THECOMPASSCONCERTS

Walter Fellers

Walter is a loyal supporter of the Compass Concerts and has attended every single concert! He lives in Portland, Oregon, with his husband COMPASS Co-founder, Shinichiro Inaji, and their dog Yuki.

Walter is very excited to finally make his performing debut during COMPASS Concerts' 5th season.

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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.

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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.

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Corey Johnson

Corey Johnson had a musical childhood, playing in New England Conservatory youth orchestras and attending Tanglewood Institute. These days he lives in Portland, OR, staying active in as many community orchestras as humanly possible: the Oregon Sinfonietta, the Oregon Mandolin Orchestra, Sunnyside Symphony Orchestra, the Jewish Community Orchestra, and more. He is also on the board of Classical Revolution PDX, helping bring classical music out of the concert halls and into the community.

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Bogatay Köprülü

Köprülü is a multi-faceted musician, concert-giving composer, creating orchestral, solo and chamber music. He presents his early solo piano works between 2005 and 2015 to the audience in the album "Retrospective", published on online platforms such as Spotify and Apple Music, which includes 5 works "Impromptu", Piano Sonata and his first "Scherzo".

Also his latest Piano Concerto (Op.6 - 2018) was awarded in the "10th Eczacıbaşı National Composition Contest" in İzmir - Turkey, by the jury of world-famous Conducters and Concert Pianists such as Gürer Aykal, İdil Biret, Gülsin Onay, Serdar Yalçın, Turgay Erdener, Rengim Gökmen and Hasan Uçarsu.

"…the award-winning Piano Concerto is a work of superior quality…I was fascinated by his advanced technique, musical understanding and mature approach to the piano" said by Concert Pianist Gülsin Onay.

In 2021, he has just completed his new Concerto for Cello and Orchestra while starting to perform his own early Solo Piano Works mixed with a classical repertoire. Shortly after, he took part in the online opening concert of Gümüşlük Classic Music Festival-GFA by playing his own Impromtus for Piano. In 2022, he composed a commissioned music "Marmara Quartet" in the form of a short scherzo, for the Mosaic project performed by Semplice Quartet, by Gedik Sanat.

In 2016, he completed composition and orchestration training with Prof. Tolga Zafer Özdemir at Istanbul Bilgi University. Since that time, he decided to ameliorate his piano technique with Prof. Vassilia Efstathiadou from Hannover and took part in several master classes in Croatia, Crete, including GFA (Gümüşlük Festival Academy) with Concert Pianist Gülsin Onay, Prof. Konstanze Eickhorst, Pianist Francesco Libetta.

Meanwhile, he studied at the most valued French High School Saint Joseph in Istanbul accompanied by his piano studies lasting a decade. In this long period, he immersed himself in composing numerous pieces, including a formidable Sonata for Piano Solo which showcases his evolving skills as a passionate musician questing after true knowledge regarding ancient roots of harmony by seeking for both esoteric and scientific thinking ambits.

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Birce Polat

Born in 1989 in the idyllic province Balikesir, Turkey, Birce began to play the piano at the age of 5. She was accepted to the State Conservatoire of Istanbul University at 7 and was selected a mere three years later as the student ambassador to perform live on visual media across the country. She continued with her high school education at the respected Uskudar American Academy in Istanbul for five years.

She then advanced her piano education in Germany at the Lübeck Academy of Music with Pianist David Meier and Professor Konstanze Eickhorst. Along with Gulnare Shekinskaya – who introduced her the Russian Technical Regimen, her most important guide, the great pedagogue Vassilia Efstathiadou – who influenced several generations of musicians – is a lifelong mentor to Polat.

At just 21 she gave her first celebrated performance at Bosch Young Artists Festival, Istanbul. Also a chamber musician, she has performed together with her cellist friends’ circle, especially works of Turkish composers.

Always a committed pupil in her heart, she found time to pursue masterclass events during long Mediterranean summers such as the Gumusluk Classical Music Festival Academy in Bodrum, Turkey – working with State Artist Pianist Gulsin Onay. This prestigious festival invited Birce Polat to perform live & online for them during tough times in 2020 – for classical music lovers at home.

Birce Polat is a multi-faceted artist. Her profound devotion to her artistic career is mirrored in her intellectual questioning and evergreen curiosity.

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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.

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