Program at COMPASS Concerts, a live, online music performance series.

Margaret had early training as a classical pianist in the U.K. and the U.S., then pursued an academic career in German and French language and literature. She holds degrees from Tufts University and the University of Michigan, and taught at university level for several decades. In 2013 she added a graduate certification in Nonprofit Management to her professional portfolio, with a specialty in arts organizations, and currently works to help arts nonprofits, as a Board member, consultant and musician. Margaret is a Director and the Emcee of Classical Revolution PDX (CRPDX), a nonprofit in Portland, Oregon. CRPDX connects amateur and professional chamber musicians in non-hierarchical music-making, and brings both paid and free classical music to underserved audiences.

Margaret is active in Portland's classical music scene, playing for CRPDX, retirement communities, Portland Piano International, Friends of Chamber Music and Big Mouth Society, as well as playing, organizing and hosting house concerts. An avid tango dancer, Margaret also plays tango piano in ensembles for dancers. She co-directs a foundation benefitting underserved communities through arts, humanities, educational and health nonprofits.

Dianne Davies

Dianne Davies explores the deeper meaning of music and human connection through a shared experience. For some 30 years, since earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in Piano Performance and completing the Oregon music education certification for K-12 instruction, Dianne has offered high quality performances, cutting-edge education and engaging compositions and arrangements.

As a composer/arranger, in 2010, Dianne developed her own comedy show titled, Dianne Davies Has Fallen Off Her Bench, a two-hour concert of all her own arrangements from a plethora of Classical favorites and gems from the vernacular, echoing traces of Liberace, Victor Borge and more. In 2016, she created and performed a brand new show titled, Attachments & Detachments Tragedy to Triumph, integrating new compositions with dance, live art and theatre to tell a story. Her original compositions have been performed each year at Portland State University in the “In Good Hands” concert. This regular series is sponsored by Cascadia Composers, Oregon’s local chapter of the National Association of Composers USA which is the largest and most active local organization under the umbrella of NACUSA in the US today.

In 2019, Dianne produced a show titled SOLI DEO GLORIA that featured her original compositions and arrangements for the Christmas season. This concert offered premieres of vocal solos, choral pieces, original piano solos and arrangements. She featured her self-published work, A Romantic Christmas Suite, which adeptly combines six Chopin Nocturnes with well-known Christmas carols.

In addition to her passion for composing and arranging, she operates a professional piano studio spanning ages K-12 to recreational adults. Her curriculum includes hands-on instruction on arranging and composing. At the State level in Oregon, Dianne chairs the annual Composition Celebration Recital for honored student composers who are taught by Nationally Certified Teachers through the Oregon Music Teachers Association. In these trying times of the pandemic, she produced a virtual event for the recognition of these young composers.

Lastly, Dianne is committed to the creation and performance of new music and weaves that into her regular concert performances throughout the year. For upcoming projects, check out Dianne and her music at:
www.musiqPOWER.com

You can purchase her music here:
Romantic Christmas Suite Vol 1
Romantic Christmas Suite Vol 2
Impressionist Christmas Suite Vol. 3

Joshua Davies

When I was about 3 years old, my mom started me on piano lessons. At 6 years old I decided that piano wasn’t cool enough and I switched to the guitar. When I went through puberty, my guitar did too and I started bass guitar in junior high. I started singing in choir when I was about 13 but wasn’t very serious until I was 15. Three years of high school I sang bass in the All State Choir. While in college I sang in the Klamath Chorale. December of 2022, I graduated from Oregon Tech with a BA in software engineering. I know music will always be a big part of my life.

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.

Jessie Isaac

Jessie Isaac holds a Bachelor of Music Performance degree from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, majoring in Flute Performance. He also has a Master of Music degree from Portland State University and has undergone Special Studies at the Sweelinck Conservatory in Amsterdam. Jessie has participated in Master Classes with renowned flutists, such as Jean-Pierre Rampal, James Galway, Julius Baker, Alexa Still, Thomas Nyfenger, Murray Penas, and Bernard Goldberg.

During his career, Jessie has performed with various symphonies and orchestras, such as the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony, All Miami Symphony, Carmen, Naples Symphony, Miami Beach Symphony, Berkeley Promenade Orchestra, and San Francisco Chamber Orchestra.

Jessie is currently based in Portland, Oregon, and has an interest in jazz, salsa, Irish and tango music. His musical journey began at an early age in Miami and has taken him to many venues across Europe and the United States.

Christina Urner

Christina began her music journey at the age of 7 when her grandma gave her family a piano. From then on, she enrolled in lessons. At 14, Christina still has an amazing love for music and piano. Her teacher, Dan DiPaolo, who also participates in the COMPASS concerts, has been Christina's mentor and teacher for a few years. Christina is an aspiring composer and loves all things art. She especially enjoys playing Beethoven, Chopin, Bach, and many more. She mostly has experience in playing classical pieces but loves a variety of genres.

Obadiah Wright

Originally a cellist, Obadiah only recently dedicated himself to learning bandoneon. Tango had been a secret affection of his ever since childhood, stumbling upon Yo-Yo Ma's Soul of the Tango. It wasn't until undergrad, however, when he finally acted on it and joined Bard College's tango club. After Obadiah graduated with a B.A. in religious studies and a B.M. in music composition, he heard about the Stowe Tango Music Festival where musicians could learn to play tango with renowned artists. Stowe even hosted a bandoneon workshop for all levels, and that's when Obadiah became a bandoneonist.

Obadiah has since moved to Portland with his boyfriend and five cats. He is active in the tango community there, playing bandoneon in several groups. He most recently had the opportunity to perform with Alex Krebs' orchestra as second bandoneonist for the Portland Tango Festival. Unrelated to tango, Obadiah is excited for his collection of short stories and piano miniatures, Short Stories for Cats & Keys, to be featured and performed later this month.

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.