PROGRAM
September 25, 2020
PERFORMERS
Laura Amoriello
Laura Amoriello is a pianist, pedagogy specialist, and meditation instructor. She was a college professor for 18 years and now finds joy in helping students make music mindfully.
Laura teaches with a holistic approach, emphasizing the mind-body connection and collaborating with students on problem-solving and goal-setting. She incorporates mindfulness practices into the lesson to help students ease their movement, calm their thoughts, and focus their minds. At the core of her teaching is collaboration with students, as setting authentic goals is a key to unlocking expressive joy.
Laura has directed teaching studios in three states, where she has taught students ages 3 to 76 privately and in groups. Her students have been admitted to the Eastman School of Music and Berklee College of Music. Laura has served on the faculties of Ithaca College, Westminster Choir College, and The College of New Jersey. She chairs the Wellness Committee for the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy and is an Associate Teacher of the Art of Practicing Institute, where she works closely with Madeline Bruser. Laura has a keen interest in teaching and performing works by new composers, including Higdon, Suesse, and Wallen. She is a MNDFL Certified Meditation Instructor.
Laura holds a Doctor of Education degree from Teachers College, Columbia University, and Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees in piano performance and pedagogy from Penn State University and Westminster Choir College. She lives in Ithaca, NY with her husband, writer Pete Croatto, and their spirited kindergartener, Olivia.
Visit Laura's teaching website here: www.lauraamoriello.com
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.
Nancy Good
Nancy has been playing clarinet for over 20 years and was also in a touring band (folk/classical/light rock) singing main vocals. Since 2012, her clarinet focus has been with tango orchestras and trios. She is a psychotherapist, working internationally in trauma healing and resilience, mother of 3 children and 2 grandchildren.
Nancy performs with Isabelle Haulin and other musicians who live close to Portland Oregon. They met through tango dancing, and have been playing tango music together for about 2 years. They particularly like playing for dancers, at local public events and small house parties.
Isabelle Haulin
Isabelle has been playing piano as a hobby since childhood, mostly classical music, until around 2016 when she decided to focus on tango music. She is a software engineer currently working for Nike, and mother of an 18 year old boy.
Isabelle performs with Nancy Good and other musicians who live close to Portland Oregon. They met through tango dancing, and have been playing tango music together since 2018. They have played for dancers and at house parties.
Eric Hunter
Eric Hunter is a pianist, composer, arranger, and educator based in New York City. Working in a wide variety of genres including classical, jazz, film, and electronica, his music has been acclaimed by audiences across the world. In 2019 his score for the animated short "Pin and Pon" went viral; it currently boasts over 3.5 million views. He also scored the multi-award winning short film "Run Little Boy," by Dominick Bedasse. He was a prizewinner in the 2012 operamission Cabaret Night songwriting competition, and contributed music to the multimedia piece Connection commissioned by Arts on Site. His music has been featured on the podcasts "Moveable Do" and "The Heart of the Ark." Recently he completed a set of arrangements for Tag Team Productions and the Las Vegas String Quartet.
Mr. Hunter's solo career has taken him to the stages of such venues as Carnegie Hall and Walt Disney Concert Hall, and he has soloed with the Greenwich, University of Rochester, and University of Southern California Symphony Orchestras. Laureate of numerous competitions, he has since become a dedicated proponent of musical outreach and therapy, working with organizations such as the Austen Riggs Center for Mental Health, VISIONS at Selis Manor, DOROT, and Sacred Music New York. In 2008 he played an all-Liszt recital at the home of the renowned Golden-era pianist Earl Wild at his invitation. Since then Mr. Hunter has drawn on Earl Wild's influence for his own arrangements of popular songs from Broadway musicals.
A lifelong educator, Mr. Hunter's private piano studio reflects his creative and innovative approach. He has been Head of Professional Development at The Piano Teachers Congress of New York, where he spearheaded the Open Forum program for teacher enrichment. As guest lecturer at the School for Visual Arts, New York University, and Columbia University, he taught creative process and gave lecture recitals on composers as varied as Liszt, Hindemith, Medtner, Shostakovich, and Cage. Formerly a co-host of "The Piano Pod," a piano-centered podcast, he interviewed industry groundbreakers across the globe. A prolific writer, his thoughts on composition, piano pedagogy, and other topics can be found at erichuntermusicstudio.com/blog.
Mr. Hunter is currently at work on an album of piano and orchestral works to be released in 2023. He lives in Manhattan with his wife and two sons. For more information, please visit www.erichuntermusic.com.
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.
Karen Silverman
Over the years, Karen has performed flute in a variety of venues. Music played includes Classical, Folk, Jazz and World music. She is currently learning Brazilian Choro, Argentine Tango and American Songbook tunes and performs gigs for senior communities, weddings and special occasions. Outside of music, Karen is very interested in rainwater harvesting and sustainability
Paul Walker
Paul Walker is an amateur musician and composer who has been studying piano and other instruments most of his life. As well as playing piano, guitar, and more with family and friends, he composes a variety of music which you can find at SoundCloud. Paul is also active in the open source music software community, maintaining several large open source music software packages, He spends some of his musical time at the intersection of software, synthesis, and composition.
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.