Discovering Rocky Ridge

SoYoung Lee

Executive & Artistic Director

Instruments:
Education: DMA, University of California-Santa Barbara

SoYoung Lee, Executive/Music Director at Rocky Ridge Music Center, received her Doctorate in Musical Arts in Piano Performance from the University of California, Santa Barbara. She has held director positions at Baldwin-Wallace College Conservatory Adult Education & Preparatory Department, Millikin University Preparatory Division, and the Boulder Arts Academy & Boulder Ballet. A strong believer in the concept of artist as entrepreneur, she cofounded two organizations: Colorado-based AirTurn, a company dedicated to empowering musicians through technology; and Notes at 9,000 at Winter Park, a multi-genre music competition that launches emerging musicians by providing concert opportunities, funding, and mentoring. She is passionate about building community through the arts, and serves currently as a trustee on the board of Boulder County Arts Alliance and as a member of the Estes Arts Presents Task Force.
An award-winning pianist and a Regents scholar, SoYoung is a recipient of the Ernő Dohnányi Piano Prize and the Gwendolyn Koldofsky Accompanying Fellowship at University of Southern California. She recently released a CD, In This World, with flutist Claudia Anderson. Equally at home as a teacher, she served on the music faculty at Millikin University and State University of New York, Fredonia, and was a visiting Piano Pedagogy faculty at the University of Colorado, Boulder. SoYoung enjoys her multi-faceted career as a performing artist, administrator, teacher, producer, and arts advocate.

Evan Jay Williams

Assistant Director

Instruments: Composition
Education: DMA, The Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University

Evan Jay Williams’s musical experiences span working with Pulitzer Prize-winning composers, conducting community bands at fireworks concerts, and a great deal in-between. He has enjoyed working with musicians of all ages, including playing in ensembles open to both amateurs and professionals, teaching composition to middle-school students, and music history to college students. He first became interested in arts service while interning with Sonnenberg Gardens and Mansion (NY) and the Monadnock Music Festival (NH) as an undergraduate. He later worked for the Tioga County Council on The Arts (NY); Pittsburgh Symphony and Opera; and the Peabody Conservatory.

As a composer, Evan has been recognized by The American Prizes for both his wind ensemble and orchestral music, and Carnegie Mellon University with its annual award for achievement in composition.  His music has been performed across the U.S., in Italy and Spain, and even sent to The Moon as part of the Moon Ark Project.  As a writer on music, he has presented his research at the International Conference on Music and Minimalism.

Evan was born and raised in upstate New York, where his first musical instruction came through his school band program.  He earned undergraduate degrees in music from the Finger Lakes Community College and Franklin Pierce University, and graduate degrees in composition from Carnegie Mellon and Johns Hopkins Universities.  His major teachers were Du Yun, Michael Hersch, Leonardo Balada, and Nancy Galbraith.  He was also fortunate to study privately and at several festivals, including Rocky Ridge back in 2012.

Larry Silber

Director of Philanthropy

Instruments:
Education: MBA, The Wharton School (University of Pennsylvania); BS, Macalester College

Larry brings over 20 years’ experience in nonprofit leadership to Rocky Ridge Music Center. Known for building strong relationships for nonprofits with individuals, foundations, and corporations, he has a lifelong appreciation of performing arts and education. He was a Jet in a summer camp production of West Side Story.

Larry served on several community boards, including SteppingStone Theater for Youth Development and has also guided leadership at Ashland Productions, Minnesota Zoo, Gillette Children’s Specialty Healthcare, and Children’s HeartLink.

Cycling is a passion and Larry has enjoyed many breath-taking rides in Colorado, including climbing Independence Pass (12,095’).

Claudia Anderson

Wind Chair, College Intensive Flute Faculty

Instruments: Flute
Education: D.M.A., University of Iowa
M.M., University of Massachusetts;
B.M. University of Michigan

CLAUDIA ANDERSON is known for her originality and brilliance as a solo and chamber music performer across the U.S. She is a founding member of the innovative flute duo ZAWA! (with Jill Felber), the summer flute intensive Passion Flute: Foundations for Creative Performing, and is principal flute with the Waterloo Cedar Falls (IA) Symphony.

Currently flute faculty and Wind Area Head of Rocky Ridge’s College Intensive program, earlier in her tenure at RR she was Program Director for the Junior Program and had a major part in reshaping the faculty and program content during her five years in that position. She has worked closely with SoYoung in these areas at the College Intensive level since joining that faculty. She has taught at the Universities of Iowa and Northern Iowa, Ithaca College and the University of California at Santa Barbara. In May 2025 she retired from over 30 years on the music faculty at Grinnell College.

Claudia’s recent solo project, Glass Ceilings, commissioned several high-profile women composers and flutists to write pieces for flute(s) solo and electronic media, with its originating theme of gender inequality expanded to embrace the effects of Covid-19 and racial tensions of 2020. Anderson’s own work Glass Ceilings won the NFA’s Newly Published Music Competition in 2023. She has recorded for Centaur Records, CRI, Zawa!music, and cdbaby. Claudia’s duo ZAWA! is the longest-standing professional flute duo of our time. From their first commission by Jennifer Higdon onwards, they expanded the literature, power, and expressive range of two flutes together over more than two decades. running the edgE by Jennifer Higdon (commissioned in 1996) laid the foundation for ZAWA!’s commitment to expand this repertoire and to reflect a wealth of contemporary styles. Jennifer’s original dedication in the score of running the edgE, “to Jill and Claudia, always running the edge,” proved prophetic over the next 25 years. ZAWA!’s commissions, arrangements, and programs with repertoire ever pushing boundaries have led to ZAWA! Reimagined in 2025, a new program of works for two flutes and electronic soundtracks. It includes enticing scores from composers both known and emerging, and electronic versions of pieces from earlier repertoire. Follow their latest touring news at zawaflutes2.com 

Andrew Campbell

Collaborative Piano Chair, College Intensive Piano Faculty

Instruments: Collaborative Piano
Education: D.M.A., University of Michigan; M.M., Indiana University; B.M. Oberlin College

Andrew Campbell has established himself as one of the most versatile collaborative pianists in the United States with a performing career that has taken him to six continents. Recent appearances include a South African concert tour, highlighted by a recital at the Johannesburg International Mozart Festival; a performance of Bach’s keyboard concerto in d minor with the Chintimini Festival Chamber Orchestra; performances at the Miklin Festival Internacional in Bogotá, Columbia; and the world premier of Damian Montano’s Disappearing Moon at the 2017 International Double Reed Society Conference. He has collaborated in recitals with such diverse artists as violinist Chee-Yun, double bassist Catalin Rotaru, flutist Thomas Robertello, bassoonist Judith LeClair, trombonist Charles Vernon, saxophonist Timothy McAllister, composer Bright Sheng, and tenor Anthony Dean Griffey. He served as opera rehearsal pianist for distinguished conductors André Previn, Plácido Domingo and Heinz Fricke, and worked closely with the composer Carlisle Floyd on several productions of his operas. Chamber music performances have taken him to important venues including Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, where The Strad and Strings magazines both hailed his performance as “excellent.” His partnership with violinist Katherine McLin in the McLin/Campbell Duo has led to performances on numerous recital series throughout the United States and Europe. He has recorded several CDs on the Summit and Centaur labels, and his performance of the Rachmaninoff cello sonata with bassist Catalin Rotaru was cited for special praise by Bass World and XBass, two leading international journals. He has appeared as collaborative pianist at numerous international conferences, including the National Flute Association Convention, MTNA, the Society for American Music, the International Viola Congress, and multiple appearances at the International Double Reed Society, for which he has served as official pianist. Dr. Campbell received the Doctorate in Piano Chamber Music and Accompanying from the University of Michigan where he studied with the renowned collaborative artist Martin Katz.

Dr. Campbell is currently Director of the Collaborative Piano Program and Associate Director for Graduate Studies at the Arizona State University School of Music. He recently completed his 8^th season as Assistant Director and Director of Chamber Music for the Saarburg Serenaden Music Festival (Germany) and the Vianden International Music Festival (Luxembourg), performing annually on their faculty recitals in collaboration with colleagues from the United States, Europe and the Asia. Previous positions include Director of the Collaborative Piano Program at the Brevard Music Center, music staff for both the Washington National Opera and San Diego Opera, and Music Director and Pianist for the San Diego Opera Ensemble.

Grant Larson

Jazz Program Director

Instruments: Saxophone
Education: D.M.A., M.M., CU Boulder

An active recitalist and proponent of new music, saxophonist Grant Larson has premiered works for saxophone by Paul, Hanson, Philip Wharton, Chiayu Hsu, Steven Makala, and John Drumheller at regional and national conventions. He is the soprano saxophonist with the Colorado-based Chautauqua Saxophone Quartet and has performed with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, the Colorado Music Festival Orchestra, the Chippewa Valley Symphony Orchestra, and the Fargo/Moorhead Symphony Orchestra. Grant currently serves as the Saxophone Practicing Artist at Denver School of the Arts, is the wind ensemble conductor for the Colorado Youth Symphony Orchestras, and serves on the faculty at Rocky Ridge Music Center.

Equally comfortable in both classical and jazz settings, Grant has performed on stage with notable artists such as Maria Schneider, Kurt Elling, Mulgrew Miller, Art Lande, Brad Goode, Johannes Weidenmueller, Peter Erskin, Ray Charles, Ignacio Berroa, and “Slammin” Sammy K. He recently produced a collaborative album (Ascent) of original jazz compositions with fellow musicians Greg Tanner Harris, Matt Fuller, Braun Khan, and Dave Hammond. He also has released two jazz albums of original compositions under the Dazzle Recordings label (Denver, CO). Grant holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Saxophone Performance and Pedagogy from the University of Colorado at Boulder; a Master of Music from the University of Colorado; and a Bachelor of Music from Concordia College. Previously, he served on the faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, Concordia College, and the Boulder Arts Academy.

Si-Yan Darren Li

String Chair, College Intensive Cello Faculty

Instruments: Cello
Education: Artist Diploma, M.M., Peabody Conservatory
B.M., The Juilliard School

Cellist Si-Yan Darren Li made his professional debut at the age of 9 and has since gone on to an international career as a recitalist, chamber musician, and teacher. He has appeared in solo and chamber music performances at prestigious concert venues, including Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium, Weill Recital Hall, Alice Tully Hall, 92nd Street Y, Kennedy Center as well as Verbier Festival, Ravinia Festival and Sun Valley Music Festival. An active chamber musician, he has collaborated with such esteemed artists as Emanuel Ax, Leon Fleisher, Miriam Fried, Lang Lang, Thomas Quasthoff and members of the Emerson, Takács, Juilliard, Cleveland, Orion, Casals, and Ébène quartets. As a dedicated pedagogue, his students have won top prizes in major international competitions, including Banff, Bordeaux, Melbourne and Wigmore Hall international string quartet competitions. Nationally, his student ensembles have won Fischoff, Coltman and Glass City chamber music competitions.

Li holds a Bachelor of Music degree from The Juilliard School and a Master of Music and Artist Diploma from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University. He is a prizewinner in numerous prestigious competitions, including the Tchaikovsky International Competition in Moscow and the YCA International Auditions in New York. Li joined the faculty of the Cleveland Institute of Music in 2017 and currently serves as Associate Dean of Ensembles and Chamber Music Program Director. He plays a 1773 cello by Giovanni Battista Guadagnini, generously on loan from the private collection of Mr. and Mrs. Rin Kei Mei.

Lorenzo Trujillo

Música Mariachi Program Director

Instruments: Violin
Education: Doctorate in Education and Juris Doctorate Degrees (Ed.D., J.D.)

Lorenzo A. Trujillo grew up in Denver and spent many summers in Arroyo Seco, New Mexico (eight miles outside of Taos) with his extended family. He was highly influenced by his aunt, Eva Nuánez, as a vocalist, guitarist, and violinist. He also engaged his energies in ethnic dance and collaborated with his mother, Marie Orália Durán Trujillo, in the formation of the Southwest Dancers in the early 1970’s. He taught Mexican Folkdance and Flamenco at the Sangre De Cristo Arts Center in Pueblo, Colorado, the University of Colorado at Boulder and Denver, and at San Francisco State University. He is the Director of the Mariachi Program at Metropolitan State University in Denver (see Facebook page and webpage LorenzoTrujillo.com).

For over two decades, he was a member of the Mariachi Alegre de San Cayetano where he played violin and sang. As a musician, dancer, and culture bearer, Lorenzo was awarded the Colorado Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts. He was inducted into the Colorado Chicano Music Hall of Fame and has served on the National Endowment for the Arts as a performing artist, grants panelist, and arts program evaluator. He was also named a Colorado Folk Artist and Master Teacher by the Colorado Council on the Arts through the Master/Apprentice Program and in 2012 was awarded the Tesoro de Oro by the Tesoro Cultural Center.

