Violinist Jenny Grégoire is Associate Professor of Violin and String Area Coordinator at the University of Alabama. Born in Québec, Canada, Ms. Grégoire attended the Québec Music Conservatoire where she studied with Jean Angers and Liliane Garnier-LeSage and earned both undergraduate and graduate degrees in violin performance, with a minor in chamber music. Upon leaving Québec, Ms. Grégoire attended Northwestern University, where she received a master’s degree in Violin Performance and Pedagogy with Dr. Myron Kartman. She was a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago for two seasons and worked with conductors Daniel Barenboim, Neeme Jarvi, Mstislav Rostropovich, Pierre Boulez and Cliff Colnot, among others. Jenny Grégoire left Chicago to play one season with the New World Symphony, under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas, in Miami, FL. Ms. Grégoire is currently concertmaster of the Mobile Symphony Orchestra, a position that she has held since 2001. She is extremely sought-after in the southeast, as she is also concertmaster of the Meridian, North Mississippi, and Tuscaloosa Symphony Orchestras. In addition to her orchestral career, Ms. Grégoire remains active as a soloist and recitalist. She has appeared several times as a soloist with the Mobile Symphony and the Meridian Symphony Orchestra. In May 2019, she performed the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto with the Tuscaloosa Symphony Orchestra and Maestro Adam Flatt. She was also a featured soloist with the North Mississippi Symphony Orchestra in February 2024, and performed Vaughan Williams The Lark Ascending under the direction of Maestro Steven Byess. Ms. Grégoire has presented solo and chamber music recitals throughout the United States, as well as in Brazil, Canada, and Portugal. Additionally, she is on faculty at the Eastern Music Festival, where she is the Assistant Principal Second Violin in the faculty orchestra, under the direction of Maestro Gerard Schwarz. Ms. Grégoire plans to release this fall her first solo recording, “Music of My Homeland”, featuring music for violin and piano by French Canadian composers. Cellist Moisés Molina, originally from Honduras, has built a distinguished career as a soloist, chamber and orchestral musician, teacher, and clinician. His artistry has taken him across the United States, Latin America, Europe, and Asia, with performances and recordings on the Centaur, Parma, Profil, and New World labels. Molina has appeared at renowned international festivals including the Toradze International Music Festival (Tbilisi, Georgia), the Biennial Violoncello Festival (Lima, Peru), the Orfeo Music Festival (Italy), and the Northern Lights Music Festival (USA). A passionate educator, he has also taught at the Singing River Cello Workshop, the Tennessee Valley Music Festival, and Scor! String Experiences. He regularly performs with the ensemble of the Chicago Conducting Masterclass and Workshop. As a guest artist, Molina has been featured at the St. Augustine Music Festival (Florida), the International Chamber Music Festival (Lima, Peru), the Cuzco Music Festival, and the First International Cello Festival (Huánuco, Peru). He has presented master classes at the Conservatorio Nacional de Música (Dominican Republic), the Instituto Superior de Artes (Cuba), the Tennessee Cello Workshop, and the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras. An active orchestral musician, Molina serves as Principal Cellist of the Mobile Symphony Orchestra, the Tuscaloosa Symphony Orchestra, and the Columbus Symphony Orchestra (GA), while also performing frequently with the Alabama Symphony Orchestra. He has previously held leadership positions with the Abilene Philharmonic, Abilene Opera, and the Quincy Symphony Orchestra (IL), among others. Currently Associate Professor of Cello and Director of the Cuba Center at the University of Alabama, Dr. Molina has also taught at Western Illinois University, Hardin-Simmons University, and Abilene Christian University. He has presented at state music education conferences, conducted youth and festival orchestras, and, early in his career, was awarded an orchestral fellowship to the Aspen Music Festival. Named Teacher of the Year by the Alabama Music Teachers Association and Music Educator of the Year by the Arts Council of Tuscaloosa, pianist Kevin T. Chance has been hailed as “a superlative musician” playing “with musical conviction and muscularity.”  He has performed throughout the United States and abroad as both soloist and collaborator. Recent engagements include performances at Carnegie Hall as well as concerto appearances with Bernstein’s Age of Anxiety and Rachamninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini with the Huxford Symphony Orchestra, Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue with the University of Alabama Wind Ensemble, Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy with the Athens Chorale in Georgia, and Gerald Finzi’s Eclogue.  