UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS
Hans Chan
Hans Chan of St. Louis, Missouri is pursuing a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance from the Eastman School of Music, under the tutelage of Professor Alan Chow. Since beginning piano at the age of eight, Hans has won numerous awards, including prizes in the MTNA National Young Artist Piano Competition, ArtePiano International e-Competition, Los Angeles International Liszt Competition, NFMC Lana M. Bailey Concerto Award, and more. He has been a scholarship student at festivals such as Pianofest in the Hamptons and PianoSummer at New Paltz. Hans has performed in masterclasses for esteemed teachers such as Douglas Humpherys, Gilbert Kalish, and Boris Slutsky. Hans has performed as soloist with the Alicante Symphony Orchestra in Perugia, Italy, as well as given solo performances in cities including Gijon (Spain), New York City, Seattle, Rochester, St. Louis, and more. This fall, he will be starting his fifth and final year at Eastman and the College of Arts, Sciences, and Engineering, completing his dual degree in Piano Performance and Economics. In his free time, Hans enjoys watching and playing soccer, running, and reading.
Jonathan Churchett
Jonathan Churchett will graduate this May with a Bachelor of Music in Bassoon Performance from the Eastman School of Music, under the tutelage of George Sakakeeny. While at Eastman, he has played in masterclasses for Matthew McDonald, Eric Stomberg, Oleksiy Zakharov, Drew Pattison, and Kristen Wolfe Jensen, among others. Jonathan has also attended the Eastern Music Festival and the Round Top Festival Institute.
One of Jonathan’s primary interests at Eastman has been chamber music. He will be one of the first students to graduate with the newly created Certificate of Achievement in Chamber Music. During March 2020, Jonathan visited Lake Placid with his wind quintet, giving performances in the community, and working with students in the local school district. In May 2019, Jonathan visited China as part of the Eastman Bassoon Quartet and performed several times with the ensemble at conservatories located in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou.
In addition to his Eastman degree, Jonathan has pursued his passion for Greco-Roman literature at the College of Arts, Sciences, and Engineering, studying the works of Apuleius, Aeschylus, Lucian, and Homer in their original language. He will graduate with a minor in Classical Greek.
Patrick Clarke
Patrick Clarke will graduate this May with degrees in Trumpet Performance and Music Education (Instrumental) from the Eastman School of Music, in the studio of James Thompson. While at Eastman, Patrick has been involved Eastman Brass Guild, Eastman Wind Ensemble, Eastman Philharmonia, Musica Nova, and various chamber groups. He founded the Dynamic Brass Quintet, who performed frequently throughout Monroe County with classical and commissioned works.
Patrick has had many professional development opportunities while at Eastman. He is serving as Vice President of Eastman’s collegiate chamber of the National Association for Music Education (NAfME), initiating the Eastman’s Beginners’ Band program which puts students in various roles of the beginning band classroom. He has served as the Operations Intern for the ROC Music Collaborative, the Brass Instructor for the Victor Marching Blue Devils, the Music Director of Lake Owego Camp for Boys in Greeley, PA. As Assistant to the K-12 Music Coordinator and Director of Performing Arts at the West Irondequoit Central School District, he worked to incorporate special COVID-19 policies, social and emotional learning outcomes, and parameters to address racial inequality and equity within the framework of the music curriculum throughout the school district.
This fall, Patrick will be student teaching in Monroe County to complete his New York State Music Education K-12 certification, as well as applying to graduate school.
Ela Kodžas
Serbian-American violinist, Ela Kodžas, will graduate with a Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance from the Eastman School of Music under the tutelage of Professor Renée Jolles. During her time at Eastman, she has soloed with and held principal positions in the Eastman School Symphony, Eastman Philharmonia, Eastman New Jazz Ensemble, and in Eastman’s baroque orchestra, Collegium Musicum.