Lorenzo formed the Southwest Musicians in the late 1980’s, recording several musical standards that are part of a vast repertoire of regional social dances and popular Mexican music of the early and mid-twentieth century. Among his recordings are: Musical Traditions of Colorado and New Mexico (Southwest Musicians); Con Cariño (Mariachi Alegre); A Musical Banquet: From Santa Fe to Denver (with E.J. Rodriguez), and, The Golden Age of the Southwest: From 1840 to Hollywood. He has toured in Ireland, Peru and Italy, presenting traditional music, liturgical and classical repertoire.

In his noted publication, Music of Colorado and New Mexico’s Río Grande, in Enduring Legacies: Ethnic Histories and Culture of Colorado, University of Colorado Press, Lorenzo highlights the history of the Casorio and Entriega wedding traditions celebrated throughout the Upper Río Grande Region of Southern Colorado and Northern New Mexico of the 1840’s. He holds a Doctorate in Education and Juris Doctorate Degrees (Ed.D., J.D.) and served as Assistant Dean and Professor at the University of Colorado School of Law.

Currently, he is the Director of the Mariachi Program at Metropolitan State University in Denver, the President of Hilos Culturales, a non-profit organization that preserves, promotes, and presents Hispanic traditions from the 1840’s of Colorado and New Mexico. He serves as the Vice Chairman, Tesoro Cultural Center, Director, Viva Southwest Mariachi Festival Workshop & Showcase, Director, Latino Cultural Arts Center Mariachi Program, Director, Southwest Musicians, and Trustee, Colorado Symphony.

David Shea

Dean of Student Affairs, College Intensive Clarinet Faculty

Instruments: Clarinet
Education: D.M.A., Indiana University – Bloomington; M.M., University of Illinois

David Shea currently serves as an Assistant Professor of Clarinet at Texas Tech University, and is also principal clarinet in the Abilene Philharmonic and Lubbock Symphony Orchestras. He has earned degrees from the Oberlin Conservatory (BM), the University of Illinois (MM) and Indiana University (DM). His teachers have been Howard Klug, Lawrence McDonald, Eli Eban, James Campbell and Ronald Phillips. Shea has performed as a soloist and chamber musician throughout the United States, France, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Brazil and Chile. As a member of Trio Montecino, he recently toured in Belgium, Germany, and the United States to promote the release of their second CD, Nuevo Sonido: Latin- American Trios, which is available on the Eroica Classical Recordings label. Shea has performed at the International Clarinet Association Clarinetfests in Chicago, Columbus, Salt Lake City, Atlanta and Kansas City, as well as the OU Clarinet Symposium, University of Montevallo Clarinet Symposium and most recently, at Klarinetstage, Belgium.

Shea was a finalist in the Boosey and Hawkes North American Clarinet Competition and was a concerto competition winner at the Oberlin Conservatory and the Colorado Springs Summer Music Festival. In addition to his solo and chamber music performances, Shea has performed as an orchestral musician with the Indianapolis Symphony, Fort Wayne Symphony, Columbus Philharmonic, Champaign-Urbana Symphony and the Sinfonia de Camera. He has also been involved in numerous CD recording projects for Crystal, Naxos, Delos, Opus One, Indiana University Recordings and Hal Leonard Productions where he worked with such artists as Eugene Rousseau and the Indiana Clarinet Trio. As a teacher, Shea has given master classes throughout the US and South America.  He has been invited twice to teach as a sabbatical replacement at the prestigious Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University.  He has also participated in a Big 12 Fellowship grant with Dan Silver at CU-Boulder, where innovative teaching pedagogies were discussed and demonstrated during week-long residencies at both campuses.  In 2005, Shea was awarded the Texas Tech University President’s Excellence in Teaching Award, and most recently, was inducted into the Texas Tech University Teaching Academy. David Shea is a Buffet-Crampon USA Performing Artist and is the Texas State Chair for the International Clarinet Association.

Nash Ryder

College Intensive Violin Faculty (Session 1)

Instruments: Violin (Session 1)
Education: D.MA., Eastman; M.M., B.M., Juilliard

Former rotating concertmaster and teaching artist of the New World Symphony, Dr. Ryder is currently assistant professor of instruction in violin at the University of Northern Iowa and the concertmaster of the Dubuque Symphony Orchestra. He received both a Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degree in violin performance from the Juilliard School, studying with Frank Huang and Ronald Copes, before obtaining a DMA in violin performance from The Eastman School. He has regularly performed with the Florida Orchestra, the Portland Symphony Orchestra, the Venice Symphony, and Orchestra Iowa.  In 2024, Dr. Ryder formed the Mesa Duo with internationally-renowned pianist and UNI professor Sean Botkin.  Additionally, he is a faculty member at the Snow Pond Center for the Arts and SummerKeys, both in his home state of Maine.

Elias Goldstein

College Intensive Session One Viola and Violin Faculty

Instruments: Viola & Violin (Session 1)
Education: BM and MM from DePaul University with Mark Zinger
DMA from University of Wisconsin with Sally Chisolm

Norwegian-American violist Elias Goldstein has been praised by the Chicago Tribune for his “incredible performance” and by the Seattle Times as “ravishing”. Goldstein has distinguished himself as one of the great instrumentalists of his generation, frequently appearing as a soloist and chamber musician. Second prize winner of the 2011 Primrose & Bashmet International Viola Competitions, and a top prize-winner in the Tertis International Competition, he has achieved recognition and critical acclaim as a champion of his instrument. In 2016 he made his Carnegie Hall debut as the first violist invited to perform all 24 Caprices by Paganini, a program that later toured the United States and Europe.

As a recitalist he has performed in many of the greatest halls of the world including Alice Tully, David Geffen, Seattle Symphony’s Benaroya Hall, the Kennedy Center, Salle Cortot, George Enescu Philharmonic, Musikiitalo Helsinki. He frequently collaborates with the world’s foremost musicians including Noah Bendix-Balgley, Nobuko Imai, Eli Eban, Ilya Kaler, the Pro Arte, Shanghai, Latin American, Arianna, and Cavani Quartets. His solo and orchestral appearances have brought collaborations with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Bergen Philharmonic and festival appearances include Valdres, Aspen Festival, Beijing International Music Festival, and Chautauqua Festival.

Dedicated to the expand the repertoire for viola, he has commissioned and premiered works by Jennifer Higdon and William Bolcom. In 2019 he gave the world premiere of Grammy Award Winning composer Jennifer Higdon’s Viola Songs and in 2018 was personally invited by William Bolcom to perform for the composer’s 80th anniversary concert at Merkin Hall in New York.

Melanconico, his 2019 release on Centaur Records was praised by the American Record Guide as “a most impressive debut” while Goldstein was praised as a “superb violist who does not merely get around on his instrument but commands it”. The album marks the world premiere recording of George Enescu’s third violin sonata in a minor, Clara Schuman’s Romances Op. 23 and Robert Schuman’s Violin Sonata in a minor, all special transcriptions made by the artist.

Serving on the Executive Board of the American Viola Society, Goldstein is currently on Faculty at University of Delaware.  He was featured on the Violin Channel performing with members of the Berlin Philharmonic, and pianist Angela Draghicescu. He performs on a beautiful and rare Saint Cecille Vuillaume viola made in 1850.

Eva Kennedy

Junior Artist Intensive Viola Faculty

Instruments: Viola
Education: M.M., Rice University
M.M., Cleveland Institute of Music
B.M., Cleveland Institute of Music

Violist Eva Kennedy has had a lifelong passion for chamber music ever since playing in her
very first quartet at the age of 7 in her hometown of Worthington, Ohio. As a founding member of the
Callisto Quartet, she has had the opportunity to perform some of classical music’s greatest repertoire
across North America and around the world. The Callisto Quartet has been internationally
recognized with major prizes from the Banff, Bordeaux, Melbourne, and Fischoff competitions, and
maintains an active performing schedule with appearances at venues such as Carnegie Hall, the
Kennedy Center, the Ravinia Festival, and many others. Eva holds Bachelor and Master of Music
degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music, as well as a Master’s degree from Rice University,
where she was in residence with the Callisto Quartet. She also spent a semester at the Paris
Conservatory as an exchange student. Her mentors have included Deborah Price, Jeffrey Irvine,
Sabine Toutain, Lynne Ramsey, and James Dunham.
Alongside her passion for performing, Eva also has a great love for teaching. This year, she
has found great joy in implementing a new chamber music curriculum developed by the Callisto
Quartet, designed to demystify the process behind great ensemble playing for students and help
them become their own best teachers. She has taught and given masterclasses for violinists,
violists, and chamber ensembles at numerous music schools, festivals, and universities across the
country.
Eva is Canadian through her father’s side and has both American and Canadian
citizenships. Outside of music, she enjoys rock climbing and traveling with her family.

Si-Yan Darren Li

String Chair, College Intensive Cello Faculty

Instruments: Cello
Education: Artist Diploma, M.M., Peabody Conservatory
B.M., The Juilliard School

Cellist Si-Yan Darren Li made his professional debut at the age of 9 and has since gone on to an international career as a recitalist, chamber musician, and teacher. He has appeared in solo and chamber music performances at prestigious concert venues, including Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium, Weill Recital Hall, Alice Tully Hall, 92nd Street Y, Kennedy Center as well as Verbier Festival, Ravinia Festival and Sun Valley Music Festival. An active chamber musician, he has collaborated with such esteemed artists as Emanuel Ax, Leon Fleisher, Miriam Fried, Lang Lang, Thomas Quasthoff and members of the Emerson, Takács, Juilliard, Cleveland, Orion, Casals, and Ébène quartets. As a dedicated pedagogue, his students have won top prizes in major international competitions, including Banff, Bordeaux, Melbourne and Wigmore Hall international string quartet competitions. Nationally, his student ensembles have won Fischoff, Coltman and Glass City chamber music competitions.

Li holds a Bachelor of Music degree from The Juilliard School and a Master of Music and Artist Diploma from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University. He is a prizewinner in numerous prestigious competitions, including the Tchaikovsky International Competition in Moscow and the YCA International Auditions in New York. Li joined the faculty of the Cleveland Institute of Music in 2017 and currently serves as Associate Dean of Ensembles and Chamber Music Program Director. He plays a 1773 cello by Giovanni Battista Guadagnini, generously on loan from the private collection of Mr. and Mrs. Rin Kei Mei.

Ken Marrs

Conductor and Double Bass Faculty

Instruments: Orchestra Conductor
Education: Bachelor's of Music Education in Choral and Instrumental Music from Indiana University
Master's in Choral Conducting at the University of Arizona

Originally from Detroit, Michigan, Ken Marrs studied the double bass with Derek Weller, Stuart Sankey, Bruce Bransby and Lawrence Hurst.  He holds a bachelor’s degree in choral and instrumental music education from Indiana University and a master’s degree in choral conducting from the University of Arizona.  Ken has performed with the Ann Arbor, Flint, Saginaw Bay, Toledo, and Tucson Symphony Orchestras, the Arizona Opera Company as well as with True Concord. Ken has taught and performed with orchestras on four continents.

He teaches orchestra, concert band, and jazz band at Mica Mountain HS in Vail, AZ and directs the Vail Youth Symphony Orchestra.

Gregory Lewis

Junior Artist Intensive Violin Faculty

Instruments: Violin
Education: A.D., The Colburn School
M.M., Yale University
B.M., University of Manitoba

Praised for his “brilliant technique” (Chronicle Journal) and “wonderful musical personality” (Winnipeg Free Press), Canadian violinist Gregory Lewis enjoys an international career as a soloist and chamber musician. Lewis has appeared as soloist with orchestras including the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra, Colburn Academy Virtuosi, Strathcona Symphony Orchestra, and the University of Manitoba Symphony Orchestra. Named one of CBC’s “30 Hot Canadian Classical Musicians Under 30”, Lewis received First Prize at the 2017 Canadian National Music Festival and was selected as a winner of the 2023 Canada Council for the Arts Musical Instrument Bank Competition.

In 2022, Lewis had the great privilege of joining the Callisto Quartet. In recent seasons, the Callisto Quartet has received Grand Prize at the 2018 Fischoff Chamber Music Competition and Second Prize at the 2019 Banff International String Quartet Competition. The Callisto Quartet maintains a busy international touring schedule, appearing at notable venues including Carnegie Hall, the Kauffman Center, the Kennedy Center, and the Ravinia Festival. The Callisto Quartet was in residence at the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts from 2020-2022, and now serves as Fellowship Quartet in Residence at Yale University and Associate Artists in Residence at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel in Belgium. The Callisto Quartet is managed exclusively by Kanzen Arts. Lewis’s passion for chamber music has led to performances at the Four Seasons, Norfolk, Olympic, Ravinia, and Yellow Barn music festivals. He holds degrees from the University of Manitoba, Yale University, and the Colburn School, where he studied with Oleg Pokhanovski, Chris Anstey, Ani Kavafian, and Martin Beaver. Lewis performs on the 1768 “Miller” Gagliano, on generous loan by the Canada Council for the Arts.

