Music

Karin Brown

Robert Cantrell

Bass-Baritone Robert Cantrell has been described by the Baltimore Sun as “a deeply expressive, rich, plangent Bass-Baritone,” and the Washington Post critic, Joseph McLellan mentioned Cantrell “ has a warm supple voice that brought out the lyrical intentions of the composers making them treasured moments.” Cantrell is one of the most sought after bass-baritones in the Baltimore-Washington area who has performed in many different cities throughout the United States, Italy, Austria, France and Japan. He was Artist-in-Residence at Northern State University in Aberdeen, South Dakota where he taught voice lessons, Masterclasses and performed the role of Balthazar in Menotti’s, Amahl and the Night Visitors. Further performances include Faye Chiao’s “Island of the Moon” with the Virginia Arts Festival, “A Return to the Stage” guest soloist with the Baltimore Choral Arts, Lutoslawski’s, Les Espaces with The Columbia Symphony Orchestra, Porgy in Gershwin’s, Porgy and Bess with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Guest Artist with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Solo recital on the Second Presbyterian Church’s, Community Concerts at Second Series, Mother’s Lament (Premiere) by James Lee, Beethoven 9 th with the Charleston Symphony Orchestra, Mozart Requiem with the Bay Atlantic Symphony, Brahms Requiem with the Baltimore School for the ARTS at Shriver Hall, Leading role cover of Emile Griffith in Terrence Blanchard’s Champion with Washington National Opera, Champion Preview performance at the Washington National Cathedral, Music on the Corner Recital Series at First Baptist Church in Winchester, VA., solo recital at Atholon Seventh Day Adventist, and the role of Bluebeard in Bela Bartok’s Bluebeard’s Castle with the Columbia Symphony Orchestra. Further performance highlights include Kapilow’s The Polar Express with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Vaughan William’s Dona Nobis Pacem with the Baltimore Choral Arts, Brahms’. Other notable career highlights include his Washington National Opera debut in the role of the Moorish Envoy in Massenet’s Le Cid starring legendary tenor, Placido Domingo on PBS, Gubetta in Donizetti’s Lucrezia Borgia opposite Renee Fleming,the First Nazarene in Strauss’ Salome with Deborah Voight, his Carnegie Hall debut in the Mozart Requiem, Bass soloist on the Baltimore Choral Arts France Tour in the

Mozart Requiem, his debut in Italy at the Spoleto Festival dei Due Mondi in Handel’s Semele as the Priest and Somnus, role of the Jailer in Puccini’s Tosca on Washington National Opera’s Japan Tour, Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess at the Bregenz Festspielhaus in Austria and appearances with the Metropolitan Opera Chorus in New York.

Furthermore, Cantrell has performed with the Baltimore Opera, WolfTrap Opera, Opera Delaware, Sarasota Opera, Opera Vivente, Municipal Opera of Baltimore, Washington Summer Opera, and Opera Ebony. He has appeared as soloist with the Baltimore Symphony, Prince George’s Philharmonic, Baltimore Concert Artists, Baltimore Choral Arts, Reading Symphony Orchestra, Loudon Symphony, York Symphony, Columbia Pro Cantare, Deer Creek Chorale, Central MarylandChorale, Easton Choral Arts, Baltimore Masterworks Chorale, MidAtlantic Symphony, and the Handel Choir of Baltimore. Recent engagements include a solo recital in February 2016 at Grace United Methodist Church, Music by Copland with the Baltimore Symphony in March 2016, and Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass at Church of the Redeemer in April 2016. Cantrell is on the voice faculty at Morgan State University and The Baltimore School for the ARTS and looks forward to another year of teaching at the Washington National Opera Summer Institute.

Lynne Childress

Lynne Streeter Childress is founding artistic director of Building Better People Productions, a theater for young audiences’ company in Annapolis, MD. Her 28-year career in professional theater includes performing at the Kennedy Center, Arena Stage and Adventure Theatre, and teaching for institutions like the Folger Shakespeare Library. After serving as a guest teacher at BSA last year, she is excited to be part of the theatre faculty this year. Lynne has seen firsthand how theatre can communicate the most important things in the clearest and most interesting of ways, especially to young people. She lives in Annapolis, MD with her husband and son.

