About the Artists
Jim Walker
Master Teacher
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Few flutists today could be called living legends, yet Jim Walker is surely among those few. Jim counts among his successes careers as an orchestral flutist, concert artist, jazz flutist, recording artist for hundreds of motion picture soundtracks, ethnic flutist, author, and renowned educator. His tireless contributions to the flute community have raised the visibility of the flute as a medium of expression. He has performed to great acclaim with some of the greatest classical and non-classical artists of our time, including James Galway, Leonard Bernstein, Wayne Shorter, Dudley Moore, and Paul McCartney. His students now have successful careers themselves and are performing, teaching, and contributing to their communities in places around the world over.
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Diana Morgan
Young Performer Teaching Faculty and Program Director
Diana Morgan lives in Los Angeles and has played with Southern California’s top orchestras, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Santa Barbara Symphony, and the San Diego Symphony Orchestra.
Diana has performed with John Adams, The Beach Boys, Gustavo Dudamel, David Foster, Ben Folds, Ludwig Göransson, Diana Krall, Esperanza Spaulding, John Williams, The Who and many more.
Diana has performed at numerous festivals, including Mainly Mozart, Arizona MusicFest, the Artosphere Festival, and Spoleto Festival USA. She has played in commercials, major motion pictures, and can be heard playing piccolo on the ABC series Fresh Off the Boat.
A dedicated teacher, Diana created “DM Flute Studio” and is a flute-piccolo faculty member at the Colburn Community School. Alumni of her private studio have attended such institutions as the Colburn Conservatory, USC, UCLA, Manhattan School of Music, Dartmouth College, Brown University, Carnegie Mellon University, Yale University, and many others.
Diana has been a guest clinician at the University of Maryland, Occidental College, San Diego Flute Guild, and Idyllwild Arts Academy. Since 2010, Diana has been the program director and faculty member at Jim Walker’s Beyond the Masterclass.
Diana received a Graduate Certificate in flute performance from the University of Southern California and her master’s degree from Carnegie Mellon University. Her principal teachers were Dr. Amy Hamilton, Jeanne Baxtresser, Alberto Almarza and Jim Walker. For more information please visit www.dianamorgan.net.
Diana has performed with John Adams, The Beach Boys, Gustavo Dudamel, David Foster, Ben Folds, Ludwig Göransson, Diana Krall, Esperanza Spaulding, John Williams, The Who and many more.
Diana has performed at numerous festivals, including Mainly Mozart, Arizona MusicFest, the Artosphere Festival, and Spoleto Festival USA. She has played in commercials, major motion pictures, and can be heard playing piccolo on the ABC series Fresh Off the Boat.
A dedicated teacher, Diana created “DM Flute Studio” and is a flute-piccolo faculty member at the Colburn Community School. Alumni of her private studio have attended such institutions as the Colburn Conservatory, USC, UCLA, Manhattan School of Music, Dartmouth College, Brown University, Carnegie Mellon University, Yale University, and many others.
Diana has been a guest clinician at the University of Maryland, Occidental College, San Diego Flute Guild, and Idyllwild Arts Academy. Since 2010, Diana has been the program director and faculty member at Jim Walker’s Beyond the Masterclass.
Diana received a Graduate Certificate in flute performance from the University of Southern California and her master’s degree from Carnegie Mellon University. Her principal teachers were Dr. Amy Hamilton, Jeanne Baxtresser, Alberto Almarza and Jim Walker. For more information please visit www.dianamorgan.net.
Marina Piccinini
Guest Artist
Hailed by Gramophone as “the Heifetz of the flute,” Marina Piccinini is widely recognized across the world as a daring, dynamic artist with varied musical interests. She is internationally-acclaimed for her interpretive skills, intensely communicative performances, technical command, and powerfully magnetic stage presence, with a distinct and global perspective that informs her work as one of the most compelling advocates of both traditional and new works. Much sought after as a soloist, chamber musician, and recording artist, she has garnered special attention for her commitment to the music of our time and for expanding the repertoire of her instrument.
Growing up in a multi-national, multi-lingual household brimming with Italian, Brazilian, and Swiss cultural ties, and having resided in the far-flung locations of Sao Paulo, Zurich, Newfoundland, Toronto, New York City, and Vienna, the flutist brings the vibrant spirit of her rich heritage to all of her artistic endeavors. Ms. Piccinini’s artistic tapestry is also woven with threads both musical and non-musical, ranging from her love of Bachian intricacies and her talents in the visual arts, to her dedication to kung fu and Buddhist thought. As a 36th-generation Shaolin Fighting Monk, she relishes an ideology that inspires self-discovery, discipline, finding joy, and having no limits – all of which she brings to her instrumental artistry.