Colin McAllister

Adult Guitar Seminar Program Director

Instruments: Guitar
Education: D.M.A., University of California, San Diego
M.A., University of California, San Diego

Colin McAllister is Director of Humanities and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Visual and Performing Arts at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs. His performances as a guitarist and conductor have been hailed as ‘sparkling….delivered superbly’ (San Francisco Chronicle), ‘ravishing’ (San Diego Union Tribune) and ‘an amazing tour de force’ (San Diego Story), and he has recorded on the MicroFest, Summit, Innova, Centaur, Naxos, Albany, Old King Cole, Vienna Modern Masters, Carrier, and Tzadik labels. Colin earned both the M.A. and D.M.A. at the University of California, San Diego, where he studied guitar with Los Romeros and Stuart Fox, interpretation with Bertram Turetzky, and conducting with Harvey Sollberger and Rand Steiger.

Colin is the guitarist and conductor for the ensemble NOISE, and a co-founder of the soundON Festival, held annually in La Jolla, California. He performs regularly with both the Hennessy 6 jazz sextet and his own quartet. As a guest artist, he appears regularly with the Colorado Springs Philharmonic, the Chamber Orchestra of the Springs, and the Playground Ensemble. He is the author of two best-selling guitar instructional series, produced by The Great Courses—Learning to Play Guitar, and Playing Guitar Like a Pro. Colin is endorsed by PRS Guitars and is an Artist Partner with Taylor Guitars.

Hannah Moses

Junior Artist Intensive Faculty

Instruments: Cello
Education: A.D., M.M, B.M., The Cleveland Institute of Music
M.M., Rice University

Praised for her sensitivity and beauty of sound, cellist Hannah Moses has performed worldwide both as a soloist and as a founding member of the Callisto Quartet. A Cleveland native, Moses holds degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music and Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, where her teachers have included Richard Weiss, Melissa Kraut, and Norman Fischer. As cellist of the Callisto Quartet, Moses maintains an active concert schedule and has appeared at venues and festivals across the globe, including the Ravinia Festival, the Kennedy Center, the Heidelberg String Quartet Festival, and more. Callisto has garnered top prizes at many major international chamber music competitions, including Grand Prize at the 2018 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, Second Prize at the 2019 Banff International String Quartet Competition, and prizes at the Bordeaux, Melbourne, and Wigmore Hall Competitions.

A committed educator, Moses assisted in creating a unique chamber music curriculum with the Callisto Quartet entitled “Chamber Music Deconstructed”, which has been successfully received in schools across the country. Additionally, Moses has served on cello faculty at the Cleveland Music School Settlement, Aurora School of Music, and the Westport Suzuki School, and appeared as guest artist and juror at the 2018 Tennessee Cello Workshop Competition, after winning the competition in 2015. Moses has been actively involved in chamber music coaching at CIM’s Young Artist Program, of which she is a graduate, and has served on summer faculty at Credo Chamber Music, Bravo International Music Festival, and the Hudson Montessori School Chamber Music Intensive. Currently, the Callisto Quartet is in residence at Yale University, where they mentor the undergraduate ensembles.

When not traveling with the Callisto Quartet, Moses enjoys running, cooking, and rock climbing. She currently resides in New Haven, CT, with her cat, Snickers.

Katherine McLin

College Intensive Session Two Violin Faculty

Instruments: Violin (Session 2)
Education: DMA, University of Michigan
Additional performance degrees from Indiana University and the Oberlin College Conservatory

Violinist Katherine McLin enjoys an extremely varied and prolific performing career as a concerto soloist, recitalist, and chamber and orchestral musician. Since her debut with the Oregon Symphony at the age of 15, Professor McLin made more than 150 appearances as soloist with orchestras across the country. Recent appearances include Piazzolla Four Seasons with ProMusica Chamber Orchestra (OH), Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto with Symphony of the West Valley (AZ), Vivaldi Summer with the Chintimini Chamber Orchestra (OR), Sibelius Violin Concerto with the Tempe Symphony Orchestra (AZ), Joel Puckett Short Stories with the University of Michigan Wind Ensemble and the world premiere performance of a double concerto for violin and piano, Twofold Dreams, by Lera Auerbach (with the composer at the piano) with ProMusica. In the 2022-23 upcoming season, Professor McLin’s performances include Brahms Violin Concerto with the Symphony of the West Valley, Bach Concerto in E Major with the Arizona Philharmonic, and Max Richter Four Seasons Recomposed with the ProMusica Chamber Orchestra.

Since 2007, Professor McLin serves as Concertmaster of the ProMusica Chamber Orchestra in Columbus, Ohio. With Music Director David Danzmayr, Creative Partner and Principal Guest Artist Vadim Gluzman, and a core of 31 players commuting from around the country, ProMusica presents seven subscription concert series throughout the year as well as a summer festival and chamber music series. She also serves as Concertmaster of the Arizona Philharmonic Orchestra with Music Director Peter Bay. In the past she has served as Concertmaster of the Brevard Music Center Orchestra, the Michigan Sinfonietta, and Principal Second Violin of the Michigan Opera Theater Orchestra.

As a member of the McLin/Campbell Duo with pianist Andrew Campbell and frequent chamber music collaborator with colleagues around the world, McLin performs extensively throughout the United States and abroad. She is a frequent guest artist at summer chamber music festivals, including the Saarburg Chamber Music Festival (Germany), Interharmony International Festival of Music (Italy), Chintimini Chamber Music Festival (OR), FOOSA (CA), and Festival of the Black Hills (SD) with the Orlando Chamber Players. She has also served as a featured performer in numerous national and international conferences, including the American String Teacher’s Association, International Double Reed Society, International Clarinet Association, International Schoenberg Conference, National MTNA (Music Teacher’s National Association) Conference, IPAC (International Percussive Arts Conference), and SEAMUS (Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the U.S.).

Professor McLin appears on 19 compact disc recordings under the Summit, Centaur, and Opus One labels. Additionally, her live and recorded performances have been broadcast on NPR’s Performance Today, NYC’s WQXR (Bob Sherman’s “Listening Room” program), and local television and radio stations throughout the country.

A frequent guest recitalist and clinician, Professor McLin presented the featured pre-college violin master class at the American String Teacher’s Association National Conference in 2008. In addition, she has given master classes at more than 50 music schools across the country and abroad, including the University of Michigan, Trinity College (London), North Carolina School for the Arts, Boston University, Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt, Carnegie Mellon University, and University of Colorado at Boulder, to name a few.

A committed and passionate teacher, Professor McLin was awarded the Evelyn Smith Professorship in Music at Arizona State University in 2016, a three-year endowed position that recognizes a faculty member who demonstrates outstanding leadership in their field. In 2004, she was awarded the Distinguished Teacher Award for the College of Fine Arts at ASU, chosen from over 170 faculty, and was a finalist for the 2007 university-wide ASU Professor of the Year award.

Professor McLin received her doctorate in violin performance from the University of Michigan as a student of Paul Kantor. She holds additional performance degrees from Indiana University and the Oberlin College Conservatory, and for three years was an orchestral fellowship recipient at the Aspen Music Festival. Her former teachers include Franco Gulli, Josef Gingold, and Kathleen Winkler. She plays on a 1734 Sanctus Seraphin violin, on loan from an anonymous foundation.

David Rose

College Intensive Session Two Viola Faculty

Instruments: Viola (Session 2)
Education: M.M., Indiana University – Bloomington; B.M., University of British Columbia

David Rose has served as a titled player of numerous orchestras, including Associate Principal of the Vancouver Symphony, Principal Viola of the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, and Acting Assistant Principal of the San Francisco Symphony.

Also active as a baroque performer, he was a member of the Pacific Baroque orchestra, and has toured and recorded with Toronto’s Tafelmusik.

Mr. Rose studied viola at the University of British Columbia, and Indiana University (Bloomington). His main teachers included Gerald Stanick, Atar Arad and Stanley Ritchie.

He serves as associate professor of Viola, and head of strings at the State University of New York (Fredonia), and teaches in the summer at Rocky Ridge Music’s College Intensive in the Colorado Rockies, as well as the Fredonia Summer String Festival.

Most recently, David gave masterclasses at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance and the Eastman School of Music. He has been presenting performances of all six Bach Cello Suites, having recorded them last Spring, and most recently performed all six for the American Viola Society Festival.

Claudia Anderson

Wind Chair, College Intensive Flute Faculty

Instruments: Flute
Education: D.M.A., University of Iowa
M.M., University of Massachusetts;
B.M. University of Michigan

CLAUDIA ANDERSON is known for her originality and brilliance as a solo and chamber music performer across the U.S. She is a founding member of the innovative flute duo ZAWA! (with Jill Felber), the summer flute intensive Passion Flute: Foundations for Creative Performing, and is principal flute with the Waterloo Cedar Falls (IA) Symphony.

Currently flute faculty and Wind Area Head of Rocky Ridge’s College Intensive program, earlier in her tenure at RR she was Program Director for the Junior Program and had a major part in reshaping the faculty and program content during her five years in that position. She has worked closely with SoYoung in these areas at the College Intensive level since joining that faculty. She has taught at the Universities of Iowa and Northern Iowa, Ithaca College and the University of California at Santa Barbara. In May 2025 she retired from over 30 years on the music faculty at Grinnell College.

Claudia’s recent solo project, Glass Ceilings, commissioned several high-profile women composers and flutists to write pieces for flute(s) solo and electronic media, with its originating theme of gender inequality expanded to embrace the effects of Covid-19 and racial tensions of 2020. Anderson’s own work Glass Ceilings won the NFA’s Newly Published Music Competition in 2023. She has recorded for Centaur Records, CRI, Zawa!music, and cdbaby. Claudia’s duo ZAWA! is the longest-standing professional flute duo of our time. From their first commission by Jennifer Higdon onwards, they expanded the literature, power, and expressive range of two flutes together over more than two decades. running the edgE by Jennifer Higdon (commissioned in 1996) laid the foundation for ZAWA!’s commitment to expand this repertoire and to reflect a wealth of contemporary styles. Jennifer’s original dedication in the score of running the edgE, “to Jill and Claudia, always running the edge,” proved prophetic over the next 25 years. ZAWA!’s commissions, arrangements, and programs with repertoire ever pushing boundaries have led to ZAWA! Reimagined in 2025, a new program of works for two flutes and electronic soundtracks. It includes enticing scores from composers both known and emerging, and electronic versions of pieces from earlier repertoire. Follow their latest touring news at zawaflutes2.com 

Peter Cooper

College Intensive Oboe Faculty

Instruments: Oboe
Education: B.M., Northwestern University

Principal oboist of the Colorado Symphony since 1993 and Teaching Professor of oboe at the University of Colorado Boulder, Peter Cooper has taught and performed as soloist with orchestras in Asia, Europe, Mexico, and the United States. He previously held positions in the San Francisco Symphony and as principal oboist of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestras.

In 2022 he co-hosted the International Double Reed Society conference at the University of Colorado. 1000 oboists, bassoonists, and exhibitors from around the world attended the conference.

In recent years, he has given masterclasses at the conservatories of Paris and Lyon in France and Berlin, Leipzig, and Stuttgart in Germany. In the summers, he is on the Faculty of the Rocky Ridge Music Center in Estes Park Colorado.

Cooper has commissioned and premiered five oboe concertos and recorded the Strauss and David Mullikin oboe concertos with Sir Neville Marriner and the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields. He previously recorded the Heinrich Schweizer Oboe Concerto with the London Philharmonic. Cooper has also premiered concertos by Bill Douglas and Gregory Walker with the Colorado Symphony. In 2019, he played a new concerto by Kevin Puts with the Colorado Symphony that was co-commissioned by the Colorado and Baltimore symphonies.

A prize winner in the Tokyo International Oboe Competition, Cooper is a frequent guest Principal Oboist with many American orchestras. He has toured and recorded with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and has played first oboe with the Boston, Atlanta, Seattle, Houston, San Diego and Milwaukee symphonies as well as the Israel Chamber Orchestra.

Cooper plays on Marigaux oboes and Marigaux, Paris, has sponsored him in recitals and master classes throughout the United States, and in Asia, Europe and Mexico. He has also been their American consultant for the development of the “A” model, a new model Marigaux oboe designed especially for American oboists.

A graduate of Northwestern University, he studied with Ray Still and Gladys Elliot.