In March 2016, he also appeared with the Tuscaloosa Symphony in a performance of Saint-Saens’s Carnival of the Animals. Recital engagements have taken him throughout the U.S. with recent appearances at the American Matthay Association Festivals, the University of Oklahoma, the Louisiana Piano Series International, and the Albion College International Piano Festival. He has also been presented in performances by the Mobile Opera, the Mississippi Opera, Cedar Rapids Opera Theatre, the University of Texas at Brownsville, the University of South Carolina, Columbus State University, Auburn University, Millsaps College, the University of North Dakota, the Saratoga Arts Fest, and Bucknell University.  Dr. Chance was a prizewinner of several regional and national competitions including the National Society of Arts and Letters Career Awards Competition, Music Teachers National Association Competitions (MTNA), and the Brevard Music Center Concerto Competition.  Dr. Chance is a member of the Semplice Duo with flutist Cristina Ballatori. In August 2004, they were named the winners of the Notes at 9,000 Emerging Artist Series Competition in Colorado. Past seasons have taken them to Texas, Colorado, New York, and Louisiana, and they were selected as artist fellows for the 2005 Hampden-Sydney Music Festival in Virginia, where they returned for a series of performances in 2008.  They frequently perform in recital on the “Live from Hochstein” series, which are broadcast live on WXXI radio in Rochester, NY, and in 2014, they made their European debut in Paris. A sought-after teacher, Dr. Chance maintains a prize-winning studio, and he was recently named a Leadership Board Faculty Fellow by the Universtiy of Alabama College of Arts and Sciences. His students are frequently named winners and finalists in local, state, regional, and national competitions, including the 2009 Music Teachers National Association’s National Competition Finals in Atlanta.  He currently serves on the faculties of several summer festivals including the New Orleans Piano Institute.  In demand as a clinician and adjudicator, he regularly presents workshops and lecture-performances on repertoire and pedagogy throughout the country, and he has served as a guest artist and clinician for the Michigan, Mississippi, and Alabama state music teacher conferences. Additionally, Dr. Chance has presented at the 2023, 2019, 2016, and 2008 Music Teachers National Association Conferences. He is a Past President of the Alabama Music Teachers Association and is a past board member of the Music Teachers National Association serving as Director of the Southern Division and later Vice President. Kevin currently serves as the President-Elect of Music Teachers National Association and is a past president of the American Matthay Association. Serving as Associate Professor of Piano and Chair of the Gloria Narramore Moody Piano Area at the University of Alabama, Dr. Chance is a former faculty member at the Alabama School of Fine Arts in Birmingham.  He holds the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Piano Performance and Literature from the Eastman School of Music where he was awarded the Jerald C. Graue Fellowship for academic excellence.  An alumnus of the Aspen Music Festival, he holds the Master of Music degree from Louisiana State University and graduated magna cum laude from Birmingham-Southern College.  His teachers have included Barry Snyder, Constance Knox Carroll, Ann Schein, Anne Koscielny, Herbert Stessin, William DeVan and Betty Sue Shepherd.

Vibraphonist, marimba and mallet synthesizer master Jerry Tachoir (pronounced Tash’-wah), who earned his Bachelor’s degree from the Berklee College of Music, leads the Jerry Tachoir duo in a collection of original tunes with a contemporary jazz genre. The duo includes his wife, Marlène, on piano and wordless vocals, who is also a graduate of Berklee College of Music. Marlène and Jerry Tachoir had an early start as professional musicians. At the age of 15, Jerry was performing with the Pittsburgh Symphony and other orchestras in the area as a mallet percussionist. Meanwhile in Québec, Canada, Marlène was playing keyboards with her father’s swing band at 13 years old. Tachoir has performed at The Northsea Jazz Festival in Holland, the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland, The International Festival of Jazz in Montreal, The Ottawa Jazz Festival and The Mellon Jazz Festival. Jerry is the author of the books Contemporary Mallet Method, An Approach to the Vibraphone & Marimba and Solo Vibraphone Collection, both published by Riohcat Music. Jerry is a very popular and much in demand Artist/Clinician for the Musser Vibraphone and Marimba co./division of Ludwig Drums since 1972.