Ms. Piccinini’s repertoire is among the most diverse of today’s preeminent artists. Collaborating with some of the foremost living composers, she has commissioned and premiered works by John Harbison, Lukas Foss, Michael Colgrass, Paquito D’Rivera, Matthew Hindson, Michael Torke, David Ludwig, and Roberto Sierra, among many others. These projects have taken her across multiple continents, including a tour of her most recently commissioned work, a flute concerto written for her by Pulitzer Prize–winning composer Aaron Jay Kernis, which she premiered with the London and Rochester Philharmonics, Chautauqua Symphony, and Detroit Symphony, and recorded for Naxos with the Peabody Institute Orchestra conducted by Leonard Slatkin.
Recent and upcoming season highlights include a return engagement with the London Philharmonic conducted by Dennis Russell Davies for a recording of Miguel Kertsman’s Flute Concerto; the World Premiere of Kernis’ Air for flute and orchestra with the Korean Chamber Orchestra conducted by Patrick Gallois at Seoul Arts Center; tours with Musicians from Marlboro, including concerts at Carnegie Hall, Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center, The Smithsonian in DC, and Boston’s Gardner Museum; collaborations with the Brentano Quartet, the Beijing Guitar Duo, and with Vienna Philharmonic Principal Harpist Anneleen Lenaerts at the Aspen Music Festival and for Mozart’s Flute and Harp Concerto with conductor Bruno Weil and The Bruckner Orchester Linz, Austria and at the Moritzburg Festival in Dresden; a North American recital tour with pianist Andreas Haefliger at the Kennedy Center, Rockefeller University, Dallas’s Nasher Sculpture Center, and in Akron, Ohio; and appearances with guitarist Meng Su in San Francisco’s Herbst Theatre. Her trio, Tre Voci, appears at London’s Wigmore Hall, premiering a new work written for it by Toshio Hosokawa, and in Mexico City, Philadelphia, Boston, Los Angeles and beyond.
Acclaimed for her “intent, glittering musicianship” (Sunday Times [London]), she is a familiar and much-admired figure at the world’s foremost concert venues. She has appeared as soloist with the Boston, Hong Kong, Vienna, Vancouver, Tokyo, Saint Louis, Montreal, Toronto and National Symphonies, London and Rotterdam Philharmonics, and Ravenna Chamber Orchestra, and has worked with some of the world’s most celebrated conductors, including Esa-Pekka Salonen, Seiji Ozawa, Kurt Masur, Pierre Boulez, Myung-whun Chung, Gianandrea Noseda, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, and Alan Gilbert. She has also performed with the Tokyo, Mendelssohn, and Takács Quartets, NEXUS percussion ensemble, and the Beijing and Brasil Guitar Duos. A regular partner of pianists Andreas Haefliger and Mitsuko Uchida, she is a longtime Resident Artist at the Marlboro Festival, and performed at Japan’s Saito Kinen Festival at Ozawa’s personal invitation.
A prodigious recording artist, she can be heard on the Avie, Claves, and ECM labels, including Tre Voci’s debut CD of works by Tōru Takemitsu, Claude Debussy, and Sofia Gubaidulina; a DVD of Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire from the Salzburg Festival, along with an accompanying documentary entitled Solar Plexus of Modernism; Bach’s complete flute sonatas and solo partitas with the Brasil Guitar Duo; the flute sonatas of Prokofiev and Franck with pianist Andreas Haefliger; and Belle Époque, with pianist Anne Epperson; sonatas by Bartók, Martinů, Schulhoff, Dohnányi, and Taktakishvili; and an acclaimed recording of her dazzling new arrangement of the Paganini Caprices (published by Schott Music).
Her intense commitment to education inspired her to create the Marina Piccinini International Masterclasses (MPIMC), which, after a decade at Baltimore’s Peabody Institute, has recently moved to the New World Center in Miami, launching an exciting new partnership with the New World Symphony. She is currently on the faculty of the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, and was formerly Professor at the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien in Hannover, Germany. She also regularly gives masterclasses worldwide in conjunction with her performances.
Ms. Piccinini was the first flutist to win the coveted Avery Fisher Career Grant. Her career was launched when she won First Prizes in the CBC Young Performers Competition in Canada and the Concert Artists Guild International Competition in New York City.
Marina Piccinini was born into a family of distinguished scientists. She studied with Jeanne Baxtresser and Aurèle Nicolet, and received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from The Juilliard School, where she worked with the legendary Julius Baker. She lives with her family in Vienna and New York.
