The Next Festival of Emerging Artists

Wednesday, June 3
Concert at Chatham High School

Thursday, June 4
Lunch Conversation with composers Niloufar Nourbakhsh & Adele Faizullina at PS21 | 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm | Free & open to all
Next Fest String Jam at Stonykill Coffee & Records | 1:30 pm – 2:30 pm | Free & open to all

Friday, June 5
Open Dress Rehearsal at PS21 | 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm | Free & open to all

Aleksandra Vrebalov: Ur Song (US Premiere, String Orchestra Version)

Adellia Faizullina: Six, Before She Knew and After (World Premiere)

Wang Lu: from Tangrams (World Premiere, String Orchestra Version)

Clarice Assad: from Impressions
         Slow Waltz
         Perpetual Motion

Niloufar Nourbakhsh: For Love Seemed Easy at First (World Premiere, String Orchestra Version)

Andrea Casarrubios: The Book of Signatures (World Premiere)

Run Time: 60 minutes 

Aleksandra Vrebalov’s “Ur Song – Epilogue” from the opera Mileva (2011), in its version for strings, distills the work’s final and most inward moment. Set in 1948, at the end of Mileva Marić Einstein’s life, the scene unfolds in a hospital where memories, loss, and ghostly presences converge. In a moment of late clarity, Mileva reflects on her life, recognizing in the infinity of the Universe a boundless potential for human happiness.

Vrebalov composed Mileva for the 150th anniversary of the Serbian National Theatre in Novi Sad, for which she received the 150th Anniversary Gold Medal of the National Theatre for her contribution to the field of opera, as well as the Mokranjac Prize for the best premiered work in Serbia, awarded by the Society of Composers of Serbia.

The “Ur Song – Epilogue” has since taken on an independent life: choreographed by Dominique Dumais for Oper am Rhein in Düsseldorf, arranged for string quartet for the Kronos Quartet, and most recently adapted for the Next Festival of Emerging Artists.

Adeliia Faizullina’s Six, before she knew and after  

I was six when my family moved from Uzbekistan to our historical homeland, Tatarstan,  Russia. My first musical memory is connected to this event. I knew that we were leaving forever,  leaving behind my beloved home, which we could not take with us. I also knew that we were not  taking our old piano, on which I had spent so many hours pressing the keys and listening to its  sounds.  

I remember the moment I sat at that piano, composing a farewell song, feeling very sad. I  did not know that there were other pianos in the world, so I believed that the one I was sitting at  was the only one. No one had ever played it in my presence, I had never been to a live concert,  and I had absolutely no knowledge of concepts such as composer or composition. I didn’t know I  was composing. I was simply expressing my feelings to my friend, the piano, through the touch  of its keys and the sounds it created.  

When my parents moved to Tatarstan, they had to start their lives almost from scratch. We  moved due to difficult circumstances shortly after the collapse of the Soviet Union, when many  aspects of life became uncertain. Our family of six settled into a two-room unit in a medical  dormitory allocated to my mother as a healthcare worker. My parents bought me a new piano and  found me a music teacher who was also blind and who taught blind children. A vast and  wondrous world of music opened up to me. I am deeply grateful to my parents for their  perseverance and for doing everything they could to provide for us and nurture our paths.  

This composition reflects those earliest memories: my childhood’s unconscious delight in  touching musical sounds, my first encounters with music theory – such as the IV–V–I chord  progression – and piano lessons with repeated passages, practiced slowly a few times and then  faster. The piece also incorporates the melody of a Tatar folk song whose title translates as  “Apple Tree.” As a child, I heard many Tatar traditional songs from my grandmother, a bearer of  our culture.  

Since 2016, I have lived in the United States most of the time. Immigration comes with  many challenges, but it also offers opportunities to meet new friends and loved ones, to share my  culture, and to learn about others.

Wang Lu’s Tangrams is the finale of a four-part commission celebrating the September 2024 grand opening of the Community Music Works Center in Providence, an organization that offers free string lessons to underserved local children. Inspired by the Chinese geometric puzzle tangram, the piece reflects the endless possibilities inherent in both the puzzle itself and in teaching young, exploring musicians. Throughout the work, distinct musical motifs act collectively as geometric shapes that are continuously repeated and reassembled into new contexts, creating a piece defined by playful, rapid transformations and invigorating energy.

Clarice Assad’s Impressions was commissioned by the New Century Chamber Orchestra in 2008 as a season opener. The purpose of the piece was to showcase the orchestra’s performers’ diversity and uniqueness and create a musical portrait of the first impressions between the musicians and the composer herself. This Next Fest program features two movements from the suite: Affection. Slow Waltz, inspired by the film noirs of Hollywood, and Precision. Perpetual Motion, which showcases skill and proficiency.

Niloufar Nourbakhsh’s For Love Seemed Easy at First, commissioned in celebration of National Sawdust’s 10th season for the remarkable Kronos Quartet and Jeffrey Zeigler, began as a tribute to the community that National Sawdust has cultivated — a creative home that has embraced not only my work but the voices of many musicians and artists who, like me, have found a kind of family within its walls.