Robert Fant

College Intensive Horn Faculty

Instruments: Horn
Education: BM, University of Michigan
MM, CCM
Diploma, NEC
DMA, University of Wisconsin

Dr. Robert Fant is a versatile pedagogue, performer, and composer who brings a world perspective to his work. He brings a passion for classical music and a dedication to excellence through his successful career as a performer and educator. He has taught and performed across the world as a principal horn in Orchestras, Opera, Film Studios, TV, Radio, and more. His passion is to help students achieve their goals and dreams. He is currently the Visiting Professor of Horn at the Tennessee Tech School of Music, horn faculty of Rocky Ridge Music Center, member of the Cumberland Quintet, principal horn of the Bryan Symphony, North State Symphony, Jackson Symphony, XO artist, and XO education clinician. Previous positions include Assistant Professor of Horn at University of Memphis, Assistant Professor of Horn at SWOSU, Professor of Horn at MWSU in Texas, and scholar, teaching, guest, or assistant positions at the University of North Texas, Trinity College London (guest), Royal Northern College of Music (ABRSM Scholar), University of Wisconsin, and the College Conservatory of Music. He is a frequent judge at IHS and other competitions.

Dr. Fant’s former students can be found in nearly all areas of music. In addition to honing their studies in the studio his students can be found regularly in festivals, workshops, and attending high level programs around the world. Recent student accomplishments include winning MTNA Young Artist Award, IHS competitions, Charleston International, Harmony International, and the first horn group to ever place at the IWBC competition. In addition to several educators in schools and private studios, students have appointments at the collegiate level. Many others have gone on to orchestral positions, service band positions, and various creative freelance endeavors in recording and producing. Robert strives to always inspire students to reach for their goals and enjoy their lives in music. He has regularly maintained a studio of private students during his performance career and these students have excelled at All State and in earning scholarships for further study. Robert is often involved in outreach and charity organizations. He has worked extensively with organizations in India, South America, China, Eastern Russia, and throughout the United States. This work involved bring music and aid to underrepresented communities and abused peoples of the world.

Robert’s performance in the USA, Asia, South America, and Europe has led to positions in orchestras, recordings, and solo work. Previously he has held the position of principal horn with the London Mozart Chamber Orchestra, ACO, Teatro Municipal de Santiago, Guiyang Symphony, London Oratorio Society Orchestra, and section positions with the Philharmonie der Nationes (Berlin), Auckland Philharmonia, Verbier Orchestra, and the Symphony Orchestra of India. This work has been in conjunction with playing as guest or extra with orchestras such as The Halle, BBC Philharmonic, National Center for the Performing Arts (Beijing), Taiwan National Symphony, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden, Thuringer Symponiker, Saalfeld-Rudolstadt, Staatstheater Hannover, Boston Pops, San Antonio Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, Dallas Wind Symphony, Memphis Symphony, Arkansas Symphony, Oklahoma City Philharmonic, Portland Symphony, LSO (London), Royal Ballet (UK), Opera North (UK), BBC Wales, RSNO (Scotland), BBC Symphony, Bavarian Orchestra (Germany), and an apprenticeship with the Vienna Philharmonic under Wolfgang Tombock. These experiences have led to collaborations with great conductors, soloists, artists, and an admiration of how music can change the world.

During this orchestral work Robert has maintained a regular schedule as a recitalist, soloist, and chamber musician. As a former finalist (and the only hornist to that point) for the Gold Medal Competition, Robert has been fortunate to perform as a soloist / recitalist with increased frequency. He is also a past finalist of the Haverhill International Soloist Competition, Carnegie Hall ACJW Fellowship,

WAMSO, and ASTRAL competition. Recent recital engagements include the Steinway Artist series, Wigmore Hall series, North State Symphony, and the Aspen Recital series. He has premiered and/or commissioned many works by young composers from various backgrounds in multiple countries. He can be found on recordings with Dallas Winds, Atlantic Records, Deutsche Grammophone, NAXOS, BBC Radio, BBC TV, REAL TV, Medici Records, University of Michigan Records, Reference Recordings, Klavier Records, and NPR Radio. He has been a part of winning a GRAMMY, Lesser Foundation Award, and a Royal Philharmonic Society award. He is also the only horn on the SONY Film “The Tattooist” and was multi tracked to create the score. Additional film work includes Netflix and Apple film. He has performed as a soloist and premiered many works. Highlights include solo performances with Denton Orchestra, National Orchestra, North England Institute Orchestra, and chamber premieres at Wigmore and with Eric Ewazen in the USA. He has performed with Amy Grant, Roberta Flack, Andre Bocelli, Bela Fleck, Zakir Hussain, Cody Fry, and others to broaden the exposure of the horn in less traditional genres of music.

Robert’s BM is from the University of Michigan, MM from CCM, Diploma from NEC, and DMA from University of Wisconsin. While he has had the privilege to study and seek out many mentors and pedagogues in his past, his primary teachers are Froydis Ree Wekre, Randy Gardner, Michael Hatfield, Jerome Ashby, Kendall Betts, Myron Bloom, Chris Leuba, and Louis Stout.

Jason Lichtenwalter

College Intensive Oboe and English Horn Faculty

Instruments: Oboe, English Horn
Education: M.M., Eastman School of Music; B.M., Oberlin Conservatory

Jason Lichtenwalter holds the Oboe/English Horn position with the Colorado Symphony in Denver and the Britt Festival Orchestra in Jacksonville, Oregon.  Previous positions include Principal Oboe with the Dallas Opera Orchestra and East Texas Symphony as well as Associate Principal/2nd Oboe and Acting English Horn with the Honolulu Symphony.  He has also performed with the Dallas Symphony (Dallas and Vail), Fort Worth Symphony, Naples Philharmonic, Colorado Music Festival Orchestra, and Colorado Bach Ensemble, among many others.  As a featured soloist, he has appeared on oboe, oboe d’amore, and English horn.  He served as adjunct faculty at the University of Colorado-Boulder and the University of Denver.  Jason earned oboe performance degrees from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and Eastman School of Music.  His primary teachers were James Caldwell and Richard Killmer, and he pursued post-graduate studies with Elaine Douvas, Robert Walters, Mark Ackerman, and David Matthews.  In October 2020, he founded Peak Reeds, an online reed and cane shop catering to oboists and English hornists at altitude.

David Shea

Dean of Student Affairs, College Intensive Clarinet Faculty

Instruments: Clarinet
Education: D.M.A., Indiana University – Bloomington; M.M., University of Illinois

David Shea currently serves as an Assistant Professor of Clarinet at Texas Tech University, and is also principal clarinet in the Abilene Philharmonic and Lubbock Symphony Orchestras. He has earned degrees from the Oberlin Conservatory (BM), the University of Illinois (MM) and Indiana University (DM). His teachers have been Howard Klug, Lawrence McDonald, Eli Eban, James Campbell and Ronald Phillips. Shea has performed as a soloist and chamber musician throughout the United States, France, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Brazil and Chile. As a member of Trio Montecino, he recently toured in Belgium, Germany, and the United States to promote the release of their second CD, Nuevo Sonido: Latin- American Trios, which is available on the Eroica Classical Recordings label. Shea has performed at the International Clarinet Association Clarinetfests in Chicago, Columbus, Salt Lake City, Atlanta and Kansas City, as well as the OU Clarinet Symposium, University of Montevallo Clarinet Symposium and most recently, at Klarinetstage, Belgium.

Shea was a finalist in the Boosey and Hawkes North American Clarinet Competition and was a concerto competition winner at the Oberlin Conservatory and the Colorado Springs Summer Music Festival. In addition to his solo and chamber music performances, Shea has performed as an orchestral musician with the Indianapolis Symphony, Fort Wayne Symphony, Columbus Philharmonic, Champaign-Urbana Symphony and the Sinfonia de Camera. He has also been involved in numerous CD recording projects for Crystal, Naxos, Delos, Opus One, Indiana University Recordings and Hal Leonard Productions where he worked with such artists as Eugene Rousseau and the Indiana Clarinet Trio. As a teacher, Shea has given master classes throughout the US and South America.  He has been invited twice to teach as a sabbatical replacement at the prestigious Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University.  He has also participated in a Big 12 Fellowship grant with Dan Silver at CU-Boulder, where innovative teaching pedagogies were discussed and demonstrated during week-long residencies at both campuses.  In 2005, Shea was awarded the Texas Tech University President’s Excellence in Teaching Award, and most recently, was inducted into the Texas Tech University Teaching Academy. David Shea is a Buffet-Crampon USA Performing Artist and is the Texas State Chair for the International Clarinet Association.

Rémy Taghavi

College Intensive Bassoon Faculty

Instruments: Bassoon
Education: D.M.A., Stony Brook University; M.M. Juilliard School; B.M., University of Southern California

Noted for his “bubbling, charming” playing, Rémy Taghavi is a highly sought-after bassoonist and educator based in the Northeast, and has performed, toured and recorded with numerous groups across North America, South America, and Asia. Rémy has held the position of principal bassoon with the New Haven Symphony Orchestra since 2018 and has been a guest artist with the Las Vegas Philharmonic and the American Youth, Cape, and Princeton Symphonies. He has previously been an associate member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and a substitute with Symphony in C, and has played under conductors including Sir Simon Rattle, Alan Gilbert, and James Conlon. Mr. Taghavi has performed as a soloist with the Stony Brook Symphony Orchestra and the New York Symphonic Ensemble at Fukuoka Symphony Hall and the United Nations.

As a chamber musician, Rémy has given performances at the Banff Centre, Domaine Forget, Bravo! Vail, the Atlantic Music Festival, FIMAC, Montréal/New Musics Festival, and the Annapolis Chamber Music Festival, of which he is co-director and founder. Mr. Taghavi is the bassoonist in Frisson, the New York-based nonet whose performances have been called “musical perfection” (Royal Gazette, Bermuda). He is also a member of SoundMind, a modern wind quintet which performs music by living composers alongside re-imagined works from across an expanse of style, genre, and instrumentation. Rémy is an alumnus of Ensemble Connect, a chamber music and career-development fellowship of Carnegie Hall and The Juilliard School.

A passionate educator, Mr. Taghavi is currently Assistant Professor of Bassoon at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and faculty at the Rocky Ridge Music Center’s Young Artist Seminar (Colorado). He was an instructor in the Evening Division at the Juilliard School from 2014 to 2019. He has given guest masterclasses at colleges and universities throughout the United States and abroad. Rémy graduated magna cum laude from the University of Southern California, received a Master’s degree from the Juilliard School, and recently completed his doctorate at Stony Brook University. His primary teachers include Frank Morelli, Judith Farmer, and Norbert Nielubowski.

Ketevan Badrize

College Intensive Session One Piano Faculty

Instruments: Piano (Session 1)
Education: MM, Tbilisi State Conservatory

Born in Tbilisi, Georgia, Ketevan Badridze is an award winning pianist. Since her first performance with an orchestra at the age of ten, Ketevan has appeared with Tbilisi Symphony, Georgian National Symphony and Chamber Orchestras, Yerevan Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Welsh Symphony Orchestra, and South Bend Symphony Orchestra. She is a seasoned performer of solo and chamber music in United States, Georgia, France, Austria, Holland, Italy and Germany. Her collaborations include performances with Lisa Batiashvili, Alexander Korsantia, Gregory Fulkerson as well as Euclid and Georgian National Quartets. Mrs. Badridze recorded Mozart Piano Concerto in C Minor with Tbilisi Symphony Orchestra. Most recent albums feature Prokofiev: Music for violin and piano and French Violin sonatas with Violinist Jameson Cooper.

Ketevan is a prizewinner of numerous international competitions, such as Newport International Piano Competition -UK, The World International Piano Competition – Cincinnati, New Orleans International Piano Competition, and the Bartok-Kabalevsky-Prokofiev International Piano Competition.

She received her Master of Music and Postgraduate degrees from Tbilisi State Conservatory under the tutelage of Temur Matureli and Nodar Gabunia and in 1993 she was appointed to the piano faculty there. In 2000, Ketevan moved to the United States to study at Indiana University South Bend with Professor Alexander Toradze, where she received her Master’s Degree and Artist Diploma. Ketevan has appeared with Toradze Piano Studio at numerous music venues around Europe and the United States, including Columbia University in New-York, Wigmore Hall in London, Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon, Academia of Santa Cecilia in Rome, Settimane Musicali di Stresa e del Lago Maggiore and Ravenna Festival in Italy, Ruhr Keyboard Festival in Germany, and the Irving S. Gilmore International Keyboard Festival as a part of “World Rising Stars” series broadcast on the National Public Radio (NPR).

Since Spring 2005 Ms. Badridze serves as a member of music faculty at Indiana University at South Bend.