Growing up in a multi-national, multi-lingual household brimming with Italian, Brazilian, and Swiss cultural ties, and having resided in the far-flung locations of Sao Paulo, Zurich, Newfoundland, Toronto, New York City, and Vienna, the flutist brings the vibrant spirit of her rich heritage to all of her artistic endeavors. Ms. Piccinini’s artistic tapestry is also woven with threads both musical and non-musical, ranging from her love of Bachian intricacies and her talents in the visual arts, to her dedication to kung fu and Buddhist thought. As a 36th-generation Shaolin Fighting Monk, she relishes an ideology that inspires self-discovery, discipline, finding joy, and having no limits – all of which she brings to her instrumental artistry.
Ms. Piccinini’s repertoire is among the most diverse of today’s preeminent artists. Collaborating with some of the foremost living composers, she has commissioned and premiered works by John Harbison, Lukas Foss, Michael Colgrass, Paquito D’Rivera, Matthew Hindson, Michael Torke, David Ludwig, and Roberto Sierra, among many others. These projects have taken her across multiple continents, including a tour of her most recently commissioned work, a flute concerto written for her by Pulitzer Prize–winning composer Aaron Jay Kernis, which she premiered with the London and Rochester Philharmonics, Chautauqua Symphony, and Detroit Symphony, and recorded for Naxos with the Peabody Institute Orchestra conducted by Leonard Slatkin.
Recent and upcoming season highlights include a return engagement with the London Philharmonic conducted by Dennis Russell Davies for a recording of Miguel Kertsman’s Flute Concerto; the World Premiere of Kernis’ Air for flute and orchestra with the Korean Chamber Orchestra conducted by Patrick Gallois at Seoul Arts Center; tours with Musicians from Marlboro, including concerts at Carnegie Hall, Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center, The Smithsonian in DC, and Boston’s Gardner Museum; collaborations with the Brentano Quartet, the Beijing Guitar Duo, and with Vienna Philharmonic Principal Harpist Anneleen Lenaerts at the Aspen Music Festival and for Mozart’s Flute and Harp Concerto with conductor Bruno Weil and The Bruckner Orchester Linz, Austria and at the Moritzburg Festival in Dresden; a North American recital tour with pianist Andreas Haefliger at the Kennedy Center, Rockefeller University, Dallas’s Nasher Sculpture Center, and in Akron, Ohio; and appearances with guitarist Meng Su in San Francisco’s Herbst Theatre. Her trio, Tre Voci, appears at London’s Wigmore Hall, premiering a new work written for it by Toshio Hosokawa, and in Mexico City, Philadelphia, Boston, Los Angeles and beyond.
Acclaimed for her “intent, glittering musicianship” (Sunday Times [London]), she is a familiar and much-admired figure at the world’s foremost concert venues. She has appeared as soloist with the Boston, Hong Kong, Vienna, Vancouver, Tokyo, Saint Louis, Montreal, Toronto and National Symphonies, London and Rotterdam Philharmonics, and Ravenna Chamber Orchestra, and has worked with some of the world’s most celebrated conductors, including Esa-Pekka Salonen, Seiji Ozawa, Kurt Masur, Pierre Boulez, Myung-whun Chung, Gianandrea Noseda, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, and Alan Gilbert. She has also performed with the Tokyo, Mendelssohn, and Takács Quartets, NEXUS percussion ensemble, and the Beijing and Brasil Guitar Duos. A regular partner of pianists Andreas Haefliger and Mitsuko Uchida, she is a longtime Resident Artist at the Marlboro Festival, and performed at Japan’s Saito Kinen Festival at Ozawa’s personal invitation.
A prodigious recording artist, she can be heard on the Avie, Claves, and ECM labels, including Tre Voci’s debut CD of works by Tōru Takemitsu, Claude Debussy, and Sofia Gubaidulina; a DVD of Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire from the Salzburg Festival, along with an accompanying documentary entitled Solar Plexus of Modernism; Bach’s complete flute sonatas and solo partitas with the Brasil Guitar Duo; the flute sonatas of Prokofiev and Franck with pianist Andreas Haefliger; and Belle Époque, with pianist Anne Epperson; sonatas by Bartók, Martinů, Schulhoff, Dohnányi, and Taktakishvili; and an acclaimed recording of her dazzling new arrangement of the Paganini Caprices (published by Schott Music).
Her intense commitment to education inspired her to create the Marina Piccinini International Masterclasses (MPIMC), which, after a decade at Baltimore’s Peabody Institute, has recently moved to the New World Center in Miami, launching an exciting new partnership with the New World Symphony. She is currently on the faculty of the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, and was formerly Professor at the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien in Hannover, Germany. She also regularly gives masterclasses worldwide in conjunction with her performances.