Rahzé Cheatham

As a performer of vocal music, Rahzé Cheatham is described as having the ability to “move to tears”, and is praised as “wonderfully sensitive” with “crystalline diction” and a strong foundation in music, theatre art, and dance applications in contemporary classical music across both concert and operatic repertoire. As an arts educator, they host a private voice studio of beginner, intermediate, and advanced students across multiple genres.

Through a holistic approach to musical and artistic development, Rahzé not only cultivates technical proficiency but also fosters a deep understanding of the interconnectedness between music, the body, expressive communication, and global community.

Rahzé’s students have appeared in concert, opera, and musical theatre productions locally and nationally, including at Baltimore’s Center Stage, Hippodrome Theatre, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Millennium Stage, the Lyric Baltimore, Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, M&T Bank Exchange at the France-Merrick Performing Arts Center, and more. Matriculating high school students have been accepted into numerous summer festivals, such as the Berklee College of Music Aspire: Five-Week Music Performance Intensive, Maryland Opera Camp, and college/conservatory voice programs at AMDA College of Performing Arts (Los Angeles), the American Musical the Performing Arts and Dramatic Academy (New York) Cal Arts, New York University, and Pace University.

Janice Chandler-Eteme

American soprano Janice Chandler-Eteme’s astonishing range of concert literature includes Strauss’ Four Last Songs(Reading, Baltimore, Syracuse, Harrisburg, and Utah Symphonies; Florida Orchestra, Fort Wayne Philharmonic; Grand Teton and Texas Music Festivals); Philip Glass’ Passion of Ramakrishna(Pacific Symphony); Mahler’s Second Symphony(San Diego, Baltimore, Nashville, Cincinnati, Colorado, and Pacific Symphonies; Rome’s Santa Cecilia Orchestra); Haydn’s Die Schöpfung(Atlanta, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati Symphonies); Mendelssohn’s Lobgesang Symphony(San Diego Symphony), Lokumbe’s Dear Mrs. Parks(Detroit Symphony) and Can You Hear God Crying?(Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia); Brahms’ Requiem (San Diego, Baltimore, Colorado Symphonies); Mahler’s Eighth Symphony(Milwaukee, Grand Rapids, American and Montreal Symphonies); Beethoven #9 (Cleveland Orchestra, New Jersey and Houston Symphonies), Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915(Festival Miami, Baltimore Symphony), Tippett’s A Child of Our Time(Dallas and Santa Rosa Symphonies) and Britten’s War Requiem(Lincoln and Santa Rosa Symphonies and Evansville Philharmonic). She remains among the most in-demand sopranos for Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess. Other forays into operatic literature have included a first-ever Donna Elvira in Mozart’s Don Giovanni with the National Philharmonic.

Chandler-Eteme first came to international prominence as a favorite of  Robert Shaw and has in the years since collaborated with many renowned and respected conductors. Chandler-Eteme’s recordings include an inspirational solo disc (Devotions), and the Dvořák Te Deum with Zdeněk Mácal and the New Jersey Symphony. She holds degrees from Oakwood College and Indiana University and has studied with Virginia Zeani, Margaret Harshaw, Ginger Beazley, and Todd Duncan.

David Drosinos

David Drosinos received his diploma from the Peabody Conservatory of Music. He studied clarinet with Loren Kitt, principal clarinetist with the National Symphony Orchestra. The Washington Post has praised him as “playing with an unusually smooth and agile touch.” The Baltimore Sun says: “He played the idyllic score with technical security, tonal warmth and exceptionally eloquent phrasing.”

Drosinos was the principal clarinetist and soloist with the Peabody Symphony Orchestra on their tour to Russia, and a featured soloist with the Concert Artist of Baltimore. He has performed in Greece, Ireland, Moscow, Finland, the Bahamas, and all over the continental United States. In 2010, Drosinos traveled to St Petersburg, Russia, where he did the international premiere and recording of the Sowash Clarinet Concerto with the St. Petersburg Symphony. Drosinos is a versatile and seasoned clarinetist who has enchanted audiences from Maryland to Moscow. Drosinos resides in Cockeysville and is in much demand with performing groups in the greater Baltimore-Washington area. He teaches at Shepherd University, The Baltimore School for the Arts, and Peabody Preparatory.

