Orlando Jacinto Garcia, D.M.A.

Coordinator & Professor of Composition

Composer-in-Residence at College of Architecture + The Arts | Miami Beach Urban Studios

Founder of FIU Nodus Ensemble & FIU New Music Ensemble

Tel: 305-535-2617

Email: garciao@fiu.edu

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Through some one hundred and fifty works composed for a wide range of performance genres, Orlando Jacinto Garcia has established himself as an important figure in the new music world. The distinctive character of his music has been described as “time suspended- haunting sonic explorations” – qualities he developed from his work with Morton Feldman among others. Born in Havana, Cuba in 1954, Garcia migrated to the United States in 1961 and received his DMA in Music Composition from the University of Miami in 1984. A long list of distinguished soloists, ensembles, and orchestras have presented his music at festivals and recitals in most of the major capitols of the world. Recent important performances of his music include those in Poland, England, Spain, Serbia, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Venezuela, and other parts of Europe, Latin America, the US, and Canada.

In demand as a guest composer and lecturer at national and international festivals, he is the recipient of numerous honors and awards from a variety of organizations and cultural institutions. These include two Fulbright artist/lectureships, the first in Caracas, Venezuela during 1991-92 where Garcia presented master classes, assisted with the set up and development of the Center for Electro-Acoustic Music and Research at the Universidad Central de Venezuela, completed several new works, and conducted and presented premieres of his music. The second a Senior Lectureship in Salamanca, Spain during 1996-97 at the Universidad de Salamanca where he taught graduate analysis/composition courses, created works, and conducted his music.

Additional recognition for his work has come from the Rockefeller Foundation in the form of a summer residency at their Center in Bellagio, Italy during 1999 where he completed a new work for the Caracas based Orquesta Sinfonica Simon Bolivar. The orchestra premiered the work as part of the Festival Latinoamericano de Musica held in Venezuela in the fall of 2002. A recording of the premiere was released on New Albion Records in 2004 as part of his solo CD. Further support from the Rockefeller Foundation includes a visiting artist residency at the American Academy in Rome during the summer of 2000 where he completed a new piece for the Juilliard based Continuum Ensemble. The new work premiered in the fall of 2000 as part of Continuum’s tour of Latin America and as part of the Sonic Boom Festival in the fall of 2001. Garcia is also a two-time Cintas Foundation Fellowship winner (1994-95 and 1999-2000) supporting the creation of new works for distinguished soloists and ensembles here and abroad.

Other awards include a 2001 State of Florida composer’s fellowship, first prize in Mexico’s Nuevas Resonancias competition, and a first prize in the Joyce Dutka Arts Foundation (JDAF) 2001 competition. As part of the prize Garcia completed a solo cello work for Maya Beiser who premiered it at the JDAF awards ceremony held in NYC 5/01. The work was subsequently recorded and released on Innova Recordings. In the summer of 2001 his imagenes sonidos congelados for violin and fixed media was selected as part of the Sonic Circuits competition and was later performed at the 2003 ICMC in Singapore. In 2003 his work for piano/disklavier and electronics, written for Kathleen Supove was premiered at New York University and at various concerts in the US. Another work for fixed media, temporal was presented at the 2006 ICMC in New Orleans and at the 2006 International Electro-acoustic Music Festival in Santiago de Chile.

Other performances of note include his work Auschwitz (nunca se olvidaran) for orchestra and choir, given its NYC premiere October 2003 by the Brooklyn Philharmonic with the Trinity Church Choir and again in 2010 with the Brooklyn Philharmonic and the NYU Singers with Arkady Leytush conducting, as well as 2004 and 2005 portrait concerts of his music realized in New York City and Amsterdam, Holland by the Electronic Music Foundation and the Barton Workshop respectively. Portrait concerts of his work are being presented in Mexico, Uruguay, and Spain in 2014-15.

Important recent premieres of his electroacoustic works include those at the ICMC in New Orleans 2004, FEAMF 2005, and SEAMUS Festivals 2007, 2008, and 2011 and his collaborations with video artists Jacek Kolasinski, John Stuart, Daniel Viñoly, and Eric Goldemberg, which have resulted in new works premiered at the International Music Festival in Lima Peru, the Cervantino Festival in Mexico, the Spring in Havana Festival in Cuba, and the Ear to the Earth Festival in NYC during 2007, 2008, and 2010.

Garcia’s experimental video opera, transcending time, premiered in April 2009 at the Biennale in Zagreb, Croatia with the Cantus Ensemble. The work for chamber orchestra and 5 singers includes videos by Stuart and Kolasinski as well as text by MacArthur Foundation winning poet Campbell McGrath. More recently Garcia’s orchestra work In Memoriam Earle Brown, was premiered in February 2011 by the Miami Symphony Orchestra (MISO) with conductor Eduardo Marturet and el viento distante (the distant wind) for clarinet and orchestra was premiered in May 2012 by the Lviv Philharmonic in Katowice, Poland with soloist Wojciech Mrozek and Krzesimir Debski conducting. Garcia recently conducted a string orchestra version of the work with the Lviv Philharmonic August 2013 and the full orchestra version with the Philharmonic from Szczecin, Poland April 2014. Also in April a new version of his work for two contrabasses and orchestra was premiered by the MISO with Luis Gomez Imbert and Jeff Bradetich soloists and by the National Orchestra in Medellin, Colombia in September.

He spent May and June 2013 at the Civitella Ranieri Foundation Center in Perugia, Italy working on a new work for orchestra and string quartet for premiere in 2016. This spring he was in residence at the MacDowell Colony where he completed new works for the Suono Sacro Ensemble in Assisi, Italy and the Nuevo Ensemble de Segovia in Madrid, Spain each for premieres during 2014. In July he was at the Casa Zia Lina in Italy working on a new piece for the Bugallo Williams piano duo. He spent August in residence at the Millay Colony completing new works for the Chicago based Fonema Consort chamber ensemble and a collaborative work with visual artist Jacek Kolasinski for electronics and video both for premiere in the fall. Upcoming premieres include new works for violinists Jennifer Choi (violin and string orchestra) and Mari Kimura (violin and electronics) both for premiere in the spring of 2015.

Garcia’s music is recorded on O.O. Discs, CRI (Emergency Music, eXchange Series), Albany, North/South, CRS, Capstone, Rugginenti, New Albion, Innova, VDM, CNMAS, New World, and Opus One Records. A CD of his orchestra music was released in September 2014 by the Toccata Classics label. The album features the Malaga Philharmonic Orchestra with Jose Serebrier conducting. Garcia’s solo and chamber works have been nominated for Latin Grammys in 2009, 2010, and 2011 in the best contemporary classical composition category. A dedicated teacher, his students have gone on to win prestigious composition awards and prizes and have made positive contributions to the music world. The founder and director of the Miami Section of the International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM), the New Music Miami Festival, the NODUS Ensemble, and the FIU New Music Ensemble, Garcia is Composer in Residence for the FIU CARTA Miami Beach Urban Studios and Professor of Music in the School of Music at Florida International University in Miami.

Jacob Sudol, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Music Technology & Composition | Director of FLEA Ensemble

Tel: 305.348.1009

Email: jacob.sudol@fiu.edu

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Jacob David Sudol writes intimate compositions that explore enigmatic phenomena and the inner nature of how we perceive sound. He currently is an Assistant Professor of Music Technology and Composition and the Coordinator of Music Technology area at Florida International University in Miami, Florida. He was awarded a Fulbright Scholar grant for Taiwan for the Academic 2015-16 Year. He holds a Ph.D. in composition from the University of California, San Diego where his mentor was the Grawemeyer Prize-winning composer Chinary Ung.

Jacob Sudol has been commissioned and/or performed by many prestigious ensembles and performers such as the Nouvel Ensemble Moderne, Chai Found New Music Workshop, Jennifer Choi, Mari Kimura, Contemporary Keyboard Society, Little Giant Chinese Orchestra, the McGill Contemporary Music Ensemble in collaboration with the McGill Digital Composition Studio, FIU Laptop and Electronic Arts (FLEA) Ensemble, pianist Xenia Pestova, cellist Jason Calloway, percussionist Nathan Davis, flutist Carla Rees, the rarescale duo, flutist Solomiya Moroz, pianist and composer Chen-Hui Jen, pianist and composer Keith Kirchoff, clarinetist Krista Martynes, guzheng-performer Yi-Chieh Lai, percussionist Fernando Rocha, percussionist Luis Tabuenca, and pianist William Fried. These works have received numerous domestic and international performances. Jacob Sudol also frequently performs his own works for instruments and electronics in diverse settings such as the Music at the Anthology Festival, Issue Project Room, SEAMUS Conference, Rice University, Domaine Forget Festival of New Music, Taiwan National Recital Hall, INTER/actions Symposium on Interactive Music, International Computer Music Conference, Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Concert Hall in Leipzig Germany, Studio for Electro-Instrumental Music in Amsterdam, International Society of Contemporary Music New Music Miami Festival, FIU Electro-Acoustic Student Festival, Miami Beach Urban Studios, Atlantic Center for the Arts, Art Basel Miami, Cluster Festival of New Music, The Spectrum in New York City, Bowling Green University, The Center for New Music in San Francisco, McGill University, Wesleyan University, the California Institute of the Arts, Art Basel Miami, Florida International University, Bangor University, Mills University, Taiwan National Chiao Tung University, the University of California at San Diego, and the wulf in Los Angeles

In 2012, Sudol founded a cello/electro-acoustic duo with FIU colleague and cellist Jason Calloway and, since 2010, he has been in a piano/electro-acoustic duo with his wife Chen-Hui Jen. At FIU, he has directed FLEA (the FIU Laptop and Electro-Acoustic ensemble) since 2011. He has also collaborated on interdisciplinary projects with visual artist Jacek Kolasinski and architect Eric Goldemberg. As a recording engineer and producer Sudol has worked on compact discs that have been or will be released by Mode, Bridge, and Albany Records.

Jacob Sudol takes an interest in religious phenomenology, literature, acoustics, psychoacoustics, visual art, cinema, and world folk music. He always attempts to bring insights from these other fields into his work.

Fredrick Kaufman, D.M.A

Professor Emeritus

kaufman.fredrick@gmail.com

Fredrick Kaufman is the composer of over one hundred and thirty compositions that have been performed worldwide by orchestras such as the Warsaw Philharmonic, the Israel Philharmonic, the Moscow Chamber Orchestra, the Moscow Symphony Orchestra, the Czech Radio Orchestra, the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, the Lithuanian Philharmonic and Chamber Orchestra, the Czech National Symphony Orchestra, the Czech Symphony Orchestra, the Jerusalem Symphony, the Instrumental Ensemble of Grenoble, the London Sinfonietta, Orchestra Novi Musici (Naples Italy), the Dominican Republic National Orchestra, the National Orchestra of Brazil, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the New World Symphony and the Pittsburgh Symphony orchestras. His ballets have been danced by companies such as the Royal Swedish Ballet, the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, the Batsheva Dance Company, the Bat-Dor Dance Company and the Pennsylvania Dance Theater.

Kaufman is a former Fulbright Scholar, and author of The African Roots of Jazz, a groundbreaking study that drew heavily on his early musical life as a jazz trumpet player with the Woody Herman Band. He is the recipient of the Darius Milhaud Award in Composition from the Aspen Music Festival, and honors and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Rockefeller, Guggenheim and Ford Foundations, the California, Montana and Pennsylvania Arts Councils as well as the Norwegian Government.Fredrick Kaufman’s Holocaust composition Kaddish which Bernard Holland of The New York Times described as “having the most expressive writing for strings to be heard today,” has been performed in the major concert halls of Europe, Eastern Europe, Scandinavia, Israel, South America, Asia and throughout the United States.Fredrick Kaufman recently completed the Guernica Piano Concerto for concert pianist Kemal Gekic and the Czech National Symphony Orchestra. The premiere performance took place at the Sibelius Concert Hall (Feb, ’13) in Prague and was a spectacular success. It received 4 curtain calls and a review that called the work “a masterpiece…extraordinary… a convincing, emotional, passionate, vivid piece of music”… Music Review, Prague…”is a composition written in the soul”…Sonorama magazene (Spanish)…”exciting, unusual and riveting”…Babysue magazene. The concerto was recorded in Prague and released on the Navona label by Naxos in July, 2013 (see credits).His works have received prizes at international competitions and have been selected for performances at festivals such as the Aspen Music Festival, the Telluride Chamber Music Festival, the Music Festival of the Hamptons, the Sarasota Music Festival, the Israel Festival, the Darmstadt Festival for New Music, the International Arts Festival in Vilnius, Lithuania, and the St. Cyprien International Festival of the Arts in France.