Andrew Campbell

Collaborative Piano Chair, College Intensive Piano Faculty

Instruments: Collaborative Piano
Education: D.M.A., University of Michigan; M.M., Indiana University; B.M. Oberlin College

Andrew Campbell has established himself as one of the most versatile collaborative pianists in the United States with a performing career that has taken him to six continents. Recent appearances include a South African concert tour, highlighted by a recital at the Johannesburg International Mozart Festival; a performance of Bach’s keyboard concerto in d minor with the Chintimini Festival Chamber Orchestra; performances at the Miklin Festival Internacional in Bogotá, Columbia; and the world premier of Damian Montano’s Disappearing Moon at the 2017 International Double Reed Society Conference. He has collaborated in recitals with such diverse artists as violinist Chee-Yun, double bassist Catalin Rotaru, flutist Thomas Robertello, bassoonist Judith LeClair, trombonist Charles Vernon, saxophonist Timothy McAllister, composer Bright Sheng, and tenor Anthony Dean Griffey. He served as opera rehearsal pianist for distinguished conductors André Previn, Plácido Domingo and Heinz Fricke, and worked closely with the composer Carlisle Floyd on several productions of his operas. Chamber music performances have taken him to important venues including Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, where The Strad and Strings magazines both hailed his performance as “excellent.” His partnership with violinist Katherine McLin in the McLin/Campbell Duo has led to performances on numerous recital series throughout the United States and Europe. He has recorded several CDs on the Summit and Centaur labels, and his performance of the Rachmaninoff cello sonata with bassist Catalin Rotaru was cited for special praise by Bass World and XBass, two leading international journals. He has appeared as collaborative pianist at numerous international conferences, including the National Flute Association Convention, MTNA, the Society for American Music, the International Viola Congress, and multiple appearances at the International Double Reed Society, for which he has served as official pianist. Dr. Campbell received the Doctorate in Piano Chamber Music and Accompanying from the University of Michigan where he studied with the renowned collaborative artist Martin Katz.

Dr. Campbell is currently Director of the Collaborative Piano Program and Associate Director for Graduate Studies at the Arizona State University School of Music. He recently completed his 8^th season as Assistant Director and Director of Chamber Music for the Saarburg Serenaden Music Festival (Germany) and the Vianden International Music Festival (Luxembourg), performing annually on their faculty recitals in collaboration with colleagues from the United States, Europe and the Asia. Previous positions include Director of the Collaborative Piano Program at the Brevard Music Center, music staff for both the Washington National Opera and San Diego Opera, and Music Director and Pianist for the San Diego Opera Ensemble.

Alejandro Cremaschi

Adult Piano Seminar Faculty

Instruments: Piano (Session Two)
Education: MM and DMA degrees from the University of Minnesota

Alejandro Cremaschi received his MM and DMA degrees from the University of Minnesota. He earned undergraduate degrees from the University of Maryland Baltimore County, and the Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, Mendoza, Argentina. He studied with Edith Peinado, Dora De Marinis, Nancy Roldan and Lydia Artymiw. He has been a soloist with the orchestras of the Universidad de Cuyo, Universidad de Tucumán, University of Minnesota and the National Symphony Orchestra of Argentina among others. He was a prize winner at the International Beethoven Sonata Piano Competition in Memphis, Tennessee in 2001.

Cremaschi is in demand as a specialist on Latin American piano music. He is the editor and recording artist for the new edition of Alberto Ginastera’s Doce Preludios Americanos, published by Carl Fischer Publishing in 2016. Between 1996 and 2002, he was a member of the Argentine Foundation “Ostinato,” founded and directed by his former teacher Dora De Marinis. As a member of this foundation, and in collaboration with other members, he recorded Argentine music for the labels IRCO, Ostinato and Marco Polo, and participated in concert tours in the US and Europe. Since 2004, he actively collaborated with the Argentine composer and CU professor emeritus Luis Jorge Gonzalez until his death in 2016. His recordings of solo and chamber music by Gonzalez have been released in the CDs Las Puertas del Tiempo (2009), Fervor (2012) and Tango: Body and Soul (2015) by the British label Meridian Records. Las Puertas del Tiempo was praised by Fanfare Magazine as “exemplary.”

Cremaschi’s current pedagogical research areas include concert repertoire and pedagogical music by Argentine and Latin American composers; the use of technology for remote teaching and as an aid the acquisition and training of music reading skills; the influence of self-efficacy beliefs in piano students’ achievement, motivation and practicing strategies; cultural and social aspects of piano study in Latin America; and the study and implementation of cooperative learning strategies in the piano classroom. He has been a presenter at national and international conferences including numerous Music Teachers National Association annual conferences, College Music Society national and international conferences, and the International Society for Music Education conference, as well as several webinars and online panels for the Frances Clark Center for Keyboard Pedagogy and the Peabody Institute. He has published articles and reviews in the Research Studies in Music Education journal, Journal of Music, Technology and Education, European Piano Teachers Association magazine, the Journal for Technology in Music Teaching, the Piano Pedagogy Forum online journal, Clavier, The Instrumentalist, the Keyboard Companion and the Piano Magazine.

Timothy De Prey

Junior Artist Intensive Piano Faculty

Instruments: Piano
Education: M.M., University of Minnesota
B.M., University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire

Timothy De Prey, pianist, is excited to join the Rocky Ridge Music team.  He has been a piano instructor at the faculty of MacPhail Center for Music in Minneapolis Minnesota since 1997.  MacPhail is the largest community music school in the United States.

Timothy’s students participate in MacPhail’s Crescendo for Piano Program and throughout his teaching career his students have won many competitions including the Junior Honor’s Competition, the Honor’s Competition and the prestigious Concerto and Aria Competition. Timothy enjoys working with students of all ages and levels, but specifically enjoys students who are interested in a variety of repertoire and technical challenges. Although he teaches through traditional methods, Timothy incorporates pop and jazz genres if the students are interested. Nearly half of his students are beginning adults or adults who have returned to music. He incorporates technology into his teaching with video tutorials and YouTube samples.  He also has students who take lessons exclusively OnLine.  This year, (2024) Timothy was awarded the James Ericksen Professional Development Grant administered through MacPhail.   The grant financially supports his new project of composing teaching repertoire for his students from age 5 – 75.

Timothy is an active performer in the Twin Cities and has performed on six MacPhail Faculty Spotlight Performances including “By George” – the music of George Gershwin, “Flirting with Sondheim” and most recently “It Takes Two” – a review of Broadway’s most celebrated duets.  In addition to his work at MacPhail, Timothy has been the principal accompanist for the well-respected Twin Cities Gay Men’s Chorus since 1991. As pianist for the chorus Timothy has had the opportunity to work with Michael Feinstein, Ann Hampton Callaway, Holly Near and Harvey Fierstein. Timothy can be heard on all 16 of TCGMC’s CD’s, on “Proud and Peaceful”- a CD of solo piano music from the pianists within GALA (Gay and Lesbian Choruses of America) and on his own CD’s, “in the evening air” – a collection of nocturnes, lullabies and night songs and  “I Love a Piano” – a recording commemorating his 20th year accompanying the Twin Cities’ Gay Men’s Chorus and “this is the wonder” a holiday CD celebrating his 25^th anniversary with the chorus.

Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges proclaimed December 5, 2015 as Timothy De Prey Day in the City of Minneapolis honoring his work with MacPhail Center for Music and the Twin Cities Gay Men’s Chorus. Timothy has a Bachelor of Arts degree in music therapy from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and a Master of Music degree in piano performance from the University of Minnesota.

Angela Drăghicescu

College Intensive Collaborative Piano Faculty

Instruments: Collaborative Piano (Session 1)
Education: BM and MM from Louisiana State University with Professor Michael Gurt
DMA from University of Texas Austin with Anne Epperson

Praised by the New York Times as “elegant and spectacular” pianist Angela Drăghicescu has established an international reputation as a much sought-after pianist and chamber musician. She has performed in major concert halls across North America, and throughout Europe, Asia, and Latin America. Recent engagements have included performances at Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, the Kennedy Center, Kaufmann Center, Konserthus (Stockholm), Oslo Philharmonic, Rudolfinium in Prague, and the George Enescu Philharmonic. Her collaborations include many of today’s leading artists such as James Ehnes, Noah Bendix-Balgley, Doc Severinsen, Frank Huang, and has collaborated in concerts with Maxim Vengerov, René Felming, and Joyce di Donato. She is regularly invited to perform with members of the Berlin Philharmonic, Chicago, New York, and London Symphonies. Previous performances included among esteemed guests, members of the Royal Families of Sweden, Norway, and England. Her festival appearances include Aspen, Music at Menlo, Interlochen Arts Academy; Si Piano (Switzerland) and Seattle Chamber Music Society; and live on BBC 5, Classical King FM Seattle, WQXR New York, WFMT Chicago, Romanian National Radio, and Ruv Ras 1 Iceland.

She has appeared in concerts for conductors Zubin Mehta, Michael Tilson-Thomas Carl St Clair, David Zinman, and Edwin Outwater. Deeply committed to expanding the chamber music repertoire she has commissioned and premiered works by composers William Bolcom and Jennifer Higdon. A huge proponent of the works of George Enescu, her research on the music of George Enescu has led her to the rediscovery of Enescu’s first piano trio, a work lost for over 50 years. Her relentless efforts have received the recent praise of the New York Times, who credited her for being an authority on the newly discovered works of George Enescu. 2021-2022 season highlights include a recording of the Enescu trio on the Warner label and collaborations with Calidore quartet members, Frank Huang, and David Halen.

Sergio Gallo

APS Faculty

Instruments: Piano
Education: Diplôme d’Excellence at the Conservatoire Européen de Musique de Paris (1987)
Post-Graduate Certificate at the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest (1992)
M.M. and Artist Diploma at the University of Cincinnati (1994 and 1995 respectively)
Doctorate of Musical Arts from the University of California, Santa Barbara (1998)

A Steinway artist, Sergio Gallo specializes in the repertoire of the Romantic period, especially Liszt and his contemporaries, including Schumann, Henselt, Brahms, and Chopin. He has also championed the work of composers in Brazil, the nation of his birth. Gallo has recorded several acclaimed CD’s for Eroica, with forthcoming projects committed Naxos Grand Piano, and Quartz labels. Sergio Gallo’s recent release of Liszt’s transcriptions of operas by Meyerbeer received a four star rating from the BBC Magazine: His recordings have received high praise from Gramophone Magazine (of his most recent Villa-Lobos recording: “splendid playing of a lively programme… [a] nuanced performance… played with exceptional artistry”) and American Record Guide (“it is hard to imagine a pianist leaving me with a more intense feeling of nobility”). In 2011, Gallo won the Global Music Awards “Award of Excellence” for his album, Mostly Villa-Lobos: 20th Century Piano Music from the Americas.

Gallo has performed with orchestras throughout the Americas and worldwide. In the last decade, he has performed in Turkey, Brazil, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Serbia, Portugal, Korea, Taiwan, Canada, and China, as well as in recitals given across the United States. Since his Brazilian national radio debut in 1986 (Radio Cultura, São Paulo) and his European radio debut in 1988 (Radio France, Paris), Gallo’s work has been regularly played on classical music radio outlets around the world. His performances of Liszt’s Hungarian Fantasy L.123, Schumann’s Concerto in A minor, Op.54, and Tchaikovsky’s Concerto No.1 in B-flat Minor, Op.23 were highlighted in 2011 Atlanta symphonic performances.

Sergio Gallo is the winner of concerto competitions of the Sao Paulo Symphony Orchestra and of the University Symphony in Santa Barbara. He has received a grant from the Henry Cowell Incentive Funds at the American Music Center in New York, New York, to record works by the composer, and this recording has been featured in the program Piano Matters with David Dubal. Gallo twice toured North Dakota with a Challenge America Fast-Track Grant award from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Gallo earned the Diplôme d’Excellence at the Conservatoire Européen de Musique de Paris (1987), a Post-Graduate Certificate at the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest (1992), an M.M. and Artist Diploma at the University of Cincinnati (1994 and 1995 respectively), and the Doctorate of Musical Arts from the University of California, Santa Barbara (1998). Among his further training and involvement in professional workshops, Gallo participated in the Daniel Berenboim Workshop for Pianists and Conductors at Carnegie Hall (2000), the Orchestra Stabile Summer Festival (Bergamo, Italy, 1991), the Sergei Rachmaninoff International Courses in Piano Performance (Tambov, Russia, 1988), and the Seminaire Jean Fassina (Paris, 1986). He lives in the United States where he is Professor of Piano Performance at Georgia State University in Atlanta, and is appointed to the affiliated artist staff of the Rocky Ridge Music Academy in Estes Park, Colorado.

Timothy Jones

Junior Artist Intensive Collaborative Pianist

Instruments: Collaborative Piano
Education: D.M.A., University of Texas-Austin
M.M., University of Texas-Austin
B.M., The Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University

Timothy Jones is an American pianist based in Austin, TX, recognized for his versatility as a performer, collaborator, and educator. He holds a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance from the Peabody Institute, where he studied under Marian Hahn and received additional guidance from esteemed artists Leon Fleisher and Richard Goode. Tim’s achievements at Peabody include winning the 2019 Lillian Gutmann Memorial Prize in Piano Performance. He continued his studies at the University of Texas at Austin, earning both a Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance under the mentorship of Anton Nel. Currently, Tim is pursuing an Artist Diploma as only the second pianist in UT Austin’s history to be admitted into this program.