David Diongue

David (Daoure) Diongue is a Baltimore-based Senegalese-American sound essayist, educator, and technologist.

David began learning saxophone and composition from Baltimore’s rich community of musicians. He attended Baltimore School for the Arts and earned his bachelor’s degree in jazz performance at Oberlin College & Conservatory. In addition, he won grants to study jazz in New Orleans and traditional Wolof music in Dakar, Senegal. Throughout this education, his teachers include Carl Grubbs, Kevin Robinson, Dr. Chris Ford, Tim Green, Kidd Jordan, Jamey Haddad, and Gary Bartz.

In addition to working at the Center for Collaborative Arts and Technology and teaching saxophone chamber music at BSA, David continues his artistic practice, evoking his homes of Baltimore and Senegal through sound. His work draws on his formal training as a saxophonist and the self-determining ethos of Black American Music.

Anoa Green ’00

Conductor, Music Educator, and Clinician Anoa Green is the Wind Studies Chair and Wind Symphony Director at Baltimore School for the Arts. She has been a music educator for sixteen years across all age groups, and has held her current position for fourteen years (2006-2020). She is known for her thoughtful and balanced approach to giving feedback as a jury panelist, chamber music coach and wind ensemble director.   

Anoa Green’s pursuit of conducting brought her to study with Kenneth Kiesler at the Medomak Conductor’s Retreat (2007), Michigan University’s Energize Wind Band Workshop with Michael Haithcock (2005), and additional orchestral conducting study with Jon Carney of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (2008). She has also given panels for WBDI, WBT, workshops, and outreach performances for Baltimore City Public Schools. 

Anoa’s passion for arts advocacy and urban education continues to be the bedrock and inspiration for her artistic and professional endeavors. She earned her BM in Music Education, with a concentration in clarinet and wind conducting at Northwestern University (2004). Green was awarded her MM in Music Education from Boston University (2017). She was awarded the Mark Joseph award (2007) and is a Carsons Scholar (2000). She holds memberships with Women Band Directors International (WBDI) and is the current Board Secretary of the Association of Black Women Band Directors (ABWBD).

Leanne Hanson

Dr. Leanne Hanson is the Instructor of Low Brass and Brass Chamber Ensembles at Baltimore School for the Arts where she teaches trombone, euphonium, and tuba lessons and co-directs the brass chamber ensemble program. Additionally, she is the Adjunct Instructor of Low Brass at Frederick Community College and is on faculty with the Washington Brass Institute. An active freelancer and professional musician in the greater DMV area, Dr. Hanson performs in numerous orchestra, band, chamber, and solo engagements. She has subbed with notable professional organizations, such as the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, The Phoenix Symphony, Phoenix Opera, and Arizona Broadway Theater. 

An advocate for music education, Dr. Hanson maintains an active private studio of all ages, and many of her students have participated in All-State honor bands/orchestras, youth orchestras and have gone on to attend major universities around the country. She has served as a coach and teaching artist for many youth organizations, such as the Maryland Classic Youth Orchestras, Atlanta Music Project, Schwob School of Music Prep, and The Boston Arts Academy. Prior to moving to Maryland, Dr. Hanson was a middle school music teacher in Phoenix, AZ where she taught band and ukulele classes to grades 5-8. 

Dr. Hanson’s primary teachers include Matthew Guilford of the National Symphony Orchestra, Douglas Yeo and Norman Bolter, both of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. She recently received her Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Maryland, where she held a Graduate Assistantship and Dean’s Fellowship for the duration of her studies. She holds additional degrees from Arizona State University and The Boston Conservatory.

Ed Hrybyk ’06

Ed Hrybyk is an upright and electric bassist, composer, arranger, and educator emerging from the Baltimore/DC area. Ed graduated from Baltimore School for the Arts in 2006 where he studied classical bass with Laura Ruas. He graduated from the University of the Arts in 2010 with an undergraduate degree in jazz bass performance. Under the tutelage of Craig Thomas and Steve Beskrone, Ed received the Jymie Merritt Bass Award.