A champion of historical performance, Kodžas will graduate with a Certificate of Achievement in Performance Practice, having studied baroque violin with Cynthia Roberts. She also participated extensively in Baroque Chamber Music and Collegium Musicum, coached by Professors Christel Thielmann and Paul O’Dette, and performed in the Rochester Early Music Festival.
She has spent summers playing chamber music at the Bowdoin International Music Festival, as a Fellow at the Round Top Festival Institute, and at the Eastern Music Festival, where she was concertmaster and winner of the concerto competition.
Kodžas, a passionate chamber musician, has participated in the Intensive Chamber Music Program at Eastman, and performed in masterclasses for the Jupiter Quartet and Ying Quartet. She has performed in solo masterclasses for Itamar Zorman, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, and Joseph Silverstein.
Deeply engaged in her community, Kodžas served as the Vice President of the Eastman Students’ Association, served on several committees regarding Public Safety and Title IX Education, and was heavily involved with Orientation for incoming first-year students. She was also one of two Eastman students to be named a Keideaen in the 2020-2021 school year.
After graduation, she will continue her education as a Graduate Teaching Assistant at the University of California at Los Angeles, where she will be pursuing a Master of Music in Violin Performance under the tutelage of Movses Pogossian.
Katherine Morris
K. Lee Morris will graduate with a Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance and Music Theory from the Eastman School of Music, under the tutelage of Mikhail Kopelman. K. Lee began her musical studies on the piano at age 7 and on the violin at age 10. Her performing experience includes playing in masterclasses for artists such as Almita Vamos, Nurit Pacht, and Simon James, performing Ravel’s Tzigane with the Federal Way Symphony, and serving as concertmaster of the Chautauqua Institution’s Festival Orchestra. During her time at Eastman, K. Lee became interested in music theory and added the major in her junior year. This past semester, she completed her senior thesis on form and motive in Chausson’s early and late chamber music, advised by William Marvin.
This fall, K. Lee will be continuing her studies at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where she will pursue Master’s degrees in Violin Performance and Music Theory. She will also begin work as a teaching assistant in music theory at Indiana.
Aditi Prakash
Originally from Naperville, Illinois, violist Aditi Prakash is a student of Phillip Ying at the Eastman School of Music. She has had the privilege to travel and perform in many cities, her favorites being Havana and Nafplio, Greece. At Eastman, she received the Lois L. Rogers Scholarship and, in 2018, she had the opportunity to perform Bela Bartok’s viola concerto alongside her friends in the Eastman School Symphony Orchestra as winner of the concerto competition. This year, she is grateful to be the recipient for the Robert L. Oppelt Viola award and a Performer’s Certificate for demonstration of outstanding performing ability.
In addition to her Eastman degree, Aditi will earn a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology from the College of Arts, Sciences, and Engineering. Outside of music, she enjoys spending time with her cat, Ginny, reading classical and young adult fiction, and rock climbing. This summer, you will find her spending time with her parents, learning how to longboard, and hiking in Aspen, Colorado while attending the Aspen Music Festival.
Yvonne Rogers
Yvonne Rogers is a pianist and composer from Penobscot, Maine. Yvonne will graduate with a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Piano Performance, from the studio of Gary Versace, and a Bachelor of Arts in African and African American Studies from the College of Arts, Sciences, and Engineering. While at Eastman, Yvonne has had numerous performance opportunities, including the Rochester International Jazz Festival, the Rochester Fringe Festival, the Jazz Education Network Conference, and Lincoln Center. She performs and records regularly with her trio and quartet, meanwhile creating multimedia audio-visual works which combine her passions for composition, sound art, and video art. Yvonne has twice been accepted to the Women in Jazz Organization’s Mentorship Program, during which she worked with Rachel Z. Hakim and Helen Sung. She has been awarded the prestigious 2021 Presser Undergraduate Scholar Award, accepted to the Banff International Workshop in Jazz and Creative Music, and has worked with Ingrid Jensen in the Jazz Education Network’s “Sisters in Jazz” Combo. She was also awarded the 2021 Mary Jo Papich Women in Jazz Scholarship from the Jazz Education Network.
