PROGRAM
July 17, 2020
PERFORMERS
Pascual Araujo
Pascual Araujo is a classical guitarist/arranger hailing from Barranquilla, Colombia based in Queens, NY. He is a champion of the Latin America/Iberian guitar repertoire and art song. His vision is to bring to light the wonderful music of Latin American/Iberian composers that has been obscured over time. In addition to playing Latin American/Iberian guitar music Pascual is an advocate of the experimental/new music genre, having premiered works from modern composers that push the boundaries of harmony and structure. Pascual has performed in renowned music halls such as Weill Hall, Stanley H. Kaplan penthouse at Lincoln Center and Gilder Lehrman Hall at the Morgan Library museum.
Pascual received his Bachelors degree in music education January 2020 from the Aaron Copland School of Music at CUNY Queens College and teaches full time at Cadenza Music Center located in Bayside, Queens. He currently studies with renowned new music composer and classical guitarist William Anderson.
Kristin Barone-Samadi
Kristin Barone-Samadi (Born 1984), a mother of two, pianist and teacher, currently serves on the music faculty at Adelphi University and is the senior choir director and organist at St. Joseph's Episcopal Church in New York. Kristin received her BA in Performance in 2006 from Adelphi. Graduating cum laude, she was the recipient of the James Gould Award for Excellence in Music. While at Adelphi, Kristin was among the featured performers at the college’s chamber music ensemble—playing at graduation recitals, choral performances, and opera workshops. Kristin received her Master's Degree in 2008 at the Aaron Copland School of Music. She continued her studies in the “Artist Diploma Program” (2009), a program for the advanced study of chamber music. Kristin has performed internationally as a soloist and chamber musician. Participating in a series of master-classes overseen by cellist Kalin Ivanov and pianist Tamara Puddabnaya, Kristin then joined them in travels through Eastern Europe resulting in a final signature concert in Plovdiv, Bulgaria in 2008.
Kristin performed with the Adelphi Symphony Orchestra from 2005 to 2008 where she was a featured soloist. She also serves as a substitute organist and music director at various churches in the metropolitan area. She has also studied the pipe organ with David Enlow of Juilliard, Peggo Hsiao of First Presbyterian Church and David Smith (RIP) of Christ First Presbyterian Church.
In collaboration with flutist, Linda Wetherill, Kristin has unveiled new works by contemporary composers, recording and performing them at the “Counterpoint Italy Composition Competition”—an international music festival founded by Ms. Wetherill in 2007. Kristin was the staff accompanist of the Young People's Chorus of NYC in 2011. Having a deep enthusiasm for the music of the Renaissance, Kristin became a keen collaborator with guitarist/lutenist, Daniel Keene—the two of them perform regularly as the Samadi-Keene Duo (formerly, The Barone-Keene Duo).
Kristin and her husband Saman Samadi have created their own international composition competition known simply as “Samadis'.” This festival concluded with a successful winners' concert in March of 2016 and published as a record album. The two also operate a record label known as “Samadis'.”
Kristin enjoys a successful teaching career—she has been a faculty member of the Brooklyn Music House, The Piano School of NYC, Long Beach Music, Oceanside Music, and Adelphi University—she also manages her own private studio. Currently teaching as an adjunct professor at Adelphi University, Kristin teaches courses, there, in Basic Keyboard Skills as well as Form and Analysis. Kristin is a strong advocate of the training programs of Madeline Bruser (author of “The Art of Practicing”), applying this method in her teaching philosophy—having discovered its utility and value as a faculty member during the Sound of Manhattan Music Festival 2018—while teaching several masterclasses and judging the competition there—Kristin saw tangible results in this method and uses it today.
The apple of her eye these days is an ensemble with two other musicians, "Trio de Reínas": they are Kristin (keyboard instruments), Blanca Cecilia-Gonzalez (violin), and Asuka Elias (clarinet). They are a proud Mommies' collective, towing instruments, strollers, and children to their rehearsals.
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www.kristinsamadi.net
www.pajacademy.org
Julia Grace
Julia Grace is a 15-year-old sensational singer-songwriter. In the past three years, Julia has compiled more than 15 original songs, performing her own material in front of thousands. She began piano lessons at age seven, and is self-taught on the acoustic guitar and ukulele. Julia Grace is coached by the renowned Renee Grant-Williams, considered to be the world’s foremost voice coach (www.myvoicecoach.com), whose former clients include Garth Brooks, Miley Cyrus, Faith Hill, and Carrie Underwood.