As I began composing, the piece organically shifted into a more intimate exploration of family itself — of the bonds that hold, fray, and stretch across distance and time. Since the passing of my mother in 2019, the relationships within my family have undergone profound changes. Now dispersed across three continents, we continue to navigate how to remain connected and whole despite our separation.

The title, For Love Seemed Easy at First, is a literal translation of the opening line of a ghazal by the 14th-century Persian mystic poet Hafez. It is also the name of our family’s WhatsApp group chat — a humble but enduring thread that ties us together.

Andrea Casarrubios’s The Book of Signatures honors the value of what is made by hand.

The first movement, Pulse, creates the space required for authentic human expression, the cello emerging as a voice that both seeks out and constructs the meaning of its perception. The second movement, Screen, embodies the speed, allure, and saturation of the digital world, the exhausting magnetism of information overload. It is this disorienting sprint that evolves into the final movement, a reflection on the act of writing by hand, symbolizing in the “signature” an intimate and tangible gesture of human connection and identity. Reaffirming the necessity of expressive space, a brush on paper takes center stage as a percussion instrument, alongside the bowed vibraphone and the cello, transforming the individual voice into a halo of collective memory.

The title evokes the intimacy of an autograph book — a collection of names, drawings, and fleeting messages that preserve encounters across a lifetime. At a time when the handwritten self is vanishing in a digital world, the act of writing by hand takes on new poignancy. A signature, once common, now feels like an emblem of authenticity, a physical trace of presence, at once fragile and enduring. The Book of Signatures was commissioned by The Next Festival and Artistic Director Peter Askim, with generous support from Carl and Claudia Shuster, in celebration of the music of Andrea Casarrubios.

About Founder and Artistic Director Peter Askim

Composer, conductor, and creative catalyst Peter Askim is Music Director of the Wilmington Symphony Orchestra, Artistic Director and Founder of The Next Festival of Emerging Artists, Conductor of the Raleigh Civic Symphony and Chamber Orchestra, and Director of Orchestral Activities at North Carolina State University. Known for his visionary programming and commitment to uplifting living composers, Askim bridges artistic innovation with community engagement.

A passionate advocate for new music, Askim has commissioned and premiered works by Lisa Bielawa, Christopher Cerrone, Aaron Jay Kernis, Allison Loggins-Hull, Nico Muhly, Curtis Stewart, Christopher Theofanidis, and Paul Wiancko, among others. In 2022, he led the American premiere of Florence Price’s Ethiopia’s Shadow in America. His conducting has been featured on HBO and NPR, earning recognition for his collaboration on the documentary The Cold Blue.

Praised by The Strad as “a modern master,” Askim’s compositions have been commissioned and performed by the Tokyo Symphony, Honolulu Symphony, Stavanger Symphony, and Cantus Ansambl Zagreb, ensembles such as ETHEL and the Aizuri Quartet, and cellist Jeffrey Zeigler.

Through his leadership of the Raleigh Civic Orchestras, Askim has redefined the role of the university and community symphony. Since 2015, every concert under his direction has included a new commission, totaling over 40 to date.

Askim’s Next Festival of Emerging Artists, founded in 2013, is a trailblazing incubator for early-career string players, composers, and choreographers. The Festival has supported more than 250 emerging artists, offering mentorship, collaboration, and performance opportunities with Pulitzer, MacArthur, GRAMMY, and Emmy-winning artists. Learn more at www.peteraskim.com. 

About Dr. Tommy Mesa 

Cuban-American cellist Dr. Tommy Mesa has established himself as one of the most charismatic and engaging performers of his generation. The recipient of Avery Fisher Artist Program’s 2025 Avery Fisher Career Grant and the Sphinx Organization’s 2023 Medal of Excellence, its highest honor, Mesa has appeared as soloist at the Supreme Court of the United States and with major orchestras including the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, The Cleveland Orchestra, The Philadelphia Orchestra, the Calgary Philharmonic, and the symphony orchestras of Indianapolis, Madison, New Jersey, San Antonio, Santa Barbara, and Tucson Symphony, where he was Artist-in-Residence in the 2024-25 season, among others.

Mesa gave the 2022 world premiere of Jessie Montgomery’s cello concerto, Divided, performing it at Carnegie Hall and recording it for Deutsche Grammophon. A passionate chamber musician, he frequently tours with pianist Michelle Cann, collaborates with The Crossing Choir, and serves as principal cellist of the Sphinx Virtuosi. His discography features the solo album Division of Memory, which has been praised for its exceptional artistry. Also a dedicated educator, Mesa has given masterclasses at elite institutions including the Colburn School and Northwestern University.

He holds degrees from The Juilliard School (BM), Northwestern University (MM), and a DMA from the Manhattan School of Music. Mesa performs on a 1767 Nicolò Gagliano cello, generously on loan from CANIMEX INC.

About  Garrett Arney 

Garrett Arney is an active chamber musician, soloist, and educator. He is the co-founder of arx duo (Arx Music Association), a nonprofit dedicated to creating new music and public engagement. A passionate collaborator, Garrett has performed with the American Modern Opera Company, members of eighth blackbird, and the Dover and Aeolus string quartets. He works closely with leading composers, including Steven Mackey and Jonathan Bailey Holland. As a soloist, Garrett performed the Carnegie Hall premiere of Mackey’s Micro Concerto and has appeared at the Royal Albert Hall. He has performed concerti with the Boise Philharmonic, Symphony Tacoma, and Missoula Symphony, among other ensembles.