A passionate educator, Ed has been giving personal lessons on bass since 2006. He completed his Master of Arts in Teaching at UArts in 2011. During this intensive one year program, he studied various pedagogical methods that have shaped his own style of teaching. In September 2018, Ed returned to Baltimore School for the Arts as the school’s jazz instructor.

Ed resides in Baltimore, MD where he has performed with local bands, Ultrafaux, The Bumper Jacksons, Hot Club of Baltimore, and Unity Reggae Band. He is featured on three albums with Ultrafaux, three with Hot Club of Baltimore, and one album with Sonny Nelson and Unity Reggae Band. In addition to these bands, Ed has performed alongside esteemed musicians such as, Tedd Baker, Victor Provost, Lena Seikaly, Elijah Jamal Balbed, Warren Wolf, Russell Welch, Rhythm Future Quartet, Olivier Kikteff, and Stephane Wremble.

In 2016, Ed made his debut as a bandleader performing a collection of original compositions with his band, the Bright Moments Sextet. Check out some of the video footage here.

Bright Moments performed eight more compositions in April 2017 at Baltimore’s An Die Musik. Video footage here.

​August 2018 marked the public release of Ed’s debut album of original compositions entitled, “Bright Moments.” The album, recorded at Baltimore’s Heartwood Sound Studios, features a cast of all local musicians. It is available on all online platforms with physical copies available through www.edhrybykbass.com.

Dr. Mark Hardy

Mark Hardy is the director of choral activities at the nationally acclaimed Baltimore School for the Arts. The BSA choirs have appeared with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the Baltimore Lyric Opera, the Hopkins Symphony Orchestra, the Spire series, the Bach in Baltimore Concerts, the Candlelight concert series, and the Shriver Hall Concert series. Since arriving in Baltimore in 1999, he has been the conductor of the Johns Hopkins Choral Society, the founding director of the Baltimore Masterworks Chorale, chorus master for the Annapolis Opera, and music director for Epiphany Episcopal Church. Hardy has served on the faculty of the Lyric Opera camp and the Pennsylvania Arts Institute. A native of Boston, Hardy holds a bachelor’s of music in composition from the University of Lowell, and master’s and doctoral degrees in choral conducting from Indiana University. He also remains active as a composer of choral, chamber, and orchestral music, and his music is published by Cantate Press.

Lori Hultgren

American Soprano Lori Hultgren is an alumna of Indiana University, where she completed her bachelor’s degree, master’s degree, and postgraduate work in voice. She made her soprano debut in 2001, singing the title role in Richard Strauss’ opera Ariadne auf Naxos with the Peabody Conservatory and reprised the role with the Britten-Pears program in Aldeburgh England.  Hultgren’s recent concert appearances have included Verdi’s Requiem, Beethoven’s 9^thSymphony and Missa Solemnis, Wagner’s Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde, Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde and Kindertotenlieder, Ravel’s Sheherazade, Britten’s War Requiem, and Strauss’ Vier Letzte Lieder. In concert and on stage, Hultgren has been praised by The Baltimore Sun as a dramatic soprano whose “interpretive ardor is contagious.”

Career highlights have included a debut recital with pianist Graham Johnson at the prestigious Wigmore Hall in London, singing the title role in Ariadne auf Naxos under the direction of Maestro Oliver von Dohnani and Colin Grahm with the Britten-Pears program, and singing the premiere of Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem conducted by Simone Young in Aldeburgh, England.

Jason Kissel

Dr. Jason Kissel is director of music and organist at the First & Franklin Street Presbyterian Church, where he conducts the Sanctuary Choir and works closely with the Spire Series Committee in creating and presenting high-quality arts programming for the community. Kissel has led the church to commission new choral music by Robert Sirota and Lois Hopkins; in addition, he has introduced a significant amount of multicultural choral literature and global music to the congregation at First & Franklin. Kissel maintains a private teaching studio and has held teaching positions at the Pennsylvania State University, Chatham College, and Westminster College. His students have won top prizes in performance competitions of the American Guild of Organists, and have gained acceptance into leading American music schools. Kissel has performed throughout the mid-Atlantic region and is the recipient of the James Winship Lewis Memorial Award, given by the faculty and deans of the Peabody Conservatory, for his musical leadership within the Peabody community.

Madison Lipsky

Music Department Program Manager with a background in Film production and creative writing.