Growing up in rural Maine, Yvonne began writing music that followed the meditative patterns and systems of nature before having any conventional understanding of theory or harmony. No matter where she is, her work is inspired by the people and places that surround her. Yvonne hopes to combine the skills she has gained from her studies at Eastman and the University of Rochester to expand her career as a performer and composer whose work interacts consciously and positively with the world. This fall, Yvonne will continue her studies in the Master’s program at the Berklee Global Jazz Institute.
Hannah Rubin
Hannah Rubin is a cellist from Bedford, Massachusetts. Currently under the tutelage of Steven Doane and Rosemary Elliott, Hannah will graduate next year with a Bachelor of Music in Cello Performance, a Performer’s Certificate, and a Bachelor of Arts in Biology.
While at Eastman, she has performed in chamber masterclasses with the Jupiter, St. Lawrence, and Schumann String Quartets. In her junior year, her quartet was selected to tour with the University president on her “Listening and Learning Tour,” and in 2019 they represented Eastman in “The Conservatory Project” by performing at the Kennedy Center. She serves as a rotating principal of the Eastman Philharmonia, and formerly as principal of the Eastman School Symphony Orchestra. In addition, she has performed at a variety of local venues around Rochester, New York, including the Arts@Ascension Festival, the George Eastman Museum, and the Lyric Theatre.
This summer, she will attend the Kneisel Hall chamber music festival in Blue Hill, Maine. She has previously played on the stages of the Heifetz International Music Institute, the Bowdoin International Music Festival, and the Castleman Quartet Program, and was a fellow for the virtual 2020 Colorado College Summer Music Festival. Hannah plays on a Thomas Kennedy cello, and her previous teachers include Michael Reynolds and Johann Soults.
Elena Varon
A native of Rochester, New York, horn player Elena Varon performs music in genres ranging from classical to film to contemporary. She frequently plays in Kodak Hall at the Eastman Theatre with the esteemed Eastman Philharmonia and Eastman Wind Ensemble. She traveled to Cesena, Italy, to participate in the soundSCAPE International New Music Festival, where she collaborated with composers and premiered exciting new works. Varon currently plays with the Empire Film and Media Ensemble, where she has contributed to projects such as recording the score to Star Trek Continues, presented live to picture concerts in collaboration with film makers from around the area, as well as presented the music of Bernard Hermann in concert. Additionally, Varon made her debut in summer 2019 at the Ohio Light Opera. As principal horn, she played for titles such as Into the Woods, South Pacific, and The Pirates of Penzance. Furthermore, she contributed to the American premiers of The Devil’s Rider, and Perchance to Dream.
Elena Varon is a Dean’s List student and has been awarded the Howard Hanson Scholarship from the Eastman School of Music and the Semper Fidelis Music Award from the United States Marines, among others. She was also recently awarded an honorable mention in the jazz horn solo category at the Northeast Horn Workshop for her arrangement of Coleman Hawkins’ “Body and Soul” for horn and jazz combo. She currently studies with W. Peter Kurau and Maura McCune Corvington at the Eastman School of Music and will graduate with a Bachelor of Music degree with a Performer’s Certificate this May. She plans on pursuing her graduate degree at the College-Conservatory at the University of Cincinnati with Professor Denise Tryon.
In her free time, Elena enjoys drawing for her custom artwork business artbyelliev on Etsy, hiking, and watching movies.
Travon Walker
Travon Walker, tenor, is a passionate vocalist who seeks to make classical music accessible to people in all communities through his authentic expression and advocacy for the music written by Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC).
Travon grew up in Hinesville, Georgia. He found his love of music singing in his middle school choral program and accredits his chorus teacher, Mrs. Chanda Stalls, for encouraging him to pursue music outside of school. His genuine curiosity for classical repertoire led him to join the high school band, playing euphonium. It was there that Travon found one of his biggest mentors, his teacher Mr. Jeremy Fermin, who taught him that anything is possible if you have the discipline to work for it.