Renowned artists such as Richard Stoltzman; Julius Baker, Susan Starr, Roy Malan, Mark Drobinsky, Andres Diaz, David Kim, Roberto Diaz, Yehuda Hananni, Charles Neidich, Kemal Gekic, Paul Green, Sarah Lambert Bloom, The Miami String Quartet, The Diaz Trio and numerous others have recorded and performed Kaufman’s concertos and chamber music. Additionally, Israeli television has paid tribute to him as a composer in the thirty-minute documentary film Fredrick Kaufman-Life of an Artist.

Critics from the New York Times; the Newark Star-Ledger, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Miami Herald, the Jerusalem Post, the London Times, the Perpignan Independent and other newspapers around the world have described Kaufman’s music as striking, individual an interesting combination of overwhelming pathos and infectious joy, brought one into the realm of musical genius.

In 1985, the Statue of Liberty committee commissioned Fredrick Kaufman to write a choral work Mother of Exiles, for the re-dedication ceremonies of the Statue of Liberty. The composition was premiered by the United Nations Chorus at the ceremony and was broadcast worldwide by network television. WE THE PEOPLE 200 of the City of Philadelphia commissioned Kaufman to write his 5th Symphony, “The American”, in 1987 for the 200th anniversary celebration of the Constitution. Maestro Kaufman conducted the premiere performance which was nationally broadcast on NBC-TV. Over the past 10 years, Kaufman has been called upon repeatedly to conduct his compositions around the world.

His latest multi-cultural works have received overwhelming praise in the press. His Kaminarimon (for Taiko drums and Flamenco dance) has been called “remarkable” and “stunning” and was voted as ?the number one classical composition of 2002 and “the most imaginative new work of the year” by, music critic, James Roos of The Miami Herald. His recently commissioned work Yin & Yang: A Dialogue for Two Grand Pianos, was launched and lauded by critics in New York and Miami, where it received its world premiere. String Quartet #6, “The Urban” was called “stunning” by New Yorker Magazine. The Urban Quartet was nominated by Lulkas Foss in 2007 for a Pulitzer Prize.

The points of departure for Kaufman’s writing are often gestures and sound imagery from his own wide ranging background which includes jazz and Eastern European Jewish folk traditions and a foundation deeply steeped in the classics as well as the avant garde. Kaufman continues to stretch the boundaries of standard approaches to composition and the results have been startling.

Fredrick Kaufman currently resides in Miami Beach where he holds the distinguished position of Professor Emeritus in Composition at Florida International University. Prior to that he held the position of Composer-in-Residence for the University, a position that was created specifically for him. Professor Kaufman was the founding Director of the Herbert and Nicole Wertheim School of Music & Performing Arts for ten years and established its internationally acclaimed FIU Music Festival. He was formerly Academic Dean of the Philadelphia College of the Performing Arts and a faculty member at the University of Wisconsin, the University of Montana at Billings, the University of London and the Rubin Academy of Music in Jerusalem, Israel. Kaufman is the founder and former Artistic Director of the St. Cyprien International Festival of the Arts held in St. Cyprien, France.

Kathryn K. Longo

Coordinator of Choral Conducting & Assistant Professor of Choral Studies 

Tel: 305.348.3359

Email: klongo@fiu.edu

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Kathryn Kelly Longo is the newly appointed Choral Director and Coordinator of Choral Studies at Florida International University where she will conduct the Concert Choir and Master Chorale, and teach undergraduate conducting courses. Since moving to Miami in 2011, Dr. Longo has worked as a clinician in many South Florida schools and conducted honor choirs in Broward and Collier counties.

Longo taught middle and high school music in Connecticut and New York for five years. She was choral director at Farmington High School in Farmington, CT, where she directed five choral ensembles and taught voice lessons. During her time as a high school music teacher, Longo and her students performed large works annually with the FHS Orchestra and sang in workshops with such clinicians as Henry Leck and Georgia Newlan. In addition to her experience at FHS, she taught middle school chorus and general music in New York City and at West Woods Upper Elementary School and Irving Robbins Middle School in Farmington, CT. An experienced choral director of all ages, Longo has also held positions with Miami Children’s Chorus and South Florida Singing Sons.

As singer and church musician, Longo has performed in a variety of academic, professional and semi-professional choruses. She was the conductor of the University of Miami Chapel Choir in Key Largo, FL and has sung with the Miami Bach Society and Temple Bet Shira in Pinecrest, FL. While living in Oregon, she sang with the Oregon Bach Festival Chorus under the direction of Helmuth Rilling, and with the Portland Baroque Orchestra under the direction of Monica Huggett. During her time in Connecticut, she worked as a section leader and soloist at First Church of Christ in Wethersfield.

Prior to her appointment at FIU, Dr. Longo received her DMA in Choral Conducting at the University of Miami Frost School of Music where she studied conducting with Karen Kennedy. While attending the University of Miami, Dr. Longo conducted the UM Women’s Chorale and Chamber Singers and was the assistant instructor for undergraduate conducting courses. She obtained masters degree in Choral Conducting from the University of Oregon under the tutelage of Sharon J. Paul, and her dual Bachelors degrees in Music and Music Education from the University of Connecticut where she studied conducting with Peter Bagley. Her training also includes master classes and lessons with a variety of conductors including Helmuth Rilling, Rodney Eichenberger, Hirvo Surva, Dan Bara, Donald Oglesby, and Theresa Coffman. Longo is an active member of the Florida Vocal Association, the National Association for Music Educators, College Music Society, and the American Choral Directors’ Association.

Donald Oglesby

Adjunct of Choral Conducting 

Tel: 305.348.2896

Email: doglesby@miami.edu

Dr. Oglesby is one of the original founders of the Miami Bach Society. He received a bachelor of music degree from Birmingham-Southern College, a masters degree in musicology from the University of Illinois, and a Doctor of Music degree with distinction from Indiana University, where he concentrated in conducting.

Professor of Choral Music at the University of Miami for 30 years; Dr. Oglesby is also Director of Choral Music at Plymouth Congregational Church, Coconut Grove. He has been president of the Florida chapter of the American Choral Directors Association, and also the Miami chapters of Pi Kappa Lambda and Pi Kappa Phi honor societies. In December 1989, his performance of Handel’ s Messiah was broadcast nationally on Christmas Day. Under Dr. Oglesby’s direction the University of Miami Collegium Musicum and the Plymouth Church Choir have toured the eastern United States, Great Britain and Europe. He serves on the Editorial Board of the Choral Journal and has served three terms as Chair of the Research and Publications Committee of the American Choral Directors’ Association

Dr. Oglesby has worked at the Center for Baroque Music in Versailles, France; he is the author of the Bach Cantata Data Base, Score Preparation: A Study Guide for Conducting Students, A Guide to the Bach Cantatas, and articles in the Choral Journal. He translated editorial notes for an edition of grand motets by Rameau, published by the Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles in 2006, and is currently working on an anthology of Martin Luther’s music.

Jace Saplan

Adjunct of Choral Music

Tel: 305.348.2896

Email: jacesaplan@gmail.com

Born and raised in Hawaiʻi, Jace Saplan is the founder and artistic director of Nā Wai Chamber Choir, a women’s vocal ensemble dedicated to the preservation and propagation of Hawaiian choral music. Under his direction, Nā Wai has commissioned Native composers, toured throughout Hawaiian speaking communities, and led workshops on Hawaiian choral music and music education at Indigenous identifying schools and universities throughout the state.

As a scholar, Saplan’s output celebrates multicultural perspectives in the choral rehearsal, inclusive pedagogies, intersections of gender, sexuality, and conducting, and Polynesian choral performance practice. His scholarship on these topics have also led him to lead interest and reading sessions at the state, regional, and national level for the American Choral Directors Association, National Association for Music Educators, National Collegiate Choral Organization, and the LGBTQ Studies in Music Education Conference.  His research has been published in Red Ink: The International Journal of Indigenous Literature and the Asian Journal of Indigenous Studies.

He is currently a doctoral candidate in choral conducting studying with Dr. Karen Kennedy at the University of Miami Frost School of Music where he is the conductor of the University of Miami Maelstrom Men’s Chorale, an instructor for the undergraduate Experiential Music Curriculum, and the chorus master for the Frost Opera Program. At the Frost School Saplan has prepared a number of contemporary works such as Golijov’s Ainadamar, Kuster’s Old Presque Isle done in collaboration with the John Duffy Composer’s Institute and the Virginia Arts Festival, and a premiere work by Grammy nominated composer Shawn Crouch.

Prior to his time in Miami, Saplan obtained a masters degree in choral conducting at the University of Oregon under the guidance of Dr. Sharon Paul, and a masters degree in curriculum and instruction at Concordia University-Portland under Dr. Venus Kelly. He has served on the music faculties of the Hawai’i Youth Opera Chorus, the Mid-Pacific Institute, and the Kamehameha Schools, a school that champions Indigenous Hawaiian culture and education.

Brenton F. Alston, D.M.A.

Assistant Professor of Wind Studies & Director of Instrumental Conducting

Tel: 305.348.2497

Email: bralston@fiu.edu

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At FIU, Dr. Alston conducts the FIU Wind Ensemble and Chamber Winds in addition to teaching Graduate Conducting and History of Wind Repertoire courses.

Prior to coming to FIU Alston served as Director of Instrumental Music and Conductor of the Wind Ensemble at the New World School of the Arts (Miami, Florida) as well as Visiting Director of Bands at Radford University (Radford, Virginia). Dr. Alston has been conferred with the Doctorate of Musical Arts and Advanced Artist Diploma in Instrumental Conducting from the University of Miami Frost School of Music (Coral Gables, Florida), Master of Arts in Music with a concentration in Conducting from Radford University (Radford, Virginia) and Bachelor of Arts in Music with concentrations in Music Education and Performance from Catawba College (Salisbury, North Carolina).

Dr. Alston retains memberships in the Conductors’ Guild, College Band Directors National Association and Pi Mu Alpha Sinfonia.

Raffaele Livio Ponti

Visiting Instructor in Orchestral Conducting & Director of the FIU Symphony

Tel: 305.348.2896

Email: rponti@fiu.edu

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Italian – American Conductor Raffaele Livio Ponti is an artist of dynamic personality, charismatic performances, and superb musicianship. His trademark is the breadth of his vision, the clarity of his interpretation, and the rich beauty of his sound. The Chicago Courier News Writes, “Maestro Ponti brings an exhilarating energy level to center stage. It’s an electrifying swagger empowering and enabling him to pull music from light to darkness and back again. He is a rising star!”

Raffaele is currently Artistic Director and Conductor of the Paducah Symphony Orchestra, Music Director and Conductor of Florida’s Charlotte Symphony Orchestra and Visiting Instructor in Orchestral Studies & Director of the FIU Symphony Orchestra: Florida International University in Miami, Florida.

Ponti has worked with world class artists Glenn Dicterow, David Kim, Ilya Kaler, Fabio Bidini, Terrence Wilson, David Halen, Michael Ludwig, Gary Levinson, Juana Zayas, Philippe Quint, Elena Urioste, Jeffrey Biegel, Robert Bonfiglio, Antonio Pompa-Baldi, Marvin Stamm, Allen Vizzutti, Ettore Nova, Ambra Vespasiani, Paola Romano, Vittorio Grigolo, Maurizio Graziani, Stefano Algieri, Mariana Paunova, Silvja dalla Benetta, Wilfredo Deglans, George Petean, Claudia Marchi, Salvador Carbo’, Tatiana Lisnic, Carlos Almaguer, Patrizia Cigna, Michela Sburlati, Galina Kalinina, Mina Tasca, Stanislas Arraez, Alessandro Busi and Mauro Augustini.

Recently Raffaele led the Buffalo Philharmonic and Erie Philharmonic with immediate return engagements. He is also the former Principal Conductor and Music Director and now Regular Guest Conductor of Italia Konzert Opera International in San Gimignano, Italy, Founding Director of Festival di Musica da Camera in Ripatransone, Italy, and continues to appear with other prominent orchestras around the United States and Europe including the Buffalo Philharmonic, Rochester Philharmonic, Sofia Symphony, Varna State Opera, Orchestra di Pescara, Austin Symphony, Siena Symphony, Binghamton Philharmonic, Elgin Symphony, Billings Symphony, Italia Konzert Opera, Utica Symphony, Schenectady Symphony, Orchestra of the Southern Finger Lakes, Syracuse Symphony and repeated tours of Italy with the Sofia Symphony Orchestra, and Varna State Opera Orchestra, of Bulgaria.

Raffaele began his training on violin, piano and trumpet. At the age of 17, he began playing with the Rochester Philharmonic and at 19, with the Cleveland Orchestra. After graduating from the Cleveland Institute of Music, Ponti went to Italy to study conducting in Siena, and later, in Rome with Giuseppe Sinopoli. Beginning as an opera conductor he had instant success conducting operas throughout Italy with productions of Aida, Il trovatore, La traviata, Carmen, La boheme, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, Pagliacci and L’elisir d’amore.