Ms. Piccinini was the first flutist to win the coveted Avery Fisher Career Grant. Her career was launched when she won First Prizes in the CBC Young Performers Competition in Canada and the Concert Artists Guild International Competition in New York City.
Marina Piccinini was born into a family of distinguished scientists. She studied with Jeanne Baxtresser and Aurèle Nicolet, and received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from The Juilliard School, where she worked with the legendary Julius Baker. She lives with her family in Vienna and New York.
Elizabeth Rowe
Guest Artist
BSO principal flutist Elizabeth Rowe joined the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 2004 and holds the Walter Piston Principal Flute Chair. Prior to joining the BSO, she held titled positions with the orchestras of Fort Wayne, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C. Regularly featured in front of the orchestra, Ms. Rowe has been soloist with the BSO in Ligeti’s Double Concerto for flute and oboe with conductor Christoph von Dohnányi and BSO principal oboe John Ferrillo (a collaboration to be repeated in the closing concerts of the BSO’s 2019-20 subscription season); the American premiere of Elliott Carter’s Flute Concerto; Mozart’s G major flute concerto, K.313 (with which she made her first BSO appearance as a concerto soloist); Mozart’s C major concerto for flute and harp with BSO principal harpist Jessica Zhou (including a performance on tour with the orchestra in Tokyo); Gabriela Lena Frank’s Illapa, Tone Poem for Flute and Orchestra; Frank Martin’s Concerto for Seven Wind Instruments, Timpani, Percussion, and Strings; Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos Nos. 2 and 5; and Leonard Bernstein’s Ḥalil (in the BSO’s Opening Night all-Bernstein program under Andris Nelsons in September 2017 and at Tanglewood in July 2018 under Herbert Blomstedt). Noted for her insightful teaching, Ms. Rowe attracts flute students from around the country to her lessons and master classes. She works regularly with students at the New England Conservatory and the Tanglewood Music Center and is a frequent guest artist at the New World Symphony. She previously taught at the Peabody Conservatory of Music and University of Maryland. As a member of the Boston Symphony Chamber Players, she can be heard in a wide variety of chamber works throughout the season at NEC’s Jordan Hall and in several recordings. Elizabeth Rowe grew up in Eugene, Oregon. She received her bachelor of music degree from the University of Southern California, where she was a Trustee Scholar and a student of Jim Walker, former principal flute of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Ms. Rowe’s connection to the Boston Symphony Orchestra dates back to the summer of 1996, when she was a Tanglewood Music Center Fellow and performed as principal flute under Seiji Ozawa’s direction in the TMC production of Benjamin Britten’s Peter Grimes that marked the fiftieth anniversary of the opera’s 1946 American premiere at Tanglewood.
Paula Robison
Guest Artist
“American Treasure” Paula Robison was born in Tennessee to a family of actors, writers, dancers, and musicians. She spent her childhood in Southern California, learned to play the flute in her school orchestra, and studied dance with Bella Lewitsky and theater with Jeff Corey. When she was twelve years old music claimed her heart and she knew she wanted to be a flutist.
At the age of seventeen Robison played for Julius Baker, who remarked to her parents: “Now I know how Jascha Heifetz’s teacher must have felt…she is flawless.” He insisted that she move to New York to study with him at the Juilliard School. This began her many years of life in New York City and her many international adventures as a groundbreaking flute soloist and chamber music artist.
When Robison was twenty years old, Leonard Bernstein invited her to solo with the New York Philharmonic. Her historic recording of “Volière” by Saint-Saens is still available on CD and was featured in the film “Moonrise Kingdom”. She gave her Carnegie recital debut under the auspices of Young Concert Artists and the New York Times wrote: “Music bursts from her as naturally as leaves from trees”. Study with the great Marcel Moyse followed, and in 1966 Paula Robison won First Prize at the Geneva International Competition, the first American to receive this honor.
Paula Robison has taught at the Juilliard School and given classes all over the world. She is DMA honoris causa from the San Francisco Conservatory, and now occupies the Donna Hieken Flute Chair at New England Conservatory. She is grateful for her husband Scott Nickrenz, Abrams Curator of Music Emeritus of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, for their daughter Elizabeth Fein, Ph.D University of Chicago, now assistant professor in the Department of Psychology, Duquesne University, for daughter Erika Nickrenz, pianist of the stellar Eroica Trio, for her loving extended family, for her supporters and listeners who said early on to a female flute soloist “Yes, you can”, for her inspiring fellow players and teachers, and for her students through all these many years and now continuing to the future, all of whom have found and are now finding ways to make our world a better and more beautiful place with their music.