Travon will earn a Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal Performance from the Eastman School of Music under the tutelage of Dr. Jonathan Retzlaff. While at Eastman, he made his opera debut in the role of “The Reader” in The Tibetan Book of the Dead by Ricky Ian Gordon, premiered the role of “Remmy” in Sammy and Remmy, a mini opera by SiHyun Uhm, and the role of “Anthony Hope” in Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd (canceled due to Covid-19). This year, he is performing the role of Dan Leno in Eastman Opera Theatre’s production of Elizabeth Cree by Kevin Puts. In concert, he has been featured as the tenor soloist in Mozart’s Coronation Mass. Travon has received the Ornest Award, given to junior vocalists for their artistry, scholarship, and service, the 2021 Eastman Diversity Award, and was the 2020 Links, Inc. Rochester Chapter Scholarship recipient.
Angeni Wang
Originally from Vancouver, Canada, Angeni Wang will graduate from the Eastman School of Music with a double major in Piano Performance and Music Theory. She currently studies piano with Professor Alan Chow, and is writing her theory senior thesis under the supervision of Professor Jonathan Dunsby. Angeni won the 2013 and 2011 Delta Youth Orchestra Concerto Competitions and made her orchestral debut at age 12, after which she has been invited to perform concerti multiple times with the Richmond Symphony Orchestra.
Recently, Angeni and her studio mate, Delvan Lin, won First Prize at the 2020 National Finals of the Stecher and Horowitz Duo Piano MTNA Competition. Other notable achievements include First Prize in the 2016 Competition of the Pacific International Youth Music Festival, Gold Prize at the 2015 Fifth Chinese Junior Golden Bell Awards, and First Prize at the 2014 International Northwest Piano Ensemble Competition. Angeni obtained her ARCT Performance Diploma from the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto at age 13 and received the BCRMTA Trophy for the highest mark in her examinations. This fall, Angeni will be matriculating at Harvard Law School, where she hopes to learn more about the intersection between the arts and intellectual property law.
Yuyang Xie
Yuyang Xie is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance from the Eastman School of Music, under the tutelage of Professor Alan Chow. Yuyang began studying piano at 5 years old with the late Carl Urquhart at the McGill Conservatory of Music in Montreal, Canada. At age 8, he was admitted to the Conservatoire de Musique de Québec and studied with Professor Marlene Finn from 2008 to 2017. He has also been receiving regular instruction from pianist Richard Raymond.
Yuyang has had success at music competitions at both the regional and national levels in Canada, receiving numerous prizes and scholarships. In June 2019, he was awarded the Grand Prize for the 19-25 age category in the Canadian Music Competition. In August 2019, he was named 30 Hot Canadian Classical Musicians under 30 by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC).
Yuyang has appeared as a soloist with Canadian orchestras on several occasions. His latest performance was Chopin’s Piano Concerto No.1 in E minor with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra. He has also worked with the National Arts Center Orchestra, the Gatineau Symphony Orchestra, and the orchestra of the Conservatoire, performing Saint-Saëns, Beethoven, and Rachmaninoff. Yuyang given recitals in Canada, Germany, Austria, and China. During the pandemic, he delivered a recorded recital with Jeunesses Musicales Canada in Montreal. Furthermore, Yuyang has participated in lessons and masterclasses with Steward Gordon, Angela Hewitt, Mikhail Rudy, André Laplante, Nelita True, Charles-Richard Hamelin, and the Gryphon Trio, among others.
In addition to his Bachelor of Music, Yuyang is also pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and a Bachelor of Arts in Financial Economics (Hon.) from the College of Arts, Sciences, and Engineering at the University of Rochester. His interest in Economics lies in monetary policy and the financial markets, and he has conducted empirical research on related topics.