Artist Information at http://www.rponti.com

Mesut Ozgen

Coordinator of Classical Guitar Studies | Director of FIU Miami Guitar Orchestra & Artistic Director of Miami International GuitART Festival

305-348-7646

mozgen@fiu.edu

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Mesut Özgen is a “highly accomplished and exciting player who gets the most out of the music he plays” (Classical Guitar magazine of England), as well as a composer whose works show the deep influence of traditional Turkish music. Critically acclaimed as “stunningly versatile and expressive” by Acoustic Guitar magazine, Özgen has been busy with concertizing, recording, composing, conducting, and teaching.

Dr. Özgen joined the faculty of Florida International University in the fall of 2013 as director of guitar studies and the FIU Miami Guitar Orchestra. He has performed and taught master classes throughout the United States, Spain, and Turkey and was the director of guitar studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz from 1998-2013. In addition to being a prizewinner in both the International Portland Guitar Competition and the National Guitar Competition of Turkey, he has performed as featured soloist in many festivals, including the International Paco Peña Guitar Festival in Cordoba, Spain, Yale Guitar Extravaganza, Sierra Nevada Guitar Festival, Santa Cruz Baroque Festival, Healdsburg Guitar Festival, Istanbul CRR Concert Series, April in Santa Cruz: Contemporary Music Festival, Cabrillo College Distinguished Artists Series, Ankara METU Art Festival, Kars Art Festival, Konya Mevlana (Rumi) Cultural Center Concert Series, UCSC Arts & Lectures Series, and Hidden Valley Masters Festival among others. He was also the founder, director and conductor of the Santa Cruz Guitar Orchestra between 2010-2013. Currently, he is founder and artistic director of the Miami International GuitART Festival.

Özgen’s solo CD “Troubadour” feature classical guitar works inspired by Turkish, Spanish, Argentinean, and American folk traditions and was reviewed by the Guitar Review magazine as “a shining example of this guitarist’s great talent.” His award-winning multimedia concert DVD New Dimensions in Classical Guitar includes premiere performances of new guitar works with visual accompaniments comprising video, interactive computer images, and particularized lighting design. The Classical Guitar magazine said of this recording “the finest music DVD ever to have come my way, remarkable achievement.” A one-hour selection from the DVD has been broadcast nationwide on cable networks in the U.S. and worldwide on the Internet since 2005. Özgen’s latest CD “Anatolian Fantasy” features entirely his own compositions for solo guitar and chamber groups. His next CD “21^st Century Guitar Music” which will include new works written for him by other composers is scheduled for release in January 2014.

As a performer, Özgen has collaborated with many renowned musicians, such as Anthony Newman (harpsichord/piano/organ), Benjamin Verdery (guitar), Thomas Stacy (English Horn), Cihat Askın (violin), Deepak Ram (bansuri), Ihsan Özgen (kemençe/tanbur), Shelley Phillips (oboe/French Horn), Lars Johannesson (flute), and Robert Stern (swing jazz violin). As a pedagogue, Özgen has published a book entitled “Designing Technical Training Programs for Classical Guitarists Based on Exercise Physiology Principles.” In this extensive research book, he combined information from various sub-disciplines of kinesiology, including functional anatomy, biomechanics, and exercise physiology, as they relate to guitar playing.

Özgen’s compositions are mainly based on or influenced by traditional Turkish music, which he incorporates into modern compositional forms and techniques. Among his other influences are Spanish composer Joaquin Rodrigo’s use of flamenco music and Turkish scholar/composer Yalçın Tura’s harmonization techniques. His unique style is comprised of dissonant harmonies – evoking microtones of traditional Turkish music, tonal folk-like melodies, and irregular rhythms. Özgen has also long been a strong advocate of new music for guitar and frequently collaborates with other composers. Composers who have written solo, concerto, and various chamber music for Özgen include Anthony Gilbert, Pablo Victor Ortiz, Anthony Newman, Benjamin Verdery, Jack Vees, Deepak Ram, Christopher Pratorius, Robert Strizich, Charles Nichols, Paul Nauert, Yalçın Tura, David Evan Jones, Peter Elsea, David Cope, Erdem Helvacıoglu, Ken Walicki, and Phil Collins.

Özgen’s degrees include Master of Music and Artist Diploma from Yale School of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts from Arizona State University, as well as an MD from Hacettepe University Medical School. He was the first guitarist to be awarded the “Dean’s Prize,” the highest honorary prize at the Yale School of Music, where he studied under the tutelage of renowned guitarist Benjamin Verdery. His guitar studies also include many Master Classes with such distinguished musicians as Leo Brouwer, John Williams, Manuel Barrueco, and David Russell, as well as private studies with Jose Luis Rodrigo in the Real Conservatorio Superior de Música de Madrid. Additionally, he studied early music on guitar, lute, and Baroque guitar with many well-known specialists, including Jaap Schroeder, Roselyn Tureck, Robert Spencer, and John Metz.

Gary Campbell

Program Coordinator & Professor of Jazz Studies, Saxophone

Tel: 305.348.1854

campbelg@fiu.edu

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Prior to earning a Masters of Music in Jazz Performance Degree at the University of Miami, Gary studied with David N. Baker and Jerry Coker, two pioneers of Jazz Education. He was active in the New York “Loft Scene” from the late sixties through the early eighties. He has decades of professional experience as a performer, composer, author, recording artist, and teacher in the USA and Europe. He has taught jazz saxophone and improvisation at the University of Miami (1982 – 1993), Florida International University (1993 – present), and the Aebersold Summer Jazz Workshops (1987 – present). From the late 60ʼs through the 70ʼs he was active in the innovative, energetic, and notorious loft scene – the testing ground for dozens of creative young jazz musicians. As a performing member of Free Life Communications, an organization of young jazz artists founded by David Liebman and Richie Beirach, Gary presented concerts of original music with John Abercrombie, Jan Hammer, Michael Moore, Bobby Moses, and many others. He appeared on records alongside Randy Brecker, John Abercrombie, Dan Wall, Adam Nussbaum, David Friesen, Ira Sullivan, and others. He has shared concert, festival and night club stages with (in addition to the above) John Scofield, Dave Liebman, Tom Harrell, Jaco Pastorius, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Andy Laverne, Red Rodney, James Moody, George Adams, Hank Crawford, Mose Allison, Conrad Herwig, Barry Ries, Miroslav Vitous, Franco Ambrosetti, Gerald Cleaver, Nasheet Waits, and more.

Gary has been awarded numerous National Endowment for the Arts performance grants and has published five highly acclaimed books on jazz improvisation – “Patterns for Jazz” (co-authored with Jerry Coker); “Expansions – a method for developing new material for improvisation”; “Hank Mobley Transcribed Solos”; “Connecting Jazz Theory”; and “Triad Pairs for Jazz”. These five books serve as texts for his classes at FIU and elsewhere, and have advanced his reputation as a teacher worldwide, resulting in many workshops and performances at universities in Ecuador, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Finland, Hungary, etc. Gary has been awarded three Fulbright Scholar Awards which have taken him to the Hochschule fur Musik Hans Eisler in Berlin; Liszt Academy in Budapest; and toVienna at the Konservatorium Wien. For the past four years Gary has been a member of the Miroslav Vitous Quartet, recording, and touring Europe, appearing as featured soloists on “Universal Syncopations 2”, and “Remembering Weather Report” both on the ECM label.

Jamie Ousley

Assistant Professor, Bass

Tel: 305.348.1605

jamie@jamieousley.com

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Jamie Ousley has been one of the most in-demand bassists in south Florida since he moved to Miami in the fall of 1998 to attend graduate school in the prestigious Jazz program of the University of Miami. He has since completed his Doctorate of Musical Arts in Jazz Bass Performance and continues to perform and teach both locally and internationally.

Jamie has released two CDs as leader: O Sorriso Dela (2008) and Back Home (2010). Both were recorded in Japan and Miami and feature primarily original compositions. Back Home reached #10 on the Jazz Roots national radio chart. Of Jamie’s original music, Chuck Vecoli of JazzReview writes, “The compositions are all deeply spiritual pieces. . .They approach timelessness.”

Jamie has performed with many artists including: Ira Sullivan, Benny Golson, George Shearing, James Moody, Eddie Higgins, Arturo Sandoval, Dave Liebman, John Fedchock, Maria Schneider, Vince Mendoza, Jim McNeeley, Nestor Torres, Bucky and John Pizzarelli, Carmen Lundy, Harry Allen, Bob Berg, Duffy Jackson, Steve Davis, Adam Nussbaum, Vic Damone, Nicole Henry, Annie Sellick, Suzanne Somers, Stephanie Nakasian, Hod O’Brien, Wycliffe Gordon, Johnny O’Neil, Jason Marsalis and Les DeMerle.

Jamie has had the pleasure of performing for many celebrities, dignitaries, and heads of state including: President Bill Clinton, Governor Jeb Bush, Prince Albert of Monaco, King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofia of Spain, King Kigeli V of Rwanda, Prince Ermias Sahle Selassie of Ethiopia, Janet Jackson, Shirley MacLaine, Gloria Estefan, Heidi Klum, and the Dalai Lama.

Jamie has performed at many international jazz festivals and locations including: the Ballydehob International Jazz Festival in Ireland, the Montego Bay Jazz Festival in Jamaica, Festival Mizik Jakmel in Haiti, Marian’s Jazz Room in Bern Switzerland, the Berlington Vermont Jazz Festival, “Jazz in June” in Lincoln Nebraska, Festival Miami, the International Association of Jazz Educators in New York and Los Angeles, and at “Azul” in Osaka, Japan.

Jamie has studied music in the studios of Patrick Simpson, Don Coffman, Lucas Drew, and Vince Maggio. He has degrees from the following universities:

B.A. Major in Music from Virginia Tech (1998)
M.M. in Jazz Bass Performance from the University of Miami (2000)
D.M.A. in Jazz Bass Performance from the University of Miami (2008)

James Hacker

Senior Instructor, Trumpet | Director of University Brass Choir & FIU Studio Jazz Big Band

Tel:305-348-2140

Email: hackerj@fiu.edu

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James Hacker has been a faculty member at the Herbert and Nicole Wertheim School of Music & Performing Arts since 1995 as the Trumpet Instructor, Conductor of the University Brass Choir and Director of Brass Chamber Music. In the fall of 2010, Mr. Hacker was appointed as the Director of the FIU Studio Jazz Big Band and also served as the Associate Director of Marketing for the School of Music from January 2011-May 2012.

In addition to his teaching responsibilities, Mr. Hacker currently holds trumpet positions with the Boca Symphonia and Atlantic Classical Orchestra and is a founding member of both the Miami Brass Consort and the Florida Trumpet Quartet. Since coming to Miami in 1986, he has been a regular performer and/or soloist with the Miami City Ballet, Florida Grand Opera, Florida Philharmonic, Naples Philharmonic, Seraphic Fire, Miami Chamber Symphony, Miami Symphony, Palm Beach Symphony, Orchestra Miami, Palm Beach Pops, Miami Bach Society and Palm Beach Opera as well as other orchestral and chamber ensembles throughout the South Florida area.

Mr. Hacker also performs regularly with many artists’ concert tours and Broadway shows throughout the state, and can be heard on numerous CDs, television and radio commercials as a studio musician. His talents and versatility have enabled him to travel throughout the U.S., Europe, and Asia and to perform and/or record with such noted artists as Frank Sinatra, Luciano Pavorati, Timbaland, Madonna, The Woody Herman Orchestra, Diddy, Prince, Busta Rhymes, Ricky Martin, Shakira, Ricardo Montaner, Doc Severinson, John Pizzarelli, Bucky Pizzarelli, Barry Manilow, James Brown, Aretha Franklin, The Bee Gees, Bruce Hornsby, The O’Jays, Kenny Rogers, Ray Charles, Anthony Newley, Shirley Bassey, Henry Mancini, Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme, Natalie Cole, James Galway, Jon Secada, The Temptations, Pat Metheny, Randy Brecker, Bernadette Peters, The Four Tops, Marvin Hamlisch, Englebert Humperdink, Gregory Hines, Chita Rivera, Pia Zadora, John Rutter, Toots Theilman, Rob McConnell, Tommy Tune, Bob Brookmeyer, Paul Anka, Lionel Hampton, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, Bob Mintzer, Peter Allen, Lucy Arnez, The Moody Blues, Gloria Estefan, Chayanne, Raul DiBlasio, Willie Chirino, Celia Cruz, Paquito D’Rivera, Peobo Brison, James Ingram, Roberta Flack, Sheila E., Sheena Easton, Liza Minelli, Vicki Carr, Lalo Schifrin, Quincy Jones, BeBe & CeCe Winans, Tito Puente, Ed Calle, The Jaco Pastorius Big Band, Luis Enrique, Pimpinela, Jon Faddis, Vic Damone, Regis Philbin, Michel Camilo, Ignacio Berroa, Arturo Sandoval, Nestor Torres, James Taylor, Barry White, Keely Smith, Jim McNeely, John Fedchock, Ira Sullivan, Maria Schneider, Jaci Valesquez, Deana Martin, Cleo Laine, John Dankworth, Maureen McGovern, Jack Jones, Lena Horne, Meatloaf, The Spinners, Frankie Avalon, Bobby Rydell, Fabian, Stephen Marley, El Puma, Inner Circle, KC and the Sunshine Band, Baha Men, Thalia, Cristian Castro, Andrea Bocelli, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Flo-Rida, Wyclef Jean, Joan Rivers, Debbie Boone, Patti Austin, Gladys Knight, Taylor Hicks, Perry Como, Little Richard, Juan Luis Guerra, Juanes, Frank Sinatra Jr. and Tommy Mottola among others.