Dr. Bruce Faske joined the faculty at the University of Alabama School of Music in 2024 as Associate Professor of Trombone. He also serves as Principal Trombonist of the Tuscaloosa Symphony Orchestra and Second Trombonist of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra. Prior to Alabama\, Dr. Faske taught at Arkansas State University and Southeastern Oklahoma State University. As an orchestral musician\, Dr. Faske has performed with numerous ensembles\, including the Dallas Opera\, Richardson Symphony (TX)\, San Antonio Symphony (TX)\, Meridian Symphony (MS)\, Starkville Symphony (MS)\, Waco Symphony (TX)\, Texarkana Symphony (TX)\, Owensboro Symphony (KY)\, Jackson Symphony (TN)\, South Arkansas Symphony\, Delta Symphony (AR). As a soloist\, he is committed to championing new repertoire\, including world premieres by Frank Gulino (Southeastern Rhapsody for trombone and piano)\, Howard Buss (Serendipity Suite for trombone\, trumpet and piano) and Derek Jenkins (Remnants for trombone and piano). He has participated at the 2017\, 2018\, 2021\, and 2022 International Trombone Festivals\, the International Women’s Brass Conference\, the Music by Women Festival at the Mississippi University for Women\, and soloist at the North American Brass Band Championships in Huntsville\, Alabama. He has presented clinics for the West Tennessee School Band and Orchestra Directors Association\, Arkansas Bandmasters Association\, Arkansas Music Educators Association\, Arkansas Small Band Association\, Big 12 Trombone Conference\, and public school band programs in Texas\, Alabama\, Oklahoma\, and Arkansas. Bruce Faske earned degrees from the University of Alabama (DMA)\, Baylor University (MM)\, and Texas A&M University-Commerce (BSM). His teachers include Jonathan Whitaker\, Brent Phillips\, Jimmy Clark\, John McCroskey\, Joseph Cox\, Don Lucas\, and Larry Campbell. In addition to his formal studies\, he was a Participant in the 2011 and 2013 Alessi Seminar\, a week long\, international workshop led by Joseph Alessi\, Principal Trombonist of the New York Philharmonic. Dr. Faske is a Trombone Artist for the S.E. Shires Company.

Dr. Bruce Faske joined the faculty at the University of Alabama School of Music in 2024 as Associate Professor of Trombone. He also serves as Principal Trombonist of the Tuscaloosa Symphony Orchestra and Second Trombonist of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra. Prior to Alabama, Dr. Faske taught at Arkansas State University and Southeastern Oklahoma State University. As an orchestral musician, Dr. Faske has performed with numerous ensembles, including the Dallas Opera, Richardson Symphony (TX), San Antonio Symphony (TX), Meridian Symphony (MS), Starkville Symphony (MS), Waco Symphony (TX), Texarkana Symphony (TX), Owensboro Symphony (KY), Jackson Symphony (TN), South Arkansas Symphony, Delta Symphony (AR). As a soloist, he is committed to championing new repertoire, including world premieres by Frank Gulino (Southeastern Rhapsody for trombone and piano), Howard Buss (Serendipity Suite for trombone, trumpet and piano) and Derek Jenkins (Remnants for trombone and piano). He has participated at the 2017, 2018, 2021, and 2022 International Trombone Festivals, the International Women’s Brass Conference, the Music by Women Festival at the Mississippi University for Women, and soloist at the North American Brass Band Championships in Huntsville, Alabama. He has presented clinics for the West Tennessee School Band and Orchestra Directors Association, Arkansas Bandmasters Association, Arkansas Music Educators Association, Arkansas Small Band Association, Big 12 Trombone Conference, and public school band programs in Texas, Alabama, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. Bruce Faske earned degrees from the University of Alabama (DMA), Baylor University (MM), and Texas A&M University-Commerce (BSM). His teachers include Jonathan Whitaker, Brent Phillips, Jimmy Clark, John McCroskey, Joseph Cox, Don Lucas, and Larry Campbell. In addition to his formal studies, he was a Participant in the 2011 and 2013 Alessi Seminar, a week long, international workshop led by Joseph Alessi, Principal Trombonist of the New York Philharmonic. Dr. Faske is a Trombone Artist for the S.E. Shires Company.