At the age of seventeen Robison played for Julius Baker, who remarked to her parents: “Now I know how Jascha Heifetz’s teacher must have felt…she is flawless.” He insisted that she move to New York to study with him at the Juilliard School. This began her many years of life in New York City and her many international adventures as a groundbreaking flute soloist and chamber music artist.
When Robison was twenty years old, Leonard Bernstein invited her to solo with the New York Philharmonic. Her historic recording of “Volière” by Saint-Saens is still available on CD and was featured in the film “Moonrise Kingdom”. She gave her Carnegie recital debut under the auspices of Young Concert Artists and the New York Times wrote: “Music bursts from her as naturally as leaves from trees”. Study with the great Marcel Moyse followed, and in 1966 Paula Robison won First Prize at the Geneva International Competition, the first American to receive this honor.
Paula Robison has taught at the Juilliard School and given classes all over the world. She is DMA honoris causa from the San Francisco Conservatory, and now occupies the Donna Hieken Flute Chair at New England Conservatory. She is grateful for her husband Scott Nickrenz, Abrams Curator of Music Emeritus of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, for their daughter Elizabeth Fein, Ph.D University of Chicago, now assistant professor in the Department of Psychology, Duquesne University, for daughter Erika Nickrenz, pianist of the stellar Eroica Trio, for her loving extended family, for her supporters and listeners who said early on to a female flute soloist “Yes, you can”, for her inspiring fellow players and teachers, and for her students through all these many years and now continuing to the future, all of whom have found and are now finding ways to make our world a better and more beautiful place with their music.
Elise Shope Henry
Guest Artist
ELISE SHOPE HENRY joined the Los Angeles Philharmonic as Second Flutist in September 2012. She is an active chamber musician, teacher, and freelance artist and is involved in the LA Phil’s Green Umbrella and Chamber Music series.
Born in Houston, Texas, she received her Bachelor of Music degree with honors at the University of Michigan while studying under Amy Porter. While in Michigan, she made her solo debut performing the Ibert Flute Concerto with the University Symphony Orchestra. Henry also served as the Detroit Civic Orchestra’s flute mentor. She later attended the Manhattan School of Music, earning her Master of Music degree under the tutelage of Robert Langevin. Her other teachers include Pamela Hackney and Nadine Asin.
Henry has participated in several music festivals, including Aspen Music Festival, Music Academy of the West, and Atlantic Music Festival. She has performed with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic.
In addition to her classical music performances, she plays other genres, such as Brazilian popular, Irish folk, and classical Hindustani.
Born in Houston, Texas, she received her Bachelor of Music degree with honors at the University of Michigan while studying under Amy Porter. While in Michigan, she made her solo debut performing the Ibert Flute Concerto with the University Symphony Orchestra. Henry also served as the Detroit Civic Orchestra’s flute mentor. She later attended the Manhattan School of Music, earning her Master of Music degree under the tutelage of Robert Langevin. Her other teachers include Pamela Hackney and Nadine Asin.
Henry has participated in several music festivals, including Aspen Music Festival, Music Academy of the West, and Atlantic Music Festival. She has performed with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic.
In addition to her classical music performances, she plays other genres, such as Brazilian popular, Irish folk, and classical Hindustani.
Dr. José Valentino Ruiz
Guest Artist
EMMY® Award Winner & multi-Latin GRAMMY® Nominee, recording and performing artist-music producer-audio engineer, Dr. José Valentino Ruiz, is an internationally-acclaimed multi-instrumentalist, composer, missionary, and educator known for his passionate performances, versatility, and fluid expression on the flute, saxophone, bass, and Latin percussion. José Valentino worked for American Idol and X-Factor, produced 60 albums, scored 30+ nationally-televised commercials, & performed in over 1100 concerts. He is CEO/Director of Production & Entertainment for JV Music Enterprises LLC., Strategic Communications Director for TJ Flutes & Saxophones UK Co., Artist-in-Residence and Entrepreneurship Coach for the nationally-recognized music outreach program - Diaz Music Institute (501c3), Composer for MVProds & Hayden 5 Inc., and Head of Music Business & Entrepreneurship at the University of Florida.
Burak Besir
Guest Artist
Internationally acclaimed and award winning flutist, film music composer and producer,
Burak Besir was born in Cyprus and received his early classical music education in Ankara State Conservatory and graduated with distinction. He then attended The Royal Scottish Academy where he received his master’s degree as a Flute Soloist and studied with David Nicholson.