Garrett has held faculty positions at the Peabody Conservatory, Michigan State University, Cleveland State University, and the Curtis Young Artist Summer Program, and serves on the artistic committee for the Lake George Music Festival. An ambassador for Vic Firth, Adams, Pearl, Zildjian, and Evans, he holds degrees from Michigan State University, Peabody Conservatory, and an Artist Diploma from Yale University. Garrett was an Ensemble ACJW Fellow at Carnegie Hall from 2014–2016.

About Andrea Casarrubios

Praised by The New York Times for performances that “traversed the palette of emotions” with “gorgeous tone and an edge-of-seat intensity,” GRAMMY® Award-nominated Spanish-American cellist and composer Andrea Casarrubios has been commissioned by world-class orchestras, ensembles, and soloists and appeared as a featured soloist and chamber musician throughout Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas. The title work from her album SEVEN, described as “an intense and elegiac tribute to the essential workers during the pandemic” (The New York Times), was nominated for a 2025 GRAMMY® Award for Best Contemporary Classical Composition.

First Prize winner of numerous international competitions and awards, Casarrubios has appeared at Carnegie Hall, Beijing’s National Center for the Performing Arts, Madrid’s National Auditorium, and the Ravinia and Verbier Festivals. Recent engagements included the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra’s world premiere of Casarrubios’s large-scale concerto for cello and orchestra, MIRAGE, led by conductor Christopher James Lees and featuring the composer as cello soloist, and concerts at the Brussels Cello Festival, Festival Internacional de Violoncello León in Mexico, and the George Enescu Festival in Romania. From 2023 through 2025, Casarrubios served as resident composer for both CreArtBox in NYC and Festival ADAR in Spain.

Her compositions have been programmed by organizations including Carnegie Hall, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Charlotte Symphony Orchestra, Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra, National Philharmonic, and the Sphinx Organization, and have been broadcast on NPR as well as national radio stations in Argentina, Brazil, France, Sweden, Australia, and Spain. Original works include the orchestral version of Afilador (2022-23), commissioned by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra; MIRAGE Concerto for cello and orchestra (2025); and Herencia for String Orchestra (2023), praised as a “stirring creation” (The Strad). Herencia was featured on Sphinx Virtuosi’s 2025 album American Mirrors, released on Deutsche Grammophon and premiered at Carnegie Hall in 2023.

Commissioned by cellist Thomas Mesa, Casarrubios’s work SEVEN received its Carnegie Hall premiere in  2021 and has been performed in more than 36 countries since. The piece was nominated for a GRAMMY® Award following its release on the 2024 album of the same name (Odradek Records), which featured Casarrubios as cellist and composer in seven of her most recent works, including collaborations with Manhattan Chamber Players and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

Casarrubios was born in a small Spanish mountain village, where she began piano studies at age two and cello at age four. She moved to the U.S. when she was 18 to pursue a Bachelor of Music degree from Johns Hopkins University, later receiving her Master of Music degree from the University of Southern California and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the City University of New York. Her teachers have included Maria de Macedo, Amit Peled, Marcy Rosen, and Ralph Kirshbaum. As part of her Doctoral degree, Casarrubios also studied composition with John Corigliano. Often incorporating her own compositions into her recital programs, Casarrubios began accepting commissions and writing for other musicians when she was 24.

A dedicated mentor, Casarrubios has taught masterclasses in Mexico, Brazil, South Africa, Spain, and China, and at numerous festivals and institutions, including The Juilliard School, University of Colorado Boulder, University of North Carolina, Missouri State University, and the City University of New York. Learn more at www.andreacasarrubios.com.

About Niloufar Nourbakhsh

Described as “darkly lyrical” by the New York Times and “séduisante” by Le Monde, Iranian-American composer Niloufar Nourbakhsh is an awardee of 2023 Chamber Music America Commissioning Grant, a winner of 2022 Beth Morrison Projects Next Generation competition, and a 2019 recipient of Opera America Discovery Grant and National Sawdust’s Hildegard Commission Award. Her orchestral work Knell was performed at the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony by the Norwegian Radio Orchestra.

Nourbakhsh’s music has been commissioned and performed by Kronos Quartet, L’Orchestre de Paris, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Norwegian Radio Orchestra,  Nashville Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic musicians, Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional, Knoxville Symphony Orchestra, Amsterdam Sinfonietta, Klangforum Wien, Library of Congress, National Sawdust, International Contemporary Ensemble, Loadbang Ensemble, I-Park Foundation, Camerata Pacifica, Shriver Hall Series, Center for Contemporary Opera, New Music USA, Women Composers Festival of Hartford, PUBLIQuartet, Forward Music Project, Calidore String Quartet, Cassatt String Quartet, Akropolis Reed Quintet, and Ensemble Connect at numerous festivals and venues including BBC Proms, Ojai Festival, Wiener Festwochen, Mostly Mozart Festival, Carnegie Hall, Washington Kennedy Center, Seal Bay Festival of American Chamber Music, and many more. A founding member and co-director of Iranian Female Composers Association, Nilou is a strong advocate of music education and equal opportunities. She currently teaches theory and composition at Longy School of Music of Bard College and Berklee College of Music. Nilou also regularly performs with her ensemble, Decipher.