Jon Noffsinger maintains an active performing schedule as a concert saxophonist and in diverse jazz and commercial idioms.

About the Artist Jon Noffsinger maintains an active performing schedule as a concert saxophonist and in diverse jazz and commercial idioms. Exploring and promoting these rich and diverse musical opportunities is central to his creative, teaching, and service activities. Numerous works have been written for Mr. Noffsinger and his students—often receiving their premieres at national and international conferences. Some of his recorded performances may be found in his collaborations with Demondrae Thurman (Snapshots, 2013), The Birmingham Seven (Just Passing Through: The Birmingham Seven, 2022, Summit 799; Yeah, About That, 2016; Second Set, 2014; and The Birmingham Seven, 2012), and as one of the Tuscaloosa Horns, on the Temptations’ 2001 Motown release of “A Love I Can See” on the Awesome CD (440016 330-2). Jon Noffsinger is proud to be a contributing member of the Alabama Jazz Collective, comprised of jazz educators from throughout the state of Alabama at leading universities, colleges, and high schools. Additionally, he has appeared as featured soloist with the Tuscaloosa and Huntsville Symphony Orchestras in Alabama and with the Anderson Symphony Orchestra in South Carolina and has had multiple collaborations with the Alabama Symphony Orchestra and the orchestras of Mobile, Meridian, and the Alabama Gulf Coast. His achievements have been honored by the Alabama Music Hall of Fame, the Arts & Humanities Council of Tuscaloosa County, Concert Artists Guild, the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition, and the Conservatoire National de Region—Bordeaux. Mr. Noffsinger’s principal teachers have included James Forger, Griffin Campbell, Jean-Marie Londeix, and Gerald Welker. Jon Noffsinger has served on The University of Alabama music faculty since 1993. Internationally sought after as a professional pianist, JUN OKADA enjoys an active career as a soloist, in duo ensembles, and as a chamber music specialist. A native of Hiroshima, Japan, she began her music studies at YAMAHA Music School and received bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Michigan State University under the tutelage of Deborah Moriarty. Ms. Okada has previously served as a faculty member of Hope College in Holland, Michigan.