Mr. Hacker received a Bachelor of Music Degree in Trumpet Performance from the University of Miami in 1989 and then continued his studies at UM by pursuing a Masters degree as the teaching assistant to Gilbert Johnson for two years. While in school, he was also the lead trumpet for five years with the University of Miami Concert Jazz Band, directed by Whit Sidener. Prior to joining the FIU faculty in 1995, he taught at Miami Dade College, Wolfson Campus for 5 years.

Michael Orta

Associate Professor, piano | Director of the FIU Latin Jazz Ensemble

Tel: 305.348.1414

Email: ortam@fiu.edu

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Michael was born in Reading, Pennsylvania. He began studying piano at the age of seven. His greatest jazz influences have been Keith Jarrett, Chick Corea, and Herbie Hancock.

Michael was given a full arts scholarship to study at Miami Dade Community College-South Campus (MDCC-S) from 1984-86. While at MDCC-S, Michael performed in the Jazz Ensemble, under the direction of John Georgini, and recorded on their album, “Top Secret.” In 1986, he performed with this ensemble at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland, and the North Sea Jazz Festival in Holland, as well as a 5-week tour of Africa with the MDCC-S Jazz Sextet. Michael graduated in 1986 with an Associate of Arts degree.

From there Michael went on to study, under full scholarship, at the University of Miami. While there, he studied with well-known jazz pianist and educator, Vince Maggio. Michael performed in UM’s prestigious Concert Jazz Band (CJB) under the direction of Whit Sidener. He played on the band’s CD entitled Pandamandium as well as performing on the CJB’s one month Italian Tour. Michael received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Jazz performance from UM in 1989 and his Master’s degree in 1992.

Michael has been very active on the jazz scene. He recorded two albums with his jazz/fusion group, “The Wave,” on the Atlantic Jazz record label. This outfit also displayed his compositional abilities.

In 1991, Michael toured as pianist for the Arturo Sandoval group as well as recording on Sandoval’s American debut album on GRP, “Flight To Freedom.” With this group Michael toured throughout the United States, Canada, Latin America, and Europe. In 1993, Michael was chosen as one of five finalist in the prestigious Great American Jazz Piano Competition. He was selected out of a field of one hundred entrants from around the world. In 1994, Michael spent the year touring and recording with the Paquito D’Rivera group. He played concerts and clubs in Trinidad, Curacao, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Paris, Germany, Switzerland, Poland, Romania, Greece, Holland, and Slovenia. Michael has performed and/or recorded with some of the major names in jazz: Randy Brecker, Dave Weckl, Eddie Daniels, James Moody, Ira Sullivan, Gary Campbell, Toots Thielmans, Ignacio Berroa, Rene Toledo, Bobby Thomas, Jr., Nestor Torres, Nicole Henry, Ed Calle, Larry Coryell, Sammy Figueroa, and the list goes on. In 2006 Michael received a Grammy nomination for his participation on the recording, “And Sammy Walks In,” with Sammy Figueroa and another one for “The Magician” in 2007.

Michael has also been an active clinician, sharing his musical knowledge and philosophies with music students in the U.S., Europe, Africa, and throughout South America.

Michael is an Associate Professor of Jazz Performance at Florida International University teaching jazz piano, jazz improvisation, and directing both jazz and latin jazz ensembles. Michael has released his debut album, FREEDOM TOWER on the Fantasy/Contemporary label. This CD features Paquito D’Rivera, Nicky Orta, Gary Campbell and others. His book, “Jazz Etudes for Piano” is available on Warner Brothers Publications. Michael is currently on tour with his group, the Araya-Orta Latin Jazz Quartet. They recently performed at the RiveraMaya Jazz Festival in Tulum, Mexico and at the National Theater in Costa Rica with guest artists Paquito D’Rivera and Diego Urcola. They are currently working on a DVD/CD of these performances.

Lisanne Lyons

Adjunct | Jazz Vocal Performance

lisanne.mcneil@fiu.edu

Lisanne Lyon’s career began immediately following high school as the featured vocalist for the Air Force Bands. During her years in the service she performed and traveled worldwide with the “Norad Command Band, ”Travis AF “Band of the Golden Gate,” and the U.S. Air Force Academy “Falconaires.” She received her Bachelor’s and Master’s of Music and Doctorate in Music from the University of Miami Frost School of Music. As a student, she received two Down Beat “Dee Bee” awards for Best Jazz Vocalist and one for Best Jazz Arrangement. She was also invited to be a featured performer with Joel Grey on the NBC televised Orange Bowl half-time show, “You’ll Get a Kick Out of Cole.” Shortly after school, Cy Coleman selected her to replace Monica Mancini in the national touring company of his Tony award winning “City of Angels.”

Dr. Lyons has performed with the Woody Herman Orchestra, Maynard Ferguson Big Bop Nouveau, Arturo Sandoval, Larry Elgart, University of Miami Concert Jazz Band, Roanoke Symphony, Palm Beach Pops, Las Olas Studio Orchestra, South Florida Jazz Orchestra, Sunrise Pops Orchestra, Sugar Pops Orchestra, Grand Rapids Symphony, Hallandale Pops Orchestra, Ars Flores Orchestra, Gene Krupa Orchestra with Michael Berkowitz, XL Big Band in Sweden, Harry James Orchestra, Artie Shaw Orchestra, and various bands across the country. She has also performed with many of the worlds top jazz artists such as Maria Schneider, Bobby McFerrin, Mark Murphy, Four Freshmen, Mose Allison, Jon Hendricks, Don Braden, Paul Bollenbach, Ted Rosenthal, Ira Sullivan, Duffy Jackson, Jim Pugh, Harold Jones, Dave Berkman, Eliane Elias, Claudia Acuna, Bucky Pizzerelli, Gary Burton, Dennis DiBlasio, John Fedchock, Walter White, Kevin Mahagony, and many others. Lisanne has recorded two solo CD’s, “Right as the Rain,” and “Smile,” with the John Toomey trio. “Smile” was met with critical praise including the Washington Post and Cadence magazine. She is in demand as a performer, adjudicator, arranger, and conductor.

In 2014, she joined the Herbert and Nicole Wertheim School of Music & Performing Arts as head of Jazz Vocal Studies and Director of the newly formed Jazz Vocal Ensemble. She made her successful debut at the Herbert and Nicole Wertheim Performing Arts Center on November 19, 2014.

Ruben Caban

Adjunct | Jazz Trombone

rcaban@fiu.edu

Ruben Caban began his career at an early age of 15 as a freelance trombonist in the central Florida area working for international salsa artists, local bands and other Orlando parks and attractions. He attended the University Of North Florida where he studied Jazz Trombone and Studio performance. Ruben obtained his Masters Degree in Jazz Performance at Florida International University and studied trombone and Jazz theory with Jazz greats such as Dante Luciani, John Fedchock, Andy Martin, Wycleff Gordon, Bob McChesney, Bunky Green, Bill Prince, Gary Campbell, Mike Orta, Nicky Orta and Brian Lynch.

In his performance career he has toured performed and/or recorded as a sideman with an array of internationally renowned artists such as Ed Calle, Nicole Henry, Dianne Shurr, Randy Brecker, Arturo Sandoval, Ira Sullivan, John Fedchock The Platters, The Stylistics, Nestor Torres, Ira Sulliva, The O’Jays, Cheo Feliciano, Giovanni Hidalgo, Oscar De Leon, Gilberto Santa Rosa, Victor Manuel, Michael Stuart, La India, South Florida Jazz Orchestra, Ed Calle’s 2015 Latin Grammy award winning Mamblue Orchestra, Les Demerle big band and many more.

As an international jazz educator he has tough jazz theory and Afro-Caribbean music clinics in Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Jamaica and Cuba. Currently he is teaching Jazz trombone, Jazz theory and Jazz & Popular music history at Florida International University, Broward College and Miami- Dade College.

Rodolfo Zuniga

Adjunct | Percussion

rzuniniga@fiu.edu

Rodolfo Zuniga was born in San Jose, Costa Rica. He started playing drums. At the age of 15 years old. He quickly started working professionally and earned a full scholarship to study jazz at Florida International University. He moved to Miami, in 1999 where had the opportunity to play and record with the school’s top ensembles. He traveled and played festivals with the FIU Big Band backing up guest artists as Kevin Mahogany, Arturo Sandoval, Nestor Torres, Paquito D, Rivera and Sam Rivers. He graduated with honors in the year 2003.

In 2004, he was awarded a teaching assistantship to pursue his Master’s Degree at Florida International University. He again graduated top in his class in the year 2005. Rodolfo currently is one of the most in demand jazz drummers and educators in Florida. He recorded on Grammy nominated album called “Journey to the Heiros Gamos” by the Darryl Tookes Band. He was awarded a residency as the leader of the Rodolfo Zuniga Quintet at Carnegie Hall in 2005, he toured as a member of the prestigious Betty Carter Jazz Ahead group of 2005, has has performed with artists such as Benny Golson, Dr.Billy Taylor, Robin Eubanks, John Fedchock, Shelly Berg, Jonathan Kreisberg, Fred Wesley, Slide Hampton, Othello Molineaux, Darryl Tookes, Ira Sullivan, Sammy Figueroa, Gary Campbell, Melton Mustafah, Silvano Monasterios, Allan Harris, Felipe Lamoglia, Arturo Sandoval and Martin Bejerano to name a few. He has done clinics and concerts at the University of Florida, University of Costa Rica, University of Minnesota, Northwestern University, New World School of the Arts, The Kennedy Center and University of Miami. Currently he is an adjunct professor teaching Jazz Percussion and Jazz History at Florida International University, Miami-Dade Community College, Broward College and New World School of the Arts.

Thomas Lippincott

Adjunct | Jazz Guitar

tomlippincott@bellsouth.net

Eight- and six-string guitarist and composer Tom Lippincott was born in New Jersey in 1966, and grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In Tulsa, he sought study with Randy Wimer before deciding to continue his studies in college. He received a bachelors degree in jazz studies from the University of North Texas, and a masters degree in jazz performance from the University of Miami. He has also studied with noted jazz guitarist and educator Mick Goodrick. Tom has performed throughout the world as a sideman, with his own groups, and as a solo performer. He currently leads the Tom Lippincott Trio and has performed extensively as a session player. His playing and/or compositions are featured on his 2000 CD Painting the Slow Train Brown, as well as with the group Active Ingredient’s 1990 CD, Extra Strength, and the Chassidic Jazz Project’s Live At the Broward Center for the Performing Arts, among others. Tom teaches private jazz guitar, jazz improvisation, and jazz guitar ensemble at Miami Dade College’s Kendall campus, as well as private jazz guitar and guitar ensemble at Florida International University.

Francisco Dimas

Adjunct | Trumpet

fdimas@fiu.edu

Francisco Dimas is an Adjunct Professor of Jazz Trumpet at Florida International University. He currently hold a M.M. in Jazz Pedagogy and B.M. in Studio Music and Jazz from the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music. Mr. Dimas is also on faculty at Miami Dade College and is currently a member of the South Florida Jazz Orchestra, Sammy Figueroa’s Latin Jazz Explosion, the 14 Jazz Orchestra, Kravis Pops, South Florida Symphony, and tours around the world with KC and the Sunshine Band. In addition to his very active freelance career, Francisco’s musical versatility lends itself to the recording studio, making him one of the most in-demand session players in South Florida. In addition to recording for many local bands and projects, Cisco has recorded with such artists as Natalie Cole, Gloria Estefan, Juanes, Charles Calello, Deanna Martin, Joseph Leo Bwarie and Ed Calle.