Nilou is a music graduate and a Global Citizen Scholarship recipient of Goucher College as well as a Mahoney and Caplan Scholar from University of Oxford. Among her teachers are Lisa Weiss, Kendall Kennison, Laura Kaminsky, Daniel Weymouth, Matthew Barnson, Margaret Schedel and Daria Semegen. She received a Ph.D. in music composition from Stony Brook University under the supervision of Sheila Silver.

About Adeliia Faizullina

Uzbekistan-born Tatar composer Adeliia (Adele) Faizullina (b.1988) is a vocalist, multi- instrumentalist and Tatar Quray player. As a composer, she explores cutting-edge vocal colors and paints delicate and vibrant atmospheres inspired by the music and poetry of Tatar folklore. The Washington Post has praised her compositions as “vast and varied, encompassing memory and imagination.”

Her recent commissions include works for Longleash Ensemble, Jennifer Koh, the Tesla Quartet, Johnny Gandelsman, and the Metropolis Ensemble. Her works have also been performed by the Minnesota Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, Kronos Quartet, Brianna Matzke, Ashley Bathgate, the Del Sol Quartet, and Duo Cortona. She herself performed as soprano soloist with the Seattle Symphony in her own work, Tatar Folk Tales, after she won the Seattle Symphony Celebrate Asia Competition in 2019. Adeliia was one of seven composers to be selected for the Minnesota Orchestra Composer Institute in 2022. She was a guest artist at Play On Philly in 2021, and is a member of Composing Earth 2022-2023, by the Gabriela Lena Frank Creative Academy of Music. Adeliia’s music has been performed at venues such as National Sawdust, The Kennedy Center, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, among others. 

In 2021, she was featured in the The Washington Post, “21 for ’21: Composers and Performers Who Sound Like Tomorrow.” In 2024, Adeliia’s piece Jerlarem (2022) for solo voice and live electronics was selected as one of ten semifinalists for the Beth Morrison Projects. That same year, Adeliia was a winner of the SOLI 30X30X30 Project Competition and a recipient of the annual Student Accessibility Services Odyssey Award at Brown University recognizing her dedication, determination, and perseverance in the pursuit of achieving a Brown University education. Since 2023, Adeliia has worked alongside Joseph Butch Rovan (faculty of Music and Multimedia Composition at Brown University) to develop AMI: Asymmetrical Media Interface, a software that allows visually impaired musicians and composers to create interactive electronic music. In 2020, she was a finalist for the All Russia Young Composers Competition Dedicated to the 66th International Rostrum of Composers, in Moscow, Russia. From 2018 to 2020, Adeliia was a Cynthia Jackson Ford Fellowship recipient at the Gabriela Lena Frank Creative Academy of Music. In 2018, she won first prize in the Radio Orpheus Young Composers Competition in Moscow, and was a finalist for International Rostrum of Composers, in Budapest.

Adeliia received her BM in Voice in Kazan, Russia, and BM in Music Composition in Gnessins Russian Academy of Music. She has an MM in Music Composition from the University of Texas at Austin, studying with Yevgeniy Sharlat, and in 2019 started her DMA at the University of Southern California, studying with Nina C. Young. She is currently pursuing her PhD in Music & Multimedia Composition at Brown University.

Adeliia currently resides in Denver, Colorado, where she is working on her PhD dissertation for Brown University. She enjoys taking walks, being in nature, and learning to snowboard with her partner, Eric. She also happens to be blind.

About Clarice Assad

Grammy Award–nominated Brazilian-American composer, pianist, and vocalist Clarice Assad is one of the most widely performed and commissioned voices in contemporary music today. Winner of the 2026 Andrew Imbrie Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the 2025 Meier Achievement Award, she has created more than 130 works for institutions including Carnegie Hall, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the LA Philharmonic. Her music has been recorded by Yo-Yo Ma, Dame Evelyn Glennie, and the Takács Quartet—whose world premiere of her string quartet NEXUS at Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall was celebrated by the New York Classical Review and featured in The Strad under the headline “Let’s Clarice It Up.” Her album Archetypes—recorded with her father, guitarist Sérgio Assad, and Third Coast Percussion—earned two Grammy nominations in As a performer, she has appeared at Carnegie Hall, the Concertgebouw, and Jazz at Lincoln Center, sharing stages with Bobby McFerrin and Paquito D’Rivera. Currently Composer-in-Residence with the Allentown Symphony and the Albany Symphony, Assad is also the creator of VOXploration, an acclaimed music education program presented worldwide. She is based in Chicago.

About Wang Lu 

Wang Lu writes music that reflects urban environmental sounds, linguistic intonation and contours, traditional Chinese music, and freely improvised practices. She is an Associate Professor of Music at Brown University. Her works have been performed internationally, by ensembles including the Ensemble Modern, the New York Philharmonic, Chicago  Symphony Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, Boston Lyric Opera among others. She received the Berlin Prize in Music Composition from the American Academy in Berlin, Wladimir and Rhoda Lakond Award in Music from American Academy of Arts and Letters, Koussevitzky Award from the Library of Congress, Fromm Commission from Harvard University and was a 2014 Guggenheim Fellow. Wang Lu’s portrait albums Urban Inventory (2018), and An Atlas of Time (2020) were released to critical acclaim.

