Demarre McGill has gained international recognition as one of today’s most compelling flutists, celebrated for his lyrical expressiveness and technical prowess. A recipient of both the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant and the Sphinx Medal of Excellence, he has appeared as a soloist with many of the nation’s leading orchestras, including the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the San Francisco, Seattle, Pittsburgh, Dallas, Grant Park, San Diego, Chicago, and Baltimore Symphony Orchestras. His captivating performances have earned him critical acclaim and a distinguished place in the world of classical music. Mr. McGill has previously held principal flute positions with the Dallas Symphony, San Diego Symphony, Florida Orchestra, and Santa Fe Opera Orchestra. He has also served as acting principal flute with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.
As an educator, he is committed to inspiring and nurturing the next generation of musicians. He has coached and presented master classes in South Africa, South Korea, Japan, Quebec, and throughout the United States. He has served on the faculties of the National Youth Orchestra of the United States, the National Orchestral Institute at the University of Maryland, the Orford Music Festival, Summerfest at the Curtis Institute of Music, Sarasota Music Festival, and the Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Festival in South Africa. Previously, he spent seven years as the Associate Professor of Flute at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and has been a longtime artist-faculty member of the Aspen Music Festival and School since 2017.
Born in Chicago, Mr. McGill began playing the flute at age seven and later studied with Susan Levitin. He went on to earn his bachelor’s degree from The Curtis Institute of Music and a master’s degree from The Juilliard School. A Yamaha Performing Artist, he is widely recognized for his expressive virtuosity, magnetic stage presence, and ability to connect deeply with audiences.
As a champion of accessibility, inclusion, and artistic innovation in in classical music, Mr. McGill actively promotes the works of underrepresented composers and engages in projects that highlight diverse cultural perspectives. His extensive media appearances include PBS’s Live from Lincoln Center, A&E Network’s The Gifted Ones, NBC’s Today Show and Nightly News, and a memorable feature on Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood alongside his brother, clarinetist Anthony McGill.
Mr. McGill is a founding member of the Myriad Trio and a former member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s Bowers Program. He is also the co-founder of Art of Élan, an organization dedicated to innovative and engaging programming. A sought-after chamber musician, he has been a participant in prestigious chamber music festivals such as Santa Fe, Marlboro, Music@Menlo, and Stellenbosch. In 2014, he co-founded the McGill/McHale Trio with Anthony McGill and pianist Michael McHale. Their debut album Portraits received widespread acclaim, as did Winged Creatures, his recording with Anthony McGill and the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra.
The winner of the Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition and Young Concert Artists International Auditions and the recipient of an Avery Fisher Grant, Chen has collaborated with conductors including Christoph Eschenbach and Hans Graf, and his colleagues include the Tokyo and Shanghai string quartets, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, violinists Cho-Liang Lin and Roman Totenberg, clarinetist David Shifrin, and pianist Tema Blackstone.
Rachmanov has appeared at Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, London’s Barbican and South Bank Centres, at venues across Europe and Asia, and has collaborated as a soloist with the Ukraine National Symphony, and National Orchestra of Porto, among others. He has recorded for Naxos, Parma, Master Musicians and Vista Vera labels.
An active member of the American Liszt Society, Rachmanov is the president of the society’s Southern California chapter. He was the Artistic Director of the ALS 2016 Festival “Liszt and Russia,” hosted by CSUN. His summer festivals include Piano Sicily and InterHarmony in Italy, Corfu Piano Institute in Greece, Montecito in California, Adamant in Vermont; In the summer of 2019 he was a resident at the Brahmshouse in Baden-Baden, Germany. He has served as a Co-Director of the ChamberFest @ CSUN Festival.
A proponent of Russian repertoire, Rachmanov gave the US premiere of Boris Pasternak’s Piano Sonata, broadcast by the NPR, and he is a founding member and President of the Scriabin Society of America. His April 2014 commemorative all-Scriabin program at Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall was described as “a ‘poem of ecstasy’ in every sense: giant in conception, quantity, quality, execution, thoughtfulness, and sensitivity” by the New York Concert Review. His 2022 Cambria 2-CD album release “Alexander Scriabin, the 150th Anniversary Celebration,” was praised as a “distinguished recital[…]full of riveting performances” by Fanfare magazine, adding that “Rachmanov may be considered alongside the great Scriabin interpreters.” He is in the process of recording a video anthology of Alexander Scriabin’s piano works.