Distinguished as the first solo pianist to receive a Collaborative Piano Teaching Assistantship at UT Austin, Tim was subsequently appointed Guest Artist Staff Pianist—a role created especially for him. This unique position allows him to serve as a valued collaborator and coach for instrumentalists and vocalists.

Tim has performed in prestigious venues including Lincoln Center, The Juilliard School, and the Krakow Academy of Music, and has been featured in major summer festivals such as Aspen Music Festival, Chautauqua Institution, Bowdoin International Music Festival, Virtuoso e Belcanto, and Summit Music Festival. His guest appearances as a collaborative pianist include engagements with Peabody Institute, Columbus State University, Georgia State University, University of Tennessee, University of Memphis, and University of Texas at San Antonio. Among his recent collaborators are members of the Atlanta, Pittsburgh, and Austin Symphony Orchestras, with upcoming performances alongside the UT Austin New Music Ensemble featuring Grammy-winning soprano Hila Plittman.

Alongside his performance career, Tim teaches piano and music theory at Velocity Music Academy and Clavierwerke School of Music in Austin, emphasizing a supportive, student-centered approach that nurtures artistic and technical development. Excited to join the faculty at Rocky Ridge Music Center for the Junior Artist Intensive, Tim looks forward to creating an inspiring, collaborative environment for emerging artists.

David Korevaar

APS Full Session Faculty

Instruments: Piano
Education: D.M.A., The Juilliard School
M.M., The Juilliard School
B.M., The Juilliard School

David Korevaar, whose playing has been called a “musical epiphany” by Gramophone Magazine, performs an extensive repertoire as a soloist and chamber musician around the US and internationally. In addition to his teaching at the University of Colorado Boulder, where he holds the Peter and Helen Weil fellowship in piano and where he has been named Distinguished Research Lecturer (2016), he is an active performer and recording artist. In the spring of 2016, Korevaar spent two weeks teaching in Kabul at the Afghanistan National Institute of Music (ANIM). The 2016-2017 season also included two tours to Brazil and a recital and master classes in Mexico City. In Fall 2017, he conducted and performed two of Mozart’s piano concertos in Boulder, bringing home a skill picked up in Japan and Brazil over the last several years. Korevaar’s extensive discography includes numerous solo and chamber music recordings, most recently a recording of Lowell Liebermann’s Piano Music since 2000 and a world premiere recording of piano music by the early twentieth-century Italian composer Luigi Perrachio. Other recent releases include a disc of chamber works by Tibor Harsányi with Charles Wetherbee (Naxos), and a Chopin recital on MSR, Hindemith’s three Piano Sonatas and Suite “1922” (MSR) and two Schubert Sonatas (MSR). In addition, his collaboration with members of the Takacs Quartet has resulted in a number of releases, including a disc of Brahms with violist Geraldine Walther and cellist Andras Fejer (MSR), two Beethoven Violin Sonatas with violinist Edward Dusinberre (Decca), and Hindemith’s music for Viola and Piano with Geraldine Walther (MSR). Korevaar also writes on various musical topics, with a focus on French music.

Bryan Wallick

College Intensive Piano Faculty

Instruments: Piano (Session 2)
Education: M.M., The Juilliard School; B.M., The Juilliard School

Bryan Wallick is gaining recognition as one of the great American virtuoso pianists of his generation. Gold medalist of the 1997 Vladimir Horowitz International Piano Competition in Kiev, he has performed throughout the United States, Europe, and Africa.

Mr. Wallick made his New York recital debut in 1998 at Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall and made his Wigmore Hall recital debut in London in 2003.  He has also performed at London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall with the London Sinfonietta and at St. Martin-in-the-Fields Church.

In recent seasons, Mr. Wallick has performed with the Arizona Musicfest Orchestra, Boise Philharmonic, Boulder Symphony, Brevard Symphony, Cape Town Philharmonic, Cincinnati Pops, Evansville Philharmonic, Fort Collins Symphony, Illinois Philharmonic, Johannesburg Philharmonic, Kentucky Symphony, Kwa-Zulu Natal Philharmonic, Memphis Symphony, Phoenix Symphony, Portland Symphony, Winston-Salem Symphony, Western Piedmont Symphony, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra; and collaborated with conductors Erich Kunzel, Marvin Hamlisch, Robert Moody, Daniel Raiskin, Bernhard Gueller, Adrian Prabava, Daniel Boico, Arjen Tien, Yasuo Shinozaki, Andrew Sewell, Vladimir Verbitsky, Victor Yampolsky, Josep Vicent, Leslie Dunner, Alfred Savia, Christopher Confessore, Matthew Troy, and Wes Kenney among others.  Mr. Wallick has performed recitals at the Chateau Differdange in Luxembourg, on the Tivoli Artists Series in Copenhagen, Ravinia’s Rising Star Series, Grand Teton Music Festival, Xavier Piano Series (Cincinnati), Scottsdale Center’s Virgina Piper Series, Sanibel Island Music Festival, Tri-C Classical Series at the Cleveland Museum of Art, and the Classics in the Atrium Series in the British Virgin Islands.  In March 2002, Mr. Wallick played two solo performances at Ledreborg Palace for HRH Princess Marie Gabrielle Luxembourg, and HRH Prince Philip Bourbon de Parme.

Bryan Wallick is an avid chamber musician and has performed with violinists Nikita Boriso-Glebsky, Rachel Lee Priday, Yi-Jia Susanne Hou, Miriam Contzen, Sergei Malov, and cellists Zuill Bailey, Alexander Buzlov, Alexander Ramm, and Wolfgang Emmanuel Schmidt.  He has recently joined the Mendelssohn Trio which is in residence at Colorado State University and most recently performed with them on a European tour in September 2022 visiting Switzerland, Austria and Germany.  In 2015 he became Artistic Director of Schalk Visser Concert Promotions which hosts many international musicians who perform concert tours throughout South Africa.  During the COVID-19 period he recorded the Beethoven Triple Concerto Op. 56 (Trio Version) with violinist Frank Stadler (Austria) and Peter Martens (South Africa) in an inter-continental virtual collaboration across three continents which won the KykNet Fiesta Award for Best Achievement in Classical Music for South Africa 2020.  Mr. Wallick is also actively involved in organizing the International Keyboard Odyssiad and Summer Festival (IKOF) in Colorado where he regularly performs, lectures and teaches.

His most recent engagements include appearances with the Brevard Symphony,  Boulder Symphony, Cape Town Philharmonic, Fort Collins Symphony, Johannesburg Philharmonic, Kwa-Zulu Natal Philharmonic, Memphis Symphony Orchestra, and Western Piedmont Symphony.  He has performed his latest recital project Virtuosic Fugue for the Grand Teton Music Festival, University of Texas (El Paso), Las Cruces, New Mexico, Scottsdale Center in Arizona, Ravinia Festival, Xavier Piano Series, Tri-C Classical Series at the Cleveland Museum of Art, and throughout South Africa. Virtuosic Fugue (Vol. 1) was recorded for Navona Records and released in July 2023.  He made chamber appearances with cellist Zuill Bailey for Chamber Music Detroit and the Library of Congress, performed with violinist Rachel Lee Priday at the University of Washington and Colorado State’s Classical Convergence series, and also performed at the Chintimini Summer Music Festival in Oregon.

Bryan Wallick has performed on Chicago’s WFMT Fazioli Series and “Live on WFMT,” on BBC’s radio show “In Tune,” National Ukrainian Television and Radio, on Danish National Radio, on Colorado Public Radio,  and on NPR’s “Performance Today.” He was given a grant in 2006 by the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts to explore his synesthetic realities in a multimedia project that allows the audience to see the colors he experiences while performing.  Synesthesia is the ability to experience two or more sensory experiences with one stimulus. Bryan Wallick sees colors with each musical pitch and has created a computer program that projects images of his colored visions to the audience.

Mr. Wallick studied with Jerome Lowenthal in New York City where he was the first Juilliard School graduate to receive both an undergraduate Honors Diploma (2000) and an accelerated master’s Degree (2001).  He continued his studies with Christopher Elton in London at the Royal Academy of Music where he was the recipient of the Associated Board International Scholarship, receiving a Post-graduate Diploma with Distinction. He previously studied with Eugene and Elisabeth Pridonoff from the Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music. Mr. Wallick has recently been appointed as Assistant-Professor of Piano at Colorado State University where he lives with his wife and three children.  George Plimpton’s feature article on Bryan Wallick appeared in the March 2002 edition of Contents magazine.

Kris Emanuel

Música Mariachi Trumpet Faculty

Instruments: Mariachi, Trumpet
Education: M.A., CU Denver; B.M.E. Metropolitan State University; B.A. CUNY Hunter

Instruments: Trumpet, Armonia Education: MA in Educational Leadership and Administration from CU Denver, BME in Music Education – Instrumental from MSU Denver and BA in Music from CUNY Hunter.

Meet Kris, a dedicated musician and educator originally from New York City who now calls Colorado home. He loves spending time cycling in the mountains! Kris started playing the trumpet in 4th grade and later switched to the French horn while in college, studying under esteemed professors like Rich Casparie, Alexander George, and Kolio Plachkov.

Kris began his current position as the General Music and Mariachi director at Indian Peaks Elementary in St. Vrain Valley Schools in 2017. His early positions included long term substitute positions as Middle School Orchestra and High School Band directors in Mapleton Public Schools. He also worked in Adams 12 as a General Music Teacher and Elementary Music Coordinator. His passion for music education extends beyond the regular school day. Kris has developed various music clubs, including a Mariachi Band, Guitar Club, Drum Club, Choir, Recorder Club, and Rock Band to serve the special interests of students and the community.

His interest in Mariachi Band came from the community at Indian Peaks Elementary. Kris believes that music educators serve as a conduit to allow students and their community to be seen and represented in the music programs. He wanted to create an ensemble that wasn’t unique for Indian Peaks, but could be continued at the middle and high school levels. He established partnerships with the Mariachi Band directors at Sunset Middle and Niwot High. He is excited to be a part of Rocky Ridge’s Nuestras Raíces: Música Mariachi and looks forward to meeting and supporting the music makers!

Bob Klimek

Mariachi Voice Faculty

Instruments: Voice

Instruments: Mariachi, Voz.  Education:  Doctor of Arts (Theory/Composition and Ethnomusicology); U.N.C.; M.A. (Composition/Chorale/Voice) D.U.

Dr. Robert Klimek, originally from Chicago, Los Angeles and now Colorado, is a noted vocal and instrumental performer, composer, and clinician.  He is an Emeritus faculty member and the founding  Director of Music and the Performing Arts at the Colorado School of Mines. His specialties are vocal, chorale, marching/concert band performance/composition, as well as studies in ethnomusicology, specifically the area of  Mexican and Latin American Baroque chorale music and its similarities to Mariachi harmonies.  He also has a strong interest in  performing on Latin/ South American bone, clay, bamboo, feather, wind/percussion instruments.  Some of Bob’s past teachers include such eminent figures as Aaron Copeland, Earl Brown, Dave Brubeck, Ned Rorem, and Philip Glass.   His vocal and instrumental music compositions often integrate melodic quotes from Alabados he collects around the Southwest. His music can be found in numerous chorale collections.    He has been a featured artist (alto flute) on a Grammy nominated Spanish album; was a silver nominee for the National Booksellers Gold Medallion Award and was recently presented with the Michael P. Malone International Leadership Award for outstanding accomplishments in bringing global perspective to higher education.

Bob has been a continuing member of the  Southwest Musicians ensemble (Keyboard) as well as a vocal coach with  Lorenzo Trujillo for the 1^st Mariachi All-State performance (Fall. 2022)

Other Instruments: Pipe organ, harpsicord, piano, flute, saxophone, electronic keyboards.

Lorenzo Trujillo

Música Mariachi Program Director

Instruments: Violin
Education: Doctorate in Education and Juris Doctorate Degrees (Ed.D., J.D.)

Lorenzo A. Trujillo grew up in Denver and spent many summers in Arroyo Seco, New Mexico (eight miles outside of Taos) with his extended family. He was highly influenced by his aunt, Eva Nuánez, as a vocalist, guitarist, and violinist. He also engaged his energies in ethnic dance and collaborated with his mother, Marie Orália Durán Trujillo, in the formation of the Southwest Dancers in the early 1970’s. He taught Mexican Folkdance and Flamenco at the Sangre De Cristo Arts Center in Pueblo, Colorado, the University of Colorado at Boulder and Denver, and at San Francisco State University. He is the Director of the Mariachi Program at Metropolitan State University in Denver (see Facebook page and webpage LorenzoTrujillo.com).

For over two decades, he was a member of the Mariachi Alegre de San Cayetano where he played violin and sang. As a musician, dancer, and culture bearer, Lorenzo was awarded the Colorado Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts. He was inducted into the Colorado Chicano Music Hall of Fame and has served on the National Endowment for the Arts as a performing artist, grants panelist, and arts program evaluator. He was also named a Colorado Folk Artist and Master Teacher by the Colorado Council on the Arts through the Master/Apprentice Program and in 2012 was awarded the Tesoro de Oro by the Tesoro Cultural Center.