About Aleksandra Vrebalov

Aleksandra Vrebalov, recipient of the 2024 Grawemeyer Music Award, is a composer whose work brings different musical worlds into close, living contact. Her more than one hundred works, spanning concert music, opera, dance, and film, explore themes of identity and human connection.

Her work draws on influences from regions where she has lived and worked, including the Balkans, the United States, China, and the Middle East. This synthesis is experiential, grounded in long-term creative processes and collaborations. Among these, her decades-long work with the Kronos Quartet stands as a defining relationship, resulting in twenty works that have expanded the expressive possibilities of the string quartet.

Vrebalov’s music has been commissioned and performed by institutions including Carnegie Hall, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Gulbenkian Foundation, the English National Ballet, Glimmerglass Opera, Cleveland Opera, and The Forbidden City Orchestra in Beijing. Her work has been described as “refreshingly unneurotic” (The New York Times), “a strange and sober beauty” (The Times, UK), and “chilling and beautifully structured” (The Guardian).

Working across a wide range of cultural contexts, Vrebalov writes for both Western and non-Western instruments. Her scores, in both standard and open notation, often integrate archival recordings and the sounds of ethnic instruments into contemporary forms. Vrebalov is a member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts and a recipient of awards recognizing her contribution to national culture. Invited by composer Sahba Aminikia, she has also taken part in making music with refugee youth at the Flying Carpet Festival on the Turkish–Syrian border.

There are more than twenty recordings of Vrebalov’s music released internationally, including on Nonesuch, Cantaloupe, Albany Records, and New Amsterdam. Her scores are distributed by Composers Edition in London.

Laura Avila

Laura Caridad Avila (they/she) is a Multi-Instrumentalist, Poet, Composer, and Multi Media Artist from Albany, New York, currently based in Boston, Massachusetts. They have a bachelor’s degree in Viola Performance with a minor in Art History and Creative Writing Concentration from Ithaca College, where she was known for curating recitals incorporating visual art and original text. In getting their master’s degree from the Longy School of Music of Bard College, Laura has created concert experiences that highlight underrepresented experiences within society. Compositionally, her work involves text dialogue from the mundane, coveting our everyday experiences that we might not think to share. In addition to their Performance and Composition careers, she has also had the honor of establishing a career as an award-winning educator. Laura has had the pleasure of studying Viola Performance with Matthew Johnson, Kyle Armbrust, and Ralph Farris, and Composition with Alexandra du Bois.

Noelia Carrasco

Noelia Carrasco is a versatile cellist known for her dynamic performances and commitment to chamber music and community-driven projects. At age 17, Noelia recorded on the New York Youth Symphony’s Grammy-winning debut album Works by Florence Price, Jessie Montgomery, Valerie Coleman. She made her solo debut at New York City Center in April 2025, performing as the opening act for Melinda Gates’ book tour. Her performance career also includes appearances in high-profile projects for CNN, NBC, The Tonight Show, Tribeca Film Festival, and Peacock’s Long Bright River. As a founding member of the Schmidt Trio, Noelia performs internationally and premieres works by emerging composers. A passionate advocate for inclusivity, Noelia is dedicated to empowering diverse voices within classical music and creating spaces for meaningful connections through music.

Lina Casas

Lina Maria Casas is a Colombian violinist and graduate of the Professional Artist Certificate program at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. She holds a master’s degree from Louisiana State University and a bachelor’s degree from the National University of Colombia. From 2017 to 2025, she was a member of the Colombian Youth Philharmonic, performing across Colombia, Central America, and Europe while collaborating with internationally recognized artists. She has appeared with ensembles in both Colombia and the United States, including the Youth Philharmonic Orchestra of Bogotá, the Bogotá Chamber Orchestra, and the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra, among others. Deeply committed to giving back, Lina has volunteered as a violin teacher with the Creando Lazos initiative, mentoring young musicians across Colombia. She has also served on the faculty of programs including Rockin’ Mozart Academy and Kids’ Orchestra in Louisiana, as well as ArtistCorps and the UNCSA Community Music School in North Carolina. Her artistic development has been enriched through festivals and specialized training in performance, pedagogy, Baroque violin, and Suzuki education.

Sarah Chavarria

Sarah Aurora Chavarria is a Bay Area native violinist whose artistry spans Classical, Jazz, Rock, Pop, R&B, and Fiddle music. She began her musical studies at age twelve with Asuka Yanai through the Young Musicians Choral Orchestra (YMCO), a program dedicated to intensive music training and academic excellence. During her six years with YMCO, she also performed with the Berkeley Youth Orchestra, Muse Vivo Program, and Oakland Youth Orchestra, expanding her orchestral repertoire. Chavarria attended Oakland School for the Arts, where she studied under Justin Ouellet, and continued her private studies with Joseph Gold, a former pupil of Jascha Heifetz. Her performance career has since brought her to venues such as Grace Cathedral, Yoshi’s, Cal Performances, Shanghai Oriental Art Center, Hammer Theater, and the  Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, collaborating with artists including Kev Choice, Derek Sup, the Alexander String Quartet, and Kronos Quartet. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Music Performance from San José State University, where she studied with Bruce Moyer and worked with Mads Tolling, Catalyst Quartet, and Pasquale Esposito. After graduation she continued lessons with Madeline Mitchell, professor at the RCM. Currently she plays with the San Francisco Philharmonic, Golden Gate Symphony Orchestra, Montalvo Strings and has played with bay area rock bands bringing versatility and passion to every stage.