Rachmanov is a recipient of numerous awards, among them “Jerome Richfield Memorial Scholar” at CSUN and receiving an “Outstanding CAPMT Member State Recognition Award” by California Association of Professional Music Teachers. He is a Steinway Artist.
Learn more at dmitryrachmanov.com
Blaha first came to international attention as a prizewinner in the Montreal Symphony Orchestra Competition; the Young Keyboard Artists International Piano Competition, Grand Rapids, Michigan; the Masterplayers International Competition, Lugano, Switzerland; and the 11th Annual International Piano Competition in New York City. This latter award resulted in two highly acclaimed recital appearances at Carnegie Recital Hall and the Lincoln Center Library. Soon afterward, she was featured in the opening orchestra concert and a solo recital at the XXIX International Chopin Festival in Marianske Lazne, Czechoslovakia, followed by performances at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C., and Disney Hall in Los Angeles.
Blaha is a founding member of the piano trio Latitude 41, formed in 2009 with violinist Livia Sohn and cellist Luigi Piovano. Their debut CD of Schubert’s monumental “Trio in E flat Major” and “Notturno” was released in 2011 on the Eloquentia label to rave reviews. The group followed this success with a recording of the Saint-Saëns Trios and a CD featuring the Brahms Trios. Her discography also includes recordings for the CBC, Centaur, and Analekta labels.
Also in demand as a teacher, adjudicator and clinician, Blaha has received the National Arts Foundation’s Outstanding Teacher Recognition Award. She has been invited to serve on the jury of the Gina Bachauer International Artist Piano Competition, Virginia Waring International Competition, and the 2015 International E-Competition.
Originally from Canada and currently residing in Los Angeles, Blaha has been a member of the Keyboard Faculty at the USC Thornton School of Music since 1993 where she is a Professor of Practice.
Highlights in the U.S. include performances with the Cleveland Orchestra, and the Chicago, San Francisco, Dallas, Seattle, and Detroit Symphonies, as well as recitals coast to coast. Overseas he has appeared at the Wigmore Hall in London, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, and major venues in China, Korea, Canada, and South Africa. Much sought after as a chamber musician, he regularly appears with some of the world’s finest instrumentalists and singers on four continents. A gifted and dedicated teacher, Nel is the Head of the Division of Keyboard Studies and holder of the Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long Endowed Chair at the University of Texas at Austin; beginning in September 2025 he will also join the faculty of the Glenn Gould School in Toronto.
During the summers he is on the artist-faculty at the Aspen Music Festival and School and regularly teaches at the Steans Institute at the Ravinia Festival and the Orford Music Academy in Quebec. He also performs as harpsichordist and fortepianist each season. His recordings include numerous solo CDs, chamber music recordings (including the complete Beethoven and Brahms cello/piano works with Bion Tsang), and works for piano and orchestra by Franck, Fauré, Saint-Saens, and Edward Burlingame Hill. The Johannesburg-born Nel is a graduate of the University of the Witwatersrand, where he studied with Adolph Hallis, and the University of Cincinnati where he worked with Bela Siki and Frank Weinstock. His website is antonnel.com.
“A pianist in the tradition that many believe died with the likes of Horowitz, Arrau, Bolet, Cziffra, and Wild. His talent, to my ears, is easily the equal of most major pianists of today and far superior to a large number of those “most exciting and dynamic pianists of their generation” (Fanfare). Spooner has been engaged at many of the world’s most prestigious venues such as Carnegie Hall, The Great Hall of the Liszt Academy (Budapest), Salle Cortot (Paris), and Shanghai Concert Hall, among many others as soloist with orchestra and recitalist.
