New Enchantments

Iván Enrique Rodríguez

Described by San Francisco Classical Voice, Boston Classical Review, and New York Concert Review as fiery, gripping, lyrical, eloquent, with a strong feeling for musical drama, and a gifted colorist with an abundance of emotional energy and the means to communicate it, Puerto Rican composer Iván Enrique Rodríguez’s (b. 1990) music has been performed in Puerto Rico, the United States, throughout North/South America and Europe in important venues and landmarks such as the Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center and Alice Tully Hall in New York City, Harpa in Reykjavík, Iceland, Jordan Hall in Boston MA, among others around the world.

Max Grafe

Max Grafe writes music characterized by “jagged declamations and muffled filigree” (Gramophone) that engages with the dramatic, collaborative nature of performance in the context of a highly personal, distinctive approach to musical modernism. Grafe’s music has been commissioned and programmed by a wide range of ensembles — including the New York Philharmonic, the New York New Music Ensemble, Quince Ensemble, ensembleNEWSRQ, and Duo Entre-Nous — and has been featured at numerous music festivals across the country, including the Tanglewood Music Center, the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, and RED NOTE New Music Festival.

Sato Matsui

Born in Chitose, Japan, Sato Matsui is a Paris-based composer whose style draws influence from traditional Japanese sonorities as well as her training as a classical violinist. She is the Founder and Artistic Director of IMAGO, a chamber music ensemble in Paris that specializes in both traditional repertoire and original creations with a strongly cross-disciplinary approach. Matsui holds her Master’s and Doctorate degrees from the Juilliard School and her Bachelor’s degree from Williams College.

Hilda Huang

Hilda Huang began her international performing career upon receiving first prize at the Leipzig International Bach Competition. She is a modern performer of historical music who brings together traditions of performance on piano, harpsichord, fortepiano, and organ. Hilda Huang has singular distinction of earning the top prizes at the Leipzig, Würzburg, and Tureck International Bach Competitions. After making her recital debut on the Steinway & Sons Prizewinners’ Concert Network at the Leipzig Gewandhaus in partnership with the Leipzig Bach Archive and MDR Leipzig, she has performed at the Leipzig Bach Festival, BASF Gesellschaftshaus, and the Montréal Bach Festival.

Kathleen McLean

Kathleen McLean is one of the most acclaimed orchestral bassoonists in North America. Internationally recognized, McLean was the associate principal bassoon of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra from 1992 to 2009 and is a sought-after chamber and orchestral musician, recitalist, and teacher.

Rachell Ellen Wong

Recipient of a prestigious 2020 Avery Fisher Career Grant — the only early music specialist in the respected program’s history — and Grand Prize winner of the inaugural Lillian and Maurice Barbash J.S. Bach Competition, violinist Rachell Ellen Wong is a star on both the modern and historical performance violin stages. She has performed in numerous countries spanning five continents, and her reputation as one of the top historical performers of her generation has resulted in appearances with renowned ensembles such as the Academy of Ancient Music, Jupiter Ensemble (led by lutenist Thomas Dunford), Bach Collegium Japan, Ruckus Early Music, Les Arts Florissants, and others.

Bethanne Walker

Bethanne Walker (flute) began her historical performance studies at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where she was introduced to the Baroque flute by her teacher, Timothy Day. One afternoon, Day brought a Baroque flute out from a dusty shelf, and he requested she return the next week with a Telemann Fantasie. She immediately fell in love with the fragile expressivity and vulnerability of the instrument and knew it needed to be a part of her life.

Jonathan Salamon

Jonathan (Jon) Salamon is a harpsichordist, pianist, and composer based in New York NY. He has performed at festivals in the United States and abroad including the International Baroque Institute at Longy, Cambridge MA, and at the Virtuoso & Bel Canto Festival in Lucca, Italy, among others. Salamon has performed in masterclasses for artists such as Jordi Savall, Pierre Hantaï, Luca Guglielmi, Peter Sykes, and Ketil Haugsand. While in-residence at Yale, he played continuo for the Yale Baroque Opera Project, assisted in tuning at Yale’s Collection of Musical Instruments, and was a frequent collaborator on chamber music concerts.

Lucian Avalon

Lucian Avalon, 25, has enjoyed an eclectic musical career spanning from Zimbabwean marimba to classical oboe. He is currently working on his doctoral studies at the Manhattan School of Music with James Austin Smith, and he recently completed his undergraduate and graduate degrees at The Juilliard School under the tutelage of Elaine Douvas. Previously, he attended the Interlochen Arts Academy, studying with Daniel Stolper, and received the IAA Young Artist Award. Avalon is currently an Apex Ensemble Fellow and was principal oboe of NYSOS 2020. He was the winner of the NSAL 2018 Texas Woodwind Competition and a Juilliard Concerto Competition 2018 Finalist. He performed in 2019 with The Juilliard Orchestra at the BBC Proms, has performed with the NYC Ballet, Santa Fe Opera, and New World Symphony, and has been an Aspen Music Festival Fellow for three summers. Avalon also trained as a figure skater, becoming a USFS Moves Gold Medalist in 2013.