’s] writing for orchestra is brilliant beyond words." The composer Hugo Weisgall wrote of him, "a composer...of extraordinary technical command and intellectual grasp of what music is all about."

Vox Futura is New England's premier recording choir for composers, recording artists, film, television, and video games. Past projects have included work with internationally distributed classical production house PARMA Recordings, video game companies Nintendo and Bandai Namco, legendary German power metal band Blind Guardian, and platinum selling world music artist Sami Yusef.

A recipient of two consecutive Palmer-Dixon Prizes for best composition presented by The Juilliard School, composer Mathew Fuerst (b. 1977) has also received third prize in the 2nd Annual Antonín Dvořák Composition Competition held in Prague CZ.

David Froom was born in California in 1951. His music has been performed extensively throughout the United States by major orchestras, ensembles, and soloists, including the Louisville, Seattle, Utah, and Chesapeake Symphony Orchestras, The United States Marine and Navy Bands, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the 21st Century Consort, and the New York New Music Ensemble.

Nathan Froebe (b.1983) is a composer, conductor, and music educator. Having written for band, chorus, orchestra, chamber settings, and electronic media, his works have been performed both nationally and internationally, and frequently appear as favorites in the Midwest. Additionally, his works have been featured at a number of festivals and conferences, including the North American Saxophone Alliance, the International Tuba-Euphonium Association, the National Flute Association, the International Trombone Festival, and the Society of Composers, Inc. Froebe’s works often focus on narrative design and gestural presentation, utilizing a harmonic palette that ranges from thorny chromaticism to exuberant lyricism.

The music of Brooklyn-based composer Matt Frey creates intimately sentimental sonic worlds inflected with churning rhythms, minimalist-like textures, and extended moments of restless tension.

Don Freund is an internationally recognized composer with works ranging from solo, chamber, and orchestral music to pieces involving live performances with electronic instruments, music for dance, and large theatre works. He has been described as "a composer thoughtful in approach and imaginative in style" (Washington Post), whose music is "exciting, amusing, disturbing, beautiful, and always fascinating" (Music and Musicians, London).

Alex Freeman (b. 1972, Raleigh NC) composes in a wide range of styles and media. He holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music, Boston University's School of Fine Arts, and the Juilliard School, where he completed his doctoral studies in 2004. His doctoral research led him to Finland, via a Fulbright Fellowship, where he lived for six years, studying at The Sibelius Academy and freelancing, before he assumed his current position of Assistant Professor of Music in Composition at Carleton College in Northfield MN.

Hailed as a “virtuoso” by Donal Henahan of the New York Times, “an extraordinary musician” by The Washington Post, “stupefying” by L’Est Vaudois (Switzerland) and “one of America’s outstanding virtuoso double bass players,” with “eloquent playing, reinforced by his marked beauty of tone” by The Strad (magazine), Richard Fredrickson made his Carnegie Recital Hall debut at the age of 24 after winning the Concert Artists Guild award. This marked the first time the award had ever been presented to a double bassist.

The 2014 and 2018 Latin GRAMMY® Nominee for Best Classical Album and 2008 GRAMMY® Nominee for Best Instrumental Soloist without Orchestra, pianist Allison Brewster Franzetti has received international acclaim from critics and audiences alike for her stunning virtuosity and musicality, both as a soloist and chamber musician. Her performances include the live Latin GRAMMY® Awards television broadcast, the GRAMMY® Awards Classical Music Tribute to Earl Wild and Lang Lang at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, the American Classical Music Hall of Fame, the Robert Schumann Festival at the Marcella Sembrich Museum in Lake George NY, the Campeche Festival in Mexico, and at the opening of the VI International Festival of Music at the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

John Franek (b.1996) is a pianist and composer whose compositions “evoke an epic narrative” (Sonograma Magazine). Franek has had premieres of his own works performed in North America, South America, Europe, and Asia, with notable premieres in locations such as in New York City, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Vienna, London, Amsterdam, Paris, Lviv, Krasnoyarsk, Ostrava, Olomouç, Milan, Rome, Havana, Quito, and Tashkent. Among these performances, he has had his works performed by ensembles such as The Siberian State Symphony Orchestra, Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra, The Moravian Philharmonic, KLKNewMusic, the Brightwork Ensemble, the Lontano Ensemble, and Trio Immersio.

Mark Francis’ musical career has varied from teaching, composing, performing, and journalism to orchestral administration. He has studied composition with Walter Hartley and James Eversole and guitar with Joanne Castellani, Clare Callahan, and Joseph Fratianni.

Known for his joyful spirit and praised for his “clear, expressive playing,” “mature display of pyrotechnics,” and “seasoned artistry,” pianist Richard Fountain has steadily garnered recognition for his versatile abilities as soloist, collaborator, teacher, and conductor. Fountain’s diverse repertoire includes Bernstein’s Age of Anxiety and concertos by MacDowell, Shostakovich, and Philip Glass, in addition to thoughtfully programmed solo recitals and extensive experience as a collaborator. He is especially noted for performing the complete cycle of Franz Liszt’s monumental transcriptions of Beethoven’s nine symphonies.

Since he first encountered a piano, Roger does not just play on it but branches out himself into different music activities.

Dieter Flury was born and brought up in Zurich (Switzerland) and studied with Hans Meyer (Principal Flute of the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich), André Jaunet (at the Zurich Music Academy), and Aurèle Nicolet. In addition to his flute studies he graduated in mathematics at the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich. At age 25 he was appointed a member of the Vienna State Opera Orchestra and in 1981 he was named Principal Flute of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.

Dr. Lindsay Flowers is the Assistant Professor of Oboe at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Mead Witter School of Music where she is a member of the Wingra Wind Quintet and guides student-generated community engagement projects. She received a Doctor of Music degree from Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music under the tutelage of Linda Strommen and Roger Roe. Her background in athletics distinguishes her pedagogical approach in her emphasis on performance visualization, disciplined commitment, and supportive teamwork.

Composer, teacher and conductor William A. Fletcher can trace his fascination with music to a specific event: a free concert given by a then-new duo, Simon and Garfunkel, when he was 12 years old. He took up guitar that very week, and joyfully played it all day, every day for the next 15 years...