Spooner is a prizewinner at all seven international piano competitions he entered and top prizewinner at the Hilton Head International Piano Competition and First Prize and recipient of the Niekamp Career Grant as most outstanding pianist in French music at the Paris Conservatory. In 2008, he was awarded the Ivory Classics Foundation Prize that enabled him to study Liszt with the legendary virtuoso, Earl Wild. Steven has released more than 30 recordings on Naxos, A Life of Music, and other record labels including a monumental project of 16 albums honoring his heroes called Dedications.
Spooner is Professor of Piano at the Peabody Institute, and previously at the Juilliard School (Pre-college). He has studied at the Tbilisi Conservatory, Moscow Conservatory, and Indiana University. He has served on the faculty of many of the most prestigious summer festivals and is increasingly in demand for his insightful masterclasses at leading conservatories across the globe. He is Artistic Director of the Chicago International Competition and Festival and often serves on juries of international competitions. Spooner a Steinway Artist. Further info: www.stevenspooner.com.
Recent engagements include appearances with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, The Cleveland Orchestra, The Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Her honors include the Sphinx Medal of Excellence and the Andrew Wolf Chamber Music Award. In 2024, she was named the inaugural Christel De Haan Artistic Partner of the American Pianists Association, responsible for artistic oversight of the American Pianists Awards.
Highlights of Cann’s 2024-25 season include appearances with the San Francisco Symphony, the Cincinnati Symphony, and London’s Philharmonia Orchestra. She performs solo and collaborative recitals on prominent series such as the 92ndStreet Y, New York; Duke University; the Royal Conservatory of Music; and Shriver Hall Concert Series. She also performs a recital as the headline artist at the National Conference of the Music Teachers National Association.
Recognized as a leading interpreter of the piano music of Florence Price, Cann performed the New York City premiere of Price’s Piano Concerto in One Movement with The Dream Unfinished Orchestra in 2016. Her recording of the concerto with the New York Youth Symphony won a Grammy Award in 2023 for Best Orchestral Performance. Her acclaimed debut solo album Revival, featuring music by Price and Margaret Bonds, was released in 2023.
Cann holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in piano performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music and an Artist’s Diploma from the Curtis Institute of Music. She joined the Curtis piano faculty in 2020 as the inaugural Eleanor Sokoloff Chair in Piano Studies. She is also on the piano faculty of the Manhattan School of Music.
Listen now to Michelle Cann’s solo album Revival, Music of Price and Bonds, at curtis.edu/revival.
Follow Michelle Cann on Instagram: @michelleacann
Jeff studied music composition at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (B.M. 2006) and at the University of California-Los Angeles (M.A. 2008 & Ph.D. 2011) and he has taught music theory, ear training and composition at UCLA and the Colburn Conservatory of Music.
Some of his recent credits include composing the score for the Disney+ documentary series The Imagineering Story, the HBO Max documentary series Superpowered: the DC Story, and the documentary feature Traces of the Brush, as well as orchestrations on: Inside Out 2, The Batman, Society of the Snow, Marvel’s Spider-Man trilogy, What If…?, the Jurassic World trilogy, Jojo Rabbit, Glass Onion, Coco, Incredibles 2, Vivo, Rogue One: a Star Wars Story, Doctor Strange, Zootopia, and Star Trek Beyond.
Jeff is a Steinway Artist.
For more information, please visit www.jeffkrykamusic.com
Ray Briggs holds a PhD and a MA in Ethnomusicology from the University of California, Los Angeles, an MM in Music Performance: Woodwind Doubling from the University of Redlands, and a BM in Music Education from the University of Memphis. His areas of specialization include Jazz Studies, African-American Music, and Arab Music. He has worked with a number of reputable musicians including Jeff Clayton, Benny Green, and Rufus Reid. Currently, he is Assistant Director of Jazz Studies at CSU Long Beach and coordinator of the Instrumental and Vocal Jazz Workshop supported through CSU Summer Arts.
His published research addresses various topics, including statistical methodology and the perception of rhythms in music. He is especially interested in how music, and other emotive auditory information, is cogni8vely and emo8onally experienced. In addi8on to his scientific work, Dr. Frane has also composed and produced music for film and audiobook soundtracks.