Jack Corcoran

Jack Corcoran is a double bassist with broad musical interests including orchestral playing, chamber music, early music, new music, improvisation, interdisciplinary collaboration, composition, old time and bluegrass. Jack is currently an Orchestra Now fellow at Bard College and is based in the Hudson Valley. His principal teachers were Salvatore Macchia and Timothy Cobb.

Finn Cruit

Finn Cruit is an up-and-coming violist from St. Paul, Minnesota, who is currently based in Boston, MA. Finn began his music journey at age 5, taking Irish dance lessons and playing the tin whistle, but switched to the violin after his mom told him to. At age 13, Finn switched to viola after his teacher (a violist) told him to “stop bringing his violin to lessons”. As a violist, Finn has participated in many prestigious chamber and orchestra festivals, including the Castleman Quartet Program and the 2024 New York String Orchestra Seminar. As a chamber musician, Finn has been coached by current and former members of the Borromeo String Quartet, the Takacs Quartet, and the Artaria String Quartet, among others. Finn’s primary teachers for viola have included Matt Dane (Opera Colorado, Boulder Piano Quintet), Erika Eckert (Associate Professor of Viola at CU Boulder), and Nicholas Cords (Brooklyn Rider, Silkroad ensemble) with whom he currently studies. He is currently pursuing an MM in Viola Performance at New England Conservatory.

Ania Custodio Folch

Cellist Ania Custodio Folch is currently pursuing a Graduate Diploma at the New England Conservatory, where she studies with Blaise Déjardin. She previously completed her training with Johannes Moser in Cologne, Leonid Gorokhov in Hannover, and Sol Gabetta in Basel. A Fulbright Spain Scholar, she has also been named a Fellow at the Boston Chamber Music Society, where she will perform during the 2026/27 season while also gaining insight into executive direction. She has appeared as a soloist with orchestras in Barcelona and Berlin, performing Schumann’s Cello Concerto, and has performed at venues including the Palau de la Música in Barcelona and Jordan Hall in Boston. Her work also includes contemporary repertoire, with premieres of new pieces at international festivals. Her distinctions include awards and scholarships from IMS Prussia Cove, Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben, and the Yehudi Menuhin Foundation.

MeiXing Dong

MeiXing Dong is a Pittsburgh-based violinist currently pursuing a Master of Music degree at Carnegie Mellon University under the instruction of William van der Sloot. She is passionate about contemporary music and has performed numerous premieres in venues including EMPAC (Troy, NY) and Carnegie Music Hall (Pittsburgh, PA). As a chamber musician, MeiXing enjoys diverse collaborations, performing repertoire that ranges from traditional string quartets to works for less conventional ensembles and even jazz band. MeiXing has served as Concertmaster of the Rensselaer Symphony Orchestra, Associate Concertmaster of the Carnegie Mellon Philharmonic, and Principal Second Violinist of the University of Michigan Campus Symphony Orchestra. Previous summer festivals include the Mendocino Music Festival, where she was an Emerging Artist Fellow, as well as Center Stage Strings, Northwestern University’s Summer Violin Institute, and the Anchorage Chamber Music Festival. Outside of music, MeiXing is an avid ballroom and West Coast Swing dancer.

Nathaniel Grohmann

Nathaniel is a cellist and double bassist with a devoted commitment to exploring a wide variety of music. Nathaniel has extensive experience as a performer, both within the classical tradition into the 21st century, and well outside of that. He is currently based in New York City, where he studies and performs as a freelance musician on both cello and double bass. Primarily a classical musician, Nathaniel also plays music within the jazz and bluegrass traditions, free and structured improvisation, interpretation of graphic scores, musical theater/opera, among other worlds.

Maya Johnson

Maya Johnson is a violinist, violist, and musicologist who celebrates music as a performer, creator, and scholar. Currently a doctoral candidate at Florida State University, she is an avid performer of new music and early music, collaborating with dancers and multimedia artists to build interdisciplinary projects such as Secrets on Floor 13 (see secretsonfloor13.com). Maya is also co-founder of the duo Infinite Tapestry with composer-performer Emelia Ulrich, which uses composition to investigate the musical tapestry of today’s postmodern society and its relationship to pre-common-practice-period styles. Musicological research on performer-composers like Meredith Monk and Caroline Shaw continues to inspire and inform Maya’s own role as a performer-scholar in both early and new music.