Originally from Grand Rapids, Michigan, Julia moved to Florida in August 2019, and entered Miami Beach Senior High School as a freshman. At the school's talent show, and armed only with her ukulele and gifted voice, she quieted a rowdy crowd of high schoolers by performing her debut of "Sand" -- and received a standing ovation. In February 2020, Ms. Grace auditioned for and won a solo performance spot in the prestigious "Miami Beach Youth Music Festival."
In addition to writing poetry and song lyrics, Julia published her first story about the evolution of influential musical artists in the school’s newspaper, “The Beachcomber.” She is an honors student, fluent in Spanish, an award-winning archer, and an accomplished photographer.
Mari Hwang
American pianist Mari Hwang believes in creating a safe world where people are inspired to live wholeheartedly. As co-founder of The COMPASS Concerts (Community Online Meditation Performance and Salon Series), she and her partners, Shinichiro Inaji and Louis Yungling, have established a welcoming, safe environment for music performance where people from all over the world feel a sense of community, support, and healing.
Ms. Hwang’s earlier experiences and challenges with stage fright for solo performances have guided her to share mindfulness awareness practice, easing psychological and physical tension, and connecting heart to music. She has performed in a variety of venues, in concert halls such as Carnegie Hall, DiMenna Center for Classical Music, Merkin Hall, and in cathedrals, hospitals, libraries, music schools, and private residences.
Her programming has frequently shined light on works by unknown, undervalued, minor works of well known composers, and women composers. Her embodiment of often deeply personal storytelling has resonated profoundly with audiences and led to open and courageous dialogues.
With her exceptional sight-reading ability, Ms.Hwang has been able to serve as a collaborative pianist for community music schools, conservatories, and summer programs. She has played for numerous admissions entrance auditions, competitions, graded exams, juries, lessons, recitals, recordings, and many more to help musicians achieve their dreams.
She has a private teaching studio in NYC where she’s constantly learning from her students who deeply enjoy music, are curious and open to explore, and independent thinkers.
Ms. Hwang has moved from a sunny suburb of Los Angeles, CA, to attend Manhattan School of Music in NYC, where she has received a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance. Subsequently, she has received a Master’s in Music from Mannes School of Music and a minor in Impact Entrepreneurship from The New School.
She lives in New York City and enjoys walking, trying out different modes of transportation (airplanes, funiculars, ferries, gondolas, trains, trams, etc), and planning and organizing.
Having had many of her past dreams come true in recent years, with tremendous gratitude she has semi-retired from active performing and on her way to the next new dreams.
Shinichiro Inaji
Shin loves piano and has been learning on his own since he was a child, and finally started long-sought piano lessons under teacher and friend Louis Yungling since 2018. Piano and music are a big part of the joy of his life and he is very curious and appreciative to learn the connection of mind and body through piano playing. Currently he works as a freelance illustrator/animator and Licensed Massage Therapist in Portland Oregon where he lives with his husband Walter and Shiba-inu Yuki.
Shin is very happy to be a part of the COMPASS Concerts as a performer, an audience and co-founder with Mari and Louis through which he has been able to meet and interact with wonderful friends and musicians.
Francesca Leo
Francesca Leo is a cutting edge flutist, entrepreneur and educator. She has given solo and chamber performances internationally in Italy and France and has performed as a soloist with the New Albany Symphony Orchestra and the Manhattan School of Music Chamber Sinfonia. A Michigan native, she has won top prizes in many competitions including the Manhattan School of Music Eisenberg-Fried Concerto Competition, the Central Ohio Flute Association Young Artist and Collegiate Division Competitions, the Lima Symphony Young Artist Concerto Competition, the New Albany Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition and the MTNA Solo Division Competition.
A fierce advocate of contemporary music, Francesca has appeared as a soloist at the Society for Composers International (SCI) and the Society for Electroacoustic Music in the United States (SEAMUS) Conferences, where her performance won a recording spot on the 2018 Music From SEAMUS, vol. 27 CD. She is the flutist and a founding member of the Quintilia Ensemble, a quintet committed to pushing the boundaries of contemporary chamber music. Francesca has participated in the premieres of many new works in solo, chamber, orchestral and operatic settings, including the Mid-American premiere of Kaija Saariaho's opera Émilie. She is currently working with numerous composers to premiere new repertoire for solo flute.
As an orchestral musician, Francesca has performed under the baton of renowned conductors such as Roderick Cox, George Manahan, and Leonard Slatkin. She specializes in performing arts health and is the founder of www.playingwithoutpain.com, an award-winning interactive web resource designed to provide collegiate music students with information to treat and prevent performance-based injury. She has presented her research at various institutions across the United States including the Manhattan School of Music, West Virginia University, Ohio Northern University, among others. Francesca currently serves as a board member on the National Flute Association Performance Health Care Committee and is a Social Media Assistant for the Art of Practicing Institute.