GRADUATE STUDENTS
Austin Chanu
Austin Chanu is a conductor, composer, and woodwind performer from Los Angeles, California. Austin received a bachelor’s degree in Music Composition from the USC Thornton School of Music in 2015, graduating Magna cum Laude. While at USC, he received the Most Valuable Player Award from the composition department as a conductor and proponent of new music. Austin primarily studied with Stephen Hartke, Vince Mendoza, and Donald Crockett.
After graduating, he was hired as the Music Director for the Los Angeles Music and Art School. During his tenure at LAMusArt, Austin conducted the youth orchestra, choirs, and jazz band, while overseeing the development of curriculum and artistic direction of the ensembles. He also conducted for the LA Philharmonic Association’s Associate Composer Program and the LA Chamber Orchestra’s New Music Salon. Austin is graduating this spring with a Master of Music in Orchestral Conducting, under the tutelage of Neil Varon, and will be returning in the fall to begin his doctoral work.
Julia Egan
Julia Egan will graduate with a Master of Arts in Ethnomusicology from the Eastman School of Music. She previously completed her Bachelor of Music in classical guitar performance at the Eastman School of Music in 2016. Her thesis focuses on the transformation and circulation of alguitara music of the Kel Tamashek people of North Africa. She was the recipient of the Rosemary Utz and Douglas H. Jones Family Endowed Ethnomusicology Scholarship and a Research Grant from Eastman’s Ethnomusicology department, which aided the completion of her virtual fieldwork.
Aside from performing guitar professionally, she has also performed extensively with her advisor Jennifer Kyker (PhD) in the Servende Mbira Ensemble. She has given and assisted in several invited lectures and colloquiums on the mbira and has served as Dr. Kyker’s research assistant for the ACLS-funded digital humanities project Sekuru’s Stories. She has worked closely with Girls Rock! Rochester, an organization dedicated to empowering women, young girls, and queer youth through music-making. Moving forward, Julia hopes to bridge her scholarship and passion for social justice work. She remains passionate on issues of domestic violence, racism, and immigration, and she continues to ask how she can amplify these discussions through her performance and scholarship. She has ambitions to apply for a Fulbright scholarship in the fall to conduct in-person fieldwork in Niger.
Bronwen McVeigh
Bronwen McVeigh is pursuing a Doctor of Philosophy in Historical Musicology at the Eastman School of Music and a Master of Science in Medical Humanities and Bioethics from the School of Medicine and Dentistry. She also holds a double degree in Piano Performance and Composition at Michigan State University where she was honored as the most outstanding graduating senior and awarded the Sudler Prize for excellence in the arts. Bronwen is particularly passionate vocal music, both as a composer and a collaborative pianist.
As a researcher, Bronwen has wide ranging interests. For example, she is interested in sound and embodiment, particularly the auditory impact of sustained sounded trauma during the Second World War. Additionally, her most recent project examines the curiously popular ASMR medical roleplay videos that populate YouTube through a biopolitical lens. Inspired by this research, Bronwen is building a sound installation that toys with the idea of “reverse ASMR.”
Beyond academia, Bronwen fuses her scholarly interests with her artistic works to create provocative multi-disciplinary projects. Recent research about Italian music and poetry funded by a Presser Foundation grant inspired musical settings of Italian haikus. More broadly, Bronwen is interested in how methodologies used by artists and members of the medical community might productively interact.
Nash Ryder
Violinist Nash Ryder is a native of Kennebunk, Maine and currently resides in Rochester, New York. He is graduating with a Doctor of Musical Arts in Violin Performance from the Eastman School of Music, under the tutelage of Robin Scott. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Juilliard School, studying with Ronald Copes and Frank Huang.