Lorenzo formed the Southwest Musicians in the late 1980’s, recording several musical standards that are part of a vast repertoire of regional social dances and popular Mexican music of the early and mid-twentieth century. Among his recordings are: Musical Traditions of Colorado and New Mexico (Southwest Musicians); Con Cariño (Mariachi Alegre); A Musical Banquet: From Santa Fe to Denver (with E.J. Rodriguez), and, The Golden Age of the Southwest: From 1840 to Hollywood. He has toured in Ireland, Peru and Italy, presenting traditional music, liturgical and classical repertoire.

In his noted publication, Music of Colorado and New Mexico’s Río Grande, in Enduring Legacies: Ethnic Histories and Culture of Colorado, University of Colorado Press, Lorenzo highlights the history of the Casorio and Entriega wedding traditions celebrated throughout the Upper Río Grande Region of Southern Colorado and Northern New Mexico of the 1840’s. He holds a Doctorate in Education and Juris Doctorate Degrees (Ed.D., J.D.) and served as Assistant Dean and Professor at the University of Colorado School of Law.

Currently, he is the Director of the Mariachi Program at Metropolitan State University in Denver, the President of Hilos Culturales, a non-profit organization that preserves, promotes, and presents Hispanic traditions from the 1840’s of Colorado and New Mexico. He serves as the Vice Chairman, Tesoro Cultural Center, Director, Viva Southwest Mariachi Festival Workshop & Showcase, Director, Latino Cultural Arts Center Mariachi Program, Director, Southwest Musicians, and Trustee, Colorado Symphony.

Matt Fuller

Jazz Faculty

Instruments: Guitar
Education: M.M., CU Boulder

Guitarist Matt Fuller is an active performer and educator, he teaches jazz guitar at Denver Metro State University. Matt recently relocated back to his home state of Colorado after living in NYC as a freelancing musician and teacher from 2012-2015. His debut album as a leader Waiting for Violet was released in May 2014 and features celebrated trumpeter Ron Miles. Some notable musicians he has performed with include Idina Menzel, Marvin Hamlisch and the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, Amir ElSaffar, Cuong Vu, Bill Ware, Scott Amendola and New West Guitar Group. Originally from Colorado, Matt holds a Master’s Degree in Jazz Performance and Pedagogy from the University of Colorado. Prior to teaching at Denver MSU he taught jazz guitar at University of Northern Colorado from 2005-2011. Matt studied jazz guitar and music theory for eleven years with his mentor Dale Bruning (Bill Frisell’s original teacher). After running his own private lessons studios in Denver and Brooklyn, Matt draws on twenty years teaching experience when working with children and adults. He finds great joy in helping each student develop their skills and find their own direction in music.

Dave Hammond

Jazz Faculty

Instruments: Drums
Education: M.M., University of Denver; B.M., Berklee College of Music

Dave Hammond performed professionally in Boston, South America and Denver before becoming one of the founding music instructors at the Denver School of the Arts (DSA). Under the direction of Mr. Hammond DSA bands have performed at 13 of the last 16 Colorado Music Educators Association conferences, performed 14 times at the CBA State Concert Band Finals, won many awards and accolades including Downbeat Magazine Student Awards: Best Chamber Group, Best Classical Symphonic Band, Best Big Band and Best Studio Orchestra. The Denver School of the Arts Jazz Workshop Orchestra is one of the top high school big bands nationwide selected to compete at the Swing Central Jazz Festival in Savannah, GA (2015, 2014 and 2013), Wynton Marsalis’ Essentially Ellington High School Competition and Festival in New York (2004, 1998). Hammond received his Master of Music degree from the University of Denver and his Bachelor of Music degree from Berklee College of Music.

Greg Harris

Jazz Faculty

Instruments: Piano, Vibraphone
Education: M.M., CU Boulder; B.A., Fort Lewis College

Multi-Instrumentalist Greg Tanner Harris leads the “Greg Harris Vibe Quintet,” and is a member of Bluegrass legend Pete Wernick’s Flexigrass, hip-hop/jazz/soul group Future Jazz Project, New World Citizen Band, 9th & Lincoln Orchestra, and SuperCollider. Among his work as a studio musician, he has released 5 albums- Greg Harris Vibe Quintet “Glass Gold,” “Open Space,” “Frames Live,” Prospector “Memory of Pilots” featuring trumpeter Ron Miles, and “World Citizen” with West African master xylophonist Aaron Bebe Sukura. The Greg Harris Vibe Quintet’s new album ‘Glass Gold’ was recently released on Dazzle Records.

Greg has a great interest in the West African Xylophone called the Gyil (pronounced JEE-lee), the national instrument of the Lobi and Dagara people of Ghana, Burkina Faso and Côte d’Ivoire, West Africa. He has performed with Baaba Maal, Aaron Bebe Sukura, SK Kakraba, as the musical director for Prudence Mabhena from Zimbabwe, and also does regular fundraising performances for the Whole Planet Foundation. He also plays an assortment of Frame Drums from around the world, exploring the Bodhran of Ireland and the Doyra of Uzbekistan.

He received an D.M.A. in Jazz Studies and an M.M. in Music Performance, Percussion at the University of Colorado, Boulder and a Music Education and Music Performance Bachelor of Arts degree from Fort Lewis College. Greg is a private instructor, high school teacher, and freelance musician in the Denver/Boulder area and has performed nationally and internationally. Greg teaches Ethnomusicology, music theory, at Colorado Conservatory for the Jazz Arts, is a board member of the non-profit Gift of Jazz, and as a Practicing Artist at the Denver School of the Arts.

Braun Khan

Jazz Faculty

Instruments: Double Bass, Electric Bass
Education: M.M., Central Michigan University

Braun Khan is from Mount Pleasant Michigan and began playing the acoustic guitar and the electric bass in high school. He quickly developed a love for music and began performing extensively in church groups and local bands. His experiences ranged from pop/rock to gospel to funk. A few years after taking up the electric bass his interests expanded to jazz and the upright bass, and he began studying classical and jazz bass performance at Central Michigan University.

After completing a Master of Music degree in double bass performance at Central Michigan University, Braun was hired by the university to teach classes in jazz theory and to oversee their community outreach program. He is currently pursuing a Doctorate of Arts in Jazz Studies at the University of Northern Colorado and is an active part of the Northern Colorado music scene, gigging frequently in jazz and funk/rock groups as well as with classical ensembles.

Braun has performed with Jeff Hamilton, Chris Potter, John Fedchock, Bill Watrous, Tamir Hendelman, Matt Wilson, Deborah Brown, Gary Smulyan, Bobby Sinabria, Ruben Alvarez, Toby Beau, Jake Shimabukuro, Groove For Thought, Clint de Ganon, Bob Christianson, Clifford Carter, Ron Stout, Dan Miller, Brad Goode, Pete Olstad, Greg Gisbert, Eric Gunnison, Adam Larson, Jim White, Steve Kovalcheck, Dana Landry, Peter Sommer, Wil Swindler, Josh Quinlan, Jeff Jenkins, Ben Markley, Mark Sloniker, Chris Smith, Mike Marlier, Ed Breazeale, the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, and more.

Dawn Kramer

Jazz Trumpet Faculty

Instruments: Trumpet
Education: B.M., The University of Colorado at Boulder

Dawn Kramer is a full time freelance trumpet player in the Denver area, specializing in a variety of styles including classical, jazz, pop and salsa. She is a member of the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra, Darren Kramer Organization, ElektroHornz, Boulder Brass, Colorado Jazz Repertory Orchestra and the salsa band Conjunto Colores. She plays many of the shows at the Denver Performing Arts Complex and the Arvada Center. Dawn has subbed with the Colorado Symphony, Fort Collins Symphony, Boulder Philharmonic, Colorado Music Festival, and many other regional orchestras and chamber ensembles. She attended the University of Colorado and received a Bachelor of Music in Trumpet Performance. She has toured as lead trumpet aboard several cruise lines, a Miami-based salsa band, as well as the internationally acclaimed rock band Matchbox Twenty. These travels took her across the US, Canada, Europe, UK, Australia, and Mexico. She has appeared on the Tonight Show, The Late Show with David Letterman, the Rosie O’Donnell show, and VH1 Storytellers. She has performed at the International Trumpet Guild, the International Association of Jazz Educators, Jazz Education Network and the Colorado Music Educators Association conventions. Dawn contracts for several local groups and also maintains a small private teaching studio. When Dawn isn’t working, she loves to cook, bake, read and spend time with her perfect puppy, Oliver!

Grant Larson

Jazz Program Director

Instruments: Saxophone
Education: D.M.A., M.M., CU Boulder

An active recitalist and proponent of new music, saxophonist Grant Larson has premiered works for saxophone by Paul, Hanson, Philip Wharton, Chiayu Hsu, Steven Makala, and John Drumheller at regional and national conventions. He is the soprano saxophonist with the Colorado-based Chautauqua Saxophone Quartet and has performed with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, the Colorado Music Festival Orchestra, the Chippewa Valley Symphony Orchestra, and the Fargo/Moorhead Symphony Orchestra. Grant currently serves as the Saxophone Practicing Artist at Denver School of the Arts, is the wind ensemble conductor for the Colorado Youth Symphony Orchestras, and serves on the faculty at Rocky Ridge Music Center.

Equally comfortable in both classical and jazz settings, Grant has performed on stage with notable artists such as Maria Schneider, Kurt Elling, Mulgrew Miller, Art Lande, Brad Goode, Johannes Weidenmueller, Peter Erskin, Ray Charles, Ignacio Berroa, and “Slammin” Sammy K. He recently produced a collaborative album (Ascent) of original jazz compositions with fellow musicians Greg Tanner Harris, Matt Fuller, Braun Khan, and Dave Hammond. He also has released two jazz albums of original compositions under the Dazzle Recordings label (Denver, CO). Grant holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Saxophone Performance and Pedagogy from the University of Colorado at Boulder; a Master of Music from the University of Colorado; and a Bachelor of Music from Concordia College. Previously, he served on the faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, Concordia College, and the Boulder Arts Academy.

Maggie Polk Olivo

Junior Artist Immersion Composition Faculty

Instruments: Composition

Maggie Polk Olivo is a musical collaborator, creative, and educator. She holds degrees in music composition and music education from IU Jacobs School of Music and is a certified Kodaly educator and arts integration specialist. She works alongside Dr. Brenda Brenner at the Jacobs Fairview Violin Project, also directing Jacobs Academy’s Musical Beginnings and Bloomington’s Bridges Musical Arts Youth Organization.

She’s presented sessions at the American String Teachers Association, Indiana Music Educators Association, and the South Central Indiana Early Youth and Childhood. Olivo’s been recognized as the 2021 Greater Chamber of Commerce’s “Outstanding Educator of the Year,” Jacobs OECD’s “Entrepreneur of the Month,” IMEA Music Teacher of the Year finalist, and presented her district’s Star of Excellence and Equity and Inclusion Spotlight Award. As a composer, her works have been performed by faculty from Jacobs School of Music, University of New Mexico, Willamette University, and University of Arizona, with commissions from the Tucson Symphony Orchestra and Amity Trio. Recently, she’s authored interactive music lessons for Peter Burkholder’s “Charles Ives at 150” festival, Amity Trio’s “Illuminating Apologues,” and F-flat Books.

Melvina Carrick

President

Instruments: Violin
Education: J.D., Duke University School of Law
LL.M., Duke University School of Law
B.A., American University

Melvina Carrick is a Managing Director and Colorado Market Executive of Bank of America Private Bank. In this role, she leads the Colorado team of financial professionals who, together, advise clients on their investment management, wealth structuring, estate planning, philanthropy, private business financing, banking, credit and trust service needs.

Melvina is a Colorado native who has worked for Bank of America since 2006. Prior to returning to Colorado, she worked in Emerging Markets Credit Trading for Bank of America in London and New York. Earlier in her career, she was an attorney with the law firm of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett. She has a Juris doctorate and Master of Laws from Duke University School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts from American University.

Melvina is fluent in English, Spanish and French and proficient in Portuguese. She plays violin, is an active supporter of the arts and enjoys travel with her family. She lives in Boulder, Colorado, with her four children and husband.

Melvina attended Rocky Ridge as a junior camper from 1986 to 1995, was a counselor in 1996, and all three of her children are also RR alumni.

Jessica Tolmach

Vice President

Instruments: Piano
Education: B.A., Connecticut College

Jessica Tolmach spent decades at Condé Nast Publications as an editor, branding strategist and director of sales on a variety of magazines including Vogue, Self, Glamour and Condé Nast Traveler. After graduating from Connecticut College with a double degree in English Literature and Art History, she began her career at PBS’ The MacNeil Lehrer NewsHour before her passion for fashion and design lured her to New York City and the world of lifestyle magazine publishing. For the past four years, she has been the Publishing Director of FREDERIC Media, a division of F. Schumacher & Co.

