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Laura
Kenney Henckel
Laura Kenney Henckel has both Bachelor and Master of Music degrees in cello performance from the University
of Michigan and is currently on the faculty of the Lawrence Academy of
Music as String Specialist in Cello. She has been featured as soloist with the Green Bay Civic Symphony and the Fox Valley
Symphony where she is principal cellist. Laura is Principal Cellist in the Green Bay Symphony and performs regularly with
professional productions at the Weidner Center
and at the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center in Appleton.
She maintains a rigorous performance schedule in a duo with her mother as her pianist. The mother-daughter duo has performed
in concerts throughout the US and has
given frequent benefit concerts for charitable organizations. These have included the Lake County Youth Orchestras in Grayslake, Illinois, the Adler
Cultural Center in Libertyville,
Illinois and the Kobe Earthquake Relief Fund in Portland,
Oregon. Laura is also an active chamber musician performing with various chamber
ensembles, most recently with the Wausau Conservatory faculty in their Chamber Music series.
Yuliya Smead Yuliya
Smead, violinist, is currently Concertmaster of the Oshkosh Symphony Orchestra and Assistant Concertmaster of both the Green
Bay Symphony Orchestra and the Fox Valley Symphony Orchestra. In addition she is a full time faculty member of the Lawrence
Academy of Music Yuliya moved to the United States in 1999 from Ukraine. While in Ukraine, she was concertmaster of the State
Chamber Orchestra Trembita & Symphony Leopolis. She was a two-time winner of the Young Talents State Competition in Ukraine
and a 2nd place winner of the Guitaralia Chamber Music Competition in Poland. Yuliya has performed in Belgium, France, Switzerland,
Germany and Poland. She appeared as a soloist with the Lviv Philharmonia Orchestra and Symphony Leopolis in Ukraine and Belgium.
Yuliya played first violin of Ensemble of Modern Music Cluster for five years. The ensemble performed throughout Ukraine,
Poland and Lithuania.
Matthew Michilic
Professor of Viola at
Lawrence Conservatory of Music.
Kelsey Erdahl began her career as a harpist at the age of eleven. She has quickly become one of the Midwest's
most in demand harpists, regularly performing with symphony orchestras in Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Indiana, Michigan, and
numerous orchestras in the Chicago area. She has been principal harpist of the Racine Symphony Orchestra since 1998
and is currently principal harpist of the Oshkosh Symphony, New Philharmonic, and DuPage Opera Theater. She has participated
in the Spoleto Festival USA since 2005 and attended the Eastern Music Festival during the summers of 1999 and 2000.
The 2008-09 season will be a special one. Kelsey will be the principal harpist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra! She won
an international audition to replace her teacher, Sara Bullen who will be on a leave of absence. Kelsey has frequently performed
with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, most recently in performances with Maestro Miguel Harth-Bedoya and soloists Renee Fleming
and YoYo Ma at the Ravinia Festival. She has also regularly performed with MusicNOW, the contemporary music series of
the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. She has had the opportunity to work with composers Pierre Boulez, George Benjamin, Osvaldo
Golijov, among others.
Kelsey’s performances have drawn critical acclaim. The
Chicago Tribune’s John von Rhein described her as “a splendid harpist.” The Chicago Sun-Times hailed
her as an “outstanding soloist…both sumptuously assertive and ethereally exquisite.”
Since 2005, Kelsey has been a member of the UBS Verbier Festival Orchestra in Switzerland. With
the orchestra, she has toured Europe, Asia, and Australia, including a sold-out performance at the famed Sydney Opera House.
With this orchestra, she has had the chance to work with several of the worlds leading conductors, including James Levine,
Michael Tilson Thomas, Daniel Gatti, Herbert Blomstedt, Paavo Jarvi, Claus Peter Flor, and others.
Her solo
engagements have included performances of Handel's Concerto in B flat and Ravel's Introduction and Allegro
with the Knox-Galesburg Symphony in Knox, IL and Mozart's Concerto for Flute and Harp with the Racine Symphony.
Stas Venglevski, Accordion
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His artistry, dazzling technical command, and sensitivity have brought "Stas" Venglevski,
a native of the Republic of Moldova, part of the former Soviet Union, increasing acclaim as a virtuoso of the bayan.
A two-time first prize winner of bayan competition in the Republic of Moldova, Stas is a graduate of the Russian Academy of
Music in Moscow where he received his Masters Degree in Music under the tutelage of the famed Russian bayanist,
Friedrich Lips. In 1992 he immigrated to the United States.
Stas' repertoire includes his original compositions,
a broad range of classical, contemporary and ethnic music. He has toured extensively as a soloist throughout the
former Soviet Union, Canada, Europe, and the United States including numerous performances with Doc Severinsen,
Steve Allen and with Garrison Keillor on the Prairie Home Companion Show. Additionally, he has performed with symphony orchestras
throughout the United States. He performed the world premiere of Concerto No. 2 by Anthony Galla-Rini and also
the world premiere of Bayan and Beyond, composed for Stas by Dan Lawitts. He is a regular participant of the Milwaukee
Symphony Orchestra's Arts in Community Education Program (ACE); has done television commercials and performed in
theater productions; produced numerous recordings including transcription of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite for
bayan as well as one of original compositions. He has published several books of original compositions.
 Stas also performs as a member of the A Sta_Sera Duo where he combines talents with accordionist, John Simkus, known
primarily for his smooth jazz renditions. Their musical partnership has resulted in a unique repertoire and as a duo
they have toured the United States and Europe extensively and collaborated on a CD of original compositions, Seasonings.
Stas is the immediate past President of the prestigious Accordionists and Teachers Guild, International (ATG)
which was established in 1940 with the purpose of furthering the progress of the accordion by improving teaching standards,
music, and all phases of music education. The ATG is a member of the Confederation Internationale des Accordeonistes (CIA)
International Music Council (IMC-NESCO) which holds an annual competition and festival in various cities around the
United States.
The brilliant artistry and musical virtuosity of Stas afford an expanded dimension in music and
an innovative musical adventure to the audience. |
Juanita Becker, Piano
Juanita Becker is Associate Professor of Music at Wisconsin Lutheran College, and regularly performs in chamber music
recitals throughout the Midwest. She holds degrees from the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music, the University of
Wisconsin-Madison, and the Florida State University, where she participated in collaborative piano masterclasses with Martin
Katz, Stanford Olsen, and Janos Starker. Before returning to Wisconsin she served on the music faculty of Truman State University
in Kirksville, Missouri, where she taught piano, harpsichord, and directed the accompanying program.
Ana
Bermudez, cello
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