Francesca holds a masters degree in Classical Flute Performance from the Manhattan School of Music as a former Joseph F. McCrindle scholarship recipient and a bachelors degree in Music Performance and Entrepreneurship from Bowling Green State University. Francesca's primary teachers and mentors include Linda Chesis, Conor Nelson and Jeffrey Zook.
www.francescaleoflute.com
www.playingwithoutpain.com
Instagram: @francescaleoflute
Instagram: @playingwithoutpain
Ravenna Michalsen
Ravenna Michalsen is a cellist based in New Haven, CT. where she is faculty at Neighborhood Music School and maintains a private studio. She regularly plays with several area symphonies including Bridgeport, Ridgefield, Wallingford and Waterbury. She is the founder of Dignity Music, which brings live classical music to New Haven area soup kitchens and transitional housing center (www.DignityMusic.org). Ravenna hold two degrees from Yale University and one from the University at Colorado, Boulder and has released three original albums of dharma songs available on iTunes / Apple Music.
Pamela Smitter
A brilliant and extremely gifted trumpeter who plays with profound expression, Pamela Smitter is greatly admired by her peers for her powerful yet poignant solo appearances around the world. She has captivated audiences with a rare blend of compelling and nuanced musical styles, and highly regarded for her musical orchestral performance leadership and teaching skills.
For more than two decades, Ms. Smitter has been the principal trumpet with the West Michigan Symphony Orchestra and section trumpet in the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra. Pamela has performed internationally in the HornPipes! Duo and released her first album, HARK!, with this ensemble in 2010. Previously, she was the principal trumpet in the Orquesta Sinfónica de Maracaibo, and subsequently, solista with the prestigious Orquesta Sinfónica de Venezuela and the Sinfonietta de Caracas. These associations provided the impetus for numerous solo engagements throughout Venezuela.
As Adjunct Professor of Music, Ms. Smitter most recently served on Purdue University Fort Wayne's brass faculty, and previously was a music instructor at Grand Valley State University, Hope College, and Alma College. Currently a doctoral candidate at Michigan State University, Pamela received her Master of Music degree in Trumpet Performance from the University of Michigan studying under Armando Ghitalla. Her Bachelor of Arts degree in K-12 Music Education led to a permanent teaching certificate after working three years as a fulltime band director. She served as Lead Musician for the Carnegie Hall LinkUP! orchestra educational program from 2004-2012, coaching more than 100 participating area teachers and colleagues as musician-mentor, and interacting in local music classrooms.
Pamela Smitter coordinated and facilitated the high-profile Festival of Trumpets concert for the 2013 International Trumpet Guild conference in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She presented master classes at the Exploring Trumpets in Greece festival, performed and conducted the Michigan State University Graduate Brass Quintet in accompanying world-renowned soloist Vincent DiMartino, and performed as principal trumpet with the Michigan State University Wind Symphony at Carnegie Hall. She has studied at the Art of Practicing Institute, been a frequent soloist at the annual White Lake Chamber Music Festival, and performed with the Miami Symphony Orchestra.
Ms. Smitter greets every opportunity with exceptional purpose, extraordinary spirit, and a zest for unparalleled success.
Louis Yungling
Hello, my name is Louis Yungling and I'm a co-founder of COMPASS Concerts. I'm also a pianist and piano teacher.
Meditation, mindfulness and awareness exercises are an integral part of my teaching and practice. Musicians benefit greatly from these practices by being able to fine tune their focus and get more out of their practice as well as increase their responsiveness to sound and be more present and confident in performance.
I created COMPASS concerts to extend these practices to audiences and give everyone a moment to pause and go inward. We do this by sharing a brief contemplation exercise before every concert. In this way we practice being aware of one another and give ourselves a chance to feel and appreciate our unique contribution.
Preparing our minds and bodies to receive and make music allows us to be more receptive to the beauty and generosity that goes into a musical performance. And practicing this type of mindful preparation regularly can help us open our hearts more to the experiences of our day to day lives.
I am thrilled to share this journey with you and the very talented, generous artists who perform here. Thank you to all my musician friends for sharing your gifts and creating beautiful programs of music for our COMPASS community. And thank you to all who come and partake in these heart-warming community concerts.
I currently live and teach piano in Valencia, Spain. My teaching website: Yungling Piano Studio.