Alessandra Jennings Flanagan is a graduate of the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University where she completed her Master of Music and Bachelor of Music degrees in violin performance with Sergiu Luca.

Gunnar Folsom is one of the Pacific Northwest’s most in-demand percussionists. His expertise includes a wide range of styles including symphonic music, ‘Broadway’, chamber music, R&B, and jazz.

Violist William Frampton has been praised by critics for his “impressive” performances (The New York Times) and “a glowing amber tone” (The Boston Globe). Since his New York recital debut in 2009 at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, William has enjoyed a career of diverse performances around the world as a chamber musician, soloist, orchestral player, and teacher.

Sponsored by John Jamison & Kathy Wildermuth

Montana native Korine Fujiwara is a founding Carpe Diem String Quartet member, a devoted and sought-after chamber musician and teacher, and a gifted composer and arranger.

One of the most unique and sought-after chamber ensembles on the concert stage today, the Carpe Diem String Quartet is a boundary-breaking ensemble that has earned widespread critical and audience acclaim for its innovative programming and electrifying performances. Carpe Diem defies easy classification with programming that includes classical, tango, folk, pop, rock, and jazz-inspired music.

Roger Garcia is in his 30th year in music education. He is employed in the Walla Walla School District serving as the District Music Coordinator and the Band Director at Garrison Middle School.

First Violinist Ilmar Gavilán is a native of Cuba, where he began his studies at the Havana Conservatory of Music. At the age of 14, he was selected for advanced studies at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow.

Originally from Hamilton, New Zealand, Chris Gendall studied composition at Victoria University of Wellington before completing a doctoral degree at Cornell University.

Born in Riga, Latvia, into a family of violinists, Artur Girsky began playing violin at age five. He studied with Maya Glezarova at the Moscow Central Music School and with Felix Andrievsky at the Royal College of Music in London.

The bio is coming soon.

Benjamin Gish is the director of the Walla Walla Valley Academy String Orchestra and has a large studio of cellists and bassists ranging in age from 4 through 20-something. He is also the director of the Walla Walla Symphony Youth Orchestra and is artist-in-residence at Walla Walla University.

Julia Gish-Salerno serves as Professor of Violin and Viola at Eastern Washington University. Her accomplishments include winning first prize and the festival medal in the 2000 Seattle Young Artists Music Festival, national finalist for the String division of the 2001 MTNA collegiate competition, and being the String division Young Artist Winner of Musicfest Northwest in 2004.

Dave Glenn was Director of Jazz Studies and professor of low brass at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington from 1989-2011.  He received a Bachelor of Music in trombone performance from North Texas State University and a Master of Music in composition from the University of Northern Colorado.

Soprano Jennifer Goltz-Taylor specializes in new chamber music, opera, and cabaret. Her reputation for interpretive sensitivity, vocal virtuosity, musical precision, and creativity as a performer has inspired Michael Daugherty, Robert Morris, Andrew Mead, Evan Chambers, Forrest Pierce, Stephen Rush, and many others to compose for her.

An accomplished orchestral and chamber musician, Ismar Gomes has performed with the Lancaster Symphony, the Harrisburg Symphony, and the Towson New Music Ensemble.

Peter de Grasse is a dancer and choreographer. His company credits include American Repertory Ballet, Sacramento Ballet, and Spectrum Dance Theater, where he became a principal artist under artistic director Donald Byrd.

Ila Gupta is vegan and likes ice cream. She also plays alto saxophone with masso.

masso is a Chicago-based saxophone quartet first formed at Northwestern University in the fall of 2021. While embracing the study and presentation of the classical repertoire, masso is equally committed to the commissioning, performance, and democratization of contemporary classical music.

Benjamin von Gutzeit, one of only a handful of true jazz violists worldwide, was born in Bochum, Germany, into a musical family. His father is a well-known music pedagogue; his mother a pianist and two of his siblings are classical string players.

Yotam Haber is a composer based in New York City. He is a 2005 Guggenheim fellow and a 2007 Rome Prize winner in Music Composition.

Rowena Hammill is Associate Principal Cello of the Los Angeles Opera Orchestra. She divides her time between Los Angeles and Vashon Island, Washington.

A pianist that “defies human description” for some (Concerto Net) and recalls “a young Peter Serkin” for others (New York Times), Conor Hanick is one of his generation’s most inquisitive interpreters of music old and new.