Nash has performed throughout the country and internationally, including appearances with the Bangor Symphony Orchestra, the Fort Lauderdale Symphony Orchestra, Boston’s New England String Ensemble and the White Mountain Bach Festival Orchestra as a featured young artist. He has also performed at the Bowdoin International Music Festival; the Meadowmount Society for Strings; the Sarasota Music Festival; The American Conservatory in Fontainebleau, France; and the Lake District Summer Music Festival in Windermere, England. Nash was featured on the National Public Radio show From the Top, was the featured artist in New England Conservatory’s Contemporary Music Festival for two consecutive years and, in 2018, he received the second prize in the Pro Artists International Music Competition in Paris.
Nash seeks to inspire others with his talents and received recognition from From the Top’s Center for the Development of Arts Leaders for his commitment to developing an after-school string program at the Mattapan Early Elementary School in Boston known as musiConnects. Nash helped make enriching educational opportunities such as a field trip to a dress rehearsal of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and a backstage tour of Symphony Hall. More recently, he has put together several benefit concerts to support children with developmental disabilities at the Ashley Learning Center in the Turks and Caicos Islands, raising a total of over $40,000 for the organization.
He has worked and performed in masterclasses for prominent artists such as David Chan; Pamela Frank; James Ehnes; Mark O’Connor; Joseph Silverstein; the Quatuor Ébène; and Jan Mark Sloman.
Sofia Scattarreggia
Sofia Scattarreggia is an Italian-American lyric soprano from Spain, praised for her warm tone and her facility with languages. She is currently pursuing her Master of Music in Performance and Literature at the Eastman School of Music.
She has been cast in numerous roles, including Eurydice in Gluck’s Orphée et Eurydice, the title role in Seymour Barab’s Little Red Riding Hood, Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi (cancelled due to COVID-19), and Lady with a Cake Box from Argento’s Postcard from Morocco. She is currently studying the role of Fiordiligi for a production of Così fan tutte at the Vienna Opera Festival. Sofia is also active in the world of new music, having premiered several award-winning vocal works such as the role of Blanca in Justin Giarusso’s A World Apart, and the song cycles While Roses Grow (Strobel) and Where Dreams Come True (Guthrie).
Sofia has received numerous accolades throughout her opera study, including receiving FSU’s Hannah J. Beaulieu Award in Opera Development, participating as a finalist in the NATS Southeastern Regional competition, placing in Eastman’s Friends of Eastman Opera Competition, and being inducted into the national music honor society Pi Kappa Lambda.
In addition to singing, Sofia also coaches diction, is a fluent pianist, and has a passion for teaching voice. She speaks English, Italian, Spanish, French, German and Catalan, and is in the process of learning Russian. Sofia will be continuing at the Eastman School as a doctoral student, studying voice under the tutelage of acclaimed soprano Nicole Cabell.
Keane Southard
Described as “a hugely prolific musician with a wide variety of skill sets” (newmusicbuff.com), Keane Southard (b. 1987) is a composer and pianist who believes deeply in the power of music to change how people think, feel, and act, and that it can be a catalyst for positive change in the world. His music has been described as “a terrific discovery” (Bandworld Magazine) and “highly-professional and well-orchestrated” (Portland Press Herald) and, taken as a whole, his works reflect his many diverse musical tastes, from medieval chant to 70’s rock, Bach to the Blues, and 19th-century romanticism to Latin dance forms.
Keane has been a recipient of many awards, most recently winner of the 2nd International Symphony Orchestra Contest “Michal Kleofas Oginski,” 2nd prize in the Dartmouth College Wind Ensemble Composition Competition, and winner of the Yale Glee Club’s Emerging Composers Competition. He has been awarded residencies at Copland House, Playa, and the Kimmel-Harding-Nelson Center as well as fellowships at the American Composers Orchestra’s Underwood New Music Readings, Intimacy of Creativity (Hong Kong), and Bennington Chamber Music Conference. In 2013, he spent time in Brazil as a Fulbright scholar researching music education and has also taught at Bennington College in Vermont.