Sandra Lisicky

Sandra (Gerster) Lisicky has enjoyed a decades-long career as a performing oboist and teacher. She has served as Principal Oboist of the Hartford Symphony, Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival, Bach in Baltimore, and New Sousa Band, as well as a member of the Virginia (Norfolk) and Richmond Symphonies, and Virginia Opera. She has been a frequent guest artist with the Baltimore, North Carolina, Annapolis, and Maryland Symphonies.

Lisicky has held teaching appointments at more than 20 educational institutions, including Peabody Institute, Hartt School of Music, James Madison and Virginia Commonwealth Universities, and the Universities of Richmond and Connecticut. She was Music Admissions Director at James Madison University and has presented many masterclasses about practice technique, chamber music and performance anxiety.

In 2024 Lisicky was a recipient of a BSA Mark Joseph Faculty Development award and travelled to the UK to research British women oboists and their musical relationships with composer Benjamin Britten.

Pei Lu

Cellist Pei Lu is the recipient of many awards and honors. These include: a top prize in the National Cello Competition in China, MTNA (Music Teachers’ National Association) competition, International Baltimore Music Club Competition, Carmel international Chamber Music Competition and the Gregor Piatigorsky Award from the Peabody Conservatory of Music. She has given solo recitals and chamber music concerts in Europe, Asia and throughout the United States. She also toured in the Middle East, England, Ireland, Northern Ireland and China with Apple Hill Chamber Players. She has been associated with Baltimore Symphony Orchestra as the substitute of the cello section since 1996. At Apple Hill Chamber Music Center summer camp, she has served as a faculty member for more than 20 years. In 2018, she became the Associate Principal of Annapolis Symphony Orchestra A native of China, Ms. Lu began her musical education at the Xian Conservatory of Music. Upon her arrival to the United States, Ms. Lu was honored with full scholarship to study with world renowned cellist, professor Stephen Kates. She completed her studies with the most prestigious Artist Diploma in Cello Performance at the Peabody Conservatory of Music.

Patrick Merrill

Patrick Merrill is a pianist, organist, and harpsichordist with degrees from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University. In 2016, he won second prize at the eighth Mae and Irving Jurow International Harpsichord Competition. His continuo work includes appearances with Tempesta di Mare, Pennsylvania Philharmonic, the Washington Chamber Orchestra, the Bach in Baltimore series, the Salisbury Symphony Orchestra, and the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra. He also co-founded and performs with the Baltimore-based early music ensemble S’amusant, which was featured at the Indianapolis Early Music Festival.

Mr. Merrill also serves on the faculty in the music department at George Washington University, where he teaches piano and harpsichord and serves as an instrumental, vocal, and chamber music coach. He is currently pursuing a Doctorate of Musical Arts in harpsichord performance at Peabody, for which he is a recipient of the Peabody Dean’s DMA Fellowship.

Greg Mulligan

Born into a musical family, Greg Mulligan began studying violin at age eight. Mulligan received his bachelor of music degree from the Eastman School of Music and master of music degree from Indiana University, where he studied with Josef Gingold.

Mulligan returned to the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra at the beginning of the 1994-95 season after having served as concertmaster of the San Antonio Symphony from 1989 through 1994. From 1990 to 1991, he was concertmaster of the Colorado Music Festival. Before moving to San Antonio, Mulligan had been a member of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s first violin section for nine years. Other orchestras to his credit include the St. Louis Symphony, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Grand Teton Music Festival, and the Buffalo Philharmonic.

Since 1995, audiences have enjoyed listening to performances of Mulligan with the Atlantic String Quartet, of which he is a founding member. Mulligan also performs regularly with Pro Musica Rara, the Baltimore early music ensemble.

Sara Nichols

Sara Nichols enjoys a diverse career as a teacher, soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral musician. She performed as principal flute of the Baltimore Opera Orchestra for 22 seasons, and has also appeared as a soloist and an orchestral musician with numerous ensembles, including the National Gallery Orchestra, the Wolf Trap Orchestra, the Baltimore Choral Arts Society, Res Musica, Pro Musica Rara, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, and the Opera Theatre of St. Louis. International appearances include the Amalfi Coast Music and Arts Festival, Italy; the Miedzynarodowy Festival, Poland; the Mainly Mozart Music Festival, Mexico; and the St. Petersburg Conservatory, Russia.