Since moving to Miami in 2004 from his native town of Albuquerque, New Mexico, Cisco has managed to not only perform with many different bands of all styles of music from jazz to latin to hip- hop, but has toured with many world famous artists, from Linda Ronstadts’ entire 2005-2007 Hummin’ to Myself tour, to numerous performances across the globe with artists such as Basement Jaxx, Jon Secada, Gloria Estefan and the Miami Sound Machine, Gino Vannelli, and Sammy Figueroa’s Latin Jazz Explosion.

Joanne Schulte

Adjunct | Organ

jschulte@fiu.edu

Joanne Norman Schulte, a native Miamian, holds Bachelor and Master of Music degrees in organ performance from Indiana University. She has played recitals throughout the United States and Europe and has performed with the New World Symphony, the Florida Philharmonic, the FIU Symphony, and the Pro Musica Society on National Public Radio and Television. In addition, Schulte adjudicates competitions and serves as a teacher/performer for Pipe Organ Encounters. She is a member of the National AGO Committee on the New Organist.

Jose Raul Lopez

Associate Professor & Coordinator of Keyboard Studies

Tel: 305-535-3697

Email: lopezjr@fiu.ed

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José R. López is Associate Professor and Coordinator of the Keyboard Studies Program at Florida International University in Miami and the President of the South Florida Chapter of the American Liszt Society, inaugurated in 2010 at FIU. He has performed throughout the United States, Italy and Central and South America with orchestras, in solo recitals, and with chamber groups in summer festivals such as the Music Festival of the Hamptons in New York and the Killington Music Festival in Vermont. Active throughout South Florida, he has been a featured performer in the Florida International University’s Music Festival; ISCM New Music Miami Festival, the Palm Beach Chamber Music Festival, Coral Gables’ Mainly Mozart Series, University of Miami’s Miami Festival, and as founder and co-director of the Deering Estate at Cutler’s “Chamber Concert Series,” entering its 10^th year.

Lopez’s recently released solo CD’s on the Toccata Classics label are currently receiving positive and exciting reviews from major publications throughout the world. Vol. I of Alkan’s complete piano transcriptions of selected Mozart works elicited praise from critic Paul Driver of the Sunday Times (London), who wrote:

“Alkan’s complete piano transcriptions of Mozart’s music make a sequence both diverting and profound. Lopez, who in the booklet explains Alkan’s treatment of the D minor Piano Concerto, K466, in extraordinary detail, plays captivatingly. One doesn’t miss the orchestra at all.”

López’s recording of the complete solo piano music by Riccardo Malipiero, released in the summer of 2012, has also received favorable reviews by critic Tim Smith in The Baltimore Sun, in Music Web International and in Fanfare magazine.   His upcoming world premiere CD release on Toccata Classics features solo piano works by 19^th-century Cuban-born composer José Comellas (1842-1888).

A versatile pianist and enthusiastic performer of chamber music, López’s interest in contemporary music has resulted in frequent world premieres and collaborations with composers, along with the keen pursuit in resurrecting rarely heard works by Romantic and Classical composers. López received his MM and DMA degrees from the University of Miami School of Music, where he studied with Dr. Rosalina Sackstein, a former pupil of Claudio Arrau and Rafael de Silva. He has recorded for SNE, Albany, Innova and Toccata Classics record labels.

Kemal Gekic

Artist-in Residence & Professor of Piano

Tel: 305-348-6220

Email: Kemal.Gekic@fiu.edu

Flamboyant, daring, provocative, exciting, seductive and sensitive are some of the words used to describe one of today’s most formidable pianists, Kemal Gekic, whose playing has been acclaimed worldwide by public and critics alike. Born in Split, Croatia in 1962, Gekic amazed his family by accurately picking out melodies at the piano at age one and a half. The young prodigy received all his early musical training from his aunt, Lorenza Batturina. In 1978 he entered the class pf Prof. Jokuthon Mihailovich (a graduate of Moscow Conservatory) at the Art Academy of Novi Sad, Yugoslavia. He graduated in 1982 with the highest mark ever granted a diploma exam recital, and was immediately given a faculty appointment by the piano department which he eventually directed until 1999. During his school years he won prizes at the Franz Liszt Competition in Parma (1981), the Viana da Motta in Lisbon (1983) and the Yugoslav Artists’ Competition in Zagreb (1984).

He earned his Master’s degree in 1985, the same year he created a sensation at the Chopin Competition in Warsaw. Although panned by the jury he won the hearts of audience and critics alike, and began receiving many invitations to perform abroad, including several from the Chopin Society of Hannover, Germany which had awarded him a special prize for best sonata performance at the competition. A recording of his Warsaw performances sold 60,000 copies in Germany by the end of the year, and the Victor Entertainment Corporation, Japan (JVC) sold 80,000 copies of a CD version in their home country. The Warsaw Philharmonic invited Gekic to perform the E minor Chopin Piano Concerto in Philharmonic Hall in their regular series that season. In the same hall, with the same orchestra as he would have done in the competition finals, Gekic wowed the Warsaw once more, and for an encore gave Chopin’s Third Sonata in B minor in its entirety! In the years following the 1985 Chopin Competition, in addition to extensive concert activity in Germany, Denmark, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Spain, France, Italy, Canada and of course Yugoslavia, he completed tours of the USSR and Japan-Southeast Rim. Programs of his life and his performances were broadcast by RAI Italy, TV Portugal, TV Yugoslavia, NHK Japan, POLTEL Poland, RTV Lower Saxony West Germany, RTV USSR, Intervision, CBC and PBS.

In 1999 he was invited to perform at the Miami International Piano Festival. Minutes before he was to walk on stage, a chance glance at a television showed houses burning in his home town of Novi Sad. It was March 24th: the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia had begun. Instead of cancelling, he went out on stage and played what many consider to be the best recital he ever gave, one that launched his current reemergence as one of the major pianists of our century.

Kamilla Szklarska, D.M.A.

Adjunct & Accompanying Coordinator

kszklars@fiu.edu

Dr. Szklarska earned her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Piano Accompanying and Chamber Music from the University of Miami, where she studied with Dr. Paul Posnak and Dr. J. B. Floyd. She wrote her doctoral dissertation on chamber works of the Polish composer, Henryk Mikołaj Górecki.

A native of Poland, Dr. Szklarska received her piano diploma in the area of Piano Performance and Pedagogy from the prestigious Frederic Chopin Conservatory of Music in Warsaw, Poland. Her pianistic profile was influenced by the outstanding Polish pedagogue and concert pianist Halina Czerny-Stefańska. In 1990, she received a music scholarship from the Polish-American Kościuszko Foundation in New York City to study in the United States. She studied piano with well-known concert pianist Jerome Rose at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. She holds her Master of Music Degree in Piano Accompanying and Literature from the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. Dr. Szklarska served as a faculty member at Broward Community College in Davie.

Szklarska is also an accomplished organist. Her interest in organ began at Bowling Green State University at studio of Dr. Vernon Volcott. She continued studies at University of Notre Dame with Dr. Craig Cramer and she completed her interest with the organ performance degree at Florida International University. She subsequently worked under guidance of international artists as Olivier Latry, Jean-Baptiste Robin and Jon Laukvik.

A versatile keyboard artist, Dr. Szklarska performs as a pianist, accompanist and organ soloist. Her broad repertoire of solo and chamber works have included works of Polish composers as F. Chopin, K. Szymanowski, and J. I . Paderewski as well contemporary composers H. M. Gorecki, G. Bacewicz and W .Lutoslawski. In addition to her solo piano recitals in Poland, Germany and the United States, Dr. Szklarska accompanied world-known operatic singers such as Teresa Żylis-Gara, Maria Knapik and Wojciech Bukalski. As an organ soloist, Dr. Szklarska won an award from the University of Texas and Bedient Organ Company to perform on historic organs in Poitiers (François-Henry Clicquot organ) and Chaumont (Cavaillé-Coll organ), France in 2005. She also performed on historic Bach’s organs in Leipzig, Naumburg and Altenburg in Germany. She played solo recitals in Buenos Aires, Argentina (Cavaillé-Coll organ); Warsaw, Poland and in summer concert series in Asker, Norway. She recently was featured organist for the C. Saint-Saens Organ Symphony at Florida International University, School of Music on the 74-rank Schantz pipe organ.

Szklarska has served as a panelist for the National Foundation of the Arts and the Chopin Foundation of the United States in Miami.

Karen Fuller

Program Coordinator of Music Business

Tel: 305-348-3726

Email: fullerk@fiu.edu

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Karen Fuller is an accomplished educator, concert producer, arts administrator and artist manager. Prior to her current position as coordinator of the Music Business Program in the School of Music, she worked for Pace Theatrical Group/National Broadway Touring Circuit and the Broward Center for the Performing Arts producing touring shows and educational outreach productions. Most recently, she was the Associate Dean of Advancement for the FIU’s College of Architecture + The Arts. Professor Fuller has presented papers in major national and international conferences such as the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic, the International Association for Jazz Educators, and the International Conference on Arts and Humanities. She has published papers and remains an active producer and arts manager.

She is currently a member of the Association of Arts Administration Educators, Association of Performing Arts Presenters, and Chamber Music America, as well as many others. She has been awarded numerous grants for producing concerts, events and festivals. Fuller is an accomplished flamenco dancer and has studied flamenco under famed artists, Rosa Mercedes, Beatriz Gonzalez, and classical training in the studio of Martha Mahr. She has toured with Pedrito Rico, Los Chavalles de Espana and Rosita Segovia throughout Europe and the United States to the rave reviews of the press. Her performance was chosen by The Miami Herald as “The Best Classical Imaginative Work and Performance of the Year (2002). The distinctive character of her performance was called “…an energetic and rhythmically exacting dancer.” The Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel ; “…[Fuller] had the proud spine and machine-gun rapidity in heel stomping to stir excitement.” The Miami Herald.

Candice Davenport

Assistant Professor & Coordinator of Music Education

Tel: 305-348-0353

Email: cdavenpo@fiu.edu

Location: WPAC 145C

Candice Davenport joined the faculty of FIU in the fall of 2016. Her research interests include musical creativity, technology integration, blended and online teaching and learning, social issues and psychology, and interdisciplinary and project-based learning in music education. She has presented her work at regional, national, and international conferences including the Florida Music Educator’s Annual Conference, NAfME’s Music Research and Teacher Education National Conference, the Symposium for Music Teacher Education, the International Society for Music Education World Conference, and the International Association for K-12 Blended and Online Learning Symposium. Candice is also published in the Florida Music Director.

Prior to joining FIU, Candice completed her Ph.D. in music education at the University of Miami, where she taught seminars for student teachers and instrumental methods courses, and mentored pre-service teachers in the MusicReach elementary school outreach program. In addition, she holds degrees from Northwestern University (M.M.) and the University of South Alabama (B.M.). Candice also received certification from the Technology Institute for Music Educators and the Smithsonian Folkways World Music Pedagogy.

Before pursuing her doctoral studies, Candice was Chair of Fine Arts and taught secondary general music, electronic music and studio production, and contemporary instrumental and vocal ensembles in Chicago Public Schools and after-school programs in the Chicago area. She was also the co-recipient of the 2012 Next Generation Learning Challenges Grant, sponsored by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Her earlier teaching positions include high school band and WGI indoor percussion ensembles throughout the Gulf Coast area.

Bruce Carter, Ph.D.

Research Associate

Bruce Carter is a music educator and researcher, whose work focuses on issues of creativity and the intersections of social justice and arts participation. Recently, research has been published in the Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, Journal of Research in Music Education, Music Educators Journal, in addition to numerous invited chapters by Oxford Press. This year, the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, School of Education designated the Bruce Carter Qualitative Research Center as a place for graduate students to pursue meaningful qualitative research agendas. Carter received a BM from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, an MM from the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University, and a PhD in music education from Northwestern University.

David Dolata

Professor of Musicology | Program Coordinator of Music History Studies

Director of Collegium Musicum

Tel:305-348-2076

Email: dolatad@fiu.edu

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The Bulletin de la Société Française de Luth has referred to FIU Associate Professor of Musicology David Dolata as a “gentleman de la Renaissance” for his activities as a scholar and performer. Dr. Dolata’s research on Italian theorbo virtuoso Bellerofonte Castaldi appears in Recent Researches in the Music of the Baroque Era, the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Early Music, FOHMRI Quarterly, and Acta Musiologica, the Journal of the International Musicogical Society.