In 2003, Burak received the UK Young Concert Artist Award. The award gave him the opportunity to give a number of concerts and recitals at many distinguished festivals and concerts halls one of which was the famous Wigmore Hall Concert Hall. Burak took the legendary flutist, Sir James Galway’s, attention at a the flute workshop in and thus found his mentor Sir James. As Guest Artist Burak appeared many times at the Galway Flute Conventions as Guest Artist thus makes flute choir arrangements to the Galway Flute Choir. He received the 2nd Best Performer Award in 2008 at the Galway Flute Convention. Burak held principal and second chair flute in the Istanbul State Opera and Ballet and at the Istanbul Borusan Philharmonic Orchestra from 2003 to 2008. In 2008, Burak received Berklee College of Music’s “World Scholarship” and moved to America. He received Contemporary Writing and Production degree switched his focus on tv and film music composing in addition to his performance career.
During his years in Boston, Burak was the Principal Flute at the Berklee Contemporary Symphony and at the Video Game Orchestra, VGP (rockestra project that consists of rock band, orchestra and choir performing epic arrangements of music from timeless video games). He received the Arif Mardin Achievement and Best Concerto Performer Awards from Berklee College of Music and was chosen to represent the school at the 5th Conservatory Project and performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC. In 2012, Burak moved to Los Angeles with his family where he continues his career as composer, performer, and recording artist. In 2014, Burak performed at the very first live concert of the 86th Oscar Concert at the UCLA Royce Hall. The concert featured all five nominated original scores, conducted by their composers including The Book Thief by John Williams, Gravity by Steven Price , Her by William Butler- Owen Pallet, Saving Mr. Banks by Thomas Newman and Philomena by Alexandra Desplat. Burak performed many times at the most prestigious National Flute Association Conventions in Charlotte (2011) , Las Vegas(2012) and Chicago (2014). Here he performed his original compositions and arrangements with his trio, The World Flute Ensemble.
Most recently, in the role of Music Director, Burak Besir directs and performs for the International Committee of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Benefit Balls. In June 2017, he released his flute- piano album "PASSION" through Albany Records. Album received Global Music Award in Best Album and Best Instrumental Solo categories in November 2017. His flute choir arrangement of Smetana's Moldau is published by Italian Publisher Vigor Music in July 2017.
Burak Besir was born in Cyprus and received his early classical music education in Ankara State Conservatory and graduated with distinction. He then attended The Royal Scottish Academy where he received his master’s degree as a Flute Soloist and studied with David Nicholson.
In 2003, Burak received the UK Young Concert Artist Award. The award gave him the opportunity to give a number of concerts and recitals at many distinguished festivals and concerts halls one of which was the famous Wigmore Hall Concert Hall. Burak took the legendary flutist, Sir James Galway’s, attention at a the flute workshop in and thus found his mentor Sir James. As Guest Artist Burak appeared many times at the Galway Flute Conventions as Guest Artist thus makes flute choir arrangements to the Galway Flute Choir. He received the 2nd Best Performer Award in 2008 at the Galway Flute Convention. Burak held principal and second chair flute in the Istanbul State Opera and Ballet and at the Istanbul Borusan Philharmonic Orchestra from 2003 to 2008. In 2008, Burak received Berklee College of Music’s “World Scholarship” and moved to America. He received Contemporary Writing and Production degree switched his focus on tv and film music composing in addition to his performance career.
During his years in Boston, Burak was the Principal Flute at the Berklee Contemporary Symphony and at the Video Game Orchestra, VGP (rockestra project that consists of rock band, orchestra and choir performing epic arrangements of music from timeless video games). He received the Arif Mardin Achievement and Best Concerto Performer Awards from Berklee College of Music and was chosen to represent the school at the 5th Conservatory Project and performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC. In 2012, Burak moved to Los Angeles with his family where he continues his career as composer, performer, and recording artist. In 2014, Burak performed at the very first live concert of the 86th Oscar Concert at the UCLA Royce Hall. The concert featured all five nominated original scores, conducted by their composers including The Book Thief by John Williams, Gravity by Steven Price , Her by William Butler- Owen Pallet, Saving Mr. Banks by Thomas Newman and Philomena by Alexandra Desplat. Burak performed many times at the most prestigious National Flute Association Conventions in Charlotte (2011) , Las Vegas(2012) and Chicago (2014). Here he performed his original compositions and arrangements with his trio, The World Flute Ensemble.
Most recently, in the role of Music Director, Burak Besir directs and performs for the International Committee of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Benefit Balls. In June 2017, he released his flute- piano album "PASSION" through Albany Records. Album received Global Music Award in Best Album and Best Instrumental Solo categories in November 2017. His flute choir arrangement of Smetana's Moldau is published by Italian Publisher Vigor Music in July 2017.