She can be heard in the Wolf Trap Opera Company’s recording of Volpone by John Musto, which was nominated for a Grammy award. Nichols is a member of the faculties at the Baltimore School for the Arts and Towson University, where she was a recipient of the Dean’s Recognition Award for Excellence in Teaching.

Tyrone Page

An accomplished saxophonist and educator, Tyrone Page Jr. has had tremendous success working with composers and other musicians to expand contemporary saxophone repertoire. Actively involved in the performance of new works, Tyrone performs regularly in the Baltimore area and across the United States as a soloist, chamber, and orchestral musician. Tyrone recently joined the Symphony of the Mountains in a performance of Glazunov’s Concerto in E-flat Major. Recent commissions include collaborations with Gabriella Ortiz, James David Young, and Stacy Garrop.

In collaborations with his alma mater, Tyrone was featured in performances with the Peabody Concert Orchestra, Peabody Modern Orchestra, and the Peabody Wind Ensemble. Gaining proficiency with the contemporary repertoire, he’s a regular performer with Mind on Fire, a musical arts cooperative that strives to engage with an inclusive community through engaging concerts, outreach programs, and special events. In collaboration with the group’s Artistic Director, composer James Young, Tyrone recently released an album recording of “True Fluorescent Skeleton” with Ehse Records. The piece is a 50 minute, unaccompanied, work for tenor saxophone.

Tyrone is a graduate of the Baltimore School for the Arts, where he studied with Dr. Chris Ford. He holds degrees in Saxophone Performance and Music Education from Peabody Conservatory of The Johns Hopkins University as well as a Master of Music in Saxophone Performance and Wind Conducting.

Norwood Robinson

Tenor Norwood Robinson is from Virginia, where he studied with Jackson Sheats at Shenandoah University. He later graduated from Peabody Conservatory with a master’s of music degree in vocal pedagogy and a graduate degree in performance. Robinson later continued his vocal training as a Caramoor Young artist in New York. While at Peabody, he was chosen to receive a voice teaching fellowship, an important position usually given to doctoral candidates. In conjunction with his private studio, he has been selected to conduct master classes at the University of Delaware and has been an adjudicator in local and regional competitions.

Mr. Robinson has performed in oratorio works such as Handel’s Messiah, Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, and Mozart’s Requiem. Some of his operatic roles include Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni, Fenton in Falstaff, the title role of Candide and King Casper in Amahl and the Night Visitors. He sings with the Washington National Opera, Lyric Opera of Baltimore, and Baltimore Concert Opera. He has performed in the Kennedy Center Chamber Concert series and has been a soloist at Emory Grove, featuring members from the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.

Laura Ruas

As a teacher, chamber and orchestral musician, Laura Ruas is one of the region’s most sought after double bassists. She is principal bass of both the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra and Concert Artists of Baltimore and was a member of the former Baltimore Opera Orchestra. Ruas has performed with the National Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, and performs regularly with the National Philharmonic.

Ruas is a dedicated music educator in Baltimore City, where she teaches double bass and theory at the Baltimore School for the Arts high school, and bass lessons in their TWIGS program. Ruas also serves as program director for the Bridges Program; an after-school string program for Baltimore City Public Schools.

Russ started playing bass in New York City Public Schools, attended the High School of Performing Arts (of ‘FAME’ fame) and Manhattan School of Music Preparatory Division. She earned bachelor and master of music degrees from the Juilliard School.

Jacqueline Pollauf

Jacqueline Pollauf, harpist, praised for playing with “transcendent ability” (The Sybaritic Singer) recently premiered a new work for harp and voice at Carnegie Hall in New York, New York. Past performances include the Eleventh World Harp Congress in Vancouver, Canada, and the Library of Congress in Washington, DC. Whether performing standard repertoire or her own compositions, Pollauf is always exploring the versatility of the harp.

An active composer, Pollauf’s works are available through Vanderbilt Music and Harp Column Music. Recording credits include Music from Three Continents with the Scottish Voices ensemble and a solo recording, Bouquet. Pollauf has been honored with awards from the Maryland State Arts Council and Chamber Music America. In addition to being the director of the Baltimore Harp Camp, Pollauf is on faculty of the Baltimore School for the Arts and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. She holds degrees from the Peabody Conservatory.