Keane earned his Bachelor of Music from the Conservatory at Baldwin Wallace University, his Master of Music from the University of Colorado-Boulder, and is currently pursuing his PhD in composition at the Eastman School of Music. His primary composition teachers include Kenneth Girard, Loris Chobanian, Daniel Kellogg, Jeffrey Nytch, Carter Pann, Richard Toensing, Allen Shawn, Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon, and David Liptak.
Drake Stoughton
Hailing from the Washington D.C. area, Drake Stoughton will graduate with a Master of Music in Performance and Literature (Saxophone) from the Eastman School of Music, under the tutelage of Dr. Chien-Kwan Lin. His previous mentors include Raaf Hekkema, who teaches at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague, and Dr. Timothy Roberts, professor of saxophone at Shenandoah Conservatory in Winchester, Virginia. He is an active performer, arranger, and educator who continually seeks out varying perspectives regarding both saxophone pedagogy and musical approach.
During the 2018-2019 academic year, Stoughton had the opportunity to study in The Hague, Netherlands on a Fulbright Grant. He worked under the tutelage of saxophonist Raaf Hekkema primarily focusing on arranging for the saxophone. While in the Netherlands, Stoughton also performed at De Gashouder in Amsterdam as principle saxophone of the Luzifers Tanz scene from the much-anticipated Aus Licht project in June of 2019. This staged performance compiled key selections from Karlheinz Stockhausen’s Licht cycle as part of the Netherland’s oldest and most prestigious performing arts event, The Holland Festival.
As a performer, Stoughton has played in a multitude of both solo and chamber ensemble settings across the United States and Europe. Some of his accolades include first prize in the Shenandoah Conservatory Concerto Competition in 2018 and third prize in the National Glen Miller Birthplace Society Scholarship Competition in 2014. In 2019 he received third prize in the Grote Kamermuziekprijs Competition with the Tellurian Saxophone Quartet and was a finalist in the 2018 MTNA Young Artist Woodwind National Competition. Stoughton has performed at both the International Navy Saxophone Symposium, the 18th World Saxophone Congress, and in 2017 was presented with the Presser Foundation Award for his merit as an instrumental performer.
Brock Tjosvold
Pianist Brock Tjosvold is currently working towards a Doctor of Musical Arts at the Eastman School of Music in Collaborative Piano, with minors in solo piano and sacred music, studying with Dr. Andrew Harley. While at Eastman, Brock was awarded the 2020 Excellence in Accompanying Award and has recently been awarded first place in the Jessie Kneisel Lieder Competition. He has been a fellow at many prestigious music festivals, such as the Aspen Music Festival and Music Academy of the West. He served as the principal keyboardist of the 2017 National Repertory Orchestra in Breckenridge, Colorado, where he was also a featured soloist with the orchestra. He has performed all over the nation, including a performance at Carnegie Hall with clarinetist Amy Humberd. Brock regularly plays as the collaborative pianist for the final round of the Donald Runnicles Musical Arts Scholarship at the Grand Teton Music Festival. Additionally, he has performed regularly as a chamber and orchestral musician with the Albany Symphony Orchestra, Battle Creek Symphony, and the New World Symphony, and has been a young artist with Finger Lakes Opera.
Currently, Brock serves as the music director at First Universalist Church of Rochester, where he conducts the choir and plays piano and organ. He is scheduled to appear as the piano soloist in Berg’s Chamber Concerto for violin and piano with the Aepex Contemporary Ensemble. He holds a performer’s diploma from Indiana University, a master’s degree from the University of Michigan, and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wyoming. Former teachers include Jean Barr, Anne Epperson, Kevin Murphy, Martin Katz, and Theresa Bogard.
Jidong Zhong
Originally from Beijing, China, Jidong Zhong started studying piano at age five. At age eleven, Jidong was admitted to the elementary school attached to the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, where he began professional music training.