He has also published several articles on historical tunings and temperaments, all of which culminate in A Practical Guide to Historical Tuning Systems on Fretted Instruments forthcoming from Indiana University Press. His work includes several book and recording reviews for Notes and Early Music America. Dr. Dolata has presented papers at such venues as Boston University’s Editorial Institute, the Medieval/Renaissance Conference 2005 in Tours, France and the “Cui dono lepidum novum libellum? Dedicating Latin Works and Motets in the Sixteenth Century: Theory and Practice” conference in Rome, Italy. He also serves on the editorial staff of Le Corpus des Luthistes at the Centre d’Etudes Supérieures de la Renaissance in Tours, France.As a lutenist David Dolata has appeared at such venues as the Glimmerglass Opera in New York, the Florida Grand Opera in Miami, the Boston Early Music Festival, Spoleto Festival’s Early Music Series, and on broadcasts and recordings for NPR, BBC, CBS Sunday Morning, and Ars Femina. With his group Il Furioso, which he co-directs with Victor Coelho, he has recorded Kapsberger’s 1623 Book of Arias and Battaglia d’amore: the Music of Bellerofonte Castaldi on the English label Toccata Classics. Other recordings include Praetorius’ “Christmas Vespers” with Apollo’s Fire, the Cleveland Baroque Orchestra for Koch International and Cavalli’s La Calisto for BBC Music (Vol 5, No 3). For reviews and samples of these publications and recordings, see his web page at http://www.fiu.edu/~dolatad/ .Dr. Dolata also serves on the faculty of Boston University’s Center for Early Music Studies.A native of Buffalo, New York, Dr. Dolata earned his Ph.D. in Musicology with a concentration in Historical Performance Practice from Case Western Reserve University where he studied musicology and performance practice with John Suess and Ross Duffin and lute with Paul O’Dette. His undergraduate and masters degrees in Classical Guitar Performance were with Clare Callahan at the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati. He also earned a B.A. in Social Sciences from Niagara University.Dr. Dolata has served as Director of the Herbert and Nicole Wertheim School of Music & Performing Arts and on the Faculty Senate Steering Committee.

He is currently chair of the school’s Tenure and Promotion and Faculty Evaluation and Merit Committees. Through the Office of Global Learning Initiatives he co-created one of FIU’s foundational global learning courses, IDS 3336 Artistic Expression in a Global Society. At the School of Music Dr. Dolata coordinates the Music History area and directs the School of Music’s early music ensemble, the Collegium Musicum. He has raised over $75,000 for the Collegium’s extensive instrument collection, which includes a Flemish harpsichord, a chamber continuo organ, an archlute, a Renaissance lute, a full set of baroque bows, a dozen recorders and fifteen viols and bows. Dr. Dolata’s courses include MUH 3211–13 Music History Survey I–III, MUH 4341 Music of the Baroque Period, MUH 4680 Music History Seminar, MUH 5219 Graduate Music History Survey, MUH 5345 Musical Style and Practice in the Baroque Era, MUH 5219 Graduate Music History Review, and MUH 6937 Special Topics in Music History.

Luis Gomez-Imbert

Adjunct | Music Appreciation & Double bass

Email: lgomez@fiu.edu

Luis Gomez-Imbert, affecionately known by his students as “G-Man,”joined the faculty of Florida International University in the fall of 1994 as Professor of double bass and Director of the FIU New Music Ensemble. Raised in the rich Venezuelan musical tradition, Luis has been surrounded by countless influences on his development as a performer and teacher. His love for the double bass began when Mr. Gomez-Imbert decided to study with artists such as Jeff Bradetich, Gary Karr, Bertram Turetzky, Frantisek Posta, David Walter, and Edgar Meyer.

Mr. Gomez-Imbert was featured alongside Gary Karr on ABC Good Morning America broadcast in the summer of 1988. Soon after, he began to showcase his instrument and new repertoire in venues across Europe and the Americas. He has recorded for the Lyric and OO labels. One of these recordings was awarded the 1992 new recording of the year by the Contemporary Record Society, by a panel which included George Crumb, Milton Babbitt, and Yo-Yo Ma.

Mr. Gomez-Imbert has also studied the orchestral literature with Warren Benfield and Joseph Guastafeste of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra; Edwin Barker of the Boston Symphony Orchestra; and Harold Robinson of the Philadelphia Orchestra. Additionally, with Lucas Drew, principal bass of the former Florida Philharmonic, Mr. Gomez-Imbert premiered a concerto for two double basses in Venezuela and at the double bass world convention held at Indiana University in 1994.

A Summa Cum Laude graduate of Northwestern University in 1988, Luis Gomez-Imbert performs regularly as a member of several professional musical organizations in the South Florida area and is also active in chamber music. Currently, he is the principal bass of the Atlantic Classical Orchestra.

Federico Bonacossa, D.M.A.

Instructor | Music History and Music Theory

Email: fbonacos@fiu.edu

Location: WPAC 161C

Federico Bonacossa spent his early years playing electric guitar and skateboarding before suddenly falling in love with classical music after listening to some old tapes of Bach’s Brandenburg concertos and Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition. He studied classical guitar at the Conservatorio Statale G. P. da Palestrina in Italy before moving to the U.S. in 2001. He holds a master’s degree for the Peabody Conservatory and a doctorate from the University of Miami in classical guitar performance and music theory.  He also holds a master’s degree in music composition from Florida International University where he studied composition and electronic music.

His recent work as a composer explores various forms of interaction between live performers and the computer, the relationship between pitch and rhythm, and the transcription of spontaneous vocal gestures with the aid of the computer. In addition, he has a strong interest is computer assisted and algorithmic composition.

As a performer he is involved in promoting new music for guitar, especially works that feature electronics and is also a member of the Miami Guitar Trio.

Recent experiences include performances at the Subtropics Festival, Mainly Mozart Festival, New Music Miami Festival, Compositum Musicae Novae, USF New Music Festival, Electronic Music Midwest Festival in Kansas City, Contemplum symposium in Philadelphia, Kendall Sound Arts, 12 Nights Electro-acoustic Series, the Miami World Music Festival, the Miami Dade College On Stage Series, the Miami International Guitar Festival, Guitar Sarasota, the Miami Bach Society, the State College of Florida, the Bass Museum of Art, the Scuola Civica di Musica in Olbia, Italy, the Sephardic Jewish Synagogue in Lima, Peru, and a live concert for WLRN.  He is the company composer for Dance NOW Miami.

In addition to FIU he has taught at the University of Miami, Miami Dade College, Barry University, and the Art Institute.

Visit www.federicobonacossa.com for more info.

Robert “Be-Bop” Grabowski

Adjunct | Music History & Jazz

Email: Robert.Grabowski@fiu.edu
Robert “Be-Bob” Grabowski, bassist, composer, and educator, and jazz radio personality is a resident of Miami, Florida, and has been an Adjunct Professor in Jazz Studies at Florida International University for the last twenty one years. Active as a bassist in the Miami jazz scene, he has also produced major concerts and festivals for both academic and public venues.He has composed a large amount of music, resulting in his first solo efforts, The Bob Grabowski Group, Gecko Island, Darwin’s Dance, Midnight Samba, and Deepest Blue as well as playing on many other’s recordings. A sixth cd of his work is underway and as part of the Absinthe Trio, released the Absinthe Trio “Live” cd this in January 2006. He is currently finishing the Fifth Edition of his textbook, The Evolution Of Jazz. He is in his third season as the Jazz Educator is residence at the Larry Rosen Jazz Roots Concert Series at the Arsht Center. He is also an avid diver and underwater art photographer and will be opening his new gallery space in Miami in February 2011.

Marcia Littley

 Area Coordinator of the Strings Program, Violin

Email: marcialittley@gmail.com

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Marcia Littley, violinist and founding member of the Amernet String Quartet, received her Bachelor of Music Degree from the Juilliard School as a student of Naoko Tanaka and Dorothy DeLay. As a member of the Amernet String Quartet, she was the winner of the First Prize in the Fifth Banff International String Quartet Competition; First Prize in the 1992 Tokyo International Music Competition, with the Special Asahi Award; Grand Prize winner of the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition; and First Prize winner of the Yellow Springs National Chamber Music Competition. She holds the Artist Diploma from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. Ms. Littley’s other teachers have included James Ceasar, Jerrie Lucktenberg and Sally O’Reilly. She has appeared as soloist with orchestras in the United States and in Mexico, and has participated in music festivals including Aspen, Ravinia, Interlochen, Tanglewood, and the Isaac Stern Chamber Music Workshop at Carnegie Hall.

From 1996 to 2000, Ms. Littley taught chamber music at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and from 2000-2004 she was Artist–in-Residence at Northern Kentucky University. Currently, she teaches violin and chamber music at Florida international University and has recently announced her retirement from the Amernet String Quartet.

Errol Rackipov

Adjunct | Music History

Email: Errol.Rackipov@fiu.edu

Jazz vibraphonist, marimbist, and composer Errol Rackipov holds a Bachelor’s degree from Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA and a Master’s degree from the University of Miami. Along with his band “Dream Hunter” Errol Rackipov has performed with Terence Blanchard, Bob Moses, Othello Molinaux, Herb Pomeroy and Kenny Werner. He has recorded with Mike Orta in “Tower of Freedom” (with Paquito De Rivera and Gary Campbell) and Juan Pablo Torres in “Pepper Trombone” (with Paquito D’Rivera and Arturo Sandoval). In 1996 his tune “Pictures from a train window” from the same title album won the “Jazziz” magazine “Percussionist on fire” competition. Errol Rackipov’s numerous pieces, arrangements and transcriptions are published by Rolly Publications, Inc. Currently Errol Rackipov teaches Jazz Vibraphone and Mallet instruments at University of Miami and Jazz Improvisation courses at Florida International University.

Armando Tranquilino

Adjunct | Music History

Email: tranquil@fiu.edu

Armando Tranquilino is a composer, conductor and pianist whose compositions include chamber, orchestral, electro-acoustic, and film music. Born in Havana, Cuba, he immigrated to the United States with his parents at the age of 7 and began his musical studies at the age of 9 in Miami, Florida, where he studied piano with Arminda Schutte, a protégé of the virtuoso Russian pianist Joseph Lhevinne. He subsequently studied composition and electronic music at Indiana University with Earle Brown and Claude Baker and earned his M.M. and D.M. (1997) from that institution.

Since 2004, Dr.Tranquilino has been a faculty member at Florida International University, where he created and developed the course “The History of The Beatles,” making F.I.U. the first Florida University to include the class in its curriculum. The following year he was voted “Best Professor to Jam With” in the annual ‘Best of Miami’ edition of the 2007 Miami New Times for his lectures on The Beatles, sponsored and presented by Culture in the City. At FIU he has also collaborated with the Theatre Department as musical director of The Who’s “Tommy” (2008) and as composer of the theatrical production of “The Birds” (2009).

As a composer, Tranquilino has received a number of professional honors and has been involved in various collaborations and interdisciplinary projects, including 1st Prize in the 16th International Electroacoustic Music Competition of Bourges, France with the composition Tragoidia/Komoidia, a Cintas Fellowship in Music Composition, a Florida Individual Artist Fellowship, a commission by the Fronhof Gallery in Leutesdorf, Germany for Intervallic Absence: a multi-media work done in collaboration with artist Merja Herzog-Hellsten, as well as guest composer at various festivals throughout Europe and the United States. Since 2008 he has been the musical director of F.I.U.’s Classically Cuban Concerts. These concerts, done in collaboration with independent scholar Emilio Cueto, have been presented at F.I.U.’s Wertheim Performing Arts Center, the San Carlos Institute of Key West., Florida, and Merkin Hall in New York City; the latter was sponsored by the New York Historical Society and the Cuban Cultural Center of New York. Tranquilino’s music is available through Cultures Electroniques/Harmonia Mundi.

Manuel Prestamo, Ph.D.

Adjunct | Music Appreciation

Email: mprestamo@pmiarts.com

Internationally recognized as a senior management executive, Manuel Prestamo was educated in the United States, Latin America, and Europe. He earned a Ph.D. and an M.A. from New York University, an undergraduate degree from Case Western Reserve University and the Cleveland Institute of Music, and postdoctoral studies in Administrative Leadership at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Manuel Prestamo is currently the President of Performance Management International, LLC (PMI), specializing in management services to the performing arts and higher education. He has served on the boards of numerous organizations as well as several state, regional and national advisory panels of the Council for International Exchange of Scholars, Oklahoma Youth Orchestras, Respect Diversity Foundation, Arts Midwest National Conference, Oklahoma Governor’s International Team, Association of Performing Arts Presenters, Oklahoma Israel Exchange, and the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs.

He was a Fulbright Scholar to Ecuador and Uruguay and served as the President of the Central Oklahoma Fulbright Association; board member of the American Council on International Intercultural Education (ACIIE) and Chair of national conferences in Seattle (2002), Dallas (2003), and Boston (2005); and board member of the College Music Society – South Central Chapter, Oklahoma International Congress, and the Oklahoma Sister Cities Council. He was Chair of the Block Booking Committee of the Da Vinci Institute of the Kirkpatrick Foundation, Vice President for Sister Cities International of Oklahoma City, and President of the Oklahoma Association of Community College Instructional Administrators, Oklahoma Global Education Consortium, and the Oklahoma Association of Community Colleges.