Distinguished by its virtuosity, probing musical insight, and impassioned, fiery performances, the Ariel Quartet has garnered critical praise worldwide for more than twenty years. Formed when the members were just teenagers studying at the Jerusalem Academy Middle School of Music and Dance in Israel, the Ariel was named a recipient of the prestigious Cleveland Quartet Award, granted by Chamber Music America in recognition of artistic achievement and career support. Celebrating their 25th anniversary in 2023, the Quartet serves as the Faculty Quartet-in-Residence at the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), where they direct the chamber music program and present a concert series in addition to maintaining a busy touring schedule in the United States and abroad. Recent highlights include the Ariel Quartet’s sold-out Carnegie Hall debut, a series of performances at Lincoln Center together with pianist Inon Barnatan and the Mark Morris Dance Group, as well as the release of a Brahms and Bartók album for Avie Records. In 2020, the Ariel gave the U.S. premiere of the Quintet for Piano and Strings by Daniil Trifonov, with the composer as pianist for the Linton Chamber Music Series in Cincinnati. The Quartet has dedicated much of its artistic energy and musical prowess to the groundbreaking Beethoven quartets and has performed the complete Beethoven cycle on six occasions throughout the United States and Europe. The Ariel Quartet regularly collaborates with today’s eminent and rising young musicians and ensembles, including pianist Orion Weiss, cellist Paul Katz, and the American, Pacifica, and Jerusalem String Quartets. The Quartet has toured with cellist Alisa Weilerstein and performed frequently with pianists Jeremy Denk and Menahem Pressler. In addition, the Ariel served as Quartet-in-Residence for the Steans Music Institute at the Ravinia Festival, the Yellow Barn Music Festival, and the Perlman Music Program, as well as the Ernst Stiefel String Quartet-in-Residence at the Caramoor Festival. Formerly the resident ensemble of the Professional String Quartet Training Program at the New England Conservatory, from which the players obtained their undergraduate and graduate degrees, the Ariel was mentored extensively by acclaimed string quartet giants Walter Levin and Paul Katz. It has won numerous international prizes in addition to the Cleveland Quartet Award: First Prize at the prestigious Franz Schubert and Modern Music Competition in Graz/Austria, Grand Prize at the 2006 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and the Székely Prize for the performance of Bartók’s String Quartet No. 4, and Third Prize at the Banff International String Quartet Competition. About its performances at the Banff competition, the American Record Guide described the group as “a consummate ensemble gifted with utter musicality and remarkable interpretive power” and noted, in particular, their playing of Beethoven’s monumental Quartet in A minor, Op. 132, as “the pinnacle of the competition.” The Ariel Quartet has received significant support from the American-Israel Cultural Foundation, Dov and Rachel Gottesman, and the Legacy Heritage Fund. Most recently, they were awarded a grant from the A.N. and Pearl G. Barnett Family Foundation.

Long recognized as one of the world’s leading instrumentalists, Ransom Wilson has turned increasingly to a career as a conductor of orchestral and operatic repertoire.

About the Artist Long recognized as one of the world’s leading instrumentalists, Ransom Wilson has turned increasingly to a career as a conductor of orchestral and operatic repertoire.  He is Artistic Director of New York’s LE TRAIN BLEU ensemble, Music Director of the Lar Lubovitch Dance Company,  Music Director of Solisti New York Orchestra, former Artistic Director of Oklahoma’s famed OK MOZART International Festival, former Music Director of the Flint Symphony, Tuscaloosa Symphony, Idyllwild Arts Academy Orchestra, and the SUNY Purchase Orchestra. He is currently the Music Director of the Redlands Symphony in Southern California, which has experienced an unprecedented increase in ticket sales and attendance since his arrival.   He has appeared as guest conductor with many major orchestras including the London Symphony Orchestra, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Houston Symphony, the Denver Symphony, the San Francisco Chamber Symphony, the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, the New Jersey Symphony, the Budapest Strings, the Berkeley Symphony, and he led a successful tour with James Galway and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra.  