Bryan Pezzone
Pianist
Bryan Pezzone has been a freelance performing and recording artist in the Los Angeles area since 1987. He is known as a versatile performer who is comfortable in classical, contemporary and improvisational styles. He performs with composers and musicians as diverse as Pierre Boulez, John Williams, and John Adams, and records on countless film and television soundtracks. He is the pianist in the group Free Flight, a crossover classical/jazz quartet. These concerts feature many of his own compositions. In addition, Bryan has initiated a performing series that he calls “FREEDOM SERIES” which involves improvisations and verbal musings on life. He has been principal pianist in the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra from its inception in 1991-1999 as well as the former chair and founder of the Multi-focused keyboard department at the California Institute of the arts from 1987- 2000. He abandoned both those positions in order of discovering new paths and is passionate about continuously redefining himself and his role as an artist, musician, and person in today’s complex and eclectic culture.
Mitsuko Morikawa
Pianist
Pianist Mitsuko Morikawa has been an active soloist, accompanist and chamber musician in United States as well as in Asia. She has collaborated with highly acclaimed musicians from a vast array of genres spanning instrumental music, vocal music, musical theater and chamber ensembles. Some of the artists that Ms. Morikawa has performed with include Julia Migenes, Rodney Gilfry, Kristinn Sigmundsson, Timothy Mussard, Michel Debost, James Walker, Leone Buyse, Carol Wincenc, Jean Ferrandis, Marianne Gedigian, Martin Chalifour, Roberto Cani, Megumi Kanda, Randy Hawes, and Rodell Rosel. Ms. Morikawa has also recorded music for the New World Records label and has been featured on radio programs such as KUSC, WCLV, Cleveland and NHK-FM, Japan.
Apart from her accomplishments as a performer, Ms. Morikawa has also distinguished herself as a unique and highly regarded coach/accompanist. She has served on the faculties at Occidental College, Santa Monica College, the Meadowmount School of Music, Idyllwild Arts Academy Summer Program, National Flute Association Annual Convention, Oberlin College Conservatory, the Oberlin Flute Institute, Baldwin Wallace College Conservatory and the ENCORE School of Strings. She is currently working as an accompanist at the Colburn School, UCLA and Los Angeles Children’s Chorus.
Ms. Morikawa’s degrees consist of a B.M. in piano performance from the Toho School of Music, Japan, an M.M. in piano performance from the Manhattan School of Music, a Professional Studies Certificate in piano performance from The Cleveland Institute of Music and a D.M.A. in Keyboard Collaborative Arts at the University of Southern California. Some of Ms. Morikawa’s teachers include Alan Smith, Norman Krieger, Sergei Babayan, Cheng-Zong Yin, Paul Schenly, Sara Davis Buechner and Hisako Ueno.
Apart from her accomplishments as a performer, Ms. Morikawa has also distinguished herself as a unique and highly regarded coach/accompanist. She has served on the faculties at Occidental College, Santa Monica College, the Meadowmount School of Music, Idyllwild Arts Academy Summer Program, National Flute Association Annual Convention, Oberlin College Conservatory, the Oberlin Flute Institute, Baldwin Wallace College Conservatory and the ENCORE School of Strings. She is currently working as an accompanist at the Colburn School, UCLA and Los Angeles Children’s Chorus.
Ms. Morikawa’s degrees consist of a B.M. in piano performance from the Toho School of Music, Japan, an M.M. in piano performance from the Manhattan School of Music, a Professional Studies Certificate in piano performance from The Cleveland Institute of Music and a D.M.A. in Keyboard Collaborative Arts at the University of Southern California. Some of Ms. Morikawa’s teachers include Alan Smith, Norman Krieger, Sergei Babayan, Cheng-Zong Yin, Paul Schenly, Sara Davis Buechner and Hisako Ueno.
Vivian Fan
Pianist
Vivan Fan currently holds the staff accompanist position at the Colburn Conservatory. Prior to this position, she was on the piano faculty at the Idyllwild Arts Academy and was a teaching assistant to Professor John Perry at USC. She was accompanist at the International Music Course of Benidorm in Spain, the Hawaii Performing Arts Festival, and the Montecito Summer Music Festival, and was awarded the “Best Accompanist Award” by The Edith Knox Performance Competition in 2009 and 2010.