He has been the Dean of Global Education and Cultural Programs and Dean of Arts and Humanities at Oklahoma City Community College, Dean of the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music, and a faculty member at Marquette University, Milwaukee Area Technical College, Kent State University, the College of Wooster, Tulsa Community College, and currently at Florida International University.

He served on grant panels for government agencies and evaluated national and international proposals related to international trade and economic development for the United States Information Agency. He was the keynote speaker for organizations such as the International Consortium for Education and Economic Development (ICEED), and guest speaker for national meetings of the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD), National Online Meeting (NOM), American Council on International Intercultural Education (ACIIE), American Symphony Orchestra League, Conductors Guild, APAP, Congress of the Americas, League for Innovation, American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), Association of Performing Arts Presenters (APAP), Performing Arts Exchange (PAE), Arts Midwest Conference, and others. In 2004 he was one of 65 leaders in higher education and the arts invited by APAP to serve in the American Assembly at Columbia University and develop a vision statement for the arts in America.

In 1998, he created the Oklahoma Film Institute at Oklahoma City Community College, in collaboration with the Lt. Governor’s Office, Oklahoma Film Commission, and Oklahoma Tourism Commission. Over the years, he served as Executive Director of Arts Festival Oklahoma, the Cultural Awareness Series, and the OK MOZART International Festival.

Internationally, he has served as an American Cultural Specialist and consultant for the U.S. State Department on nine educational and cultural missions; he has been a consultant to the National University of Argentina, National University of Chile, and the University of La Serena; served as an APAP representatives to Mexico: Gateway to the Americas; and has been honored by grants from the Institute of International Education, People-to-People, and the National Endowment for the Arts. His services and expertise as an administrator and educator have been utilized by organizations for some 40 years in the United States, Austria, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Chile, Columbia, Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, Uruguay, Argentina, and the Far East.

Jacob Sudol, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Music Technology & Area Coordinator | Director of FLEA Ensemble

Tel: 305.348.1009

Email: jacob.sudol@fiu.edu

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Jacob David Sudol writes intimate compositions that explore enigmatic phenomena and the inner nature of how we perceive sound. He currently is an Assistant Professor of Music Technology and Composition and the Coordinator of Music Technology area at Florida International University in Miami, Florida. He was awarded a Fulbright Scholar grant for Taiwan for the Academic 2015-16 Year. He holds a Ph.D. in composition from the University of California, San Diego where his mentor was the Grawemeyer Prize-winning composer Chinary Ung.

Jacob Sudol has been commissioned and/or performed by many prestigious ensembles and performers such as the Nouvel Ensemble Moderne, Chai Found New Music Workshop, Jennifer Choi, Mari Kimura, Contemporary Keyboard Society, Little Giant Chinese Orchestra, the McGill Contemporary Music Ensemble in collaboration with the McGill Digital Composition Studio, FIU Laptop and Electronic Arts (FLEA) Ensemble, pianist Xenia Pestova, cellist Jason Calloway, percussionist Nathan Davis, flutist Carla Rees, the rarescale duo, flutist Solomiya Moroz, pianist and composer Chen-Hui Jen, pianist and composer Keith Kirchoff, clarinetist Krista Martynes, guzheng-performer Yi-Chieh Lai, percussionist Fernando Rocha, percussionist Luis Tabuenca, and pianist William Fried. These works have received numerous domestic and international performances. Jacob Sudol also frequently performs his own works for instruments and electronics in diverse settings such as the Music at the Anthology Festival, Issue Project Room, SEAMUS Conference, Rice University, Domaine Forget Festival of New Music, Taiwan National Recital Hall, INTER/actions Symposium on Interactive Music, International Computer Music Conference, Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Concert Hall in Leipzig Germany, Studio for Electro-Instrumental Music in Amsterdam, International Society of Contemporary Music New Music Miami Festival, FIU Electro-Acoustic Student Festival, Miami Beach Urban Studios, Atlantic Center for the Arts, Art Basel Miami, Cluster Festival of New Music, The Spectrum in New York City, Bowling Green University, The Center for New Music in San Francisco, McGill University, Wesleyan University, the California Institute of the Arts, Art Basel Miami, Florida International University, Bangor University, Mills University, Taiwan National Chiao Tung University, the University of California at San Diego, and the wulf in Los Angeles

In 2012, Sudol founded a cello/electro-acoustic duo with FIU colleague and cellist Jason Calloway and, since 2010, he has been in a piano/electro-acoustic duo with his wife Chen-Hui Jen. At FIU, he has directed FLEA (the FIU Laptop and Electro-Acoustic ensemble) since 2011. He has also collaborated on interdisciplinary projects with visual artist Jacek Kolasinski and architect Eric Goldemberg. As a recording engineer and producer Sudol has worked on compact discs that have been or will be released by Mode, Bridge, and Albany Records.

Jacob Sudol takes an interest in religious phenomenology, literature, acoustics, psychoacoustics, visual art, cinema, and world folk music. He always attempts to bring insights from these other fields into his work.

Juraj Kojs, Ph.D.

Adjunct | Music Technology

Email: jkojs@fiu.edu

Juraj Kojs is a Slovakian composer, performer, multimedia artist, producer, researcher and educator permanently residing in the US. Kojs’ works are continuously featured at festivals and conferences in Europe, Asia and the Americas. Players who performed Kojs’ music include Tomoko Mukaiyama, Blair McMillen, Margaret Lancaster, Madeleine Shapiro, Laura Wilcox, Michael Straus, Susan Fancher, Eugen Prochac, Canticum Ostrava, Atticus Brass Quintet, IKTUS Percussion Quartet, The Quiet Music Ensemble, Ensemble s21, Cassatt String Quartet, the Now Ensemble, Yale Gamelan Suprabanggo and the Deering Estate Chamber Ensemble.

His compositions received awards at Europe—A Sound Panorama, Eastman Electroacoustic Composition and Performance Competition and the Digital Art Award. Kojs’ muscle-powered multimedia Neraissance—described as “striking and unforgettable,” received the Best Art Performance 2010 Award from Miami New Times. “If energy could be seen and heard, it would look and sound like those 20 minutes…” wrote Miami New Times Blog. MiamiArtzine called his 2014 work Signals “enthralling and immersive.” Kojs has received commissions from The Quiet Music Ensemble, Miami Light Project, Meet the Composer, Harvestworks, the Deering Estate Chamber Ensemble and Miami Theater Center. He is the composer-in-residence at the Deering Estate, Miami, FL.

Kojs’ research articles appeared in journals such as Organized Sound, Digital Creativity, Leonardo Music Journal, Journal of New Music Research and International Journal of Art and Technology. He was the Music Program Chair for the 9th Sound and Music Computing Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark (July 2012).

Kojs is the director of Foundation for Music Technologies (FETA) in Miami, FL. He holds a Ph.D. in Composition and Computer Technologies from University of Virginia. Kojs taught at Medialogy Department Aalborg University (Copenhagen, Denmark), Yale University, University of Virginia and Miami International University. Kojs is an Assistant Professor of Professional Practice in the Department of Music Theory and Composition at University of Miami’s Frost School of Music.

Joel Galand, Ph.D

Associate Professor

Tel: 305-348-7078

Email: galandj@fiu.edu

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After violin studies with Kenneth Sarch, Sarah Scriven, and Roman Totenberg, Joel Galand matriculated at Yale University, where he earned the B.A., M. Phil., and Ph.D. degrees. He is Associate Professor of Music Theory, Graduate Program Director, and Assistant Chair for Academic Affairs in the School of Music at Florida International University.

He has taught previously at Yale, Notre Dame, the University of Rochester. Department of Music, and the Eastman School of Music. He is a past editor of The Journal of Music Theory and a past recipient of the Society for Music Theory’s Young Scholar Award. He currently serves on the Editorial Board of the Kurt Weill Edition.

His articles and book chapters have appeared in Music Theory Spectrum, The Journal of Music Theory, Intégral, Current Musicology, Notes, Schenker Studies III (Hildesheim: Georg Olms, 2006), and The Kurt Weill Newsletter. His research interests include Schenkerian theory, eighteenth-centurytheory and aesthetics, theories of musical form, and, more recently, the music of Kurt Weill. Galand’s critical edition of Kurt Weill and Ira Gershwin’s previously unpublished operetta, The Firebrand of Florence, has appeared as part of the new Weill Edition. The edition has been recorded by Sir Andrew Davis and the BBC Orchestra (Capriccio 60-091) and has been performed in London, Vienna, Dessau, and New York––the first performances since 1945. He is a recipient of several awards and fellowships, including, most recently, a National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Stipend for a book-in-progress on Weill’s American stage works for Yale University Press’s Broadway Masters series.

He is happily married to pianist Jennifer Renée Snyder.

Federico Bonacossa, D.M.A.

Instructor | Music History and Music Theory

Email: fbonacos@fiu.edu

Location: WPAC 161C

Federico Bonacossa spent his early years playing electric guitar and skateboarding before suddenly falling in love with classical music after listening to some old tapes of Bach’s Brandenburg concertos and Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition. He studied classical guitar at the Conservatorio Statale G. P. da Palestrina in Italy before moving to the U.S. in 2001. He holds a master’s degree for the Peabody Conservatory and a doctorate from the University of Miami in classical guitar performance and music theory.  He also holds a master’s degree in music composition from Florida International University where he studied composition and electronic music.

His recent work as a composer explores various forms of interaction between live performers and the computer, the relationship between pitch and rhythm, and the transcription of spontaneous vocal gestures with the aid of the computer. In addition, he has a strong interest is computer assisted and algorithmic composition.

As a performer he is involved in promoting new music for guitar, especially works that feature electronics and is also a member of the Miami Guitar Trio.

Recent experiences include performances at the Subtropics Festival, Mainly Mozart Festival, New Music Miami Festival, Compositum Musicae Novae, USF New Music Festival, Electronic Music Midwest Festival in Kansas City, Contemplum symposium in Philadelphia, Kendall Sound Arts, 12 Nights Electro-acoustic Series, the Miami World Music Festival, the Miami Dade College On Stage Series, the Miami International Guitar Festival, Guitar Sarasota, the Miami Bach Society, the State College of Florida, the Bass Museum of Art, the Scuola Civica di Musica in Olbia, Italy, the Sephardic Jewish Synagogue in Lima, Peru, and a live concert for WLRN.  He is the company composer for Dance NOW Miami.

In addition to FIU he has taught at the University of Miami, Miami Dade College, Barry University, and the Art Institute.

Visit www.federicobonacossa.com for more info.

Daniel Maniou

Adjunct | Music Theory

Email: dmanoiu@fiu.edu

Daniel Manoiu was born in Bucharest, Romania in 1985. From an early age, he was regarded as a very promising pianist. At the “George Enescu” Music High School in Bucharest, he studied with one of Romania ‘s most renowned professors, Olga Szel. Under her guidance, Daniel Manoiu won several awards at prestigious national and international competitions, including the AMSA World Piano Competition in Cincinnati , OH (3rd Prize) and the Rivere D’Oro Giovanni Talenti Competition in San Bartolomeo, Italy (1st prize). He has performed at important music venues such as the Carnegie Recital Hall and the United Nations Auditorium in New York.

Daniel began his composition studies privately with Dr. Valentin Petculescu. He completed his undergraduate studies at the National University of Music in Bucharest , where he majored in both music composition and piano performance. His principal professor was Dr. Doina Rotaru, one of Romania ‘s leading contemporary composers. He had important achievements in both composition and piano performance, winning the Profil Special Award for his composition “Extreme Percussions” for piano and one percussionist, as well as performing Bella Bartok’s Rhapsody no. 1 for piano and orchestra with the Transylvania Symphony, one of Romania’s leading orchestras. During his undergraduate studies, he wrote music for a variety of ensembles and soloists and had his works performed at major venues in Romania, such as the recital hall of the Palace Cantacuzino in Bucharest. In June 2007 he performed his composition Vitreous for piano and orchestra for his graduation recital to much critical acclaim.

In Fall 2007, Daniel Manoiu began his graduate studies in Music Composition with Dr. Orlando Garcia at Florida International University in Miami, where he was a Teaching Assistant. In addition to his work with Dr. Garcia he has worked with Dr. Paula Matthusen on electro acoustic music and additional piano studies with Kemal Gekic. In January 2009, Daniel Manoiu was commissioned by the New World Symphony Orchestra (NWSO) in Miami Beach to write Trei for piano, flute and percussion. The piece was premiered by the NWSO as part of a concert featuring new works influenced by the music of Charles Ives. Daniel Manoiu graduated from Florida International University in May 2009 with a Master in Music degree and was hired as an Adjunct Professor starting in August 2009.