Mr. Wilson has accompanied many internationally renowned artists from the podium, including Itzhak Perlman, André Watts, Frederica von Stade, Joshua Bell, Garrick Ohlsson, Paul Watkins, Anne-Marie McDermott, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, François Dumont, Nicholas Canellakis, Michael Stephen Brown, Jean-Pierre Rampal, Jeffrey Kahane and Hilary Hahn. An esteemed operatic conductor, Mr. Wilson recently spent ten years as a member of the conducting staff at the Metropolitan Opera.  He has twice appeared as conductor for productions of Handel operas at the New York City Opera, and has led a highly acclaimed production of the American stage premiere of  Mozart’s Il Re Pastore, with the Glimmerglass Opera.  Additionally, he conducted the first professional production of composer Amy Beach’s only opera Cabildo, on the “Great Performers at Lincoln Center” series.  The production was recorded and released on CD by Delos International.  Recent seasons have included concerts and recordings with the London Symphony Orchestra, the New Haven Symphony, England’s Hallé Orchestra, the New Jersey Symphony, the Tulsa Philharmonic, and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, among others. He conducted Puccini’s La Bohème at the International Opera Center in Amsterdam, as well as Rossini’s La Cenerentola in San Sebastián, Spain.  Wilson has also conducted numerous times as an Artist Member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, both in New York and on tour. As flute soloist, he has appeared in concert with some of the greatest orchestras and artists of our time, including the Chicago Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Detroit Symphony, London Symphony Orchestra, Frederica von Stade, Jessye Norman, Thomas Hampson, Susan Graham, Dolora Zajick, Erin Morley, Sasha Cooke, Edgar Meyer, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, Hilary Hahn, Jean-Pierre Rampal, Sir James Galway, Barry Douglas, Claude Frank, Peter Frankl, Robin Sutherland, and many others. Ransom Wilson is the recipient of several illustrious honors.  In 1988 the New York Times Foundation awarded him the first Alabama Prize, which is awarded to natives or residents of that state who have distinguished themselves in the performing or visual arts.  The following year he, with pianist Christopher O’Riley, received a National Public Radio award for best performance by a small ensemble on a national broadcast.  In 1993 he was inducted into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame. The Austrian government honored him with their prestigious Award of Merit in Gold, in recognition of his efforts on behalf of Mozart’s music in America. Mr. Wilson’s highly successful recording career, which has included three Grammy Award nominations, began in 1973 when he made a recording with Jean-Pierre Rampal and I Solisti Veneti.  More than 30 solo recordings have followed on the Angel/EMI, RCA, Orion, Musical Heritage Society, Warner Classics, and Nimbus labels, among several others. As conductor, he has made a best-selling recording of music by John Adams and Steve Reich with Solisti New York and a disc of Baroque music with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra.  A recording on the CRI label features Mr. Wilson conducting the Orchestra of St. Luke’s in the music of Aaron Jay Kernis and he recorded Stravinsky’s Histoire du Soldat in a citically acclaimed performance on the Chesky label. A strong advocate of contemporary music, Wilson has commissioned new works by Steve Reich, John Luther Adams, Joseph Schwantner, John Harbison, Peter Schickele, George Tsontakis, Sean Friar, Lilya Ugay, Jean-Michel Damase, Jean Françaix,  and Carlos Surinach.  Most recently, he conducted the London Symphony Orchestra in a recording of music by American composer Michael Colina.  A gifted arranger, he has transcribed much of the music for his Angel/EMI/ Warner Classics recordings and—at Carnegie Hall with Frederica von Stade as soloist—he has conducted his own orchestrations of three of Maurice Ravel’s Five Greek Songs, which were left unorchestrated by the composer.
 He recently conducted the premiere of his new orchestration of Ravel’s Sonatine with the Redlands Symphony. Educated at the North Carolina School of the Arts and the Juilliard School, Wilson pursued post-graduate studies as an Atlantique Scholar in France with Jean-Pierre Rampal.  He has studied conducting with Roger Nierenberg, James Dixon, Otto-Werner Mueller and received extensive coaching from the late Leonard Bernstein.

Pianist Edisher Savitski is an Associate Professor at The University of Alabama School of Music and an Artistic Director of Toradze International Music Festival.