As a solo pianist, Fan has performed with conductors Jorge Mester, Jung Ho Pak, Mario Miragliotta, Sharon Lavery, Peter Askim, and Marc Riley. Her performances have been broadcasted on KTLA and KNBC television as well as KUSC and WFMT radio. Her recent performances include recital collaborations with artists such as Paul Coletti, Shigenori Kudo, Lindsay Deutsch, Paul Wiancko, John Hayhurst, and Richard O’Neill in venues such as Camerata Pacifica, the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series, the Maestro Foundation Chamber Music Series, the LA Phil Affiliates Recital Series, the Music in the Mansion Concert Series, and Violafest Los Angeles. In the summer of 2006, Fan gave a symposium presentation at the ISME World Conference in Malaysia. She receives her DMA from the USC Thornton School of Music in May 2011, where she was awarded the Michael Kamen Music Scholarship.
As a solo pianist, Fan has performed with conductors Jorge Mester, Jung Ho Pak, Mario Miragliotta, Sharon Lavery, Peter Askim, and Marc Riley. Her performances have been broadcasted on KTLA and KNBC television as well as KUSC and WFMT radio. Her recent performances include recital collaborations with artists such as Paul Coletti, Shigenori Kudo, Lindsay Deutsch, Paul Wiancko, John Hayhurst, and Richard O’Neill in venues such as Camerata Pacifica, the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series, the Maestro Foundation Chamber Music Series, the LA Phil Affiliates Recital Series, the Music in the Mansion Concert Series, and Violafest Los Angeles. In the summer of 2006, Fan gave a symposium presentation at the ISME World Conference in Malaysia. She receives her DMA from the USC Thornton School of Music in May 2011, where she was awarded the Michael Kamen Music Scholarship.
Emma Neiman
Program Administrator
Originally from California, Emma Neiman currently resides in the New York Hudson Valley where she studies with Tara Helen O’Connor at the Bard College Conservatory of Music. She is in the process of completing the conservatory’s dual-degree program, pursuing a Bachelor of Music in Flute Performance and a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology. In 2014, she became the program assistant for Jim Walker’s Beyond the Masterclass in Los Angeles, and in 2016, she began to work as a faculty member and the program coordinator for Mid Peninsula Music Academy in Redwood City, California. She attended the woodwind masterclass series at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity in 2013 and 2014, and she attended Beyond the Masterclass as a performer in 2012 and 2013. Her woodwind quintet performed for Milan Turkovic in the Master Class Series at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in 2017. Prior to Bard, Emma lived in Los Angeles where she studied with Diana Morgan and volunteered at the Harmony Project as a teaching aide for flute and clarinet, as well as an administrative assistant. Emma graduated from Idyllwild Arts Academy in 2013 after attending for two years.
Past Guest Artists
2020: Marina Piccinini, Elizabeth Rowe, Paula Robison, Elise Henry, Jose Valentino, Burak Besir
2019: Catherine Ransom Karoly, Elise Henry (Shope)
2018: Denis Bouriakov
2017: Rose Lombardo, Ben Smolen, Denis Bouriakov & Bryan Pezzone (Piano)
2016: Denis Bouriakov and Jose Valentino
2015: Sarah Jackson
2014: Catherine Ransom Karoly, Elise Shope
2013: Catherine Ransom Karoly, Richard Beene
2012: Greg Pattillo, Sarah Jackson, Benjamin Smolen, Heather Clark, Rose Lombardo
2011: Molly Barth, Demarre McGill, Greg Milliren, Jed Wentz, Phil Ayling
2010: Cathy Ransom-Karoly, Jed Wentz, Heather Clark, Sarah Jackson, Steve Kujala, Greg Milliren
2009: Elizabeth Rowe, Heather Clark, Sarah Jackson, Steve Kujala
2008: Viviana Cumplido, Heather Clark, Phil Ayling
2019: Catherine Ransom Karoly, Elise Henry (Shope)
2018: Denis Bouriakov
2017: Rose Lombardo, Ben Smolen, Denis Bouriakov & Bryan Pezzone (Piano)
2016: Denis Bouriakov and Jose Valentino
2015: Sarah Jackson
2014: Catherine Ransom Karoly, Elise Shope
2013: Catherine Ransom Karoly, Richard Beene
2012: Greg Pattillo, Sarah Jackson, Benjamin Smolen, Heather Clark, Rose Lombardo
2011: Molly Barth, Demarre McGill, Greg Milliren, Jed Wentz, Phil Ayling
2010: Cathy Ransom-Karoly, Jed Wentz, Heather Clark, Sarah Jackson, Steve Kujala, Greg Milliren
2009: Elizabeth Rowe, Heather Clark, Sarah Jackson, Steve Kujala
2008: Viviana Cumplido, Heather Clark, Phil Ayling