Daniel was accepted into the Doctoral program in Theory and Composition at the University of Miami Frost School of Music, where he studied composition with Dr. Dennis Kam. During his DMA studies, he began exploring the realm of film scoring. In 2011, he won the Society of Composers prize for Best Original Music at the University of Miami Scares & Scores film festival, and he wrote the original music for feature film Puzzle for a Blind Man (2013). Upon completing his doctorate, Daniel Manoiu was appointed part time lecturer at the University of Miami, where he is currently directing the Other Music Ensemble.

Marcia Littley

Artist-in-Residence, Violin | Area Coordinator of the Strings Program

Email: Marcia.Arias@fiu.edu

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Marcia Littley, violinist and founding member of the Amernet String Quartet, received her Bachelor of Music Degree from the Juilliard School as a student of Naoko Tanaka and Dorothy DeLay. As a member of the Amernet String Quartet, she was the winner of the First Prize in the Fifth Banff International String Quartet Competition; First Prize in the 1992 Tokyo International Music Competition, with the Special Asahi Award; Grand Prize winner of the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition; and First Prize winner of the Yellow Springs National Chamber Music Competition. She holds the Artist Diploma from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. Ms. Littley’s other teachers have included James Ceasar, Jerrie Lucktenberg and Sally O’Reilly. She has appeared as soloist with orchestras in the United States and in Mexico, and has participated in music festivals including Aspen, Ravinia, Interlochen, Tanglewood, and the Isaac Stern Chamber Music Workshop at Carnegie Hall.

From 1996 to 2000, Ms. Littley taught chamber music at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and from 2000-2004 she was Artist–in-Residence at Northern Kentucky University. Currently, she teaches violin and chamber music at Florida international University and has recently announced her retirement from the Amernet String Quartet.

Misha Vitenson

Artist-in-Residence, violin

Member of the Amernet String Quartet (FIU’s Ensemble-in-Residence)

Tel: 305-348-1699

Email: vitenson@fiu.edu

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Misha Vitenson, violinist, began violin studies with his father, Yuri Vitenson, in his native city of Tashkent, Uzbekistan. In 1990, Misha immigrated to Israel and continued his studies with Chaim Taub. During his time in Israel, Mr. Vitenson won numerous prizes and awards, including annual America-Israel Cultural Foundation scholarships and the prestigious Braun Zingel Award as winner of a competition held at the Rubin Music Academy in Jerusalem.

In 1996, Mr. Vitenson continued his studies with Sergiu Schwartz at the Harid Conservatory. He was subsequently awarded top prizes in international violin competitions, including Premio Paganini (Italy, 1998) and Pablo de Sarasate (Spain, 1997) and First Prize in the 1998 Città d’Andria International Violin Competition (Italy). Mr. Vitenson was the winner of the 1999 Aspen Music Festival Concerto Competition and First Prizewinner at the 2000 National Society of Arts and Letters Violin Competition and is also both a two-time winner of the Harid Conservatory Concerto Competition and a two-time recipient of the Harid Conservatory’s Joseph Gingold Award for Excellence (1998 & 2000). Mr. Vitenson’s recent engagements have included appearances as soloist with all the major orchestras in Israel, including the Israel Philharmonic under Zubin Mehta, and the Israel Chamber Orchestra as well as with the Padova e Venetto Orchestra on tour in Brazil, the National Uzbekistan Orchestra, the Aspen Music Festival Symphonia Orchestra, the Harid Philharmonia, and the Harid Chamber Strings. Mr. Vitenson has given recitals and chamber music concerts throughout Israel, the United States, Canada, South America, and Europe. As a member of the Kinneret Piano Trio, he participated in the Isaac Stern Chamber Music Workshop at Carnegie Hall in 1995.

After receiving the Bachelor of Music from Harid Conservatory School of Music at Lynn University, Mr. Vitenson became a student of Joel Smirnoff at the Juilliard School, where he earned the Master of Music Degree. There he appeared as soloist with the Juilliard Orchestra in Avery Fisher Hall under the baton of Hugh Wolff. In the fall of 2002, Mr. Vitenson joined the Amernet String Quartet and the faculty at Northern Kentucky University as an Artist-in-Residence, teaching violin and chamber music. Currently, he is Artist-in-Residence at Florida International University.

Jason Calloway

Artist-in-Residence, cello

Member of the Amernet String Quartet (FIU’s Ensemble-in-Residence)

Tel: 305-348-1699

Email: jcallowa@fiu.edu

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Cellist Jason Calloway has performed to acclaim throughout North America, the Caribbean, Europe, and the Middle East as soloist and chamber musician. He has appeared at festivals including Lucerne, Spoleto USA, Darmstadt, Klangspuren (Austria), Acanthes (France), Perpignan, Valencia, Citta’ della Pieve (Italy), Jerash (Jordan), Casals (Puerto Rico), Blossom, Brevard, Colima (Mexico), Great Lakes, Kingston, Rockport, Sedona, Sarasota, Music Academy of the West, the New York String Seminar, and Encore. Mr. Calloway is currently cellist of the Amernet String Quartet, Ensemble-in-Residence at Florida International University in Miami, and was previously a member of the Naumburg award-winning Biava Quartet, formerly in residence at the Juilliard School.

He has collaborated in chamber music with members of the Cleveland, Curtis, Juilliard, and Miami quartets and with principal players of most of the world’s leading orchestras, as well as with artists including Shmuel Ashkenasi, Robert deMaine, Roberto Diaz, Guillermo Figueroa, Pascal Gallois, Gary Hoffman, Ida Kavafian, Kim Kashkashian, Seymour Lipkin, Ricardo Morales, Michael Tree, and the Penderecki and Tokyo quartets. Mr. Calloway gave his Carnegie Hall recital debut under the auspices of Artists International and has also been heard in New York at Alice Tully Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Steinway Hall, the Museum of Modern Art, the Kosciuszko Foundation, the 92nd Street Y, and the Polish Consulate; in Los Angeles at Disney Hall, the Bing Theatre, the Skirball Center and Pepperdine University; in Washington, D.C. at the Kennedy Center and at Strathmore; in Philadelphia at the Academy of Music, the Ethical Society, and the Kimmel Center; and live on NPR, WFMT (Chicago), KMZT (Los Angeles), WQXR (NYC), WFLN (Philadelphia), and RAI television (Italy) as well as on recordings for Bridge, Naxos, and Albany records.

A devoted advocate of new music, Mr. Calloway has performed with leading ensembles around the world as well as alongside members of Ensemble Modern, Klanforum Wien, and the Arditti and JACK quartets, and with the New Juilliard Ensemble both in New York and abroad, in addition to frequent appearances in Philadelphia with Bowerbird, Soundfield, and Network for New Music and in Miami for FETA and Acoustica 21. Among the hundreds of premieres he has presented are solo and ensemble works of Berio, Knussen, Lachenmann, Pintscher, and Tüür, and he has collaborated intensively with some of today’s most important composers including Birtwistle, Carter, Davidovsky, Dusapin, Henze, Hosokawa, Husa, Franke, Rihm, Roustom, Ueno, and Yannay. As a dedicated supporter of young composers, he has frequently presented concerts of solo cello works newly composed for him, most recently at Drew, Harvard, and Temple universities, and at Spoleto USA gave the public premiere of Yanov-Yanovsky’s Hearing Solutions for cello and ensemble, in addition to appearances at Bowdoin College, the College of Charleston, Princeton University, and the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee. In the past season, he also established a partnership with the bassoonist Martin Kuuskmann in the premiere of Helena Tulve’s new quintet at the Järvi Festival.

Mr. Calloway prizes his work with Pierre Boulez and the Ensemble InterContemporain, both at the Lucerne Festival and at the Zug (Switzerland) Kunsthaus in Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire and Serenade as part of a major Kandinsky/Gerstl exhibit, in addition to his collaborations with violinist Gilles Apap, tap dancer Savion Glover, and Cantor Netanel Hershtik. He is artistic director of Shir Ami (www.shiramimusic.com), an ensemble dedicated to the preservation and performance of Jewish art music suppressed by the Nazis and Soviets, with which he appears frequently across the US and in the ensemble’s varied performances in Austria, Hungary, and Italy. He has also performed across the US, Estonia, and Serbia in a duo with his wife, violinist Mari-Liis Päkk, which explores the rich contemporary literature for violin and cello. Jason Calloway is a graduate of the Juilliard School and the University of Southern California, where his teachers have included Ronald Leonard, Orlando Cole, Rohan de Saram, Lynn Harrell and Felix Galimir. Mr. Calloway performs on a 1992 Michèle Ashley cello, a copy of the famous Sleeping Beauty of Montagnana, formerly owned by his teacher, Orlando Cole. Mr. Calloway is a native of Philadelphia.

Michael Klotz

Artist-in-Residence, viola

Member of the Amernet String Quartet (FIU’s Ensemble-in-Residence)

Tel: 305-348-1699

Email: klotzm@fiu.edu

WPAC 153A

Born in 1978 in Rochester, NY, Michael Klotz made his solo debut with the Rochester Philharmonic at the age of 17 and has since then appeared as soloist with orchestra, recitalist, and chamber musician throughout the world. Of a recent performance of the Brandenburg Concerto No. 6 with violist Roberto Diaz, the Portland Press-Herald proclaimed, “this concert squelched all viola jokes, now and forever, due to the talents of Diaz and Klotz”. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram recently proclaimed Michael Klotz to be “a superb violist, impressive, with an exceptionally attractive sound,” and the Miami Herald has consistently lauded his “burnished, glowing tone and nuanced presence.”

Michael Klotz joined the Amernet String Quartet in 2002 and has toured and recorded with the ensemble throughout the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Israel, Japan, South Korea, Romania, Colombia, Belgium, and Spain with the ensemble. Klotz has performed at some of New York’s most important venues, such as Alice Tully Hall, Weill Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, MoMA, Bargemusic, and the Kosciuzsko Foundation. His festival appearances have included Seattle, Newport, Caramoor, ChamberFest Cleveland, Festival Mozaic, Great Lakes, Cervantino, Sunflower, Martha’s Vineyard, Skaneateles, Virginia Tech Vocal Arts and Music Festival, San Miguel de Allende, Beverly Hills, Music Mountain, Bowdoin, Madeline Island, Sarasota, Music Academy of the West, and Miami Mainly Mozart.

Passionately dedicated to chamber music, Klotz regularly performs with many of today’s most esteemed artists, having appeared as guest violist with the Shanghai, Ying, and Borromeo String Quartets, and collaborated with artists such as Shmuel Ashkenasi, Arnold Steinhardt, James Ehnes, Vadim Gluzman, Gary Hoffman, Carter Brey, Michael Tree, Robert DeMaine, Andres Diaz, Roberto Diaz, Joseph Kalichstein, and Franklin Cohen, as well as with many principal players from major U.S. orchestras.  In 2015 he was named a Charter Member of the Ensemble with the Chamber Music Society of Fort Worth. In 2002 and 2009, he was was invited by Maestro Jaime Laredo to perform with distinguished alumni at anniversary concerts of the New York String Orchestra Seminar in Carnegie Hall.

Michael Klotz is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music, where he was awarded the Performer’s Certificate. In 2002 he became one of the few individuals to be awarded a double Master’s Degree in violin and viola from the Juilliard School. At Juilliard, he was the recipient of the Tokyo Foundation and Gluck Fellowships. His principle teachers and influences include Zvi Zeitlin, Lynn Blakeslee, Lewis Kaplan, Toby Appel, Peter Kamnitzer, and Shmuel Ashkenasi. A dedicated teacher, Klotz is Senior Instructor and Artist-in-Residence at Florida International University in Miami, where he teaches viola and chamber music.

Klotz has recently presented highly acclaimed master classes at the Cleveland Institute of Music, University of Michigan, Penn State  University, University of Nevada – Las Vegas, Ithaca College, Texas Christian University, and West Virginia University. Since 2015 he serves as Director of Chamber Music and Viola Instructor for the Miami Summer Music Festival where he curates a highly successful series of chamber music concerts featuring artist faculty of the festival and students at The Betsy Hotel in Miami Beach and Barry University. He has also been a member of the artist faculty of the Bowdoin International Music Festival, the Beverly Hills International Music Festival, and the Killington Music Festival. His former students currently attend and are graduates of prestigious conservatories, including the Curtis Institute of Music, the Juilliard School, Indiana University, and the Cleveland Institute of Music and are already achieving leading roles in the music world. Michael was featured in the November 2013 issue of the “Alumni Spotlight” in the Juilliard Journal and as the subject of Strad Magazine’s “Ask the Teacher” column in the November 2013 issue. Michael Klotz resides in Hallandale Beach, FL with his wife Kelly and sons Jacob and Natan, as well as two dogs and a cat.

More information at amernetquartet.com and michaelklotzmusic.com