About the Artist Pianist Edisher Savitski is an Associate Professor at The University of Alabama School of Music and an Artistic Director of Toradze International Music Festival. As a clinician, he regularly conducts master classes throughout the USA, Europe and China. He has enjoyed critical acclaim throughout his career: “As each of Savitski’s convulsive trills and ominous chords would hang in the air, it became clearer that indeed something special was happening. We will be lucky to hear Scriabin played anywhere near this powerfully any time soon” (Jack Walton, South Bend Tribune). “The piano of Edisher Savitski prays, laments and also makes joyful sounds; this amazing Georgian simply takes off to the sky!” (Hanuh Ron, Yediot Akhronot, Israel). Dr. Edisher Savitski has been performing at prestigious venues worldwide. To name a few: Carnegie Zankel Hall and Carnegie Weill Hall, New York; Wigmore Hall, London; Great Hall of Mozarteum, Salzburg, Austria; Mariinsky Theater and Concert Hall, St. Petersburg, Russia; Teatro alla Scala, Milan, Italy; as well as other venues in the USA, Canada, Germany, Georgia, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Switzerland, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, Israel, Austria, Morocco, China, Japan and New Zealand. He has performed at major music festivals such as the Salzburg Festival (Austria); the Gilmore Keyboard Festival and Ravinia Festival (USA); the Ruhr Festival (Germany); the Ravenna Festival, Stresa Festival, Maggio Musicale Festival in Florence, and MITO Festival (Italy); and the Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky festivals through the Pittsburgh Symphony. His performances have also been heard in Grande Auditorio at Temporada Gulbenkian de Musica in Lisbon, Portugal; at Teatro la Fenice in Venice; Italy; at Stadt-Casino Musiksaal in Basel, Switzerland; at Salle Cortot in Paris, France; at the Dame Myra Hess Series in Chicago; and at Segerstrom Hall in California. In November 2007, Dr. Savitski became first pianist who performed in an unprecedented live performance/press conference from his home in South Bend, Indiana, on a Yamaha Disklavier piano that was connected to another Disklavier piano in the Recital Hall of Yamaha Artist Services International in New York City. He is a Yamaha Artist. Edisher Savitski is the first prize winner of both the Third International Piano-E-Competition in 2006 and the Hilton Head International Piano Competition in 2001, and took top prizes at the First International Piano-E-Competition in Minneapolis and the William S. Byrd International Piano Competition in Michigan. In 2007, Savitski’s CD was released on Schubert Club’s Ten Thousand Lakes label. His performances are frequently broadcast on live TV and radio throughout Europe and the USA. Born in Tbilisi, Georgia, Dr. Edisher Savitski studied in the Central Music School under Maya Beridze and in the Tbilisi State Conservatory under professor Nana Khubutia. During this time, he became a prizewinner of the international charity program “New Names”, Russia, and won a collaborative piano competition arranged at the Tbilisi State Conservatory. In 1998, he joined the renowned Alexander Toradze Piano Studio at the Indiana University South Bend, where he earned a Master of Music degree and Artist diploma and was awarded the Performers Certificate. In Spring 2013, he earned the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in performance from Michigan State University.

Praised for “beautiful performances of great warmth” (Classical Voice of North Carolina), Michael Delfín captures the listener with sensitivity and flair as a versatile performer of historical and modern keyboard instruments. Michael won the top prize ex aequo in the Ninth Jurow International Harpsichord Competition, shortly after being nominated to the Diapason 20 Under 30 Class of 2021. As a pianist, Mr. Delfin has won prizes in the International Crescendo Music Awards, Chautauqua International Piano Competition, and two consecutive concerto competitions at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. Recent performances include recitals for the Ear Taxi New Music Festival, The Stone, the Iowa City Early Keyboard Society, and the Western Early Keyboard Association, and solo appearances with Lyra Baroque, Bourbon Baroque, the CCM Concert Orchestra, and the American Chamber Symphony. Mr. Delfin’s advocacy for new music has led to numerous world premieres across the United States to rave reviews. He recently collaborated with mezzo-soprano Leandra Ramm on an album of contemporary art song for Ablaze Records. Mr. Delfín is the artistic director of Bama Baroque and Cincinnati-based ensemble Seven Hills Baroque. Before joining of the faculty at University of Alabama as an instructor of early keyboard, he taught piano at Cedarville University and has taught harpsichord and chamber music at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. He was also recently appointed to the Early Music America’s Emerging Professional Leadership Council and the Historical Keyboard Society of North America’s board of directors. He makes his home with his wife Anne and their son Teddy in Tuscaloosa, where he serves as organist at the Grace Presbyterian Church. A native of Fresno, CA, Dr. Delfín holds degrees from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, San Francisco Conservatory, Peabody Conservatory, and the Johns Hopkins University, and his mentors include Awadagin Pratt, Yoshikazu Nagai, Boris Slutsky, Michael Unger, and Carol Oaks. www.michaeldelfin.com