Daniel Knapp

Daniel Knapp is a cellist and arts manager dedicated to exploring new ways of listening and supporting contemporary artists. Praised for his “strikingly beautiful” playing (I Care If You Listen), Daniel enjoys finding the grey areas of performance and programming. Daniel is a founding member of the Ἔris Quartet, an ensemble dedicated to genre-fluid collaboration. The quartet has toured through concert halls, libraries, community centers, and prisons, and is preparing a 2027 release with Wendy Eisenberg. Daniel’s Carnegie Hall debut was with the Oberlin Orchestra for the United Nations General Conference, recent collaborations include performances with Eighth Blackbird, Bang on a Can, and the International Contemporary Ensemble. Beyond performance, Daniel has worked with institutions including Orpheus, Music for Food, and Pink Noise Agency. He currently serves as Label Manager for the Grammy Award-winning label Bright Shiny Things. His favorite color is like a blood orange and a mango. And a pomegranate.

Heather Lambert

Heather, a Texas native, recently graduated from The Orchestra Now at Bard College, where she spent three years as a violin fellow and completed an MM in Curatorial and Critical Performance Studies. Before moving to the Hudson Valley, Heather lived in Greensboro, North Carolina while she earned an MM in Violin Performance from UNC Greensboro. During her time in the Triad, she played for several regional orchestras, including the Asheville Symphony Orchestra, where she served as Assistant Concertmaster, and the Western Piedmont Symphony, where she served as Principal Second Violin. Her Bachelor’s degree is from Texas Tech University, where she majored in both Violin Performance and String Education. Previously, Heather has spent her summers attending festivals such as the Meadowmount School of Music, the Roundtop Festival Institute, and the Utah Festival Opera. In her spare time, Heather likes to ride her bike and spend time at the creek near her home in Cairo, NY. She also likes to knit. Ask her what she’s working on!

Tongtong Lei

Tongtong Lei is a violinist, as a soloist performing her first American debut in Carnegie Hall, she won prizes such as the third prize of 2020 Alexander & Buono International String Competition, the second prize in the 2019 Qingdao Cosmopolitan Exposition International Classical Music Competition, the first prize in the 2018 Golden Classical Music Awards International Competition and second prize in the 2017 American Protégé International Competition of Romantic Music. Her festival engagements include the 2019 National Youth Orchestra-China Festival, The 2018 Salzburg International Summer Academy and The 2017 Bravo！International Music Academy, where she worked with Shanghai String Quartet. Lei started learning to play the violin and received her classical education in the Central Conservatory of Music in China when she was nine years old. Right now, she is pursuing her bachelor degree at New England Conservatory of Music with Paul Biss in Boston. 

Elyssa Peters

Elyssa Peters (she/her) is a violinist and violist from Chicago, IL. She began her studies in 2010 with Matthew Mantell, continued under Amanda Grimm while going to Merit School of Music, and most recently studied with Anthony Devroye at Northern Illinois University. Elyssa loves building community and telling stories through music, especially focusing on pieces by composers whose voices have been underrepresented throughout history. She also enjoys playing piano and organ, and she hopes to go to grad school for music performance in the future.

Charlie Picone

Charlie Picone is a Boston-based violist, composer, and writer. While classically trained, they specialize in new and unfamiliar music, and are always open to cross-genre experimentation, having played and sung in open mics with their siblings for most of their childhood. Charlie’s interest in art outside the classical canon is rooted in a wish for everyone to find joy in creating art of their own, regardless of level of craft or renown. Outside of music, Charlie is a fiction-writer, poet, and an avid reader, finding particular inspiration in Virginia Woolf and Kenneth Patchen. They are also a bird-lover (which is unfortunate given the Boston thing), and live for long walks in the snow.

Alicia Pucci

Alicia Pucci, a violist from Buffalo, New York, began her musical journey in the fourth grade as part of her school’s orchestra program. Currently, she is on scholarship pursuing an Artist Diploma at the Glenn Gould School, under the guidance of Steven Dann. Her undergraduate studies were completed at the Eastman School of Music, where studied with Masumi Rostad. Next fall, she will begin a master’s program at Bard Conservatory, receiving a full scholarship, where she will study with Melissa Reardon. During her high school years, Alicia had the opportunity to study with Maria Hardcastle of the Buffalo Philharmonic. She has held the position of principal viola for the Eastman Philharmonia, the Eastman Opera Orchestra, and the Greater Buffalo Youth Orchestra. In the summer, she has participated in various prestigious music programs, including the Castleman Quartet Program, the Kinhaven Young Artist Seminar, the Ascent Chamber Music Festival, the Scotia Festival of Music, Orford Musique, and the Bowdoin International Music Festival. When not practicing, Alicia enjoys spending time with her cat, Felix.

Rachel Smith

Rachel Smith is a violist & violinist, a substitute teacher at Chicago Public Schools, and an arts administrator based in Chicago and New York. A devoted chamber musician, Rachel loves nothing more than performing alongside dear colleagues and exploring different approaches to repertoire ranging from the Renaissance period, to music composed this year! She thrives on the work of a detailed, intentional performance practice that gives special attention to amplifying the voice of a composer. She holds a love for experimenting for the purpose of expression; for working down to the smallest questions of articulations, rhythms, and pitch in order to say something clearly. If she’s not practicing in a high school classroom deep in the heart of Chicago or in rehearsal somewhere in the world, you’ll find Rachel out enjoying nature and marathon training, writing poetry, being #1 fan at her colleagues’ concerts, and talking long with friends about the intricacies of life into the wee hours of the morning (probably over a beer or two).