Ivan Stefanovic

Ivan Stefanović was born in Belgrade, former Yugoslavia, and began his violin studies at the  age of five. At age 16, he came to the United States to continue his education at the Cleveland  Institute of Music, where he studied with David Cerone, Victor Danchenko, David Updegraff  and Kathleen Winkler. He earned a Bachelor of Music degree in 1989 and an Artist Diploma in  1991, both with honors, from the Cleveland Institute of Music. In 2003, the Cleveland Institute  of Music awarded him an Alumni Achievement Award “in recognition of outstanding  accomplishments in the fields of Violin Orchestral and Chamber Music Performance.” 

At the age of 21, Mr. Stefanović joined the second violin section of the Baltimore Symphony  Orchestra under David Zinman, moving up to a third chair position a year later. In 2004, Yuri  Temirkanov gave him the title of Assistant Principal Second Violin. He was promoted to  Associate Principal Second Violin by Marin Alsop in 2012.  

 As a soloist and chamber musician, Mr. Stefanović has won many first prizes in local and  national competitions in Yugoslavia. He has performed numerous times as a soloist with the  Baltimore Symphony and Baltimore Chamber Orchestras, as well as with the Symphony  Orchestra of Radio and TV Belgrade, The Londontowne Symphony Orchestra, and the  Columbia Orchestra. He has made live recordings for Radio and TV Belgrade, Radio  Yugoslavia, and WCLV in Cleveland, in addition to giving numerous solo and chamber music  recitals in Yugoslavia, Spain, and the United States. He has performed as a substitute in many  American orchestras. 

Some of the reviews of his performances include: 

“The surprise star was Stefanovic…breathtaking agility”-Portland Press Herald (Maine) “Deftly virtuosic and musically compelling”-Cleveland Plain Dealer 

“Golden tone and tender phrasing; considerable technical flair”; “particularly dynamic”- The  Baltimore Sun 

Mr. Stefanović is a member of the Clipper Mill String Quartet, baroque violinist in Pro Musica  Rara, and former Principal Second Violin and Acting Concertmaster of Baltimore Chamber  Orchestra. He is a co-founder and co-Artistic Director of “Chamber Music by Candlelight,” a  series featuring BSO members. Mr Stefanović is on the faculty of the Preparatory Department of  the Peabody Conservatory of Music and Baltimore School for the Arts, where he teaches violin,  coaches chamber music, and conducts orchestra sectionals.  

He has conducted master classes in the United States and Japan. At the invitations of their  respective Music Directors, Ivan has served numerous times as Guest Concertmaster with Ft.  Wayne Philharmonic , Symphony Orchestra Augusta (GA), Lubbock Symphony (TX), in  addition to other ensembles. He has served on the faculty as a coach and a conductor at Apple  Hill Center for Chamber Music, Utah Summer Music Festival and School, and Peabody  Chamber Week. He has participated in numerous live PBS recordings as a member of the All Star Orchestra, formed with some of the best orchestral professionals in the United States. 

Mr. Stefanović plays on a 2021 violin made by Ryan T. Fini of Baltimore, Maryland.

Kelli Young

Kelli Young has been a featured soloist and recitalist in the United States and Europe, performing in Nice, France Cologne Germany, and Graz Austria where she also attended the American Institute of Musical Studies.  She has been on tour in mainland China with members of the Washington National Opera. She has collaborated with and sung for such greats as composer/conductor Marvin Hamlisch and Grammy Award-winning artist Bobby McFerrin at the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall in Baltimore.

Young’s most recent credits include the role of Nat King Coles’ mother in the premier performance of There was a Boy at Morgan State University under the show’s creator, James Rich. She later directed Rich’s musical, Blink, which premiered in April 2017. She was also a featured artist in the premiere performance of String Theory at the Edinburg Festival Fringe 2017.

Young graduated high school from the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, DC, and then earned her undergraduate degree in vocal performance from the Peabody Conservatory. She was later awarded the Syracuse University African-American Fellowship, which enabled her to pursue graduate studies.