She is an avid traveler, amateur wildlife photographer, voracious reader, obsessed baker—the more butter the better!—once upon a time dancer and backpacker/hiker (summers at Cheley in Estes Park) and the mother of two highly musical boys in their 20’s. She lives in Greenwich, CT with her husband and two Sheepadoodles.

Brent Cohen

Trustee

Instruments: Piano, Guitar
Education: J.D., University of Colorado School of Law
B.A., University of Colorado School of Business Administration

Brent Cohen retired from the practice of law in 2023 after practicing for over 40 years. He and his wife, Dana, are the proud parents of two Rocky Ridge alumni, Emma (viola) and Joe (cello).

Anne Berkowitch

Trustee

Instruments: Flute
Education: M.B.A., Massachusetts Institute of Technology
M.S., Brown University

Anne is currently a Managing Director at Accenture after a career as an entrepreneur, launching and building technology and consulting businesses.  She is an avid angel investor and coach to entrepreneurs, whom she sees as creative agents of human ingenuity and passion.

Anne has always found her purpose in contributing to the growth and development of teams and individuals, whether as a company founder and CEO or as a mother; as a coach or a friend.  She has a profound respect for education and learned first hand the richness of learning to (modestly) play and appreciate music.

Anne lives in New York and is a mother of two children who grew up knowing the magic of summers in Estes Park

Gabe Racz

Treasurer

Instruments: Piano
Education: J.D., University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
B.M., Ithaca College

Gabe was formerly a partner in the Boulder law firm of Vranesh and Raisch, LLP, and joins Clark Hill International law firm in 2025.  He specializes in water quality, water rights and environmental matters, assisting municipal and industrial clients in navigating compliance with the Clean Water Act, Safe Drinking Water Act, Colorado Water Quality Control Act, and Colorado water law. He has a Bachelor of Music degree in piano performance from Ithaca College and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Gabe also participated as a piano student in the International Summer Academy at the Mozarteum University in Salzburg, Austria and studied musicology as a graduate student at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.

Bhavna Thakur

National Advisory Board Chair

Instruments:

Bhavna has over 23 years of investing, investment banking, capital markets, M&A, corporate finance, and legal experience. She has served in various international roles across New York, London, Hong Kong, and India, and most recently led Capital Markets and Exits for private equity fund Everstone Capital for 8 years. Previously, Bhavna worked with Citigroup, Morgan Stanley in Mumbai, Paul Weiss, Wharton & Garrison LLP, and Davis Polk and Wardwell LLP in London and New York, respectively.

Bhavna holds a BA LLB (Honors) from the National Law School of India, and a Masters in Law from Columbia University.

David Ludwig

National Advisory Board Member

Instruments:

David Serkin Ludwig’s first memory was singing Beatles songs with his sister; his second was hearing his grandfather perform at Carnegie Hall; foreshadowing a diverse career collaborating with many of today’s leading musicians, filmmakers, and writers. His choral work “The New Colossus,” opened the private prayer service for President Obama’s second inauguration. The next year NPR Music named him in the world’s “Top 100 Composers Under Forty.” He holds positions and residencies with nearly two dozen orchestras and music festivals in the US and abroad.

Ludwig has received commissions and notable performances from many of the most recognized artists and ensembles of our time, including the Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Minnesota, and National Symphony Orchestras, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Dresden Music Festival, as well as Jonathan Biss, Jeremy Denk, Jennifer Koh, Jaime Laredo, David Shifrin, eighth blackbird, the Dover and Borromeo Quartets, Imani Winds, and the PRISM Saxophone Quartet and conductors Yannick Nezet Sequin, Manfred Honeck, Juanjo Mena, and JoAnn Falletta.

This year Ludwig was honored by the American Academy of Arts and Letters as recipient of their annual award in music. In 2022 Ludwig was awarded the Stoeger Prize from the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the largest of its kind for chamber music. He received the prestigious 2018 Pew Center for the Arts and Heritage Fellowship, as well as the First Music Award, and is a two-time recipient of the Independence Foundation Fellowship, a Theodore Presser Foundation Career Grant, and awards from New Music USA, the American Composers Forum, American Music Center, Detroit Chamber Winds, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

In 2021 Ludwig was named a Steinway Artist by Steinway and Sons. He served on the composition faculty of The Curtis Institute of Music for nearly two decades before being appointed Dean and Director of Music of The Juilliard School in June 2021. He lives in New York City with his wife, acclaimed violinist Bella Hristova, and their four beloved cats.

Claudia Anderson

Faculty Representative

Instruments: Flute

CLAUDIA ANDERSON is known for her originality and brilliance as a solo and chamber music performer across the U.S. She is a founding member of the innovative flute duo ZAWA! (with Jill Felber), the summer flute intensive Passion Flute: Foundations for Creative Performing, and is principal flute with the Waterloo Cedar Falls (IA) Symphony. Currently flute faculty and Wind Area Head of Rocky Ridge’s College Intensive program, earlier in her tenure at RR she was Program Director for the Junior Program and had a major part in reshaping the faculty and program content during her five years in that position.

She has taught at the Universities of Iowa and Northern Iowa, Ithaca College and the University of California at Santa Barbara. In May 2025 she retired from the music faculty at Grinnell College. Claudia’s recent solo project, Glass Ceilings, commissioned several high-profile women composers and flutists to write pieces for flute(s) solo and electronic media, with its originating theme of gender inequality expanded to embrace the effects of Covid-19 and racial tensions of 2020. Anderson’s own work Glass Ceilings won the NFA’s Newly Published Music Competition in 2023. She has recorded for Centaur Records, CRI, Zawa!music, and cdbaby. Claudia’s duo ZAWA! is the longest-standing professional flute duo of our time. From their first commission by Jennifer Higdon onwards, they expanded the literature, power, and expressive range of two flutes together over more than two decades. running the edgE by Jennifer Higdon (commissioned in 1996) laid the foundation for ZAWA!’s commitment to expand this repertoire and to reflect a wealth of contemporary styles. ZAWA!’s commissions, arrangements, and programs with repertoire ever pushing boundaries have led to ZAWA! Reimagined in 2025, a new program of works for two flutes and electronic soundtracks. Follow their latest touring news at zawaflutes2.com 

Jennifer Higdon

National Advisory Board Member

Instruments:

Jennifer Higdon is one of America’s most acclaimed and most frequently performed living composers. She is a major figure in contemporary Classical music, receiving the 2010 Pulitzer Prize in Music for her Violin Concerto, a 2010 Grammy for her Percussion Concerto, a 2018 Grammy for her Viola Concerto and a 2020 Grammy for her Harp Concerto. In 2018, Higdon received the Nemmers Prize from Northwestern University which is given to contemporary classical composers of exceptional achievement who have significantly influenced the field of composition.

Most recently, the recording of Higdon’s Percussion Concerto was inducted into the Library of Congress National Recording Registry. Higdon enjoys several hundred performances a year of her works, and blue cathedral is today’s most performed contemporary orchestral work, with more than 600 performances worldwide. Her works have been recorded on more than seventy CDs. Higdon’s first opera, Cold Mountain, won the prestigious International Opera Award for Best World Premiere and the opera recording was nominated for 2 Grammy awards. Her music is published exclusively by Lawdon Press.

John Wolf

National Advisory Board Member

Instruments:

John Wolf is a local of Estes Park, Colorado. A former music educator, he has previously attended Rocky Ridge’s Adult Piano Seminar, and frequently performs in Estes Park. He has generously hosted fundraisers and house concerts in his home a short distance away from our summer campus.

Lorenzo Trujillo

National Advisory Board Member

Instruments: Violin
Education: Doctorate in Education and Juris Doctorate Degrees (Ed.D., J.D.)

Lorenzo A. Trujillo grew up in Denver and spent many summers in Arroyo Seco, New Mexico (eight miles outside of Taos) with his extended family. He was highly influenced by his aunt, Eva Nuánez, as a vocalist, guitarist, and violinist. He also engaged his energies in ethnic dance and collaborated with his mother, Marie Orália Durán Trujillo, in the formation of the Southwest Dancers in the early 1970’s. He taught Mexican Folkdance and Flamenco at the Sangre De Cristo Arts Center in Pueblo, Colorado, the University of Colorado at Boulder and Denver, and at San Francisco State University. He is the Director of the Mariachi Program at Metropolitan State University in Denver (see Facebook page and webpage LorenzoTrujillo.com).

For over two decades, he was a member of the Mariachi Alegre de San Cayetano where he played violin and sang. As a musician, dancer, and culture bearer, Lorenzo was awarded the Colorado Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts. He was inducted into the Colorado Chicano Music Hall of Fame and has served on the National Endowment for the Arts as a performing artist, grants panelist, and arts program evaluator. He was also named a Colorado Folk Artist and Master Teacher by the Colorado Council on the Arts through the Master/Apprentice Program and in 2012 was awarded the Tesoro de Oro by the Tesoro Cultural Center.

Lorenzo formed the Southwest Musicians in the late 1980’s, recording several musical standards that are part of a vast repertoire of regional social dances and popular Mexican music of the early and mid-twentieth century. Among his recordings are: Musical Traditions of Colorado and New Mexico (Southwest Musicians); Con Cariño (Mariachi Alegre); A Musical Banquet: From Santa Fe to Denver (with E.J. Rodriguez), and, The Golden Age of the Southwest: From 1840 to Hollywood. He has toured in Ireland, Peru and Italy, presenting traditional music, liturgical and classical repertoire.

In his noted publication, Music of Colorado and New Mexico’s Río Grande, in Enduring Legacies: Ethnic Histories and Culture of Colorado, University of Colorado Press, Lorenzo highlights the history of the Casorio and Entriega wedding traditions celebrated throughout the Upper Río Grande Region of Southern Colorado and Northern New Mexico of the 1840’s. He holds a Doctorate in Education and Juris Doctorate Degrees (Ed.D., J.D.) and served as Assistant Dean and Professor at the University of Colorado School of Law.

Currently, he is the Director of the Mariachi Program at Metropolitan State University in Denver, the President of Hilos Culturales, a non-profit organization that preserves, promotes, and presents Hispanic traditions from the 1840’s of Colorado and New Mexico. He serves as the Vice Chairman, Tesoro Cultural Center, Director, Viva Southwest Mariachi Festival Workshop & Showcase, Director, Latino Cultural Arts Center Mariachi Program, Director, Southwest Musicians, and Trustee, Colorado Symphony.

Marcus Brauchli

National Advisory Board Member

Instruments:

Marcus Brauchli is co-founder of North Base Media, which invests in and advises media and technology startups. Its portfolio includes digital media in Indonesia, India, the UAE and Mexico, as well as global brands like Minute Media, Atlas Obscura, and media-tech platforms like Piano, OpenSlate and Capsule Video. Brauchli is a director of Rzeczpospolita, a leading Polish newspaper, and of TNL Mediagene, an independent digital-media group in Japan and Taiwan.

Before co-founding NBM, Brauchli was The Washington Post’s executive editor and a vice president of The Washington Post Co. During his tenure in the newsroom, the Post won seven Pulitzer Prizes. Brauchli came to the Post from The Wall Street Journal, where he spent 24 years as a foreign correspondent and editor with a focus on China and Asia. He was the Journal’s national editor on Sept. 11, 2001, and helped to guide its Pulitzer-winning coverage that day. Before that, Mr. Brauchli reported for 15 years from Hong Kong, Shanghai, Tokyo and Stockholm.

Brauchli is a trustee of the Hirshhorn Museum & Sculpture Garden in Washington; a director of aiEDU, a nonprofit educating students about artificial intelligence; and has advised many journalism-related nonprofits centering on local news.

Born in Boulder, Colorado, Brauchli graduated from Columbia University in 1983, and was a Nieman fellow at Harvard University.

Scott Reed

National Advisory Board Member

Instruments:

Scott Reed was named President and CEO of the Music Academy of the West in 2010 after serving as Vice President for Institutional Advancement. He served in that role through August 15, 2023.

As the Academy’s President and CEO, Scott Reed forged a number of transformative initiatives including partnerships with the New York Philharmonic and London Symphony Orchestra, the Mosher Guest Artist Program, an annual four-week String Quartet Seminar led by the Takács Quartet, a solo piano competition presented in collaboration with Steinway & Sons, Community Access programs cultivating new audiences, the Alumni Enterprise Awards, the Classical Music Evolution/Revolution Conference, and a Commissions and Premieres program.

Prior to his tenure at the Music Academy, Scott worked for the San Francisco Opera as Associate Director of Development and as a consultant for St. Luke’s Hospital Foundation.

Scott Reed earned his bachelor’s degree in Vocal Performance at the University of California, Santa Barbara.