At age sixteen, Jidong moved to the United States to further pursue his passion for music. After graduating from high school, Jidong attended Washington Adventist University in Takoma Park, Maryland, where he received the Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Performance, studying under Dr. Daniel Lau and Mr. Yin Cheng-zong. In addition to graduating Magna cum Laude, Jidong actively participated in the honors program, played and sang in the orchestra and chorale, respectively, and held the church pianist position at Foundry United Methodist Church in Washington, DC. During his undergraduate years, Jidong gave a half dozen solo recitals and received high rankings in a number of piano competitions.
After receiving his undergraduate degree, Jidong was admitted to the Eastman School of Music to pursue graduate studies with Dr. Douglas Humpherys. Jidong received the Master of Music degree in 2018. That same year, he won first prize in the Young Artist piano category of the National MTNA competition. Jidong is a candidate for the Doctor of Musical Arts degree and expects to graduate in May 2022. In 2019, he was named a candidate for the Graduate Teaching Assistant prize for excellence in teaching secondary piano lessons. In spring 2021, he was chosen to teach the 20th Century Piano Literature class at Eastman. Jidong is also serving as the music director at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Clifton Springs, New York.
FACULTY
Brad Lubman
Brad Lubman, conductor/composer, is one of the foremost conductors of modern music and a leading figure in the field for over two decades. A frequent guest conductor of the world’s most distinguished orchestras and new music ensembles, he has gained widespread recognition for his versatility, commanding technique, and insightful interpretations. His flexibility in a variety of settings has led him to conduct a broad range of repertoire from classical to contemporary works, and to direct projects including orchestra, opera, multimedia, and mixed ensemble. Lubman has led major orchestras including the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Danish National Symphony, NDR Symphony Orchestra Hamburg, DSO Berlin, SWR Sinfonieorchester, WDR Symphony Cologne, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Finnish Radio Symphony, and the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra.
In addition, he has worked with some of the most important European and American ensembles for contemporary music, including Ensemble Modern, London Sinfonietta, Klangforum Wien, Musik Fabrik, Ensemble Resonanz, and Steve Reich and Musicians. Lubman has conducted at new-music festivals across Europe, including those in Lucerne, Salzburg, Berlin, Huddersfield, Paris, Cologne, Frankfurt, and Oslo.
Lubman is founding Co-Artistic and Music Director of the New York-based Ensemble Signal. Since its debut in 2008, the Ensemble has performed over 300 concerts and co-produced ten recordings. Their recording of Reich’s Music for 18 Musicians on harmonia mundi was awarded a Diapason d’or in June 2015 and appeared on the Billboard Classical crossover charts.
Lubman has been particularly noted for his ability to quickly master challenging scores in a variety of settings, a skill honed between 1989-94, when he was assistant to Oliver Knussen at Tanglewood. Lubman has conducted numerous world premieres. Among these are Steve Reich’s Three Tales, Reich/Richter, Runner, Daniel Variations, Radio Rewrite, and Variations for Vibes, Pianos and Strings. Additional world premieres given by Lubman include Helmut Lachenmann’s Concertini and Michael Gordon/David Lang/Julia Wolfe’s Shelter, as well as works by Philip Glass, Brian Ferneyhough, Charles Wuorinen, John Zorn, and Hilda Paredes.
Lubman was the 2017 Composer in Residence at the Grafenegg Festival in Austria in his dual role as conductor and composer in residence; a highlight of his residency was a performance with the Tonkünstler Orchestra Austria, where he led works by Brahms and Mahler as well as the world premiere of his own Reflections for orchestra. His recent work Tangents was commissioned by the LA Philharmonic and premiered at Walt Disney Concert Hall. In 2019, Lubman was the recipient of the Ditson Conductor’s Award for the advancement of American music. In Spring 2020, Rudolf Buchbinder premiered a new work for solo piano by Lubman at the Vienna Musikverein as part of a project including 11 contemporary composers each writing their own variations on Diabelli’s theme – which Buchbinder will record for Deutsche Grammaphon and perform live on tour.
Brad Lubman is on faculty at the Eastman School of Music and the Bang on a Can Summer Institute.