Farangiz Takhirova

Farangiz Takhirova is a versatile violinist whose artistry bridges classical tradition and contemporary styles. Known for her expressive playing and stylistic flexibility, she has performed with more than five orchestras across Michigan, serving in leadership roles as concertmaster and principal of her section. An active and imaginative collaborator, Farangiz has worked with distinguished artists including Teddy Abrams, Meg Okura, I-Fu Wang, and Paquito D’Rivera, among others. Her musical voice is shaped by a deep commitment to cross-genre exploration and meaningful artistic connection. She is also the founder of Bow and Tonic, a jazz/classical crossover trio at Michigan State University, where she leads innovative programming that brings together diverse audiences and musical traditions. Beyond the stage, Farangiz is a dedicated educator and a certified Suzuki teacher with over eight years of experience. She has taught students of all levels and organized Suzuki camps aimed at supporting low-income families, helping young musicians pursue their passion for the violin. Farangiz is currently pursuing her Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Michigan State University under the guidance of Professor Dmitri Berlinsky, continuing to refine her artistic voice as both a performer and educator.

Taylor Tookes

Atlanta-based violinist Taylor Tookes embraces her musical passions as a performer, producer, composer, and educator. Her artist practice combines her affinity for Black music and improvisation with classical violin training from the University of Michigan and the Atlanta Symphony Talent Development Program. Her recent engagements include the Jeezy TM:101 Tour and album with the Color of Noize Orchestra. She also performed “Refraction,” a special activation in collaboration with Brandon Sadler for the High Museum. Taylor’s passion for composing, recording, and producing has inspired collaborations with artists like Amal Zenab, Michael Bishop, Kennedy Ryon, and Flwr Chyld. One of her proudest contributions was serving as assistant orchestrator and session musician for the film “To End All Spells,” produced by Nana Kwabena and Zak Cedarholm. Inspired by the ubiquity of music and its function as a universal language, Taylor uses her artistry to explore life and transform spaces sonically.

Thu Vo

Thu Vo, a native of Vietnam, began her musical journey at the Ho Chi Minh City Music Conservatory at the age of 12. Her passion for music and people has led her to collaborate with musicians from around the world in a wide range of artistic settings. She has performed with regional and international orchestras including the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra, Orquesta Integrada de las Clínicas Instrumentales (Colombia), and the Ho Chi Minh City Ballet Symphony Orchestra and Opera, as well as university and festival orchestras across the United States. Her solo and chamber work has included public recitals and masterclasses with distinguished artists such as Lynn Harrell, Richard Weiss, Zlatomir Fung, David Geber, and Santiago Cañón-Valencia. Vo’s dedication to chamber music and teaching has shaped many of her professional engagements. She has served as a Fellow at Music in Pictures (2023), appeared as a Featured Artist and Faculty member at the Institución Universitaria Bellas Artes y Ciencias de Bolívar in 2024, and performs with the Carriola Quartet (sponsored by Sinfonia Gulf Coast) and the Burgin Quartet, an FSU fellowship ensemble. An active recording artist, her recent projects are inspired by folk traditions, including Colombian Cello Duets (2023) and Dream Sequence (2025). Vo earned her Bachelor of Music from the University of Wyoming, her Master of Music from the University of Missouri–Kansas City, and is currently pursuing a Doctor of Music at Florida State University.

Joanne Wu

Joanne Wu is an accomplished Taiwanese-American violinist and pianist known for her performances and educational contributions along the West Coast. She earned her Bachelor of Music from the University of the Pacific Conservatory and Masters in Music from San Jose State University, receiving multiple scholarships and awards for her excellence. In the summers of 2021 and 2022, Joanne had the opportunity to perform and participate in masterclasses with Chee-Yun Kim at the Chee-Yun & Friends Music Festival. Also in 2022, Joanne received a violin fellowship at the InterHarmony International Music Festival in Italy, where she held the position of concertmistress and refined her skills under the guidance of Misha Quint and in masterclasses with Andrey Baranov, Kevin Lefohn, and Yuri Zaidenburg. Concurrently, Joanne earned a scholarship to attend the 19th International Music Workshop and Festival in Germany, benefiting from the mentorship of Kyoko Hashimoto, Ramon Jaffe, and Helge Slaatto in the realm of chamber music. At the present, Joanne frequently performs with North State Symphony, Solano Symphony Orchestra, and Golden Gate Symphony as well as in the pit for various musicals throughout the Bay Area. Joanne’s overarching aspiration is to share her love and passion for music, both through captivating performances and impactful teaching. Her mission is to illuminate the beauty and transformative power of music, inspiring others to embrace it as a form of artistic expression and healing.

Festival programs are made possible in part by the generous support of the New York State Council on the Arts, J.M. McDonald Foundation, Fairgame Foundation, Alice M. Ditson Fund, and The Amphion Foundation.

for love seemed easy at first (String Orchestra Version) was commissioned by The Next Festival of Emerging Artists and co-commissioned by National Sawdust and PS21: Center for Contemporary Performance.